Rockstar Matt

3 hours ago, DG_ThenNowForever said:

Man, for as terrible Westbrook was for the Lakers, he's been brilliant down the stretch for the Clippers and won them this game.

 

Wow.

He's a much better fit for the Clippers. Didn't help that the Lakers were asking him (because they needed it) to do things he just isn't good at anymore, but he stepped up tonight. I'm happy for him.

Speaking on the Lakers, it was awesome to see the superstar duo of Reeves and Hachimura seal the game just as everyone predicted...

More seriously, Austin was sensational in the 4th quarter. He's been a good closer ever since he was inserted into the starting lineup and that continued today. In his first ever playoff game and he delivered when the team needed it the most. Unbelievable performance. AD was phenomenal defensively today too, but the Lakers will need him to be a little more aggressive offensively going forward and the Lakers will need to formulate a plan to slow down Jackson. 

I really hope Ja is good to go for the rest of the series, don't want any excuses if the Lakers win this series. That said, if Ja isn't healthy enough to play, this series is over.

EDIT: Forgot to add, anyone see Booker at the end of the Clippers-Suns game? Got blocked by Westbrook and Russ ended up throwing the ball off of Booker sealing the game, but Booker didn't notice it because he was too busy complaining to the refs that he was fouled (which he wasn't). He has such a poor, loser mentality for a "superstar", too worried about a non-foul instead of playing winning ball.

I feel rather confident in stating he'll never win a championship being one of the main guys on a team. Too concerned about getting his instead of doing whatever it takes. 

2 hours ago, gosioux76 said:

 

He only paid a then-record $800 million for it almost exactly 25 years ago in 1998. I wonder, considering inflation, what his net profit figure is on this 25-year investment? 

Using inflation calculators, the number wasn't as straight forward to get as you might have assumed, but $800 million in May of 1999 (when Synder purchased the franchise) is roughly equivalent to $1.45 billion today. Sucks a guy like that made $4.5 billion running Washington into the ground.

I'm a few days late, but LAFC seems to be just as good as they were last season, maybe slightly better with Denis Bouanga playing out of his mind this season. Felt bad for Vancouver in the CCF match-up over the past week, they were completely outclassed and really had no answer for anything LAFC threw at them. 

Selfishly, I really wanted Atlas to beat Philly just so LAFC had an easier path to the CCF Final, but I'm happy that at least one MLS team is guaranteed to be in the Final. It's pretty cool that one of the two best MLS teams from last season will be playing for the title because that doesn't always happen in this competition. 

This weekend might see LAFC finally beat the Galaxy on the road, but knowing how El Trafico goes, it wouldn't surprise me at all to see the Galaxy beat LAFC. The stadium will probably be mostly LAFC fans too seeing as Galaxy SG's are boycotting games until their FO has new leadership.

17 hours ago, DG_ThenNowForever said:

The Mavs experience this season is more confusing than anything else.

 

Not everyone is made for deep playoff runs year after year; seems like Luka might not be that guy. Or at least not yet.

Luka has future Laker written all over him.

To be fair, the Mavs excellent supporting cast and overall squad depth from last year was dismantled for Christian Wood and Kyrie. Losing Brunson in the offseason didn't help either. Luka averaged 32, 8 and 8 this year, I'd be willing to give him the benefit of the doubt after losing much of their quality role players and gaining Kyrie who is a bad fit alongside Luka.

Dallas somehow made worse roster decisions than the Lakers, which is saying something.

4 hours ago, DG_ThenNowForever said:

 

Exactly. You don't get to be 5-0-0 solely because of luck. Eventually that luck is because you're creating it tactically.

 

If STL gets figured out, I don't know. But in the meantime, I'd rather my team have their record than the other way around.

I don't think too much luck is involved in those easy giveaway goals STL has capitalized on, but more so it's an excellent example of how the MLS has generally poor defending across the league coupled with the opposite in that teams attacking ability is generally pretty good. Most teams in this league don't handle pressure along the back line well (it's something LAFC has done for years now to great affect). It's my sole big complaint with the MLS that the defending league wide isn't at the same quality as it's attacking play is.

