I don't know if anyone else had heard this, but apparently there's a proposal on the table by the owners to reduce the salary cap from it's current 70 million to 52!     It's linked to a reduction in players' percentage of total revenue, but it's supposed to provide some formula to respect current salaries. Whatever the exact details, I'm hoping this is more of a bargaining chip with lots of room for movement. Heck even if it's met in the middle, that still quite a significant reduction.

Heard the same thing.  It is probably a bargaining ploy.  I'm just hoping they put an end to this 10-year, play until 41, contract nonsense.

The story was what many of the reviewers who weren't familiar with the source material were decrying as derivative.  From what I read, most reviews seemed to appreciate the visual aesthetics of the film.

The appearance of the Orcs wasn't even close to being a "make it or break it" aspect of LoTR, imho. As for the elves, I'm not sure how Jackson did anything but draw them directly from the book.  Go back and watch Bakshi's adaptation.   You'll see intrinsically the same visualizations.

I think Lord of the Rings is a far more recognizable franchise even in today's world and at that particular time than John Carter, in any case.  Ask around before the LoTR films premiered which book series the person had heard of and I'm betting the overwhelming majority would point towards LoTR rather than JC.

Well, as I say, I haven't seen it yet, but I did see the trailer and what felt a little too familiar to me was not the story but the images.  

No question LOTR is more familiar, but that's a double-edged sword.  Because of that, we got D&D and then all the images of those creatures from hundreds of games and books and comics and even films.  To the point where many knew what an elf was before they saw the first LOTR movie, yet it still felt fresh.  Yes, Jackson pulled from the source material, but another director could have done the same thing, but without the attention to ambiance and pacing that pulled forth the ethereal qualities of the race.  It was even done in makeup and subtle use of special effects, not just to make them pale, but to make their eyes just a little bigger and remove small traces of wrinkles to the point where you really got the feeling that these were truly beautiful creatures.  As Tolkien intended, yes, but my point is that it's challenging to pull off and make it feel fresh.

I don't mean to come down on JC.  I actually think I'll enjoy the film when I get to it.  I just meant to say that you can't put it on the audience for wanting to see something new, no matter what the lineage.

And I would blame that on the audience and reviewers for not knowing the source material, not the movie for actually making a movie from the source material.  When the books give really good illustrations of things, not including them would be silly.  It's not the fault of this movie that other movies took directly from ERB's works.

The non-narrated Director's Cut is so bland, why would I ever want to watch that again?  It is like a darn sleeping pill.

Give me the Decker narrated version every time, so I am not watching ships fly around to buildings with zero explanation over and over and over again.

The book sure as hell is not as boring as the Director's Cut.

Heck, why don't they film The Silmarillion while they are at it? 

One reviewer noted that many of the themes and stories from the John Carter series found their way into so many recent films (well...films over the last few decades) that audiences thought they were watching a rehash of a bunch of other films...not realizing for the most part that they were watching the original inspiration for those films.

This is so true.  Some of the movie reviews pan this for "stealing" from Star Wars and pretty much any post 1975 sci-fi movie even though images in many of these post-1975 movies (especially several Star Wars images) are taken directly from drawings in the Edgar Rice Burroughs novels.

1) Princess Leia in the "gold bra" when chained next to Jabba the Hut - is darn near replica of an illustration in Princess of Mars.
2) The flat hovercraft in Star Wars - same thing.
3) One of the important races in Princess of Mars - stolen by The Phantom Menace.

I could go on for awhile, but that is enough.

The flaw is folks, including many reviewers, believing the post-75 sci-fi movies were the originators, not Edgar Rice Burroughs.

Where is that Fabulous Neck brace? 

Seriously, hope everything goes well.

I hear that Texas has a few.  No lake effect snow, either. 

true, but it's Texas 

aren't there some wineries up in the islands?  you could always go up there

There are, might look into that. Sending out resume tomorrow to beverage distributors in Ohio that specialize in craft beers. I'm not doing this dance anymore;).

One question:  Aren't distribution and brewing/making wine two different fields?

The amount of epic butthurt by some Devils fans on the structure of the Parise contract is amusing.  OH THE IRONING.

