lordstanley

Kasper was a #8 overall pick. I'd have no hesitation including him in a deal for Horvat. Would depend on the overall deal of course.

This was the cover of Sports Illustrated the week the Lions last won the NFL championship. https://vault.si.com/vault/1958/01/06/all-hail-the-lusty-lions It was the last Sunday of 1957, but despite the season it was an absolutely perfect day to play football. The sun was shining, the air was almost balmy and the seams of Briggs Stadium in Detroit were near to bursting with the 55,263 people who were willing to pay up to $10 apiece to watch their home-town Lions play the Cleveland Browns for the national professional football championship. As these once shunned and unwanted Lions racked up touchdown after touchdown, it seemed that Briggs Stadium could hardly contain the civic joy, but that is getting ahead of the story.... Two days earlier on a cold, blowy midnight, a line of people on Michigan Avenue in downtown Detroit stretched off into the darkness. One man was wrapped in an old multicolored quilt and another had a brown Army blanket draped tastefully over his shoulders. It was a good-natured line, and when a radio announcer asked the man in the quilt if he thought the Lions had a chance to win the following Sunday, the man said at the top of his voice, "We'll kill the Browns." The line cheered and continued to wait patiently to buy tickets to the game.... Governor G. Mennen Williams wired the commissioner of the National Football League and earnestly asked that the Lion-Brown championship game be put on television since it was a sellout. Bell refused (see page 22). Representative Thaddeus Machrowicz, of Detroit, wired the commissioner and pleaded passionately that the game be put on television. Bell refused. A filling station operator spent $200 to have an outsize aerial put on his service station and entertained his customers with the telecast of the game, picked up from 75 miles away; he too watched and didn't sell any gas.... That was Detroit before the Lions entertained the Browns. Like San Francisco the week before, when the Lions played the 49ers for the right to be in the championship game, Detroit was a hysterical city. Quarterback Tobin Rote was bigger than General Motors. Coach George Wilson was more important than the new Fords and Chryslers, and a ticket to the championship game was about as valuable as a Cadillac.... Detroit has always liked professional football. Detroit is a lusty, thriving, vigorous city and it has found a soul mate in the lusty, thriving, vigorous game. This year's Detroit Lions have endeared themselves to Detroit for a number of reasons, some of them logical. Maybe the biggest reason was the innate American love of the underdog; the Lions fulfilled the role of underdog to a T. They, started the season by losing a coach. Buddy Parker, the moody, intense man who had guided the club to two world championships, announced as the season was about to begin: "I have a situation here I cannot handle. This is the worst team in training camp I have ever seen. The material is all right, but the team is dead. I don't want to get involved in another losing season, so I'm leaving Detroit football. I'm leaving tonight." He said this at a Detroit Lions boosters banquet, then stepped down from the podium and left. So the Lions had one big strike against them, and quite a few football fans figured the second strike followed immediately when the club named George Wilson as head coach to replace Parker.

I actually feel better about his chances after this vid.

Winging It In Motown is on the ropes, as are most other SB Nation hockey sites. https://twitter.com/wingingitmotown/status/1616468627196186626?s=61&t=UKC2zn5uChGmq0uhL69xrA

Mickey Mouse couple of weeks in the Canucks organization. Finally officially put Boudreau out of his misery today. Jim Rutherford finally got his man, Rick Tocchet. Is he even any good?

Sure like Raymond was about to tie it with 5 seconds to go. The goalie's pad was half in the net behind the line, so if Raymond had shot it a few inches to the left the pad "save" would have counted as a goal. But should have never had come to that. The Wings seem to be way too inconsistent to make a legit run at a playoff spot.

Wings have been flat all night. 2-1 now with 40 seconds to go

"Berggren stops behind the net. In Gretzky-like fashion". - Ken Daniels

The Red Wings were held without a shot for a 16 minute stretch until 6 seconds left in the 2nd period. 0-0 after 2.

