Bolek Blog Series - Fans of Out of Market NFL Teams: Denver Broncos

As many of you have seen through my whored out Facebook statuses, I am profiling people who live in the Chicago area and are fans of out of town teams.

Thank you to everyone who has filled out a survey so far. If you're a fan of an out-of-town team and I haven't given you a questionnaire to fill out, please let me know ASAP, as I am looking to profile as many people as possible.

My fifth feature is on the Denver Broncos, the first of two AFC West fans that I found. Randy Whalen is a former work colleague who freelances for the Sun-Times Media Group covering high school sports. He has been a long-time Broncos fan, and I thank him for sharing his thoughts on the Broncos and how he became a fan of them.

Here's a list of other blogs in the out-of-town feature series:

1. Dallas Cowboys
2. Tennessee Titans
3. New Orleans Saints 
4. Minnesota Vikings

Randy has been a fan of the Broncos for 36 years.

For this generation of NFL fans, it seems hard to fathom a point in time where the Raiders were hated AND good. For Randy Whalen, his dislike of the Raiders, who were coming off a Super Bowl win in 1976, is what sparked his interest in the Mile High City.

In 1977, the Broncos were the last team standing in the way of the Raiders advancing to their second consecutive Super Bowl.

"I remember listening to the game on the radio and hoping and maybe even praying that Oakland would lose," Randy said. "The Broncos held on for a 20-17 win and went to the Super Bowl. They captured my imagination because they had never been there before."

Not that he's counting (ok, maybe he is), but Randy has been to a total of 37 Broncos games, which includes preseason, regular season and post-season. Including Denver (where he has attended 25 games), he has attended Broncos games in eight different cities, with Denver sporting a 23-13-1 record in those games.

"The memories would take volumes to go through," Randy said. "The best one was this past January when I was at the Broncos-Steelers Wild Card game where Tebow hit Thomas with the 80-yard TD on the first play of OT - pure joy and euphoria!"

He believes that Peyton Manning (his new favorite player on the Broncos) will make fans forget about Tim Tebow, provided Manning can stay healthy.

When he's not attending a game, Randy watches Broncos games at bars and has no problem following the team in a Chicago market, especially with the Internet and how much coverage the team has been getting this offseason.

Unlike some fans of out-of-town teams, you won't find him rooting against the hometown Bears though.

"I generally hope they win," Randy said, "except when they play one of my favorite teams, usually Denver or Pittsburgh. But I really don't care."

He also doesn't care for B-Bo Knows prediction of a 7-9, out of playoffs prediction for his team. Randy forecasts 11 wins and another AFC West division crown in Denver this season.

He won't say, perhaps out of caution, what the Broncos will do once they make the playoffs.

"The playoffs are wide open," Randy said.

Randy Whalen whole life in Chicago area Favorite team Broncos A fan since… late 1970s # of games attended 36 Choice of Team Consumption Bars Favorite Player(s) All-Time John Elway Favorite Player Currently Peyton Manning 2012 Prediction (11-5, AFC West Champs, No SB prediction) Vegas Projection for team 9 (as of 8-31-12) 5dimes.eu Over/under? Over Odds to win division - 5dimes.eu (+155) Super Bowl odds 17.5/1 (+1750) (as of 8-31-12) - 5dimes.eu

Bolek Blog Series - Fans of Out of Market NFL Teams: Minnesota Vikings

As many of you have seen through my whored out Facebook statuses, I am profiling people who live in the Chicago area and are fans of out of town teams.

Thank you to everyone who has filled out a survey so far. If you're a fan of an out-of-town team and I haven't given you a questionnaire to fill out, please let me know ASAP, as I am looking to profile as many people as possible.

My fourth feature is on Tim Caleca, who represents the Minnesota Vikings. I attended broadcasting school with Tim for 10 months between 2010-2011. While there, he was very vocal about his love of the Vikings (and dislike of the Bears - to put it nicely). His team's woes of the past couple years hasn't stopped him from loving his team any less. Thank you to Tim for giving his thoughts on the Vikings.

Here's a list of other blogs in the out-of-town feature series:

1. Dallas Cowboys
2. Tennessee Titans
3. New Orleans Saints 




Who knew a kid's first jersey would play the biggest role in deciding what NFL team to root for the rest of his life?

That's exactly what happened with Tim Caleca, whose purchase of a future Hall-of-Fame wide receiver jersey set up a lifetime of fandom for the Minnesota Vikings.

Right now, things aren't looking up for the Vikings

"My first jersey was Cris Carter, and I loved it," Tim said. "Basically, I've rooted for them ever since I can remember."

