Shootouts to Sacrifices

Hey Guess What? Tiger's Back!

2010-04-07T21:52:00.000-05:00

I'm not sure if you knew this but Tiger Woods is making his long awaited return to the golf course tomorrow to compete in a little tournament called The Masters. As if he needed any more attention, Nike made sure he got it by putting out this commercial/viral video of Tiger, take a look: As Nike hoped, this video has gotten a lot of attention, some like it and some not so much, but put me

Things I'm looking forward to this Baseball season

2010-04-04T23:44:00.001-05:00

The Red Sox and Yankees just finished up the first game of the 2010 season and while I usually dislike watching this rivalry, it was the first baseball game of the year. Watching this game got me thinking of the national storylines that I'm looking forward to the most. The very first storyline I'm looking forward to is the debuts of Stephen Strasburg and Aroldis Chapman. Both of these guys look

2010 MLB Predictions

2010-04-01T11:31:00.002-05:00

Since I've finished the AL Previews for the season, it's time to make my predictions for the NL as well as the playoffs and some awards. To recap my AL Division winners, I have: Texas Rangers (AL West), Chicago White Sox (AL Central), and New York Yankees (AL East). My AL Wild Card is going to be the Tampa Bay Rays. The Rays are going to play inspired baseball I think, mostly because they're

Breaking Down My Fantasy Baseball Draft

2010-03-31T20:10:00.000-05:00

With the Blackhawks struggling (I still believe, but it's a little frustrating right now), I've focused more of my energy towards baseball as Opening Night is Sunday and Opening Day the following day. And with Opening Day marking the start of the baseball season, the fantasy season also kicks off. We had our draft about 10 days ago and I wanted to take this time to go through my draft and take a

Slumping Blackhawks, Where Have I Seen This Before?

2010-03-30T22:50:00.002-05:00

So the Chicago Blackhawks dropped their third game in a row tonight, this time to the St. Louis Blues. After the loss, my Facebook and Twitter accounts were filled with the typical Chicago sports fan who is convinced this team is doomed. Well you know what? I'm not on the bandwagon and I don't plan on ever joining that bandwagon. Listen, this team is already in the playoffs, a sense of

AL East Preview

2010-03-27T23:31:00.001-05:00

The AL Preview wraps up with what is likely the best division in baseball, the AL East. As always I'll highlight a new addition, a key player, and a player that may break out this season, and wrap it up with a prediction. Teams appear in order of expected finish. New York Yankees Same Face, New Place: Curtis Granderson. Granderson was traded to the Yankees in the off-season and simply put, the

Breaking Down the White Sox Further

2010-03-25T19:37:00.000-05:00

As many of the readers know, I'm a pretty big White Sox fan and with there only being about 10 days until Opening Day, I like to take a deeper look at the Sox and try to get a better feel for them heading into this season. I figured I might as well post it on here and give any other Sox fans the opportunity to see how I think this season is going to play out. Pitching: I pointed this out the AL

AL Central Preview

2010-03-20T14:38:00.006-05:00

The baseball preview continues, moving from the West to the Central as I take a look at the AL Central for the 2010 season. As a reminder the teams appear in order of expected finish looking at a key addition, key player, and player to watch. Chicago White Sox Same Face, New Place: Juan Pierre. When the White Sox acquired Pierre, I'll admit I was mixed on this move. The more I think about it,

NL West Preview

2010-03-19T14:21:00.002-05:00

It may be time for March Madness, but baseball season is right around the corner!Los Angeles Dodgers2009: 95-67, 1st place in the division, lost in NLCSKey Additions: None, due to the divorce of the McCourt family tying up all of the Dodger funds.Key Losses: Juan Pierre, Orlando Hudson, Randy WolfThe Lineup: In 2009 the Dodgers led the league in batting average while having no regular starter

Weekend Soccer Preview

2010-03-19T11:05:00.001-05:00

Another edition of the Weekend Soccer Preview! As always, home team listed first, all times Eastern.Before we get to the rankings, I want to acknowledge Fulham’s stunning comeback in the Europa League. Fulham came home with a 3-1 deficit to Juventus. Juventus got an early goal from David Trezuguet to put Fulham down 4-1 on aggregate. However, goals from Bobby Zamora and two from Zoltan Gera

Monte Carlo Simulation-A Lineup of Nine Joe Mauers!

2010-03-16T17:20:00.005-05:00

In this post we will examine what would happen if you had an entire lineup comprised of one player, i.e. a lineup with nine Joe Mauers or Ryan Howards. This problem has been tackled before, most notably with Bill James’ Runs Created statistic. However, Monte Carlo Simulation can be used to give an even more accurate idea of how a lineup consisting entirely of one player would perform. Monte

Ovechkin's Suspension: Fair or Excessive?

