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Posted on by rseys Posted in New Technology to Track a Football

Maybe it’s just me, but when so much is on the line in football, whether it’s college ball or the pros, spotting a football by eyesight seems lame.  Inches are huge in football, yet the job of the head linesman and line judge in determining the exact location of a football after a play ends is really just a best guess.  Adverse conditions make their job even more difficult.  How is it possible for two mortal referees to accurately spot a football when it’s blocked from view during, say, a goal-line plunge with the running back buried under a pile of players?  How can the officials correctly place the ball when there’s thick fog or heavy snow messing with visibility?  Can’t some kind of GPS system be implanted in the ball so the referees would always know a ball’s true location?

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Posted on by rseys Posted in Chris Kluwe on Augmented Reality

Chris Kluwe has been in the news a lot recently regarding his allegations that Minnesota Vikings special-teams coordinator Mike Priefer used homophobic language on many occasions.  Even before this most-recent happening, Kluwe has been involved in a number of divisive incidents because of his unfiltered style of speaking out.  Recently, however, I stumbled across an entertaining talk presented by Kluwe pertaining to augmented reality and the direction that, not only sports may take, but society as well.  I may not agree with Kluwe’s statements that fans want to “be” their favorite player – my enjoyment with football revolves more around the strategic element – but he presents a future that very well may come to pass.  Enjoy!
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Posted on by rseys Posted in Fantasy Football Sleepers 2014

Every season there’s a handful of unheralded players – sleepers, dark horses, breakouts – that flash into the fantasy football limelight by inexplicably becoming NFL starters, and in some cases, top 5 players at their position. If you’re like me, you’re scouring the Internet this time of year searching for these players. Savvy fantasy football owners know that unearthing football gems late in the draft can be the difference between winning a league championship, and finishing as an also-ran.

Who will be this season’s Nick Foles, Alshon Jeffery, or Julian Edelman? After hours of research, I’ve compiled a top-50 list of players that are mentioned most often by fantasy football experts as having the potential to produce a breakout season. If their consensus carries any weight, it may be wise to look carefully at the players on this list, especially those at the top.
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Posted on by rseys Posted in NFL Playoff Droughts

Climate change is a hot-button topic lately.  Although controversial, science shows that rising CO2 levels in the atmosphere are adding to the greenhouse effect.  Not only is this causing global warming, but also is attributable to violent storms, more frequent flooding, and extreme drought.  If we are smart, we will do what we can to reverse the damage.  We may have a difficult struggle ahead of us.

NFL franchises face a similar challenge.  Some teams have suffered through years of playoff drought.  Their fans are parched.  They ache for a cool drink of playoff water, and dream of following the lush, heavenly river that leads to the Super Bowl.  Management works hard trying to change the losing climate of their football club.

Teams that have enjoyed recent playoff success face similar struggles.  They know too well that they sit in a precarious position.  Without careful and constant effort, other teams are poised to displace them from their playoff oasis.  Like the weather, the NFL climate is in constant flux.  Today’s playoff success may simply be the last cool rain preceding a devastating drought.
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Posted on by rseys Posted in Official Size Football
The NFL needs a ball sized for the players

The NFL needs a ball sized for the players

It’s sad that NFL teams are forced to play with a ball sized for the officials.  Why doesn’t the players association do something about this???

Posted on by rseys Posted in 2014 NFL Wallet Schedule

They say you can tell a lot about a person by the contents of his or her wallet.  It makes sense, then, if you’re a football fan, that at least one item in your billfold is football related.  I’m guessing that one of those slick, little pocket schedules for your favorite team might be tucked away in your wallet right now.  But why limit yourself to just one team’s schedule?  If you could, wouldn’t you rather have a pocket schedule that lists the entire NFL schedule?  Is that even possible???  Yes it is!

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Posted on by rseys Posted in One Page 2014 NFL Schedule

Like last year, I’ve once again created a One Page NFL Schedule.  I’ve found this listing of games to be invaluable as a quick reference to see the weekly NFL match-ups at a glance.  The One Page NFL Schedule is packed with every 2014 NFL regular season game on one 8-1/2 x 11 sheet of paper, in PDF format, ready to print.  I’ve even created a copy for each U.S. time zone (below).  Enjoy!

