mouse

It has relevancy because the greatest captain in our team's history got the C right after coming from a different franchise, which makes your argument, that the captain should be a guy who has been there long term, moot. Also, handled improperly? Lou fleeced St. Louis, won Stevens' loyalty, and the organization put petty bullsh!t aside when they realized her would make a great captain. The rest is history. I'm not saying Jagr is the leader Stevens is, but there is a ton of evidence that he's a great leader, he's playing well and playing hard, when some of the Devils seem not to be. He was rewarded for this, and the idea that he shouldn't be, because he happened to play somewhere else last year, especially when the team has a ton of injuries, and no one else is really stepping up, is ridiculous.

Because Stevens had been here forever when he got the c.

If Merrill's up, you want him to play, and that means somebody has to sit. Volch is playing decently, and he's your big guy, so you sit Gellinas, Fayne, or Larsson. IMO Larsson and Fayne need to play. If Gellinas is hurting at all, he should sit.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d29VsG35DQM

He earned it in a way the other guys haven't. I don't care if he got here yesterday, this is a meritocracy.

I didn't like the signing, and I'm as afraid as anyone that he's gonna spend more time injured than healthy, but let's wait to judge him as a player until we see him healthy.

Before, but only during the Ratner/Prokhorov years. Since that's the current regime, I hate everything and everyone associated with the Nets now.

Fixed. It doesn't matter what gender you are. You don't get to hit. It's that simple. And the mentality that it's somehow more acceptable for a woman to hit a man is dangerous and unfair. I'll never justify a man hitting a woman, but a woman doesn't get a free pass for hitting a man just because she has a pants. I admit that men can often do more damage, since they're bigger, but that doesn't mean a woman is allowed to hit a man.

I agree there's a lot of gray area, but the minute one person initiates physical violence, there's no gray area anymore, and if the other person retaliates with anything other than self defense, both people are without question wrong. If somebody is assaulted, they need to get out and get to the cops. The only gray area I see when there is physical violence is if someone does something physical (like grabbing the other person's wrist to prevent a punch or slap) purely in self defense, and the other person gets hurt.

Your first post is legit. I have a problem with this one though. I admit the legal system is flawed, but it's the best thing we have. Vigilantism is never acceptable, especially if it leads to violence. If a woman hits a man, he should call the police. If they laugh it off, he should sue them. Even if he isn't "hurt," if the woman's behavior could lead him to become violence, it's his job to take appropriate action to make sure he does the right thing. And I get not wanting to go the divorce route, but there is no justification for hitting your partner (and I don't care what gender either person is).

Agreed. I get Dogfish when I'm bored and willing to experiment, and go in with an open mind and no expectations. They're never gonna be one of my staples, because I can't afford to drink the stuff I like most with any regularity, and because, as far as a good IPA, winter stout, or summer lager go, they're not the best. Part of why I love craft beer is I can always get what I want, and my moods change regularly.

I'd be pissed. The Nets are my least favorite basketball team for the way they shat on Jersey. When you're the NJ team and there is a separate, established New York team, I feel like you should respect your fans. I don't have a problem with the Jets, Giants, Red Bulls, because they're as much New York's teams as ours, so they can/should, at least from a business perspective, represent NY, which is the center of the market. The Devils are Jersey's team. Probably Flushing Meadows, though there's been some opposition.

And that's why the Devils are New Jersey. They're a distinct team, with a distinct fan base, that is separate from New York. We're not the Rangers. The Red Bulls are not a Jersey team. They're the whole markets team, and that market is New York, a market which includes places like Connecticut as well. I admit NJ has more of a claim, because the buildings are here, but I don't feel that calling a team New York trivializes NJ, unless it's a situation like Devils Rangers. It'll be interesting to see how things shake down when the new team comes to Queens, because the Red Bulls probably don't plan to concede the NY market they had dibs on beforehand.

I've loved some Dogfish. I also love them for having the balls to try some really crazy stuff. I do think they flop sometimes, and I don't think their staples are as good as some other places, but when they nail something, it's really good, and really interesting.

Having lived in NY, NJ, and Ohio (and my brother lives in St. Louis), I actually think New Yorkers aren't the problem here. Most New Yorkers (not all, there are some douchebags, but a lot of them are NY transplants with inferiority complexes) appreciate NY for what it is. A lot of people I lived with and work with in NY see NJ as a better place to raise kids, a place to settle down, and a nice spot to explore on weekends. I've had people who have lived in NY their whole lives tell me about restaurants I grew up near that I'd never tried. People from outside the region are a lot more likely to make what exit jokes, or call us NY's dump (even though most locals know NY's most impressive dump is Staten Island, yeah Fresh Kills!). I hate the way the superbowl was covered until we made noise, I hate the skyline shots during our games. I hate the Nets for never embracing us when they had the chance, and leaving as soon as they got a building, even though they had an awesome building here. But I don't buy that any of that is New York's fault. NJ has a bad reputation. It's not fair. I get it. But a lot of that reputation comes from people who have never been here.

