Not So Deep Thoughts: NCAA, Big Ben and more

Lots of things going on in the sports world these days so instead of
picking one single topic and writing an expanded column on it, I’ll
just throw in my two cents on several of them.

NCAA Tournament Expansion:

This debate is a simple one. As it is right now with 65 teams in the mix to start
the tourney, I’d say about 20 actually have a chance to win the title and it’s likely
closer to about 8-10 that have a good chance of winning. If the field is then opened
up to 96 teams, those numbers don’t change. The list of contenders would remain exactly
the same while the list of pretenders would grow. What would the point of adding 31
more teams, all of which, have little-to-no chance of seeing the championship game
other than on TV like you and me. I’m a huge fan of the excitement that accompanies
the Madness but sometimes less is actual more. If it ain’t broke don’t fix it. Nothing
in the world captures the hearts of sports fans and non-sports fans like the Madness
of March. Any sport that can get Betty from Accounting filling out three brackets
and screaming her lungs out for a late break-away foul call is doing just fine. 

Ben Roethlisberger: By now, everybody and their brother has heard about Big
Ben’s latest troubles involving a college girl and alleged sexual assault. Being a
life-long Steelers fan, my first reaction was: here we go again. Another gold digger
looking to cash in. But while the first woman who claimed Roethlisberger assaulted
her had no evidence to help support her claim and the case was quickly thrown out
without any criminal charges being pressed, this case seems to be different and not
in a sweep-it-under-the-rug kind of way.

Because Big Ben felt the need to hire one of the best defense lawyers money can buy
leads me to believe there is actual evidence supporting the woman’s claims. As it
stands now, no criminal charges have been charged, and despite the media painting
a very dark picture regarding Ben’s poor judgement of being in that type of situation
in the first place, Roethlisberger has yet to be charged of anything.

Unfortunately this isn’t the first time we as sports fans have gone through an athlete
being accused of similar activities and the history of such cases has proven that
no news is not good news for the person being accused. This appears to be the calm
before the storm, as the police look to gather evidence against Roethlisberger and
actually file charges. Just a gut feeling and I hope that I’m wrong, but this case
sure seems to be heading toward a trial and quite possible the beginning of the end
of a great NFL career.



NFL Offseason Moves

NFL Free Agency is always an exciting time, as fans’ dreams of Pro Bowlers joining
their squads dance through their heads. Typically the pick-ups made are nothing more
than desperate teams overpaying for guys based on their past performances only to
get little moving forward. And this year will likely have some of that as well but
I did like the moves that some teams made.

Without a draft pick inthe first two rounds (thanks Jay Cutler), the Bears made several
unexpected splashes by spending mega-millions to land Julius Peppers, Chester Taylor
and Brandon Manumalamula. If Chicago can now land a pick for disgruntled TE Greg Olson,
this could go down as one of the best offseasons in the team’s history. Peppers will
help the defensive line get pressure on the QB and ultimately help a suspect secondary,
Taylor will team with (and push) Matt Forte to forma potent backfield tandem and Manumalamula
will give the Bears an added blocker familiar with Mike Martz’s offense who can help
keep Cutler off his back and give him more time to find his own receivers instead
of opposing d-backs.

Other Free Agency winners appear to be the Jets and quite possibly the Bengals if
they can convince Terrell Owens to join Ocho Cinco’s party. The two receivers could
be the perfect combination of skill, showmanship and each would likely push the other
to become better. Carson Palmer says he can handle the two personalities and I believe
each receiver has enough in the tank to make this a marriage worth taking a shot on.


History Worth Recognition

While most sports fans don’t follow women’s basketball closely enough to understand
to fully appreciate the magnitude and the difficulty of the UConn women’s basketball
team’s incomprehensible 72-game winning streak, that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be
recognized and applauded. Winning 72 games of checkers in a row is pretty amazing
but notching six dozen victories in a major college conference is downright sick.
When you consider that every one of those wins was by double digits makes it just
that much more incredible. My hat is off to the Lady Huskies and yours should be,
too.

Continue reading about Not So Deep Thoughts: NCAA, Big Ben and more »

The final week of the NCAA regular season proved to be too much for most of last week’s Beat the Blogger contestants but Brandon
Pierce had no problem steering clear of the many upsets. Pierce posted a score
of 8 to beat the Blogger’s total of 7 and defeat the rest of the field to win the
prize.


(Blogger’s note: Due to a much-needed and long-overdue vacation, there will be no
Beat the Blogger contest next week. Enjoy the NCAA Tournament action and we’ll jump
back into the contest on March 24.)

This week’s matchups and the Blogger picks are posted below so be sure you check back
and get your picks posted before the start of the first game on Saturday.



Copy and paste our link and send it to your friends on Facebook, Twitter and
anywhere else so they can be a part of the action and we can boost our total list
of contestants, http://blog.tuffstuff.com/7thinning/

With the number of weekly participants slipping a bit the last few weeks I’m making
a call to action to all of our regulars to do some recruiting. While more people
means more work for the Blogger and more people for the Blogger to go up against,
I welcome the challenge and offer this challenge to you: If each player can recruit
10 new players and we can boost the total to 200 or more, I’ll triple the weekly prize.
So spread the word about the contest to all your co-workers, family and friends
and meet that goal and boost the prize.

Copy and paste our link and send it to your friends so they can be a part of the action, http://blog.tuffstuff.com/7thinning/

This week’s winners are posted below so check to see how you fared against
the field.

While I enjoy giving prizes to several people vs. having just one weekly winner, from
this point forward contestants will be asked to provide a tie-breaker on the week’s
last game so we narrow our winner down to one. Contestants will now be
asked to predict the total score from the last game on the list and the closest to
the actual score will be deemed the winner). I’ll also require contestants
to post their e-mail address with their picks so I can track down the winners
easier.

For those unfamiliar with the Beat the Blogger contest, the idea is simple.
The Blogger posts 10 matchups each week and then selects his choices for the winners
of those matchups. Contestants enter the Beat the Blogger contest by clicking on
the “Comment” section below the post with the matchups and then select their
own 10 winners. You can also designate one of your picks as a “Doubler” and
you will receive an extra point if you’re correct so don’t forget to designate your
“Doubler” pick and increase your chances of winning. If you Beat The Blogger’s
total and post the high score for the week, you win. The regular weekly
prize is an authentic signed 8-by-10 color photo of stars such as LaDainian
Tomlinson, Drew Brees, Marshall Faulk, Santonio Holmes, Gale Sayers, Catfish
Hunter and many more. From time to time, the Blogger will sweeten the pot for
the weekly contest so look for special prize packages.


This week’s matchups with Blogger’s picks in parenthesis
Saturday & Sunday, March 12 & 13
NBA Basketball

Detroit at Atlanta (Atlanta)
Denver at Memphis (Denver)(Doubler)
Toronto at Golden State (Golden State)
Indiana at Milwaukee (Milwaukee)
Boston at Cleveland (Cleveland)
Utah at Oklahoma City (Utah)
NHL

Washington at Chicago (Chicago)
Pittsburgh at Tampa Bay (Pittsburgh
St. Louis at Minnesota (St. LOuis)
Calgary at Vancouver (Calgary)


Tiebreaker: Total goals in Calgary/Vancouver game (4)

Continue reading about Beat the Blogger Matchups »

The final week of the NCAA regular season proved to be too much for most of last week’s Beat the Blogger contestants but Brandon
Pierce had no problem steering clear of the many upsets. Pierce posted a score
of 8 to beat the Blogger’s total of 7 and defeat the rest of the field to win the
prize.

This week’s matchups and the Blogger picks will be posted soon so be sure you check
back and get your picks posted before the start of the first game on Saturday.



Copy and paste our link and send it to your friends on Facebook, Twitter and
anywhere else so they can be a part of the action and we can boost our total list
of contestants, http://blog.tuffstuff.com/7thinning/

With the number of weekly participants slipping a bit the last few weeks I’m making
a call to action to all of our regulars to do some recruiting. While more people
means more work for the Blogger and more people for the Blogger to go up against,
I welcome the challenge and offer this challenge to you: If each player can recruit
10 new players and we can boost the total to 200 or more, I’ll triple the weekly prize.
So spread the word about the contest to all your co-workers, family and friends
and meet that goal and boost the prize.

Copy and paste our link and send it to your friends so they can be a part of the action, http://blog.tuffstuff.com/7thinning/

This week’s winners are posted below so check to see how you fared against
the field.

While I enjoy giving prizes to several people vs. having just one weekly winner, from
this point forward contestants will be asked to provide a tie-breaker on the week’s
last game so we narrow our winner down to one. Contestants will now be
asked to predict the total score from the last game on the list and the closest to
the actual score will be deemed the winner). I’ll also require contestants
to post their e-mail address with their picks so I can track down the winners
easier.

For those unfamiliar with the Beat the Blogger contest, the idea is simple.
The Blogger posts 10 matchups each week and then selects his choices for the winners
of those matchups. Contestants enter the Beat the Blogger contest by clicking on
the “Comment” section below the post with the matchups and then select their
own 10 winners. You can also designate one of your picks as a “Doubler” and
you will receive an extra point if you’re correct so don’t forget to designate your
“Doubler” pick and increase your chances of winning. If you Beat The Blogger’s
total and post the high score for the week, you win. The regular weekly
prize is an authentic signed 8-by-10 color photo of stars such as LaDainian
Tomlinson, Drew Brees, Marshall Faulk, Santonio Holmes, Gale Sayers, Catfish
Hunter and many more. From time to time, the Blogger will sweeten the pot for
the weekly contest so look for special prize packages.


This week’s matchups with winning picks in parenthesis
Saturday & Sunday, March 6 & 7
NCAA Basketball

Syracuse vs. Louisville (Louisville)
North Carolina vs. Duke (Duke)
West Virginia vs. Villanova (West Virginia)
South Carolina vs. Vanderbilt (S. Carolina)
Texas A&M vs. Oklahoma (Texas A&M)
Florida vs. Kentucky (Kentucky)
Wisconsin vs. Illinois (Wisconsin)
NBA

Philadelphia vs. Toronto (Philadelphia)
Oklahoma City vs. Sacramento (Oklahoma City)
Portland vs. Denver (Denver)


Tiebreaker: Total points in Portland/Denver game (224)

Continue reading about Beat the Blogger Results »

Let me preface the following by saying I don’t normally comment on the
hobby’s legal matters because quite frankly, I don’t feel qualified to
do so. Much of the legalese that peppers the press releases often
leaves me more confused than I am after watching an episode of “Lost.”
And I’m talking about those recap episodes where they try and clear up
any confusion with the “Lost for Dummies” subtitles running along the
bottom of the screen.

But after reviewing all the facts (well, at least the facts that we have access
to) in the MLB-Upper Deck trademark infringement battle that came to an abrupt ending
March 3 with an out-of-court settlement that left MLB grinning and UD and all their
fans out there scratching their heads, I’m scratching my head as well.

To recap, the suit, in which Major League Baseball Properties alleged Upper Deck had
broken trademark infringement laws by producing three unlicensed baseball card products
released early this year, was settled out of court for an unspecified amount (UD was
forced to pay the $2.4 million debt it owed MLB from 2009 plus a substantial amount
in damages for 2010 violations). The suit ends with UD being allowed to continue sales
of the three Upper Deck baseball card products, 2009 Signatures Stars, 2009 Ultimate
Collection and 2010 Series 1 Baseball, but will be prohibited from producing any other
baseball brands moving forward.

Despite the fact that the case never made it to its scheduled April 19 court date,
we definitely got a clear-cut winner. MLB Properties got exactly what it wanted and
wrapped things up prior to Opening Day which was likely just a bonus from their perspective.

It didn’t appear to be a fair fight from the outset, and as it turned out, it wasn’t.
From where I’m sitting, it appears Upper Deck put on its best poker face and went
all in with a pair of deuces with MLB calling the bluff while sitting on a pair of
aces. But the strangest part of the whole thing was because UD had gone down a similar
road in the past and is well aware of the hobby’s history of challenging exclusivity/licensing
laws, but they still pushed all their chips into the middle of the table.

To
be honest, when the battle first became public and the details of the case were sorted
out, I defended UD saying “there’s no way they challenge the system like they are
if they don’t have a loophole up their sleeve that will legally get them around the
trademark issues.” My thought process was: no company in its right mind, especially
one coming fresh off a lost lawsuit (Konami) in which they reportedly forked over
millions), would take on MLB without an ace in the hole. I initially thought the mysterious
“loophole” would be a significant one and could ultimately change the landscape of
the hobby as well as shakeup the licensing laws throughout the sports world. But after
the quick ruling and subsequent settlement, those predictions were about as accurate
as those who cried wolf over the Y2K scare.

But now that the dust has cleared and the settlement has been resolved with Upper
Deck basically agreeing as part of the settlement to not produce anything resembling
a regular-issue baseball card in the forseable future, I’m back to scratching my nugget.

The agreement prohibits UD from going the air-brushing route as well, so unless your
a fan of seeing baseball players in their street clothes don’t expect much out of
the UD camp as far as baseball products moving forward. And for some, that will be
fine. But it definitely makes you wonder what UD officials were thinking when they
decided to produce three different sets of the unlicensed baseball cards and take
on the mighty MLB boys doesn’t it? When I come up with that ace in the hole I referred
to earlier I’ll pass it along to you. Until then, we’ll just have to assume the company
might have seen the end of the road coming and went all in with empty pockets, no
gameplan and what appears to be a very limited shelf life remaining in the hobby.
I hope that’s not the case but their actions are very questionable as of late.

