B-Bo Knows

9/06/2012

Bolek Blog Series - Fans of Out of Market NFL Teams: Pittsburgh

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
5. Denver Broncos

6. Kansas City Chiefs

7. San Francisco 49ers

8. New England Patriots

9. New York Giants

A lifelong Chicagoan, Mike Walsh grew up in the age of the NFL where the Pittsburgh Steelers & their "Steel Curtain" were making their presence known as one of the most formidable and feared franchises in the league in their 1970s dynasty. This, along with the Steelers garb, was a big selling point in Mike's choice of favorite football team.

"I became a Steelers fan because they were really good in the 70s when I was a little kid and starting to follow football," Mike said. "I loved the black uniforms and the helmet as well."

Mean Joe Greene was one of Mike's favorites. Pretty sure the little kid is not Mike.

His favorite players of all time came from those teams: Mike Webster, Jack Lambert, Joe Greene & Lynn Swann - all of whom are immortalized in the Hall of Fame.

Thanks to their success that started in Mike's childhood and has continued into modern times, the Steelers are often featured on national TV and prime-time games. This allows Mike to consume many of the games on regular TV, not DirecTV like many fans of out-of-town teams must do. Otherwise, he'll watch the NFL Red Zone channel, catch the highlights and read the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette online.

Just because he is a Steelers fan does not mean Mike hates the Bears. In fact, he considers himself a fan of his hometown team, just not as much as Pittsburgh.

"I root for the Bears every game except on the rare occasions when they play the Steelers," he said. "I do consider the Bears my 1-A NFL team."

In addition to following some Bears stuff in the local papers, Mike has also attended a Bears game at Soldier Field when they faced the Steelers in the early 90s. He went with a friend who was a Bears' season ticket holder and was given specific instructions when attending the game.

"He threatened to kick my ass if he saw any Steelers apparel," Mike said. "It was winter, so I was OK".

He believes that B-Bo Knows prediction of the Steelers (10-6, AFC North champs) is close to his own thoughts, but he went a step further in his prediction. In addition to a division title, he expects Pittsburgh to be AFC Champs and a legitimate contender to win the Super Bowl.

Speaking of which, the Steelers own 6 Super Bowl titles, the only team in NFL history with that distinction. Mike enjoys this fact and makes sure his football-following friends know about it.

"It means everything since I am a diehard Steelers fan and two good friends despise my beloved Steelers," he said. "It gives me bragging rights and allows me to gloat, good-naturedly."


	Mike Walsh
	(whole life in/near Chicago)
Favorite team	Steelers

A fan since…	1970s

# of games attended	1 (in Chicago)

Choice of Team Consumption	National TV, RedZone
	Channel, Pittsburgh Gazette
Favorite Player All-Time	Mike Webster, Lynn Swann
	Jack Lambert, Joe Greene
Favorite Player Currently	Heath Miller (O)
	Troy Polamalu (D)

2012 Prediction	(12-4, AFC Champs)

Vegas Projection for team	10 wins
(as of 9-6-12) 5dimes.eu
Over/under?	Over

Odds to win division - 5dimes.eu	(+115)

Super Bowl odds	20/1 (+2000)
(as of 9-6-12) - 5dimes.eu

9/03/2012

Bolek Blog Series - Fans of Out of Market NFL Teams: NY Giants

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
5. Denver Broncos

6. Kansas City Chiefs

7. San Francisco 49ers

8. New England Patriots

Russ Williamson may be a man who makes a living off of making people laugh, but he is dead serious about his allegiance to the New York Giants.

A man who makes people laugh, Russ was not amused at B-Bo Knows NYG prediction

He was dumbfounded by B-Bo Knows prediction of the Giants missing the playoffs with a 7-9 record, a year after winning their second Super Bowl against the Patriots in the past five years.

"I didn't really like your prediction," Russ told me. "I don't know where you got that from."

Russ's fandom began around 1990, when the underdog Giants, missing their Hall of Fame QB Phil Simms, upset the Buffalo Bills (the first of four straight Super Bowl losses for the Bills). The game is remembered for the Scott Norwood missed kick as time expired that would have put the Bills ahead.

Russ remembers it for a similar reason, but on a more personal level.

"My dad is a huge Giants fan," he said, "and my earliest memory was how happy he was when the Bills missed that field goal and the Giants were champs."

