For Love of the Game posted by Matt Stewart

           Why do people read books or watch movies? What is it that they find intriguing? It’s the story. If it’s a great story that you are looking for than you need only look to professional sports.

           I am a sports enthusiast. For years my wife has nagged me about how silly they are, and while they more than likely contribute to my overall stress level, I cannot resist the urge. Why do I think sports are so great? That’s easy! It’s everything. It’s the competition, the rivalry, the challenge, colors, sounds, action, suspense, and victory! There is a great story told in sporting events. Sometimes it’s just more obvious than others.

           Think back to January 3, 1993. This date will live forever to many fans. The Houston Oilers traveled to Buffalo to take on the Bills in the 1992 AFC Wildcard Game. None of the fans had an idea of what they were about to witness. Houston came out blazing going up 28-3 at halftime. The mood among the fans in the stadium was complete shock. The Bills, losers in the previous two Super Bowls, were now facing elimination once more. Many of the fans had left the game in disgust, while the Oilers were looking ahead to the divisional game the upcoming week.

           The second half started like a repeat of the first. The Oilers scored and took an even more commanding lead 35-3. All hope seemed lost. Then, as if it were meant to be, the Bills showed signs of life. Touchdown! And then another. Suddenly the Bills were only down 35-17. They rallied behind the arm of backup quarterback Frank Reich and with just under five minutes left in the game, took the lead 38-35. The fans were back in the game cheering their beloved Bills to victory. It would have to wait. Oilers’ quarterback Warren Moon marched the Oilers down the field and they tied the game on a field goal.

Monday Hangover posted by Tom

The weekend sports started off real well, Calaveras dropped Bret Harte to sew up 2nd place in the MLL.  The Redskins will travel to Escalon on Friday to take on the powerful TVL Champion Cougars.  It will be a tough battle for the Redskins, but you every once in a while David takes out Goliath.  The first key is for the players and team to approach the week with the idea that this is what we need to be successful and not focus on anything else.  The coaches will put together a game plan that will give the players a chance to win.  The players needs to trust the coaches and focus on executing the game plan. The focus is not to win, but to execute and when you prepare correctly and execute, the winning will take care of itself.

Hard times have fallen on Hartnell College Football, a very successful program up through the 80's can't seem to get it rolling anymore.  The Panthers lost Saturday in their season finale against Monterey Peninsula College.  With the win, MPC completed their first ever undefeated season. 

The Giants opened up the 2008-2009 free agent signing season by inking the first Free Agent, Jeremy Affeldt to a contract.  Most likely he will step into the mcuh needed set up role in front of Brian Wilson.  Rumors are that the Giants are after Furcal.  Furcal could be risky, injured a lot in the last few seasons and age is starting to catch up with him.  The Giants have some speed in their lineup and on their roster, what they don't have is power.  Whether by trade or free agent market the Giants could use some help in the power department, like the infield and/or outfield corners.  But it seems that they may be active in this year's bidding.  And it has been reported that they have let Scot Boras know that they are interested in his stable of performers.

Inbound link contest winner announced! posted by Earn Money Blogging

A big thanks to everyone who participated in the "Inbound Link Contest".  We have a winner!  A big congratulations go out to Marija.  Thank you for all your hard work on this.  While we had a lot of people participate, Marija was able to win with only 4 links!  So it wouldn't have taken a lot to win this contest!  We'll be having another contest soon so stay tuned.

The whole purpose of this contest was to get our bloggers networking with other webmasters and to start to build up their inbound links which will help their traffic.  Even a few links can help you with the search engines as they will see you as more of an authority on your topic the more inbound links you have.

To learn more about marketing your blog check out this post: http://www.nbabasketballonline.com/sports_content-rev_share_faq.html#my_faq_2971

Marija's blog can be found here.  If you're a Knicks fan, check it out: http://www.newyorkknicksnews.com/marijak

The original post announcing the contest can be found here: http://www.nbabasketballonline.com/bloggers/weblog/2984.html

And if you're not already signed up with Google AdSense and making money from your blog, check out our Revenue Share FAQ page: http://www.nbabasketballonline.com/sports_content-rev_share_faq.html

Inbound link contest - Win $100! posted by Earn Money Blogging

To try and motivate our bloggers to get inbound links we're going to have a contest to see which blogger can get the most inbound links to their blog. The contest begins now and ends July 31st, 2008. To be entered in to the contest all you have to do is go out and get as many websites to link to your blog as you can and at the end of the month send us an email listing all those links. All links must be active from August 1st through August 7th when we'll be judging the entries - a winner will be announced on August 7th. All entry emails must be received by Midnight on July 31st, 2008. You can email them to sportsfan@nbabasketballonline.com

We're going to impose some restrictions on the types of links you can get so please see below for the full list of links that do NOT count.

