Since the merger with the WHA in 1979, only five goalies who came into the NHL in the 1980s or after are in the Hall of Fame: Grant Fuhr, Patrick Roy, Dominik Hasek, Martin Brodeur, and Eddie Belfour. Goalie is certainly not a "specialist" position like kickepunter in football or closer in baseball that is viewed as less important, so is there some kind of unfair standard for modern-day goalies or have there just not been that many great ones in the last 30-40 years?
Here are the eligible goalies in the top 20 currently for wins, but not in the Hall of Fame - I think you could certainly make an argument for a number of them as Hall of Famers:

• Curtis Joseph: 19 seasons/943 games, 454-352-96, 51 shutouts, 2.79 GAA (98 GA%-), .906 SV%, 1x Clancy
• Chris Osgood: 17 seasons/744 games, 401-216-95, 50 shutouts, 2.49 GAA (101 GA%-), .905 SV%, 3x Stanley Cup, 1x All-Star, 2x Jennings
• Mike Vernon: 19 seasons/782 games, 385-274-92, 27 shutouts, 3.00 GAA (102 GA%-), .889 SV%, 2x Stanley Cup, 1x Conn Smythe, 1x All-Star, 1x Jennings
• John Vanbiesbrouck: 20 seasons/882 games, 374-346-119, 40 shutouts, 2.98 GAA (94 GA%-), .899 SV%, 2x All-Star, 1x Vezina
• Andy Moog: 18 seasons/713 games, 372-209-88, 28 shutouts, 3.14 GAA (95 GA%-), .891 SV%, 3x Stanley Cup, 1x Jennings
• Tom Barrasso: 19 seasons/777 games, 369-277-86, 38 shutouts, 3.24 GAA (98 GA%-), .892 SV%, 2x Stanley Cup, 3x All-Star, 1x Vezina, 1x Jennings, Calder

Moreover, what do you think this means for the currently active or not yet eligible goalies who are on the cusp? Luongo and Lundqvist would seem like the best bets, but the others are all relatively comparable in terms of career stats/achievements/accolades - do you think this is a case where 5 or 6 of the below group get in, or does it remain as exclusive as it has been up to now?

• Roberto Luongo: 19 seasons/1,044 games, 489-392-124, 77 shutouts, 2.52 GAA (92 GA%-), .919 SV%, 2x All-Star, 1x Jennings
• Marc-Andre Fleury: 16 seasons/847 games, 466-266-82, 61 shutouts, 2.57 GAA (98 GA%-), .913 SV%, 3x Stanley Cup
• Henrik Lundqvist: 15 seasons/887 games, 459-310-96, 64 shutouts, 2.43 GAA (92 GA%-), .918 SV%, 2x All-Star, 1x Vezina
• Ryan Miller: 17 seasons/780 games 387-281-86, 44 shutouts, 2.61 GAA (96 GA%-), .915 SV%, 1x All-Star, 1x Vezina
• Pekka Rinne: 14 seasons/659 games, 359-201-74, 58 shutouts, 2.42 GAA (97 GA%-), .917 SV%, 2x All-Star, 1x Vezina
• Carey Price: 13 seasons/682 games, 348-250-74, 48 shutouts, 2.49 GAA (94 GA%-), .917 SV%, 1x All-Star, 1x Hart, 1x Vezina, 1x Jennings, 1x Pearson
• Jonathan Quick: 13 seasons/644 games, 325-240-67, 52 shutouts, 2.39 GAA (99 GA%-), .913 SV%, 2x Stanley Cup, 1x Conn Smythe, 1x All-Star, 2x Jennings
• Tukka Rask: 13 seasons/536 games, 291-158-64, 50 shutouts, 2.26 GAA (89 GA%-), .922 SV%, 1x Stanley Cup,1x All-Star, 1x Vezina, 1x Jennings

Friday Night Game & Banner Hanging
Watch: Will post below
Listen: Mixlr NLGrowlers
It’s Game 1, Season 2 for the reigning Kelly Cup Champion Newfoundland Growlers! To no one’s surprise who understands the Dubas mindset, this year’s Growlers are the youngest team in ECHL again, by almost half a year. In fact, a quick glance at this Growler roster shows that Dubas and the organization is doubling-down again this year on youth, scoring and speed - in an even more extreme way than Season 1.
Dubas is Doubling-Down on Previous Wagers:
Wager #1: Get Even Younger - While this team has more pro hockey experience than last year’s team by virtue of the fact that 10 players from last year’s team return, the Growlers still have 4 rookie pros at forward (Conrad, Woods, Brazeau and Trey Bradley), 3 rookie pros on defence (Hollowell, Duszak and Sapego), and 2 rookie pros at goaltender (Zhukov & Scott “IR”). Interestingly, only 2 players (Melindy & O’Brien) will qualify as ECHL Veterans (ECHL permits 4). In fact, they are so young that none of the current non-veteran players will even qualify as veterans next year.
Wager #2: The 3 Tier System - This is a term that is now being heard repeatedly out of the organization. The philosophy of Toronto’s farm system has now been identified, labelled and it is being sold into the hockey community - especially to prospective players and their representatives. Last year’s and previous ECHL “experiments” are over. The 3 Tier System is now being accelerated, and marketed, which brings us to Wager #3.
Wager #3: Roster Stability - Dubas signed a bunch of AHL contracts - AGAIN. He keeps breaking signing records, set previously by himself (Note: Dubas is pace-setting this trend as AHL signings have increased gradually from 250 to 316 AHL contract signings the past 4 years). This year, there are so many talented players in both minor pro tiers that I don’t foresee a lot of movement of players between the Growlers and Marlies during the year - certainly much less movement than last year. Both teams are stacked and deep - and I think this was done intentionally to allow players to develop at one tier for the entire season. I think the organization believes that upward mobility should be primarily reserved for the off-season, not during the season. Injuries will happen, but last year 49 different players put on a Growler uniform (just slightly above average in the ECHL). This year, I don’t think that number will get much above 30, and will be among the lowest in the league. So, sit back and enjoy Growlers fans, Brazeau, Conrad, Duszak, Scott, Zhukov, Hollowell etc. are all highly likely to play the entire season in Newfoundland because that is the best place for their development.
Wager #4: Organizational Depth - Fully healthy, every single one of the 10 Growler forwards will be on either NHL or AHL contracts, plus one more AHL contract will be in the press box. The depth and talent is so ridiculously good that it is, well…ridiculous. Expect a LOT of goals. In one preseason game against Brampton last week there were two 4 on 1s and one 5 on 1 break-out. Yes, you read that right - a 5 on 1. It’s the ECHL baby.
The Growler Defence Top 6 has 2 players on NHL contracts, 2 players on AHL contracts, and 2 players (Melindy & Johnston) on ECHL contracts - who are excellent ECHL defence men. When Gudbranson comes off the IR, he should be in the Top 6, and would add a 3rd veteran to the overall roster, but there legitimately is an issue as to where Gilman can put him. The organization is stacked on the Right Side with Liljegren, Schmaltz, Lindgren, Ryan Johnston, Hollowell, Duszak, Melindy and returning Growler #7 RHD Evan Neugold. Gudbranson would be a #7-9 D man on the Marlies, thus forced to sit, and the ECHL permits only a 20 man roster, so he can’t camp there. And they are not going to sit ELC players like Duszak and Hollowell, nor will they sit team Captain James Melindy. What makes Gudbranson’s situation even trickier is a new ECHL rule which stipulates that a veteran player on an AHL deal will have to have played 5 games in the AHL in order to be eligible for the ECHL playoffs.
Wager #5: Rookie Goaltenders - “Ian, Maxim, there’s the deep end. Now jump in!” How the tandem of two rookie goaltenders Scott and Zhukov will perform is the biggest question next to the defence. Scott is still on the IR, and is being spelled by Patrick Munson who also is pretty much a rookie with only 12 professional games played…in the U.K. So, youth it is. Personally, I am kind of excited to see what Zhukov might be capable of. He was drafted by Vegas in 2017 and was of the same pedigree as Scott at that time (he was drafted ahead of Scott). He did not have the junior success of Scott, but he also bounced around North America 10,000 miles away from home. I’m willing to see what can play out here. Personally, I love the idea of having 2-3 young goaltenders in the system at all times anyway.
Wager #6 (and the biggest bet of them all): A young, small and highly mobile defence. This year’s starting Top 6 is 25lbs. lighter per player than last year’s playoff Top 6, and includes 3 rookies, two of whom are on NHL contracts. The organization experimented with small defensemen last year, (e.g. PTO 150lb. Cory Dunn from Division III NCAA. Dunn scored 5 points in 7 games before he was eventually released), but NOTHING like this.
It is going to be very interesting to see what a small, mobile defence will be capable of in the ECHL. As much as I embrace faster, skilled hockey, there were times in the Kelly Cup playoffs last year when I was very thankful that the Growlers had big, tough, stay-at-home defensemen like Adam Pardy, James Melindy and Alex Gudbranson to withstand heavy forechecking and calm things down.
To me, this year’s ECHL defence consisting of 170lb. Hollowell, 179lb. Sapego and 185lb. Duzsak is perhaps the biggest experiment Dubas has attempted to date as Maple Leafs GM. I liken Dubas’ all-out focus on skill and speed - and apparent disregard of size - to the evolution of no-huddle, spread, high-tempo offences that proliferated college football 15 years ago to great success. Speed and space are the tenets of modern gridiron offences now - even the NFL game adapted and evolved. Pioneers of this style of play were coaches like Chip Kelly, Gus Malzhan, Urban Meyer, Hal Mumme, Mike Leach etc. I classify Dubas is a similar category of game innovators — and the Newfoundland Growlers are his test laboratory.
If this Growler Top 6 can be effective in the ECHL, then a similar concept can work in the NHL. It is going to be a fascinating experiment. People criticized Football Spread Offences as being merely a technique to level the playing field between the smaller schools which could not recruit the big, elite athletes like the Alabamas & Ohio States of the world by exploiting an inefficiency on the field — space. The criticism was that while the Spread offences could score a lot of points, ultimately the game will get ground-down by the bigger athletes who will control the ball, the clock, and wear the other team down.
Sounds a lot like the current hockey debate, doesn’t it?
But then the Cincinnati Bearcats nearly won the National Championship. And Boise State beat Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl. And Oregon became a National Power. And Texas Tech, Oklahoma State and West Virginia became perennial top 20 Programs. And high school coaches who pioneered the Spread like Gus Malzahn became Big SEC Program Head Coaches. Now the game is changed forever - at all levels.
Will the Growlers attempt a different style of hockey engineered around their small, mobile defensemen akin to how smaller universities experimented with the Spread in the 1990s with their fast, under-recruited but speedy athletes? Why not use the ECHL as the test lab?
While there will be undoubtedly some Growlers defensive challenges this year, keep in mind that this is the most talented and deep forward group in the ECHL capable of out-scoring any deficit. Maybe the 5 on 1 will be a frequent thing. lol
Defensive experiments aside, I believe the Growlers is the best possible place for Hollowell and Duzsak to develop - it will be a trial by fire because they will not be protected and will be playing 20+ minutes a game every night in all situations. They are going to grow up in a hurry, and after a full season in the ECHL, they should be ready to go in all situations with the Marlies next year.
Enjoy the game.
​
EDIT POST GAME
Growlers lose 6-5 in a game where they went ahead 3-0 half way through the first period and looked on the way towards a blow-out. Then Zhukov started letting pucks in. He looked bad. Really bad. Growlers win this game 6-1 or 6-2 with Garteig in net. I'm not sure what to make of this game other than 6 goals from 24 shots for a 0.75 SV% and a 6.0 GAA. The Growlers had the lead 5-4 mid way through the 3rd period and were playing pretty conservatively, perhaps too much so, but it probably wouldn't have mattered.
Notable play from all the usuals like O'Brien, Ferguson and Estephan. Hollowell, Riley Woods and Duszak looked pretty good too. Sapego was a -4 and Melindy a -3. Hollowell, Duszak, Kapla and Johnston were all +1.
It's going to take some time. :)

