- 10:04 PM
- 05/13/26
| Member since: | April 08, 2006 |
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| Last visit: | May 04, 2026 |
| Name: | Howard Titus |
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| Location: | Nashua, NH |
| Gender: | Old Alpha Male, hoping no young stud steals the herd. |
Howard_T has posted 44 links and 4,669 comments to SportsFilter and 3 links and 265 comments to the Locker Room.
Bernie Parent Dead at 80: Bernie Parent, considered one of the greatest goaltenders of all time in the NHL, passed away at age 80. He backstopped the Philadelphia Flyers to consecutive Stanley Cup wins in 1974 and 1975. Parent's NHL career started with the Boston Bruins who let him go in the expansion draft, and he played in Philadelphia and Toronto before jumping to Miami of the World Hockey Association. When his time with Miami was not working out satisfactorily, he returned to the NHL and the Flyers. His boyhood idol was Jacques Plante, and during his time in Toronto, Plante was a teammate as well as a mentor.
posted by Howard_T to hockey at 11:20 PM on September 21, 2025 - 3 comments
Recent Sports Necrology: Over the past day or two the sports world has lost some notable people. Stirling Moss, passed away at the age of 90. He was one of the legendary racing drivers in what some might call the golden age of racing. Moss competed against the likes of Juan Manuel Fangio (a teammate) when Ferrari, Maserati, and Mercedes ruled.
posted by Howard_T to general at 10:28 PM on April 13, 2020 - 2 comments
Rusty Staub Dead at 73: A sad note on opening day, Le Grand Orange has passed away. His career spanned 23 seasons, mainly with the Montreal Expos and the New York Mets.
posted by Howard_T to baseball at 09:28 PM on March 29, 2018 - 3 comments
Roger Bannister has Passed Away: Roger Bannister, the first man to run a mile in less than 4 minutes has died. The feat was accomplished in 1954. We had a small black and white TV, and film of it was shown on the sports news. I also remember seeing it in the newsreels at the movies. It was a really big deal then, but now even high school kids are running under 4 minutes
posted by Howard_T to other at 04:05 PM on March 04, 2018 - 4 comments
...and Maybe the Dynamite Fizzles: Cleveland is having second thoughts about the Thomas-Irving trade after Isaiah Thomas took his physical. What's up here?
posted by Howard_T to basketball at 03:47 PM on August 26, 2017 - 10 comments
fair or foul? If the foul line has been properly drawn, it is entirely in fair territory. Thus the "on or over" rule applies. A puck on or over is easy; no matter if it is resting on edge or flat, there's a straight, perpendicular edge. Not so easy with a ball. The plate umpire (it's his responsibility for the call between home and the base) will have to be directly over the ball, and he very rarely will be. Those of us who have umpired on less than professionally maintained fields frequently have found the foul lines resembling a line of snakes. Our only choice was to call the line as it was, and not try to imagine where it should be.
posted by Howard_T at 01:49 PM on May 02, 2026
This is a piece of trash reporting by Travis Hayes and USA Today. It's nothing more than a hit piece. Hayes forgets to include the 9 other FBS schools that had 0 players drafted. Here's the list: Colorado, Oklahoma State, Purdue, Syracuse, UCLA, Virginia, Virginia Tech, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. That's a pretty impressive group. In Wisconsin's case this breaks a multi-year string of having had a player drafted. I get it. I understand that Bill Belichick is not the most beloved figure in football, but give it a break. Unless you have some professional or financial interest in trying to run him out of football, just leave it alone. He's had one season in which to develop his program and players. Is this really enough time? It's way too easy to join the "Bash Bill Belichick" bandwagon, but perhaps we have another emotional problem to deal with called Belichick Derangement Syndrome.
posted by Howard_T at 07:33 PM on April 29, 2026
Has Orlando going a little bit of sandbagging? I was at the game when they lost to the Celtics JV team a week ago. It looked then like they were resting the starters, and the bench guys weren't really interested. At that time, had they won, they were still in contention for 6th place. Instead they went through the play-in, and they really didn't seem to play all that hard then. Is it possible to get away with that in the NBA? I'm not thinking of tanking for draft position, rather of maximizing rest and disguising tactics and abilities. Magic have been up and down all year, so maybe it's just that, but I would rather have a conspiracy theory.
posted by Howard_T at 12:50 PM on April 20, 2026
Revised picks:
Nuggets in 5
Pistons in 5
posted by Howard_T at 02:22 PM on April 18, 2026
My picks:
Cavaliers in 4
Nuggets in 4
Hawks in 6
Lakers in 7
Celtics in 5
Thunder in 5
Pistons in 4
Spurs in 5
Top point scorer: J. Brown
Top rebounder: Tatum
Most points per game: Thunder
Least opponent points per game: Spurs
I have to go with Celtics. They are the only team that could use a 14-man rotation and stay in the game no matter who is on the court for the opponent. They will 'gift' a game to 76ers just to be nice, but otherwise it's no contest. Some of my props and number of games might change depending on tonight's results.
