capcrunch98

We all have great respect for Holtby and it's sad that his time as a Cap is finishing on such a low note, but it would really help to have Samsonov right now to throw in there and hope he can steal a game. With the way most of the 18 skaters are playing, we need a goalie to pull a 2010 Jaro Halak out there, and Holtz just doesn't have it in him.

I am with you on being frustrated with Reirden, but we need to let it go with Trotz. Guy is a great coach, but he's also a coach who came up short in the playoffs in 2016 and 2017 despite having the best regular season team, he was close to being fired during the 2018 season (a rumor which I recall most posters on this board being in favor of at the time), and honestly we were a Game 3 OT goal away from possibly being swept in the first round in 2018. Again, terrific guy and terrific coach, but not perfect. The team knew Reirden, it's not like he was a Bruce Cassidy hire (circa 2002) plucked off the street. He hasn't worked out so far, but hindsight is always 20/20. The Pens had just won 2 Cups with Sullivan who was a rookie coach, and I believe Bylsma was a rookie coach when the Pens won in 2009.

Not going to get carried away, as even some of those awful O's teams from the 2000s were able to tread .500 until Memorial Day, but this is fun to watch. With the right moves from the front office and the right development of our top prospects, this team could contend as early as 2022, which isn't that far off.

The original script (which I haven't read but have heard discussed by many others in articles) makes clear that the race of people killed by David were not the Engineers (which again makes sense considering how primitive they were and how they were not "giant space dudes" but rather more like humans in appearance). But because this information was inexplicably cut to give viewers the impression of the storyline you describe, I guess we'll have to wait for the sequel and hope for more clarity.

I may be misunderstanding your post, but the people wiped out by David in the backstory of Covenant were not the Creators. They were a humanoid race likely spawned by the Creators, just like the Earth's population as explained in Prometheus. They were more primitive than humans too - no defense systems whatsoever to guard against David's attack, no signs of any advanced machinery or architecture on the planet (other than the landing pod in the middle of the city which was likely put there by the Creators). You could tell they worshiped the Creators with the statues in the center of their city and temples, and they all converged when the ship appeared because they thought it was the return of the Creators (as opposed to the humans of Earth, who killed Jesus - long thought to be a "Creator" by many fans of the series who have read the extended scripts - when he arrived). A lot of fans theorize that in a future sequel, the Creators will find out what happened to the humanoid race wiped out in Covenant, and pursue David in an act of revenge - setting up a battle between the Creators and David's Xenomorph army.

Yeah, I love the O's but I too don't really follow the business side of the MLB draft closely enough to understand passing over higher ranked players for purposes of slot money. When I hear about that, all I can think about is taking Matt Hobgood #5 when other players including Mike Trout were on the board (yes, I know 20+ other teams passed on Trout but I had to be a dick and bring it up). I'm just going to assume Elias knows what he's doing and hopefully we'll see this guy as a cornerstone player in 3 - 4 years. They grabbed the consensus sure thing last year with Rutschman, so maybe he figured he could gamble a little this time if the higher ranked guys didn't impress him (like you mentioned, other teams passed on Martin too so that has to mean something).

Orioles draft #2 this week, and obviously hitting on these picks will go a long way in determining how well this team will do over the next decade. Ever since I let my subscription to the Baltimore Sun lapse, this thread and the knowledgeable posters here are one of my main sources for O's news. Anyone familiar with this year's draft class, and who the Birds should grab with the second pick?

NHL announces that Ovi (and Pastrnak) win the Richard Trophy. I heard someone say at one point that Pasta would edge out Ovi because Alex had more empty net goals. Glad they didn't enforce this. 9 friggin goal scoring titles. Enjoy this guy while we can, because we're never going to have another player quite like him ever again.

He's an average hockey player with a reputation so far down the toilet right now you'd need a team of plumbers to pull it out. He's not hooking on with another NHL team. His best hope at this point is to play in a Euro league, work his ass off over there, and hope that in 3 - 4 years another NHL team takes notice of him, assumes he's grown up, and invites him to camp for a tryout.

He'll be seen as a cancer for the rest of his career, and while some guys can get away with that label in other sports leagues, NHL clubs usually always avoid those types. Especially fringe players with 3 goals on the year. Hope you enjoyed your conquests, Brendan. You'll have to lower your standards now that you're not going to be an NHL hockey player anymore.

Guys, the NHL plays hockey through the first half of June. To say that the season is cancelled is completely premature.

It's about 6 hours until the puck drops. Why can't they just make a decision? Either they buy into the social distancing recommendation, or they don't. If they need more time, say the games will go on tonight as scheduled while the league is assessing the situation. The NHL says it's "consulting with medical experts". What more info do they think they're going to get between now and tonight? They did the same crap 4 years ago, when the city was covered under 4 feet of snow and they waited until like 3 hours before a Caps-Ducks game to finally cancel it.

The Caps have been the most skilled team in hockey over the past decade, yet their insistence on continually half-assing it and making dumb plays at the worst times (including penalties) has resulted in them advancing past the second round of the playoffs ONCE. Even the Canadiens teams of the 70s and the Oilers teams of the 80s had bad stretches. But we're going on 2 1/2 months now of the Caps just not showing up. I really thought the Cup win was gonna change that for this group, but clearly it hasn't. They have the talent to do something special this spring, but I'm not counting on it.