The butthurt comes from the pile sanctions only the Devils seemed to face when circumventing the cap.

It's not the Parise contract alone (at all), it's the 8-12 others that are all similar to Kovy, but had a blind eye turned to them. Fuck that, they were singled out, restructured and still punished. It was bullshit then, and is still now.

Are there any that are similar to Kovy?  I thought his was really the only one that stretched beyond the reasonable playing years.

Kovy's contract would have had him playing until age 44.
Suter's new contract has him playing with the Wild until age 41.
Parise's new contract has him playing with the Wild until age 41.

The same argument could be made about reasonable playing age and circumventing the cap with those contracts.

Yeah it seems like the NHL decided age 41 was the reasonable age.  If I recall, Kovalchuk's was shortened by 3 years.  So the Devils basically caused the NHL to decide on an arbitrary limit by posting 44 as too high.

The new CBA will of course fix this, but then owners will find other loopholes.

I could accept star defenseman playing to 41.  Even then, there were only two active 40 or older defenseman last season.  Not so much for forwards.  40+ year old NHL forwards are extremely rare.  Keith Tkachuk seemed like he played forever.  He retired at 38.  Heck, how many forwards were 40 or older last season in the NHL?  Last season there was one - Teemu Selanne.  Odds are Parise never finishes out that contract, just like Kovy likely won't finish his.  Yes, the NHL needs to correct this via the CBA and stop the idiotic cap circumventing contracts.

The amount of epic butthurt by some Devils fans on the structure of the Parise contract is amusing.  OH THE IRONING.

The butthurt comes from the pile sanctions only the Devils seemed to face when circumventing the cap.

It's not the Parise contract alone (at all), it's the 8-12 others that are all similar to Kovy, but had a blind eye turned to them. Fuck that, they were singled out, restructured and still punished. It was bullshit then, and is still now.

Are there any that are similar to Kovy?  I thought his was really the only one that stretched beyond the reasonable playing years.

Kovy's contract would have had him playing until age 44.
Suter's new contract has him playing with the Wild until age 41.
Parise's new contract has him playing with the Wild until age 41.

The same argument could be made about reasonable playing age and circumventing the cap with those contracts.

OH THE IRONING.

Gotta keep them wrinkles out. 

Given the advancements in CGI and the story basically being told entirely from one person's POV, this should be doable.  Whether or not it leaves the same impression?  Who knows?  (kind of doubt it, though, unless they do some voice-over type thing).

Blues re-signed Chris Stewart (boo), but I would not be surprised if he still gets traded.  He did take $250,000 pay cut.

Also, Vladimir Tarasenko (#3 on Hockey's Future's post-season 2011-12 prospect rankings) will be with the Blues next season.

From what I can tell, this thing is a toss-up until they hit the ice.

Need to see what happens tomorrow night to form any opinion at all.

Even then I don't think we'll know.  Both of these teams are good enough to bounce back from a game 1 loss. 

Probably right, I just assume that the trends will continue and the Kings will win game one, but might be able to tell something from how they play.

I'm really curious to see how the Devils respond to the LA forecheck after playing against the Rangers for a series.  I think the biggest thing in all of the LA series' were that the other teams' D wilted under the pressure of four lines of gigantic dudes slamming into you repeatedly for 60 minutes.

Not all of those hits were legal - losing Pietrangelo for a game and only getting minor penalty which should have been a major (thanks to Steven Walkom) letting King get away with it.  Kings won't get those breaks any more since that official has been removed from the rest of the playoffs.

But go ahead and brag about how big they are and whatever knowing King and Brown have been playing beyond the edge and getting away with it.

Kings still have not faced the Devils forecheck and it causes defenseman to screw up because of how fast the Devils are at executing that forecheck.  It also stops the big guys from getting the big hits, because they get stuck in the defensive zone.   It's not like the Flyers were a small team that does not hit.  But believe what you want.

And today it was announced that the NHL is looking into the actions of Phoenix for their actions after the game was over.

"After Dustin Penner's overtime goal won the Western Conference finals, Coyotes Martin Hanzal skated aggressively toward a referee, goalie Mike Smith threw his stick and Keith Yandle was quoted as saying the referees worked as teammates with the Kings."

