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Home » Decision Support in Medicine » Obstetrics and Gynecology
Gestational Trophoblastic Disease – Chemotherapy
Mario Pineda
John R. Lurain
Gestational trophoblastic disease
1. What every clinician should know. Are you sure your patient has Gestational Trophoblastic disease? What should you expect to find?
Gestational trophoblastic disease (GTD) is a spectrum of cellular proliferations arising from placental villous trophoblaststhat encompasses four forms: hydatidiform mole ( complete and partial), invasive mole, choriocarcinoma, and placental site trophoblastic tumor (PSTT) and its related epithelioid trophoblastic tumor (ETT).
2. Diagnosis and differential diagnosis
Gestational trophoblastic neoplasia (GTN) refers to the last three forms of GTD: invasive mole, choriocarcinoma, and PSTT/ETT. The components needed to diagnose postmolar GTN are one or more of the following:
hCG plateau (<10% decrease) for four consecutive values over a period of 3 weeks.
hCG rise of 10% or greater for three values over 2 weeks.
hCG persistence 6 months after molar evacuation.
histopathologic diagnosis of choriocarcinoma.
presence of metastatic disease.
A. What therapies should you initiate immediately (ie, emergently)?
Treatment of GTN is based on classification into risk groups defined by FIGO anatomic stage and modified WHO Risk-Factor Score. The FIGO stage ( Table I ) is designated by a Roman numeral followed by the modified WHO Risk-Factor Score ( Table II ) designated by an Arabic numeral.
Table I.n
FIGO Staging for Gestational Trophoblastic Neoplasia
Table II.n
Modified WHO Scoring System for Gestational Trophoblastic Neoplasia
Patients with nonmetastatic (stage I) and low-risk metastatic (stages II and III, score <7) GTN can be treated with single-agent chemotherapy with resulting survival rates approaching 100%. (See Low-Risk GTN.) Patients with high-risk metastatic disease (stage IV and stages II-III, score 7 or greater) should be treated more aggressively with multiagent chemotherapy with or without adjuvant radiation or surgery to achieve cure rates of 80-90%. (See High-Risk GTN.)
Low-Risk GTN
Patients with nonmetastatic (stage I) and low-risk metastatic (stages II and III, score <7) GTN can be treated with single-agent methotrexate or actinomycin D chemotherapy. Approximately 20-30% of low-risk patients will develop resistance to the initial chemotherapeutic agent, but about 90% will be cured by the use of sequential single-agent chemotherapy. Ultimately, approximately 5-15% of patients will require multiagent chemotherapy with or without surgery to achieve remission. Cure rates should approach 100% for this group of patients.
B. What should the initial definitive therapy for the cancer be?
Initial treatment protocols
Methotrexate 0.4 mg/kg (maximum 25 mg) IM or IV push daily for 5 days every other week seems to be the most effective treatment protocol with 87-93% primary remission rates in retrospective observational studies. Another methotrexate regimen gives slightly higher doses of methotrexate (1.0 mg/kg) IM every other day, alternating with folinic acid (0.1 mg/kg) over 8 days with at least 1 week between courses. This protocol is reported to have decreased toxicity, but is more inconvenient and has been associated with increased need to change chemotherapy to achieve remission (primary remission rates of 74-90%).
Actinomycin D is an alternative to methotrexate, but has more toxicity (nausea, alopecia) and injures local tissue if IV extravasation occurs. Actinomycin D (10-12 mcg/kg IV daily for 5 days every other week) has been used in the presence of methotrexate resistance or in patients who have hepatic or renal compromise or effusions contraindicating use of methotrexate. The primary remission rate for the daily actinomycin D regimen is 77-94%.
Another actinomycin D regimen is the "pulse" protocol using a single 1.25 mg/m2 (max 2.0 mg) IV dose every 2 weeks. This regimen has a primary remission rate of 69-90%.
Single-agent chemotherapy with methotrexate or actinomycin D using one of the multiday dosing schedules is the preferred treatment for patients with low-risk metastatic disease. The weekly methotrexate or biweekly actinomycin D single-dose protocols should be limited to the treatment of nonmetastatic postmolar GTN.
Regardless of the treatment protocol used, chemotherapy is continued until hCG values have returned to normal and at least one course has been administered after the first normal hCG level. Chemotherapy is changed to an alternate single-agent regimen if hCG level plateaus above normal (<10% fall in three consecutive hCG values over 2 weeks) during treatment or if toxicity precludes an adequate dose or frequency of treatment.
Multiagent chemotherapy should be initiated if there is a significant elevation in hCG level (increase in hCG >10%), development of metastases, or resistance to sequential single-agent chemotherapy. Risk factors for single-agent chemotherapy resistance include older age, higher hCG levels, nonmolar antecedent pregnancy, clinicopathologic diagnosis of choriocarcinoma, presence of metastatic disease, and increasing FIGO score.
Hysterectomy may become necessary to remove persistent, chemotherapy-resistant disease in the uterus or in the treatment of uterine hemorrhage from tumor. Hysterectomy is the treatment of choice for PSTT. (See Placental Site Trophoblastic Tumor.) If future fertility is not desired, hysterectomy may be performed as adjuvant treatment with the start of chemotherapy to shorten duration of treatment. (See Future Fertility After GTN.)
A. What complications could arise as a consequence of condition? Are there strategies to lower risk of complications?
Alternative low-risk GTN treatment protocols
Alternative regimens have been developed for actinomycin D and methotrexate ( Table III ).They typically combine higher doses with less frequent administration or use a combination of both agents sequentially; these regimens have been used in an effort to balance cost, toxicity, and efficacy. For example, single weekly IM doses of methotrexate (30-50 mg/m2) is a convenient protocol with lower toxicity and decreased cost, but it has the lowest reported response rates (49-74%). It is not an appropriate choice for metastatic disease or choriocarcinoma.
Table III.n
Chemotherapeutic Treatment of Low-Risk GTN
Similar to the methotrexate/folinic acid regimen described previously (see Initial Treatment Protocols), high-dose methotrexate (100 mg/m2 IV push, then 200 mg/m2 IV over 12 hours) followed by folinic acid rescue with the interval between doses reliant on post-treatment hCG trends has been associated with increased cost and need for second-line therapy, but an efficacy (69-90% remission rate) similar to the daily methotrexate regimen described in the previous section (see Initial Treatment Protocols).
B. What complications could arise as a consequence of the management – chemo, radiation and surgical?
High-risk GTN
Patients with high-risk metastatic GTN (stage IV and stages II-III, score 7 or greater) should be treated more aggressively with multiagent chemotherapy with or without adjuvant radiation or surgery. The most commonly used, current multiagent chemotherapy regimen is etoposide, high-dose methotrexate, actinomycin D, cyclophosphamide, and vincristine (EMA/CO) ( Table IV ). Studies have demonstrated the EMA/CO regimen to yield complete response rates of 71-78%, long-term survival rates of 85-94%, and relatively low toxicity.
Table IV.n
Chemotherapeutic Treatment of High-Risk GTN
Chemotherapy should be continued for two or three courses after first normal hCG. Adjuvant radiation or surgery may additionally be indicated. (See Adjuvant Radiotherapy and Surgery in High-risk GTN.) Approximately 30% of patients will fail first-line therapy or relapse. These patients are treated with platinum/etoposide-containing multiagent chemotherapy, often with surgical resection of persistent tumor. (See Second-line Treatment of Persistent or Recurrent High-risk GTN.)
C. What other therapies are helpful for reducing complications?
Adjuvant radiotherapy and surgery in high-risk GTN
Adjuvant surgical procedures, primarily hysterectomy and pulmonary resection for chemotherapy-resistant disease, as well as control of hemorrhage, are important components in the management of high-risk GTN. Approximately 50% of high-risk patients will require some surgical procedure during the course of treatment to effect cure.
In patients with central nervous system metastases, whole brain irradiation (3000 cGy in 200-cGy fractions) or surgical excision with stereotactic irradiation in selected patients is usually given simultaneously with systemic chemotherapy.
During radiation, the methotrexate dose in the EMA/CO protocol is increased to 1 g/m2 and 30 mg of folinic acid is given every 12 hours for 3 days starting 32 hours after the infusion begins ( Table IV ). Others advocate concurrent intrathecal with high-dose IV methotrexate therapy as part of multiagent chemotherapy as an alternative to brain irradiation.
Cure rates with brain metastases are 50-80% depending on symptoms as well as number, size and location of brain lesions.
5. Prognosis and outcome
A. What would you tell patient and family about the prognosis?
Second-line treatment of persistent or recurrent high-risk GTN
Approximately 30% of patients with high-risk GTN will have an incomplete response to first-line multimodal therapy or experience a relapse from remission. Salvage chemotherapy with regimens containing etoposide and a platinum drug combined with surgical excision of persistent tumor will result in cure in many of these patients.
In patients who have responded to EMA/CO but have plateauing low hCG levels or have a re-elevation of hCG after complete response to EMA/CO, the most appropriate therapy is EMA/EP substituting etoposide and cisplatin for cyclophosphamide and vincristine in the EMA/CO protocol ( Table IV ).
In patients who have developed methotrexate resistance, combination therapy containing etoposide and platinum with bleomycin, ifosfamide, or paclitaxel has been shown to be effective ( Table V ).
Table V.n
Chemotherapy for Refractory Metastatic High-Risk GTN or PSTT
B. "What if" scenarios
Placental site trophoblastic tumor
The rarity of PSTT makes studies examining etiology, risk factors, treatment, and long-term outcome difficult. For the most part, small case series compose the bulk of literature. The foundation for all stages of PSTT remains surgical management with hysterectomy and lymphadenectomy because of the propensity of PSTT to spread to the lymphatic system and their relative resistance to chemotherapy.
Chemotherapy is recommended in patients with metastatic disease or in patients with nonmetastatic disease who have risk factors for recurrence, such as time since antecedent pregnancy >2 years, vascular invasion, deep myometrial invasion, high mitotic index (>6/10 high-power fields), or tumor necrosis and/or persistently elevated postoperative serum hCG levels.
Although the optimal regimen remains to be defined, current clinical impression for first-line chemotherapy for PSTT is a platinum-containing regimen such as EMA/EP ( Table IV ) or TP/TE ( Table V ).
The largest retrospective study identified 62 patients with PSTT of a total of 35,550 patients diagnosed with GTD between 1976-2006 (representing 0.2%). Overall survival was 70%, with a recurrence-free survival of 73%. (See Schmid et al.).
The mainstay of therapy in this and other reports remains surgery. Of 34 patients with stage I disease, equal numbers were treated with surgery or surgery and chemotherapy. Overall survival at 10 years was similar for the two groups at 91% and 93%, respectively. Patients with stage II disease or greater were treated with surgery and chemotherapy, resulting in an overall survival at 10 years of 50%.