Continue reading about UD’s latest miscue makes you wonder about its future »

In a week full of upsets it was Ethan Cahn who scored a 7 last week to Beat
the Blogger’s score of 5 and beat the field to win this week’s Beat the Blogger
contest. Last week’s results are below.

This week’s matchups and the Blogger picks are now posted below so be sure you get
your picks posted before the start of the first game on Saturday.



Copy and paste our link and send it to your friends on Facebook, Twitter and
anywhere else so they can be a part of the action and we can boost our total list
of contestants, http://blog.tuffstuff.com/7thinning/

With the number of weekly participants slipping a bit the last few weeks I’m making
a call to action to all of our regulars to do some recruiting. While more people
means more work for the Blogger and more people for the Blogger to go up against,
I welcome the challenge and offer this challenge to you: If each player can recruit
10 new players and we can boost the total to 200 or more, I’ll triple the weekly prize.
So spread the word about the contest to all your co-workers, family and friends
and meet that goal and boost the prize.

Copy and paste our link and send it to your friends so they can be a part of the action, http://blog.tuffstuff.com/7thinning/

This week’s winners are posted below so check to see how you fared against
the field.

While I enjoy giving prizes to several people vs. having just one weekly winner, from
this point forward contestants will be asked to provide a tie-breaker on the week’s
last game so we narrow our winner down to one. Contestants will now be
asked to predict the total score from the last game on the list and the closest to
the actual score will be deemed the winner). I’ll also require contestants
to post their e-mail address with their picks so I can track down the winners
easier.

For those unfamiliar with the Beat the Blogger contest, the idea is simple.
The Blogger posts 10 matchups each week and then selects his choices for the winners
of those matchups. Contestants enter the Beat the Blogger contest by clicking on
the “Comment” section below the post with the matchups and then select their
own 10 winners. You can also designate one of your picks as a “Doubler” and
you will receive an extra point if you’re correct so don’t forget to designate your
“Doubler” pick and increase your chances of winning. If you Beat The Blogger’s
total and post the high score for the week, you win. The regular weekly
prize is an authentic signed 8-by-10 color photo of stars such as LaDainian
Tomlinson, Drew Brees, Marshall Faulk, Santonio Holmes, Gale Sayers, Catfish
Hunter and many more. From time to time, the Blogger will sweeten the pot for
the weekly contest so look for special prize packages.


This week’s matchups with Blogger’s picks in parenthesis
Saturday & Sunday, March 6 & 7
NCAA Basketball

Syracuse vs. Louisville (Syracuse)
North Carolina vs. Duke (Duke (Doubler)
West Virginia vs. Villanova (West Virginia)
South Carolina vs. Vanderbilt (Vanderbilt)
Texas A&M vs. Oklahoma (Texas A&M)
Florida vs. Kentucky (Kentucky)
Wisconsin vs. Illinois (Illinois)
NBA

Philadelphia vs. Toronto (Toronto)
Oklahoma City vs. Sacramento (Oklahoma City)
Portland vs. Denver (Denver)


Tiebreaker: Total points in Portland/Denver game (219)

Continue reading about Beat the Blogger Matchups »

During the course of the last two weeks I became a hockey fan. Never
really watched the game other than the last few minutes of some
meaningful playoff games, but upon further review, hockey’s not so bad
after all.

Unfortunately I’m not sure how long this new infatuation will last. You have to remember
the game that tugged at my heart in Vancouver is not the same product as an NHL game.
In fact, it’s far from it, and that’s the problem.
While I realize it was the flag-waving type of patriotism that always accompanies
the Olympic Games that pulled me in in the first place, but once I was there, I still
had to be entertained and Olympic-style hockey did just that. The wide-open, back-and-forth,
no-clinching play is different from the start-stop, low-flow style that is the NHL.
And while I didn’t see any players drop the gloves and go at it like I might on any
given night watching NHL play, I’ll gladly trade an exciting fluid, up-tempo game
for one filled with one-on-one rock’em, sock’em robot battle after another at center
ice.

Now, for the million-dollar question: how does the NHL find a way to keep me, the
borderline, casual fan in the fold for good? NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman would likely
pay closer to a billion dollars if someone could provide him with that winning formula
because the excitement generated by the USA-Canada Gold Medal game is something NHL
executives simply can’t relate to. Never has a Stanley Cup Final game created the
stir and captivated a continent like Sunday afternoon’s matchup did. More than 80
percent of all Canadiens witnessed the game and while the numbers weren’t that high
here in the U.S., they were higher than the final game of last year’s World Series
and blew away the yearly totals of the NBA Finals.

But where does the NHL go from here and how do they capitalize? If I had the answer
to that one I would have been on the phone with Bettman before the last line of Oh
Canada was sung. But one thing I do know that would improve NHL popularity is
creating a brand of hockey similar to that played in the Olympics. Easier said than
done I realize, but much like when an NFL team enjoys success running out of the Wildcat
formation and the following week every team has copied it, why not copy the format
and style of play used in the Olympics and implement it on a nightly basis in NHL
play?

Here’s some suggestions: Create rule changes that encourage more offense and less
stoppages in play. Retract several of the teams struggling in the attendance department
and improve the depth and overall play of each of the remaining teams. Increase the
rink size to encourage more of an up-tempo, fast-paced game. They should also consider
a reduction in the pad size of the goalie equipment to increase scoring.

But equally important in any NHL renovation would start and end in the marketing department.
Let’s face it, there’s something seriously wrong with your sport when more people
in the U.S. know who got the ring on “The Bachelor” than what team Sid The Kid plays
for. And the reason behind the NHL’s invisibility factor among most of us in America
is poor marketing. When was the last time you saw a Gatorade commercial featuring
either one of the game’s top two players, Alex Ovechkin or Sidney Crosby? The answer
is the day before never. How many times have you seen an NHL star strolling down the
red carpet at some fancy Hollywood event? Sitting next to Letterman? Guest starring
on a sitcom?

I realize that to effectively market a person or sport you must create a buzz and
a demand. For the NHL to capitize on the new-found popularity created by an exciting
Olympic run, NHL stars need to be marketed properly and marketed immediately while
the iron is still hot. If they don’t react quickly enough they’ll be forced to hope
for another epic battle that gets the flags waving again. And with the next Winter
Olympics being played in Russia, the odds of that type of stir being recreated are
as low as the temperatures there. C’mon NHL, strike while the iron is hot and go out
and spend some money making the changes necessary to keep a fringe fan like me in
the fold.

Continue reading about NHL Needs To Strike While The Iron Is Hot »

In a week full of upsets it was Ethan Cahn who scored a 7 last week to Beat
the Blogger’s score of 5 and beat the field to win this week’s Beat the Blogger
contest. Last week’s results are below.

This week’s matchups and the Blogger picks will be posted soon so be sure you get
your picks posted before the start of the first game on Saturday.



Copy and paste our link and send it to your friends on Facebook, Twitter and
anywhere else so they can be a part of the action and we can boost our total list
of contestants, http://blog.tuffstuff.com/7thinning/

With the number of weekly participants slipping a bit the last few weeks I’m making
a call to action to all of our regulars to do some recruiting. While more people
means more work for the Blogger and more people for the Blogger to go up against,
I welcome the challenge and offer this challenge to you: If each player can recruit
10 new players and we can boost the total to 200 or more, I’ll triple the weekly prize.
So spread the word about the contest to all your co-workers, family and friends
and meet that goal and boost the prize.

Copy and paste our link and send it to your friends so they can be a part of the action, http://blog.tuffstuff.com/7thinning/

This week’s winners are posted below so check to see how you fared against
the field.

While I enjoy giving prizes to several people vs. having just one weekly winner, from
this point forward contestants will be asked to provide a tie-breaker on the week’s
last game so we narrow our winner down to one. Contestants will now be
asked to predict the total score from the last game on the list and the closest to
the actual score will be deemed the winner). I’ll also require contestants
to post their e-mail address with their picks so I can track down the winners
easier.

For those unfamiliar with the Beat the Blogger contest, the idea is simple.
The Blogger posts 10 matchups each week and then selects his choices for the winners
of those matchups. Contestants enter the Beat the Blogger contest by clicking on
the “Comment” section below the post with the matchups and then select their
own 10 winners. You can also designate one of your picks as a “Doubler” and
you will receive an extra point if you’re correct so don’t forget to designate your
“Doubler” pick and increase your chances of winning. If you Beat The Blogger’s
total and post the high score for the week, you win. The regular weekly
prize is an authentic signed 8-by-10 color photo of stars such as LaDainian
Tomlinson, Drew Brees, Marshall Faulk, Santonio Holmes, Gale Sayers, Catfish
Hunter and many more. From time to time, the Blogger will sweeten the pot for
the weekly contest so look for special prize packages.


This week’s matchups with winning picks in parenthesis
Saturday & Sunday, Feb. 27-28
NCAA Basketball

Kansas at Oklahoma State (Oklahoma State)
Kentucky at Tennessee (Tennessee)
Villanova at Syracuse (Syracuse)
New Mexico at BYU (New Mexico)
North Carolina at Wake Forest (North Carolina)
Michigan State at Purdue (Michigan State)
NBA

Milwaukee at Miami (Milwaukee)
Houston at Utah (Utah)
Detroit at Golden State (Golden State)
Phoenix at San Antonio (San Antonio)


Tiebreaker: Total points in Phoenix/San Antonio game  (223 )

Continue reading about Beat the Blogger results »

For the second straight week congratulations go out to Michael Molinaro who
scored a 10 last week to Beat the Blogger’s to beat the field to win this week’s
Beat the Blogger contest. Last week’s results are below.

This week’s matchups and the Blogger picks are now posted below so make sure you get
your picks posted before the start of the first game on Saturday.



Copy and paste our link and send it to your friends on Facebook, Twitter and
anywhere else so they can be a part of the action and we can boost our total list
of contestants, http://blog.tuffstuff.com/7thinning/

With the number of weekly participants slipping a bit the last few weeks I’m making
a call to action to all of our regulars to do some recruiting. While more people
means more work for the Blogger and more people for the Blogger to go up against,
I welcome the challenge and offer this challenge to you: If each player can recruit
10 new players and we can boost the total to 200 or more, I’ll triple the weekly prize.
So spread the word about the contest to all your co-workers, family and friends
and meet that goal and boost the prize.

Copy and paste our link and send it to your friends so they can be a part of the action, http://blog.tuffstuff.com/7thinning/

This week’s winners are posted below so check to see how you fared against
the field.

While I enjoy giving prizes to several people vs. having just one weekly winner, from
this point forward contestants will be asked to provide a tie-breaker on the week’s
last game so we narrow our winner down to one. Contestants will now be
asked to predict the total score from the last game on the list and the closest to
the actual score will be deemed the winner). I’ll also require contestants
to post their e-mail address with their picks so I can track down the winners
easier.

For those unfamiliar with the Beat the Blogger contest, the idea is simple.
The Blogger posts 10 matchups each week and then selects his choices for the winners
of those matchups. Contestants enter the Beat the Blogger contest by clicking on
the “Comment” section below the post with the matchups and then select their
own 10 winners. You can also designate one of your picks as a “Doubler” and
you will receive an extra point if you’re correct so don’t forget to designate your
“Doubler” pick and increase your chances of winning. If you Beat The Blogger’s
total and post the high score for the week, you win. The regular weekly
prize is an authentic signed 8-by-10 color photo of stars such as LaDainian
Tomlinson, Drew Brees, Marshall Faulk, Santonio Holmes, Gale Sayers, Catfish
Hunter and many more. From time to time, the Blogger will sweeten the pot for
the weekly contest so look for special prize packages.


This week’s matchups with Blogger picks in parenthesis
Saturday & Sunday, Feb. 27-28
NCAA Basketball

Kansas at Oklahoma State (Kansas)
Kentucky at Tennessee (Kentucky)
Villanova at Syracuse (Syracuse)
New Mexico at BYU (New Mexico)
North Carolina at Wake Forest (Wake Forest)
Michigan State at Purdue (Michigan State)
NBA

Milwaukee at Miami (Milwaukee)
Houston at Utah (Houston)
Detroit at Golden State (Detroit)(Doubler)
Phoenix at San Antonio (San Antonio)


Tiebreaker: Total points in Phoenix/San Antonio game  (205 )

Continue reading about Beat the Blogger Picks »

I’ve been waiting for almost a full decade to get him and this year is the year. I can feel it. And although he might be a shadow of his former self, I still think he’s got a little somin, somin left in the tank and one lucky NFL team will be happy to get him as well.

The player I covet is LaDainian Tomlinson. I’ve always been a big fan, but only from
a distance. And while it won’t be necessary to spend the top overall
pick in my Fantasy Football Draft on him as has been the case for most of the last
nine seasons, he will be taking up a roster spot on my squad come September.

After posting HOF-caliber production in eight of his nine seasons in the NFL, the
San Diego Chargers officially severed ties with Tomlinson earlier this week, assuming
Tomlinson’s 3.3 yard average is an indication of things to come for the veteran back.
While I don’t see LT reverting back to MVP-level of play of the past, I’m not ready
to toss him in the scrap heap where guys like Shaun Alexander and Edgerrin James went
to die after running all the tread off their respective tires.