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/nhl-investigating-coyotes-post-game-163010386--nhl.html

As for Rozsival, yeah it was a hard hit.  Hard hits hurt.  Hockey is a full contact sport.  Painful yet not illegal nor does it warrant being tossed out of the NHL.

I am already looking forward to our first matchup next year.

/not sure who to root for tonight.  I think I would prefer to see New York but the Devils are pretty hot.

It's not like the Kings were Saints in this series or the series against the Blues.  I'd be curious to how that series turn out if Pietrangelo isn't boarded head first into the boards - which should have been a major and was in the Phoenix series - and had not had to miss the next game.  King should have been suspended - the same as Hanzal.  The hits are very similar yet King  - for the Kings - was not suspended.

Don't pull this crap about Phoenix Coyotes player's actions when the Kings have been playing beyond the edge for awhile now and getting away with it.

VRWC

Kings fans writing that... duh.. No bias from you either, right??   

Been off and on all night tonight.

Go Devils!

Nice to see Bryce Salvador getting some good press on NHL.com.  Still mad the Blues traded him.

And today it was announced that the NHL is looking into the actions of Phoenix for their actions after the game was over.

"After Dustin Penner's overtime goal won the Western Conference finals, Coyotes Martin Hanzal skated aggressively toward a referee, goalie Mike Smith threw his stick and Keith Yandle was quoted as saying the referees worked as teammates with the Kings."

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/nhl-investigating-coyotes-post-game-163010386--nhl.html

As for Rozsival, yeah it was a hard hit.  Hard hits hurt.  Hockey is a full contact sport.  Painful yet not illegal nor does it warrant being tossed out of the NHL.

I am already looking forward to our first matchup next year.

/not sure who to root for tonight.  I think I would prefer to see New York but the Devils are pretty hot.

It's not like the Kings were Saints in this series or the series against the Blues.  I'd be curious to how that series turn out if Pietrangelo isn't boarded head first into the boards - which should have been a major and was in the Phoenix series - and had not had to miss the next game.  King should have been suspended - the same as Hanzal.  The hits are very similar yet King  - for the Kings - was not suspended.

Don't pull this crap about Phoenix Coyotes player's actions when the Kings have been playing beyond the edge for awhile now and getting away with it.

I'm still rooting for the Rags because I can't fathom ever cheering for a team from New Jersey over a team that plays in MSG.

MSG - the dilapidated building which can't afford to have a properly functioning penalty box door while they try to milk the fans for more money with their TV contract BS. 

And the Devils continue to totally outplay the Rangers through three straight games.  Lundqvist has to stand on his head like he did in Game 3 or this is over in 6.  Aggressive forechecking beats the blockey the Rangers are trying to play.  The Devils have been doing this the entire playoffs.

Can we have Marty win the cup without the Devils actually winning it? Because I would NOT like to see them do that. It would be like rewarding them for practically killing the game of hockey.

So you hate teams that attack with two forwards deep better than most other teams in the NHL??

This one' got Kevin Williamson (Scream, Dawson's Creek) at the helm,

Now I know...

Castle survived???  This season sucked.

We just finished watching episode 4 of season 1.  Tell me it gets better.  So far, we're finding it pretty dopey.  We did come up with an amusing drinking game though.  You can get pretty messed up if you drink whenever someone's jealous or wearing all black.

Late to the thread plus ;tldr...  Similar question.  Currently on S1 Episode 3 and my Significant Other's comment is "This is becoming more and more like Dawson's Creek with vampires.  Tell me it gets better, please."  So... does it?

Either start sleeping now to make up for the sleep you are going to miss

Or

Start getting up at 1 or 2am and staying awake for a couple of hours to get used to it before it starts.



Congrats!!

Hey, there's a shock, Rinaldo going after a knee!

Would never have guessed that would happen...no, wait...

That hit was just plain dirty. Even worse was the 3 Flyers standing around mocking Zubrus as he lay on the ice. What a bunch of douches, so glad they lost that game and the series.

Go Devils!