Not to dismiss Jersey at all, but I just want to stress again that northern NJ IS part of the NY sports region, just like much of northern Indiana is part of the Chicago sports region, the Pacific northwest is sometimes part of the Seattle sports region, much of the south is part of the Atlanta sports region, etc. In America (and this is different in Europe, where smaller communities can support a soccer team), our sports teams tend to be based out of cities, and fans identify with those teams if they're from the region, even if the teams don't mention them. It's not a slap in the face to the state I grew up in to say that I grew up a New York sports fan (even though I hated the Rags). Again, most of our parents grew up before NJ had teams. If we started watching sports with them (I did), we probably grew up on NY teams. Furthermore, the only sport in which NY and NJ are distinct fan bases is hockey, because both places have teams. If we include soccer as a major sport, NY currently has 5 major sports, so there are 4 sports in which New Yorkers and New Jerseyans, at least those from north Jersey, most likely share a team. I am therefore proud to call myself a New York sports fan unless the Devils are on, especially when my fellow New York sports fans, including many people from Jersey, Connecticut, and upstate represent themselves well, and, while Rags fans are idiots, most of them time, NY sports fans are great. I think NJ is unique to some degree, because we have an inferiority complex from being sh@t on. I have the same inferiority complex, but I don't let it ruin my love for/pride in NY. I've lived in NJ and Brooklyn. I love both for different reasons. I'm more likely to settle down in Brooklyn, but when people ask where I'm from, I say NJ with pride. If we sh!t on New York, we're no better than the people who sh!t on us. As for the Red Bulls, I would have no problem with them being the NJ Red Bulls, especially if the new team establishes a footprint in NY, but I also have no problem with them aligning themselves with the center of the sports region, just like the Giants and Jets did, and just like any number of other franchises did. We're closer to NYC than most of New York. There's nothing wrong with identifying with it. Because disagreeing with your simplistic opinion must be disrespecting where we're from...

I'm trying not to get too high, but I might have to eat some crow about DeBoer. We'll see what he does when Sal gets healthy, but he's got a better lineup now.

It's not just here that teams have different names. The Detroit Pistons play in Auburn Hills, the San Francisco 49ers are moving to Santa Clara, etc. Teams play in markets. If they didn't, they couldn't generate enough fans. The Giants and Jets have fans from the city, and the Yankees and Mets have fans from NJ. Most of us grew up in the NY market, and in every sport but hockey, and basketball until last year, there is no difference between NY and NJ. Furthermore, most of our parents grew up before the Devils existed, and if we grew up watching with them (I didn't, because my parents aren't huge hockey fans), we probably grew up identifying with NY teams. I therefore don't get the blanket hate of NY, and I say this as a huge Ranger hater, who became a Devils fan mostly because I couldn't stand the morons rooting for the Rags. I do get the pain/bitterness toward RBNY for abandoning NJ as a name, but New York/New Jersey Metrostars was one of the worst names in the history of sports. They had to pick one or the other, and, whether some of us like it or not, we play in the New York market, and there's a lot of money in that market. The Red Bulls built a stadium in Harrison. They've done a great job working with Harrison and PATH to make that stadium and city and accessible and desirable destination (just look at the building that's gone up around the stadium). They've done a lot of good for NJ, when they could have pushed NYC to build them a stadium, like Man City and the Yankees just did. Name or not, the Red Bulls have shown some Jersey loyalty, and the product they put on the field, which should not only make all the fans proud, but also generates money in Harrison, is possible at least partially due to New York's international appeal, and the money New Yorkers spend on the team. I get why some people here have a problem with the name, especially since any Devils fan has to have some amount of an inferiority complex, but I don't believe that Red Bull has screwed over NJ in some terrible way. I am interested to see what happens when the Red Bulls aren't the only team in the market. They may need to embrace Jersey more, though they also need to work to keep their fans from NY when they have competition in the city.

This. I was in the South Ward for the game. It was an amazing experience.

I was Prem and La Liga til this year, but I got into the Red Bulls big time. They're fun to watch, the tix are cheap, and this team is special. The players at this point aren't that far behind Europe in terms of ability, and this group of guys is great.

I love Clarkie. I would never offer him that contract, but I wish him nothing but the best.

I would have been disappointed if you hadn't said it.

IMO if this team was more talented, they could survive the start, and if they started around .500 they would be talented enough. As it is, I think they'll be better than 1 or 2 playoff teams, and outplaying those teams down the stretch, but they'll still end up missing out.

I run Corey. Time to let him know you believe in him as the franchise guy. Not saying he needs to play every game by a long shot, but I don't like the idea of "benching" him for 1 bad game.