Your “Red Velvet Lines The Black Box” Wednesday Evening Open Thread

NFL News:

• Cam Newton is being sat down for the rest of the season, due to injury.
  • He’s not going on the IR, but given that they are out of the playoff race, it makes sense to avoid him getting wrecked during meaningless games.
  • Hopefully, he can use the time to design some new hats.

• Also on IR? Frank Gore, who is being shut down by the Dolphins due to a sprained left foot.
  • This will end his streak of 126 consecutive games played & 12 straight seasons with at least 1,000 total yards.
  • If this ends his career, he will retire as the NFL’s fourth all-time leading rusher – behind only Emmitt Smith, Walter Payton, and Barry Sanders.

• Not taking time off? Aaron Rodgers, who insists he’s playing Sunday versus the Jets.
  • “I think it’s a lot about leadership,” the Green Bay Packers quarterback said Wednesday. “If I want to be listened to and followed and looked up to, how could I stand here and say that these games that don’t matter for playoffs, I’m going to cash it in? That’s just not the way I lead.”

• Guess who’s back in the league?
  • Nathan Peterman, who was signed to the Raiders practice squad today.
    • It makes sense, especially since Gruden called Peterman, “the draft’s most pro-ready QB” in a year that included Patrick Mahomes, Deshaun Watson and Mitchell Trubisky.
  • Derek Carr, upon hearing the news, spent the day in his room listening to his Bauhaus CDs totally fine with it!

• That delighted Hippo grunt you heard in the wind earlier today was due to Congress introducing the Sports Wagering Market Integrity Act of 2018.
  • It was introduced by the two guys you most associate with sports gambling, Orrin Hatch (R) and Chuck Schumer (D).
  • PFT, where I cribbed this info, duly notes that,

The bill would require that “sports wagering operators use data provided or licensed by sports organizations to determine the outcome of sports wagers through 2024, and set requirements for data used thereafter.” And there’s the obvious revenue stream for the NFL and other sports leagues, since they would be providing that “data” not for free.

Finally, the Pro Bowl rosters were revealed today.

• Among the observations:
  • the Dirt Clippers lead with seven players named.
  • The Chiefs & Steelers have six each on the AFC team.
  • The Bears, Cowboys & Saints have five each on the NFC team.
  • The Raiders, Bills and Buccaneers had no selections.

TOTAL SITE PIMPING! 

I just want to remind all you regulars & lurkers (and Chris Kluwe) that our new advice & assistance column, Mouth Flies Open, is live and taking your questions & requests.

Our own BrettFavresColonoscopy will guide you through life’s difficult terrain, and give you the honest answers and HAWT TAEKS those bitches Dear Abby & Ann Landers were too afraid to expound during their glory days.

If you have questions and need advice, email [email protected]. What have you got to lose, except for your own insecurities.

Tonight’s sports:

• NHL:
  • Penguins at Capitals – 8:00PM | NBCSN
  • Habs at Avalanche – 8:30PM | Sportsnet
• 2019 IIHF World Junior Pre-Competition:
  • Canada vs. Switzerland – 8:00PM | TSN
• NBA:
  • Pacers at Raptors – 7:30PM | TSN4
  • Warriors at Jazz – 9:00PM | Sportsnet1
  • OKC at Sacramento – 10:00PM | NBATV
• NCAA:
  • Football:
    • Frisco Bowl: San Diego State vs. Ohio – 8:00PM | ESPN / TSN2
  • Basketball:
    • Men’s
      • Auburn at North Carolina State – 7:00PM | ESPN2
      • UCLA at Cincinnati – 9:00PM | ESPN2
    • Women’s
      • Connecticut at Oklahoma – 8:30PM | FS1

This is my last post of the year, as I’m off on vacation with WineWife, paying her back for the trip across Scotland for my 50th birthday. Where are we going? What are we doing? You’ll have to wait & find out. But on behalf of the Canadian West Coast [DFO] contingent,

MERRY F’ING CHRISTMAS!