Packer487

Edit: Sorry, he's actually hurt it looks like.

Wait wait wait...last year, didn't Holland cite the Matthias thing as a reason NOT to make deadline trades? I remember being pissed when I read that because I'm most definitely one of those people who would argue that just because something didn't end up working out doesn't mean it wasn't the right move. You gotta take your shots when the window of opportunity is open. And contrary to that, just because we won the Cup last year doesn't mean it was the right move not to pick up a forward. We got fortunate that Franzen exploded.

Because he got waived a good six years after that line was in their heyday?

This gets a great big HELLLLLLLL YEAH outta me. http://www.mlive.com/wolverines/other/inde...nvites_mic.html So who's comin' to visit next year?

Echolalia FTW!

Rumors are that it was Kampfer's dad. If so, you'd like to see a better reaction, and depending on what actually happened he very well could have crossed the line (I don't have a problem if he just went in there and bitched the players out), but at the same time, I can't say I would have done anything different. Tropp got 2 DQs, which is a three game suspension (1 for the first DQ, 2 for the second). Bare minimum, that needs to be doubled. I really feel that based on his history of being a knucklehead, Conboy should be gone. Tropp should probably get the rest of the season. 10 games would be appropriate, but they've probably only got 12 games left anyway so you might as well send a message. "Suspended for the season" sounds a lot better than 10 games, even if it's not a whole lot more in terms of games. I gotta run, so I don't have time to dig up the link, but there is a video or two on Youtube (not a great one in either case). The blog MVictors has a sequence of still photos that gets the point across.

So tell me how what Conboy/Tropp did to Kampfer tonight was any different than what Bertuzzi did to Steve Moore. You stay classy, Sparty. Enjoy last place, pricks... I hope to God that Kampfer is ok. I can't even imagine getting assaulted (and let's be realistic, that's what it was...I'm not necessarily saying "file criminal charges" because I'm really on the fence about how I feel about that sort of thing in general, but it was an assault that happened to take place on a hockey rink) and ending up in a neck brace twice in 3 months. At what point is enough enough? Hopefully it's not as bad as it sounds based on the whole "taken to the hospital, strapped to a gurney" thing...

Now, now, it's only been the last 4 years that the Lions have had to come to Green Bay in December...not like Detroit was beating them anyway, more than likely. And they've only played in December in Wisconsin six times during the streak. To that, I say, if you want your team that's from Detroit to be good in cold weather, don't build a friggin' dome next time. I don't think you can blame the schedule makers for making a northern team play outside every year. It's their own fault that they aren't more used to it. They'd have a homefield advantage of sorts as well if they would've built an outdoor (or retractable roof) stadium. But yeah, I know how long it's been and I still think there's a better-than-decent chance Detroit could win that game. The Lions are going to want it, the Packers are going to be looking toward the offseason. The Packers have been really, really bad lately. The Lions have at least been battling.

Honest to God, I think the Lions are going to beat the Packers to stave off the 0-16 season. The Packers are just waiting for the offseason to get there, and the Lions are going to want that one bad. Calvin Johnson will run wild if the Packers keep with this asinine defense of playing to their DBs weakness (if you've got great man-to-man corners who are great at jamming, why are they playing zone and starting 8 yards off the line? And come to think of it, why is our best corner playing out of position at safety?). I'm telling you. At least the Lions are fighting. They might not be good, but they're fighting. The Packers are just pathetic. All the genius dust flew off McCarthy's shoulders when "the train left the station"....It took them like 14 weeks to find a punter that could kick the ball more than 30 yards in the air. Horrible....

Rodgers has been fine for a first year starter. It's just stupid that we went with a first year starter in the first place. They just don't look like they're having any fun. They haven't all year. I can't imagine what the difference is...... I'm at the point where I wish they could bring back Derrick Frost just to cut him again. That was the only fun part of the season (beside Peyton Manning trying like crazy to throw a garbage time TD and failing). I don't even get mad during games anymore. They're getting exactly what they deserve. It's been a long time since I've had this little fun watching football. Even the 4-12 season was more fun than this. At least that team fought like hell.

Maybe they'll both go to the Avs, LOLz.

