Here is an article from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette about the new Penguins arena, along with a drawing of what it will look like.

http://www.postgazette.com/pg/07241/812912-85.stm

I'm really looking forward to getting to see games in a new arena. The Civic Arena (or dumb Mellon Arena as it's known now) is a real dump. Granted, it's the oldest arena in the league and the world's first retractable dome roof, but it's time for a new one. I had seats one time that were right behind a pole and under an awning... so you couldn't see one of the distant corners and you couldn't see the scoreboard. I'm ready for somewhere new.

So tonight was my Yahoo! league draft. I had the first pick and didn't take LT.

Good luck to you number 2 draftee.

What happened afterwards was absolutely amazing. The second guy took LT, obviously. Was it an opportunity I missed? I don't think so. The third guy threw us all for a loop and drafted Peyton Manning. Then it was straight bedlam after that. Between my non-LT pick and the 3rd guy taking Manning, the next few guys drafting were so confused. Did it work? Who cares. It's fantasy football and things change week to week, day to day and sometimes at 11 a.m. on Sunday morning.

In 2006, I had the first pick. I drafted Shaun Alexander and then the "Curse" kicked in...

Ah yes, the passion of college football. Hundred thousand screaming fans and a band that whips them into a frenzy with a great fight song...nothing in pro football compares to this. Now granted, most everyone will have their sentimental favorite from their own college alma mater or state they grew up in, thats completely understandable. I grew up in Kentucky and love listening to "My Old Kentucky Home" or On, On UofK

(http://fightmusic.com/mp3/sec/Kentucky__On_On_U_of_K.mp3 ), but I know this is nowhere the best one out there. That being said, I will post some fight songs here and mention my top 5 at the end...

Clinton Portis may attempt to steal the act of Dennis Rodman... but there are a few things that he doesn't stand a chance with. (and "NO", it isn't in regards to who looks the best in drag)

The first is Clinton's inability, once he left the team in which helped make him a star,to have "continued" success. Unlike Rodman, Portis has failed to finish a full season since his inaugural appearance in Washington while Rodman was a staple to his team's lineup regardless if he was up for 14 days straight, strung-out on "E" and dressed like a woman. However, Portis has made every ball and gala available, making him one of the most visible, oddly dressed millionaire's in the league (NFL). While most troubled athletes are going around at night getting gun/weapon's charges, involved in drug related, gang related, strip club related, leaving your $350,000.00 vehicle at the scene of an accident, kind of trouble...

#1 Youngstown State vs Ohio State

Mascot: Pete and Penny Penguin, who break the mold for mascoting by not only being a rare paired mascot, but by being flightless birds. Unfortunately, both are dying due to global warming and are forced to transfer to another university next year. The university has actually tried twice to bring live penguins to live on campus, but like Michigan fans and the elderly, they cannot adapt to the climate of Ohio.

Stadium capacity differential: 81,568

Spread: No Line

Beating best described as: A humane and compassionate death at the hands of a good friend, or family. Youngstown's coach is the brother of OSU's defensive coordinator. YSU was also the home of Jim Tressel from 1986-2000, where he won several 1AA championships. All this means that Ohio State will shut down the offensive once they've reached a digit of respectable decisiveness, or 35 points, whichever comes first! The only other possible scenario is a 40+ point asshanding, where Tressel, enraged by the team's embarrassing loss to Florida some 8 months ago, comes out in a black sweater vest and goatee and destroys his former employer. This is unlikely, but would be fun to watch.

#2 Florida International vs Penn State

Mascot: The Panther. Rooaarrrrrgh!!!

LIne: Penn State by 38.5

Stadium differential: Not as big as you might think, only 34,863. This is attributed solely to the fact that FIU shares the Orange Bowl with Miami. In fact, FIU gets.....

Frustrated and helmetless, Priest Holmes had to stand around and watch Sunday while the Kansas City Chiefs went through another practice without him.

The former Pro Bowl running back had hoped to get medical clearance and be removed from the physically unable-to-perform list and take part in his first actual practice on Sunday.

