12-31-2019, 01:55 AM
8) How bad did the NFL look when referee Pete Morelli picked up the flag that had signalled pass interference against the Dallas Cowboys? Awfully bad, but not bad enough to support a conspiracy theory. Carolina Hurricanes Gear . If thats what youre thinking, and that is what youre thinking, Ill bet. 9) So what should the NFL have done? Well, Morelli admits he shouldnt have been so quick to announce a penalty he wasnt prepared to enforce. But thats immaterial, really, because the flag "announced" the penalty and an explanation was still required. If the NFL isnt prepared to add pass interference to its list of calls that are subject to review via coaches challenges, a la CFL rules, it can and should take a simple step to make sure the embarrassment in Dallas is not repeated. It should automatically require a final ruling from the replay booth whenever a penalty flag is thrown without a penalty being assessed. Another look at the play in question in Dallas would surely have resulted in a penalty against the Cowboys. 10) Not to get too technical, but are you wondering why the post-game explanation given by Morelli was so puzzling? He said the back judge threw the flag and the head linesman objected to the call and claimed he had a better view of what he determined was "minimal contact". Heres the thing--many of the penalty flags thrown by back judges are for pass interference and many of the penalty flags thrown by linesmen are for offside. 11) Is it a good idea for the NFL to increase the number of playoff teams from 12 to 14? Based on what I witnessed this past weekend, the answer is "no". Three of the four games, especially the Carolina-Arizona clunker, were hard to watch. For me, the playoffs start now, with Brady vs. Flacco, Manning vs. Luck, and Rodgers vs. Romo. I realize that wild-card teams have won four of the past 14 Super Bowls and this years first-round playoffs wouldnt have looked any worse if San Diego and Philadelphia had been included, but Im pretty sure more playoff games will mean more bad playoff games. 12) Is Terry Pegula, the owner of the Buffalo Sabres and the Buffalo Bills, a good owner simply because he might be the only owner willing to operate those teams, or is he capable of building organizations that can produce winning teams? The saga of departed coach Doug Marrone has painted an unflattering picture of the Bills internal workings. Pegula has a lot of fixing to do and his teams have a lot of winning to do before he can be deemed successful in his sports endeavours. 13) How good is Andrew Luck and how good are the Indianapolis Colts? I think Luck is a whole lot better than the team around him. The Colts wont be able to run against Denver and the Broncos will be able to run against Indys defence and Luck will probably pass for 350 yards in defeat. The Colts are a playoff team for three reasons-- the weakness of thei AFC South division, their coach Chuck Pagano, and their quarterback, Andrew Luck. 14) Oregon beats Florida State; Ohio State beats Alabama. Oregon meets Ohio State for the U-S college football title, thereby proving the worth of the playoff system, because neither school would have qualified via a two-team vote. So heres the question--why did it take so long for the four-team playoff to become a reality? 15) Did Oregons resounding win over the Seminoles remove all doubt about the number-one draft pick, if it is used by the Tampa Bay Bucs to select a quarterback? Oregons Marcus Mariota was favoured to go number-one even before the meltdown by Jameis Winston and Florida State, and the gap could only be wider now, especially because of Winstons off-field issues, but you will still hear that Winstons mechanics fit the NFL quarterback mould better than Mariotas. 16) If Canada iced an Olympic or World Cup mens hockey team tomorrow, would Tyler Seguin be on it? Especially as he is the NHLs highest-scoring, Canadian-born forward at the moment, and just one point behind the league leader, Jakub Voracek, it figures he would be, but there wouldnt need to be too much tinkering with the group of 14 forwards at Sochi. And the first addition would be a healthy Steven Stamkos. And dont forget Claude Giroux. 17) Remember when Emilio Bonifacio was supposed to play second base for the Blue Jays? Well, next season, hes supposed to play second base for the Chicago White Sox, and theyre supposed to be a factor in the American League Central Division. Im not sure those two suppositions should go together. 18) Should the Boston Bruins trade Milan Lucic? Well, they could use a big, tough winger who scores 30 goals, but I doubt theyd get that for Lucic. 19) How much do you know about the leading goal-scorer on the NHLs top team? Shall we start with his name? Its Matt Beleskey. The Anaheim Ducks winger, whose previous high in one season was 11 goals, has scored 17 times. Of further interest is the fact he is not signed beyond this season.The native of Windsor, Ontario and graduate of the OHLs Belleville Bulls is in his 6th NHL season and if you thought he could keep scoring like this, you might predict that hed have a chance to finish with 35 or more goals, in which case he would equal or better his career total prior to this season. 20) Are you wondering where Max Scherzer will pitch next season? I was, but Im rapidly losing interest. And as for James Shields….. Carolina Hurricanes Store . Among the six changes: Drivers are now eligible if they have competed for 30 or more years in NASCAR or turned 55 in the calendar year before nominating day. Previously, drivers were not eligible until they had been retired for three years, so drivers can continue to compete and still reach the hall. Hurricanes Jerseys 2020 . The rookie is rewarding their faith with a stellar first season. MacKinnon had a goal and two assists, Jamie McGinn had two goals and an assist, and Colorado beat the Buffalo Sabres 7-1 on Saturday. https://www.cheaphurricanes.com/ .com) - The Chicago Blackhawks take aim at their longest winning streak of the season on Sunday when they host the Calgary Flames in a battle at the United Center.MADRID - An own goal by Rayo Vallecano defender Abdoulaye Ba gifted Cordoba a 1-0 win in the Spanish league on Monday.Cordoba raced up the field on a counter-attack and Senegalese central defender Bas mis-hit his attempted clearance and the ball landed in the back of goalkeeper Antonio Rodriguezs net.Cordoba rose above the relegation zone to 15th place on 17 points, while Rayo is 11th place onn 20 after 18 rounds. Hurricanes Jerseys 2021. .Real Madrid leads the standings on 42 points after 17 rounds, with a game in hand because of its December participation in the Club World Cup.The postponed 16th-round fixture against Sevilla will take place Feb. 4 at the Santiago Bernabeu, the league announce Monday.Barcelona is second on 41 points, three more than third-place Atletico Madrid. ' ' '