6. Follow-up surveillance and therapy management of recurrences
Reasons for treatment failure
Outcomes for patients who had failed initial therapy and were referred to a trophoblastic disease center have been reviewed. (See Lurain et al.). For patients treated primarily at a trophoblastic disease center, survival was 95% compared with 73% for patients treated secondarily. Analysis revealed that most referred patients had not received optimal primary chemotherapy, either in choice of single-agent and/or dosage and treatment schedules.
The most common cause of treatment failure was selection of a single-agent chemotherapy protocol to treat high-risk GTN (see High-risk GTN). The second most common reason for treatment failure was inappropriate use of the weekly IM methotrexate protocol (see Alternative Low-risk GTN Treatment Protocols) to treat patients with metastatic disease, risk score 7 or greater, and/or nonpostmolar choriocarcinoma.
Request for advice from or referral for treatment to clinicians with expertise in management of GTN is recommended for low-risk patients who fail single-agent chemotherapy and for any patient with high-risk disease.
Follow-up after treatment for GTN
Chemotherapy should be continued as noted above (see Low-risk GTN Initial Treatment Protocols and see High-risk GTN). Quantitative serum hCG levels should be obtained at 1-month intervals for 12 months after resolution of GTN. The risk of relapse is about 3% in the first year after completing therapy. Physical examinations should be performed every 6-12 months. Contraception should be maintained during treatment and for 1 year after completing chemotherapy, preferably using oral contraception.
Because of the risk of subsequent GTD, pelvic ultrasound should be performed in the first trimester to confirm a normal gestation, careful histopathologic evaluation of products of conception or placentas should be performed, and a 6-week postpartum quantitative hCG should be collected.
Future fertility after GTN
GTN occurs most frequently in women of reproductive age, many of whom remain interested in fertility after resolution of their GTN. Multiple studies have demonstrated that the most likely pregnancy outcome after fertility-sparing treatment for GTN is a successful term pregnancy.
Compared with the general population there does appear to be an increased incidence of stillbirth (approximately 1.5% vs 0.6%) and repeat molar pregnancy (0.6-2.0%) in women who have been treated with chemotherapy for GTN. The mechanisms resulting in these increases are not understood.
Pregnancies resulting in repeat molar gestation also have an increased risk of persistent GTN. An increase in the incidence of congenital anomalies after chemotherapy has not been seen. As noted previously, current recommendations for follow-up of GTN include contraception for 12 months subsequent to resolution of GTN.
In one study examining the outcomes of the first pregnancy after chemotherapeutic treatment for GTN, 37.5% of patients who conceived less than 6 months after chemotherapy had term pregnancies compared with 81.8% of patients who conceived after 12 months. (See Matsui et al.) The mechanisms resulting in this decrease remain to be elucidated.
What is the evidence for specific management and treatment recommendations?
Bower, M, Newlands, ES, Holden, L, Short, D, Brock, C, Rustin, GJ. "EMA/CO for high-risk gestational trophoblastic tumors: Results from a cohort of 272 patients". J Clin Oncol. vol. 15. 1997. pp. 2636-2643. (Researchers at Charing Cross Hospital in the United Kingdom provide a large retrospective cohort analysis of patients with high-risk GTN who were treated primarily or secondarily with EMA/CO chemotherapy. Independent adverse prognostic factors identified were the presence of liver metastases, presence of brain metastases, antecedent term pregnancy, and long interval since antecedent pregnancy. Consistent with data published from smaller cohorts, they find greater than 85% 5-year overall survival rate with this therapy [See High-risk GTN].)
Lurain, JR. "Gestational trophoblastic disease. II: classification and management of gestational trophoblastic neoplasia". Am J Obstet Gynecol. vol. 204. 2011. pp. 11-18. (The second of a two-part series on GTD this article provides a cogent review and concise analysis for the rationale and methods for the treatment of GTN using risk stratification based on stage and a scoring system. The author is the head of a trophoblastic disease center in the United States and has published extensively on GTD.)
Schmid, P, Nagai, Y, Agarwal, R, Hancock, B, Savage, PM, Sebire, NJ. "Prognostic markers and long-term outcome of placental-site trophoblastic tumours: a retrospective observational study". Lancet. vol. 374. 2009. pp. 48-55. (The authors, predominantly researchers from GTD centers in the UK, provide a retrospective analysis of diagnosis, management, and outcomes for the largest PSTT cohort published to date. They present data for 62 patients who were diagnosed with PSTT of 35,550 patients with GTD [0.2%] from 1976 through 2006. They aimed to estimate overall survival and recurrence-free survival at 10 years from initial treatment [70% and 73%, respectively].)
Seckl, MJ, Sebire, NJ, Berkowitz , RS. "Gestational trophoblastic disease". Lancet. vol. 376. 2010. pp. 717-729. (Pathogenesis, pathology, clinical diagnosis, and management of GTD is included in this comprehensive review. The authors rely heavily on experiences and recommendations from the GTD centers in London, UK, and Boston, US.)
Osborne, RJ, Filiaci, V, Schink, JC, Mannel, RS, Alvarez Secord, A, Kelley, JL. "Phase III trial of weekly methotrexate or pulsed dactinomycin for low-risk gestational trophoblastic neoplasia: A Gynecologic Oncology Group study". J Clin Oncol. vol. 29. 2011. pp. 825-831. (This study remains one of the few RCT comparing single-agent chemotherapy for low-risk GTN; researchers compared popular regimens in the United States [methotrexate 30 mg/m2 IM weekly vs actinomycin D 1.25 mg/m2 IV every 2 weeks]. Ostensibly an international trial, 229 of the 240 patients enrolled were from North America [most of these from the United States]. Complete response [CR] rates were 53% for methotrexate and 70% for actinomycin D. Comparable and low adverse effect profiles were observed [see Initial Treatment Protocols].)
Matsui, H, Itsuka, Y, Suzuka, K, Yamazawa, K, Tanaka, N, Mitsuhashi, A. "Early pregnancy outcomes after chemotherapy for gestational trophoblastic tumor". J Reprod Med. vol. 49. 2004. pp. 531-534. (Researchers from Chiba University Graduate School of Medicine, Japan, had previously published results of total pregnancy outcomes following GTN; they found that overall pregnancy outcomes after chemotherapy were comparable to the total Japanese population. First pregnancy outcomes were examined in this paper using the same retrospective cohort from 1974 to 2001. Results are comparable to those published by other groups and suggest that pregnancy is safe. They found similar pregnancy outcomes after 6 months following chemotherapy compared with waiting more time. Stillbirth rates in this cohort were similar to those in other groups, but these were not compared with the general population in this article [see Future Fertility After GTN].)
Lurain, JR, Hoekstra, AV, Schink , JC. " Results of treatment of patients with gestational trophoblastic neoplasia referred to the Brewer Trophoblastic Disease Center after failure of treatment elsewhere (1979-2006)". J Reprod Med. vol. 53. 2008. pp. 535-540. (The literature has shown that patients referred to a trophoblastic disease center where providers have more experience treating patients with GTN have had better results. Within this context, the authors at the Brewer Trophoblastic Disease Center analyze the outcomes of primary treatment and secondary treatment referrals focusing on the underlying reasons for primary treatment failure in the referral population.)
Hancock, BW, Seckl, MJ, Berkowitz, RS, Cole, LA. "Gestational trophoblastic disease". April 2009. (Written and edited predominantly by members of the ISSTD, this book is updated and published online periodically. Comprehensive in its scope, the book includes chapters on the presentation, diagnosis, and management of GTD in the United States, United Kingdom, and Japan. General GTD topics (diagnosis and treatment) are featured; however, in addition, psychosocial aspects of GTD and future directions for diagnosis, pathophysiology, and patient care are covered.)
Lurain, JR, Singh, DK, Schink, JC. "Management of metastatic high-risk gestational trophoblastic neoplasia: FIGO stage II-IV, risk factor score > or = 7". J Reprod Med. vol. 55. 2010. pp. 199-207. (With the a priori hypotheses that patients with higher FIGO stage and risk factor score are at higher risk for failure, researchers at the Brewer Trophoblastic Disease Center in the United States examined a retrospective cohort of 40 patients with high-risk GTN. The survival outcomes were favorable for patients treated both primarily and secondarily [92% vs 86%] at the Trophoblastic Center. They used recommended first-line and second-line therapy. All deaths were in patients with risk score 12 or greater [see Treatment of GTN].)
Lurain, JR, Schink , JC. "Importance of Salvage Therapy in the Management of High-Risk Gestational Trophoblastic Neoplasia". J Reprod Med. vol. 57. 2012. pp. 219-224. (Recommendations are established for first-line treatment for high-risk GTN [see High-risk GTN]. Despite the success of these regimens a small percentage of patients fail or relapse. In this context, this article presents results of a retrospective analysis of salvage therapy in patients with high-risk GTN. Results are comparable to other groups and suggest a platinum/etoposide-based drug regimen should be implemented in these patients.)
Garrett, LA, Garner, EIO, Feltmate, CM, Goldstein, DP, Berkowitz, RS. "Subsequent pregnancy outcomes in patients with molar pregnancy and persistent gestational trophoblastic neoplasia". J Reprod Med. vol. 53. 2008. pp. 481-486. (The authors at the New England Trophoblastic Disease Center and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute updated previous published data that demonstrate pregnancy outcomes following complete moles, partial moles and persistent GTN. In agreement with other previously published data [including studies from this group], pregnancy outcomes are comparable to the general population [see Future Fertility After GTN]. These data were collected by survey; approximately 10% of surveys were returned with sufficient data for analysis.)
Berkowitz, RS, Goldstein, DP. "Current management of gestational trophoblastic diseases". Gynecol Oncol. vol. 112. 2009. pp. 654-662. (From the New England Trophoblastic Disease Center, the authors provide a comprehensive review of GTD.)
Alazzam, M, Tidy, J, Hancock, BW, Osborne, R. "First-line chemotherapy in low-risk gestational trophoblastic neoplasia". Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 2009. pp. CD007102(A Cochrane review conducted by researchers at the Sheffield Trophoblastic Disease Center and Sheffield University, UK, and Toronto-Sunnybrook Regional Cancer Center. Per Cochrane review methodology, eight studies met criteria and were reviewed, including four randomized control trials and four cohort and case control studies. Authors conclude that "pulsed" actinomycin D is superior to weekly methotrexate [see Initial Treatment Protocols], but other regimens have not been compared with sufficient rigor to make conclusions.)
