commadore183

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Posts posted by commadore183

  1. Posted · Report reply

    I'm a member on a motorsports forum, and some of the members there have been posting updates on the track construction. Seems like the track is about ready for paving and they are putting up grandstands on the main straight. It's going to be North America's first purpose built F1 circuit. Should be exciting when/if they turn off the start lights come November (there seems to be a bit of a dispute between the race promoters and Formula One Management over the contract of the event, but it seems to be resolved or about to be resolved).

  2. Posted · Report reply

    Of the North American sports, its obviously a toss-up between the NFL and NHL. Don't forget the inclement weather that some of those playoff games are played in.....brrrrr!

    Overall though, I think it would be hard to top the Tour De France. 21 stages in 23 days, 150km+ in the saddle everyday, in baking heat and freezing rain, up the sides of enormous mountains, then down the other side at 50, 60, 70mph with no protection, occasional motorists. Broken collarbones are to professional cyclists what missing teeth are to hockey players.

    FTFY :ph34r:

  3. Posted · Report reply

    Hardest? Depends on how you define "hard".

    If by quantity of games, then baseball is the hardest: 162 games plus the best of 5 round and the two best of 7 rounds, totaling a maximum of 181 games; it's pretty hard to stay on it for that many games. The large number of regular season games makes it a bit easier to get in as you have a margin of error the width of the Grand Canyon. It's a bit more of a grind than most here think it is.

    If by quality of games, then football has it: 16 regular season games, plus a maximum of 4 playoff games, totaling 20; in the regular season, two or three bad games can see you on the outside looking in, and if you do get in the playoffs, it just takes 1 bad half to kick you out of it.

    If by physically, then both the NHL and NFL are at the top, but with less games to play in the NFL, there's a smaller margin of error than in the NHL.

    I'm not going to get into motorsports (mainly because there's so damn many kinds, plus everyone will just skip past this section so Awesome Makey Whoopsie Brown Trousers).

    Objectively, it's probably the NFL's Vince Lombardi Trophy is the hardest to get: short regular season (small margin of error to make the playoffs), a win-and-advance playoff season (an even smaller margin of error), and the physicality of the sport makes it the hardest of the North American sports.

  4. Posted · Edited by commadore183 · Report reply

    Lidstrom's name will be said in the same tone as other names like Gretsky, Orr, Sawchuk, Brodeur, Yzerman, Messier, among others: respect. The have all brought something to the league that raised it up to the level that it is at.

    Lidstrom was a defenseman that just had the intimate knowledge of hockey and a sort of omniscience of where everyone is and what will happen next and counter any moves. He is like Bobby Fischer, he can out-think his opponents, and used minimal amounts of effort to counter, thus his long playing career.

    His impact on hockey will be felt long, long after he's left it, and that is probably the best tribute to him than any statue, award, or speech given about him.

  5. Posted · Report reply

    While I haven't been able to post here in a while due to work, I still try to visit here once a day to get check out the latest rants opinions, not only on hockey, but also other sports and occasionally politics. It's one of the best forums I regularly visit, and that's thanks to Matt and his team of moderators as well as the Boosters and regular posters who add a diversity of opinions (even if I want to call them rather unsavory names for what I perceive as skull-[content removed] stupidity :P ).

  6. Posted · Edited by commadore183 · Report reply

    If the Wings were at the bottom of the standings the past few years, then I might, might, take a chance with Schneider and try to get some decent Dmen in front of him, but otherwise, I'm sticking with Howie. He's a known commodity with the team, he's learned (and learning) from one of the best goalies the team has had in a while (Ozzie), and he's still closer to the start of his career than the apex.

    We don't know for certain if Howie truly has an injury bug like DiPietro (but not to that extent), this could be a perception thing with us where we think he is injury prone because he's in the spotlight the most AND one of the team's better players (similar to Matt Stafford of the Detroit Lions).

    Right now, the team is sticking with Howie, regardless of injuries or inconsistencies (real or perceived). In Babcock's world, no other goalie exists except for Howie (sometimes to the detriment to the team).

    Schneider could be a good goalie, but right now, Howie has proven more in the NHL than Schneider has. We'll talk in a few years when Schneider gets established in the league.

  8. Posted · Report reply

    Dumbest. Decision. Ever. This is the Detroit Red Wings, not the Michigan Wolverines. The Winter Classic should be held in Detroit, not in an over-rated stadium that isn't even close to the Detroit city limits. I would rather the state of Michigan not have a Winter Classic than play it in a place other than Detroit. Hell, I'd rather Toronto host the WC than Ann Arbor. Hell, there's even an unused lot not far from Comerica that could be put to some use.

