buddha

3 minutes ago, Shelton said:

Relative to the current 12-team system that includes conference championship games, a 24-team system without auto bids or conference championship games feels like an improvement. I would assume 8 byes and 16 teams playing in the first round at campus sites during the first week of December in place of conference championship games. A 9-24 matchup is likely to be more interesting than the current 5-12 (who is a true 20ish ranked team).

A second set of campus site games in the round of 16, giving the top 8 seeds all a home game and a true 1-16 matchup feels ok. 
 

The toothpaste is out of the tube with the current system. Eliminating auto bids (which won’t eliminate the good group of five teams), and replacing meaningless conference championship games in the first week of December doesn’t seem so bad. 

if were af the point where we can all admit this is minor league football designed to make a profit for the supposed non-profit academic institutions, then i suppose its an improvement.  it further waters down an already watered down regular season, but that ship has passed.

in a world where their labor must be paid OVER the table, the universities need cash.  more product for television is the easiest way to do that.

its a good thing the celtics never did an illegal screen.

4 hours ago, gehringer_2 said:

Syverud made an intro video that went up on the staff newsletter today. Didn't mention sports. 🤷‍♀️

good.

its a UNIVERSITY not a sports franchise.

9 hours ago, RedTeamGo! said:

They have to go to Bloomington twice??

pettiti really has it in for michigan...

9 hours ago, lordstanley said:

Leafs are now in playoff position after knocking off the Avs in Denver. 

gross

tomorrow against boston feels like a schedule loss.  day after sergei's retirement and back to back big games against carolina and montreal.

wow.  what a horrible missed call!

guess what carolina?  makes up for that bull**** call on raymond earlier!

and they win it!

this team loves overtime.

btw, before we trade a piece of the future for a rental or mild upgrade, remember this third period.  this team cant compete with the real contenders when they turn it up.

detroit's on the pp but carolina looks more likely to score.  i'm just hopong they can get a loser point.

come on larkin.  another turnover at the blueline leads to a carolina break.

and now a 5-3...

bad pinch by simon leads to a 2 on 1 and then a complete **** call on raymond.  horrible call.

but carolina goes to the pp.  even though its seemed like they were on a pp for most of the 3rd period.

gibson is the only reason this game isnt 5-3.

sheesh.  carolina is embarassing them right now.

carolina turns it on and the wings cant keep up.

3-2 now.

should be even more but gibson has been really good.

gibson continues to play well.  carolina has gotten unlucky on offense, however, goalie is their achilles heel and it shows tonight again.

33 minutes ago, Deleterious said:

 

joke.

1 hour ago, Betrayer said:

Awww, did the pampered stars not get pampered enough? They had to take a little drive before the game. I'm just imagining players from the 80s reading this and rolling their eyes.

imagine what the dudes from the 70s think....back when games were on tape delay.

but i am happy he is getting his number retired and i will probably tear up a little watching all those old highlights.

the red wings getting the russians together and taking players out of the eastern bloc has been told a number of times now, but its still an amazing story how they did it, and it set the franchise up for a 25 year run that has never been duplicated in the modern post original six era.

unlike the penguins or blackhawks or any other team that has won multiple cups, the wings won with different teams and werent gifted generational players thanks to the lottery gods.  they did it through scouting and development.  as a wings fan, that's a source of pride.  and sergei was a big part of that.

Sergei might have been the most talented red wing ever.  but also the most frustrating.  he was so good that you always expected even more, and some nights it was clear he just wasnt into it.  

he was always my second favorite red wing after yzerman just cause he was so good, but he'd never replace yzerman.  two stories indicate why.  the first is the story of how fedorov got a knock in a game and left.  it took konstantinov or fetisov going into the medical room and basically calling him out as a pansy ass and to get his behind back on the ice for sergei to go back out and play.  meanwhile yzerman finished his career playing with zero cartilage in his knee, with constant pain, and was still out there every night playing defense and blocking shots.

it took scotty bowman to make yzerman from a fancy offensive stats player to one of the best two way centers in hockey.  sergei was born as one of the best two way centers in hockey, but not even scotty bowman or slava fetisov could get him to do it consistently.

On 12/31/2025 at 12:45 AM, IdahoBert said:

I think the guillotine and the terror of the French Revolution is a good solution. 

you've always struck me as more danton than robespierre.  actually, youre more of a desmoulins, idealistic and young!

Did Marcus Freeman use a weapon when he assaulted that guy?  lol.

1 hour ago, romad1 said:

Got to rebuild that front 7 for sure.  

secondary is losing a lot of guys too.

some of those losses may not be a bad thing...

14 hours ago, lordstanley said:

Teams 13-16 in the Eastern Conference - NJ Devils, Rangers, Senators, Jackets - have sagged and are now 12-15 points back of the Wings. The bottom teams in the NHL - 25 to 32 overall - are all in the West. 

If the Wings at least play a point per game the rest of the way (28 of 32 teams are doing so in the season to date) they'd reach 94 points, which virtually always is enough for a spot. 

i dont know if 94 gets you in this year.