- 05:01 PM
- 11/17/24
My picks:
Rangers in 6
Stars in 6
Top goals: Hyman (EDM)
Top goalie (save %): Bobrovski
Team scoring 6 goals: Oilers
Team shutout: Panthers
posted by geneparmesan at 02:25 PM on May 22, 2024
Revised picks:
Panthers in 6
Stars in 6
Oilers in 6
Top goals: Draisaitl
Top goalie (save %): Ottinger
Team scoring 6 goals: Oilers
Team shutout: Stars
posted by geneparmesan at 05:39 PM on May 06, 2024
My picks:
Hurricanes in 6
posted by geneparmesan at 05:41 PM on May 04, 2024
My picks:
Hurricanes in 5
Bruins in 6
Panthers in 5
Rangers in 6
Jets in 6
Canucks in 5
Stars in 5
Kings in 7
Top goals: Matthews
Top goalie (save %): Demko
Team scoring 6 goals: Stars
Team shutout: Rangers
posted by geneparmesan at 06:37 PM on April 19, 2024
Thank you all; that was fun. I'll select the cap of my Vancouver Canucks, who had a very encouraging showing in this pandemic tournament. Style? I dunno " I like a cap with a curved brim. No flat-brimmed snapbacks like the youth of today wear.
posted by geneparmesan at 06:03 PM on October 08, 2020
Hey so it's been over a week since the Stanley Cup was awarded. Any chance for final scores on the NHL playoff pick-em? I admit I have a vested interest
posted by geneparmesan at 05:16 PM on October 06, 2020
My picks:
Lightning in 5
Top goals: Point
Top goalie (save %): Andrei Vasilevskiy
Team winning game 1: Lightning
Team giving up 0 goals: Lightning
Top assists: Kucherov
Conn Smythe: Vasilevskiy
Tiebreaker: 30
posted by geneparmesan at 11:43 PM on September 18, 2020
Canucks also had a shutout in Round 2
posted by geneparmesan at 01:00 PM on September 06, 2020
My picks:
Golden Knights in 6
Lightning in 6
Top goals: Brayden Point
Top goalie (save %): Andrei Vasilevskiy
Team scoring most goals: Golden Knights
Team giving up 0 goals: Golden Knights
posted by geneparmesan at 12:53 PM on September 06, 2020
The point calculation for the Blues/Canucks series is wrong. Players are getting 10 points for guessing the correct number of games in the series (should be 2)
posted by geneparmesan at 12:40 PM on August 22, 2020
My picks:
Avalanche in 6
Islanders in 7
Lightning in 6
Golden Knights in 6
Top goals: MacKinnon
Top goalie (save %): Andrei Vasilevskiy
Team scoring most goals: Lightning
Team giving up 0 goals: Avalanche
posted by geneparmesan at 12:31 PM on August 22, 2020
My picks:
Lightning in 6
Flames in 7
Bruins in 6
Golden Knights in 6
Capitals in 7
Avalanche in 6
Flyers in 6
Canucks in 6
Top goals: MacKinnon
Top goalie (save %): Jacob Markstrom
Team scoring 6 goals: Avalanche
Team giving up 0 goals: Lightning
posted by geneparmesan at 12:49 PM on August 11, 2020
In this case, what Man City did was claim that the exorbitant money they received from their shirt sponsorship was all coming from the Emirates airline company, and could thus be counted as revenue. Financial Fair Play rules essentially require you to maintain a reasonable overall profitability, so if your expenditures are very high then your revenues have to be very high to compensate and not create a culture where you're just using your owner's deep pockets to buy a championship.
Except that's what City did, because it turns out that the bulk of the shirt sponsorship money was being paid by the club's owner out of his own pocket, instead of Emirates (which he also owns). There may be some more nuance to in the details, but my understanding is this essentially was the scam which UEFA have charged them for.
I think this is good, and I hope that City fail to get their punishment reduced (but I'm not holding my breath). In this case, any cash penalty would be meaningless. But banning the club from the Champions League not only punishes them financially, it also punishes them competitively. Unlike WADA and their attempts to punish nations for orchestrated doping, this punishment has real teeth that might actually cause other big clubs to take notice and to observe the FFP rules
posted by geneparmesan at 07:02 PM on February 17, 2020
For those who don't understand cricket perhaps a layman's explanation from a baseball perspective might be helpful.