He seems to relish in his bickering with Bears fans, who hassle him every Sunday during football season.

"Mostly because being in Chicago as a fan of the enemy, I have to constantly defend myself," Tim said. "Some years, (Bears fans) praise my team for being quality; some years (such as this year), they don't."

He utilizes bars with the DirecTV package when they are not on local TV and is kept up-to-date on Vikings news through ESPN, NFL Network, the Vikings mobile app and a Vikings site called dailynorseman.com.

He's been able to attend a few Vikings games at Soldier Field. Each of them have been memorable in their own way, he said.

"(I went) mostly in the mid-00's when the Vikings were rebuilding," Tim said. "I've never had to give so many middle fingers."

Out of the current batch of players, his favorite players are Adrian Peterson and Jared Allen. He also noted that Chad Greenway is one of the more under-rated linebackers in the NFL (keep an eye on him, Bears fans). 

As far as football fans go, Tim is as outspoken as any of them. However, he is also one of the most realistic fans of any team I've encountered.

When mentioned that B-Bo Knows predicted a 4-12 record for the Vikings, Tim didn't seem to disagree.

"I'm extremely realistic when it comes to projections," he said. "I haven't made my predictions but I can't imagine they'd be far off from yours.

"Off the top of my head, between 3 and 5 wins seems realistic to me."

Tim doesn't seem sold on Christian Ponder as the team's franchise quarterback, with the team's offensive talent surrounding him not helping much.

"We'll have to see what he does this year," he said. "He's got tight ends that make plays, but his receiving core isn't very deep. They have a questionable offensive line, no vertical threat and a healing AP.

"I think the front office will say 'No' to him before they surround him with enough talent."

	Tim Caleca
	Whole Life in Chicago area
Favorite team	Vikings
A fan since…	early 1990s
# of games attended	several (all at Soldier Field)
Choice of Team Consumption	bars w/ DirecTV
Favorite Player(s) All-Time	Cris Carter
Favorite Player Currently	Adrian Peterson, Jared Allen
2012 Prediction	(4-12)
Vegas Projection for team	6
(as of 8-30-12) 5dimes.eu
Over/under?	Under
Odds to win division - 5dimes.eu	32/1
Super Bowl odds
(as of 8-30-12) - 5dimes.eu	335/1

Brief College Football Preview + Week 1 Predictions

I've waited until the last possible minute to provide a college football preview, mainly because my knowledge of the sport is lacking and I didn't think I'd be able to provide an in-depth preview anyways. I don't really keep up with the signings, but rather rely on industry experts (including some of my Twitter followers) and a few friends who partake in plenty of Saturday football sessions.

Check out Berserk Hippo Podcast - 2012 College Preview

Instead of providing a full-blown preview with analysis, I'll link you to my friend's podcast should you have the desire to learn a little bit more about the thoughts of knowledgeable college football fanatics. Nick Pazoles (@BerserkHippo) and Chris Williams (@cmwilliams51) run through each of the major conferences, with a special focus on the Big Ten, and make their picks to win each conference. They also provide a few surprise teams to watch and their BCS title predictions: Berserk Hippo Podcast - College Football 2012 Preview


I suggest taking a listen of it for more in-depth talk. Here's their predictions (and mine, just for the hell of it) summarized:

	Hippo	Williams	Bolek
Big Ten Legends	Michigan	Michigan	Michigan St.
Big Ten Leaders	Wisconsin	Wisconsin	Ohio State*
BTC Winner	Wisconsin	Michigan	Wisconsin
SEC Champ	Georgia	Alabama	LSU
PAC-12	USC	USC	USC
Big 12	Oklahoma	Oklahoma	Texas
ACC	Clemson	Clemson	Florida St
Big East	Louisville	Louisville	Cincinnati
Darkhorse Title Winner	Virginia Tech	Clemson	Oregon
Title Loser	Georgia	Alabama	USC
Title Winner	USC	USC	LSU
			*cannot play in Big
			Ten Championship - I
			have Wisconsin as
			Division representative

I'd be careful about using my division picks for betting purposes. I like LSU to make it to the title game again and this time win it - lots of talent on both sides of the ball. They may have one-loss entering the game, but I feel that their win in the SEC title game will be enough to boost them to title game status. Ohio State was under-coached last year - Urban Meyer brings out the best in college recruits, and OSU has plenty of talented ones. Texas has plenty of starters coming back from a team that bounced back from a mediocre 2010 bowl-less season to an 8-5 record - I think they'll outlast Oklahoma for the crown. Florida St. could have the best defense in the nation, although they seem to be a team (like Georgia) that lately seems to lose at the worst possible times. I just basically threw a dart in my head and came up with Cincinnati -the Big East will once again be unwatchable, especially now with West Virginia leaving the conference.

