Safe and nearly safe

A couple of sports teams I've been following have hit some milestones.  The Hershey Bears American Hockey League team, the affiliate of the Washington Capitals, clinched a playoff spot.  I wrote about them before, when they were on an amazing hot streak, and they rode that to the playoff position.    And at the beginning of the season, they were BAD - started with 5 straight losses, and on December 21 of last year, they had the worst record of all the teams in the league.

Quite a comeback.

My Premier League interest, Crystal Palace, moved into a nearly safe position, meaning that they likely won't be relegated to the next league down, called the Championship.  They now have 39 points, after winning, losing, winning, losing, and then most recently winning.  Nothing like consistency.  They were the sacrificial team when Tottenham Hotspur had their first official game in their new stadium, but they won their next outing.

The bottom three teams are the ones that get relegated, and of those three, Cardiff City has the most points, at 28.  Each team has 6 games left, and in the Premier League, a win is worth three points.  So if Crystal Palace didn't win another game, Cardiff would have to win 4 of their last 6 games (12 points) to catch them.  Two of Cardiff City's last six games are against the power teams Liverpool and Manchester United, and they also play Crystal Palace.  So it would be pretty miraculous for Cardiff to catch CP.  However, Cardiff City could still avoid relegation, as the two teams just above them in the standings, Brighton and Hove Albion and Southampton, only have 33 points.

So it will be interesting to watch the final stretch.