I'm with Dallas. Hossa is amazing and he needs to be locked up long-term. I love The Mule, but I really don't care if we have to let him go to keep Hossa. There's no guarantee that Franzen is going to keep doing what he was doing in the playoffs (though I suspect we'll have a better idea by the end of the year) and he's had some injury problems. And honestly, what's his ceiling? 30-35 goals/50-55 points? Nothing to sneeze at, but also probably not worth the money he's going to command. As long as they can convince Hossa to buy into the "You're not making more than Lidstrom" thing, we'd be paying like...$3 million extra to upgrade from Franzen to Hossa. You're talking a 50ish point player to a 80/90/100 point player who is a top-notch defensive forward as well. It would be worth whatever they have to do in order to keep him, IMO. Also keep in mind that Hossa is almost the same age as Franzen (he's like 10 months older). It's easy to forget that since Hossa has been in the league for over a decade and Franzen has only been around like 4 years. To me it's a no brainer...I know that would be a lot of high-priced talent on one team, but Franzen isn't exactly going to go for peanuts either....Holland can find the money. We need to sign him so I can get his damn jersey already....he's quickly become my new favorite player.

Pathetic. Only reason the game was even close today was because our secondary and the ineptitude of Frerotten kept it that way. The Packers had no business being in this one. For awhile there it was a nice race between total yards and penalty yards. The offensive line sucks and Rodgers looked horrible out there. He's had good games, but you could make a definite argument that he cost us the game today, the Tampa game, the Atlanta game and last week's game against Tennessee (though he played well as a whole in that one). He just holds onto the ball so goddamn long. Taking two safeties is inexcusable, though I think we'll get a meaningless apology from the NFL about the first one. That wasn't an illegal forward pass (he didn't throw it twice and he wasn't over the line of scrimmage) and I don't think it was intentional grounding. They need to scrap the zone blocking deal. They just get manhandled every time they go up against a big defensive line. And the linebackers blow. I don't know what happened to Barnett but he's been terrible this year and Hawk hasn't done anything. They don't even look like a well-coached football team right now. They're the most penalized team in the league, Will Blackmon kept doing stupid things (before he redeemed himself with that TD) like RUN A PUNT OUT OF THE ENDZONE, and McCarthy just can't resist challenging plays he has no hope of getting overturned. It's frustrating to watch this crap product on the field after they looked like a budding dynasty last year. Great season, youngest team in the league. Now they have to win next week or they have no shot at the playoffs. I guess that's what happens when you make the worst personnel decision of the decade during the offseason. TT and MM are just lucky they got their contract extensions before the "train left the station". Hard to resist pointing out that the other guy is 6-3 and in first place...

Can we go ahead and sign Hossa already? Deal with the cap later like the Ducks and Devils always do I want that guy's jersey so bad but I don't want to shell out $110 if it's going to just be a one-year deal. That guy is amazing! I still grin every time I think about how he turned down $105 million to be here...

Basically our second PK unit got man-handled. BU had 6 of their 7 goals on the PP (ok, it was 5 out of 7, but a 6th goal was scored right when a penalty ended, so we still were "short handed") and our two top penalty killers (Rust and Hagelin) were out there for one goal combined. Stuff like that's gonna happen when you're down 3 of your top 4 dmen, and the 4th has an identity crisis about if he's a forward or not. They'll be fine. Thanks! That was actually my favorite part of the article too. I like that he used that quote.

And nothing from Coach D huh? Stunning... Here's the article from The Hockey News about the Kampfer situation that I was quoted in: http://www.thehockeynews.com/articles/1907...-sidelines.html