2010-03-16T11:28:00.000-05:00

Alex Ovechkin was suspended yesterday for his "hit" on Brian Campbell Sunday that led to Campbell reportedly breaking his collarbone and ribs. When the 2 game suspension was announced the debate began whether or not the suspension was fair or even necessary. A TSN online poll indicated that a large majority of people believe the suspension wasn't severe enough and I guess that puts me in the

A Comprehensive Weekly Look at the Top Teams In European Soccer

2010-03-16T10:34:00.004-05:00

Another week of European Soccer Rankings! What follows is an unabridged, only slightly edited for grammar introduction written by the one and only Blaine Curcio.Good morning, buon giorno, buenas dias, guten tag, and bonjour, and welcome to another edition of football rankings as prepared by Tom “Purdue Pete” Nielsen and Blaine “Sachin Tendulkar’s Newest Fan” Curcio. Before going into details

2010 NCAA Tournament Thoughts

2010-03-15T16:51:00.000-05:00

An alternative title to this blog entry would be “Why my calculator picked Washington, Wofford, and UTEP to the Sweet Sixteen and why you should believe it,” but that seemed a bit too wordy. In any event I can’t pretend that my personal picks are any more interesting or accurate than what my calculator thinks, so for the most part I’ll focus on what it thinks rather than what I think.Before we

2010 NCAA Tournament Teams to Watch and Final Four Prediction

2010-03-14T21:32:00.001-05:00

Selection Sunday is one of the best sports days of the year, I am trying to only fill out one bracket this year and it's proving to be easier than I thought. I think overall this is a weak year for college hoops and the tournament results will reflect that in my opinion. That being said, it isn't March Madness without a few upsets and Cinderella Stories so let's take a look at some teams that can

Ozzie vs. Kenny: Good, Bad, or Both?

2010-03-12T10:24:00.000-06:00

Major League Baseball was in the process of getting White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen to contribute to a website to go along with his Twitter and Facebook accounts. That is until Kenny Williams and the rest of the front office shut it down. Williams has not been fond of the White Sox skipper embracing social media even though there are cameras rolling from MLB Network to document the

Bradley Sounds Off, Now Time to Shut Up

2010-03-09T22:13:00.000-06:00

When I visited ESPNChicago.com tonight I saw an interview with Milton Bradley and as a Sox fan I am finding this whole situation amusing. Here's the interview: While I enjoy a good ripping of the Cubs, I for one don't enjoy someone criticizing the city of Chicago or the people of Chicago. Bradley is quickly becoming a baby who can't handle a little bit of pressure. He says no African American

A Comprehensive Weekly Look at the Top Teams in European Football

2010-03-09T07:23:00.001-06:00

Good morning to one and all, and welcome to the latest edition of European Football Rankings Weekly, brought to you by Tom and Blaine. For the most part this week was pretty uneventful, with few upsets and even fewer particularly interesting matches, but that doesn’t change the fact that we have some rankings to publish! The most interesting development this week was probably the flip-flopping of

Weekend Soccer Preview

2010-03-05T06:58:00.002-06:00

Another edition of the Weekend Soccer Preview! As always, home team listed first, all times Eastern.Game of the Week (Rankings from Poll)14:45 ET Saturday (Italy’s Serie A)(15) AS Roma v (6) AC MilanThis is a battle for second place in Italy. AC Milan currently occupies that second spot, 3 points ahead of third-place AS Roma. In the first match-up between these squads in October, AC Milan scored

2010 AL West Preview

2010-03-04T17:31:00.002-06:00

With Spring Training games getting underway this week, Tom and I thought it would be a good time to get started on previewing the 2010 season. I will be previewing the AL divisions and Tom will take care of the NL. Teams will appear in order of expected finish, and we'll highlight one new player on the team, the key player for that team, and one player who might breakout. Let's get started!

A Comprehensive Weekly Look at the Top Teams in European Soccer

2010-03-01T18:49:00.003-06:00

This week saw another round of mid-week European matches! Blaine is finally back into the swing of things in Hong Kong and was therefore able to once again contribute to these rankings. He has been over there for about two months now so it will be interesting to see how our rankings start to independently develop without us talking about soccer on a daily basis in the US.First up on Tuesday there

Who Owns the Best Rotation in Baseball?

2010-02-27T15:30:00.001-06:00

I'm really itching for the baseball season to start up this year, and I've been looking at depth charts and rosters for far too long now but it's given me the ability to judge who I think is a contender this year. I fully believe a team can win the World Series behind pitching more than offense, so the contenders this year will be the teams with the top rotations. #5: Seattle Mariners: Felix

Premier League Preview

2010-02-26T20:30:00.004-06:00

I have a mathematical ranking system devised for the English Premier League. The system is based solely on results so far in the English Premier League and it can both rank the teams and give predictions for future games. The system takes into account home and away advantages and gives each team an offensive and defensive rating that is used to determine the expected number of goals scored for

Weekend Soccer Preview

2010-02-26T16:36:00.001-06:00

Another edition of the Weekend Soccer Preview! I added in teams I had ranked 26-40 here because really, can you ever have too many rankings?As always, home team listed first, all times Eastern.Games of the Week (Rankings from Poll)7:45 ET Saturday (English Premier League)(2) Chelsea v (13) Manchester CityThis is yet another massive match-up for these top-tier English sides. Both squads are coming

Ozzie Guillen's Tweets and Everyone Should be Happy

2010-02-25T11:50:00.000-06:00

For those who don't know (which would be a shocker), Ozzie Guillen is now on Twitter. As a fan of the White Sox, this is awesome, and I don't even care if I don't get tweets about what's going on inside the White Sox clubhouse. Chad Ochocinco has been on Twitter for some time now and very rarely does he tweet what's going on in the locker room of the Bengals. This is just a tool for athletes and

