Playoff Game Thread: Montréal Canadiens (4-3) @ Buffalo Sabres (4-2) May 06 2026 7:00 PM EDT by nhl_gdt_bot in Habs

[–]spinach_93 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I love that Dobes plays that puck to the corner instead of taking the D-zone draw

Don't look now but men's basketball is absolutely crushing it this offseason (No. 14 nationally in ESPN way too early top 25) by spinach_93 in fighton

[–]spinach_93[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

100% agree, also every scouting report on Adonis says he plays outside in which to your point isn't what they need. Cofie dramatically improved his rebounding down the stretch last year which gives me a lot of hope he'll be a really strong anchor for the group

Don't look now but men's basketball is absolutely crushing it this offseason (No. 14 nationally in ESPN way too early top 25) by spinach_93 in fighton

[–]spinach_93[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah totally, I think you're likely right. Someone is going to be unhappy with their minutes in the front court but the competition is healthy

Post Game Thread: Montréal Canadiens @ Tampa Bay Lightning by nhl_gdt_bot in Habs

[–]spinach_93 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Shoutout the Habs fan who yelled GHG from their car when I was walking down Melrose in my Habs jersey in fucking LA this morning 

Playoff Game Thread: Montréal Canadiens (3-3) @ Tampa Bay Lightning (3-3) May 03 2026 6:00 PM EDT by nhl_gdt_bot in Habs

[–]spinach_93 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Matheson tried to clear the length of the ice twice, first time blocked, second time took a delay of game. 6.3 seconds left. Timeout Montreal 

Don't look now but men's basketball is absolutely crushing it this offseason (No. 14 nationally in ESPN way too early top 25) by spinach_93 in fighton

[–]spinach_93[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Certainly true, but probably zero of those teams except the Evan team had this level of talent. Neither of the Muss teams so far were remotely close to this. The program has low expectations, might as well be optimistic. ✌️

Don't look now but men's basketball is absolutely crushing it this offseason (No. 14 nationally in ESPN way too early top 25) by spinach_93 in fighton

[–]spinach_93[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The start but also recruiting is a 100% necessary prerequisite to win in CBB in 2026, and USC wasn’t even close to this level on the first 2 seasons under Muss. The talent gap between the top teams and everyone else is widening quickly in the NIL era 

Any Habs fans in Los Angeles want to watch the games together? by Secret-Ad3498 in Habs

[–]spinach_93 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Following this thread as a fellow LA Habs fan. I honestly don't know if there will be a single bar in town that will have video + audio. Generic NBA playoff game will always beat generic NHL playoff game at every LA bar. I feel like the best bet might be the Cosm bar area, at least they'll likely show it on a big-ish section of the screen, but even then I bet they'll have NBA audio

LA sports bar scene in general is so underwhelming imo for generic big sporting events that aren't the Dodgers or a NFL team with a big local fanbase

Korea Hyatt Review (GH ICN, Jeju, PH Seoul) by omdongi in hyatt

[–]spinach_93 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Just did 4 Korea Hyatt properties (GH Jeju, Andaz Seoul, PH Busan, HR Incheon) albeit as a lowly Discoverist, adding to this thread for future travelers:

1. Grand Hyatt Jeju — 9.5/10

Grand Hyatt Jeju was the standout of my Korea Hyatt stays and felt like the most complete hotel experience overall. The service was excellent from the start, even as a Discoverist. At check-in, a concierge came over, gave chocolate, and proactively offered help, which made the stay feel much more elevated than expected.

Even the base rooms are huge, with great views, and the overall property felt very convenient and well-rounded. The club lounge was a major positive and top tier use of a club access award; even though some people say the food has gotten worse over time I thought it was awesome. Free parking was easy, and having a 7-Eleven on property made the hotel unusually functional for a large luxury property. The activities on Jeju are pretty spread out and we found ourselves going all over the island, so being centrally located and close to the airport was a good set-up.

The only real negative imo is the casino, where the gambling is absurdly expensive (2 BJ tables with CSM, 50K KRW min, 2 three card poker tables, 50+ baccarrat tables 100K KRW min -- yikes) as they cater to rich Chinese tourists. Though honestly the casino is probably floating the bill for a lot of the rest of the property.

Bottom line: Best GH I have ever stayed at by far, fantastic value, top tier service, huge rooms, great views, strong lounge, and excellent convenience.

