Kids Zone

Welcome back to the "Triple S" NFL Pre-game!! (Triple S stands for Sly Sports Show)

Last week I did great, finishing 3-1, and my only loss was the Titans-Ravens in which I predicted 13-10 Titans (But it was 13-10 Ravens!). Oh, so close. Sorry I couldn't post my picks on this blog but UD Kids wasn't working last Saturday.

Anyway, here are my Conference Championship Game Predictions!

NFC: Eagles at Cardinals - McNabb usually chokes in the big game, Cardinals fans are pumped and will rattle the Eagles, and the Cards got Boldin, Fitzgerald, and Warner. Cardinals win 24-13[/b].

AFC: Ravens at Steelers - Pretty defensive game. But there's no way that a rookie QB is going to waltz his way through another upset over, in my opinion, the best all-around team in football. Steelers win 20-9[/b].

Well there you have it! I'm 5-3 this playoffs, hoping to go 7-3.

And for the Super Bowl, I got the Steelers defeating the Cardinals 21-17.

Until next time, have another Seriously Sly Sunday!

Oh, and don't forget to check out my Poster of the Year thread if you haven't already.

Well in this blog I've got some exciting, not-so exciting, and sports news. First, let's start off with the MLB. Wow, what a week for the MLB. CC Sabathia has signed a huge 7-year deal with the New York Yankees, K-Rod signed a 3-year deal with the New York Mets, JJ Putz was traded to the New York Mets, Raul Ibanez signed a 3-year deal with the Philadelphia Phillies, and other trades and signings. Mark Teixeira has been offered big deals by the Orioles and Nationals, and Manny Ramirez, Derek Lowe, AJ Burnett, Mark DeRosa, and others are still unsigned as well. Next, a little Fantasy Basketball tips from the Fox. We all know that stars like Dwyane Wade, LeBron James, Chris Paul, Dwight Howard, and others are great fantasy stars. But who are the sleepers? How about Stephen Jackson, Chris Duhon, Rashard Lewis, Andris Biedrins, Jose Calderon, Devin Harris, Paul Millsap... Those are all great players that may not be considered THE TOP GUYS in your opinion but are good. Moving on to hockey, how about Evgeni Malkin owning up the league in assists and points? Jeff Carter, the Philadelphia Flyer, and Thomas Vanek, a Sabre, with already at least 20 goals? And of course the stars who are at the top all the time, Sidney Crosby, Alex Ovechkin, and Jarome Iginla, to name a few, are shredding up the ice. Again, as usual, stand-out goalies include Tim Thomas, Evgeni Nabokov, and Roberto Luongo. But dare I put out Craig Anderson, a Florida Panthers goalie, who has been spectacular in his 15 games. Lastly, football. Will the Lions go 0-13? Will it be a New York-New York Super Bowl? Will the Chargers make a crazy comeback into the playoffs? As shocked as I am, there is only 3 weeks left in the NFL regular season. Personally I doubt that Lions will go defeated. They are probably the best 0-13 team I've ever seen. They should be 4-9 in my opinion. Every week, they lose by very little and usually have the lead in almost every game they play. They just always seem to give out in the last parts of the game. Tough to be a Lions fan...

 

Now for the special Upper Deck news.

Launching on February 3rd will be UpperDeckU.com. This will be like a virtual world and it will be so cool, fun, and better than ToppsTown! There will be a beta on January 13th and you will be able to purchase special membership kits around then to get early access into the world! Sometimes even great athletes (like LeBron or Jeter, etc) will come on UpperDeckU.com and talk to you!

Unfortunately, with the launch of this, the UpperDeckKids Rewards Program is ending. It will end March 31st so use up your points before then as they will expire. The message boards and Mystery Rewards will still be on this site, however the codes won't work and you won't be able to get points or prizes afterwords. This is why UD is bringing in AMAZING prizes today and all until the end of the Rewards Program.

Sorry, right now I can't really give out any more info on UpperDeckU or the closing of the  Kids Rewards Program.

 

Hope you have a good day! Feel free to comment on stuff!

