Chicago Bears Shopping List

Every offseason NFL teams use free agency and the draft as ways to build their teams and begin their quest for the Lombardi trophy. There are three main categories teams fall into during this time:

“Shoppers” – These teams spend heavy dollars on a free agent spending spree that would make Johnny Weir jealous. They go for the big splash to re-ignite a dwindling fan base or live up to demanding fans expectations. Teams like Washington, Vikings, and Cowboys typically fall into this category.

“Drafters” –These teams have established an identity and are adept at scouting and drafting players that will thrive in their system. The Colts and Patriots are two of the best at this. They draft players that most teams view as late round talents but are able to develop these players into every-down contributors at the NFL level. Their free agency spending is usually minimal and used only as a way to deepen the current roster.

“The Lions” – This one is self explanatory. Two words: Mike Williams…two more words: Charles Rodgers…

Typically the Bears fall into the second category as Drafters. Jerry Angelo prides himself on his drafting ability – which for the most part has been successful, but seems to have fallen off in the past couple years. Last year the Bears made headlines by mortgaging their future and trading a slew of draft picks for Jay Cutler. While I still think this trade will be looked upon in the future as a success, it left the draft pick cupboard bare for 2010. With no draft picks until the third round this year, the Bears are going to have to take a new “Spenders” approach for this offseason to be a success in the fans’ eyes.

The 2010 offseason is going to be an interesting one to follow as the NFL prepares to enter into an uncapped season due to the owners opting out of the collective bargaining two years early. There are quite a few intriguing free agents out on the market who will incite some serious bidding wars – and I fully expect the Bears to kick the tires on at least a couple of them.

Without further ado I give you what should be the Bears 2010 offseason shopping list. If August rolls around and the players below are in Bourbonnais for Bears camp the offseason will have been a huge success.

1a) Julius Peppers – One of the most athletic defensive ends in football, Peppers will command an 8 figure salary but would be well worth it. The Bears sorely lacked a consistent pass rush last season and Peppers would provide immediate help. If the Bears aren’t able to sign Peppers look for them to make a serious push for Aaron Kampman who would be a decent pick up in his own right.

1b) Antrel Rolle – News broke today that the Cardinals will release Rolle to avoid paying the $12M total he would be owed this season. It’s not very often that a 27 years old play-making free safety finds himself on the open market like this – He should immediately be a target for the Bears. The secondary was a bit of a mess last season and signing Rolle would be a giant step in the right direction. Zachary Bowman and Peanut Tillman are a solid corner duo who paired with Rolle and Al Afalava would make a talented secondary.

2) Brian Westbrook – Last year the Bears running game was non-existent. Matt Forte followed up his sensational rookie year with a sub-par sophomore campaign. His YPC number dropped from 3.9 to 3.6 and he had two 100 yard games – both against the Lions…not the type of stats you are looking for from your starting RB. Westbrook would be a great pick-up for the Bears. Getting him 10-15 touches a game in a Martz run offense would bring a whole new dimension to the Bears.

Any of the three free agents mentioned above would be a great fit for the Bears. There will be some less significant signings due to the lack of draft picks; however I don’t think that the Bears will use free agency to sign any more starters. They are also all but out of the running for any restricted free agents without picks to trade.

As for the draft itself, unless you get paid to follow the hundreds of draft eligible prospects like Todd McShay and Mel Kiper, it is pretty much a crapshoot from rounds 3-7. I glanced through the current ESPN/Scouts, Inc player rankings and put together a quick Bears draft that I would call a success.

3rd Round, Pick 11: Zane Beadles (OG, Utah) – A tough run blocker who could provide depth for the Bears aging offensive line.

4th Round, Pick 11: Tyson Alualu (DT, Cal) – A high motor player who might not be around at this point in the draft, but if he is the Bears will consider him. DT is a definite position of need this year.

5th Round, Pick 10: Jeff Byers (C, USC) – Olin Kruetz is getting older and looked the part for much of last season. Replacing a perennial pro bowler will not be easy, but Byers has some potential.

6th Round, Pick 12: Adam Ulatoski (OT, Texas) – A massive tackle at 6’8” has room in his frame to fill out. Could use an NFL “redshirt” year to bulk up but could potentially anchor the right side of the line with Chris Williams manning the left side.

7th Round, Pick 11: Clifton Geathers (DE, South Carolina) – Like Alualu above, Geathers might not be available at this pick. He is a physically imposing DE whose raw abilities have not led to on field production. Worth a 7th round flyer if he’s out there.

UFA: Ray Fisher (CB/KR, Indiana) – The obligatory Hoosier on the list. Fisher would bring some speed to the return game if the Bears are unable to retain Danieal Manning. He also showed flashes at CB this year, the only season he played it while at IU.

The Bears have plenty of holes to fill on both sides of the ball but the offseason outlined above would go a long way in filling them. The McCaskey’s have never been one to open up the checkbook to lure in the top free agents; I’m looking for this year to be different. Bears fans: Who do you think should be at the top of the Bears shopping list? What would be a successful offseason in your eyes?

CCIW Champions

I have had the goal for quite awhile now that I always have wanted to rush the floor either after a major upset or after a championship. Just always seemed like a cool thing to do for me. Well last night, Carthage basketball gave me that opportunity. After winning the regular season title, Carthage(16) had the number one seed in the CCIW tournament. Friday night they held of a scrappy Augustana team with a big three from their conference MVP point guard Steve Djerokovic. Last night after being down 5 with 3 minutes to go to Illinois Wesleyan, Carthage came back to win on the back of Mitch Thompson our freshman power forward, who nailed 4 clutch free throws and also had 2 key blocks. Overall, it was an intense game and helped fulfill my goal. And on top of that its was the first time ever that Carthage has won the CCIW tournament. For the full tournament notes check out here.

I wish I was more clear on D3 procedures, but I believe from here Carthage will move onto the regional tournament, and then onto nationals. That could be completely wrong but the D3 website is very hard to read at this point. from what I can gather it appears that Carthage will be the (or a) number 1 seed in the midwest regional tournament.

Off to Bulls-Pacers

...5$ balcony seats should be required for all basketball games. Will have a full report after game. Here's hoping D-Rose does something sick...

Brian Westbrook wants to be a Bear

ACSS reporter Derek Wilson is out on assignment and has heard that Brian Westbrook wants to be a Bear. He will provide more detail when he can.

Fodor posted this last week about liking the Bears getting Westbrook. He is a very good running back, but has been hurt for most of his career. Having a lighter load might help him stay healthy which is what he would do on the Bears team with Forte getting the primary amount of carries.

So what do you think, should the Bears reach out to Westbrook?

Noffke's Mission Accomplished

That's right folks. I set this dumb goal a long time ago and I finally accomplished it. I wanted to be in Stewart Mandel's Mailbag, and wanted to have my question answered in one of Bill Simmons chats.

In 2008 I accomplished my Mandel goal. Scroll to the bottom of this post and I am Steve from Chicago.