Hi everyone, here we are with some results! The survey was left open for ten days in order to garner a good number of responses, and it's up on spring but we're still far from the peak observed during Summer'15. Seems like there's a mass post-Tour exodus for some reason.

Year	2013	2014	2015	2016	2018	2018
Results	2013-06-12	2014-06-25	2015-08-07	2016-11-17	2018-03-06	2018-08-20
Replies	351	598	1395	892	630	928

Top 15 Countries

Country	2015	2016	2018 March	2018 August
USA	32%	28.3%	22.84%	25.32%
UK	18.6%	17.6%	14.70%	20.13%
Netherlands	6.4%	9.4%	11.50%	11.58%
Germany	3.73%	3.4%	4.95%	6.39%
Canada	4.9%	7%	6.39%	4.22%
Australia	5.2%	4.7%	3.83%	4.00%
Denmark	3.9%	3.6%	4.31%	3.79%
Belgium	3.8%	2.7%	8.15%	3.57%
France	2.01%	1.08%	2.88%	2.27%
Norway	2.58%	1.8%	1.60%	1.95%
Portugal	1.65%	1.8%	2.40%	1.52%
Sweden	1.08%	1.09%	1.44%	1.41%
Slovenia		0.73%	0.32%	1.30%
Ireland	1.00%	1.09%	1.44%	1.19%
New Zealand		1.30%	0.96%	1.19%

No surprise to see that the USA is on top as ever, UK second and Netherlands third, but it's the way that the numbers have moved since spring in particular which grants an interesting insight into what the Tour does. It has a particularly dramatic effect on the number of Belgians, who see their share plummet once the classics are over whilst the anglosphere goes full speed ahead into yellow jersey fever.
Elsewhere, German TV covering the Tour again has a positive effect on sub numbers, whilst a couple of extra nations creep into the top 15, most notably Slovenia.

What's your age?

	u17	17-19	20-25	26-30	31-35	36-40	41-50	51+	Total
2015	2.22%	12.04%	41.51%	24.66%	10.68%	4.87%	2.94%	1.08%	1395
2016	1.5%	8.9%	40.8%	24%	12%	5.4%	5.2%	2%	887
2018 Mar	1%	7.1%	33.5%	27.4%	16.2%	7%	5.7%	2.1%	617
2018 Aug	1.7%	9%	33.9%	26.4%	15.5%	7%	5%	1.5%	905

No great changes in the age ranges since spring, with possibly a shade more young people watching than before. Otherwise it follows that the average user is in their 20s, as you'd guess for Reddit as a whole.

What's your Gender?

	'13	'14	'15	'16	'18 (1)	'18 (2)
Male	97.2%	97%	94.9%	93.4%	93.3%	93.6%
Female	2.8%	2.7%	4.8%	5.3%	5.3%	5.4%
Other	-	0.33%	0.29%	0.78%	0.76%	-
Non-Binary	-	-	-	-	0.64%	0.99%

Sticking with the theme of usual reddit demographics, it's an overwhelmingly male presence, with just 49 female respondents in all.

How much of the season do you watch/follow?

Type	March '18 (%)	August '18 (%)
Grand Tours	84.7	92.0
Monuments	79.1	74.9
WT Stage races	67.4	62.4
WT One day races	73.3	59.8
Non WT Stage races	32.6	16.7
Non WT One day races	34.8	13.7
Literally everything I can consume	35.9	18.1

So far, aside from a little change in which nationalities tune in, there hasn't been too much of a change. Here though it's plain to see the difference in fan base between spring and summer on the sub. Grand Tour watching increases (as you might expect), monuments & WT stage races lose a little ground, but everything else takes a nosedive.
It's fair to say Le Samyn is not for everyone, but that's quite the drop.

How long have you been watching Cycling?

Time (years)	under a year	1 -2	2 - 3	3 - 4	4 - 5	5 - 6	6-7	7 -8	8 - 9	9 - 10	10 - 11	11 - 12	12 -13	13 - 14	14 - 15	15 - 20	20 - 25	25 +
March (%)	4	10.5	12.6	9.6	8.1	8.9	-	6.9	4.8	-	6.2	2.2	1.8	0.8	4.5	10.7	4.9	3.5
August (%)	4	10	13.2	9.9	7.7	8.3	5	4.6	2.7	5.4	3.2	2.2	1.8	1.9	1.8	9.5	5	3.8

Simply put, most of us have been watching cycling for less than six years, and just over a quarter have picked it up inside the last three, or since mid-2015.

Time (years)	0-5	5-11	11-15	15 & more
MAR	44.8%	26.8%	9.3%	19.1%
AUG	44.8%	29.2%	7.7%	18.3%

This makes looking at the data a wee bit simpler.

Section 2

Which teams do you like or not like?

This one is sorted by karma, which is simply the number of likes minus the number of dislikes. The 2015 answers come first and are highlighted with ^2015, then the 2016 answers with ²⁰¹⁶ and then the answers from this survey are highlight with ^2018. Hopefully this will give a feel of the changing image of some of the teams in the peloton.
First off, a full 12% of respondents are apathetic about teams, with no like/dislike feelings on the matter. For those that do have them:

Team	Karma2015	Karma2016	KarmaMar'18	LikeAug'18	MehAug'18	DislikeAug'18	KarmaAug'18
AG2R La Mondiale	7	124	303	342	424	23	319
Astana Pro Team	-389	-343	-115	149	217	212	-63
Bahrain-Merida		-185	-125	107	471	206	-99
BMC Racing Team	66	206	244	309	427	49	260
Bora Hansgrohe		177	369	518	267	12	506
Team Dimension Data		351	250	230	473	74	156
FDJ-Groupama	-7	72	152	130	554	85	45
Lotto-Soudal	24	151	287	231	510	31	200
Movistar	42	123	125	195	465	121	74
Michelton-Scott	208	556	279	468	301	34	434
Team EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale (nee-Cannondale-Garmin)	54	131	237	299	424	54	245
Team Sunweb (nee-Giant-Alpecin)	29	148	317	489	292	24	465
Team Katusha	-13	-101	-4	67	511	194	-127
Team LottoNL-Jumbo	45	183	224	454	323	17	437
Team Sky	-3	51	-155	292	236	315	-23
Quick-Step Floors (nee-Etixx-Quick) Step	87	328	347	548	238	33	515
Trek-Segafredo (nee-Trek Factory Racing)	4	175	219	216	527	31	185
UAE-Team Emirates (nee-Lampre-Merida)	-20	-28	-125	76	491	218	-142

If reams of numbers scare you (and they should), then instead here's a handy little chart instead.
What conclusions can we draw from this then? Firstly it seems that GT season brings out familiar discontent with teams like UAE & Bahrain, whilst Katusha suffer from being both previously evil and utterly useless. Astana continue on the path towards redemption with the dark winter of 2014 slipping ever further out of memory, whilst Sky sits more or less level as they mostly were prior to spring.
Chief among the favourites though is Quick-Step, outshining PeterBora-hansgrohe, whilst Sunweb & LottoNL are reaching previously unthinkable heights of love with the sub.
Fair to say that no one cares too much about FDJ though.

