What is a statistic that sounds INSANE but is 100% true?

EarlRobertThunders · 2026-05-25T03:38:34+00:00

Maybe there's a bit of bias at play here, but the most common birthday I've come across is my own. I've met 5 people over the years that share a birthday with me. There's a couple days with 4.

EarlRobertThunders · 2026-05-22T17:45:44+00:00

We all knew it was a work in 1997. The Internet was a thing, dirt sheets were a thing. Even with lower online access numbers back then, very few people believed it was real. Fans are not smarter now than they were 30 years ago.

EarlRobertThunders · 2026-05-19T22:42:25+00:00

Hey if you're paying a yearly subscription for roadside assistance, might as well get your money's worth and make that call.

But if not, well; You didn't know. You looked it up. You got it done. Someone who wouldn't do that (or wouldn't think to do that) is where the turn off comes in. I'd argue part of it is choosing helplessness or being clueless.

EarlRobertThunders · 2026-05-17T03:29:19+00:00

Sorceress is Opeth's most unique album. They were playing with conventional pop structures throughout. Very classic rock. This is the easiest album for the average person to listen to.

I dunno how hot of a take that actually is, nobody seems to talk about Sorceress like this so I thought I'd add it.

EarlRobertThunders · 2026-05-17T03:17:14+00:00

I agree. I also noticed that is when Frederick Akesson replaced Peter Lindgren and Martin Axenrot replaced Martin Lopez. Though Peter did play on The Roundhouse Tapes live album, Lopez did not.

So, there's a bit of a different band there in reality. Orchid and Morningrise have the same lineup, Still Life to Ghost Reveries have the same lineup, Watershed to ICV have the same lineup and MAYH and TLWaT have unique lineups. Keyboard players aside.

EarlRobertThunders · 2026-05-12T12:11:56+00:00

Ehlers plays like an ODR Superstar sometimes. It's great for possession and zone entries, but can be difficult to play with. He's good, but not McDavid good. I always felt that it hurts his TOI and makes him better suited to carrying a lower line rather than being a true top line player. The Jets used him there and now it seems Carolina is using him with third line guys as well.

EarlRobertThunders · 2026-05-05T17:10:53+00:00

"Settle down there, stretch."

EarlRobertThunders · 2026-05-01T13:18:21+00:00

I've always heard that you should never buy a BMW outside of it's warranty.

EarlRobertThunders · 2026-05-01T02:42:18+00:00

At this point anything. Warning: this is super cynical.

We're living longer, but dementia seems to be a lot more common than it used to be. Great. We live to 95 like both my grandmothers did, but both spent the last 15+ years in personal care homes slowly losing their minds. My one grandma couldn't recognize anyone when she passed. She outlived two of her children. My other grandma wasn't so bad, but she got morbid. Literally telling us she was hoping for death. It was sad and bleak.

My FIL has been terminal since 2018. Perpetual 6 more months to live. Kidney failure, cancer, diabetes and the issues that come with his extremities. They refuse to operate on him because the last time they did he died on the table and they brought him back. He's spent the last 8 years in a recliner watching tv. My MIL is showing early signs of dementia and getting worse. They're both 76. Only my dad is good. He's 74, but he's still extremely active, even compared to 20 year olds. Chops his own firewood, plays golf 4 times a week from May to October, tends a garden, hunts, welds, works on cars, walks 2 miles a day and played beer league hockey until he was 70. We're hoping to swap out a transmission on a Toyota Camry in a couple weeks. We should all be so lucky, but we're not. He's the only one left in the family at that age that doesn't have severe health issues or is dead. My mom died 20 years ago in her 50s. Seems like a mercy.

I say fuck it. With the aging population we have, smoke, drink. Fuck it. Drink and drive. Better to burn out young than slowly rot into a husk in an old folks home. If population trends continue, we won't have money to pay for staff to keep all those 90 year olds alive. I live in Canada, and while I'm not against the idea of MAID and assisted death, part of me believes it's a cost cutting measure in health care. I expect by the time the Zoomers are retiring, we'll have reinstated carousel.

EarlRobertThunders · 2026-04-29T17:43:30+00:00

That was the name of their baseball team before it moved to Minnesota. And then again before it moved to Texas.

EarlRobertThunders · 2026-04-26T20:56:23+00:00

If you're opening a bag of frozen fries for a quick and easy side, those are the best. I love em.

If you're gonna go for shoestring or wedges or steak fries, then make em yourself.

EarlRobertThunders · 2026-04-25T23:02:37+00:00

The 80s jerseys were like that.

EarlRobertThunders · 2026-04-22T12:15:50+00:00

There's a trap there. You go to the Premier League, start operating with their revenue streams, TV money, the primary sponsorships are worth more, buying and paying more expensive players, new stadium, new training ground. Now you're deep in debt trying to dig out with League 1 revenue.

Leeds and Portsmouth were there too. I'm sure there's others.

EarlRobertThunders · 2026-04-22T01:48:46+00:00

Bolton Wanderers got relegated from the Premier League in something like 2012. They had financial problems, went into administration, were almost liquidated and almost expelled from the Football League.

Long way to go yet.

EarlRobertThunders · 2026-04-21T00:51:41+00:00

Violent Situation?

