ESPN,Pictures of NFL Week 16

ESPN,Pictures of NFL Week 16: With only two weeks left in the NFL regular season there isn’t much time left to make some money before the playoffs. The odds have already been released for 14 out of the 16 games this week and we have picks for them all. Last week was a week that I’d like to forget and hopefully I’ll be able to do that by bouncing back with two wins with my best picks during week 16.

NFL Week 16 Lines and Picks

Carolina Panthers +14.5 over Pittsburgh Steelers

Dallas Cowboys –6.5 over Arizona Cardinals

Detroit Lions +3.5 over Miami Dolphins

Washington Redskins +7 over Jacksonville Jaguars

St. Louis Rams –1.5 over San Francisco 49’ers

Tampa Bay Buccaneers –6 over Seattle Seahawks

Buffalo Bills +9 over New England Patriots

New York Jets +1 over Chicago Bears

Baltimore Ravens –3.5 over Cleveland Browns

Kansas City Chiefs –5 over Tennessee Titans

Oakland Raiders +3 over Indianapolis Colts

Houston Texans –2.5 over Denver Broncos

San Diego Chargers –9 over Cincinnati Bengals

Atlanta Falcons –2 over New Orleans Saints

                                                                                 Images,Wallpapers

                           

Erik Kuselias leaving ESPN,Divorce,Scandal

Erik Kuselias leaving ESPN,Divorce,Scandal: "Erik Kuselias will be leaving ESPN to become co-host of the Golf Channel’s new live morning show," Pete Dougherty writes, adding, "Kuselias and Gary Williams of Sirius Radio have been hired to for the show, which will air from 7 to 9 a.m. weekday mornings beginning Jan.3. The show will originate from the Golf Channel’s Orlando, Fla., studios. Kuselias had been at ESPN since 2003."

No Love For The West In Baseball

An East vs West rivalry isn’t only a connection to the 1990s Hip-Hop era anymore.

Baseball is in the thick of the battle between the two sides.

The Texas Rangers currently lead the New York Yankees with a 3-2 series lead and a return home for the final two games. The San Francisco Giants took two of three at home and head back to Philadelphia with a 3-2 lead over the Phillies.

The Rangers and Giants were supposed to be minor pests for the juggernaut Yankees and Phillies; everyone picked both teams from the West to be easily stomped and flattened by the East like Gombas from the Super Mario Bros. video games. The real challenge was not in the Championship Series, but the World Series with New York and Philadelphia facing off like the Clash of the Titans.

Now, after being labeled as the 2010 “runner up” before the series even started, it is the so-called incomplete teams of the Rangers and Giants who are standing tall. With the ALCS and NLCS heading into the home stretch, the underdogs of both leagues appear to be just a single W away from advancing to the World Series.

Despite being on top now, the attention and credit being given to both teams remains the same from the start of the playoffs. The attention the Yankees and Phillies are receiving is nothing new to the teams from the East, most of the country are quite unfamiliar with the likes of Michael Young, Aubrey Huff, Ian Kinsler and Matt Cain.

Why is it that the country is so oblivious to players and teams from the West?

Networks, like ESPN, have programs that focus little upon the teams out West. Not only that, but media outlets and analysts describe these teams as if they are inferior or insignificant compared to those in the East.

At the start of the series, many experts picked the Phillies over the Giants, which is understandable in comparison to overall talent. According to the Yahoo! Sports website on predictions for the series, their four experts picked the Phillies to win with split decisions on the series going five or six games long. Three of those same four experts also believed the Yankees would defeat the Rangers.

The Yahoo! Analysts were not the only ones who believed the series belonged to the East. All ten of the ESPN experts asked to make predictions on the NLCS unanimously agreed that the Phillies would be the winner with only three asserting it would go seven games. On the other side for the ALCS, of the eight experts who were asked to pick winners, six assumed the Yankees would win with only two believing the series going the distance.

Despite the little belief most of the media had with the teams from the West, the current situation of both series are not producing any changes.

Following the game four win for the Giants, ESPN Analyst John Kruk continued to give them no love on the television show Baseball Tonight by explaining that the Phillies are losing the series rather than San Francisco winning it.

Although the Phillies are not living up to the expectations bestowed upon them since the start of the season, the Giants are going above and beyond their ability to win games with no credit given to them.