Newlands, ES, Holden, L, Secki, MJ, McNeish, I, Strickland, S, Rustin, GJS. "Management of Brain Metastases in Patients with High-Risk Gestational Trophoblastic Tumors". J Repro Med. vol. 47. 2002. pp. 465(A relatively large retrospective analysis of 39 patients with cerebral metastases from high-risk trophoblastic tumor. Chemotherapy was the dominant form of treatment for these patients resulting in a 79.5% survival [See Adjuvant radiotherapy and surgery in high-risk GTN]. The presence of both liver and brain metastases was a particular adverse prognostic combination.)
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Funny 16 Year Old Quotes
Enjoy reading and share 20 famous quotes about Funny 16 Year Old with everyone.
"Very often, I dont make it through moments of recording because it is genuinely funny and absolutely ridiculous that a 60-year-old grown man is making these noises."
— David Ogden Stiers —
"I had a very funny and depressing talk with my seventy-four-year-old mother. I decided, she doesn't have a bucket list - she has a kick-the-bucket list."
— Lori Lesko
"What a funny girl, I thought, and then I realized something. To the three-year-old ye, and maybe even to the thirty year old eye, weeds and grass look very similar. Same color, same feeling, same texture."
— Angie Smith
"Where'd you send her?"
"Siberia. Lovely this time of year. A bit remote, I'm afraid. Might take her weeks to find a town and even longer to arrange transportation back to the States."
My lips quirked. I didn't feel like laughing, but the image of my half-millenium-old grandmother trudging through snow was kind of funny. "You're sick, you know that?"
"What can I day? I thought a cold-hearted bitch like her would feel at home in the tundra."
— Jaye Wells
"Suddenly it seemed to me that I looked back from a great distance on that smile and saw it all again - the smile and the day, the whole sunny, sad, funny, wonderful day and all the days that we had spent here together. What was I going to do when such days came no more? There could not be many; for we were a family growing old. And how would I learn to live without these people? I who needed them so little that I could stay away all year - what should I do without them?"
— Jetta Carleton
"It's funny, I don't feel any older than I did when I was twenty. But I know I am, because recently some twenty-year-old called me 'sir.' Sometimes the only way you know you are getting older is by the way others treat you."
— John Van Epp
"No matter how limited their powers of reason might have been. still they must have understood that living like that was just murder, a capital crime - except it was slow, day-by-day murder. The government (or humanity) could not permit capital punishment for one man, but they permitted the murder of millions a little at a time. To kill one man - that is, to subtract 50 years from the sum of all human lives - that was a crime; but to subtract from the sum of all human lives 50,000,000 years - that was not a crime! No, really, isn't it funny? This problem in moral math could be solved in half a minute by any ten-year-old Number today, but they couldn't solve it. All their Kant's together couldn't solve it (because it never occurred to one of their Kant's to construct a system of scientific ethics - that is, one based on subtraction, addition, division, and multiplication)."
— Yevgeny Zamyatin
"And it was never but once a year that they were brought together anyway, and that was on the neutral, dereligionized ground of Thanksgiving, when everybody gets to eat the same thing, nobody sneaking off to eat funny stuff
no kugel, no gefilte fish, no bitter herbs, just one colossal turkey for two hundred and fifty million people
one colossal turkey feeds all. A moratorium on the three-thousand-year-old nostalgia of the Jews, a moratorium on Christ and the cross and the crucifixion of the Christians, when everyone in New Jersey and elsewhere can be more passive about their irrationalities than they are the rest of the year. A moratorium on all the grievances and resentments, and not only for the Dwyers and the Levovs but for everyone in America who is suspicious of everyone else. It is the American pastoral par excellence and it lasts twenty-four hours."
— Philip Roth
"If you are truly offended by an 80-year-old man saying you're not funny, then you're probably not funny."
— Sarah Silverman
"The shooting of the guns, that was kind of funny, because rolling a cigarette and shooting a gun aren't like normal things for a 13-year old girl!"
— Hailee Steinfeld
"Very often, I don't make it through moments of recording because it is genuinely funny and absolutely ridiculous that a 60-year-old grown man is making these noises."
— David Ogden Stiers
"I try to think of something catchy to say, but there's nothing but irritation that something that was funny yo an eleven-year-old boy is still funny to a seventeen-year-old one."
— Maggie Stiefvater
"It was funny, what friendship meant in Rebecca's world. It mainly meant lunch, twice a year, and the occasional dinner party, except for Dorothea, who was an old school friend, a genuine friend. Rebecca had realized, ruefully, that she should have made more friends in school; they seemed to be the only ones women really talked to honestly because the shared history meant fewer lies were available to them. With the others shared meals had become a substitute for intimacy, but not the kind of substitute that allowed for dark nights of the soul, calls at 1:00 A.M., tears and drinking and despair in pajamas."
— Anna Quindlen
"As a five-year-old in Berlin in 1965, I didn't know that funny women existed. It wasn't until I got back to England that I realised women could be funny."
— Jenny Eclair
"Thomas, my 15-year-old, is effectively my editor, I've always trusted his voice, more than anybody, on the strip for years. He has one of those ears that's just tuned to the rhythm of humor, so if he says something's not funny, my stomach just hurts because I know he's right, and it's already been drawn."
— Stephan Pastis
"I have a 10 year old boy and a 6 year old boy and the stuff that they watch, it's always ... I mean, it could be because we're a funny family, but they love the humor and combining humor with space action, I mean, you know, there's a winner right there."
— Rhys Darby
"All kinds of violence on the TV. You're not supposed to watch violence on the TV. Children, they can't watch it 'cause they're afraid maybe the kids will copy something they see on the TV. I can't even get a funny cartoon anymore because some 12-year-old somewhere watched a particularly violent episode of the Road Runner-Coyote show, and the next day, they found him at the bottom of a canyon, two giant springs strapped to his feet."
— Norm MacDonald
"I love anybody funny. I think my ten-year-old sister is really funny. She makes me laugh way more than most people do."
— Chelsea Martin
"It's funny. I competed against a 13-year old girl at the Winter X Games. I looked down at her birth date and it said 2000. I was like, "Huh, I wonder if she even knows what Y2K is?" But I guess I've just been able to build a foundation."
— Kelly Clark
"At the time, my 6-year-old kept thinking my character's name was "Sam Alone," which is kind of brilliant. The funny came out of Sam's sad core: the alcoholic, the sex addict, the person who thinks he's God's gift."
— Ted Danson
"It's strange because I'm a sex symbol to 14-year-old girls which I guess is not the most helpful situation to be in. But yeah, I've never really thought of it. It's just so funny. I mean, just last year I couldn't even get a date and then this year, the world turns and it's so bizarre that everybody just changes their mind at the same time."
— Robert Pattinson
Funny 16 Year Old Quotes Pictures
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Author Archives: Graeme
2020 NLL East preview
Posted on November 28, 2019 by Graeme
Yesterday I started with the North division, today we'll cover the East. Where I think they will end up in the standings and who might have a breakout year.
Take a team that finished second in the division last year, add Joel White and Jordan Hall, and give their goalie a ton of confidence with a Mann Cup, Mann Cup MVP award, and a WILC Championship over the summer and what do you get? The top team in the east, that's what. Lyle and Miles, Randy, and Shayne already made an impressive top-four, possibly the best in the league, and adding Hall and two former transition guys in Zed Williams and Bryan Cole rounds out an amazing offense. Their D is mostly the same as last year and transition has been improved as well with the addition of White and Kason Tarbell, who impressed at the WILC's.
Zed Williams has flown under the radar for a while as a scoring threat but no longer.
First in the east.
New England has added a few players to their offense that could make a significant difference. Andrew Kew was expected to be the #1 draft choice and while New York seems quite happy with Tyson Gibson, I think the Wolves are equally happy that Kew fell to third. Losing Tyler Digby's size and strength will hurt but the additions of Jordan Durston and Tony Malcom will offset that. Durston, in particular, is good at digging out loose balls and creating space up the middle, and giving guys like Stephan Leblanc and Callum Crawford extra chances or more space is not good for opposing goalies. After an excellent 2018, Joe Resetarits picked up 34 extra points in 2018 over 2017, but dropped 33 in 2019. One of those two years was probably an anomaly, so perhaps a full season with the Black Wolves will tell us which.
Defense consists of three seasoned veterans in Manney, LaFontaine, and newcomer Creighton Reid along with a bunch of guys under 25. The goalies are young too – Doug Jamieson will be in his second season as a starter, but he's only 24 and backup Ethan Woods is a rookie.
Jordan Durston won't score 100 points, but he could climb back to the 60-70 point range that he hit in 2018 with the Bandits.
Second in the east.
New York Riptide
Last season we talked about the Seals as "not looking like an expansion team", and they finished above .500 and hosted a playoff game. The Rochester Knighthawks, in my opinion, may not have quite that level of success but they look pretty good too. The Riptide look a little more like your typical expansion team – some vets here and there but lots of unproven players with a year or two of experience and a bunch of rookies. That's not to say they're definitely going to suck. Guys like McArdle and Digby know how to find the back of the net, and Tyson Gibson was selected first overall for a reason.
Ranagan, MacRae, Suitor and Manley are all solid veteran D guys, but I have concerns about Alex Buque as the starting goalie. He had that job in both Buffalo and New England and lost it in both cases. He's obviously a year older and more experienced now so maybe this is his shot – and maybe on a team with no expectations, he'll get consistent starts and minutes which can only help.
Like I said, I'm not saying they will definitely be bad, but there are too many question marks for me.
Tyler Digby had a resurgence in New England last year. He has the most NLL experience of any forward and so is likely to become the de facto leader of the offense.
Fourth in the east.
Philadelphia Wings
The Wings have made a lot of changes this year. Both goalies are out, and guys like Dylan Evans, Jordan Hall, and Vaughn Harris are also gone. But the Wings will get Brett Hickey back after missing most of last year, and have also added Cory Vitarelli and Kevin Buchanan to their offense. Along with Kevin Crowley, Blaze Riorden, and Josh Currier, that's a pretty decent offense. Matt Rambo was a Rookie of the Year candidate last year and then was the scoring leader, league MVP, and Championship game MVP over the summer in the PLL – if he can inject some of the intensity and raw skill he showed in the PLL into the Wings, look out.
The new faces on offense will allow Kiel Matisz to stick with transition, not that having him play offense was a problem.
All three goalies from last season are gone, replaced by Zach Higgins and the un-retired Brandon Miller. I expect Higgins to get most of the minutes with Miller as backup and part-time unofficial goalie coach. Higgins was a starter for the 2015 Swarm but has been a backup ever since. The defense in front of Higgins or Miller is quite young and inexperienced with the exception of Matisz and 13-year veteran Ian Llord. When Llord played his first NLL game, Wings rookie Alex Pace was eight years old.
