NFL Play of the Year 2014-15: Winner, Video, Voting Results and Twitter Reaction

Al Bello/Getty Images

It was a very busy Saturday night for New York Giants star wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. He was first awarded with the 2014 Offensive Rookie of the Year Award, per the NFL, and got his name called again for Play of the Year. 

Even though there was a lot of interest in Beckham early in his debut season, fans became obsessed with him following the insane three-finger catch against the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday Night Football in Week 12, via the Giants’ official Twitter:

There was no shortage of praise for that catch in the weeks after it happened. Beckham became a meme sensation. He even acknowledged during an interview with SI Now, via SI.com, that his life was changed forever:

I’m a very humble person, I’ve been humbled a lot. So I walk into places and I just think of myself as normal and as soon as I walk in somewhere it’s ‘You wanna take a picture?’ ‘Can I get an autograph?’ or something like that. It’s just something that I’m not exactly used to and am trying to get used to.

Colts punter Pat McAfee tweeted out that his experience playing catch with Beckham at the Pro Bowl didn’t go as one might expect:

Staying with the Pro Bowl, after he made another spectacular catch on an underthrown Matthew Stafford pass, Beckham shared what might as well be his philosophy for making plays, via Ralph Vacchiano of The New York Daily News:

Besides Bruce Arians being named Coach of the Year, the biggest lock of the night was Beckham’s catch against Dallas being honored. It took an excellent rookie wide receiver and made him into a national sensation. The NFL could just rename this award “The Odell Beckham Play of the Year” because it will be hard to top. 

However, given what Beckham has shown already, no one would be surprised if he somehow finds a way to top it in 2015. It won’t be an easy task, but based on some of the catches he had in 2014, the first-round pick wouldn’t want it any other way. 

NFL Play of the Year 2014-15: Winner, Video, Voting Results and Twitter Reaction

Floyd Mayweather — Not Sweating the Details

While the suits put the “finishing touches” on the contract, Floyd Mayweather is chillin’ on a beach … the calm before the storm.

Our sources tell us Floyd went wheels up last night — taking off from Miami after finally agreeing to take the fight against Manny Pacquiao on May 2nd in Las Vegas.

As we previously reported, the formal agreement has not been signed but everyone involved expects the signatures “soon.” Negotiators are putting “finishing touches” on the deal.

Floyd Mayweather — Not Sweating the Details

New Housing Bubble: Prices Up, Ownership Down, Wall Street a Mega-Landlord: “America is Becoming a Nation of Renters”

New Housing Bubble: Prices Up, Ownership Down, Wall Street a Mega-Landlord: “America is Becoming a Nation of Renters”

Want to own your own home, but stuck, temporarily, renting until you can? You aren’t alone.

Wolf Richter outlined a pretty eery scenario.

The 2008 financial Armageddon was in larger part a result of the housing bubble bursting. Thanks to the subprime mortgage scandal, millions of homeowners were put in homes they couldn’t afford, making the awful game of musical chairs an inevitable and tragic charade.

Maestro to the musical chairs was Goldman Sachs, who unbeknownst to the public, was selling toxic securities for risky mortgages, while secretly betting on the collapse of the housing market. According to McClatchy:

In 2006 and 2007, Goldman Sachs Group peddled more than $ 40 billion in securitiesbacked by at least 200,000 risky home mortgages, but never told the buyers it was secretly betting that a sharp drop in U.S. housing prices would send the value of those securities plummeting.

Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2009/11/01/77791/how-goldman-secretly-bet-on-Evthe.html#storylink=cp

Theyy

Ev

EEv

Everyone was swept up in the chaos. Goldman Sachs and the other banks got bailed out. The public absorbed the costs, and the Federal Reserve set out on the biggest intervention since World War II.

Now, Wolf Street is pointing out the effects for today’s housing market:

The housing market has been healed by the Fed’s bold actions, we’re told incessantly….Prices have soared over the last three years, and in some cities, like San Francisco, they have soared far beyond the prior crazy bubble peak. So we admit grudgingly that the Fed’s six-year money-printing and interest-rate-repression campaign, designed to inflate every asset price in sight even to absurdity, has worked.

