Going Green In Your Office The Easy Way

Aug 10

Many of us want to be responsible citizens of the Earth. We think about the effects our lifestyles have on the environment. We are concerned about global warming. We want to ensure our children’s future on this planet is one that still has clean air to breathe, an abundance of trees and wildlife, and clean [...] [...more]

Many of us want to be responsible citizens of the Earth. We think about the effects our lifestyles have on the environment. We are concerned about global warming. We want to ensure our children’s future on this planet is one that still has clean air to breathe, an abundance of trees and wildlife, and clean water to drink. However, many of us also think that the sacrifices might be too great to “go green” in our own office. Good news. It’s not as difficult as you think. See Super Green Me’s office corporate sustainable living tips & hints.

There are 3 areas where you can make a significant impact without significant expense or inconvenience: paper, lights, and electronics.

The average American office worker throws out about 150 pounds of paper per year. Paper manufacturing contributes to the deforestation of the planet and in America is responsible for 35 million tons of CO2 a year. So what can you do? Buy recycled paper. Make full use of that paper by printing on both sides and/or using paper that is only printed on one side for scratch paper. Do your proofreading and edits on your computer before printing to reduce the number of prints you make. Re-use file folders by placing new labels over the old ones. All of these changes are easy to make but have a big impact. Pretty painless, right?

Another way you can go green in your office is as easy as changing a light bulb. In fact, it is changing a light bulb. Incandescent bulbs use 4 times more energy than is necessary to produce light. Halogen lights can get as hot as 1,100 degrees Fahrenheit. That’s hot enough to cook an egg! Alternately, Energy Star certified compact fluorescent lights (CFLs) use 75% less energy to produce the same amount of light, last 10 times longer and produce less heat. If you feel like you need even more reason to switch to CFLs, consider that you will also save money over the lifetime of the bulb. Once you have made the switch to energy efficient bulbs, make sure lights are turned off when they are not needed. A great way to ensure that this happens is with motion sensors that will turn the lights off when everyone has left the room.

38% of all of the carbon dioxide emissions come from the electricity we generate. That electricity is used to power all sorts of things. A major drain on our electricity is all of our office equipment such as computers, copiers, printers, and fax machines. When going green with your electronics, you need to look at 3 factors. You need to consider the waste that is created in the manufacturing of the products, the effects on the environment when you use the products, and the waste that is created when you are done with the products. That may seem like a lot to think about but if you follow these simple guidelines, you will be able to minimize the negative impact your office equipment has on the environment.

The manufacturing of electronics uses a lot of resources including electricity, raw materials, and water. Electronics also account for billions of pounds of municipal waste each year. Just a few of the contaminants that electronics create are toxic heavy metals, lead, PCB’s, mercury, and various acids. To lessen your office’s affect on the number of new pieces of equipment that are manufactured, as well as end up in land fills, buy all-in-one machines that combine multiple functions into one. Whenever possible, get rid of machines completely by using services such as Internet fax. With an Internet fax service you get rid of the fax machine completely, as well as reduce the amount of paper and ink that gets consumed. Another way to decrease waste is to recycle machines that are no longer working and donate those that do to charities where they will stay in use. Sustainable living belongs in the office as well!

25% of the total electricity used by all commercial buildings in the US is consumed by office buildings. When buying any new office equipment, look for Energy Star certified machines. This will make a huge difference in the amount of electricity that is used to run your office. For example, an Energy Star certified computer is going to be 52% more efficient than a standard one. Laptops also use a lot less energy than desktops, so consider whether this is a viable option for your office. Energy efficient machines are also going to have stand by options that will power down or go into sleep mode to conserve energy when not in use. Once the office is closing for the day, make sure that all equipment is powered off.

Taking these steps will get you on your way to going green in your office. And as I promised, they will help you make a significant impact without significant cost or inconvenience to you and your employees. And you thought going green was going to be hard.

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10 Ways You Can Save The Environment Today

Aug 10

Global warming and climate change is no longer a theoretical concept. While raising average global temperatures, climate change could also bring more snow, harder rain, or heat waves, meteorologists say. Computer models based on climate data from nine countries indicate every place on the planet will be hit with extreme weather events, including coastal storms [...] [...more]

Global warming and climate change is no longer a theoretical concept. While raising average global temperatures, climate change could also bring more snow, harder rain, or heat waves, meteorologists say. Computer models based on climate data from nine countries indicate every place on the planet will be hit with extreme weather events, including coastal storms and floods.

There is emerging scientific consensus that human activity in particular through the emission of carbon dioxide has certainly contributed to drastic changes in our climate through global warming.

While waiting for political will and sanity to prevail at the global level, each of us could do our part to reduce our carbon footprint. A Carbon Footprint is a measure of the impact human activities have on the environment in terms of the amount of green house gases produced, measured in units of carbon dioxide. Calculate your carbon footprint here.

Here are 10 simple things you can do immediately to go green that will start to reduce your contribution to global warming. These things would cost you no money at all and will in fact save you money.

1. Turn off your appliances when not in use. We are all guilty of leaving our appliances on even when we are not using them. Chief among them are computers, printers, CD players and others. We also tend to leave too much lights on even when we don’t need them.

2. Turn down the central heating slightly (try just 1 to 2 degrees C). Overheating our houses is not only wasteful but also invites pests and insects. Warm and moist areas could also grow fungus and cause rot.

3. Turn down the water heating setting. Just 2 degrees will make a significant saving. Lower heating would not only save cost but also save your skin as overly hot water is damaging to the skin.

4. Check the central heating timer setting to shut down your heating or lower after you have left for work

5. Fill your dish washer and washing machine with a full load - this will save you water, electricity, and washing powder. If we have little utensils to be washed it would be a great idea to wash them by hand and drip dry them.

6. Fill the kettle with only as much water as you need.

7. Unplug your mobile phone as soon as it has finished charging.

8. Defrost your fridge/freezer regularly.

9. Do your weekly shopping in a single trip. By using our vehicles often we not only contribute to carbon emission but also create an unhealthy life style. The environment wants to go green with supergreenme will love you!

10. Hang out the washing to dry rather than tumble drying it.

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Sportsgeekz History - Wayback

Aug 10

October 18, 2005 I meant to post this earlier today, but of course Bill Simmons beat me to it. So I’ll just say this: Both the Houston Astros and the St. Louis Cardinals are going to be thinking about the fact that last year, the Red Sox were one out away from elimination before going on The [...] [...more]

October 18, 2005

I meant to post this earlier today, but of course Bill Simmons beat me to it. So I’ll just say this:

Both the Houston Astros and the St. Louis Cardinals are going to be thinking about the fact that last year, the Red Sox were one out away from elimination before going on The Greatest Comeback in the History of Man. They’ll try not to–especially the Astros–but it’ll be buzzing at the back of the mind like flies on a dungheap.

Even down three games to two, and with two of Houston’s best pitchers coming to the mound for Games Six and Seven, this series is now the Cardinals’ to lose.

Has anyone ever won a series MVP award with one swing of the bat?

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Filed under: Baseball | Posted by Allen Holt @ 3:39 pm
October 17, 2005

1. Indianapolis (5-0) — Until they give me some reason to believe otherwise, the Colts are the best team in football. I don’t expect them to give me any reason to believe otherwise until their trip to Foxboro on November 7 [1]. Super green me eco sports

2. San Diego (3-3) — Record be damned. The Chargers are playing as well as any team in football right now, and LaDanian Tomlinson just keeps getting better, which has to induce tremors in oppoosing defensive coordinators. Their three losses are by a combined nine points to three teams that are a combined 12-4. Their three wins are by a combined 49 points, two of those wins over teams that should be in the playoff hunt all year. I’m telling you right now: the Chargers will pass Denver for the division lead by early December, if not sooner.

3. Cincinnati (5-1) — I’m starting to believe in these guys. I realize that of their five wins, four were against teams who could be probably be prosecuted for illegally impersonating NFL franchises (Cleveland, Minnesota, Chicago and Houston), but one of the marks of a good team is beating the opponents you’re supposed to beat, and the Bengals have been doing that so far. This week’s game against Pittsburgh will be their first real test this year.

4. Denver (5-1) — I swear, I think the Broncos might be the worst 5-1 team I’ve ever seen. But I can’t knock the results–five straight wins, all over good teams (with the possible exception of the Redskins; tests there are inconclusive thus far). Denver is the Renee Zellweger of the NFL right now: not very pretty, not especially talented, but somehow pulling down Oscar nomination after Oscar nomination…er, win after win. I just don’t get it. They do realize that Jake Plummer is their quarterback, right?

5. Tampa Bay (5-1) — The Buccaneers might be the second-worst 5-1 team I’ve ever seen. Like the Bengals, the Bucs have been blessed with a creampuff schedule that should grease their road directly into the playoffs, but they need a healthy Cadillac Williams and the hope that Chris Simms doesn’t kill them if they have any chance of doing anything once they get there. Isn’t it funny to think that an injury to Brian Griese could derail a team’s season? Didn’t fans in Denver used to pray for Griese to get hurt?

6. Seattle (4-2) — The Seahakws seem to be playing more consistently than they have any other time in the last several years, and have the added advantage of playing in a division where every team except them is wretched. Seattle needs to ride Shaun Alexander’s contract-year legs as far as they’ll carry them, which should be into at least the second round of the playoffs.

7. Jacksonville (4-2) — I’m still not 100% sold on the Jags. I think they’re still on the way up, but I don’t know that they’re quite there yet. Three of their four wins were quality, but they got shellacked by both Denver and Indy. Nice job stealing a win in from a beat-up Pittsburgh team on Sunday, though–you’ve got to take advantage of those kinds of situations, and the Jacksonville did. go green sports eco football

8. Dallas (4-2) — Ugly game against the Giants aside, the ‘Boys have looked pretty good so far, even without Julius Jones injured. But don’t you worry…this mirage Bledsoe will remember who he is by late November and we’ll all be spared Dallas’s presence in and inevitable early exit from the playoffs.

9. Philadelphia (3-2) — In other news, Donovan McNabb managed to lacerate one of his kidneys while watching the Giants-Cowboys game on Sunday and was scheduled to receive a donated kidney later this week. Coach Andy Reid said he didn’t expect the injury to cause McNabb to miss any playing time.

10. New England (3-3) — Is there anybody who seriously can’t see this team rolling off ten straight wins and finishing 13-3–especially given their bye this week, Tedy Bruschi’s emotional return and the fact that their brutal early schedule is done? Anybody?

