Predicting the Sports Guy

If Simmons kept a running diary of last night's Patriots-Colts game, I'd expect it to include the following...

How about the Reche Caldwell "wide-eyed terror" face? Belichick believed his Pats could win with no talent at wideout. He even left a ton of salary cap money on the table to prove his point. Yesterday's game - with Reche Caldwell dropping two huge passes and Jabbar Gafney and Troy Smith having quiet games - makes the NE coach look much less the genius.

Anybody got a better photo of Caldwell's huge eyes?

Tom Hammond Loves This Blog

Not really, of course. But with seven minutes left in the fourth quarter, Hammond's already mentioned its name twice, both in reference to the Chiefs' offense.

On a side note, I couldn't remember Hammond's name when I started to write this post, so I looked up who NBC planned to use for the first game of its Wild Card doubleheader. From entertainment blog "Your Entertainment Now" comes the following:

On January 6, 2007, NBC will have a doubleheader of football that night. Tom Hammond (Notre Damn football broadcaster for the network) and Cris Collinsworth (currently a contributer to NBC’s “Football Night In America” as well as part of the NFL Networks Thursday night football games) will announce the first game of the night.

Either that blogger hates the golden dome, or he needs to proofread a tiny bit better.

The Wisdom of Crowds - NFL Week 13

Before I started elementary school, my mother had taught me the basics of blackjack and 5-card stud. When I was 10, my father let me participate in the weekly NFL pool at his office. By age 14, I was running it. My friend, who I've known since first grade and who shall remain anonymous until he chooses an appropriate pseudonym, is quite the avid sports fan.

For more than 10 years, we've picked against each other on every NFL game. The number of games we agree on varies from week to week, but we've found that when we agree, we're correct to a significant degree. For the 2006 season, we're at 64-49-1 on such games (.566). Published on Get Untracked, we're 11-12-1 (.478). Below are our Wisdom of Crowds picks for the week, using today's New York Post Bettor's Guide for our lines:

CIN -3 bal [as posted yesterday]

GIANTS +3.5 dal

STL -6.5 ariz

jax +1 MIA

sf +7 NO

det +13.5 NE

sd -6 BUF

DEN -4 sea

car -3 PHI

Reversed

Check out Fox's scoretracker in the top right corner of the screen... Oakland gets a touchdown overturned by replay one point at a time.

The Wisdom of Crowds - NFL Week 12

Before I started elementary school, my mother had taught me the basics of blackjack and 5-card stud. When I was 10, my father let me participate in the weekly NFL pool at his office. By age 14, I was running it. My friend, who I've known since first grade and who shall remain anonymous until he chooses an appropriate pseudonym, is quite the avid sports fan.

For more than 10 years, we've picked against each other on every NFL game. The number of games we agree on varies from week to week, but we've found that when we agree, we're correct to a significant degree. For the 2006 season, we're at 59-42 on such games (.584). Published on Get Untracked, we're 6-5 (.545). Below are our Wisdom of Crowds picks for the week, using today's New York Post Bettor's Guide for our lines:

DET +3 mia

tb +11 DAL

KC +1 den

giants -3 TEN

BUF +3 jax

pit +3 BAL

cin -3 CLE

MIN -6 ariz

STL -5.5 sf

no +3 ATL

car -4 WASH

NE -3 chi

gb +10 SEA

Football Field as Jumbotron

What if the yellow first down line you see when you watch a football game on television was visible from your seat in the stands? The official turf provider to the Arena Football League (and provider of turf to two NFL teams) is called Sportexe, and they've got a patent that proposes to do that and more.

Forbes reported on the company, which is 40%-owned by Ravens owner Art Modell. Like the other major turf company, FieldTurf, Sportexe installs artificial surfaces made up of millions of individual blades of plastic grass, with rubber pellets underneath to simulate dirt. The patented technology places fiber optics inside each blade of grass. Each blade acts like a pixel in a computer monitor, working together to produce a larger image.

The first-down line on NFL broadcasts is really helpful for viewers, but I'm not enamored with graphics that literally create a "red zone" when the offense drives to the 20. And do we really need an on-field graphic that explains a kicker's accuracy from a certain distance - right as the kicker steps into the ball? The least appealing aspect of the new technology is the certainty that it will be used to run advertisements on the field itself, perhaps even between plays.

I'm all for the onward march of progress, but am often disappointed by the way broadcasters choose to use it. (Who's this week's White Castle Steamer of the Week? Text your vote to 86648 right now!!!) At least everybody attending the Super Bowl wouldn't have to worry about DVR-ing the commericals.

The Wisdom of Crowds - NFL Week 11

Before I started elementary school, my mother had taught me the basics of blackjack and 5-card stud. When I was 10, my father let me participate in the weekly NFL pool at his office. By age 14, I was running it. My friend, who I've known since first grade and who shall remain anonymous until he chooses an appropriate pseudonym, is quite the avid sports fan.

For more than 10 years, we've picked against each other on every NFL game. The number of games we agree on varies from week to week, but we've found that when we agree, we're correct to a significant degree. For the 2006 season, we're at 53-37 on such games (.589). Below are our Wisdom of Crowds picks for the week, as always using the Friday New York Post's Bettor's Guide for our lines:

JETS +7 chi

oak +9.5 KC

cin +3.5 NO

pit -3.5 CLE

atl +4 BAL

stl +7 CAR

HOU -2.5 buf

MIN +3.5 mia

ARIZ -2 det

SF +4.5 sea

DAL +1 ind