Thursday September 4, 2003

TWINS THOUGHTS - The Twins are back in first place!! Yesterday, they won a crazy game in an absolutely crazy way.  John Gordon and Dan Gladden are getting LOTS of air time on Sports Center, earning the Call of the Day for yesterday! For once, I can actually understand and appreciate Mr. Gordon’s enthusiasm!

DISCUSSION QUESTION OF THE WEEK

BACK IN FIRST and WEEK 1 FOOTBALL PICKS

Before we get started with our picks for this week’s games, I’d like to point out a couple other links that football fans should check out. 

First, check out my posting from yesterday, a Vikings Preview.

Second, if you are into Fantasy Football, be sure to check out the results and analysis from the two fantasy football drafts I participated in last week.

With the start of the NFL season tonight, today I am introducing a panel of “experts” to pick football games each week. I think it’ll be very interesting. Now, “experts” is a term that is probably used pretty loosely in this case. These people are actually experts in what they do, but are they expert football prognosticators?  Well, we’ll find out.  Let me first introduce the panel:

Seth Stohs – It’s me. If you want to read more on me and this website, please check out the About Me link on the left side of your screen. To summarize though, I am a 28 year old analyst for Marvin Windows & Doors, in Warroad, MN.  I got a few AB’s of college ball at Concordia College in Moorhead, MN. But basically, I love sports, especially baseball. I have had this website since June, and really enjoy writing each day. So, primarily, this will be a baseball-related (Minnesota Twins specifically) web site. But, I also love other sports, namely football and basketball, so be sure to check back at any time during the year. And, please feel free to leave me any feedback you may have for me.  Thanks for stopping by.

Melissa Olson – Webmaster and co-editor of this site, www.SethSpeaks.net. Not only is she a computer genius, but she also knows football. She consistently picks more games correctly than I do. And, she’s absolutely one of my best friends!

Aaron Gleeman – People who are reading this site are probably very familiar with Aaron. He, of course, is the writer of Aaron’s Baseball Blog, a great source for baseball knowledge and stats. It is a site that gets more hits each day than my site gets in a month! (hopefully I can approach those numbers… someday!) Aaron is beginning his third year at the University of Minnesota.

Anthony Fox – Recently, Anthony started up a Twins-Related website called The Bad Twin. He is a 20 year old junior at Metropolitan State University majoring in Writing and English, with a Political Science minor.

Ben Jacobs – I originally heard of Ben because he has been the author of Universal Baseball Blog, another great baseball source, since mid-April. Ben is a 22 year old part-time sports columnist for the Rochester (NY) Democrat and Chronicle, where he currently is writing a weekly fantasy football column, which will appear every Friday, in addition to his other duties.

David Lee – David writes a great blog called Braves Buzz, where he discusses his favorite baseball team, ironically, the Braves. David, who is also a student, is a big Falcons fan as well.

Michael Labuda – Michael Labuda just recently started up his own website, ChiSox Daily. I think it is interesting to see the viewpoint of a White Sox fan during this pennant race! He is a lifelong Chicagoan who roots for the White Sox, Bears, Bulls, Illini, Blue Demons and his alma mater, the Loyola-Chicago Ramblers!  He is currently working on an MBA at Northwestern.  Michael is 30 years old, and about to be a first-time father! Congratulations Michael!

Vic Quick – Vic is the Sports Director at KDUH-TV in Scottsbluff, NE. He was one of my college roommates and remains a great friend! Originally from Dallas, TX, Vic is a huge Cowboys fan, even now when they are terrible! In Vic’s job, he covers the Denver Broncos and the Nebraska Cornhuskers during their seasons.

Michael Brasel – One of my best friends since we were both about 6. He is listed as the left fielder for my Best Players I’ve Played Ball With team. After serving in the Navy for 6 years, Mike went back to school and became an engineer.  He’s also a pretty smart football person, who I turn to for fantasy football advice!!

So, you’ll see the format. Each week, these 9 people will pick the winners of each game, each week throughout the 17 week NFL season. This week, they also will pick the AFC and NFC Champs, Super Bowl Champs, NFL MVP, NFL Rookie of the Year and will make a guess on how well the Minnesota Vikings will do. It’ll be fun to track how we all do, and then see if our other prediction are even close!

Here are our Week 1 Picks: