#Arkhaven INFOGALACTIC #Castalia House
It looks good, especially from behind. And although automatic promotion is out due to three draws when three wins were required, they’re in the playoffs with a chance for the second spot. If you want one, let NDM know and we’ll set up a bulk US order.
Of course it was. Any time the NFL is dabbling in doing something short-sighted, stupid, and harmful to the game itself, you know Roger Goodell is probably behind it.
So why did the league office ask the Lions to propose playoff seeding based on record, regardless of division championship? Because the Commissioner wants it.
Per multiple sources, it became clear during last week’s league meetings that Commissioner Roger Goodell wants to eliminate the guaranteed home game for teams that win their divisions.
Goodell’s preference became clear during the meeting regarding the proposal that was made by the Lions (at the prompting of executive V.P. of football operations Troy Vincent). One source in the room for the session said Goodell became visibly irritated at the resistance to the measure.
Goodell really needs to stick to the business of the league, which he’s very good at, and stop attempting to fix things about the game itself that are not broken. Taking home field advantage away from division winners is the first step toward eliminating both divisions and conferences and will eventually lead to a ridiculous NCAA-style tournament in which two teams from the same division will meet in the Super Bowl.
The NFL is a formidably effective business, but its executives can seldom resist the temptation to try breaking what is working extremely well.
The Lions’ proposal to seed the seven playoff teams in each conference without regard to division championship wasn’t something the Lions formulated during a brainstorming session at team headquarters. The suggestion to make the suggestion came from 345 Park Avenue.
Here’s how it happened, as explained by Jeremy Reisman of PrideOfDetroit.com.
As the winner-take-all, regular-season finale between the 14-2 Vikings and 14-2 Lions approached, Detroit receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown spoke out about the unfairness of the loser having to go on the road to face a division winner with a lesser record.
“It’s crazy,” St. Brown said at the time. “I think the rule should be changed. Obviously if you win the division, you should obviously make a playoff spot, but having a 14-win team having to go on the road is kind of crazy. But I guess I don’t make the rules.”
No, St. Brown doesn’t make the rules. But his comments could have a hand in changing them.
As St. Brown’s remarks went viral, NFL executive V.P. of football operations Troy Vincent took notice. And, instead of adding the possibility to the agenda of the Competition Committee for the usual bill-becomes-law protocol, Vincent made a phone call to Lions president Rod Wood.
“Troy Vincent from the league reached out to me and said, ‘I tend to agree with [St. Brown],’” Wood said this week at the league meetings. “‘Would you mind partnering with us on making a proposal on that?’ So we made a proposal.”
Basing playoff seedings on overall records instead of division championships is abysmally retarded. The NFL benefits by strengthening divisions; it made the season ends more exciting when the big division clashes were reserved for the final week, thereby keeping the playoff race alive for the entire season. It’s not as if the outcome was unfair for the Vikings, who were blown out in the first round by the Rams after choking against the Lions.
If divisions don’t matter, if records are the only thing that are important, why play the playoffs at all? Isn’t it unfair for a 15-2 team to have to play a 11-6 team in the playoffs too? Does the NFL really think that imitating the European football leagues, where the title is all but determined weeks, if not months, before season end? I stopped paying attention to the Premier League three months ago, when it became obvious that no one could keep up with Liverpool.
The system works. Divisions matter. If you want a home playoff game, then win your division. Period.
This should be fun to watch:
Promotion and relegation is coming to American professional soccer for the first time, according to a report from The Athletic’s Paul Tenorio. The United Soccer Leagues (USL), representing American professional soccer’s second and third tiers, voted to add promotion-relegation to their system. Currently, it is set up with the USL Championship featuring 24 teams and the third-tier USL League One featuring 14 teams.
Many teams are in non-MLS markets, allowing cities a cheaper point of entry for owners and a separate set-up to the 30-team top division. In February, the USL also applied to U.S. Soccer for first-division status, aiming to establish USL Premier, which would be classified as a first division alongside MLS.
If the USL Premier becomes a reality, it will likely have promotion and relegation through three divisions in the USL Championship and USL League 1. At the same time, MLS remains a separate single-entity structure.
The European soccer leagues have a lot – and I mean a LOT – to learn from the NFL. But the one thing they do right is promotion and relegation, which adds serious spice to the lower leagues and drives interest in them.
It wouldn’t hurt to apply it to the House and Senate, while we’re at it.
Where was God? He was there at the quarterback’s side, as always:
Where was the quarterback’s God Sunday evening while he was getting sacked six times? And where did this mess of a game leave Mahomes and his professed faith?
The answer to both questions is exactly where it all was before the game.
God apparently allowed the Chiefs to take one on the chin. They say setbacks are a set-up for a great comeback. I believe that’s in the Gospels somewhere because Jesus suffered unspeakable punishment on the cross on Friday and died, but didn’t stay that way very long.
Sunday’s grand victory surely came.
Mahomes, meanwhile, thanked God after the Kansas City loss. He thanked God “for every opportunity he has given me.”
That doesn’t change the fact the Eagles were better. It doesn’t change the fact Mahomes went home with an L.
