Ezra Fischer, Author at Dear Sports Fan

Two fans: Kansas City Chiefs and Seattle Seahawks

I recently wrote posts for all 32 NFL teams, detailing what is special about each team. When I posted the articles on the Kansas City Chiefs and Seattle Seahawks, two fans began to squabble on Twitter. They were Brian Reich, a fan of the Seattle Seahawks, and Doug Weinbrenner, a Kansas City Chiefs fan. I took the opportunity of asking them to be on a podcast to tell me more about themselves and their favorite teams. Here is what they said.

What do people assume about you because you’re a ____ fan?

That I wear bad Zubaz pants and that my team will always lose in the playoffs
That I’m a fair weather fan who started rooting for the Seahawks during the past five years

What do you assume about other fans of your team?

That they are a life-long Seattle resident, and therefore nicer and more well balanced than other fans.
That they are year-round, die-hard fans.

What are some thing you do to rile the other person up about football?

Brian kills with kindness. Sends celebratory notes when something goes well for the Chiefs. Of course, this bugs Doug more than if Brian had done the opposite.
Doug has thin skin as a Chiefs fan, so he tends to punch back even when no punches are thrown. Clings to small victories, like the Chiefs win over the Seahawks in the regular season last year, and the current stadium noise World Record.

What’s one way that following your team has changed your attitude about the rest of life?

Doug uses tons of sports analogies in his professional life

Fill in the blank questions:

Winning is great, but when my team loses, _____.

I’m curled in a corner, unable to perform basic life functions.
My children hide.

____ is my favorite time of the week during football season.

Any day ending in “y”
Monday – because as much as enjoy watching the games, it can be very stressful. There’s something nice about stepping away from the emotion and processing what happened.

People should root for my team because ____.

The Seahawks are the most interesting franchise.
The Chiefs were one of the few teams that gave birth to football as we know it today.

Does a team have to hit the ball three times in volleyball?

Dear Sports Fan,

Does a team have to hit the ball three times in volleyball? Is that a rule or a custom? What happens if you hit it right back to the other team when you get it?

Thanks,
Kerry

Dear Kerry,

If you’ve ever played or watched volleyball, you’ve probably heard the phrase, “bump, set, spike.” That three word phrase describes the most common way that a volleyball team deals with a ball hit to their side of the court. The ball usually comes over the net from the other team moving pretty fast, and it’s often not possible for the defensive team to reach it until it’s close to the ground. This necessitates an underhand hit, usually done with two hands folded into each other, called a bump. The purpose of the bump is to prevent the ball from hitting the ground and to get the ball moving back up into the air, where it can shed some of its speed and be easier for the next person to handle. The next person closest to the ball runs under its arc and is ready to take it when it reaches close to head height. Their job is to take the now much more controllable ball and set up one of their teammates in a position where they can really attack the other team with the next hit. This gentle, tactical move is called a set and it’s done with two hands pointed towards each other with the fingers slightly loose. A set sends the ball easily back into the air, right into a spot that’s above the height of the net and usually quite close to it. From there, a leaping teammate can spike the ball, hitting it as hard as they can with the heel of their hand, aiming for a spot on the other team’s side of the court where they think it will be able to find the ground regardless of the opposing team’s defensive efforts. This pattern, bump, set, spike continues unabated until one team is unable to save the other team’s spike from hitting the ground or the ball goes out of bounds. Bump, set, spike – three hits on each side of the court – is the common rhythm of volleyball but it is not a rule.

There’s no rule in volleyball that requires a team to hit the ball three times before sending the ball back over the net to the other team. There is a rule that dictates that a team may not hit the ball more than three times before the ball travels back over the net or touches a player from the opposite team. Three is a maximum number of hits, not a required number. A team may choose at any point to hit a ball coming onto their side of the court right back to the other team without pause. So, why is three such a dominant number? It comes down to tactics. Each time the ball comes onto one team’s side of the court is a threat and an opportunity. It’s a threat because if the ball drops to the floor, the other team gets a point. It’s an opportunity because if the team can bring the ball under control and set up a strong shot, they have a chance to score a point if they can overpower or fake out the opposing team’s defense. Using the full three hits offers the best odds for a team to be able to create a winning hit for their team. It usually takes a good bump on the first hit just to prevent the other team from scoring. It’s hard to set up a good spike straight from a bump, so a set is usually the next move. Just like that, it’s the third hit! Once in a while, a savvy volleyball player will take advantage of this three hit rhythm by doing a quick spike on the second hit, when the other team is expecting a set. This rare move can catch a defensive team unprepared and score an easy point, but it’s the exception that proves the rule.

Next time you watch volleyball, see if you can identify a time when it would have been better for one team to hit the ball over the net in fewer than three hits!

Thanks for your question,
Ezra Fischer

How to plan for the week of Aug 16 – 23, 2015?