From everything I’ve heard or read about the former TCU star, he’s a hard-working,
determined individual who would cherish a chance to flip off his former team and find
a new home where he can recreate some of his old magic. One of those guys you never
want to bet against, ya know? If you consider that it was just three seasons ago when
LT was the NFL’s best back, rushing for more than 1,800 yards and 28 touchdowns, you’d
have to assume that LT still has more to offer. His numbers dropped off severely in
2010 when his attempts fell to 229 after averaging more than 300 in every season prior.
Couple that with the fact that the Chargers offensive line woefully underachieved
last season and his paltry 3.3 average and 730 rushing yards are far more understandable.
Let’s also not forget that since Phillip Rivers has emerged as a top-10 quarterback,
the focus of the Chargers running game has gone from run-heavy to more of an afterthought.

I’m well aware that the number of carries and hits LT has endured over the past nine
seasons will eventually catch up with him, I just don’t see that time being right
now. Not sure which team Tomlinson will end up with in 2010, but whoever signs him
will likely get an instant upgrade in the backfield. As for me, I’ll be the guy saying
“remember how LT was always the automatic No. 1 pick” at my Fantasy Draft and following
it up with “oh how the mighty have fallen, right?” Then I’ll scoop him up with my
9th-round pick and giggle all the way to the league title with LT anchoring my squad
just like I’ve always wanted.

Continue reading about Don’t count out LT just yet »

For the second straight week congratulations go out to Michael Molinaro who
scored a 10 last week to Beat the Blogger’s to beat the field to win this week’s
Beat the Blogger contest. Last week’s results are below.

This week’s matchups are now posted below so make sure you get your picks posted before
the start of the first game on Saturday.



Copy and paste our link and send it to your friends on Facebook, Twitter and
anywhere else so they can be a part of the action and we can boost our total list
of contestants, http://blog.tuffstuff.com/7thinning/

With the number of weekly participants slipping a bit the last few weeks I’m making
a call to action to all of our regulars to do some recruiting. While more people
means more work for the Blogger and more people for the Blogger to go up against,
I welcome the challenge and offer this challenge to you: If each player can recruit
10 new players and we can boost the total to 200 or more, I’ll triple the weekly prize.
So spread the word about the contest to all your co-workers, family and friends
and meet that goal and boost the prize.

Copy and paste our link and send it to your friends so they can be a part of the action, http://blog.tuffstuff.com/7thinning/

This week’s winners are posted below so check to see how you fared against
the field.

While I enjoy giving prizes to several people vs. having just one weekly winner, from
this point forward contestants will be asked to provide a tie-breaker on the week’s
last game so we narrow our winner down to one. Contestants will now be
asked to predict the total score from the last game on the list and the closest to
the actual score will be deemed the winner). I’ll also require contestants
to post their e-mail address with their picks so I can track down the winners
easier.

For those unfamiliar with the Beat the Blogger contest, the idea is simple.
The Blogger posts 10 matchups each week and then selects his choices for the winners
of those matchups. Contestants enter the Beat the Blogger contest by clicking on
the “Comment” section below the post with the matchups and then select their
own 10 winners. You can also designate one of your picks as a “Doubler” and
you will receive an extra point if you’re correct so don’t forget to designate your
“Doubler” pick and increase your chances of winning. If you Beat The Blogger’s
total and post the high score for the week, you win. The regular weekly
prize is an authentic signed 8-by-10 color photo of stars such as LaDainian
Tomlinson, Drew Brees, Marshall Faulk, Santonio Holmes, Gale Sayers, Catfish
Hunter and many more. From time to time, the Blogger will sweeten the pot for
the weekly contest so look for special prize packages.


This week’s matchups with winning picks in parenthesis
Saturday & Sunday, Feb. 27-28
NCAA Basketball

Kansas at Oklahoma State
Kentucky at Tennessee
Villanova at Syracuse
New Mexico at BYU
North Carolina at Wake Forest
Michigan State at Purdue
NBA

Milwaukee at Miami
Houston at Utah
Detroit at Golden State
Phoenix at San Antonio


Tiebreaker: Total points in Phoenix/San Antonio game  ( )

Continue reading about Beat the Blogger Matchups »

For the second straight week congratulations go out to Michael Molinaro who
scored a 10 last week to Beat the Blogger’s to beat the field to win this week’s
Beat the Blogger contest. Last week’s results are below.

This week’s matchups are now posted so make sure you get your picks posted before
the start of the first game on Saturday.



Copy and paste our link and send it to your friends on Facebook, Twitter and
anywhere else so they can be a part of the action and we can boost our total list
of contestants, http://blog.tuffstuff.com/7thinning/

With the number of weekly participants slipping a bit the last few weeks I’m making
a call to action to all of our regulars to do some recruiting. While more people
means more work for the Blogger and more people for the Blogger to go up against,
I welcome the challenge and offer this challenge to you: If each player can recruit
10 new players and we can boost the total to 200 or more, I’ll triple the weekly prize.
So spread the word about the contest to all your co-workers, family and friends
and meet that goal and boost the prize.

Copy and paste our link and send it to your friends so they can be a part of the action, http://blog.tuffstuff.com/7thinning/

This week’s winners are posted below so check to see how you fared against
the field.

While I enjoy giving prizes to several people vs. having just one weekly winner, from
this point forward contestants will be asked to provide a tie-breaker on the week’s
last game so we narrow our winner down to one. Contestants will now be
asked to predict the total score from the last game on the list and the closest to
the actual score will be deemed the winner). I’ll also require contestants
to post their e-mail address with their picks so I can track down the winners
easier.

For those unfamiliar with the Beat the Blogger contest, the idea is simple.
The Blogger posts 10 matchups each week and then selects his choices for the winners
of those matchups. Contestants enter the Beat the Blogger contest by clicking on
the “Comment” section below the post with the matchups and then select their
own 10 winners. You can also designate one of your picks as a “Doubler” and
you will receive an extra point if you’re correct so don’t forget to designate your
“Doubler” pick and increase your chances of winning. If you Beat The Blogger’s
total and post the high score for the week, you win. The regular weekly
prize is an authentic signed 8-by-10 color photo of stars such as LaDainian
Tomlinson, Drew Brees, Marshall Faulk, Santonio Holmes, Gale Sayers, Catfish
Hunter and many more. From time to time, the Blogger will sweeten the pot for
the weekly contest so look for special prize packages.


This week’s matchups with winning picks in parenthesis
Saturday & Sunday, Feb. 20-21
NCAA Basketball

Illinois at Purdue (Purdue)
Siena at Butler (Butler)
Kentucky at Vanderbilt (Kentucky)
Villanova at Pittsburgh (Pittsburgh)
Ohio State at Michigan State (Ohio State)
NBA

Cleveland at Orlando (Orlando)
Boston at Denver (Denver)
Miami at Dallas (Dallas)
Utah at Portland (Utah)
Olympic Men’s Hockey
Canada vs. USA (USA)

Tiebreaker: Total points in Utah/Portland game  (182)

Continue reading about Beat the Blogger results »

Who is this Tiger Woods guy everyone is talking about and what did he
do? Kidding of course, but not quite sure what all the fuss is about.
If you just came out of a coma and were one of the three people in the
world that didn’t catch Tiger Woods’ press conference earlier today,
let me help you out with a quick recap. To get the gist of the
13-minute conference in which Tiger read a prepared statement, I would
ask you to recall a couple classic Seinfeld episodes
to help summarize.


1. Remember the one where Elaine comes clean about her sexual experiences with Jerry
and identifies the breathing, the panting, the moaning, the screaming as being “fake,
fake, fake fake.” Tiger’s statement was much the same except in his case, it was his
words and not his past actions that were counterfeit. C’mon, the guy looked like he
was crying prior to coming out to start the speech. Tiger is that an freshly cut onion
in your pocket or are you just happy to be out on leave from rehab?

2. Another classic episode that came to mind as I watched the Tiger saga play out
online was the one where Jerry is accused by his police officer girl friend of watching Melrose
Place. Because he’s embarrassed to admit he watches the show, he denies having
ever seen it but she insists he has and demands he take a polygraph test to settle
the debate. Worried that the test will reveal he’s not telling the truth, Jerry seeks
advice from notorious liar George prior to taking the test and Costanza offers him
one piece of advice to “beat the poly.” “Jerry, remember it’s not a lie if you believe
it.” Now that Costanza is no longer working with the Yankees, it appears as if he’s
latched on with Team Tiger as Woods’ official spin doctor because Tiger seems to have
convinced himself that the BS he was uttering was actually true.

While I’m sure Tiger is sorry he had to stand in front of the three dozen hand-picked
media members at the press conference and admit he’s been fooling us for years, my
guess is if he never got caught he’d be making plans to attend the closest strip club
and “working on his game” after finishing dinner tonight.

As he said in his statement, “I felt I was entitled and that the rules of everyone
else didn’t apply to me.” The fact is they don’t. When you’re the most popular athlete
in the world and your wallet is fatter than Hugo on Lost, you do what you want,
when you want and in Tiger’s case, who you want. Like a Chris Rock joke a stated several
years ago: “men are only as faithful as their options.” Couldn’t be more accurate.
It’s easy for a overweight, middle-aged husband to remain faithful while swilling
beer and  pounding corn nuts on the couch watching NASCAR. But ply that same
guy off the coach and pay some exotic dancers to fain interest in him at a strip club
after a couple too many shots of Grey Goose and he’ll have a hard time keeping his
putter in the bag as well. It’s all about a man’s options. The more you have the more
temptation you have. The more temptation a man has the more chances he has to be unfaithful
and Tiger’s options were likely only exceeded by the number of Bejamins in his bank
account. Ask Arnie, it’s tough to be the King.

All the rehab in the world won’t take away the countless options Tiger has and will
continue to have for the next 25 years. But the only cure for a dog like Tiger will
be taking himself out of the places those options present themselves and rehab doesn’t
last forever.

I’m sure Twitter had one of its busiest days ever before, during and after Tiger’s
press conference. Opinions are widely varied, some on the money, some way off and
some funny as hell. Here’s a small sample of some the best posts.

He’s on a roll! RT @EricStangel:
The ratings are in: Tiger’s was the highest rated fake apology in TV history, surpassing
Bill Clinton’s

How dare Tiger upstage the NFL
scouting combine, which is less than a week away.

ProFootballTalk Elin
to Tiger: “You’d better say I never hit you with a golf club, or I’ll hit you with
a golf club again.”



The “expert” consensus is that #TigerWoods did
a great job w/ his statement. But most r simply saying “just come play golf”

@ProFootballTalk:
At some point, Tiger drifted from “buddhism” to “booty-ism.” (I couldn’t resist.)

Dear Tiger, You don’t owe America
a apology for your personal life

I watched the Tiger Woods statement
in HD. It felt like he was pretending to apologize to me!!

From
the files of being totally blonde–I set my dvr to tape espn at 11 for Tiger talk.
Too bad I live in the central time zone. Doh!

OGOchoCinco Awesome
speech Tiger, why is the lady VERONICA on Good Day LA crying, y’all fling is over
damit!! 3 years was it now let it go WTF!

EricStangel:
Tiger Woods apology- Even Rafael Palmeiro is saying his sincerity felt forced…

ekoreen Buddhism
to Tiger: “Keep me out of this.”

Notably absent from #TigerWoods attire…
his wedding ring ! #justsayin

sportsguy33 “And
now … I’m going to leave you … and disappear for a few more weeks … with my
new best friends … C3PO and R2D2.”

TheOnion Sports:
Tiger Woods Announces Return To Sex http://onion.com/cv3tEk

Continue reading about Tiger turns to Seinfeld for press conference material »

Congratulations to Michael Molinaro who scored a 9 last week to Beat the
Blogger’s total of 6 and beat the field to win this week’s Beat the Blogger contest.
Last week’s results are below.

This week’s matchups are now posted so make sure you get your picks posted before
the start of the first game on Saturday.



Copy and paste our link and send it to your friends on Facebook, Twitter and
anywhere else so they can be a part of the action and we can boost our total list
of contestants, http://blog.tuffstuff.com/7thinning/

With the number of weekly participants slipping a bit the last few weeks I’m making
a call to action to all of our regulars to do some recruiting. While more people
means more work for the Blogger and more people for the Blogger to go up against,
I welcome the challenge and offer this challenge to you: If each player can recruit
10 new players and we can boost the total to 200 or more, I’ll triple the weekly prize.
So spread the word about the contest to all your co-workers, family and friends
and meet that goal and boost the prize.

Copy and paste our link and send it to your friends so they can be a part of the action, http://blog.tuffstuff.com/7thinning/

This week’s winners are posted below so check to see how you fared against
the field.

While I enjoy giving prizes to several people vs. having just one weekly winner, from
this point forward contestants will be asked to provide a tie-breaker on the week’s
last game so we narrow our winner down to one. Contestants will now be
asked to predict the total score from the last game on the list and the closest to
the actual score will be deemed the winner). I’ll also require contestants
to post their e-mail address with their picks so I can track down the winners
easier.

For those unfamiliar with the Beat the Blogger contest, the idea is simple.
The Blogger posts 10 matchups each week and then selects his choices for the winners
of those matchups. Contestants enter the Beat the Blogger contest by clicking on
the “Comment” section below the post with the matchups and then select their
own 10 winners. You can also designate one of your picks as a “Doubler” and
you will receive an extra point if you’re correct so don’t forget to designate your
“Doubler” pick and increase your chances of winning. If you Beat The Blogger’s
total and post the high score for the week, you win. The regular weekly
prize is an authentic signed 8-by-10 color photo of stars such as LaDainian
Tomlinson, Drew Brees, Marshall Faulk, Santonio Holmes, Gale Sayers, Catfish
Hunter and many more. From time to time, the Blogger will sweeten the pot for
the weekly contest so look for special prize packages.


