Tom Wilson: good old fashioned goon or dangerous headhunter?

>>32661
I don't hate him but I understand the hate of him.

http://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/25739723/tampa-bay-lightning-acquire-jan-rutta-chicago-blackhawks

SUICIDE IS PAINLESS~
IT BRINGS ON MANY CHANGES~

It's really starting to feel like this is cause I finally got a Hawks tattoo before the season started. Some sort of punishment for my hubris.

>>32744
As long as you didn't get one that says "2018-19 Stanley Cup Champions" or something like that you shouldn't blame yourself. If you did however it should be removed with a belt sander.

>>32744
Hey, least they ain't the Sens.

http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/25474553/luis-valbuena-jose-castillo-killed-car-crash-venezuela

The batshit insane evil roads of Latin America have claimed two more souls.

Lee Smith I can understand and don't have a problem with being in the Hall of Fame but putting Harold Baines in is really lowering the bar. I'd put in Edgar Martinez before Harold Baines.

>>32638
Actually thieves forced them off the roads but still it's fucked up.

>>32645
It lowers the bar to a degree, I guess, but the Hall doesn't mean much right now. Not because of who's going in, but because of who's being left out. If the sportswriters just want to induct good baseball guys, fine. I liked Baines as a kid, so if I were to go to Cooperstown and see his plaque it'd bring back good memories that I wouldn't have for other, better players. But personally, I just don't think it matters much as long as the likes of Bonds and Clemens are on the outs.

>>32646

Bonds and Clemens are still persona non grata because of their arrogance. Many, many players cheated over the past 30+ years, but Bonds and Clemens were complete dickholes about it. They're too stubborn to even admit a modicum of their cheating that would save a bit of face, and because of that they'll never get enough support for induction.

Yeah, they're two of the best performers in the history of the sport, but they're also a couple of pieces of shit so I'm not losing any sleep over them being left out in the cold.

Looks like the Phillies and White Sox are the only teams left that are going to try to sign Bryce Harper and Manny Machado. Should be interesting what the Phillies offer Bryce considering he turned down a 10 year $300 million deal from the Nationals. Not sure about Manny and what the White Sox are going to offer him but I wouldn't be surprised if it's a shorter deal so he can try to get a bigger contract in the future depending on how he performs.

>>32672
give that man the mvp

Give me your tiers bros. Here are mine, in order of worst to best:

Shit tier:
Cleveland Cavaliers
New York Knicks
Chicago Bulls
Phoenix Suns

Bad tier:
Orlando Magic
Atlanta Hawks
Detroit Pistons
Dallas Mavericks
Washington Wizards
Charlotte Hornets

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>>32727
The Western Conference is a damn bloodbath right now, every team has a shot at playoff contention besides the Pheonix Suns right now. 9 Wins separate the top team (Denver Nuggets) and the 2nd worst team (Dallas Mavericks).

If this Cav's season has a silver lining, it's watching the existentialist crisis every team that loses to us has.

>>32734
Dude, the Lakers are the worst team in the league without LeBron. Aside from the random matchups where they figure out how to put it together every five games, if you've watched these games without LeBron they are a fucking shitshow. How do you go 16 for 27 on free throws in the NBA?

>>32738

I like the Chiefs. Probably my 4th or 5th favorite AFC team. But fuck Andy Reid. I'm sadly rooting for the Saints or Patriots to win, and that sucks.

Anybody but New England.

Brady is old and busted.
Mahomes is the new hotness.

>>32741
Thanks, now the Chiefs are gonna go Full Reid and Brady'll go the the Super Bowl, again.

>>32742
I mean either way, the volcanic explosion from Mount Hot Takes will be something to behold. The ref they picked for the AFC champ game has had a prior history of pissing off both teams.

Also LOL @ Colin Cowherd saying that Arrowhead "won't be as loud because Chiefs fans will be too cold to yell." Dude's clearly never been to any games here in the past few years. No wonder he's lumped into a midday slot on FS1. He makes Jason Whitlock sound clever.

>Teams will have 50 players on each roster, with some selected by a territorial draft

Vince is going to have to kill the territory system again...

> In lieu of an onside kick, a team can keep possession of the ball by attempting a scrimmage play from their own 35-yard line and gaining at least 10 yards.

These gimmicky rules make no sense. It makes it hard for casual fans to understand the game. I get that they're trying to protect the players on kickoffs, but there's gotta be a better way to accomplish that, even if it just means no onsides kicks. Maybe take out goals to keep games closer...

>32717
>Why not just have the top 2 teams go to the Championship?

The NCAA proved that people care a lot more about a playoff system. It also is way better for breaking ties than a poll.

>>32718
There are also like, what, 32 teams during Bowl Season?

>>32717
I had to take a second glance at that, it's not saying they don't have halves its just saying that the half change, like after scores and in overtime, automatically go to the touch back line

>>32718
Yeah the onside kick rule sounds like a bad gimmick to me, I don't have any better ideas but it sounds like it massively favours the attempting team, a good team could have a solid chance to just perpetually keep their hands on the ball

Totally forgot about this and had no idea it was starting in a month. I don't even know what noteworthy players are in the league. I guess Papa NFL has ESPN on a tight leash and won't be letting them seriously cover this league like when they suppressed coverage of the original XFL. While that ended up being a good decision because Vince McMahon is a carny fuck, the AAF seems like a legit minor league football league and not carny bullshit. Oh well, hopefully the NFL stops quashing AAF coverage since I don't want to have to go to CBS Sports' website or use their app just for scores and highlights.