If you are a sports fan or if you live with a sports fan then your weekly schedule becomes inextricably linked with what sporting events are on at what times during each week. The conflict between missing a sporting event for a poorly committed to social event and missing an appealing social event to watch a game is an important balancing act in any kind of romantic, familial, or business relationship between a sports fan and a non-sports fan. To help facilitate this complicated advanced mathematics, Dear Sports Fan has put together a table showing the most important sporting events of the upcoming week. Print it out, put it on your fridge, and go through it with your scheduling partner.

This does not include MLB baseball games. There are so many of those every day that another approach is needed. That approach is our special Daily MLB Forecast.

Download a full-size copy here.

Monday: The Supercopa is not Spain’s most coveted soccer prize, but this game between Barcelona and Bilbao is fascinating. It’s the second leg in a two game cup tie. Bilbao upset Barcelona 4-0 in the first half, so Barcelona will need to win by even more than that today to stay in the tournament. That means the greatest offensive team in the world (Barcelona) will be throwing everything they have at the opponents in this game. Should be fun to watch!

Tuesday: During periods of Champions League play, there are a set of games on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. The best of the bunch and the most easily watched in the United States is Liverpool vs. the Belgian team, Club Brugge. Pair this game with the over-the-top good movie, In Bruges, and you’ve really got something!

Wednesday: The U.S. Women’s National Soccer team won the first stop on their victory tour last week, 8-0 against Costa Rica in Pittsburgh. Today, poor Costa Rica gets another shot at the World Champions, this time in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The results will probably be similar, but don’t cry for Costa Rica, they’ll be making some very nice money for their country’s soccer federation.

Thursday: The Buffalo Bills and Cleveland Browns are more famous for losing football games than winning them. Lucky for everyone, preseason football isn’t really football. Someone’s got to win and someone’s bound to watch, but it won’t be me.

Friday: Date night! Head off for a date night of watching some of your favorite women’s soccer players face off in a nationally televised NWSL game!

Saturday: A great blend of soccer, track and field, volleyball and car racing enables you to pretend that it’s the Olympics, if that’s your sort of thing. It’s definitely mine!

Sunday: The last stage of the Cycling USA Pro Challenge takes its riders from Golden to Denver and up the famous Lookout Mountain — a formidable pass even if the riders weren’t a mile high to start with. Which they are… so it should be exciting to watch. British Premier League soccer, golf, and preseason football round out the day’s offerings.

Caveat — This forecast is optimized for the general sports fan, not a particular sports fan. As such, your mileage may vary. For instance, you or the sports fan in your life is a fan of a particular team, then a regular season MLB baseball game or MLS soccer game may be more important on a particular day than anything on the forecast above. Use the calendar as a way to facilitate conversation about scheduling, not as the last word on when there are sports to watch.

What are the terms for starting a game in different sports?

Dear Sports Fan,

One of the things that I find confusing about sports is the unique technical language that goes with each sport and which sports fans seem to all know without needing to learn! For instance, I know that the start of a football game is called the kick off but I’m not sure about other sports. What are the terms for starting a game in different sports?

Thanks,
Lauren

Dear Lauren,

There are a lot of different terms for when a game starts in different sports. The good thing is that you can almost always get by with a generic term and still fit in, even amongst the craziest of sports fans. For instance, if you’re running late to a game and you’re encouraging a friend to walk faster, you could say “Come on! I don’t want to miss the start of the game.” No matter what sport you’re headed to, that’s a reasonable thing to say. If you do want to learn the specific terms for each sport, here’s a list of them with a little detail on what happens at the start of each one.

American Football begins with the kick off

At the start of an American Football game, one team kicks the ball off to the other. The ball is placed on the 35 yard-line of the team that is kicking off. Their team’s kicker kicks the ball down the field while his teammates sprint down it, trying to make sure that they are in position to stop any return. The other team can catch the ball and run down the field with it. Wherever they run to before they’re tackled is where they start their offensive possession with the ball. If the kick goes out-of-bounds, the receiving team gets the ball on their 40 yard line. If the kick goes out the back of the end-zone or if the receiving team catches it in the end-zone and decides to stay there, the receiving team gets the ball on their 20 yard line.

Basketball starts with the tip or tip-off or opening tip

The first event in a basketball is a jump ball. In a jump ball, the referee throws the ball straight up between two players and as soon as it reaches its apex, both players try to tap the ball into the hands of one of their teammates. Whichever team gets control of the ball first gets the first offensive possession of the game. Jump balls used to be much more common than they are today. Early in basketball’s history, jump balls were used after almost every stoppage and skill at corralling them was important. These days, they happen at the start of the game and not too many other times, so basketball players don’t practice them that much.