Do you ride a bike regularly?

Answer	2018Mar	2018Aug
For fun	61.5%	63.4%
For fitness	59.3%	59.6%
For commuting	46%	46%
For racing	20.6%	20.6%
No, I don't	14.2%	12.9%

Similar stats to March as you'd guess.

Is Cycling your favourite sport?

	2015	2016	2018Mar	2018Aug
No	40,7%	34,7%	30.6%	39.7%
Yes	59,3%	65,3%	69.4%	60.3%

A palpable difference between spring & summer, with the numbers most similar to the 2015 survey, also held around Tour time.

What other sports do you follow?

Sport	#	% (/920)
I don't follow other sports	84	9.13%
Association Football / Soccer	477	51.85%
Formula 1	267	29.02%
American Football	208	22.61%
Basketball	181	19.67%
Esports (yes, this includes DotA)	146	15.87%
Rugby	139	15.11%
Track & Field	125	13.59%
Ice Hockey	119	12.93%
Skiing	112	12.17%
Motorsports (Not including F1)	102	11.09%
Tennis	98	10.65%
Cricket	96	10.43%
Baseball	88	9.57%
Swimming	65	7.07%
Speed Skating	64	6.96%
Triathlon	64	6.96%
Biathlon	62	6.74%
Snooker	58	6.30%
Golf	54	5.87%
Climbing	40	4.35%
Chess	39	4.24%
Martial Arts	38	4.13%
Boxing	35	3.80%
Handball	31	3.37%
Aussie Football	28	3.04%
Volleyball	25	2.72%
Field Hockey	24	2.61%
Rowing	24	2.61%
Wrestling	23	2.50%
Weightlifting	19	2.07%
Figure Skating	11	1.20%
Gymnastics	10	1.09%
Darts	9	0.98%
Badminton	6	0.65%
GAA	6	0.65%
Futsal	6	0.65%
Lacrosse	4	0.43%
Sailing	3	0.33%
Sumo	2	0.22%
Surfing	2	0.22%
Curling	2	0.22%
Trail Running	2	0.22%
Equestrian	1	0.11%
Fencing	1	0.11%
Diving	1	0.11%

Did anyone tell you Esports was on the rise? Because it's leaping up the table every year, especially when it includes DotA. Otherwise, Soccer is king, and Formula 1 at last freed from the cruel tyranny of the Motorsports category shoots up to second, with American Football third.
Oh, and that guy who has voted sailing four times, you're in!
Other cycling disciplines

Type	Votes
Cyclocross	167
Track Cycling	148
MTB	79
BMX	10

As for other cycling disciplines, /Cyclocross leads /Velodrome as usual.

Section 3

How often do you participate in a /Peloton Race Thread whilst watching a race?	2015	2016	2018Mar	2018Aug
I always participate in Race Threads during races	2,8%	2%	2.2%	4%
I follow Race Threads during races	41,7%	36,7%	38.1%	42.1%
I often participate in Race Threads during races	16,8%	19%	16.5%	18.9%
I rarely/never participate in Race Threads during races	38,7%	41,25%	43.1%	35%

Summer brings more invested users than normal, reversing the trend of less people participating in race threads.

How do you watch races?

Method	2018Mar	2018Aug
Pirate Streams	62%	46.5%
Local TV	55.7%	64.5%
Desperately scrabbling for Youtube highlights	37.9%	30.2%
Paid Streaming services	32.3%	35.4%

The ASO is unfortunately notorious for demanding that streams are legal and just, which sees summer piracy down on average, whilst local TV is up, as is the demand for paid streaming services, be it Eurosport, NBC, Flobikes & more.

Where do you follow races (in addition to watching them)?

Type	2018Mar	2018Aug
/Peloton race threads	86.2%	83.4%
Twitter	30.5%	34.7%
The Cyclingnews liveticker	26%	23.5%
Steephill	0.52%	13.5%
Sporza (site/ticker)	1.89%	9.5%
Other cycling forums	15.1%	8.1%
NOS Liveblog	-	6.8%
/Peloton discord	6.5%	5.4%
Facebook	3.8%	5.4%
BBC Ticker	-	3.5%
feltet.dk	-	2.2%
/cyc/	-	1.3%
Non Cycling Forums	-	1.3%
DirectVelo	-	1.3%
/peloton IRC	~0	0.8%

Twitter as ever remains an excellent place to get news and up to date live events on almost any race, along with various livetickers.
Worth noting the option list wasn't quite as long last time, which may have affected the outcome a tad.

Do you use /Peloton mostly in classic reddit or redesign when on the desktop?

Type	Percent
Classic	75.1%
Redesign	24.9%

Most of you remain true to the old reddit. Via the powers of enhanced traffic stats it's also possible to gauge where sub traffic came from in general. Here's a sneak peak at them.. Tour de July indeed.
Third party apps don't appear because reasons.

When does the season end?

Event	%
Giro d'Lombardia	43.4
Men's WC RR	37.1
La Vuelta a Espana	10.4
Tour of Guangxi	3.4
Tour of Hainan	1.6

Now the technical answer to this is as follows:

As a general rule, the international calendar shall start on the day following the conclusion of the previous year’s final UCI World Championships event or WorldTour event and end upon conclusion of the final UCI WorldTour or World Championships event of the year in question.

Which means the technically correct answer is the final stage of the Tour of Guangxi. However, we did establish in spring that the season really begins at Omloop, not down under, and now by an admittedly small margin we've established the season really ends at the final monument of the year.
There were shouts that it doesn't really end. it just gets a bit muddier, or that Paris-Tours is the real end of all things. One person also seems to think that the year ends at the Tour of Britain, which is a slight injustice to the Vuelta.

Rank the Monuments

Event	Average Position	Rank
MSR	3.32	4th
RvV	2.5	2nd
PR	1.28	1st
LBL	3.25	3rd
Lombardia	4.01	5th

The definitive answer in case anyone brings it up again, it's clear to see that Paris-Roubaix is the No.1 monument for /peloton, with de Ronde a clear second, MSR & LBL tied for third and Lombardy languishing at the end of the season in a distant fifth.

Rank these Titles by Prestige

Winner of:	Average Position	Rank
Giro	2.48	2nd
Tour	1.17	1st
Vuelta	3.59	4th
WC RR	2.96	3rd
Olympic RR	4.19	5th

Just to get an idea of how clear the lead for the Tour is, a full 89% of participants rated it as No.1. Yellow is the colour of choice. Next up is the Giro in a solid second, whilst the WC RR sits third. The Vuelta is as much an afterthought in this ranking as it is in the season in fourth, whilst the Olympics really doesn't get the level of recognition it possesses in Athletics for example, sitting in dead last.
And that is that! Thank you as ever for participating in our survey, which we'll probably stick to making biannual. We've read the feedback you left at the bottom, and here's a overview of the suggestions for the sub you guys made.
The subject that received the most references (over 20% of suggestions) was the spoiler rule, including love and hate for the current scenario. Both sides present good arguments. For now, the mod-team wants to make it clear that we are not considering to make changes in the near future. However, we will likely raise the discussion again once the season is over.
We had comments asking us to take a harder stance against anti-Sky posts. We allow every opinion, about any team, as long as you respect reddit and /peloton rules. Once that line is crossed, we take action. And, as seen in the section 2 above, the community feeling about Team Sky is currently close to neutral.
Some suggestions asked for more memes and fun - we have our friends @ pelotonmemes to give an answer to your needs!
One of the suggestions was "Promote idea that disagreeable comments do not necessarily deserve downvotes. Upvote comments that promote discussion" which is something we all agree with. Lately we have seen comments that are downvoted despite contributing to discussion, and we condemn that. Don't forget that the downvote button is not a disagree button.
People asked us if we could bring Cyclocross and Track onto the sub. For now, we prefer to keep /peloton focused only in professional road racing. /cyclocross and /velodrome will continue to be the home for the content about Cyclocross and Track.
There was also a suggestion about allowing more non-English content on the sub. You could always bring articles and content written in your own language, whenever it is relevant for the subreddit. And if you bring a translation of the relevant bits, even better!
Finally, we also received feedback about small questions. A while ago we created monday question threads, in response to older feedback, in order to diminish the amount of quick self posts - and recently turned them into 'weekly question threads'. However, some may argue - especially when a mod removes/redirects a thread - that this limits the amount of content in the sub - resulting in days where pelotonmod posts the majority of the threads, which is not an ideal scenario. For now, we will continue to ask you to post very quick questions in a question thread - if there is one sticky - and if the question is about a race underway, a sticky race or results thread may be your best bet - but if you bring a longer post raising a question that respects the other /peloton rules, that continues to be allowed as a separate thread.