However, an essential element in a healthy housing market – people who actually live in homes they own – has been dissipating. The homeownership rate peaked in 2004 at 69.2%. It was during the prior housing bubble. Speculative buying drove up prices beyond the reach of many potential buyers.

The American Dream is dissipating at a record pace, Wolf Richter argues:

Homeownership in the fourth quarter dropped to 63.9% on a seasonally adjusted basis, the lowest level since Q3 1994, according to the Commerce Department. In all of 2014, homeownership plunged by 1.2 percentage points, the largest annual drop in the history of the data series going back to 1980.

This record plunge in 2014 hit younger households the hardest. In the age group under 35, the homeownership rate dropped 1.5 percentage points to 35.4%; in the age group 35-44, it dropped a phenomenal 2.1 percentage points – in just one year! – to 58.8%.These are the age groups where the first-time buyers are concentrated. And they’re being sidelined.

The collapse of the American Dream is accelerating. This is what the “healing housing market” looks like in one heck of a relentless chart. Note the record-setting plunge in 2014:

That’s because home owners, particularly first time buyers, are being priced out and pushed way, while renters – in both apartments and homes – are rising.

Since 2008, homeownership has been fading in all age groups. But in these two age groups, it plunged respectively 6 points and 7.9 points!

And the bitter irony in the report? The vacancy rate in the rental market dropped to 7.0%, the lowest since 1993. America is turning into a country of renters.

Worse, the wolves on Wall Street have pushed this trend deliberately.

A host of speculators, private equity firms and Great White sharks have taken their free and cheap money – printed and handed over to them by the Federal Reserve – and used it not only to drive up single family home prices, but to buy them up and force more and more people to choose renting instead of owning!

The nearly free money the Fed has graciously thrown toward Wall Street since 2008 has fallen on fertile ground. Private equity firms, REITs, and other Wall-Street-funded institutional investors of all sizes have plowed hundreds of billions of dollars into hundreds of thousands of vacant single-family homes, took them off the for-sale inventory, and moved them over to the for-rent inventory.

This powerful buying spree by mega-landlords, concentrated over a three-year period in select markets has driven up prices and pushed out potential home buyers.

But these potential home buyers can rent these homes now. An apartment building boom has offered alternatives too, often in central locations, rather than in distant suburbs, reducing commutes and fuel costs and allowing people to live near the urban excitement. Millennials have figured it out too.

Good thing, if you never wanted to own a piece of the American Dream, since people are being concentrated into the cities anyway. Smaller square foot places, more single people, more dependent than ever on the mega-landlords – who now are trending towards dominating the housing market.

Putin Sends Nuclear Bombers Over English Channel: “Transponders Turned Off… Invisible to Air Traffic Control”

Russian President Vladimir Putin hasn’t been one to back down in response to sanctions against his country and attacks on his economy. Rather, he has stepped up not only his rhetoric, but his military activities as well.

His latest move is yet another show of force to let the West know Russia is prepared to do whatever is necessary to protect its interests.

The U.K.’s Royal Air Force scrambled fighter jets on Thursday after a pair of nuclear-capable Russian bombers flew across a busy civilian air traffic corridor above the English Channel. The bombers had their transponders turned off, British officials said, making them invisible to many air traffic control systems. The incident disrupted multiple flights – and ended with the U.K. government demanding the Russian ambassador appear at the Foreign Office to explain the actions.

This latest incident comes on the heels of similar flyovers by nuclear bombers along the west coast of the United States from Alaska all the way down to California. It has even been speculated that Russia may have tested a new weapon last year leading to a shut down of Los Angeles commercial air traffic control systems.

Earlier this morning former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev said that the U.S. and Russia are engaged in another cold war but warned that it could well go hot should tensions between the two nations continue to escalate.