Soccer starts with a kick off

Soccer games start at the center of the field with two players from one team standing right near the ball and no one else in the center circle. The game begins when one of the two players kicks the ball and it rolls forward. The player that kicked it initially can not be the next player to touch the ball, so frequently her teammate steps up and then kicks it backwards to another teammate. The ball does need to roll forward though to begin the game. Although it’s rarely attempted and even more rarely successful, a goal can be scored directly from the kick off, so if you feel like taking a shot, go for it!

Baseball begins with the first pitch

This one is a little confusing because there is a ceremonial first pitch and an actual first pitch and they are both referred to with the same phrase. Before a baseball game begins, there’s usually some celebrity or honoree who goes up to the pitching mound and throws a ceremonial first pitch to the catcher. Although it’s just for show, first pitches of this type can be very important. Politicians, in particular, are believed to be judged by their ability to throw out a good first pitch. Whatever you think about President George W. Bush, you have to admire his first pitch in the World Series following the terrorist attacks of 9/11. President Obama didn’t fare quite as well although you’ve got to appreciate his trolling of the home town Washington Nationals fans. It may seem idiotic to compare the two presidents on something as prosaic as throwing a baseball, but that doesn’t stop people from doing it. Just check out this somewhat bizarre video. Anyhow, after the ceremonial first pitch, there’s usually a commercial break (in person, this is just empty time with everyone standing around) and then the teams come on the field and the starting pitcher throws the real first pitch to get things started.

Hockey begins with the puck drop

Now that we’re nearing the end of our list, we can begin building on what we’ve already explained. The start of a hockey game shares some elements with baseball and some with basketball. Like baseball, there is a ceremonial puck drop with an honored guest emulating the act that’s going to start the game in earnest in a few minutes. Like basketball, the first act involves the referee putting the puck (ball in basketball) into play evenly between two players who fight to gain possession. In hockey, the drops the puck instead of throwing it up in the air and the action is called a face off not a jump ball. In both cases though, the term that describes the start of play is a description of what happens (in basketball the players try to tip the ball, in hockey the referee drops the puck). In either case, referring to the start of the game with the technical term – jump ball or face off – would also be acceptable.

Car racing starts with the green flag

Car racing comes in many different forms involving different types of cars on different courses with different rules. One thing that’s constant in almost all forms of racing is a simple set of flags that convey meaning to the drivers. These flags come from a time before every race car driver had a speaker in his ear and a microphone in front of her mouth. The signal for the start of the race is a solid green flag. It’s also used during the race to signal the end of a caution period (yellow flag) when the drivers must slow down. The end of the race is symbolized by a white and black checkered flag.

There we go — five terms for the start of six different sports. I hope that helps to assuage your fitting in jitters. There are lots of other sports, each with their own technical languages. If you’re a fan of one of those sports, send me a note at dearsportsfan@gmail.com with your sport’s term for the start of the game.

Thanks for the question,
Ezra Fischer

What's special about the Pittsburgh Steelers?

One of the most disconcerting aspects of traveling to a country whose language you don’t know is how the most commonplace things become indecipherable. Ask a stranger for directions and she may think to explain tricky vocabulary but she’ll almost never think to describe whether the place she just referred to is a city, train station, library, cafe, or all of the above. The same is true for sports natives. A thoughtful sports fan should be willing and able to explain a rule, but he’ll almost never think of explaining who a particular team is, what sport they play, or the team’s history and characteristics. In this series, we’ll do just that — describe what is unique about each sports team.

Pittsburgh Steelers – the basics

Sport – Football
League – National Football League (NFL)
Conference – American Football Conference (AFC)
Division – AFC North
History – That the Pittsburgh Steelers would go on to win more championships in the modern era than any other team would have come as a giant surprise to fans of the team during its first few decades. Founded in 1933 as the Pittsburgh Pirates (there was already a baseball team by that name), the football team didn’t have a winning season throughout the 1930s. In 1940, they renamed themselves the Steelers but things didn’t get any better in that decade. During World War II, the team merged briefly and temporarily with the Philadelphia Eagles (the Steagles) for one season and the Chicago Cardinals (derisively, the Carpets) for another. It wasn’t until 1970 that things got going for the Steelers, but then they started making up for lost time and have been a model winning franchise ever since. The team has been owned by a single family, the Rooneys, for its entire history.
Championships – The Steelers have won six Super Bowls, more than any other franchise. Their victories came in 1974, 1975, 1978, 1979, 2005, and 2008.
Rivals – The Steelers rivals are the three other teams that play in the AFC North, the Cleveland Browns, Cincinnati Bengals, and Baltimore Ravens. Unlike other divisions though, these rivalries run very, very deep.

The Steelers logo projects strength, intimidation, winning, and a very old but modern tradition. The Steelers don’t have a crusty traditional feel like some of the teams that won a lot earlier in their histories. Instead, their tradition is firmly planted in today’s NFL. Tough but not unintellectual. Aggressive but not crazy. The Steelers of the past 45 years have been built around supremely stifling defenses but not to the complete detriment of their offense.

