May Day 10

the guy to move on was Trotz last Summer.

Where are you located? In WNY, the season is way too short. It stinks. I have a friend on FB in NC with a 9yo and they seem to be able to play like 3/4 of the year. Here, its May and June, then that is it. Even a FB on Long Island seems to get a lot more time than we get. We are in a little league. I have looked around for more "magnet" type teams/organizations, but cant find any... at least for kids this young. I played in the same org as a kid, and I felt we had much better coaches and we had some really good teams and players (on the WNY scale). Oddly enough, despite my grumpiness, my kid really likes playing baseball

I'm just talking about the ability (or willingness) to compete every year, or most years, with limited down-time. Not just looking at payroll. Houston had to go through like 6 or 7 years below .500 including some awful seasons (some worse than 110 losses I think?). It is about being able to keep the talent and your best players. I'm an Indians fan. They got a quick compete-window in 2008-ish and immediately had to sell off players Sabathia, V Martinez, etc. Now, i am going to have to see it again (it has already been happening) as Bauer will be gone soon, and Lindor and Ramirez wont be too far behind. Then hopefully they reload within the next 8 years or so. IMO there needs to be a better salary structure in MLB to allow teams to maintain and afford their best players... if not force some of the stingy owners to spend toward a cap floor. As far as participation. My experience is (being involved in U7 baseball and other sports presently), all kids seem to play teeball and younger age groups, as it is a very convenient thing right there in every town. We have a very large enrollment for the little kids... however, I gaze to the older age group's diamonds and they are often not active (when I played in the 80s and early 90s, the fields would be mobbed every day). The way USA Baseball is, whether its the Little League Organization, Babe Ruth, etc is light years behind USA Hockey and USA Soccer. USA Hockey and Soccer have certified coaches and programs. You attend one of those practices, even for little kids, there are lesson plans and qualified coaches running skills clinics for basic skills development. The kids are always moving and have fun. Baseball is fractured into various independent entities. Coaches are normally volunteer dads who arent necessarily qualified. They think practice is throwing the kids out into the field to pick dandelions and throw batting practice for an hour. "Games" consist of kids each getting like 2 at bats and the kids who arent the 1 or 2 most aggressive on the team may get to handle the ball 1 or 2 times in the infield per "game". Im noticing by the time they are about 8 or 9, many kids seem to be moving on to other sports.

if that's the case, put it on these players to find it within themselves to make it happen here. That needs to happen at some point. OReilly, Lehner, Kane, etc all have gotten placed into great situations. Ship Risto out because he "is sick of losing".... how long before Reinhart, Eichel, Dahlen follow suit? Sick of losing? that's great. Do something about it. The team straight up quit on themselves, the franchise, and the fans 3 straight seasons.

It has always kind of been that way. The cross-check was flagrant enough and the aftermath was bad enough where the call wasn't all too shocking to me. In a 3-0 game, it should have been manageable. I have seen 5 minute major powerplays just melt off time if the PK gets the upper hand.

Letting up 4 goals on the powerplay is a pretty massive, preventable step from the call. Regardless, it was a penalty on an unnecessary reckless play by eakin. It dislodged the fans and pissed off and woke up the sharks. They would have likely come back without the major powerplay. Major powerplays, you see a goal against. Sometimes 2... but 4 is a different level rarely seen They also had a chance to win it in ot and couldnt. Not to mention a 3-1 series lead

Either way... it awoke the sharks and the crowd. All vegas had to do was not let up 4 goals on the powerplay

San jose game is crazy

Frankly, Botterill has stunk. He is going to get another year, but his list of acquisitions is looking pathetic, and the returns for Kane and OReilly are/were underwhelming. Not to mention they gave up assets on an upcoming UFA who may walk. This will be his 3rd offseason and 3rd season, and if the team remains below where they were under Murray/Bylsma, Botterill needs to be kicked to the curb. NHL Players acquired: Scandella Beaulieau Pominville Wilson Sobotka Berglund Thompson Sheary Hunwick Elie Hutton Pouliot Josefson Tenneyson Jury is out on Montour. Was panned by the analytics crowd and cost a 1st and Guhle.

There was that... and the real cheesy non-subtle "Avengers" brand of humor during the trek past the wall. Also, the way they were just able to fend off like 100K wights in a terrible defensive position, and likely exhausted/cold. Wights stormed the fist of the first men, one of the most optimal defensive strongholds and devastated/slaughtered 200 fully armed and prepared men of the night's watch. Then, in S7, E6, they are each crushing wights 5 at a time, exploding with a flick off the wrist with a regular sword. Luckily, I think it recovered the past 3 episodes. I hope the books do not use that plot, and if they do, make it more plausible. It was the weakest the show ever got.

To me, the degradation of the "competition" of minor league baseball is a big problem and an existential threat to baseball being as prominent as it is 50 years from now. Minor league baseball is solely trying to lure groups of people to the ballpark with Star Wars, Game of thrones, 1-hit wonder trivia, BPO, etc. Baseball is such a secondary thing now, if not, it is like 4th or 5th in importance. They have ripped teams from small-town America and put them in places like Brooklyn, Staten Island, etc. Even being a fan of MLB is frustrating if your team isnt the Yankees, Red Sox, Cardinals, or Dodgers.