Late last year Vladimir Putin made similar remarks:

He accused Barack Obama of adopting a “hostile” approach in naming Russia as a threat to the world in the U.S. president’s speech to the United Nations General Assembly on Sept. 24.

“We hope that our partners will realize the futility of attempts to blackmail Russia and remember what consequences discord between major nuclear powers could bring for strategic stability.” 

Putin said that Obama had identified Russian aggression in Europe as one of the three “major threats facing humanity,” alongside the Ebola virus and Islamic State.

“Together with the sanctions against entire sectors of our economy, this approach can be called nothing but hostile,” Putin said.

Russia’s ally against the West, China, also seems to be making some bold moves. According to a new satellite phototaken over the Nanji Islands they are building a refueling complex, the design and location of which indicate they are positioning military assets in anticipation of a war with Japan. In 2010 a missile launch off the coast of California was attributed to China by some observers who believe that they, too, are signaling their willingness to engage in a global conflict should it become necessary.

With the economies on both sides of the pond unraveling, Russian influence in former East Bloc regions growing, and U.S. boots already on the ground across Europe, it may only be a matter of time before the relatively innocuous poking and prodding goes critical.

That nuclear weapons are even on the table is frightening. What’s even scarier are the psychopaths who have their fingers on the buttons.

Putin Sends Nuclear Bombers Over English Channel: “Transponders Turned Off… Invisible to Air Traffic Control”

Islamic State video purportedly shows beheading of Japanese journalist Kenji Goto

Thor Benson
WASHINGTON, Jan. 31 (UPI) — The Islamic State has released a video that purportedly shows the beheading of 47-year-old Japanese journalist Kenji Goto



Islamic State video purportedly shows beheading of Japanese journalist Kenji Goto

Wisconsin Judge Orders Cops To Snatch People Off The Street, Force Them Into Jury Duty

According to WBBH (Fort Myers), Eau Claire County Circuit Court Judge Michael Schumacher was presiding over a case – the specifics of what kind of case have not been made clear, as of this post – when the jury pool ran dry. He then had his clerk, Susan Schaffer, contact Sheriff Ron Cramer, to randomly pull people off the streets and impress them into jury duty.

Raw Story explains that sheriff’s deputies approached adults who appeared to be over 18 randomly on the streets, and asked them if they had any prior felony convictions. They were then told to write down some information, and drive themselves to the courthouse. Those who failed would be met with a deputy at their door to forcibly bring them to the courthouse.

Schaffer explains that forced jury roundups are rare, but necessary.

“It’s something that doesn’t happen very often. It just so happened that today was a day that we just needed more. The court can order the Sheriff to get people right off the street.”

Although being randomly forced into jury duty sounds horrifying, it’s perfectly legal in Wisconsin. Under Wisconsin’s “Insufficient Jurors” statute – which is rarely invoked – judges have the right to dispatch the police to randomly impress people into jury duty.

Sheriff Ron Cramer seemed somewhat apologetic for having to ruin several people’s day, in remarks made to WEAU (Eau Claire).

“I gave a couple of them rides home, and they thought that it was a very interesting process they’ve never heard of the before, but the judge did explain why they were taken off of the street so they could move on with the trial.”

READ MORE...

SHARE THIS ARTICLE...

TIL Seattle to Fine Residents for Throwing Food in the Garbage

In an attempt to shame residents of their city, a new Seattle law will levy a fine on homes that do not properly sort food out of their garbage.

Emblazoned with a red citation tag, violators will start to be fined anywhere from $1-$50 in July. For now, Seattle residents will be publicly shamed by the ‘Scarlet Letter’-like tags.

“I’m sure neighbors are going to see these on their other neighbors’ cans,” says Rodney Watkins, a lead driver for Recology CleanScapes, a waste contractor for the city. He’s on the front lines of enforcing these rules.

The tags are part of, what the city calls, a “public education campaign.”

In an interview with NPR, Watkins details how he goes about enforcing the draconian statute:

“You can see all the oranges and coffee grounds,” he says, raising one lid.” All that makes great compost. You can put that in your compost bin and buy it back next year in a bag and put it in your garden.”

