commadore183

HOUDINI!!! 1-0 WINGS!!! PPG came at 17:58 of the 2nd period. Assists from Hank and Raffi.

4v4 coming up for a 1:00.

Wings hit with a too many men penalty. Wings PK.

We're getting the chances, they're just not going in. Man, we really need to get a few in.

Wings on the PP after the TV timeout.

Wings going on the PK.

Stillman hurt by Stuart. A clean hit that caught him wrong. He's down in the dressing room, probably having his left leg looked at as he wasn't using it as he went off.

1st period over. No score.

Wings going to the PK here.

Wings have a PP coming up after the TV timeout. Please score here, Wings!!!

Vokoun is not in net, Scott Clemmensen is. Helm just lost the handle on the puck at the critical moment.

Great scoring chance by Eaves there! Stopped by the right foot.

Winks PP coming up! Draw first blood, Wings!!!

Like I said above, the main reason is so that Bernie can help pay off the debt CVC has to the RBS for the loan to aquire the commercial rights to F1. As such, Bernie will go anywhere if someone flashes enough money in his face. If it were up to me, these would be the races I'll have on a GP calendar: 1 France (Magny-Cours, as Paul Ricard is owned by Bernie and is now a test track) 2 Britain (either Silverstone or Donington Park, maybe even Brands Hatch) 3 Germany (Hockenheimring or Nuerburgring, or hell, for added craziness, how about AVUS ) 4 Belgium (Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps. Nothing more needs to be said) 5 Spain (Circuit de Catalunya) 6 United States (Indianapolis Motor Speedway, it used to host a GP as the Indy 500 from 1950-1960, as well as the last site for the GP) 7 Canada (Circuit Gilles Villeneuve or Mosport, either would be fine by me) 8 Japan (Suzuka International Race Course. Again, nothing more needs to be said) 9 Australia (Albert Park or, for kicks, Bathurst) 10 Monaco (do I really need to explain it ) 11 Italy (Monza, the spiritual home of the Italian GP since the very beginning of F1, except for 1980 when it went to Imola) 12 San Marino (Imola, as I've heard it was reconfigured to remove the last chicane after Rivazza) 13 Brazil (Interlagos, host of the Brazilian Grand Prix since 1990) 14 Austria (A1-Ring should be good, as it is undergoing renovations last I read, but the circuit owner has stated he didn't want an F1 race there. Maybe if the price has dropped by a couple million... ) 15 Netherlands (Zandvoort, as it's new circuit configuration seems like a good challenge to the drivers) 16 Singapore (a night race, something that's new to F1. Plus, give the circuit a little more work, it could come out fine. Get back, Tilke ) 17 South Africa (Kyalami, this way there's a race on every continent, except for Antarctica, which Al Gore says doesn't exist ) All of the above is my opinion, but with this schedule, there' fewer race in the Middle East where there doesn't look to be a fanbase, and more in Europe, where there is an established fanbase. Also, there's two races in NA (probably could even have the Mexican GP if you are so inclined to have 3 GP in NA), A race in South America, Africa, Asia, and Oceania. Also, there's the traditional races (France, Britain, Germany, Italy, Belgium, and Monaco), so hopefully a lot of people are happy I agree with you that it's Indy or bust. And if Bernie wants a race in Las Vegas or New York, please God, don't set up like the Parking Lot Grand Prix . And yeah, Bernie can be credited with raising the profile of F1 to the global stage that it is, but now it's become more like a way for the 3rd world countries to raise their "prestige" on the world stage. And Bernie has stated that he doesn't care if the stands at the races are empty as long as he gets paid. He can't possibly stay at the head of the commercial arm of F1 forever, can he?

Some news... Bernie ready to scrap 2010 British GP As always, it comes down to money . Bernie has been saying that Silverstone needs to upgrade their facilities to his (sky-high) standards, which would cost mucho $$$$$$. From what I understand, Bernie wants the paddock upgraded to uber-luxoury, and that the parking facilities need to be paved (as, from what I hear, is a grassy field on clear days). BRDC, who owns Silverstone Circuit, wants a special exemption to the (extortion) fee because of its special significance (the British GP has been held since 1950, I believe. since the very beginning of Formula One). Sadly, I can see the British GP being scrapped for this year. Williams sells minority stake to Austrian group Looks like Williams is going to try to get back to the pointy end of the field for this year (they haven't won a WDC or a WCC since 1997), and with the switch to Cosworth engines (last used in 2006, so they have a relationship), they could compete for podiums, at least. Still have to beat Mercedes Grand Prix, McLaren, and Ferrari, but it should be entertaining for next year And here's Bernie's opinion as far as where a USGP should be held: Bernie admits interest in Montreal and New York Fat chance of a GP held in New York City, Bernie. The people there nearly rioted at the notion of a NASCAR track being built near NYC, so what makes them think holding a race on the city streets would be a good idea? Frankly, in my view, it's either Indy or nothing. No other race circuit in the US has the facilities that Bernie wants, nor the FIA Grade 1 certification that Indy has, and that doesn't include who in their right minds would hold a race for a guarnteed loss (Bernie demands that the FOM/FOA have the TV rights and merchandise sales, while the track is left with concessions and ticket sales, from what I understand). Unless the person behind the USGP is either Donald Trump or Bill Gates, or there isn't a title sponsor for the race, then there will be no USGP, at least, as long as Bernie is still the head honcho on the commercial side of F1 . No word on whether Sauber will return to the grid with the recent departure of Toyota. Here are the reserve teams (as far as I know): Sauber Lola Superfund N. Technologies iSport Litespeed The next few weeks should see more drivers named and whether we'll have 18 or 19 race in 2010.