I thought the show really crossed the line into absurdity in Season 7, episodes 5 and 6. The whole pretense of having a group of major characters go North of the wall to face the army of the dead and capture a specimen.... without any sort of plan, equipment, horses, etc was awful. All to show it to Cersei (who had zero military) for an unnecessary cease fire, which anyone could have guessed Cersei wouldnt honor anyways. The chains thing was just icing on the top.

I disagree. And I believe they were 5th or 6th in IL attendance last season, with about half-capacity as an average. Paid tickets dependably average roughly 8K/game for the Bisons. It is still considered a nice ballpark, but many have exceeded it with amenities, site lines, comfort, and backdrop. The 190 and industry isn't real pretty of a backdrop now that the envelope has been pushed by most of these places, (and no large scale development has happened S and E of the Ballpark.)

I dont really root for USA. I just feel like we have so much infrastructure and money spent on leisure activities and specialization, some of these athletes should be expected to win. Thats no fun. Against other 'superpowers' like Russia and China, sure, Ill root for them. World Cup, I do root for the USA though because we are the underdog.

It seems like a nice story, but IMO it is untrue. Maybe Trump and Caputo fanned the flames by starting the silly music ban and flyers for bars... but we (TBD) should know more than anybody, that Bon Jovi was on our radar and no-fly-list long before Ralph Wilson passed away and Trump had any inkling the team would be available. https://www.thestar.com/sports/football/2013/11/24/jon_bon_jovi_mlse_give_toronto_inside_track_on_buffalo_bills_kelly.html

can the night king just reanimate corpses they dont kill?

He was shooting for the Rockies/Marlins expansion. (would have been in place of the Rockies because the state of FLA was all but guaranteed a team.) Buffalo was basically among 3 finalists for the other expansion team. The expansion fee was $95 Million which gave Bob Rich cold feet. It was probably a good thing because the players salaries skyrocketed at about that point. The stadium was built so the roof can be removed for a large 3rd deck, and the Right Field seats were going to be much more expansive. I think it would have seated 40k? It is lesser-known, but the Riches had some informal talks at the time about moving the Giants here to become the "New York Giants". Buffalo was actually falsely reported to have been awarded an expansion team in 1969 along with San Diego. Montreal was awarded that team instead.

if the Amerks crap out here, especially if they get swept.... I don't believe there is any way they can sell that "hire" to the fans and media.

it was very significant and influential in its time. It transitioned from the multi-purpose boxy ballparks of the 70s (and skydome) to the retro-craze, which brought us Camden Yards and Jacobs Field, among others, which spun into many ballparks that have a modern/retro look. Its nice, but it is wearing down a bit and showing its age. Some of these ballparks going up now are breathtaking, even at a Class A level.... although a cant speak from a standpoint of players' facilities. I do have experience with the past working for the Bisons, but no idea comparatively. Pilot Field is also too big for AAA baseball. By a good margin, it is the largest AAA ballpark, and more often than not, it feels cavernous and sparsely populated.... whereas elsewhere, 10,000 people is a sellout and people get excited and might get into the game. Charlotte's looks amazing Columbus Indianapolis (awesome grassy, picnic style GA area through the outfield) El Paso Durham Athletic Park (the Bull in left field) Orem Owlz

Its tough. They had it so good with Cleveland, and before that, Pittsburgh. Winning in minor leagues has become so secondary too. Everything is on a pitch count, it seems the players dont care about winning... and games are nothing but peripheral events that happen to occur while something else is going on like Star Wars Day. The games themselves stink, and the "playoffs" are usually skeletal versions of the team after the MLB September call-ups happen. And, prepare to feel old, but Pilot Field is no longer the crown jewel of the Minors, nor the International League. It is actually the oldest IL ballpark I believe. Cleveland pulled out of Buffalo in part because Columbus was opening a nicer facility (and they wanted to regionalize a bit in Ohio). I think Toronto may be a decent team to partner with, based on how they are forced to perpetually rebuild. The Bisons just caught them at a point where they were actually trying to compete for a few seasons and emptied the cupboard. Proximity is good as well.

And it was right from the books... He also told a story about how he got really drunk during a snow storm and decided to go have relations with a woman. He woke up all torn up and wearing a bear skin. Then heard stories about a naked she-bear roaming the forest with ***** looking man-cubs.

Nothing really happened, but i thought it was great dramatic effect for the upcoming apocalypse. It was most likely a sendoff for many major characters. Also needed the last few reunions of the nights watch and theons crew. If i have one complaint, it was how easily jaime was let off the hook. I didnt want them to dwell on that forever, but it just seemed kind of conveniently swept under the rug. That is how he is in the books as well. Lots of laughing and boasting

I think bran's stance will be that, while we all hate this mf... he has a big part to play yet and we must spare him. While the angry mob argues which method to execute him

Tyrion sitting the throne wouldnt make sense from his character's standpoint. As hand, no matter what he did to temper his sister's impulses and take care of/feed the people... and despite almost single-handedly saving the city from a brutal sacking.... the common people hated his guts more than anyone. IMO his character will either have to die saving Jaime (or maybe the Targs).... or find true love, inherit Casterly Rock, and live happily ever after.