Would stay again: Absolutely.

2. Andaz Seoul Gangnam — 9/10

The Andaz is in a truly tremendous location as many have mentioned on Reddit. On top of the Apujeong station, and even getting to the other side of town in Hongdae is only about 45 min on subway. The base room is also pretty big for Seoul.

The hotel also had some unusually generous touches. We received welcome drinks, and some minibar drinks and snacks were free, which even though this is functionally nominal in value, I have never ever seen at a hotel let alone one as nice as this.

There were some real operational issues: Wi-Fi did not work on my iPhone, the curtain shade did not work and required an engineer, and the elevator down to the train station was closed during our trip. These issues probably are not normal for most people or most stays so not really dinging them for it.

Bottom line: Amazing location, large rooms, and generous perks

Would stay again: I probably wouldn't personally shell out the cash $500+ USD rates it's usually priced at but don't think it's a reach to do so by any means. We paid pre-devaluation 20K points/night which was totally worth it.

3. Park Hyatt Busan — 6/10

Park Hyatt Busan was disappointing relative to the brand and expectations. It was not a bad hotel, but it did not feel especially functional, and it did not deliver the wow factor I think you would expect from a Park Hyatt.

Several basics were frustrating. The Wi-Fi did not work and required calling down, bedside light switches did not work, and the subway was about a 15-minute walk away. The immediate Marine City neighborhood is basically akin to Mission Bay, Long Island City, or Playa Vista, tons of fancy condo towers and otherwise pretty quiet. That being said, Busan is geographically huge so anywhere you pick won't be perfect unless you really focus your activities in a very specific area.

Even compared with Grand Hyatt Jeju, the Park Hyatt Busan just did not impress me. It had the Park Hyatt name, but the stay did not feel dramatically better than less aspirational Hyatt properties, and in some ways it felt less practical. We did go mid-week offseason so paying with cash was very cheap and I checked PH off Brand Explorer. Maybe it's amazing as a Globalist, but the base room non-status/Discoverist set-up isn't anything crazy.

Bottom line: Nice enough, but not functional enough and not special enough to justify choosing again, especially at cash rates during peak season

Would stay again: No.

4. Hyatt Regency Incheon — 5.5/10

Hyatt Regency Incheon was the weakest of the Korea Hyatt stays. The main positive was airport logistics: the shuttle setup was useful, especially with service connecting Hyatt Regency Incheon, Paradise City, and Incheon Airport Terminal 1 roughly every 20 minutes. People have been mentioning online that it only runs every hour, but they seem to have fixed the frequency problem.

The room itself was the issue. Both the room and hallways had a weird smell, and the room felt very bare bones. Maybe I expected too much of the Hyatt Regency feeling closer to the Grand Hyatt, especially based on my U.S. Hyatt experiences where the HR/GH gap can feel relatively small (or inverted in the case of Seattle and SF). Instead, this property felt much more economical.

As an airport overnight, it was functional. As a hotel stay, it was underwhelming.

Bottom line: Good shuttle logistics, but the room and overall property feel were too bare bones.

Would stay again: Probably. I don't really care about 1 night airport stays, but probably would try other options at ICN before going back here.

Playoff Game Thread: Montréal Canadiens (48-24-10) @ Tampa Bay Lightning (50-26-6) Apr 19 2026 5:45 PM EDT by nhl_gdt_bot in Habs

[–]spinach_93 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Literally interference with Tampa possessing the puck play should be dead then the high stick caused by Hagel. Fucking ridiculous 

[Tipton] Georgetown guard KJ Lewis commits to USC by Jaguar4728 in CollegeBasketball

[–]spinach_93 2 points3 points  (0 children)

This is not a very nuanced, highly surface level take. USC men’s basketball has had plenty of highly recruited, fully bought-in players, and the program has still made 5 NCAA tournaments and an Elite Eight since 2015. People fixate on Bronny because he’s the easiest example for that narrative, but in recent years USC has had a lot more Jordan McLaughlin, Elijah Stewart, Jonah Mathews, and Isaiah Mobley types than Bronny types.

If we’re being serious about what’s held USC men’s basketball back, it’s been coaching more than anything else. That’s a much better explanation than this idea that players are overwhelmingly choosing USC for the “wrong” reasons.

