That Aud Smell

Interesting. Wickersham certainly seems to have it out for the Patriots. We'd all love to see that happen, but I don't expect a stranger-than-fiction story-line like that to play out. Same with this. My sense is that the report is based in some truth, but largely over-blown. Belichick really did have a difficult situation to resolve with Garappolo. He must have presumed that the young guy was poised to take over for Brady -- that Brady would retire. But then Brady didn't. And Garrapolo looked good -- maybe great. I'm sure Kraft had a hand in making the decision too. In any case, my bet is that this story helps fuel the Patriots to yet another Superbowl victory. Maybe after that Brady calls it quits. My money remains on Brady retiring before Belichick does. The latter, I think, wants to prove that he can do it without Brady.

It was silky.

I heard Rob Ray’s comments to the effect that PH consciously chose a shiny, happy, positive approach with his team — going to bat for them publicly despite struggles. That’s his philhousley (philosophy), evidently. I’m not sure we’ll get to see if that philhousley coild ever achieve positive results with this squad.

Just saw the Risto hit on Twitter. What a garbage play that is. Neil-esque in its angle of approach, if not in its lateness.

I appreciate that sort of feedback.

Our fan base's reaction has been so uniquely wonderful that I'm really starting to believe that's true. (Heretofore, I mostly subscribed to the theory of "folks is folks" no matter where you go.) Word up. I was watching in a large common space of a hotel, among friends and total strangers, and there was like a 15-dude dog pile on the rabbit celebration - with friends and strangers alike. Glorious.

Oooooh. Eye rolling at the eye rollers. But who eye rolls at those who eye roll at the eye rollers? HUH?

Hells yeah. They really are good. And they've been getting better and better (and better). And I say that without blowing too much smoke at RF. For example in this instance, I found Scotty's post about what to do with ROR to be interesting as well.

Really good stuff, Flagg.

I agree with that. He's somewhat overpaid based on current production and trend. Not the worst thing in the world -- especially when you're overpaying for a center who can reliably do some key things. But I really mean it when I ask: Is dude too slow?

I'd like to believe this is true. My concern remains that he's too slow to keep up with the game as it's now being played -- that he was tabbed, in error, by GM TM as precisely the sort of player a good NHL team would need going forward. passage of time and associated increase of the cap?

Beautiful. @ him with that - he may well take notice and RT or whatever. My childhood football heroes were guys like Ferguson and Cribbs, and I was college-aged when the Bills were a perennial contender (which makes me damn near 50 now). And I went/am going craaaazy over this turn of events. You won't catch my eyes rolling. Like the young man says in the clip: It's hard to beat a team three times! https://twitter.com/stoolpresidente/status/948634624246403077 My advice: Stay young at heart, and enjoy what's given. I sense some gamesmanship here.

Good takes, imo. I'm not sure an over-priced ROR could be part of a deal to fetch an OEL, though.

I'm not sure who or what Meatwad is, but I've been thinking a lot about how the history of NFL playoff football seems littered with fresh-legged flash-in-the-pan RB success stories. Who remembers Fast Willie Parker from the Steelers? I'm telling you, there is a real chance that Murphy could post a ~20-110-2 line against the Jags. Not a good chance. But a real one.

Apologies for not finding/seeing a more recent thread on the topic (like, one from this season), but I'd prefer to revive one rather than start one anew. This was just posted to the Twitter. Mike Kelly@MikeKellyNHL Top 5 forwards in puck battles won per game (even-strength): 1. O'Reilly - 4.0 2. Kopitar - 3.9 3. Matthews - 3.8 4. Barkov - 3.7 5. E. Staal - 3.6 In my mind, ROR had a really rough start to the season (mainly, he seemed super slow) and then maybe started to look better of late. But maybe that perception is/was off?

You are what your record says you are. I quite like that maxim. Anything that is bound to happen -- because of what the underlying numbers say -- has not yet happened, and therefore has no bearing on what you are at that particular point in time. That sort of thinking bears on what you may yet become. But not on what you are.

Ah, quite so. Gotcha.

I'm not sure how or whether the two things relate. Like, at all. In any case, mine was largely covered by my health insurance policy. There was a decent deductible or co-pay involved (as there would have been for any similar out-patient procedure), but it was otherwise covered.

^ Amazing.

I've mostly abandoned my "faith-based" angle of skepticism with McDermott. Whatever I may think of that particular world view, it matters not. What matters is whether McDermott can sell what he's preaching to his team. And I think he can and does. Put maybe another way: Would my intellectualized, ironic, skeptical outlook on the world tend to galvanize and motivate an NFL roster? Most certainly not. Interesting.

I firmly believe that the Bills weren't winning that Chargers game, in all events. A breath-taking amount of good fortune was needed for this team to qualify for the playoffs. But, whatever. I'll take it without any further analysis.* * If only also to note that the team made enough personnel moves earlier in the year that there was talk of tanking. McDermott deserves full credit for wringing 9 wins out of this squad. There is something to be said for the ... wait ... yes, I'll say it ... culture that he created and fostered.

I didn't hear him say it, but the way I heard it in my head was in the manner of an adrenaline-fueled business exec speaking in that context. That is: With a bit of a wink and a nod, a little gleam in the eye. Maybe some gum-chomping and a shoulder-clap-with-open-hand tossed in for good measure.

I used the term "ideal" above, and these posts prompted me to reflect: The list of priorities on how and when and where this gets done is something like this: 1a. Baby's need to eat. 1b. Mom's convenience and necessity. 2. No other valid considerations.

Increasingly normal, for sure. I'm not averse to thinking that it's a better practice to cover or remove oneself before feeding. And now, even having typed that, I'm not sure that's appropriate for me to say. To each their own, I guess. I happen to think that it's a sufficiently intimate act and that - from a functional standpoint - there's something to be gained from having a little privacy and quiet, that just going into feed-mode in the middle of a conversation or whatever isn't ideal. My girls attend(ed) an all-female high school -- that school abandoned the term "freshman" years ago. I dunno. This is a pretty easy tweak, so I'd say it's on this side of "too much." Where I start to draw the line is on the creeping insistence that all of society abandon cis-normative (sp?) pronouns and assumptions. My wife was at a coffee shop last week, and there were 5 other (apparent) women waiting with her for their orders. It wasn't a Starbucks, so people didn't have names on their cups. The barista comes over with an order and says "okay, ladies, who had the two mocha lattes?" Someone among the group sniffed loudly and remarked that it was awfully presumptuous to address the group as "ladies." My wife was still trying to sort that out hours later, and I think I'm still a bit perplexed. Sorry to hear of this. Did they pirate it for their own commercial use?

In order: Nope. He cares -- just not as much as he cares about the Bills. Especially when -- as the old saw used to go (still goes?) -- hockey season doesn't even start until football season is over. Nope. As posted in the Bills thread, I am pretty sure that I know who and what Terry is at this point, and what/who he is not. It is what it is; he is who he is.