To get started simply go to Google and find other websites and blog that are about the sports and teams that you write about. Email the website owner and ask them for a link by explaining that you think your blog would be a good resource for their readers. Or offer to write a guest post for them with your by-line and URL at the bottom of the article. Or offer to exchange links with them by writing a quick write up of their site and a reciprocal link back to them. Some webmasters will be happy to add you to their blog roll even if you don't give them a link back (which is ideal) but some may want you to link back to them - you can easily do this with a quick blog entry on your blog about their website.

To learn more about inbound links and marketing your blog in general check out this post:

Beckett goes for #6!!! posted by Turgasso

The sox can tie Tampa for the lead in the AL East tonight as Beckett takes the mound, going for his 6th win. Ortiz is on the 15 DL with a torn ECU tendon-- known as the extensor carpi ulnaris to us science geeks. Theo & Francona are in agreement that surgery wont be necessary; we'll wait and see if the Vader-like cast will do the trick. JD Drew was the offensive star of last night's win, going 2 for 3 along with Coco Crisp's off the wall tie breaking double.  Dice-K's replacement Justin Masterson allowed four runs on six hits in six innings-- he's 2-0 with a The Rays are 0-4 at Fenway Park this season; 65-88 since their inaugural season 10 years ago. They'll return for a final 3 game series in September following tomorrow nights game.

Interleague play returns in 9 days as the Sox will face off against Arizona & St Louis at Fenway; Cincinnati, Philadelphia and Houston on the road. Should prove to be interesting matchup's since they'll be facing 2 of the NL's division leaders, the Diamondbacks & Phillies. Given that 8 of the 15 games will be played on the road, Ortiz's DL stint just might get the Sox pre-prepared for winning without the DH.

Why the Jim Edmonds Signing DOES Make Sense posted by Jeff Wilson

I have to disagree with those that say that the Jim Edmonds signing doesnt make sense and those that would really get down on it now with his 2-15 start.   There are numerous reasons why this DOES make sense for the Chicago Cubs

1) Experience-  it appears that you do not lose a lot defensively as evidenced by that incredible catch in Houston that saved 2 runs and the ballgame.  Pie is the better defender and has more speed on the basepaths for the Cubs to exploit there, however at the plate, Pie is lost.  He strikes out far too frequently and by doing that he limits how Piniella can use him.  He cant reliably be a hitter for the hit and run if he fails to make contact - he leaves the runner hung out to dry.  Edmonds on the other hand can give you the fly ball if you need it for a sacrifice fly or to move a runner from 2nd to 3rd. He can also hit the ball to the right side to move that runner along to 3rd.  This is assuming the worst case scenario, that he doesnt begin to hit for a reasonably high average.  Should he begin to hit, the Cubs have a nice set of people that could play center-  Edmonds, Johnson and Fukudome. If he doesnt hit, then he didnt cost them much. 

2) Mentoring   -  he can teach the younger outfielders how to play the position - even Pie who would most certainly be a September call-up.  Having him on your roster when it expands to 40 certainly offers Lou even more flexibility.  He could tutor Hoffpauir for one on outfield play at the corners.  Edmonds like him or not was one of the best center fielders in the last 20 years.  The 8 time Gold glover is no slouch.  

Signs Of Spring Training posted by Greg L Johnson

In the middle of a Minnesota Winter, you're always on the lookout for signs of spring, especially on days like today when you wake up in the morning and the temperature is four degrees below zero. For baseball fans, one of the sure signs of Spring is the start of Spring Training. We mayb not have much in the way of signs of Spring right now, but there were a couple of news items over the weekend that show that Spring Training, at least, is on its way.

First, the Twins, as they are accustomed to doing, signed a couple of veteran pitching projects for their Spring training roster. Zach Day is a right-handed pitcher who underwent rotator cuff surgery in 2006 and pitched last year for the Kansas City Royals Omaha Triple-A team. Randy Keisler is a lefty who started three games last year for the St Louis Cardinals with a 5.19 ERA. Both pitchers are probably long-shots to make the team, but for the Twins to be successful they almost always need some kind of long shot to come through and surprise people.

Second, Spring Training tickets went on sale Saturday, and early reports are that the Twins sold about thirty-thousand tickets over the weekend. Doubtless the cold weather in Minnesota is making more than a few Twins fans interested in taking a trip to Fliorida.