"a tie is like kissing your sister"

zhanjiao1212 · Geregistreerd op: 28 Dec 2018 Berichten: 391

My uncle Rolly would say "a tie is like kissing your sister" and though I did not have a sister, and kissing anyone was a wholly unappetizing prospect, I got his drift. Yeezy Boost 350 Saldi . Nobody is happy with the outcome. To its credit, in the late 1990s, the spry brain-trust at the National Hockey League recognized this fundamental drag on its product and vowed to improve a flawed system. Various solutions and quick-fixes were considered in the ensuing years, and the League, largely during semi-regular work stoppages, decided on a blended approach. (This new three-pronged approach, despite coinciding with league expansion and record revenues, would trigger the erosion of my interest, until I eventually stopped watching entirely.) Change Number One: Four Skaters and a Goalie The number of skaters decreased to four a-side during the overtime period, opening up offensive manoeuvrability and theoretically ending more games with game-winning tallies rather than endless dump-and-chase neutrality. Verdict: Wow. This was a major move, altering the five-on-five structure basic to the sport, and it was a winner. Instead of labouring through increased late game conservatism, skilled players could find themselves better able to deke and shimmy and strut their capabilities, particularly in the games most crucial moments. It also encouraged the reversing of a trend which had taken hold across the league, one where teams were playing "not to lose" and overtime periods were getting increasingly dump-and-chase ho-hum. Overtime would be meaningful again! Sha-la-la-la! Success. Change Number Two: If At First You Dont Succeed, Shoot Again The NHL introduced the controversial, internationally-tested shootout as a means of concluding deadlocked matches. Already in use at NHL All-Star Games, the League took a baby step, opting for three shooters per side, rather than the five per side standard in international play. One in seven games ended in a tie in 2003-2004, so this was going to have a major impact. Verdict: Surprisingly decent move. Fans get a thrill and hopelessly tied games get a victor. Two for two, by my count. But the NHL is not in the leave-well-enough-alone business. In classic League fashion, a third branch of tinkering was offered up, one in which the basic worth of winning or losing would be altered. It is this final alteration that persists to today, defining the current system, and for this hanging-by-a-thread fan, produces a result which is laughable and has firmly pushed me to the periphery of support. Change Number Three: The Three Point Game Shudder. In the former system, a win was worth two points for the victor, zero points for the vanquished. A tie meant a point to each side. Two points per game to be won, lost or split. In the current system, two points continue to be the victors spoils, but depending upon how the loser loses, the losing team may be awarded one or zero points. The pertinent extrapolation — particularly in a conference-based playoff system — is to recognize that some games are then worth three points and other games worth two. This imbalance is a black eye on the game which needs immediate attention. The rule change emerged from what was termed the "Dead Puck Era" or "The Decade Hockey Turned To Crap". Overtime periods had become interminable with each side playing for the tie rather than chance going home pointless. So the NHL made tie games at the end of regulation worth one point to each side to encourage vigorous overtime play for an additional point. The change did not have the desired outcome. The risk-averse playing just starts earlier. Now the second half of the third period is the play-it-safe spot. (For those following at home, the second half of the third period was traditionally also known as the "end of the game".) So now this "end of the game" segment is like a Benjamin Moore product demonstration. Not coincidentally, since the current system launched in 2005-06, there has been a major weakening in the Mike Gallay-watching to hockey-on-television corollary. Whatever, It All Shakes Out in the End If the very nature of consolation points doesnt enrage you, consider this: not only should the Los Angeles Kings not have won the Stanley Cup in 2012, they should not have even been in the playoffs. In 2011-12, the Kings finished the regular season in the 8th seed of the Western Conference. Their record of 40-27-15 really meant they finished games 40-42. In 10th place languished the Dallas Stars (42-40) and in 11th, the Colorado Rockies* (41-41). In any season prior to the three point game initiative, the Kings would not have been in the post-season. (*I am an indefatigable purist in some regards.