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Posted on by rseys Posted in Periodic Table of the NFL

What happens when a football fan with a scientific bent gets bored….

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Posted on by rseys Posted in Draft Day Movie Review

Draft Day is a 2014 movie starring Kevin Costner and Jennifer Garner, and directed by Ivan Reitman.  The movie was released on April 11, 2014.  The story is centered on Sonny Weaver, Jr. (Costner), the general manager of the Cleveland Browns, and how he orchestrates his player selections after acquiring the number one pick in the NFL player draft.

Kevin Costner and Jennifer Garner star in the 2014 movie Draft Day

Kevin Costner and Jennifer Garner star in the 2014 movie Draft Day

The acting in Draft Day is poor.  Mind you, Costner and Garner are fine, but the supporting acting is weak to say the least.  Remarkably, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell might have done the best acting job of them all.  Although Goodell’s cameo appearances are brief and essentially non-consequential to the plot, in all cases Goodell is natural and believable.

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Posted on by rseys Posted in NFL Cheerleading Squad Names

26 of the 32 NFL teams currently have cheerleading squads.  Through the years, most cheer squads simply took on the rather blasé moniker of their team.  For example, the Cardinals Cheer team is known as the Arizona Cardinals Cheerleaders.  (Yawn.)  Some cheerleading squads are a bit more imaginative with their names.  Listed below is a list of the innovative cheerleading outliers, past and present, that blazed their own moniker trail.  (Source: Wikipedia)

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Posted on by rseys Posted in A Football Joke

Have you ever heard of Voki?  It’s a website that allows a person to create animated flash videos.  You can check it out at www.voki.com.  Anyway, I was playing around there today and made a video of a football joke.  Enjoy!

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Posted on by rseys Posted in Display a Vintage Football Calendar

Football memorabilia is cool.  It can take you back in time and effect fond memories of a favorite player or magical season.  It’s even cooler when it serves a purpose.  A great example is an old, vintage football calendar.  The fact that calendars repeat every few years is an excellent happenstance that allows a person to reuse calendars from the past.  There’s something natty about displaying a venerable football calendar from years ago.

Except for leap years, calendars typically repeat every 6 or 11 years.  For example, this year’s 2014 calendar is a repeat of 2003 and 1997.  I.e., January 1st falls on a Wednesday in each of these years, and Christmas day is on a Thursday.  They are all duplicates of one another, and hence can be reused.  The only discrepancies you may find are a small smattering of differing holidays, most of which are related to the Easter and the Lenten season: Ash Wednesday, Palm Sunday, Good Friday, etc.  A few sticky notes affixed to the calendar will cure that ailment.  See figure 1 for a list of calendar years that are repeats of 2014, as well as repeats for the years 2015-2017 for you proactive types.
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Posted on by rseys Posted in 42 Yard Extra Point
Extra point attempts used to be exciting

Extra point attempts used to be exciting

Last season, NFL kickers successfully converted 99.6 percent of their extra point attempts. It’s become so automatic that the NFL Competition Committee is considering making changes to add difficulty to the extra point attempt, and hence create more excitement.

One idea the NFL may experiment with this preseason is to place the ball at the 25-yard line for extra point attempts rather than the 2-yard line, where it’s currently positioned. Because of the placement of the ball when kicked, that works out to the equivalent of a 42-yard field goal. For reference, last season saw 83 percent of field goal attempts between 40 and 49 yards split the uprights, so a 42 yard extra point attempt certainly would not be a gimme.

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Posted on by rseys Posted in Tampa Bay Buccaneers New Uniform
The Bucs new uniforms are modern and flashy

The Bucs new uniforms are modern and flashy

The Tampa Bay Bucs unveiled new uniforms on Monday.  My first reaction was that they’re too flashy.  My personal tastes are throwback style.  If it were up to me, the Bucs would be sporting simple pewter pants, white or red home/away jerseys, and a pewter helmet with a plain Jolly Roger, sans the flag.  There’s something about a bare, blue-collar uniform that reflects toughness.  Think Monsters of the Midway.  Black pants, jersey, and helmet with a lucid, white “C” adorning the side.  Now that’s intimidating.

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