Nothing to do with Sports but Funny

I know this has nothing to do with sports, but o man, you have to watch this. I won't give anything away.

http://gizmodo.com/5632751/how-not-to-fire-a-watermelon-out-of-a-huge-slingshot

New Ole Miss Rebels Mascot

I know Fodor will love this

Orioles Fans Get a Reason to Cheer

This kid is just awesome. What's the over/under on amount of times he would have gotten Tased at a Phillies game? 9? Seriously, way to go dude. I guess this proves that Baltimore cops really do have more important things to do than work security at baseball games. And all this time I thought The Wire was made up.

The Cat Poop-World Cup Correlation

I don't really have a whole lot to add to this, except thank you Slate. And clearly this is a subject for further study.

"Landon Donovan Needs a Cat," by Patrick House

And, proof.

Bears, Hoosiers Will Represent in UFL

http://nfl.fanhouse.com/2010/06/03/2010-ufl-draft-includes-handful-of-nfl-veterans/?ncid=txtlnkusspor00000002

Whoever wrote this article was kind of lazy, because they mention Dewayne White and Frank Walker (??) being NFL vets, but if you scroll down, there is at least one name I find much more notable:

With the 42nd pick in the Ultimate Football League draft (that's the ninth round), Las Vegas selected former Bears safety (more recently, he was a 49er) Tony Parrish! No kidding! The Las Vegas Locomotives are coached by none other than former Giant coach Jim Fassel. They won the UFL championship last season, just for the record.

Humorously enough, Parrish was drafted 35th overall, in the second round, by the NFL in 1995. That's seven spots higher than the UFL took him.

The clearly clueless author of that article also mentions Parrish as a safety out of Washington, which is technically true, although he graduated, uh, fifteen years ago.

Indiana's Greg Middleton, who you may remember for his one great season -- he had sixteen sacks and was first-team All Big Ten as a sophomore -- went 52nd to Florida.

Bloomington: Nocturnal Adventures

I did something cool tonight, everybody. And no, that's not me.

Let me start at the beginning. About three weeks ago, I bought (with some timely assistance from a microfinancier in Evanston, IL), a brand spankin' new mountain bike. For those of you that are interested in that sort of thing, it's a Specialized Hardrock, a fairly starter-ish bike, but nonetheless very high quality. So far I have nothing but good things to say about it. Here it is, in all its bikey glory:

Anyway, I've been taking it out for random late-night spins whenever I get the jones to after work. I usually get off around 1 in the summertime (that's one AM for all you desk jockeys), by which time Bloomington, especially up around where I live, is basically quiet and deserted. All the kids have gone home to Indy and Chicago.

So I have the entire Indiana athletic complex to myself at night. In the past, this has led to wanderings around the football stadium, racing circles around Assembly Hall, and I definitely got a cool view of the new Cook Hall tonight from the outside.

IU Basketball's new facility is really pretty - I can't wait to see how they do it up for game days, but it already looks like a great addition to go with the North End Zone. Believe me, it looks much better up close at night with the lights on than it does in a simulation video. If I ever get a digital camera, I'll get some pics.

Rick Greenspan is really putting together something special. But I digress.

Tonight I did something a little different. I headed up to the Little 500 track, which, this being Bloomington, was sitting wide open and unlocked. Without any No Trespassing signs (in case anybody was worried.)

So I rode straight onto the cinderblock track and did five laps. In the pitch darkness. On a mountain bike.

It was awesome.
I have watched almost every Little 500 since being at Indiana, and always wondered what it would feel like to race that track. I think, looking at that picture, Barack probably felt the same way. Granted, doing it in the dark, without a crowd, not on the proper bike, and without 31 other riders trying to kill me makes for a somewhat different experience.

But I think I got the basic idea. And man was it cool.

Anyway, just thought I'd share. Bloomington at night is a pretty sweet place.

On to some side notes.

The IU Men's basketball team, per idsnews.com, got a 3.14 in spring semester. All you die hards looking to go back to the glory days, let's give credit where credit is due. Tom Crean and the boys are doing it "the right way."

Me, I'll take a 2.5 and an NCAA Tourney appearance... but whatever. Way to go, guys.

Also, Joe Posnanski at SI.com is very quickly becoming one of my go-to guys for online sportswriting. Natural voice, good analysis, just an ideal blend of everything you want in good writing as a whole, not just for sports. Here are a couple of his recent articles.

Royals aren't winning, but is that really Trey Hillman's fault?

Griffey's skills are long gone -- but it was fun while it lasted

And his NFL Draft article, which I thought was dead on: It gets more hype than ever, but NFL draft is still crapshoot

One more. I'd just like to remind you all that when you get sick of Peter King, there is a solution. Kissing Suzy Kolber does a detailed rebuttal of each and every column by The Big Latte. Here's the most recent.