FULL STORY HERE.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE...

TIL Alaska Officer tased 11 yr old after asking about taser

The public safety officer shocked the child on the wrist or arm after the boy said he wanted to see what it felt like, the Juneau Empire newspaper reported, quoting the boy's mother.

"They were talking about being Tased, and my son did ask to be Tased," the mother, Terrie Ward, told the newspaper.

Alaska's Public Safety spokeswoman Megan Peters said Troopers were investigating whether a crime was committed in the December incident or whether it was an administrative matter for the tribal government.

Ward lives in the community of Kake, about 100 miles (60 km) southeast of Juneau. Its population is about 600, most of whom are Alaska Natives.

Kake, like many remote communities, is patrolled by public safety workers, who are trained by police but are not sworn officers.

Both the Troopers and the tribal government entity that oversees the state-funded public safety program that employs the officers are investigating.

Jason Wilson, of the Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska, said the issue was a personnel matter. A report will be forwarded to the Juneau District Attorney, both said.

Many of Alaska's coastal and interior communities not connected by road have public safety officers who act as first responders rather than armed Troopers.

READ MORE...

SHARE THIS ARTICLE...

Russian Central Bank Deputy Head Shoots 3 Dead In The Far East Of The Country Before Killing Himself

The deputy head of the Russian Central Bank directorate in the Amur region of the country has shot dead three people before turning the gun on himself, Russian independent news service Interfax reports.

The killer, named in Russian media as Vladimir Levkin, is alleged to have shot two women and a man in an office on the first floor of the regional Central Bank in the city of Blagoveshchensk. All three died at the scene.

The motive for the shootings is unclear at this time, though Russian media is speculating that the shooter may have been having problems at work.

An official said: "Two women and one man are among the victims of the deputy head of the regional department of the Central Bank. One of the victims was also a deputy head of the bank, another the head of department of the bank and the third was a chief of a department of the bank."

Update

Russian media reports suggest that the shooting could have been in response to Levkin's failure to pass certification and consequent loss of his leadership position at the bank.

An official spokesperson confirmed that personnel changes at the bank had been discussed shortly before the shooting:

"According to preliminary information, the day before [the shooting] the management of the bank held a working meeting. The discussion focused on personnel changes."

READ MORE... 

SHARE THIS ARTICLE...

Cannabis eases chronic pain better than commonly prescribed opioids, study suggests

SOURCE: UK INDEPENDENT

The study analysed 1,500 patients, aged in their late 40s and early 50s, who suffered from conditions including back pain, migraines and arthritis, and were being prescribed with heavy-duty opioid medications, such as morphine and oxycodone.

Professor Louisa Degenhardt, from the National Drug and Alcohol Centre and the University of Melbourne led the study. Her team discovered that nearly 13 per cent of the patients had used the illegal drug in the past year on top of their prescribed medication.

In comparison, only 4.7 per cent of the rest of the population used cannabis, she wrote in the journal 'Drug and Alcohol Dependence'.

"One in three said they found it very effective to relieve their pain, that's a score of ten out of ten,” she told the Sydney Morning Herald. "Now these are all subjective scores, but it means there is definitely a group of people who think that taking it was very beneficial."

Degenhart added that the study raised vital questions over whether cannabis should be more seriously explored as source of pain relief, as well as the negative effects of drugs, such as patient dependence. 

READ MORE...

SHARE THIS ARTICLE...

Israeli intel unit drops dozens of soldiers who refused to spy on Palestinians

SOURCE: EURONEWS

Coming a few weeks after Israel’s 50-day war against Islamist militants in the Gaza Strip, the letter was seen as an unprecedented rebuke of Netanyahu’s security policies but the military dismissed it as a publicity stunt by a small fringe.

By decrying the sweep of eavesdropping on Palestinians, and the role such espionage plays in setting up air strikes that have often inflicted civilian casualties, the move opened a window on clandestine practices.