I was thinking of making a sub-reddit for this not sure how much interest it would gather. I'm from Kildare and play for a club team here for years so I have a good understanding of all the club teams in the county and there current form going into the championship (players missing/league results). So I know who will win in most cases and what teams to bet/avoid. Seeing as this is the best time to bet on teams in the championship because the bad teams play the good ones in most cases, I decided to make this most.
What I am basically looking for here is other people around the country from different counties who are knowledgeable on club teams and what they see as value (you would also have to understand betting prices) from a betting perspective. People like myself can sometimes have a better understanding of Kildare club GAA than traders would for betting companies.
Anybody that believes they know enough could you post your teams to bet or even teams to avoid which would help others also. Please state the county and whether its Football or Hurling teams.

Ferris State University

Western Collegiate Hockey Association (2013-Present)
Central Collegiate Hockey Association (1979-2013)
Founded: 1884
Location: Big Rapids, MI
Attendance: 14,707
Nickname: Bulldogs. The school newspaper named the team Ferrisites, and the Big Rapids Pioneer called them the Spartans. It wasn’t until 1931 that the name Bulldogs was used to describe the school’s basketball team. “…He asked what would happen if an irresistible force met an immovable object, then said that [basketball coach William T.] McElwain believed the question might be solved when the ‘irresistible Central State Teachers College Bearcats met Ferris immovable Bulldogs.’ He went on, ‘…it is discovered that the name (Bulldogs) has been applied to them because of their demonstrated ability to hang on to their men and never let go…’”
Mascot: Brutus. Our large bulldog spends the game wandering the arena entertaining the kids or messing with the students in the Dawg Pound. During the second intermission, he typically takes a sled on the ice, skates from the red line to the blue line and attempts to “score a goal”. BONUS! Pre Makeover Brutus! NSFL
Unofficial Mascot: Monkey Man. The Monkey Man has spent the past few seasons dressing up in a monkey suit to cheer on the Bulldogs and harass the opponents during warm ups and the games. The most fun is during pregame stretching. The building is so small, the only place to get the entire team together to stretch is on the concourse (usually a little after 2 hours to game time, so the only fans in the building are students waiting to get in the Dawg Pound), so Mr. Monkey Man likes to heckle everybody except Bowling Green, who has invited him to join on a few occasions.
Band: Ferris State Pep Band. The band is not well received by students, if I am honest. They play songs at wildly inappropriate times (i.e. playing Tequila immediately after a goal against or playing something as we are attempting to salute a player recovering from a serious injury), and have a habit of walking in front of everybody during play. It's nice to have a band at a college game. We just wish they would work with us a little better.
Fight Song:

Cheer those Bulldogs,
Watch them fight.
Boost those Bulldogs,
They’re alright.
We’ll stand by the Crimson and Gold,
Fight, Fight, Fight!
Bulldogs of Ferris,
Cheer that Bulldog Varsity,
Steer that team to Victory.
Fight you Ferris Bulldogs and gain another victory.
Fight! Fight! Fight!
Fight for the Ferris Crimson and the Gold.