Brett Hickey, I'm sure, has been itching to get back on the floor since he was injured in the third game last year. I expect him to put up some serious numbers this year.
Third in the east.
Posted in Georgia Swarm, New England Black Wolves, New York Riptide, Philadelphia Wings, Predictions, Preview	| 2 Comments
2020 NLL North preview
This is my first-ever NLL North division preview! Here's where I think each team will end up in the standings and who might have a breakout year.
The Bandits went to the finals last year, but have since lost Shawn Evans, Jordan Durston, and Thomas Hoggarth and replaced them all with Quinn Powless. That's not to say that Dhane Smith, Corey Small, Chase Fraser, Josh Byrne, and Chris Cloutier aren't a formidable offense, but that's a lot of firepower to lose in one year. Defense looks pretty good and transition could be excellent. Back in the net, Matt Vinc is still Matt Vinc.
Josh Byrne was headed for an excellent season in 2019 but missed half the season with an injury. Assuming he's fully healthy, he could blow the doors off the East North division.
Second in the north.
Halifax Thunderbirds
Last year's Knighthawks had a lousy season up until April, when they won four of their last five. Halifax has made a few changes throughout their roster, but if you take Jamieson, Shanks, Boushy, and Jackson and add a full season of Ryan Benesch and Stephen Keogh as well as the highly touted Clarke Petterson, that's a pretty solid group of forwards. Defense has lots of young guys and a few vets to show the way, but they also have Graeme Hossack, probably the best defender in the league right now. Warren Hill started last season as the backup but finished strong, playing every minute of those late-season wins with a save percentage above 80% in all of them (and almost 90% in one). Playing at that level for the entire season is a tall order but he'll need to be in that ballpark for the Thunderbirds to compete with the Bandits and Rock.
Warren Hill. In his first year as a bona fide starter, he'll keep the Thunderbirds competitive and might even steal a game or two.
Third in the north.
Is Steve Fryer ready to be a #1 goalie in the NLL? Signs say yes and I hope they're right, because his two backups have a total of 17 minutes of NLL experience between them. Dan Carey has put together quite a nice little team here, so we might see something similar to last year's Seals – an expansion team that doesn't really look like an expansion team. Lots of strength up front with Shawn Evans, Turner Evans, Cattoni, Knight, Lintner, and Caputo, and some vets on D as well. They have eight players listed as transition, but other than Frank Brown (starting the season on IR) and Zac Reid, only one has any NLL experience – Adam Perroni played in three games over two seasons.
Curtis Knight has been an important role player for the Rush for years, but now out of the shadow of Matthews, Church, and McIntosh, he has the ability to be one of the top point producers on the Knighthawks.
Fourth in the north.
The Rock lost Dan Lintner in the expansion draft and Brock Sorensen got injured, so they went out and got a different Dan and a different Brock.
I've been able to see the Rock play three times already this season, though of course you can't take much away from pre-season exhibition games. Nick Rose didn't play in one of them, Tom Schreiber didn't play in any of them, and while the Rock kept their roster size down, other teams were fielding what seemed like dozens of players. But that said, I really liked watching Dan Dawson on the Rock offense. After about 68 seasons in the NLL, he's still a force to be reckoned with, his passing ability is amazing, and his floor vision is off the charts. The loss of Creighton Reid and Brock Sorensen will hurt the D, but the big veteran David Brock will make up for some of that. Like I said, Tom Schreiber didn't play in any of the Rock's pre-season games, so hopefully his addition on the same side as Dawson won't mess things up. However, it's hard to imagine two unselfish players with their skill levels wouldn't mesh reasonably well.
Damon Edwards only missed one game last year but his points dropped by half and his penalty minutes almost doubled. I'd love to see a resurgence from Edwards, if he can stay out of the box (though he couldn't at last weekend's game against the Rush).
First in the north.
Posted in Buffalo Bandits, Halifax Thunderbirds, Predictions, Preview, Rochester Knighthawks, Toronto Rock	| 3 Comments
2019-2020 NLL Predictions
Here are my predictions for the final regular season standings as well as the major annual awards. The "Dark Horse" predictions are my "not as likely but could happen" picks.
I've also included my picks for overall standings in parens after the team name.
Toronto Rock (4)
Buffalo Bandits (7)
Halifax Thunderbirds (9)
Rochester Knighthawks (10)
Georgia Swarm (1)
New England Black Wolves (6)
Philadelphia Wings (11)
New York Riptide (13)
Calgary Roughnecks (2)
Saskatchewan Rush (3)
San Diego Seals (5)
Colorado Mammoth (8)
Vancouver Warriors (12)
Winner: Mark Matthews
Short list: Callum Crawford, Cody Jamieson
Dark horse: Zach Currier
Goaltender of the Year
Winner: Christian Del Bianco
Short list: Dillon Ward, Mike Poulin, Matt Vinc
Dark horse: Frank Scigliano
Winner: Kyle Rubisch
Short list: Graeme Hossack, Steve Priolo
Dark horse: Brad Kri
Transition Player of the Year
Winner: Zach Currier
Short list: Challen Rogers, Joey Cupido
Dark horse: Kiel Matisz
Winner: Andrew Kew
Short list: Ryland Rees
Same disclaimer as previous years: I don't follow MSL or WLA in enough detail to really have a good idea. Just going by what I've heard on podcasts and read on IL Indoor and Twitter and such.
Les Bartley Award
Winner: Ed Comeau
Short list: Derek Keenan, Pat Coyle
Dark horse: Mike Hasen
GM of the Year
Winner: Patrick Merrill
Short list: Rich Lisk, Dan Richardson if the Warriors finish above .500
Dark horse: Dan Carey
Posted in Buffalo Bandits, Calgary Roughnecks, Colorado Mammoth, Georgia Swarm, Halifax Thunderbirds, New England Black Wolves, New York Riptide, Philadelphia Wings, Predictions, Preview, Rochester Knighthawks, San Diego Seals, Saskatchewan Rush, Toronto Rock, Vancouver Warriors	| 1 Comment
2019-2020 NLL: Who's in, who's out
Here it is: a complete summary of all the roster changes for each team, all in one place.
Note that these are the changes as of the final roster from last season, so a player might be listed as "In" even if he played for that team during 2019. And a player who's injured but still part of that team will be listed as "out". Not all teams have announced who's on their IR, PUP, or holdout lists.
Teams and players are each listed in alphabetical order. This article will be updated as things change up until about a week into the season.
In: Doug Buchan, Steve Dietrich (coach) Marcus Minichiello, Brent Noseworthy, Quinn Powless
Out: Jordan Durston, Shawn Evans, Zach Higgins, Rich Kilgour (coach) Thomas Hoggarth, Ethan O'Connor
IR: None
PUP: Thomas Hoggarth, Ethan O'Connor
Holdout: None
Practice Roster: Okaeme Chukwuemeka, Devlin Shanahan
In: Haiden Dickson, Marshall King, Liam LeClair, Ryan Martel
Out: Reece Callies, Rhys Duch, Riley Loewen, Dan MacRae
IR: Reece Callies
PUP: Rhys Duch
Practice Roster: Travis Getz, Landon Kells, Nick Scott, Sean Tyrrell
In: Tyler Carlson, Brett Craig, Carter Dickson, Warren Jeffrey, Dylan Kinnear, Will Malcom, Dylan Molloy, Josh Sullivan
Out: Steve Fryer, Julian Garritano, Steven Lee, Ian Llord, Jeremy Noble, Brad Self, Cory Vitarelli, Chris Wardle, Jeff Wittig
PUP: Chris Wardle, Jeff Wittig
Practice Roster: Carter Dickson, Ilija Gajic, Justin Goodwin, Jake McNabb, Erik Turner
In: Jordan Hall, Ryan McSpadyen, Kason Tarbell, Joel White
Out: Holden Cattoni, Tyler Ferreira, Haina Thompson, Joel Tinney, Craig Wende
IR: Zach Miller
PUP: Jordan Gillis, Justin Lemcke
Practice Roster: TJ Comizio, Steven Orleman, Sergio Perkovic
In: Cory Becker, Scott Campbell, Pete Dubenski, Eric Fannell, Stephen Keogh, Clarke Petterson, Trevor Smyth, Nonkon Thompson
Out: Angus Goodleaf, Oran Horn, Mike Manley, Darryl Robertson, Brandon Robinson, Dawson Theede, Mike Triolo, Luke Van Schepen
IR: Luke Van Schepen
PUP: None
Practice Roster: Johnny Jimerson, Chet Koneczny, Brandon Robinson, Clay Scanlon
In: Jordan Durston, Andrew Kew, John LaFontaine, Ty Logan, Tony Malcom, Joe Nardella, Creighton Reid, Ethan Woods
Out: David Brock, Kevin Buchanan, Alex Buque, Joel Coyle, Tyler Digby, Greg Downing, Ryan Fournier, Andrew Suitor
PUP: Greg Downing
Practice Roster: Bailey Brown, Mike Byrne, Tristan Rai, Joel Tinney
In: Everybody
Out: Nobody
PUP: Ryan Brown, Angus Goodleaf, Matt Kavanagh, Jack Rowlett
Holdout: Brier Jonathan, Dawson Theede, Kurtis Woodland
Protected: Myles Jones
Practice Roster: Jake Fox, Scott Johnston, Adam Osika, John Wagner
In: Kevin Buchanan, Nick Finlay, Brett Hickey, Zach Higgins, Anthony Joaquim, Ian Llord, Brandon Miller, Alex Pace, Liam Patten, Cory Vitarelli, Nate Wade, Ryan Wagner
Out: Gowah Abrams, Matthew Bennett, Frank Brown, Doug Buchan, Dylan Evans, Justin Guterding, Jordan Hall, Vaughn Harris, Chet Koneczny, Adam Osika, Eric Shewell
Practice Roster: Matt Mariner, Kyle Marr, Austin Pifani, Daryl Waud
IR: Tyler Biles
PUP: Frank Brown, Travis Burton, Zac Reid
Practice Roster: Julian Garritano, Adam Perroni, Dustyn Pratt
In: Wes Berg, Graydon Bradley, Mike Carnegie, Nick Damude, Garrett Epple, Mark Glicini, Eli Gobrecht, Zack Greer, Evan Messenger, Jeremy Noble, Matt Sykes
Out: Garrett Billings, Tyler Carlson, Dan Dawson, Paul Dawson, Turner Evans, Kyle Hartzell, Casey Jackson, Connor Kelly, Brendan Ranford, Adrian Sorichetti, Joe Walters
IR: Casey Jackson, Johnny Pearson, Austin Staats
"Inactive Roster": Oliver Bolsterli, Zach Bryant, Austin Divitcos, Devyn Mayea
Practice Roster: Jules Heningburg, Dylan Riley, Mikie Schlosser, Ethan Schott
In: Ryan Dilks, Holden Garlent, Ryan McLean, Austin Murphy, Justin Robinson
Out: Nik Bilic, Scott Campbell, Nick Finlay, Curtis Knight, Brett Mydske
Holdout: Jeff Cornwall
Draft list: Luke Keenan
Practice Roster: Cameron Dunkerley, Zach Gould, Tanner Thomson
In: David Brock, Dan Dawson, Scott Dominey, Damon Edwards, Josh Jubenville, Zach Manns
Out: Phil Caputo, Dan Lintner, Kieran McArdle, Creighton Reid, Brock Sorensen, Jay Thorimbert
IR: Aaron Forster
PUP: Brock Sorensen
Practice Roster: Jamison Dilks, Mitch Gustavsen, Troy Holowchuk, Alec Simons
In: Nik Bilic, Sam Clare, Derek Lloyd, Riley Loewen, Mike Mallory, Chris O'Dougherty, Patrick O'Meara, James Rahe, Justin Salt, Bob Snider
Out: Jean-Luc Chetner, Zac Christianson, Brody Eastwood, Tony Malcom, Reid Mydske, Zack Porter, Jarrett Toll, Dallas Wade, Nate Wade
IR: Andrew Gallant, Joel McCready, Zack Porter, Mason Pynn
Practice Roster: Keegan Bell, Lyndon Bunio, Reid Mydske, Tyson Roe
Posted in Buffalo Bandits, Calgary Roughnecks, Colorado Mammoth, Georgia Swarm, Halifax Thunderbirds, New England Black Wolves, New York Riptide, Philadelphia Wings, Rochester Knighthawks, San Diego Seals, Saskatchewan Rush, Toronto Rock, Vancouver Warriors	| Leave a comment
2019-20 NLL Milestones
Posted on September 17, 2019 by Graeme
A number of player and team milestones can be reached this year, including one fairly significant one: Dan Dawson could (fairly easily, by his standards) be the all-time league leader in assists. Here's a list of the most likely milestones to be hit:
Wins & losses
Toronto's sixth win of the season will be the franchise's 200th. Georgia needs six and the Black Wolves need ten for 50.