I'm also in the boat that I want to see new expansion teams do well, namely because I want to see the league and the sport across the country as a whole do well. However, STL isn't doing anything crazy, they're just pressing teams really well and I think teams were/are not prepared for their quality in attack too. They seem to be an expansion team more along the lines of Atlanta FC and LAFC than the recent expansion teams which is great for the league. 

They have a stretch of games coming up which will tell us about their true quality, where they play Seattle at Lumen's and Cincy in back to back weeks. For what it's worth, 538's prediction model, and it's surprisingly accurate in terms of predicting the eventual champion (their SPI rating specifically), doesn't highly rate STL at this point in the season despite their stellar start and seems to suggest the team has been a little lucky or that their start isn't sustainable. 

I hope STL keeps it up because that part of the country has long been a soccer hotbed and have been arguably the best support/atmospheres for the NT's when they played there.

9 hours ago, MJWalker45 said:

Unfortunately I don't think the outside hires will start until after they bring in a sporting director, most likely Oguchi Onyawu. Jesse Marsch is probably at the top of the list her manager too. After that we start hitting MLS retreads and European coaches not currently with a team.

I think you're right. Really don't want Jesse either, even though he's better than Gregg, his teams also struggle mightily with scoring. He isn't ready to lead a NT yet, but Gregg wasn't either and the US still hired him anyways. 

I fully expect the US to hire a sporting director and manager who both have some ties to the federation and I'd be stunned if they didn't. Have to add that both could be fully qualified and competent enough to fill those roles even if they're former USMNT players, I just want to see the US get away from the buddy-buddy system they've been employing for a few decades.

7 hours ago, Digby said:

There are valid criticisms to be made against Berhalter but “soccer terrorism”? Jeesh. 14th best in the world with 25 players who hadn’t even been in the program the previous cycle really isn’t so bad.

Any somewhat competent coach could have gotten the USMNT to that same result. I'm not impressed with a finish that should be expected from the US, especially when you consider that the US didn't play well throughout any of the 4 games (aside from two 45-minute halves in seperate games).

Tough to see Zeke go as he's one of my favorite Cowboy players ever, but the writing has been on the wall for a few years now. Due to a combination of age, injuries and general wear and tear from playing RB in the NFL, he lost his speed and explosiveness that made him one of the league's best backs in his first 3 years. He's been steadily declining since 2018 and coupled with the emergence of Pollard being one of the league's most explosive backs, I think we all saw this coming. There's a chance he comes back for the vet minimum, but that's unlikely at this point.

In terms of his statistics, he ends his Cowboys' career as the 3rd best back in franchise history. We'll always have that spectacular 2016 season (and the "what could have been" from that year). 

4 hours ago, DG_ThenNowForever said:

Why wouldn't Gregg come back to coach USMNT? He had a success run with Gold Cup and Nation Cup wins, and he got out of a difficult group.

 

It looks a bit like some extracurricular distractions were a part of the reason he didn't go further; why dump the coach and not the distractions guy?

Not to rehash this because I've said this numerous times, but Berhalter is a tactically poor coach and promotes soccer terrorism. The US only scored 3 goals in 4 games (worst offensive output by the USMNT in a WC since the 2006 WC debacle) and his system was ill suited for the pool the US currently possesses. NT coaches, especially the successful ones, create systems that best utilizes the skills of the player pool instead of forcing players to fit into a system that not only do they have little time to actually learn but also just didn't fit he players.

Furthermore, IMO, US Soccer needs to get rid of the nepotism that plagues the federation. Retaining anyone from the Berhalter era whether it be Gregg, or anyone else involved in this embarrassing ordeal (especially Reyna's parents) would be a mistake. US Soccer needs to move forward, not backwards. The fact that Reyna's parents felt like they could attempt to manipulate, bully and intimidate the federation into doing what they wanted is proof of the nepotism in the federation.

I'd like to see the US begin hiring from the outside. Hire qualified general managers and coaches with zero ties to the federation. 