He doesn't have any issues following the Giants, relying on the Internet to keep him up-to-date on team news and scores. He also has no problem with being a fan of the Giants in a Bears town, unless his team happens to be the opponent.

"When your team plays the Bears, you will be called a (gay slur) at some point (by a Bears fan)," Russ said.

"I don't have a problem with the Bears," he said, "but if they're playing the Giants, I want them to fail miserably."

Being the humble person he is, Russ didn't want to make any predictions about the Giants for the 2012 season.

Ok, I lied.

"I'll be the first to say it here," Russ said, "the Giants repeat."

His thoughts about Eli being immortalized at Canton after winning his second ring - just as indifferent.

"Eli is a Hall of Famer, no doubt," he said.


	Russ Williamson
	(Chicagoan since 2005)
Favorite team	Giants

A fan since…	1990 (Giants/Bills in Super Bowl)

# of games attended	1 at MetLife

Choice of Team Consumption	TV/Internet

Favorite Player All-Time	Lawrence Taylor

Favorite Player Currently	Jason Pierre-Paul

2012 Prediction	Super Bowl champs

Vegas Win Projection
(as of 9-3-12) 5dimes.eu	9 wins

Over/under?	Over

Odds to win division - 5dimes.eu	(+205)

Super Bowl odds	45/2 (+2250)
(as of 9-3-12) - bovada.lv

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

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
5. Denver Broncos

6. Kansas City Chiefs

7. San Francisco 49ers

Don't mistake Adam Stefko for a fair-weathered New England Patriots fan. He didn't become a fan of the team when their run of success began in the early part of this century.

"I became a fan of the team the same way I'm a fan of any team," he said. "My dad liked them so I automatically just followed suit. Of course, I can think for myself now, but they happen to be a good team, so why not keep the loyalty?"

While he doesn't mind the Bears, Adam doesn't go out of his way to root for them.

"I would say I typically kind of root for them," he said, "but I often end up reaffirming the reason I don't like them as much as the Patriots."

He hasn't had any issues with following the Patriots in his life, including his last couple years living in the suburbs of Chicago. He doesn't get too much of a hard time about the Patriots since most people end up agreeing that they are a good team.

Lately, his main consumption of New England football is the Red Zone channel, which he thinks he prefers over having NFL Sunday Ticket.

"It's not the easiest following the Patriots when all you hear on the news is the Bears, but I do alright on Sundays," Adam said.

I couldn't find many others of him on FB w/ Pats gear. Hence, the look.

He's never been to a New England game, even though he had a chance to go to Soldier Field in 2010 when the Patriots routed the Bears 36-7. He ended up passing on the chance to go due to the high ticket prices, but he didn't mind missing out on the extreme weather conditions.

"It was a ridiculously cold day, so I think my body thanks me for not going," he said.

Adam believes that B-Bo Knows predictions of the team are accurate, but hopes they go a little further than the prediction of a loss to the Texans in the playoffs.

"Obviously, I hope that they do even better and win the AFC Championship and the Super Bowl," he said. "But who knows. If it doesn't happen, it doesn't happen. I'd be alright with that."

Despite consistently being one of the best teams in the league over the past decade, the Patriots haven't won a Super Bowl since the 2004 season.

Nevertheless, Adam doesn't think that Bill Belichick & Tom Brady have anything to prove to maintain or enhance their legacy as the elite coach/QB combo.

"Even without that recent of a Super Bowl win, they have proven throughout the regular season and postseason that they've got a great system and still perform rather well," he said.


	Adam Stefko
	(few years in suburbs of Chicago)
Favorite team	Patriots

A fan since…	childhood

# of games attended	none

Choice of Team Consumption	Red Zone Channel

Favorite Player(s) All-Time	Tedi Bruschi

Favorite Player Currently	Aaron Hernandez


2012 Prediction	(14-2, Super Bowl Champs)

Vegas Win Projection	12
(as of 9-3-12) 5dimes.eu
Over/under?	Over

Odds to win division - 5dimes.eu	(-360) (bet 360 to win 100)

Super Bowl odds	23/4 (+575) co-favorites w/ GB
(as of 9-3-12) - 5dimes.eu

Bolek Blog Series - Fans of Out of Market NFL Teams: San Francisco

I will also be including myself in this story and talking in the third person. If you can't handle that, then Brian says you're shit out of luck.