In cricket, the bowler (think pitcher) delivers the ball to one of two batsmen. When the batsman hits the ball, he and the other batsman run between the two wickets (bases). It would be like hitting a baseball and then running to first base, but at the same time you have a man on first who is running to home plate.
The fielding team can get you out if they throw the ball back to the infield and dislodge the bails before you cross the batting line (very similar to tagging a runner out).
So on the play linked above, New Zealand needed two runs to win. Guptill hit the ball and he and Neesham completed one run. They then turned and tried to complete a second run, but Roy was able to throw the ball back in, and Buttler dislodged the bails before Guptill crossed the line. Guptill is out.
Because Guptill was out, the second run was not completed so they only scored one. New Zealand needed two runs to win, so by only scoring one the game was tied (again). As NoMich mentioned, they went to the next tiebreaker to determine the winner (both teams knew that England would win if the scores were tied, which is why they celebrated when they got Guptill out).
As a Canadian who lived in England and got into cricket, this was without doubt the most exciting conclusion to a cricket match I've ever seen. That it would happen in the world cup final was all the more amazing. Finals in any sport are so often anti-climactic, but this was one for the ages " it will never be duplicated. The slow build of tension that culminated in the last hour of play was excruciating
posted by geneparmesan at 02:57 PM on July 16, 2019
My picks:
in
in
Islanders in 6
Sharks in 6
Top goal scorer: Marchand
Top goalie (save %): Tuuka Rask
Team scoring 6: Islanders
Team with shutout: Stars
posted by geneparmesan at 04:48 AM on April 26, 2019
My picks:
Predators in 6
Blues in 7
Flames in 5
Golden Knights in 7
Lightning in 4
Bruins in 6
Capitals in 6
Penguins in 6
Top goal scorer: Ovechkin
Top goalie (save %): Andrei Vasilevskiy
Team scoring 6: Lightning
Team with shutout: Predators
posted by geneparmesan at 02:36 PM on April 10, 2019
France 2 - 1 Croatia
Goals: Mbappe
Cards: Mandzukic
Golden Ball: Mbappe
First Card: 50th minute
Added Time: 5 minutes
posted by geneparmesan at 03:58 AM on July 15, 2018
France 2 - Belgium 2 (France wins on penalties)
England 2 - Croatia 1
Goals: Griezmann, Kane
Cards: Pogba, Rebic
posted by geneparmesan at 11:56 PM on July 08, 2018
1. France, Mbappe, Suarez
2. Belgium, Lukaku, T Silva
3. England, Kane, Henderson
4. Croatia, Modric, Ignasevich
Most Goals: Belgium
No Goals: Russia
posted by geneparmesan at 12:16 AM on July 06, 2018
Gah; I missed the deadline and the France game is over. Hopefully my picks will still be valid, but I will mark the first game as void
---
Uruguay, Suarez, Pepe
Spain, Costa, Pique
Croatia, Modri, Chorluka
Brazil, Neymar, Casemiro
Belgium, Lukaku, De Bruyne
Sweden, Toivonen, Larsson
England, Kane, Henderson
Shootouts: 1
posted by geneparmesan at 02:09 PM on June 30, 2018
A: Uruguay, Russia; Cavani
B: Spain, Portugal; Ronaldo
C: France, Denmark; Griezmann
D: Argentina, Croatia; Messi
E: Brazil, Switzerland; Neymar
F: Germany, Mexico; Werner
G: Belgium, England; Kane
H: Colombia, Poland; Lewandowski
Score Most Goals: Portugal
Conceded Fewest Goals: Germany
Red Cards: 5
0-0 Scores: 3
Goal in each match: Brazil
posted by geneparmesan at 08:20 PM on June 13, 2018
Washington in 6 +4
Longest: Game 2
First goalscorer: Kuznetsov
Conn Smythe: Fleury
Most goals: Ovechkin +1
PIM: Brayden McNabb
Goalie SV%: Fleury
Total goals: 30
posted by geneparmesan at 01:42 PM on May 28, 2018
Washington in 6; Ovechkin (goals), Stamkos (points) +1 +1
Winnipeg in 6; Shiefele (goals), Wheeler (points)
posted by geneparmesan at 03:56 PM on May 11, 2018
Nashville in 7; Forsberg
Vegas in 6; Karlsson +2
Tampa Bay in 6; Stamkos +1
Pittsburgh in 6; Crosby
I hate to be that guy, but I think I should be on 8 points, with the extra point for the Ovechkin pick
posted by geneparmesan at 12:48 PM on April 26, 2018
Winnipeg in 6 +1
Pittsburgh in 5 +1
Vegas in 7 +1
Tampa Bay in 4 +1
Toronto in 6
Washington in 6 +2
Nashville in 5 +1
Anaheim in 7
Ovechkin +1
posted by geneparmesan at 08:54 PM on April 11, 2018
As a fan of a lower-division English club (Ipswich), Leicester's Premiership win is the kind of dream that you thought died when the Premiership started in 1992. In a country where fans understand their lot in life and are seemingly satisfied with it, Leicester's success is all the more outrageous when you consider they did it with a relatively small squad and a relatively low spend.