This week’s matchups with Blogger’s picks in parenthesis
Saturday & Sunday, Feb. 20-21
NCAA Basketball

Illinois at Purdue
Siena at Butler
Kentucky at Vanderbilt
Villanova at Pittsburgh
Ohio State at Michigan State
NBA

Cleveland at Orlando
Boston at Denver
Miami at Dallas
Utah at Portland
Olympic Men’s Hockey
Canada vs. USA

Tiebreaker: Total points in Utah/Portland game  ()

Continue reading about Beat the Blogger Matchups »

Living in Wisconsin can make for some long winter months. Typically
from late November until late March the weather is in the 0-30 degree
range and we get our fair share of snow, even if you East Coast guys
may have us beat in that department this year. The weather makes for
some long, dreary days absent of sun with warm temperatures AWOL as
well.

From fall until the start of February, I’ve always got my good friend football to
help get me through. But now that my friend has left me for his yearly vacation,
I’m stuck searching for something, someone, to fulfill that void and so far, nothing
has even come close.

I first turned to college basketball to get my fix, but until each of the 64 teams
is fitted for their dancing shoes in mid-March, the nightly regular-season conference
games just don’t seem that relevant. Sure, you want your favorite team to finish the
season strong, get a higher seed in the tourney and maybe get a chance to play an
opening-round game near home. But good teams will beat the bad teams no matter if
they’re playing 50 miles from their own campus or on the courts The Others made
on Lost. It doesn’t matter, talent wins almost every time. So, while college
hoops has helped, it’s just not the same as football. Maybe I’ll join an NCAA Basketball
Fantasy League and see if that does the trick? Oh yeah, the season is almost over,
maybe next year.

Other alternatives for a sports fan searching to cure the winter blues is NASCAR,
but come on, let’s be serious. Never liked it, never will. Too boring, round and round
they go when they’ll stop nobody knows. Well, I do. About five hours from now. I’d
rather go roll around in the snow for five hours with just my socks on than sit through
an entire NASCAR race. I’ll tune in for the last five minutes, but that’s all I can
take.

Then there’s NHL hockey. I think if we had a local team in my area to cheer for
I could embrace it a little more. Unfortunately for the NHL and its dwindling fan
base, that’s not the case, as the Chicago Blackhawks are the closest in proximity.
And anybody who knows anything about the rules of sports knows I’m legally forbidden
to root for any teams from the Windy City.

The
Winter Olympics has provided me with a bonus outlet this year, but so far the storylines
coming out of Vancouver are about as interesting as Chloe’s home videos on Keeping
Up With The Kardashians. Note to the directors of that show: Sex videos featuring
Kim equal big ratings; sex videos featuring Chloe equal big chunks in my mouth. I’d
rather watch cross-country skiing time trials.

Being an avid golfer I’m one of the three people out there that can actually stomach
a tournament broadcast on TV. While the Tiger-less Tour is a lot like watching Chris
Rock do stand-up without using profanity, I can usually get a couple hours worth of
viewing out it before nap time sets in. And if you’re sick with a bad cold and need
some rest, skip the Tylenol PM and put away the Vicks Formula 44D, simply throw on
any PGA Tour event and nighty, night. Seriously, they should create a 15-minute CD
of last year’s John Deere Classic telecast and sell in the sleep-aid section of your
local pharmacy because any non-major will make you drowsy every time.

So after searching far and wide for an NFL alternative, I’ve come up empty yet again.
According to the furry rat that saw his shadow, we’ve still got four more weeks of
winter. And while I can’t imagine ever rooting for the Bears that call Soldier Field
home, I think I’ll steal an idea from their mascot and go into hibernation. I’ll start
by watching this weekend’s Accenture Match Play Championships and I’ll undoubtedly
be sleeping by the fifth hole. Good night everybody, wake me up in mid-April when
the NFL Draft starts. 

Continue reading about Curing the Winter Sports Blues »

Congratulations to Michael Molinaro who scored a 9 last week to Beat the
Blogger’s total of 6 and beat the field to win this week’s Beat the Blogger contest.
Last week’s results are below.

This week’s matchups will be posted later today so make sure you get your picks posted before
the start of the first game on Saturday.



Copy and paste our link and send it to your friends on Facebook, Twitter and
anywhere else so they can be a part of the action and we can boost our total list
of contestants, http://blog.tuffstuff.com/7thinning/

With the number of weekly participants slipping a bit the last few weeks I’m making
a call to action to all of our regulars to do some recruiting. While more people
means more work for the Blogger and more people for the Blogger to go up against,
I welcome the challenge and offer this challenge to you: If each player can recruit
10 new players and we can boost the total to 200 or more, I’ll triple the weekly prize.
So spread the word about the contest to all your co-workers, family and friends
and meet that goal and boost the prize.

Copy and paste our link and send it to your friends so they can be a part of the action, http://blog.tuffstuff.com/7thinning/

This week’s winners are posted below so check to see how you fared against
the field.

While I enjoy giving prizes to several people vs. having just one weekly winner, from
this point forward contestants will be asked to provide a tie-breaker on the week’s
last game so we narrow our winner down to one. Contestants will now be
asked to predict the total score from the last game on the list and the closest to
the actual score will be deemed the winner). I’ll also require contestants
to post their e-mail address with their picks so I can track down the winners
easier.

For those unfamiliar with the Beat the Blogger contest, the idea is simple.
The Blogger posts 10 matchups each week and then selects his choices for the winners
of those matchups. Contestants enter the Beat the Blogger contest by clicking on
the “Comment” section below the post with the matchups and then select their
own 10 winners. You can also designate one of your picks as a “Doubler” and
you will receive an extra point if you’re correct so don’t forget to designate your
“Doubler” pick and increase your chances of winning. If you Beat The Blogger’s
total and post the high score for the week, you win. The regular weekly
prize is an authentic signed 8-by-10 color photo of stars such as LaDainian
Tomlinson, Drew Brees, Marshall Faulk, Santonio Holmes, Gale Sayers, Catfish
Hunter and many more. From time to time, the Blogger will sweeten the pot for
the weekly contest so look for special prize packages.


This week’s matchups with Blogger’s picks in parenthesis
Saturday & Sunday, Feb. 13-14
NCAA Basketball

Tennessee at Kentucky (Kentucky)
Louisville at Syracuse (Louisville)
Ohio State at Illinois (Ohio State)

NBA All-Star Game
East or West (East)

More points: Kevin Durant or LeBron James (James)
NHL
Ottawa at Detroit (Detroit)
New Jersey at Carolina (Carolina)
Philadelphia at Montreal (Philadelphia)
Atlanta at Chicago (Chicago)
Colorado at Los Angeles (LA)
Tiebreaker: Total points in NBA All-Star game (280)

Continue reading about Beat the Blogger results »

Congratulations to Paul Sherman who scored a 9 last week to Beat the Blogger’s total
of 6 and beat the field to win this week’s special Super Bowl edition of the Beat
the Blogger contest.

This week’s matchups are posted below soon so make sure you get your picks posted before
the start of the first game on Saturday.



Copy and paste our link and send it to your friends on Facebook, Twitter and
anywhere else so they can be a part of the action and we can boost our total list
of contestants, http://blog.tuffstuff.com/7thinning/

With the number of weekly participants slipping a bit the last few weeks I’m making
a call to action to all of our regulars to do some recruiting. While more people
means more work for the Blogger and more people for the Blogger to go up against,
I welcome the challenge and offer this challenge to you: If each player can recruit
10 new players and we can boost the total to 200 or more, I’ll triple the weekly prize.
So spread the word about the contest to all your co-workers, family and friends
and meet that goal and boost the prize.

Copy and paste our link and send it to your friends so they can be a part of the action, http://blog.tuffstuff.com/7thinning/

This week’s winners are posted below so check to see how you fared against
the field.

While I enjoy giving prizes to several people vs. having just one weekly winner, from
this point forward contestants will be asked to provide a tie-breaker on the week’s
last game so we narrow our winner down to one. Contestants will now be
asked to predict the total score from the last game on the list and the closest to
the actual score will be deemed the winner). I’ll also require contestants
to post their e-mail address with their picks so I can track down the winners
easier.

For those unfamiliar with the Beat the Blogger contest, the idea is simple.
The Blogger posts 10 matchups each week and then selects his choices for the winners
of those matchups. Contestants enter the Beat the Blogger contest by clicking on
the “Comment” section below the post with the matchups and then select their
own 10 winners. You can also designate one of your picks as a “Doubler” and
you will receive an extra point if you’re correct so don’t forget to designate your
“Doubler” pick and increase your chances of winning. If you Beat The Blogger’s
total and post the high score for the week, you win. The regular weekly
prize is an authentic signed 8-by-10 color photo of stars such as LaDainian
Tomlinson, Drew Brees, Marshall Faulk, Santonio Holmes, Gale Sayers, Catfish
Hunter and many more. From time to time, the Blogger will sweeten the pot for
the weekly contest so look for special prize packages.


This week’s matchups with Blogger’s picks in parenthesis
Saturday & Sunday, Feb. 13-14
NCAA Basketball

Tennessee at Kentucky (Kentucky)
Louisville at Syracuse (Syracuse)
Ohio State at Illinois (Ohio State)

NBA All-Star Game
East or West (West)

More points: Kevin Durant or LeBron James (Durant)
NHL
Ottawa at Detroit (Ottawa)
New Jersey at Carolina (New Jersey)
Philadelphia at Montreal (Montreal)
Atlanta at Chicago (Chicago)(Doubler)
Colorado at Los Angeles (Colorado)
Tiebreaker: Total points in NBA All-Star game (216)

Continue reading about Beat the Blogger Picks »

Congratulations to Paul Sherman who scored a 9 last week to Beat the Blogger’s total
of 6 and beat the field to win this week’s special Super Bowl edition of the Beat
the Blogger contest.

This week’s matchups are posted below soon so make sure you get your picks posted before
the start of the first game on Saturday.



Copy and paste our link and send it to your friends on Facebook, Twitter and
anywhere else so they can be a part of the action and we can boost our total list
of contestants, http://blog.tuffstuff.com/7thinning/

With the number of weekly participants slipping a bit the last few weeks I’m making
a call to action to all of our regulars to do some recruiting. While more people
means more work for the Blogger and more people for the Blogger to go up against,
I welcome the challenge and offer this challenge to you: If each player can recruit
10 new players and we can boost the total to 200 or more, I’ll triple the weekly prize.
So spread the word about the contest to all your co-workers, family and friends
and meet that goal and boost the prize.

Copy and paste our link and send it to your friends so they can be a part of the action, http://blog.tuffstuff.com/7thinning/

This week’s winners are posted below so check to see how you fared against
the field.

While I enjoy giving prizes to several people vs. having just one weekly winner, from
this point forward contestants will be asked to provide a tie-breaker on the week’s
last game so we narrow our winner down to one. Contestants will now be
asked to predict the total score from the last game on the list and the closest to
the actual score will be deemed the winner). I’ll also require contestants
to post their e-mail address with their picks so I can track down the winners
easier.

For those unfamiliar with the Beat the Blogger contest, the idea is simple.
The Blogger posts 10 matchups each week and then selects his choices for the winners
of those matchups. Contestants enter the Beat the Blogger contest by clicking on
the “Comment” section below the post with the matchups and then select their
own 10 winners. You can also designate one of your picks as a “Doubler” and
you will receive an extra point if you’re correct so don’t forget to designate your
“Doubler” pick and increase your chances of winning. If you Beat The Blogger’s
total and post the high score for the week, you win. The regular weekly
prize is an authentic signed 8-by-10 color photo of stars such as LaDainian
Tomlinson, Drew Brees, Marshall Faulk, Santonio Holmes, Gale Sayers, Catfish
Hunter and many more. From time to time, the Blogger will sweeten the pot for
the weekly contest so look for special prize packages.


This week’s matchups

Saturday & Sunday, Feb. 13-14
NCAA Basketball

Tennessee at Kentucky
Louisville at Syracuse
Ohio State at Illinois

NBA All-Star Game
East or West

More points: Kevin Durant or LeBron James

NHL
Ottawa at Detroit
New Jersey at Carolina
Philadelphia at Montreal
Atlanta at Chicago
Colorado at Los Angeles
Tiebreaker: Total points in NBA All-Star game ( )

Continue reading about Beat the Blogger Matchups »

Congratulations to Paul Sherman who scored a 9 last week to Beat the Blogger’s total
of 6 and beat the field to win this week’s special Super Bowl edition of the Beat
the Blogger contest.

This week’s matchups will be posted soon so make sure you check back and get your
picks posted before the start of the first game on Saturday.

Copy and paste our link and send it to your friends on Facebook, Twitter and
anywhere else so they can be a part of the action and we can boost our total list
of contestants, http://blog.tuffstuff.com/7thinning/

With the number of weekly participants slipping a bit the last few weeks I’m making
a call to action to all of our regulars to do some recruiting. While more people
means more work for the Blogger and more people for the Blogger to go up against,
I welcome the challenge and offer this challenge to you: If each player can recruit
10 new players and we can boost the total to 200 or more, I’ll triple the weekly prize.
So spread the word about the contest to all your co-workers, family and friends
and meet that goal and boost the prize.

