Vive la France!

That was one heck of a final. I didn't really have any skin in the game and really just wanted to see a great final match and that's exactly what I got.

Croatia had so many opportunities to make the outcome entirely different, but they just couldn't deliver when they needed to.

I'm not a huge fan of college baseball, but it was fun watching OSU win last night because Oregon is my adopted state and it's always fun watching your home team win.

And you're right. I bet those Arkansas players will have nightmares for years about that botched play that would have given them the win. I can't imagine how they are feeling today.

It's definitely not looking good right now and he doesn't have much time to turn it around if he even wants to make the cut, let alone have a chance at winning. He has to have a tremendous round today in order to get into the top 60.

I love Tiger and was really hoping that he was going to have a breakout weekend, but it appears that we're going to have to wait another day for him to win his next major.

Kos9 Wrote: Shit. Shit. Shit. How does one root against both teams? lol. Everything sucked this playoffs. Except Vikings big comeback win. What a crappy NFL season.

No one can deny that this is one of, if not the, best teams in NFL history. The Brady-Belichick duo has been second to none for over a decade now.

I don't really have anything against the Patriots, but I'll definitely be rooting for the Eagles this year. However, I won't be placing any bets on them because the Patriots are seemingly unstoppable.

PowerPlay Wrote: All jokes aside, I have always been curious about Cubs fans. What made you stick it out with them for so long?

That's simple - I was born a Cubs fan.

One of my first memories was my dad telling me I was a Cubs fan when I asked him what he was watching. My parents dressed me up in Cubs baby attire, toddler attire, and youth attire. It was never a question as to whether I could or couldn't be a Cubs fan!

PowerPlay Wrote: Did you start watching each game with the notion that they were going to lose? That must have been infuriating. Like a roller coaster that just goes in one straight, constant, never up or down line. Then all of the sudden....BOOM. Skyrocket to compete for the top spot and win it. That must have been an insane feeling.

I'd like to say I started watching each game thinking they were going to win, but I'd be lying. They were so bad for so long that most fans became accustomed to them being terrible. Hence their (now former!!) nickname "lovable losers." We loved them no matter how terrible they were.

2003 was an especially difficult year after the Cubs complete and total meltdown in the NLCS. I was never one of the fans who blamed a baby faced kid listening to his Walkman for the Cubs losing that series, but it was still a crushing blow to get so excited only to see the team completely fall apart before my very eyes.

Then we went into the wilderness for another decade where I just became accustomed to them being one of the worst teams in the league before the Ricketts family decided that they wanted to find a way for the Cubs to win again.

I'll never forget the night the Cubs won the World Series last year. It was a feeling that is indescribable yet understood by any Cubs fan who has stuck with them through thick and thin.

I called my 90 year old grandparents the next morning and they were just overfilled with joy. They were alive during the 1929, 1932, 1935, 1938, and 1945 World Series only to watch (or hear) them lose each time. Me staying a fan for the first few decades of my life is one thing, but they never lost faith in nearly a century.

PowerPlay Wrote: What do you see happening in this series against the Dodgers?

I'm not naive. The Dodgers are one hell of a team and they have a bitter taste in their mouths from last year. They also have home field advantage and a loyal fan base that rivals the Cubs. The Dodgers are definitely the favorites, but then again so were the Nationals.

No matter what happens, I will continue to be a Cubs fan the rest of my life!

My beloved Cubs are returning to the NLCS for the second year in a row, something that was once unimaginable for Cubs fans worldwide. After a nail biting 9-8 win against the favored Nationals, the Cubs are now heading into a rematch of last years NLCS against the Los Angeles Dodgers. The only thing that's different in this years rematch is that the Dodgers hold home team advantage and also happened to win the most games in all of MLB this regular season.

The Dodgers had a phenomenal regular season, winning a league high 104 games. They also cruised to a 3-0 series win against the Diamondbacks, winning each game by at least two runs. So the Cubs definitely are playing a much improved team compared to last year and they have their work cut out for them.

The silver lining is that none of that matters. The series currently tied at 0-0 and the Cubs have more than enough weapons to punch a ticket to back to back World Series. It won't be easy, but one thing Cubs fans know is that being a fan of this team has never been easy!

joetemple Wrote: Some of the NFL rule changes lately seem a little odd to me. First there was the recent rule change banning the blocking of field goals and extra point attempts. Why?

I thought field goals can still be blocked, but they can no longer be blocked by a defensive player leaping over the center. Did I read that rule incorrectly??

joetemple Wrote: And now they have decided to shorten the length of the overtime period from 15 minutes, like a regular quarter, to only 10 minutes.

I agree that this makes zero sense.

joetemple Wrote: The owners agreed to this, saying it's for player safety. Shorter time = less injury opportunities. I get that. As a fan though, this just means we will have even more games ending in a tie. No one wants to see that.. I would rather them come up with an entirely different way the OT works than just shorten it. Why not just do something like college football does, and just put the ball in the 10-20 yard line, and give each team a chance to score a TD instead?

Football should be like baseball - no ties.

There are many things I don't like about college football, but I actually like they way they handle overtimes and would like to see the NFL do something like that.

I'm not perfect, but I'm doing surprisingly well compared to previous years. I should clarify that doesn't mean much considering I've placed in the bottom third of my pool for the past handful of years!

The only region I'm still perfect on is the East. I definitely didn't predict that Middle Tennessee would beat Minnesota and I thought VCU would have upset St. Mary's. But other than that, I'm still doing ok.