The coolest thing about writing to Mandel is he responds to your e-mails even if he doesn't post them in his mailbag. I have written him 3 or 4 other questions that I was curious about, like what does the HD stand for in Penn State's Spread HD offense, and he will write a personal e-mail in response. Real cool guy and one of my favorite sports writers.

The second part of my goal got accomplished today. I know it's a long chat, but in there you will find this

Steve (Chicago)


What's Worse. A staute built to Bud Selig, or the NBA championship trophy being named after Larry o'Brien?

Bill Simmons (2:00 PM)


The Larry O'Brien trophy. By the way, I tweeted this yesterday but I'm saying it again... I think the Selig statue should have smaller statues of baseball players roiding up in front of it while the Selig statue looks the other way. And I think it should be blacked out every Saturday afternoon during baseball season.



Amazing! This is right up there with befriending my neighbor Minnie Minoso. I am way to proud of this and yes I am a huge nerd.

New Olympic Sports for 2014

I was just thinking about this, and I have a couple of proposals to spice things up a little bit for the 2014 Sochi Olympics.

Bobsledcross - Just like skiiing and snowboarding, bobsledding involves going down a hill at high speeds. And just like those two sports, it's a whole lot more exciting watching four competitors race each other at the same time, dodging and whatnot.

So I think it's time for a straight up bobsled race - let's take the sport back to its roots.



Hockey - Would be much better in outdoor arenas, like what the NHL does every year. Also, is there any way to make women's hockey more exciting/relevant? How about allowing checking, like the boys? It's only fair.



Snowmobiles - Because, let's face it, they are awesome.



(and with that, I have the record for Most Videos in a Post. Sweet, sweet, victory.)

NFL Combine Starting Now!

It's another one of my favoritest times of the year, along with the NFL Draft, the NBA Draft, March Madness, and New Years Day college football.

Forty-five minutes north of Bloomington, almost every decent NFL prospect is gathering in Indianapolis to be interviewed, weighed, measured, evaluated, worked out, and ogled by the cabal of creepy old men we know as "general managers" and "scouts." Stocks will rise, stocks will fall, and Mel Kiper Jr...

...won't sleep for days.

Four IU football players are making the trip; tackle Rodger Saffold, who was impressive at the East-West Shrine game and has seen his stock rise, defensive ends Jammie Kirlew and Greg Middleton (Kirlew projects as a LB, Middleton projects as an underachiever), and safety Nick Polk (ask Shark what he thinks of Polk in the NFL).

I'm a little surprised not to see Matt Mayberry's name on the list, or Ray Fisher for that matter! Still, every year non-combine invitees make rosters around the league. One side note: With all that defensive talent, how were we so godawful on defense last year?

Northwestern, meanwhile, is sending three players to Indy: QB Mike Kafka, corner Sherrick McManus, and defensive end Corey Wootton, who projects as a 1st-2nd rounder.

Last year, NFL.com really stepped their game up with awesome coverage of the combine on their website and TV channel. Just great TV if you've got nothing to do at four in the afternoon. You can peruse their highly informative website here, and celebrate the fact that you're not paying ESPN Insider rates for the exact same information.

Tiger Swings Trading

This will excite business nerds like myself out there. I found the above picture and this intresting article on espn.com. It's amazing the power of Tiger.

Julius Peppers = A Chicago Bear?

According to NFL.com the Bears are in pursuit of him. Man, wouldn't that be amazing? I really think he is the kind of guy that can help turn this defense around. We have been really missing a consistent pass rush the last few years, and someone of his caliber could generate said rush. The secondary would be immediately improved and maybe we could see the Bears crack the top 10 in defenses again. Perhaps he could also help out the Bulls during the offseason!

Oh yeah, and one more thing... 6 posters this week: Mark, Steve, Dan, Derek, Tim, and Myself equals an all-time new high for posters in one week. So, in the short span since Steve's post we've already broken the most comments mark and amount of posters to make a post in one week. What other records are there that we can break?

Shamu Kills a 3rd Person

A story has emerged on CNN about "Shamu," the killer whale's stage name. Apparently, it killed a trainer today. This is the third life that this Shamu has taken (All whale's at Seaworld are Shamu on stage, otherwise they have real names). My question is this: Why the hell is this whale not dead? Apparently the first person was hiding in the park at night and jumped into the cage. Okay, fine, I'll let that pass on sheer stupidity. But then the whale kills a 20 year old who slips into the tank and this lady. What the hell? You could have saved at least one person's life by executing the damn whale when you had a chance!

If a person kills two people it's likely they are going to be executed. So why in the hell are we not applying that principle to a freakin' (censored for audience) whale? Because it's wild, it doesn't know better? If this had been a great white shark, or any shark for that matter, it'd be dead. Which makes even less sense seeing as how (1) they aren't as smart as whales; and (2) they are more dangerous than whales. I understand Killer Whales are a dangerous species, but not as dangerous as a human being. So, lets put this thing out of its misery before we lose anymore lives when someone slips.

I bet you're asking yourself why is this in a sports blog? The answer is simple: Hunting Whales is a sport in my book!

Olympic Hockey

I, like many people, have caught Olympic fever and have watched very little outside of skiing hockey and my personal favorite curling. However, Last night during the Canada Germany hockey game, I saw the most impressive thing I have seen all Olympics.


What a laser. At first I thought the announcer was nuts but overall impressive shot.

I also liked that after they reversed the call they sounded the horn. Nice touch.

Weekday Watch: Olympic Hockey Quarterfianls

Today is the Quarterfinals round for Olympic Hockey and there are tons of great games all over the place. (All Times Eastern)


USA vs Switzerland (3 PM)

The United States already beat the Swiss 3-1, but Swiss goalie Jonas Hiller has been play better since them. The USA should win, but shouldn't take the Swiss too lightly

Who I want to win: USA
Who I think will win: USA


Canada vs Russia (7:30 PM)

A lot of people predicted this would be the Gold Medal game and feel that these teams are still the best two this year. I think this will be the match of the tournament. The NHL's two biggest young stars are going at it (Sid the Kid and Alexander the Great). If you enjoyed USA vs Canada, please turn this game on, you'll love it. SI's Mike Farber does a great job breaking the game down more in depth here.

Who I want to win: Tough choice, but Canada
Who I think will win: Canada

Czech Republic v Finland (10 PM)

Each of these teams finished in second place in thier respective groupings. Each have a handful of NHL players. Both teams have played in Gold Medal games before (Czech '98, Finland '06). Each team has the potential to get back there.

Who I want to win: Czech Republic
Who I think will win: Finland

Sweden vs Slovakia (Midnight)

Two Blackhawks will be playing for Slovakia which is a team many had a possible suprise team in the tournamnet. Sweden has been playing well and not lost yet, so it will be a tough chore for Hossa and his friends.

Who I want to win: Slovakia
Who I think will win: Sweden

Enjoy some hockey today, and turn on Russia vs Canada, trust me you'll love it.

One intresting statistic I found on si.com to close.

