Monday, September 24, 2007
My Favorite NON-NFL Helmets
Good Luck, Jamie Mottram
Good luck to Jamie Mottram, as he leaves AOL for Yahoo!. Jamie leaves his baby, AOL's Fanhouse ... which I blog for ... to make Yahoo! Sports blogging world into a power.
Anyone who knows me knows I kiss no one's butt. But I will say that Jamie has been quite a visionary with Fanhouse. A novel idea of having a large media outlet combine the internets best sports bloggers and letting them do their thing. In the 13 months since Fanhouse launched, sports news outlets [including ESPN] have really taken to bloggers themselves. However, the Fanhouse has a diverse stable of bloggers who cover a variety of sports from the view of the fans of the teams ... not just "journalistic blogging" of the same couple of people covering everything.
Personally, I'm proud of what Jamie has done. I remember meeting him via this very blog here as both of us are Redskins fans. These AOL blogs begat PIGSKINBLOGGERS which was a combination of blogs from each NFL team [I contributed the Redskins]. That blog became quite popular and begat PIGSKINBLOGGERSLIVE ... a radio show where the NFL bloggers would call in and talk football. And, believe me, it was raw. Jamie and his cohorts hosted it and a small amount of bloggers [including me] called in. And who knows how many people actually listened?
That, eventually, did gain some run and turned into SPORTSBLOGGERSLIVE when the NFL season ended. That show blew up into bloggers, athletes, coaches and media members chiming in on a variety of sports topics. It was a show that someone like me could get interviewed on something right after Peter King and before Seth Davis.
The show was shut down waaaaaaaay too soon ... but did usher in FANHOUSE, which still stands today and is an excellent legacy for Jamie at AOL.
Good luck, man, and thanks for all you've done.
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Which 2-0 Teams Are Legit?
Every year, I look at the 2-0 and 0-2 teams in the NFL season and wonder if this is just a lucky/bad start or if it is a harbinger of things to come. I mean, 2-0 teams have crashed and burned while 0-2 teams have made the playoffs. Which are legit ... which are flukes ... and which are on the fence? So, let's have a look, shall we?
2-0
PATRIOTS: Well, they've done nothing but blow out the Jets [their biggest threat in the AFC East] and the Chargers [one of the other AFC contenders] thus fulfilling everyone's belief that they will bowl over the conference and win a 4th title. Oh, and now they have a huge chip on their shoulder. LEGIT.
COLTS: Indy doesn't lose in September ... and they still haven't. Actually, they have been pretty impressive. They blew out the Saints and beat [while struggling] against the Titans. Did you expect anything else? LEGIT.
TEXANS: How about them Texans? Houston has looked really good coming out of the gate, blowing up the Chiefs and Panthers. The running game has been on point and Andre Johnson has been a freakin' stud. With the Jags and Titans struggling a bit ... the door is open for them to push for a playoff spot. LEGIT.
STEELERS: Pittsburgh has picked up where they left off in 2005 ... just with a new attittude. Big Ben has thrived in the revamped offense. They only thing is they beat the Browns and Bills, which isn't supposed to be tough. Let's see how this turns out. ON THE FENCE.
BRONCOS: This one is pretty tough. Denver needed a hurry up field goal to beat the Bills ... and an overtime field goal to beat the Raiders. That really doesn't look too good. Still, this is a team that can challenge for the AFC West and has already won two close games, showing poise. LEGIT.
COWBOYS: America's Team has had their offense on point thus far ... but the defense hasn't been as good as advertised. They let the Giants walk over them and the Dolphins, despite all their offensive woes, did nearly the same. Dallas must get that side of the ball together if they think this will be anything more than an NFC East race. ON THE FENCE.
REDSKINS: Washington's defense has been outstanding so far ... and the offense has been fairly effective. However, Miami and Philly have all sorts of issues and the Skins have a hellacious schedule coming up. FLUKE.
PACKERS: Green Bay, like Washington, has been beating up on teams with some issues. The Packers have done so with an emerging defense, a stable of no-name backs and Brett Favre's arm. Will this continue? Well, will find out in the next month when G-Bay takes on a tough section of schedule. ON THE FENCE.
LIONS: Beating Oakland and Minnesota doesn't get me too giddy. Let's see how they fare against the upcoming schedule before I jump on this bandwagon. FLUKE.
NINERS: Hmm, the Niners, Cowboys and Packers are all 2-0 [plus OJ is in legal trouble] so we must be back in 1994, eh? This Niners team is built on tough running and a very potent defense. They also have a pretty favorable schedule. LEGIT.
Monday, September 17, 2007
"LEAVE BILL BELICHICK ALONE!!!"
Big ups to my fellow AOL FANHOUSE-er Larry Brown for finding this video. I love things that mock two things that have nothing to do with each other until you bring them together. If you don't understand, ask a teenager to tell ya.