**)(**I realize if that was truly the case I should refer to them as the Quebec Nordiques.) This is not a one-off situation. It happened to Vancouver and Los Angeles in 2005-06. To Colorado and Montreal in 2006-07. To Carolina in 2007-08. Dozens of teams have received unmerited seedings over the years, all because of the preposterous three point game. Et tu, Baseball? Whats that gang? You all are expanding to 30 or more teams?Hey, we can too!Sure weve heard of Atlanta. The NHL has long been a follow-the-leader organization which makes the three point game more puzzling. It has no relevant precedent. MLB games cannot finish in ties and, bolstered by its non-contact, non-cardiovascular setup, teams may play endlessly into the night. Hell, if necessary, theyll just keep playing tomorrow. Quite reasonably, the NHLPA would not approve potentially endless overtime periods because of potential injury and fostering competitive imbalance (ie. when a rested team plays a team which last night played seven periods). In the NBA, there are no ties and overtime periods are rare and captivating. Hardwood scoring is more plentiful than hockey scoring, so the likelihood of limitless overtime periods is slight. In the NFL (AKA "the league that gets things right") surprisingly there is allowance for ties, but league-wide there have been only two in the past five years. The anomaly of the football tie makes it bizarre and accepted as it functions more as a novelty than a drag on competitive balance. If every team averaged even one tie per season, oh yes, the NFL would have torched it long ago. Dumping & Chasing Dreams I try to get excited for hockey. I remember my youth, endless slapshots against a laundry room wall. I check out the standings to see who is jostling for—nope, cant do it. Right now, RIGHT NOW, of the 30 teams competing only 7 have losing records. Last year, by seasons end, same result, only 7 had losing records. In 2009-10, only 20% of the league had a losing record. Stop this madness. Its humiliating when grown men playing a grown mans game require the systemic equivalent of an orange slice and a plastic participant trophy. Are savvy Hockeytown fans sincerely fooled that their beloved Red Wings 30-24-13 record doesnt mean their team is a 30-37 loser? Their skaters headed to the locker room showers pissed off 37 times this year. Fact. Deep breath. I have heard all the reasons, some logical, some inebriated, on how to remedy this situation. The League and the PA and the broadcasters all have a say. But the solution is barely a tweak on what exists and would solve everything: Ten minute overtimes with four skaters a-side and a best-of-5 shootout. Winner gets two points. Loser gets a Tim Hortons special. Fans get a better reason to spend hundreds of dollars to attend. If you cannot win a game after seventy minutes then you earned the uncertainty of a shootout. The shootout, exciting as it is, might as well be five shooters a-side to give it more weight and the fans more thrills. The League only introduced regular season overtime in 1983-1984. Crucial, fundamental changes like this happen frequently. When the three point game was introduced it was to be rid of ties, to be rid of the indecision of such an outcome, but we wound up with a greater ingrained indecisiveness. This can be fixed. This should be fixed. This will improve the game. It might even make me forgive what those morons did to the conferences. Gallays Poll #3 If you were the NHL commish (my condolences), how would you remedy the current point system? (A) Leave it as is because I value tradition and systemic imbalance.(B) Take Gallays suggestions to make every game worth 2 points. 1 Winner. 1 Loser.(C) Go back to the system with the ties we all loved so much. Everyones a winner.