After getting the game winning run in game four, Aubrey Huff explains to the media how the whole nation is finally seeing what his team can do now that their games are showing coast-to-coast on FOX.

“It seems like all the baseball talk is all East Coast,” Huff says according to an AP article posted by Yahoo! Sports. “Everybody watching tonight saw exactly how we’ve played all year.”

The little exposure and attention that baseball teams out West are currently receiving is not a new phenomenon. The idea of an East Coast bias for sports through the media has been a hot topic for a number of years.

San Diego Padres Closer Heath Bell discussed his feelings about ESPN focusing upon teams in the East rather than the franchises out West.

"I saw John Kruk on 'Baseball Tonight,' and he said, 'They're playing real well, but I don't believe in them.’” Bell states according to the MLB Fanhouse website. “And I saw ESPN's promo for tonight's game. They mention the Mets are opening Citi Field, they mentioned the starting time, but nowhere did they mention the Padres.”

Although the West is never given their kudos or attention by most of the media covering baseball, the Rangers and Giants are making the case that changes for equal coverage needs to occur. Both teams deserve credit for their accomplishments regardless of the outcome and for making it obvious that the teams nearest to the Pacific Ocean are no longer pushovers.

The great play of San Francisco and Texas brings up the question the West has been asking for years from the baseball analysts and media: where is the love?

NY Yankees remain MLB gold standard in fan support

As summer continues its gradual metamorphosis into autumn, the complete playoff picture in Major League Baseball is slowly beginning to take shape. And no collection of fans should be more enthusiastic than those of teams slated to take the diamond well into October.

In the American League, the Minnesota Twins clinched the Central Division with ten games to spare all while interjecting themselves into the race for home-field advantage, which once appeared to be a two-team competition between the New York Yankees and the Tampa Bay Rays.

Speaking of the Rays and Yankees, who have been neck-and-neck for the past several weeks, it’s a virtual guarantee that one of the two will lay claim to the American League East Title, with the second-place finisher taking home the consolation prize in the form of the AL Wild Card. Meanwhile, in the AL West, the Texas Rangers’ magic number to clinch the division stands at 2 entering Saturday’s action.

Over in the National League, the Cincinnati Reds and the Philadelphia Phillies, barring any major collapses, have the NL Central and the NL East locked up respectively as the San Diego Padres and the San Francisco Giants take turns being leaders in the NL West on a daily basis.

The National League Wild Card race is equally as tight as the NL West with the Padres a half game ahead of the Atlanta Braves and four games up on the fading Colorado Rockies.

So with all of the aforementioned teams in the thick of the playoff hunt, it would seem logical to conclude that fans of these clubs are coming out to the stadiums in droves to show their appreciation and support. This isn’t necessarily the case.

Although the numbers at the gate have been down compared to recent years, for the fourth time in five years the New York Yankees will rank first in average home attendance at the end of the season. In addition, for the fifth consecutive season, the Yankees will rank in the top ten in home attendance percentage (average attendance/stadium capacity).

This season, the only other teams among playoff contenders to rival the Yankees’ success are the Giants, the Phillies and the Twins, who also rank in the top ten in average home attendance and home attendance percentage.

However, Cincinnati, San Diego and Tampa Bay rank in the bottom half of baseball at the box office. And surprisingly, the Rays, owners of the best record in the American League, place in MLB’s bottom quarter this season in both of the aforementioned categories.

In addition, gate results for playoff pretenders like the Chicago Cubs, the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Los Angeles Angels and the St. Louis Cardinals have been much more favorable than for teams such as the Braves, the Rangers and the Rockies, who arguably weren’t expected to be a significant factor at this point in the season.

So are these enlightening statistics a product of how the recession has impacted differing regions of the United States or merely a function of the importance of baseball in various cities and states in the wake of the Steroid Era?

The jury is still out on these issues but the certainty here is that the Giants, the Phillies, the Twins and the Yankees will especially appreciate the friendly confines of their home stadiums this postseason, where their respective fan support will be taken to an entirely new level.

Will the same be said for the Padres, the Rangers, the Reds and the Rays in a couple of weeks? If it can’t, the fans of these teams will only have themselves to blame when talented free agents bolt for greener pastures or decide against bringing their services into town.