 

Wow, it's been awhile since my last blog entry and this one is going to be a HUGE one. There is so much interesting things that's going to be said in this entry you do not want to miss any of it. Okay, well here's the first part (MLB Playoffs):

As many of you know, the #1 teams in the AL & NL both lost in the first round (Angels and Cubs). Also, the Phillies defeated the Brewers 3-1 in that series and the Rays defeated the White Sox as well. Now in the ALCS it is the defending-champs Boston Red Sox vs. Tampa Bay Rays! The series is even at 1-1 as of now and MY PHILLIES have a 2-0 series lead against the LA Dodgers in the NLCS! The Phillies are two wins away from their first World Series since 1993! It should be an exciting one, I predict the Phillies play the Red Sox in the World Series.

Moving on, it has been an exciting start the the 2008-09 NHL season that started with games in Stockholm, Sweden and Prague, Czech Republic! It was fun to see former ESPN Hockey analyst Barry Melrose coach again as he is trying to make the Lightning a contender in the league. It's also a time to check out some of the top rookies this year and then go buying some Upper Deck hockey cards to find some (last year I was unable to get a Patrick Kane, Carey Prize, OR Jonathan Toews RC ). Hopefully this will be another great year and I personally think that the Red Wings will win it all again.

I am also pleased to say that the new football promotion, Ultimate Score, is going great! It has gotten me so many more points and it is wonderful. I'm really hoping I win the Super Bowl trip to Tampa Bay because that would be awesome! The Super Bowl is the best grand prize they get (not saying I didn't like my Stanley Cup trip, LOL). For those that don't have many entries into the sweepstakes, here's some freebies: VY9P8, PLNTC, VA87K, 8H52J, KDZHS. Enjoy!

Now it's time for a new, cool segment that I am calling "Creativity with Cards": Are you sick of getting those stupid blank white dummy cards in some packs of cards? Well here is something that you could use them for besides being food for your trash can. If you TTM autographs (through-the-mail autographs) then you could send a player one of those dummy cards for them to sign if you don't have anything else to give them. That works for me because I wanted to give Kareem Abdul-Jabbar something to sign but I didn't have his card. Well, just use a plain white dummy card!

Now it's time for some NFL talk, primarily about the surprises this year. Is it me or do the Colts stink this year? They are 2-2 but somehow came back to beat the Texans last week and somehow came back to beat the Vikings a few weeks ago. If you ask me they should be 0-4. And the Chargers are 2-3? I thought they'd go to the AFC Championship game this year. And the Patriots without Brady getting owned by the Dolphins? Will they even make the playoffs? For me, the AFC is really up for grabs. And what's up with the Eagles? They're 2-3 and I thought they'd make it to at least the NFC Divisional round! This year is going to be weird indeed. Also, here are some rookies to watch out for: Matt Ryan, Joe Flacco, Eddie Royal, DeSean Jackson, Chris Johnson, Matt Forte, Darren McFadden, & Steve Slaton.

Still, continuing this blog, it's the last part (The Philly Breakdown). I'm going to talk about my Philly teams!

Phillies - YEAH! They are 1 step away from the World Series! Oh, this is great! Go Phils!

Eagles - Ugh, yet again they can't seem to get wins. It's so hard to be an Eagles fan...

Sixers - Just starting preseason, hopefully they do better this year...

Flyers - Lost their opener to the Rangers 4-3 and lost to their AHL team (Phantoms) LOL. I hope those aren't bad signs.

Penn State - WE ARE......PENN STATE! WE ARE......PENN STATE! They Nittany Lions are 7-0 and are probably going to be ranked 2 after today!

DO YOU WANT ME TO DO A BREAKDOWN OF YOUR CITY'S TEAMS? WELL, HERE IS YOUR CHANCE! ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS PUT DOWN THE CITY IN WHICH YOU WANT ME TO DO A BREAKDOWN OF AND IN MY NEXT BLOG ENTRY I WILL PICK OUT ONE LUCKY WINNER AND I WILL DO A BREAKDOWN OF THE WINNING CITY!

