Rich

Probably 10% for sure. I can understand why they'd prefer to wait to come out til after their career is wrapped up though. Probably for sure? I'd don't think the stats for the general population translate equally to pro sports. Not that I think Sam is the only gay football player out there, but do you really think there's an average of four gay players per team in the CFL? Yes. Why wouldn't it apply to professional sports?

I read an article a few months ago where the writers admitted they wrote themselves into a corner from day one. They seemed to be amused at it actually. I found it very unprofessional. And I think they had the end date confirmed with about three seasons left so they had plenty of time to plot out a satisfying conclusion. I seem to be in the minority that I really liked the finale and felt it was highly emotional. But most of the plot developments in the middle of the series were just awful. Agreed. First couple of seasons were really good. The middle seemed to have have no direction (like the show was "Lost"). I also liked the ending, though it really wasn't that much of a surprise for me by that time. Would have been a much better show if it was 4 seasons of 6. A show like that relies combines the compelling stories (and flash backs) of the cast with suspense, cliff hangers and surprise to keep the audience guessing and coming back each week. Can only do that for so long, especially with the flash backs.

I'd still list Lost as a success for him. The cultural impact and audience size it gathered makes it as such. I've also heard rumours that the network forced them to draw it out longer then originally intended to milk it for all that they could. Then they were forced to come up with side stories and plots.

I wouldn’t say he kills everything he touches, you can’t deny the successes he has had and the credits to his name, especially with his TV properties. It could be argued that he has had much greater success as a producer and writer over director.

Neither, because Pavelec played quite well last game. If Hutch continues to play well I think he will be rewarded with more playing time, but Pavelec will still be the clear cut starter (at least for now). If Hutch maintains anything close to his numbers with increased playing time and Pavelec goes up and down with his play, I think Hutch will continue to get increased playing time. To me, that means the controversy really happens / heats up by February when maybe they are splitting the games. Purely conjecture of course, but I do like to see Hutch pushing Pavelec.

Good game by Pavs yesterday. He does seem to do better when there is competition to push him. Be interesting to see who they play against Boston. Do you play Pavs again after a good performance, or do you play Hutch against the team that drafted him? Having two goalies playing well is a good problem to have.

Odds and Sods switched over to regular forum posts in the middle of last season for that very reason!

No, it isn't his accent, it is his bias for Montreal. No issues with him in games where Montreal isn't playing.

Never much been a fan of Proulx. Always seemed to be bad calls against the Bombers when we played Montreal. However this is his 5th Grey Cup game and 3rd as head referee. Must be doing something right. Other then Kim Murphy, don't recognize much of the other names. Which is probably a good thing when you are a referee.

Pinball was able to make the jump right to Head Coach. But I think he is more of the exception then the norm.

No plans to remove chat. Not necessarily looking to save money, like I said it isn't a huge amount, just no point in paying it out if we aren't using it. So far it looks like it really isn't used.

Put me in the camp of those who have soured on Pavs. I’m not calling for Hutch to replace him as the starter, not yet anyway, but I think it is time that Hutch starts getting more starts. At least 1 game out of every 3 -4. Pavelec was certainly out to a hot start, but he has regressed back to what he is. His career save percentage is .906 and while he is at a .917 right now, he is .884 in the last 5 games. Was his earlier play the new Pavelec? Or was it a blip and he is coming back to his career average now. He has 5 years as a starter now, I’m not sure he is going to magically change into something else. We pretty much know what we are going to get with him. Would like to see Hutch start getting more starts to see how he handles an increased work load and tougher opposition.

So it is time to renew the software we use to run the board. Some of the money goes to pay for security updates and maintenance of the software, some goes to pay for the chat room that we have. The forum software has many modules (including ones we don't use) that you can kind of pick and choose to customize your forum. Two that we do have are the Pages and Blogs section. The Blogs section is pretty self explanatory. The Pages section is really supposed to be a place that pulls content from all the different areas of the site together and summarize it. Since we don't use a lot of the other modules, mostly it is just the forum info that goes into there. I don't mind keeping these areas going but there is a cost associated with keeping them, and while certainly not exorbitant, there is no point in paying for it if people don't use it. So a quick poll to see what peoples usage patterns are.

I think the other question has to be asked on effort ... is that if the team is finally putting in the required effort night in and night out, they've bought into a system and style and sticking to it, and we still miss the playoffs .... then what?

And to be fair, as I think about it. If True North ever sold the Jets, no guarantee all of their revenue streams would be sold with it. If they moved cities for example, the concert revenue, government gaming revenue, etc wouldn't move with the Jets. It is an arbitrary assessment. No one really knows the finances other then True North and the NHL (depending on what they need to know for Cap revenues).

It is interesting that the revenue is listed at $102M and player expenses at $62M So if our operating income is only 3.3M, what are we spending the other $36.7M on? Coaches, GM, travel, minor league expenses, scouting. That can't all be that much. The only possible big expense that can contribute to that is debt repayment. Not sure how much they owe on the team or arena, but that is a bug chunk of money.

According to that article operating income means: I find it hard to believe that their operating income is so low. Does that take into account concession and merchandise sales? Just ticket sales? The mention of not much in the way of concert revenue makes me question all of their numbers. Also the premise that a building needs an NBA tenant to be profitable. I also question whether or not the Jets need to make the playoffs to make a profit. We aren't a cap team at all.