Copy and paste our link and send it to your friends so they can be a part of the action, http://blog.tuffstuff.com/7thinning/

This week’s winners are posted below so check to see how you fared against
the field.

While I enjoy giving prizes to several people vs. having just one weekly winner, from
this point forward contestants will be asked to provide a tie-breaker on the week’s
last game so we narrow our winner down to one. Contestants will now be
asked to predict the total score from the last game on the list and the closest to
the actual score will be deemed the winner). I’ll also require contestants
to post their e-mail address with their picks so I can track down the winners
easier.

For those unfamiliar with the Beat the Blogger contest, the idea is simple.
The Blogger posts 10 matchups each week and then selects his choices for the winners
of those matchups. Contestants enter the Beat the Blogger contest by clicking on
the “Comment” section below the post with the matchups and then select their
own 10 winners. You can also designate one of your picks as a “Doubler” and
you will receive an extra point if you’re correct so don’t forget to designate your
“Doubler” pick and increase your chances of winning. If you Beat The Blogger’s
total and post the high score for the week, you win. The regular weekly
prize is an authentic signed 8-by-10 color photo of stars such as LaDainian
Tomlinson, Drew Brees, Marshall Faulk, Santonio Holmes, Gale Sayers, Catfish
Hunter and many more. From time to time, the Blogger will sweeten the pot for
the weekly contest so look for special prize packages.


This week’s matchups with Blogger’s picks in parenthesis
Sunday, Feb. 7
Super Bowl

More Touchdown Passes: Drew Brees (N.O.)

More Rushing Yards: Joseph Addai (Indy)

Most Receiving Yards: Marques Colston (N.O.)

Most Sacks (team): Indianapolis

Most Fumbles (lost): None, question tossed out
Most First Downs: Indianapolis

Most Tackles made: Jonathan Vilma (N.O.)
Most Penalty Yards: Indianapolis

Coin Flip: Heads
Longest Touchdown: Indianapolis
Tiebreaker: Total points in Super Bowl game (48)

Continue reading about Beat the Blogger results »

For those of you interested in following the recent developments in the
Upper Deck vs. MLB lawsuit, good luck. It seems anyone with any
information regarding the lawsuit has been taken in by the Witness
Protection Program, with officials from all of the parties involved
going the “no comment” route more often than Peyton Manning calls audibles.

If you haven’t been following the story, I’ll give you the short-version recap.
Last week Upper Deck released two of its baseball products, Ultimate Collection and
Signature Stars, despite not being licensed by Major League Baseball. UD does have
a license (MLBPA) to use the player images seen on cards but because Topps has the
exclusive license with MLB and UD does not, the UD cards aren’t legally allowed to
use the team’s trademarked nicknames and logos. So UD produced the two sets with a
written disclaimer that reads: “NOT authorized by Major League Baseball or it Member
Teams” placed on the packaging and each of the sets’ cards.

They also carefully selected the images they used so that the nicknames and
logos used on the player’s jerseys were partially hidden in an effort to comply with
the licensing restraints. Lastly, the cards never used the team nicknames which are
also trademarked, only listing a player’s team by the city (For example, a Prince
Fielder card lists him as a first baseman for Milwaukee with no mention of the Brewers).
While covered (or partially covered) on the jerseys the logos are clearly visible
in the player’s caps. Another difference on the UD releases is the absence of an MLB
logo anywhere on the card but other than those subtle changes, none of the releases
appear much different from their licensed Topps’ counterparts.

Almost as soon as the products hit the store shelves, distributors were asked by MLB
to stop selling the products because they weren’t licensed and MLB decided to sue
Upper Deck for trademark infringement violations. The lawsuit was made official early
in the week of Feb. 1 but by week’s end distributors were again selling the unlicensed
products because MLB was denied the Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) it was seeking
by the courts.

When the products were first released, I indicated that Upper Deck must be banking
on a legal loophole or they wouldn’t have stirred the pot by releasing the products
in the first place. Fresh off their court battle with Konami in which they apparently
lost several millions, few would imagine UD would want to head right back to the courtroom
for another costly battle if they didn’t think they had the necessary ammunition to
come out victorious. And now that the TRO has been denied, it appears that perhaps
Uppper Deck does have a way around the lack of MLB license issue. And if they do,
it could change the sports card landscape as we know it.

If, and because this case will likely linger in court for several years, that’s one
big if, the court finds that companies are legally able to produce cards with only
a Major League Players Association license and not an accompanying license from the
league itself, the case will produce ramifications that ripple through the entire
world of professional sports. One important change a court ruling in favor of UD would
produce would be a huge shift in importance of the MLBPA license. Moving forward,
it would then give the players all the leverage in dealing with card companies instead
of the league as it is now. It would basically make the league license an unnecessary
expense with the MLBPA license fees likely soaring out of control soon after. It would
also force the leagues (MLB, NBA, NHL) that have signed exclusive deals with one specific
card company to refund the huge amonts of dollars they receive annual, thus making
exclusives obsolete.

And how would a favorable UD decision in court affect other areas of the sports world?
As it stands now for example, team stores and pro shops pay large sums of money each
year to sell officially licensed team apparel. If UD wins the case and its found they
don’t need a license from the league to sell baseball cards, wouldn’t that then mean
that other types of distributors don’t need to be licensed by the leagues to sell
their products? Not exactly sure, but I’ll guarantee you if UD wins this case, other
companies will be standing in line and challenge the system as well. We’re talking
about billions of dollars and a monumental case with implications reaching every avenue
of the sports world. And because we’re talking about billions, you can bet that the
leagues will do everything in their power to keep things status quo.

I’ll keep trying to get our readers updates on the latest twists and turns of this
ongoing saga, but with most of the people involved guarding their words like the government
did in the wake of 9/11, it could be tricky.   

Continue reading about Implications of UD vs. MLB case will be huge »

Congratulations to Joe Ranyak, who scored a 10 last week to Beat the Blogger’s total
of 4 and beat the field to win this week’s contest.

This week’s matchups are posted below and all are Super Bowl related to help
you get ready for the big game. So make sure you get your picks posted before the
start of Sunday’s game to be eligible to a win. If we can get more than 200 contestants
this week I’ll give away 4 autographed photos and one box of Upper Deck Football
Heroes trading cards to one lucky winner.

Copy and paste our link and send it to your friends on Facebook, Twitter and
anywhere else so they can be a part of the action and we can boost our total list
of contestants, http://blog.tuffstuff.com/7thinning/

With the number of weekly participants slipping a bit the last few weeks I’m making
a call to action to all of our regulars to do some recruiting. While more people
means more work for the Blogger and more people for the Blogger to go up against,
I welcome the challenge and offer this challenge to you: If each player can recruit
10 new players and we can boost the total to 200 or more, I’ll triple the weekly prize.
So spread the word about the contest to all your co-workers, family and friends
and meet that goal and boost the prize.

Copy and paste our link and send it to your friends so they can be a part of the action, http://blog.tuffstuff.com/7thinning/

This week’s winners are posted below and this week’s matchups will be posted
later today so make sure you check back and get your picks posted before the start
of the first game to be eligible to win this week’s prize. As always, good luck.

While I enjoy giving prizes to several people vs. having just one weekly winner, from
this point forward contestants will be asked to provide a tie-breaker on the week’s
last game so we narrow our winner down to one. Contestants will now be
asked to predict the total score from the last game on the list and the closest to
the actual score will be deemed the winner). I’ll also require contestants
to post their e-mail address with their picks so I can track down the winners
easier.

For those unfamiliar with the Beat the Blogger contest, the idea is simple.
The Blogger posts 10 matchups each week and then selects his choices for the winners
of those matchups. Contestants enter the Beat the Blogger contest by clicking on
the “Comment” section below the post with the matchups and then select their
own 10 winners. You can also designate one of your picks as a “Doubler” and
you will receive an extra point if you’re correct so don’t forget to designate your
“Doubler” pick and increase your chances of winning. If you Beat The Blogger’s
total and post the high score for the week, you win. The regular weekly
prize is an authentic signed 8-by-10 color photo of stars such as LaDainian
Tomlinson, Drew Brees, Marshall Faulk, Santonio Holmes, Gale Sayers, Catfish
Hunter and many more. From time to time, the Blogger will sweeten the pot for
the weekly contest so look for special prize packages.


This week’s matchups with Blogger’s picks in parenthesis
Sunday, Feb. 7
Super Bowl

More Touchdown Passes: Manning (Indy)
More Rushing Yards: Joseph Addai (Indy)

Most Receiving Yards: Marques Colston (N.O.)

Most Sacks (team): New Orleans
Most Fumbles (lost): Indianapolis

Most First Downs: Indianapolis

Most Tackles made: Jonathan Vilma (N.O.)

Most Penalty Yards: New Orleans
Coin Flip: Tails
Longest Touchdown: New Orleans (Doubler)
Tiebreaker: Total points in Super Bowl game (64)

Continue reading about Beat the Blogger Picks »

By now, many of you have heard the news that Upper Deck is on its way back to the courtroom. Fresh on the heels of its costly lawsuit with Konami for producing counterfeit Yu Gi Oh cards, UD finds itself heading back to court for alleged trademark infringement regarding its recently released baseball card products. (TO READ MORE, click here)

After UD released its 2009 Ultimate Collection and Signature Stars Baseball products
last week, many who saw the products wondered how the card company could produce featuring
MLB logos despite the fact that they didn’t have a license to do so. Well, less than
a week later MLB has responded with a lawsuit against UD coming days after sending
a letter to distributors asking them to stop selling the products and return them
to the card maker.

While Upper Deck has the right to use the images of MLB players on its cards, according
to the exclusive deal MLB signed with Topps, UD is not licensed to produce cards with
MLB logos attached which brought on the suit. While UD’s two new products, and I’m
assuming the four remaining baseball card releases scheduled to hit the market, do
come with the disclaimer “these products are not licensed by Major League Baseball,”
did UD really believe by placing a statement like that on the products that they could
get around the licensing issue?

Perhaps their thinking was that if they unveiled the 2009 products in 2010 they would
be free to use the logos because they could claim the sets were produced in 2009 when
UD was still licensed with the MLB. Or perhaps they consulted their team of lawyers
prior to bullrushing the 2010 baseball card market and have been assured they have
a legal loophole up their sleeves that would allow them to continue to produce the
unlicensed logoed cards.

Maybe UD thought they could get the products out on the market and create enough of
a buzz about them that the demand for them would exceed the financial damages of another
court case. As all collectors realize, now that a lawsuit has been filed by MLB, the
two products released (and likely any remaining scheduled 2010 UD Baseball releases)
will be pulled from the shelves. The limited run could make them much more sought
after by collectors looking for a limited release and demand could be huge, sending
values through the roof.

Perhaps this legal loophole would allow UD to continue to produced unlicensed cards
that include logos and ultimately leave Topps wondering why they dipped so deep into
their bank account to get the exclusive license in the first place.

While it will take some time to answer all the questions posed here, one thing is
for certain. Either Upper Deck is going to come out of all this looking really smart
or really stupid. Only time will tell so stay tuned to www.tuffstuff.com for updates
on this story.

Continue reading about What’s next for Upper Deck? »

Congratulations to Joe Ranyak, who scored a 10 last week to Beat the Blogger’s total
of 4 and beat the field to win this week’s contest.

This week’s matchups are posted below and all are Super Bowl related to help
you get ready for the big game. So make sure you get your picks posted before the
start of Sunday’s game to be eligible to a win. If we can get more than 200 contestants
this week I’ll give away 4 autographed photos and one box of Upper Deck Football
Heroes trading cards to one lucky winner.

Copy and paste our link and send it to your friends on Facebook, Twitter and
anywhere else so they can be a part of the action and we can boost our total list
of contestants, http://blog.tuffstuff.com/7thinning/

With the number of weekly participants slipping a bit the last few weeks I’m making
a call to action to all of our regulars to do some recruiting. While more people
means more work for the Blogger and more people for the Blogger to go up against,
I welcome the challenge and offer this challenge to you: If each player can recruit
10 new players and we can boost the total to 200 or more, I’ll triple the weekly prize.
So spread the word about the contest to all your co-workers, family and friends
and meet that goal and boost the prize.

Copy and paste our link and send it to your friends so they can be a part of the action, http://blog.tuffstuff.com/7thinning/

This week’s winners are posted below and this week’s matchups will be posted
later today so make sure you check back and get your picks posted before the start
of the first game to be eligible to win this week’s prize. As always, good luck.

While I enjoy giving prizes to several people vs. having just one weekly winner, from
this point forward contestants will be asked to provide a tie-breaker on the week’s
last game so we narrow our winner down to one. Contestants will now be
asked to predict the total score from the last game on the list and the closest to
the actual score will be deemed the winner). I’ll also require contestants
to post their e-mail address with their picks so I can track down the winners
easier.

For those unfamiliar with the Beat the Blogger contest, the idea is simple.
The Blogger posts 10 matchups each week and then selects his choices for the winners
of those matchups. Contestants enter the Beat the Blogger contest by clicking on
the “Comment” section below the post with the matchups and then select their
own 10 winners. You can also designate one of your picks as a “Doubler” and
you will receive an extra point if you’re correct so don’t forget to designate your
“Doubler” pick and increase your chances of winning. If you Beat The Blogger’s
total and post the high score for the week, you win. The regular weekly
prize is an authentic signed 8-by-10 color photo of stars such as LaDainian
Tomlinson, Drew Brees, Marshall Faulk, Santonio Holmes, Gale Sayers, Catfish
Hunter and many more. From time to time, the Blogger will sweeten the pot for
the weekly contest so look for special prize packages.