NFL Combine Starts Today, Let's Pump the Brakes

2010-02-25T11:30:00.000-06:00

Today starts the NFL Combine, where NFL hopefuls will be running 40 yard dashes, benchpressing, and taking the wonderlic test among other things. The question I have is, why do people outside of NFL front offices make such a big deal about this? And for that matter why does the NFL make a big deal out of this? The NFL Network is dedicated a ton of hours to this event and I just don't get it. How

NBA MVP Race

2010-02-24T12:29:00.000-06:00

Last night we saw the Cavaliers, Lakers, and Thunder all in action and all were involved in interesting games. Now the Cavs and Lakers are the strong favorites to be playing for the championship, but the Thunder are a playoff team this year largely because of Kevin Durant becoming an absolute monster this season. With all three teams playing in interesting games last night, I started thinking who

A Comprehensive Weekly Look at the Top Teams in European Soccer

2010-02-22T18:39:00.003-06:00

Welcome to another week of European Soccer Rankings!! Blaine just got back from his break in the Philippines, so I am flying solo here once again.It was a week highlighted by Champions League and Europa League action mid-week. In the Champions League, Manchester United secured a huge 3-2 win at AC Milan with 3 valuable away goals. The excitement of the win was somewhat dampened by a late Clarence

A Defense of my Boilermakers

2010-02-22T16:12:00.003-06:00

The much-awaited European soccer rankings have been devised and will be posted later tonight, but first I must address the much-debated issue of Dave putting Syracuse ahead of Purdue in his overview of the #1 seeds that can be seen here. First I would like to commend Dave for at least putting Purdue as a #1 seed. Even though it seems like it would be obvious as we (and I can say we-I go to the

Who are the #1 Seeds Right Now?

2010-02-22T15:05:00.001-06:00

With a lull in the sports calendar it's kind of difficult to find things to write about, but with March Madness getting closer day by day, I'm starting to take a closer look at the college basketball landscape. There is also a new AP Top 25 and I browsed the list and thought who are the likely #1 seeds if the tournament started today. And quite frankly looking at the list the AP rankings right

USA Hockey vs. USA Soccer - Who Had the More Significant Win?

2010-02-21T22:46:00.001-06:00

USA beat Canada in hockey tonight in a game some people (not me) are calling the biggest win for USA hockey since the Miracle on Ice. Other people (this is me) want to argue that this game should play a pretty big role in promoting hockey in the States and get more people interested in the NHL. And when I thought of this my memory immediately went to this past summer when USA beat Spain 2-0 in

It's Time We Commend Kenny Williams for his Work

2010-02-19T17:11:00.001-06:00

Now when you read that title and you pair that with the news that Sox have pulled its offer to Johnny Damon, you're probably telling yourself that I am a crazy person or something to that effect. The truth is that Kenny Williams is playing this one very well. It is well known that Williams and super-agent Scott Boras don't get along and very rarely negotiate together (Assistant GM Rick Hahn is

Premier League Preview

2010-02-19T15:46:00.002-06:00

Bears Raise Ticket Prices to Attend the Circus that is Chicago Bears Football

2010-02-19T12:35:00.000-06:00

The Chicago Bears announced today ticket prices for 2010 and believe it or not there are price increases for this coming season. Yes the same team that took a massive PR hit during their coaches' search and the same team that generally came unprepared for each week is asking you, the fan, to pay more to come watch this team play. Now I get the argument and generally agree that if you have a

Weekend Soccer Preview

2010-02-19T12:14:00.001-06:00

Another edition of the Weekend Soccer Preview! As always, home team listed first, all times Eastern.Game of the Week (Rankings from Poll)10:00 ET Sunday (English Premier League)(15) Manchester City v (25) LiverpoolManchesester City currently sit in fourth place in the league, occupying the final Champions League qualifying spot. Liverpool is a scant point behind them but City has a game in hand.

Tiger Woods' Robot Speaks

2010-02-19T10:36:00.000-06:00

Tiger Woods just finished speaking to the media today and as previously reported, took no questions from the media present. My general reaction to this "press conference" is unimpressed. Listen, he had to go in front of a camera sooner or later because for some reason people felt like Woods owed them an apology. He didn't owe anyone with the exception of his and Elin's families an apology. I

American Players Abroad

2010-02-18T14:00:00.005-06:00

With the success so far of Landon Donovan at Everton, there is a lot of excitement surrounding the US men’s national team ahead of the 2010 World Cup. Here is a rundown of how our American players are performing across the sea in Europe.GoalkeepersTim Howard-Everton-English Premier LeagueTim Howard has established himself as a top-flight keeper in the Premier Leauge. He is coming off of a season

Olympic Hockey Break Blog Post

2010-02-15T21:44:00.000-06:00

Last night, the Blackhawks beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 5-4 in a shootout and I was at a wedding so I did not get to see the game but did catch the score on my phone during the reception. Just by looking at the score I had no idea that Patrick Kane took a hit to the knee and that Troy Brouwer came to the defense of Kane and beat down Anton Stralman. So during my drive back to Iowa City today I

European Soccer Rankings and Champions League Preview

2010-02-15T11:50:00.005-06:00

Welcome to another week of European Soccer Rankings!! Blaine is in the Philippines or something for Chinese New Year, so I am flying solo here.It was a weekend of FA Cup action in England. There were no massive surprises but there were a couple strong teams forced to a replay. Manchester City was held to a 1-1 draw at home against Stoke, Tottenham was held to a 1-1 draw at Bolton, and Aston Villa

The Big Hurt Calls it a Career

2010-02-11T19:20:00.005-06:00

(Baseball Evolution) Frank Thomas is being honored with a Lifetime Achievement award on Comcast SportsNet tonight and it just so happens that he is officially retiring from the game of baseball as well. I wanted to use this space to just congratulate the man who I looked up to while he played in Chicago and finished his career in Oakland and Toronto. 2005 was the greatest year for Sox fans, and

Texas to the Big Ten?

2010-02-11T17:08:00.000-06:00

Reports today say that the Big Ten have had discussions with the University of Texas joining the conference. Now when I read this I was at first really excited at the idea of having a powerhouse of a school like Texas join the Big Ten, but I have been going back and forth on this all day. It obviously makes a ton of sense for the Big Ten because Texas' athletic department is such a money maker,

Weekend Soccer Preview

2010-02-11T10:43:00.003-06:00

First off, I owe everyone an apology for no rankings last weekend! That pesky little thing called school once again reared its ugly head and I was slightly under the weather. I have modified the most recent rankings slightly to reflect the games of the past weekend and mid-week. They are what I predict would have been the rankings had we done them!1. Barcelona2. Chelsea3. Real Madrid4. Manchester

Super Bowl Observations

2010-02-08T17:31:00.001-06:00

With the Super Bowl yesterday, we of course have been bombarded with Super Bowl reaction from sports outlets around the country. There are a few things that have been said today that I want to take a little look into. Peyton Manning's legacy was at stake last night. Now if this was Brett Favre I could see why people keep talking about it, but this is Peyton Manning, the guy isn't debating

Best Super Bowl Commercials Last Night

2010-02-08T14:12:00.004-06:00

The commercials are as big of a part of Super Bowl Sunday as the actual game and since I am a marketing major I like to watch the commercials with a little added interest. Overall I think the commercials were pretty lame, there were a handful of somewhat amusing ones. I do have a top three and I will show them in a second but these three are in my top three because they'll have a memorable

Baseball Prospectus: Proving Why Baseball isn't Played on Paper

2010-02-06T11:20:00.003-06:00

Earlier this week, Baseball Prospectus (BP) published their projected standings for the 2010 MLB season. I for one am not a big fan of statistics, I like to rely on the eye test to determine if a player or team is any good. The only downside of this method is that I have to wait until the season starts. So I'll dab into the statistics world every once in a while to get a baseball fix over the

Weekend Soccer Preview

2010-02-04T12:36:00.003-06:00

Another edition of the Weekend Soccer Preview! And it's a day early this time! I put in some new special features this week, such as the "Big Games in Small Leagues" and predictions for every Premier League fixture along with other important matches. Hope you enjoy!As always, home team listed first, all times Eastern.Game of the Week (Rankings from Poll)11:00 ET Sunday(2) Chelsea v (7)

Useless Baseball information

2010-02-04T09:40:00.002-06:00

I feel like baseball today so I figured I would play with Baseball-Reference.com's Play Index for a while and write about what I find.StreaksNote: The streak finder only runs from 1954 to 2009, so all streaks are 1954-present.-From April 30 to June 10, 2000 the Houston Astros hit a home run in 20 straight away games (only 28 home runs), the second longest streak of home runs in away games (First

NCAA Tournament Changes

2010-02-02T13:10:00.001-06:00

This story talks about the possibility of the NCAA opting out of its contract with CBS and taking it's NCAA Tournament to the highest bidder. What it also talks about is the possible expansion of the tournament to 96 teams. You read that right, 96, or just slightly more than a quarter of all Division 1 NCAA Basketball teams. From a pure business stand point it makes a lot of sense, and it would

A Comprehensive Weekly Look at the Top Teams in European Football

2010-02-01T18:24:00.002-06:00

Another edition of the Weekly Soccer Rankings! Sorry about the relative lateness. A friend and I found a store called the Soccer Shack in Lafayette. It looks like it could be a real good store, just opened today and we were the first sale, but they couldn’t take credit yet so I couldn’t buy my US National Team slippers. I also memorized a speech for this morning about red cards in soccer. It

Mike Martz to the Bears

2010-02-01T17:51:00.002-06:00

When it was reported that Mike Martz is becoming the new offensive coordinator for the Chicago Bears, 2 things went through my mind, 1. This PR disaster is finally over and 2. The worst month in sports just got a little more worse this year. When the Bears announced that Ron Turner and numerous other offensive coaches were being shown the door 27 days ago, the logical thought would be the Bears

Welcome to the Worst Month in Sports

2010-02-01T07:28:00.000-06:00

Happy February everyone, I for one cannot wait until March hits. If you remember I talked about how January 1st was my favorite day of the sports year, well now I'm here to tell you that February is by far the worst month on the sports calendar. Sure it has it's pluses (the Super Bowl, Pitchers and Catchers reporting to Spring Training, the NHL), but those are far outweighed by the fact that