Guess who the official was?  Yep - Steven Walkom.  The guy who didn't call the penalty when Hossa got knocked out.  The guy who didn't call the major when Pietrangelo got driven head first into the boards.  And now this one.  Why is he still allowed to do games when he keeps missing these damn things? 

Go Devils!!!  (yep, bandwagon jumping.  Besides, you all have former Blue Bryce Salvador who we wouldn't mind having back.  Trading him for Cam Janssen was idiocy).

Now all they have to do is let Whedon at a video game property.

You mean like like this?

I have no idea what to do with all this outpouring of support!

I would LOVE to play gellsy in the finals!!

It's called a hard-working team and absolutely hating anything related to Philadelphia or New York. 

Kudos to the Kings.  They outplayed St Louis the entire series.

Go Devils!! 

[Spoiler]

The Coulson/Card thing

Spoiler for Hiden:

Yeah, we did see Coulson's body with Nick Fury standing over it when he died.  The cards thing was clearly a trick by Nick Fury, which the chick was calling him on and Fury reacts accordingly.  If Coulson is in Spiderman, it's before this happened.  If Coulson is magically alive, he is no longer purely human.

Kings are just the better team.  

Every time the Blues score any time, the Kings score immediately after.  Meanwhile, the Kings are scoring other times and the Blues aren't doing crap. 

[Target to Stop Selling Amazon's Kindle Devices]

Not sure how meaningful this is given how most folks buy everything online now, but:

Target to Stop Selling Amazon's Kindle Devices
http://www.foxbusiness.com/technology/2012/05/02/target-to-stop-selling-amazon-kindle-devices/

"Target is phasing out Amazon- and Kindle-branded products in the spring of 2012," Target spokeswoman Molly Snyder wrote in an email to Reuters. "We will continue to offer our guests a full assortment of e-readers and supporting accessories."

The decision includes Amazon's new Kindle Fire tablet, its range of Kindle e-readers and all accessories for the devices, including covers and chargers, Synder added.

They don't give a specific reason. I don't think it's Apple leaning on them, or else Best Buy etc. wouldn't offer both Apple and Amazon Kindle products either. But they do have finite space, and electronics is just one section there, so it might boil down to that.

In another article, this is probably a reaction to Amazon which asked folks to do the following:

1) Scan barcodes while shopping
2) Compare the prices from whatever store to the price on Amazon
3) Decide for yourself what to do.

Target sees this as Amazon trying to poach customers from Target's retail sales - clothes, appliances, electronics - basically all the stuff that Target sells.  Reaction by Target - stop selling Amazon products.  Since Target is not a major CD or book seller, they had no problem with offering Amazon products before.  But the above sequence is designed at stealing customers, because the Amazon prices are usually cheaper.  Say someone has Amazon Prime - free shipping.  The cost of Amazon Prime over a full year would probably wind up being less than taxes paid at the retail outlets and most of us don't pay any tax at all when shopping on Amazon.  That's my take based on the supposition from another article.

Raffi is appealing his suspension.

Maybe they'll give him more?   

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=394939

With videos of 11 questionable hits, some of which he was already suspended for, he is going to lose.

It was nice seeing the Blues actually hit someone and laughing at Keenan when they showed the graphic Hits - Kings 13 Blues 27 while he says the Kings were outhitting the Blues 

Would rather see the Blues actually play good hockey for an entire game, because the Kings dominated the 1st period and the Blues do not have the type of offense which can overcome a 4 goal first period deficit.

So while I'm waiting for the theohallsplosion for the VICIOUS BOARD ON Pietrangelo that will likely cause him to miss at least game 2, here are my preemptive thoughts:

1) It should have been a major penalty.  Pretty incompetent of the refs not to call it.  It was a slightly reckless play on a player in a bad position (though Pietro has responsibility not to be in that bad position in the first place) that resulted in injury.  It reminds me a lot of the Zetterberg board during the regular season, actually.
2) It does not warrant supplementary discipline.
3) If it did, it's because Pietro's injured and King didn't get the 5 on the play.  So I'd be OK with a game or two for those reasons.
4) That won't happen because of the VRWC.
5) Sucks that Pietro's going to be out for a while, but that's hockey.

Thanks.  Kerry Fraser agrees it should have been a major and is really confused as to why it was not called one.

Kerry,

In Game 1 of the Blues-Kings series, Los Angeles winger Dwight King shoved Blues defenceman Alex Pietrangelo into the boards behind the net and received two minutes for boarding.  As the video from the NBC Sports broadcast shows, Pietrangelo was clearly bleeding from the chin, the initial point of contact with the boards.  Apparently the ref was called over to the bench to examine the injury, but did not ammend the original call.  What gives?  Should this have been a major penalty?

Thanks for your entertaining and educational column!

Matt
St Louis, MO





Matt:

I did not like this illegal hit (video link) or the penalty assessment one bit. Even if there had been the absence of an injury to the chin of Alex Pietrangelo, based on the degree of violence of the impact with the boards a major penalty was warranted under rule 41.3—boarding and needed to be identified as such.  If this type of "check" from behind and resulting impact with the boards is only worthy of a minor penalty I am fearful for what it will take for a major infraction to be identified by the referees.

The only element that could be factored in and have prevented this hit from being qualified as a check from behind (rule 43—major and game misconduct) is the fact that Pietrangelo was able to raise his hands at the moment just prior to impact with the boards to offer some form of self-protection. Had Alex Pietrangelo been any closer to the boards when he was hit from behind by Dwight King with this velocity I doubt that he would have had sufficient time to defend himself in any capacity.  At that point Pietrangelo's face and head would have taken the full impact of this illegal check.

Once Alex Pietrangelo was at his bench it became obvious that an injury did result from the boarding infraction as was observed by the back referee Stephen Walkom.  It is most confusing to me why the initial boarding minor was not then changed to a major and game misconduct penalty as a result of the injury.  Rule 41.5 reads, "When a major penalty is imposed under this rule for a foul resulting in an injury to the face or head of an opponent, a game misconduct shall be imposed."

Once blood became evident dripping down Pietrangelo's neck that resulted from a chin cut beneath the Blues defenceman's playoff growth the call became relatively academic at this point. A quick conference between the two referees should have been convened and the minor penalty initially assessed to King changed to major and game misconduct given the new evidence.

At this time of year when most players sport added facial hair it is best that the referee(s) not rush to judgment or to the penalty box to assess the penalty until it is clearly determined that no injury resulted on the play.  It can take extra time for the presence of blood (injury) to appear through leathered skin, old scar tissue and beards. I'm not talking about a player squeezing a pimple or similar efforts to draw a penalty but when a player's face contacts the boards there is a chance that injury may result.

In a previous column I wrote about the referees need to correctly identify the difference between minor and major infractions. In that article I cited 3 situations where minor penalties had been assessed and players were allowed to remain in the game only to be justly suspended by Brendan Shanahan after a review. I questioned whether the officials have become desensitized to many of the dangerous hits that take place or might just prefer to pass the final judgment upstairs to the Player Safety Committee.

The illegal hit that Dwight King delivered to the back of Alex Pietrangelo is for me, another example of the guys on the ice not differentiating between a minor boarding penalty and a legitimate major infraction that resulted in an injury to a player.

The poor decision that Dwight King made on taking Alex Pietrangelo hard into the end boards from behind was worthy of major penalty based on the degree of violence with the impact of the boards as the rule suggests. The fact that injury was eventually detected to the chin of Pietrangelo should have also resulted in the assessment a game misconduct.

The referees are the first line of defense when it comes to player safety. The refs' judgment and penalty assessment goes a long way in forcing players to make better decisions in the moment so they don't place their team at a disadvantage. Players need to know what constitutes the difference in their actions for the assessment of a minor or major infraction to result. So far the difference has been often clear as mud.

Before clarity can occur for the players it is imperative that the entire referee community needs to clearly know difference.  Not all of them do.

Interestingly, Steve Walkom, who was one of the referees in this game was also one of the referees who blew the call on the hit to Hossa.  Why TF is he still doing games at all?

I don't follow college football or prospects, but I do like what Green Bay has done this year.  Take arguably one of the best offenses ever that has changed very little from last season and a terribad defense that stemmed mostly from an anemic pass rush and do what?  Draft OLB, DE, CB, DE, S, and OLB through the first five rounds.  Even better, the consensus seems to be that most of those picks were BPA or BPA equivalents that also fit need.  If Nick Perry (Rd. 1 OLB) and Jerel Worthy (Rd. 2 DE) can provide even halfway decent contributions that should have a big impact on freeing up Clay Matthews and BJ Raji to make some noise.

And here's a salute to Nick Collins, whose career is most likely cut waaaay too short.

Who is Green Bay's new Center?

Sent from my SPH-D700 using Tapatalk 2

Penalty-kill percentage: Kings 4th (87.0), Blues 7th (85.

Just an FYI - at one point the Blues PK was 29th this season.  From February until the end of the regular season, the Blues PK was #1, so that particular number is probably a bit mis-leading.  At one point during that window, the Blues killed off 51 straight penalties - which is the 2nd longest PK streak in NHL history to the Caps 53.

From the trade deadline till the end of the season, the Kings were the league's 2nd highest scoring team.

And were shutout twice by the Blues during that stretch losing 1-0 once and winning in a shootout 1-0 the 2nd time.  Blues shut down that improved offense - twice.  Of course, the Kings weren't letting the Blues score either, which is why this series is likely going to be very low scoring.

You are not good at this.  Trade deadline, Feb 27, 2012.  Blues shutout win in question, Feb 3, 2012.

http://kings.nhl.com/club/recap.htm?id=2011020764

Blues shutout loss in question was after the trade deadline.

  My bad - thought they were both in March.

Penalty-kill percentage: Kings 4th (87.0), Blues 7th (85.

Just an FYI - at one point the Blues PK was 29th this season.  From February until the end of the regular season, the Blues PK was #1, so that particular number is probably a bit mis-leading.  At one point during that window, the Blues killed off 51 straight penalties - which is the 2nd longest PK streak in NHL history to the Caps 53.

From the trade deadline till the end of the season, the Kings were the league's 2nd highest scoring team. 

And were shutout twice by the Blues during that stretch losing 1-0 once and winning in a shootout 1-0 the 2nd time.  Blues shut down that improved offense - twice.  Of course, the Kings weren't letting the Blues score either, which is why this series is likely going to be very low scoring.

Penalty-kill percentage: Kings 4th (87.0), Blues 7th (85.

Just an FYI - at one point the Blues PK was 29th this season.  From February until the end of the regular season, the Blues PK was #1, so that particular number is probably a bit mis-leading.  At one point during that window, the Blues killed off 51 straight penalties - which is the 2nd longest PK streak in NHL history to the Caps 53.

Yeah, even if they can show that the Saints never used or gained a benefit from this system (what are the chances of that), Loomis has to be fired after this one.

Why?  Belicheat didn't get fired for stealing signals using technology.  Why should Loomis be fired for stealing coaching info using technology? 

Well, you CAN film the opposing coaches. You CAN'T tap into their headsets.

So why was Belicheat punished for filming opposing coaches?  It seems you can't legally film them.

Thursday night Bill Belichick was hit with the stiffest possible fine by the league for his part in taping the play calling of the New York Jets. He will pay $500,000, while the New England Patriots will be fined $250,000 and a draft pick, or two, depending on how they finish the season.

Wouldn't the white out work better if the team they are backing was also wearing white??

Back before the NHL fucked it up, the home team always wore white.  The tradition came from that.

Ah I didn't know that.  I always wondered why the NHL was backwards that way.  Although I guess the NFL wears colors at home.

Ya, it used to be Home = white and Away = whatever colour from the rainbow the visiting team is. Which was one of the best parts of going to a game live in that every game you would see different bright coloured jerseys. Now it's always "Your team colour" vs. white. When I go to a Leafs game it's Blue vs White. Every time. It sucks.

Apparently the change was made when 3rd jerseys became popular and most of them were non-white. Instead of making the visiting team wear white once in a while when the home team wanted to use their 3rds, they changed the whole thing up.

It's a small thing, but it sucks, makes me a bit more angry than it should, and still actually confuses me once in a while when I turn on a game at random.

1998 Home team in Whites.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SU019HjQ3KQ

Poor Kings.