Doohickie

Nice. I was just going to post that.

And the Game 5 winner is the strongest indicator of the series winner, iirc

Sorry... should have gotten that from context.

Fort Worth is a weird city with respect to sports teams. We're approaching 1 million in population so we should by that measure have some of our own professional sports teams, but we're an hour from Dallas (population 1.3 million but with several large suburbs even if you don't count Fort Worth). So mostly we're in the Dallas sports orbit. The fact that the Cowboys and Rangers play in the same county as Fort Worth (in Arlington) is a nod to Fort Worth's influence, but the NLL Panthers and the semi-pro National Premier Soccer League Fort Worth Vaqueros are the only teams branded with and playing in Fort Worth (and the official name of the NLL team doesn't even say Fort Worth; a blunder in my opinion). The lead sponsor of the Vaqueros, incidentally, is a dive bar made of cinder block 😛 I think a lot of people like the idea of having Fort Worth sports teams but the teams themselves haven't haven't done a very good job of marketing themselves to prospective fans. I know they're both Pegula owned, but the Bandits seem like they market a lot at Sabres games. That just doesn't happen with the NLL here.

One thing I noticed yesterday is that the Bandits won nearly every faceoff I saw. They were officially 13/20 but it seemed more dominant than that, especially late.

One last thought about Bruce Bochy: He seems to be a good developmental coach. He puts young players in challenging positions and by and large they've been succeeding. He has a quiet confidence in his players. He doesn't put them in over their heads but he doesn't hesitate to put them into positions that challenge their limits, similar to, for instance, how Granato improved Cozens' game by playing him opposite the other teams' best lines. But he's also very good at handling experienced veterans. I think his handling of the bullpen early the season, while not always yielding the best results, is now starting to pay dividends.

It's shocking how quickly the Rangers turned around. Bochy is the best manager they've had since Ron Washington, and as much as I liked Wash, Bochy is probably even better. He has the track record at least. The Rangers turned over the starting pitching staff, bringing in Jake deGrom, Nate Eovaldi and Andrew Heaney, all of whom have been stellar. deGrom has missed some games due to injury and former starter-turned-reliever Dane Dunning has been lights out filling in for him. They lucked out a bit (but I think it has a lot to do with Bochy's handling of the situation) that they have some emerging players that are instantly dominant. Jonah Heim (from the Buffalo area) is one of the best catchers in baseball. Josh Jung so far is hands down the rookie of the year, 1st among rookies in all offensive stats, in the top 5 league-wide for most of them. Ezequial Duran came out of nowhere to backfill injured Corey Seager and put up big offensive numbers and solid defense. His play has been so good that Bochy has been forced to get him playing time. Fortunately he's doing well at all the fielding positions so can be used to give the regular starters time off. Grant Anderson been dominant in his MLB debut as a relief pitcher. In two appearances he's struck out 8 of 13 batters, allowing just two singles so far. Early in the season the Rangers were having trouble holding leads; their Achilles heel has been the bullpen. But recently the bullpen has been greatly improved; not only with the appearance of Grant Anderson but in general. The bullpen's recent run of scoreless innings finally broke in the 9th inning of a 16-6 laugher against the Mariners, when John King allowed 3 meaningless runs in the 9th inning.

Rangers are gonna *own* the Stros this year 😄

I like what you did there 😉 "him"?

If home ice advantage is a thing, the Panthers only have to win one game in Vegas to break it (assuming they hold serve in Sunrise). If they come back to Florida tied 1-1 in the series, they will have the momentum. In the first two games, if they visitors win one, it's a victory.

Amazing camera work there.

We have a NLL team here in Fort Worth (Panther City Lacrosse Club); they just finished their second season. I keep saying I need to get out to a game but I haven't yet. So far Panther City has the lowest attendance of any NLL team (3 or 4k per game I believe). I hope it can hang in there until it catches on.

And with more of a 3D component. High sticking of the ball is encouraged.

DAMN!!!!! 12-4

Wow they're really rollin' now.

10-4 good buddy!

Bandits up 4-1 but need to kill a penalty now. ...and they didn't. 4-2

Actually, that puts it in a nutshell: If the Sabres need vet help, it's not for a skilled goal scorer. It's for grit.

Good luck with that, Jackets.

The seal is broken: Bears 1, Amerks 0. Hopefully the goals start coming for the good guys now too.

I've been listening on Audacy, Rochester 590.

Yzerman was drafted in 1983. I'm not talking about *my* frustration. I was talking about the general fan base.

The thing is this: Kevyn Adams appreciates the importance of team chemistry. I just don't see Kane bringing good vibes. He is the direct opposite of what Kevyn has been building so far. There may come a time when they have to bring in their stud (like the Stars acquired Hull, the Red Wings got Shanahan), but it would be what puts them over the top in terms of a deep playoff run, not what gets them into the playoffs. Any player he acquires now has to be with the team at least three seasons, otherwise they're just a fleeting bump in the team's build. When they're really close, a true Cup contender, then you can bring in that hired gun to fill the hole on the team. Any team that brings in Kane doesn't know how long they're getting him for. With his age and general health it may end up being a part of a season.