10.6 -- Canadian viewers, in millions, that watched the U.S.-Canada game Sunday on CTV, the most-watched sports program in Canadian history, according to CTV. The previous record of 10.3 million viewers watched Canada beat the U.S. in the gold medal game at Salt Lake.

Westbrook Released: You Know the Deal

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=4939019

Rather than pay Brian Westbrook the 7.5 million they would have owed him in 2010, the Eagles released their former All-Pro running back today.

There has been talk of the Bears going after a running back in free agency to pair with Matt Forte. Obviously, LT has been the focus of much of this. BUT - In a Mike Martz offense, nobody would be a better change-of-pace back than Westbrook.

The Bears would have to be crazy not to try and get the Villanova grad on board for next year, along with Torry Holt, who has repeatedly said he wants to come to Chicago. Please, Jerry Angelo. I had mixed feelings about Tomlinson. But Westbrook has been in timeshares his whole career. I know he has been banged up repeatedly, but when he's healthy, this is one of the league's finest RBs, and easily the best pass-catching back in the entire league.

An upgrade over Kevin Jones and Garrett Wolfe? A team guy, a class act, and a great addition to the locker room? This is a no brainer.

Scott Cochrane: Talking the Talk

For a second straight season, one of Alabama's best pro prospects is making news for all the wrong reasons. Remember Andre Smith (pictured above) looking like Homer Simpson on a treadmill last season? ("I'm disgusted, yet I can't look away... it's like a lava lamp!")

This is the man responsible for the flab : Alabama's strength and conditioning coach, Scott Cochran.


"I'm tellin' you to take it! That's all ya need to know!"

Uhh, thanks Coach. Because if we all listen to you, we'll end up looking like Terrence Cody?




...if I'm an NFL team, that's the kind of girth I want out of MY first-rounder! How does a strength and conditioning coach keep his job when his guys end up looking like they ate Rolando McClain ?? Speaking of which, has anybody seen Rolando lately?

White Sox Start Spring Training turns Non-Story into Story

The White Sox starting spring training and since it’s early in camp, there really is nothing to talk about. The reporters want to report something so we have a story that really isn’t a story dominating the White Sox headlines.

“Ozzie Gullien Names Mark Buehrle Opening Day Starter”

This is a story? I mean, this is as close to the biggest no brainer there is in Chicago sports. Mark Buehrle is the face of the franchise (no offense to team captain and close runner up Paulee). He’s the longest tenured White Sox, he’s the player who catches every ceremonial first pitch (when he’s not pitching), has a perfect game, no hitter, multiple all-star appearances and has made the playoffs 3 times (2000, 2005, 2008) with a World Series ring. So yeah, that’s the guy I want starting opening day for me.

Another reason pitching Buehrle opening day makes sense is setting up the leftie then righty rotation. In my opinion the White Sox top three pitchers are Peavy, Buehrle and Danks with Floyd being a close 4th. If the White Sox throw Buehrle (lefty) first, Peavy (rightie) second, that means they can throw Danks (leftie) 3rd and keep the alternating leftie, righty intact.

Another reason I find this a non story is who really cares who pitches the first game. Each pitcher if they pitch healthy will pitch roughly the same amount of games. I’d be more concerned with who is going to start game one of the playoffs.

The good news about this story though is it seems Peavy and Buehrle are getting along great with each other and teammates. Pitching Coach Don Cooper discussed starting Peavy first at Soxfest. Three days after the discussion, Peavy turned it down saying it was Buehrle’s team and he deserves the start. After Ozzie announced Buehrle as the opening day starter, Buehrle said if it were up to him, Peavy would start because of his dominant stuff. Apparently nobody wants to start opening day, but it’s good to see the players respecting each other and getting along after only being teammates for a short time.

I always appreciate hearing stories about the White Sox, but there are some other story’s that interest me a little more right now. How is Beckham looking at 2nd base? How is Jordan Danks progressing (Yes John’s brother)? Is Tyler Flowers going to make the big league team this year? Is Dayan Viciedo playing good enough defense so he can make the big league roster? Those are the questions I want answered. But I guess I’m being hypocritical as I am talking about this non-story just like everyone else.

Hoosier Football Attendance Figures Growing

The NCAA has released the final 2009 football season attendance figures and as expected the list contains the likes of Michigan (1), Penn State (2), and Ohio State (3). In all the Big Ten had 7 schools rank in the top 30 in total attendance figures for the season (Wisconsin (15), Michigan State (19), Iowa (21), and Illinois (29) were the other 4 in case you were wondering – and I’m sure you were). The full NCAA release can be found here.

All you Hoosier fans can stop looking for Indiana on that list of top 30 numbers – they aren’t on there and most likely won’t be for quite awhile (unless the NCAA starts allowing booze to be sold in their stadiums). I’m a realist and I know that it takes awhile to grow a fan-base that has never experienced winning.

Where you will find Indiana on that list is #3 in “2009 Division I football Largest Average Attendance Increase From Previous Year”. In 2009 Indiana’s average attendance jumped from 31,782 to 41,833 – A per game increase of 10,051. For a perennial cellar dweller coming off of a 3-9 season you don’t usually see numbers like that.

You’d like to think that those numbers correlate to a winning season for the Hoosiers, however the 2009 season will largely be looked upon as a 4-8 catastrophe that saw the Hoosiers once again snatch defeat from the jaws of victory on a few occasions (The 28-3 blown lead at NW I watched in person comes to mind). Those 41,833 fans no doubt were disappointed in the Hoosiers 2009 season, however, there were glimpses of where this young team is headed (Hint: Up…). There will be more to come on this once spring football starts up.

The winning vs attendance argument has been going on for years at IU and has largely been a chicken vs egg situation.

Enter Fred Glass…AKA “Freddy Good Times”.

Glass has taken the approach of “if you build it (and make it really fun) they will come”. Prior to the 2009 season IU opened up their brand new addition to Memorial Stadium and unveiled some new marketing strategies to get people in the door and according to those NCAA numbers – it worked. Glass preached a brand new “Gameday Experience” that included making the games more family friendly as well as offering students significantly discounted tickets.

Glass has come under fire in the past for retaining Bill Lynch and saying “Contracts need to mean something at IU” as well as moving a 2010 home football game against Penn State to Fedex Field for $3 million. I think that he is a guy who understands the big picture. Rome wasn’t built in a day…and IU football success will not be either. The attendance figures are a nice start – now it is up to Lynch and his players to work on that elusive winning part.

Naperville: Home of Champions

According to ESPN Naperville is the home of champions! That's right all you Evanston or Arlington Heights natives out there, Naperville is a champion.



On top of this, we can't forget that Naperville is also one of Stephen Colbert's hometown hero towns.

United States vs. Canada Tonight

So tonight is the highly anticipated matchup between the United States and Canada in men’s hockey. I have heard some people call in the biggest game in sports. Those of you who know me know that I disagree with that statement. I believe that the United States win over the Soviet Union 30 years ago tomorrow is one of the best moments in US sports. It had more meaning 30 years ago and still would if there is an upset tonight.

