What would Mike do?

SAN FRANCISCO, CA -- The message was clear. Put aside the "it's about me" attitude, 49ers tight end Vernon Davis, because interim head coach Mike Singletary will not tolerate it. The 10-time Pro Bowler and former Chicago Bear linebacker sent Davis and his inflated ego to the showers early due to his nonchalant attitude after receiving a penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct. The [read more...]

A Business Decision

Last week we were reminded that sports are nothing more than a business. Elton Brand supposedly had an agreement to stay with the Los Angeles Clippers, only to sign a five-year contract with the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday. Some people were shocked, but they shouldn't have been. Remember, it's a business. So, quickly to my point, I understand why Brett Favre is [read more...]

Favre’s Possible Return a Blessing - For the Bears

Four months ago, Brett Favre claimed he was done with football. Done with two-a-day practices, done with the Lambeau Leap, done with throwing bullet screen passes and beautiful deep balls. After 15 years, one Super Bowl title and countless NFL records, Favre left the Green Bay Packers for a whole lot of nothing on his land in Mississippi. Now that has [read more...]

Summerfest Sports Orgy Blitzkrieg Quiz

I'm feeling a little more A.D.D. than usual today. And being the super-spaz child that I am inside, I'm looking for answers to a thousand (and one) questions. Discuss amongst yourselves... please help me answer my most pressing doubts, concerns, and fears. Take your time... this is one of [read more...]

Leave Brett Favre’s Locker Alone

The Green Bay Packers have kept Brett Favre's locker intact. No really, the Packer organization is keeping the recently-retired QB's locker in place for posterity. See, this is because Brett Favre is the greatest quarterback in the history of the NFL. He is the league's all-time leader in virtually every significant passing category - touchdowns (442), completions (5,377), attempts (8,758) and [read more...]

The Top 10 Non-Corporation-Affiliated NFL Stadiums

Amazing how the most ordinary of events can spark ideas. Just the other day, I was speaking to a good friend on the phone who had what I am sure has become an all too familiar experience for many men. No, not that. He told me he was attending a trivia night at an area church and looking to make [read more...]

Defending the Sports Fan

I have recently been thrust into the unenviable position of having an in-law move in with my wife and me. A brief respite from the despair is the fact that it is the father-in-law, not the dreaded monster-in-law. However, from the sports-viewing perspective, the household has taken a hit. While my wife was always tolerable of me watching various things [read more...]

2008 NFL Expert Picks, Predictions and Fantasy Football Notes - NFC North

One of the things I have enjoyed the most - as I have been going division to division offering up my early bird analysis - is reading your comments and hearing your assessment of the teams and divisions. You are educating me and helping me stay sharp. Just wanted to thank you for that. For today's post I am going to [read more...]

Burned Out

ESPN has been notorious for inflating the importance of trivial games and news, but lately the trend of over-emphasizing the expected or mundane has gotten worse for the media monolith.Take, for instance, college hoops. The build up to the Tennessee vs. Memphis match was similar to a Democratic Primary debate, as ESPN disputed, dramatized, and advertised the game to the [read more...]

A Priviliged Career

It was fitting that on a Monday night, the day after Brett Favre's father Irv died of a heart attack at age 58, Favre threw for 399 yards and four touchdowns. It might have been the best game of his football career.It was equally fitting that Brett Favre's final pass as an NFL quarterback was an interception. The two examples personify [read more...]

Giant Deer in Headlights

If you've ever driven through Wisconsin late at night, you know all too well to watch out for the single greatest danger to drivers on twisting, turning, single-lane roads. No, it's not drunken Cheeseheads bombed out of their sausage-lined skulls on Jaegermeister and Leinenkugel - though that is a real danger. Rather, it is the innocent deer that wanders into [read more...]

Somewhere, Bill Belichick is licking his fingers

Somewhere in a bunker-like war room in New England, Bill Belichick is licking his fingers. And it's not because he ate a great bowl of clam chowder.In what is regularly billed as the best weekend of NFL football every year, there certainly was little disappointment. Little disappointment, that is, if you're from Massachusetts or anywhere north. With Dallas and Indy [read more...]

NFL in Brief

It's hard to think of a Wild Card weekend in recent years that passed with such predictability. At times, it seemed that the most unexpected twists and turns could be found on MSNBC, where the Republican and Democratic primaries have turned into the political equivalent of a jump-ball. Tuesday's New Hampshire primary may just turn out to be more exciting [read more...]

Top Three Fantasy Football Sleeper Defenses

When it comes to fantasy football defenses we all know about teams like Baltimore, Chicago and New England. Only problem is, being able to start one of those defenses every Sunday will come at a high price. Why not save those valuable middle round picks to shore up your running back, wide receiver or quarterback positions by considering a few [read more...]

our Fantasy Football Offseason Refresher: NFC North

Outside of the Chicago Bears D, Mike Furrey and the occasional Brett Favre explosion, the NFC North hasn’t exactly been a hotbed for fantasy football success, but this year, things are looking up. Before sharing my notes with you I want to explain a few things. I have added a position category for the offensive line (OL). I rarely see anyone [read more...]

What We Learned From Week 1 in the NFL

There are few things more meaningless than preseason games in the National Football League, aside from Kanye West's political beliefs and Richard Hatch's tax return. The results actually count in the standings after Week 1, so this is the first true test to see which coaches have made the right adjustments, which free agent signings will pay off, and which [read more...]

Moss Antics a Mere Cultural Caper

American culture is often generalized unfavorably through the publicized acts of few. Individuals from Madonna to McCarthy have been inaccurate symbols of everything from our fashion sense to our ideals. As a country we are even unfairly ridiculed. This week, we hear of our "stinginess" internationally in the wake of the tsunami disasters. How anyone (even the New York Times [read more...]