But with general manager Carl Peterson out of town -- reportedly attending to negotiations with holdout running back Larry Johnson, Holmes' status remained the same.

"It's not a setback. We just have to wait until Carl gets back in town," said Holmes. "I'm not sure when he'll be back."

Returning to my theme of ignorance, today I wish to explore the San Francisco set up. As a Raider's fan, I am not expecting respect anytime soon, I am a realist you see, but those turkeys at work insist this is the Niner's year.

Their proclamations confound me given Alex is improving, but he is a long way from being the likes of Peyton or Tom. People are raving over his increased accuracy, but is it really that improved?

Frank certainly brought more highlights last year, but injury after injury? I suspect last year was as good as it gets, and without a perfectly healthy year he will be merely average.

Finally, I believe the defense has improved, but again, I believe it is slight. The improved protection given to Alex on the offense will certainly give the defense a reason for greater intensity, but the improvements are not enough to go all the way.

As an inexperienced fan, who suffers torture woking with 49er fans, I need reinforcement for my opinions (so as to deflect attention away from my pitiful Raiders), or I need my teeth verbally kicked in to fully understand why the 49ers are even stirring hope.

Rookie Head Coach Lane Kiffin made the announcement yesterday, " Daunte Culpepper will start tomorrow night." The question is... does Culpepper have ANY fantasy impact at all?

I liken Daunte to two figures in the cinema. The first is the phrase "He munsoned it." For those of who have watched the movie King Pin featuring Woody Harrelson and Dan Akroyd, you know exactly what I am talking about! When an individual, at a key moment, makes an absolute dunderheaded mistake, it's called a "Munson". The second is the T-Rex in the kid's movie "Meet the Robinsons". The scene I refer to is when the dinosaur has the kid pinned in a corner to attack him but cannot reach him. When asked by the evil villain why he hasn't captured him yet, he replies "I have small arms and a big head", his head so enormous and arms so short that he cannot stoop low enough to grab him.

Whenever someone drops something or goes to throw something, like a pen to another office personnel and it flies behind them OR a bowler starts his motion and the ball flies behind them,

in my circle, we say "He CULPEPPERED."

I am having a hard time with this being an Eagles fan!! For those who care here is why:

Four-time Pro Bowl middle linebacker Jeremiah Trotter will be job hunting in the coming days after being released by the Philadelphia Eagles on Tuesday.

A nine-year veteran, Trotter was informed of his status in a meeting with coach Andy Reid. The Eagles suggested that the now-unrestricted free agent consider retirement, but the 30-year-old's preference is to continue playing in the league.

"It's a tough pill to swallow, but everyone gets to this point in their career at some point or another, and now is my time," Trotter said at a news conference. "I'm just thankful that I spent this many years in Philadelphia. I truly believe that if you were to cut me, I'd bleed green."

"Jeremiah is one of my favorite guys," Reid said in a statement Tuesday. "There's no question that this is the toughest part of this job. He and I met about this [Monday] night and it was very emotional for the both of us. Jeremiah and I have been together for many years and he's played a vital role in helping this team win a lot of football games."

The departure of Trotter continues a shakeup to Philadelphia's linebacker corps. It is now likely that two-time Pro Bowl player Takeo Spikes, acquired from the Buffalo Bills in a March trade, will take over the middle linebacker spot. Spikes has primarily worked at the weak side position in training camp.



Eagles officials have worked hard to create depth and competition in the linebacker corps, and have a number of young players the coaches want to work into the lineup.

This marks the second time the Eagles have essentially released Trotter. In the spring of 2002, Philadelphia designated him as a franchise player and subsequently rescinded the tag, making him a free agent. Trotter then signed with Washington, where he played two seasons before being released after the 2003 campaign.

In 2004, Trotter contacted Reid, with whom he had parted on shaky terms, to see if he might rejoin the Eagles. He returned to the team that brought him into the league as a third-round pick in the 1998 draft and earned a Pro Bowl berth in his first year back.



