Final PageRank Updates of 2008!

Posted 12/30/08

Google has given many of us a nice New Year's present by dishing out the last PageRanks of 2008. Assuming that all of the PR's have gone through, it looks like the Sports Dollar stayed put at a PR 4 while our other new venture, Blaze of Love was given its first PR, a 4!

We've read the many rumors on how to increase your PR and who knows what really to believe.  All I know, is that we've done pretty well with PageRanks over the year including an opening PR 5 on our old site Le Basketbawl.

Any personal theories as to what affected your PageRank over the last quarter?


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End of the Year NFL Power Rankings

Posted 12/29/08

After taking most of the 2008 season and giving you our weekly power rankings, we thought we should give you our year end rankings as well. 

The Playoffs turned out quite interesting didn't they?  What a bunch of flops today from teams like Tampa Bay, Chicago, Dallas, New York (Jets), and Denver.  All of these teams went into today with a chance to make the Playoffs and all of them got worked.

What a year it has been!  Thanks to everyone that has continued to check back each week.  We'll be back again next year to the latest and greatest sets of NFL Power Rankings!

Playoff Teams:

1.  Indianapolis Colts
2.  Pittsburgh Steelers
3.  NY Giants
4.  Tennessee Titans
5.  Carolina Panthers
6.  Miami Dolphins
7.  Atlanta Falcons
8.  Baltimore Ravens
9.  Philadelphia Eagles
10.  Minnesota Vikings
11.  San Diego Chargers
12.  Arizona Cardinals

Losers:

13.  New England Patriots*
14.  Dallas Cowboys
15.  NY Jets
16.  Chicago Bears
17.  Denver Broncos
18.  Tampa Bay Buccaneers
19.  New Orleans Saints
20.  Houston Texans
21.  San Francisco 49ers
22.  Washington Redskins
23.  Buffalo Bills
24.  Green Bay Packers
25.  Oakland Raiders
26.  Jacksonville Jaguars
27.  Cincinnati Bengals
28.  Seattle Seahawks
29.  Cleveland Browns
30.  Kansas City Chiefs
31.  St. Louis Rams
32.  Detroit Lions

*What a sham it is that the New England Patriots did not make the Playoffs.  Now I can't stand them at all, but how is it possible that a team can have a better record than 4 of the 12 Playoff teams and still be sitting out the month of January?  Oh well!


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BetUS Swimsuit Calendar and DVD!

Posted 12/26/08

Since we received the more than solid package from Nick at ImWritingSports.com today, it reminded us of the other package we received a couple of weeks ago from our major sponsor BetUS.

They were kind enough to drop us a little holiday love by hooking us up with the BetUS Swimsuit Calendar as well as the BetUS Girls Calendar DVD.  Oh, and a t-shirt too.  Another big thanks to Natalie and the crew over there!  We always love some free stuff.

Possible contest in the works for these nice little gifts?
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ImWritingSports.com T-Shirt and CC Ball!

Posted 12/26/08

I wanted to give a big shout out to Nick over at IWS (www.imwritingsports.com) for sending us a CC Sabathia signed ball as well as an IWS t-shirt! 

We entered into a contest of Nick's earlier in the year and this was the prize we won!  A huge thanks goes to him on this one though as his sponsor backed out at the last minute right before he was shelling out prizes and had to spend some of his own cash to make sure everyone got their stuff.  Pretty cool, I'd say.  Thanks Nick!


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Week 17 NFL Power Rankings - Sports Dollar's Weekly

Posted 12/23/08

Our last set of NFL Power Rankings!  The week 17 rankings don't necessarily mean much after an entire season of ridiculous parity but we've still got to put them up.  My pick'em leagues were awful this week with almost every game being a complete toss up.  And unfortunately, I picked almost all of them wrong and am officially excited that there is only one week of pain left.