Next. Pittsburgh (3-2), Kansas City (3-2), Atlanta (4-2), New York Giants (3-2), Carolina (4-2).
[1] Of course, as I’m typing this, I see that “improved” Colts’ D give up 17 first-quarter points to the friggin’ Rams. I knew I shouldn’t have started writing this before the Monday night game was done…

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Filed under: Football | Posted by Allen Holt @ 9:55 pm
August 9, 2005

A funny thing happened on my karma delivery route this morning. After months of trying to scorch Philly WR Terrell Owens to ashes with my Bullshit Seeking Heat Vision, my attention will now be moving elsewhere. Not far, though. I’m turning my death rays upstairs, toward the Eagles’ front office.

The Eagles had seemed to be saying and doing all the right things: holding their ground, refusing to renegotiate a deal after one season, expecting Owens to honor his contract and show up (which he did, reluctantly). Nothing personal, just the business of football (and contracts in general).

Owens, for the most part, has been saying and doing all the wrong things: sniping at teammates, calling his coach (Andy Reid) to warn him that he’d be a divisive force if he wasn’t placated soon, trotting out the tired-ass family card (like his family prays for another sunrise in a hovel in Kosovo), blah blah blah.

Owens’ agent (much accursed Drew Rosenhaus), apparently in the spirit of compromise, has been espousing the truth (the right thing), but has so fervently done so that he sounds like a overheated sports-talk radio host (the wrong way). Rosenhaus rightly states that the Eagles, like any NFL team, hold most of the cards in any contract situation. However, he distorts the degree to which the contract in question injures or otherwise short-changes Owens.

Both sides having something substantial to lean on (the Eagles and their signed contract with Owens, Owens with his not-off-base assertion that the Eagles could basically fire him tomorrow and pay him nothing), I’ve been firmly in the Eagles camp until now. Owens (and Rosenhaus) has done virtually nothing to elicit sympathy for, or even strong agreement with, his position that the Eagles are taking advantage of their leverage and treating Owens like an indentured servant.

Until now. Until Owens sustained a groin injury in training camp last week. An injury which prompted Reid to hold a highly odd (not to mention unsolicited) press conference immediately, just to stress that Owens’ injury was genuine and that T.O. was absolutely not the kind of player to pull a stunt like that. While I can’t speak for media members and regular citizens and other Eagles players and coaches who were actually there, the thought of Owens faking an injury just to make some sort of statement to the Eagles never crossed my mind; I wonder if it crossed anyone else’s.

It’s much easier for me to believe that Reid found a great way to add another floor to T.O.’s House of Bad Character, while appearing to have his player’s back. And oh, how Eagles management must love Reid for that slick move. This kind of shrewd maneuver is why Reid’s been in more NFC championship games than Gatorade. It’s also why the Eagles have players grumbling and/or leaving almost non-stop. I wouldn’t stand that close to window, Jeffrey Lurie. You might end up with a sunburn that Aloe Vera can’t soothe. Eco friendly NFL football equipment

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Filed under: Uncategorized | Posted by Timmy B @ 11:35 pm
May 20, 2005

For any of you might have tried to access the ol’ Sportsgeekz site this week, you probably noticed you had some difficulties doing so. (If you didn’t notice, then you’re not particularly perceptive.) Due to some unfortunate timing, and by that I mean the domain expired during a time when I didn’t have the cash to re-register it, visitors to the site got a nice friendly “Coming Soon!” page from the most excellent domain registrar GoDaddy.

So, sorry all–the perceptive among you might notice that we’re back up now. Shan’t happen again (at least until at least next May…).

“But what about the lack of content on this site, jackass?” I hear you asking. Well, honestly, during non-football season, there’s not as much that really gets me excited enough to feel like commenting on it. It happens, but not as frequently. If you simply can’t get by without the occasional joyful frolic in the lush green fields of my prose, you may venture on over to Moviegeekz for some movie reviews and the occassional other bit, or drop by my personal blog (Do Or Do Not) for some miscellaneous miscellany.

And if it’s sports news you crave, or at the very least football news (fantasy and otherwise), head on over to Field Position. They’ll do you right.

Check back here reguarly, though–even though we’re still a good couple of months away from NFL training camp, you never know when something in the world of sports will put a bee up my bonnet and inspire me to actually, y’know, write.

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Sportsgeekz History - Soccer

Aug 10

January 31, 2006 Tags: Soccer | Posted by Orion at @ 5:18 pm Welcome to a new SportsGeekz feature! I’m Orion, and I’ll be filling in the gaping hole in Allen’s knowledge of all things related to that ‘other’ football game, better known in this part of the world as soccer. We’ll focus primarily on the US [...] [...more]

January 31, 2006

Tags: Soccer | Posted by Orion at @ 5:18 pm
Welcome to a new SportsGeekz feature! I’m Orion, and I’ll be filling in the gaping hole in Allen’s knowledge of all things related to that ‘other’ football game, better known in this part of the world as soccer. We’ll focus primarily on the US National Team’s march to World Cup 2006 in Germany later this summer, with a few hits from other world teams as well as the preparation for MLS’s 11th season. Of course there’ll be plenty of New England Revolution news, too, just to preserve the local color. [Editor’s note: Yes, Orion and I are both in New England. And no, we’re not apologizing for our New England bias, either — please note the picture of Tom Brady in our masthead.]

Let’s kick off this month’s column with a look at the US’s performance in their recent international friendlies, where Bruce Arena is trying desperately to pick half of his 23-man World Cup squad from a record crop of MLS players.

USA 0:0 CAN (1/22/06)
A lackluster and uninspired performance from a bunch of players who should know better. If you’re competing for a roster spot for Germany, every single performance from now until May is crucial to you. The US played down to Canada’s level, although to be fair I should say that Canada (with former MLS man Frank Yallop behind the bench) is no longer quite the perennial CONCACAF doormat that they once were. With little else to talk about, we’re left to ponder the implications of media darling and US Soccer “savior” du jour Freddy Adu’s first cap, coming on for the last 15 minutes of the game and having no impact whatsoever.

On the home front, local boy Matt Reis (NE Revolution ‘keeper) also got his first cap as well as his first shutout. Long in the shadow of Kevin Hartman (his teammate first in college and then at the Galaxy before the Revs picked him up), Reis is finally getting a well-deserved chance to shine on the national team. Don’t go booking him a ticket for Germany, but keep an eye on him for 2010.

USA 5:0 NOR (1/29/06)
Ahhhh… that’s better. I think this match was best summed up by Jaime Trecker, writing for Fox Soccer Channel: “Five years ago, this afternoon’s matchup was the type of game that the Americans would struggle to dominate. Today the Americans put Norway down like a sick animal – quickly and efficiently, and it is to their complement that they did it without the aid of their far more experienced European-based members.”

It was a good day for the local boys once again, as Arena chose a Revolution-flaovered attacking squad: Twellman up front (3 goals?!) with Pat Noonan and Clint Dempsey on the wings providing service. I don’t know that Noonan is best choice on the left wing but I really like Clint’s workrate on the right, and right midfield is a huge hole for us going into Germany. It remains to be seen whether Clint can fill that role on the international level, and on a consistent basis.

Quick Takes
» Freddy Adu became the youngest ever capped American, at 16 years and 234 days of age. He’s still eligible for the U-17 and U-20 teams, not to mention the U-23 Olympic squad… and frankly, I think he should stay there. Wait until he’s getting first-team time at United (be it DC or Manchester, your choice) before you give him a real shot on the full senior side.

» Speaking of United, FC Barcelona is rumored to be interested in buying the operating rights to the DC franchise. I think foreign investment would be a good thing for the league, but I’m not holding my breath on this deal. Rumors have been floating around about this stuff since MLS Cup ‘05 and I wouldn’t be suprised if this was all just hot air.

» The Houston franchise (formerly of San Jose) announced their name and colors this past week. We’ve already taken pages from England (DC United, FC Dallas), Spain (Real Salt Lake), and South America (CD Chivas USA)… now we’re going for Germany. “Houston 1836? is an interesting choice. My major problem with it is that German teams like 1860 Munich are referring to the year in which their team was founded, not their city. Nice try, Houston.

» Allen Hopkins of Fox Soccer Channel gives the Revs a B on their MLS SuperDraft picks. I’ll admit to being mostly ignorant of this year’s incoming class, but it sounds like Steve Nicol is pretty happy with the squad that he already has – and who wouldn’t be after last season’s performance? Investing in youth and taking a couple of gambles is likely to pay off in the future, with very little downside.

» That’s it for now. Next time I’ll have my predictions for the World Cup Finals and analysis of the upcoming friendlies against Japan and Guatemala. In the meanwhile, if there’s something you’ve been dying to know
about soccer, send it along and I’ll answer it in an upcoming column.

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January 23, 2006

Tags: NFL, NBA | Posted by Allen at @ 11:31 pm
Man, busy couple of days…

» Congratulations to the Seattle Seahawks and Pittsburgh Steelers for earning the right to play in Super Bowl XL (as predicted here Friday). I know that Seahawks-Steelers isn’t exactly a marquee matchup for the NFL (though, c’mon, you’ve gotta admit–at the very least, it’s got to have more national interest than the St. Louis-Tennessee Super Bowl did), but I truly think this game has the potential to be one of our more exciting Super Bowls (like the aforementioned Rams-Titans game). These two teams are pretty evenly matched — both have balanced offenses, hard-hitting defenses, solid coaching, excellent young quarterbacks, ravenous fan bases. I’m going to need all two weeks between now and the game to make my pick.

» I was glad to note that the officiating in general wasn’t a problem in the conference championship games. The refs in the Pittsburgh-Denver game seemed mostly to back off and let the guys play; the refs in the Seattle-Carolina game seemed to take their time and perhaps be a little too careful with their calls. Neither game had perfect officiating, but I don’t expect perfection, just competence, which is what we got — and that fact puts those two games a step up on last weekend’s.

» Welcome back, Jake Plummer. We missed you. Picking on Kyle Orton and Mike McMahon just wasn’t as much fun.