The Georgia Swarm need 40 goals to reach 1000, while the Saskatchewan Rush need 60. The Mammoth need 153 goals to reach 3500 and Calgary needs 201 to reach 4000. With 87 goals, the Bandits will hit 5500, far and away the highest total for any team. The Swarm are 122 goals away from allowing 1000 all-time, and the Rock will hit 4000 goals allowed if they give up 195.
With 99 points this year (a tall order, but not unimaginable), Eli McLaughlin would tie Adam Jones for 4th on the Mammoth while Jacob Ruest needs 34 to catch Sean Pollock for 11th. A 116-point season from Rob Hellyer would tie him with Stephen Leblanc for 4th on the Toronto Rock list, while 82 for Tom Schreiber ties him with Aaron Wilson for 9th.
I looked over each of the teams to see what their all-time leader board looked like, and as you might expect from a 28-year-old team, the Bandits leaders will not change significantly anytime soon. Dhane Smith is third all-time but needs around 350 points to catch Mark Steenhuis, who is almost 800 behind John Tavares. The only other active Bandit in the top 20 is Steve Priolo, who's tied with Kevin Dostie for 19th. Priolo could pass Jim Veltman for 18th with 11 points.
Player… Needs… To reach…
Rhys Duch 3 400
Curtis Dickson 5 400
Callum Crawford 43 400
Kevin Crowley 8 300
Adam Jones 18 300
Mark Matthews 25 300
Corey Small 44 300
Garrett Billings 2 200
Ben McIntosh 8 200
Johnny Powless 8 200
Rob Hellyer 10 200
Logan Schuss 28 200
Dan Dawson 23 900
Shawn Evans 43 800
Ryan Benesch 23 600
Rhys Duch 30 600
Jeff Shattler 8 500
Jordan Hall 23 500
Garrett Billings 32 500
Stephan Leblanc 37 500
Cody Jamieson 51 500
Dane Dobbie 52 500
Dhane Smith 19 400
Adam Jones 6 300
Robert Church 19 300
Kiel Matisz 38 300
Dan Dawson 4 1400
Shawn Evans 13 1200
Ryan Benesch 90 1100
Callum Crawford 37 1000
Rhys Duch 33 1000
Jeff Shattler 82 900
Curtis Dickson 78 800
Kevin Crowley 85 700
Shayne Jackson 77 600
Brodie Merrill 47 500
Loose Balls
Brodie Merrill 65 2500
Jay Thorimbert 31 1600
Ian Hawksbee 35 1400
Jordan MacIntosh 6 1300
Jeremy Thompson 26 1300
Jeff Shattler 29 1300
Jordan Hall 62 1000
Matt Beers 12 500
Paul Dawson 45 500
Paul Dawson 1 200
Ian Hawksbee 4 200
Ian Llord 9 200
Rob Hellyer 1 100
Curtis Knight 1 100
Logan Schuss 2 100
Travis Cornwall 4 100
Riley Loewen 5 100
Goalie Minutes
Matt Vinc 4 12000
Evan Kirk 124 6000
Frank Scigliano 297 4000
Mike Poulin 33 1600
Aaron Bold 54 1500
Nick Rose 8 1200
Evan Kirk 17 1200
Dillon Ward 5 1000
Frank Scigliano 52 800
Matt Vinc 177 8000
Aaron Bold 166 5000
Dillon Ward 474 4000
This section is for players who are close to passing a retired player on the career list in a particular category.
Player… Needs… To tie… For…
Dan Dawson 18 goals Colin Doyle 4th
Ryan Benesch 7 goals Lewis Ratcliff 9th
11 goals Shawn Williams 8th
16 goals Josh Sanderson 7th
Shawn Evans is 3 behind Benesch
Dane Dobbie is 12 behind Evans
Rhys Duch 2 goals Tom Marechek 14th
13 goals Paul Gait 13th
Curtis Dickson is 2 behind Duch
Dan Dawson 21 assists Josh Sanderson 2nd
47 assists John Tavares 1st
Shawn Evans 21 assists John Grant, Jr. 5th
Callum Crawford 5 assists Gavin Prout 8th
Jeff Shattler 1 assist Jim Veltman 16th
Dan Dawson 50 points John Grant, Jr. 2nd
Ryan Benesch 3 points Mark Steenhuis 9th
Callum Crawford is 37 behind Benesch
Rhys Duch is 6 behind Crawford
Dane Dobbie 56 points Gavin Prout 14th
Mike Poulin 17 goals against Brandon Miller 8th
Mike Poulin 11 wins Anthony Cosmo 4th
Posted in Stats	| Leave a comment
The Calgary Roughnecks signed Dane Dobbie to a multi-year contract last week. Considering Dobbie had a career year in 2019 and was deservedly named both season MVP and Championship MVP, it's hard to argue against this, regardless of the term or money he was asking for. But when the NLL tweeted about it, they used a goat icon and I had to roll my eyes.
GOAT stands for Greatest Of All Time and it's become a term that, in my opinion, is thrown around far too easily in the sports world. By definition, there can be only one GOAT in each sport. There may be controversy as to who it is, but there aren't lots of them. I don't think it's a hot take to say that Dane Dobbie is not the greatest player in NLL history (despite his teammates saying he is). The hot take might be: he's not even in the top ten. But that's an article for another time.
Of course you can add your own qualifiers, and a player may be the GOAT of a certain subset of players. As Jake Elliott pointed out, the NLL probably meant that Dobbie is the Roughnecks GOAT, not the GOAT. That's totally fair and Jake is quite likely right.
But that got me thinking: what about the other teams? Who is their GOAT? Some are obvious – Buffalo comes to mind – while others are more contentious.
One question we have to answer first is what do we mean by this? Is it the best player to ever wear that uniform, or is it the best player to ever have an impact in that uniform? For example, you could argue that the second Dan Dawson takes the floor as a member of the Toronto Rock this coming season, before he's even touched the ball, he's among the top three players ever to wear the Rock jersey. But is that meaningful?
For this article, I'm going to say that it's not good enough to simply have worn a team's jersey, you have to have played there for a significant amount of time. However I'm not going to define "significant" with specific guidelines (e.g. you have to have played x games or x seasons or have won some sort of major award). Just going with my gut here.
I'm going to skip the expansion Knighthawks 2.0 and Riptide for obvious reasons and also the Wings 2.0 and Seals since they have only played a single season.
Buffalo – Tough one, but I'm going to go with someone who many consider to be the GOAT of the league, if not the entire sport of box lacrosse. Of course it's John Tavares.
Calgary – My "tough one" for the Bandits was obviously in jest but this really is a tough one. If you go with the "just wearing the jersey" rule, I'd put Josh Sanderson and Shawn Evans at the top of that list. Sanderson played two full seasons and part of a third and while they were outstanding seasons and included a championship, he's more associated with the Rock. Evans is a tougher call because he played four seasons including two with 110+ points and one MVP trophy. The guy who started this whole conversation, Dane Dobbie, has played 12 seasons (all with Calgary), won two Championships, and is the incumbent MVP. Jeff Shattler was an MVP and played eleven great seasons in Calgary so he has to be considered. Kaleb Toth was never an MVP but was the quintessential Roughneck for years. What about Tracey Kelusky? Higher point averages than Shattler or Toth, and team captain for their 2009 title.
Given his longevity, I'm going with Dobbie.
Colorado – Is it John Grant or Gary Gait? Gait only played three years with the Mammoth while Grant played seven (well, six plus two games in the seventh). Interestingly, their points-per-game numbers are almost identical: Grant averaged 5.632 points per game over 98 games while Gait averaged 5.625 in 48 games. If Gait had played 98 games with the Mammoth like Grant did, he'd have 551 points. Grant has 552. Both won an MVP award with the Mammoth and neither won a Championship (Gait did as a coach), so basically, they were the same guy. Grant played twice as long in Colorado as Gait did so I'm going with Grant.
Georgia (including Minnesota) – If you just consider the four seasons in Georgia, I think the obvious choice would be Lyle Thompson. But if you include the Minnesota years, Callum Crawford and Ryan Benesch jump into the mix. They each had slightly higher points-per-game numbers than Thompson, but even at their peak, I don't think either of them were as good overall as Thompson is.