1.  Tennessee Titans*
2.  Indianapolis Colts*
3.  NY Giants
4.  Pittsburgh Steelers
5.  Carolina Panthers
6.  Baltimore Ravens
7.  Atlanta Falcons
8.  New England Patriots
9.  Miami Dolphins
10.  Chicago Bears
11.  Minnesota Vikings
12.  Tampa Bay Buccaneers
13.  Dallas Cowboys
14.  NY Jets
15.  New Orleans Saints
16.  Philadelphia Eagles
17.  Washington Redskins
18.  Arizona Cardinals
19.  Denver Broncos
20.  San Diego Chargers
21.  Buffalo Bills
22.  San Francisco 49ers
23.  Houston Texans
24.  Green Bay Packers
25.  Jacksonville Jaguars
26.  Seattle Seahawks
27.  Oakland Raiders
28.  Cincinnati Bengals
29.  Cleveland Browns
30.  Kansas City Chiefs
31.  St. Louis Rams
32.  Detroit Lions

*The battle of the season happens this week between the Colts and the Titans.  Could we have asked for a match-up better than this to end it all?  The Colts are looking like the team we have grown used to while the Titans just keep shutting down any doubts that they might not be for real.


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BlogSerp.com - A "Digg" Like Blog Directory

Posted 12/21/08

The team over at Blog Engage launched a new site this weekend called Blog Serp which acts in a way like Digg with a voting system but is based solely on your site itself rather than some special article.  Once a site is submitted, users are allowed to vote them up or down in hopes of getting a site to the front page.

Now, this site is brand new so who knows what the results would be if your site actually made it to the front page but why not at least submit it?  Spreading your site out to as many directories as possible should always be one of your ongoing goals.  Give this site a look, and who knows, maybe in a couple of months it'll blow up and your site may reap some nice benefits.

And by the way, both of my sites are listed and you should go vote them up if you have a chance! (I know, cheap plug, but why not?)

• Blaze of Love voting page.
• Sports Dollar voting page.
  

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Google Logo Goes Holiday Doodle!

Posted 12/21/08

Google once again updated its logo today with a holiday flair!  If you go to your Google page and click on the actual logo, it'll take you to a page showing a bunch of holiday greetings and a new series of Google logos.  I haven't figured out how many they'll do, but we'll keep posting them as we see them!

1.

2.

3.

4.

Follow the rest of our Google Logo coverage!

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DollarBall Sports: 12/16/08

Posted 12/16/08

• 2008 Sports Blogger of the Year tourney.  [Busted Coverage]
• Penn State lion caged for that lovely DUI.  [Don Chavez]
  
• Time to vote on Cuzoogle's crushes!  [Cuzoogle]
• Another uncoachable woman.  [Uncoachable]
  
• What is the worst sports memorabilia you own?  [Steady Burn]
  
• NBA All Blogger first team.  [Hooped Up]
• The double-double machines of the NBA you should know.  [Empty the Bench]
  
• Quarter season blogger MVP and ROY rankings.  [Dream Shake]
  
• Ooh, the NFL released it's Pro Bowl squads.  [NFL.com]
• Cleveland State at the buzzer!
  

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Doc's Sports does College Basketball Too.

Posted 12/16/08

When I think of someone doing something for over 30 years, I tend to give their opinion a little more weight.  Well, Doc's Sports has been giving you College Basketball Picks since back in the 1970s.  Impressive?  I would say so.

And just as they do with football, Doc's Sports also gives you an easy comparison sheet of College Basketball odds through all the major players. Does it get any easier with all this info at your fingertips?

One thing you may not have expected from them was a list of any printable College Basketball Schedule you could need. Need to know when your favorite teams are playing? This is one of the more complete and quick ways to finding one.

College hoops remains one of Doc's all-time favorite sports, so expect only the best from their coverage.


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Week 16 NFL Power Rankings - Sports Dollar's Weekly

Posted 12/16/08

Get ready for the week 16 NFL Power Rankings!  A new number 1 has taken over our list and hopefully isn't all that surprising to you.  What may surprise you even more is our number 2 team, the Colts.  Things are shaking out down the stretch to be as interesting as they were early on.  What a year!

