BlueSoxSWJ

A close pitch going either way is fine, but a guy being called safe when he was out by more than a step? A runner not being called out when tagged standing off the base because the umpire was distracted and didn't see the play (yes, this happened last year)? "Beauty" is not quite the word I'd use for these situations. The point also isn't to go back and change the prior game, the point is that going forward, how many games will be changed by a blatant miscall? MLB could easily make that number very close to 0, but for the sake of "19th century charm" we're supposed to just accept that sometimes, the team that won according to the rules will take a loss? And you totally blew off my final point, which was that a well executed replay review is far faster than an argument between the umpire and player/manager. Even now, with an on field umpire running to the clubhouse and back to review a call, it takes less than 3 minutes to get a disputed home run call correct. If you had a designated replay official instead, you could review safe/out, catch/trap, fair/foul, and hr/in-play calls within a minute, and cut down on argument delays and ejections.

Maybe this belongs in the Soapbox because I'm about to open a real can of worms with some people ... Tonight is the perfect example of why baseball needs to stop worrying about the "purity" of the game and just institute replay review already. Ideally, I'd like them to set up a system where there's a replay umpire watching the game, who can reverse an obviously blown call as long as he does so before the next pitch. Even if you only allowed it for fair/foul, safe/out, trap/catch, and homerun/in-play calls, you could make the officiating much more accurate AND speed up the game. I know people think replay will slow everything down, but if players/managers know that obviously missed calls are subject to replay, there will be a lot less arguing with umpires and fewer ejections. Currently, for an on-field umpire to go into the tunnel and review home run calls, the average delay is about 3 minutes. Really MLB, it's not 1900 anymore, and we don't need to call the game like it is.

tip: buy gas in the morning. Gas is priced by volume, but burns by mass, so the colder it is when you buy it, the denser it is, and the more mileage you'll get for the same price.

I also like using DragonForce songs since they tend to be longer songs.

I disagree. The Bruins weren't even expected to make this series, and being shut out for long stretches was nothing new. This was a team that lost 10 straight games this year. They had a losing record at home, and went over 2 months without winning in their home building (you can tack on 2 days to that by saying "home building" instead of "at home," since the streak was flanked by the Winter Classic in Fenway). 2 of their 3 wins to go up 3-0 were also by 1 goal, with 1 in overtime, so it's not like they were dominating the series. The 2004 Yankees, on the other hand, romped to a 3-0 lead including a 19-8 blowout, had picked up A-Rod that season, and twice had leads with the best closer in the game on the mound, and still blew it.

Well, if we're going to open up the Portal box ... "While safety is one of many Enrichment Center goals, the Aperture Science High-Energy Pellets seen to the left of the chamber can and have caused permanent disabilities, such as vaporization. Please be careful." "Warning devices are required on all mobile equipment. However, alarms and flashing hazard lights have been found to agitate the High Energy Pellet, and have therefore been disabled for your safety." "Please note that we have added a consequence for failure. Any contact with the chamber floor will result in an unsatisfactory mark on your official testing record. Followed by death. Good luck!" "The Enrichment Center promises to always provide safe testing environments. In dangerous testing environments, the Enrichment Center promises to always provide useful advice. For instance, the floor here will kill you. Try to avoid it." "The Enrichment Center reminds you that the weighted companion cube will never threaten to stab you and, in fact, cannot speak." "The Enrichment Center reminds you that the Weighted Companion Cube cannot speak. In the event that the Weighted Companion Cube does speak, the Enrichment Center urges you to disregard its advice." "Have I lied to you? I mean, in this room? Trust me." "There was even going to be a party for you. A big party, that all of your friends were invited to. I invited your best friend the Companion Cube. Of course, he couldn't come, because you murdered him. All your other friends couldn't come either, because you don't have any other friends, because of how unlikable you are. It says so right here in your personnel file; 'Unlikable. Liked by no one. A bitter unlikable loner whose passing shall not be mourned.' SHALL NOT BE MOURNED. That's exactly what it says. Very formal. Very official. It also says you were adopted. So that's funny too."

"If at first you don't succeed, you fail." GLADos

If you're going to go the dating site route, I recommend okcupid.com - It's like an eharmony in that it tries to actively match based on interests, but it's free and gay-friendly, too.

At the rate the Bruins are losing players (Sturm torn MCL and ACL; Krejci broken/dislocated wrist; McQuaid undisclosed), we need to finish off the sweep tonight and get this series over with, or we'll be sending out the Providence Bruins in the conference finals.

Welcome back Savard!

Not to mention that if Montreal wins, we get home ice against a team we were 2-2 against this year instead of giving up home ice to a team we were 1-3 against. Although Savard making his return against Matt Cooke would be great.

Looks like I could still go 0-4 in the division I follow and 4-4 (with series lengths!) in the division I don't follow. Go figure. Wow. 4/4 with lengths in the conference I don't care about, 0-4 (with no lengths) in the conference I do care about.

