KarateKen

Auston Matthews is having a monster season. His 52 goals are the most in the league and he is on pace for 76 Matthews has 13 more goals than Sam Reinhart who is second. Fifty goals for an entire season is a huge number in today's NHL, Matthews already has passed that and if he puts in 76 it would tie 5th all time most goals in a single season, the most recent being in 1992-93. There are only three players who have scored more than 76 goals in a season, Wayne Gretzky did it twice (92 and 87 goals) Brett Hull (86) and Mario Lemieux (85). To put 76 goals in deeper perspective, last year McDavid had his career high in goals, at 64. Alex Ovechkin's career high is 65 from 2008. If Matthews and the Leafs continue to play well maybe they could make a deep playoff run. The franchise has not had much to cheer about in recent years as last season was the first time in almost two decades they won a playoff series, only to get thumped by the Panthers in the second round. Toronto has not won a Stanley Cup since the 60s when there were only 8 teams in the league. The east is tough with Florida, Boston, and New York all looking like legit Cup contenders.

You and me both, I have not even heard of these.

Every decade has a most dominate team that wins several Super Bowls going back to the Packers of the 60s, Steelers of the 70s, 49ers of the 80s, Cowobys of the 90s, Patriots of the 2000s, and now is the Chiefs. Ten years from now it will be someone else who wins several Super Bowls in a short amount of time. In the 70s the Steelers won four titles in six years, then did not win again until 2005. The Cowboys won three out of four in the 90s and almost 30 years later they have yet to return to the big game. Who knows maybe next decade it will be the Falcons, or Browns, or someone elese who has waited a long time to win. Things can change in an instant in the NFL, so teams like KC desereve a lot of credit for being able to compete at the high level as long as they have. You need the right players and the right coach, clearly they have both.

I was feeling normal but then I woke up yesterday and my left side where I broke my rib in December feels strange. I think I slept on it wrong and maybe it has not fully healed yet. Might have to get another XRAY on Monday. I don't have pain, it just feels like something is not right.

That's a lot of posts! Your 30,124 is far greater than my 303 and puts you currently ahead of me by 29,821. I will never catch up Congratulations and thanks for your loyalty and how much you bring to the conversation. It is a pleasure having you here!

The owner of the team I am playing in fantasy hockey this week has checked out because he had Kirill Kaprizov on his bench and missed out on a 12.2 point performance. I would do the same thing. Many years ago, I was in an office fantasy football league and I had running back Curtis Martin of the New York Jets. I think he was my first-round pick. Martin did nothing for me for five or six games in a row, or whatever it was, so I benched him. That week scored three touchdowns. To this day I have never played fantasy sports again.

Anyone have any experience with these? Recommend them as walking shoes outside the dojo?

How am I doing? That is none of your business and I would appreciate it if you would keep your nose out of my personal information.

Crazy game tonight in St. Paul as the Wild beat the Canucks 10-7 in the highest scoring game of the year. There were three hat tricks tonight, the first time there have been three hat tricks in the same game since November of 1992. Also, Minnesota scored six goals in 5:45 seconds and seven total goals in the third period. Absolutely bonkers. The ten goals by Minnesota set a franchise record. The entire game was, to use the obvious pun, wild. Minnesota has played better in recent weeks and now is only two points out of the final playoff spot in the west.

It's so hard to sustain success in the NFL, what KC has done the last six years has been very impressive. The league is set up to make it so that every team has an equal chance, so mathematically your team, whoever you cheer for, should only win a Super Bowl once every 32 years. With free agency, the salary cap, and always drafting near the bottom, it will be tough for KC to keep this run going as teams are not usually great for more than a handful of seasons in a row. The Patriots were able to counter this because Brady would take less money, giving them more options to sign free agents. Also, Belichick did a great job of knowing how long to keep players and would trade them at the correct time, such as Randy Moss. He also knew how to take players from other teams who were having problems and fit them into his system, such as Cory Dillion, and, again, Randy Moss. Bill took guys like Wes Welker and Rodney Harrison, who were maybe somewhat overlooked, and got them to play to their peak potential. Andy Reid is a football mastermind so maybe he can work that magic as well, it is just so tough to keep long term success in the NFL. As good as Brady and the Patriots were they went 10 years between titles. All I can say to KC fans is don't worry about next year until it gets here, just enjoy the experience now.

