The Sportsballers

A few weeks ago, I paid a visit to Mercedes-Benz Stadium for the first time to watch my favorite NFL team, the Baltimore Ravens, take on the Atlanta Falcons.  I had a truly wonderful time and I cannot recommend highly enough that other people visit as well. First, it was so easy to get to the stadium.   I rode on the MARTA subway to get downtown.   The exit from the train station is right between Mercedes-Benz Stadium and State Farm Arena across the street.   It was the first of many contrasts between going to a Falcons game and a Braves game.   To get to SunTrust Park there isn’t a very good mass transit option that I have found, so driving is the only option. And since it’s Atlanta there will be traffic, so pack your patience.   Even worse than that, parking at Braves games is $20 compared to the free parking at MARTA stations and the $5 round-trip fare. Once I was inside, I needed to consciously remember to close my mouth because one thing a...

Once this week’s podcast is up on Podomatic and iTunes, we’ll insert the links into this post. Evan and Cory each scored on their lone wolf picks, giving Eric his first 0-fer in quite some time. It didn’t make a dent in his lead however as we enter our final week of the regular season. Just 27 games remain including playoffs. Date Network Matchup Cory Eric Evan Sun 1:00p CBS MIA at BUF Bills  ✓ Bills  ✓ Bills  ✓ FOX ATL at TB Falcons  ✓ Falcons  ✓ Falcons  ✓ FOX DAL at NYG* Giants Giants Cowboys  ✓ FOX CAR at NO Saints Saints Saints CBS NYJ at NE Patriots  ✓ Patriots  ✓ Patriots  ✓ CBS JAC at HOU Texans  ✓ Texans  ✓ Texans  ✓ FOX DET at GB Packers Packers Packers Sun 4:25p FOX PHI at WAS Eagles  ✓ Eagles  ✓ Eagles  ✓ CBS LAC at DEN Chargers  ✓ Chargers  ✓ Charger...

Congratulations to William Battle on his first league title! He lost in the championship game back in 2015 but returned three years later and defeated his older brother to claim our league’s sixth title. This is the second time a pair of brothers has made the playoffs in the same season in the AFL but the first time they’ve faced each other in the postseason. Anthony’s 119.8-point performance is the highest score for a losing team in the championship game, beating out Eric’s 119.1-point performance in 2014. William finishes the year at 10-6, tied for the worst final record of an AFL champ. By no means is that a dig at William or his season. He had a great start, going 7-1 out of the gate. He cooled off for a little while but put things back together in time for the stretch run. What’s more fascinating about William’s final record is that we’ve never had a league champ with fewer than 10 wins despite having a team make the playoffs in four out of six seasons that wouldn’t h...