Plus /Minus - Still not a good stat - oft copied, never replicated.
PLUS: The Oilers getting off to a hot start. It's unsustainable, and their team is still pretty bad, but it's nice to see.
MINUS: Nick Hjalmarsson out for three months from blocking a shot. I'm still not sure shot blocking even helps teams. There's the injury risk, then there's the risk that the rebound of the shot block creates an offensive chance.
Goalies save roughly 91% of all shots, but NHL goalies are stopping 96% or more of low-danger shots, and I would posit that the vast majority of shots that end up blocked are of the low-danger variety.
Goalies can control rebounds a lot better than players can, and I bet you that one day, just like we found out that hard-hitting, slow defensive defenseman are next to useless, that we'll find out shot blocking isn't helpful.
PLUS: Mindhunter. That __ is awesome. I love hunting minds, but now it's over and I'm stressed 'cause it turns out the best thing for quitting smoking is being addicted to a TV show.
I think I blasted through all 19 'sodes in six days. It's been a weird week, I decided to quit drinking, all kinds of smoking, and to make sure I get 45 minutes of exercise per day.
We are on day 12 of the exercise and day eight of everything else. It's going pretty well, all things considered. I'm now addicted to nicotine lozenges, but that's better than the alternative.
PLUS: The Breaking Bad movie. A surprise epilogue to your favorite show is like a very nice present. Surprisingly, I didn't think there was any drop off in quality. Ten stars.
MINUS One bad thing about going sober, is that my wife has threatened to nickname me "Lord Varys" so you know, I gotta listen to more Mase and maybe buy some of that Chinese Ground Unicorn Horn I've been hearing so much about.
PLUS: There has been, however, an uptick in creative energy. I finished my latest graphic novel and gave it to my Son to draw. It's called Why Does My Dad Hate Sting? and should be out soon.
I have to tell you, Jim Sr. is not psyched about being in a starring role.
My first book - written under the pseudonym Johnathan Edward Elliotte has been available for about a year and has sold tens of copies! I'm not kidding - last month I received three separate royalty payments totaling 46 cents.
I also think I'll put out my first novel, which is called They Televise Murder, but They Still Censor Nips
PLUS: The surprise release of the new Wilco album. Wilco is the best.
PLUS: You could tell it hurt him a little, but Bob MacKenzie actually discussed some advanced stats on the TSN panel the other night. I was shocked.
MINUS: The new Spiderman movie. It would have been 1000% better if Mysterio was legit. Drones? What a let down. Boo!
PLUS: You have to love the positive bent of nearly all hockey coverage. I mean, you've got people explaining how the Lucic / Neale trade was win-win because Lucic is leading the league in penalty minutes.
That's nuts.
PLUS: The Coyotes goalies. Maybe they will make the Playoffs. I mean, I didn't think so, but so far Darcy Kuemper has been the best goalie in the world for about the last year, and Raanta got duct taped back together (at least for one night) and he almost got a shut-out. Not too shabby.
MINUS: The Devils use of Jack Hughes. Your team sucks, so take Hughes, and pair him with Taylor Hall and stop being morons.
MINUS: I have no luck with Bonsai trees.
PLUS: I recently put a nice vacations worth of money into a new home stereo, which is the only thing I've ever wanted to own. Now I own it. It goes so loud that you can get a headache, or the cops called on you at 2PM.
I'm not one to brag, or to want to own expensive things, but one of my life goals has been to own a good stereo, and now I do.
MINUS: I used to really enjoy Pitchfork, as it was an indie-rock music website aimed at indie-rock loving music nerds. Somewhere along the way they decided that getting politically correct was more important than anything else and now they suck.
Their release of the top 200 albums of the 2010s is perhaps one of the worst things in the entire world. You're telling me that 200 records came out that are better than Fear Inoculum? I would be surprised if there were two.
Tool's new album is a masterpiece and after spending a couple months with it, I'm happy to say that it's the best record they've ever put out.
Also missing *inexplicably* from the top 200 - Arcade Fire Reflektor, LCD Soundsystem American Dream and the Arctic Monkey's Tranquility Based Hotel and Casino
That's the top four, baby. Not one of those made their list.
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