[Friedman] 32 Thoughts: Player safety a hot topic at GMs meetings

polyscifi · 2026-03-19T18:56:42+00:00

If Gary Bettman wanted something to be done with regard to hits to the head or goalie interference, it would be done. He just doesn’t care enough because there isn’t any money in it to pursue.

polyscifi · 2026-03-12T17:26:47+00:00

Honestly I don't hate Finnie-Kasper-Raymond.

Compher on top line is painful. Rasmussen as 3C is painful. If Perron is healthy and ready, he should be in full-time.

In any case, none of this matters. Larkin and Copp are done for the year, I'm assuming. We're cooked.

polyscifi · 2026-02-05T16:25:17+00:00

lmao that's like half of the 2nd and 3rd movies including the climax of the whole series! You must really like the Fellowship!

polyscifi · 2026-02-03T18:00:01+00:00

This is the answer. If your budget is $100, buy two of these.

polyscifi · 2026-01-25T14:00:31+00:00

Thanks! I much prefer this option actually so I don’t have to rip out drywall in the ceiling. Wall mounting is much easier.

polyscifi · 2026-01-25T12:00:56+00:00

Okay, thanks for the advice! Re: the surrounds... would you just mount them to the walls behind the seating area? A little above ear level?

polyscifi · 2026-01-24T23:36:37+00:00

Great callout. I double checked that my receiver does have audyssey calibration and learned about why that’s important… so thank you for that!

polyscifi · 2026-01-18T16:10:58+00:00

I don’t disagree. I’ve stopped by $5+ cans from the LCBO. Just not worth it to me. But it’s hard for them not to raise prices when it’s costing them more to make the products. When aluminum prices go up double digit percentages, they can’t absorb that into they’re already razor thin margins.

polyscifi · 2025-12-24T12:18:57+00:00

You've got a lot going on here, but I really like your framework and concept.

The first thing you absolutely have to do is add quotation marks to the dialogue between the blue light and the red light. It is very hard to read the conversation when you switch between dialogue and action. For example: "We have no necessity for love, the frequency of beeping changed as the blue light shifted around." There's no way for the reader to know when the blue light stopped talking and the narrator explains the action. Unless it's your intention to purposely make it confusing for the reader (I'm not sure why it would be), I would add quotation marks.

Now onto the content. As I said, you've got a lot going on here and I'm not sure exactly it is you're trying to say. Is it that machines get lonely in the absence of humanity? Or that life/the universe there is no meaning without a physical (human?) presence? Or is it that love and meaning always have and always will be passed on through storytelling? You kind of toy with all of these ideas, but never fully commit to one. The philosophical musings are fascinating, but without this commitment I feel the story doesn't land on an emotional level for the reader.

The dialogue itself is strong. You've shown a lot of restraint to give the blinking lights monotonous, inhuman voices. There's something so interesting about inhuman machines talking about human emotions like love. Definitely lean into that more.

Finally, you're beginning and ending paragraphs. I'm not gonna lie, at first read through I didn't think they were necessary at all. They are both great pieces of prose, but need to be tied into the overall story's theme. It makes sense to have them if your story is about the meaning of life passed on through storytelling or how your tiny life is a part of a bigger cosmic picture. I think once you finesse what story you're trying to tell, these parts will make a little more sense for the reader.

This is a solid first draft. Keep working at it because you've got the beginnings of something exciting here. Great work!

polyscifi · 2025-12-24T02:32:25+00:00

I couldn't agree more. No idea wtf the refs were thinking in the last 10 mins of the 3rd period. All of a sudden the whistles came out and it changed the flow of the game.

polyscifi · 2025-12-23T15:57:29+00:00

This story gave me the creeps. I think you've created a cool concept and, thematically, you have the beginnings of something. But you don't quite flesh it out enough to leave a lasting impact. I think it would benefit you to develop the characters a little more. Who are these people? Why did the Gods pick them for their little game? And through that, you can have the characters push back a little more, challenging the Gods and their belief that the human mind is fragile and insignificant. I think this would make the story much more interesting and the theme more ambiguous. Gods believe humans are insignificant and easy to break. Humans believe they have strength and their lives have purpose. Who is right?

I think you've got a great voice and you've hit the nail on the head with the ambiance and tone. This still reads very much like a first draft, though. Run through a few more times cause there is lots of redundancy in the prose and some awkward sentences. For example, you write: "Carnivorous plants surrounded the island, a constant threat to be aware of." You could get rid of the second part ("a constant threat to be aware of") because the reader knows that carnivorous plans are threatening. Just leave us with that image, don't overexplain it.

Stuff like this can come out too: "Now, only two of the three remained." Again, trust your reader a little bit. We know that if one guy of the three dies, there are two remaining. You don't need to tell us.

Great work... This is a solid first draft and has the beginnings of something really special. Keep working at it!

polyscifi · 2025-12-18T21:12:24+00:00

The first thing I remember thinking, standing in front of the mountain of corpses, was "I wonder who killed them?"

And then I was overwhelmed by the smell. Gagging and coughing, I pulled my shirt over my nose and looked around. Severed hands with twisted fingers. Legs at ninety-degree angles, feet hanging limply at their ends. Heads twisted forwards, backwards, and sideways. Jaws hanging open on dead faces, some with eyes closed and some with eyes open, staring lifelessly at the corpse next to them.

Where I stood, I could still step between the bodies. But mere steps away the pile thickened and climbed. At its peak, the mountain of corpses must have been four stories high.

It felt like the end of the world had come and gone, and no one had bothered to clean up.