This week’s matchups with Blogger’s picks in parenthesis
Sunday, Feb. 7
Super Bowl

More Touchdown Passes: Drew Brees (N.O.) or Peyton Manning (Indy)
More Rushing Yards: Joseph Addai (Indy) or Pierre Thomas (N.O.)
Most Receiving Yards: Marques Colston (N.O.) or Pierre Garcon (Indy)
Most Sacks (team): Indianapolis or New Orleans
Most Fumbles (lost): Indianapolis or New Orleans
Most First Downs: Indianapolis or New Orleans
Most Tackles made: Jonathan Vilma (N.O.) or Clint Sessions (Indy)
Most Penalty Yards: Indianapolis or New Orleans
Coin Flip: Heads or Tails
Longest Touchdown: Indianapolis or New Orleans

Tiebreaker: Total points in Super Bowl game ( )

Continue reading about Beat the Blogger matchups »

Congratulations to Dana Boisvert, who scored a 9 last week to Beat the Blogger’s total
of 6 and won by virtue of her tie-breaker pick.

This week’s matchups will be posted below shortly so make sure check back and you
get your picks posted before the start of the first game to be eligible to a win.

Thanks to all that played and thanks for recruiting some newcomers as well. Let’s
try and do the same this week and get a record turnout and with this week’s winner
being a first-timer, it just shows how easy it is to Beat the Blogger and win.

With the number of weekly participants slipping a bit the last few weeks I’m making
a call to action to all of our regulars to do some recruiting. While more people
means more work for the Blogger and more people for the Blogger to go up against,
I welcome the challenge and offer this challenge to you: If each player can recruit
10 new players and we can boost the total to 200 or more, I’ll triple the weekly prize.
So spread the word about the contest to all your co-workers, family and friends
and meet that goal and boost the prize.

Copy and paste our link and send it to your friends so they can be a part of the action, http://blog.tuffstuff.com/7thinning/

This week’s winners are posted below and this week’s matchups will be posted
later today so make sure you check back and get your picks posted before the start
of the first game to be eligible to win this week’s prize. As always, good luck.

While I enjoy giving prizes to several people vs. having just one weekly winner, from
this point forward contestants will be asked to provide a tie-breaker on the week’s
last game so we narrow our winner down to one. Contestants will now be
asked to predict the total score from the last game on the list and the closest to
the actual score will be deemed the winner). I’ll also require contestants
to post their e-mail address with their picks so I can track down the winners
easier.

For those unfamiliar with the Beat the Blogger contest, the idea is simple.
The Blogger posts 10 matchups each week and then selects his choices for the winners
of those matchups. Contestants enter the Beat the Blogger contest by clicking on
the “Comment” section below the post with the matchups and then select their
own 10 winners. You can also designate one of your picks as a “Doubler” and
you will receive an extra point if you’re correct so don’t forget to designate your
“Doubler” pick and increase your chances of winning. If you Beat The Blogger’s
total and post the high score for the week, you win. The regular weekly
prize is an authentic signed 8-by-10 color photo of stars such as LaDainian
Tomlinson, Drew Brees, Marshall Faulk, Santonio Holmes, Gale Sayers, Catfish
Hunter and many more. From time to time, the Blogger will sweeten the pot for
the weekly contest so look for special prize packages.


This week’s matchups with winning picks in parenthesis
Saturday Jan. 30/Sunday, Jan. 31
NCAA Mens Basketball

Vanderbilt at Kentucky (Kentucky)
Kansas at Kansas State (Kansas)
Duke at Georgetown (Georgetown)
NBA Basketball

Atlanta at Orlando (Orlando)
New York at Washington (Washington)
Portland at Dallas (Portland)
Charlotte at Sacramento (Charlotte)
NHL Hockey

Detroit at Pittsburgh (Pittsburgh)
Phoenix at Dallas (Phoenix)
NFL Pro Bowl

AFC vs. NFC (AFC)
Tiebreaker: Total points in Pro Bowl game (75)

Continue reading about Beat the Blogger results »

While it came as a shock to nobody who pays attention to the sports
card business, Upper Deck released its 2009 Signature Stars Baseball
and Ultimate Collection Baseball products this week and the questions
concerning the sets are only outnumbered by the carefully selected
images used within them.

One of the first questions I had after taking a look at the unauthorized product was
why is the set designated 2009 when it’s released in 2010? My next question is why
did Upper Deck go to the pain-staking lengths of picking
player photos where the team name is covered and didn’t bother to take the next step
and blur or air-brush out the logos on the helmets and jerseys?

The five-card packs (Stars and Signatures) come with a disclaimer of “NOT authorized
by Major League Baseball or its Member Teams” peppered throughout the cards, packs
and boxes. I guess that’s UD’s way of letting us know they don’t have an exclusive
license because a quick look at the cards would have many begging to differ. In the
past when licensing issues permitted manufacturers from using MLB logos, the common
practice was to blur the logos to make them indistinguisable or air-brush them out
altogether. Signature Stars went as far as to make sure each player pose used has
the team name or nickname covered on the front of the player’s jerseys, but as you
can see in the image displayed, they didn’t use the available technology to hide the
team logos featured on helmets of jerseys. The cards also only display the team name
(eg. Atlanta/Pitcher on card displayed at right) with no mention of the team nicknames
displayed anywhere on any of the cards.

Why would UD only go halfway to ensure they stayed within the limitations you ask?
Won’t that force Topps, MLB or both to seek legal action against them? Well, if the
MLB’s statement regarding UD’s Signature Stars and Ultimate Collection products is
any indication, the litigation wheels are already in motion.

“We are surprised and disappointed that Upper Deck, a former partner of ours, would
violate our contract by clearly using our intellectual property without our permission.
“We will vigorously use all legal means to protect the intellectual property of Major
League Baseball and its member Clubs,” said the statement issued by Matt Bourne MLB’s
Vice President of Business Public Relations.

Another curious choice made by Upper Deck was why not do the typical promotional effort
in leading up to the release date? In fact, if you go to the UD website today, other
than a brief listing with the release date for Ultimate Collection being Jan. 26,
there is no mention of its new Signature Stars set at all and images from neither
product are displayed. Coincidence, not bloody likely.

Obviously the folks at Upper Deck were well aware that the two sets would be highly
scrutinized and likely challenged in the courtroom somewhere down the road. But by
designing the cards in the way they did, could UD have perhaps found a legal loophole
that would challenge the exclusive agreement and somehow render Topps’ exclusive with
MLB null and void and ultimately continue to produce baseball cards without ponying
up the huge dollars it takes to land an exclusive?

Got a “no comment” from the folks at Topps regarding the issue and UD  said the
same. My guess is that the latest firestorm between the two card companies will likely
continue to build momentum and will not be extinguished until millions dollars have
been burned up in the courtroom. I’m also guessing that the millions of dollars it
will take to try and get the exclusive contract voided and the likely subsequent backlash
from the collecting public is viewed by the UD folks as a worthwhile battle. And let’s
not forget the old theory that any publicity is good publicity and the chance of these
products eventually being ordered fro the store shelves could lead to a collecting
frenzy and suddenly UD’s rule violation suddenly looks like a small piece of a well-crafted
plan. Because if that’s not the case and UD doesn’t have a legal loophole up it’s
sleeve, it appears they’re setting themselves for a huge, costly battle they have
very little chance of winning.

Not sure how this will all play out but one thing is for certain: it’s deja vu all
over again in the card-making business. Game on.
  

Continue reading about Upper Deck vs. Topps yet again: GAME ON »

Does anybody remember the old Brett Favre? Not the graying, wrinkled
and hobbled man that eventually made his way to the podium following
the Vikings’ NFC Championship loss to the Saints on Sunday. Not that
guy, he’s a phony. You know, the genuine guy with the smirky smile and
the country-boy personality that used to honestly break down the recap
of the game
instead of the latest version who seems to come in with a calculated, predetermined
agenda that ultimately dreams he’d be treated and evaluated as he had been in years
past. You remember, the years when he could literally do no wrong, he knew it and
despite that, he didn’t seem to care if anybody criticized him because he was staying
true to himself and who he was.

Today’s Favre, or Faux Favre as I call him, seems like he’s more interested in how
he’ll be viewed and what his legacy will be when finally hangs it up and awaits a
trip to Canton. And all that despite his many words to the contrary. He insists he’s
comfortable in terms of how he’s currently being perceived and that he’ll let his
career speak for itself, but yet every time somebody sticks a microphone in front
of him he blurts out something that leads you to believe that perception is something
he cares very deeply about. We’ve heard Favre say time and time again that he doesn’t
worry that anything he does in these later stages of his career will overshadow or
tarnish all that he’s accomplished during his glory days in Green Bay, but yet everything
he says these days makes us beg to differ.  

During Sunday’s post-game conference in which Favre kept credentialed media members
waiting during his typical 15-minute delay, when he wasn’t busy working the crowd
for sympathy with his teary-eyed comments, Favre was busy trying to declaw the scribes
who looked to devouring him for his latest mistake.

“Of course, I can’t print anything for you guys,” he said, “but I know I’m going out
on top, one way or the other.”

The old Favre would’ve never even went there. He would’ve never addressed his legacy
and he would’ve never pleaded with the media to call off the dogs because he wouldn’t
of cared what was written. He would’ve manned up and said exactly what happened on
the Vikings’ last offensive play. He would’ve said what we all saw and what we all
knew the moment he let that errant throw from his hand. He would’ve said instead of
opting for the safer, less-exciting option of hurling his aching body forward and
taking the four or five available yards and giving his team a chance at a makeable
field goal, that he instead went for the Favresque play that consisted of locking
on to his new go-to guy (the third option on the play) and forcing an unorthodox throw
into tight coverage.

If he would’ve simply fessed up and admitted that’s exactly what happened, he would’ve
been forgiven by the fans, the media, the doubters and the single-minded haters that
were actually hoping he would fail. But instead of going that route and letting the
old Favre resurface, we saw the new Favre doing what new Favre does: subtly implying
that his decision was the right one despite the indisputably wrong outcome.

The very essence of the love affair that most of had with the old Favre was that he
was nothing if not real. Just one of the guys, out there having fun and gett’r done.
In sports, superstars are built up to be more than they actually are and unfortunately
they can fall from that rarified air even quicker. Brett Favre, old or new, will never
completely fall out favor with fans or the majority of the media, but the new Favre
is sure making it easier to forget about the reasons we all liked this guy in the
first place.

Continue reading about Will the ‘old’ Favre ever resurface? »

Congratulations to Joe Ranyak, who scored a 10 last week to Beat the Blogger’s total
of 4 and beat the field to win this week’s contest.

This week’s matchups are posted below so make sure you get your picks posted before
the start of the first game to be eligible to a win.

Thanks to all that played and thanks for recruiting some newcomers as well. Let’s
try and do the same this week and get a record turnout and with this week’s winner
being a first-timer, it just shows how easy it is to Beat the Blogger and win.

With the number of weekly participants slipping a bit the last few weeks I’m making
a call to action to all of our regulars to do some recruiting. While more people
means more work for the Blogger and more people for the Blogger to go up against,
I welcome the challenge and offer this challenge to you: If each player can recruit
10 new players and we can boost the total to 200 or more, I’ll triple the weekly prize.
So spread the word about the contest to all your co-workers, family and friends
and meet that goal and boost the prize.

Copy and paste our link and send it to your friends so they can be a part of the action, http://blog.tuffstuff.com/7thinning/

This week’s winners are posted below and this week’s matchups will be posted
later today so make sure you check back and get your picks posted before the start
of the first game to be eligible to win this week’s prize. As always, good luck.

While I enjoy giving prizes to several people vs. having just one weekly winner, from
this point forward contestants will be asked to provide a tie-breaker on the week’s
last game so we narrow our winner down to one. Contestants will now be
asked to predict the total score from the last game on the list and the closest to
the actual score will be deemed the winner). I’ll also require contestants
to post their e-mail address with their picks so I can track down the winners
easier.

For those unfamiliar with the Beat the Blogger contest, the idea is simple.
The Blogger posts 10 matchups each week and then selects his choices for the winners
of those matchups. Contestants enter the Beat the Blogger contest by clicking on
the “Comment” section below the post with the matchups and then select their
own 10 winners. You can also designate one of your picks as a “Doubler” and
you will receive an extra point if you’re correct so don’t forget to designate your
“Doubler” pick and increase your chances of winning. If you Beat The Blogger’s
total and post the high score for the week, you win. The regular weekly
prize is an authentic signed 8-by-10 color photo of stars such as LaDainian
Tomlinson, Drew Brees, Marshall Faulk, Santonio Holmes, Gale Sayers, Catfish
Hunter and many more. From time to time, the Blogger will sweeten the pot for
the weekly contest so look for special prize packages.


This week’s matchups with Blogger’s picks in parenthesis
Saturday Jan. 30/Sunday, Jan. 31
NCAA Mens Basketball

Vanderbilt at Kentucky (Kentucky)(doubler)
Kansas at Kansas State (Kansas)
Duke at Georgetown (Duke)
NBA Basketball

Atlanta at Orlando (Atlanta)
New York at Washington (New York)
Portland at Dallas (Dallas)
Charlotte at Sacramento (Scaramento)
NHL Hockey

Detroit at Pittsburgh (Pittsburgh)
Phoenix at Dallas (Dallas)
NFL Pro Bowl

AFC vs. NFC (AFC)
Tiebreaker: Total points in Pro Bowl game (58)

Continue reading about Beat the Blogger Matchups »

Congratulations to Joe Ranyak, who scored a 10 this week to Beat the Blogger’s
total of 4 and beat the field to win this week’s contest.

