A sports blog by and for Midwest Sports Fans
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It has been a long break for the Hawks, but you will finally get to watch them in action again Thursday night.
It is kind of a relief to finally be watching the Hawks again. Life is a little more dull when the Hawks aren’t playing. The way this season is going I don’t ever want it to stop as the Hawks are currently 3rd in the Western Conference with 17 points.
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Who knows what will come it, but Browns and Chiefs fans are fed up, pissed off, not taking it anymore, and letting the management of their beloved teams know about it.
Two Browns fans recently announced their plans to lead a protest during the 1st quarter of next week’s Monday nighter between the Browns and Ravens in Cleveland. The plan has received plenty of national pub and even merited a meeting with Browns owner Randy Lerner yesterday.
In Kansas City, fans are petitioning Chiefs GM Scott Pioli to not allow Larry Johnson back on the field.
Their reasoning?
He is close to becoming the franchise’s all-time rushing leader, needing 80 yards to pass Priest Holmes, and they do not believe that Johnson is worthy of sitting atop that esteemed list.
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Norman Chad is one of the most unique sportswriters in the business today. Without question, he is one of the funniest and most entertaining, filling his columns with an insightful whimsy that can be a breath of fresh air from the life-or-death nature of so many sports perspectives.
Our very own AJ Kaufman emailed me a link last night to Chad’s most recent column on the possibility of the NFL relocating back to LA. As Midwesterners, it’s difficult for us to have a truly informed perspective on this topic.
But luckily, that’s why we have Norman Chad. Excerpt and link after the jump:
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NFL betting is passing the halfway point and the decisions are getting tougher as slumping teams surprise and powerhouse teams falter.
Does Week 9 have any surprise NFL picks in store for us? Let’s have a look.
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The last time Michigan State won a national championship was the 2000 season…in Indianapolis.
Nearly a decade later, the Final Four returns to Indianapolis and the Spartans are hoping for a case of dèjà vu.
Last season the Spartans almost fulfilled a dream season but fell just short of winning a national championship in Detroit. Unfortunately for MSU, the North Carolina team they faced was truly the better team.
Now the Spartans are a much different team from a year ago.
State comes into the season with a #2 national ranking and is favored to be Big-10 champions for the second year in a row. Center Goran Suton and point guard Travis Walton may have both graduated, but new players are ready to step into their roles.
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Standing at 4-4 on the season, the Lane Kiffin Project has been somewhat successful.
The Volunteers have put two different teams on the field this year: one has been reminiscent of last season’s mediocre squad, with a sputtering offensive attack; the other has been a motivated SEC contender that can play with any team in the nation.
A week ago, the Vols had a chance to knock off one of the top teams in the country in Alabama. Tennessee dropped the game 12-10 after a last second blocked field goal by Alabama’s gargantuan defensive tackle Terrence Cody. Finishing games in the fourth quarter has been an Achilles heel for Kiffin’s squad.
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“From my perspective, he saved a lot of our lives. Plain and simple.”
These were the final words of Without Bias, ESPN’s latest documentary in its superb 30 for 30 series. It is impossible to know for how many people specifically that lines applies, but to put it in the hundreds of thousands probably would not be an overstatement.
The hour long film, which premiered tonight and was directed by Kirk Fraser, chronicles the life and death of Len Bias, who passed away 23 years ago when I was only four years old, but whose legacy lives on in perpetuity…today and beyond.
There were some aspects of the story that I did not know before watching it tonight, most notably that Bias had done cocaine before the night he died and that his brother Jay died four years later. Despite these surprises, the familiar feeling and lessons of the Bias story remained true and as strong as ever:
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I need not recap the past five games too much, since TV ratings, as expected, have been extraordinary.
I think any baseball fan (not of the Yankees, I suppose) is happy we’ll see a World Series Game Six for the first time since 2003, due primarily to AJ Burnett’s ineffectiveness on three days rest, and of course, the magical bat of one Chase Utley.
I picked the Phillies in five, especially after they split in New York, and was wrong.
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Thanks to @TheBigLead for the tip to this story from the Minneapolis-St. Paul Star-Tribune regarding the indefinite suspension of freshman Royce White and senior Devron Bostick from the Minnesota Golden Golphers mens basketball team.