Editors note: Brad and I, along with one of his 49ers fans, may be coming up with a 49ers fan blog. We still have to work out the details - it will likely be throwing crap at the wall at first until we see what sticks. It will likely feature game recap, our thoughts on the next week's game and a fantasy football/gambling angle to it.

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
5. Denver Broncos

6. Kansas City Chiefs

Brad Schmidgall and Brian Bolek may have been separated by hundreds of miles as kids, but they shared a common link that they would discover when they lived on the same floor of the Garner dorms at the University of Illinois in 2002.

Both gentlemen were fans of an NFL team thousands of miles and two time zones away in California. They both started following the San Francisco 49ers right around the time Joe Montana wrapped up his fourth Super Bowl win with the team, which then transitioned into the Steve Young era.

Brad (right) on Metrodome surface before the start of the Niners/Vikings game in 2009

"I'd say I followed the Bears as well as a kid," Brian said, "especially with them being on TV every Sunday. When a Sunday ticket doesn't exist and you can't go to a bar, you end up watching a lot of Bears game by default."

Brian can sadly remember a project he did in junior high for a required home economics class, where he made a Bears pillow with Rashaan Salaam's name and jersey number on it. It was near that time where Brian's allegiance went strictly to the Niners, although he can't remember why it happened around then.

Brad grew up in Morton, IL, over 150 miles southwest of Chicago, and was a St. Louis Cardinals fan. Since St. Louis had no pro-football team at the time, Brad started following the 49ers.

Like Brian, he doesn't root for or against the Bears. But Brad does find it annoying at times to turn on sports radio during the regular season.

"DirecTV makes it easier, and I have a ton of friends that root for teams other than the Bears," said Brad, who has lived in Chicago for almost seven years. "I do wish there was a 49ers bar nearby I could hit up for big games."

Between the two, they have attended a combined three 49ers games. Brad saw a game that the Niners lost on a last-second heave by Brett Favre in the Metrodome during Favre's brief run on the Vikings, while Brian saw one of the best playoff games of all time in January against the Saints.

That made up for the clunker of a game he saw in 2009 featuring the Bears and the Niners on a Thursday night game, won by the 49ers 10-6. The game featured 5 Jay Cutler interceptions, but luckily, the forgettable game was more easily forgotten with the combination of beer and lack of food consumed by Brian.

"That game was a disaster, and I say that despite the fact the Niners won," Brian said. "At least me and my friend had good seats for the game."

Brad and Brian will be going to separate games this year - with Brad attending the Niners' home opener against the Lions in Week 2 while Brian and his girlfriend Jen will be going to the Niners/Bears Monday night game in November.

Speaking of the 2012 season, Brad and Brian have different views on the Niners. Both guys like the moves the team has made in the offseason, particularly drafting LaMichael James, a Darren Sproles-like backfield option. Brian believes the division race will be tighter than most people expect, with a Niners regression to about nine wins this year but still winning the division. Brad is a little more optimistic, with the Super Bowl as his team's projection.

"I think their defense is too good for seven losses, plus the offensive weapons we added will improve us overall," Brad said. "The NFC West is still pretty weak though, so I don't see us winning fewer than 10 games."

Brian (right) at Niners/Saints playoff game. He may have had a few beverages.

They both agree that the Seahawks will be the team's biggest obstacle in winning the division. Brian originally thought Arizona may be the team who might contend for the NFC West earlier this offseason, but his thoughts have changed as he has seen the Cardinals struggle mightily at the quarterback position, the one position Brian believes the Niners are still missing in order to be considered a serious Super Bowl contender.

"Alex Smith had a good run for us last year, but I still don't think he is the long term answer," Brian said. "Look at how poorly he did in the red-zone last year. I hope Randy Moss can help with that, but I think it's more of a quarterback problem than a receiver problem."