Hat tip: Larry Brown: Leave Bill Belichick Alone!!! - FanHouse - AOL Sports Blog
Saturday, September 15, 2007
Does Belichick's Punishment Fit His Crime?
In the heat of this "Patriot Gate" going on, the main question is if the $500,000 fine to Bill Belichick, $250,000 fine to the Patriots and possible loss of draft picks is too harsh or too easy on everyone involved. Does the punishment fit the crime?
We ask because we have no idea the nature of the crime.
All we as fans know is that someone working for the Patriots was caught on the Jets sideline videotaping their defensive coaches. We know that this guy has been caught before ... and we know that Belichick knew this was going on.
Other than that, we have no idea what is going on.
How was this film used? Who knew this was going on? Who saw the film? Were the Patriots knowingly breaking NFL rules or were they ... as Belichick says ... misinterpreting the rules?
We may never know.
What we do know is that the Commish thought enough to slap down the hefty fines and take away draft picks ... especially since it is believed that Roger Goodell did target New England as a team treading on infringement of these rules. Belichick and the Patriots are saying nothing but "sorry".
I'm sorry, too. Sorry to say that the organization owes us more than that. They, at least, owe their fans an explanation to the integrity of their actions. After all, these are the Patriots that everyone loved because they were nice guys that did it the right way. Doing it the right way means owning up to your mistakes and telling the people who support you that you failed them. Every Pats fan who proudly wears Patriots gear must now endure the tag of CHEATERS for quite some time. Every other team is thumbing thru their film to see if the Pats had anyone taping them during games.
Apparently, this isn't new. Eric Mangini, who worked under Belichick, knew to look for this guy. Former Pats offensive coordinator Charlie Weis gave a chuckling denial of knowledge of anything.
Maybe as time goes on, we will get the truth. Until then, the fine and the loss of draft picks is a start. But if there is an investigation that these films that were taken were used to cheat during games ... I'm all for forfeiting games. That's something that will be hard to prove and I'm sure that it is a can or worms no one wants to open right now.
But rest assured: if this comes up again ... there will be hell to pay.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
This Dude Picked 15 NFL Games CORRECTLY!!
This guy picked 15 games correctly in Week 1 of the NFL season. The 16th game? He didn't pick it, since he was "too close" to the Titans-Jags game so he threw it out.
Why Don't We Have TWO Monday Night Games All The Time??
In the two years that ESPN has had Monday Night Football, the season opener has seen two games ... while the rest of the season sees just one game.
But why not two?
I mean, we see those double header baseball, basketball and hockey nights. That allows us to check out the Dodgers, Giants, Padres, Sonics, Lakers, Canucks and Sharks. With a limited amount of West Coast teams ... we won't do it every week. But we certainly can for most of the season.
Week 1: Ravens-Bengals, Cards-Niners
Week 2: Redskins-Eagles
Week 3: Titans-Saints. Browns-Raiders
Week 4: Patriots-Bengals, Chiefs-Chargers
Week 5: Cowboys-Bills
Week 6: Giants-Falcons, Panthers-Cardinals
Week 7: Colts-Jaguars, Rams-Seahawks
Week 8: Packers-Broncos, Saints-Niners
Week 9: Ravens-Steelers, Texans-Raiders
Week 10: Bills-Dolphins, Niners-Seahawks
Week 11: Steelers-Jets, Titans-Broncos
Week 12: Dolphins-Steelers
Week 13: Patriots-Ravens, Browns-Cardinals
Week 14: Saints-Falcons
Week 15: Bears-Vikings, Colts-Raiders
Week 16: Packers-Bears, Broncos-Chargers
Now, I used the normal rules that no team can be on ESPN more than three times ... and using the same Monday games already scheduled.
Saturday, September 8, 2007
Sportz' Picks for the NFL Season
NFC EAST
1-Cowboys
2-Eagles
3-Redskins
4-Giants
NFC SOUTH
1-Saints
2-Panthers
3-Buccaneers
4-Falcons
NFC NORTH
1-Bears
2-Packers
3-Lions
4-Vikings
NFC WEST
1-Seahawks
2-Rams
3-Cardinals
4-Niners
NFC PLAYOFFS
WC: Seahawks over Eagles
WC: Rams over Cowboys
DIV: Seahawks over Bears
DIV: Saints over Rams
CONF: Saints over Seahawks
AFC EAST
1-Patriots
2-Jets
3-Dolphins
4-Bills
AFC SOUTH
1-Colts
2-Jaguars
3-Titans
4-Texans
AFC NORTH
1-Ravens
2-Bengals
3-Steelers
4-Browns
AFC WEST
1-Chargers
2-Broncos
3-Chiefs
4-Raiders
AFC PLAYOFFS
WC: Ravens over Broncos
WC: Chargers over Bengals
DIV: Patriots over Ravens
DIV: Colts over Chargers
CONF: Patriots over Colts
SUPER BOWL XLII: Patriots over Saints
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