I don’t see tonight’s matchup anymore than just a game between border rivals where both teams are made up of NHLers and for bragging rights for teammates that are on opposing sides. A factor that downplays the importance of this game is the fact that each team makes the medal round anyways, so the US could lose this game and still have a chance at a medal - just means they won’t get a bye. In fact the network doesn’t see this as an important game as they will be showing the ever so popular Ice Dancing on its primary station.

Seriously………..Ice Dancing?

You will have to tune in on MSNBC to watch this game. While I believe anything can happen I don’t see the United States pulling this out. The offense and defense have looked out of sync both games so far so goalie Ryan Miller must have a great game to have a chance. Canada is coming of a shootout win over the Swiss the other night so they will look to have a better performance. So enjoy tonight’s game if the US wins they get a bye, and if they lose then they don’t get a bye no big deal.

To steal something from Steve-

Who do I want to win: United States
Who do I think will win: Canada-A

EDIT: US Wins! I was delivery driving, but apparently I missed an awesome game. -MF

Minnesota Runs Hoosiers Out of the Barn: What Now for Indiana?

It's rough being an Indiana fan at the moment. Actually, I'm guessing it's pretty rough being on the team too. After losing another yawner tonight at the Golden Gophers' venerable venue, IU's skid stands at eight games.

Where do I start with this team? A month ago, Crean and the Hoosiers went on the road and beat Penn State 67-61 to even their record at 9-9 (3-3 Big Ten). Things were looking up, as Indiana had its third chance of the season at extending a winning streak to three games with lowly Iowa coming to town.

As they say, that's why they play the games. Indiana's players came out cocky and left with their tails between their legs. They shot less than 36 percent from the field and failed to hit a single three. They were outrebounded 39-23 by a Hawkeye team that nobody will ever mistake for contenders.

Since then, we have seen some heartbreak in a pair of painfully close losses to NCAA Tournament teams Illinois and No. 4 Purdue. And, more recently, we have seen a team that has simply lost the ability to keep games close.

In its last five, this Indiana team has lost by margins of seventeen (twice), twenty-eight, fourteen, and twenty-three. They haven't scored more than 61 points since taking Purdue to the wire on February 4.

There are a couple of reasons for the current skid, and none stand out more to me than Indiana's inability to share the ball. They haven't managed more than eleven assists, total, in any of the last five games. Minnesota got twenty-three tonight. What's the point of starting both Jeremiah Rivers and Jordan Hulls if neither of them can play point guard effectively?

Verdell Jones is averaging almost as many (3.3) assists per game as Rivers (3.8), and Hulls averages fewer than two despite starting most of Indiana's games in the Big Ten schedule.

But Indiana is not bad at all in several categories. They're fourth in the Big Ten in rebounding, and second in free throws made. Even Jeremiah has gotten his act together of late at the line, significantly improving his percentage since sinking a clutch pair to almost topple the Illini, way back at the start of this losing streak. And turnovers are down this season by almost six per game, a noticeable improvement.

With only four games left before the Big Ten Tournament in Indianapolis (I got my ticket! See you in the balcony, baby), can Indiana hope to reach ten victories? Here's what they need to do to steal a win as the calendar ticks over into March:

1) Balance the scoring load. Verdell Jones and Christian Watford have been IU's only real scoring threats this season. Against Minnesota, Devan Dumes scored twenty off the bench, but no other Hoosier managed more than ten. Guys like Jordan Hulls, Tom Pritchard, Derek Elston, and Bobby Capobianco have got to get into the offense with more consistency, and their point guards need to get better at finding them open looks.

2) Play better defense. When you struggle to score like Indiana does, you're not going to win any games giving up seventy points or more. Whether in man or 2-3 zone, Indiana has got to get more aggressive. Jeremiah Rivers, in particular, must accept the assignment of taking on and shutting down the other team's leading scorer every single game. Overall, the Hoosiers must establish some kind of defensive identity, or they're just going to keep getting walked over.

3) Go with two guards to start games. Starting both Rivers and Hulls means you have at least one point guard playing out of position. Hulls can shoot the three like a SG, but is severely undersized and not much of a threat to drive. Rivers can defend the 2, but is not a threat to score.

Meanwhile, playing three guards leaves Christian Watford and Tom Pritchard outmatched inside against bigger teams, and doesn't allow Watford to create like the swingman he is. He needs to be able to move around, not be stuck in the post.

So why not go with a two-guard lineup, as Tom Crean has pondered in the past? Bring either Rivers or Hulls off the bench, and start Capobianco or Elston at the 4. This, at least, would give Indiana a physical presence to start games, and not many Big Ten squads can match up with a frontline going 6'8", 6'9", 6'9". Play to your strengths (rebounding) and not to your weaknesses (assists, turnovers, scoring).

With home dates against Wisconsin and Northwestern, and road games at Purdue and Iowa, the Hoosiers face four teams that have already beaten them once during the last disastrous month. The current scheme isn't working, and it's not because IU doesn't have the talent to compete with the best of the conference - taking Purdue and Illinois to the wire proves that they do, even without star frosh Maurice Creek.

Tom Crean has got to earn his money and make some changes, or Indiana fans will be left with serious doubts as to the progress of this epic rebuilding project.

2010 NBA Free Agency Part 2

So all the trades are in. The Bulls have cleared enough money to sign, potentially, one max FA and another player around 6-10 million. The Knicks have cleared enough room to sign two max free agents and then there are the Clippers who have near enough cap room for one max free agent. On its face, everyone is talking about how the Knicks are going to end up with Lebron and someone else. I just don't see it. If Lebron wanted to play with Knicks alongside another max free agent, they would have no other supporting cast. They would have no bench except for undrafted free agents and a late first round pick.

So, really, the only thing attracting Lebron to NY would be the promotions, a coach, and a great second player. The rest of the team would suck. That would not be enough to win a championship, or multiple championships, and NY has strained itself for the next few years in terms of being able to bring in talent (they gave up their pick next year as well I believe).

Now you go to the Bulls. The second largest market (since LA is split with two teams). A young playoff caliber team with a budding superstar. Lebron would get his wish to play along side another superstar, and would also have a team that is already talented. The promotions in Chicago would be huge, especially since Michael Jordan would also an even closer connection of his.

Minus Lebron (pre-Antwan Jamison) I'd say the Bulls were a better team than the Cavs. And to be honest, if I'm LeBron and I want to leave Cleveland (as I'm sure any rational human being would) I would choose Chicago over any of the other cities. The talent is there, the money is there, the promotions are there, and so are the connections. New York would only offer the promotions and money.

Of course, all the LeBron to NY hype is b/c ESPN is right outside NY and they cannot see beyond their own walls. So, I say bring on LeBron. He would change the face of this team immediately.