2010 NFL Draft Preview

2010-01-30T12:02:00.000-06:00

With the Senior Bowl today I thought it'd be a good idea to look at the top player at each position and see where they might wind up come the draft in April. We'll look at one player at QB, RB, WR, OL, DE, DT, LB, CB, and S and one wild card player. I'm going to take the top player at each position according to Scouts Inc.'s list on ESPN.com QB: Sam Bradford, Oklahoma: Jake Locker from

Weekend Soccer Preview

2010-01-29T14:42:00.001-06:00

Another edition of the Weekend Soccer Preview! As always, home team listed first, all times Eastern. Click on the league name to see the league table.Game of the Week (Rankings from Poll)11:00 ET Sunday (English Premier League)(7) Arsenal v (T5) Manchester UnitedThis is a massive match of two of the top three teams in what has turned into a three-horse race in the English Premier League.

An Apology to Derrick Rose

2010-01-28T16:31:00.000-06:00

When the Bulls were fortunate enough to win the NBA Draft Lottery that eventually landed them Derrick Rose, I'll admit it, I wanted Michael Beasley. Boy was I wrong, and I'm glad that I was. I figured the Bulls could get by with Kirk Hinrich running the offense and point guard wasn't the most pressing need for the Bulls at that time, they needed an inside presence and I thought that Beasley made

Chicago Sports Tidbits

2010-01-26T11:57:00.001-06:00

We'll start with the sports that are in season and move on down: I'm fully supporting the Chicago Blackhawks nowadays, but this goaltending situation is starting to worry me. That coupled with the difficulty of the Western Conference doesn't seem like a promising mix heading into the playoffs. I like to think that Huet or Niemi will figure it out and the defensemen will continue their incredible

A Comprehensive Weekly Look at the Top Teams in European Soccer

2010-01-25T12:18:00.007-06:00

Big week of soccer! If you can’t figure out who wrote this intro…well then you probably don’t know us, in which case welcome to the blog!!Shalom, and a warm welcome to another breakdown of the week’s European football action as told by Tom and Blaine. This week saw a fair number of upsets, grudge matches, Herculean efforts, and flops, so the rankings have been shaken up just a bit. The first big

NFL Overtime Rant

2010-01-25T00:01:00.003-06:00

This will be short and sweet, but I have to put this out there and I'm sure most of you agree. (Bob Rosato/SI) We witnessed a great NFC Championship game tonight, back and forth and the Vikings fought back even though they couldn't hang on to the football this evening. Sure enough it was a game meant for overtime, and it

Weekend Soccer Preview

2010-01-22T11:59:00.000-06:00

Another edition of the Weekend Soccer Preview! As always, home team listed first, all times Eastern.Game of the Week (Rankings from Poll)14:45 ET Sunday(3) Inter Milan v (T5) AC Milan14:45 ET Saturday(21) Juventus v (T19) AS RomaThis is a match-up of two teams going in different directions in the Serie A table. Juventus has been dropping points left and right lately, and sit in 5th with 33 points

Top Free Agents Available

2010-01-22T11:48:00.000-06:00

With pitchers and catchers reporting to Spring Training in just a few weeks I thought it'd be a good idea to highlight some of the free agents that are shockingly still available: 1. Orlando Hudson: I'm really surprised he is still available. Granted the O-Dog was lost playing time at the end of last season, but he was still productive with an OPS of .774. He is probably overvaluing himself right

Tiger Woods Theory

2010-01-21T21:00:00.003-06:00

I know that the whole Tiger Woods fiasco happened a long time ago but he came back into the news this week with the discovery that he's in a sex rehab facility. I thought it would be a good time to write about a theory and a plea I have come up with regarding El Tigre. The first one is one that I've been thinking up for a few weeks now and probably a little more thought out. I want to suggest to

A Comprehensive Weekly Look at the Top Teams in European Football

2010-01-17T22:32:00.005-06:00

Good day and welcome to yet another edition of the Weekly Top 25 European Football Clubs. This week saw a few interesting matches, starting with Chelsea’s 7-2 massacre, drubbing, manslaughter, or whatever else you want to call it, of a respectable Sunderland club. To make that score even more correct, one of Sunderland’s 2 goals was more or less a stoppage time charity goal, so let’s just call it

Abbreviated Weekend Soccer Preview

2010-01-16T08:44:00.002-06:00

The craziness of the first week of school has delayed this far too long!English Premier League7:45 ET SaturdayStoke City 1-1 Liverpool90th Minute goal by defender Robert Huth stuns Liverpool.10:00 ET Saturday(3) Chelsea v Sunderland(T7) Manchester United v Burnley(9) Tottenham Hotspur v Hull CityWolverhampton Wanderers v Wigan12:30 ET SaturdayEverton v (T15) Manchester City8:30 ET Sunday(T15)

Lane Kiffin to USC Signals Necessary Change

2010-01-12T22:22:00.002-06:00

When I got a text this evening from the World Wide Leader saying that Lane Kiffin was leaving the University of Tennessee to take over the same position with the USC Trojans, I was in disbelief. I thought to myself, "self, there is no way Kiffin is leaving UT after only one season of terrorizing SEC coaches with his immature actions." I didn't think a coach would leave a program as big as

