Hey everyone!

I would be Shane, and that would make the other half of this team that I believe has a lot of exciting sports insight to share. We are constantly discussing/arguing over some sports topic, and I believe we both have a talent for adding/finding an interesting spin to a current issue... or creating a new one!

A bit about us:
We are both meteorologists (how many sports blogs by meteorologists do you read!?!). We both got our undergraduate degrees at the University of Oklahoma, so there's definitely some loyalty there (though I believe we're both pretty good about putting our loyalties aside and giving you some real insight. I now attend Florida State University as a graduate research assistant, and Chad attends North Carolina State University as the same. We grew up in yet other areas (so we've both done some serious wandering about the country). I was born in Copehnagen, Denmark, but grew up in Orlando, Florida (after a brief stay in Lansing, Mi). Chad is from Wise County in western Viriginia.

Here's a little bit more about me:
Favorite NFL teams: Bucs
Favorite MLB teams: Marlins, Devil Rays, Braves (sometimes)
Favorite NBA teams: Magic
Favorite NCAAB teams: Duke, Georgetown, Oklahoma, and Florida
Favorite NCAAF teams: Sooners and Gators
Teams I tend to dislike: Yankees, Cowboys, Raiders, Lakers
I like the underdogs. I get tired of the same teams winning all the time (Spurs, Patriots, USC)
Least favorite sports: soccer and hockey (though I still enjoy both, they just aren't something I can pay attention to for too long a period)
Other interests: weather (obviously), including storm photography, games, Christianity and the Bible, golf (I suck... maybe I'll finally change that someday), and bowling (my average is between 170 and 180).
Expertise if any: golf... I'd argue predicting as well! Maybe know a bit more about baseball than Chad... maybe.
Play fantasy sports at: Yahoo, ESPN, Sportsline (college football). Hope to someday create my own keeper league database/system.
Sports beliefs: Call me conservative, but I'm still a sports purist. That's not to say that I'm not open to new ideas and such... but my love will always go back to the traditions we've developed. New traditions are great too, but we try too hard to make things into traditions that just can't be. Traditions develop on their own in very peculiar ways. I disdain steroids, contracting teams, and the money-driven, booster-driven world that is the new face of college sports. I'm not sure if more teams and playoffs spots are good or not, but generally I'll take them. Sports are about the fans. Players are paid too much. Owners make too much (in general). Tickets cost too much. It drives me insane when longtime tv traditions end (the BCS on FOX!?!?!?!, no more Monday Night football!?!, I miss the days of 90s with NFL on NBC and MLB on NBC and NBA on NBC and Saturday baseball on CBS). I may go truly nuts if sports continue more and more to become corporate, and I hate when companies destroy improvements and creativity by monopolizing (EA Sports owning the NFL right's now is ludicrous). In the end, I love sports. I can get into a playoff game from basically any sport (I love watching the Stanley Cup and World Cup). Still, each sport has its own identity, which is what really makes it what it is. So I'm strongly passionate about keeping every sport from having the same playoff system or same rules. Difference makes the world.
All-in-all, I love sports. And I'm really looking forward to writing about my love of sports and getting others to think about things from new perspectives.
Play on!


My hope is that our site rivals my very favorite sports writer, Matt Hayes (http://www.thesportingnews.com/experts/matt-hayes/) in insightfulness and interesting stories, and Pardon The Interruption (ESPN tv show) in its friendly arguements over some very important sports topics.

Some things I know you will see discussed somewhere down the line:
- Is the BCS a good thing or a bad thing? (we're pretty polarized on this one!)
- Should college players be paid?
- Minimum age limits in sports
- Conference team changes (the ACC)
- Players unions versus owners
- Maria Sharapova
- Tons of college football talk


To Chad's random thoughts:

--The MLB playoff race is indeed going to be a memorable one! The NL East will be the best "pennant" race maybe ever. It's going to come down to the last week, and I still believe all 5 teams will be there. Keep in mind any NL East team would win the NL west right now, and they are all within 2 games (at last check) of the Wild Card spot. The AL East, West, and wildcard races will also be a blast down the stretch. I'm still holding to my preseason predictions. If the Yankees win the East, the Angles the west, the Red Sox the Wilid Card, the Marlins the NL East, the Padres the west, and the Mets the wild card, I believe I'd have predicted all 8 playoff teams perfectly. Tha'd be awesome, so that's still my desire!

--This time of the year is great, but I have to bow to March. College basketball is awesomeness. The Master's is coming up (and the Florida swing is in full force). NBA and NHL seasons winding down. And the spring tornado chase season and summer are right around the corner. Either that or November into December, with the NFL playoff races coupled with NBA and NHL kickoffs and college football's stretch run as well. Chad, you missed some things about now, though... the PGA Championship and the US Open tennis tournament. Boy, it's tough to pick a favorite!

My predictions for NFL and NCAA football are coming in the next few days as well! Chad, you should post your NCAA rankings, they were really good!


Well that's about it from my corner. Really looking forward to this!

Take care everyone,
Shane