MLB's version of Hard Knocks to feature the Chicago White Sox

It is being reported that the MLB network will be running a show similiar to HBO's Hard Knocks where they will follow around a baseball team from spring training until the dead line. The show called The Club will be featuring the Chicago White Sox front office, mainly Jerry Reinsdorf, Kenny Williams and Ozzie Gullien.

My first thought upon hearing this is, how many times are they going to have to bleep Ozzie on the air? Can we set an over/under line high enough for this? I think this will be a fantastic show with the great personalities in the White Sox organization and a show I know I would watch every week. The problem is, I don't get the MLB network, so I'm going to need to find another way to watch the show.

So what do you think? You going to watch this show?

Chicago Bulls Trade Tryrus Thomas

The Chicago Bulls traded Tyrus Thomas to the Charolette Bobcats for "Flip" Murray, Acie Law IV and a protected #1. This move along with the Salmons move should allow the Bulls enough cap space to sign two max deals this offseason.

Acie Law IV was a great player at Texas A&M but has not done much since joining the NBA. "Flip" Murray has bounced around the league, playing for 6 different teams since being drafted in the second round in 2002.

Chicago Quick Hits

Jordan


Micheal Jordan's 47th birthday came and went the other day.Mike and Mike had an intresting debate on which day has the best birthdays for sports atheletes. Thanks to Jordan and Jim Brown being born on the same day, it's tough to get a better day to be born on then that.

White Sox in Talks with Damon

I'm not sure how I feel about getting him. He's still productive, but don't we have enough old outfielders now? I think the goal for the White Sox this offseason was to get the 2003 All-Star team. Visquel, Jones, Pierre and Damaon were all fantastic back in the day, but aren't they getting a little old?

Flying Tomato Collects Halfpipe Gold

That's right, guys, an Olympics post! Today was a very good day for Team USA, as Lindsey Vonn, Shani Davis (the Terrell Owens of speedskaters), and Shaun White each took the gold in their respective events. (downhill ski, 1,000 meter, halfpipe)



Check out this ridiculous video of White's final run. Try and ignore the annoying kids in the background. Tomato lands his patented Double McTwist 1260 on his last jump despite a lack of speed... pretty damn impressive!

(Video a property of NBC. We'll see how long they let it stay on YouTube)

(Answer: Less than a day. Way to go, NBC.)

EDIT: New video! Now a LEGAL sample of the Double McTwist 12. Man, that's a cool trick.

John Salmons Traded

But for who? According to ESPN Chicago (the only reputable site affiliated with Walt Disney) Salmons has been asked to sit out of the game and will not even leave the hotel in anticipation of a trade. Rumor has it that the Bulls were trying to shove Salmons and Tyrus down Houston's throat, but it's also been said that Chicago's chances of getting McGrady are slim. I guess we will have to wait and see who we have landed, but that is an extra 5.8 million off the books next year (which means 5.8 million more for LeBron). Btw, who else is extraordinarily pumped up for Saint Patrick's Day weekend? I had a blast last year, I intend to have a blast again this year! Best weekend of the year!

NFL Rule Changes?

I was reading an article today about the Big Hurt's hall of fame chances especially since he only played DH and didn't do anything on defense. That got me to thinking about the NFL and how there aren't any players that play both sides anymore. From there I started thinking about what the NFL would look like if they made a few interesting rule changes. Then I came up with one rule change that would dramatically effect the game:

For every snap that you play on either offense or defense you have to play the same number on the opposite side of the ball.

What if you did have to play your QB on defense the same number of snaps as he played on offense. Think about the entirely different strategy in the game. You'd probably have to bench some of your star players for a good portion of the game. The strategy would be entirely different. Doing that, and reducing the amount of TV time outs and maybe even time between plays could make for an even more interesting NFL. Of course, they'd probably have to expand their rosters in order for their to be substitutions at a much higher rate. What do you guys think?

The Big Hurt Retires

Tom Verducci says it best here.

"Frank Thomas is the best player in White Sox history."

Texas to the Big Ten

To counter Fodor's argument, there are tons of reasons Texas would join the Big Ten.

First and foremost, They already tried to get in once! From the Big Ten Wikipedia Page

UT next approached the Big Ten. Having added Penn State in 1990, the Big Ten was now made of universities that, in the view of UT officials, matched UT's profile — large state schools with strong academic reputations. Berdahl liked the fact that all 11 conference members belonged to the American Association of Universities.

Yet, distance remained a disadvantage. Iowa, the closest Big Ten school to Austin, was 856 miles away.

But after adding Penn State in 1990, Big Ten officials had put a four-year moratorium on expansion. Although admitting interest, Big Ten bosses ultimately rejected UT's overtures.

That basically sums up why Texas would want to join. It's a big state school and wants to be in a league with other big state schools. It wants to increase it's academic standing and it's research ability which is something the Big Ten can provide.

The other reason is $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$. The Big 12 has an uneven distribution of revenue. Revenue is distributed by appearances on TV. This is good for UT when they are doing well in basketball and football, but what happens when thier sports are down? The dollars go down as well.

Also, with this uneven revenue distribution, every Big Ten school made more money then them last year. Adding Texas, and it's major TV markets, would increase the amount of money for every school including Texas.

So the main question for Texas is, is the increase in revenue worth the increase in travel expenses?


As for me with Big Ten expansion, I have adopted a go big or go home mentality. I don't want to add a school just to add a school. I want a school that will make the confrence great. So here's my list of schools I want to join in order.

1. Texas
2. Nebraska

That's it. I don't want Pitt or West Virginia or Rutgers. I want those two schools. Unless of course we become the Big 14 then I'll take Mizzou too.

No Way This Happens, But...

What if this was the new Big Ten member?

...definitely fits the profile, but I dunno why they'd ever leave their current conference.

Now What?

The NFL is finally over. Baseball Spring Training doesn't start for another month (and who really cares anyways?). Baseball itself doesn't start for another 2 months. The NBA and NHL are in their dog legs, just end the seasons already lets get to the playoffs. March Madness is one month away still. So, that begs the question: what the hell are we supposed to do for the next month? Yes, we can watch Hockey and Basketball, but again, nothing too dramatic is likely to happen. College Basketball is fun to watch, but really, I'm gearing up for the conference tournies and the big tourny. Aside from this month being one of the coldest, it is also the worst for sports. So, now what?

Super Bowl!

Good morning, everyone! I'm heading in to work my customary Super Bowl Triple, 11am-1am, so if you're in Bloomington, go ahead and order some pizza. (And don't forget to tip your driver).

For the record, I have the Saints by 1, let's say 27-26. On a failed 2 point conversion.

Also, Indiana vs. Northwestern is at 2 today. I think I'm rooting for the Wildcats again this year, because they have a shot at the NCAA tourney, but it's a tough call.

Enjoy the game, and don't overeat. Or do. Whatever.

Rod Marinelli the Bears New Defensive Coordinator

So, "Rodimus Prime," as someone on the Chicago Bears Message Board calls him, was named Defensive Coordinator today. Funny how inept this organization is. The Bears could have hired both Martz and Marinelli the day of the press conference, but refused to. I don't know whether or not Hot Rod is going to be a good DC, I sure hope he is, I just don't get the Bears.