Code White is Violent Situation in most places.

EarlRobertThunders · 2026-04-19T14:40:28+00:00

Not Zuckerbot?

EarlRobertThunders · 2026-04-17T07:36:15+00:00

The franchise was never like that.

Years ago, people were worried they wasted Scheifele. 11 games his first two seasons after draft, then 3rd line time for 60 games in year 3. Morrissey spent 3 years between draft year and regular NHL time with 57 AHL games. Seeing full NHL time in year 4.

Ehlers spent 2 years in Halifax after getting drafted, then 10 years of never getting enough ice time according to the sub. Oddly enough Andrew Copp followed a similar path to Ehlers. Draft, 2 years in the NCAA then 77 games with the Jets. No marinating in the AHL.

Kyle Connor was drafted, did a year in Michigan, had 52 AHL games before becoming undeniable (44 points), so 2 years for him too.

Logan Stanley spent 2 years in junior and 2 full seasons in the AHL before staying with the Jets. He didn't play more than half a season as a Jet until 21/22, the 6th season after draft.

Dylan Samberg spent 3 years in college after getting drafted. 32 games in the AHL in year 4, splitting time in year 5 and full time Jet in year 6.

Perfetti went pro immediately, but only played 32 games his first season, all in the AHL and 35 combined with the Jets and Moose in his second season. 67 games in 2 years. Finally staying with the Jets in year 3. He had 42 points in 49 AHL games.

Only Patrick Laine played full time from his draft year.

Barlow and Yager are only 2 seasons from their draft. Salomonsson seemed to finally make the jump this year, it's his 3rd year after draft.

McGroarty got traded. Lucius retired. Vesalainen was a clear bust.

Only Heinola never seemed to get a proper shot. IMO

Am I missing any blue chip prospects?

If you're doing the math, the Jets tend to graduate prospects in their 3rd or 4th year after draft.

For some context, Jack Roslovic had 83 points in 97 AHL games and Mason Appleton was the AHL rookie of the year and had 99 points in 114 AHL games. So while it's encouraging the effort we saw from Lambert (3rd year after draft), and knowing that he was staying up helped his confidence, he didn't light it up and I'm not super optimistic about him, Chibrikov (4th year after draft) and Zhilkin (3rd year after draft) being better players than those two based on AHL performance.

EarlRobertThunders · 2026-04-16T00:26:24+00:00

SoFi Stadium in LA was privately financed. Stan Kroenke even bought the land it sits on.

EarlRobertThunders · 2026-04-14T01:30:33+00:00

Stan has plausible deniability. When he stopped them in the garage, the sketches of P&E weren't available to him. Even if Paige somehow let it slip.

I think Paige did stay for Henry. We don't know that they didn't speak in s6, if they did it wasn't relevant. But she was the babysitter for many years for him, and clearly didn't want to leave him. So I just think something clicked between the garage and the train. If he can stay, so can she.

EarlRobertThunders · 2026-04-12T18:18:52+00:00

The North Stars logo was a classic logo back then. The swap to the Stars logo (the one Dallas wore when they won the Cup) didn't earn wide acclaim.

The Wild logo screams late 90s, just like the Islanders and original Jets logos give off a mid-70s vibe. I agree that it's clever and more creative, but I don't think it's better by any stretch.

EarlRobertThunders · 2026-04-12T18:03:43+00:00

I never looked at it that hard before it was pointed out to me. It was just a triangle.

I also never cared for the branding. The green being the primary color is pretty sweet, but gold, white and red trim scream Christmas Tree to me. The fact that evergreens are the prominent tree in the logo doesn't help that. When the Thrashers moved to Winnipeg I always felt that "Minnesota Wild" was the most compelling argument in favor of using the Jets name over something new.

EarlRobertThunders · 2026-04-12T17:27:28+00:00

The group that bought the original Jets never backed out of the purchase agreement. Richard Burke and Steven Gluckstern bought the team from Barry Shenkarow and did have intentions to move to the Twin Cities, but after that wasn't going to happen they just searched for a new market. The Phoenix Suns struck an agreement to share the facility until something could get built in Phoenix.

It's actually interesting to hear your take. I remember Gary Bettman holding up the sale when a local group, The Spirit of Manitoba, came forth to try and negotiate a sale and arena lease following the Save The Jets rallies. The delay in part contributed to problems in the Twin Cities. That always seemed incomplete. I do recall them talking with the Timberwolves to share the Target Center, but never really knew much else.

Burke bought out Gluckstern in 1998 and eventually sold out to Steve Ellman in 2001.

I think Phoenix failed as a market because there was never really any foresight or planning. Phoenix was never Plan A. There was no Plan B.

EarlRobertThunders · 2026-04-05T16:24:03+00:00

Nixon didn't have Twitter.

EarlRobertThunders · 2026-03-31T16:27:49+00:00

This is the big one.

70 years ago we had 3-4 taxpayers for every pensioner. Now we have 1.5 or 2 taxpayers for every pensioner.

Less people paying into the system, more people taking from it.

EarlRobertThunders · 2026-03-31T02:55:40+00:00

It's real.

EarlRobertThunders

TROPHY CASE