We all have USC in the championship game. Everything I've heard about them makes me think they are a lock to make it to the title game. Only game I could see them tripping up on is against Oregon at home or in the Pac-12 championship game. Also, I'd be weary of their last road game against UCLA the week before their home tilt against Notre Dame. Not saying UCLA is talented, but sometimes talented teams fall asleep on the road a week before a rivalry match-up.

As far as my picks for Week 1 go, I'm going with South Carolina -6.5, Alabama -14 (hoping to get a lower number), Navy +15 & Ohio +6.5 (hoping it goes to 7). Picks are subject to change and may include additional bets. I will do my best to edit this as the bets are placed - best bet is to check my Twitter (@BrianBolek or #BolekPicks).

Hope everyone is looking forward to football as much as I am.

Bolek Blog Series - Fans of Out of Market NFL Teams: New Orleans Saints

As many of you have seen through my whored out Facebook statuses, I am profiling people who live in the Chicago area and are fans of out of town teams.

Thank you to everyone who has filled out a survey so far. If you're a fan of an out-of-town team and I haven't given you a questionnaire to fill out, please let me know ASAP, as I am looking to profile as many people as possible.

My third feature is on the lone NFC South fan in Chicago that I can find. The most story-filled franchise of the division this offseason (perhaps the NFL outside of the Jets & Broncos) thanks to "Bounty Gate" and the ESPN-falsified wire-tapping story (which I don't think ESPN has still acknowledged). Thank you to Michael Ruth, New Orleans born and raised, for sharing his thoughts on the Saints. I met him through Tim Wolf (Dallas Cowboys) and his family - very nice guy.

Here's a list of other blogs in the out-of-town feature series:

Dallas Cowboys

Tennessee Titans

Bolek Blog Series - Fans of Out of Market NFL Teams: Tennessee Titans

As many of you have seen through my whored out Facebook statuses, I am profiling people who live in the Chicago area and are fans of out of town teams.

Thank you to everyone who has filled out a survey so far. If you're a fan of an out-of-town team and I haven't given you a questionnaire to fill out, please let me know ASAP, as I am looking to profile as many people as possible.

My second feature is on the lone AFC South fan in Chicago that I can find. Thank you to Josh, a good friend  who worked with me about 5 years ago. Tennessee-bred, he is a fan of his home state's team. Here are his thoughts on the Titans' chances this year.

Here's a list of other blogs in the out-of-town feature series:

Dallas Cowboys



Unlike many fans of out-of-town teams, Josh Sumner was originally a fan of the Bears for a long time before switching allegiances to a hometown team. Although he can be excused - Nashville didn't get an NFL team until the Houston Oilers relocated to Tennessee in 1997.

"I actually liked the Bears as my #1 team until the Titans came to town," Josh said. "The 1985 Super Bowl was the first one I remember as a child and I remember how all the adults were pulling for them. Plus, they made it fun. Hell, I can still sing a good portion of the 'Super Bowl Shuffle'".

Repping his hometown college, now a Titans fan

His fandom was rewarded almost immediately, as the touchdown-underdog Titans were a foot short and an extra-point away from forcing overtime against the run-and-gun St. Louis Rams in the 1999 Super Bowl.

Josh's change of rooting interest hasn't made things all that difficult in following his home-town team despite moving to his former favorite team's city 10 years ago.

"We do not play each other usually, nor is there any big rivalry," he said. "Plus, Chicago is a cosmopolitan town and all are welcome to go to our bars and root for whomever you like...even Packer fans."

His consumption of Titans games is a combination of Internet streaming and going to friend's houses who have the NFL Package (DirecTV). However, Josh still seems apt to watch a good Bears match-up over a boring Titans one.

"If the Titans are playing the Browns and the Bears and playing the Packers at the same time, love them or not, I'm likely to watch the Bears game and wait for Titans highlights to come as they may," he said.

He has seen numerous Titans games in his lifetime, including a game at Vanderbilt Stadium, the team's temporary home before their new stadium was being built. His seats were close enough there to see the gigantic size of the players, including Randy Moss.

"That guy is enormous," Josh said, "at least compared to Vanderbilt Stadium."

