CS85

https://twitter.com/AdamSchefter/status/ 1479142055305748487?s=20 Expand the thread for more info. Plus this: https://twitter.com/AdamSchefter/status/1479143821371973643?s=20https://twitter.com/AdamSchefter/status/1479143821371973643?s=20

Looks like the New York Times is buying The Athletic for $500+ million. I enjoy my discounted Athletic subscription, but I'm guessing my paying $20/yr will become void, requiring $20/mo.

Not sure if this is even worth it, but

CCSLC: Why is there black on the uniform? What? I don't understand! A black helmet?! WFT BRASS: We spoke to the players to get their input on what they wanted on a design, and - CCSLC: Yeah, OK, just nevermind, ugh.

Hell I dunno. I merely am interpreting the "fight" from their promo video.

I think it's going to be Warriors, and they'll do a stacked WW ala the WWE, only fatter.

Please be sure to discuss all Washington Football team rebranding stuff in the new thread here:

Let's all just breathe and remember we're discussing uniforms and such. Stop being dicks.

You mean the Bear Raid Siren? The keep trotting it out every game since they beat the Rams in 2018 and they said afterward how much it pissed them off. Between that and the garbage turf, Soldier Field is a miserable place for everyone. And everybody knew the Bears would be bad, nigh unwatchable, but the NFL still decided to put this garbage-ass franchise in 4 primetime games, 3 afternoon showcase games, and on Thanksgiving. A national audience has been exposed to the most incompetently managed heritage franchise in professional sports eight friggin' times this year, and they were .500 during the previous couple seasons, so it's not like they earned it. The Chicago market is a thing for sure, but based on last night's attendance I don't think the city with big shoulders is giving much of a rat's ass.

Leftwhich is a candidate I like, and him going to Jacksonville would be an interesting homecoming, but there's speculation that he may be the heir apparent to Arians and why would he want to depart a really good situation in Tampa to go to the dumpster fire that is Jacksonville? We'll see. He'd be a great fit there, though.

My guess is that he'll get paid something, but I'm sure Khan's lawyers are going to fight tooth and nail to say Meyer was fired for cause. I imagine a settlement of some kind will be reached.

This only makes sense if you spread everybody out. Good luck enforcing that.

"If we didn't test, we wouldn't have problems like this!" edit: lol, empty arenas in Canada again sounds like it's on its way back.

I'm not applauding how Francis handled the expansion draft or subsequent moves by any means, but I'm also very happy to be patient and positive while this team comes together over the years. Trading Giordano I don't think would be as bad a look as you think. Captain aside, if the Kraken are still streaky/meh by the deadline and Giordano is sent to a cup contender, I feel like that would be a good look on the whole, as it shows the franchise is willing to do right by revered veterans. Maybe that's a bit optimistic, but that's what I'm aiming for these days. In other news, the Carolina Hurricanes are literally a cesspool of COVID-19, and can't field an active lineup, so MN/CAR is canceled.

I can't argue that, it is certainly garbage. Apologies if I was rather barbed in my response.

NHL: 2 goals in 17 seconds Seabrook's game 7 dagger against Detroit MLB: Montero's grand slam in the 8th inning, game 1 of NLCS against Dodgers Cubs winning the world series in game 7 NBA: Pacers beating the Knicks to make the finals in 2000 NFL: 2001 Bears, Mike Brown pick-sixes to beat the 49ers and Browns pretty much the entire 2001 Bears season before the Eagles game the 2006 Bears entire season through the kickoff return against the Colts; the rest I choose not to remember

