Rydog wrote:

You know what is fucking retarded? Why the hell are they even putting effort into returning a missed field goal with NO time left AND the lead??? If a coach sent that player to field a missed FG, he needs to be fired. Save that fact that they only get three downs, the Canadian Game is very much geared toward offense. I just skimmed through the rule differences, and I am surprised at how much is different. Which style do you prefer lava? NFL or CFL?

CFL, I think. The NFL is still really awesome, but the stuff that really annoys me in the NFL is different in the CFL, like :

- Overtime : 2 possessions (max) instead of sudden death;
- End-game clock : You can only waste 20 seconds from taking a knee compared to 40 seconds in the NFL;
- I have yet to find a rule I find incredibly dumb in the CFL (you know, Tuck Rule, which is never enforced anyway).
- I HATE the fucking NFL administration, trying to trademark terms like SuperBowl or The Big Game. Also, blackouts.

The refereeing is sometimes lacking in the CFL though. I'm really happy they finally put challenges in the game this year.

As for why they tried to return the field goal, I can see two reasons :
- Better end score : A missed field goal often scores a single, so by getting out of the endzone they avoid giving a point;
- Avoiding an unlikely touchdown : Any onside player of the kicking team could technically recover the ball for a touchdown even if nobody from the receiving team touched it first.
Both of those are fucking retarded. Only the kicker was onside anyway.

They showed a weird playoff game finish looking somewhat like this. Score tied, field goal attempt with almost no time remaining.
Field goal wide right. Returning guy punts it out of the endzone to avoid a single. A player of the offense catches it and punts it back in. They punt it out again and tackle the player as he catches the ball.
Result : No-yards penalty on the defense, on the last punt. 5 or 15 yards penalty, I don't know if the ball touched the ground. Second field goal attempt scored.

Rydog wrote:

The kicking rules seem pretty kooky to me, so on FGs you always have to have someone back to prevent singles? Or TD recoveries? Maybe if I watched a few games it would be clearer. Still, what a way to blow a Championship.

Usually, teams don't want to score a single, like how in the NFL they don't want to kick a touchback.
Sure, you gain a point, but while the opponent gets the ball at the 20 yard line for a touchback in the NFL, the opponent gets it at the 35 yards line after a single.

As for TD recoveries, they usually only happen after a kickoff, where any player can recover the ball because they start behind the kicker.
What this does mostly is that if the receiver misjudges the ball, he can't let it go (like in the NFL with the first-touch rule) because any opponent player could take it.

It also makes onside kicks slightly easier, though I've only seen it being successful once, which was cancelled anyway because a player was offside, and it wasn't even because of this rule, but the
"if the ball goes out of bounds after it gets loose (fumble, blocked punt, etc.), the last team to touch the ball while it was on the field gains possession" rule.

Doddsino wrote:

Tonight, I turned on a random game and they were carrying a guy off the ice on a stretcher, apparently his OWN TEAMMATE got upset and threw his stick and accidently his him. The reason for throwing the stick was beyond ridiculous. I can't believe how childish some of these hockey players are, I don't know if anything is going to happen with the player, even though it was accidental, it shouldn't have happened.

He wasn't trying to hit anybody. He failed a defensive play, which led to a goal, and was pissed at himself. He wanted to hit the crossbar in his anger but hit his goalie instead.

Sure, it's dumb, but you don't always do the most intelligent stuff when you're pissed. It has absolutely nothing to do with hockey in general.

Also, the reason fighting is tolerated is because both players agree to fight and accept the risks of injury or whatever.
What the NHL doesn't like is players checking people with their knees, or checking players in the head or in the back when they can't see you coming.
Why? Because there's a serious risk of injury, and because cheap shots like that are done by fucking cowards. So they suspend them. But not long enough. Especially that fucker Ovechkin.

Well, I don't see the point of him being suspended. It happened in the team itself, so if they want to let him play anyway after that shit it's their fucking problem.
Unless they can dock his pay because of the suspension. Then, I agree with it.

Also, it's not the first time this happened, but that time the goalie wasn't injured and the player didn't seem to give a damn about hitting his teammate.