Wings have 4 games in next 7 days before the All-Star Break. Tonight at home vs Philly, then hosting San Jose in Tuesday, followed by a road back to back at Montreal and at NYI. For the rest of the regular season to have meaning as far as a playoffs push, i think they need at least 6 points, ideally 7.

Well, right on the UBC campus in Vancouver, One’s last gig, is a famous hippy hangout where students and locals and the occasional prof gather daily in the summer to lay out in the nude, do mushrooms, and play bingo drums. But what happens at Wreck Beach, stays at Wreck Beach.

Speaking of generation gap, as a 55 year old, I wouldn't be thrilled about wearing jerseys for military day, Pride day, cancer month, Greek-American night, whatever. I'd be fine with Jackie Robinson because that is directly related to the sport and many owe him a debt for the path he trod and hurdles/abuse he overcame. I'd also like to think that if I was a pro athlete I'd take my own initiatives on own time and do stuff like visit kids in the hospital, arrange and equip a street hockey tournament for immigrant or inner-city kids, host LGBT youth groups in a corporate suite I purchase, quietly donate money without fanfare, etc. I thought the sanctimonious Canadian hockey media reaction to Provorov was over the top, I guess they don't have Bertuzzi or Djokovic or Aaron Rodgers to flip out about anymore. Focus wrath, if they wish, on people who have actually done bad things, even criminal. God knows we have plenty of felons and sexual assaulters and wife-beaters and deadbeat dads and adulterers and slur-speakers in the NHL and other sports leagues.

Babcock, like Mike Keenan before him, could probably find a KHL head coaching job if he wanted one. His style might be a better fit there.

Same thing happened to Martin Tyler at this year's World Cup. Must lose your range as you get. I didn't think it's from lethargy. Speaking of ageing sports reporters, news from Jerry Green. That was quite a run. https://www.detroitnews.com/story/sports/nfl/lions/2023/01/19/after-56-super-bowls-the-detroit-news-jerry-green-steps-away/69823582007/?fbclid=IwAR1NOfGQ_iPu0NLrRooxQ0BCCzQuFPKEQIbxDTnvRFpzzZkwRGYiNYASrr8 Bloomfield Hills — For the longest time, reporter Jerry Green had been quietly driven by the symmetry of matching childhood idol Joe DiMaggio. But in the end, it was another professional sports icon, quarterback Tom Brady, who helped convince Green it was OK to step away. This year, for the first time since the Super Bowl's 1967 inception, Green won't be in attendance to cover the game, ending his unmatched streak of 56 in a row.

I expect it to be a quiet deadline for the Red Wings. They don't have logical assets to sell like they had in past years, but on the buy-side the deadline isn't the best time to do that for future years, compared to the summer.

Babcock might be a jerk, but Commodore is hardly a reliable source. Nothing I heard in that interview is that incriminating. Maybe he did show up to camp in 2004 not in the best of shape, even if Commodore won’t admit it. In 2011-2012 Commodore got into 17 games, 0G 2A, then got picked up by Tampa for 13 games, 0G 0A. Nit bad treatment for a fringe #7. Next year he was in the AHL. Commode has been unhinged about Babcock for 15 years.

Bit of a turtle race the past 10 days for the 2nd wildcard spot.

Missed chances at the empty net don’t come back to haunt. Wings hang on!

Not over yet. Unlucky deflection off a skate makes it 3-2 with 43 seconds to go.

Bertuzzi hasn’t played in the 3rd period. 2:03 to go.

Wings playing a very solid road game. 5 minutes to go, still a 2 goal lead.

3-1 after 2. The Wings are full value for the 2-goal lead, almost extended it near end of the period. A win tonight if the Wings can seal this would partially make up for the Arizona fold.

Snap shot by Veleno makes it 3-1 Wings midway through a string 2nd period.

1-1 after 1, as Vegas ties it on last-minute softie. One of the biggest differences between the Wings’ results the first two months and the past month has been goaltending.

The Wings seem to have good jump so far. Raymond with the only goal. 1-0 Wings, 7 minutes left in 1st.