Mr.TaterSalad

Trump selling bibles for $100 plus tax is everything Jesus warned against in the bible. He literally went into the temple, flipped over the tables, and drove out the coin counters, changemakers, and profiteers who would seek to profit off the name of God and in his holy house. Now, I'm not religious, but if you're going to be religious, at least pretend to follow what is actually written in your holy scripture. On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple courts and began driving out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves, and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts. And as he taught them, he said, “Is it not written: "My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations"? But you have made it ‘a den of robbers." - Mark 11:15

I've seen these threads about what rules should be changed or eliminated. I'm not going to make a thread on this topic and I know I've brought this up before. However, division winners should not get automatic playoff births. Division winners should at minimum not be slotted in one of the top 4 seeds and the actual 4 best records in a conference should be a top 4 seed. I really believe though that the top 7 teams in each conference should be the ones that make the playoffs and should be slotted in their seed based off of their overall record and then any tiebreakers necessary. Teams with losing records have no business making the playoffs. Teams in weak divisions, like the AFC and NFC South divisions have been over the few years shouldn't automatically be slotted into a top 4 seed. I liked that the Lions proposed a change this offseason to have the best 4 teams, not the 4 division winners, get the top playoff seedings in a conference.

Is there a business lobby that has a financial interest in asbestos coming back? Dow Chemical? DuPont? Who the hell is even lobbying to bring back asbestos? Or does Trump and his far right minions see this as some sort "bad government overreach" in the same way that they hate paper straws? Like, using asbestos in the construction of homes, office buildings, industrial facilities, retail stores, etc. should be allowed on the basis of personal freedom. Who the **** wants asbestos back?

I'm a sucker for good harmonies in music and so I've become a bigger Beach Boys fans as I've gotten older and my musical tastes have matured. Really sad to see Brian Wilson pass and sad I never got to see the original Beach Boys in concert ever. A lot of people think God Only Knows is there very best harmonizing and while it is a great song with equally great harmonies, Don't Worry Baby is them at their best to me. RIP Brian Wilson.

We were told that Donald Trump would be a peacetime President and that no new wars would be waged on his watch. We were told that the wars in Ukraine and Gaza would have never started had he just been the President at the time. Now, we're either about to get heavily involved in a war with Iran or at least be a sideline partner, approving of and funding Israel's invasion of and war with Iran. I guess we can start calling him George W. Trump.

I watched the HBO documentary on the Ohio State wrestling sexual abuse scandal. What a sad story being told here by these student athletes. Sexual abuse that was covered up and students who were silenced after being violated. This documentary makes light of the fact that Ohio State wrestling coaches at the time knew this was going on. It doesn't hold back and is a brutal indictment of Republican Congressman Jim Jordan. Jordan knew what was going on and what that doctor was doing to those young boys and helped to cover it up and turn a blind eye. No amount of money or settlements will ever bring these kids full justice for what the university and wrestling coaches covered up.

I go through kicks where I watch lots of Food Network. I was sad to see Chef Anne Burrell passed away earlier today. RIP.

I have to hand it to Bettman. He got what he wanted. He's wanted hockey to fail in Canada and succeed down south. He's gotten multiple Stanley Cup winners down south in Florida over the past decade.

I remember back on the old boards laughing at Florida as an organization and as a fan base. Laughing at the fact that they never won a damn thing, laughing at their attendance, laughing that I thought they'd be forced to admit defeat and move hockey out of south Florida. What a turnaround. From a personnel perspective, they are head and shoulders above most other teams in the league right now. A well run organization with a very well put together team. Watching them play hockey makes you further realize how miserably far behind our roster is compared to theirs. And next year, assuming they can keep the main core of their roster together, they'll be back again next year.

Edmonton didn't even show up tonight. This was a great series for 4 of the games with some really entertaining hockey bring played. But tonight was one of two stinkers in the series.

Well that's it. The Panthers are dominating tonight's game. It's 3-0 now and Canada will have to wait at least another year for another Cup to come back across the border.

Iran was a democratic-ish country, with an elected parliamentary government, under Mohammad Mosaddegh until we helped remove him from power. Is there any thought that Iran could return to a pseudo-democratic country as it was 60 years ago?

