After further review, the NFL overtime rules won’t change.

NFL competition committee co-chairman Rich McKay, speaking on a national conference call, said there will be no adjustment to the current overtime rules. The committee met for 10 days in Naples, Fla., and after consulting players and conducting a league wide survey of the 32 clubs, there wasn’t enough support to make any proposal to change the current overtime rules, which were created to minimize the chance of ties.

There has been a recent push by fans for each team to have a possession in overtime. Players expressed concerns about safety issues if the current rules were to be changed. McKay said there has been a growing concern about the increasing number of games decided on the first possession after the overtime coin toss.

In 2008, the team that won the coin toss also won the game on the first overtime series 43.4 percent of the time. Overall, the team that won the coin toss also won the game 63 percent of the time regardless of the number of overtime possessions.

In other competitive items that will be discussed at next week’s owners meeting in Dana Point, Calif., the committee recommended a reseeding proposal for the draft order in future years. Under the proposal, the 20 teams that didn’t make the playoffs would be seeded based on their record as it is currently formatted. The change would involve teams making the playoffs. Those playoffs teams would be seeded in slots 21 through 32 but they would drop in the positions based on how long they lasted in the playoffs.

This brings up a few points. First of all the NFL not changing the OT rules seems stupid to me. If the fans are begging for it, then why not try to come up with a better scenario. I don’t think there are too many people who want to watch a GREAT game that ends regulation in a tie and then virtually be decided by a coin flip!

Secondly, the new seeding rule is very smart. I actually can’t believe they don’t do that now. In my fantasy league we realized we made that error after ONE year and fixed it immediately!

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The Rooney’s are the family who owns the Steelers and Art Rooney II is the president. He announced that they are currently seeking investors to buy out his father’s (Dan Rooney), brother’s shares of the franchise that would separate the family’s gaming interest and satisfy the NFL’s rules regarding ownership equity.

They go on to say that all potential investors must first be approved by the NFL, and appear before the NFL’s financial committee next week. They are not saying who the potential investors could be but said “One of the names is very recognizable.”

If the name is in fact very recognizable, it leads me to wonder. Is having a big celebrity face on a franchise a good thing? Does, for example, having Mark Cuban around help or hurt? Thoughts?

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You can view and print the Feendz.com March Madness Tournament Bracket for free by going here:

Printable Feendz.com March Madness Tournament Bracket

Enjoy

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Miami Beach police said Cleveland Browns wide receiver Donte Stallworth hit and killed a pedestrian with his Bentley Saturday morning on the McArthur causeway.

Police said Stallworth was headed toward the beach when he hit a 49-year-old man around 7 a.m.

The victim was near a crosswalk, but it’s not clear if he was crossing legally.

Stallworth, 28, was cooperating, and no charges have been filed.

Officers drew blood to test for drugs or alcohol, which is routine, but police said it was too early to tell if Stallworth was impaired or violating traffic laws.

Stallworth owns two condos in Miami not far from the McArthur causeway.

Stallworth signed a seven-year, $35 million contract with the Browns as a free agent before last season.

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There is more to cheer about in Japan and Korea these days than the WBC. His name is, Yoshihiro Akiyama. He’s a 5’10” 195 lbs. Korean native who resides in Osaka, Japan with an impressive MMA record of 12-1 with 2 no contests. Akiyama announced that he was signing on in the Middleweight class with the UFC. There are no bouts set for the 33 year-old yet, but he has headed to Hawaii to start training. Yoshihiro is particularly good standing with his quick punches and spinning kicks. Most of his fights have ended in a KO, five all together. He is a very good with submissions also, with seven of his wins coming from them. Five of the submissions came from an armbar. He has been fighting in K-1 since 2004, and has only lost to Jerome LaBanner by way of knees.

Yoshihiro is very excited to join the UFC. He has gotten a two-year, six-fight deal, and is wanting to fight in UFC 100. Things seem to be going well for this man. I expect some pretty good fighting from him. So keep an eye out for Yoshihiro Akiyama.

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Last nights 3 hour and 36 minute EPIC game between Syracuse and UConn, that went into 6OT with a combined 244 points, 8 players fouling out and 6 players getting double-doubles, was the second longest game in conference history. It leaves me asking myself, after some pretty high scoring and intense Big East Conference Tournament games, is there going to be anything left for the big dance?!

“I can’t even feel my legs right now,” Flynn said. “It was a tough game, we battled it out…” and they are not done yet, not by a long shot “…but we have to turn it around — today (game ended at 1:22am) — and face a tough team in West Virginia.”

It seems like with a lot of major talent in the Big East this year could work against them in the NCAA Tournament. Teams that go deep are going to be tired and beat up, which in the past has cost great teams amazing conference wins, but disappointing first round NCAA Tournament losses.

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As most of you saw on UFC 96, at the end of the Jackson vs. Jardine fight Rashad Evans was put up against Rampage Jackson for a “face off.” This though was nothing that Evans expected, he was quoted saying on Inside MMA that he “didn’t expect that… They (UFC officials) said I was going to have to do a face-off. I didn’t know it was going to be a trash-talking face-off. I was just caught totally off guard. I was there, and I just wanted to console my guy, who had just lost.”

This antic that the UFC officials put together looked like a scene off of the popular wrestling show “TNA: Impact”. I personally respect the President of UFC, Dana White, but after letting a display like that happen in one of his rings was just wrong. There is a line that shouldn’t be crossed, and it was.