Here is the their winning percentage in each season since their inception:

Who are some notable players or figures from the Pittsburgh Steelers?

Art Rooney and Dan Rooney, the grandfather and father of current Steelers owner, Art Rooney II were the first two owners of the Steelers. Art was an athlete himself, once winner of an amateur boxing belt in 1918! In 1933, he paid $2,500 to the NFL for the right to create an NFL franchise in Pittsburgh. He also loved baseball and reportedly helped support a Negro League team in Pittsburgh. Called “the Chief” and renwoned as the first citizen of Pittsburgh, Art died in 1988. Art’s son, Dan, took over as owner and team president of the Steelers in 1975 and was instrumental in many of the Steelers greatest victories. As an owner, he was an active part of league politics and policy and helped design the salary cap as well as settle the 1982 player’s strike. Art and Dan both were on the front edge of racial equality in football and Dan led the effort to implement a policy that requires teams to interview at least one minority head coaching candidate whenever they have an opening. That rule is called the Rooney rule. Dan currently serves as United States ambassador to Ireland.

Dick LeBeau was one of the best cornerbacks in football during his time in the NFL with the Detroit Lions from 1959 to 1972. After his retirement, he went straight into coaching, and made his name as a fine coach of special teams and defensive positional groups. He landed in Pittsburgh in 1992 and coached as an assistant coach there until 1996. He returned from 2004 to 2014. All together, LeBeau has been an active player or coach in the NFL for the last 57 consecutive seasons. And at the age of 77, he’s still going strong as an assistant head coach of the Tennessee Titans. LeBeau is credited with inventing the zone blitz, an extremely effective and now common maneuver in which a little dude who the offense thinks is going to cover a wide receiver, instead tries to sack the quarterback while a big dude who the offense thinks is going to try to sack the quarterback drops back to cover a wide receiver. The result is often a quick throw from the quarterback intended for the receiver, who he believes will be uncovered, but which instead is an easy interception for the big dude. Surprise!

Where do the Pittsburgh Steelers play?

The blind date test

Imagine you’re about to go on a blind date and all you know about the person is that he or she is a Pittsburgh Steelers fan. Here’s what you can guess about that person. Remember that all fans are unique. We bear no responsibility for any misunderstandings we engender. Trust but verify.

Your date will expect to win at every game you play.

What will make a Pittsburgh Steelers fan squirm?

Pose the hypothetical question of what would have happened had quarterback Ben Roethlisberger been accused of sexual assault in 2015 instead of 2008.

Buy Pittsburgh Steelers Swag!

What do the Pittsburgh Steelers look like?

Team colors are black, gold, and white. Their current uniforms look like this.

Current and recent teams

Coming soon — a post about the 2015 Pittsburgh Steelers including an overview of their most interesting characters as well as what fans expect from the team this year.

What's special about the Cleveland Browns?

Cleveland Browns – the basics

Sport – Football
League – National Football League (NFL)
Conference – American Football Conference (AFC)
Division – AFC North
History – The Cleveland Browns have one of the more bizarre histories in sports history. They were founded in 1944 and named after their first head coach, Paul Brown, who later spread rumors of alternative sources for the name. The team began play in 1946 in the AAFC or All American Football Conference, a rival league to the NFL. In 1950 the team switched to the NFL. The team operated in Cleveland until 1996 when their then owner, Art Modell, moved the team to Baltimore. As opposed to every other team in NFL history that has moved, the city of Cleveland managed to hold on to its team’s name and history in a legal settlement and also got a guarantee from the NFL that a new team would be installed within four years and would take on the mantle of the old Browns. This came to pass in 1999 when the city was awarded an expansion team. So, the history of the Browns is bifurcated by a period of four years without football from 1996 to 1999.
Championships – The Browns won AAFC Championships in each of its four years in the league and then won an NFL championship in 1950, the first year in that league, as well. The Browns won three more NFL championships in 1954, 1955, and 1964 but haven’t won any in the Super Bowl era.
Rivals – The Browns have great rivalries with each of the teams in its division, and for good reason. The Cincinnati Bengals were started partially out of spite for the Browns by then ex-Browns coach, Paul Brown. The Baltimore Ravens are the team that once was the Browns before the Browns were born again. And the Pittsburgh Steelers are the big brother that won’t stop beating them.

It’s a real shame that many NFL football fans only associate the Browns name with the newer edition of the team. The new Browns have faced similar issues to many expansion teams. It’s hard to build a winning roster and culture from scratch. The shame is that in all the commotion with moving the team to Baltimore and then recreating it in Cleveland, a proud, albeit not entirely successful franchise has been reduced to a laughingstock.

Here is the their winning percentage in each season since their inception:

Who are some notable players or figures from the Cleveland Browns?