Devin Ebanks, You're Famous!

from The Onion ---> Devin Ebanks to Enter That One League Where They Pay You to Play Basketball At.

Arrested for... what?

Check THIS out. It's like something out of an episode of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, with the added bonus of it taking place at a Phillies game. From ESPN:

PHILADELPHIA -- A New Jersey man is facing charges after police say he intentionally vomited on an 11-year-old girl and her father in the stands during a Philadelphia Phillies game.

Yep. That's him.

Best TV Sports Themes

Shark was insipired by my best Chicago fight song and wanted to do a poll on the best TV themes, but he's lazy so he left it up to me. Rank your top 5 in the comments

In no particular order

NBA on NBC (Tim reqested this video)




Monday Night Football



Sunday Night Football





NFL on Fox





NFL on CBS





The Masters





College Basketball on CBS




College Football on CBS





College Football on ABC/ESPN




NBA on TNT




NHL on ESPN




MLB on Fox



MLB on ESPN



Sportscenter

LOST - 6 Episodes Left - More Questions Than Answers

I’ll be honest – This blog entry is not sports related at all, but I know Noffke and I aren’t the only writers/readers of ACSS that watch the show LOST so I thought I’d go a little off topic with this one.

Noffke has heard enough from me during our weekly Wednesday morning LOST discussion at work (great way to pass the time…). It is time to find out what you all think about where the show is headed in its final season.

So far this season there have been a couple questions answered which I expected…but it seems like for every question answered there are another two that confuse the hell out of you. The mysteries behind the island, intriguing characters, and the continual surprises through the first five seasons are what got millions of viewers like myself hooked in the first place – but it gets old after 5 years. I am really hoping that these final 6 episodes can tie a nice bow on one of the most intense shows that I have ever followed, but I have this underlying feeling that the series finale will either leave us wanting more or severely disappointed in the direction the show went.

My main gripe with this season through yesterday’s episode “The Package”, has been the complete overhaul of the show – this season just feels different. In season 1 we saw the Oceanic survivors making sense of their new surroundings. They were learning about themselves and each other while also making unexplainable discoveries about the mysterious island. Seasons 2-5 brought TONS of questions and intrigue to the island but still managed to further develop the characters and relationships in a way that not many shows are capable of. (When was the last time we had a moment like the time the Survivors were playing on their homemade golf course?)

Season 6 has changed the whole scope of the show. To me, the once magnificent island has turned into a game board for two bickering enemies to fight out their differences – Jacob and The Man in Black (and apparently Charles Whidmore now). The survivors who used to be the heart and soul of the show are now just pawns in the game. At this point anyone of them could die and it wouldn’t surprise me. When Charlie died in the early seasons it was one of the most intense moments of the show – if Jack were to die in next Tuesday’s episodes it wouldn’t even phase me. And does anyone care if Jin and Sun find each other?

While season 6 has been wildly unpredictable – in some ways it has been too predictable. If you had bet me with 10 to 1 odds that anybody but Desmond was “The Package” I would have said “No way”. Not to mention that every connection in the sideways world has been too convenient – and some of them almost corny.

With all that said I am not giving up on the show. I am in it until the very end and hoping that the writers are able to wrap it up nicely (it’s going to take a lot to do that). I think that the biggest problem has been the writers not knowing how they wanted to end it all. Instead of working towards something they kept building away from it in about 5 different directions. It is going to be extremely difficult to get everything to connect in the end.

What does everybody else think? Do you agree with the direction this season is heading?

Link-O-Rama

EDIT: David Haugh makes the case for why shopping defensive end Alex Brown is insane. Jerry Angelo needs to read this. And since I know Jerry reads ACSS, and not the Tribune, linking it here is the obvious answer.

Andy Staples has the Best of Omar Samhan at CNNSI:

"Are those cameras on? [Looking directly into camera.] I love you, Taylor. You should call me.

"I'm a huge Taylor Swift fan. I listen to her before games. People think it's weird. But there is so much emotion and excitement before these games, it just kind of slows you down. And it keeps me mellow, because I'm just like a time bomb waiting to go off. So it keeps me mellow. Taylor, I feel like she's singing to me sometimes."

[EDIT: What's that, Omar? You want me to post a picture of Taylor Swift to comfort you after the Baylor game? Consider it done.]

[Michael Farber with a feature on the Hawks' Dustin Byfuglien.

Dan Patrick interview with Bill Raftery...

Top Five Chicago Bears Games of the Decade

Bill Simmons on using the tourney to evaluate draft status (of course, he would be thinking of the NBA during March Madness).

Day Three: Must Avoid Stadium Food

Yesterday was unbelievable. From the Evan Turner - Manny Harris duel goin' down right in front of our noses to the stunner that Minnesota, behind frosh Devoe Joseph (16 huge points, carried the Gophers in the 2nd half and OT), pulled on Michigan State, it was a wild-a** day of basketball action.