His release before roster cuts will give Trotter a chance to catch on with another team -- if he doesn't choose to retire.

"This keeps his options open here where he's not officially retired," Reid said. "If he chooses to go to another team, he can. If he choose to retire, he can."

Trotter said he has not yet made a decision.

"I still believe that I have a couple good years left. But, everyone thinks that when it's time to go," he said with a laugh.

Safety Brian Dawkins, the longest-serving player on the team, called Trotter's departure a blow.

"This one hit me like a ton of bricks," the safety said. "No matter how many years you play, it's always hard when you lose someone like that, that you've come in contact and gotten so close with."

A former Stephen F. Austin star, Trotter is one of just four linebackers in Eagles' history to earn four or more Pro Bowl invitations. He joins Hall of Fame member Chuck Bednarik, Maxie Baughan and Bill Bergey in that select group.

In 131 games with the Eagles (1998-2001, 2004-06) and Redskins (2002-03), Trotter has 1,184 tackles, 12½ sacks and nine interceptions. He has notched 100 or more tackles in seven seasons, and 150-plus tackles five times, and had 202 stops in 1999.



Trotter has three years left on his contract, at base salaries of $2.635 million (2007), $2.72 million (2008) and $3.28 million (2009). His release was not a salary cap move, however, since the Eagles are comfortably under the $109 million ceiling.

All right now, I'm a little irritated. Correct me if I am wrong as I have only really cared about football for the past three seasons. BUT... I am obsessed.

Sadly, my addiction stems from attending Oakland games with loads of beer. Hence, I root for losers.

The boys (media) says JaMarcus will Salvage Oakland's identity and be the future of the team. He represents the potential metamorphosis we saw in Pittsburgh with Ben, and all that is sacred about past winners dorming in doom. Hope does exist. Look at the damn Niners for Christ sake.

So where is he? Where is our man. Because I am new to football I am blaming him. The Niners fans at work hiss about Al Davis. But here is why I blame Jamarcus.

Holding out for money before he has performed? What is that. I know what the supporters say, injury pay is normal, and expected. Can you all join me in the land of the middle class where ordinary is the norm, and subsistence is expected. His hold out offends me, when it is a privilege to play in the NFL. He could be a hero, but instead he is alienating himself from fans and teammates. How does that help Oakland's dire situation?

I do not understand and have turned my attention to Oakland's Seabiscut. I hope Dante starts. Does anyone agree?

Help me understand what is so special about this talented young man that he gets to hold Oakland Hostage.

Wide receivers. These are the guys who give fantasy managers more headaches than any other position. You know how it goes. One week your WR2 grabs 3 balls for 40 yds, while that scrub on your bench catches 4 balls for 110 yds and one long TD. So you switch them next week and the scrub goes 3-25, while your WR2 who you were cursing last week is putting up 7-60 and a TD on your bench. What you want is a WR who will get at least 5 catches a game and always top 50 yds and hopefully the century mark on a weekly basis, plus a red-zone look a game.

So it begins -- the great search for consistency. The best way to find that consistency and eliminate those headaches is to grab true #1 WRs on their own teams. There are only 32 out there in a perfect world, but with teams like Oakland and Tennessee around, the list of true-impact #1 WRs are much more limited. Just like I did in my previous blog post: http://www.screamingsports.com/en/profile/profile_readblog.aspx?b=2526 in which I broke down all 32 teams' running back situations, I have detailed all 32 teams' wide receiver situations below. The teams that have a star next to them are the teams that I believe possess a true #1 WR who will get 5+ catches and put up some fairly solid numbers week-to-week. The teams with two WRs listed are guys you can also take who will put up numbers like WR1s because they play for such good offenses.