Otto Graham is the answer to the question, “Wait, the Browns went to the championship game every year between 1946 and 1955 and won seven of them… who the heck was their quarterback?” Graham was one of the pioneers of the position. At the end of his career, in 1955, he left the Browns with a 114–20–4 record. He still holds the record for longest average pass completion. Graham was a renaissance man who was proficient as an instrumentalist on piano, violin, french horn, and cornet. He was also a great basketball player.

Jim Brown was the game’s greatest running back during his short career with the Cleveland Browns. Drafted by the Browns with the sixth overall pick in the 1957 NFL draft, Brown played his entire nine year career in Cleveland, where he set many, many records, even career records for running backs despite his abbreviated career. Brown retired abruptly before the 1966 season due to a disagreement with then owner, Art Modell. Modell was annoyed that Brown had missed part of training camp because of his role as an actor in the the movie The Dirty Dozen. Brown got annoyed (or more) at Modell and simply retired from football at the age of 29. Since his retirement, Brown has remained a cultural figure, particularly as a strong voice for racial justice.

Where do the Cleveland Browns play?

The blind date test

Imagine you’re about to go on a blind date and all you know about the person is that he or she is a Cleveland Browns fan. Here’s what you can guess about that person. Remember that all fans are unique. We bear no responsibility for any misunderstandings we engender. Trust but verify.

The experience of having had their team taken away, only to have it come back reinforced the lesson that good things come to those who wait. Of course, if they think the new edition of their team is a good thing, you’re in luck — you’ve got an optimist on your hands!

What will make a Cleveland Browns fan squirm?

Mention Orlando Brown (yes, another Brown), nicknamed Zeus, who had his career with the Browns shortened in a terrible accident when an official’s penalty flag hit him in the eye and nearly blinded him. Tragic.

Buy Cleveland Browns Swag!

What do the Cleveland Browns look like?

Team colors are orange, brown, and white. Their current uniforms look like this.

Current and recent teams

Coming soon — a post about the 2015 Cleveland Browns including an overview of their most interesting characters as well as what fans expect from the team this year.

What's special about the Cincinnati Bengals?

Cincinnati Bengals – the basics

Sport – Football
League – National Football League (NFL)
Conference – American Football Conference (AFC)
Division – AFC North
History – The Cincinnati Bengals were started in 1966 by an unhappy ex-head coach of the nearby Cleveland Browns. He pursued his revenge by starting a team in the same state as Cleveland and wearing the same exact shade of orange. From those inauspicious roots, the Bengals, one of the least successful and most dysfunctional teams in all of football, was born.
Championships – The Bengals have never won a championship.
Rivals – Born out of a rivalry with the Cleveland Browns, the Bengals continue to carry that grudge now that the teams play twice a year within the AFC North division. The Pittsburgh Steelers are the team’s other primary rival, even though they’ve had the losing end of the matchup 56 out of the 90 times the teams have played.

The Bengals are often referred to as the “Bungles” and, although that’s a bad joke, it’s not a bad description. The Bengals have been consistently bad throughout most of their history. They’ve made the Super Bowl twice, in 1991 and 1998 but lost both times to the San Francisco 49ers. From 1991 through 2008, the team only recorded a single winning season. The Bengals have been known for their unwillingness to spend money on players or player “luxuries” like decent practice fields and equipment. They also have a reputation for employing players who get into legal trouble. Basically, they’re a pretty giant pile of mess most of the time.

Here is the their winning percentage in each season since their inception:

Who are some notable players or figures from the Cincinnati Bengals?

Anthony Munoz was drafted with the third overall pick of the 1980 draft. He played on the Bengals offensive line for his entire 13 season career and was one of the most popular and successful Bengals of his era. He was selected to 11 Pro Bowls in that time and was also a three time offensive lineman of the year and won both the Walter Peyton Man of the Year award and the Bart Starr Man of the Year award. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1998.

Paul Brown is the founding father of the Cincinnati Bengals. The former coach of the Cleveland Browns (who were named after him!), Brown was fired in 1963. By 1968 he had cofounded the Bengals and was firmly installed as their first head coach. He was an innovator in many aspects of the game. According to Wikipedia, he “was the first coach to use game film to scout opponents, hire a full-time staff of assistants, and test players on their knowledge of a playbook. He invented the modern face mask, the taxi squad and the draw play. He also played a role in breaking professional football’s color barrier, bringing some of the first African-Americans to play pro football in the modern era onto his teams.” Brown retired in 1975 and was succeeded in his ownership capacity by his son, Mike Brown, the current owner of the team.

Where do the Cincinnati Bengals play?

The blind date test

Imagine you’re about to go on a blind date and all you know about the person is that he or she is a Cincinnati Bengals fan. Here’s what you can guess about that person. Remember that all fans are unique. We bear no responsibility for any misunderstandings we engender. Trust but verify.

Your date is either from Cincinnati or really, really has a thing for cat-print clothing. The first should be easy to check. The second… may require some undercover investigation…

What will make a Cincinnati Bengals fan squirm?

