DanW

I have trouble with the MLS. Being from Ohio I feel like I "should" be a Crew fan. Having lived in DC I might be a DC United fan. Now I'm in NYC and even go to the occasional RedBulls game, but for whatever reason NONE of them really tug at my heartstrings. I'd like to be a Portland Timbers fan because they do seem pretty amazing, but I've just got nothing. It's like an empty hole in my soul waiting to be filled by the right team.

Fantastic link. Thanks.

Negative on the betting. It's so vaguely illegal here that I only do it when I'm in an actual casino. But thanks for the heads up on the game. I plan to watch it on my couch, which is always wonderful. Any NYC Saints are welcome to join me.

First off... apology accepted. I'll tell any other potential fans that rooting for the Yankees is like rooting for Man U. If you are okay with that then by all means... Secondly - was that the time that Piazza's bat snapped and part of flew towards the mound, and then Roger Clemens picked it up and threw it back at Piazza as he was going down the basepath to 1st? Man, Clemens was an a**hole, wasn't he? Full of steroids and his own ego (I think the planet Jupiter was jealous of its size) and the result was Clemens never came off looking good to 90% of the world. I don't usually wish ill upon people, and especially on athletes after they have left the team I hate, but I did enjoy watching Clemons' downfall in the media. Anyway, the Yankees look to be good again this year. I was just reading about a couple of their pitching prospects (already forgot their names, but I they sounded Hispanic) and I'm sure at least one of them will turn out to be the real thing in two or three years.

Good point. I think that what I would do is nominate players who you'd think are candidates - Rickie, Adam, Jos, Chappers, whoever - and then only evaluate those. If we all know that one player is the best we have and we have no depth behind them, but yet that player isn't outstanding but just merely adequate, I don't think we'd nominate them. It's not perfect, I see, but I still think it's useful.

Criteria: I ask myself how the team would look if all of the first teamers were in the side EXCEPT the player in question. Then I do that for every candidate. Whichever player causes the largest amount of difference is the player. That is, if I could quantify each side's effectiveness or potential. It's still rather subjective but at least it's possible in theory.

Is that true? Why?

Sorry, what I meant to say is that Detroit are the team to beat...in the AL Central. As for championship material, it's still wide-open. I haven't heard too much about who the favorites are, but I would guess Rangers, Yankees, and Phillies are all in the discussion. Maybe the Angels, too. They usually talk about that stuff more closer to the end of March. Oh, and yeah - Veritek has sucked for two or three years now, so his retirement is hardly a setback for the Red Sox. They still have such a stacked lineup that they should be competitive.

There is nothing in this article that actually suggests journalism or journalistic standards. What are their sources? Who has said this? All they did was write one line (Saints are hoping to keep the player) and the rest of that is background. If anyone believes this then I have some beautiful waterfront land to sell you.

I agree with the theory of Lee not being with the squad on Saturday due to the international fixture for him on Wednesday AND because we play again on Tuesday. Adkins will tell him he's resting on Saturday so he can play the whole game on Tuesday, and then Sharp or Lambert or whoever needs it can have Tuesday off. That's a solid rotation move.

Also.... the Indians have already lost closer Chris Perez for at least a month, probably more, as well as star centerfielder Grady Sizemore until April at the earliest. This all from the first day of spring training! Gah. Still... go Indians!

Haha. Can't complain about that. Continental has a hub in Cleveland and every now and then even have a Cleveland-to-London direct flight. Although now that they have merged with United I expect them to close the Cleveland hub. Still...glad she helped spread the love. Yes, Detroit is the team to beat again this year, what with the reigning MVP and Cy Young winner in Verlander...and that was BEFORE they signed Prince Fielder. They will be quality. Yeah, every single American knows of the absurdity of this misnomer. We know it's horribly named. If I could I would change the name but I am completely aware that it's never going to happen.

