HarleyQuinn

Derek Vineyard

I'm bored and so I wanted to see if the scoring level really has gone back up since the return from the lockout... 2002-2003: Top teams averaged 3.20, 3.28, and 3.22 GPG. 2003-2004: Top teams averaged 3.20, 3.11, and 2.99 GPG. 2005-2006: Top teams averaged 3.83, 3.72, and 3.59 GPG. 2006-2007: Top teams averaged 3.76, 3.51, and 3.38 GPG. 2007-2008: Top teams averaged 3.20, 3.18, and 3.13 GPG. So far in the 2008 season, the top teams are averaging 3.88 (San Jose), 3.50 (Detroit), and 3.42 (Boston) GPG. It's disconcerting to see the sudden drop off last season and I'm curious if that drop will continue this year or if we'll return to a 2005 or 2006 season level. I know that there have been some changes to the game to "open" up scoring but if it only lasts two seasons, what happens next? Bigger nets? Smaller goalie equipment? For comparison purposes... 1989-1990: Top teams averaged 4.35, 4.23, and 4.21 GPG. 1990-1991: Top teams averaged 4.30, 4.25, and 4.28 GPG. 1997-1998: Top teams averaged 3.12, 3.05, and 3.05 GPG. 1998-1999: Top teams averaged 3.27, 3.02, and 2.99 GPG.

So it seems our first "official" bowl match up is New Orleans: Troy vs. Southern Miss. Who did Louisiana Tech replace in the Independence Bowl? I had it down as Big 12 vs. SEC... Hal Mumme gone at New Mexico State: http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/news...p&type=lgns Remember when he and Mike Leach turned Tim Couch into an uber stud draft pick at Kentucky? Found this quote interesting, "He also expressed concern about attendance and corporate support. Boston said New Mexico State is expected to narrowly meet the NCAA’s two-year attendance minimum, averaging 15,000 fans per game, to maintain membership in the Football Bowls Subdivision."

*Claps* Now that's the Mod we all know and love!

Some other bowl invitations and acceptances... Credit TheSportsNetwork - Southern Miss is going to the New Orleans Bowl - Clemson is going to the Gator Bowl

Ren Hoek

Ooof... I not only lose the PF lead but I'm starting to spiral back to earth. Not good! Abort! Abort!

I think part of the issue is where the folder is located... seriously, e-feds? Why not underneath the Music Folder or something where it's a bit more in sight!

Terminator

9-3 Jacksonville plays 8-3 Albany on the YES Network for those interested at 1:30 PM ET. Shame I don't get the ESPN Gameplan (Thus missing out on all the I-AA playoff games). You're telling me they couldn't air one of those games on ESPNU and another on ESPN Classic like they're doing with the D2 game?

Manny Fernandez really played tough as nails too, stopping numerous dead on shots and playing smart (diving on a loose puck several times).

Armanti Edwards = Beast! 433 yards passing and 4 TD as App State advances on their road to Championship #4 in a row.

Just looking at Al's post, here's a list of the most dominant "4 year" runs in the NHL. I settled on 4 because it's rare for an NHL team to dominate for even 5 years straight. Boston Bruins (1970-1973): Went 214-66-32 (68.9%) and won the SC in 1971 while losing in 1973. These teams featured Phil Esposito, Bobby Orr, and Gerry Cheevers. The league consistently featured 3-4 teams with 46+ wins every season with only 14 teams playing. Montreal Canadiens (1975-1978): Went 229-55-45 (69.6%) and won the SC all 4 seasons (That's back-back-back-back). Featured Bowman as coach with Guy Lafluer at the top of his game. In 1975 they shut out a 51 win Philly team. In 1976 they shut out a 49 win Bruins team. In 1977 they beat a 51 Bruins team 4-2. In 1978 they beat a 40 win Rangers team 4-1. So in 4 years, they went 16-3 in the Stanley Cup Finals against really good opponents outside of 1978. Montreal also did this when the NHL expanded up to 18 teams, meaning more competition and often with 5-6 teams with 40+ wins a year. Detroit Red Wings (2005-2007): Only 3 years but have gone 162-56 (74.3%) including a Stanley Cup win last year and look poised to win another 50 games and make a run at the Stanley Cup again this year. Led by guys like Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg, and Lidstrom. They had Hasek in goal for two of those seasons with the only consistent being Chris Osgood backing up. They're playing in a league with 30 teams where in the past few seasons, the fewest wins for a team has been 22, 21, and 31. The key? Two years featured at least 5 teams winning 50 games.

Verbal Kint

Another hockey candidate... 1988 Calgary Flames (54-17-9): Allowed only 226 goals and scored 354. Had stars like Doug Gilmour, Joe Nieuwendyk, and Al MacInnis. Goalie Mike Vernon went 37-6 with a 2.65 GAA.

I think the offense is definitely for real and have been pleasantly surprised with Dennis Wideman in particular but it remains to be seen whether the team can consistently hit and grind night after night. I'm also hoping the goaltending, despite a probable decline in the future, will remain tough because both TT and Manny are playing out of their minds right now and I don't expect that to hold up down the road.

