2010 September | The Sports Bank.Net

99 in 99: #51 New Mexico Lobos

September 29, 2010 By davidkay Leave a Comment

New Mexico had a breakout season in 2009-2010 making the NCAA Tournament for the first time in five years and helping turn the Mountain West Conference into more than just a mid-major. A repeat performance this season is probably asking for too much, but the Lobos will once again be in the thick of the MWC race and in the thick of the conversation on Selection Sunday.

The Sports Bank’s “99 in 99” ranks the 72 power conference college basketball teams and top 27 mid-majors. Our countdown will lead right up to the start of the season and provide you will all the in-depth information about the top teams in the game. Click here if you missed teams #52-#99.

By: David Kay
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2010-11 NHL Preview: Atlantic Division

September 29, 2010 By paulmbanks Leave a Comment

It’s that time of year again!!! The air is getting colder, and the sweaters are coming out. The hockey sweaters that is. From now until Opening Day of the NHL 2010 season, look out for new division previews, new in depth team outlooks, and big predictions and prognostications of the glorious season to come. Today, we take a look at the Atlantic Division, and what to expect this season.

By Bryan Vickroy

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2010–2011 St. Louis Blues Preview

September 28, 2010 By paulmbanks Leave a Comment

2010-2011 NHL SEASON INFORMATION EXTRAPOLATION

By: Bryan Vickroy

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Denard Robinson, Terrelle Pryor Looking as Heisman as Anybody

September 28, 2010 By paulmbanks Leave a Comment

We knew entering this fall that college football‘s Heisman race would be as wide open as ever. With Sam Bradford, Tim Tebow and Colt McCoy gone, and no big name senior quarterbacks to replace them, the race for the game’s most prestigious trophy began wide open in the preseason.

Given that there have been so few repeat winners, we knew the odds were stacked against Alabama tailback Mark Ingram. Then he missed the first two games with injury. Still he’s averaging 9.3 yards per carry and has four touchdowns in the two games he has played in. Also injured is Houston QB Case Keenum, who had a solid shot at the award if statistics were the criteria prioritized by voters.

Arkansas QB Ryan Mallett dropped out last week after his two interceptions and narrow loss to #1 Alabama blew his best chance to make a true national name for himself.

Oklahoma’s Ryan Broyles, second in the nation in receiving yards, is a viable candidate but we all know that receivers rarely win the award.

Right now you have to consider Boise State QB Kellen Moore (62-95, 873, 8-1, if you’re a football geek you’ll know what knows those numbers mean without the respective letters) as much of a candidate as anyone, along with Michigan QB Denard Robinson and Ohio State QB Terrelle Pryor.

By Paul M. Banks

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2010-11 Northeast Division Preview

September 28, 2010 By paulmbanks 2 Comments

It’s that time of year again!!! The air is getting colder, and the sweater are coming out. The hockey sweaters that is. From now until Opening Day of the NHL 2010 season, look out for new division previews, new in depth team outlooks, and big predictions and prognostications of the glorious season to come. Today, we take a look at the Northeast Division, and what to expect this season.

2010-2011 NHL SEASON INFORMATION EXTRAPOLATION

By: Bryan Vickroy

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2010-11 Southeast Division Preview

September 28, 2010 By paulmbanks 1 Comment

It’s that time of year again!!! The air is getting colder, and the sweater are coming out. The hockey sweaters that is. From now until Opening Day of the NHL 2010 season, look out for new division previews, new in depth team outlooks, and big predictions and prognostications of the glorious season to come. Today, we take a look at the Southeast Division, and what to expect this season.

2010-2011 NHL SEASON INFORMATION EXTRAPOLATION

By: Bryan Vickroy

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New Magazine Feature Highlights Pat Tillman’s Legacy

September 28, 2010 By paulmbanks 2 Comments

If I could choose any recent historical figure to sit down and have an hour long exclusive interview with, it would be the late, great Pat Tillman. He was a high-achieving intellectual in the classroom and accomplished gladiator of the gridiron. His rare combination of distinctive individual traits shattered every possible stereotype, and proved once again that the most interesting of us are those who defy classification.