And kudos to the culture of English football that "winning the league" is considered the pinnacle of achievement -- more significant than the FA Cup or other elimination-style tournaments. With the league and cup competitions running concurrently and culminating at the same time, Leicester don't have to trot out the weak line that "this is all well and good but what we really want to win is the Cup/Playoffs". They have shown they are the best team over the course of 10 months, playing everyone else home and away -- no fluke, no luck, just success richly deserved
posted by geneparmesan at 05:36 PM on May 02, 2016
I guess Fallows also hasn't heard of Poe's Law
posted by geneparmesan at 02:44 PM on January 27, 2016
The possibility that umpires will start to develop bias against certain catchers who are known (and statistically proven) to be good framers lends more weight to the argument that baseball should consider using technology to call balls & strikes
posted by geneparmesan at 02:39 PM on January 27, 2016
It does seem like the perfect marriage, each brand using the other to enhance their own image. On one hand you have the DoD paying the NFL for patriotic displays, and on the other hand you have the NFL donating big bucks (albeit not as many) to military charities. Following the money sure takes the altruism out of these ceremonies.
posted by geneparmesan at 02:07 AM on September 07, 2015
O'Sullivan is a snooker genius to be sure; only his personal demons have kept him from winning more world titles. He is the oddsmaker's clear favorite to win the upcoming world championships, even at the age of 39 when others would be fading away.
But my favorite O'Sullivan moment remains his outstanding maximum break in 1997 (in snooker, the most points you can score is 147, sinking only black balls after every red and then clearing the colors), completed in under 6 minutes. Contrast that with the first 147 of the World Championship's modern era, Cliff Thorburn's pensive 15+ minutes from 14 years earlier.
posted by geneparmesan at 11:00 AM on April 02, 2015
Chevy pitchman Rikk Wilde was just the capper of a typically weird Series-winning festivities. It seemed reporters and players alike were on the verge of tears, and I'm sorry MLB, but presenting the trophy in a small closet to the team's owners in front of no one just looks bush league. Give me the Stanley Cup presentation any day. At least Bud Selig didn't try to steal Erin Andrews' mic this time.
posted by geneparmesan at 11:56 AM on October 30, 2014
I have thought about this, and I have come to the conclusion that Suarez is a vampire. Amazingly, tennis player Ernests Gulbis was ahead of the curve when he recently made comments about vampires in sports.
posted by geneparmesan at 03:09 PM on June 25, 2014
Regardless of the bad math, the principle remains. It strikes me as crazy that winning a match would reduce your average points total. Winning a match -- any match -- should at worst keep your average the same. I appreciate that it's difficult to devise a system to adequately rank the countries, but to be penalized for winning a game is a rather obvious flaw, it would seem.
So pity the fans of the Netherlands, Italy, and England, but indeed all fans lose here, because we may very well get two 'groups of death' when the tournament draw is made. And while it can make for some interesting group matches, it's never a good thing when strong teams get knocked out early because of poor seeding.
posted by geneparmesan at 12:45 AM on November 30, 2013
There's one element that was glaringly missing in this piece: the role of the fan. In English football it is the responsibility of the fan (actually "supporter") to support the team. You have a role to play. The players respond to your cheering and singing.
In America, it is the team's responsibility to entertain the fans. The fans cheer when the team does something good, and boo when they do something bad.
In English football booing is considered nearly a heinous act -- reserved for only the most abject of displays. Many supporters will say that one should never boo; that it destroys a player's confidence and undermines the team.