Upon further breakdown, there are only 20 teams that possess true #1 WRs. Among the 12 teams without a star, only Detroit and New England have desirable options. They have so many good options that I don't see any one WR putting up big numbers. There are others that you can gamble on like Atlanta, Chicago and SF, who I didn't list as having a big #1 because I'm concerned the poor QB play won't allow for big numbers. Then there are the rest of the teams, which I wouldn't touch with a 10-foot pole (Jac, KC, Min, Ten, etc.)

So the stars show just 23 big-producing guys, and maybe a few sleepers I left off ( Brandon Marshall, Santonio Holmes, etc.) Looking at the big picture heading into a draft with 12 teams, you'll notice that there are only about 2 of these guys for each fantasy team. Keep that in mind, and try to grab 3. You'll have much fewer headaches starting Braylon Edwards, a true #1 WR on his own team, rather than starting Greg Jennings, a clear-cut #2 WR on his own team.

Here is the breakdown:

*Ari - Fitzgerald, Boldin

Atl - Horn

Bal - M. Clayton

*Buf - L. Evans

*Car - S. Smith

Chi - Berrian

*Cin - C. Johnson, Houshmandzadeh

*Cle - B. Edwards

*Dal - Owens

*Den - Walker

Det - Roy Williams

*GB - Driver

*Hou - A. Johnson

*Ind - Harrison, Wayne

Jac - M. Jones

KC - Kennison

Mia - Chambers

Min - Williamson

NE - Moss

*NO - Colston

*NYG - Burress

*NYJ - L. Coles

Oak - Curry

*Phi - R. Brown

*Pit - Ward

*SD - V. Jackson

SF - D. Jackson

*Sea - Branch

*Stl - Holt

*TB - Galloway

Ten - B. Jones

*Was - S. Moss

Draft accordingly.

An NL ROY, hitting over 20 HRs in less than 90 games. Goes by first name Ryan. Sound familiar? Well, it's not Ryan Howard this year. There's a new guy in town: Ryan Braun. Braun has absolutely shattered Howard's magnificent rookie campaign. Howard hit 22 HRs in 312 at-bats. Braun has hit 23 in 302 at-bats. Howard did it in 88 games; Braun in just 74. Howard slugged .567 his rookie year. Braun is slugging a whopping hundred points higher at .662! This kid, Ryan Braun, is the real deal. Has over 55 runs and RBI, 23 HRs, leading in NL in batting at .344, has had 5 triples, and that's not even mentioning that he has much fewer strikeouts than Howard and one more thing: this kid has speed: 10 SB. Ryan Braun has burst into the fantasy world this year. Everyone knew this kid had talent in the draft two years ago, going 5th overall, but right now, Ryan Braun is making his case to be the next A-Rod.

The only question: Can he keep it up? Is he consistent enough? Well, let's take a look: Braun has not gone ten games without hitting a HR, and the most consecutive games he's been without a run or an RBI is just four!!! Did someone say consistency? Even great hitters like Pujols and A-Rod have droughts, but this kid just keeps on hitting. He has never had 3 straight games without a hit, and since his first week in the majors, not even consecutive Got Speed?games where he has not reached base. Mark my words: Ryan Braun is a MACHINE, and this is only the tip of the iceberg. Watch and enjoy as this kid develops into one of the greatest third-basemen to play the game of baseball.

With opening day closing in and league drafts well under way many fantasy footballers are pondering their potential picks, hoping to build the ultimate Super team. The data has been compiled. The stats have been reviewed. Are you ready for some football? I know I am.



To those of us doing live drafts, one of the first things that must be established is the draft order. Who will win the coveted Holy Grail (i.e. first pick of the draft)? Other questions also need to be considered such as "How will we determine the draft order?" and "What method (snaked or standard) will we use?" My league uses a version of the snaked draft order where the second round is the inverse of the first and the picks are randomized throughout the remaining rounds giving each player a pick at each draft position. We prefer to determine the order of the first round by a highly technical and sophisticated method. We have a Hooters girl....uhh, I mean a random, impartial subject draw names from a hat. This year I drew the sixth pick. I was pretty satisfied with the pick but it got me to thinking; what is the best draft position? To some it's merely a matter of opinion but I believe that numbers don't lie so let's examine some statistics.

