Sport

1 hour ago, The_Admiral said:

It's frustrating when people try to do a platonic ideal of "'90s graphics" and it's just the opening credits to Saved by the Bell. This Tim Burton/Smashing Pumpkins stuff was like third on the depth chart at best, but it was very much there, and somehow it aged ten times worse than doing too much stuff with Macs and pretending to be an Indian.

And the opening credits to Saved by the Bell were way more 80's-coded anyways. Drives me nuts when a minor league baseball team does 90's night and they go with something like Memphis Milano or Contempo Eclectic. I guess it was still around, but that's not the defining aesthetic of the times. 

There's a post going around social media that's like "When did the 90's actually begin and end?" and my answer is when T2 came out in 1991 and it ended with our response to 9/11. So when I picture the 90's I think of those years, which is a lot of early 90's Bugle Boy ass s***, but mostly it's grunge, coffee house, and Frasurbane. Browns, tans, mustards, muted greens, darker reds. Autumnal colors. To put it in sports uniform terms, the 90's were the Milwaukee Brewers Motre Bame unis and the Sonics green, gold, and red unis.

Their kitchen chairs were like this and the mirror and table in the front hallway were very similar too. Brushed nickel metal everything. It was a very cold, unwelcoming, not homey environment. 

It was a little more industrial than the set on Sabrina the Teenage Witch, but it felt a lot like this. 

His parents were older and his dad did something in the coffee business, had a pilot's license, and owned a small airplane that he would use for business. My dad would always put "Coffee" in air quotes whenever he talked about him. No idea what happened to that kid or his parents. 

19 hours ago, JerseyJimmy said:

not sure why, but this feels like Dallas' cup to lose. them being by far the least interesting potential winner might have something to do with it.

 

The Stars have been the most quietly good team for the last five years, including 2019 when they were a goal away from eliminating eventual cup champ St. Louis. I just can't ever be arsed to have an opinion about them. Jamie Benn is an airhead and Tyler Seguin is...also an airhead. Who's their best defenseman? A no-nonsense Fin. Snooze. 

I'll be pulling for the Oilers. The Stars have had a :censored: of a first two rounds and eventually it'll catch up to them. 

In the Former Blue Jackets Bowl I'll probably find myself pulling for the Rangers, but I really have nothing against the Panthers. With all of the Penguins, Red Wings, Bruins, Hurricanes, Lightning, Blackhawks, Kings, or Golden Knights it'll be a relatively stress free conference finals from this hockey fan and that almost never happens when you hate too many teams like I do. 

Thank you for sharing. It's good to have terms for these things I've felt, but couldn't quite put a button on. 

Like Corporate Memphis is the name of the style I've hated this whole time. Or like being a kid in the 90's and never really vibing with whimsicraft 

Also fun to know now that the way my friend's weird mom decorated their house in the 90's was called whimsigothic. Everything in his house was pointy, dark, and uncomfortable.

On 5/16/2024 at 5:17 PM, The_Admiral said:

https://cari.institute/aesthetics/corporate-gen-x-cyber

 

It says "Early 1990s - Late 1990s" but this is concentrated 1998:

 

ESPN 2/ Danny Boyle Core. A 19 year old graphic designer who works in the athletic department for a university could do numbers on twitter right now just by copying that shoe ad. 

I thought this thread was gonna be about how the zoomers don't know how to correctly use the word "aesthetic"

Hope antagonistc Hurricanes fans enjoyed the six days they could wear their cry t-shirts. 

https://x.com/FOS/status/1785799358635520413

4 hours ago, Brass said:

 

The problem is that there was contact on Coyle by Bennett, and the rule is pretty clear.

 

 

Not trying to argue for a penalty on Bennett, but definitely arguing the should have been disallowed.

I think, first, Coyle contacts the goaltender himself and then, second, is barely tapped. It's one of those letter of the law versus spirit of the law things and I always side with the spirit of the law because it would've been ultra lame to disallow a goal that probably would've been scored even if Coyle hadn't fallen on him. And I have no dog in this fight really. If it was disallowed I would've said "that's weak as hell, but I guess that's the rule" I guess what I'm saying is it wasn't a bad enough botched call for me to feel like the Bruins got cheated. 

Congrats on the win last night. 

On 5/10/2024 at 10:13 PM, infrared41 said:

 

It may be my lack of hockey expertise talking, but there was no point during the Bruins - Leafs series where I thought that either one of those teams were getting past Florida.

That whole series felt pointless and I couldn't find the holiday spirit for it because they looked like the 7th and 8th best teams in the Eastern Conference bracket and I knew neither would be a factor for the rest of the playoffs. Watching the Bruins now is making me think even less of the Maple Leafs. The series would already be over if the Leafs had advanced. Their ceiling is second round exit if everything goes correctly and if I was them I would start over, but they can't because nobody will take those forward contracts. 