Note Nobody sings the song, except the part where you say “WOO!”
Arena: Robert L. Ewigleben Ice Arena. Opened 1976. Capacity: 2,493. Named for the former school president who is responsible for getting the program to jump from ACHA to NCAA Division 1. The rink is part of the Ewigleben Sports Complex which includes the D1 rink, a small half sheet used for 3 on 3 games and youth practices, Wink Arena (basketball) and a volleyball court.
Student Section: Dawg Pound. Known for being one of the top student sections in college hockey, the Dawg Pound is both rowdy and ruthless, especially when it comes to the opponents goalie. There are typically 2 white boards floating around the section with witty, funny or downright obscene phrases or drawings, often drawing laughs from opposing players during warm ups. Because it is a general admission student section it's normal to see students lined up at the doors as early as an hour and a half before the doors open. The doors open at 6 and the first three rows are typically full by 6:05.
First Season: 1979-80 (CCHA) 26-11-1
All Time Record: 563-628-129
Championships: 0
Frozen Four Appearances: 1 (2012)
Tournament Appearances: 3- 2003 (Lost Midwest Regional Final to Minnesota), 2012 (Lost National Championship to Boston College DAMN YOU JONNY GAUDREAU!), 2014 (Lost Midwest Regional Final to North Dakota)
Rivals:
Western Michigan University. This is simply a geographic rivalry. Being just 2 hours north of Kalamazoo, Ferris and Western battled for supremacy of Western Michigan (or we did until the CCHA died). Our most memorable moment is a game from 2013 that involved a line brawl, a goalie challenging his counterpart to a fight (Frank Slubowski didn’t answer the call, if you were wondering), a last minute tying goal and a shootout win for the Bulldogs! Unfortunately, realignment in 2013 placed Ferris in the WCHA and Western in the new NCHC, so the teams have not played during the past two seasons.
Minnesota State University. This is a brand new and growing one starting in 2013-14 with the new WCHA, possibly replacing Western, since they got scared and ran off to the NCHC. So far, we have had a handful of very tight and physical games, one involving a full line brawl featuring goaltenders, and met twice in the Final Five. It might get a little more interesting if Ferris can finally win a damn game though.
Grand Valley State University. Oh right... They don't even have a hockey team! I suppose beating them in every other sport will have to suffice.
Uniform History Note Ferris State’s hockey is not well documented on the internet, so the dates are estimated based on my memory of the team photos hanging in the rink.
2014-15 Season: 18-20-2 (13-14-1)
Coach: Bob Daniels (1992- Present) 397-409-89
2013-14 Roster:
Captain: CJ Motte, G, Sr
Alternate Captains: Simon Denis, D, Sr and Kyle Schempp, C, So
Leading Scorer: Matt Robertson, RW, Jr: 6-17-23/ Gerald Mayhew, So, RW: 11-12-23
Leading Goal Scorer: Gerald Mayhew, So, RW
Big Moments:
Home Opener vs. Michigan. Ferris State opened up the season at home against Michigan. A combination of excitement for the season (as the season before was brilliant) and a well known team coming to town meant the Dawg Pound was rowdy and loud starting about 30 minutes before the puck was dropped. The Bulldogs scored early and often en route to a 4-3 win in a game that saw both teams play incredible hockey. The highlight of the night was goaltender CJ Motte slamming the door on his younger brother, Tyler Motte’s, breakaway drawing a “LITTLE BROTHER!” chant from the students.
WCHA Playoffs Round 1 @ Bemidji State 3OT. For the second straight year, Ferris faced off against the Beavers of Bemidji State in the first round of the WCHA playoffs, this time in Minnesota. For the second straight year, Ferris went into game 2 with a chance for a sweep and head back to the Final Five. For the second straight year, the game required multiple overtime periods to do it. Ryan Lowney eventually ended the triple overtime game with a great shot from the point.
2014-15 Summary
The 2014-15 season was a big step backwards for the Bulldogs, after taking the MacNaughton Cup and advancing to the NCAA Regional Final in 2013-14. Ferris State’s struggles stemmed from a lack of offensive production from the blueline and from the senior class (Jason Binkley led the seniors in points, finishing 10th on the team). The season started with a strong win against a good Michigan team. The conference schedule started less favorably, however, when the Bulldogs were swept aside by Michigan Tech in Big Rapids. The series was the first 2 home losses since the home opener the previous year. The team appeared to get back on track after a dominant sweep of Alaska Anchorage by a combined score of 14-2, but that was immediately followed by a disappointing home split with Alabama Huntsville and a tie and loss to a very bad Wisconsin team. Ferris had a chance to redeem the season on a big stage when they headed to the Motor City for the school’s first appearance in the Great Lakes Invitational. Instead, they were shutout by Michigan State and dropped a 4-2 contest to Michigan Tech. The low point of the season was a 7 game losing streak at the hands of #1 Minnesota State and Bowling Green. The regular season ended with a sweep of Lake State in Sault Ste Marie. With those two wins, CJ Motte became the program’s all time wins leader. The one bright spot of the season was the great play of the sophomore class, most notably Schempp, Mayhew, forward Chad MacDonald and slick skating defenseman Ryan Lowney. The Bulldogs knocked off a surprisingly good Bemidji State team in the first round of the WCHA playoffs before being easily swept aside by a dominant Minnesota State in the Final Five Semifinal in St. Paul, MN.
2015-16 Season
Schedule
Draftees
Kyle Schempp, C, 2014 New York Islanders (Round 6, 155 Overall)
Key Games
Oct. 9-10 Home and Home against old rivals Western Michigan University
Oct. 16-17 Home vs. Michigan Tech
Nov. 6-7 At Minnesota State
Players To Watch
/#6 Kyle Schempp, Jr, C. The Islanders draft pick from Saginaw, MI showed that he was a star early on as a freshman, getting first line minutes for much of his first two seasons. He had a slow start to last season after a shoulder surgery in Summer 2014 but had a very strong finish to the season.
/#22 Matt Robertson, Sr, RW. The Rohnert Park, California native came into his own last season playing on a line with Schempp and Gerald Mayhew, tying Mayhew for the team lead in points.
/#10 Ryan Lowney, Jr, D. Lowney is downright fun to watch. I compare him to Martin St. Louis because he stands only 5’8, but isn’t afraid to get in to it with anybody bigger than him, which is everybody. As if that wasn’t enough, he has incredible stickhandling skills bordering “Datsyukian” (Ok, he’s not quite Datsyuk, but it’s still fun to watch). Lowney hails from Redford, MI.
Greatest Players:
Chris Kunitz (1999-2003): 152 GP 99 G 76 A 175 Pts, Hobey Baker Finalist (2003). NHL: Anaheim Ducks (2003-09), Pittsburgh Penguins (2009-Present) 733 GP 224 G 287 A 511 PTS, Stanley Cup Champion (2007, 2009) First Team All Star (2013). International: Team Canada- Olympic Gold Medalist (2014), World Championship Silver Medalist (2008)
Kunitz is undoubtedly the greatest player the school ever had both during his days at Ferris and in his professional career. He made an instant splash for the team when he scored 20 goals during his freshman year. After two more great seasons that saw him put up 29 and 38 points, Kunitz was ready to make a name for himself on the national stage. The 2002-03 season was historic for the Bulldogs, and much of that is due to Chris Kunitz's play. He smashed school records by scoring 35 goals, 44 assits and 79 points in 42 games. The team would end up winning 30 games and making its first trip to the NCAA tournament. The following season, he was signed by the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, where he would split time between the NHL and AHL for a few seasons before scoring 25 goals for the Ducks en route to their first ever Stanley Cup. Two years later, he was traded to Pittsburgh where he would win his second Cup. 2013-14 proved to be his best NHL campaign as he tallied 35 goals and 33 assists and earned a spot on the Canadian Olympic team that would bring home Gold.
Zach Redmond (2007-11): 141 GP 22 G 68 A 90 PTS. NHL: Atlanta Thrashers Draft Pick (2008. Rd 7 184 Overall) Winnipeg Jets (2012-14) 18 GP 2 G 5 A 7 Pts, Colorado Avalanche (2014-Present) 59 GP 5 G 15 A 20 PTS. International: Team USA- World Championship Bronze Medalist (2015)
Atlanta Thrashers draft pick Zach Redmond led the Bulldogs from the blueline for four years. He put up career highs in assists and points during his junior year with 6 goals, 21 assists and 27 points. He was on pace to surpass those during his senior year, however, injuries limited him to just 26 games where he tallied 7 goals, 13 assists and 20 points. Redmond spent the 2011-12 season with the St. John's Ice Caps of the AHL. Due to the NHL lockout, he remained there to start the following season as well. When the NHL resumed, Redmond was called up the the Winnipeg Jets where his career was nearly ended. During a practice, Redmond took a teammates skate to the thigh, cutting his femoral artery leaving him with a nasty scar. Redmond would recover and return the next season where he played 10 more games in the NHL. In the Summer of 2014, he signed with the Colorado Avalanche. Redmond was selected to play for Team USA in the 2015 World Championships where he took home Bronze.