The entire thing sounds very suspicious.

Looks like someone had a few drinks at the Super Bowl party Glad you enjoyed the game. I ate pizza, nachos, and s'mores, but there were plenty of other options to go around. Great food and ended up being an exciting game. Mahomes is now a top 5 QB all time (maybe higher) and I assume will continue to get better and win games in the NFL for a long time. That guy is a heartbreaker. Just when it looks like you have him beat, he will rip your heart in two. Excellent game that could have gone either way. From everything I hear Las Vegas was an outstanding host city and everyone seemed to have hopes that the Super Bowl will be back in Vegas someday. I imagine it will become one of the prime destinations for the big game. I didn't bet anything this year, not even the coin toss. I'm not sure if I am ahead or behind on my coin toss bets over the years but I feel I'm about 50/50.

Jim Carrey thinks that the meaning of life is to "love yourself."

The brand has grown since I was a kid, they are well known across Minnesota.

For years and years, maybe 20 years, I would always eat pizza during the game, however the last couple years I have not. It has been buffalo wings, steak, French fries, the last two years. I don't have any food plans as of this writing, but maybe it is time to bring pizza back. Oh, how I love pizza

Why is that?I might bet on it.

I'd like to add that up until about two years ago or less I still had the toy stored in the back of my closest. I hated to give it away because of the memory, but I donated it. Hopefully someone else is enjoying it right now.

There is a great pizza place called Zorbaz, and when I was a kid (early to mid 90s), we went to the one just outside the small town of Perham, Minnesota. It was a true arcade back then. I visited there about five years ago and while it wasn't as big as before they still had a small arcade. Brought back a lot of memories for a place I would often go during the summer as a kid and play games like Ninja Turtles and Mortal Combat. I have no idea what it is like now, post COVID, but it was my favorite place to visit when I was young. They also had one of those crane games or whatever, where you try and pick up the toy with that claw. I hated that game. I never won. The only time I got anything was once after I lost, then an older lady won right after I played and gave me the toy. That was 30 years ago and I still remember it like it was yesterday. Well maybe not yesterday, but five days ago. OK, maybe eight years ago. Or nine. I don't know. I am going to stop rambling now.

Agreed, having an animal on set can be challenging. Looks like the new series is taking a break, there have not been any new episodes since Dec. 14, and I guess season 1 is maybe a wrap? I don't see anything saying the show is over and Kelsey Grammer has said he hopes it goes on for years, so more to come, I hope.

I second that.

Vegas beat Edmonton 3-1 on Tuesday night, ending the Oilers win streak at 16 games, just one short of tying the all-time record.

Cool. Congratulations.

All my old belts are kept in a closet (current belt kept in Dojo bag) and my rank certificates are kept in a drawer so no, based on looking around the house you would not even know I had any experience with martial arts.

Help me understand BJJ rankings and promotions. I have never trained the art and do not intent to, I am just curious of learning about how they are done because BJJ might have a different approach to teaching than traditional styles. I've heard about people taking three years to get their first promotion or spending a decade as a blue belt. Not sure how accurate or common this is. We had a student come into Karate who had zero MA training at all who took a trial class at a BJJ school and he said he was rolling with students within 30 minutes. They showed him a couple basic movies and then he was thrown right into the fire. He also said that he was instructed to try standing front and back rolls on his first day. He felt the class was unsafe due to his lack of training and experience. Again, not sure if this is common or not, it is only based on one student's explained experience. In the other styles I have done, which are several, it takes weeks before you spar. I realize some of this might vary depending on the school as well.

Absolutely. When I started teaching white belts the Katas or when I would fill in to teach weapons class, I realized how much detail there is that I don't even think about that I now need to explain to people trying this for the first time. It really required me to take a closer look at all of my movements. I would imagine that is universal; martial arts, music, language, or anything else. Being a teacher requires that extra attention to detail.