I saw sex addict, prostitute picker upper, and televangelist huckster Jimmy Swaggart is on life support. Maybe he'll repent on his bedside for all the tens-of-thousands of people he ripped off over the years. Repent for taking money from people in the name of "God". Taking money from the poor, gullible, elderly, and those on fixed incomes, all the while living a lavish lifestyle for himself with mansions, nice cars, expensive suits, and more. In the Bible it speaks of how Jesus went into the temple and flipped over the tables of the coin counters because they were profiting off religion, in a holy place. Swaggart is not different in my mind. Just a money stealing thief, preying on the gullible and less fortunate, laughing all the way to the bank. SNL had a great skit with the Church Lady Dana Carvey and the late, great, Phil Hartman portraying Swaggart.

When I first read the comment, I took it to mean Edmonton was a well assembled team with a good roster that was being held back because they are missing a great goaltender. I think my initial interpretation around roster construction was wrong. You are correct, Edmonton does have talent. It seems at time that Skinner is both talented and a liability for them in net.

I don't think Edmonton has "All the talent in the world" or a stacked roster by any means. I also don't think Holland did some amazing job building a roster. I don't think Edmonton is a team we can emulate with a roster build either. I think Edmonton has two of the top 5 players in the league plus a top 10-15 defenseman in Evan Bouchard. My apologies in advance if the talent in the world comment isn't directly related to roster building by the organization. If Edmonton didn't have the lottery luck they had, they would be a team struggling to make the playoffs. I also feel that Bouchard wouldn't look as good as he does. If you took Draisaitl and McDavid and traded them to the Wings for Copp and Larkin Edmonton would be where we are and we would likely be where they are. They would be struggling to make he playoffs and likely miss them. That doesn't mean we have a well assembled roster though. Hell, if you traded those two to Florida for Reinhart and Barkov, Edmonton would have 5-10 less wins and 18-20 less points at minimum in my view. Conversely, in that same scenario, Florida would be nearly unstoppable. I mean, kudos to Peter Chiarelli for not being an idiot, overthinking it, and making two obvious NHL draft picks at the top of the draft. But Edmonton to me is an example of pure lottery luck, not great roster building. When I think of well built rosters in the NHL that are better than Edmonton I think of Carolina, Florida, and Vegas before them. If I really dove deep into the stats I could probably find a few more rosters I would take ahead of theirs. When I say well built rosters I mean teams that both drafted well and made smart pro-side moves.

For those interested in going to a No Kings rally in Michigan here are all the communities where one is being held. Most of them are starting around 1pm, but check your local one to confirm the start time.

Veuillez renvoyer le directeur général des Red Wings, Steve Yzerman. You're right, it does sound better in French. I kid though. I'm not there yet.

Only the very best people speak at rallies for certain people. If you know, you know.

He also points out that they are welfare and taker states as well. Both of which, crime and being a taker state, Dems need to hit harder on.

I agree with your points here about why Newsom is effective. Frankly, honestly, if Newsome were a little less smug and arrogant himself AND was from a non-costal state I think he'd be a really solid, serious choice for Democrats in 2028. But being a costal liberal from California will be a no-go for Democrats I feel after Harris losing. I think Dems will end up nominating a midwestern or southern candidate for President in 28. That said, Newsom has been effective thus far it feels like. We will see if the people ultimately agree on the whole.

He got away with these things because he is a rich, white, male who was hyped up as being successful on a TV show back in the 2000s. Kamala Harris literally worked at a McDonald's as a summer job but they derided, mocked, and called her a liar. If Barack Obama or Kamala Harris had put on a hat and vest and did a McDonald's drive thru stunt Republicans and the media would call them Michael Dukakis and laugh at it. I used to be 100% against making fun of and chiding people with personal insults, but the facts are that they work. I was 100% opposed to the tactics Newsome used in his press conference, but it is effective I think. Democrats, like what Newsome did last night, need to fight back harder and get more down in the mud. Michelle Obama's old adage of "When they go low, we go high" is dated and doesn't work in today's politics. We need more of what Newsome did last night from Democratic leaders. And if someone insults the fact that Trump is the size of a blimp in a parade, ok.

Here are all the game winning calls from the various broadcasts last night. I thought the French announcer had great intensity and a good call, no clue who he is though.

Always cool to watch the emotion overcome the hometown fans when their team scores a big goal.

Amazing series so far. Every game but one has been thrilling to watch because we've gotten a great pace of place, intensity, scoring, and the drama of overtime. This is the best Stanley Cup Final I can remember watching since Bruins/Canucks in 2011 or Wings/Penguins in 2008 (Grrrrrrrr we won't talk about 2009).

He gave one to a pill-popping junkie in Rush Limbaugh, so this makes sense. Normally, I would not make fun of people for having a substance abuse problem. But since the right and MAGA always deride people on welfare and those who are low-income as drug addicts, no sense not calling El-Rushblow what he is.