Speaking of Boston, I feel like I'm going insane on the reviewed Florida goal. What's the problem? Coyle skated into the crease himself and was barely touched and you all know it deep down. It feels like manufactured controversy to deflect from how uneven things are. I have this personal rule where if you get outshot by a hundred I can't feel bad that you lost a hockey game on an iffy call. 

Saturday night was intense. I watched that FCC-Crew game with all the anxiety that I usually feel during Bengals-Steelers games. Glad to finally get a W up there. 

13 hours ago, infrared41 said:

 

Well, that was easier than I thought it would be.

 

 

I really like this Rangers team. Almost as much as I like the Oilers. Rangers-Oilers in the final would be very fun. 

13 hours ago, Glover said:

Some Canes fans probably haven’t received their ‘CRY’ shirts in the mail yet. By the time they get it the Rangers will have swept us and the shirt will have a whole new meaning. 

It's not your fault, but getting swept after the team account acted like a 14 year twitter troll in 2014 after beating the dang ass Islanders in round 1 like that's anything to get cocky about is exactly the justice the Hurricanes deserve. 

Mackin Celebrini will be a San Jose Shark, which is kind of cool since his dad works for the Warriors.
 

At least he didn’t go to Chicago. 

55 minutes ago, ruttep said:

 

Who's your conference final and Cup picks? 

 

I'd say FLA/NYR and DAL/EDM

 

NYR over DAL

 

Chalk ass playoffs indeed.

My picks were close. Stars > Oilers and Rangers > Bruins and then the Rangers beating the Stars in the final. 

I think I would change it now that Dallas had to tough out 7 hard ones while the Avs have been sitting and waiting after averaging over 5 goals per game against the Jets. They look formidable again. Personally I'll be pulling hard for the Oilers to go all the way. 

I went 7/8 on my picks. Would've gone 8-0 had I not changed from Panthers to Lightning, but I felt like my bracket was Chalky Studebaker so I switched it. Turns out it was the most chalky first round I can remember. 

Where's our guy who always complains that the NHL playoffs are too unpredictable and then goes into the NBA playoffs thread and gripes that they're too predictable? 

Obituaries were flying around for the Leafs after game 4 and I thought it was incredibly premature because the Leafs don't ever let their fans off that easily. This series going to game 7 was the least surprising outcome. What has been surprising is how messy the Bruins have looked the last two. They skipped the first period entirely last night and were structurally all over the place last night. I was baffled how much time they spent chasing the Leafs. 

Good for William Nylander to come through. Feels like the "Core 4" of the Leafs never seem to get it done in these big games that count and he did last night, especially with the dagger on the breakaway. If the NHL was covered the way the NBA is we'd have two straight days of Ewing Theory debates with Auston Matthews. Personal anecdote about William Nylander: I sat in the second row in a game in Columbus last December. There was a very attractive woman seated in front of me. Nylander skated by our corner and gave her eyes during every single TV timeout. LOL. 

Fascinating thing about this game 7 is the team that wins will exorcise a demon and the team that loses is going to take on even more emotional baggage. Bruins are trying to avoid blowing a 3-1 lead in the first round for the second straight year and I think that'll infect this core with a stink that'll be hard to wash off. The Leafs, experienced in blowing a 3-1 lead in the first round themselves, are trying to finally overcome the Boston Bruins, not lose in the first round for the 6th* time in 8 years, and redeem themselves for choking the 3-1 lead to the Habs in 2021. I can't wait. 

*doesn't even include the play-in loss in the bubble.

This social media strategy also feels outdated. It was funny and subversive in 2012 when the Kings were one of the first teams to use a punchy voice in their official team tweets, but now it's just tired and annoying. It feels as calculated and studied as anything. Eventually the Canes will lose a series, which is hopefully this next one, and they will have earned the ratio of people who tweet "Cry" at them. I hope the Rangers wipe the ice with them.

5 minutes ago, BBTV said:

I’m not sure there’s a person on these boards that takes even the slightest reference to his teams as personally as you do. My gods, anyone even quips about the bengals or shows a picture that was about a rule and not a Red, and the guns come out. 

Wasn't personal until this. The only thing this has to do with the Reds is because I happened to watch the moment in question live and knew the tweet was misleading and wrong. Happy to dump on umpires whenever they deserve it, but that wasn't it. 

If you're going to say something like this at least quote me so I get the notification. 

16 hours ago, BBTV said:

 

TF is with this?  He was out by a full foot.  The knee didn't even come into play.

The hell it didn't. That picture is deliberately deceiving. He wasn't "out by a full foot" because Sosa missed the tag. Sorry, but it was the correct call.

Here's a picture of Sosa missing the tag and De La Cruz's hand running into his knee. From the other angle you can see De La Cruz's hand touch the base under Sosa's knee before the tag anyway. He was safe with or without the obstruction call.  But this play is exactly why the rule exists. The batter went on to strike out and the following batter grounded out to first for the last out of the inning so De La Cruz didn't even score from third anyway.

