CanadianChris

The NHL does a lottery with all the non-playoff teams, a la the NBA. But it only makes one draw (not three), and also includes the caveat that a team can only move up a maximum of four spots (to prevent a 1994 Orlando Magic-type situation).

How would it shorten the playoffs? You'd still have the same number of rounds, all still best of 7. Plus, you can't have byes in a sport that doesn't play single elimination...it's too much of an unfair advantage to the teams getting them, taking away from the unpredictability that makes the playoffs great. I don't mind the system they have now. It beats 16 teams advancing out of 21, like it used to be. And eight weeks isn't that long.

Wonder wHHHo he's talking about here...

Eh...there'll probably be 3 or 4 teams with that many wins or fewer making the NBA playoffs. You're going to have "undeserving" teams from time to time no matter what you do.

Both.

Your guess is a good as mine how it's going to go this year...but there are three things I know: - Bob Barron will declare his allegiance to no fewer than three different teams over the course of the playoffs. - Either treble charged or I will never hear the end of it following the first round. - At least two very good teams are going to be playing golf in two weeks. First round matchups: EASTERN CONFERENCE (1) Tampa Bay Lightning vs. (8) New York Islanders (2) Boston Bruins vs. (7) Montreal Canadiens (3) Philadelphia Flyers vs. (6) New Jersey Devils (4) Toronto Maple Leafs vs. (5) Ottawa Senators WESTERN CONFERENCE (1) Detroit Red Wings vs. (8) Nashville Predators (2) San Jose Sharks vs. (7) St. Louis Blues (3) Vancouver Canucks vs. (6) Calgary Flames (4) Colorado Avalanche vs. (5) Dallas Stars

Updated West standings (as of 1730 EST): P-1. DET (109) Y-2. SJ (102) X-3. VAN (99) X-4. COL (99) X-5. DAL (95) X-6. CGY (94) X-7. STL (91) 8. NSH (89) ------- 9. EDM (89) Tonight: EDM @ VAN Tomorrow: CHI @ DAL STL @ MIN NSH @ COL CGY @ ANA

Three words: Hawk. Animal. Rocco.

Oy. Here's the next thing I want to see coming out of Hollywood:

3-1 Devils after 1. Devils win means Ottawa can win the Northeast with a win over Toronto tonight.

Wow, the Eastern Conference playoff picture reads like the NFL's normally does: SOUTHEAST Tampa Bay (106) has clinched the division title and first place in the East. NORTHEAST (The Northeast division winner will receive the 2 seed in the East.) Boston (102) has clinched a playoff spot. They will clinch the division title with: - two wins; - a win and a tie; - a win and an overtime loss; - a combination of two ties and overtime losses, or a win and a loss, plus a Senators tie or loss. Ottawa (102) has clinched a playoff spot. They will clinch the division title with: - a win and a Bruins win and loss, or combination of two ties and overtime losses. - a tie and a Bruins tie and loss, or overtime loss and regulation loss. Toronto (101) has clinched a playoff spot. They will clinch the division title with a win and two Bruins losses, or a Bruins tie and loss, or overtime loss and regulation loss. Montreal (91) has clinched a playoff spot. ATLANTIC (The Atlantic division winner will receive the 3 seed in the East.) Philadelphia (100) has clinched a playoff spot. They can clinch the division title with: - a win and a Devils loss or tie; - a tie and a Devils regulation loss or combination of two Devils ties and overtime losses; - a loss and two Devils losses, or Devils loss and tie or overtime loss. New Jersey (98) has clinched a playoff spot. They can clinch the division title with: - two wins; - three points and a Flyers tie or loss; - two points and a Flyers regulation loss. N.Y. Islanders (90) have clinched a playoff spot. In addition: - the Islanders and Canadians will flip the 7 and 8 seeds if Montreal loses in regulation and the Islanders win; - the Senators will clinch home ice advantage in the first round with a win or tie; - the Maple Leafs will clinch home ice advantage in the first round with a win; - the Bruins will clinch home ice advantage in the first round with two points in their final two games.

Question...what would go on a Bret Hart DVD? There's a ton to choose from, just in terms of matches: - Harts vs. British Bulldogs, 1986 (title win) - Harts & Danny Davis vs. Tito Santana & British Bulldogs, WrestleMania III - Harts vs. Brainbusters, Summerslam 89 - Harts vs. Demolition, Summerslam 90 - Harts vs. Nasty Boys, WrestleMania VII - vs. Mr. Perfect, Summerslam 91 - vs. Roddy Piper, WrestleMania VIII - vs. British Bulldog, Summerslam 92 - vs. Shawn Michaels, Survivor Series 92 - vs. Mr. Perfect, King of the Ring 93 - vs. Jerry Lawler, Summerslam 93 - Bret & Owen vs. Quebecers, Royal Rumble 94 - vs. Owen Hart, WrestleMania X - vs. Yokozuna, WrestleMania X - vs. Owen Hart, Summerslam 94 - vs. Bob Backlund, Survivor Series 94 - vs. Diesel, Survivor Series 95 - vs. Shawn Michaels, WrestleMania XII - vs. Steve Austin, Survivor Series 96 - vs. Vader, Undertaker & Steve Austin, Final Four - vs. Steve Austin, WrestleMania XIII - 10-man tag, Canadian Stampede - vs. Undertaker, Summerslam 97 - vs. Shawn Michaels, Survivor Series 97 - vs. Chris Benoit, Nitro (Owen tribute) - vs. Chris Benoit, Mayhem 99 PLUS all the TV footage around the Rumble win and Owen angle in 1994, the Austin angle in 1996, the Hart Foundation angle in 1997, and other stuff...this could be one hell of a DVD.

v v v v v

I miss the old days when they used to have specific music for the same PPV year after year. I liked the old WrestleMania music (back around IV). The Summerslam and Royal Rumble themes were pretty good too.

What, you mean "House of 1000 Corpses" ISN'T starring Kane???

And, for our next April Fools' joke, TheMikeSC will come in and start a thread endorsing Kerry for president.

One more reason why it's great to be Canadian. *waves Maple Leaf*

Who else would get it? Carmelo is the only other serious consideration, and LeBron has outplayed him.

I actually read something on a message board last week to this effect (without all the angry quotes, of course). What I found funny was that they pulled the plug on the Caribbean format because African-American radio doesn't draw advertising money...and they replaced it with something that has no real advertisers to speak of. Having listened to AAR a couple of times today, I can't for the life of me see how they can make an honest go of this. The show quality is mediocre to poor, and I can't see how advertisers would be impressed with their target demographic anyway, even if the shows were top-notch.

Did anyone tell any of these people how to run a radio show?

First night's lead story... "Al Gore Invented Cable TV"

I don't follow. I think what he means is that they might finish ahead of Baltimore. no..thats not possible. They might not finish in last place if say, Toronto does, but the Devil Rays won't finish ahead of the Orioles. That's not possible either. Hell, the Orioles themselves don't have a hope of finishing ahead of Toronto.

A little over 18 years for me. I went to a new school when I was 11, and everyone watched wrestling, so I did, too. I kept watching because they wrote some pretty good storylines back then (from a mark's perspective, anyway). Savage turning on Hogan was pretty intense, even though I knew it was coming.

Who the hell is THAT?! Michelle Branch. She should sue anyone who tries to take a candid shot of her.