There's also the FFL and XFL starting up next year so the AAF is gonna have some competition but the AAF does have the advantage of starting a year early, having a TV deal in place and an escape clause to go to the NFL or CFL since each of the eight teams have 4 NFL teams and 1-2 CFL teams associated with each one. It's also probably a good thing to put teams in markets without an NFL team or in places like Atlanta and Phoenix, playing in different stadiums.

>Cowboys

So much for the Chargers but damn Eagles picked it off on the very first play of the game.

Jesus Christ, what a way to lose a game. I'm not an Eagles fan but I was rooting for Foles for the absurdity of it all and it seemed like he was going to lead another 4th quarter comeback before Jeffrey missed that catch in the worst way possible.

>>32731
Not an Eagles fan neither, but It's like when they lost off a tipped ball against the Cowboys. Or when JuJu Smith-Schuster fumbled the ball against the Saints a few weeks back.

Just a heartbreaking loss. You can see that the missed catch was hitting him hard and that he cost them the game. It's unfortunate, but I didn't see them repeating with all the injures they had. It was even worse than last year. There is only so much you can overcome.

Fucking hell, the commentators were singing the Saints praise all damn game. It's like when Al Michaels and Chris Collingsworth were singing the Patriots' praise all last Super Bowl. I thought broadcast announcers were supposed to be neutral?

>>32732

Are you pretending that Collinsworth didn't deepthroat Foles and Pederson about the Philly Special for the entire rest of that game?

>>32578
Welp nevermind. Close game though.

Bumping for the MLS playoffs I suppose. Red Bulls and Sounders both coming in on hot streaks, although Atlanta and Kansas City have been solid. Hope the Crew are well-supported and make a run as a fuck you to their owner and his desire to move the team.

>>32589
Looking forward to Atlanta-Portland considering it's gonna be the highest attended MLS Cup game and they're two teams with passionate fanbases. Guess we'll see how the Timbers are gonna be able to contain Josef Martinez.

RIP Sigi Schmid. That coach was a pioneer in MLS and already one of the GOAT coaches in MLS' short history.

Las Vegas PD are coming after Ronaldo's cum in order to determine if he's a rapist. Wild stuff.

>>32564

>mfw early game blowouts and an on-paper shitty matchup made me skip this.

>>32457
Seriously fuck OSU and their garbage culture.

And now he's retired.

>>32631

>For now he's retired

FTFY?

>>32636
This. Meyer's as slippery as they come, and I could absolutely see him pull a Florida and come back to some big name program currently at sea like USC or Miami in a couple years.

people that are just placing small-time money on shit (march madness brackets at work, fantasy football with your friends) won't have to hide it any more, and states can possibly regulate and make revenue off of it. I don't know how that would look or if it would be a good thing for the average joe fantasy player, but as a Floridian I think we're gonna head towards legalization post haste and I guess I support bringing more revenue to the state. high rollers/pro gamblers, meanwhile, will have more cities of sin in which to party and bet (see: Miami) and states will likely make more revenue off of that too. fairness of competition will not change, at least not until the incentive to take falls exceeds bonuses players and coaches already get for winning playoff games or making certain benchmarks (which I don't see ever happening). plus a lot of bets these days aren't "I bet the eagles will beat the pats" but more like "Foles will have 200 yds by the end of the 2nd" or "LeBron will have 3 setups to K-Love in the 1st 5 mins." really specific shit like that is a lot harder to engineer if youre worried about the integrity of the game being affected. and if players were somehow incentivized to fulfill these weird, specific parameters the games would become so chaotic that I'd say fairness would be restored just by virtue of everyone having such disparate goals. a given team winning would be incidental, not rigged, lol.

and then for the low-life sleazy gambler nothing's gonna change. if you're not a playboy (and thus can't get credit from a casino), bookies are still the only people around that will offer credit, and once this is all regulated and sanitized they're still going to have their market of people who otherwise couldn't gamble at the more reputable venues (which is still a sizeable chunk of people).

the angle i find more interesting is how this will change sports media. they've already had vegas "insiders" on places like ESPN explaining how lines are made or whether or not you should take the points and shit like that, but I think now gambling advice is gonna explode even more as a niche in the Sport Media Talking He…

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>Players will throw games

No pro player is gonna throw a game for money. They have enough. College could be a problem but probably not and here's why. They could be potentially throwing games/point shaving already in a unregulated illegal gambling bet. If its regulated we will know exactly whos placing bets and if the money can be followed we can see if the players benefit.

>>32401

Exactly. The players will be less likely to collude with more oversight. Any large bet placed is going to have a lot investigation just like when you pull out or deposit more than $10,000 at a bank.

People have been betting on sports since the gladiators. Making gambling illegal is fucking stupid and a crime against civilization. Just like making drugs illegal. FREEDOM!

DICKS EVERYWHERE

I fucking HATED him during his runs with Oakland/Tennessee/USC, but when he went to OC of Bama, and now coach of FIU (or is it FAU? can't be bothered to look it up) and faded into the background a bit, I now really appreciate him for his personality and honesty. Football coaches are so fucking protective and sterile that I've really started to miss the Steve Spurriers of the world. Kiffin is walking in his footsteps, so I've come around to being a fan of his.

>>32449
Won't be able to make it but you can put it on autodraft.

>>32449

5 PM ct, 6 et, September 1st.

https://www.si.com/extra-mustard/2018/08/21/cleveland-browns-generating-most-bets-nfl

So is there really going to be a brown wave this year?

>>32455

Legitimate chance they compete for division title. Not saying they will or can even make the playoffs, but the team if full of talent and has a QB who makes few mistakes and a better roster than the one he took to the playoffs last year.

Looks like I autodrafted the right players lol. What a huge first game for me.