» Remind me never ever never to get tackled by Lofa Tatupu. (Hey, it could happen — he’s from Plainville, Massachusetts, which is only two towns over from me. Y’never know when I could, like, run into him at the Borders on Route 1 or something, and maybe I’d meet his eye and he’d think I’d looked at him wrong, like I wasn’t giving him any respect ’cause nobody gives the Seahawks any damn respect (really I wasn’t disrespecting the guy — I’d just seen a picture of a half-naked Nicole Richie in Maxim and it made me feel kinda sick), and he could decide he needed to take my ass down right fucking there in Borders, over by the magazines in front of the coffee shop. And then Tedy Bruschi would show up, ’cause he lives in North Attleboro, so of course he’s hanging at Borders when all of this goes down, and Bruschi can’t let Tatupu just plaster a civilian like that, it’s just not right, so Tedy flies into him like Lofa’s got a big number 18 on his chest, and then somebody throws a yellow flag for a late hit, and Bruschi’s got to move his family back fifteen yards. Could happen.)

» The annual NFL coaching shuffle’s just about wrapped up, with only Oakland yet to find anyone willing to submit to being Al Davis’ lap dog. The Texans finally get to nab Gary Kubiak, which might just be a good fit — if Kubiak could turn Plummer into a Pro Bowl quarterback, he should be able to do wonders for David Carr. Getting an offensive-minded coach was an imperative knowing that they’re going to take Reggie Bush with the first pick, and hiring Kubiak was a better choice than hiring someone like Mike Martz — at least Kubiak’s suckage is still purely theoretical.

NFL Coaching Carousel
The Team The Gone The New
Buffalo Mike Mularkey Dick Jauron
Detroit Steve Mariucci/
Dick Jauron Rod Marinelli (*)
Green Bay Mike Sherman Mike McCarthy (*)
Houston Dom Capers Gary Kubiak (*)
Kansas City Dick Vermeil Herm Edwards
Minnesota Mike Tice Brad Childress (*)
New Orleans Jim Haslett Sean Payton (*)
New York Jets Herm Edwards Eric Mangini (*)
Oakland Norv Turner TBD
St. Louis Mike Martz Scott Linehan (*)
* N00bie
» Buffalo picks former Bears coach Dick Jauron out of the recycling bin, dusts him off and puts him in charge of a team that hasn’t made the playoffs in six years. We think Jauron should do fine in Buffalo since their defense is so close to playoff caliber already — a good defensive coach is exactly what the Bills needed. (OK, well, a good defensive coach and a real quarterback. That’d help, too.)

Jauron’s hiring brings us to a point we’ve been meaning to make for a week or so — why aren’t more guys with NFL head-coaching experience getting second chances? Of the nine teams which have hired new coaches this offseason, seven of them hired guys who have never been an NFL head coach (many of them have never been head coaches at any level). We realize that we just poked fun at Mike Martz above for having already proven he sucks, which can’t be said of all the new guys… yet. But not all of the veteran head coaches out there were as wretched as Martz.

I’m not at all against giving coordinators their shots to be head coaches. But it seems that the guys with experience aren’t even getting that many interviews, which we find bizarre. We think part of it might be that franchises are afraid of alienating their fans by hiring coaches who have already been “failures” with other teams. It’s easier for the Lions, for instance, to promote “promising” new coach Rod Marinelli than it might have been to promote, say, Jim Haslett.

But remember, all of you teams rushing to pick up the new guys: Bill Belichick was 36-44 with only one playoff appearance when he was coach of the Cleveland Browns. Coaches have to learn somewhere, and many times the lessons they learn in those first “failed” stints make them far better coaches the second time around. Just sayin’.

» So after unbeatens Duke and Pitt both lost early in the day on Saturday… do you think unbeaten Florida just wanted to be trendy or what? C’mon, Gators — if all of the other unbeaten teams had jumped off a bridge, would you have jumped, too? Would you have gotten your nose pierced just ’cause Duke did?

» Eighty-one points, huh? Yeah, well… you’re still an asshole.

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January 20, 2006

Tags: NFL | Posted by Allen at @ 9:41 pm
Home team in caps.

Pittsburgh over DENVER. Something in my gut tells me that one of the two road teams will be pulling off the upset and going to Detroit; I think the Steelers will be the one. I think a lot of what it comes down to is that, even after a 13-3 regular season and a playoff win over the two-time defending champions, I’m still not sold on the Broncos. I’ve watched them play several times this year and they just don’t look that good — they are a good team, don’t get me wrong, but they’ve never seemed to have that swagger or that ability to beat the snot out of their opponent that I expect from teams that make it to the Super Bowl.

Once again, weather’s not going to be a factor — it’s a shame for Denver to get two home playoff games and not have the weather help them out for either one. Though, of course, the referees helped them out plenty last weekend. (Ba DUM bum.)

Pittsburgh will be able to run on Denver, but Denver won’t be able to say the same. The Steelers will successfully enact the game plan the Patriots wanted to accomplish last week: jump on the Broncos early and make Jake Plummer throw the ball. Two Troy Polamalu interceptions (one returned for a touchdown) later, and the Steelers are in Super Bowl XL. And it won’t even be close. Pittsburgh 27, Denver 10.

SEATTLE over Carolina. Trying to pick a winner has been making shreddy twisty bits of my brain all week. I can’t get a handle on it. Carolina’s been playing really well the last few weeks, but every time this season they’ve had a stretch of a few great games, they’ve suffered a humiliating loss. And Seattle, 14-2 or not, just has the feel of a team waiting to fold. I don’t know.

I eventually decided to go with Seattle, though not without a healthy degree of doubt. The Seahawks have home field advantage. The Panthers are down to Nick Goings at running back, and while Goings is a perfectly good backup (he filled in great for Stephen Davis and DeShaun Foster in ‘04), he hasn’t gotten much work this year. Since Goings will be the ground attack, the ‘Hawks will probably quintuple-cover Steve Smith and dare Carolina to run. I don’t think they’ll be able to. Two short Shaun Alexander touchdowns and one by Joe The Fucking Man Jurevicius do it for Seattle; Smith ends up with 130 yards and a TD, but he can’t do all of it by himself (…or can he? This point’s where some of my doubt comes in).

All bets are off, by the way, if the Seahawks start trash-talking Smith before the game. You don’t jab sharp sticks into the lion’s cage, guys… it’s only gonna make him mad. Seattle 21, Carolina 17.

Last week: 1-3 (ouch). Playoffs: 3-5.

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January 17, 2006

Tags: NFL | Posted by Allen at @ 8:27 pm
» Just so you don’t forget (and don’t let our 1-3 weekend picking the NFL playoffs fool you), we do occassionally know what we’re talking about around here. We called it here fifteen days ago:

The Saints’ coaching job will be a pretty tough sell for owner Tom Benson and GM Mickey Loomis; I’d expect that position to go to someone with no NFL head-coaching experience.

Ladies and gentlemen, meet the desperate-for-a-head-coaching-job Sean Peyton, former quarterbacks coach of the Dallas Cowboys and new head coach of the New Orleans Saints.

Petyon has been a candidate for head coaching jobs for the last several years, dating to his days with the New York Giants; he was almost named coach of the Oakland Raiders a couple of years ago before backing out of the gig to stay with the Cowboys. And really, given what we’ve seen from Oakland the last two years, can you really blame the guy? Had he taken the Raiders job, he’d likely still have been available now for the Saints job, but with a failed first go-round as coach on his resume.

Peyton’s hiring just solidifies the assumption that the Saints will be selecting a quarterback with the second overall selection in the draft — the only question, of course, is whether they’ll take Matt Leinart or Vince Young. (And secretly, we don’t think it’s even that much of a question, but the media has to have something to write about for the next three months.)

» A Steelers fan had a heart attack after Jerome Bettis’ fumble on the Indianapolis one-yard line. We’re only surprised there weren’t more heart attacks in Pittsburgh because of that game — especially given the atrocious state of the officiating in that game. (Yeah, we know we harped on this topic yesterday, but we’re not done. Referee Pete Morelli should’ve been hauled out to midfield, stipped naked, hogtied and forced to let Troy Polamalu have his way with him. And we still think Polamalu would’ve gotten the worse screwing.)

Steelers coach Bill Cowher has come out in support of the refs, trying to temper comments made by increasingly vocal linebacker Joey Porter — all in all a good move for Cowher, we think, since we can’t imagine the referees in next Sunday’s AFC Championship game giving his team the benefit of the doubt on close calls if he’d ripped the officials. Do we really think the refs do that kind of thing on purpose, allow personal feelings to influence penalty calls? No, not usually, but they are human (most of them, anyway…we think), so why take chances?

And if the NFL fines coaches and players for castigating refs in public fora, shouldn’t they give small bonuses to coaches and players for praising officials in the same contexts? Just askin’.

» Norv Turner’s already found a new job, and he doesn’t even have to move: he’s the new offensive coordinator of the San Francisco 49ers. We think this is a great move by the Niners, since Turner’s repeatedly proven himself to be a much better coordinator than head coach, and San Francisco clearly needed to do something to improve that offense. We mean, c’mon…their offense was so terrible last year — worst in the NFL — that their old coordinator wound up parlaying that gig into a head coaching job.

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January 16, 2006

Tags: NFL, MLB, Rumor Mill | Posted by Allen at @ 11:09 pm
» Against our advice, the New York Jets have hired Patriots defensive coordinator Eric Mangini as their new head guy Even though we disagreed with this decision, we’ll defer to Sports Illustrated’s Peter King here: better to get the guy you want before he’s ready than not to be able to get him when he is. As long as the Jets are willing to give him a chance to succeed, to invest a minimum of three or four years in Mangini, this move might work out. But Jets fans need to be willing to accept a couple of serious rebuilding years with a newbie head coach and probably a newbie quarterback and running back, and likely an entirely new defense since Mangini’s a defensively-minded guy. Long-term, hiring Mangini might prove to be a fantastic move; we’re just afraid that he’ll never get to that long term, especially in the glare of the New York media. Best of luck, Eric Mangini — you’re gonna need it.

» Mangini’s departure to the swamps of New Jersey, or course, leaves yet another hole in the New England coaching staff, once a rock of consistency. We hope that Bill Belichick’s hunt for new coordinators goes more quickly and more smoothly than last year’s miserable debacle. The Pats still don’t even have an offensive coordinator after Charlie Weis ditched them for Notre Dame last year.