I'm from Cleveland, so yes I'm a Cleveland Indians fan. I lived in Cincinnati so I started rooting for the Reds as my 2nd team (nice pick, Rut!) but when in NY I now choose the Mets over the hated hated hated Yankees, but that doesn't mean I'm a Mets fan. Anyone looking for a team I hope you give Cleveland a look. A lot of similarities with the Saints in terms of history, plus.... http://www.grantland.com/blog/the-triangle/post/_/id/18073/2012-mlb-season-preview-cleveland-indians A wonderful and optimistic preview from a neutral writer!

When you posted I was on holiday but I'm back now. And enjoying 7 points out of the last 9 possible, so things are looking up and up around here.

Haha. Yeah, I'm just having fun. I know B-more is a quality city with a quality team. I'll always be bitter just because of my connection with the Browns. And obviously I know next to nothing about Lewis' involvement in the murders, but it sure is fun bringing it up to Ravens fans. Just like bringing up Roethlisburger's preference for bathroom stalls and hitting old women on his motorcycle. Hehe. Good times. And of course, the movement of US teams from city to city is always disturbing and if I could stop it I always would. I think in the end this is one of the chief reasons why a) we should have a promotion/relegation system in all sports and b) all teams should be required to own their own stadium. If a team is going to move, it's got to buy a place to play and build it with their own funding. If a town is going to build a stadium for a team, then, umm, there's a serious disconnect and relationship issue that could develop. But that's a discussion for another time, another place, and honestly will never end. Back to happier thoughts - EVERY team in the NFL has a chance from year to year. Even the crappy ones like the Browns, Vikings, and Bengals. I mean hell...the Bengals and the Lions both made the playoffs this year.

So maybe this helps, maybe not, but I thought I could try a process of elimination. Here's who was on the team according to wikipedia that you haven't listed. I'm guessing this is the 2000/2001 team since Mark Draper has been identified and I believe he arrived in summer 2000. Maybe it was 2001/2002, I dunno. I'm using the Wikipedia roster of 2000/2001 as my list. Since you asked: Agustin Delgado's signature (note he's not listed in wikipedia): http://shop.sportsworldcards.com/southampton---agustin-delgado-519-merlins-fa-premier-league-04-autograph-edition-sticker-52982-p.asp You're right, it "might" be below Le Tiss, but it's not really spot on, which is kind of weird. According to this photo... http://www.fameinaframe.co.uk/Product.aspx?id=223, you now have John Beresford's signature. Looks like it's not on the shirt. I could not find David Hughes's signature. Uwe Rosler presents an interesting question. Here is one example and here is another example and they look different. However, they both have a mark inside the loop and I notice that the signature above Claus Lundekvam also has a mark inside the loop, so that might be him. Maybe? I couldn't find a sample of Richard Dryden's signature. Here is Stuart Ripley http://www.memorabiliacity.com/stuart-ripley-blackburn-rovers-signed-colour-photo-pr-351.html?currency=EUR This miiiight be on the left below Dean Richards but I'm not confident about that. There are a few Francis Benali signatures that come up in google image search and they all look consistent, so I'm inclined to say he is not on there either. James Beattie comes up clearly but it also looks like he's not on there. If that link didn't work, there are two (at least) signatures on this page. Dani Rodrigues is hard to find, with both an S or a Z. Adrian Caceres' signature can be found on this page. He might also be below Le Tissier. I'm not sure. It's hard to tell. AHA! I think bottom right is Dan Petrescu, based on this link. Garry Monk doesn't really come up. Sorry. Nor does Imants Bleidelis. Nor Kevin Gibbens. I didn't feel like looking through it, but apparently Paul Hughes' signature can be found on this shirt on ebay. If you want to compare yours and it you might be on to something. Dan Petrescu is also on there somewhere (probably bottom right). Here is the bigger image. Ryan Ashford search resulted in nothing. Phil Warner is hard to find. Here is a signature of Luis Boa Morte but sadly it doesn't look like anything on that shirt. Patrice Tano = nothing. Not much found in the way of Patrick Colleter. Or Shayne Bradley. And finally, little came up with Trond Egil Soltvedt that seemed to be him. If someone wants to look at the 2001/2002 team, maybe you might find something. Or perhaps some of the backroom staff? I dunno. So all that work and maybe I found 1 (Petrescu) or maybe 2... Good luck.