I'm guessing that dust ain't gonna settle until Sunday morning Pretty happy with the split up at NMU. They're a solid team (Definitely top 4 in the CCHA since Miami blows) and with the adversity we were facing, I'm pretty happy getting the split, even though game 2 got a little hairy there at the end. Once the PP gets going, and it will, we're going to be juuuuust fine. Thursday hockey this week! Niagara at Yost, then Saturday we're at BU. Hopefully they don't look past Niagara. They're off to a pretty bad start (lost to WMU, got blown out by St Lawrence, and tied BGSU) but they beat Clarkson and they return most of their good players from last year. Their goalie has stand-on-his-head potential (they tied BGSU 3-3 and got outshot 50-18). I'm not super-worried, since they got blown out by a team we handled, but they'd be wise to actually show up and not have their minds on the plane to Boston already. I can't wait for that BU game. The Terriers are off to a great start. It should be a fun one. I think Comcast 900 is going to show it on tape delay, but I'm pretty sure the Comcast station out East will show it live (and they broadcast online as well) so we'll probably be able to watch it that way. I hope we go with Sauer out there and Hogan against Niagara if they're still bound and determined to split games. Hogie made some huge stops Saturday at Northern, but he gave up a couple softies as well, and I think NMU hit at least 4 goal posts. He hasn't been overly impressive thusfar, though he's had periods where he's been incredible. Random but cool: A guy from The Hockey News is interviewing me tomorrow about the Kampfer situation. Not sure if it's going in a story or if it's just for background, but I'm still excited.

You'd think the quality of it would depend on the school that's using it, but I think B2 provides all of the equipment to make it work, so it should be pretty standard from weekend to weekend. I think I used it for NMU and UNO (?) last year and never regretted spending the $7 or whatever it was. I wish B2 had a package where you could buy the season pass for your team's road games

Well it sounds like they're doing this (Saturday shown live in Canada, Sunday tape delay in the USA) for 18 games this season. Might be a good way to see some additional games, especially if you have a way to not find out the score until Sunday morning. I was going to hold off and watch the game tomorrow morning, but luckily Comcast's feed FINALLY came in during the second period. This was an awful weekend for the hockey coverage. The video didn't work on MGoBlue last night, the TV feed didn't work tonight, the MGoBlue audio wasn't working for a good portion of the game, WTKA's went out during the game, and I think Gametracker even froze last night. Awesome. I was supposed to get video for both games and I got to see a total of 30 minutes of action. Next weekend's games will be on the PPV B2TV Network. I used it for a few games last year and it's pretty cool. I think it's $7 a night. Michigan/NMU might be worth shelling out for....should be a fun matchup.

Sounded like someone just slid into his knee. I haven't seen the clip. If you've got the NHL Network, tonight's game should be on tomorrow at Noon. Canada gets it live, US gets HNIC and then the Michigan/SLU game tomorrow on tape delay. I guess that's going to be the case every time we're on Comcast 900.

Yeah that ruling was absolute BS. Nascar is so full of s*** with the way they rule on certain things (slap on the wrist for intentionally causing a wreck and admitting you did it, but god-forbid you swear in an interview). Stewart admitted that he blocked Smith, and two days prior a Nascar spokesman said "On the last lap, anything goes." Smith should have won that race, and it's too bad, because Talladega could have been that kid's only chance to get a win in Sprint Cup. You think a win wouldn't have gone a long way toward finding him a ride for next year? And BTW, Harvick is awesome. This "verbal assault" on Carl Edwards has been absolutely hysterical. I'm happy to see a little bit of the "Old Kevin" coming out. I was about to break something when Edwards caused that wreck last weekend.

I gotta be honest, the Favre thing sapped so much of my enjoyment out of this football season. I still love the Packers, I still get kind of mad at the officials during their games (like that BS pass interference call on Pat Lee that kept a Falcons drive alive and let White score even though he massively pushed off---2 for 2 there, stripes), but these losses just don't HURT like they have for years. They just make me more mad than anything. Rodgers has been pretty good, but he's still thrown two boneheaded interceptions late in games--ya know, the kind that everyone swore he wouldn't make and that's why we were better off with him at QB, yussir. Still, he showed some moxie throwing as well as he did with that shoulder injury. I like the kid, but he shouldn't be playing QB for us yet. It amazes me that there are 300 million people in this country, 6.5 billion in the world, and we can't find 32 who can punt a football consistently well and are willing to do it for $650,000+ a season. Frost is a joke. I know Ryan has been horrible for Seattle--and I didn't think that much of him--but this Frost guy is just awful. He was great against Minnesota, but since that snap went through his hands in Detroit, he hasn't been right. He cost us that game against Tampa as far as I'm concerned. When you're clinging to a 1-2 point lead and the other team's offense hasn't moved the ball the entire half, it's probably not good to have your punter shank one badly enough that the other team is already in field goal range....makes it easy on them. What hurts me is to see Favre in a Jets jersey breaking records. I'm thrilled Brett is doing well, even if that team isn't going anywhere because of their defense. They'll be a fun team to watch all year though! It sucks to see how banged up Green Bay is right now. I hope people are finally starting to appreciate Bigby, but losing Jenkins reallllllly hurts the defense. He was an absolute monster before he got hurt. The alarming thing this year has been the drop-off in play by both Clifton and Tauscher. They've both been giving up way too many negative plays. And it doesn't help that Colledge has--yet again--gotten progressively worse. Though he did fare pretty well when they moved him outside once Clifton got hurt. And Woodson? Pimp. Apart from Nick Collins, Tramon Williams, Woodson, Rodgers, and our return game, it's hard to find too much to be positive about right now. We've got a lot of guys on defense underachieving (Hawk, Barnett, Pickett, KGB) and the injuries are mounting. Still, 8-8 might win this division.