» The NFL admitted that referee Pete Morelli was clearly watching something other than videotape of Pittsburgh Steelers safety Troy Polamalu’s interception of Indianapolis’ Peyton Manning when Morelli’s head was in the replay hood — may we hope it was an episode of “Arrested Development”? While the play was clearly an interception, fumble and recovery — all by Polamalu — Morelli decided to embellish the NFL rulebook with his own creative interpretation of the phrase “act common to the game.” While we at Sportsgeekz don’t like even to think of such things, we ask if maybe it’s worthwhile to see if Mr. Morelli has any ties to any known gambling cartels…

» Obviously using a slightly different definition of the word “classic,” 43-year-old Roger Clemens and 41-year-old Barry Bonds are both part of the initial roster for the U.S. team for the World Baseball Classic.

» The Not-Yet-Las-Vegas Marlins signed super-duper starting pitcher Dontrelle Willis to a one-year, $4.35 million contract, essentially giving themselves more time to sign him to the ginormous contract sure to come his way soon. We realize that the Marlins have been shedding payroll the way the Patriots shed coordinators (ba dum bump), but they have got to hold onto Willis, no matter what the cost. He’s the face of their franchise and can be for the next 10-to-12 years, and they’ll need that kind of marketable personality to help sell season tickets when they move to Vegas.

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Sportsgeekz History

Aug 10

February 16, 2006 Tags: Soccer | Posted by Orion at @ 11:02 am [Ed. note: For those of you wondering just what Orion’s talking about with all these bizarre acronyms, we refer you back to his column from last week where he clearly spells it all out for you in such exquisite detail that even most members [...] [...more]

February 16, 2006

Tags: Soccer | Posted by Orion at @ 11:02 am
[Ed. note: For those of you wondering just what Orion’s talking about with all these bizarre acronyms, we refer you back to his column from last week where he clearly spells it all out for you in such exquisite detail that even most members of the Bush Administration could understand it.]

Qualification for the World Cup is a long, arduous process. At the top, FIFA figures out (by using some mystic formula, which really translates to magically waving their hands) how many of the 32 available qualification spots to dole out to each confederation. Confederations then get to figure out their own qualifying tournament or tournaments, crown the right number of champions, and send them on to the Final Draw.

Let’s take CONCACAF as an example. There were 34 teams battling it out for 3.5 spots in the Finals (more later on what “half a spot” means). CONCACAF qualifying takes two years (it started in February of 2004, this time around) and goes through four rounds. The first round pits most of the smaller teams against each other — the teams that made it (or almost made it) to the World Cup last time don’t come in until Round Two. Round One is a two-game home-and-away playoff (this is commonly known as the “cup” format), so 22 teams are whittled down to 12 (there are a couple of byes thrown in). Round Two matches up the remaining 12 teams against the 12 winners from Round One, and is also a two-game playoff.

Now things get more interesting. The 12 winners from Round Two are broken into three pools of four. Within each pool, every team plays each other twice (once home, once away) in a round-robin format. The top two teams from each pool advance to Round Four, which is often known as “The Hexagonal” (because there are six teams). Round Four is again a round-robin home-and-away (sometimes called “league” format) tournament, and at the end of the day the teams are ranked and spots at the Finals are handed out.

The Wikipedia page on CONCACAF qualifying describes all of this as well, and if you’re as anal-retentive about following the exact results of each game as I am, you can see all the qualifying matches there. I’ll wait here while the OCD folks in the audience check that page out…

Oh, and by the way, don’t pay too much attention to anything I just wrote, because when qualification for 2010 starts up, the format is likely to be completely different (except for the Hexagonal, which is pretty constant.) Such is the life of an international soccer fan.

So what’s the deal with getting 3.5 spots? Well, of the six teams in Round Four, the top three (USA, Mexico, and Costa Rica) are automatically granted passage to the World Cup. The fourth-place team might make it, but they have to play another “cup” format round against a “half spot” from some other confederation. In 2005 the half-spot playoffs were between CONCACAF and AFC, and between CONMEBOL and OFC. Trinidad and Tobago (4th place CONCACAF) defeated Bahrain (5th place AFC) in October, winning 2-1 “on aggregate.” In the other playoff, Australia (1st place OFC) defeated Uruguay (5th place CONMEBOL) on penalty kicks after each team won their home game 1-0.

Okay. Every confederation has filled its allocations, the half-spot playoffs have been held, and we know all 32 teams that are going to the World Cup. (By the way, here’s this year’s breakdown: UEFA 14 (including Germany, who automatically qualify as host), CAF 5, CONMEBOL 4.5 4, OFC 0.5 1, AFC 4.5 4, CONCACAF 3.5 4) Now what?

Now we come to the mystical process known as the Final Draw. The first thing that happens is that FIFA decides who the “ranked” teams are. There are eight pools, so there are eight ranked teams. Germany (host) and Brazil (defending champion) are automatically ranked, and placed in the pools that give them the largest stadia to play in (I’m not making that up). The remaining six ranked spots go to the teams that fared the best at World Cup 2002, World Cup 1998, and the World Rankings in 2005, 2004, and 2003. Again, there is theoretically a mathematical formula that one could follow to get these rankings, but there’s always so much press and controversy around the rankings that you wonder whether people inside FIFA are pulling strings to give certain teams more or less than they deserve.

Okay, now we know who the ranked teams are. They go into Slot 1 of each of the eight pools, so none of them has to play any other until the second round. The rest of the slots are drawn out of “pots” full of little balls that have each country’s name written on them. Teams are divided into pots mostly based on confederation, so that two teams from the same confederation don’t have to play each other in the first round. (The exception is UEFA, which has so many slots that it would be impossible to prevent that.) If you want to know all the nitty-gritty details (and they are described in excruciating detail), there’s a PDF file on the World Cup home page (look for “Final Draw” in the navbar) that you can go read. Basically, they draw balls from the pots in some specific order that fills in the groups, while millions of people watch breathlessly and hope their team doesn’t get totally shafted.

Yep, that’s right, this whole process is broadcast live on TV around the world, and at last count something like 350 million people watched it. (I followed the webcast in a cute little Java applet that didn’t refresh quickly enough.) 11,000 people were in the auditorium where the draw happened. Heidi Klum was on hand to assist. Take all the pomp and circumstance around something like the Emmys, multiply it by a couple orders of magnitude, and make it about soccer. You start to get the idea. Oh, and by the way, the USA got shafted, by which I mean they got drawn into one of the hardest groups.

From here it looks pretty simple. The first round of the World Cup Finals is made up of eight pools of four teams each, played in single round-robin (’cause there’s no such thing as “home” and “away”, here). The top two teams from each pool advance. Then a 16-team playoff bracket decides the World Cup Champion, who gets to carry the 18-karat gold World Cup Trophy around for four years.

But first, you have to qualify.

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February 12, 2006

Tags: NFL | Posted by Allen at @ 10:25 pm
Last year, I came out with my unrealistcally early predicitions for the 2005 NFL season — right after the Super Bowl, before free agency, before the draft. The Patriots’ fingerprints hadn’t even been wiped off of the Lombardi Trophy before I confidently stated that the Eagles would defeat the Ravens in Super Boxl XL. Of course, neither team as much as caught a whiff of the playoff chase; neither did five of the other teams I predicted still to be around in the postseason. The Lions? The Cardinals? The friggin’ Packers? Yeah, big genius, me.

Not that last year’s pathetic failure is going to stop me from making just a big of an ass of myself this year.

Remember, these predictions are before any of the major personnel moves to come over the next few months, though coaching hires are certainly taken into account. Also remember, these are not my official predictions, which won’t be released until late August. I certainly wouldn’t recommend you wager even a single dollar based on the information I’m about to provide. Caveats aside, away we go:

AFC East: Patriots
AFC North: Bengals
AFC South: Colts
AFC West: Chargers
Wild Cards: Dolphins, Broncos

NFC East: Redskins
NFC North: Bears
NFC South: Panthers
NFC West: Seahawks
Wild Cards: Eagles, Buccaneers

AFC Championship: Patriots over Colts (yes, again)
NFC Championship: Redskins over Seahawks

Super Bowl XLI: PATRIOTS over Redskins

So there you have it: a Super Bowl matchup guaranteed to strain the friendship between me and fellow Sportsgeek (and lifelong ‘Skins fan) Timmy B. Also notice that I’m predicting the Steelers to follow the recent trend of Super Bowl champs failing to make the playoffs the next year — their schedule is ridiculously tough next year, so I’m saying the barely miss out.

Feel free to check back next February and mock me mercilessly.

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February 10, 2006

Tags: Soccer | Posted by Orion at @ 1:49 pm
Okay, so, I’m led to believe that many of you diehard SportsGeekz readers (all five or six of you) are missing some important background information when it comes to the world of soccer. Sure, everyone’s heard of the World Cup, but when I start throwing around acronyms like CONCACAF, people’s heads start to spin. And understandably so. So as a public service effort, I’ll spend the next couple of weeks (between Road to the World Cup posts) filling in some of the gaps in your soccer education.

We’re focusing on the World Cup here, so today I’ll talk about the political structure of the international game: the governing bodies, who controls what, who’s the best and who’s scraping the bottom. I’ll also define a bunch of those acronyms for you, so that in the future when I say that the president of UEFA stuck a banana up FIFA’s tailpipe you’ll know that it’s a pretty big deal.

Now, you may have already figured out that just about every country out there (205 of them, as of the latest rankings) has its own soccer “federation,” or national governing body. (U.S. Soccer is ours.) The national federations are grouped by geography into continental “confederations,” of which there are six:

CONCACAF (Confederation Of North and Central American and Caribbean Association Football, pronounced [KON-ka-kaff]), covering… well, just like it says. (Yes, I typed that from memory. No, don’t make me type it again.)
CONMEBOL (Confederación Sudamericana de Fútbol – it’s not much of an acronym, I’m afraid, but it’s pronounced [KON-meh-bowl]), covering South America.
UEFA (Union of European Football Associations, pronounced [yoo-AY-fah]), covering all of Europe and some Asia-bordering teams.
AFC (Asian Football Confederation), covering most of Asia and the Middle East.
OFC (Oceania Football Confederation), covering the Pacific islands.
CAF (Confédération Africaine de Football), covering Africa.
The overarching international governing body is called FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association, pronounced [FEE-fah]), is headquartered in Switzerland, and runs the whole show from the top down. Which is not to say that there’s never any conflict between FIFA and the confederations, or between confederations and national federations, or even between federations and the pro leagues that run in the same country. Quite the opposite — and it usually makes for some entertaining press, although it also devolves into a lot of wanking from people who make a bigger deal out of themselves than they ought to.