“We refuse to take part in actions against Palestinians and refuse to continue serving as a tool for deepening military rule in the occupied (Palestinian) territories,” the Yedioth Ahronoth daily quoted the letter as saying.

No signatories’ names were published, in apparent keeping with their non-disclosure commitments to Unit 8200, which monitors enemy Arab states and Iran as well as the Palestinians.

Several were interviewed anonymously in the Israeli media, however, and complained about what they described as the gathering of Palestinians’ private information – for example, sexual preferences or health problems “that might be used to extort people into becoming informants”.

Channel 1 TV quoted from Unit 8200 commander’s dismissal letter: “You have crossed a red line and acted inappropriately and in light of what you have written, we part company with you.”

READ MORE...

SHARE THIS ARTICLE...

How We Kept The Cottage Warm in Winter

Morning Tess,

I read that article you sent me. All seem very sensible suggestions, but as you thought, it was very different at Knowle Cottage in winter. I had to do the very opposite of some of the things that the gentleman suggests.

For a start off the door to the stairway, was left open to allow heat to move around the house. There was no double glazing back then so all the curtains were very thick and heavy, in the worst of the weather, we would leave the upstairs curtains drawn all day to retain heat.

We had small grilles in the ceilings that allowed heat to pass between the two floors of the house. You could close them off by sliding the little knob on the outer edge of them. They helped, but not that much in the coldest winters.

Many a time there would be a thick layer of ice on the inside of the windows upstairs, but there was nothing you could do about it. We let the children get ready for bed downstairs and the beds were warmed with large smooth stones that we had set on top of the range, or in the oven if it was empty, to heat up throughout the day. It took the chill off and made the beds more comfortable for the little ones. we only had cotton sheets back then and they are not the best thing for very cold nights.

The range was more efficient than an open fire, much less fuel was needed to keep it hot. Also, being a huge lump of metal the whole thing heated up so when there was nothing in the oven we would open the door and the extra heat would flow out of it into the room. One of my cousins had an open fire and they burnt through wood far faster than we did and their home was always chilly in the winter. Many times they dragged the mattresses downstairs and concentrated on keeping that one room warm day and night rather than use the bedrooms.

All the floors downstairs at Knowle were granite and they sucked the heat right out of you. The kids would put a quilt on the floor, on top of the rugs to sit on, and they always had a couple of pairs of socks on to keep their toes cozy.

You asked what I would say to those who might be thinking of following an off-grid life in winter…well, I think keeping it simple is the best thing:

• Cover your floors and cover them well. remember to make sure you don’t trip over them (done that more than once) Loose floor coverings are far more dangerous in an open fire home than a modern one.
• Get a metal range or a wood burner as they are more economical on fuel and the metal itself stores up heat. They are also safer and easier to cook on than an open fire. (Done that as well, very uncomfortable)
• If you only have the option of an open fire consider lining the sides of the fireplace with metal sheets which will throw out extra heat.
• Use very heavy lined fabric for curtaining and leave as many drawn as you can to retain the heat you have built up.
• Wear clothes suitable for the conditions. The times I have seen my grandchildren moaning it’s cold and then turning the heating up when they are sitting there in a short sleeved tee shirt. Dressing appropriately is the cheapest and I think most effective thing you can do to combat cold.
• Find a way of heating the beds for at least an hour before you turn in. Large smooth stones work well as do their modern equivalent, hot water bottles.
• Don’t use pure cotton sheets in the winter, they don’t hold the heat, go for brushed cotton or even fleece which is really warm.
• Make sure you have the fuel and supplies you need on hand, preferably in or very close to the house. Constantly going in and out not only chills you but cools the house down as well.
• Eat properly. Gnawing on a lettuce leaf may be the modern way but in cold weather, you need food with more substance. Soups, stews and casseroles are simple to cook on a range or open fire and provide the energy needed for an off-grid lifestyle.

I think that’s about it Tess. Most of these things are common sense, but I do think people often tend to overlook the obvious. Living off-grid is a purer way of life, a cleaner way of life, but you spend a good proportion of your time planning for things that are months away, because everything takes so much longer to do.