When it comes to his assessment of the 2012 squad, Josh believes the Titans will be 8-8 and get a wild card berth. A lot of the Titans' fortune this year lies in Kenny Britt, whose injury last year hurt the Titans' chances of making the playoffs in Josh's opinion.

He believes in Jake Locker as the team's quarterback, but just hopes he doesn't turn into another Vince Young, who flamed out quickly as the Titans' signal caller.

"He needs to take his time, learn and get stronger," Josh said. "Everything that Vince Young didn't do."

Josh's favorite Titan - Matt Hasselbeck - will enter the season as Locker's back-up. Josh appreciates Hasselbeck for his similar hairline (read: follically-challenged) and quarterback smarts.

"If Rex Grossman taught me anything," Josh said, "it's that ball control is vital. And you need to be taller than the linemen to play QB."

	Josh Sumner
	(10 years in Chicago)
Favorite team	Titans
A fan since…	1997
# of games attended	numerous
Choice of Team Consumption	Internet, DirecTV NFL Package, bars
Favorite Player All-Time	Steve McNair/Eddie George
Favorite Player Currently	Matt Hasselbeck
2012 Prediction	(8-8. wild card, second-round playoffs)
Vegas Projection for team	7 wins
(as of 8-24-12) 5dimes.eu
Over/under?	Over
Odds to win division - 5dimes.eu	(+495)
Super Bowl odds	100/1
(as of 8-26-12) - 5dimes.eu

Bolek Blog Series - Fans of Out of Market NFL Teams: Dallas Cowboys

As many of you have seen through my whored out Facebook statuses, I am profiling people who live in the Chicago area and are fans of out of town teams.

Thank you to everyone who has filled out a survey so far. If you're a fan of an out-of-town team and I haven't given you a questionnaire to fill out, please let me know ASAP, as I am looking to profile as many people as possible.

My inaugural dive into this blog series will start with some fans from the NFC East, including a confident fan predicting a repeat for his favorite team. I will feature "the other team" from the division first.


It shouldn't be a surprise to anyone that the early 90s spawned a new era of Dallas Cowboys fans across the country. The trio of Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith and Michael Irvin helped make the Cowboys "America's Team". The duo of Tim Wolf and Steve Kirchman came along to join the ride.

"Naturally and probably deservedly so, I got the fair weather label," Tim said. "I paid my dues and proved my worth through the Dave Campo/Quincy Carter era and through a lot of disappointing underachieving teams."


Neither one of them find it difficult being a fan of the Cowboys in a Bears market, although Tim said he expects some good-nature banter when he is showing off his Cowboys apparel at bars during games.

However, both of them don't really care for the Bears.

"I root against them because their fans are annoying", Steve said. "They think every year they'll win the Super Bowl, which is just plain stupid."

Tim's general rooting interest regarding the Bears is to root against them, which stems from arguments with friends and  annoying local media coverage.

"A friend just recently told me I should just move to Dallas," he said. "To which I responded, I would have to listen to dumb homer Dallas fans."

No agreement existed between their all-time favorite Cowboys (Tim backs Emmitt, Steve is an Aikman guy) and favorite current player, with Tim a fan of Tony Romo and DeMarcus Ware, while Steve is high on Dez Bryant's future.

"I think he has potential to be a top wide receiver in the league for many years to come," he said.

Tim is projecting a 9-7 campaign for the Cowboys, while Steve is one game more optimistic.

Both Tim and Steve agree that there is nothing outside of winning a Super Bowl that could get the media to stop blaming Tony Romo for all of the team's woes.

"He could probably take them to the Super Bowl, throw for 400 yards, not turn the ball over, drive them down the field for a go-ahead score with 45 seconds left," Tim said, "and the defense gives it back and he would still get the blame, probably for leaving too much time on the clock."

Steve concurred.

"There is nothing else Romo can do to stop getting blamed for the team woes," he said. "He has to win a Super Bowl".

	Tim Wolf		Steve Kirchman
	(whole life near Chicago)		(whole life near Chicago)
Favorite team	Cowboys		Cowboys
A fan since…	early 90s		early 90s
# of games attended	2 (both in Dallas)		1 (in Chicago)
Choice of Team Consumption	DirecTV		DirecTV
Favorite Player All-Time	Emmitt Smith		Troy Aikman
Favorite Player Currently	Tony Romo (O)		Dez Bryant
	DeMarcus Ware (D)
2012 Prediction	(9-7, out of playoffs)		(10-6, playoffs)
Vegas Projection for team	9 wins		9 wins
(as of 8-24-12) 5dimes.eu
Over/under?	Push		Over
Odds to win division - 5dimes.eu	(+260)		(+260)
Super Bowl odds	20/1 (+2000)		20/1 (+2000)
(as of 8-24-12) - bovada.lv

B List - Fantasy Football Draft Tips (List 14)

Hi, my name is Brian, and I have a fantasy football problem.