Halifax – (as the Rochester Knighthawks) John Grant is the obvious choice because he's one of the best players in the history of the league. But Matt Vinc has to be considered here. Grant won one Championship and an MVP award in his ten seasons with the Knighthawks. Vinc won three titles and about a hundred Goaltender of the Year awards. Grant's dominance with the Knighthawks cannot be overlooked (he had an eight-year stretch with seven 90+ point seasons and only played five games in the eighth) but Vinc is probably the best goaltender of the last decade and definitely top three all-time. I honestly cannot decide so I'm taking the easy way out and calling it a tie.
New England* – Again Shawn Evans jumps out. He only played 2½ years in New England but averaged over six points per game in the two full seasons. Another candidate would be Kevin Crowley, who played most of four seasons with the Black Wolves. He wasn't quite as dominant with the numbers but Crowley is great off-ball and defensively as well so his numbers don't show how good he is. I'm going to go with Evans here.
Saskatchewan (including Edmonton) – Mark Matthews was my first thought but Kyle Rubisch is probably the better choice. Matthews has been a top-10 offensive player for his entire career (top 5 for most of it) but there was a four year period where Rubisch was hands down the best defensive player in the league, and he remains in the top three now.
Toronto – I'm going with Colin Doyle not only because he was an outstanding player (#4 in career scoring) but a great captain as well. Like Matt Vinc in Rochester, Bob Watson also needs to be considered. Josh Sanderson is right up there too, and Jim Veltman and Brodie Merrill were also great players and great captains.
Vancouver (including the entire franchise history) – I wondered about Lewis Ratcliff, Gary Rosyski, Colin Doyle, and even Josh Sanderson from the Albany Attack days. But in the end, it's got to be Rhys Duch. Duch averaged about 5.4 points per game over ten seasons with the San Jose, Washington, and Vancouver Stealths. He led the team in goals, assists, and points in four straight seasons and was either first or second in those categories in three more. He was the face of the Stealth for a decade which is why it was so surprising that they unceremoniously released him before last season. Hey, can someone remind me who scored the OT goal that gave Calgary the 2019 Championship? I forget.
* Maybe others don't have this problem, but I find it hard to think of the Black Wolves as a continuation of the old Philadelphia Wings. As a result, I didn't consider Wings players for the Black Wolves GOAT, even though I did consider previous teams in the Vancouver and Georgia franchises. But the Wings were around for 28 years, so they shouldn't be just tossed aside. For the Wings, I'd have to choose between Tom Marechek (12 years, four Championships, 773 points) and Dallas Eliuk (again, top 3 goalie of all time). Gary Gait only played five seasons in Philly but was named MVP in three of them (in a row), so he's got to be up there too. I'm going to go with Eliuk.
Posted in Buffalo Bandits, Calgary Roughnecks, Colorado Mammoth, Georgia Swarm, Halifax Thunderbirds, New England Black Wolves, Opinion, Philadelphia Wings, Rochester Knighthawks, Saskatchewan Rush, Toronto Rock, Vancouver Warriors	| 2 Comments
Examining the 2019-2020 NLL schedule
And this is good, because winter is NLL season! The 2019-2020 NLL season begins on November 29, which is only eleven weeks from now. In fact by the time you read this, it will be less than eleven weeks from now. The league released the schedule for the upcoming season this week, just ahead of next week's entry draft. Of course the timing is done by design since now that the summer championships (President's Cup, Minto, Mann, etc.) are done, there ain't much happening in the box lacrosse world right now.
PLL Chatter
Posted on August 21, 2019 by Graeme
The PLL made its first and only Canadian stop on the tour this past weekend in Hamilton. I was a little surprised they chose Hamilton over Toronto, but it was probably way cheaper to rent Tim Horton's Field than BMO Field, the home of the Argonauts and Toronto FC and former home of the MLL's Toronto Nationals, which would be the logical place in Toronto to host such an event. And while choosing the Hammer over the Big Smoke was surprising, it was a welcome surprise for me since Tim Horton's field is maybe 20 minutes from my house.
As I've said before, I'm not a field lacrosse guy. I've watched some games online but I can count on one hand the number of field games I'd been to before this weekend: the first-ever Toronto Nationals game, and three or four Hamilton Nationals games. As a result, I can't give much insight on the differences between the PLL and the MLL. The field was noticeably shorter which did speed up the game, but I don't know enough to have much to say on anything else. I have two comments on field lacrosse players which I'm sure I've made before:
You know how you see the occasional box player switch hands, i.e. a righty flipping the stick over and shooting as a lefty? It's rare but you see it now and again. Box players tend to do the "twister" far more often, i.e. a righty shooting as a lefty without changing his hand positions. Field players switch hands all the time, sometimes multiple times in the same possession. It makes so much sense that players would cultivate that skill. I'm sure there are reasons why box players do it so rarely but I can't fathom what they are. Can you imagine baseball if there were about three switch hitters in the whole league?
Field goalies: holy crap. Take a box goalie, take away his padding and make the net he's protecting bigger, and you have a field goalie. Because of the lack of padding, field goalies don't want the ball to hit them like box goalies do, so they have to be lightning-fast with the stick to make saves. All the goalies made saves that I thought they had no earthly business making.
Since my knowledge of the field game isn't sufficient to write about the games themselves, I'll write about the overall experience and various random musings.
Up until this weekend, I still hadn't figured out whether the PLL's idea of having a tour format over location-based teams is a good one or not. The fact that it's tour based does mean that fans in Hamilton saw (or had the opportunity to see) every PLL team last weekend, and thus every player, which is a very good thing. It also means that more than six locations would get to see games; in fact, fourteen different cities have gotten or will be getting PLL games. A lot of lacrosse people talk about growing the game, so kudos to Paul Rabil and the rest of the PLL brass for actually doing it.
On the other hand, the fact that there was no Hamilton or Toronto team for me to choose means I had no particular rooting interest. But I watch NLL games all the time for which I have no rooting interest, so NBD. On reflection, I think the only thing I don't like about the tour format is that I'm just not used to it. Unless they're going to create this brand new league with a dozen or more teams scattered in cities across the country (which would be very risky), the tour format makes total sense.
In the first game on Saturday, I liked the helmets and jerseys the Chaos were wearing, plus watching Myles Jones play was awesome so I quickly became a Chaos fan. But I'm also a fan of Tom Schreiber, which made me want to root for the Archers so I was torn. In the second game, I liked the Chrome logo and helmets, but the Atlas jerseys were nicer so that was tough as well. In Sunday's game, the Redwoods jerseys weren't bad and both teams had green helmets, but both the Whipsnakes name and sharp red jerseys are very cool so I picked them. So the two games where I had trouble picking a team to root for ended up being very close, while the one where there was a clear winner also had a clear winner.
There was a "fan interaction" area down at one end of the stadium, but I arrived late on Saturday so I didn't have time to walk around, and I came in a different gate on Sunday so I never got down to that end. There were also a few merch trailers and booths around selling t-shirts, jerseys, hats, and the like. Not particularly cheap – t-shirts were $40 – but I saw a lot of people in the crowd who had bought some.
On Sunday, I sat next to a man and his son from Grand Island, NY. They were both Bandits fans, and the son actually plays for the Jr. Bandits. The dad (whose name I didn't get, so I'm going to have to just keep calling him "the guy") also plays summer box with some Bandits players. He had played field lacrosse in the past (as he put it while patting his belly, "a bunch of beers and wings ago") with and against Greg Gurenlian, Kyle Harrison, and others, so he had some good insights on the game. He wondered about the wisdom of getting near "Rock country" wearing Bandits hats, but I said that's rarely a problem and that I'd worn my Rock jersey to games in Buffalo many times without incident. He said Bandits fans generally have a friendly rivalry with Rock fans, not so much with Knighthawks fans. "We hate those guys. We own them now, but we'll still hate 'em."
We were sitting right in the front row behind the Redwoods bench, and he called out to Gurenlian a couple of times and even got responses. Greg won a faceoff and went straight to the net but didn't shoot. The guy called out to him asking why he didn't take the shot, and Greg turned and said he didn't have a shot. Another time he did shoot but missed the net. Later Greg did get a shot on goal after a face-off, but the goalie stopped it. This time when the guy called to congratulate him on getting the shot, Greg turned around, smiled, and said "That one was on goal! That guy [the goalie] is just a jerk."
I've heard lots of NLL players referred to as "a beast". Greg Gurenlian's nickname is "beast" and it fits him better than any NLL player. The man is built like a truck – and not like your Ford F-150 or Dodge Ram pickups, I'm talking one of those big dump trucks with ten-foot tires. I watched him practicing face-offs near the bench and the muscle definition in his arms was unbelievable. I didn't get to see Scotty Rogers play on Saturday (he's been injured most of the season) but I've seen videos of him and he's also massive.
Myles Jones is pretty damned big as well and as I tweeted during the game, I really hope he plays in the NLL this coming season because he was amazing to watch. When you watch some players, a single word comes to mind. For Josh Sanderson, it was "vision". For Lyle Thompson, it's "dynamic". For Myles Jones, that word for me is "power".
Connor Farrell is the face-off guy for the Chrome. He's not built quite like Gurenlian, but he's a pretty big dude. With that, his beard, and his long flowing blond locks, he's known as Thor. Many players wear eye black but his was basically a big black triangle under each eye covering most of his face. Gurenlian's eye black was also significantly more than just rectangles under his eyes. They both looked like they'd fit right in as part of Marilyn Manson's band.
At one point, I could see Joel White giving some tips to Farrell. I couldn't hear any of it but it looked like how to get around a guy setting a pick on you – "hold your stick like this, take a step that way, then spin around and go the other way". Awesome to see the seasoned vet passing on his wisdom to the younger players.
The announcer had the perfect FM radio voice and announced most goals the same way: "And that's a goal for the Atlas!" followed shortly after by the name of the goal-scorer. He said things almost exactly the same way on every goal, and I wondered if it was actually a recording rather than someone talking live. But some of the goal announcements were different and a few referenced something that just happened so it couldn't have been a recording. One odd announcement he made numerous times was when announcing a save: "A big save in goal by <goalie name>" – of course it was "in goal", where else would you make a save?
As I said, I've seen only a handful of field lacrosse games, but when the Hamilton Nationals were here, I started to appreciate the outdoor game a lot more, and enjoyed watching the intricacies of the game. Because it's slower than box, it's sometimes easier to see the strategies playing out. Because of the smaller field, the PLL version of the field game had the best of both worlds: the finesse and strategy of field lacrosse with (almost) the speed of box. On the whole, I still prefer box but the PLL was exciting to watch. It sounds like Paul and the boys have had a successful debut season, and I intend on being in attendance if the league returns to Hamilton, or Toronto, or Buffalo, next summer.