This week’s matchups will be posted soon so make sure you check back to get your picks
posted before the start of the first game to be eligible to a win.

Thanks to all that played and thanks for recruiting some newcomers as well. Let’s
try and do the same this week and get a record turnout and with this week’s winner
being a first-timer, it just shows how easy it is to Beat the Blogger and win.

With the number of weekly participants slipping a bit the last few weeks I’m making
a call to action to all of our regulars to do some recruiting. While more people
means more work for the Blogger and more people for the Blogger to go up against,
I welcome the challenge and offer this challenge to you: If each player can recruit
10 new players and we can boost the total to 200 or more, I’ll triple the weekly prize.
So spread the word about the contest to all your co-workers, family and friends
and meet that goal and boost the prize.

Copy and paste our link and send it to your friends so they can be a part of the action, http://blog.tuffstuff.com/7thinning/

This week’s winners are posted below and this week’s matchups will be posted
later today so make sure you check back and get your picks posted before the start
of the first game to be eligible to win this week’s prize. As always, good luck.

While I enjoy giving prizes to several people vs. having just one weekly winner, from
this point forward contestants will be asked to provide a tie-breaker on the week’s
last game so we narrow our winner down to one. Contestants will now be
asked to predict the total score from the last game on the list and the closest to
the actual score will be deemed the winner). I’ll also require contestants
to post their e-mail address with their picks so I can track down the winners
easier.

For those unfamiliar with the Beat the Blogger contest, the idea is simple.
The Blogger posts 10 matchups each week and then selects his choices for the winners
of those matchups. Contestants enter the Beat the Blogger contest by clicking on
the “Comment” section below the post with the matchups and then select their
own 10 winners. You can also designate one of your picks as a “Doubler” and
you will receive an extra point if you’re correct so don’t forget to designate your
“Doubler” pick and increase your chances of winning. If you Beat The Blogger’s
total and post the high score for the week, you win. The regular weekly
prize is an authentic signed 8-by-10 color photo of stars such as LaDainian
Tomlinson, Drew Brees, Marshall Faulk, Santonio Holmes, Gale Sayers, Catfish
Hunter and many more. From time to time, the Blogger will sweeten the pot for
the weekly contest so look for special prize packages.


This week’s matchups with winning picks in parenthesis
Saturday Jan. 23/Sunday, Jan. 24
NCAA Mens Basketball

Duke at Clemson (Duke)
Ohio State at West Virginia (W. Virginia)
Texas at UConn (UConn)
NBA Basketball

Philadelphia at Indianapolis (Philadelphia)
Minnesota at Milwaukee (Millwaukee)
New Orleans at Denver (Denver)
NHL Hockey

Pittsburgh at Philadelphia (Pittsburgh)
Dallas at Colorado (Colorado)
NFL Playoffs

NY Jets at Indianapolis (Indianapolis)
Minnesota at New Orleans (New Orleans)
Tiebreaker: Total points in Minnesota at New Orleans game (59)

Continue reading about Beat the Blogger results »

Just got the release from the Green Bay Packers front office stating
the team will be raising ticket prices next season. I’m not a
season-ticket holder but I do get to my share of games each year, went
to five at Lambeau and saw the Packers battle the Steelers at Heinz
Field so I definitely consider myself a fan of the team.
 
According to the information sent out, the increase will be $8-$11 per ticket depending
on which part of the bowl the tickets are located. Packers’ President Mark Murphy
states in the letter that the increase, the second such increase in the last two years,
is crucial for the team to “stay competitive
both on and off the field” and the adjusted rate will bring the team closer to the
NFL average. While I’m paraphrasing, the letter adds that the increase will allow
the team to focus its financial resources toward a more competitive team and not be
in the disadvantage they were.

Now, the majority of Packer tickets will run you about $60 ($69 in 2010) which is
fair and actually ranks 30th of the 32 NFL teams so I have no problem with another
increase. What I don’t understand is why Murphy felt it necessary to explain the team’s
actions. While there is some truth to the reasoning Murphy provides and some will
find the “honesty” refreshing, those in the know realize that the real reason for
the increase is because the team is looking to stockpile some money in case the impending
2011 lockout comes to fruition. And while that makes financial sense and any good
business will proactively address its issues, for once it would be nice to have team
officials come right out and tell us the truth. It will never happen of course because
the team would then be asked to give the added revenue if there is no lockout but
one can always dream.

And the truly WTF statement that made me wonder how dumb they think the fanbase is
was the one stating it would “help the Packers become more competitive both on and
off the field.” I understand the on-field competitive factor, we all want that, more
money means more opportunities to be factor in the free-agent market and to resign
their own players. But being competitive with other NFL teams off the field? Does
that mean that the Packers are looking to upgrade the team stationery or get a new
color printer to keep up with the Cowboys?  

Again, I understand that increases in ticket prices are going to happen from time
to time but it sure would be nice to have seen the memo sent out something similar
to this:

“We at the Green Bay Packers regret to inform you that we will be increasing ticket
prices by $8-$11 (most will be $11) per ticket for the 2010 season. We realize we
increased ticket prices less than two years ago but we’re 30th among the 32 NFL teams
and we feel it’s about time the “Lambeau Field Experience” and its storied history
is compensated. We also need to cover our asses in case the uncapped season of 2010
leads to a lockout in 2011 and there are no games being played. At that time, instead
of mass firings, we’ll be able to gorge the salaries of those who don’t get the boot
and survive until cooler heads prevail and football resumes. We’re also looking to
acquire a Darrell Revis-type cornerback in the free agent market and shut-down corners
don’t come cheap. Unless you missed our swiss-cheese-like defensive effort in the
playoff game against the Cardinals, you know that will be money well spent. Soi please
no bitching about the increase, you want to win a Super Bowl don’t you? Go Pack go!”

Now that would be a team statement I could wrap my arms around. Sorry, nodded off
there for a second. What was I talking about?  

Continue reading about We can handle the truth, just try us »

Congratulations to Christie Merkel, who scored a 9 this week to Beat the Blogger’s
total of 6 and beat the field to win this week’s contest.

This week’s matchups are posted soon so make sure you get your picks posted before
the start of the first game to be eligible to a win.

Thanks to all that played and thanks for recruiting some newcomers as well. Let’s
try and do the same this week and get a record turnout and with this week’s winner
being a first-timer, it just shows how easy it is to Beat the Blogger and win.

With the number of weekly participants slipping a bit the last few weeks I’m making
a call to action to all of our regulars to do some recruiting. While more people
means more work for the Blogger and more people for the Blogger to go up against,
I welcome the challenge and offer this challenge to you: If each player can recruit
10 new players and we can boost the total to 200 or more, I’ll triple the weekly prize.
So spread the word about the contest to all your co-workers, family and friends
and meet that goal and boost the prize.

Copy and paste our link and send it to your friends so they can be a part of the action, http://blog.tuffstuff.com/7thinning/

This week’s winners are posted below and this week’s matchups will be posted
later today so make sure you check back and get your picks posted before the start
of the first game to be eligible to win this week’s prize. As always, good luck.

While I enjoy giving prizes to several people vs. having just one weekly winner, from
this point forward contestants will be asked to provide a tie-breaker on the week’s
last game so we narrow our winner down to one. Contestants will now be
asked to predict the total score from the last game on the list and the closest to
the actual score will be deemed the winner). I’ll also require contestants
to post their e-mail address with their picks so I can track down the winners
easier.

For those unfamiliar with the Beat the Blogger contest, the idea is simple.
The Blogger posts 10 matchups each week and then selects his choices for the winners
of those matchups. Contestants enter the Beat the Blogger contest by clicking on
the “Comment” section below the post with the matchups and then select their
own 10 winners. You can also designate one of your picks as a “Doubler” and
you will receive an extra point if you’re correct so don’t forget to designate your
“Doubler” pick and increase your chances of winning. If you Beat The Blogger’s
total and post the high score for the week, you win. The regular weekly
prize is an authentic signed 8-by-10 color photo of stars such as LaDainian
Tomlinson, Drew Brees, Marshall Faulk, Santonio Holmes, Gale Sayers, Catfish
Hunter and many more. From time to time, the Blogger will sweeten the pot for
the weekly contest so look for special prize packages.


This week’s matchups with Blogger’s picks in parenthesis
Saturday Jan. 23/Sunday, Jan. 24
NCAA Mens Basketball

Duke at Clemson (Duke)
Ohio State at West Virginia (Ohio State)
Texas at UConn (Texas)(Doubler)
NBA Basketball

Philadelphia at Indianapolis (Indianapolis)
Minnesota at Milwaukee (Minnesota)
New Orleans at Denver (Denver)
NHL Hockey

Pittsburgh at Philadelphia (Philadelphia)
Dallas at Colorado (Colorado)
NFL Playoffs

NY Jets at Indianapolis (Indianapolis)
Minnesota at New Orleans (Minnesota)
Tiebreaker: Total points in Minnesota at New Orleans game (55)

Continue reading about Beat the Blogger Picks »

There’s been a lot of discussion about whether the Minnesota Vikings were intentionally running up the score in the fourth quarter of their NFL Divisional Playoff matchup against the Cowboys last week. If you didn’t see the game, the Vikings held a commanding lead of 27-3 with less than five minutes remaining in the game and the Cowboys had exhausted all of their timeouts.

Minnesota had the ball, and unlike most teams do in similar situations, they
continued to throw the ball and even went as far as going (and converting) two separate
fourth-down calls. Cowboys linebacker Keith Brooking was one of the many Dallas players
that took exception with the playcalling and went as far as to race over to the Vikings
sidelines and confront players and coaches before being restrained by his teammates.
Brooking said the moves were “classless” and would not soon be forgotten by the boys
from Big D.

Minnesota fans and players defend the actions by saying if you didn’t like what we
were doing then step up, make a play and stop us. Coaches defending the team’s actions
by saying they simply wanted to keep the clock ticking.

While I can make a valid case for either side of that argument, I think the bigger
question that is being missed in the wake of all the finger-pointing is why were the
Minnesota Vikings starters still in the game at that point? Leading by three scores
(three TDs and three successful 2-point conversions) with under five minutes left
in the fourth quarter should be a lock. When a team manages just three points in the
first 55 minutes of a ballgame, what makes you think they’d be able to suddenly score
three touchdowns in five minutes?

Consider for a second the discussion we’d all be having if during the Vikings final
drive (remember now, it’s 27-3 with under three minutes to play) that the center exchange
between John Sullivan and Brett Favre is fumbled. During the course of the ensuing
scrum for the loose ball, Favre jumps on the ball but has his right hand stepped on
by a Dallas defender. Favre comes out of the pile with the football but has broke
two fingers in the process and is forced to miss the next two games. No NFC title
game, no Super Bowl. Or what if during the course of the final drive, Favre (as he
did) throws a deep ball to receiver Sydney Rice who beats the Dallas defender but
pulls off the route late because he pulled his hamstring? How about Adrian Peterson
is blocking on that same deep ball to Rice but one of his own lineman gets pushed
back into his legs and he tears the MCL on his knee?

The possibilities of a late injury occurring are endless and almost every one of them
would severely damage, if not eliminate, the Vikings or any other team from Super
Bowl contention quicker than you can say “padding stats.”

In this situation, it’s totally understandable why the Cowboys still had their starting
defensive unit in the game despite the outcome of the game being decided midway through
the third quarter. They lose, their done. No next week, no Super Bowl to prepare for
and plenty of time in the offseason to fix whatever may ail them.

As for the Vikings perspective, still not sure what coach Brad Childress was thinking
but that’s another story for another blog. I’m still not sure why Childress and others
aren’t quicker to put in their back-ups when the game dictates they can afford to.
An injury to one player could mean the difference between winning a championship so
why risk it when the game’s outcome has long been decided? To my knowledge, nobody
got injured during the Vikings final scoring drive but as soon as somebody does in
a similar situation I’ll be the first one saying “I told you so.” It’s simply a case
when the negative possibilities (losing a star player) far outweighs any of the positives
(none that I can see) so you error on the side of caution and move onto the next round
with all your players intact.

Continue reading about NFL Teams Need to Know When To Say When »

Congratulations to Christie Merkel, who scored a 9 this week to Beat the Blogger’s
total of 6 and beat the field to win this week’s contest.

This week’s matchups will be posted soon so check back and get in the game.

Thanks to all that played and thanks for recruiting some newcomers as well. Let’s
try and do the same this week and get a record turnout and with this week’s winner
being a first-timer, it just shows how easy it is to Beat the Blogger and win.

With the number of weekly participants slipping a bit the last few weeks I’m making
a call to action to all of our regulars to do some recruiting. While more people
means more work for the Blogger and more people for the Blogger to go up against,
I welcome the challenge and offer this challenge to you: If each player can recruit
10 new players and we can boost the total to 200 or more, I’ll triple the weekly prize.
So spread the word about the contest to all your co-workers, family and friends
and meet that goal and boost the prize.

Copy and paste our link and send it to your friends so they can be a part of the action, http://blog.tuffstuff.com/7thinning/

This week’s winners are posted below and this week’s matchups will be posted
later today so make sure you check back and get your picks posted before the start
of the first game to be eligible to win this week’s prize. As always, good luck.