*cough* Um, but I digress.

UEFA is generally considered the powerhouse of the game; as well it should, since the sport was invented in England, and 13 of the top 20 teams are European (as of the January ‘06 world rankings). However, CONMEBOL teams have won more World Cups (nine to UEFA’s eight), as well as hosting the country that has won the most World Cups on its own (Brazil, with five). It might be more accurate to say that UEFA is the political powerhouse of the game, since it seems to me that UEFA often dictates policy to FIFA, who occasionally put up some token resistance that usually doesn’t last very long.

Apart from the top two, the power rankings get a little more murky. CONCACAF only has a couple of good teams at all, but the USA and Mexico are currently tied for 7th in the rankings (ahead of England — ssh!). Costa Rica barely misses at 21st, but you have to go down to 50th to find the next CONCACAF team (Trinidad and Tobago), and it gets worse from there. I’ll let my home team bias show through and declare that CONCACAF takes the third spot, even though FIFA still only gives us 3.5 qualifying slots to the World Cup (more on that next time).

The AFC and CAF haven’t traditionally featured prominently in either the world rankings or at the World Cup, but they’ve also definitely been on the upswing in the last decade or so. One need only look at South Korea’s semifinal run in the 2002 World Cup to see the progress that they’re making. African teams, by contrast, often show a lot of promise but inevitably falter in the highest levels of competition.

The OFC stands out as the worst confederation by far, especially in light of the recent decision by FIFA to allow Australia (historically the only halfway decent team in the OFC) to move to the Asian confederation instead. This was done for the sake of parity, since Australia will have much more reasonable competition in the AFC than they did in Oceana, but look for no OFC teams at all to ever make it to the World Cup again. Unless New Zealand (currently tops, at 121st) decides to adopt a liberal policy of granting citizenships to really good soccer players.

It’s worth mentioning here that the FIFA World Rankings really are the product of a mathematical formula, and have nothing to do with politics. I could explain the whole thing to you, but you probably don’t care; suffice to say that a team gains points when they win and loses points when they lose, games that are more important (like World Cup matches) are worth more points, and recent games count more than games played a year ago.

Next time I’ll cover the World Cup qualification process. It’s long, arduous, grueling, and tests your mettle – and I’m talking about being a fan of the process. I can only image what the players must go through. In the meanwhile, if you’ve got burning questions, feel free to comment on this post or send an email to orion at sportsgeekz.com, and I’ll get to them in a future post.

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Tags: Miscellaneous, Columns | Posted by Timmy B at @ 9:37 am
We would be remiss in our geekly duties if we did not recognize today’s notable birthdays.

Happy Birthday, Houston Astros outfielder Lance Berkman.

And Happy Birthday to you, golfer/strangulation survivor Greg Norman.

And Olympic legend Mark Spitz? Step up and celebrate, too.

Oh, yeah, and it’s Allen’s birthday, too. He doesn’t have a Green Jacket, or any Olympic gold medals (though if they ever ratify typing as an Olympic event, he’s in there), but he was born on this day just the same. Hopefully, his three lovely ladies will help him ring it in style.

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February 7, 2006

Tags: NFL | Posted by Allen at @ 12:03 am
I never thought I’d say this about a Super Bowl in which a team I had an actual rooting interest was playing, but… holy schnikies, that was easily the worst Super Bowl I’ve ever seen. I’ve seen every Super Bowl since Niners-Dolphins after the ‘84 season (except for Broncos-Packers, when I had to fucking work during the game (but which remains the only Super Bowl for which I correctly guessed the exact score beforehand)), and I can’t remember any that was even close to that terrible. Even the blowouts had some memorable moments in them, but this one… eh. From top to bottom, pre-game to halftime to post-game to the game itself, that thing was just abysmal.

And if we’re going to be using the word “abysmal,” let’s start by applying that word to the officiating, shall we? Seems a fair place to begin. I’ll state up front that yeah, I’m a Seahawks fan, so of course I’m more than a little tweaked by some of those calls. But I also want to say up front that I’m not blaming the entirety of the Seattle loss on the refs: the officials certainly contributed, but the Seahawks did plenty to lose the game on their own. And to make sure you don’t think I’m slighting Pittsburgh when I say that, I’ll say that none of the bogus calls were on the big plays that won the game for the Steelers. Those plays Seattle blew all on their own.

But c’mon, refs… that was not pass interference on Darrell Jackson in the end zone. Should’ve been six points. The ball did not cross the goal line on Ben Roethlisberger’s “touchdown” (though there certainly wasn’t enough visual evidence to overturn the shoddy call on the field, a call the ref wasn’t even going to make at first). Should’ve been six fewer (or at the least three fewer, assuming they’d have gone for the field goal on the next play) for Pittsburgh. That was not holding on Sean Locklear — should’ve been first and goal from the one for Seattle, a situation which quite probably would have led to their taking the lead. And on the very next play, Pittsburgh was clearly offsides, blatantly offsides on the sack of Matt Hasselbeck. No flag.

I was honestly surprised the Hasselbeck fumble in the fourth quarter was overturned. There must not even have been any obscure little tidbits tucked away in the deepest recesses of the rule book they could use to justify giving the ball to Pittsburgh on that one. But I’m sure they tried.

Again, credit goes to the Steelers: Pittsburgh did what they had to do, they made the big plays when they had to — the third-and-28 completion to Hines Ward, Willie Parker’s 75-yard run, the Randle El-to-Ward touchdown — and the Seahawks didn’t. But the officiating was very, very clearly in Pittsburgh’s favor. I’ve never been one to feel that the NFL has ever rigged their games, but I’m starting to doubt after these playoffs. The Patriots-Broncos game which was practically gift-wrapped for Denver, the Colts-Steelers game the refs desperately tried to give to Indy… the smell of something fishy’s coming from the direction of Paul Tagliabue’s office, if you ask me.

(Think about it for a minute — if someone were going to try to fix a game, whether it be the NFL trying to promote certain teams and stars over others or whether gamblers somehow got on the inside, you know you’re not going to get to the players. Those guys make too much money, they’ve got too much professional pride, and rarely can one player determine the outcome of the game by himself, especially not without being horribly obvious. But if you got to the refs? Yeah, there’s no guarantee that they could swing the game one way or the other, but they most certainly can influence the direction the game takes. Just like they did Sunday night.)

The officiating wasn’t the only stinkbomb laid in Detroit last night, either. The production by ABC Sports was absolutely amateurish. From not following Jerome Bettis out of the tunnel — when his teammates specifically let him go first to get him that moment in the spotlight — to the absolutely incomprehensible decision not to show any fucking game statistics, it was balls-out horrid. Awful pregame (I love you, Stevie Wonder, but leave your family offstage next time, OK? And hey, Aaron, Aretha, Dr. John — were the three of you all playing the same song? ‘Cause I really couldn’t tell. (Line of the night goes to my buddy Mike: “Holy god, who ate Aretha?!”)), awful halftime. Just terrible. I’m glad this will be the last time for the forseeable future that ABC will have the rights to the Super Bowl.

My boss at work made a valid point today: compare this year’s game and telecast to the Patriots-Rams game from four years ago. Fantastic game which featured a double-digit underdog winning the game on a last-second field goal; U2 playing a nearly transcendent set at halftime. Thinking about that game makes this one suck even more when you put them side by side.

Let’s get back to that no-stats thing for just a moment… I realize that the Super Bowl isn’t really for the football fans anymore and hasn’t been for a long time. But hey, NFL and ABC — you do realize that there are still plenty of us who’re watching for the game and not just for the commercials, right? (More suck: what a disappointing batch of ads overall. Very few were even mildly entertaining.) When the game was over, I had no idea who was going to be named MVP, largely because I didn’t have any numeric yardstick to base my guess on. I talked to Timmy B. after the game and he clued me in to the fact that Hines Ward had 120 yards along with his touchdown — I had no idea. Nor did I realize that Hasselbeck threw the ball 49 times for almost 300 yards. Or that Shaun Alexander had almost 100 yards. Or that Roethlisberger had a passer rating of 22 — the only stat I remember seeing during the entire game was midway through the second when they showed Big Ben’s QB rating of zero. After that? Nothin’. Would it really have distracted viewers from the commercials that much to toss us a statistical bone occasionally?

The travesty about the Supbar Bowl was that it came on the heels of what had been a pretty exciting season to date. That game’s going to leave a bad taste in my mouth for a long time… well, OK, until the free agency period starts in three weeks. And of course, then we’ve got the draft to look forward to…

(The really infuriating thing? Knowing with absolute certainty while watching that game that the Patriots would have decimated either one of those teams the way they were playing yesterday. Grr.)

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Sportsgeeks History - Raise your hand in support

Aug 10

April 21, 2006 Tags: Miscellaneous | Posted by Timmy B at @ 11:14 am So… the Texans are interviewing Mario Williams and Vince Young as possible alternatives to picking Reggie Bush first overall. Raise your hand in support, former Portland Trail Blazers GM Stu Inman; I’m sure you’re on board with the Texans’ plan. I see you nodding [...] [...more]

April 21, 2006

Tags: Miscellaneous | Posted by Timmy B at @ 11:14 am
So… the Texans are interviewing Mario Williams and Vince Young as possible alternatives to picking Reggie Bush first overall.

Raise your hand in support, former Portland Trail Blazers GM Stu Inman; I’m sure you’re on board with the Texans’ plan. I see you nodding your head in agreement over there, former Packers GM Tom Braatz. Selecting Sam Bowie over Michael Jordan and Tony Mandarich over Barry Sanders, respectively, cemented both of your places in sports history, and I’m sure you’ve been anxious to expand the membership in your little club. The video clips from those drafts are getting a little more grainy and weathered every single time ESPN re-runs them.

But don’t be too hard on yourselves, guys. You were both cursed with the third picks in your drafts, drafts where the Absolute Can’t Miss Numero Uno was gone immediately[1]. Not so for the Texans, who have such an ACMNU within their grasp. And while it’s blatantly obvious to me (as an objective observer) that the Texans’ flirtations are an attempt to drive down Bush’s asking price (no doubt in the range of high school teammate/last year’s #1 Alex Smith), it amuses me to no end to pretend that the Texans are serious here. And it amuses me even more (if that’s possible beyond “no end”) to hear the rabid Texans fans and Paid NFL Draft Experts picking up this ball and running with it. I’ve heard and seen laughers like these:

Mario Williams will win games for the Texans, more than Bush will.
Ummm… the object of the game is still to outscore the opponent, yes? If Bush averages just 4 touchdowns yearly, that’s more than any defensive player has ever scored in a season. I think this person’s confusing Fantasy League scoring with real scoring.