Initial post, subject to revision: Round 1: Caps over Habs 4-2 Devils over Flyers 4-2 Sabers over Bruins 4-1 Sens over Pens 4-3 Sharks over Avs 4-2 'Hawks over Preds 4-2 Canucks over Kings 4-2 Wings over Coyotes 4-3 Round 2: Caps over Sens 4-1 Devils over Sabers 4-3 Sharks over Wings 4-2 'Hawks over Canucks 4-3 Round 3: Devils over Caps 4-2 Sharks over 'Hawks 4-1 Stanley Cup: Sharks over Devils in 7 And for the fun of it:

Anyone else catch those 3 shorties for the Bs in 64 seconds? That stretch (plus the Winter Classic, of course) may have made the whole season-tickets thing worthwhile. So in the East now, Washington will be number 1, New Jersey and Buffalo will be 2 and 3 (but order to be determined tomorrow when they play), Pittsburgh will be 4, Ottawa 5, Boston 6, and 7-8 will either be Philadelphia-Montreal or Montreal-New York, depending on who wins the New York at Philly game tomorrow. So the only known matchup in the East is 5. Ottawa vs. 4. Pittsburgh. They played 4 times this year and each team won twice. In the West, San Jose holds the number 1, but could switch with number 2 Chicago if the Blackhawks win their final game. Number 3 is Vancouver, 4 Phoenix. 5-6-7 is messy between Detroit, Nashville, and LA, while Colorado will be the 8. So going into the final day of play, 1 of the 8 matchups is set.

Unfortunately for you, Carolina will finish somewhere between 10th and 14th in the East, depending on this weekend's results. (They're currently in the 11 spot.) Only the top 8 make it. The 8 teams from the West are set, as are 5 of the 8 from the East, with 4 teams (Boston, Montreal, Philly, New York Rangers) fighting for the last 3 spots. Boston and Montreal clinch with a single point (win or loss in overtime/shootout) in their final 2/1 game(s). Philly and New York play each other in their last game, and the winner gets in. The loser can still get in, but only if they lose in overtime or a shootout, AND Boston and Montreal fail to earn another point.

Umm, those are last year's teams... Currently, the playoffs would be: EAST 1. Washington Capitals (53-15-12) vs. 8. Philadelphia Flyers (40-34-6) 2. New Jersey Devils (46-27-7) vs. 7. Montreal Canadiens (39-33-9) 3. Buffalo Sabers (44-26-10) vs. 6. Boston Bruins (37-30-13) 4. Pittsburgh Penguins (46-27-7) vs. 5. Ottawa Senators (44-31-6) WEST 1. Chicago Blackhawks (51-22-7) vs. 8. Colorado Avalanche (43-29-8) 2. San Jose Sharks (49-20-11) vs. 7. Los Angeles Kings (45-27-7) 3. Vancouver Canucks (48-27-5) vs. 6. Nashville Predators (46-29-6) 4. Phoenix Coyotes (49-25-6) vs. 5. Detroit Red Wings (42-24-14) Of course, there are still 1-2 games left for every team, so those aren't final yet.

Happy Pi Day everyone!

I have two Pandora stations that I mainly jump between right now, one based on Kamelot and one based on AC/DC when I'm in a Guitar Hero music mood. One of my faves that comes up on the Kamelot station a lot: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAYbZwc2W04 The first time I heard this I had an eargasm: I also have a station based on the Trans Siberian Orchestra (i.e. )

I'm going to be the devil's advocate here apparently: I LOVE when an author isn't afraid to off main characters or have "sad" endings. I love the "A Song of Ice and Fire" series (George R. R. Martin, first book is "A Game of Thrones") precisely because I had to reread a chapter to make sure a main character was really dead. I also loved the show "Dead Zone" because sometimes Johnny failed to figure out his visions in time, and the person he was trying to save died. IMO, without the possibility of failure, success is meaningless.

I'm a brother of Zeta Delta Xi. We're coed, and at the time of my graduation, "openly non-heterosexuals" were the slight minority in the current brotherhood (24/49). We also had the first openly gay president of an Ivy League Fraternity, Cristobal Modesto '95.

IMAGE NOT WORK SAFE, CLICK TO SEE less of a WTF and more of just an LOL, but The f**king Weather dot com edit: couldn't link because the filter censors the URL of the f***ing weather dot com.

I'm reading the Honor Harrington series by David Weber (the first book, On Basilisk Station, is available online in the Baen Free Library). He's a conservative, which is often a red flag for me (Orson Scott Card had some great books, but his recent work has deteriorated into outright preaching his religious worldview), but he doesn't get preachy, and if you watch interviews with him online, he's not a Palin/Beck/Hannity type antagonistic conservative. I just ordered the next few books in the series, so I'll be reading him for a while.

Poe's Law

Don't panic. These go to 11.