A Comprehensive Weekly Look at the Top Teams in European Football

2010-01-11T14:14:00.003-06:00

Finally, another edition of the European Soccer Rankings! Most leagues have been taking their winter break and some are still off but soccer is starting to heat up in what should be a thrilling end to the season and lead-up to the World Cup. Here are some words from our world-traveler Blaine:A wonderful Cantonese evening to you all in the west still suffering through Monday morning. After a brief

Final and Preseason Top 25 for College Football

2010-01-09T12:08:00.002-06:00

The last top 25 I have for College Football has a heavy emphasis on what the top 25 should look like to start next season. 1. Alabama: The Tide return numerous offensive players, but they have to replace seven starters on defense. A difficult road slate in the SEC coupled with a non-conference game against Penn State makes it difficult to see Alabama back in the National Championship game next

Weekend Soccer Preview

2010-01-08T10:59:00.001-06:00

As always, home team listed first, all times Eastern. No games of the week this weekend, but more leagues are coming back. There will be a full ranking coming on Monday!English Premier League Note: Five Premier League games have been called off so far due to terrible weather in England. The matches are: Hull City v Chelsea, Liverpool v Tottenham, Burnley v Stoke City, Sunderland v Bolton, and

Andre Dawson is Voted into the Hall of Fame

2010-01-06T17:00:00.002-06:00

Hall of Fame announcements were made today, and a big congratulations goes out to Andre Dawson!! Dawson was the sole player voted in, while Bert Blyleven and Roberto Alomar were just on the outside. Here is a run-down of Dawson and some of those who did not make it in.Andre Dawson – 77.9% of the voteThis was Dawson’s 9th year on the ballot and he has been getting more and more support every year.

Sitting Starters Should Cost $$$

2010-01-04T14:53:00.000-06:00

The past two weeks we've heard a lot about whether or not NFL teams should sit their starters when they have clinched everything there is to be clinched. Now we're seeing the NFL's Competition Committee meet to discuss the issue and come up with possible incentive to playing your starters all season. Quite frankly that's garbage, no one should have to be persuaded to play their best players to

Weekend Soccer Roundup

2010-01-04T12:26:00.001-06:00

There were not enough games in big leagues again this weekend for another edition of rankings, so they will make their much anticipated comeback next weekend! Also, Blaine happens to be in Japan at the moment (follow his blog here) where apparently the internet is not as reliable and/or available so that makes him sending rankings and keeping up with the football world more difficult. In any case

The Road to Miami: Who Will Play in the Super Bowl?

2010-01-04T10:08:00.002-06:00

Saturday is the start of the NFL Playoffs and we have 3 of the 4 games this weekend as rematches from last weekend. Here's how I see the playoffs shaking out: Wild Card Weekend Cincinnati Bengals over New York Jets: I know the Jets took it to the Bengals last night, but I think Cincinnati was looking to rest more starters than to win. I know Chad Ochocinco was held in check by Darrelle Revis,

Last Bowl Picks of the Year

2010-01-03T19:13:00.000-06:00

This miserable experience is nearly over, we have 4 games left starting tomorrow night and heading to Thursday night. Tostitos Fiesta Bowl: TCU (-7) over Boise State: In the game that should have never been scheduled I like TCU to win and to win fairly easily. I really think the Horned Frogs would play either Alabama or Texas extremely tough and even possibly win. Defense wins championships and

Why New Year's is the Best Single Day for Sports

2010-01-01T13:21:00.001-06:00

A lot of people argue that April and October are the best months for sports because in April you have the conclusion of March Madness, Opening Day in baseball, NFL Draft, NBA, and now the NHL all in action. October has playoff baseball, and there is college football and NFL action starting up. While both of those months are great in the world of sports, sitting here on my couch on New Years Day

Weekend Soccer Preveiw

2009-12-31T16:22:00.002-06:00

Another edition of the Weekend Soccer Preview! The only big leagues playing now are England, Scotland, and Spain, as most leagues are still on their winter break. This is the third round of the FA Cup, and the first round for all of the English league giants.As always, home team listed first, all times Eastern.Game of the Week (Rankings from Poll)8:00 ET Sunday (English FA Cup)(T4) Manchester

Texas Tech fires coach Mike Leach

2009-12-30T12:58:00.003-06:00

Texas Tech has fired head coach Mike Leach ‘with cause’ over allegations that he mistreated wide receiver Adam James, son of ESPN analyst Craig James. The player alleges that Mike Leach twice confined him to a small dark room where he had to stand when the player was diagnosed with a concussion.Obviously this is a serious allegation and is not the first instance of alleged mistreatment of college

Reaction to Bears Win on MNF

2009-12-29T00:12:00.000-06:00

A lot is going to be made out of the Bears victory tonight against the Minnesota Vikings, and I think this game did show a lot in all aspects of the Bears. #1: Lovie Smith needs to go. I know the Bears just beat a very good Vikings team, but the defense that Lovie Smith has taken complete control of allowed 30 points in the second half and that is completely unacceptable. I've read some thoughts