Claim that the Bengal’s chant, “Who Dey?” is derivative of the New Orleans Saints’ “Who Dat?” Shockingly it seems as though the two developed in a strange case of independent convergent linguistic evolution, but that doesn’t stop people from squabbling over who had it first.

Buy Cincinnati Bengals Swag!

What do the Cincinnati Bengals look like?

Team colors are black, orange, and white. Their current uniforms look like this.

Current and recent teams

Coming soon — a post about the 2015 Baltimore Ravens including an overview of their most interesting characters as well as what fans expect from the team this year.

Did EA Sports' FIFA '16 rate the USWNT players fairly?

EA Sports’ newest installment of their soccer video game, FIFA 16, will be coming out on September 22, 15. When it does, it will feature women’s soccer players for the first time ever. This is an exciting development for fans of gender equality AND fans of the U.S. women’s soccer team. One of the most hotly anticipated aspects of the release of any new sports video game is the rating of players. Fans (and even players) obsess over player ratings. Is Player A too high? How could they possibly have made Player B only a 75 (all the ratings are out of 100)? For the first time ever, we get to obsess over the ratings of our favorite female soccer players as well as male. On Twitter today, I saw the first leak of the overall ratings of the players from the U.S. Women’s soccer team from Women’s Football Comp. Here they are, in order, with my comments. If you want to know more about any of the players, I’ve linked to the profiles of them that I wrote before the World Cup.

Abby Wambach – 88: Okay, this is clearly an honorary legacy rating for the greatest international soccer goal scorer of all time. At 35, she’s no longer the best striker in the world, not even on her own national team. She came in off the bench in the last few World Cup games and that’s one of the reasons the team won the Cup. After all she’s done for the country and sport, I’m okay with this. Wambach forever!
Megan Rapinoe – 87: This is an interesting rating and perhaps shows what strengths the FIFA game weighs more heavily than others. The U.S. vs. Germany semifinal notwithstanding, Rapinoe is normally a player who emphasizes technical skill over speed and strength. She’s can strike a set piece with the best of them and hit streaking attackers in stride with her accurate passing. The best non-Wambach player though? I’m not sure.
Hope Solo – 87: Now we’re cooking with gas. Solo is still the best goalkeeper in the world. An intimidating presence in the net, Solo has earned every one of those 87 rating points.
Carli Lloyd – 86: The hero of the World Cup for the USA, Lloyd’s strengths translate well to video gaming. She’s a physical beast, strong and durable, and if her long-range shooting rating is not 100, something is very, very wrong at EA Sports headquarters.
Becky Sauerbrunn – 84: I could not be more happy with this rating. The back-four for the USA were my favorite part of the World Cup and, although she didn’t get as much acclaim as some of her defensive teammates, Sauerbrunn was the solid foundation that made it all happen. She’s totally dependable, which is exactly what you want out of a defender.
Alex Morgan – 84: Yeah, well, okay, fine. I’m not a big fan of Morgan, either on the field or off, but she does have some very easily replicable skills. She’s very fast and extremely clever at making threatening runs through the defense. Her finishing touch leaves something to be desired, but at 84, I think that’s probably represented in her rating. She does everything else very well.
Tobin Heath – 83: This overall rating is surely bolstered by the fact that Heath has the dribbling skills of an alien whose entire evolution has been devoted to soccer dribbling. She’s a freak.
Christie Rampone – 83: Another honorary rating and another acceptable one based on her overall career arc. The only woman who was on the team that won the 1999 and 2015 World Cups deserves everything she gets. Just get her out of your lineup if you play as the United States in the game. Don’t break up the true back four for Rampone’s honorary strength.
Sydney Leroux – 82: Leroux had trouble breaking into the U.S. lineup at the World Cup, but this rating rings true nonetheless. She’s virtually interchangeable with Alex Morgan, just ever so slightly worse. It’s why it’s hard for her to get playing time in real life and in video games.
Lauren Holiday – 81: If I had my druthers, I’d push Holiday’s rating a little bit farther up, but her true strength, vision, is virtually impossible to capture in a video game.
Julie Johnston – 81: If Johnston had been able to continue her scoring streak from the Algarve Cup into the World Cup, she’d be one of the top five players in the game. As is, this rating probably reflects that we should expect a little bit of regression to the mean in her play. She had a sublime streak of about fifteen games but there are cracks in her armor, which we saw against Germany and Japan.
Heather O’Reilly – 81: I guess? For her have played only nine minutes in the World Cup and to be higher than several players who played key roles seems strange to me.
Kelley O’Hara – 81: The proverbial spark plug off the bench for the U.S. in the World Cup, O’Hara looked every bit as good as her rating suggests. I might even push her up past Leroux and Heath, but at this point we’re quibbling over a few rating points.
Ashlyn Harris – 80: Being stuck behind Hope Solo is no shame. The second best goalie on the U.S. team may also be the second best goalie in the world.
Ali Krieger – 80: I’m surprised to see a core member of the U.S. defense so far down the list, especially one whose public profile is as high as Krieger’s.
Whitney Engen – 79: Engen could have, might have, would have been the starting central defender if an injury had not given Johnston a chance to seize the day (and the position.) Engen is a solid player but given her lack of playing time in the World Cup, I’m surprised she was not at the bottom of the list.
Morgan Brian – 74: Here’s where things start getting crazy. Brian was a key piece, some would argue THE KEY PIECE, that, once inserted into the lineup, made the U.S. team’s run to the World Cup championship possible. Even playing slightly out of position at defensive midfield, Brian was a rock. At 22, she’s also has one of the brightest future’s in the game, something that, in many game modes, players should actually get to experience. I hope that the programmers at least put that in. If you play more than a year or two into the future, Brian should be the top rated U.S. player seven times out of 10.
Amy Rodriguez – 74: Oh, fine. I think Rodriguez gets a raw deal, but she’s used to it. There’s no way she’s ten rating points worse than Alex Morgan.
Christen Press – 72: This is just stupid. Anyone who can do this to the French defense should be rated much higher. The awkwardness of her fit with Lloyd and Rapinoe in the midfield held her back from World Cup stardom and now it’s being reflected in this rating. That’s a shame!