To represent the NHL... 1976 Montreal Canadiens: 60-8-12 record and won SC: Coached by Scotty Bowman with Guy Lafleur topping out at 136 points. Steve Shutt scored 60 goals. Goalie Ken Dryden had 10 shut outs. 1977 Montreal Canadiens: 59-10-11 record and won SC: Guy had 132 points and again coached by Bowman. Shutt had 49 goals and Dryden was even better with a 2.05 GAA with 5 SO. 1983 Edmonton Oilers: 57-18-5 record and won SC: Stacked with Paul Coffey, Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier, and Glenn Anderson. Had 4 players over 100 points *Gretzky topped 200* with Anderson at 99. Grant Fuhr and Andy Moog tag teamed at goalie.

Xander in Buffy The Vampire Slayer... Reasonably intelligent and a goofily comic nerd guy from Seasons 1 - 5 but from Season 6 on, he went from that to more serious guy to Season 7 where his character got assassinated into Joe Schmo who evidently despised Andrew (Who was more Xander than f'n Xander!) and his geekdom. Spike - Name says it all really. Smart, creepy, and just cool but got transitioned into a comedic foil in Season 4 (which did work although his evilness got toned down quite a bit) through Season 5 until he became Angel Version 2 during Season 6 and especially Season 7. Ironically, he went to Angel Season 5 and returned to his S4/S5 mode, which makes the final two seasons of Buffy even more frustrating. Although he never really returned to his evilness from S2, which was a true shame.

I hate Thanksgiving... *sigh*

Was it the same title? Could it have been a foreign version remake? - 1947 "Miracle on 34th Street" - 1955 "The Miracle on 34th Street" TV Version - 1959 TV Version - 1973 TV Version - 1994 Movie Remake It was released in Sweden on December 15th and France on December 22nd. Released on June 30th, 1948 in Italy and November 12th in Japan. In the UK it was called "The Big Heart", could they have used a different lead actor?

Batman

Whoops, meant to bold them and just forgot but it's telling that Oklahoma/Georgia are the cream of the crop with a bunch of mid level conference teams comprising the rest.

Dama, believe me, I'm rooting for all the mid major schools I think part of the trouble for the mid major teams is the level of opponents that they face in their bowl games. They rarely get to schedule a mid level Big 10, Big 12, Pac 10, or SEC team to "prove" themselves against and instead have to settle for the Big East/ACC/Other mid major team. Here are the respective bowl opponents for solid mid major programs since 2003. I bolded the 'notable' opponents. Boise State: TCU (Win), Louisville (Loss), Boston College (Loss), Oklahoma (Win), East Carolina (Loss) BYU: California (Loss), Oregon (Won), UCLA (Won) TCU: Boise State (Loss), Iowa State (Won), Northern Illinois (Won), Houston (Won) Utah: Southern Miss (Won), Pittsburgh (Won), Georgia Tech (Won), Tulsa (Won), Navy (Won) Hawaii: Houston (Won), UAB (Won), San Diego State (Won), Arizona State (Won), Georgia (Loss) Bowling Green: Northwestern (Won), Memphis (Won), Tulsa (Loss) Central Michigan: Middle Tennessee State (Loss), Purdue (Loss) The following bowl games are the opportunities for the mid majors: Excluding BCS At Large bowls since that's TBD St. Petersburg Bowl: Big East vs. Conference USA Las Vegas Bowl: MWC vs. Pac-10 Poinsettia Bowl: MWC vs. Pac-10 Hawaii Bowl: Pac-10 vs. WAC Motor City Bowl: Big 10 vs. MAC Humanitarian Bowl: ACC vs. WAC Texas Bowl: Conference USA vs. Big 12 Liberty Bowl: Conference USA vs. SEC International Bowl: Big East vs. MAC Edit: Bolded Oklahoma

New England: 24 Detroit Seattle Arizona San Francisco (7.5) Baltimore (4.5) Indianapolis Carolina N.Y. Jets (7.5) (8.5) Miami Tampa Bay (3.5) (3.5) N.Y. Giants San Diego (5.5) New England (0.5) Oakland (3.5) Minnesota (3.5) Jacksonville

Announcers talking about Utah made the comment about the conference thing and here's my issue with that "argument"... Let's say you have a Utah or a Ball State and you have their scheduling. How are they supposed to get such a 'conference' comparable schedule to an SEC or Big 12 schedule? Coming into the season, I'm sure people were expecting the Big 10 to be better and it wasn't so Penn State kind of got screwed over once they lost. It bugs me that everybody (mostly media and fans of the big conferences) talk about how a team like Utah played in a poor conference and didn't face the quality of competition that a Florida did. Short of scheduling Florida, Texas, Oklahoma, and Alabama as OOC opponents how is Utah supposed to help itself there? Utah and others (Boise State off the top of my head) schedule and beat mid major teams in conferences like the Pac 10 and Big 12 but there's always going to be the argument about SOS that essentially dooms any and all mid major teams. To MFer: I think they changed the names to make them sound more professional and comparable rather than DI-AA being seen as second level and a couple notches below the competition at the I-A level.