The Chicago Bears are worth around 1.5 billion dollars. What organization worth that much money do you know of that runs its business so ineptly? If the Bears weren't backed by the NFL and instead had to fend off other competitors, like any other normal business, they probably would have crumbled.

What has it been, 6 weeks? To hire the same people everyone knew you were going to hire day 1? Jesus! If I were Virginia McCaskey I would resist dying everyday simply b/c I knew that as soon as I died George was gonna give me the back of his hand!

Is Tony Dungy the Most Overrated NFL Coach of All-Time?

I just read an article about Tony Dungy predicting the Colts to beat down on the Saints, which I disagree with, and it got me to thinking: Is Tony Dungy the most overrated coach the NFL has ever witnessed?

Well seeing as how I only have a very limited knowledge of NFL coaching, I cannot make a real good argument for ever. But I do think he is the most overrated coach of this era. Yes he came in and gave life to the once lowly Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but he couldn't take arguably the best defense of the early 2000's to a Superbowl, let alone win one (yes I know, the Ravens were the best D of the 00's). I mean let's really break this down.

Dungy with the Bucs:

6-10 in 96
10-6 in 97
8-8 in 98
11-5 in 99
10-6 in 00
9-7 in 01

Record with Bucs: 54-42 (.562)
Average finish in NFC Central: 2.5 Take your pick either second or third place
Year after Dungy left: Bucs went to Superbowl and won it.
Year Before Dungy Arrived: Bucs went 7-9 and finished last in the division (really? shocking).

Then, somehow, he gets a gift of a job with the Colts after this very mediocre performance.

Record with Colts:

10-6 in 02 (2nd place)
12-4 in 03 (1st place)
12-4 in 04 (1st place)
14-2 in 05 (1st place)
12-4 in 06 (1st place)
13-3 in 07 (1st place)
12-4 in 08 (2nd place)

Record with Colts: 85-27 (.833)
Average Finish: 1.28 (or first place)
Year before Dungy arrived: 6-10 (4th in AFC East)
Year after Dugny Leaves: Colts are PLAYING FOR A SUPERBOWL

Overall Record: 139-69 (.668)

Look, after a great coach leaves your team is supposed to get worse. Yet somehow, every year after Dungy has left the teams he left have gone to the Superbowl. He could only win one Superbowl with perhaps the best QB of all time and he may have been the reason that the Colts could never beat the Patriots during their run. I honestly believe that he has cost Manning some Superbowl wins. Without Manning, Dungy would be like all of the other coaches that were on his staff: employed and then fired. This of course is excluding one: Lovie Smith (who, notably, should have been fired this year). It seems to me that Dungy just landed in the best position of all, on teams with exceptional talent.

Recruit them while they're young?

Lane Kiffin is making the news again, and this time it’s by recruiting a 7th grader. According to this article (linked below) from ESPN by Ramona Shelburne, 13 year old David Sills committed to play for USC when he graduates high school……in six years.

This brings up an issue I have with college recruiting today in basketball and now football. We have heard stories of basketball coaches offering 8th graders scholarships and now it’s in football. The problem I have with this is that to me it seems like your putting pressure on a young kid to make a decision at a young age. How many decisions did you make that would make an impact in your life at age 13?

Another problem with coaches doing this is you don’t know if that kid will be good at the next level. For example, a kid on the 8th grade basketball that is 6 feet tall is obviously going to be good considering everyone around him is maybe 5’4’’ 5’5’’. Sills is said to be 6 feet which is tall for a 7th grader in my mind of course he’s going to look good. What if these kids don’t grow, that 6 foot basketball player may only grow another inch or two and becomes over matched by the time he is a senior in high school, doesn’t look so good now does he.

The other problem with recruiting this early and having them commit early is that these athletes still have time to change their minds. We see it all the time with IU football recruits, a good recruit that commits when he is a junior and by the time he is senior he realizes that better schools are recruiting them so they go their instead, or they just decide they don’t want to go to IU anymore. We see these athletes change their mind constantly (Jeremy Finch).

It was tough enough for non athletes to make a decision on where to go for their education. What if these coach stop recruiting for this one position cause an athlete commits as a junior and the coach thinks he’s a lock, that athlete could change his mind and now the coach is stuck with nothing (Bruce Weber).

The point being is that there is a problem with recruiting an athlete when he is young and sometimes really young as it is in this case. Recruiting an athlete for any sport men’s or women’s (however I’ve never seen this problem in Women’s collegiate sports) that just became a teenager is wrong in my opinion and needs to be addressed by the NCAA. My way of fixing this is maybe making a rule where you can’t start recruiting (by this I mean showing interest) a kid till maybe after his/her freshman year and can’t offer a scholarship till he/she is a junior in high school. That is just my opinion, anyone else have any thoughts about this?


http://sports.espn.go.com/los-angeles/ncf/news/story?id=4888515

MF's Post of the Year

Some of my personal favorites...

BEST PICTURE (my article division): Kevin Shaffer, new Bears tackle.
BEST ARTICLE NOMINEES:

My Number Nine Sports Moment - March Madness YogiStyle - Not only was this an awesome day, but I had fun writing about it. Someday, we'll go back and finish that Top Ten Sports Moments list.

Five Reasons to Love the NIT - Back in the day, when I wasn't too lazy to put a ton of hyperlinks into my articles.

New Years Day Live Blog - Seriously, this was one of the tougher things I've done in writing. I have a ton of respect for people that live-blog games on the regular.

IU All-Decade Team - Classic 'research project' type piece that got my inner history major going.

The Armchair Superstar Mock Draft (collaboration with Snuffles) - We need to do more of these. Too bad the Bears decided they don't need or want any more draft picks, ever.

Tom Crean Year One in Review - My first piece as a B/R featured columnist for IU basketball.

Anyway, enough memory lane. I honestly don't know which one of these to pick!

A couple more favorite pics...

Purdue Gives Hope for Indiana

Indiana and Purdue had a game that makes this rivalry so much fun. Purdue is clearly the better team, but played a back and forth game with the upstart Hoosiers. I know it was a frustrating loss for the Hoosiers, but hope is just on the other side of the floor.

Matt Painter took over in 2005, he played out Keady's players and then started bringing in his own great recruiting classes. These teams were young and talented but couldn't put it together. Now look at them, they are all upper classmen and making big plays in big moments.

This is going to be the Hoosiers in two years, everyone is good, but not too good to jump to the NBA. This team is going to grow up together and learn from tough losses like this. In two years, I fully expect this IU team to be making a Final Four run just like i expect this year's Purdue team to do the same.

I have talked to my Dad about games like this. It's frustrating to loose them, but we have to remember, they are young and inexperienced. These games are no where near as frustrating as the Marco, DJ or Eric games where we knew our team was better then they were playing.

Don't be down Hoosier fans, hope is on its way, and we can look to our biggest rival for hope.