Sadly, I think this notion of supporters is gradually disappearing from the English game. Fans aren't as vocal as they used to be (piped in music before the match and at halftime is a great example -- the club tries to create a fake atmosphere instead of letting the supporters naturally create it themselves). The loss of terracing, while adding to safety measures, has also negatively impacted the atmosphere in the ground.
posted by geneparmesan at 11:00 PM on May 27, 2013
I agree with rcade and most others commentating at the time -- it was a terrible call. When you consider the situation that an infield fly is normally called, this case was extraordinary. You could also argue that the left-field/right-field umpire should *never* make an infield fly call -- there are three infield umpires there to do just that.
What frustrated me most about the situation was that baseball has no culture to get the call right. You have six umpires and one guy makes a judgment call which I suspect the other five would have disagreed with. In other sports, officials can change their mind or change a bad judgment call (soccer is an example). Surely the primary aim of officiating is to get the call right, even if it means making someone (Holbrook, in this case) look bad in the process. I don't know why the crew chief can't get them all together, discuss the play, and determine the correct call.
posted by geneparmesan at 06:06 PM on October 06, 2012
What I found equally as interesting was how the commentators were so stunned by the outcome, they were hardly able to adequately describe what they had just witnessed. Throughout the whole day it looked like Europe might start to make a bit of a game of it, but until Rose made the incredible birdie on 17, I don't think anyone actually thought Europe could pull it off.
posted by geneparmesan at 02:03 AM on October 02, 2012
For me, the most telling moment was during the postgame interview, when Hernandez said something like "When Phil Hughes... erm Phil whatshisname? ... when he threw the perfect game earlier this season, I knew I had to do it too".
What does it say about baseball (about the Mariners, perhaps?) when the unknown Phil Humber throws a perfect game, is quickly forgotten, and is eventually dropped from the starting rotation? It is strange, and I think a bit of a shame, that the luster of no-hitters and perfect games is now being tainted by their proliferation.
posted by geneparmesan at 12:16 AM on August 16, 2012
I've often found it interesting how the culture of European football effectively has no off-season. This year more than any other, we had the Premiership end in May, the European Championships in June, Olympic football in July, and now the new season is already upon us.
I am a believer that having off-seasons is a key component to ensuring the longevity of a sport and preventing fan fatigue. And yet, all those European leagues that have been around for over a hundred years are doing a fine job of debunking that argument.
posted by geneparmesan at 02:14 PM on August 14, 2012
It would seem that they've all been disqualified for not disguising their attempts to lose well enough
posted by geneparmesan at 02:52 PM on August 01, 2012
Having watched the final thee innings of this game live, I couldn't help but feel the Brian Runge (home plate umpire) was at the very least giving Humber the benefit of the doubt on a few occasions.
I'll grant you that the final out was close but probably the right call. But consider the strike 1 call on Saunders' 3-0 count leading off the 9th inning, or watch the ump clap his hands trying to get Ryan back in the batters box when he was taking just a little bit longer to settle in the batters box and putting Humber off his rhythm. Nothing criminal I know, but it just brought Jim Joyce back to mind.
It certainly seemed like Runge was rooting for Humber just a little bit, and I imagine it would be hard not to, if I were in his shoes.
posted by geneparmesan at 04:54 AM on April 22, 2012
There are some fishy elements to this story. Any report I've read states that the hospital has not yet billed the family, so the amounts are just estimates -- estimates that appear to vary wildly as rcade notes in the original post.
Moreover, while it's true that Burke was not covered under her association's insurance policy because it was a non-sanctioned event, the sponsor of this event is silent on whether or not they had medical insurance coverage for the athletes (the silence would imply they didn't, which I think is pretty deplorable).
So Burke's family makes an appeal within days of her death for an amount more than double the anticipated costs, costs which BC's health authority will help pay, and which the event sponsors are pretty much morally obligated to pay, whether they actually had insurance in place or not.
And while it's good that the family is directing the excess funds to a foundation in her honor, there's something about it I don't feel comfortable with, especially when latching onto the public sentiment so soon after Burke's unfortunate death, and using political overtones (intentional or otherwise) in the process.
posted by geneparmesan at 10:50 AM on January 26, 2012
Sami Salo would injure himself attempting to embellish an injury
posted by geneparmesan at 06:14 PM on January 09, 2012
I'm a Canucks fan who is getting increasingly embarrassed at the myopic view and blatant bias shown by Vancouver fans and media. Saturday's Stanley Cup rematch was a fantastic hockey game, the kind that makes you lament that these teams won't play each other again this season.