I officially declare this grievance from Philadelphia Stupid. 

10 hours ago, kimball said:

 

I won't lie ... I had the same thought.

 

Plus, Salt Lake City MORE so in the mountains than Denver is. Denver is basically Kansas.

I was surprised by this for both cities the first times I went there. Entire drive into Denver I kept waiting to scale a mountain and then I was in Denver while the mountains were still well in the distance. Then in Salt Lake City you fly over and then down a mountain to get to the airport. The mountain is like RIGHT THERE the entire time you're in the city. Not sure why Denver became known as THE mountain city when SLC is more mountainous. 

8 hours ago, infrared41 said:

 

Not enough people to make any real difference.

But you’d rather have more than less, right? My point was to show that in addition to having a small metro area (47th last I checked) they’re also kind of geographically isolated. 

NHL Hitz ass arena. Can't believe they let this happen for even one home game, let alone two full seasons. 

7 minutes ago, BBTV said:

Wait who’s driving 200 miles to an NHL game? 

Me, people who live in a city that doesn't have an NHL team. 

16 hours ago, The_Admiral said:

I don't think we touched upon this, but Salt Lake City was the Golden Knights' biggest secondary market and now that's gone, along with most of the rest of the Intermountain West that they'd been allowed to squat on.

I'm kind of nervous about SLC for this reason. Found this website where you can find population inside of a certain radius. 

https://www.statsamerica.org/radius/big.aspx

I set Salt Lake City and drew a 200 mile radius, which I figure to be about the edge of where a normal person would drive to attend a game. The tool says about 3.7 million people live in that circle. Sounds like a lot of people, but consider that little small market Columbus, Ohio using the same radius is over 28 million (that doesn't even include Chicago) and it feels like trouble.

Here's some other markets not clustered in the Northeast using this same metric:

Nashville - 17 million

Raleigh - 16

St. Paul - almost 8

St. Louis - 9.5

"well the West is big and people are spread out" Yeah, still. There's 7.8 million people within 200 miles of Las Vegas. Denver, Colorado - 6 million. Seattle - over 9, etc. All way more than SLC. Phoenix's is 7.3, for the record. 

They're moving the team to a place on the map where there just aren't that many people, the closest NHL team to pull in visiting fans from is in Denver 500 miles away so they're not going to get the natural visitors gates like Columbus does from Penguins, Red Wings and Blackhawks fans. Plus they already have the NBA, College sports, and MLS teams. They're probably over-extended as it is. I wish them luck. 

Good! Maybe the new guy can come up with a less annoying/stupid victory call. 

Tonight is Jeff Rimer's last game on the call before he retires. He's been the TV play-by-play guy for the Blue Jackets since the 05 lockout, but also called games for the Panthers, Capitals, and Candiens before that. Once famously got in a clubhouse fight with Pete Rose during the 1984 Expos season. 

I hated Rimer at first because I didn't get him. He was unpolished, messed up names, never seemed to know what team the penalty was against, but I've grown attached to him over the last 20 seasons. Really loved all his little character moments, his genuine love for hockey, his small thesaurus of favorite phrases, and I get what he is now. He's a character. And as his time with the Blue Jackets got longer his homerism for the team got bigger and it came through over the air. A newer franchise without any success, it's nice and novel to have a homer in your corner.  Also developed a great ham and egg rapport with Jody Shelley. I'll miss him a lot. Wish he got to cover better teams in Columbus.

Hope the new person doesn't suck. 

15 hours ago, The_Admiral said:

I think Phoenix would have had to have been an expansion for it to work. Acknowledge that there's not an NHL arena and build one. Take time to assemble a decent hockey-ops staff and business staff (whatever they inherited from the Jets was not it) and most of all, an owner who knows exactly what he's getting into. Not Minnesota guys who got derped by the worthless goddamn Timberwolves, not real estate speculators trying to get rich off a strip mall, not Wayne Gretzky, and not the parade of dopes who came in after the league. It needed to be a conscientious, from-the-ground-up project, but it wasn't, so it failed.

I think their ceiling if they'd built an arena on the east side of downtown would be Dallas' floor. It wouldn't have been a smashing success, but they'd still be around. The Westgate Entertainment District was like intentionally walking into quicksand and they've only lasted this long because the league dragged them along. But I believe if you took any hockey market in the league and plopped the team on the other side of the city away from the bulk of the money then they would also struggle. It was suicide doing it with a team with no roots established in the city. 

There's been so many bad moves with them it makes the Blue Jackets look like the Lightning. Remember when they hired a math-whiz middle schooler to be GM who thought he could moneyball the Coyotes to success and then threw a diaper tantrum and quit? Probably best known now as the guy with the hot sister.