    And I guess this puts to rest the idea that Illich supports the city of Detroit. This is a plain money grab by him. Period. He does not have Detroit's best interest at heart, or it would have been held at Comerica Park.

    Detroit, once again, gets screwed out of a Winter Classic. f*** raw numbers, f*** the money, play the goddamn thing in Detroit or move it to Toronto. I certainly won't be watching it in 2013.

  9. Posted · Report reply

    From what I remember of the Lidstrom/Datsyuk controversy, the rule at the time stated that a player had to miss either the game before or the game after the All-Star game if the player decides to not play in the All-Star game. As far as I knew, Lidstrom and Datsyuk (and Holland) were willing to sit out the game after the All-Star events. Then, Crosby announced that he was going to miss the All-Star activities due to an injury. The league then proceeded to change the rule so that you only had to attend the All-Star festivities to avoid a suspension by the league, a change that allowed Crosby to still attend the pomp and circumstances of the All-Star events, but not play in the actual game, so he escaped suspension. However, by the time the "reinterpretation" of the rule was announced, Datsyuk and Lidstrom were already out of the country and, thus, would not be able to attend the festivities.

    To recap:

    1) rule originally was "had to play in the ASG or skip game before/after or get suspended",

    2) Datsyuk and Lidstrom announced they were skipping the ASG and will miss the game after,

    3) Crosby announced he would skip the ASG,

    4) rule suddenly reinterpreted as "had to attend AS festivities or skip game before/after or get suspended",

    5) rule reinterpretation came too late for Datsyuk and Lidstrom, who were out of the country and unavailable,

    6) Crosby was able to attend the festivities and avoid suspension/missing the next game,

    7) Datsyuk and Lidstrom were forced to sit the game after the ASG, thus the s*** fit on LGW.

    As far as I know, the rule is still "attend festivities or sit a game", unless they changed the rule again. However, as Toews will be missing the game before the ASG, he would not be suspended under any of the two interpretation of the rule.

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  10. Posted · Report reply

    Since when is the Wings` play against the Islanders at all a major issue?

    I'm pointing out the fact that, for some reason, the Islanders have our number lately. 4 goals in the last 4 seasons (shutout twice), and 17 goals against in that span. Maybe, just maybe, the Islanders put forth a better effort against the Wings than other teams.

    2011-2012: 5-1 L

    2010-2011: 4-3 L (OT)

    2009-2010: 6-0 L

    2008-2009: 2-0 L

    Plus, it's one of those curiosities of sports that a team that is perceived as inferior to a chosen opponent beats said opponent for 4 straight years.

    55fan reacted to this

  11. Posted · Edited by commadore183 · Report reply

    Whatever the case, Conklin isn't reliable.

    I wouldn't be surprised to see Nabokov as a deadline pickup. It's no doubt enormously clear to Snow that he won't be re-signing in the offseason.

    After the s*** Nabakov pulled when the Islanders picked him up, I don't want that self-absorbed kid on the team. We saw what happened when he didn't get his way. No thank you.

    Besides the defense, how many goals have the Wings scored against the Islanders the past 4 seasons? 3? 4? Goaltending isn't the issue here.

  13. Posted · Report reply

    SOG for the 2nd:

    DET: 14

    TOR: 2

    Team Stats

    DET

    PIM: 2

    PP: 0/1

    Hits: 15

    FO Wins: 12

    GVA: 2

    TKA: 7

    BKS: 5

    TOR

    PIM: 2

    PP: 1/1

    Hits: 29

    FO Wins: 13

    GVA: 11

    TKA: 5

    BKS: 15

    Quick update from other DET games today:

    Lions v Saints: Saints tied the game up at 7 all after a touchdown by Sproles in the 2nd quarter.

    Knicks v Pistons (yes, I'm surprised that there was basketball on as well): 64-42 Knicks at halftime.

  25. Posted · Report reply

    Split the league into 2 Conferences. North and South. That way all teams play within conference across all time zones, eliminating travel arguments.

    I'm actually going with an NFL type of conferences, with equal numbers of East/West teams in each conference. But of course, if I had my way, there would be no Winnipeg, no Phoenix, just 28 teams, deeper talent pool, and no worrying about who goes where because we know the NHL will NEVER send the Wings to the East so long as the West teams need the money.