The following results apply to a ten team league using a snaked draft for twenty rounds. Rounds eleven through twenty mirror rounds one through ten.

Everybody knows that the first pick can make or break a team, especially with your next pick not coming until the twentieth spot, but is the first pick the best? The first spot has an average wait of 10.11 picks between each pick. But what does that mean? If the first round draft order remained constant throughout the draft then everyone would have an average wait of 9.00 picks. Two other spots share an average wait of 10.11; 2nd and 8th. The 1st spot has a maximum wait of 19 picks in rounds one and two and eleven and twelve. Five times in the top ten rounds the first spot has waits of nine picks or less. The 1st spot definitely seems to have its upside, but is it the best?

Next let's take a look at the spots that get back to back picks. Those picks are 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 7th and 10th. It's always nice to get two at a time. You really have a chance to make some nice moves with these picks. You could double up on two quality RB's or even get a top five QB and a top five RB. It's hard to go wrong with back to back picks. But don't let the numbers fool you. The 3rd spot doesn't get its second back to back pick until the nineteenth round. At that point you're not really doubling up on quality.

The 2nd spot gets back to back picks in rounds seven and eight. The longest wait between picks for this spot is seventeen, coming between rounds one and two and eleven and twelve. Five other rounds in the top ten the "2nd draft position" has waits of nine picks or less. With a high initial pick and three early picks in the top ten rounds the 2nd spot is a premium draft position.

The 7th spot is not as bad as you would think. You'll miss out on Peyton and LT but there is still plenty of quality at every position on the board. It has back to back picks in the fifth and sixth rounds, also early enough to do some damage with top players still available. The longest you'll ever have to wait in this spot is seventeen picks, not optimal, but definitely better than the dreaded nineteen pick wait.

Nobody wants the 10th spot. If you do, I'm sure there is a person in your league willing to trade out with you. But how bad is this spot really? To start out, you've got immediate back to back picks at 10 and 11. Not a bad consolation for waiting until the last pick. The average wait is 9.89 (tied for 2nd in shortest wait) and the longest you'll ever wait is 17 picks. The long wait comes in the late rounds (seven and eight) by which time you should at least have all your starting offense covered.

So what factors do you consider when trying to determine the best spot in the draft? Optimally you want a high enough first pick to get a franchise player that can carry your offense. You want short waits between picks giving you the opportunity to pick twice before some of your opponents second pick in consecutive rounds. And somewhere in the draft you want back to back picks, as early as possible, in the first ten rounds.

How do the spots stack up statistically? Let's look at the bottom five first, best to worst. Coming in at number six is the 4th spot. The sixth highest average wait (10.05) and a long wait of 19 picks make this spot fall out of the top five.

Number seven: the 1st spot. As said before, you better make the first pick a good one because nineteen players will fly off the board before your next pick. The 1st spot boasts the seventh highest average wait and has no back to back picks. The closest it comes is a three pick wait between rounds eight and nine.

Number eight: the 9th spot. No back to back picks and the longest possible wait (19) between rounds seven and eight.



Number nine: the 8th spot. No back to back picks, second to last in average wait and six times in the first ten rounds no less than three opponents get double picks ahead of it.

And the Mr. Irrelevant of the draft spots is: the 6th spot. Initially this spot doesn't look that bad. It avoids all the headache of deciding on the best player in the draft but comes in time to snag a franchise player to build your team around. In the top three rounds its picks are 6th, 5th and 1st; a nice start. It all goes south after that with waits of 19, 17, 13 and 11 throughout the top ten rounds. There are no back to back picks for the 6th spot and it has the longest average wait of all the picks at 10.16. The closest it even comes to back to back picks is a five pick wait.



You can build a solid team from this spot but you better make all your picks count and be prepared to bite your tongue every time a player you had planned to draft rolls off the board as yet another person takes a double pick in front of you. This pick has the longest wait (19), the highest average wait (10.16) and is the only spot where the minimum wait is five picks. Good luck.