Posted in Game Review, PLL	| Leave a comment
2019 Expansion draft
Posted on June 28, 2019 by Graeme
I imagine the last few weeks have been a nightmare for NLL GMs, and the next couple won't be much better. The second expansion draft in two years is coming up in a couple of weeks so each GM had to go through their roster and choose eleven players to protect, knowing they could lose anyone not on that list. Then you need to call more than half of your players and tell them they're not protected. Then you will lose two of them and need to adjust your team afterwards. Luckily they have five months or so before the season starts to do that. Just like last year's draft, some GMs will have some big holes to fill after the draft, others might barely notice the difference.
Posted in Buffalo Bandits, Calgary Roughnecks, Colorado Mammoth, Georgia Swarm, Halifax Thunderbirds, New England Black Wolves, New York Riptide, Philadelphia Wings, Rochester Knighthawks, San Diego Seals, Saskatchewan Rush, Toronto Rock, Vancouver Warriors	| 2 Comments
The Raptors and the Rock, part II
Yesterday I talked about the Raptors winning the NBA Championship and how the reaction of the City of Toronto (and much of Canada, actually) made me sad for the state of the NLL. It's not because the NLL isn't at the same level of popularity as the NBA, it's because I'm not confident it'll ever get there.
I tried to imagine how the NLL can go from what we have now to a league where people who don't follow lacrosse and don't know anything about the game are caught up in the hype of a Championship and start watching. Lots of changes are necessary but first and foremost, it would require that many if not all games (and definitely all playoff games) are available on network TV, not through some paid streaming service. I had no problems with BR Live this past season (though I know others did) and I thought 40 bucks to watch every game all season was a pretty good deal. But I'm a die-hard who is willing to pay to watch lacrosse games. The vast majority of people are not. We're just not going to gain new fans by making them pay to watch.
Of course the league is constantly trying to get on TV but let's face it: despite the fact that the NLL has been around for thirty years and has been on TV in the past, it's still unproven and the TV execs don't have the confidence that televising lacrosse will make them money. Perhaps the league needs to pay them for a year or two to build up the audience. They don't need to get NBA-type viewing numbers but if the numbers are good enough, then maybe the networks will start paying the league rather than the other way around.
That said, the Toronto Rock did pay for their games to be televised on Sportsnet in Canada for several years. They don't do that anymore. I don't know the reasoning behind why they stopped, but I think it's fair to say that if televising the game drove up attendance (at least enough to cover the cost of TV), they'd still be paying for it. Clearly it didn't.
The PLL made its debut a couple of weeks ago and some of their games are televised on NBC. I haven't seen any actual numbers but the word is that they're pretty good. If the PLL can introduce enough people to field lacrosse and get decent numbers, maybe the Rabil boys can help a brother out and start pushing NBC to talk to Nick Sakiewicz about the NLL.
A lot of lacrosse fans have been playing and watching their whole lives so interest in lacrosse has just always been there. Much of the rest of the lacrosse world, myself included, were introduced later and fell in love with the sport. But many people watch and just aren't interested. The old adage about bringing someone to a lacrosse game and they'll be a fan for life just isn't true in general. We dream about getting the NLL on TV and millions of people watching and wondering why nobody told them about this amazing sport and suddenly the players are full-time lacrosse players making big bucks. Yes, that's the goal but it's been the goal for a couple of decades and I'm not sure we're any closer.
The NBA is huge in terms of popularity. Think of the celebrities you routinely see attending NBA games. Drake is always behind the bench in Toronto. Jack Nicholson has been going to Lakers games for many years. During the finals we saw President Obama, Beyonce and Jay-Z, various NFL players, golfers, hockey players, and lots of former NBA players. It's likely that these people were given free tickets but it's also not unlikely that many of them went looking for the tickets. They didn't have the league or hosting team contact them and ask if they wanted tickets, or pay them to attend.
But it's not all doom and gloom. After originally being sad, I've regained my optimism about the NLL. The fact that celebrities are not spotted at NLL games should not be a reason for pessimism. There are many levels of success between where the NLL is now and the NBA. We may not be able to #GrowTheGame to the same level as the NBA, NHL, or NFL, but that doesn't mean it can't be more popular than it is, and it's certainly no reason to stop trying.
Posted in Opinion	| Leave a comment


Gambler Fino | Llano 12-14. A Panama hat (toquilla straw hat) is a traditional brimmed straw hat of Ecuadorian origin.
Gambler Fino | Llano 15-18. A Panama hat (toquilla straw hat) is a traditional brimmed straw hat of Ecuadorian origin.
Gambler Fino | Llano 20-24. A Panama hat (toquilla straw hat) is a traditional brimmed straw hat of Ecuadorian origin.
Indio Hat | Brisa 11-12. A Panama hat (toquilla straw hat) is a traditional brimmed straw hat of Ecuadorian origin.


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Home American History Abraham Lincoln's Religious Beliefs
Abraham Lincoln's Religious Beliefs
Lincoln was arguably the nation's most interesting president. His life has been studied in great detail, yet much is still unclear about his life including his religion.
Abraham Lincoln frequently quoted the Bible. It is fair to say that it was one of his favorite books. He was raised by a stern, somewhat distant father who attended Baptist Churches in Kentucky and Indiana. Clearly Lincoln was a man of considerable virtue. He was known for honestly, sympathy, and kindness to the victims of the Civil War on both sides. Lincoln referred to the Bible as god's greatest gift to man, but often found reasons to quarrel with Christians and Christianity.
Lincoln was Honest about his Beliefs
Lincoln was deeply interested in theology, but exhibited a skepticism that stayed with him for a lifetime. He frequently invoked the scriptures in speeches, his writings, and in his casual conversations, yet never joined a church. Under political pressure in 1846 while running for a congressional seat, Lincoln's questionable religious views were attacked. He responding by acknowledging that he was "not a member of any Christian church." He added that he did not deny the truth of the Scriptures.
Lincoln was an avid reader of great books and seemed to have formed a unique belief regarding religion. He did not accept the fundamental Christian belief of Jesus Christ as his savior and questioned whether or not the Union would prevail as a result of the intervention of God. Lincoln was clear in his belief that Christians of the North and South were praying to the same God.
Lincoln was a Lover of Words
With a scholarly approach toward the power of words, Lincoln seemed at times moved by Biblical quotes for political reasons. He certainly understood that he was immersed in a nation dominated by the Christian faith. His public appeals and references to God may have been motivated in part by a need to connect more to the public than to God. His love of Shakespeare seems to have had a profound influence on his philosophy and communication. He often expressed a fatalism expressed by Hamlet and other Shakespearean characters, although the Christian majority would have readily recognized his references to the scriptures perhaps to the exclusion of Shakespeare.
Many of the most influential thinkers in the formative days of the United States were not Christians, including Jefferson and Paine. Many Founding Fathers were influenced by Deism and Unitarianism. Lincoln was an admirer of the writings of Paine and shared many of his beliefs.
The religious beliefs of Lincoln are difficult to define. He certainly saw a benefit in appearing to believe in a supreme being, and his public addresses moved many to classify him as a deeply religious man. Likely, Lincoln was an amalgam of many great men whom went before him.
History Bot


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Early in July, the 6th annual NOSCAR sponsored Conference on NOTES was held in Chicago near O'Hare airport. I thought now would be the perfect opportunity to update you on the current status of the journey – what's been accomplished, where are we now, where might we be going. The Natural Orifice Surgery Consortium for Assessment and Research (NOSCAR) was launched in 2005 through the vision of SAGES and ASGE past presidents David Rattner and Robert Hawes, as a dual-society collaboration to explore the feasibility, safety and challenges associated with translumenal surgery. Our collective imaginations were sparked by the preclinical work of Tony Kalloo and Sergei Kansevoy at The Johns Hopkins Hospital and the trans-gastric appendectomy performed by Rao and Reddy in India using off the shelf flexible endoscopic tools. How would this be developed? Would we repeat the frenzy (good and bad) of laparoscopy of the late 80's and early 90's? NOSCAR was formed as a SAGES/ASGE collaboration to responsibly guide the introduction of these techniques. I remember that first NOTES conference in Arizona. The excitement was palpable. How were we going to accomplish safe and reliable gastric closure? Would we finally realize the dream of scarless and painless cholecystectomies and appendectomies? What new tools would be developed? The first white paper charted the initial course for a prudent physician-led introduction of NOTES. In the first few years the NOSCAR Joint Committee raised 2.65 million dollars for competitive basic research. Grants were reviewed and awarded by the research committee independent of the funding source. NOTES societies sprang up around the world often modeled after the NOSCAR. A few years later, around the world the first clinical cholecystectomies appeared using trans-gastric and trans-vaginal (I didn't see that coming) approaches. The feeling then was that all NOTES cases should be done on protocol and small series emerged demonstrated feasibility of the NOTES techniques to the point where we decided that a prospective clinical trial could be organized comparing NOTES cholecystectomy to standard laparoscopic cholecystectomy. This is underway.
Ten Accomplishments as a result of SAGES and ASGE forming NOSCAR.
A valuable and durable relationship between SAGES and ASGE which has opened a heretofore unseen dialogue between GI and Surgical colleagues at a national and international level. As a result there is also opportunity to work jointly on a panoply of non-NOTES but still communal issues such reimbursement, training, research and education.
An outpouring of tool development that will benefit laparoscopic or endoscopic procedures regardless of the success or failure of NOTES as a technique.
A re-energizing of the commitment to furthering the march toward reducing pain or improving cosmesis. The explosion of single port procedures can be attributed to this journey. The multiple reports of single port procedures were largely ignored for years until the formation of NOSCAR.
The engagement of industry to work in a previously unseen collaborative fashion to fund first the basic research grants and then the human clinical trial. Companies providing funding for cases where competitors products might be employed at least borders on the altruistic since it has never happened before. NOSCAR seeks to discover in a prospective fashion information concerning the safety and efficacy of NOTES as a generic platform. Five competitors (alphabetic) Covidien, Ethicon Endosurgery, Olympus, Karl Storz and Stryker have jointly contributed funding NOSCAR research in an arm's length fashion allowing the consortium total control of grant awards.
The interest in NOTES has fostered development and human application of the POEM (per oral endoscopic myotomy) procedure for the totally endoscopic treatment of achalasia. This may very well become the standard of care for this disease in the near future.
The development of a transrectal NOTES procedure for the treatment of rectal cancer has been fostered by the NOSCAR basic research grants and now is in clinical trial.
Six international meetings, two white papers and more the 600 PubMed citations since 2005.
The initiation of the Human Clinical Trial for NOTES versus laparoscopic cholecystectomy conducted as a Society as Investigator Trial by NOSCAR. More than 30 patients have already been enrolled at Baystate, Yale, Oregon Clinic, Northwestern, UCSD hospitals with several more sites about to join.