Missing – A few players were not included in @jigsawwill’s Twitter posts. Here is my best guess at what their rating might be and why.

Alyssa Naeher – 80: As a Boston Breakers fan, I get to sit right behind Naeher and watch her work on a regular basis. She is an extraordinary keeper. I’m putting her even with Hope Solo’s other backup, Ashlyn Harris, who I haven’t seen play as much, but who I assume must be equally good.
Meghan Klingenberg – 82: Ahead of Julie Johnston and Ali Krieger? Yes — Klingenberg’s ridiculous speed bumps her above those players and will maker her a particular joy to play as in the video game. Speed kills in video games, just ask fans of Michael Vick and Bo Jackson.
Shannon Boxx – 72: At 38, Shannon Boxx’ time as a world class holding midfielder has come and gone. Unlike Rampone and Wambach, Boxx doesn’t have a high enough profile to get one of those charming honorary rating boosts.
Lori Chalupney – 74: Versatility is another quality that’s hard for video games to represent. Without Chalupney’s ability to play every position on the field (except, I assume, goalie) I’m not sure she would have been included on the team. Being a Swiss Army Knife is valuable, but not when quantifying the skills required to play each position.

What's special about the Baltimore Ravens?

Baltimore Ravens – the basics

Sport – Football
League – National Football League (NFL)
Conference – American Football Conference (AFC)
Division – AFC North
History – The Baltimore Ravens have one of the most interesting creation stories in the NFL. After failing in several attempts to land an expansion franchise, the city convinced the owner of the Cleveland Browns to move his team to Baltimore for the 1996 season. Baltimore football fans felt understandably queasy about taking another city’s team, especially because so many of them were still angry that their original team had moved to Indianapolis in 1984. Cleveland residents were not so happy either. As part of a settlement with the NFL, the team moving to Baltimore promised to leave its name, colors, and its history in Cleveland and start anew in Baltimore. The NFL promised to replace the Browns in Cleveland within three years. So, the Ravens began in Baltimore with an already established set of players, but otherwise just like a new expansion team.
Championships – The Ravens have won two Super Bowls, one in 2000 and one in 2012.
Rivals – The Ravens rivalry with the Pittsburgh Steelers is the most physically intense rivalry of the 2000s. Games between the two teams feel viscerally different from the point of view of a spectator and I would imagine to the players as well.

The Ravens have a very distinct image. They’re loud, aggressive, and physical. Like the Chicago Bears, their teams lean towards great defenses that can carry mediocre offenses deep into the playoffs. Unlike the Bears though, the formula has worked for the Ravens, twice in their short history. The Ravens are known throughout the league as being very smart operators from a management and player development standpoint. When they reach a point at which other teams would have to go through several years of losing while they rebuild their rosters, the Ravens seem to be able to reload quickly and keep winning. After three losing seasons to start the team’s time in Baltimore, they only had another three in the next fifteen years.

Here is the their winning percentage in each season since their inception:

Who are some notable players or figures from the Baltimore Ravens?

Ray Lewis was the face of the Ravens franchise and the heart of their defense for most of his 17-year career with the Baltimore Ravens. Lewis was a brilliant middle linebacker and a charismatic leader. During the prime of his career, from 1998 to 2001, the Ravens had a streak of 51 games in which they didn’t allow a single player from an opposing team to rush for 100 yards. Lewis’ career was marred by an indictment for murder in 2000. The charges against Lewis were eventually dropped to a lower offense after he agreed to testify against two other people accused of the crime. Lewis’ public image took a hit but bounced back a few years later. Lewis is once again a very popular figure and a big part of ESPN’s NFL coverage.