Le sigh. Michigan gets the win last night, but probably loses Mark Mitera for the season. He got an MRI last night, Red said "I can tell you it's going to be serious" and Bret from GBW said he talked to someone on the team at 1 am last night and was told "It's not good." What a crushing blow in the first period of the season. Our defense will still be ok, since I'm sure they'll just slide Summers back to the blue-line again, but the offense is going to take a hit because Summers was going to have a huge year, IMO. It sucks on a lot of levels to lose your captain, especially since Summers is the only alternate on the roster. I guess at least one other guy will be getting a letter....Turnbull maybe? Personally, I'd give one to Rust. He's our best forward, he leads by example (playing on a broken leg last year??!!), and he's got "future captain" written all over him. Might as well start grooming him. What a fricken letdown though. It seems the Hockey Gods really don't want Summers playing forward. Last year Quick got kicked off the team right when they were going to move Summers up front. This year Mitera gets hurt in the first ******* period....

Things are heating up in both series. Scott Dixon had a terrible race at Sonoma last week so Helio cut a big chunk out of his points lead with two races to go. It looked like Dixon winning the title was a given but if Helio can win at Detroit, things could get interesting heading to Chicago. In the ALMS, the team of Romain Dumas and Timo Bernhard has been the team to beat, but they ran out of gas on the final lap last week, opening the door for Scott Sharp and David Brabham to win the P2 class and cut Dumas/Bernhard's lead to just ten points. The battle in Gt2 is really good as well. Should be a great weekend of racing. Last year both races were really, really good.

I didn't want to quote the whole post, but you're right about the Dodges. There are a lot of talented guys running them (Kurt Busch is an ex-Champion, Newman hasn't done crap since Daytona, Montoya is a great driver even if he might not be a great Nascar driver--though I'd love to see him in a real car, and Kahne is about as talented as anyone). But you don't like those Allstate commercials? I think they're absolutely hysterical. I wish he would've run the pink and purple car at the Brickyard for the Allstate 400. The two best Kasey Kahne commercials are still the "Get me a bunny" one with Jamie McMurray and the "Your yak is weak!" vitamin water commercial. I've grown to like Kahne quite a bit, and I usually don't end up liking guys that don't (or haven't) drive for Chevy. I don't like hearing guys (talking about Mears now) call people on their own team out. Hamlin and Biffle are notorious for doing stuff like that and I can't stand either of those two. I like Mears (his uncle was my first favorite IndyCar driver) but I didn't like hearing that. I'm sure he's really frustrated with how this year has gone, but that's not necessary. We would've gotten the gist when they played the "Clear clear clear" "I wasn't clear, God dangit!" clip. I'm surprised Childress couldn't find someone better for that fourth car. I think I would've even been inclined to give Reed Sorenson a shot at having some good equipment rather than a guy who hasn't been able to do anything in a Hendrick car. Speaking of Childress, if I were Bowyer, I'd be absolutely pissed that Mears is getting all my points. Bowyer is going to have to qualify on speed for the first five races next year. If he blows an engine in the 125 or something, he doesn't race Daytona. It's kind of ridiculous, IMO. Mears isn't going to be in the hunt for the Chase. Bowyer will be. But missing a race could kill his chances. It's also kind of a bummer he won't be in the Jack Daniels car anymore. He fits that product better than Mears...