1.  Pittsburgh Steelers*
2.  Indianapolis Colts
3.  Tennessee Titans
4.  Carolina Panthers
5.  NY Giants
6.  Dallas Cowboys
7.  Minnesota Vikings
8.  Tampa Bay Buccaneers
9.  New England Patriots
10.  Baltimore Ravens
11.  NY Jets
12.  Miami Dolphins
13.  Atlanta Falcons
14.  Philadelphia Eagles
15.  Arizona Cardinals
16.  Chicago Bears
17.  Denver Broncos
18.  Houston Texans
19.  New Orleans Saints
20.  San Diego Chargers
21.  Buffalo Bills
22.  Washington Redskins
23.  Green Bay Packers
24.  Jacksonville Jaguars
25.  San Francisco 49ers
26.  Cleveland Browns
27.  Seattle Seahawks
28.  Oakland Raiders
29.  Cincinnati Bengals
30.  Kansas City Chiefs
31.  St. Louis Rams
32.  Detroit Lions

*Pittsburgh deserves this spot.  The comeback against the Cowboys plus a gutsy effort against the Ravens.  Controversial or not, they won the game people.  So Ravens fans, and Redskins honks, please take a seat.

Make sure to check out the rankings for NE Patriots Draft as well!

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Colt McCoy as Luke SkyWalker?

Posted 12/12/08

This is completely random, but you hardly ever get to see football players with their helmets off and when I finally saw Colt McCoy of the Texas Longhorns, I immediately said, "Holy S**T! Luke!"

You decide:

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DollarBall Sports: 12/11/08

• Bowl games swag?  What kids get for playing in these games.  [Sox and Dawgs]
  
• Carmelo Anthony scoring 33 points in a quarter is disgusting.  [Hoop Doctors]
  
• Sam Mitchell has a new job, starring in movies.  [Cuzoogle]
  
• Don't forget to check out SI's Hot Clicks daily.  [Sports Illustrated]
  
• And this little kid...gets crushed.  [Busted Coverage]
  
• The uncoachable girl of the day - Rosaria Cannova.  [Uncoached]
• Terrell Owens gets into the holiday spirit.  [You Been Blinded]
  
• Allen Iverson is the human punching bag.  [Empty the Bench]
  
• A day in the life of John Daly.  [No Guts No Glory]
  
• 15 thoughts for the Portland vs. Utah game tonight.  [Blaze of Love]
• Poor guy actually just ordered a Suns Raja Bell jersey.  [Fanster]
  
• Barry Sanders Jr. looking like daddy...
  

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Week 15 NFL Power Rankings - Sports Dollar's Weekly

Posted 12/9/08

NFL Power Rankings of week 14 here we go?  You could call this week "fairly predictable" don't you think?  Aside from the Eagles taking out the defending champs everything else almost went as planned.  The Playoffs are in sight people and the Redskins aren't a part!  Get ready!

1.  Tennessee
2.  NY Giants
3.  Pittsburgh
4.  Carolina
5.  Indianapolis
6.  Baltimore
7.  Tampa Bay
8.  Arizona*
9.  Minnesota
10.  NY Jets
11.  Dallas
12.  Atlanta
13.  Miami
14.  New England
15.  Denver
16.  Philadelphia
17.  Chicago
18.  New Orleans
19.  Washington
20.  Houston
21.  San Diego
22.  Buffalo
23.  Green Bay
24.  San Francisco
25.  Jacksonville
26.  Cleveland
27.  Oakland
28.  Kansas City
29.  Seattle
30.  St. Louis
31.  Cincinnati
32.  Detroit

*Did the Arizona Cardinals seriously just clinch their division?  There is something seriously wrong with that picture although no one else in that division deserved it other than them.  The Warner for MVP chatter is sort of tough to swallow as well, but with Favre turning to garbage over the last couple of weeks, maybe the choir boy should get his third?

Don't forget to check out the NFL Power Rankings for NE Patriots Draft!



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Commitment vs. Contract: Which One Wins in College Football?

Posted 12/8/08

We are back with probably the last reminder for the Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year Award!  The 2008 finalists will be announced on the website on December 9, 2008 and fan voting that will help to determine the 2008 winners, will run from December 12 through December 22.