CJ Motte (2011-15): 127 GP 66-49, H. AHL: Bridgeport Sound Tigers (2015): 4 GP 1-2-1, Rochester Americans (2015-Present)
CJ Motte, nicknamed Dexter by a small group of fans, split time with senior Taylor Nelson during his freshman year, the brilliant 2011-12 season that saw Ferris State run all the way the the National Championship game. After Nelson graduated, CJ became the obvious choice to be the starting goaltender. Motte hit a bit of a sophomore slump in 2012-13, as he was good but nothing spactacular and finished with a .500 record and 5th in the CCHA. 2013-14, however was an entirely different story. The season started with Motte and sophomore Charles Williams alternating the first 4 games of the season. CJ won both of his starts and took over for the rest of the season, and what a season it was. Motte was 28-9-3 and was absolutely unbeatable at home. His play earned him a Hobey Baker nomination and he finished as a Top 10 finalist. Motte would shut out Colgate in the first round of the NCAA tournament before allowing only 2 goals in 5 periods to North Dakota in the regional final. His play as a junior earned him the Captain's 'C' for his senior year where he would continue his stellar play. This time, however, the team wasn't able to back him up, so he finished 18-20-2 despite posting career highs for GAA and SV%. Motte left college and immediately signed with the AHL's Bridgeport Sound Tigers where he won his first start. This summer, CJ Motte signed another AHL deal with the Rochester Americans.
Best Coach:
Bob Daniels- 1992-Present- 377-387-87. 2x CCHA Coach of the Year (2003, 2012), 2012 Spencer Penrose Award (Top Coach in NCAA as voted by American Hockey Coaches Association), 2014 WCHA Coach of the Year
Greatest Games:
2012 Midwest Regional Final: Cornell vs Ferris State 2-1 Win- 5 minute penalty kill and a goal immediately at the end of the penalty propelled Ferris to a 2-1 win and a trip to Tampa for their first ever Frozen Four!
2012 Frozen Four: Union vs Ferris State 3-1 Win- A late goal by junior Kyle Bonis ended up being the game winner and Ferris State moved on to the National Championship Game vs. Boston College
2013 Western Michigan vs. Ferris State 3-2 Win SO- We fought, We won.
2014 WCHA Playoffs Round 1, Game 2: Bemidji State @ Ferris State 3-2 Win 2OT- Captain Scott Czarnowczan scored on a strange, fluttering shot to send Ferris to the WCHA Final Five
2014 Midwest Regional Semifinal: Colgate vs. Ferris State 1-0 Win- In the 4th matchup of the season against the Raiders (who had won 2 of the 3 games with shutouts), it took freshman Gerald Mayhew batting a puck out of the air to beat goaltender Charlie Finn and Colgate 1-0
2014 Midwest Regional Final: North Dakota vs. Ferris State 2-1 Loss 2OT- Despite being the #2 seed in the region, Ferris came into this game as slight underdogs against the powerful University of North Dakota. The Ferris State onslaught was repeatedly turned aside by goaltender Zane McIntyre (then Zane Gothberg), who stole the show by making 43 saves in the 2OT win.
2015 WCHA Playoffs Round 1, Game 2: Bemidji State vs. Ferris State 3-2 Win 3OT- Ryan Lowney ends the longest game in school history to send the Bulldogs back to the Final Five for the second straight year
Traditions:
Just before game time: “I! I believe! I believe that! I believe that we will win! I believe that we will win!...”
Before opening faceoff: “Drooooop It! Drooooop It! Drooooop It! Thank You Asshole!”
Ferris Powerplay:
Leader: Ice cold beer!
Students: Makes you wanna cheer!
L: Ice cold wine!
S: Makes you feel fine!
L: Ice cold whiskey!
S: Makes you feel frisky!
L: Ice cold puck!
S: MAKES YOU WANNA SCOOOOORE!
Goalie plays puck behind net: L: Know your role! S: Stay in your hole!
City: Big Rapids, MI
Population: 10,517 (2013)
History: Big Rapids Industrial School was founded in 1884 by Woodbridge N. Ferris. A year later, the name was changed to Ferris Industrial School and later Ferris Institute. 1893 was an incredibly significant year for the school. A young student asked Mr. Ferris to train him for a career as a pharmacist. He did, and state officials were so impressed with how well he did on the state board exam, Ferris was encouraged to establish a full time pharmacy program, which remains the most well known program at Ferris State. In 1898, the school made the change from private to a public school. In 1949, the State of Michigan purchased the school and it was again renamed Ferris State College. Before the state could take control, however, a fire broke out destroying all but three buildings (Alumni Building, Old Main and Prakken) which are all haunted. In 1963, the name was changed from Ferris Institute to Ferris State College. In 1987, the FSC became Ferris State University. The Bulldogs' magical run in the 2012 NCAA tournament proved to be quite huge for the school as well. The National Championship appearance was immediately followed by record enrollment over the next 3 years.
Local Dining
Crankers Brewery- Great food, and open into the wee hours of the morning, so pretty much all you can ask for in a college town
Schuberg’s- Old school bar in downtown Big Rapids with some fantastic burgers
Other Sports:
Hockey is the school’s only Division 1 sport and the most successful sport, however, the football, basketball and volleyball teams all had great 2014-15 years. Football went undefeated through the regular season and into the 2nd round of the playoffs. We also haven’t lost to Grand Valley State since 2011, which isn’t really relevant except it pisses them off something fierce since it’s the only sport they care about and they still can’t beat us. Basketball and volleyball also came home with GLIAC titles.
Other:
If you’re ever in Big Rapids, I highly suggest visiting the Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia. It’s a small museum in the basement of the school library and, well you can probably figure out what you’ll find down there. It is definitely a powerful experience to walk through. If you want something a bit more fun and less serious, the Wildlife Center is also a fun time. If you’ve ever wanted to go nose to nose with a huge stuffed giraffe (we all know you do!), this is the place to do it. Most importantly, if you happen to be in town in January of February, grab your skates and a stick and get in on a pickup game at Hemlock Park! Nothing beats outdoor hockey under flood lights with the snow falling!
Academics
Ferris State University is has over 150 programs divided into 7 colleges.
College of Arts and Sciences
College of Business
College of Education and Human Services
College of Engineering Technology
College of Health Professions
Michigan College of Optometry
College of Pharmacy.
The Optometry and Pharmacy programs are very prestigious and considered by many to be the best in the nation. These are the programs that are typically brought up when discussing Ferris State, but they are not the only highly touted programs. The Plastics and Rubber Engineering majors are undeniably the best of the few in the country (Only 7 colleges in the United States has a plastics program. Only 1 has rubber) according to the very unbiased opinion I have come to over the past 2 years as a Plastic Engineering student at Ferris.
Notable Alumni:
If you wear glasses or have had eye surgery, I’d be willing to bet a Ferris State alum played a big role in correcting your eyesight.
Red Wings Head Coach Jeff Blashill. I chose to not include him in the great players list because, well, you have to be a great player to be mentioned that. Mr. Blashill was not, but we still love him.
Woodbridge N. Ferris. Ok, so he's not exactly an alum, but he founded the school so I think it fits. After founding the school in 1884, Mr. Ferris went on to serve as Governor of Michigan from 1913-1917. After that, he went on to Washington to serve as one of Michigan's senators from 1923 until his death in 1928. Plus, he has an awesome name.
Also Me.
What’s Next?
I think this will be a rebound season for the Bulldogs. This year’s junior class has been improving every game since they started and look ready to take the reins and lead us back into NCAA tournament contention. Our only major concern is in goal. CJ Motte, who anchored very good teams for 3 years after platooning as a freshman during the 2011-12 season, graduated leaving Bob Daniels with quite the decision to make. Does he choose senior Charles Williams? Williams was a very good goaltender in brief stints during his freshman and sophomore years, so he should be the favorite except he missed all of last season with an injury (Unfortunately, I don’t know what it was). How about junior Trace Pennock? Trace allowed 2 goals in 9 minutes during a blowout win against Alaska Anchorage, and that is his only in game experience over his 2 seasons. Or does he defy all of that and choose incoming freshman Darren Smith, who put up a .909 SV % and 2.81 GAA with Madison in the USHL. Final Thoughts: It’s a great time to be a Bulldog! We finally got Western back on the schedule and a big name team not named Michigan is coming to town! Also, the B1G still sucks and the CCHA was better.
LOOK OUT TAMPA! WE'RE COMIN BACK!
Let’s Go Dawgs!
Shoutout to JohnDoeMonopoly for setting all of this up
Relevant Subreddits
/collegehockey to talk about the game we all love but with facemasks.
/60teams60days for more info on this awesome series!