Jonathan Ogden was drafted as the fourth overall pick by the Ravens in their inaugural 1996 draft. It was a great pick for the team. One of the tallest players in NFL history, the 6’9″ and 345 pound Ogden manned the left side of Baltimore’s offensive line for the next twelve years. An almost impossibly good player, starting in 1997, Ogden was voted into the Pro Bowl every year until he retired in 2007. He was elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2013 and became the first honoree to have played his entire career with the Ravens.

Where do the Baltimore Ravens play?

The blind date test

Imagine you’re about to go on a blind date and all you know about the person is that he or she is a Baltimore Ravens fan. Here’s what you can guess about that person. Remember that all fans are unique. We bear no responsibility for any misunderstandings we engender. Trust but verify.

Your date will tell you exactly what he or she thinks of those new pants you’re wearing. Ravens fans don’t hold back easily or often.

What will make a Baltimore Ravens fan squirm?

Last year’s controversy over Ray Rice will make most Ravens fans squirm in their seats. Through no fault of their own, they rooted for him for years and years, and that doesn’t feel good retroactively.

Buy Baltimore Ravens Swag!

What do the Baltimore Ravens look like?

Team colors are purple, black, metallic gold, and white. Their current uniforms look like this.

Current and recent teams

A post about the 2015 Baltimore Ravens including an overview of their most interesting characters as well as what fans expect from the team this year.

What's special about the Minnesota Vikings?

Minnesota Vikings – the basics

Sport – Football
League – National Football League (NFL)
Conference – National Football Conference (NFC)
Division – NFC North
History – The Minnesota Vikings were almost a founding member of the upstart American Football League before the NFL pounced on them and made them an offer they couldn’t refuse to become the league’s 14th franchise in 1961. Since then, they’ve managed to be very good (they have the third highest winning percentage in the NFL since 1961) without being very successful.
Championships – The won an NFL championship in 1969, the last year before the AFL merged with the NFL. Since then, they’ve been to the playoffs 25 times and the Super Bowl four times without ever winning another championship.
Rivals – The Vikings may be the new kid on the block in the NFC North with the Green Bay Packers, Detroit Lions, and Chicago Bears, but that hasn’t stopped them from developing violent rivalries with all three.

The Vikings are the most successful failures in the NFL. Only the Buffalo Bills, with their four straight Super Bowl appearances (but no wins), rival the Vikings in pathos. They Vikings are almost always good, often very good, but always frustrating to their fans. They are a colorful team in terms of personality and uniform. Their name reflects the Scandinavian heritage of many people in the Minnesota area and their mascot is currently a dude named Joseph Juranitch who holds the World Record for fastest beard shaving with an ax.

Here is the their winning percentage in each season since their inception:

Who are some notable players or figures from the Minnesota Vikings?

Fran Tarkenton is a rare character. His Wikipedia page lists him as a football quarterback, television personality, and computer software executive. Tarkenton’s first game was the Vikings first game in 1961. He threw for four touchdowns. Rare for his time (and his race, but that’s another story with a long and racially complicated history) Tarkenton would frequently run with the ball which got him some great nicknames: “The Mad Scrambler,” “Frantic Fran,” and “Scramblin’ Fran” and a lot of bruises. He played for the Vikings from 1961 to 1966 and then, after a one year stay with the New York Giants, from 1972 to 1978. When he retired, he held most major quarterback records. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1986.

Randy Moss was a phenomenal wide receiver who burst onto the NFL scene in 1998 after a productive and controversial college career at Marshall University. He was the subject of a compelling documentary called Rand University which I wrote about in 2014. Moss’ time with the Vikings, from 1998 to 2004 were the highlight of his career (plus one ridiculous season with the New England Patriots in 2007) and brought a lot of casual fans into football and made a lot of football fans root for the Vikings. For those of us where were teenagers at the peak of Moss’ talents, he will always be the greatest receiver ever in our minds.

Where do the Minnesota Vikings play?

The blind date test

Imagine you’re about to go on a blind date and all you know about the person is that he or she is a Minnesota Vikings fan. Here’s what you can guess about that person. Remember that all fans are unique. We bear no responsibility for any misunderstandings we engender. Trust but verify.

Your date is a football fan who wears purple proudly. You may associate purple with Prince but Prince associates purple with the Vikings. He’s a giant fan. Is your date a Prince fan in addition to being a Vikings fan? If so, he or she might be a keeper.

What will make a Minnesota Vikings fan squirm?

No Super Bowl wins? 25 playoff appearances since 1970? Four Super Bowl appearances? And no wins?

Buy Minnesota Vikings Swag!

What do the Minnesota Vikings look like?

Team colors are purple, gold, and white. Their current uniforms look like this.

Current and recent teams

Coming soon — a post about the 2015 Minnesota Vikings including an overview of their most interesting characters as well as what fans expect from the team this year.