The Kraken are exceeding expectations, that is to say they're fine and not abysmal. There's problems. The good: They've got some good pieces. McCann and Geekie are guys I think could be part of something interesting in coming years; Eberle, Schwartz, and Gourde are roster staples. Tanev is the informal mascot. Oleksiak is big and mean. Their uniforms are just, ugh, so damned good. Chef's friggin' kiss. The CPA environment is awesome. Tossing the plush fish, boat goal horn, Pike's Place ice girls, Nirvana goal song, and so on. It's impressive. The fans are buying in. Their attendance has been stellar. The bad: They're mercurial as hell, namely due to wobbly defense and woeful streaks of abhorrent goaltending from Grubaeur. He's still young-ish, but his contract is terrible, and there are a lot of games that are over in the first two periods because 31 between the pipes can't stop a damned thing. When the defense and goaltending has it together, the offense seems to feed off of that, but when you're down 3 or 4 goals right away, everybody just wants to go home. The marketing for the Kraken has been rather underwhelming in the Seattle area. I'm obviously nowhere near Seattle to validate what their newspaper is opining, but if the team continues to be middling-to-bad in these first raw years, the attendance will probably begin to mirror it. The team needs to rally around a few faces with confidence and integrate more into the sports scene. It's not like there's a lot to compete with, especially with the Seahawks trending down. I'm not quite sold on Hakstol. I phased out a lot of the warnings from Flyers people and soforth and from an observation as a leader, I kind of like Hakstol's style. Low-key, authoritative, and professional without being cold. From a gamesmanship perspective, very mixed bag. The Kraken's trademark thus far has been slow starts, hand-in-hand with garbage goaltending. Hakstol is saying a lot of the right things, but on the ice it's not consistent at all. I think it's not merely Hakstol, but he has his part to play. I'm hoping they make a couple moves to add to their sparse farm and maybe stir the roster up a bit. Nothing urgent, though. It's chill.

The Packers were certainly rudderless after that injury, I don't blame you for being upset. Their season is spiraling down the tubes for sure. Don't go into "Screw this FIB, dumbass Bear fan!" typical Packerdom nonsense, please. I acknowledge routinely that your franchise and evil quarterback are infinitely superior to the franchise I unfortunately root for; I will not extend the same courtesy to their "owners." And I didn't say "the Packers always get the calls," I merely implied that if there is a tough decision to be made that would favor the Packers vs (insert non-elite franchise here), the Packers tend to be the benefactors in those situations. I'm honestly extremely surprised Rodgers didn't get cushioned with a ton of roughing calls last night after the sacks in the first half. A freak occurrence, I'm sure.

Was referring to the flag about the guy not coming back in bounds immediately that killed a muffed punt recovery. It was kind of a crappy call, but this is the Packers we're talking about. They may not have a bunch of titles, but the officials in this league are absolute softies for the Pack, and the Bears, well, let's just say the Bears don't have a lot of friends around the league.

A nation celebrates.

It's all good, guys. Was just human error.

If this team became the Houston Whatevers overnight, almost nobody would notice or care at this point. OITGDNHL. Take this out back and shoot it already.

Phillips worked for the Bears for a long time before emerging as a loudmouth pain in the ass that was willing to take on the Daley machine on behalf of the Bears in the late 90s during a tenuous exercise over Soldier Field. They ultimately reached an unsatisfying conclusion that left everybody looking stupid, but the McCaskeys, fishbellied and ignorant as they are, virtually adopted Phillips and he's a co-owner in all but title. Even when Virginia dies, they almost certainly won't sell, and Phillips will too only leave when he dies. So basically being a Bears fan is waiting for all the right people to die so that hopefully someday someone who owns the franchise won't be utterly, brazenly incompetent.

I hope the Packers put up 50 points before halftime this Sunday night. I hope everybody in green and gold in the stands is rolling in laughter. I hope the broadcast team are wiping tears from their eyes, cracking up that such a lousy team exists, only to be fed to the Football God here in Green Bay. I hope they run the typical "here's how many quarterbacks each franchise has had" reel. I hope the Bears have a dozen mismanaged timeouts, illegal formations, and ineligible receiver penalties, and just as many dropped passes. I hope they show Virginia McCaskey up in some booth, frail and miserable, her bug-eyed son George walking around nearby, and Matt Nagy screaming from the sidelines as his team has the wrong personnel on the field for the umpteenth time. I hope they show shots of Akiem Hicks, Allen Robinson, Danny Trevathan, and Khalil Mack on the sideline in street clothes, getting paid millions not to play. I hope we see Nick Foles sipping Gatorade, wondering why he's even there, but loving that he's getting paid so much to do so. I hope it's a wake up call for a franchise that like it's owner has needed to go to Jesus for years now but simply refuses because that would mean progress.