Before you make that final decision, think about why you are voting for your specific coach.  Does he show a commitment to the school?  His players?  And the fans?  How do you feel about a coach that announces he is leaving/retiring/stepping down before the season has actually finished?

There has been a trend in recent years for coaches to announce they are leaving as soon as the regular season is done.  In my last post, I wrote about Chris Peterson of Boise State and how committed he is to his own program.  Well, just last week, it was rumored that he was leaving for Mississippi State and of course that announcement came just days after the regular season had finished.  Luckily Peterson showed his true character by coming out Friday and shooting down these rumors which is something he normally steers clear of but felt as though it was needed this time.

So do you want to vote for a coach like Chris Peterson who lives and breaths commitment and honor or for a coach like Nick Saban who continually ditches teams before bowl games or lies during press conferences? 

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Sports Blog Bucks Webisode 3

 Posted 12/8/08

A buddy of ours, Ethan, from NESW Sports has started a new series of videos that he's calling "Sports Blog Bucks".  He takes a weekly look at some top sports posts from around the interwebs, rants a little, and then crushes on someone.

Take a look at webisode number 3 even if you can't really see his face:

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DollarBall Sports: 12/4/08

Posted 12/4/08

• What NBA fans want to get for X-mas.  [Cuzoogle]
  
• Another "MySpace Toolbox" worth laughing at.  [Uncoached]
• New York Giants girl gets an actual job?  [Busted Coverage]
• The list of ultimate sloppy seconds chicks.  [Word of Isaac]
• LeBron just killing the Knicks and their 2010 hopes.  [What Would Oakley Do]
• Making your fine worth it?  [Money Shot]
• Tomlinson can't seriously be on the trading block can he?  [Squib Kick]
• The UFL wants Mike Vick?  [Shutdown Corner]
• Charles Rogers is now a jailed douche.  [Detroit Freep]
• Al Jefferson won't pay you if he can dominate you?  [Ball Don't Lie]
• NBA players that should never dress up as Santa.  [Blaze of Love]
  
• Poor Andre Miller's ankles...
  

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Notice Anything Different? See Ya Entrecard Widget!

Posted 12/3/08

Over the past year I've dabbled on and off with the devil Entrecard and found little to no results.  Although, I will admit that I met a couple of good guys through it so, if you use it to meet other bloggers in your niche, then it can turn out to be a beneficial tool.

Yesterday marked the official end of Entrecard on this blog.  The widget is gone, so please people, stop buying damn ads from me.  To me, having the Entrecard widget on your blog screams "I'm new at this!"  and after almost an entire year at blogging, I no longer consider myself a newbie to it.

It basically allows people to purchase free advertising on your blog while you, the blog, see nothing in return.  Entrecard credits "ain't" paying the bills people, if you know what I mean!

Having moved on from this, I must admit that I still have 1324 credits in my account.  Anybody want them?  I'll transfer ASAP to the first comment asking for them.  Wait, isn't there some ridiculous restriction on how many credits you can send to one person in a day?  (Another reason the service is garbage.)

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Performancing Ads is Officially Garbage.

Posted 12/3/08

I've been pushing Performancing Ads for months now thinking that all of the referrals I completed would turn into some solid cash and that the service would be well worth all of your time.  So I was all wrong there and once again, an affiliate or ad network (whatever you want to call it) turned out to be garbage.

The Beginning of the End

The service was rumored to be having some major issues actually paying out publishers during its first few months, which is never a good sign.  With these rumors flying, they brought in an industry heavyweight to try and straighten everything out.  The turn-around was not quick enough and as you can imagine, the service has been quickly swirling down the drain.

The original deal was to pay publishers $10 for every referral made and a percentage of ad sales through the Performancing Ad widget.  This was a great concept except for that annoying note about your referrals having to install the widget on their sites for an entire month before you actually made that $10!

The problem here is that everyone was just referring users who would then refer other users and no one would install the widget and then no one would buy advertising and then no one was making money.  Basically, we were all waiting in limbo for money while Performancing Ads was receiving un-godly amounts of exposure.

Final Straw!