Much of what was everyday normal for me, and for many others my age now has to be learned because there have been so many developments. My lifestyle was in many ways identical to the lifestyle of my mother and grandmother, and their grandmothers before them, but that’s not the case now. Self-sufficiency does not come naturally to most people these days.

Listen to me carrying on, I’m getting to be a right old wind-bag aren’t I? I hope to hear from you soon Dear, love to the family.

Regards,

Maud

U.S. counterterrorism operations ongoing in Yemen

Obama, who is traveling in India, said that approach “is not neat and it is not simple, but it is the best option we have.”

“The alternative would be massive U.S. deployments in perpetuity, which would create its own blowback and cause probably more problems than it would potentially solve,” Obama said during a joint media appearance with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The president said that while he was concerned about the fragility of Yemen’s central government following the resignation last week of the U.S.-backed president and Cabinet, the country “has never been a perfect democracy or an island of stability.”

The instability in Yemen has raised concerns among some lawmakers about Obama’s broader anti-terror strategy. Republican Sen. John McCain and Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein told CBS’ “Face the Nation” that more special operations forces may be need in countries battling extremists.

McCain, the new chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, accused the administration of being “delusional” in thinking that its strategy in the Middle East was working and said Iran was “on the march.” The Shiite rebels, known as Houthis, who now control Yemen’s capital of Sanaa are widely believed to be backed by Iran, though they deny having any support from the Islamic republic.

“We need more boots on the ground,” said McCain, R-Ariz. “I know that’s a tough thing to say, and a tough thing for Americans to swallow. But it doesn’t mean the 82nd Airborne. It means forward air controllers. It means special forces, it means intelligence, and it means other capabilities.”

READ MORE...

SHARE THIS ARTICLE...

2015 NHL All-Star Game: Winners and Losers from Sunday Night

USA TODAY Sports

The 2014-15 NHL All-Star Game is in the books with Team Toews coming away with a 17-12 victory over Team Foligno at Nationwide Arena in Columbus.

Although the game was as meaningless as games get, something that was duplicated in the NFL’s Pro Bowl shortly afterward, there were some winners and losers that don’t necessarily show up just in the stats and score.

Let’s take a look at who came away feeling good and who left the midseason classic feeling bad. Feel free to add your own thoughts in the comments.

All stats via NHL.com

Bruce Bennett/Getty Images

The Columbus Blue Jackets star was voted by the fans as the All-Star Game’s Most Valuable Player, earning him a brand new car as icing on the cake.

There was obvious bias in play with the hometown fans rooting for their biggest name in the contest (with apologies to All-Star captain Nick Foligno), but Johansen fired seven shots on opposing goalies on the night and finished with two goals and four points.

He showed his creativity in “game” action a night after winning over the crowd during the skills competition. His weekend was a nice PR makeover that might help people forget about his contract holdout in the fall.

USA TODAY Sports

The country singer tasked with singing the U.S. anthem put together a lengthy, shrieky, over-the-top and out-of-tune number that made the barbershop trio made up of a pair of RCMP officers in red serge harmonizing with Columbus Blue Jackets anthem crooner Leo Welch seem Grammy worthy.

Fans rightly took to Twitter to lambaste the performance, which wasn’t in the Roseanne Barr category of an attempt at humor gone horribly wrong, but took the cake as far as professional singers doing a terrible job at the NHL All-Star Game Sunday night.

Among the Twitter trashes: Penguins Nation and Holly mocked the length, 2 Minutes For Hockey and Winging It In Motown took a crack at the artistic licensing, while Captain Touchback correctly noted the pitch problems.

A rough start to the festivities.

Gregory Shamus/Getty Images

I’m not sure how many times Darryl Sutter’s son Chris was shown on the broadcast in the U.S., but the 21-year-old was a strong presence on the CBC airing.

