Hey. Happy belated Rosh Hashanah to all you crazy cats out there who are down with the High Holy Days. I was just home visiting the family for that reason, so I really don’t have a ton to say. I know normally I have something resembling a coherent discussion to open the links, but honestly? I’m exhausted. So, you’re getting a very special edition of Saturday Roundup – stream of consciousness link discovery and discussion. Think of it like apples and honey, except instead of being delicious it’s words on the internet.
So, to start us off, some interesting news from Mirtle’s blog: Teppo Numminen was suspended. For, uh, having a bad heart. Literally. Apparently the poor bastard has a bad ticker, and needs to have heart surgery. As such, the Sabres have suspended him in accordance with their ‘rights’ under the standard player contract. Why? Money, if I’m reading all this shit right. They signed him knowing his heart wasn’t in the best of shape, and they couldn’t get his contract insured. So, even if they stuck him on Long-Term Injured Reserve, they were still on the hook for the money. Thankfully, they’re able to weasel out of the contract by suspending him for having a heart condition they already knew about so that they don’t have to pay him. Darcy Regier’s comments, according to the Buffalo News:
Darcy Regier said “it’s business.”
…
He went on to say that “There’s a clause explicitly in the contract that states the player must pass the physical and be fit to play,” Regier said. “It’s the collective bargaining agreement and in no way is it personal to Teppo. I had the conversation with Teppo. He understands it’s business. It has a lot of implications on the salary side, on the cap side.”
You know what, Darcy? Fuck you. You’re the useless cock who signed a guy he knew he couldn’t get insurance for because this was the sort of thing that might happen. Now you’re weaseling out of paying him? Unless your plan is to funnel him $2.6M under the table, I think you may actually have no soul. You claim that you’ll “assist and support him in any way you can” in the article. How about you try paying the guy? I’m inclined to agree with Mirtle – the spirit of the clause you’re invoking is for morons like Jeff Kent, Kellen Winslow, and Ben Roethlisberger, not guys with bad hearts who you decided to sign anyway.
Anyway, just another reason to cheer and hope for a gigantic implosion in Buffalo this year. With any luck, you’ll somehow manage to go 0-82.
In more “people who annoy me” news, the Predators are raising ticket prices. How gallant. Apparently raising ticket prices somehow makes the tickets a better deal for fans. The idea is to make season tickets look more attractive, apparently. According to the team VP, “It’s in the better interests for people to buy 13 games at a time with a partial plan than it is to buy one or two games at a time.” Um, OK. Sure. I just feel bad for Nashville fans who can’t afford partial plans or season tickets. But, you know, whatever. Feel free to fuck over fans in a market where you just slashed your payroll dramatically.
Also, Jordan Staal went out and talked with a newspaper about his arrest. There’s a great line where he declines to say how much he had to drink. I think the answer is “roughly 10 shots and 20 beers. In an hour.”
Steve Zipay provides the current plans for the Rangers’ lines. Gomez is with Jagr, which means that if they click you can expect me to call them Big Oil, with the Alaskan Pipeline feeding the Czech Refinery. See? Creative nicknames. Good times.
Eric McErlain sticks it to Bill Simmons so I don’t have to. Fuck you, Bill.
Fun stat: Blair Betts led the league in blocked shots.
Also, several other bloggers have linked to this blog, and I will too: Empty Netters. Link heaven. Lots of reading here.
Have a good weekend, everyone. That’s enough for now.
