betterREDthandead

This worries me.....Williams is good on the shootout, as we know....and he has to know all of Dom's tendencies.

I'm very concerned for your godson. I think he's been hanging around with a bad crowd.

As a Duck fan I wouldn't worry too much just yet. I don't think that trip to London, followed by hopping planes all around the Midwest, was really the best thing for their frame of mind. Once they get home and get a homestand under their belts things will even out for them.

It always screws me up when I watch games against former Wings. Every time Mickey says "Lang" I think "Wings' puck."

All the more reason to give him more Heisman consideration than he's getting now.

See, now that's the MSU football team I know and love I think there must be some unwritten rule that defense is illegal in all games between Michigan State and Northwestern.

True all of that, but adapting pronunciations to your native language is definitely not an English-only phenomenon. The Japanese, for example, turn "America" into "Ah-may-ree-kah" because they don't use any of the vowel sounds we use in saying that word ("uh", "ih" as in "fish", etc.)....not to mention the famous Asian way of turning L's into R's because they don't have the L sound.

It's early, but so far things looking pretty good in the ol' college football world: as I type, it's Michigan over EMU 10-0, N'western over MSU 13-6, and my favorite, UNC leading Miami 13-0. GO HEELS! I like UVA's chances to win the division, and Miami losing today would be just huge.

Please tell me how the NHL gets screwed up by Lowe offering Penner an exorbitant salary? So that one offer sheet somehow set the market for all future ones and jacked up the salary scale for teams across the league? I got news for you (and Burke, because his bitching would indicate he doesn't get it): there's a hard salary cap in place. Which means that salaries are not suddenly going to skyrocket out of control. Pay more money to one guy, pay less to another - the cap balances it all out in the end. You guys lost Penner fair and square, and the whole league, except Burke's *****-ass, understands that. Burke runs dirty teams. Burke was the Canucks' GM when Bryan Allen was out knee-hunting, when Bertuzzi went after Moore, and Burke hired scumbag coach Marc Crawford, whose reputation was already far less than stellar. The Ducks play physical some of the time, and step over the line other times. I will promise you that sometime this season, an Anaheim Duck will be suspended for something he does - and when it happens, Burke will probably bring the guy into his office for cigars.

I remember the thread. Really, I oughta take back what I said about changing his mind, because it's not even that....Melrose said what he said in the Freep about the full season, then in this clip, commented on how the Wings looked that particular game and didn't really offer any opinions on the season at large. My main point is, I've never seen someone (besides Melrose) get slammed for praising the Wings, which I think goes beyond being mad about what he actually says into the territory of totally irrational hatred.

Yes, of course. God forbid a man be allowed to change his mind after actually watching the team play a game that means something. Imagine that, people. It's possible for Melrose to talk about the Wings in a positive light. Of course, we all know he hates the Wings. Whenever he bashes them, that means he hates them, and whenever he praises them, that means he hates them but is jumping on the bandwagon. Our team of professional shrinks has declared that Melrose forever resents the Wings for not getting to coach them, therefore the collective mind is made up.

What comes to me as no surprise is how the Ducks used to be this kind of unoffensive team, and all of a sudden, now they're collectively one of the dirtiest teams in the league. Cheapshots and dirty play follow Burke like Pigpen's dust, and I have no respect for him because of it. Remember how the Canucks used to have guys like Bryan Allen and Marc Crawford, and always had players getting injured playing against them? Now the Ducks are the same way. Burke does that to a team. And to think this guy used to be the league's disciplinarian. Probably has a pretty good idea of just how far his teams can push before they step over the line.

We will see.....if there's one thing I've learned in seven years of UVA football (and basketball) it's never ever ever take a road game for granted. There's all kinds of teams that we have insane win streaks against at home but the road is a whole other story. Keep an eye on #91, Chris Long. Got a famous dad by the name of Howie, and you'll probably get sick of seeing him in the backfield IMO, the best D-lineman in the country.

I'll take that one step further: Downtown may very well be the safest part of Detroit. I really think the long sellout streak is now working against the attendance. Wings games have long been seen as the domain of the season-ticket holders, the corporate crowd, and those willing to either stand in long-ass lines for tickets, or pay way too much, or both. So, actually going to a Wings game isn't really thought of as a viable option unless you know someone. I grew up 20 minutes' drive from the Joe and I never went to a Wings game until after the lockout, after I had graduated college out-of-state and moved away. My folks made plenty of money but Wings tickets were still out of the question. In a nutshell, the sellout streak jacked up prices (it only made sense, economically speaking) and put tickets on a pedestal. Wojo and MacLeod get a pass here because they can be counted on to be worth reading almost all the time. Sharp gets picked on because he is the absolute king of pissing on parades. It's like he's only happy when the Lions suck and he gets to write sarcastic columns about the quarterback.

Detroyit hawkey, that is....

Oh, I dunno....I saw Datsyuk go hard to the net on more than one occasion. Zetterberg, too. Sammy had chances to head to the net but dipsy-doodled instead, which is to be expected as Sammy has no ability to make his own plays. There were a lot of good scoring chances and if Bryzgalov wasn't as talented a goalie the Wings would've had the game well in hand at the second intermission.

I dunno, I think you have to like any team that can boast Shanny, Jagr, Drury, and Gomez, and a quality young goaltender to boot. When it comes to real strong contenders in the Eastern Conference, the pickings are a tad slim as Buffalo has regressed and the good-looking up-and-comers (Pittsburgh, Atlanta, etc.) aren't really ready for the big time. Philly needs to gel, Montreal's not deep enough, the Devils still have no offense at all.....you get the picture. Probably the other half of the Edmonton Journal crew likes the Sens, am I right?

That's a Canadian-accent thing. As in, "Let's talk aboot Detroyit for a bit, eh?" I've heard a couple different Canadian announcers pronounce the city that way.

You're talking about the same organization that charges $76 for seats in the upper level. Personally I think you're right - if they lowered the quality of the product but not the price, and you can get better for cheaper elsewhere, then you should in fact look elsewhere. But you sure are overreacting to such a piddling little issue. The workers you'll find there are cash-register monkeys and not in charge of the decision so you can't expect them to indulge you with a dissertation on what benefit it provides the organization to alter the numbers.

Least favorite team? Looks like Jacksonville is, not the Lions.

You're asking for an "authentic replica"? A replica is exactly what it sounds like: an imprecise copy. That's why they're cheaper.

Didn't really notice. Only complaint I had about the Vs. broadcast (besides Mike Emrick's nasally voice as usual) was the awful camera angle for the shootout.

The game I'm most looking forward to this weekend - besides my own teams' games - is Virginia Tech-Clemson. Tech has a piss-poor offense and it's been covered up by them playing a weak schedule so far, outside of LSU which creamed them. I think Clemson will expose it. And I really, really do think UVA has a terrific chance to win the division title and play in the ACC championship game, and here's why: Our cross-division games are Maryland, Wake Forest, and NC State. Tech's are Clemson, Boston College, and FSU. And Miami plays (I believe) FSU and BC.

Well duh. During the hockey game, girls are in the kitchen opening beers for the guys. Everyone knows that.

I certainly hope you're not the one who bet that he was....no....I have more faith in you as a Wings fan than that.