posted by Howard_T at 01:35 PM on April 17, 2026
When is the best time to challenge? Any time C.B. Bucknor has the plate. He was challenged 7 times and missed 6 of them (some claim he missed as many as 26 calls), thus reinforcing his reputation as the worst ball-and-strike umpire in MLB. Some of the incorrect calls were on pitches that missed by more than 2 inches. It would not surprise me if a lot of those who closely follow the game keep a score sheet on Bucknor, or perhaps all MLB Umpires. There's no special secret to having an accurate and consistent strike zone. Experience is probably the best way to develop, but equally necessary is total concentration behind the plate. For perhaps 20 years I worked the plate at very low level of baseball. Over the years my zone improved, but the first couple of games each season were usually an adventure. It's not easy, but maintaining your concentration will help. C. B. Bucknor has been a major league umpire for 30 years, and he has a month of spring training to use for a tune-up. He has no excuse.
posted by Howard_T at 04:04 PM on March 29, 2026
rcade, the NBA picks aren't coming up in the pick'em thread. When I checked back,they were still there but not registered in the comments.
posted by Howard_T at 02:09 PM on February 26, 2026
My picks:
Magic by 6
Timberwolves by 9
Pistons by 11 (slam dunk)
Thunder by 10
Rockets by 8
Warriors by 5
Spurs by 13 (slam dunk)
Nuggets by 9
Celtics by 10 (slam dunk)
posted by Howard_T at 02:04 PM on February 26, 2026
My picks:
Magic by 6
Timberwolves by 9
Pistons by 11 (slam dunk)
Thunder by 10
Rockets by 8
Warriors by 5
Spurs by 13 (slam dunk)
Nuggets by 9
Celtics by 10 (slam dunk)
posted by Howard_T at 02:04 PM on February 26, 2026
RIP Bill Mazeroski. The Pittsburgh Pirates great hit the only game 7 walk off home run in world series history to win the 1960 series vs the Yankees. It's one of those sports events that sticks in my mind long after it happened.
posted by Howard_T at 05:05 PM on February 21, 2026
Results are in for US vs Canada, and USA outlasted Canada in OT after tying the game with an empty net goal. What a heck of a game it was. Of course I was happy to see the US get the gold, but my real rooting interest was for the US goalkeeper, Airen Frankel is a graduate of my alma mater, Northeastern University in Boston. I also had a rooting interest for Switzerland vs Sweden. Alina Mueller, Switzerland's best player, is also a Northeastern grad, and she is a former and present teammate of Aerin Frankel at NU and currently on the Boston Fleet, Women's Professional Hockey League. Great to see her on the podium for the bronze.
So I really think that the biggest winner for the Olympics is womens ice hockey. The sport has evolved over the past couple of decades into a fast, entertaining, and exciting sport. The heavy hitting and general nastiness of the men's game is not there, although there was some pretty good contact out there today. What the game has is speed, individual skill, and solid team play. It's fun to watch.
posted by Howard_T at 07:17 PM on February 19, 2026
My picks:
Knicks by 6
Celtics by 8
Timberwolves by 8
Lakers by 12 (slam dunk)
Knicks by 11
Thunder by 12
Nuggets by 13
Celtics by 7
Reunion night at San Francisco tonight. Porzingis and Horford get to say hello to their former teammates. Then on Sunday comes one more chapter in what might be the greatest rivalry in basketball. Celtics vs Lakers? It's always a war.
posted by Howard_T at 01:05 PM on February 19, 2026
My picks:
Knicks by 6
Spurs by 9
Thunder by 14 (slam dunk)
Lakers by 11
posted by Howard_T at 02:38 PM on February 11, 2026
My picks:
Patriots by 3
Passer: Sam Darnold
Rusher: Stephenson (NE)
Receiver: Smith-Njigba
Player with interception: Davis (NE)
Player with sack: Williams (NE)
Player with first turnover: Darnold
Super Bowl MVP: Diggs
Tiebreaker: 51
This one goes down to the wire. I see a late missed field goal finishing the game in regulation.
posted by Howard_T at 04:14 PM on February 07, 2026
NBA Playoff Pickem Round 2: Conference Semifinals
My picks:
Knicks in 5
Spurs in 5
Cavaliers in 6
Thunder in 5
Top point scorer: Maxey
Top rebounder: Wembanyama
Most points per game: Thunder
Least opponent points per game: Spurs
Messages of consolation for the results of round 1 are welcome.