But neither did that loss change the fact Mahomes took the setback like a champion.
Win or lose, God is with us. As far as I can tell, He doesn’t care about who wins and loses. And contra the Calvinists, He does not ordain the results of the game. But He does care about us, and He does care how we comport ourselves, which is why it’s important to see Mahomes and other Christian athletes making it clear that they thank Him when they win and when they lose.
“It’s really cool that Tom Brady got to be there for the Eagles’ two Super Bowl wins! He might be a good luck charm.”
Nick Foles
And this ad starring the two of them is hysterical. At least Tom can laugh at himself.
Three minutes into the first quarter and a nonexistent “offensive pass interference” call negates an Eagles 4th-and-2 conversion with a long pass. Absolutely terrible. Even the announcers are expressing disbelief.
The NFL is absolutely, 100-percent, using the refs to put a thumb on the scale in favor of the Chiefs.
The Eagles are going to have to blow the Chiefs out or they will lose.
UPDATE: And now a phantom false start to take away another Eagles first down.
UPDATE: 24-0 Eagles at halftime.
Now we’ll discover if there is a Superhero Mahomes script in play or not. Personally, I doubt it. He’s not playing poorly, the defensive line is simply running over his protection. The other thing to look for is if the Eagles have been ordered to let things get closer; watch for overtly retarded play-calling, inexplicable fumbles, and, of course, more flags preventing first downs and giving the Chiefs first downs on third-and-long.
UPDATE: 37-6. It’s over. Hopefully this will persuade the NFL of the wisdom of leaving the players to determine the results. Either the Bills or the Ravens would have made for a much better, more competitive game.
Mentally disordered foreigners imagining that they are women will not be permitted to participate in the 2028 Olympic Games.
Not only did President Donald Trump sign an executive order effectively banning males from competing in women’s sports at publicly-funded institutions (like schools), but Trump also announced he plans to deny foreign transgender athletes entry into the country for the 2028 Summer Olympics.
Trump says he instructed Secretary of State Marco Rubio to “make [it] clear to the International Olympics Committee that America categorically rejects transgender lunacy. We want them to change everything having to do with the Olympics and having to do with this absolutely ridiculous subject… In Los Angeles in 2028, my administration will not stand by and watch men beat and batter female athletes.”
Men who are US citizens won’t be permitted to compete with the women either. That’s the best way to deal with this wicked madness: call it out for what it is, then ban it.
The NFL referees practically confirm that certain games are being rigged on the orders of the league office in their very suspicious non-denial denial of their own corruption.
On Monday, Commissioner Roger Goodell pushed back on the suggestion that game officials favor the Chiefs. On Tuesday, the union representing game officials issued a statement expressing appreciation for the Commissioner’s remarks.
“Commissioner Goodell’s comments that it is ‘ridiculous’ to presume that NFL Officials are not doing everything possible to make the right call on every play is spot on,” NFL Referees Association executive director Scott Green said. “Officiating crews do not work the same team more than twice each regular season. It is insulting and preposterous to hear conspiracy theories that somehow 17 officiating crews consisting of 138 officials are colluding to assist one team.”
That’s a bit strong. And it teeters on the possibility of protesting too much.
It doesn’t teeter on the possibility of protesting too much, it’s an obvious non-denial denial. When someone suspected of robbing a specific liquor store at a specific time pompously declares that it is insulting and preposterous to hear conspiracy theories that somehow 17 different criminal organizations are colluding to rob 138 different liquor stores and gas stations, instead of directly addressing the actual accusation, that’s such an obvious evasion that it serves as a practical confession.
We all know that the NFL puts the thumb on the scale when one team is blowing out another team at halftime. We can all see when a coach and quarterback have been instructed to lose a game. And it’s absolutely and entirely obvious when a head referee has been told which team should get the important calls. The NFL and the NFL Referees Association is insulting our intelligence when they try to pretend that they are a completely honest and organic sporting association when we all know that they are a for-profit entertainment organization that has the legal right to put on a show in any way it deems most entertaining.
The more they protest in such stupid and obvious ways, the more they confirm our suspicions. And if the Vikings bring back Sam Darnold, that will serve as strong support for the hypothesis that the last two games of the 2024 season were intentionally thrown by the Vikings on the orders of the NFL.
After the dollars and eyes on last year’s event, this organization was always intending to make sure the fix was in. They aren’t going to give up all that new money and new viewers from last time. Whether or not it’s obvious that it’s rigged no longer matters.
NFL/Kansas City Chiefs/Super Bowl
The NFL may not realize it yet, but it has a budding crisis on its hands concerning its legitimacy. The price of capturing new viewers is capturing the attention of people who aren’t fans and aren’t inclined to accept the official explanations. And the way the NBA is forcing teams to move players around against their own interests definitely isn’t helping, so blanket denials that simply assume the argument won’t cut it.
CDAN had another NFL-related one.
Plantation Khaleesi is the one leaking stories that she is going to be in the suite next week with the A+ list singer. That isn’t going to happen.
The answer, of course, is Blake Lively and Taylor Swift. I’m paying attention to the whole Reynolds v Baldoni thing since it may have some eventual fallout in the English football world.