I am greatly looking forward to seeing the film based on his life, and his legacy because he was someone who shared my love of this great nation, college and NFL football, thinking deeply and critically, taking idealistic action and even the work of author Noam Chomsky. During his life he was a man whose actions worked on many levels.

That’s why I’m glad to see the Good Men Project make him the subject of a recent feature.

By Paul M. Banks

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Milwaukee Bucks Media Day showcases new players, high expectations

September 28, 2010 By paulmbanks 1 Comment

Note: This is the first in a series of posts previewing the Milwaukee Bucks 2010-11 season, their newest players, emerging leaders, and overall expectations.

The Milwaukee Bucks‘ Media Day on Monday saw at least double the swarm of reporters from last year, and that’s as good of an indication as any of the heightened expectations and notoriety the Bucks face as they begin training camp for the 2010-11 season.

After all the schedule examinations, statistical predictions, and offseason trade, draft and free agency analysis, the key has officially been turned to start warming the engine on the Milwaukee Bucks 2010-11 season.

By Jake McCormick [Read more...]

NFC North Review: Chicago Bears Grab Early Supremacy

September 28, 2010 By Nick Grays 1 Comment

With a dramatic 20-17 win over the Green Bay Packers, the Chicago Bears join the Kansas City Chiefs and Pittsburgh Steelers as the only 3-0 teams in the NFL. You would be hard-pressed to find anyone who predicted those three teams to have a perfect start to the season. Nonetheless, the Bears have shown vast improvement from their 7-9 record in 2009. In fact, the team from Chi-Town last started 3-0 in 2006; a year in which the Bears started 7-0 and eventually played in the Super Bowl.

It all starts with the defense as the acquisition of Julius Peppers seems to be a great one. Anyone who watched the Monday Night game could see how big of a match-up problem Peppers was for the entire Packers’ offensive line. Half of the Packers’ franchise record-tying 17 penalties were directly or indirectly related to keeping Peppers away from Aaron Rodgers. Additionally, Brian Urlacher looks like he has returned to form with a game-high nine tackles (Lance Briggs also had nine) and the clutch strip of wideout James Jones late in the fourth quarter.

Before we jump to any conclusions, let’s take a quick look at the status of each team in the NFC North:

By: Nick Grays

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Chicago Bulls Media Day Musings, Memories and Miami Heat Talk

September 27, 2010 By paulmbanks Leave a Comment

Remember how you felt the first day back at school each fall? The summer was over and “it’s business time again. Only this time, the real business was the summer itself. It seemed like the shortest NBA off-season in history, simply because it was the most exciting one that we could ever have.

Cherish it, we’ll never see a July like that again. The Chicago Bulls were a major player in that offseason, and although they failed to land any of the primary prizes available, they still made some huge improvements on last year’s team.

And even if they hadn’t nabbed Carlos Boozer, Kyle Korver, Ronnie Brewer etc. you couldn’t fault them for first liquidating their assets and “backing up the truck” to buy. Because you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take. The Bulls were indeed among the most active deal-makers on the trading floor when the exchange opened for business July 1.

They didn’t acquire the blue-chippers, but they certainly augmented their portfolio of holdings.

By Paul M. Banks

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Points of Vikings Emphasis for Brad Childress During Bye Week

September 27, 2010 By patrickherbert Leave a Comment

The Minnesota Vikings have finally lived up to 2010 expectations and won their first intra-division game against the Detroit Lions. This is certainly a weight lifted off the shoulders of all associated with the organization, especially Brett Favre and Head Coach Brad Childress. All’s well that ends well, but they are still in the infancy of their sixteen game regular season schedule and there are certainly still areas of concern surrounding the squad.

Offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell has to find ways to cut down on Favre’s interceptions. The latter has always had the label of a gunslinger who can make a gigantic play in crunch time…with the downside that you get a negative outcome half the time. The common denominator with the winless high profile teams coming into this week is that neither Childress nor Wade Phillips is perceived as a mastermind with a headset.

There is only one Bill Belichick in the NFL, so the staff should open the possibilities to things that worked for Favre in Green Bay and various ways to set him up for success through safe plays to Visanthe Shiancoe. The leg injury that he suffered in Sunday’s game against the Detroit Lions is not considered serious.

By Patrick Herbert

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