tp49

1 hour ago, DG_ThenNowForever said:

 

Vivek is the worst non-Sarver owner in the NBA and it's not particularly close. Okay, maybe the Bensons too. Saving the Sacramento market was a big mistake.

Saving the market wasn't a big mistake.  Saving it with Vivek was.

46 minutes ago, DTConcepts said:

Man. After two consecutive trips to the ECF, a brand new world-class stadium, a hall-of-fame caliber coach and GM tandem, and owners who genuinely care about the team and its fans, I really thought the Islanders were finally done being an embarrassment.

 

But leave it to the Isles to leave me disappointed.

Half the team's out with COVID including one half of the top defensive pair.  The other half of that pair is out for another 4-6 weeks with a lower body injury.  The team's got issues, namely the pylon known as Zdeno Chara, their usual inability to score goals on the power play, and age.  However, with Bridgeport standing in I'm willing to give this stretch of games a pass.

Probably no playoffs this season but you play the hand you're dealt.  We've seen worse and we've dealt with worse.

Kings fire Luke Walton but only because you can't fire the owner who didn't fire the GM who built the bad roster early enough.  It's also the if a tree fell in the woods and no one was there to see it did anyone care thing.  Alvin Gentry named interim head coach.

It's been a long time coming but today the Islanders open UBS Arena.  Never thought I'd see the day they'd be opening a new building.  I was always braced for them to relocate.  Wish I could be there in person but soon enough.  It's amazing to me how far this franchise has come in the past three seasons it's been a real renaissance that I hope continues. 

6 hours ago, Sport said:

 

Penguins fans are the Worst People Alive^TM Hockey Edition so keeping them out of road games is a matter of public health. That should be the policy at every NHL arena. 

At least you're not married to one, though when my team swept them in the playoffs a couple years back it was a fun week in my house.   After Ranger fans, the Pens fans are the worst. 

4 hours ago, SFGiants58 said:

I mind. It’s butthurt behavior to not let all the opposing fans into the stadium. It’s fitting for a whiny, little-brother syndrome franchise (one that would honor low-effort achievements with banners). @the admiral would have more to say about it.

Tampa Bay enters the conversation.  They were doing shady things to Islander fans during the playoffs last season.  Many reports of them telling fans they couldn't wear Isles gear in the lower bowl and other reports of fans in Isles gear being moved from their seats.  Don't know if it was just for the Conference Finals or whether its extended to the regular season too.

Looks like the Fenway Sports Group is in advanced talks to purchase the Pittsburgh Penguins per The Athletic and ESPN.

6 minutes ago, the admiral said:

I don't even know whether Aldrich is on it. I know people criticized the Hawks in 2010 for including too much staff on the Cup. If he is, he shouldn't be anymore.

He is.  I'd expect the team to put something out in the foreseeable future requesting Aldrich's name be removed from the cup.

Of course Bettman doesn't see the need to do anything further but would have a "meeting" with Quenneville should he seek to be reemployed in the league.  Be better than this Gary, the message you sent here does nothing.

Quote

The Director of Human Resources recalled that McDonough told her that, during the meeting, the group decided not to alert Human Resources or outside legal counsel and to not do anything about the incident during the playoffs so as not to “disturb team chemistry.”434 The Director of Human Resources further recalled McDonough saying that the group decided to keep the alleged incident among themselves for the duration of the playoffs and that they would address the issue as soon as possible after the season.435

The above quote is from page 49 of the report.  There were some very simple, easy steps the "brain trust" could have done in the interim on the spot namely isolating Aldrich from the team, suspending him either with or without pay, even outright termination of employment.  That they didn't, deciding in essence to sweep the matter under the rug until after the season speaks volumes.  Even ten years ago when an issue like this pops up it needs to be dealt with immediately not "as soon as possible after the season."  

If I own the Panthers Quenneville is fired immediately.  If I'm commissioner there would be bans,  Sadly, I don't think Bettman has the stones to mete out the severe punishment warranted by this situation.  The Blackhawks were find one million dollars less than the Devils were for the Kovalchuk cap circumvention issue.  

Actually the reason Kansas City won't get an NBA team is because the arena  makes more money running the concerts and other events through there that they did (at least pre-pandemic) then they could with an NBA team in the building and their 41 dates.  At least that's been AEG's reasoning in the past.

3 hours ago, CaliforniaGlowin said:

What's Orange County or Anaheim known for? oranges? the beach? Disneyland?