These veteran pickups are always interesting. This could turn out to be great like the Fedorov acquisition, terrible like the Mike Richards pickup, or anywhere in between. But it's a low-cost, low-risk move and I like it. The optimist in me says Kovy will be inspired playing with Ovi and three other Russians, with a legitimate shot at his first Cup at the end of his career. At the very least, if he plays as well as he did for Montreal, it'll help us out. I think this trade is also an acknowledgement that Panik is not working out on the 3rd line.

Sorry but you don't trade your veteran starter when you're the top team in the league and have a legitimate shot at a championship. And if it makes you feel any better, they wouldn't have gotten much for him anyways. And I agree that Holtby is completely off his game now. But who would you rather have backing up Sammy in the playoffs? Justin Peters? 🙄

I'm in the same mindset - since the 2018 strip down, I'd been planning on suffering through a brutal 2019 season (check!) and a brutal 2020 season. For me there's little difference between 55 wins and 65 wins for a team that is undergoing a full-on rebuild. It sucks that we're losing some of our few established players for what amounts to scratch-off lottery tickets, but I trust Elias because as a fan I really don't have any other options short of dropping off the Birdland map for a time (which I don't blame other fans for doing). I'll continue to watch them this summer with zero expectations and attend my usual half dozen games. In 2021 I will expect the club to field a respectable team and hold onto their established talent, and by 2022 they should be willing to spend some money and hopefully become the competitors we're all being sold on to get us through these rough years. It's a long road, but I lived through 2018 and 2019 and I'm still wearing orange, so as a fan I think I can get through anything.

I was surprised too but if teams were only offering a box of crap for guys like Givens, Villar, and Bundy then I'm glad we held onto them and at least act like we're trying to win some games down the stretch. Not at all impressed with the returns we got on last year's trades; it's clear that even the big market win-now teams are no longer willing to deal away their best prospects like they were a decade ago.

Khris Davis is good, Chris Davis sucks big gigantic rhinoceros balls.

Not disagreeing with you that ESPN has tanked in so many ways, but like it or not CDs run of futility matters in a game obsessed with stats and history. Even decades from now every time any player goes ice cold at the plate, this will be brought up. And unfortunately, the fact that he's getting paid $20 mil annually to take this big of a dump definitely adds to the relevancy of this story in the eyes of many. I feel sorry for Chris, but as I've said many times before, he can always negotiate a buyout or straight up walk away if this gets to be too much for him. I do agree that he had a few good at bats tonight, and it's not completely impossible that when he breaks out of it he may go on a little bit of a run. Stranger things have happened, maybe.

Think we could trade them for prospects? 😄

Same here but it's gonna be another 100-loss season and there will be many more games like this weekend (like Saturday where we lose a late lead in frustrating fashion, or today where we just straight up get our asses kicked).

Fair enough. The calling in sick and doing nothing references were intended to drive home the point of how ineffective the guy is, not necessarily lack of effort and insubordination. I agree that CD seems to be showing none of that, although the comments last year from his former hitting coach Scott Coolbaugh were disturbing. I'm not trying to be mean, I wish the guy the best, and I'm not laughing when he's up at the plate and failing. It's just clear that he's not holding up his end of that contract and I personally feel that he should own up to some of that. I can understand why others would feel differently.

I'm sorry you feel that way. I just think these big bloated ridiculous contracts should work both ways. If Chris Davis is embarrassed to go out there every day, he can call it quits at any time. Until then, the Orioles have every right to play him however they see fit. Despite the feel-good start, this is a lost rebuilding year and although I agree they should really be developing someone else at 1B, the fact is they're paying a guy over $20 million to play, so put him in.

I think all of us on here could go on forever about the absurdity of guaranteed pro contracts. I don't feel sorry for Angelos and his fellow fat cats for doling these out, and I agree that more times than not, the player ends up getting paid for past performance rather than what he ends up producing going forward. But in the case of CD, this is historically bad, and will likely go down as the worst contract in the history of pro sports (and that's really saying something). IMO, this is akin to you or I getting a big promotion at work with a hefty salary and a huge office and a hot secretary, and then we end up not being able to do anything expected of us, staring at a blank monitor all day and constantly calling in sick, while our lesser-compensated subordinates work unpaid overtime to bail the section out. Some people could accept that arrangement as long as they're getting paid. I couldn't. I am sure that CD feels worse about this than anyone else. Is he trying his best and doing everything asked of him? I'd like to think so, although there was a report last year where his hitting coach questioned his commitment during the offseason (but I don't know what came out of that). But there's no way this guy can look himself in the mirror and say he's earning his keep. If he's going to continue to collect, that's is right. But it's also the Orioles right to run him out there every day for whatever reason - comic relief, they're holding out hope he pops 50 HRs, they're secretly hoping he gets fed up and retires, whatever. After all, they're certainly paying him for it.

We're winning now (for the first week of the season) but this team is still going to lose 100 games. I wouldn't disagree with the O's one bit if their strategy is to cart him out there every day and hope he just gets sick of being a national punchline and eventually walks away. I think CD is a good guy, and we'll always remember the great years he gave us, but if he really drags this out for another 3 seasons just to collect a paycheck he should be ashamed of himself.