Big Ten Basketball Preview

2009-12-28T11:19:00.004-06:00

Big Ten basketball season starts up this week and it looks to be another fun year. So far, however, the Big Ten has been slightly disappointing. Michigan, Minnesota, and Illinois were all ranked pre-season but have fallen out of the polls quickly with 6-5, 9-3, and 8-4 records respectively. Purdue leads the pack with a #4 ranking in the AP poll. The other ranked teams are Michigan State at #11

Colts and 16-0

2009-12-28T10:12:00.002-06:00

I usually hate writing about the things that everyone is talking about but I'm going to do it here anyway. Yesterday the Colts lost for the first time in 24 regular season games and they pulled their starters in the 3rd quarter of the game. I think Coach Caldwell made the wrong choice in pulling his starters, I understand you want to have a healthy team going into the playoffs but there are a

English Premier League Preview

2009-12-27T23:05:00.003-06:00

There really were not enough matches in Europe this weekend to do more rankings, so look here for a review of the Premier League matches of the weekend. Instead of rankings we have more predictions for English Premier League matches! The formula now includes adjustments for home and away and therefore should be more accurate than last time, when it still worked pretty well. Home team listed

English Premier League Roundup

2009-12-27T13:49:00.004-06:00

It is an exciting time in the Premier League, with a full weekend of games to go with games from Monday to Wednesday. As promised, I will now review how the predictions made in this post actually turned out!Birmingham 0-0 ChelseaVisitors and league leaders Chelsea were held to a 0-0 draw at Birmingham, a game in which they dominated play, with an advantage of 30 shots to 14 to go along with 63%

Remaining College Bowl Picks

2009-12-27T08:40:00.000-06:00

Well I decided since I have a little bit of time on my hands with break and because I did so well at picking games during the regular season (not really but let's just go with it), I'm going to challenge myself to pick against the spread for the remaining bowl games in college football. We'll start with the games this week and I'll come back next Sunday with picks for the remaining games.

My Decade's Top Ten Sports Moments

2009-12-26T11:42:00.000-06:00

The best part of sports in my opinion is that it is something where everyone has their own teams and their own sports that they enjoy following. Everyone has that one player they like that no one else can stand or that team that virtually no one likes or talks about yet loved by a group of people. This is what makes sports great because that alone generates so much discussion and banter that

English Premier League Soccer Predictions

2009-12-25T13:02:00.004-06:00

For Christmas I got a received book called Mathletics by Wayne Winston. Essentially, the book contains mathematics behind the major sports of baseball, football, and basketball, along with an extensive section on gambling in sports and other minor sports. Mainly the book focuses on evaluating teams and players, along with predicting future results based on past results. There is a section on

Weekend Soccer Preview

2009-12-24T16:59:00.001-06:00

Another edition of the Weekend Soccer Preview! Almost all leagues are off for their Christmas break, with just Great Britain and Belgium still in action for the weekend and following week. Most importantly, a MERRY CHRISTMAS to everybody!!!!As always, home team listed first, all times Eastern.Game of the Week (Rankings from Poll)8:30 ET Sunday(T4) Arsenal v (T12) Aston VillaAston Villa has

Is Firing Vinny Del Negro and Lovie Smith Really the Answer?

2009-12-23T00:19:00.001-06:00

With the Blackhawks being the only team in Chicago with a realistic chance of winning a championship this year, a lot of frustration has been directed at the jobs of Vinny Del Negro of the Bulls and Lovie Smith of the Bears. They do deserve most of the criticism that is being thrown at them, both with somewhat talented teams that so far have underachieved to this point. But Chicago is a city that

Top Ten Athletes from the 2000s in Chicago Sports

2009-12-22T23:47:00.000-06:00

It's not hard to argue that Chicago is full of the most die hard sports fans in America. Wherever you go, you can count on some sort of conversation about the latest news a Chicago sports team is making. The stress and expectations can drive some athletes out of the city (Milton Bradley), but it can also lead to other sport figures to be celebrated long after they retire (Coach Ditka (Why are we

A Comprehensive Weekly Look at the Top Teams in European Football

2009-12-20T20:05:00.004-06:00

A very good holiday evening to you all. This past week featured a number of upsets, romps, massacres, rampages, embarrassing draws, and the occasional 8-man side. Undoubtedly the most shocking match of the week was Fulham’s 3-0 destruction of top-5 ranked Manchester United yesterday. United played the worst I’ve seen them play ever I think. Granted, I haven’t been watching United for that long,

Carlos Silva for Milton Bradley. No joke.

2009-12-18T14:32:00.005-06:00

The Cubs have just completed what should be the worst trade of the MLB off-season. Milton Bradley has been dealt to the Mariners for Carlos Silva and $9 million cash. The cash will help offset the $3 million difference in salaries while making Silva's salary only slightly less obscene. The "experts" are saying this is the perfect deal for both sides, as both players have large contracts and both

Weekend Soccer Preview

2009-12-18T12:32:00.002-06:00

Another edition of the Weekend Soccer Preview! As always, home team listed first, all times Eastern.Game of the Week (Rankings from Poll)11:00 ET SaturdayEstudiantes La Plata v (1) Barcelona – FSCBy definition, this is the game of the year for Club Football, as it is the FIFA Club World Cup Final. Barcelona come in as obvious favorites and will be looking to claim their sixth piece of silverware

