OT: General OT Stuff (Infinity+3)(No Politics/Spoilers, see OP)

[twabby]

Lovely, I’m flying into DC tonight. Hopefully my flight isn’t cancelled but I am expecting delays.

 

[AlexBrovechkin8]

Lovely, I’m flying into DC tonight. Hopefully my flight isn’t cancelled but I am expecting delays.

Good luck. Tons of flights already cancelled.

 

[twabby]

No issues with my flight, unlike these guys:

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

Happy to see Phil back into the winner’s circle heading into The Masters....long time...

Now to break A few records for oldest Major winner.

 

[twabby]

Not sure where this should be posted but I guess this is the best thread for it. It’s Slava Malamud so take it with a grain of salt but it’s entertaining if nothing else:

1/ So, here is what's happening in the KHL, for those who still can't quite grasp the banality of evil, Russian style... The entire league has been set up this year to allow SKA to win. It's Putin's team, this is Putin's election year, it's chock full of OAR Olympians...
2/ SKA is allowed to ignore the salary cap, its payroll is 6 times that of an average team, it has dibs on every star who considers the KHL. Most of its players are rabid Putin supporters who took part in his campaign rally last week. I repeat: SKA must win. It's not an option...
3/ There is a slight possibility of a loss, if the opponent is CSKA, owning to the Moscow team's legacy and the "patriotic value" of their potential victory, but it's a small chance. Putin wants SKA, and SKA it shall be... The KHL even has an official explanation for this...
4/ It goes like this: "Allowing all the best players to concentrate in one team has created unique chemistry that transitioned seamlessly to the Olympic squad. Making the KHL season easy for them has safeguarded against injuries and bad morale. This is why we won the gold"...
5/ Yes, the KHL isn't even denying that the entire 2017-18 season is fake. They are simply claiming that sacrificing it for national team's success is totally worth it, "for the honor of the Motherland." They are citing the Soviet model, when the domestic league was also a sham..
6/ However, there is a problem... In the first round of the playoffs, SKA has drawn Severstal Cherepovets. It's not a problem because Severstal is a strong opponent. Not at all. It's an eternal minnow, which has been bad for so long, the league is considering it for contraction..
7/ And this is precisely the problem. Severstal has nothing to lose and nothing to fear. If they bow out to SKA easily, it will prove the league's case and the axe will swing. Giving SKA trouble may at least create enough of a scandal to make the league reconsider...
8/ Severstal is exactly in the same position as the Charleston Chiefs from Slapshot. Trying to stave off the seemingly inevitable demise by being a big story. Even Putin's potential wrath isn't a deterrent. There is also the fact that it's totally unfair to contract Severstal...
9/ Yes, it's a struggling team with bad finances, but it's had an incredible season, all things considered. Its fans are amazing. Cherepovets is basically Hamilton, moved way up north and stripped of all its famous Hamilton charm. It's steel mills, hockey, and frozen wasteland...
10/ So this brave little team from a hockey-mad industrial deathscape is being fed into SKA's maw as a playoff appetizer. And it's totally refusing to go down easy! If this wasn't Russia, where evil always wins, it would've been Hoosiers, Miracle and Bad News Bears all in one...
11/ But this is absolutely Russia, so this is what transpires. As SKA, most of its roster badly hung over after Putin's big election bash the day before, is about to lose Game 1, the refs reach for their whistles and blow hard. The PIM count is 24-0 in Severstal "favor"...
12/ SKA finally connects on the PP to go up, 3-2, only to see Severstal tie it in the last minute. No problem, though. The refs give SKA two more PPs in overtime, until they finally score. In Game 2, Severstal keep it close for a while, until eventually succumbing...
13/ But in Game 3, with home fans going nuts, Severstal is giving SKA all it can handle. Now, one would think the refs would give this one to the hosts, just to make things plausible. And at least the PIM count is even this time. But the pesky underdogs take it to OT again!
14/ Then, this happens...

15/ If you saw this to the end, you will notice a rather obvious case of offside. The Severstal coach, a cynical, sarcastic dude whose interviews are borderline subversive and make it obvious that everyone knows what's going on, challenged the goal. The play was reviewed.
16/ The replay officials saw exactly what you just saw. They conferred for several minutes and announced their verdict: good goal... Forget making this look plausible, Severstal has become more trouble than it's worth. Better get them out of the way safely. This was too much...
17/ The above video was posted by Severstal's official Twitter account. The word "winning" in "game-winning goal" was in parentheses. The fans' mentions are untranslatable. This, again, is all out in the open. Everyone knows what's going on. Everyone! And nothing can change.
18/ Putin's pleasure and "the Motherland's honor" are what counts. SKA must win. It's the priority... But the last frame of Severstal's little protest video declares, "Hockey Is More Important." In today's Russia, this is as big of an anti-Putin protest as one can be allowed.
19/ Probably, the most tragic thing about it is that Pavel Datsyuk, an amazing player and not in any way a politician, is having his name soiled with this by playing for SKA. But that's what you get when you dance with the devil... Actually, forget it. The most tragic thing...
20/21... is that everyone in Russia knows what's going on. The fans, the officials, the media. It's out in the open. And the people who have made it happen (all KHL bosses are Putin's close friends) have already announced that the system has proven effective and should continue.
21/21 "For the glory of the Motherland"... All I have to say is this, guys. If you learn nothing else from Russia, please, learn to always, always run as fast as you can from the motherf***ers who say they want to bring glory to your country. I am done for tonight.

