shrader

It's a great approach. I feel like most shows wait until the first new episode has aired before releasing the previous season. I guess that's fine in this DVR age, but they could do better for their ratings. I could really use a binge watching myself. There's so much time between these short seasons, I've pretty much forgotten where they left things off.

That's Union Rd, right? My mom loved that place but I don't think I ever got out of the car while she was there.

Not to mention Saul's lackey squad. Huell never failed to crack me up. I can't wait until he and Bill Burr show up on Better Call Saul.

Eichel: 55 games played; 23-32-55 Matthews: 74 games played; 34-27-61 He's definitely put to rest that popular idea coming out of Canada that Matthews is well ahead of him already. Hell, if he keeps up with his production over the last two games, he could actually pass Matthews in points even with the 21 missed games. That's probably a stretch, but anything is possible with this kid.

I don't think they're going to fight. They're going to talk it over and tell Rick that they're all in.

Both could be the best teams in the world and it would still be too tempting for most to make their money back. It has to be something bigger than even that to stop it and the best I can think of would be both Eichel and Matthews developing into true monsters of the game. It would have to be a Magic vs. Bird type battle of the best to maybe get people to keep their tickets.

I just watched the preview for next week. There were two quick things I noticed that were interesting. There's a shot of Negan outside the gate and Dwight is standing behind him. Another was a shot of a bunch of people up on the wall with guns at Alexandria. Jadis is right next to Rick.

That trailer did absolutely nothing for me. That Justice League lineup is severely lacking. I know they're holding on with anything Superman until probably their last trailer, but he's just about the only one I care about seeing where his story goes. So thanks to that, none of it caught my interest... even though I absolutely love Batman. And Cyborg... that will never be a name that pops into my head when I think about the Justice League. He doesn't fit with what is supposed to be a lineup of iconic comic characters.

Yeah, the traitor angle isn't really that big of a mystery. You guys nailed the only two options. Still, Negan stands to be very surprised. He doesn't know that Dwight left and he doesn't know that Rick has both the Kingdom and the unknown to him Oceanside on his side. It's 50/50 whether or not he knows about the Hilltop. The episodes have been a bit blah, but with this one, it was kind of cool to see how Maggie has slowly taken over as the Hilltop's leader. We've seen her lose so much more than anyone else (obviously others have lost as much, but we never saw it) and she has become a very strong character.

It's interesting to see how thoughts on this evolve over time. I think the whole thing boils down pretty easily. The league has a 4-5 teams at the very top and then a couple of the true bottom feeders. Then there's everyone else. Add a player here or there and you'll get some fluctuations among those middle teams, but like you said, they're not all that far apart. Fortunately though, with the way this game is, someone out of that midsection could wind up winning it all if they catch fire and some things go their way.

I'd imagine that the season finale will mirror the mid-season finale where Spencer and the food pantry lady were killed. Thanks to Sasha, Negan shows up looking to rattle a few cages again, but this time they fight back, probably with some help.

I tried a couple stouts tonight: C.R.E.A.M donut infused cappuccino milk stout and fat Charley's raspberry chocolate stout. The first really wasn't my style, but others were raving so I figured why not. The second was decent, nothing special. I had just eaten dinner and for whatever reason, I lean towards these type of beers after eating.

Rochester signed him to a tryout deal. Buffalo did not. This will be Johansson's audition to see whether or not Buffalo brings him aboard.

You haven't heard of the new "getting skated into" penalty? Expect it to also be called on anyone playing against Edmonton.

I'm really looking forward to the warmer weather. Late in the fall, my town completed a trail and bridge that leads from my neighborhood directly to a growler filling place. It's maybe a ten minute walk. Before, thanks to some one way roads and annoying traffic lights, the drive took almost as much time. There are going to be plenty of walks with the neighborhood directly to that place now that the sun is out later. I recently downloaded that untapped app but haven't really used it much yet. As for selection, this place rotates their taps frequently. I've got a pretty broad taste when it comes to beer. I find myself gravitating towards the stouts when I'm there, but on the right day I'll try almost anything. I'll have to start tracking what I'm buying while I'm there.

Why?

At this point, I think anything Kane or Reinhart related is completely off the table. Someone will throw the old "if the price is right" cliche out there, but I just don't see it happening. They've got some fire power brewing and they need to run with that. If you go back pre-lockout (the 2005 one), they had been a horrible team, but their offense started to show signs of life at the tail end of the season. Then, coming out of the lockout, we all know what that team wound up doing. I think this current offense is on the verge of a similar breakthrough. I'm not trying to say the team will have the same run as they did back then, but we're trending towards a much stronger offense.

We could make another thread on this subject. My wife will just throw all the mail on the counter each day, never in the same space twice. Every now and then I will find a month old bill buried somewhere. Most recently, she got a new AAA card in the mail and never opened it. I found it, opened it, and told her to put the card in her wallet. She ignored that. Each of the last three days, I have put that card directly on top of her wallet in her purse at night,and each day, it winds up back on top of the counter. I was really tempted to stop by her school this morning to slash her tires.

Empty boxes put back in the cupboard? Hell, my wife does that.

I'm intrigued by the combination of Bailey and Kane when I've see it. That combo brings a lot of speed and their physical play can have the opposing defensemen hearing the footsteps. He's the one guy I'm most interested to see if you can take that next step. As for Gorges, I'm ready to walk away from him if the chance presents itself. He's going to be 33 year next season and that type of physical defensemen falls off a cliff so fast once they're beyond 30. All I can ever picture with the older stay at home guys is Jay McKee in St. Louis. If he's going to stick around, and most likely he will, I hope he falls down to a 6/7 guy. McCabe on the second pair is ideal. I'm not so sure you find someone to bump him down though. That really is the perfect example of why this team is where they are right now. They've got too many guys back there who are being asked to be more than they actually are. If they could find someone to pair up with Risto, what type of player do you have in mind?

That bolded sentence paints a scary picture for me. There's not enough in the way of young defensemen to improve the blue line. The bulk of the improvement there is going to have to come from the outside. I know you're probably talking about the young forwards improving, so at least that much is a happy thought. If they can get at least two guys out of the list of Bailey/Baptiste/Carrier/Fasching/Rodrigues to become significant contributors within the top 9, this offense could start to become dangerous. I'm not ready to throw Nylander in that group yes as I feel like he is one more year away, but for whatever reason, I feel like I forgot one name.

We're talking about the Spaceball, right?

Their best powerplay in nearly 40 years. That's crazy.

And the much better option than the cliff hanger is still so incredibly obvious. Abe dies in the season finale, Glenn in the season premiere. You get two separate boosts from the "holy crap" reactions and no one feels like you're jerking them around with horrible writing.

Somebody needs to tell Pierre that Brian Leetch never won the Hobey.