The Lakers should have made this trade months ago. This team is night and day different, and crucially, far better than they were with Westbrook. It's only been a month, but the team has been on a 50-win pace since the trade. Hopefully it's not too little, too late, but assuming they stay healthy and get a healthy LeBron, this team could make things interesting in the wide-open West come playoff time. 

1 hour ago, Digby said:

A comically MLS start to the season with LAFC v Galaxy in front of 75,000 people at the Rose Bowl having to be postponed due to freak LA snowstorm. Bummer!

They're saying this is a generational type of storm in terms of it's severity and rarity. My neighborhood has flash flood warnings for the first time that I can remember. LA as a whole has it's first blizzard warning since the 80's. The mountains near LA are expected to be hit with upwards of 8-10 ft of snow which is basically unheard of here. Pretty good call to reschedule it all things considered. Not only would it be difficult to fill the stadium with fans, even just a few thousand, the field itself would be muddy and unplayable (it could possibly even have a small amount of snow).

For LAFC, it's definitely a bummer not to be able to open our title defending season in what was looking like would be the biggest domestic game in LA soccer history (in terms of fan attendance), but on the flip side it only feels right to play our first game as champions back at the Banc.

23 minutes ago, Cujo said:

 

I'd imagine "Las Vegas Outlaws" would be  permissible if "Vipers" is. 

 

Just a shame. The entire identity was 10/10.

 

Back in the day when Madden was good, specifically '05-'07, I used to replace the whole league with 32 created teams and I always attempted to remake this team on there. 

That Las Vegas Outlaws team is one of my all-time favorite identities in sports history.

13 hours ago, 8BW14 said:

Sure the Eagles defender had his hands on him but he never held the receiver. 

We have stop saying this. It was unquestionably a hold.

Is it ticky tacky? Very much so. Were the refs generally letting them play throughout the game? Yes. Was it a hold? Definitively, yes. The first one clearly shows a jersey pull. He even held him twice on the play. Additionally, Bradberry himself said it was a hold. That should be the end of it. 

Quote

Not to mention it all occurred before the pass was thrown and near the line of scrimmage. I know that doesn’t preclude defensive holding but there was really nothing there. 

I have many complaints of defensive holding calls, especially when the holding is away from the play or that it's an automatic first down penalty, but a defensive holding is defensive holding. It's one of the more clear cut rules that the NFL has in terms of how it's defined. Defenders cannot grab and pull/hold onto receiving targets, no matter where they are on the field or if the QB even throws a pass (even in the backfield or on the LOS). I'd even wager that if Bradberry doesn't hold JuJu on this play, this is probably a TD. He would have been wide, wide open. JuJu beat him instantly off the line.

4 hours ago, DoctorWhom said:

Like I said, the rose tinted glasses for Mahomes is insane.

I'm a Cowboys fan, not a Chiefs fan. There are no rose tinted glasses. I call it as I see it. In fact, until the Rams moved back home to LA, the Raiders were my second favorite team and I grew up disliking the Chiefs. You're letting your own bias cloud your opinion here. 

Mahomes is the best QB today and already an all-time great QB. Any one that attempts to lessen his greatness is delusional and doesn't know ball. 

1 hour ago, gothedistance said:

 

Going back to when?

2004 - Patriots v. Eagles was the start

1 hour ago, FiddySicks said:

Here’s something that might make people happy. Chiefs winning the Super Bowl made Tom Brady and the Bucs what I like to call the “ultimate playoff losers”. There’s almost always one every single season (It might always happen? I haven’t thought this one through fully and have been drinking). 
 

Bucs lost to Dallas who lost to San Francisco who lost to Philly who lost to KC. Everyone point and laugh at the seven time champion. 

This is more fun/interesting than I initially thought it would be. It actually doesn't happen every season. Last year the "ultimate playoff loser" was New England ironically enough. NE lost to Buf, who lost to KC, who lost to Cincy, who lost to LA. 

Last time we didn't have a UPL was 2017. 

58 minutes ago, DoctorWhom said:

Way to ignore the point. They did the same with the Raiders. 

But apparently their arrogance gets a free pass. 