Verified? (This bot cannot verify AMAs just yet)
Date: 2012-08-08
Link to submission (Has self-text)
Link to my post

Questions	Answers
How's the government? The laws for exemple, any wierd ones? And last, how are the people you meet? Kind? Cold? Assholes? etc...	Well, Government wise they check on us foreigners like every three months to see if we're here legally, apart from hundreds of blocked sites nth else is much to notice, umm...well two laws I've learned first hand is if someone instigates a fight and the instigator gets the shit beat out of him the victims have to pay all his hospital bills plus compensation. another is if you're driving and an asshole in front of you decides to slam on the breaks for the fun of it and you hit him/her you have to pay all there repairment costs and compensation, same would be if some asshole slaps on the breaks causing a 17 car collision then the last car to bump pays for all 17 cars... Well, apart from being hospitalised with a fractured skull last year after being beaten with a brick and a few beer bottles for the sole reason that I'm a foreigner life has been pretty ok, Have a bunch of bros who would do anything for me and me for them and well yup,hope you get the point haha, I tend to stay away from assholes==
Tell me more about the getting hospitalized just for being a foreigner, I was considering going to China to teach. This disturbs me.	Ok, so heres what happened, I was working at a bar as a foreign correspondant and a chinese mate comes in at the end of my shift, offers to bring me for a few drinks and sheep kebab, he said i can crash at his place so I agreed. (Note:He lives pretty far from city centre,anyone interesting in google map can search 北京东坝) so we were there just me and him chattin and having a beer and a sheeps leg each,and there as another table to our right backside, well as the time went on they offered us cigarettes and came over to cheer with us and strike up a chat,things goin well anyway and after bout a half an hour they say they're leaving so we say goodbye and that was that,until...five minutes later(note: this is when things start getting hazy) I got a brick(yes a building brick,red one) busted in half over my head, my face slammed off the table and bounced back up just to be greeted with a bottle smashing into pieces on what i can presume was the same spot i previously got hit, anyway animal instinct kicks in and I stand up turn around and think holy fuck its them,all bottles and bricks(Not too hot on what happened next, I had a concussion and would later find out i had a fractured skull) well things blurred, and i looked to my friend who was also standing up unharmed,next thing i know the owner of the kebab stall grabs me and throws me inside his shack,locks the door and tells me stay there, two-three minutes later hes like they're gone, I walk over and ask where my friendd is and he's like,over there and then I started crying, man was my friend fucked, to this day he's still in emergency care in a vegetablised state,,,his head was the size of a basketball,his shoes ten metres away from him on the ground etc...I visit him twice a week and have helped him pay all his medical bills so far,doctors said theres a chance of recovery. note this happened last august. Sorry if my storys a bit long and confusing...but In the fight and when i was being hit and later according to witnesses the reason of this savage beating was because I'm a foreigner,'nuff said, and my friend got it cos he was hanging out with a foreigner.
That's horrible, I'm so sorry for you.	It's ok~
No offense intended... but couldn't this be more related to you hooking up with 26 random chicks behind the bars than you being a foreigner?	No mate, as stated in the further.posts this place was terribly far from city centre and also, im not a manwhore, i didnt plow thru 26 in a month or sth if you knw what i mean, it was 26 throughoit seven years amd some of which I regret, drunken mistakes..
Are you a juicy contradiction?	Not sure what you're getting at-_-
Link to www.youtube.com. Chinese... Japanese... Korean... What's the difference? Link to www.youtube.com.	Umm...youtubes blocked here mate...but umm...If you're questioning my credibility I can prove it one way or another.
It's a funny Starburst candy commercial about a Korean who lives in Scotland and acts stereotypically Scottish, which is viewed as a strange clash of cultures (a juicy contradiction). MrDreamBlind was wondering if you are an Irishman that acts stereotypically Chinese.	Ahahaha alright it sounds funny when explained like that,sorry for not understanding @ mrdreamblind and thx for explaining @novadaemon, umm, well to behonest my thinking has been changed slightly, like if i see a foreigner i dont think oh a dude, i think ohhh a foreigner yet i look at chn ppl completely normal...i knw rite==
You must provide proof of your identity in the body of your post when you submit your IAmA.	And how do I provide proof of my identity?-_-
Wanna know how I know you're white?	Cos I uploaded pics？←_←
Give some proof you are a) an Irish person b)Lived in China and c) did it for 7 years or something similar. Otherwise you could be some sweaty neck beard sitting in his mothers basement making up bullshit stories while jacking off to ZGB.	Wish I had facebook== So you're absically asking me for my passport photocopy, pics of me for the last 2555 days?(yes i used a calculator) and all the copies of my visa extensions even tho during mid way i have had to update my passport...?if thats not what youre saying man then pm me,and also tell me where i should place this stuff.
Do you eat asian/chinese food every day now? Or do you miss any food in particular from Ireland?	Well, Depends what I'm in the mood for haha I ofcourse eat the food of the gods(Nutella) but I usually have chinese every second day, well...I miss a good fish and chip and sausage rolls:S.
I bet you miss the milk. Every irish person i know who goes abroad suffers on account of the shitty milk everywhere else.	Jesus u got that spot on, also another "what i wouldnt give for a" factor.
Taytos?	To tell the truth I'd kill for a pack of monster munch (They still have em?)
Yes we still have em.	Ah yes`~
But they're called mighty munch now.	Well as long as insides the same i dun care,thx for the heads up~
Is it true that men and women, boys and girls, will just drop trau and take a shit on the side of the road? I hear that it's an issue with mainlanders visiting HK, etc.	Oh yes,very true...they say it is ultimately unhygienic to wear diapers...wtf.... so theyd rather have there childrens wee-wees and hoo-has out in the dirt etc....boggles the mind man, china is like.. aight its too fucked up, if anyone can make a suitable reference of words they got my upvote.
I've never seen a fellow Irishman type 'aight' and 'bros' etc. What county are you from ? New York?	Sorry man, just writing it like that cos i presumed reddit was mostly americans←_← Im from meelick county clare if youre wondering.
But it's still children? You don't see teenagers or adults just saying "dang, I gotta pinch one off right now" and just go at it? Babies I can almost understand. They shit everywhere anyways. But when you can make a conscious decision to drop a loaf somewhere, and you do, then it's different.	Well...if thats the case then u usually just see guys pissing on a wall and whatnot, u never rly see a grownup woman pissin in the middle of the street.
The Americans would make up a large percentage alright but you don't need to pander to them in that kind of way. They're generally a smart bunch and it's not like anyone is expecting you to labhairt as Gaeilge ;) Cheers for the AMA by the way, it's food for thought. Any info or experiences with teaching in South Korea?	Haha alright then sound,nah sorry man i haven't.
Why did you grow tired of teaching English? What are Chinese women like compared to western women? Has anyone accidentally spat on you? Have you lived in any other Oriental countries? And if so, then what are the differences you've noticed?	Because their level of english is too low, it gets highly frustrating.. In what way are you referring to? I ggot snotted on by an old woman... lived in hk for a month, People are alot more civilised, thats basically it~
I meant what are Chinese women like in a dating/relationship sense, compared to western women.	Very..well...braindead IMO...and in multiple foreign friends opinion... I think it's cos of the one child policy, all of them are princesses, spoiled rotten, there are 30 year olds who love hello kitty== They throw hissy fits in public,stomp there feet if they don't get what they want, well...to sum it up...they are mentally immature, basically the same as children. I'd pick a westerner for a relationship anyday but...damn some asians are hot:S.
Are you doing this self.IAmA because you feel very tall and lonely?	Hahahaha, man im 1.82 and lately yao mings seem to be popping up everywhere...scary shit.
How do you get a visa that allows you to stay for so long? Is prostitution quite common? Did you work/live with other western people or just chinese? Did you learn to speak mandarin?	I work... Umm..yes it is, You can find them in most KTV's for around 200-300 rmb, do the math yourself.. umm,yes when i was teaching english, mostly american or canadians, but also alot of phillipine ppl. I'm fluent in reading writing and oral.
'YOU RANT RICE WIT DAT?'	Dude...its china,you dont want rice they dont care,you get rice
How did you slip past the knight of new?	What's new for?
It sounds like a place I would hate visiting honestly. The lack of manners sounds like something that would piss me off. Also the lack of cleanliness... yuck.... How do you eat food there? do people really just shit in the streets? the fuck?	Children shit in the streets, dont get it too twisted in ur head lol, well...i usually make my own food or go to western restaraunts, if i got nth to make ill order and eat with my own utensils,as to at dinner with chinese mates ill just wing it~
What about a black guy?	Black guys get all the ladies, sad rly:(
Was there a large Irish community out there? I remember seeing something on tg4 there a while ago where some guy in china was trying to set up a GAA club...I've always wondered was there genuinely an Irish community out there or just one guy trying to get a grant!	Well man to be honest, I have only met like 5 irish people in my whole seven years, four of those 5 were at a bar on holidays and we drank an hour or two, the other one was a mate for about three months teaching gaelic football then he went off home and that was that~
What province did you work at? What did you like most about china? What did you like Least about china? Favorite dish?	Beijing,liaoning,shanxi. Cheap beer and cigarettes. peoples manners. has always been.....(drum roll) egg fried rice fuck yea.
Aside from the language, what is the biggest adjustment you have made as a foreigner in china?	Well, the customs here are alot different and people on the streets are very unhygienic/rude. they'll smoke right into your face, ask you alot of personal questions,constantly marvel at the fact that you're a foreigner(老外pronounced lau wy) spit all over the street and well...you'd have to be here to understand what I'm truly getting at. Apart from that would also be the food which was really hard getting used to at the start and also numerous other factors.
I think some of the rudeness/lack of hygiene depends on where you are as well. China is pretty large, not all of it is backwards. But you know that.	Well man, in my vast adventures across china and living in the daily lifestyle theres only one place I haven't seen this stuff, hang zhou，杭州，otherwise known as chinas own heaven on earth, man...i did not wanna leave that place.
Are you teaching english? or working a job? I have a friend or two over there doing it.	Was teaching for a bit, got extremely tedious, now I've decided damn I don't wanna be here any longer and am waiting for my visa to expire so i can nope the fuck outta here hehe (I should explain that in the 7 years I've been here I have yet to return home or visit other western countries)
Why do you need to wait for your visa to expire? Why can't you just up and leave now?	Cos i don't want to:S... and also because well.....cheap booze and cigarettes man.
What's the plan so?	Heading back to Ireland, not sure to do what yet,just miss home.
You couldn't pick a worse time to come back.	Well I heard the economy is the worst it's ever been but well, I'll see how it goes~
You could teach chinese language to europeans!	Have considered it actually~
It's terrible.. people are leaving.. 1000 a week or something.. could end up dole bound for a couple of years.	I heard everyones going to canada, but well, either way I gotta head back for a while, people have passed away while I was gone including my grandad who passed last month so..yup.
Hey, just to add to that thought; my friend taught English in China for 4-5 years. Came back blagged his way onto a PGCE (teaching qualification) and is now teaching Mandarin to school kids. I think there's also a decent market in teaching business men and women.	Thanks, to be honest if things don;t work out in Ireland I'm planning on hitting up canada to see how it goes and truth be told Teaching chinese in the future has been in my plan:) So thanks somuch and good luck to you too.
Sorry to hear dude.. whereabouts you from?	Meelick co.clare.
Have you ever been to Tibet? How was your journey like?	Never been, If i went there I wouldn't be allowed back in to china...umm...that word might get me blocked from reddit btw...so lets refrain frm using it and call it the smurfs or sth.
That sucks dude, if you ever get the chance to go Para, GO. It's fucking amazing, minus the tense atmposphere in the citys though.	Well I'm thinking of visiting the land of smurfs after I get back to ireland~ always been a big fan,always was dissapointed bout the restrictions here tho.