Well, I hope you were able to still stay awake while reading this epic blog entry, LOL. Have a good day!

The 2008 NFL season is under way! It opened Thursday with the defending Super Bowl champions Giants versus divisional opponent the Redskins. Many people were concerned that the Giants defense wouldn't hold up without Strahan (retired) and Umenyiora (injured, out for season). However they played strong and held on for a 16-7 victory. Now it's time for the best days in Fall, Sunday! NFL Opening Weekend starts with many exciting match-ups and 1:00 PM (eastern), some games at 4PM and of course the great 8:15 primetime matchup between the Bears and Colts. Sunday will have rookies making starting debuts like Matt Ryan at QB for Atlanta and Joe Flacco at QB for Baltimore, not to mention Dolphins troubled RB Ricky Williams who will play another year and start for the almost desperate Miami squad. And now, it's time for yet another "Fox's Five" segment! I will pick 5 games on Sunday and pick the scores and who I think will win.

FOX'S FIVE

Detroit Lions - 21         Atlanta Falcons - 24  OT

New York Jets - 13        Miami Dolphins - 12

Cincinnati Bengals - 27          Baltimore Ravens - 7

Arizona Cardinals - 34           San Francisco 49ers - 13

Tampa Bay Buccaneers - 20        New Orleans Saints - 24

 

Also, I will make some lists of who I think could be "Sleepers" meaning teams that could make a run for the Super Bowl that are probably underrated and a lists of "Don't Count on It" meaning teams that are most likely overrated and probably won't do much. And I'll also make a "For Real" meaning teams that are the real deal. Okay, well without further ado, here we go:

SLEEPERS - Philadelphia Eagles, Minnesota Vikings, Buffalo Bills, New Orleans Saints, Arizona Cardinals, Houston Texans, Cleveland Browns

DON'T COUNT ON IT - New York Giants, New York Jets, Jacksonville Jaguars, Seattle Seahawks, Tennessee Titans

FOR REAL - Pittsburgh Steelers, San Diego Chargers, New England Patriots, Dallas Cowboys, Indianapolis Colts

 

Wow, I am just so psyched for this Sunday to watch all the great NFL games. It's going to be a great season. I hope my Iggles team from Philly can finally put together a strong year without McNabb blowing the season again. Well, that just about wraps up my blog. Feel free to comment on something you liked or disliked, or make predictions yourself, or anything about the topic really.

Thanks for reading and enjoy the upcoming NFL year!

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Also, in case you were wondering, I changed my blogging name from "The Fox" to "Da Golden Fox" because of one of the UDK members, Pacersalltheway09. Congrats to him and thanks for the name.

Wow, what an all-star break! Non-stop action from the Home Run Derby to the All-Star Game, I'd just like to recap everything that went on. First, the MLB FanFest was a fan favorite and many people got to see famous players and play all sorts of fun games and activities. The Home Run Derby was one of the best ever as Josh Hamilton stole the show in the first round by hitting a round record 28 home runs! He broke Bobby Abreu's record of 24 homers set in 2005. Although he ended up hitting the most home runs sadly he didn't win. In the finals he hit only 3 home runs while Justin Morneau smacked 5 to win it all. Then came the Legends and Celebrity's Softball game that featured people like Rollie Fingers, Wade Boggs, Goose Gossage, George Brett, Whoopi Goldberg, Kyle Massey, Chris Rock, Marlee Matlin, Ozzie Smith, and MVP Tim Raines. Then came the migthly Midsummer Classic that went into 15 innings. The NL started with a bang on Matt Holliday's home run. After very little scoring through the first several innings, it was 2-0 NL until J.D. Drew hit a 2-run HR off Edinson Volquez to tie it up. Then the NL bounced back to take a 3-2 lead that wouldnt last an inning because in the bottom of the eight Evan Longoria hit an RBI double. The game was tied 3-3 after 9 innings and after a series of bases loaded letdowns it wasn't under Michael Young's sac fly in the bottom of the 15th inning that scored Justin Morneau that gave the American League another victory! The NL hasn't won since 1996.