This is just a quickie because we have to leave B-Town again and get on up to Conseco (home away from home) Fieldhouse, but I'll just leave you all with this.

STADIUM FOOD EATEN:
(3) Donatos pepperoni pizzas
(1) Loaded baked potato (butter, cheddar, broccoli, bacon, southwestern corn salsa, sour cream, pretty sure I put some other stuff on there too but it was a long day, and that thing gave me the -itis real bad, it was just about naptime a few minutes after finishing.)
(2) Popcorn tubs
(1) Brat (AVOID - they're much better in Chicago)
(1) Giant twisty pretzel
(1) two-scoop Ritters waffle cone

I suspect there's more that I'm forgetting.... but you get the idea.

Today I'm rooting hard for Minnesota and against Purdue's horrible, whiny fan base. And (why not) for Illinois too. I will have much more on the fans and teams of the Big Ten Tournament 2010 later.

What a great baked potato.

IU Gameday Traditions - An email to Mr. Rittenberg

If any of you readers out there are like me, the Big Ten blog on ESPN is probably at the top of your website favorites. Adam Rittenberg is my hero! Recently he was running a series of “Gameday Traditions” for Big Ten teams. I noticed this morning that he posted a new series called “Spring Superlatives”…and wondered if IU wasn’t worthy of its own “Gameday Traditions” entry. I felt compelled to write him a note and let him in on the Gameday Traditions I was a part of during my time as a Hoosier.

“Hey Adam! But I digress...

No gameday tradition entry for my beloved Indiana? How about this:

7:30am: Wake up hungover from the night before.
8:00am: Swing by the liquor store because for some reason the booze you bought the night before ended up getting drank.
8:15am: Arrive at the grass fields to find a spot close to the stadium...but away from those annoying frats.
8:16am: Shotgun the first beer.
8:18am: Set up the grill and beer pong table.
8:19am: Start the first beer pong game...everyone knows that breakfast can wait.
8:30am: After a victorious beer pong game the grill is fired up for some breakfast burritos.
8:45-10:00am: Continue the drinking...throw the football...play bags...hit on any girl that walks past...
10:01am: Walk over to the line at the port-a-potty.
10:05am: Continue to wait in line (always come prepared with a beer in your hand and one in your pocket).
10:15am: Finally leave the port-a-potty. By this time you decide that the frats aren't THAT annoying so you decide to head over and see what your buddy from Pi-Kapps is doing. It's important that you have an in so you aren't the GDI hitting on the sorority girls, that can lead to fights.
11:00am: Kick-off. The following exchange can be heard at various locations in the grass lots:

Friend 1: "Wait, the game started?"
Friend 2: "I guess so, I don't have a ticket"
Friend 1: "Yea me neither"
Friend 2: "Can you hold this funnel while I take this beer bong?"

11:45am: Fireworks go off, IU scored! Fans in the grass lots cheer with no idea what is happening. This doesn't typically occur more than twice during a game.
12:30pm: Lunch time - fire up the grill again.
2:00pm: Game is over - IU played well in the first half and kept it close...lost by 25.
2:10pm: Convince yourself that you can make it to Yogi's for a little bit in the afternoon...end up walking home and passing out for 4 hours. Sometimes this happens to be on the front porch couch because you can't find your keys...
7:00pm: Off to Nick's, Kilroy's, Sports, Bluebird, Upstairs, Brothers.....etc.
10:00pm: Creep out some girl at the bar. This will happen about 10 more times the rest of the night.
1:00am: Pizza Express!
11:00am: Wake up and realize that college is the greatest time ever. And hangovers suck.”

Anything I missed? I expect this to be the most entertaining comments section on the blog so far...

Hustle Up the Hancock

This Sunday I participated in an atletic event called the Hustle up the Hancock. The event is pretty much as is sounds, people climb the stairs to the top of the John Hancock building in Chicago Illinois. Indviduals could choose to do the full climb (94 floors) or the half climb (52 floors). By the time I signed up, the full climb was full, so I did the half climb. My official time was 12 minutes and 46 seconds, well behind the winner with a time of 5:51. My half climb time would actually finish 9th in the full climb event. The winner of the full climb came in at 11 minutes and 14 seconds.

Did I really expect to compete for first in this event? No, I just wanted to be able to say I climbed to the top of th Hancock building. It was challengeing, but I still feel like I could have completed the full climb had that option been available to me.

I was suprised how quickly the climb went. I was getting pretty tired and asking myself why I had decided to do it, when I noticed I was already at floor 80. The worst part of the climb was the last two flights of stairs. Floors 42-92 had about 15steps per floor. To get to 93 and 94 the flights had closer to 25 or 30. Oh well. It was a fun event and I have a medal to prove it.

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.)

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?

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.

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?

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...

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!).