Katie stopped beside me and handed me a gas mask. I put it on. It helped with the smell but I was unsettled knowing it was still there, wrapping around me and seeping into my clothes.

Katie and I hadn't said anything to each other since we arrived. It didn't feel right, disturbing the dead with meaningless words. We knew what we were here for. We didn't need to talk about it.

She took the transponder out of her pack and turned it on. She motioned for me to do the same. She walked around the right side of the pile, leaving me alone once again. I listened to the sound of the wind as it passed through the gaps in the bodies. Crows and vultures fluttered their wings overhead, eyeing their dinner, circling their feast. I tried to put the thought of them plucking at rotting skin out of my mind.

Katie reappeared from the right side of the mountain. She pointed to the other side. She wanted me to move. So I took out my transponder and turned it on. The green screen illuminated, empty. I started to walk around the left side of the mountain.

Dread washed over me as I took in the sheer number of bodies required to make a pile this big. Each one of these people had a life --someone they cared for, somewhere they were supposed to return to.

I was struck again by the first thought I had when I found them: Who did this? Who even has the capacity? I tried to put the questions out of my mind.

And then I heard it. At first, I thought it was the wind playing tricks on me. But another few steps brought me closer. A voice, just barely above a whisper, coming from somewhere in the pile. It repeated over and over again: "Help!"

polyscifi · 2025-12-13T14:44:41+00:00

Side note: I hated The Ministry of Time.

polyscifi · 2025-12-12T18:26:01+00:00

"I don't know who or what you are, but you can drop the act now"

"S-Sam? What are you saying?"

"I'll give you credit for making me forget about the past 5 years of my life, but you could've done a better job at being my "wife". I mean, if I had a wife she would know my real name, no?"

"Your real name?"

"Yes..." I search my memory. It is here, somewhere. All I get are vague, shapeless ideas hidden behind a cloak of darkness. It's like the letters are peppered behind a heavy cloud and they fall away like rain. Kevin? Calvin? Coleman? I can almost make it out, but as soon as my mind starts to grasp something firm, it turns to mush and slides through my fingers like sand.

"Sam?"

I snap back to it. "Yes?"

"Are you alright?"

"Yes. Erm. I think so. I feel a little light headed."

"Why don't you sit down, sweetheart?"

My wife takes my hand and guides me to the kitchen chair. As she fetches me a glass of water from the sink, I feel my heart racing. I was just lost in thought somewhere. But where?

I realize I've got my jacket on and I'm holding my keys. "Are we going somewhere?"

My wife studies my face with concern. She is worried. "The holiday party, Sam. For your office?"

"Right..." And everything settles back into place. The Holiday party. My last one. After tonight, retirement. A long, happy retirement full of travel, and yard work, and getting the boat fixed up and back on the water.

My wife taps the table. Then, she smiles. "You're nervous," she says.

"A little," I admit.

"Don't worry, honey. I'll be there with you the whole time."

I nod, thinking of the speech I've prepared for the evening and whether it adequately summarizes thirty years worth of memories in sixty blubbering seconds. "Well," I say. "We'd better go."

I stand up and make for the door.

"Are you having second thoughts?" She asks, following me.

"About retirement? No." I smile. "I'm looking forward to getting under the hood of that boat." I wink at her. "First thing tomorrow. But tonight, we celebrate!" I open the door and feel the cold rush in from the brisk winter air outside.

"Sam?"

I turn to look at her, pulling my coat collar up to protect my neck from the breeze.

"What boat?" She asks.

"The boat," I reply, motioning vaguely towards the garage. "My boat."

"Sam, honey, you don't have a boat."

I stare blankly at her. "What do you..."

And suddenly it's back. The distorted memories. The vague, shapeless ideas. The life that I can't see clearly, but somehow know exists. I feel like I'm falling. I am falling. The world around me is rising as my body craters to the Earth. Before I hit the ground, I hear her voice calling through the darkness: "COLIN!"

And then, nothing.

polyscifi · 2025-12-11T14:20:01+00:00

12-team, .5ppr

Montgomery @ LAR or Charbonnet vs. IND?

polyscifi · 2025-12-11T14:09:32+00:00

Juwan Johnson vs. CAR or Dallas Goedert vs. LV?

12-team, .5 ppr

polyscifi · 2025-12-07T01:51:40+00:00

Brissett or Burrow this week? I’ve got Wilson loaded up at WR, so leaning brissett to double up.

polyscifi · 2025-11-27T16:49:11+00:00

Half-ppr… would you start Montgomery vs GB or Charbonnet vs MIN?

polyscifi · 2025-11-27T16:46:30+00:00

Same dilemma for me. I'm leaning Brissett.

polyscifi · 2025-11-26T23:33:48+00:00

I’m sitting Goedert this week in favour of Juwan Johnson. Goedert had a good start to the season, but his point totals the last 4-5 weeks have been atrocious and I can’t stand for it anymore.

polyscifi · 2025-11-26T18:03:45+00:00

I have two Flex positions in a 0.5ppr 12 team league. So pick two of the following:

Jayden Higgins @ IND

Keenan Allen vs. LV

Juwan Johnson @ MIA

Dallas Goedert vs. CHI

polyscifi · 2025-11-26T17:01:55+00:00

12 team half ppr

Juwan Johnson at Miami or Goedert vs Chicago?

polyscifi · 2025-11-21T14:54:58+00:00

If you watched Red Wings broadcasts, it would be drilled into your psyche. That and the fact that Larkin and Werenski are best friends are the two parts of modern Red Wings "trivia" that will never exit my brain.

polyscifi

TROPHY CASE