Then today I cruised over to the PA site to see if there was any "new" news and I definitely found some.  As far as I can tell, the 22 referrals I have banked (or $220) will not be paid out because none of those people installed the widget long enough. 

And now, going forward, PA has switched it's program to simply pay out 5% of the advertising dollars spent by your referrals.  As their admin's so nicely put, "if they spend $100, you get $5!"  Wow.


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Monumental Day! SD Cashes out Adsense.

Posted 12/3/08

This may sound completely absurd to many of you Adsense gurus, but I have officially hit the century mark and will finally cash my damn Google Adsense account out!  Woohoo!

OK, stop laughing...

The thing is, I rarely use Google Adsense in any fashion except as a small link list at the top of posts to track impressions.  In the year I've been blogging, it was a special occasion to see me actually place an Adsense unit in any sort of strategic place to make money from.

So it took a year; oh well!  At least I can tell my children someday that I conquered Google after an entire year.  Haha.

Let's just say that I'm soooooo glad there are dozens of other ways to make money than Adsense or I would have quit this blogging game months ago.

Anyone else have Adsense stories?  How many of you have actually cashed out an account or hit the century mark?  I know some of you do this on a monthly basis...you have way more patience than I do.


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Doc's Sports - Easily Compare Lines

Posted 12/2/08

This is another reminder about our partnership with Doc's Sports and the top quality Sports Odds and information they provide to users.

If you ever wanted to know a football spread, they pretty much have you covered from every betting site on the internet.  (At least the major ones anyway.) They have each week set up ahead of time allowing you to compare the major betting sites' odds and lines in order to give you the most information before you make your move.

Whether its college or NFL Lines you need to consider Doc's Sports as your source for it all.  College and NFL seasons are winding down people, and you are running out of time!


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Week 14 NFL Power Rankings - Sports Dollar's Weekly

Posted 12/2/08

We took a week off from NFL Power Rankings but we are back with week 14!  Road teams grab 11 wins this week and we are back to square one as far as random crap goes with the NFL.  My fantasy team is a bust with Peyton "I decided to have a sh*tty year" Manning and my pick'ems are all in the toilet.  Other than that, life is good!

1.  NY Giants
2.  Tennessee
3.  Pittsburgh*
4.  Tampa Bay
5.  Carolina
6.  Indianapolis
7.  Baltimore
8.  Atlanta
9.  Dallas
10.  NY Jets
11.  Denver
12.  New England
13.  Minnesota
14.  Miami
15.  Washington
16.  Arizona
17.  Philadelphia
18.  Chicago
19.  New Orleans
20.  Green Bay
21.  Buffalo
22.  Houston
23.  San Diego
24.  Jacksonville
25.  San Francisco
26.  Cleveland
27.  Oakland
28.  Kansas City
29.  Seattle
30.  St. Louis
31.  Cincinnati
32.  Detroit

*The Pittsburgh Steelers looked damn good up in Boston didn't they?  I almost threw them in front of Tennessee for that number 2 spot but something just isn't feeling right.  Tennessee still seems magical, but don't count these Steelers out.  Super Bowl predictions anyone?

Don't forget to check out the rest of the top NFL Blog Power Rankings from:

• NE Patriots Draft
• My Sports Rumors
  

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My Newest Blogging Toy - BlackBerry Curve 8330

Posted 12/1/08

Yes it's true, I finally broke down and entered into the world of the PDA internet geeks.  My newest toy is the BlackBerry Curve 8330! 

A couple of weeks ago I decided that it made sense for me to be able to check email and anything else blog-related from anywhere in the world.  My blogs have really grown a lot over the past couple of months and with my actual job's internet blocking ways, it became increasingly difficult to get blog work done while at work.  (Yes, I know that sounds horrible.)

This would be my recommendation to any of you that have been second guessing yourself about the purchase of a BlackBerry.  I absolutely love this damn phone!  Email, phone quality, internet browser, calendar, and many other options have made this well worth it and I'll likely upgrade to other BlackBerrys from now on.

If you have any questions about the phone, feel free to ask away!  Oh yeah, and now when all you advertisers want to spend your money, I have instant access to your emails. Woohoo!

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