Born with Down Syndrome, Chris has always been a magnetic personality in dressing rooms and got to bring it to the bench Sunday as an assistant coach with his dad as part of the family-themed weekend. He did his dad proud with a pep talk before the skills competition won by Team Foligno Saturday and was often in view of the cameras giving stars like Alex Ovechkin some advice on the bench Sunday.

The Hockey News’ Adam Proteau quickly gave Chris props as the real MVP.

Dave Sandford/Getty Images

Those jerseys were awful. Like, Team Slovenia terrible.

Lime green striping, zebra patterns down the armpits. Grayscale logos. These are not going to be hot sellers. 

Allowing all the players to wear their natural numbers seemed like a neat idea, but having to watch four 91s in the most hideous fashion possible was painful.

USA TODAY Sports

The legendary Columbus Blue Jackets cannon at Nationwide Arena fires every time the home team scores, scaring players and journalists alike even when they know it’s going to fire.

It got more exposure than ever with a dozen goals being scored by Team Foligno—the designated home team for the contest.

Lineups to pose for photos with the cannon were as long as some at the autograph tables for players.

Bruce Bennett/Associated Press

Letting in goals is never fun and the six netminders in the All-Star Game didn’t have much in the form of help.

Marc-Andre Fleury allowed seven in the second period—during which the 11 total goals was a single-period record at the event—and there were 29 scored in total on the night (another NHL All-Star Game record).

CBC broadcaster Scott Oake said it best during the telecast shown north or the border: “All-Star games can sometimes be a goaltender’s nightmare.”

Making it worse was the engaging but probably annoying idea of putting a microphone on poor Carey Price while he was in the middle of the action with some of the league’s best snipers bearing down on him.

Bruce Bennett/Getty Images

The Philadelphia Flyers star tied Mario Lemieux for a single-game record of six points with three goals and three helpers, continuing his amazing season even during the All-Star break.

The humble 25-year-old was great at his old rink but the former Blue Jackets youngster shrugged off his point total when talking to the Flyers Twitter account afterward: “I had three secondary assists. So I wouldn’t get too excited about that.”

Secondary assists or not, Voracek was in consideration for the MVP, as was New York Islanders captain John Tavares, who scored four goals on the night. The two led Team Toews to victory.

Kirk Irwin/Getty Images

There was a lot of standing around going on from the guys playing “defense” on Sunday.

Even Norris Trophy candidate Drew Doughty was caught motionless by the camera without so much as a lean toward the puck carrier or a wave of his stick in an attempt to poke it away.

But the worst offenders were defensemen Dustin Byfuglien of the Winnipeg Jets and Oliver Ekman-Larsson of the Arizona Coyotes, who were both minus-five on the evening. 

That probably won’t surprise many, considering they are two of the most offensively-minded blue liners in the NHL.

Patrick McDermott/Getty Images

Hosting what by all accounts was a great All-Star weekend, fans in Columbus got to enjoy the spectacle of some of the greatest hockey players in the world having fun in their town.

They witnessed favorite son Ryan Johansen score a pair and finish the game with four points and a game-high seven shots, earning the fan-voted MVP award (despite others arguably much more deserving).

They got to boo former captain Rick Nash, and saw one of their former youngsters who left under better circumstances—Jakub Voracek—shine with a hat-trick and six points.

They got a bit of an ego boost as a hockey market with the exposure.

They got to see people constantly spooked by the loud goal cannon.

Maybe most importantly, they got to forget for a few days just how disappointing a season the Blue Jackets are having.

USA TODAY Sports

Let’s be honest, the All-Star Game is barely even a game. Nobody plays defense, players skate at three-quarter speed at best and the only intensity was a fake scrum initiated by Brent Seabrook and Alex Ovechkin. 

The event itself was a display of how awful the game would be if played without the threat of hits or consequences.

Yes, there were some cool aspects with camera angles, infographics and microphones. And it may be fun for the players to engage in—lobbing long no-hope passes and breakaway attempts or given the room to walk around opponents like pylons. But it’s really not a lot of fun to watch—especially on television.

2015 NHL All-Star Game: Winners and Losers from Sunday Night