8.12.10 1:47 pm by Brian
Even though the regular seasons for both NCAA and NFL football are still weeks off, both leagues have been making headlines since the end of their respective seasons. Unfortunately, some of these headlines haven’t been very positive. On the NCAA side, investigations into sports agents and the integrity of programs have been daily stories, and the Big XII Conference nearly dissolved before it was saved at the last minute. On the NFL side, free agency has been exciting but the looming thunderhead cloud of a potential locked-out season in 2011 has caused contract disputes, training camp holdouts, and general apprehension for all who are invested in the National Football League.
Much of this is off-field; I want to look at something in the NCAA game that has been a hot-button topic for years now: the Bowl Championship Series.
I’m not going to suggest a perfect solution to the “problem” of the BCS, because countless writers have done so before me and just about as many writers have tried to defend the integrity of the BCS for the game. Those are all fine and good ideas, and I won’t pretend that I have anything new to bring to the table.
The perspective I am taking is the perspective of a college teacher—which is what I do for my job when I’m not writing on this site—and how the “culture of perfection” nurtured by the BCS system fundamentally works against the environment of teaching in those colleges across the country.
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7.18.10 2:02 pm by Brian
UPDATE (Tues. July 20th, 6:45PM ET): We have now reached the limit of entires for “The Sports Geeks” Online Dynasty for NCAA Football 11 on PS3! If you were interested in joining us but got here too late, be sure to watch this site in mid-August for when we announce “The Sports Geeks” Online Franchise for Madden NFL 11 on PS3; with 32 teams available, you’ll have a much better chance of joining us! Thank you!
As many of you are aware, I have a soft spot for sports video games. I even used the occasion of the National Football League’s new playoff overtime rules to suggest how the EA Sports development team could teach football fans about those rules in this year’s Madden NFL 11 title. Well, on Tuesday, July 13th, 2010 the latest version of the NCAA Football video game franchise was released for Playstation 3, XBOX 360, and Playstation 2. To celebrate this year’s release–and let those of you who read The Sports Geeks have a chance to get involved–we are going to use the game’s “Online Dynasty” mode to crown a college football champion of our own.
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7.02.10 8:17 pm by Pat
Now that the NBA playoffs are over and we are still a few months away from significant baseball games, many a sports fan decides to turn his or her attention to the upcoming NFL season and its conjoined twin, fantasy football! Chances are if you’ve glanced at a magazine rack at the grocery store or browsed a bit on ESPN.com then you’ve already seen some fantasy football coverage. It’s really not surprising, considering there are estimates that the fantasy sports industry has a three to four billion dollar impact with American football being one of the biggest contributors. If you’re a fantasy football season veteran or an eager first timer, there are certain things every fantasy football player should know. Whether or not these guidelines were passed down from the heavens is up for debate, but nonetheless here are…
The 10 Commandments of Fantasy Football
Not afraid to take a QB in round one.
1: Thou shall know league rules
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Posted in Fantasy, Featured, Lists, NFL | View Comments
3.10.10 8:05 pm by Alex and Pat
If you’re like me, you’ve certainly experienced a “YouTube loop” – that is to say, a time when you find yourself on YouTube for much longer than you’d planned, having clicked on video after video, and wondering, “How did I get here?”. This is our weekly segment where we share some of our favorite sports highlights that you may not have seen (or haven’t in a very long time). Feel free to share your favorites in the comments or tweet us and we’ll consider them for next week. Check back every week for the latest edition.
It’s March already, and Spring is on the way. College basketball is in full swing, opening day is right around the corner, and although we’re in the midst of free agency and the draft is coming up, we’re still almost six months away from meaningful football action. We miss it, and have decided to make our beloved football the subject of this week’s FTBOYT post. These two clips will remind you why we love football:
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Posted in From the Bowels of YouTube, NFL, Videos | View Comments
2.18.10 7:13 pm by Matt
The Winter Games opened in mourning as Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili died in a training accident in the days leading up to the Opening Ceremony.
Another person died at Vancouver on Friday: a straw man. The Vancouver Olympic Committee issued a statement blaming Kumaritashvili’s accident entirely on human error, concluding there were no “deficiencies” of any kind with the track.
Forget for a moment your disgust for these officials blaming a dead man’s “inexperience” before he’s even been buried. (He’s an Olympic athlete, how inexperienced can he be?)
No one said he didn’t make a mistake. The Vancouver Olympic Committee was stomping down a weak argument – a “straw man” argument–which no one was making, ignoring the crux of the opposing position: the track is too fast, which denies athletes the split seconds they need to save themselves from mistakes. Merely saying that the rider made a mistake doesn’t address the real argument.
(Note: Olympic officials backtracked from their early announcements and shortened the course, added walls, and added padding.)
Sportstalk is rife with logical fallacies such as the straw man. These statements lower the debate, prevent progress, insult fans, and occasionally, launch disgusting attacks on the dead. Let’s examine some less serious violators:
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Posted in Images, Lists, NFL | View Comments
10.30.09 11:12 pm by Alex and Pat
Alex and Pat go through this week’s NFL schedule, make their picks, discuss the major issues going into the week, make some fantasy predictions and take your fantasy questions. Be sure to send us your fantasy questions or your predictions for this week’s top fantasy performers (QB, RB, WR, TE) if you think you have what it takes: podcast@thesportsgeeks.com and follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/thesportsgeeks. We’re listed on iTunes so click here and subscribe. Thanks for listening!
Current Standings:
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