nfreeman

Good. Berglund is front-runner for the role of my new whipping boy.

So, SJ is 2-3-1, having played 5 out of 6 on the road. They seem to be struggling on the PP and in goal: http://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/25016380/nhl-five-reasons-why-san-jose-sharks-struggling-season Let's get 'em.

Couple other points: - Although I criticized upthread the Sabres' failure to match VGK's intensity early on, it was frankly pretty reasonable for VGK to come out harder than the Sabres. The Sabres weathered the storm OK -- not great, but OK -- and by the middle of the 2nd period, they were taking it to Vegas pretty well and generating pretty good offense. My disappointment was in how one-sided the game was until that point and in how little the Sabres got from Eichel and Reino. They needed at least their top line to create some offense and break VGK's momentum a little, and those 2 guys failed to deliver -- even on the PP, which was terrible. - Hutton was terrific again and kept them in it during the 1st 2 periods.

I think this is the most likely outcome, but I can see him getting canned in the 2nd half of the season if the bottom falls out.

I'm fine with a bigger shakeup, but I don't think I'd start with Mitts and TT. Mitts doesn't seem to me to be lacking confidence -- I just think his timing isn't quite there, and that plus KO's struggles means there isn't enough finish on that line. As for TT, he's been stuck on Berglund's line, and Berglund has been terrible in the offensive zone IMHO. I'd bench Berglund and/or Pommer in favor of some Rochester kids before I sent down Mitts and/or TT.

Flagg -- keep bringing it please.

Vegas came out flying and determined last night, and the Sabres didn’t come close to matching their intensity. That’s a Howie issue, to be sure, but it’s also a leadership issue. The alleged young leadership core — Eichel, Reino and Risto — did nothing (unless you want to count Reino giving Vegas their 2nd goal with a terrible turnover at the blue line, which he repeated on the next PP, as well as contributing mightily to the Vegas goal that was called back by bailing on his back check). At some point the players have to want it bad enough.

Reino: 0 goals in 6 games (and a minus-5 for Pi) KO: also 0 goals Mitts and TT: also 0 goals Time to change the lines. Sheary-Eichel-TT Skinner-Mitts-Reino Sobotka-ERod-KO Zemgus-Berglund-Pommer

Just when I was thinking that Reino was having a strong period, he bailed on the backcheck for no reason and gave Theodore the inside lane to the hole while Dahlin was taking the outside. That was a great hit by Bogo. I've never heard someone pronounce "Vegas" the way Rayzor does.

Who is starting in net???

Welcome Sue!

OK, Mr. Smarty-Pants. I appreciate the links but I don't think DBTB has any advance info on lineups. I've been a bit disappointed in Berglund -- I feel like his line never generates any offense, and his playmaking skills are closer to Larsson-level (i.e. zero) than I was expecting.

Ullmark or Hutton? I vote Ullmark. Larsson or Berglund? I vote Berglund, although kinda half-heartedly. Bogo or Nelson? I vote Bogo, because I want to see what Howie likes so much. If they make all 3 of those changes -- that would be kinda a lot of changes to make after a good win.

McD and Beane really and unnecessarily have painted themselves into a corner with their "management" of the QB position this year. They've made one major blunder after another: - Failing to get any of the good vet QBs in the offseason - Unloading McCarron and going into the season with only Allen and Peterman - Not releasing Peterman immediately following that epic week 1 debacle - Not bringing in another QB until after week 5 They've put themselves into a situation where they either have to start a 36-year-old career mediocrity who has been with the team for a week, or a guy who clearly can't play in the NFL and who should've been out of the league 5 weeks ago at the latest. This series of decisions is as stupid as any move Whaley ever made -- and that's a high bar. WTF were they thinking??

Nelson had the fewest minutes vs AZ, so it's logical that he would be the one bumped in favor of Bogo.

Thanks Liger.

Please take this to the politics club. Thanks.

You're accusing him of exploiting his boss' religious beliefs for personal gain. Of course it's a smear. What do you know about Nathan that makes you think he is doing this? As for the question of whether it's appropriate in a workplace -- a bit of unpacking is needed. No one is interviewing employees at my workplace (or at most others) about their failures, so there isn't the opportunity for an employee who has made a series of blunders to openly seek comfort in religion. I suppose if someone at my office made a major blunder, and I confronted that person about it, and he/she said something like "I know I screwed up but I'm not going to jump off a bridge -- I have faith in God and my faith helps me understand that even though my work here is poor, it's also not the sum total of who I am" -- I don't think I would be terribly put off by that response (and frankly would be glad that the person wasn't going to jump off a bridge), although it wouldn't make me any less inclined to be in favor of firing that person. Yes, but it would've cost them something like $18MM - $20MM for them to keep TT.

So McD is more inclined to accept poor performance in white players than in black players? Again: any empirical data to support this? Any anecdotal data (other than Peterman's ongoing employment, of course, which I agree is evidence of a flaw, but a different flaw than the one you've suggested)? Anything a-tall other than "my gut tells me he's subconsciously biased in favor of white people?"

As I mentioned, I think it's suspicious if someone appears to adopt religion at the same time he takes a new job where the boss is religious. If he was already openly religious before taking the job -- then I don't think it's suspicious. It's probably worth a bit of looking into before deploying the smear.

What do you see that is in line with racist behavior? Do the Bills have fewer black players than other teams? Has anyone associated with the Bills made racist statements or committed racist actions? Is there anything tangible whatsoever to support this accusation? Or are you just so put off by McD's open religiousness that you are willing to free-associate your way into assumptions regarding awful character flaws that must be animating their decisions?

That's an "if" that swallows the entire issue.

This is not even close to being true.

I thought I knew why you made the comment, but then your response to Neo didn't seem consistent with the worldview underlying the original comment.

What is this based on? Was he not religious before joining the Bills? Maybe he knows he's been embarrassed on TV for the 3rd time in front of everyone he knows and he's at the end of his lifelong dream, and he's taking comfort where he believes he should. Do you think everyone who professes religious beliefs is some kind of hustler? Then why did you make the comment about him being white?