	Brian Bolek	Brad Schmidgall
	(27 yrs near/in Chicago)	(6.5 years in Chicago)
Favorite team	49ers	49ers

A fan since…	early 90s	early 90s

# of games attended	2 (both in San Fran)	1 (in Minnesota)

Choice of Team Consumption	DirecTV	DirecTV - regular season
		Joe's Bar - postseason
Favorite Player All-Time	Jerry Rice	Joe Montana

Favorite Player Currently	Patrick Willis	Patrick Willis &
		Vernon Davis
	9-7, Division Champs,	11-5, Division Champs
2012 Prediction	(loss in WC round)	Super Bowl bound

Vegas Projection for team	10 wins	10 wins
(as of 9-3-12) 5dimes.eu
Over/under?	Under	Over

Odds to win division - 5dimes.eu	(-245 - would need to
	wager 245 to win 100
Super Bowl odds
(as of 9-3-12) - 5dimes.eu	13/1 (+1300)

9/01/2012

Bolek Blog Series - Fans of Out of Market NFL Teams: Kansas City Chiefs

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 sixth feature highlights another AFC West fan. My friend Mike Johnson has been a Chiefs fan for a while. He hasn't seen too much success in a while, but if my prediction of his team is right, he'll get to see a playoff team this season.

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
5. Denver Broncos

Mike Johnson was not all that different than yours truly back in the early 90s.

During that time, Joe Montana was slinging touchdown passes to fellow Hall-of-Famer Jerry Rice en route to four Super Bowl titles together. Then, a southpaw named Steve Young came around, and 49ers brass decided that Young would be the future starting QB of the team.

Mike has been a fan of KC for almost 20 years.

So instead of keeping him on the Niners and creating a distraction with Joe as a backup, the 49ers traded Montana to the Chiefs, a very unpopular move at the time in San Francisco. Along with Joe's team, Mike's rooting interest in the Niners was also traded to the Chiefs.

"I was a huge fan of Joe Montana growing up," Mike said. "So I was a 49ers fan and when he left there for Kansas City, I became a Chiefs fan and never looked back after he retired."

Mike has lived in the Chicago area for his entire 3+ decades of life, so he does retain a rooting interest in the Bears, except when they play against the Chiefs. When the Chiefs aren't on to watch (which is a common occurrence), he has no problem watching the Bears.

Fortunately, like many fans of out-of-town teams, technology has been very kind to Mike. His I-phone and I-Pad play a key role in keeping Mike in tune with the latest Chiefs news and updates.

"I wish they were on TV more," he said, "but I'm not a complainer."

His Sunday tradition of watching football over at his Grandma's will no longer be in effect this year due to her passing earlier in the year. He hopes he can adjust to a new routine for the 2012 season.

In the meantime, he retains confidence in the Chiefs, who won the AFC West in 2010 but were ravaged with injuries to start the 2011 season and were never able to get on track. Despite a late season charge, they fell short of repeating as division champs.

Mike believes that the Chiefs are the most complete team in the division and has faith that they will make the playoffs with an 11-5 record, win a Wild Card game but lose in the divisional round. He likes the structure of the team, highlighted by his current favorite player Jamaal Charles.

"He brings excitement to a dull offense," Mike said. "Hope he has a good season back after surgery last year."

He believes that Charles' bounce-back to an elite-level running back depends on how effective Matt Cassel and Dwayne Bowe will be.

"Passing attack should open up the running game," Mike said. "You add (Peyton) Hillis to the run game and it gives Charles a chance to not have to carry the ball all the time."


	Mike Johnson
	(whole life in Chicago)
Favorite team	Chiefs

A fan since…	1993

# of games attended	none

Choice of Team Consumption	I-pad & I-phone

Favorite Player(s) All-Time	Joe Montana & Tony Gonzalez

Favorite Player Currently	Jamaal Charles


2012 Prediction	(11-5, postseason appearance, advance to divisional round)

Vegas Projection for team	8
(as of 8-31-12) 5dimes.eu
Over/under?	Over

Odds to win division - 5dimes.eu	(+330)

Super Bowl odds	58/1 (+5800)
(as of 8-31-12) - 5dimes.eu

8/31/2012

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

Tweets by @brianbolek

B-Bo Knows

9/06/2012

Bolek Blog Series - Fans of Out of Market NFL Teams: Pittsburgh

9/03/2012

Bolek Blog Series - Fans of Out of Market NFL Teams: NY Giants

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

Bolek Blog Series - Fans of Out of Market NFL Teams: San Francisco

9/01/2012

Bolek Blog Series - Fans of Out of Market NFL Teams: Kansas City Chiefs

8/31/2012

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

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