Freshman Royce White and senior Devron Bostick have been suspended indefinitely from the Gophers men’s basketball team for a violation of team rules, coach Tubby Smith said Tuesday morning. Smith provided no additional details about the disciplinary action.
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Just hours after “soul-searching” about the fate of his Cleveland Browns, team owner Randy Lerner put his frustration to action with the removal of Browns General Manager George Kokinis, who was reportedly seen being escorted out of the Browns practice facility in Berea on Monday morning.
The Browns were not saying whether Kokinis resigned or was fired. However, late speculation from various media sources is, Kokinis was dismissed “with cause.”
The beleaguered — and largely absent — Kokinis, hired at the suggestion of Browns Head Coach Eric Mangini, seems to have been made the sacrificial lamb for the Browns 1-7 season, its anemic so-called offense, and the general frustration, malaise, and chaos that has been the Cleveland Browns organization since Mangini took the helm early this year.
As of Tuesday, Cleveland NBC affiliate, WKYC Channel 3 and the Lake County News-Herald have reported that Lerner has been speaking with former Browns GM Ernie Acorsi about the idea of possibly becoming the Browns next general manager with the purpose of grooming former Browns quarterback Bernie Kosar for that role.
However, The Plain Dealer is reporting that Acorsi, is in retirement with no desire to go back to work.
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In case you have not heard, George Kokinis was fired yesterday from his role as GM (General Mute) of the Cleveland Browns.
He had been on the job for less than a year and was reportedly at odds with head coach Eric Mangini as early as training camp. Rumors have since swirled that former Colts, Browns, and Giants GM Ernie Accorsi will be hired by Browns owner Randy Lerner soon.
We here at Midwest Sports Fans, however, are not so sure. Accorsi is a GM with a pretty successful track record and his hiring would almost seem to be too logical and sound a choice for the Browns.
So we put together top 10 list of candidates who – based on the Browns moribund history since being reinstated in 1999 -are probably more likely to be named General Manager than a former Super Bowl architect.
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Another great week of NFL action: the Colts won (but looked human), the Saints continue to roll, and the Giants continue to spiral out of control.
It seems like every week brings more drama to the stage during what has been a very exciting season thus far that we are now halfway through.
One thing is for sure….THE REDSKINS DIDN’T LOSE THIS WEEK! (But the Browns did!)
[Editor's Note: There you go dick Myles. Keep rubbing salt in the wound jackass buddy. Keep kicking Browns fans when they're down you no talent ass clown my friend.
I can't wait until Peyton Manning retires and your one-man franchise returns to sucking and all of its fair-weather fans go away. Go ahead, shake your head. But you know it's true.]
Now, onto this week’s Power Rankings.
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Surprising news broke in Berea this evening. Browns GM George Kokinis, who has been on the job for less than a year, was fired on Monday.
Apparently a quick disintegration of his relationship with Eric Mangini helped spur his ouster.
ProFootballTalk was all over this story tonight. Here are the links to their coverage:
Also, there is this, from the News-Herald:
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This post is from 2009!
Click for the 2010 Week 9 Start em Sit em picks.
——————–
Crunch time is upon us.
As enter Week 9 of the fantasy football season, some of us are breathing easy with playoff spots all but assured, some of us are struggling with each decision in our quest to improve playoff positioning, and others are desperately trying to make a late season surge just to have a chance.
And then there are others who are out of it and just playing out the string, although I doubt too many of those owners are bothering to scour start ‘em, sit ‘em posts in preparation for this week.
For the majority of us still scratching and clawing for every point and every win, here is your weekly start ‘em, start ‘em breakdown…and then the endless string of Q&A in the comment section.
Here’s a quick teaser: who would you rather start in Week 9 between Matt Schaub and David Garrard? The answer might not be as clear as you may think.
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Another crazy week of fantasy football is in the books.
Last week’s insanity included the fact that Joseph Addai threw for more touchdowns than Peyton Manning….Ryan Moats had 3 TD’s….Kurt Warner completds 5 passes to Panthers…
And T.O. actually scored a TD.
What does Week 9 have in store? First, the following teams are on a bye: Bills, Browns, Vikings, Jets, Raiders and Rams. Most of these teams being on a bye will not hurt fantasy owners too badly; I have an offensive starting ban on the Browns, Bills and Raiders which still has not been lifted.
For the teams that are taking the field, which QBs and D/ST units offer the best potential value in Week 9? Let’s investigate.