That just leaves the top five. Drum roll please.....



Number five: 3rd spot. It has the last of the back to back picks in rounds nine and ten but that's better than not at all. There's no 19 pick wait and seven times in the first ten rounds the wait is nine (the normal average wait in a ten man league) or less.

Number four: 7th spot. Back to back picks in rounds five and six. Pretty much middle of the pack in all categories.

Number three: 10th spot. Back to back picks from the start. Low average wait. No nineteen pick layover.



Number two: 2nd spot. Back to back picks. Low average waits and double picks.

Number one: 5th spot. This is the statistically the best spot in the draft. It has a little bit of everything. It has the lowest average wait time of 9.84 picks. It has back to back picks early in rounds three and four. The maximum wait is fifteen picks and even at that wait will double pick before two opponents. This is the only pick with a max wait of fifteen. All other picks have maximum waits of seventeen or nineteen.



That's how the picks stack up. What you do with them is up to you. Now let's get ready for some fantasy football.

Last night, as I finished off our team's third pitcher, a sudden realization fell over me, kind of like nirvana or that feeling you get when you scratch somewhere that's really difficult to reach. I understood, once and for all, that bowling was the world's greatest sport. Bear with me, there's some drunken logic behind these insane mumblings.

POINT 1: Everyone can do it and have fun! Old, young, fat, thin, tall, short, good, bad, it doesn't matter, you can bowl! Even your sister's fat balding friend can throw gutterballs all game and have a great time.

POINT 2: It's affordable! Know what a good set of golf clubs goes for these days? How about football pads? Maybe just a quality baseball bat? That's right, sports are expensive, especially field hockey, and who has money these days? Answer: No one. But everyone's got a twenty or so to blow on a few games of bowling! And the best part is, they provide the shoes and balls for you!

POINT 3: It's harder than a lot of sports! (percentage-wise) What's a good shooting percentage for a basketball player? I don't know but I'm sure it's low. Baseball player's batting average? like. 280 these days. Quarterbacks only hit their target like 50% of the time, or something. Bowlers? They have to knock over 100% of the pins at least 70% of the time to have a chance to win a match. So like, 85% of the time they have to be perfect.

POINT 4: Average bowlers can beat pros on any given day! Think you can outslug Albert Pujols, out throw Peyton Manning, or out shoot Kobe Bryant? Think again, bitch. But is it possible for you to beat Walter Ray Williams? You bet your ass it is! And he's like great or something. I don't really watch bowling. But I do know that I have shot a 279 and that if I shot that while I was bowling Walter Ray I'd probably beat him. Probably be like 1 out of 100, but that's still a chance!

POINT 5: MOST IMPORTANTLY you can drink while bowling! When's the last time you were shooting hoops and getting wasted. I know I'm always chugging down a six pack when I play a game of flag football. How's your hand eye coordination when you're swinging that baseball bat drunk? Face it, you can get plastered while you bowl and still throw a great game, and the best part, no matter how you do, it's still a ton of fun!

Now go! Go Bowling! And be happy!

I just recently moved from St. Louis to Seattle and have been considering my loyalties. Without a doubt I will never switch my NFL allegiances, it's Rams all the way, whether they suck or not, and I'm certainly not going to start rooting for a division opponent that I've despised since the realignment.

However, I'm less clear on my baseball loyalties. Don't get me wrong, I'm a full-on die hard Cardinal fan and will support that team over anyone else until the day I die, but they don't play in the same league as the Mariners. In fact, they've only played 6 times ever (never in the post-season, and yeah it took me like an hour to look that info up, anyone know a good baseball database?). So, since they play like once every three years is it okay for me to root for the Mariners as long as it doesn't interfere with my rooting for the Cardinals.

The other issue I have is with the Supersonics (assuming they don't move). STL hasn't had a NBA team in my lifetime and so I've never formed any allegiances. So, am I allowed to become a fan of the supersonics?

What do you think?