Vince Young’s potential is what the Texans would be wise to invest in, since they would have an experienced QB in place while Young learns the game from the sideline.
I don’t want to bring up his Wonderlic score, but Young doesn’t strike me as the studious type. He learns by playing.

Hello? Ever heard of a guy named Domanick Davis? He’s a 1,000 rusher who carried the team last year. They don’t need Bush; they’ve got a running back.
While I’ve heard of Domanick Davis, for the Texans to pass on Reggie Bush’s talent because they’ve got him would sound very similar to another draft-day blunder involving the other Texas team, the Dallas Cowboys. In ’79, the Cowboys were way ahead of the curve in terms of scouting, drafting, and rating players. When it came time to make their third round selection, they passed on the highest-rated player on their board. “Why would we pick up this Montana kid? We’ve already got Danny White.”

Okay, I’m trapped in this game, now. Texans, if you’re serious about going down this road, consider the following:

1. You don’t draft a defensive player first overall if there’s a dominant offensive skill player available.

The only team in recent memory to test this axiom was the Bengals in ‘94 [2], selecting hometown “Big Daddy” Dan Wilkinson ahead of Marshall Faulk. I repeat, the Bengals tried this, and you saw what happened to them for the next 10 years.

2.A new head coach is not the guy to stick with The Scout’s Pet Project.
I’m sure Gary Kubiak would be up to the task of molding Vince Young into an NFL quarterback if he was only coming in as a quarterback coach. But as a new head coach, with a new staff? He doesn’t have enough time in his day to work with Young and get the team ready to play and win some games. Don’t handicap your new guy with a player who isn’t ready out of the box. Reggie Bush is a player who will help the players around him, while making some plays on his own. You can’t say that about Williams or Young. An “O-in-Progress” isn’t going to be an upgrade over the situation you’re trying to change. Again, the object of the game is to score more points than the other team.

3.You can’t let the drafts of the past dictate your draft this year.
Yeah, so you drafted David Carr (who isn’t that bad) over Julius Peppers a couple of years ago. I’m sure that feels like a mistake, but I’d rather make a mistake like that seventy or eighty times than make the “I should’ve drafted Reggie Bush” mistake once.
______________________________________________________
[1]Those Numero Unos were Hakeem Olajuwon and Troy Aikman. At Sportsgeekz, you know we look that shit up so you don’t have to. Use that time we saved you to have another Dorito, and to re-figure the top 5 Centers in your latest Mock Draft.

[2]In 2000 (the last year a defensive player was selected #1), you could argue that the Browns selection of Courtney Brown over Shaun Alexander (#17) was similarly misguided. But, while Alexander is now an MVP, he still can’t catch the ball, and had nowhere near the “don’t blink” buzz that Bush has coming out. And, he wasn’t even considered as good as Jamal Lewis in that draft.

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March 25, 2006

Tags: NFL | Posted by Allen at @ 6:27 pm
Like most New England Patriots fans, we were shocked by “Benedict Adam” Vinatieri’s betrayal by signing with the rival Indianapolis Colts. OK, perhaps “betrayal” is really too strong a word — this is just football we’re talking about — but c’mon, Adam… the Colts? Surely you must have recognized that Indianapolis has been the Patriots’ biggest nemesis over the last few seasons, right? We know it’s business, but still… the Colts? Don’t you know what you’ve done?!

Truthfully, we don’t blame Vinatieri all that much. For ten years he’s been kicking in execrable weather, and now he gets to kick indoors for at least eight games a year with a minimum of three road games in warm-weather outdoor stadiums [1] (Tennessee, Houston and Jacksonville). He’s certainly earned the right to work in better conditions than Boston winters. And he’s going to a team that at worst will still be considered a Super Bowl contender this year. But in an offseason of painful personnel losses for the Patriots, Vinatieri’s departure hurts the worst by far.

One of the things that we think has been overlooked in a lot of the plaintive gnashing of teeth coming from the New England fans, though, is the fact that it’s not a given Vinatieri wanted to remain a Patriot. Yes, New England could have coughed up more cash — their last proposal wasn’t that much less than the deal Vinatieri ultimately signed with Indy — but that wouldn’t matter if Vinatieri were just tired of kicking in New England. And it doesn’t have to have anything to do with his teammates or his fans or the front office or the notoriously vicious Boston media; it’s possible he just thought it was time to move on and work somewhere different.

Breaking the editorial “we” for a moment: I’ve changed jobs before because it was just time to do so; I’ve changed jobs because I wanted to live somewhere different (which is how I ended up in New England three years ago). Why should NFL players not be allowed the same privilege? Why should Vinatieri be required to stay in New England if he doesn’t like the weather or the food or the traffic or the taxes?

The Patriots organization has built three Super Bowl champions in the last five years; it’s possible we fans might want to remember that fact and assume that they do know what they’re doing. If any team in the league has earned some benefit of the doubt, it’s the New England Patriots. Yes, undeniably, losing Vinatieri hurts, but his departure doesn’t necessarily mean that the Pats devauled him or were being frugal beyond the point of sense (though it’s also possible, of course, that they were). But we sports fans frequently are too quick to assign incompetence or ignorance to the teams we root for when they make moves (or, in this case, don’t make them) that we don’t agree with. [2] When we wail “OMG, why didn’t we re-sign him? How could they let him go?!”… well, let’s remember that it’s not always the case that the player wants to be re-signed.

[1] Yes, we know that plural of stadium should actually be “stadia,” but, honestly, we don’t care how they did it in Rome.

[2] If we’re talking about NBA teams, especially ones which play in New York, then the cries of ignorance and incompetence are perfectly valid.

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Tags: NFL | Posted by Allen at @ 5:38 pm
Seattle just signed restricted free agent wide receiver Nate Burleson of the Minnesota Vikings to a 7-year, $49-million offer sheet. Knowledgable fans might look at those numbers, wide-eyed, and think, “Man, Seattle’s really, really overpaying for a receiver who only caught 30 passes and one touchdown last year.” And you’d be right, of course — if there was any chance in hell Seattle would ever actaully pay him all of that money. That’s not going to happen. If Burleson’s still a Seahawk three years from now, it’ll be because he’s restructured this ridiculous contract.

Burleson, however, has allowed himself to be a willing accomplice in letting Seattle make a point to the NFL offices with his contract.

We realize that most stories about NFL contracts aren’t always the most interesting, so we understand if you haven’t been following this story. But bear with us here, though, ’cause this one’s good:

The Vikings signed Seattle All-Pro guard Steve Hutchinson to a 7-year, $49-million contract a couple of weeks ago; because Hutchinson was a restricted free agent, Seattle had the right of first refusal, so they could match the contract and keep him if they so desired. And you’d think, given Hutchinson’s value to the team (he was one of the main reasons Seattle’s Shaun Alexander ran for an NFL-record 28 touchdowns last year) and the potential difficulty of replacing him, that Seattle would pony up and match the offer.

Ah, but Minnesota was crafty. They included a “poison pill” clause in the proposal that ensured Seattle couldn’t match it without significant pain: the contract stipulated that if at any point during the contract’s lifetime Hutchinson wasn’t the highest-paid offensive lineman on his team, than every penny of that $49-million immediately became guaranteed.

Why did the Vikings put that clause in the contract? Because Seattle All-Pro offensive tackle Walter Jones already makes more money than the Vikings were offering Hutchinson — meaning if Seattle matched the offer, all $49-million was guaranteed from the start. Even if Hutchinson suffered a career-ending injury in the presason or was busted on drug-smuggling charges and sent to prison, Seattle would’ve been on the hook to him for the next seven years anyway, crippling their salary cap.

Seattle protested that clause to an arbitrator, saying that they only had to match the principal terms of the contract (the seven years, lots of money part), but the abitrator said the clause was valid. So Steve Hutchinson packed up his suitcases full of money and sauntered off to Minnesota, leaving a six-foot-five, 315-pound hole in the left side of Seattle’s offensive line.

Clearly, it’s a stupid loophole. What Minnesota did was technically legal and within the rules, but completely against the spirit of the restricted free agency system. But instead of whining about the situation, which would have accomplished nothing and simply made them look like poor sports, Seattle decided instead to make a point.

The wildly insane contract offer to Burlseon (which you might have noticed was for the exact same terms as Hutchinson’s deal) has two provisions which ensure that the Vikings won’t possibly match it, especially for a receiver who, as noted, caught all of 30 passes in 2005, a year when he was supposed to step up and fill the void left by Randy Moss’s trade to Oakland. For one, the contract proposal specifically states that if Burlseon plays more than five games in the state of Minnesota during any year of the contract, the entire $49-million is guaranteed. Shrewd, huh?

Further, if at any point Burleson is not paid more than the average of all of the running backs on the roster, the whole deal is likewise guaranteed — which would ensure that Minnesota would have to keep only their lowly-paid, little-experienced running backs that they have now, or others just as cheap. They couldn’t sign a big free agent back, they couldn’t choose a running back high in the draft — doing either one would guarantee Burlseon’s enormous contract… even if he weren’t with the team anymore.

Both of those clauses are completely valid as the rules are set up right now, but obviously if every team approached signing restricted free agents in that way, then the entire restricted system would be shot. Rather than complain about the situation, Seattle poked at the limits of the ridiculous rule, and doing so will do a far better job of getting the league to look at those sorts of clauses that cost them their All-Pro guard than bitching to the media ever would have.

Kudos to Minnesota for finding the loophole and getting themselves an All-Pro guard, and kudos to Seattle for hopefully finding a way to slam that loophole shut.

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Tags: NFL | Posted by Allen at @ 4:38 pm
[EDITOR’S NOTE: I know I’ve been away for awhile, so there’s all kinds of important goings-on I haven’t gotten the chance to address yet. As wonderful as I think we’ll all agree Orion’s soccer columns are (and I owe him a raise for keeping some content going during my unplanned break), this ain’t Soccergeekz.

So over the next couple of days, I hope to touch on some topics I haven’t gotten to yet; I know these aren’t necessarily the timeliest of topics, but dammit, I need to talk about ‘em, so you’ve got to listen. — Allen]

From the time it became obvious that Terrell Owens was on his way out of Philly, the Cowboys were the only team that made sense to us as his next destination. All of the talk and rumors over the last couple of months about his ending up in Denver or Kansas City… nah. Wasn’t gonna happen. As far back as December, he might as well have drawn a big star on the side of his head with one of those Sharpies he loves so much.