A little bit of Hockey Love

2009-12-14T15:18:00.000-06:00

Well I received the suggestion that we need to talk about hockey more here at Shootouts to Sacrifices so I'm going to take the opportunity to talk about a sport that is quickly becoming one of my favorites. I try to watch games as much as possible but being in Iowa makes it difficult to do so but I'm going to talk about a few guys (players and a coach), who have caught my eye as I'm getting

A Comprehensive Weekly Look at the Top Teams in European Football

2009-12-13T21:44:00.003-06:00

Good evening ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to another exciting issue of the Weekly European Football Top 25. This was arguably the most difficult week of the rankings up to this point, as everybody and their mother lost to terrible teams. Tottenham Hotspur managed to lose 1-0 to Premiership bottom-dwellers Wolverhampton Wanderers, Manchester United somehow lost 1-0 to Aston Villa, Juventus

Potential 12th Members for the Big Ten

2009-12-12T23:51:00.000-06:00

On Friday, Wisconsin Athletic Director, Barry Alvarez stated that the Big Ten will begin a more serious search for a 12th member so the conference can break into divisions and host a conference championship game similar to the SEC, Big 12, and ACC (Link). I for one can't wait for this to happen and don't really understand why this hasn't happened sooner other than Jim Delaney and the rest of the

Something of a Weekend Soccer Preview

2009-12-10T09:35:00.003-06:00

Well it is that time of year again. Finals week and therefore I don't quite have enough time to give the full Weekend Soccer Preview that you guys love and deserve. I have enough time to write this because my statistical software package is taking a year and a half to load so I can't work on my stats project at the moment. Anyways, here is some news from the footy world:-Everton is close to

The Coaches Poll Needs to Go

2009-12-07T13:21:00.002-06:00

Today we were given the opportunity to see how the Coaches voted in the final USA Today Coaches Poll for College Football (USA TODAY/Coaches' Poll Results). The conclusion that I drew from looking at the results was this, the Coaches Poll needs to die. I've felt this way for some time but finally seeing how the "coaches" (some if not all most likely have their assistants vote for them) voted was

College Football Top 25 Heading into Bowl Season

2009-12-07T11:35:00.001-06:00

A little bit of a shakeup in the Top 25 this week after a great weekend of College Football. These will be the last rankings until after the National Championship game in January. 1. Alabama (13-0) (3): The Tide went out and earned this number 1 ranking. Just beating Florida in every aspect of the game. Extra points for making Tim Tebow cry. 2. TCU (12-0)(4): TCU is a great team and

A Comprehensive Weekly Look at the Top Teams in European Football

2009-12-07T09:06:00.002-06:00

Another week of European Soccer Rankings! We had a round of Europa League fixtures mid-week, including a 1-0 win for Fenerbahce at Twente, a 1-0 victory for Everton at AEK Athens, and a huge 1-0 for Fulham at home against CSKA Sofia. Here is a link to the Europa League group standings at this point. In the big game in the Premiership, Manchester City defeated Chelsea 2-1 as Shay Given saved a

Heisman Contenders and BCS Bowl Previews

2009-12-06T19:47:00.005-06:00

Well the Heisman finalists will be announced tomorrow so I’m here to tell you who I would vote for to win the Heisman trophy. I only think my top 3 will be invited to New York so they’re the ones with commentary, but let’s start with #5: 5 – Ndamukong Suh, DT, Nebraska 4 – Tim Tebow, QB, Florida 3 – Colt McCoy, QB, Texas: It was his award to lose going into last night’s game and he did just that.

In Which I Finally Write About American Sports

2009-12-06T19:05:00.001-06:00

Cubs TradeOn December 3rd, the Cubs traded Aaron Miles, Jake Fox and cash to Oakland for reliever Jeff Gray and prospects OF Matt Spencer and P Ronny Morla. As a Cubs fan, I have to say I am very pleased with this transaction. Any time you can get rid of Aaron Miles, you have done well as a GM, and while I liked Jake Fox, he simply did not have a future with the Cubs. It will do him well to get a

Weekend Soccer Preview/World Cup Draw

2009-12-04T14:44:00.004-06:00

In honor of finals week approaching and me having quite the busy week, this will be slightly shorter than normal, but I do have the World Cup groups with some (far too early) predictions!!!Game(s) of the Week (Rankings from Poll)14:45 ET Saturday(11) Juventus v (4) Inter MilanInter Milan leads Serie A by 7 points over AC Milan, and Juventus is one back of AC. Inter is coming off of a win at home

Championship Week Picks

2009-12-03T10:02:00.001-06:00

Tonight starts the weekend of games with BCS Bowl implications and I’m going to pick only 5 games that happen to work out as conference championship games even if they are not official. #10 Georgia Tech – Clemson: Clemson is coming off a loss to South Carolina but they do have the ever-dangerous C.J. Spiller to keep them in this game. I think that Georgia Tech is just too tough and will be

Florida gets Another Shot at Getting it Right

2009-12-01T12:56:00.000-06:00

Carlos Dunlap of the #1 Florida Gators was arrested early Tuesday just days before the Gators are to play the Alabama Crimson Tide in the SEC Championship game. Dunlap was found asleep at his car and performed poorly in a field sobriety test and was taken in when he refused to take a Breathalyzer test. This is a fascinating story beyond just the usual will he or won’t he