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Jeff Mezydlo

A Chicago native, Jeff Mezydlo has professionally written about sports, entertainment and pop culture for parts of four decades. He was an integral member of award-winning sports sections at The Times of Northwest Indiana (Munster, Ind.) and Champaign (Ill.) News-Gazette, where he covered the NFL, PGA, LPGA, NCAA basketball, football and golf, Olympics and high school athletics. Jeff most recently spent 12 years in the editorial department at STATSPerform, where he also oversaw coverage of the English Premier League. A graduate of Northern Illinois University, Jeff's work has also appeared on such sites at Yahoo!, ESPN, Fox Sports, Sports Illustrated and NBA.com. However, if Jeff could do it again, he'd attend Degrassi Junior High, Ampipe High School and Grand Lakes University

EXPERTISE:

NCAA football, NCAA basketball, PGA/LPGA, international soccer, sports history, rock music, film history

The 25 best presidents from film and TV

The role of the President of the United States, whether on the big screen or on television, is not always easy to pull off. Countless have tried, either in a lead or supporting role. Here are 25 notable presidential performances in movies and TV.

The 25 best guilty pleasure TV shows

There are television shows, past and present, that we as viewers can't stop watching, even if it means being ridiculed by family and friends. Still, such shows — or guilty pleasures — offer a break from reality, and often times, prove that our lives aren't as bad as we think.

The 25 most iconic TV sidekicks and second bananas

Whether real-life or animated, a comedy or drama, a good television sidekick can make a show better. Here are our top 25 memorable all-time TV sidekicks.

Musicians who were influenced by Bruce Springsteen

Bruce has influenced many of the world's best and brightest artists through the decades. Here are 20 of the musicians who owe their own debt of gratitude to "The Boss."

The 25 best game-ending plays in college football history

Whether a field goal as time expires, an improbable Hail Mary pass or a stellar defensive stand or play, we can't get enough of those fantastic finishes.

College football week 3: Picks and preview

Week 3 doesn't offer marquee matchups, but there's still plenty of intrigue. Here are game previews and predictions for teams in the Associated Press Top 25. 

The best siblings from TV shows

Whether biological, blended, or adopted, sibling love and rivalry can be quite dynamic. That's certainly the case when it comes to television. Here are our rankings of the 25 most notable siblings in television history.

The 10 best assistant coaches in college football

A college football head coach gets the big bucks, the praise and certainly the scrutiny. However, at some of the more prominent programs across the country, it's an assistant — or two — who might actually be the brains of the outfit.

College football Week 2: Picks and preview

It was an interesting first full week of the college football season, with no major surprises within The Associated Press Top 25. Will that change in Week 2?

The 20 most iconic hair metal bands

The hair, or glam, metal bands of the 1980s remain one of the true guilty pleasures in the history of music. The hair spray, makeup and catchy pop tunes touched up with distortion were made for MTV. Though there really wasn't much substance to the music, the scene was popular to the mainstream nonetheless...

Musical acts from the '80s who are still playing today

While there are plenty of bands or artists from that decade re-forming to make a little money off this retro obsession, other prominent groups from the '80s are still going strong...

A closer look: The 2018-19 PGA Tour awards

The finalists for both the PGA Tour Rookie of the Year (Arnold Palmer Award) and Player of the Year (Jack Nicklaus Award) have been announced. We've broke them all down in order leading up to our predicted winner.

The best photo from every NFL season

As the NFL celebrates its 100th season, this is a chance to look back at some of the lasting and more memorable images of the game. Here's one special photo from each of the previous 99 seasons of the NFL.

College football Week 1: Preview and picks

Here's a preview of this week's games featuring Top 25 teams and two other prominent contests to keep an eye on.

The best TV shows that lasted only one season

Some television shows will see a decent shelf life, while others will disappear before the first commercial. As we concentrate on the latter, here are our picks (in chronological order) for the top TV shows, whether sitcoms or dramas, that lasted one season — or in some cases, even less.

One-and-done: MLB players who were good for only one season

The music business has one-hit wonders. On the baseball diamond, we have one-season wonders: players who put together a memorable year and then were either unable to build off that time or were essentially never heard from again.

One-season wonders: NFL players who had one good season

In the spirit of something is better than nothing, here's a look at our picks for some of the better one-year wonders (in chronological order) in NFL history.

College football awards watch season preview

Clemson QB Trevor Lawrence is the favorite to win the Heisman. Or should Alabama's Tua Tagovailoa have the inside track? Here's our preseason look at potential award winners.

2019 college football predictions

On the verge of the 2019 college football season, what better time to take our shot at figuring out who is going to win what? From conference champions, to College Football Playoff participants to the biggest surprises and disappointments, all the way up to the national championship, here are our picks for the 2019 season.

Halls of fame: Our 30 favorite fictional schools

Whether it be on television or the big screen, elementary school, high school or college, Hollywood has taken us inside the halls of some of the most famous fake institutions of learning. 

The top 50 players in college football

We're on the cusp of another college football season, and with it will come many special individual performances this fall. There is plenty of proven talent out there and some waiting to break out.

15 storylines heading into FedExCup Final

The PGA Tour 2018-19 season comes down to this weekend's TOUR Championship at the East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta. The FedEx Cup champion will be crowned, with a new scoring twist to make things even more interesting.