Things That Caught My Eye
Sidney Crosby has a cold
I mean, maybe? Who knows. But something’s off with him lately. Crosby’s having a bit of a dry spell when it comes to scoring and assisting others in scoring. Before scoring a goal on Tuesday against Buffalo, he hadn’t had a goal in 11 games, the worst 11-game stretch of his career according to a metric looking at scoring stats, plus/minus and time on ice. [FiveThirtyEight]
New Orleans could have a GOAT RB combo
Mark Ingram and Alvin Kamara are having one of the best years for a pair of running backs in the NFL in decades. When it comes to combined rushing and receiving yards from scrimmage, they’re on pace to come in just behind the Walter Payton/Roland Harper era for the Chicago Bears in 1978. [FiveThirtyEight]
3-3
Roar of the Rings is a nine team per gender curling competition that figures out who represents Canada in the Olympics. In order to get to Roar of the Rings, teams have to make it to Road to the Roar, and to make it to that competition, 14 teams were competing for the final two spots. To hack this out, Curling Canada made a round-robin tournament. The issue is that almost everyone tied in the Women’s Pool A, with 5 of 7 teams going 3 to 3. To make a long story short, four curling teams had to do three and a half hours of additional curling. [Deadspin]
Jared Goff has improved considerably
Jared Goff of the Los Angeles Rams is having a wonder second year in the league. He’s poised to have the second highest jump in passer rating after Nick Foles’s 40-point passer rating jump between 2012 and 2013. His team isn’t doing to shabby either: The Rams have a really good offense, a really good defense and — based on expected points added from offenses and defense — are the most balanced team in the league. [FiveThirtyEight]
How many goalies is too many goalies? Vegas is new to this and may have too many goalies
The Vegas Golden Knights are having the best-ever start for an expansion team in NHL history. One reason for their strength? Five goalies. They’ve played four of them — due mostly to various injuries. Most teams, they’re content to have two, maybe three different goalkeepers on the payroll. Not Vegas! Five damn goalies. If it works it works: at 10-6-1 and second in the division certainly something is going right in Vegas. [CBS Sports]
Maximum wage
Defensive end Adrian Clayborn got six sacks for the Falcons on Sunday. He entered the game with two sacks and walked out of the game with another $750,000 thanks to his contract incentive for eight sacks in the season. His next two sack will land him $1.25 million. [Adam Schefter]
Make sure to try your hand at our fun NFL can you beat the FiveThirtyEight predictions? game!
Big Number
51 percent
The Philadelphia Eagles go to Dallas this Sunday night in what the ESPN Football Power Index gives the top rating for any game of the week. It’s poised to be a tough match: The Eagles are the favorite but have a 51 percent chance of winning. A win for the Cowboys would swing their playoff chances up 25 points. A win for Philly would up their already slam-dunk playoff chances. [ESPN]
Leaks from Slack: Men have some work to do
tchow:
Former Canada, U.S. women’s hockey captains welcome baby
emily:
I KNOW
tchow:
would the baby play for the Canadian hockey team or the US?
emily:
I want to know where they rank on the Athlete-Athlete Power Couple Ranking.
It’s gotta be high up. Former Canada Captain, Former US Captain, Teammates on the CWHL Champion Les Canadiennes, a whole ton of national team experience and success between them….
neil:
i.e., have they supplanted Agassi-Graf as the gold standard?
Also, I wonder how often the children of 2 really good athletes go on to play that sport (or any other)
emily:
Importantly: Where does Hamm-Garciaparra rank now
neil:
Haha
Yes I forgot about that one!
emily:
Sydney Leroux / Dom Dwyer?
Julie Johnston / Zach Ertz?
MEGAN RAPINOE AND SUE BIRD
cwick
wozniacki/david lee!
sloan stephens/jozy altidore!
this is a fun game
tchow:
jrue and lauren holiday
cwick:
wozniacki/david lee!
sloan stephens/jozy altidore!
this is a fun game
emily:
alex morgan and servando carrasco
jj watt and kaelia ohalia
ashton eaton and brianne theisen
these two!!! (edited)
paul:
Are Ben Scrivens and Jenny Scrivens the only goaltender couple?
emily:
yesssssss jenny scrivens
ray ferraro and cammi granato are another hockey couple
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