While I enjoy giving prizes to several people vs. having just one weekly winner, from
this point forward contestants will be asked to provide a tie-breaker on the week’s
last game so we narrow our winner down to one. Contestants will now be
asked to predict the total score from the last game on the list and the closest to
the actual score will be deemed the winner). I’ll also require contestants
to post their e-mail address with their picks so I can track down the winners
easier.

For those unfamiliar with the Beat the Blogger contest, the idea is simple.
The Blogger posts 10 matchups each week and then selects his choices for the winners
of those matchups. Contestants enter the Beat the Blogger contest by clicking on
the “Comment” section below the post with the matchups and then select their
own 10 winners. You can also designate one of your picks as a “Doubler” and
you will receive an extra point if you’re correct so don’t forget to designate your
“Doubler” pick and increase your chances of winning. If you Beat The Blogger’s
total and post the high score for the week, you win. The regular weekly
prize is an authentic signed 8-by-10 color photo of stars such as LaDainian
Tomlinson, Drew Brees, Marshall Faulk, Santonio Holmes, Gale Sayers, Catfish
Hunter and many more. From time to time, the Blogger will sweeten the pot for
the weekly contest so look for special prize packages.


This week’s matchups

Saturday Jan. 23/Sunday, Jan. 24
NCAA Mens Basketball

Duke at Clemson
Ohio State at West Virginia
Texas at UConn
NBA Basketball

Philadelphia at Indianapolis
Minnesota at Milwaukee
New Orleans at Denver
NHL Hockey

Pittsburgh at Philadelphia
Dallas at Colorado
NFL Playoffs

NY Jets at Indianapolis
Minnesota at New Orleans
Tiebreaker: Total points in Minnesota at New Orleans game ()

Continue reading about Beat the Blogger Matchups »

Congratulations to Christie Merkel, who scored a 9 this week to Beat the Blogger’s
total of 6 and beat the field to win this week’s contest.

This week’s matchups will be posted soon so check back and get in the game.

Thanks to all that played and thanks for recruiting some newcomers as well. Let’s
try and do the same this week and get a record turnout and with this week’s winner
being a first-timer, it just shows how easy it is to Beat the Blogger and win.

With the number of weekly participants slipping a bit the last few weeks I’m making
a call to action to all of our regulars to do some recruiting. While more people
means more work for the Blogger and more people for the Blogger to go up against,
I welcome the challenge and offer this challenge to you: If each player can recruit
10 new players and we can boost the total to 200 or more, I’ll triple the weekly prize.
So spread the word about the contest to all your co-workers, family and friends
and meet that goal and boost the prize.

Copy and paste our link and send it to your friends so they can be a part of the action, http://blog.tuffstuff.com/7thinning/

This week’s winners are posted below and this week’s matchups will be posted
later today so make sure you check back and get your picks posted before the start
of the first game to be eligible to win this week’s prize. As always, good luck.

While I enjoy giving prizes to several people vs. having just one weekly winner, from
this point forward contestants will be asked to provide a tie-breaker on the week’s
last game so we narrow our winner down to one. Contestants will now be
asked to predict the total score from the last game on the list and the closest to
the actual score will be deemed the winner). I’ll also require contestants
to post their e-mail address with their picks so I can track down the winners
easier.

For those unfamiliar with the Beat the Blogger contest, the idea is simple.
The Blogger posts 10 matchups each week and then selects his choices for the winners
of those matchups. Contestants enter the Beat the Blogger contest by clicking on
the “Comment” section below the post with the matchups and then select their
own 10 winners. You can also designate one of your picks as a “Doubler” and
you will receive an extra point if you’re correct so don’t forget to designate your
“Doubler” pick and increase your chances of winning. If you Beat The Blogger’s
total and post the high score for the week, you win. The regular weekly
prize is an authentic signed 8-by-10 color photo of stars such as LaDainian
Tomlinson, Drew Brees, Marshall Faulk, Santonio Holmes, Gale Sayers, Catfish
Hunter and many more. From time to time, the Blogger will sweeten the pot for
the weekly contest so look for special prize packages.


This week’s matchups (with winning picks in parenthesis)
Saturday Jan. 16/Sunday, Jan. 17
NCAA Mens Basketball

Mississippi at Tennessee (Tennessee)
Georgia Tech at North Carolina (Georgia Tech)
Georgetown at Villanova (Villanova)

UConn at Michigan (Michigan)
NBA Basketball

Phoenix at Charlotte (Charlotte)
Miami at Oklahoma City (Oklahoma City)
NFL Playoffs

Arizona at New Orleans (New Orleans)
Baltimore at Indianapolis (Indianapolis)
Dallas at Minnesota (Minnesota)
NY Jets at San Diego (New York)

Tiebreaker: Total points in NY Jets-San Diego game (31)

Continue reading about Beat the Blogger results »

While many struggled with the mix of NCAA and NBA games coupled with
some upsets in the NFL Playoff matchups eliminated many of the field
but the various matchups didn’t overwhelm one contestant. DeMarie posted
a contest-best score of 9 to win the week and easily Beat the Blogger’s total of five.
Hopefully the varied matchups will prove to be a little easier for everybody this
time around. Thanks to all that played and thanks for recruiting some newcomers as
well. Let’s try and do the same this week and get a record turnout and with this week’s
winner being a first-timer, it just shows how easy it is to Beat the Blogger and
win.

With the number of weekly participants slipping a bit the last few weeks I’m making
a call to action to all of our regulars to do some recruiting. While more people
means more work for the Blogger and more people for the Blogger to go up against,
I welcome the challenge and offer this challenge to you: If each player can recruit
10 new players and we can boost the total to 200 or more, I’ll triple the weekly prize.
So spread the word about the contest to all your co-workers, family and friends
and meet that goal and boost the prize.

Copy and paste our link and send it to your friends so they can be a part of the action, http://blog.tuffstuff.com/7thinning/

This week’s winners are posted below and this week’s matchups will be posted
later today so make sure you check back and get your picks posted before the start
of the first game to be eligible to win this week’s prize. As always, good luck.

While I enjoy giving prizes to several people vs. having just one weekly winner, from
this point forward contestants will be asked to provide a tie-breaker on the week’s
last game so we narrow our winner down to one. Contestants will now be
asked to predict the total score from the last game on the list and the closest to
the actual score will be deemed the winner). I’ll also require contestants
to post their e-mail address with their picks so I can track down the winners
easier.

For those unfamiliar with the Beat the Blogger contest, the idea is simple.
The Blogger posts 10 matchups each week and then selects his choices for the winners
of those matchups. Contestants enter the Beat the Blogger contest by clicking on
the “Comment” section below the post with the matchups and then select their
own 10 winners. You can also designate one of your picks as a “Doubler” and
you will receive an extra point if you’re correct so don’t forget to designate your
“Doubler” pick and increase your chances of winning. If you Beat The Blogger’s
total and post the high score for the week, you win. The regular weekly
prize is an authentic signed 8-by-10 color photo of stars such as LaDainian
Tomlinson, Drew Brees, Marshall Faulk, Santonio Holmes, Gale Sayers, Catfish
Hunter and many more. From time to time, the Blogger will sweeten the pot for
the weekly contest so look for special prize packages.


This week’s matchups (with Blogger’s picks in parenthesis)
Saturday Jan. 16/Sunday, Jan. 17
NCAA Mens Basketball

Mississippi at Tennessee (Tennessee)
Georgia Tech at North Carolina (North Carolina)
Georgetown at Villanova (Villanova)

UConn at Michigan (UConn)
NBA Basketball

Phoenix at Charlotte (Phoenix)
Miami at Oklahoma City (Oklahoma City)
NFL Playoffs

Arizona at New Orleans (New Orleans)
Baltimore at Indianapolis (Indianapolis)
Dallas at Minnesota (Minnesota)
NY Jets at San Diego (San Diego)(Doubler)

Tiebreaker: Total points in NY Jets-San Diego game (46)

Continue reading about Beat the Blogger Picks »

While many struggled with the mix of NCAA and NBA games coupled with
some upsets in the NFL Playoff matchups eliminated many of the field
but the various matchups didn’t overwhelm one contestant. DeMarie posted
a contest-best score of 9 to win the week and easily Beat the Blogger’s total of five.
Hopefully the varied matchups will prove to be a little easier for everybody this
time around. Thanks to all that played and thanks for recruiting some newcomers as
well. Let’s try and do the same this week and get a record turnout and with this week’s
winner being a first-timer, it just shows how easy it is to Beat the Blogger and
win.

With the number of weekly participants slipping a bit the last few weeks I’m making
a call to action to all of our regulars to do some recruiting. While more people
means more work for the Blogger and more people for the Blogger to go up against,
I welcome the challenge and offer this challenge to you: If each player can recruit
10 new players and we can boost the total to 200 or more, I’ll triple the weekly prize.
So spread the word about the contest to all your co-workers, family and friends
and meet that goal and boost the prize.

Copy and paste our link and send it to your friends so they can be a part of the action, http://blog.tuffstuff.com/7thinning/

This week’s winners are posted below and this week’s matchups will be posted
later today so make sure you check back and get your picks posted before the start
of the first game to be eligible to win this week’s prize. As always, good luck.

While I enjoy giving prizes to several people vs. having just one weekly winner, from
this point forward contestants will be asked to provide a tie-breaker on the week’s
last game so we narrow our winner down to one. Contestants will now be
asked to predict the total score from the last game on the list and the closest to
the actual score will be deemed the winner). I’ll also require contestants
to post their e-mail address with their picks so I can track down the winners
easier.

For those unfamiliar with the Beat the Blogger contest, the idea is simple.
The Blogger posts 10 matchups each week and then selects his choices for the winners
of those matchups. Contestants enter the Beat the Blogger contest by clicking on
the “Comment” section below the post with the matchups and then select their
own 10 winners. You can also designate one of your picks as a “Doubler” and
you will receive an extra point if you’re correct so don’t forget to designate your
“Doubler” pick and increase your chances of winning. If you Beat The Blogger’s
total and post the high score for the week, you win. The regular weekly
prize is an authentic signed 8-by-10 color photo of stars such as LaDainian
Tomlinson, Drew Brees, Marshall Faulk, Santonio Holmes, Gale Sayers, Catfish
Hunter and many more. From time to time, the Blogger will sweeten the pot for
the weekly contest so look for special prize packages.


This week’s matchups (with winning picks in parenthesis)
Saturday Jan. 16/Sunday, Jan. 17
NCAA Mens Basketball

Mississippi at Tennessee
Georgia Tech at North Carolina
Georgetown at Villanova
UConn at Michigan
NBA Basketball

Phoenix at Charlotte
Miami at Oklahoma City

NFL Playoffs

Arizona at New Orleans
Baltimore at Indianapolis
Dallas at Minnesota
NY Jets at San Diego

Tiebreaker: Total points in NY Jets-San Diego game ()

Continue reading about Beat the Blogger Matchups »

Been a little busy so I haven’t been able to chime in on the recent, startling news about Mark McGwire’s admitted steroid use.

I guess the biggest surprise for me in this latest development was how many
people actually treated this great revelation as news. Didn’t we all know McGwire
was on the juice already? Wasn’t that news like 10 years ago? So what is the big deal
now that a tearful McGwire sat in front of Bob Costas and finally broke his silence
and admitted he used PEDs for more than a decade in the late 1980s and 1990s. Again,
didn’t we already know this?

I thought the real story of this episode of “As The MLB Turns” was the timing of McGwire’s
admission. Just weeks before he’s scheduled to head to the St. Louis Cardinals spring
training facilities where he’ll serve under Tony LaRussa as the team’s hitting instructor,
McGwire, after more than five years of silence, finally speaks out. Coincedence? Not
bloody likely.

McGwire said in his interview that he could no longer carry the burden of keeping
his use of steroids a secret. While there might be some truth to that, anybody can
see that through smoke screen and figure out that he came clean now because he was
instructed to do so. MLB, Bud Selig and the Cardinals all knew the media storm that
would follow McGwire at each spring training game and the constant questions from
fans and media that would likely turn into a huge distraction. So for once, MLB tried
to get out in front of an issue. My theory is they felt that if they took care of
the issue now, it would die down enough by the time spring training kicked in and
therefore not detract from the start of the new season.

I also believe that McGwire’s new position as hitting coach was only greenlighted
by Selig under the condition that he admit he used, take his beating in the media,
and let the firestorm burn out well ahead of Opening Day. The whole dog-n-pony show
was more better choreographed than most Broadway plays. Anybody who doesn’t see that
is doing exactly what MLB did for more than a decade when the steroid era first began
- and that’s turning a blind eye and hoping nobody notices.

The funniest part of the McGwire interview came when he stated that he took steroids
and other PEDs to help recovery from injuries and that he didn’t feel the juice helped
him become a better hitter. He also stated that he felt he would have hit just as
many home runs if he had never taken steroids. We all know by now that neither one
of those statements holds any water and it reminds me of a classic Seinfeld episode
that clearly defines McGwire’s way of thinking. In the episode, Jerry is forced to
take a polygraph test that he knows he will fail so he goes to George for advice on
how to beat the poly. Well-known as one of the best liars in the business, George
gives Jerry one key piece of advice before taking the test: “Jerry, just remember,
it’s not a lie if you believe it.”

Not sure who else is counseling McGwire before his interviews but apparently one member
of his team is none other than George Costanza. And hear I thought he was still working
for the Yankees.

Continue reading about Where’s the news in the McGwire admission? »