I enjoy seeing a good fight. Guys like me who know what is going on, don’t need a show like that. The drama though is what makes the sport popular for most people. Much like fighting in the NHL, but how far should things go? Should this turn into a “WWE Type” sport where the fighters are not really fighters at all, but big guys with big mouths? This sport is one of the greatest to a lot of people because it brings together all great styles of fighting, and creates a great show of skill. Watching guys like Chuck Liddell or Tito Ortiz are entertaining and amazing at the same time. Now I’m not putting Jackson or Evans down. These two are great fighters and should be completely respected.

I think that the UFC should start to look at where they stand when it comes to taking thing like this too far, like  on public “trash-talk”. Men are going to talk, no one is going to stop them from that, but don’t force them into the ring to do it for a UFC publicity stunt, when they’re there for a completely different reason. No one on this planet has more respect for each other than the men that get into the ring together. No one may be friends during the fight, but after the fight is over they congratulate each other and normally help each other. To turn these men on each other like that is like making dogs fight. There is just something wrong about it. True MMA fighters have more class then that. They know that they have well respected skill, and show each other respect. That’s what the UFC needs to start to go back to. We all want a show, but we want a good, clean fight too.

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OK So I know there is a lot of Madden addicts out there. I am sure there are a lot of sports game addicts in general out there. We sports fans use our sports games to live a dream that we were never able to accomplish. Ok enough with the psycho babel, this article isn’t about that. It is about comparing Madden to the real NFL.

How realistic do you feel the player attributes are? I always hear people say “dude in Madden he is the man,” and trust me, I am guilty of dropping that gem myself, often. Or “I don’t know, but it madden he is fast as hell,” something along those lines sound familiar? And if you are thinking, why Madden? Couldn’t you say this for any sports game, ya I prolly could, but Madden in my favorite and most popular, so shut up. It is my article I can use whatever game I want.

Anyway… The question I am trying to ask is, Is Madden accurate? Personally I feel like they do a great job trying to make the game as realistic as possible, but lets be honest. I am sure on the lower caliber players they just give them some general attributes that they have ready. I am also sure that they overrate some players like crazy. It seems like there is always a couple every year that have no business being 99’s. You also have the fact that Madden can be played on different difficulty settings. Just because you play your franchise on Pro and had 45 picks with Fred Thomas, don’t tell me how awesome he is and that you don’t know why he isn’t a starter. “Dude I had 50 TD’s and 5000 passing yards in one season with Charlie Batch, how is he not starting in the NFL?”

In conclusion, Madden is THE best game ever made, no doubt. But don’t take everything too literally, in the end it is a video game, but GTA4 on the other hand, that is real life. Do everything you see in that game.

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For the first time in Sergio Garcia’s carrer, he has the chance to become #1 in the world.  As you all know, the #1 spot has been held by Tiger Woods since June 12, 2005.  With Tiger’s name on “injured reserve” for the past 8 weeks, Garcia has had a chance to climb the ranks.  Gracia certainly could have done more to secure his top world ranking-having only won twice since Woods has been out.  Sergio has also placed 2nd in the PGA championships.  Garcia currently trails Tiger by 1.59 points.

This weekend, both Garcia and Woods are playing the CA Championships and in order for Garcia to dethrone Sir Eldrick Tont Woods, Sergio would have to win and Tiger would have to finish 27th or worse.  I think this is possible.  Tiger is still feeling the effects of his rehab and time off, and that was evident in the Accenture Match Play.

If nothing else, the possibility that a European can take the #1 world ranking will be reason enough for me to watch the final round.

Possible? Keep dreaming? What says you PGA fans?

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Now that its championship week in college basketball let’s see what kind of upsets are brewing. This is a list of teams that have won their conference tournaments and are automatic bids into the tournament:

Robert Morris (23-10) Northeast, Radford (18-11) Big South, Stephen F. Austin (17-7) Southland, Binghamton (21-8) American East, Western Kentucky (22-8) Sun Belt, Northern Iowa (22-10) MVC, VCU (24-9) CAA, Bowling Green (16-12) MAC, Morgan St (19-11) MEAC, Cornell (19-9) Ivy, American (23-7) Patriot, East Tenn St (21-10) Atl Sun, North Dakota St (23-6) Summit, Weber St (20-8) Big Sky, CS Northridge (14-13) Big West, Morehead St (17-15) OVC, Chattanooga (—–) SoCon, Alabama St (—–) SWAC, Cleveland St (—–) Horizon, Sienna (—–) MAAC, Gonzaga (—–) WCC. ((—–) signifies no record available at time)

Which one if any of these schools already in the tournament even have a chance to go anywhere let alone win ONE game. The obvious choice here is bracket mainstay Gonzaga, with Pargo and (mushroom man) Heyphelt they have some pieces that will allow them to make a run in the tourney. However if you watched any early season NCAA basketball you know Gonzaga got whopped by everyone good that they played which leads me to believe they are a one and done.

My dark horse from this list is VCU, they have this guy Maynor who led them to a win in the tourney 2 years ago when they upset Duke. Maynor has been the CAA player of the year the last two years and looks to be on the brink of establishing himself as the next Stephen Curry. They are really one of the only teams from this list that has a chance, but of course that will strongly depend on their matchup.

Other possibilities include WKU (they two games last year in the tourney, Sienna (back to back tourney appearances and has four or five really good 3 point shooters), and Northern Iowa (something about this team intrigues me).

But my favorite part of conference championship week is when the upset happens like last night with Cleveland St and now Butler is probably going to get an at-large which takes one more at large bid away from a St. Mary’s or San Diego St (who IMO don’t deserve to be in anyways). Bubbles bursting all week and I look forward to the major conference tourneys this weekend most notably the Big East, Big Ten, SEC, and ACC.

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