Chicago still on for the BP Crosstown Classic

I’m not sure if you’re aware, but BP has been in the news recently. And it hasn’t been the most positive of news for them recently. It is officially the worst oil spill in US history. But that isn’t going to stop BP in their already agreed upon sponsorship with the Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox. Darren Rovell is reporting that in fact the sponsorship is still on and that the BP Crosstown Cup will be awarded to the winning team of their six game interleague series. The announcement of the BP Crosstown Cup is also on the Crosstown Classic’s website. The BP Crosstown Cup is just too funny. Talk about bad timing. Go check out the full story. [Sports Biz]

Does the NHL need OT changes?

The Philadelphia Flyers are in the Stanley Cup Finals. Sure they probably have little chance of winning, as they are currently down 2-0 in the series, but that’s besides the point. The Flyers weren’t even guaranteed a playoff spot on the final day of the regular season. In game number 82 they defeated the New York Rangers in a shootout (!) to sneak into the playoffs and grab the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference. Now they are one of just two teams playing for the right to win the Stanley Cup.

The NHL brought back the shootout after the lockout as a way of raising the level of entertainment for its fans. Never mind the fact that it is completely different than traditional hockey, or that the NHL awards the same number of points for a shootout win as it does for a regulation win, or that the shootout is not a welcome addition during the playoffs. The NHL likes the shootout. It’s quick, easy, and most of the casual fans seemed to like it enough.

However, it does seem that this year there is more chatter about whether the shootout should go, or at least if there should be a tweak to the overtime/shootout rules. One of the more respected general managers in the NHL, Ken Holland of the Detroit Red Wings, has recently voiced his desire for some sort of change. Holland is in Philadelphia for the GM meetings and says he will push for some changes to the rules:

I’d like to see more games decided in overtime than shoot-out. I don’t mind the shoot-out, I just don’t want the shoot-out to decide so many games. My suggestion is, extend OT from five minutes to eight minutes or from five minutes to 10 minutes. Then maybe do we go half of it four-on-four, half of it three-on-three? I just want to have a conversation to see if other people feel like I do.

I completely agree with Holland here. The less of the shootout we see, the better things will be. I like the idea of a 10 minute 4 on 4 OT before heading to the shootout. Also if you are going to keep the shootout, you need to revamp the points system completely. A shootout win cannot be worth the same as a regulation win. That’s ridiculous. How about the Olympic point system? Three for a regulation win, 2 for an OT win, 1 for an OT loss. That works for me.

Will the OT system actually be changed? I doubt it will happen right away since these are the first talks I have heard of the NHL having about this issue. But give it time and I think the NHL could come up with a better solution to OT situation. Hopefully Holland will get the ball rolling in the right direction.

Citibank fired employee for being too hot…or something

Debrahlee Lorenzana is filing a lawsuit against Citibank because they fired her, she says, for the strangest reason: she’s too hot. She’s 5’5”, 125 and well, you’ve seen her photo. "Where I’m from," she told the Village Voice, "women dress up—like put on makeup and do their nails—to go to the supermarket… I was raised very Latin. We’re feminine. A woman in Puerto Rico takes care of herself." Her bosses told her that "as a result of the shape of her figure, such clothes were purportedly ‘too distracting’ for her male colleagues and supervisors to bear," she says. [Her two male] managers gave her a list of clothing items she would not be allowed to wear: turtlenecks, pencil skirts, and fitted suits. And three-inch heels. [Business Insider]

Leave it to Citibank. I work at a bank too. Of course the bank that I work at is one – how should I put this? – doesn’t need to worry about this issue.

I’ve never had a Peanut Butter Bomb Brownie before but it looks glorious

Wow.

If you’re on Tumblr, you should probably know that Pretty Foods is pretty fantastic. You should get on that.

[Pretty Foods]

My cat can now start tweeting

Sony Computer Science Laboratories has created a device that detects cats’ activities and Tweets them. Using a camera, an acceleration sensor, and GPS, it keeps track of the cats movements, tracking basic activities like eating, sleeping, walking, and playing with other cats. It then sends one of 11 set text messages via bluetooth to a computer and posts it to the cat’s Twitter feed. [Boing Boing]

A camera, an acceleration sensor, AND a GPS?!?! I’m gonna go out on a limb here and say Sony is devoting too many resources to this project.