This is weird, man. Normal people don't get this worked up about a game that didn't involve their team. The outdoors would do wonders for you my man. Personally, I chose playing basketball as my method to get back into the real world when I use to get like this.

It ain't that serious. 

2 minutes ago, DoctorWhom said:

Chiefs have already become more unlikeable, boring, & arrogant than those Patriots teams. 

Patriot fans still reminding the league they're as insufferable as ever. The fact you can sit here and say that with a straight face after the Patriots terrorized the league for almost 20 years is astounding. Are you even old enough to remember all of New England's titles? They played some of the most boring, blandest type of football we've ever seen in the modern era but it worked to perfection. Brady was a boring QB in terms of style and no one did it better than he did. 

Say what you will about Mahomes, but you cannot say he's boring or unlikable. Have we already forgotten about the greatest throw in Super Bowl history? Or the no-look passes? 

Patriot fans complaining about anyone being unlikeable, boring and arrogant is incongruous.  

12 minutes ago, 8BW14 said:

That was a horse:censored: holding call. This is coming from a Cowboys fan who would have rather an asteroid landed at midfield and vaporized both teams, than see the either one win. Say whatever you’d like but it flat out handed the game to the Chiefs.

We have to stop acting like this was the worse call we've ever seen in the Super Bowl. It was a penalty, albeit an incredibly lame penalty, but Bradberry definitely grabbed Juju twice. The refs were probably looking at him more intently because of the missed holding penalties they didn't call on him earlier in the game. It was a tough call but we've seen worse.

EDIT: I feel the need to add that the Eagles had a 10-point lead at halftime, only allowing 1 offensive TD to the Chiefs in the first half, but they couldn't stop the Chiefs from scoring in the 2nd half. They gave up 3 straight TD's and obviously the FG at the end. Can't blame the refs for one call when the defense couldn't stop Mahomes and the Chiefs even once when it mattered.

It was a tough call in that situation, but the Eagles also got away with penalties and questionable calls too. Bradberry got away with a clear hold on Juju in the first half, that Goedert catch on the sideline in the 3rd was questionably close, and Gardner-Johnson got away with a clear spearing on Pacheco on that game-winning drive. Those were the ones off the top of my head, but the larger point is that the officials are terrible and miss calls on both sides.

On 2/2/2023 at 12:23 PM, Rockstar Matt said:

 

That Eagles defense excels against bad and average offenses (or offenses with bad/average QB's). However, they've struggled mightily against explosive offenses with capable quarterbacks at the helm ... to think they're going to shut down Mahomes and the #1 offense in the league when they've shown they cannot stop good offenses with good quarterbacks isn't accurate. 

 

I expect this game to be relatively high scoring, possibly with both teams scoring 30+. It should be a good game. 

Turns out, this was accurate. 

What a game. One of the better Super Bowls I've ever seen. Really wish that call didn't happen at the end, for me it ruined how good the game was overall. Once that was called, I think everyone knew the Chiefs would win. Mahomes should win Super Bowl MVP, but Jalen played well enough to win and was deserving of that award too. 

Mahomes is absolutely unreal. He's only been in the league for 5 seasons but he's already a first ballot Hall of Famer. I feel rather confident in stating that Mahomes will go down as one of the 3 to 4 best QB's ever. He has the chance to be the GOAT if he keeps this up.

Y'all know I hate the Eagles and love seeing them get screwed over, but that's a tough call in that spot. Super ticky-tacky call. By the strictest definition of the rule, it's the right call but that's rough man.

7 minutes ago, Discrim said:

On topic, this has been one of the better Super Bowls I've seen.  Best atmosphere I can recall for one too.

Great Super Bowl. Can't ask for anything better in terms of entertainment.

Mahomes and Andy Reid are an outstanding QB/coach combo. Pure genius on those last two TD's.

If Philly can't get pressure on Mahomes, the Chiefs are going to score 50+ points. That was one of the easiest looking scoring drives I've ever seen in the Super Bowl.

I saw this last night and to be quite honest, I couldn't believe it. LeBron James, Michael Jordan and Wilt Chamberlain are the only players in NBA history who have more 50+ point games than single digit point games.