 

[strungout]

About to take on our first home owner remodel project. Doing a master bath re-tooling...and adding a bathroom in the basement...at the same time. Glad its happening before the playoffs start...becasue my nerves are going to be shot.

 

[Alexander the Gr8]

Not sure where this should be posted but I guess this is the best thread for it. It’s Slava Malamud so take it with a grain of salt but it’s entertaining if nothing else:

I hate Malamud and I disagree with a lot of things he says, he pushes his own agenda all the time.

I think he might be onto something here. SKA gets preferential treatment from the league. I don't mean the kind of preferential treatment Pittsburgh gets in the playoffs, this is far worse. The salary cap isn't enforced on them, that's how they're able to have a loaded team that's good enough to compete with a few NHL teams. I stopped following the KHL this year because SKA was nearly invincible. They were undefeated in the entire first half of the season.

 

[Raikkonen]

KHL could be exploding right now, maybe. Reports at various places are a little bit grim. And for some time already.

But maybe it's for the best. There could be a league with less money and more hockey.

 

[g00n]

Tiger tied for the lead atm.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

Tiger with the lead outright now..

 

[g00n]

Tiger with the lead outright now..

Finishes the day T2 and 2 strokes back...

I don't get the haters. They can blow it out their jealous asses.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

Finishes the day T2 and 2 strokes back...

I don't get the haters. They can blow it out their jealous asses.

I’ll say this, in his prime, I only pulled for him in International events. Not that I didn’t respect and admire his game, I was just a Norman and then a Phil guy. Now....I’d like nothing more than to see him win Major’s again. The game needs him to do well.

 

[AgentCooper]

Hey folks, I'm visiting from the Sharks board with a quick question. I wasn't sure where to put this, so I settled on the OT thread so as not to mess with any of the others. A handful of posters on the Sharks board have had a lengthy discussion (argument) about the extent to which Eric Fehr has played center. Did he often play center in Washington, or was he generally a winger?

 

[twabby]

Hey folks, I'm visiting from the Sharks board with a quick question. I wasn't sure where to put this, so I settled on the OT thread so as not to mess with any of the others. A handful of posters on the Sharks board have had a lengthy discussion (argument) about the extent to which Eric Fehr has played center. Did he often play center in Washington, or was he generally a winger?

He was mainly a winger and IMO better suited there, but he had did play center for a bit in Washington to mixed results.

 

[AlexBrovechkin8]

He was mainly a winger and IMO better suited there, but he had did play center for a bit in Washington to mixed results.

Fehr centered Ward and Chimera for at least one season and possibly two, if I recall correctly. They were a terrific line.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

Feels like it was parts of a season or two (but I could be remembering incorrectly)...certainly not carried by Fehr’s play. What a disappointment draftee...

 

[usiel]

Saw BP was good. What was more excellent was that was middle seat mid depth and every other person there was behind me...was like my personal theater.

 

[Dr John Carlson]

Won't get much work done tomorrow. Crazy how Tiger can make the Valspar Championship feel like the 5th major.

 

[AgentCooper]

Feels like it was parts of a season or two (but I could be remembering incorrectly)...certainly not carried by Fehr’s play. What a disappointment draftee...

He was mainly a winger and IMO better suited there, but he had did play center for a bit in Washington to mixed results.

Fehr centered Ward and Chimera for at least one season and possibly two, if I recall correctly. They were a terrific line.

Thanks very much for all your replies.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

Still time Tiger!

Love Patrick Reed’s game.

 

[g00n]

Drain-o!

1 back with 1 to play

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

RIP Stephen Hawking...

 

[Alexander the Gr8]

RIP Stephen Hawking...

We need a new Hawking, he's a once in a life time type of genius.

 

[twabby]

Stephen Hawking is a role model of mine and while I'm sad to see him go, his mark on this world will never be forgotten. His genius as a physicist is what he's famous for but beyond that he was a great man. He was kind, thoughtful, and his worldview has influenced the way I go about life. He won't be easily replaced in this world.

Also he brought us this:



Edit: and this:

 

[usiel]

Stephen Hawking is a role model of mine and while I'm sad to see him go, his mark on this world will never be forgotten. His genius as a physicist is what he's famous for but beyond that he was a great man. He was kind, thoughtful, and his worldview has influenced the way I go about life. He won't be easily replaced in this world.

Also he brought us this:



Edit: and this:

Such a win.