2010 MLB Average Home Attendance

1. New York Yankees – 46,418

2. Philadelphia Phillies – 45,021

3. Los Angeles Dodgers – 44,175

4. St. Louis Cardinals – 40,961

5. Los Angeles Angels – 40,060

6. Minnesota Twins – 39,783

7. Chicago Cubs – 37,792

8. Boston Red Sox – 37,614

9. San Francisco Giants – 37,288

10. Colorado Rockies – 35,992

2010 MLB Home Attendance Percentage

1. Philadelphia Phillies – 103.5%

2. Boston Red Sox – 100.9%

3. Minnesota Twins – 100.7%

4. Chicago Cubs – 91.9%

5. San Francisco Giants – 89.8%

6. Los Angeles Angels – 88.9%

7. New York Yankees – 88.7%

8. St. Louis Cardinals – 87.4%

9. Milwaukee Brewers – 81.0%

10. Los Angeles Dodgers – 78.9%

Click here to read the original article on Examiner.com, which includes relevant links and a special video presentation.

Jets Darrelle Revis & Yankees Girardi, Jeter up for ESPY Awards

With no games on the docket in MLB, the NBA, the NFL or the NHL, it would appear to be as perfect a time as any for ESPN to broadcast the 18th edition of its annual ESPY Awards.

Begun in 1993, the Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly (ESPY) Awards is an event created to celebrate ESPN’s legacy as a sports channel and to confer awards for individual and team achievement and other sport-related performance during the previous calendar year.

The 2010 spectacle, hosted by 'Saturday Night Live's' Seth Meyers, is scheduled to be broadcast live from the Nokia Theatre in downtown Los Angeles, California Wednesday evening at 9PM EDT; when a total of 35 awards will be handed out to athletes and teams from all across the sports spectrum.

The notable players and organizations from the New York area that have been recognized include New York Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis (Best NFL Player), New York Yankees manager Joe Girardi (Best Coach/Manager), Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter (Best MLB Player) and the 2009 New York Yankees (Best Team).

The complete list of nominees can be found below for your perusal as well as links to videos that provide compelling evidence as to why they have been recognized.

BEST MALE ATHLETE

Drew Brees, NFL
Kobe Bryant, NBA
LeBron James, NBA
Jimmie Johnson, NASCAR
Albert Pujols, MLB

BEST FEMALE ATHLETE

Maya Moore, NCAA Basketball
Diana Taurasi, WNBA
Lindsey Vonn, Skiing
Serena Williams, Tennis

BEST CHAMPIONSHIP PERFORMANCE

Drew Brees, Super Bowl XLIV
Anthony Johnson, Big Sky Conference Championship
Michael Phelps, World Swimming Championships
Shaun White, Winter Olympics

BEST BREAKTHROUGH ATHLETE

Brittney Griner, Baylor Women's Basketball
Chris Johnson, Tennessee Titans
Stephen Strasburg, Washington Nationals
John Wall, University of Kentucky Basketball

BEST RECORD-BREAKING PERFORMANCE

Usain Bolt, 100 and 200-meter World Records
Brett Favre, NFL record for consecutive starts
Roger Federer, Most Grand Slam singles titles
Connecticut Women's Basketball, Longest winning streak in Women's NCAA Basketball History
Isner vs. Mahut at Wimbledon, Longest Match in Professional Tennis History

BEST UPSET

Frankie Edgar over B.J. Penn, MMA
Hawaii softball upsets #1 Alabama, NCAA Softball
Northern Iowa shocks No. 1 Kansas, NCAA Men's Basketball
Y. E. Yang stuns Tiger Woods, PGA Championship

BEST GAME

Twins beat Tigers in Extra Innings (AL Central One-Game Tiebreak)
Canada edges USA in Olympic hockey championship game in overtime
Duke gets past Butler in Men's NCAA Championship

BEST MOMENT

Phil Mickelson, 2009 Masters
Joannie Rochette, Winter Olympics
New Orleans Saints, Super Bowl XLIV
Landon Donovan World Cup vs. Algeria

BEST TEAM

Alabama Football
Chicago Blackhawks
Connecticut Women's Basketball
Los Angeles Lakers
New Orleans Saints
New York Yankees

CASTROL EDGE PERFORMANCE UNDER PRESSURE AWARD

Sidney Crosby in the Olympic Hockey Gold Medal Game
Brett Favre in his return to Green Bay
Landon Donovan World Cup vs. Algeria
Stephen Strasburg in MLB debut

BEST SPORTS MOVIE

'Big Fan'
'Invictus'
'The Blind Side'
'The Damned United'
'The Karate Kid'