I'm okay with the Jets making it into the playoffs and getting knocked out in the first round (or course I'd prefer if they would win). That would at least be progress. Look at the roster and the playoff experience on it. These guys need to get a taste of what the playoffs are all about and be able to prepare themselves for it. Teams often need a year or two of just making it into the playoffs before experiencing real success. What I hate is just hovering a spot or two out of the playoffs. You still get a "decent" draft pick, but not as good as if you suck completely. But you just don't get over that hump to get into the playoffs. Mired in mediocrity. I don't want to mortgage the farm just to make it in and have an early exit (and by that I mean mortgaging the future for a playoff rental like Atlanta did), but this team needs to taste the playoffs to make that next step. Then they know not only what it takes to make it into the playoffs during the regular season, but what they need to do once they are in.

What happens IF the Jets were to actually make it into the playoffs. At that point the games get tougher, more physical, more intense, everything is ratcheted up a notch and you've got the wear and tear of 82 games on your body. You need to be able to rely on your 4th line contributing more ice team.

ive heard the following in regards to why Thorburn was signed: - Buddy with Kane/makes Kane happy/keeps Kane out of trouble - Very close with Chipman/Chipman sees Thorburn as a lifer - Fantastic locker room guy/loss of Thurburn would hurt morale I dont know if I buy any of those. I think management saw him last year, saw him fill in for Kane and not really get exposed (though he didnt really make that line any better nor should he have been expected to) and "rewarded" him. I dont really care about the contract because it's a million bucks, who cares. If he's a saint in the locker room, great, make him a career 12/13 forward who comes into the game every few games when someone gets hurt or we need a shake up. But playing a guy who's playing 3-5 minutes a game? And its not just him. Halischuk (who I like) played 3 minutes last game. Really? We dont have an option the coach trusts more in St Johns? It just makes you wonder. When they win, no one cares. But the questions will come if they dont perform well on this road trip. Because if the coach isnt playing the fourth line, it means we need a better fourth line. if the GM isnt improving those guys, what message is that sending? We were told part of bringing in Maurice last season was to do an in depth analysis of the roster....I guess he liked everyone. They played a clip on TSN1290 this morning where Maurice said not to look at it as he doesn't want to play the 4th line, but look at it like he wants to play the other 3 more. He basically said he doesn't want to take minutes away from the other 3 lines. Which is all fine and good, but then don't use the excuse of your team being too tired as a reason why they lost or played poorly. You can't have it both ways.

The team has regressed from the stretch of games that saw them climb into 3rd place in the Central. Perhaps a better choice of words would be "can we now say this team is the same as it has been for four years". We've changed the players. We've changes the coach. And yet the record is nearly identical. Everyone wanted to say "this is the real Jets" when they were winning. My point is, losing one or two means nothing but this stretch of losing 4 out of 5 and the way they've done it shows me the team has "regressed" back to where they were. One goal games or not..a loss is a loss. if they were losses like the Pens loss, so be it. They arent. Pavs Save Percentage is a wonderful .893 or whatever these past few games and he's looked shaky. Im a Pavs guy...and even Im at the point where Im saying is Pavs the goalie we see 45 games a season that is barely average or the goalie we see 20 games a season that is great? That first season, the Jets' depth was awful and we had fourth line players playing 3rd line. No one is arguing that. But to use Stapleton as an example of improved players is moot. At worst it contributes to my argument that the Jets are a lousy team since they replaced those guys and arent any better. if I was you, I'd use the example of replacing Jokinen with Perrault. Thats a significant upgrade. Looks good. Makes the line better. Makes the team better. helps the puck posession game. And yet the team has no more wins. I want to be wrong. I just dont think I am. And my...not frustration, but agitation is that management doesnt appear to be addressing any key issues. They were pretty friggen lucky Hutch has turned out because they took a chance on a guy with 3 NHL games on his resume as a back up behind a below average starter. The fourth line barely plays and they've done nothing but reward a 4th line guy with a big contract. I dont get that. The Jets are in the position to be able to take better talent from other teams who have better depth but want to shed some salary...why we dont is beyond me. I agree with a lot of what you say. Chevy needs to start using everything at his disposal, including trading, to make this team better. The Frolik deal was good, but that is really all he has done trade wise to make this team better in 4 years. People who point to bad trades that GMs make overlook the GMs who make good trades for their team (look at Dallas). Your job as a GM is to assess and evaluate talent and being able to negotiate those deals. Not every trade is bad for your team. The cupboards here are no longer bare, they've filled them with prospects and picks ... time to start using them. However they did get a backup plan in case Hutch didn't pan out. Budaj is still down at the Rock and he would be called up if Hutch didn't turn out. He was the backup plan for at least this year till one of the other youngsters would be able to step up. Glad to see Hutch doing well though.

Shame on Chevy if that is why he was signed.

I'd be shocked if anyone from the 4th line made it back next year. Thorby is locked up for a couple more. Still don't understand that contract.

To be fair on this one, he included it on a tweet talking to Nic Grigsby wishing him luck in the playoffs. Just makes you wonder if it was football related.

Likely something completely unrelated to football. Just daily life stuff.