I like this idea. It's simple, no need for any programming or whatnot, just, simple. That's why the league would never go for it What I want to come out of this is: 1) The league comes out and says, effectively, "he f***ed up bigtime", and 2) the league remedies any future cockups by changing the rules to allow the "war room" to override a bad call on goal (like in this case, Toronto should have said "Screw your incompetent ass, that's a goal.") Sadly, with the league's track record when it comes to ref screwups, none of the above will likely happen, instead we'll be lucky to get "We stand by our refs" blah blah blah. Damn.

I have read several online articles saying that Bernie wants either New York City or Las Vegas as the next venue for the USGP (I'm on a netbook right now, tomorrow I'll see if I can find them on the desktop PC). So, no USGP at Indy for the time being. The only way you'll see a USGP at Indy is when Bernie is not in charge of the commercial aspects of F1, and it doesn't look like Bernie will be leavin anytime soon. No French Grand Prix, no Canadian Grand Prix (looks like it), no USGP, and we might not get a British Grand Prix with the way Bernie is screwing around with Silverstone. That's possible 4 GP lost over 3 years. And as long as Bernie stays on with CVC to help repay CVC's debt to RBS for obtaining the commercial rights F1, we might see more "traditional" GPs leave Europe and head to the Middle East or 3rd world countries looking to up their "prestige" on the world stage. Sad, really.

Kind of hard to call "intent" when you blow the whistle 2 seconds after you lose it

Does the league or the ref's union do drug screening? If not, now might be a good time to do so... I think it's incompetence from the refs, personally. There are different levels of incompetnence, and we just saw the 7th level of it on that "non-goal".

I have a feeling that once Babbles sees the replay, complete with sound, well, let's say he'll be the first person on Pluto. I'm sure some of the members are passing Mars as we speak. ******* officials. Wings weren't playing that well to begin with, but to add on the seventh level of incompetence on the ice with the officials, it's turned into, as Mickey said, a "circus". If I was the headman of the NHL, I would have voided this game and have them play again at a later date, or at least tell those "refs" to count that goal right there. Disgusting how this is going.

Hope that's Toronto saying to the refs "That's a goal. Oh, and you're all fired." We got f***ed. We got f***ed badly on that call.

The Wizard of Oz has been knocked down with the flu. He'll play Friday. 4v4.

Homer off for playing defense ( ) Wings PK

I missed what he did. Did he skate into that "no goalie possession allowed" zone (outside of that trapizoid)? Wings PP coming up.

Yep, I kinda saw that coming, see as Brawn wasn't willing to give Jenson a pay raise. Not sure where Kovalainen will go now that his seat is taken, but I'm sure there's some team on the grid that would like to have a veteran talent in the car. The last time two world champions drove for the same team was in 1968, when the legendary drivers Jim Clark and Graham Hill drove for Team Lotus. And as a Kimi fan, I'm disappointed to see him go, but he seemed to have enjoyed his brief stint in rally racing, so maybe there's a new seat for him on the horizon, just not in F1. Now that Button has signed, I can start adding the racing numbers to the drivers. Numbers are assigned by the FIA, based off of the World Championship from the previous season. The WDC gets the #1 and his team mate gets #2. Then the numbers are assigned to the remaining teams based off of the constructors championship. As such, Mercedes Grand Prix (nee Brawn Grand Prix) will be numbered 3 & 4, as they are the reigning WCC champions. The numbers are assigned to the teams to give to whoever driver they want. So, here's what I think the numbers are going to be assigned: McLaren-Mercedes: 1 & 2 (Button being the reinging WDC, he and the team gets the #1) Mercedes Grand Prix: 3 & 4 Red Bull: 5 & 6 Ferrari: 7 & 8 Williams: 9 & 10 Renault: 11 & 12 Force India: 14 & 15 (the #13 probably won't be assigned to FI) Toro Rosso: 16 & 17 Now, I'm not sure how the FIA determines which of the new teams get the remaining numbers, but the FIA should publish a list of the numbers given to the team sometime in the next month or two (I can't remember when the published the list last time).