BEST COACH/MANAGER

Geno Auriemma, Connecticut Women's Basketball
Joe Girardi, NY Yankees
Phil Jackson, Los Angeles Lakers
Mike Krzyzewski, Duke Men's Basketball
Sean Payton, New Orleans Saints
Nick Saban, Alabama football

BEST NFL PLAYER

Drew Brees, New Orleans
Brett Favre, Minnesota
Chris Johnson, Tennessee
Peyton Manning, Indianapolis
Darrelle Revis, New York Jets
Charles Woodson, Green Bay

BEST MLB PLAYER

Zach Greinke, Kansas City
Derek Jeter, New York Yankees
Tim Lincecum, San Francisco
Joe Mauer, Minnesota
Albert Pujols, St. Louis

BEST NHL PLAYER

Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh
Ryan Miller, Buffalo
Alexander Ovechkin, Washington
Henrik Sedin, Vancouver
Steven Stamkos, Tampa Bay

BEST DRIVER

Kyle Busch
Dario Franchitti
Ron Hornaday
Jimmie Johnson
Tony Schumacher

BEST NBA PLAYER

Kobe Bryant, LA Lakers
Kevin Durant, Oklahoma City
Dwight Howard, Orlando
LeBron James, Cleveland
Dwyane Wade, Miami

BEST WNBA PLAYER

Tamika Catchings, Indiana
Becky Hammon, San Antonio
Lauren Jackson, Seattle
Candace Parker, Los Angeles
Diana Taurasi, Phoenix

BEST FIGHTER

Floyd Mayweather
Manny Pacquiao
Georges St. Pierre

BEST MALE GOLFER

Ernie Els
Phil Mickelson
Tiger Woods

BEST FEMALE GOLFER

Cristie Kerr
Lorena Ochoa
Jiyai Shin

BEST MALE TENNIS PLAYER

Roger Federer
Juan Martin del Potro
Rafael Nadal

BEST FEMALE TENNIS PLAYER

Kim Clijsters
Serena Williams
Venus Williams

BEST MALE COLLEGE ATHLETE

Blake Geoffrion, Wisconsin Hockey
Mark Ingram, Alabama Football
Evan Turner, Ohio State Basketball
John Wall, Kentucky Basketball
Garrett Wittels, Florida International Baseball

BEST FEMALE COLLEGE ATHLETE

Tina Charles, Connecticut Women's Basketball
Megan Hodge, Penn State Volleyball
Megan Lagenfeld, UCLA Softball
Maya Moore, Connecticut Women's Basketball

BEST MALE ACTION SPORT ATHLETE

Bobby Brown, Freestyle Skiing
Ryan Dungey, Motocross
Mick Fanning, Surfer
Garrett Reynolds, BMX
Shaun White, Snowboard

BEST FEMALE ACTION SPORT ATHLETE

Torah Bright, Snowboarding
Ashley Fiolek, Motocross
Jen Hudak, Freestyle Skiing
Stephanie Gilmore, Surfing
Ashleigh McIvor, Freestyle Skiing

BEST JOCKEY

Calvin Borel
Julien Leparoux
Mike Smith

BEST MALE ATHLETE WITH A DISABILITY

Steve Cash
Rudy Garcia-Tolson
Andy Soule

BEST FEMALE ATHLETE WITH A DISABILITY

Linnea Dohring
Alana Nichols
Amy Palmiero-Winters
Stephani Victor

BEST BOWLER

Kelly Kulick
Bill O'Neill
Walter Ray Williams Jr.

BEST MALE US OLYMPIC ATHLETE

Apolo Anton Ohno, Speedskating
Shani Davis, Speedskating
Evan Lysacek, Figure Skating
Bode Miller, Skiing
Shaun White, Snowboarding

BEST FEMALE US OLYMPIC ATHLETE

Hannah Kearney, Skiing
Julia Mancuso, Skiing
Lindsey Vonn, Skiing

BEST MLS PLAYER

Connor Casey, Colorado
Jeff Cunningham, Dallas
Landon Donovan, Los Angeles
Shalrie Joseph, New England
Kasey Keller, Seattle

BEST TRACK AND FIELD ATHLETE

Usain Bolt
Allyson Felix
Sanya Richards

Click here to read the original article on Examiner.com, which includes relevant links and a plethora of videos featuring select ESPY Award nominees.