12/21/24
November 01, 2013
SportsFilter: The Friday Huddle:
A place to discuss the sports stories that aren't making news, share links that aren't quite front-page material, and diagram plays on your hand. Remember to count to five Mississippi before commenting in anger.
It's been an interesting season thus far, for sure. Heart attacks pretty much every week, unreasonable hope and unremarkable despair both across the season and inside individual games.
The Offence earned 10 points last night, mind, so I didn't go out into the streets and overturn any cars in celebration.
Edit : Also, when Gio Bernard made that 65-yard-35-yard run, I almost punched through my TV.
posted by Mr Bismarck at 10:33 AM on November 01, 2013
That was the best run I've seen all year, just great. He also had a couple runs up the middle where he seemed to warp space-time and appear at the other side of a mass of tacklers for a ten-yard gain. Amazing performance.
posted by Hugh Janus at 10:48 AM on November 01, 2013
My North Texas Mean Green had one of the best goal line stands I've ever seen in football game last night against Rice. Starting with first and goal at the one, Rice couldn't score after eight plays, given the second set of downs on a defensive holding. They tried runs, options and passes and got beat on all of them, ending up turning the ball over after a sack at their 12.
UNT is now 6-3 in its first CUSA season and 4-1 in conference, bowl eligible for the first time in nine years. The defense is close to leading the nation in takeaways and red zone defense and Brelan Chancellor is one of the best returners in football.
I had a feeling when Dan McCarney was hired that we'd see our first stretch of good football in Denton in a long time. Iowa State was dumb to fire him.
posted by rcade at 11:03 AM on November 01, 2013
That was the best run I've seen all year, just great. He also had a couple runs up the middle where he seemed to warp space-time and appear at the other side of a mass of tacklers for a ten-yard gain. Amazing performance.
The run by Lamar Miller on which he got the ball punched out inside the 10 was actually a pretty great run, too (up until losing the ball of course), although Bernard's was incredible.
posted by holden at 11:10 AM on November 01, 2013
Also, when Gio Bernard made that 65-yard-35-yard run, I almost punched through my TV.
Me, too, but for the opposite reason. I had a bad feeling about that game all day, and it turned out to be prescient. Kudos to the Dolphins for playing tough, but the Bengals handed (or threw to them) that game. Dammit.
posted by tahoemoj at 11:47 AM on November 01, 2013
That run for anyone who missed it.
Not bad, I suppose. If you like that sort of thing.
After the game in the highlights wrap-up, Rich Eisen was saying there are now only nine spots left in the top ten plays of the year you'll see at the end of the season.
But then this made up for it.
posted by Mr Bismarck at 01:19 PM on November 01, 2013
The loss was bad news. This is worse news. I don't know if the short week had anything to do with it, so I won't curse the Thursday night game. In the past three weeks, the Bengals have lost 5 defensive starters for significant periods, including Hall and Atkins, two pro bowl caliber players, for the season.
posted by tahoemoj at 01:38 PM on November 01, 2013
Not that it's going to help much, but Greg Bedard had a nice piece on Geno earlier in the week.
posted by yerfatma at 02:21 PM on November 01, 2013
So, I take it there is nothing in the MLB and NBA rulebooks about uniform colors? I remember that for the last Angels/Rangers series of the season, they both wore their red third uniforms for the same game. Last night's Bulls/Knickerbockers tilt saw both teams wearing dark color uniforms. There ought to be a law.
posted by NoMich at 02:22 PM on November 01, 2013
Black Bull's unis and Orange Knick's uniforms from last night must have been for Halloween, right?
posted by tron7 at 03:02 PM on November 01, 2013
Flyers goalie Ray Emery goons it up tonight as he skates the length of the ice to fight fellow goalie Braden Holtby (8 seconds after giving up his 4th goal in 15 shots, making it 7-0 Washington). Of course, Holtby doesn't want to fight Emery (a goon in pads who has fought other goons before), doesn't need to fight Emery (his team is in the process of beating the Flyers like rented mules), and shouldn't have to fight Emery (he hadn't done anything except stand in his crease while another fight started).
Nevertheless, Emery gets a hold of Holtby and just repeatedly punches him in the head with no real response from Holtby, and no intervention from the refs/linesmen.
Karmic justice played out in the end as the only players injured in the game were newly-acquired Steve Downie (concussion) and Lecavalier (facial lacerations, busted teeth), both getting injured during fights.
posted by grum@work at 01:32 AM on November 02, 2013
Mike Lange alert.
posted by beaverboard at 07:10 AM on November 02, 2013
Nevertheless, Emery gets a hold of Holtby and just repeatedly punches him in the head with no real response from Holtby, and no intervention from the refs/linesmen.
I don't know how the NHL can't throw the book at Emery, especially after this after-game quote:
"He didn't want to fight, but I basically said, 'Protect yourself,"' Emery said.
His was a completely predatory attack, with a linesman there when Holtby clearly states he doesn't want to fight. If the NHL is at all serious about getting violence out of the game, this is something they need to come down hard on. There's no retribution, protection or context to explain a need to fight there - all Holtby did all game was stop shots.
posted by dfleming at 09:37 AM on November 02, 2013
Determined not to be outdone by the recent World Series walk off obstruction call and walk off pickoff, the NFL presented fans with a walk off safety last night, and SpoFi's head Dolfan Mr. B must be just settling back down to earth right about now.
(So thematically astute of the league to showcase the Bengals on Halloween).