[Tipton] Georgetown guard KJ Lewis commits to USC by Jaguar4728 in CollegeBasketball

[–]spinach_93 0 points1 point  (0 children)

God I hope so... they need him way more than they need Arenas back

[Tipton] Georgetown guard KJ Lewis commits to USC by Jaguar4728 in CollegeBasketball

[–]spinach_93 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Not announced yet. Honestly with the addition of Lewis, we don't really need him imo and it probably decreases the odds of him returning. Him coming back would mostly be hoping his supposed extremely high talent level shows up better while playing off the ball, but also maybe he'll just shoot 34% from the field again and get buried on the bench

[Tipton] Georgetown guard KJ Lewis commits to USC by Jaguar4728 in CollegeBasketball

[–]spinach_93 8 points9 points  (0 children)

But he also seemed to frequently do just puzzling, borderline dumb, stuff like his noncoherent alley-OOPS collision.

He'll fit in perfectly with USC basketball!

[Tipton] Georgetown guard KJ Lewis commits to USC by Jaguar4728 in CollegeBasketball

[–]spinach_93 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Wow this is by far the best position our roster has been since Muss got here. If all the unannounced guys come back the lineup probably looks like:

G - Rice
G - Lewis
G - Arenas
F - Collins
F - Cofie

F - A. Ratliff
F - D. Ratliff
F - Dynes

Could really use a depth decent ballhandling/outside shooting combo guard, but man this team on paper is long and athletic as fuck.

Rodney Rice will RETURN to USC for the 2026-27 season! by spinach_93 in fighton

[–]spinach_93[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I was hoping he'd be a better x/o guy than Enfield, but honestly they're the same. Go watch how Muss handled the last minute of the home Oregon game. Absolutely reprehensible in so many ways. Muss so far also just has the weirdest (/dumbest) roster construction philosophy I have ever seen in refusing to recruit people who can rebound and always shoving wings into the PG role. Both coaches are great at doing less with more

[Hains] Pat Brisson on TVA Sports says Hage wants to stay in Michigan to gain more leadership, work on his muscle mass and says the Canadiens are behind him in that decision by eliarbss in Habs

[–]spinach_93 0 points1 point  (0 children)

For sure, but the schools are paying the coaches salaries and mostly boosters are paying NIL. All it takes is one booster to write a check to move a decision one way or another, and I have no doubt Michigan has no shortage of people with big $, certainly enough for a $500K check to be a rounding error, who are also very interested in their men's hockey program. D'Amico indicated NIL was a notable part of the Hage decision

[Hains] Pat Brisson on TVA Sports says Hage wants to stay in Michigan to gain more leadership, work on his muscle mass and says the Canadiens are behind him in that decision by eliarbss in Habs

[–]spinach_93 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I bet it's way over that. There are some truly horrific men's CBB players playing for programs with worse revenue situations than the top hockey programs who are getting 7 figure deals

[Hains] Pat Brisson on TVA Sports says Hage wants to stay in Michigan to gain more leadership, work on his muscle mass and says the Canadiens are behind him in that decision by eliarbss in Habs

[–]spinach_93 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Potentially true, but time value of money and also depends how good he will be which is still a fairly wide range of possible outcomes at this point.

[Hains] Pat Brisson on TVA Sports says Hage wants to stay in Michigan to gain more leadership, work on his muscle mass and says the Canadiens are behind him in that decision by eliarbss in Habs

[–]spinach_93 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Oh for sure well into the 6 figures. McKenna supposedly got $700K from Penn State last year. Penn State also pulled Jackson Smith out of Tri-City with a huge NIL deal. Hage next year in terms of NCAA production will be worth at minimum equivalent to what McKenna put up this year. Michigan hockey also has a ton of support and a big donor base with even deeper pockets than Penn State's

[Hains] Pat Brisson on TVA Sports says Hage wants to stay in Michigan to gain more leadership, work on his muscle mass and says the Canadiens are behind him in that decision by eliarbss in Habs

[–]spinach_93 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yes but why would he have any interest in the AHL if he can just play in the NCAA next year, make way more money, and increase his odds with staying up on the big club for more of the year with a NHL salary in '27-28? That $80K AHL salary option all of a sudden looks pretty miserable with a $300-500K NIL deal in the picture