Instead, the local focus is on how conspiracy theories abound because Marchand is unlikely to get a major suspension and Lucic's game misconduct for "leaving the bench" was rescinded. Has it really come to this, that we can't have intelligent, balanced discussions on notable and interesting points in a game, without digging in and taking sides?
Marchand is one of those guys you hate to play against and love to have on your team. He probably crosses the line too often and he would do well to lose the cheap stuff. The hit in question was bad but not criminal, and it was surely not 'self defense', as he claimed. If he gets any suspension at all, I think it will be for two games at most -- and Canuck fans will be up in arms. *sigh*
posted by geneparmesan at 02:36 PM on January 09, 2012
Let's suppose that Hulsizer can't get the deal done, but the Coyotes go on to win the Stanley Cup. You could then have the longest Stanley Cup Parade in league history - from Phoenix to Winnipeg. Now that would be awesome.
posted by geneparmesan at 02:38 AM on April 15, 2011
The proposal is to hold a shootout after regulation time but before extra time. Indeed it does not make sense to have a shootout for a match that may not end in a tie. Note that a coin flip is appropriate for kick-off since there is no real advantage to kicking off
posted by geneparmesan at 03:18 PM on March 17, 2011
The more I think about this idea, the more I like it. With respect to @hincandenza, I don't think those arguments are valid.
1. Playing with a known handicap is not new - it would be like playing the second leg of a match where one team is leading after the first leg. You know you're going to lose the tie if the match is drawn, so you have to play to win. Equally, the team with the advantage knows that just playing defensively for 30 minutes is not necessarily the best strategy - one mistake and now you're losing. It creates the situation where teams can go from winning to losing with just one goal - a great part of two-legged matches like what you see in the Champions League
2. If you move the shootout to the end of the 90 minutes, players who are on the field at that time can take the kicks. It's just changing the order of a match's events, and what used to be so (penalties at the end of extra time) is no longer - it doesn't matter who might have been on the pitch at the end. I think this point is moot.
People don't like the shootout because it's a false way to end a match; it doesn't represent the nature of the sport. But other alternatives are equally problematic - you can't play indefinitely because it may not be the last match of a tournament, so fatigue would make the next match for the winning team unfair. Messing with the rules causes the same problem as penalties - a match is decided in a way that is not "true" football/soccer.
Providing real incentive by tipping the balance would generate the best possible way for the match to be ended through normal play, and I think that's the point of what these researchers are proposing
posted by geneparmesan at 06:55 AM on March 17, 2011
Seems that the common practice of not showing controversial replays in stadia is now extending to home viewers as well. Rai TV in Italy is looking to artificially reduce the bickering about poor refereeing decisions that is commonplace in soccer punditry, and instead "focus on tactics". Could this be the first step in creating a black market on controversial replays?
posted by geneparmesan at 02:20 PM on July 26, 2010
This does seem rather convoluted - a playoff of four teams for the right to enter the qualifying rounds for the right to enter the group stage which will ultimately determine the participants in the final (read: interesting) stages of the European Cup. Sheesh
Also, this could backfire on the Premier League, supposing weaker teams like Fulham enter the Champions League and then fail badly, which would in turn damage England's coefficient ranking - affecting the number of places they are awarded in the Champions League.
posted by geneparmesan at 01:13 PM on February 15, 2010
The other side effect of this phenomenon which always drives me crazy is that each sport's championship finale occurs during the "opposite" time of year from where it is most relevant.
The boys of summer play the world series in November (with frigid temperatures); hockey players hoist the Stanley Cup in June, when it's sunny and warm even in Edmonton; even the NFL with its shorter season still has playoff games that occasionally features snow.
Each sport's greatest spectacle, held when most people aren't playing that sport? Strange indeed.
posted by geneparmesan at 03:28 AM on December 24, 2009
As touching as it would be for all Canadians, I don't think they will (or should) have a permanent award in Terry Fox's honour. The only awards the Olympics hand out are medals, and Fox never participated or was associated with the Olympics. This is a very appropriate gesture by Vanoc but should remain a special part of the Vancouver games.
posted by geneparmesan at 10:42 PM on December 11, 2009
NHL Playoff Pickem: Stanley Cup Finals
My picks:
Oilers in 7
Top goals: Hyman
Top goalie (save %): Skinner
Team scoring 6 goals: Oilers
Game 1 winner: Oilers
Top assists: McDavid
Conn Smythe: Draisaitl
Top penalty minutes: Nurse
Tiebreaker: 35