The Real Housewives...

On 7/13/2021 at 3:50 PM, bosrs1 said:

But knowing Oakland, they'll miss the pot entirely, on the floor, and declare victory. 

But not before stepping in it on the way out of the room.  It's the Oakland way of late.

32 minutes ago, GDAWG said:

 

So when are they for sale?

When they want them to be.

I wouldn't be concerned about the Raiders in Las Vegas at all.  Ever been on The Strip on a football Sunday?  Nearly everyone walking around is wearing some sort of NFL gear.  The NFL is more conducive to tourism than any of the other major sports and fanbases tend to travel well.  Eight to nine home games a year means that the games are more of an event or tourist attraction, and the nature of Las Vegas being what it is this is the only time it can honestly be said that a team can thrive without huge local support.  Further, the large group of Raider fans still living in the Los Angeles area, and traveled well to Oakland will probably travel to Las Vegas in a similar or greater fashion.  All of this is before we even start talking about locals.  The flashy new stadium walking distance from The Strip also doesn't hurt.

2 hours ago, Joke Insurance said:

 

Could Sutter Health Park be upgraded to MLB standards?

No, supposedly it can't at least not capacity wise.  Also doesn't overcome any of the other issues with the market to make Sacramento viable for MLB.

4 hours ago, Alex Houston said:

 

This comment conjures up an interesting question: In the same MSA with 8 million as I pointed out before, what city is considered second to San Fran? I mean, San Fran isn't even that big, as Fiddy pointed out, from square miles and population, but it's always included in the Top 3 cities when you start talking west coast markets. You'd automatically think Oakland was runner-up because of the sports teams, Berkely, proximity to SF, etc. But in the last 20 years, it really seems like San Jose has leapfrogged them.

And on that point, San Jose feels like one of the weirdest cities that has prospered in the last thirty years. Like, despite rooting for their hockey team, their city honestly seems kinda drab, like a bunch of suburbs lumped together and I know it's silly saying that since that's all SoCal is too, but there's just a different feel and impression of that spot, at least to an outsider like me. 

San Jose has the largest population of the Bay Area cities and is now the third largest city in the state, San Francisco is second and Oakland is a a distant third.  San Jose is kind of drab and the downtown isn't impressive, probably because of the airport approach path right over it but there's a lot of money there that came in from Silicon Valley.  San Francisco is and always will be iconic, San Jose is second now, and nowadays all Oakland seems to be is a crime ridden cesspool. 

6 hours ago, Joke Insurance said:

And why 'not really' for Sacramento? Just curious.

No corporate base to draw from, no stadium site, no political will to build a stadium suitable for an MLB team, and murderous summer temperatures just to name a few reason why not.

That logo's about as bad as the team that'll play in them.

I'm a Jets fan and I like this better than what they're wearing now.

10 hours ago, Ridleylash said:

The New York Knicks. Also, the New York Jets.

You forgot the New York Mets.

I read somewhere that part of the reason Deion left was because NFL Network wanted to slash his salary, rumored to be in the neighborhood of $2 million a year, in half had he re-signed with them.  Guess Barstool was willing to meet his price.

2 hours ago, Davidellias said:

Dude spent Ten years with the Rangers and their farm system, and people probably mostly remember him for three years with the Mets

 

Also who can figure out who this is?

I'll give you two more "wrong" uniforms for him:

Former NL Cy Young Award winner R.A. Dickey

Mine is the day Charles Wang sold the New York Islanders to Scott Malkin and John Ledecky.  1a is the day Malkin dispatched Garth Snow to the dumpster behind the Nassau Coliseum and hired Lou Lamoriello.  1b is the day Lamoriello brought in Barry Trotz.  I've been lucky enough to see all the teams but one that I root for win titles but this sequence of events which brought the Islander franchise back to respectability ranks as the best.

I was watching the games where Dennis Byrd was paralyzed, the Joe Theismann leg break, and the Ed McCaffrey leg break on 9/10/01.  All were horrid to see on live television. 

I've actually been to Qatar.  Dare I say I even enjoyed the visit.

That said, the leadership is shady as all get out (see their issues within the GCC namely with Saudi, and UAE), and I won't be watching the World Cup for many reasons not limited to bribery and being the wrong time of year so there will be other things to pay attention to.

I do wonder however, if say Saudi Arabia qualified for the World Cup would they play in it?