Have you met any other Irish folks? Do people stare because you look different?	Well it was previously mentioned(although at this point it's pretty hard to find in the mountain of comments)but yeah man, I've met 5 altogether, four at bars and they were on holidays and one who used to teach gaelic football here, were frds around 3 months when he went back home,so yeah, going by my experience they really are few and far apart which is pretty sad:S.
What do you miss most about Ireland?	Chocolate, rain rain RAINNNNN, good ole meal, garlic chips and cheese, my relatives, my dad and sister umm...well...it's too much to type when theres so many more posts to reply too so I'll sum it up, damnit man I miss everything!!T_T.
Is table tennis really that popular in china? How popular is table tennis in comparison to football, tennis, rugby, etc? And how important is sport in china? China is about the best(or second best) cuntry in this years olympics how much is shown in tv? how patriotic are the people?	Well from what I've seen it isn;t incredibly popular but it's usually people in school that play it the most. basketball takes the no.1 place in popularity here which is sad cos i dont play, but thankfully after that there's football(soccer) which is pretty popular and slowly increasing with chinas improvement in there football league, but sadly apart from a few fitness freaks I haven't had much of a challenge, they're not exactly...good at it...at all.. but on the other hand theres a small minority that can make your jaw drop so yeah.as for rugby etc i havent checked it out, oh umm, golf is pretty popular among the 30-40+
Ever been an average or decent looking white guy in Asia? All you have to do is stand in a baclub and you'll get some.	Exactly.
What is the beer like in China?	Well, they have there own brand "tsingtao/青岛" which you can get bottled or in draft at a pub, its pretty worth it for the price (15RMB a pint,umm...2-3 dollars?) and well,if you don't like it you can always get other foreign beers, corona, bud,guinness etc.
[Tried tsingtao whilst in Beijing. It wasn't for me, to say the least =](http://www.reddit.com/IAmA/comments/xvk7y/iama_irish_person_who_has_lived_in_china_for_the/c5q0bzi?context=5)	Well thats too bad man considering it's so cheap n' all:(
Did you live in one of the giant well know cities or a smaller city? Is the pollution really bad? Did you drive or is public transport quite good?	Well ive lived in the poorest parts of china and all over but am currently livin in beijing.WELL.....Alright,all jokes aside its disastrous.. used to ride motorbike,sold it, now use subway mostly.
Great AMA, first off! I was in Guangzhou for about 5 months for school last year, lots of great memories. After 7 years, why no VPN? Did you have one and decided it wasn't worth it, or just never got around to it? I bet you've done a fair bit of travelling. Where is your favorite place to go on holiday? Best vacation story?	Thanks mate, well I used to use hotspot shield(free vpn) but since it stopped working for me like 2 or 3 years ago I just couldnt be bother my arse to get a new one so thats y i dun have one~ Best place I went was hainan, thunder and lightning on the beach, it rained the whole time I was there, Ppl may think it sounds stupid or lame or sth but damn i love rain haha, and it was pretty great,played xbox 360 four player Call of duty while having beers, then if we got bored wed walk around exploring,pretty much it~
Could you speak a little on visa types? I had a company offer me an F visa to teach this year, and I the offer is still open, how risky would you say it is? ( I realize the F is illegal to work on) If one was found, what would be the ramifications?	If it was me I wouldn't take it unless the case was when you get there they'll switch you on to a Z visa man, chinese government are cranking down on alot of foreign related shit and if you get caught on an f visa you will either be deported or have to go to the detention centre, so you should get that clear with them mate, Z visa or nothing.
你有沒有操過中國的女孩? 喜歡愛爾蘭的女孩還是中國的女孩?	有干过几个吧， 我个人只对亚洲人来那种劲儿所以嗯。。。现在的女朋友是新加坡人，挺牛逼你的，国外的思想和亚洲人的身材呵呵呵， 你怎么打繁体的啊？香港人？台湾人？
哈哈, 非常好. 新加坡的女孩? 跟她說國語還是英語? 我是加拿大華人. 不是打出來的. 我寫的. 不知道怎樣打 lol . where did you stay in China?	英语汉语通说~他跟我一样两个都好呵呵， 啊好吧华人啊~ 几乎走遍中国了。。。~~
Why is it that, no matter where I go in the world, I can find an excellent Irish pub? Also, what is your favorite pub in China?	Cos we're the best drinkers+advertisement purposes haha,well if you ever get to beijing hit up first floor in sanlitun bar street(三里屯酒吧街的一楼酒吧) I'm there almost daily, great drinks,solid draft, nice beef burger if i may add and great athmosphere.
Have you retained an Irish accent or have you developed a 'twang'?	I've proudly retained my Irish accent:)
Would you mind posting an audio clip of you speaking Chinese? My brain can't decide what Chinese with an Irish accent sounds like.	Well...where would i post this to? this can be solved alot easier provided ure an iphone or android user,if so download an app called WEchat. free whatsapp type messenger, fully awesome lol.
Wait so do all of your (former) students have Irish accents too ???	Unfortunately no, I do like what I've been trying to do with this thread, I jist kill my accent and thats that... only feels natural when in irelqnd or talking to my family, otherwise its just a dead bland accent that I use.
Do you eat mostly spicy food now instead of salty?	No not really, I've liked spicy foods since I was born so I personally tend to edge towards spicy foods but you can find alot of salty/bittesweet foods etc here so your diet isn't extremely restricted,also if you feel really (insert yao ming ugh face) then you can always hit up a foreign restaraunt so yeah~
Sichuan would welcome you, first time I had "water boiled beef" i thought they really meant beef boiled in water...how wrong was I. :( I'm glad you are doing well, I"m full chinese and I don't speak mandarin...eesh :-/ How does it feel that you could outdrink most people in the country?	Haha pretty good i guess but damn in the seven years ive been here ive spent four tracking down the best drinkers, now my best mates all chinese, damn weve all drank one another under the table one time or another~ was just out with em again last night,christ was i shitfaced.
Did any Chinese women try to marry you/ were you popular with the ladies?	Thank god no for the first one. and to answer no.2, still am B-)
Irish I had lived in China! Sorry about the pun. Now questions. What did you think was the weirdest part of their culture? Also, where in Ireland are you from?	Meelick co.clare. well....Mostly hygiene related things...I'm a real somewhat clean freak and don;t like when a bunch of ppl all have saliva on there chopsticks and keep eating off the ame plates together, also they have weird superstitions/traditions? like if you have a baby girl you have to squeeze/pinch her nipples till water comes ut,when this happens it will guarantee she has a huge rack when shes older, diapers are unhygienic etc etc.
How common is it to find a cheap rip off/fake of a real product? (iPhone, Laptop, Usb device, so on) and have you had problems like that? with scams?	VERY common, knock off iphone can be anywhere from 200rmb to 1600rmb. laptops not much but u can get a sony/apple/toshiba (they all look the same as another and run xp mind you) for around 1600 rmb, usb device u can pick up a fake 16gb for around 60 rmb and so on. never been scammed,if i want fake ill intentionally buy fake lol.
The reason why I wanted to know is because my dad is actually in China for business and he said he'll bring some tech back and my paranoia said "no"	Well if thats the case youd be better off going with hardware than anything else, phns and laptops are a no-go but a usb disk wouldnt hurt~also bags or wallets aint to be missed.
I'm taking guess that you speak Mandarin? That being said, what did you find most difficult learning? I've picked up bits of it from friends.	Well..to this day I still find difficulties with the umm....pronunciation of some words, the way they have the four sounds(hard to explain==) but apart from seldom fuckups I read speal and write perfectly.
My wife's dad remarried a chinese woman. her son came to visit us here in the states, he lives in NZ. he hates china with a passion, says government is only there for presence, doesn't do anything to help the poor. unles you live in hong kong, you are most likely poor. Do you see any of this? how do you feel about it, not being a native?	I get where he's coming from but I wouldn't say only hk ppl are rich, there are so many "new rich" here,like they sold there farm or cold mines or rent houses etc and they all drive lambos audis ferraris bmws the like, man sometimes it seemd like the most common car here is audi a6..
Well, he hasn't been back to china in at least 10 years, maybe its changed. i just know he will never go back.	Well thats too bad,to each his own.
I know what you mean. It isn't just the Chinese either had a Polish buddy that would laugh his ass off at me when I tried to pronounce his last name. "Brezhinski", I think, sounded like a fucking dying blender.	Hahahahaha, nice use of words~ you get my upvote:P But yeah, can really tick you off.
I'm pretty new too. You said earlier that " I must hav had an interesting life". Well, yeah, I've seen some shit for only being 32. I'm trying to get my licenses to work on commercial shipping vessels. In the engine room. It pays really good, and I'll get to travel a lot.	Well man what Can I say? I hope all the best for you! And upvotes away~!
I'm sure you've experienced, when walking around, people bumping into you. What I mean with that is both of you have room to walk but they seem to walk into your path to bump into you. Has this happened often? Do you have any idea why some do this? Also, do they, in general, seem to talk louder than necessary to each other? Same as before; have any guesses as to why this is?	It's happened to me a few times, some non-intentional example a dope staring at his phone, others intentional but for what reason I still don't know, and yea man, chinese people shouldnt even need phones,most've the time they're shouting into the phones like its completely normal(not arguing or cursing)
Ever get robbed? How safe did you feel?	Thankfully never got robbed, altho I lost my phn a couple of times in taxis, to be honest all in all you feel very safe walking around here~
Is the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 acknowledged by society in general? Is it mentioned in the press every 4th of June? Are there any major news events that they do not cover or acknowledge?	It's usually not acknowledged by the younger generations but find someone in there 60's or 70's and you get a nice good story, My former chinese teacher was a 68 year old man, caterpillar eyebrows rly cool guy, he lived in france for thirteen years or sth during or after the cultural revolution,he said on the tiananmen tank crushing day his son stood in front of the tank, he said if it wasnt for him saving his sons ass he wouldve been mush too. Well...alot of news here gets restricted, especially any news harmful to china a s a whole so yeah, that's basically the gist of it.
As a fellow Irishman I must ask. Does being in China make the Irish Curse seem fiction?	Irish curse?! what irish curse?! blasphemy ;) if you know what i mean.
What are the average Chinese person's perceptions of the West like?	Tall,big nose,rich. that about sums it up.
This might have been asked already, but here goes. Do they treat you any differently because your Irish as opposed to British or American? Or is there just one attitude towards Westerners?	Just one attitude towards westerners, unless you're russian.... Mainly because a majority of the russian women here are prostitutes and the men well...I dunno what the men do== (No offence intended to any russian redditors)
Do you miss Tayto crisps? And Cadburys chocolate? What typical Irish things do you miss?	Cadburys turkish, golden crunch,sausage rolls,supermacs,fish nd chip, crisps crisps crisps all of em, miss so much, you cant even get a garlic chip n cheese anywhere here...oh the humanity...
I don't think there's much difference... maybe shanghai people can be a bit more snobby/commanding? They're still both chinese people living in a big city..	Well it's just a thing of North and South, matters alot in China for some reason... They're always insulting each other yet when it comes to marriage in alot of situations the parents always encourage to marry someone far away(It's actually to prevent the idea of them somehow being related somewhere up the family tree)
Forget about immigrants, so many tourists wtf	Haha well what can be done man? It gives the country money and that's all they care about as far as I'm concerned~
Did they have any good beers in China that you found? What were the alcohols of choice?	Usually local beer and bai jiu, but god is bai jiu horrible.... its around the same percentage of vodka (42 percent thereabouts/ theres also a 52/56?) but after two or three small glasses im hammered(not shot glasses)
Isnt there another subreddit for this??	I'm not sure.... New to reddit, thought this was it, if I'm wrong well then I wouldn't mind if the mods moved it.
Did you face any discrimination at all?	Well most foreigners do one way or another, be it for being white,black, other asian,hispanic etc. also we're always sterotyped as having huge noses and to be having fortunes just burning in our pockets, and contrary to our belief ive heard a few times that they think foreigners all look the same which was pretty sad.
I was in China for a month and one of the things that startled me the most was the driving. How do you deal with their crazy closeness, ignoring street markings sometimes, etc?	Always find a human shield, if not well then...be extra careful.
This is a serious question, how easy is it to get cat/dog meat?	Dog meat is pretty easy to get depending on where you live, you can find it in multiple places in beijing, but for dog and cat meat you'd either have to head up north or all the way down south(both have it), this was just in my experiences.
Why did you use freeimagehosting.net and not imgur ?	Cos imgur doesnt load properly:S.

Last updated: 2012-08-12 17:45 UTC
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