(D) Abandon points altogether for a ranking system based entirely on scrapping. Yeezy Boost 350 Scontate . Now, the hottest team on the ATP are pointing their sights on qualifying for the eight-team season finals in London next November. Pospisil has now established the year-end World Tour Finals as the benchmark for a breakthrough season, with Pospisil and Sock provisionally standing ninth. Yeezy Boost 350 Italia . The fourth-year guard from Carleton University kicked off his varsity career with rookie of the year honours in 2011, before racking up three straight Mike Moser Memorial Trophies for outstanding player. http://www.yeezy350outlet.it/ . - A Tuesday funeral is planned in Toronto for 20-year-old Saginaw Spirit forward Terry Trafford. NEW YORK -- Pound it into the paint, pound your opponent on the backboards. The Memphis Grizzlies rediscovered their winning formula Saturday, getting 25 points and 15 rebounds from Zach Randolph and snapping a five-game losing streak with a 95-87 victory over the New York Knicks. Tony Allen added 19 points and eight boards while providing his usual strong defence. Jerryd Bayless scored 11 points, including two free throws to end a Knicks flurry that had trimmed a 19-point deficit to four in the final half-minute. "This was going to be a tough one. It is not easy winning here," point guard Mike Conley said. "For us to come in and win says a lot. Hopefully this will spark something for us." Conley finished with nine points and eight assists after missing two games with a bruised left thigh for the Grizzlies, who had a 56-29 rebounding advantage and outscored the Knicks 60-28 in the paint. "Thats embarrassing, especially when you start a big lineup," Knicks coach Mike Woodson said, adding that Carmelo Anthony, Tyson Chandler and Andrea Bargnani needed to rebound better. "I thought that was the difference." Anthony scored 30 points, while reserves J.R. Smith and Tim Hardaway Jr. each had 16 for the Knicks. Chandler had eight points and six rebounds in his second game back from a broken leg, while Bargnani managed just three points and two boards in 22 minutes after moving back into the starting lineup. Randolph and the Grizzlies front line outworked the Knicks, methodically increasing their lead until they were able to build a big cushion with a 15-5 run that spanned the end of the third quarter and early fourth. "It was real critical me being aggressive, getting to the free throw line, making shots. Something Ive been trying to do these last couple of games," Randolph said. "Been a lot of focus on me packing the paint. I was kind of hoping that I could operate down there." Randolph had 10 points and eight rebounds in the third quarter, including a follow shot for the first of three straight Memphis baskeets that turned an eight-point lead into a 72-58 advantage. Yeezy Boost 350 Outlet. He made two free throws to open the fourth, then Bayless had the next three field goals for the Grizzlies to push the lead to 81-63. Memphis seemed comfortably ahead after Randolph scored in the lane and Allen came up with a steal and basket to make it 91-78 with 3:04 to play, but Smith and Anthony made consecutive 3-pointers to start a run of nine straight Knicks points that made it 91-87 with 25 seconds remaining. Bayless than knocked down a pair of free throws and Allen closed it out with a final basket. "I thought that we played really, really hard," Memphis coach Dave Joerger said. "Every coach puts up on his board, play hard, play smart, play together. I thought just about every single minute of the game we played hard." The Knicks fell to 4-10 at home, matching their total number of home losses all of last season in 41 games. The Knicks tried to change their luck in home day games, where they had lost by 41 points to the Celtics and 31 to the Spurs in noon starts, by staying in a hotel the night before. They were much more competitive, but far from good enough until it was too late. "Its a sense of inconsistency right now," Anthony said. "We have spurts where were playing great basketball and then we just have spurts where were just dead out there. So weve got to get better at that." Memphis is still playing without Marc Gasol and Tayshaun Prince, but was stabilized by the return of Conley, even though he shot just 4 of 18 and failed to score in double figures for the first time this season. The Grizzlies jumped to a 17-8 lead, but Knicks woke up early this time compared to the previous matinees and cut it to 25-22 after one. Memphis scored the final five points of the half, taking a 50-40 lead into the break after Ed Davis dunk with a second left. Notes: Knicks forward Metta World Peace sat out with a sore left knee for the third time this season. ... The Grizzlies are 0-7 against Southwest Division teams but improved to 11-8 against everyone else. Wholesale Hoodies NFL Shirts Outlet Jerseys NFL Wholesale Cheap NFL Jerseys Free Shipping Wholesale Jerseys Cheap Cheap NFL Jerseys China Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap NFL Jerseys ' ' '