Most teams weren’t going to want anything to do with Owens, no matter how talented the guy is (and he is undeniably very, very talented). Very few teams needed a big-play receiver badly enough to be willing to put up with the inevitable pissy antics he’s going to spring; unlike the Eagles in 2004, there aren’t any teams you could tell just needed a top-flight receiver to put them over the edge and into the Super Bowl. Even fewer teams had any kind of structure in place that would have any kind of shot at keeping the insane Owens and his rampaging ego in check.

But Dallas has never shied away from signing problem players as long as they produced, and T.O. can produce better than almost any other receiver in football. (This is a team, remember, which embraced Michael Irvin, a man who stabbed one of his teammates in the neck with a pair of scissors and kept kilos of cocaine in his car.) And if any coach in the league can handle an ego the size of Owens’, it’s Bill Parcells.

The thing is, though… there might not be any coach in the league, Parcells included, who can handle Owens’ ego and antics. You can be sure Owens and Parcells are going to clash, though likely not until the team’s trying to secure a playoff spot at the end of the year; Owens will be on his best behavior at first. And when the power struggle finally goes down, it’s going to be very ugly and very public. Then, after the season’s done, Parcells will walk away into retirement for the final time, and Jerry Jones will have two choices: try to find another coach who can keep T.O. in line (which will prove difficult) or go back to his tradition of hiring patsies and let T.O. run free. Personally, we’re betting on the latter. (There’s a third option, of course: relase Owens. But we don’t think Jones is going to be willing to go that route.)

Understand that this move wasn’t designed to make the Dallas Cowboys a better team for years to come; it was made to win a Super Bowl in 2006, period. Jones knows Parcells likely only has one year left as coach of the ‘Boys (in fact, he’s almost assured as much by signing Owens) and he wants to do everything he can to squeeze a Super Bowl out of that one last season. And it might even possibly work, though we think Dallas was more than just one big-play receiver away from a championship. They’ll almost definitely return to the playoffs this year; a divisional championship is a damn good possibility. But Jones might have done some terrible long-term damage to his team’s chemistry to do it.

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March 22, 2006

Tags: Soccer | Posted by Orion at @ 6:05 pm
Okay, folks, this is just getting ridiculous. We’ve known for a long time that violence is a problem around soccer games, and there are more examples than I care to quote at this time. In some countries – and I won’t give any names, but it rhymes with “Bingland” – hooliganism is so rampant that government officials have to step in and hand out, effectively, restraining orders against certain fans to prevent them from going to games and starting fights.

But it’s not just the fans, and that’s the part that gets me. These people are professional athletes – only we seem to have forgotten what the word professional means, or at least assigned it a different meaning in this context. Professional to me means more than just “you get paid to do a job”, which is admittedly the most base definition. Being a professional carries with it certain standards of conduct, and I think we as the viewing public should be able to expect certain behavior from our professional athletes.

I’m not talking about whether NBA players should be forced to wear shirt and slacks to the court on gameday, although the amount of criticism that policy has drawn from the players borders on ridiculous. And I’m not talking about NFL players signing footballs with a Sharpie, or walking off the field near the end of a close game. (Come on, you knew I couldn’t resist the jab at T.O.)

No, what I’m talking about is this: players getting into fights. With each other. In some cases, in the middle of a game.

Let me direct your attention to a certain English Premier League game from April 2, 2005. Newcastle United midfielders Kieron Dyer and Lee Bowyer got into a fight a couple of minutes after Aston Villa scored their third goal of the match. (You can even watch the video. Isn’t the Internet great?) What actually happened between them was never clear in the first place and has now been lost to the annals of history, but let me see if I understand this: Your teammate did something so horrible to you in the course of a game that you felt the need to walk over, berate him, and then get into a shoving match. While play is going on all around you.

Do I really need to point out how ridiculous this is? To the referee’s credit, he did exactly the right thing: stopped the game and immediately gave both players a red card (ejection). Newcastle finished the game with 9 men, since you don’t get to replace ejected players in soccer.

It’s one thing to get in your teammate’s face after a play is over. But this is soccer, folks – there is no “the play is over”. There is no time-out (mostly), there is no “the defense is on the field, let’s sit on the bench and talk about why you didn’t throw me the ball”. It’s bad enough that the fans can watch NFL players bitch each other out on the sidelines, but it’s completely inexcusable to get into a fight in the middle of the field!

I wish I could say that this phenomenon was restricted to European soccer leagues, but the sad fact is, it isn’t. Clint Dempsey, one of the most promising young players on our very own New England Revolution, just got suspended for two weeks by the team because he threw an elbow at one of his teammates during a practice session in retaliation for a hard challenge, then punched him in the face. Reports say that they had to be separated by the coaches and their teammates, and later on in the practice they got into verbal sparring.

As a result of that suspension, Clint’s been dropped from the roster for the US National Team’s friendly match against Germany next Wednesday, which could very well cost Clint a roster spot on the team that goes to the World Cup this summer. Talk about lousy timing.

Oh, and by the way, before any of you try to pin this on soccer and not on the rest of the professional sporting world, I have two words for you: Ron Artest.

I’m not sure what to do about this, because frankly, I think it’s a product of two things: players being put under intense and increasing pressure to perform on the field, and the fact that people who become professional athletes often have no training or warning about what it means to be a professional and what level of conduct is required of them. It would probably help if we stopped hiring 18-year-olds (or, in Freddy Adu’s case, 15-year-olds) to be professional athletes, but I somehow doubt that’s going to happen. In the meantime, we’re likely to see more of these sorts of incidents all across the sporting world. And while it makes for good press (and good blog fodder), it’s not much fun to watch.

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Sportsgeekz History - Power Rankings

Aug 10

October 19, 2006 NFL Power Rankings: Week Six Tags: NFL, Power Rankings, Banner | Posted by Allen at @ 9:15 am We here at Sportsgeekz would like to dedicate this week’s Power Rankings to our buddy Todd over at Javadog Sports, who apparently likes Power Rankings of any kind about as much as Koren Robinson likes sobriety.  Todd [...] [...more]

October 19, 2006
NFL Power Rankings: Week Six
Tags: NFL, Power Rankings, Banner | Posted by Allen at @ 9:15 am

We here at Sportsgeekz would like to dedicate this week’s Power Rankings to our buddy Todd over at Javadog Sports, who apparently likes Power Rankings of any kind about as much as Koren Robinson likes sobriety.  Todd also deserves some props for the major ass-kicking he laid down in the Official Sportsgeekz Fantasy Football League last Sunday — having LaDainian Tomlinson (4 TDs), Anquan Boldin (2 TDs) and the Chicago D (3 TDs) gave Todd more than 50% more points than the next-closest team.  Ouch.  Anyways, on to the rankings…

1. Chicago (6-0; Last Week: 1)
The defense proved that they can stop anyone from beating them - including their own offense.  If they can come from 20 down, on the road, without scoring an offensive touchdown, I’m not sure they can lose this season.

2. Indianapolis (5-0; LW: 3)
With McFarland on the line, they might be able to hold Clinton Portis to less than 200 yards. And at this point, they should welcome such an improvement with open arms.  A convincing win over a team they should beat convincingly would make us feel a lot better about the Colts — face it, boys, you’re here because you’re undefeated and poised to steal the AFC South from the Jags again.

3. Philadelphia (4-2; LW: 2)
Reggie Brown: *scores on a 60-yard bomb of a pass*
Darth Vader: Impressive…
Reggie Brown: *scores on the end around following a block from McNabb*
Darth Vader: Most impressive…
The Iggles lose and only drop one spot.  Apparently, losing on a last-second field goal to the Saints isn’t quite as ignominious as it used to be.

4. San Diego (4-1; LW: 4)
Everyone knows the old “they should be undefeated” line is total B.S., but they should be undefeated (partly because of a fluffy schedule, but hey…).  Their trip to Denver in 3 weeks will tell the tale… both for the Chargers and for the Broncos.

5. New England (4-1; LW: 5t)
The Patriots got their bye at the right time. They’ve still got a pretty wicked schedule ahead, with Chicago, Indianapolis and Jacksonville looming.  Shameless plug: Troy Brown is six catches away from passing Stanley Morgan at #1 in all-time receptions for the Pats.

6. Denver (4-1; LW: 7)
Their highest scoring game this season?  Seventeen points on New England.  And they won.  The drought on offense continues at the same pace as the winning streak. The mind boggles.  (Note to Broncos:  we’re having trouble buying you as a contender when you can’t even thrash the holy hell out of the Raiders, the fourth-best high school team in California.  Time to pick it up if you want us to take you seriously.)

7. New Orleans (5-1; LW: 12)
Reggie Bush is still no Mario Williams, and the Saints are still not the Houston Texans.  Funny how Drew Brees can leave one team for another and make both better.

8. Carolina (4-2; LW: –)
That 0-2 start is a distant memory, and Steve Smith’s all the way back, but how far can this team go in a loaded division?  Steve Smith and Keyshawn Johnson are good, but someone has to *throw* those passes. Mr. Delhomme - come up and get your jacket.

9. Jacksonville (3-2; LW:
Coming off a bye week only to play Houston? Did Christmas come early this year? The third shutout of the year is not out of the question.  But that loss to Washington sticks with us a little.

10. Seattle (4-1; LW: 10t)
They answered our challenge and fended off the Rams, if just barely.  Distance between themselves and St. Louis, even if it’s only 1/2 game, is what they need right now.

11. New York Giants (3-2; LW: –)
Winning shuts Jeremy Shockey right up. They should keep trying that.  Tiki hints at retirement; is he trying to get a Super Bowl ring by invoking the Bettis effect? A change of career is fine with me — I prefer his children’s books to T.O.’s by a long shot.

12. Atlanta (3-2; LW: 5t)
Mixing in a pass now and again might bring them a win or two in the weeks ahead.

Also receiving votes: St. Louis, Cincinnati

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October 15, 2006
Who Scheduled a Sunday Today?
Tags: NFL | Posted by Timmy B at @ 11:24 am

For the second time in three weeks, my picks are coming in at the wire. I was busy trying to negotiate a Randy Moss/Antwan Randle-el trade. Didn’t happen (sorry Dan!).
Not much in the way of “you’re watching Lifetime Movie Network in the bedroom, lady” games this week, thank God.

