Its almost that time of year again. Time to start thinking about Fantasy Football Leagues.

We here at OSA are planning to have a NFL Fantasy Football league, and we are also considering a NCAA Fantasy Football league. If you are interested in joining either league, please join the forum and let us know by posting in the related threads. Here are the links to the specific posts:

NFL Fantasy Football

NCAA Fantasy Football

Heck even if you arent interested in either league please don’t hesitate to join the forum and chat with us about all matters in sports.

On a side note, you may have noticed that we recently changed the layout. Personally, I like the new design, but I am the one who designed it, so please leave a comment and let us know what you think.

Shasta

I was reading through the latest sports news headlines on Yahoo news and I ran across a very small headline that caught my attention. Apparently Sam Keller, former Nebraska Quarterback is suing EA Sports for using the likeness and names of NCAA players, in violation of NCAA rules. The NCAA has also been named in the suit.

This story is interesting to me. I have been playing NCAA football games for years, and I have absolutely no memory of the game ever having a players name in it. I specifically remember having to edit in the names of players on my favorite teams so I would not have to play the game with just a bunch of nameless numbers. I suppose he could argue that the numbers and vital statistics are a match for likeness, but most of the time those numbers and stats aren’t exactly accurate.

I don’t know how to feel about this. I personally would like to see the NCAA do away with this rule, and figure out a way to let the game have the players names while still allowing for amatuer status as players. Perhaps the NCAA could use the revenues generated from the players names used in the game for a scholarship fund or some other form of charity. Either way I don’t think this lawsuit will help that cause at all.

It’s the day after Cinco de Mayo, and I am not hung over. It’s likely because I have no idea what the holiday is about. I know it means the 5th of May in Spanish and its a Mexican holiday that probably falls somewhere between the Fourth of July and D-Day. That being said its also been an interesting week in the world of sports. Here is a roundup of some of the stories floating around.

1. Brett Favre Talking With The Vikings: Some people say Brett is too old, he has outlived his usefulness as an NFL Quarterback. I disagree, I think Brett is still fit for service in the NFL. Brett is still better than at least half the starting QB’s in the league, if not more than that. Any team would be smart to sign him even as a backup to some of the better passers in the league. He brings experience, and a still capable arm to the game. The Vikings are a smart move for Brett and vica versa. He can come in, start for a year or two, play against teams he is familiar with, and most importantly, he can win games.

2. Mark Martin to run full schedule in 2010: Mark Martin is Nascar’s version of Brett Favre. He is one of the oldest drivers in Nascar, yet he is still winning. He was running only partial schedules the last couple of years, but since he has been driving near the top in every race he enters, he may as well take another shot at the cup by competing in every race. So long as he can be competitive, there is no reason for him not to be in it.

3. One of the Cowboys Staffer’s hurt in dome collapse released from hospital: This is one of the craziest storie’s to come out in a while. You would think of all the places you would be safe in a storm would be inside a huge, multi-million dollar facility. That was not the case recently when the roof of the ‘Boys practice facility collapsed this week, leaving one of the staff paralized. Fortunately, no one was killed in the collapse, but you have to seriously ask, who built this thing and why did it collapse?

4. Penguins fans sent message in error: Imagine you are at your favorite teams game and before the game they hold a contest for free tickets. Imagine then that you receive a text message from the team telling you you won. How psyched would you be? Then imagine you get a phone call explaining that the message was a mistake and you did not really win the tickets. Bummed, right? Well that is exactly what happened to a bunch of fans of the Pittsburgh Penguins recently, but at least the team was nice enough to offer the fans t-shirts and gift packages instead.

Who knows what news is coming in the near future, but we will try to keep you up to date. Check back soon for more.

The Nascar sanctioned races have always been synonymous with wrecks. Everyone talks about the “Big One”, the big wreck that always seems to happen during a race there and involves many of the cars involved.This past race weekend has not only lived up to that hype but perhaps gone a bit too far.

Sure, many people watch the races for the wrecks. Talladega seems to be one of those tracks that people love for the fact that the cars go really fast and wrecks seem to be magnified on the 2.66 mile superspeedway. That surely did not change this past weekend.

Early in the race a 13 car crash took a few big names out of the running. Mark Martin was one of the drivers taken out by the first wreck on lap 7. Near the end of the race, Carl Edwards attempted to block the race winner Brad Keselowski from passing, sending Edwards’ car airborne into the  fence causing injuries to fans. In the Nationwide race on Saturday, Matt Kenseth faced a horrifying multiple spin flip, which seemed to last for an eternity. Needless to say, there was nothing safe about any of these wrecks.

Nascar has made a ton of progress in regards to safety in recent years. The death of racing legend Dale Earnhardt sent Nascar on a safety frenzy that continues to this day. The cars are much safer, the drivers walk away from most wrecks. In light of the Edwards wreck and the subsequent injuries to fans, perhaps Nascar needs to take a look at what it can do to make Talladega a safer experience for fans and drivers alike. Sure it could possibly hurt the tracks popularity, but when fans are placed in danger, safety should become the first priority. If they do not do anything, I am absolutely certain a wrongful death lawsuit from the family of a fan will hurry up the process. I just hope it does not come to that.

Written by Tigerstripe
Saturday, 11 April 2009

In the first scrimmage of the season on March 28, the offense made a statement on rain-soaked field. An offensive line that was questionable in 2008 helped the running game amass a combined 200 yards on 36 carries from running backs Jamie Harper, Andre Ellington, Rendrick Taylor and Ronald Watson, Jr. Clemson must replace 2-year starter Cullen Harper, and that might be a good thing. The two likely candidates are Willy Korn and Kyle Parker, and they combined to throw 5 touchdown passes.

In their second scrimmage, the defense returned a favor by recording 13 sacks, which was led by sophomore defensive end Da’Quan Bowers with his 3 sacks, 4 tackles for a loss, forced a fumble and an interception. Sadat Chambers also added to the defense’s outstanding day with 23-yard interception return. Kavell Conner added his 6 tackles.

Offensively, QB Michael Wade was impressive despite the defense’s dominance, going 9-for-12 for 163 yards and two touchdowns that included a 60-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Ford. Korn went 8-for-16 for 96 yards, while Parker contributed 87 passing yard on a 7-for-14 day.

Despite the occasional offensive brilliance by the offense on this day, it was still the defense who shined.

http://thecollegeendzone.com/content/view/55/1/