World Cup 2010: Fantasy Draft

Fodor and I were discussing this earlier and we are both in, I want to see if any other ACSS readers want to be in.

The event would involve 8 people. Each person puts in the same amount and then an order is chosen 1-8. Then each person drafts a Country in a draft in snake order. Whatever person drafts the winning team wins.

I think this is a great idea for very novice soccer fans as it will give them a reason to watch and a team to cheer for. This can allow anyone to get into the world cup.

Fodor and I are going to be in, anybody else out there intrested? Let us know

2010 NBA Free Agency

Well, here we are about half way through the NBA season and the biggest story isn't the Lakers, Cavs, Magic, Celtics, or any other team. It is what is going to happen this offseason. The free agent market is PACKED with Super Stars. You have:

Amare Stoudamire (If he opts out of his current contract)
D'Wayne Wade
Lebron James
Chris Bosh
Joe Johnson
Ray Allen
Paul Pierce
Dirk Nowitzki
Yao Ming
Kobe Bryant
Carlos Boozer

While many of these players do have player options or early termination options, this is still quite an impressive list. The Bulls easily have room to sign one of these guys, the question becomes if the Bulls get rid of Luol Deng, Kirk Hinrich, or John Salmons, will they have enough money to sign two of these guys?

I think yes. Ideally, with the group of players that they have already, which two should they sign? I don't know. If this was an ideal world, which it's not, I would hope they go with the two best players available IMO. And that is D'wayne Wade and LeBron James. I know, I know, the Bulls need low post scoring. However, you don't need anything when you have these two. That team would probably look like this:

Derrick Rose PG
D'wayne Wade SG
LeBron James SF
Joakim Noah C
Taj Gibson/Tyrus Thomas PF

However, if you are building a complete team than I think the Bulls should go Lebron and Bosh. Imagine if somehow a miracle occurred and the Bulls got rid of Hinrich and Salmons for expiring contracts. This would be their team:

Derrick Rose PG
LeBron James SG
Luol Deng SF
Chris Bosh PF
Joakim Noah C

That is a championship winner right there. There is way too many weapons on that roster. However, what I really think will happen is the Bulls will sign one max free agent and settle for someone like a Joe Johnson (which I have no problem with).

Derrick Rose PG
Joe Johnson SG
Luol Deng SF
Chris Bosh PF
Joakim Noah C

That is a team that can win the East if you ask me. However, I'm still going to hope and pray that the Bulls go balls out!

Armchair Superstar Turns 1

One year ago Mark Fodor and myself decided to embark on an adventure to have our own sports blog. ACSS is what has become of this idea. As of writing this we have had 19,519 hits for our page (so close to 20,000). We all know that 90-95% of these hits are Mark and myself, with the other 5% coming from Mark’s mom (who never posts any comments). It’s been a fun year and it’s time to look back and see some of the good, and not so great moments. Needless to say, enjoy the post, re-read some of the old posts, it’s amazing how good, bad and funny some of the things we have posted on this site. That was the best part of creating this post, just seeing what we were talking about at different times of the year last year.

Stats on Posts

We currently have a stable of 10 different posters who have posted a total of 360 different posts, just shy of Fodor’s year goal for 365. Now, I bet you are wondering, who had the most posts for the year. Including this post Mark Fodor and I are tied at 155.5 (we co-wrote one piece together) posts for the year. Fodor has led the blog in total posts for most the year. I passed him once in the last full week of October, only to have him reclaim the lead the next week. I have caught up to him again at this tie. Here is a breakdown of posts by writer.


Fodor 155.5
Noffke 155.5
Ryan 23
Tim 5
AJ 5
Alec 4
Dan 4
Colin 3
Derek 3
Ben 2

Fodor led the blog with the most posts in one month with 20 posts in February 2009. Who said sports is dead in February? I hold the record for most post in a week with 10. This happened on 11/08-11/15. This is also the record week for ACSS with 18 posts. The ACSS month with the most posts was October with 40. The ACSS record for week with most different posters was 08/30-09/06 where we had 5 different people post an article.

In honor of our one year anniversary I decided to hand out some awards for the blog. I have named the awards the ACeSS (pounced Aces)






Worst Writer of the Year!

The Winner is…Stephen Noffke

I clearly win the award for worst writer. Leaving aside the inconsistent posting with few post over a couple a weeks, one need to go no further then this post to figure out why I am the worst writer. I have 0, that’s right 0, grammar skills. I couldn’t form a cohesive sentence to save my life. We also can’t forget about the numerous typos that are any given post. On top of all this, I also have an inability to finish what I started. Fodor and I did a countdown of our Top 10 sports moments, I stopped at 5. I also was going around the NFL to name which players on each team’s roster would have their number retired or make the hall of fame. I got through 2 of the 8 divisions. So clearly I earn this award.



Laziest Post of The Year!

The Winner is…. Important Story I Can’t Get Through by Mark Fodor


Instead of reading the story, Fodor read the first little bit of it, got bored, and posted it on the website hoping someone would explain. Luckily the ACSS future writer Ryan is in law school and was able to break it down for him. Bravo for Fodor to be too lazy to read the article, and barely explain anything in your post.



The Article with the most Comments!

The Winner is…. A tie Urlacher Out For Season: Paging Derrick Brooks? , posted by Fodor, and Random Trivia of the Week, RB College , posted by me, with 7 each

I would like to give extra credit to the Urlacher post because the Trivia encourages people to post, while the Urlacher post just led to many comments.



Best Pictured Posted

The Winner is….



This picture is found in the Depressing Landscape of College Football by me. I really like this picture, the way it uses all the different football helmets to show where each team is located. I know most of you will not agree with me, but oh well.



Article with the best Pictures Posted

The nomiees are…

Would You Rather: See Notre Dame or Chicago Bears Win this Weekend By Stephen Noffke

Dissecting ESPN’s Scouts Inc. NFL Rankings By Position: The Quarterbacks by AJ Etsch


Dissecting ESPN’s Scouts Inc. NFL Rankings By Position: The Running Backs By AJ Etsch


Dissecting ESPN’s Scouts Inc. NFL Rankings By Position: The Wide Receivers By AJ Etsch



The Winner is…. Dissecting ESPN’s Scouts Inc. NFL Rankings By Position: The Quarterbacks
By AJ Etsch

This one wins by a landslide. The array of comical and painful pictures (depending on who you cheer for) are in a beautiful mix. I believe this article also has the most pictures with help. I honestly couldn’t help but laugh at each and everyone of these pictures.



Best Link Posted

If you have ever read this blog, then you know what choice I am going to go with. The clip of Super Bo on Super Techmo Bowl. This clip has been posted numerous times by myself.




Best Video Posted.

The Nominees

College Baseball Dance-off by Mark Fodor

Miami Dolphins fight song by T-Pain in This One’s for Fodor by Stephen Noffke

Peyton Manning Yells at his Protection By Stephen Noffke


The Winner is…. Miami Dolphins Fight Song!