No, the problem isn't that I'm currently in six fantasy leagues (four of which are for money). No. The fantasy football problem is that I'm not the defending champion in any of them. Granted, two of the leagues are new. But still - it's my fault for not winning them before being in the leagues or before they were actually created.

Anywho, since I'm in leagues with many of you, I'll give you my thoughts on how I approach these leagues. Perhaps they will help you, or perhaps they will turn you into a (bigger) loser. I can't tell you who to pick, or even any of my sleepers. Perhaps if Yahoo or NFL.com paid me to give a fantasy opinion, I would. But since neither of them do, all I can give you is my approach to each draft.

7. Don't over-study - There's numerous sites that offer their fantasy football opinions. Some opinions cancel each other out. Other opinions are based on group-think ("hey, this publication says this guy is gonna be a rising star, better have him ranked high). The truth is, a lot of it is guess work. You can study stats, fantasy magazines and rankings all day long, but all of the information you consume could overwhelm you - if you're studying up on these players too hard. Just use your best judgment when it comes to players and their situations. It doesn't hurt to do a mock draft or two, but you probably don't need to do 9 or 10 of them.

6. Don't stress about bye weeks - That's not to say it should be completely ignored, but if you're the type to draft a guy based solely on his bye week (say a backup QB for your Brady or Rodgers), you're going about it wrong. Think about how much turnover you have from the time you draft until the very end of the season. Odds are, about half of your team will be different. No use in picking a guy because he's not on Bye Week 8 when your top guy is playing when you're likely to drop the guy anyways for an emerging free agent.

5. Handcuffed RBs: a dying breed - For those of you who have been in leagues for a while, you have probably heard of the idea that you need to make sure you draft the backup running back of your star RB (i.e. a handcuff). If you're still practicing this trend, you should probably stop (unless you have one of the handful of guys who have a well-known talented backup). The investment in these guys isn't worth a high pick, although perhaps one of your last two or three picks could be spent on them. I wouldn't reach for many of the backups though strictly because you own a starter.

4. Look at Team Schedules for Fantasy Playoffs - Are you stuck between two players - and do you believe you have a legitimate shot at making the fantasy playoffs? If you need a tie-breaker between two guys in the mid-to-late rounds, take a look at each team's opponents for when the fantasy playoffs would be. If your assessment of your team being playoff-worthy is correct, then you can capitalize on the matchups that will take place during the playoffs. Granted, you can't always project how certain teams will do (last year, over half of the league had a shift in wins of 3 or more). But if you have a general idea of how a team will do, then you may have a leg up when the fantasy playoffs roll around and you have great matchups ahead of you.

3. Kicker in the Last Rounds - Unless you're in a league that heavily emphasizes kickers (and if you are, you probably shouldn't be in the league), then you should really save your kicker pick for one of the last two rounds. If you're the type to draft a backup kicker, then I don't know what to say for you, other than "Thank you for being in my league, you moron". No one should ever have two kickers on their roster before the first week of the year. I may argue that you should never have two kickers ever, but some kickers on high volume scoring teams may be worth holding onto.

2. Promising rookie over aging veteran - As the late rounds of a league approach, you'll see people scrambling through their draft magazines or scanning their computers, looking for all the information they can gather on a couple of guys they are targeting. If you ask me (and of course you're asking me, since you're reading this crappy list), I'll almost always choose a promising rookie (or young guy with upside) over a veteran whose stats are fairly predictable. The thing with a promising rookie that works in your favor is that there really is no known ceiling for them, whereas guys who have been in the league 10 years who maxed out at about 1000 yards many years ago have a very limited ceiling when it comes to point production. Give me the rookie in those late rounds. In fantasy football, the unknown is the way to go.

1. Know your league settings - Does your league give you points for every reception (and how much?) Does your league give bonuses for certain levels of performance, like 300+ yards passing or 150+ yards rushing? Knowing these settings can go a long way in determining your draft strategy. If for some reason you're in a league that de-emphasizes passing touchdowns, you may be less likely to draft Drew Brees or Tom Brady with your first pick and instead go for a wide receiver. Before you draft, make sure you know how the point system works so you don't end up drafting a position that ends up being less valuable based on league settings.