Philadelphia (4-1) at New Orleans (4-1):

I […]

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October 12, 2006
NFL Power Rankings: Week Five
Tags: NFL, Power Rankings | Posted by Allen at @ 10:43 am

A quick note before we get to this week’s rankings: we’ve added an additional 50% worth of quality to these rankings by adding the comedic stylings of our buddy Ben to the crew. We’re hoping these are but the first of several hundred thousand words of snarky goodness we’ll be able to pry […]

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October 7, 2006
City of Brotherly Love, Right?
Tags: NFL | Posted by Timmy B at @ 11:36 pm

Philadelphia welcomes back Terrell Owens with open arms this week. Unfortunately for T.O., their hands will be full of foreign objects ready to be hurled in his general direction. I foresee prescription drug bottles, sharpies, batteries, and whatever else was taking up space in the collective Pennsylvania junk drawer.
Here’s the Week 5 games of […]

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October 5, 2006
NFL Power Rankings: Week Four
Tags: NFL, Power Rankings | Posted by Allen at @ 12:07 pm

1. (tie) Chicago (4-0)
So far, they’ve answered every question with a big play or a monstrous tackle. Lovie Smith might be coach of the year. That demoliton of Seattle showed the Bears playing well on both sides of the ball, which is more than we can say for…
1. (tie) Indianapolis (4-0)
The Colts aren’t easily […]

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October 1, 2006
T.O. Was Framed!
Tags: NFL | Posted by Timmy B at @ 10:24 am

That was just to get you to read further. That situation is bizarre and impenetrable in so many ways, I’m too exhausted to translate my thoughts into writing on the matter.
And it’s not going to change the fact that I’ve got a Week 4 preview to do.
Since the weekly forecast is a work […]

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September 23, 2006
A Third Week Full of Firsts: NFL Week 3
Tags: NFL | Posted by Timmy B at @ 6:24 pm

I’ve done my best not to crow, especially after my first week disaster, but…
Last week: 6 - 0
Overall: 14 - 8
This week, barring ties, we’ll have some firsts–3 teams will suffer their first loss, while 4 will get their first win. And while those 7 games aren’t all “must-see” games this weekend, those are the […]

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September 22, 2006
NFL Power Rankings: Week Two
Tags: NFL, Power Rankings | Posted by Allen at @ 9:44 am

We’ve got a tie at the top this week — Timmy B and I each has the same top two, but in different positions. Interesting that those two teams are divisional rivals. And that they play each other Sunday, which ensures the top of the list will look a little different next week. […]

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September 16, 2006
NFL Week Two: For The Birds?
Tags: NFL | Posted by Timmy B at @ 12:50 am

In true geek fashion, I’ve noticed something about this week’s schedule: all the bird-monikered teams are “in the nest”, so to speak. Four of five (Ravens, Eagles, Falcons, and Seahawks) are playing at home, and the fifth (the Cardinals) go against their fowl-brothers in Seattle.
Maybe if I’d looked as hard for facts on actual players, […]

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September 8, 2006
Your Team Is Undefeated! (And other soon-to be outdated news.)
Tags: NFL | Posted by Timmy B at @ 2:34 pm

Welcome to the very first in a 21 part series of Weekly Previews. Since it’s Week One, and every single team is still mathematically able to win its division/conference/Super Bowl title, I’ll provide my insights into each of this week’s contests. Every fan deserves to have his/her/their team spoken of at least once a season. […]

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Sportsgeeks History

Aug 10

November 4, 2006 NFL Week Nine: I Got Nothing. Tags: NFL, Banner | Posted by Timmy B at @ 2:18 pm Not much, anyway. I am a little put off that the NFL schedule-trolls have placed both Redskins/Cowboys games before Thanksgiving, but what are you gonna do? Just to get ‘em posted in time… Lions over Falcons (upset special (first [...] [...more]

November 4, 2006
NFL Week Nine: I Got Nothing.
Tags: NFL, Banner | Posted by Timmy B at @ 2:18 pm

Not much, anyway. I am a little put off that the NFL schedule-trolls have placed both Redskins/Cowboys games before Thanksgiving, but what are you gonna do?

Just to get ‘em posted in time…

Lions over Falcons (upset special (first of many–keep reading)!)
Bengals over Ravens
Redskins over Cowboys
Bills over Packers
Giants over Texans
Rams over Chiefs
Bears over Dolphins (but it’s going to be close–I’m fairly certain Nick Buonoconti has sacrificed a virgin, or at least snuck Dan Marino into the lineup under the pseudonym “Joey Harrington”, to keep the Bitter Dolphins alone in the record books for another year.)
Bucs over Saints
Jaguars over Titans
Niners over Vikings
Chargers over Browns
Broncos over Pittsburgh
Patriots over Colts
Seahawks over Raiders

Last week: 6-8
Overall: 58-39

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October 29, 2006
Now THIS is a weekend worth NFL Sunday Ticket.
Tags: NFL | Posted by Timmy B at @ 11:32 am

Crossing my fingers, this could be the best slate of games so far this season. We’ve got some seriously green QB’s starting today (David Garrard, Seneca Wallace, Tony Romo, Bruce Gradkowski, Matt Leinart, Vince Young, and possibly the Chiefs’ Brodie Croyle), and several contests of interest; in fact, I’ll go out on a limb […]

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October 22, 2006
NFL Week Seven: Shaking the Almost-Midseason Blahs
Tags: Miscellaneous | Posted by Timmy B at @ 11:03 am

These couple weeks are the dog days of the NFL season. While some teams’ hopes for the postseason will be finally be crushed between now and Halloween (that’s you, Oakland and Houston), too many teams are mathematically, maddeningly, “still in it” for my taste (like the Jets, the Vikings, and even the Steelers).
There’s some intrigue […]

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October 19, 2006
NFL Power Rankings: Week Six
Tags: NFL, Power Rankings | Posted by Allen at @ 9:15 am

We here at Sportsgeekz would like to dedicate this week’s Power Rankings to our buddy Todd over at Javadog Sports, who apparently likes Power Rankings of any kind about as much as Koren Robinson likes sobriety. Todd also deserves some props for the major ass-kicking he laid down in the Official Sportsgeekz Fantasy Football […]

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October 15, 2006
Who Scheduled a Sunday Today?
Tags: NFL | Posted by Timmy B at @ 11:24 am

For the second time in three weeks, my picks are coming in at the wire. I was busy trying to negotiate a Randy Moss/Antwan Randle-el trade. Didn’t happen (sorry Dan!).
Not much in the way of “you’re watching Lifetime Movie Network in the bedroom, lady” games this week, thank God.

Philadelphia (4-1) at New Orleans (4-1):

I […]

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October 12, 2006
NFL Power Rankings: Week Five
Tags: NFL, Power Rankings | Posted by Allen at @ 10:43 am

A quick note before we get to this week’s rankings: we’ve added an additional 50% worth of quality to these rankings by adding the comedic stylings of our buddy Ben to the crew. We’re hoping these are but the first of several hundred thousand words of snarky goodness we’ll be able to pry […]

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October 7, 2006
City of Brotherly Love, Right?
Tags: NFL | Posted by Timmy B at @ 11:36 pm

Philadelphia welcomes back Terrell Owens with open arms this week. Unfortunately for T.O., their hands will be full of foreign objects ready to be hurled in his general direction. I foresee prescription drug bottles, sharpies, batteries, and whatever else was taking up space in the collective Pennsylvania junk drawer.
Here’s the Week 5 games of […]

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October 5, 2006
NFL Power Rankings: Week Four
Tags: NFL, Power Rankings | Posted by Allen at @ 12:07 pm

1. (tie) Chicago (4-0)
So far, they’ve answered every question with a big play or a monstrous tackle. Lovie Smith might be coach of the year. That demoliton of Seattle showed the Bears playing well on both sides of the ball, which is more than we can say for…
1. (tie) Indianapolis (4-0)
The Colts aren’t easily […]

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October 1, 2006
T.O. Was Framed!
Tags: NFL | Posted by Timmy B at @ 10:24 am

That was just to get you to read further. That situation is bizarre and impenetrable in so many ways, I’m too exhausted to translate my thoughts into writing on the matter.
And it’s not going to change the fact that I’ve got a Week 4 preview to do.
Since the weekly forecast is a work […]

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About Sportsgeekz
Sportsgeekz takes aim at any and all sports, though we’ll freely admit that we give most of our love to the NFL. We’re trying to get onto a daily updating schedule, but bear with while we get all of our steroid-enhanced ducks in a row.

Suggestions? Tips? Insults? Send ‘em to editor at sportsgeekz dot com

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The Sportsgeekz Crew Finale

Aug 10

Sportsgeekz is no more. Maybe it’ll be back someday. Maybe it won’t. Thanks for all your support over the last four years. – The Sportsgeekz Crew [...more]

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In Memory of the original Sportsgeekz

Aug 10

When Champions Falter Posted by Ben Cordes on January 3, 2007 @ 11:10 pm Leave a comment Tags: Miscellaneous, Soccer Let me be the first to say “Happy New Year” to all you Sportsgeekz out there in the vastness of the Intarweb. I hope your 2007 is a pleasant, fruitful, and productive one; I think you can expect good [...] [...more]

When Champions Falter
Posted by Ben Cordes on January 3, 2007 @ 11:10 pm
Leave a comment
Tags: Miscellaneous, Soccer
Let me be the first to say “Happy New Year” to all you Sportsgeekz out there in the vastness of the Intarweb. I hope your 2007 is a pleasant, fruitful, and productive one; I think you can expect good things out of us in the new year and we hope you’ll stick around for the ride.

With that out of the way, let’s get snarky. Who doesn’t love to see a champion losing?

A bit of background. In the English Premier League, Chelsea are the New York Yankees. They spend big, they have the highest payroll in the league, and because of it they’ve won two league championships in a row and were looking pretty good to make it three at the start of this season. But Manchester United (let’s call them the EPL’s Boston Red Sox) have opened up a six-point lead at the midpoint of the season and show no sign of giving it up.

I. Am. Loving. This. We Americans tend to thrive on champions. We love to see teams establish a dynasty – the Chicago Bulls of the 90’s were everybody’s favorite team back then. But we also thrive on the divide between good and evil. How many times have you heard a football fan say, “I only cheer for two teams: