Playoffs

the Fifth Line: Who Needs OT?

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Remember all those tense, amazing overtime games in round one?

Yeah, me too. Whatever happened to those? Or to series that went more than four or five games? Instead, playoff teams seem rather keen to make sure that NBC Sports Network gets us to Men in Blazers (relatively) on time.

Thankfully, Calgary and Anaheim gave us only our second OT game of round two, but even that was hockey gods deciding that Calgary didn’t deserve to get jobbed on that controversial no-goal call:

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No goal!

Aside from Calgary, though, all the other series are already one win away from being over. If New York, Minnesota, and Montreal can’t course-correct quickly, the second round may be one of the briefest playoff rounds in recent history. [Read more…]

the Fifth Line: Round Two

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Welcome to the second round of the NHL playoffs!

It was a brilliant first round, and I surprised myself by getting seven out of eight series correct. Naturally, the only series I whiffed on involved the Flames, because of reasons not fully understood but easily summed up with this GIF:

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Anyway, time to prognosticate round two of the playoffs: [Read more…]

the Fifth Line: Bracket Time!

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Woo-hoo! The NHL playoffs have begun! Someone find my blood pressure medicine and hide my tequila!

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Scott Darling made how many saves in relief of Corey Crawford?!

I kid. My blood pressure issues are completely untreated, and even if you hid my tequila, I have plenty of whiskey. Whatever your drink of choice, you probably needed it last night if you were a fan of any of the Western teams that played.

Before we dive into the playoff brackets, though, a few words on a recently-fired tank commander. [Read more…]

NCAA Hoops: Bracket Breakdown

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Literally Everyone Completes a Bracket. Photo Credit

Literally Everyone Completes a Bracket. Photo Credit

It’s here! It’s here! The selection committee unveiled the bracket on Sunday night. Play-in games began with a high-tempo thriller between BYU and Ole’ Miss on Tuesday, and in mere hours, the best weekend in sports tips off. Before sifting through the match-ups and potential outcomes, I want to thank BC, Matt, Tiffany, Andrew, -J., Bean, Travis, Meryl, Spenser, Ted, Brian for their stellar participation in our first live twitter chat. You should follow them all, and, of course, the Addison Recorder account.

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Thoughts from the Dugout: Dynastic Performance

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Brian Sabean said something in the postgame reception – “This team is our Camelot.” These players – there aren’t many left from the heyday of 2010, and only not much more from the utter dominance of 2012, but the core is still present: Pablo Sandoval, the third baseman who seemingly can’t make an out in October and who now holds the record for the most hits in the postseason; Buster Posey, the embattled catcher who nonetheless now has three rings to his credit as the backstop and leader of his team; Jeremy Affeldt, who now has a ring for each one of his kids, who pitched one of his longest outings of the season tonight, and who gave an interview for the ages (seriously, if you didn’t see it, go watch); Tim Lincecum, the one-time ace relegated to bullpen mop-up duties, but who accepts his role, if grudgingly, then willingly.

And Madison Bumgarner stands above them all.

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Thoughts from the Dugout: Utterly Unexpected

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Image of Yordano Ventura

The World Series continues, and we’ve seen a multitude of different games. We’ve seen blowouts, we’ve seen pitching masterpieces. We’ve seen close games decided by bullpens, and games decided by defensive lapses. As of this writing, the Giants have taken a 3 to 2 Series lead, with the series returning to Kansas City. This gives the Royals a chance to first pull even and then to contend for the title in a Game Seven which nobody predicted. Conversely, it gives the Giants a chance to win their third Series in five years, on the road no less, cementing one of the weirdest dynasties of our age.

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Thoughts from the Dugout: Rockin’ the Postseason

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Image of Kaufmann Stadium Rainout

Royals-Orioles was rained out last night. So here’s a filler column!

We’re three and two games into the respective League Championship Series, and already, it’s as if everything we expected (NLCS) and didn’t expect (ALCS) is happening. However, there are multiple things which I’m interested in writing about this year, so we’re expanding to another field I love – music. Specifically, rock music. Even more specifically, a completely arbitrary way to honor past acts with a designation which may or may not actually mean anything in the long run.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ballot was released last week, and it’s an interesting pool of candidates, bringing together a diverse and completely unrelated group of acts that may or may not actually have to do with rock itself. In order to fully analyze the ballot, I felt that the best way to do it was to look at their blurb on Wikipedia, listen to a song on YouTube, and then compare them with a player/manager from the four teams remaining in the postseason to which they (somewhat) relate. This is why I get my own column – sheer genius and ultra-spontaneous collaborations. Behold, my breakdown of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 2015 ballot!

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