This cracked me up. And is probably true. While I will let anyone choose their own team, I will always add one or two comments. This comment is: supporting the Ravens is like supporting MK Dons. Do you really want to do that? They did steal my team and my Super Bowl, so I will always hate them. That being said, if I didn't hate them for those specific reasons, I could probably see why someone would recommend them. They have a general consistency about them and seem to be well run. You know, when their players aren't out murdering people.

Crap crap crap

Just know that they have a bit of a "curse" on them as they have had very strong teams over the years and never been able to pull off the big games. Or when they did finally get to the Super Bowl in the 90s...they got spanked in what I would guess would be the most lopsided Super Bowl in history. However, San Diego is a great place to visit (Sunny! Always!) and they do have what I think are decent owners. Philip Rivers is a strong QB and that's an important element. I'd trade 90% of the Browns for Rivers.

The one report that I read said "close to a million" which sounds about right. They usually over-inflate those things because they want to feel beloved and important, but usually when the Yankees win or something like that it's claimed to be 2 million or so, which means it's probably about a million. Considering how many people were outside of my office, which isn't the main part of the parade route, I think they could easily have gotten that number. As for owners - you're probably right. I don't know why they are included except that they feel they spent all that money on the team so they want to celebrate, too. I guess if your owner is bringing you a championship then you are probably loving him/her so you don't mind seeing him. I wish my teams had owners that could bring us championships...

You're right. My imagination stretches only to a game that is competitive, hard fought, determined by the players on the field, and highlighted by some amazing plays. This game only had all that. It must have sucked. I'm not a Giants fan, but their parade just went by my office window. It was pretty fun to watch. You can't see it, but that's Eli Manning with the Super Bowl trophy, another trophy (the MVP award?), and probably some members of the owning family (the Maras), probably Tom Coughlin in there, and some other importants.

I'm a random American, so ... Baseball American Football Basketball Soccer ( ) I also play golf, ski, cycle, etc. But don't "follow" any particular athlete from those. All of my teams are based in Ohio, more or less.

Super Bowl: it was a great game and I think we as fans have been blessed with a string of 5 or 6 in a row now which were fun for any fan not related to the teams playing. This game was no exception with a lot of fourth quarter drama and interesting plays along the way. The early safety was ... unique to say the least. The Pats receivers failing to catch standard passes were highly unusual and created intrigue. Manningham's catch was exception, and I thought Eli's pass in that situation was underrated. As it left his hand I exclaimed out loud "wow" before all the review drama even happened. And that review cost them a timeout, which could have played a huge difference at the end of the game. Overall I think neither of those teams were elite teams and that was simply this year's version of the NFL. Great times and I'm already looking forward to next year. And the off-season coaching carousel. And the free-agent signing period. And the draft. Oh the draft. My Browns have two first round picks this year, so hopefully we can get at least one solid player. Two solid players would go against their tradition of ineptitude so I do not hope for that. This sums it for me except I'm not gutted as I wanted both teams to lose.

And feel free to ask about any team in particular and I or someone else will give you the ups and downs of who they are and how they are perceived and what they are like, etc.

From post 81 on page 2.... That's really the best I can help you with. It's true there is no team in Nevada as there is an uncomfortable relationship between the NFL and gambling. They hate it and want nothing to do with the corruption that is associated with gambling, yet they recognize that Vegas' odds on the games and all the interest it generates in their sport helps them out tremendously. Plus, there's fantasy football which isn't gambling but does have similar aspects. Until things change in a significant way, there will never be an NFL team in Nevada or anywhere close.