The international engagement of surgeons on many continents to initiate their own NOTES development including the creation of many NOTES collaboration groups modeled after NOSCAR. Thousands of NOTES cases have been performed worldwide.
The recognition that concepts that we thought were sacred need constant re-evaluation.
This year's NOTES conference audience was polled: What percent of cholecystectomies will be performed via a natural orifice approach in 2020? As you might expect opinions varied, but no one (admittedly the group is biased) thought NOTES would be a historical footnote gone the way of gallstone lithotripsy.
What do you think? Make your voice heard by clicking this survey link.
Regardless of the future for NOTES, the creativity and imagination of surgeons around the world has been captured in a fashion similar to the early days of laparoscopy. Our surgical lives are not destinations; they are truly journeys. NOTES and the NOSCAR consortium embody the value of such an adventure. Most importantly, it has been traveled with great care and the foremost concern for the welfare of our patients.
If you have ideas, questions or concerns about SAGES or the future of surgery, please write me at president@sages.org
Steve Schwaitzberg, MD


Be inspired by some of my favorite books!
Reading is not a hobby for me, it's an essential part of my life. So, it makes me really really happy that more and more great authors are getting as crazy about food as I am!
*I'm so excited to share all of my favorite books with you and can just recommend to get them all (buy, library, …). If you just need to have them at home to go through them over and over again, you can click on those cute pictures and – voila – you'll find yourself on Amazon. Buying there will help me maintain Ginger by Choice. They share a tiny tiny portion of the money you might spend there with me. More information about all of this can be found here.


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70th Anniversary Of The Spitfire
by: Nigel Julian [ LAMPIE ]
You get 5 separate kits in this collection. The MkI, MKVc, MKIX, MKXVI and the highlight of this set for me, the 1931 Schneider Trophy winning Supermarine S.6B.
Each kit comes in its own plastic bag. Assembly and painting instructions are printed together in one A4 leaflet and are copies of the individual kit instructions. The decals all come together on one sheet.
You also get a bag containing 12 small tubs of Humbrol enamels, a paintbrush and a tube of Humbrol poly cement.
Supermarine S.6B
This model was originally released as Airfix serial number 01007 and consists of 21 parts in light grey plastic and 1 transparent part.
As you would expect on a kit of this age detail is pretty basic with but the mould is crisp with hardly a trace of flash and it should build up into a very nice representation of what is an important piece of British aviation history.
Spitfire MkI
Regarded by many modellers as one of the most accurate kits of the MKI available this kit is a classic in itself. This mould dates back to the late eighties and is available separately as Airfix number 01071.A minimal amount of cockpit detail and raised panel lines are a feature of this kit but it builds up into a very nice MKI and is one of my favourite Spitfires to build.
Markings are supplied for a Spit of 234 Sqn based at RAF Middle Wallop, August 1940.
I was hoping that Airfix would take this opportunity to reprint the decals for the MKI but this isn't the case which is a shame, but a rummage in the spares box for some replacement fuselage roundels and some careful trimming of the rudder decals is all that's needed.
Spitfire MkVc
What you get here is a Spitfire and a half,, literally! The MKVc kit (serial number 02040) is based on the MKVb model. Included in the bag is the MKVb kit with an extra sprue containing the "C type" wings and armament plus the Vokes tropical filter. In order to make the MKVc you will have to cut away the bottom of the forward section of the fuselage to fit the filter.
Apart from this surgery you'll need to do some panel line work on this hybrid kit to produce the MKVc, as the fuselage has raised panel lines and the new parts feature engraved panel lines, which look too deep and thick for this scale.
Markings are supplied for 79Sqn Royal Australian Air Force MKVc based in New Guinea in late 1944, and a 2 Sqn Spitfire of the South African Air Force based in Sicily during the same year.
In terms of decals this is the best of the bunch. The register looks good, indeed it looks ok on all 5 kits apart from the MKI, and it's the only kit to come with a full set of factory stencils.
Shape wise its an excellent representation of a MKV but the wings for the MKVc are too thick and your going to have to resign yourself to a few rescribing sessions. If you're prepared for some extra work though you should end up with a very nice MKV.
Spitfire MkIX
Available separately as Airfix serial number 02081, this MKIX comes with the markings of Wing Commander J.E "Johnny" Johnson.
Originally dating back from the 1950's it really shows its age. I have had this kit in my stash for a long time and it's the one I use as a test bed for trying new techniques.
In detail and general fit terms it's the poorest of the set and while a MKIX is an important part of the Spitfire story it's a shame this is still the only 1:72 MKIX available from Airfix.
Spitfire MkXVI
This is the old Heller kit (80282) and is one of the best MKXVI kits available in 1:72 scale. Unlike the other models in this set this one comes in black plastic. Detail is fine and crisp and you get a choice of exhausts for the Packard built Merlin. Panel lines are neatly done but are raised. Cockpit detail is very good for this scale and on a dry run the fuselage and wing fit seems fine, and it looks as though this will build up into a very nice MKXVIe.
Decals are supplied for two subjects. A 349 Sqn Spitfire based in Belgium in 1945,and a post war Spitfire from the RAF Central Gunnery School.
Airfix have put together a very nice selection of kits covering the development of the Spitfire for their 1:72 70th Anniversary Collection.
I would love to have seen a new MKIX but this is more than made up for by the inclusion of the S.6B.
Each of the kits on offer has the usual Airfix features in this scale, a relative lack of detail and raised panel lines, but all of them are quite acceptable representations of the subjects. The moulds are crisp and clean with hardly any traces of flash.
This set should appeal both to the modeller and the collector of Spitfire memorabilia and when they are all built up would make a fine display showing the development of probably the most important fighter plane of the 20th century.
Thanks to Airfix for supplying this review sample
To celebrate the 70th Anniversary of the first flight of the Supermarine Spitfire Airfix has released 2 box sets of Spitfire kits. One in 1:48 and this offering in 1:72. Starting with the S.6B floatplane, the latter one covers 5 stages of Spitfire development up to the MK XVI.
MOULDING: 80%
DECALS: 85%
Our Thanks to Airfix!
About Nigel Julian (lampie)
FROM: ENGLAND - EAST MIDLANDS, UNITED KINGDOM
Restarted modelling in late 2005 after a break of over 20 years.Built a lot of armour as a teenager but now concentrating on WW2 aircraft. Some skills are coming straight back to me and Im learning new ones everytime I log on to this site it seems.
Copyright ©2021 text by Nigel Julian [ LAMPIE ]. Images also by copyright holder unless otherwise noted. Opinions expressed are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of ModelGeek. All rights reserved.
Nice one Nige. So you don't want to part with the S6B then :-) . Andy
i bought this set a couple of weeks ago, at first just for the s6b but its a really nice collection of models in one box. some of these airfix box sets seem to have kits in them that you would love to see re issued (or is that just REALLY clever marketing?)


The Veja Mate offshore wind farm project has entered the turbine installation phase with two of the wind farm installation vessels (WFIVs) contracted for the task currently loading the first batch of turbine components at the Port of Esbjerg in Denmark, according to Siemens.
The two WFIVs tasked with installing the 67 Siemens SWT-6.0-154 wind turbines at the 402MW wind farm are Seajacks Scylla and Fred Olsen Windcarrier's Bold Tern.
Seajacks Scylla had already worked on the project, installing 67 monopiles at the site located some 95km north west of the island of Borkum in the German exclusive economic zone (EEZ). Seajacks Zaratan installed all of the transition pieces at the site.
Veja Mate is a EUR 1.9 billion offshore wind project owned by the Highland Group Holdings Ltd, Siemens Financial Services, and CI II managed by Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners.
The wind farm is expected to be fully operational by late 2017/early 2018.


I created some drawing lessons on how to draw comics characters. As you know, I really like comics. But today I decided to create an article about the warrior of medieval Japan.
In this step we will draw the contours of the torso and head. First of all, let's define the style of drawing. We have a drawing style in which all the characters look like a cartoon. And that is why we draw a large head and a small, elongated body.
Now we draw the limbs. It must convey the dynamic posture of our samurai. The samurai's right hand is tightly pressed to the body. And samurai's left hand is slightly set aside.Note that the right and left elbow joints form 90 degree angles. Samurai's right leg bends and forms an obtuse angle.The left leg is completely straight.
With the help of short lines with a smooth bend, we draw the mouth and nose. The samurai's right eye is located on the horizontal line from the first step. The left eye is located at a slight angle.
The samurai did not walk with their hair disheveled as you probably know. Therefore, we draw the contours of the hair that are collected in a dense bunch.
We draw the contours of the samurai vest. By the way, this vest is called catagin. Also in this step we draw wide pants and sword outlines. By the way, the contours of the legs that we drew in the second step will help you a lot in drawing samurai pants. One edge of the pants should match the outer edge of the leg.
In this step, we wipe off the extra lines from the menacing and concentrated face of the samurai. Draw a few horizontal strokes in place of sideburns. Add an icon that looks like the letter "S" inside the ear contour.
In this step, I delete the extra lines from the clothes of our samurai. We should also draw a fist that looks like a trapezoid inside which there are three vertical lines.Pay attention to the small folds of tissue in the elbow joints.
Let's add some color. Samurais rarely walked in bright clothes. Typical colors for samurai clothes are gray, white and beige and dark blue.
Probably the samurai is not the only famous warrior of medieval Japan. Everyone has heard about the mysterious and deadly ninja warriors.
And also do not forget to look at a brief drawing scheme of a samurai that I have prepared for you.


The death toll from a storm that devastated the Philippines shortly after Christmas rose to 126, authorities said Sunday, adding landslides caused by torrential rain were the top cause.
The storm hit central and eastern Philippine islands Dec. 29 and caused massive flooding and landslides. More than 100 people died in the mountainous Bicol region southeast of Manila, regional disaster officials said.
While the Bicol region is often hit by deadly typhoons, many people failed to take necessary precautions because the storm was not strong enough to be rated as a typhoon under the government's storm alert system, according to civil defense officials.
Officials also said that many residents were reluctant to leave their homes during the Christmas holidays.
The death toll was likely to climb further with 26 people still missing, Posadas added.
More than 152,000 people were displaced by the storm and 75 were injured, according to the national disaster agency.
President Rodrigo Duterte visited the storm-hit areas Friday and urged officials to build evacuation centers instead of using schools as shelters for the displaced.
About 20 typhoons and storms batter the Philippines each year, killing hundreds of people.
The deadliest in recent years was Super Typhoon Haiyan, which left more than 7,360 people dead or missing across the central Philippines in 2013.
Asian Cup under way, but is anyone watching?