The song is amazingly catchy, and can easily get stuck in your head. I know it’s been the most listed to song and most watched video we have ever posted.

The other two are solid contenders. The College Baseball Dance-off is hysterical at points and just ok at other. Peyton swearing on TV is also a classic moment.




Most Inappropriate Writer

The Nominees

Ryan Parrent or AJ Etsch

The Winner is….Ryan!

Ryan has gone out of his way to call ESPN mentally challenged (in not as pc ways) numerous times. The entire purpose of this post was to show the picture of Spider-man doing his best Peter North impression. He has used angry and sometimes foul language in his posts and comments, and even a letter he sent to David Stern.

AJ does use a lot of rough language but is not as over the top as Ryan is, congratulations Ryan!




Most Unbelievably Timed Post

The Nominees

Big Ten Expansion By Stephen Noffke

Hard Luck NFL Fans By Stephen Noffke



The Winner is… Big Ten Expansion By Stephen Noffke.

This article wins the award because about a month after I posted this, the Big Ten announced plans to look into expansion. The crazy thing is, I had started this article in June, and put off finishing it forever. One day I decided to do finish it, and couldn’t have timed it better.

The Hard Luck fans had lucky timing too because a week after I posted my article, the Sports Guy posted his.



Longest Article of the Year

The Nominees


Steve’s Bracket by Stephen Noffke

Armchair Superstar Mock Draft By Stephen Noffke and Mark Fodor

Retro Diary: Classic College Football on BTN Illinois at Indiana 1999 By Stephen Noffke

27 Up 27 Down By Stephen Noffke


Outback Bowl – Live Blog Madness By Mark Fodor



The Winner is…. Outback Bowl – Live Blog Madness By Mark Fodor


Technically Fodor split his live blog into two separate entries, but since they were basically one continual entry he gets the nod. The Longest single post was the Retro Diary, and the Longest no diary was Steve’s Bracket. Here is a word count of each article



Finish
Outback Bowl – Live Blog Madness By Mark Fodor 3,640
Retro Diary: Classic College Football on BTN Illinois at Indiana 1999 2,853
Steve’s Bracket: 2,516
Armchair Superstar Mock Draft 2,428
27 Up and 27 Down 2,210





Most Heated Post

Letter To David Stern by Stephen Noffke

This article as well as it’s follow up got more heated debates between ACSS writers, friends and family then any other post of the year. Obviously it wasn’t as much about the post as it was about the NBA lack of actions. This article would be the first of many NBA bashing the website would do. Which leads us to




Most Target Topics for Rants

The nominees

College Football Scheduling

NBA Refs


ESPN Hating Jay Cutler


The Winner is…. NBA Refs

NBA Refs took more of a beating throughout the year from our posters and comments then anything else. You can find shots at NBA refs from March through December, even when the NBA was in the off-season. ESPN hating Jay Cutler lead to a lot of other heated posts of its own from multiple sources including some less then flattering words from Ryan (see inappropriate awards). College Football Scheduling was some I personally ranted on a lot but did often enough to make this list.

Now we come to the final two awards; Writer of the Year and Post of the Year.



Writer of the Year:

The Nominees

Mark Fodor

Stephen Noffke

The Winner is…. Mark Fodor

Mark started the blog and convinced me to join. He is tied with me for the most post for the year, but didn’t rely as heavily as I did on posting a link or a trivia questions (Total “Short Posts” as I called them: Noffke 50 Fodor 29). Fodor also got ACSS onto Bleacher Report where he also landed a columnist job for Indiana Basketball. With out Mark Fodor there would be no ACSS so congrats to Mark.

(Editor’s Note: I was going to pick myself, but I don’t think anyone enjoys my writing as much as I do myself)




Post of the Year

I ran into a dilemma with this. When flipping through for Post of the Year, I noticed a trend that every one of my nominations was an article that I had written. It’s not that I don’t enjoy reading everyone else’s articles, it was just that I was clearly biased in liking my articles because I know what it took to write them, how long it took to write and they were about topics I liked. So instead of doing Post of the Year, I am going to do Stephen Noffke Post of the Year and leave the other writers to have their own if they so choose.


Stephen Noffke Post of the Year

Nominees

Sports Stigmas

Case for POY: I felt like this was my first really good article I had written for the site. I had the idea in my head for a few years and finally got the idea on paper. The article discusses a sensitive issue but I think gives everyone a different view of how we look at sports.


How to Pick a Bracket

Case for POY: I did a statistical breakdown of every Final Four since 1985 to prove my point. I have long held onto this theory and finally had the stats to back me up. I though the piece had a good flow to it, a serious, but not too serious tone of suggesting to take it’s advice On top of that, it was proven correct on both accounts this year.


Problems with College Football Schedules and College Football: A Depressing Landscape of out of Conference Games(I know these are two different articles, but they were a few days apart and basically one long rant)

Case for POY: This topic just got me fired up. I have discussed this with friends for years, and I am sure I will continue to rant on the site about this. Both articles had good information and good flows to them.


Home Field Advantage for the World Series

Case for POY: This article got me the best compliment I ever received. While waiting for a movie, I had Jamie read this piece on my Blackberry. Once she was done she noticed my name at the bottom and said, “O you commented on this article.” She didn’t realize until I told her that I wrote this piece that it wasn’t from a major website. I also really liked this article because it was so easy to write; it just came to me naturally and flowed off my fingertips onto the page.

Ode to College Football

Case for POY: I love this article because I couldn’t tell you one reason why I love College Football, so I listed off as many reasons as I could, and I still don’t think it gives it justice. It makes me excited for football every time I read it and I can’t wait to experience more college atmosphere’s live compared to on TV.

Big Ten Expansion

Case for POY: The timing of this couldn’t be beat. The fact I spent so much time on it, and almost everything I discussed in this article has been discussed by every other article I have read about Big Ten Expansion post announcement. I got tons of great feedback on it and how much people enjoyed the in depth look at each team as well as the reason behind the expansion and the problems with it.

Hard Luck NFL Fans

Case for POY: I originally thought this was going to be a throw away article. An article I just write real quickly to get some quick though provocation and then it’s gone. I was surprised how much everyone told me they liked this article and how it was clear to see the amount of research that went into it. Then Sports Guy’s article a few days later made me smile


And the Winner is….

This was such a tough choice; I kept going back and forth between Ode to College Football and Big Ten Expansion I liked each for different reasons. In the end I chose Ode to College Football because I didn’t stop writing it for 3 months like I did with Big Ten Expansion. It took me about an hour to write and I tried to list off everything I love about College Football and what everyone else around the country loves about college football and that’s what came up. It was a close race, but I loved all these articles for different reasons and I think they are all winners.


So there you have it, the ACeSS. Was my choice for POY your favorite too? Did I mess up any other awards? Did I complete forget about some? Am I going to agree with my own awards in 24 hours? Probably Not. Comment or Post away with your thoughts.

Finally, Thank You to all our Readers out there (all 3 of you!).