Well, today is another big day. The 2008 NBA Draft! The top players from college basketball will get drafted to all the NBA teams and hopefully your home team gets some good picks (I know the Sixers won't, lol). This year the lucky Chicago Bulls won the lottery and get the first selection in the draft. Some other teams with top picks are (in order) the Heat, T-Wolves, Sonics, Grizzlies, Knicks, and Clippers. This year it's a fight between Michael Beasley (Kansas State) and Derrick Rose (Memphis) for the top selection. Personally I think it will be Derrick Rose based on all the hype. But I want Beasley to go number 1 because in my opinion he's a lot better. I mean Derrick Rose wasn't even the best player on his team! Anyway, this time I'm bringing back the "Fox's Five" again and doing a small mock draft of the first 5 picks.

FOX'S FIVE

1. Chicago Bulls- Derrick Rose (PG, Memphis)

2. Miami Heat- Michael Beasley (PF Kansas State)

3. Minnesota Timberwolves- Brook Lopez (C Stanford)

4. Seattle Sonics- Jerryd Bayless (PG Arizona)

5. Memphis Grizzlies- O.J. Mayo (SG USC)

 

Okay, well those are my picks. If you want to post yours before the draft or talk about who you want your favorite team to draft then feel free to. And don't forget to tune into the 2008 NBA Draft at 7PM on ESPN tonight.

As many of you know, I was the lucky winner of the Lucky Shot Sweepstakes and won a trip for 2 to game 2 of the Stanley Cup Finals in Detroit, Michigan! Upper Deck and the NHL paid for all the airfare, hotel accomadations, the tickets, and even $500 for food and others. Okay, so I left for Chicago and then Detroit on Sunday May 25. When after a long day me and my dad finally arrived in Detroit he rented a car and we used his GPS to drive us down to our hotel, the Detroit Marriot Renaissance Center. We stayed up high on the 49th floor (building was 73 floors high!). You could see Comerica Park, Joe Louis Arena, and Ford Field from our hotel room! We unpacked, ate dinner at the hotel and went to sleep. But there was a Techno music festival thing going on a about 2 blocks away and the music was vibrating our room until midnight so we got a bad nights sleep. Then on Monday, game day, I went to the Detroit Zoo and got to see lots of cool wild animals. Then we stopped by a local Sports Authority to stock up on Red Wings apparal for the game and even hit a Wal-Mart to get some cards along the way! Finally, it was 6:45 PM and we decided to take the Riverwalk to the Joe Louis Arena. Detroit is right across from Windsor, Ontario, Canada, and you could see another country! Plus, the view was great with the Detroit River being there as well. Anyway, so I got there early and bought lots of souvenirs. My dad and I also got our picture taken from the Red Wings and have our pictures posted on the Detroit Red Wings site (along with the other million people, lol)! So we enjoyed the game and I got to see two octopi fly onto the ice, one after the National Anthem and one in the third period when there was a scuffle on the ice and the crowd was pumped! Yes, Al (forget last name) swung them around too! After the Red Wings scored I was proudly waving my rally towel around and cheering! Our seats were a few rows from the end and behind one of the goals (section 202A) but they were still pretty good seats. My favorite part was Valteri Filpulla's amazing third period goal that was #2 on SportsCenter's Top 10 plays the next day! After the game we went back to our hotel but I got sick at 2:30 in the morning and threw up. Then I got really bad heartburn and it felt like the chest was coming out of my body/blew up! It killed! Then I threw up two more times! So originally I was supposed to fly home Tuesday but had to reschedule to Wednesday since I got food poisoning. At least I got sick after the game instead of before it. And so on Wednesday I packed up, said goodbye and flew back to Chicago and then back home to the Phialdelphia Airport. Carrie Peterson (Carrie422) also said I get a free giift bag that shipped a couple days ago and it consists of a hockey card box and some other fun UD things! Once again UD, thank you for the once-in-a-lifetime trip! You guys are great!

Hut, hut, hike! Now every season is football season! The Arena Football League (AFL) is in full swing and in Week 11! This indoor football league is becoming more and more popular and is very exciting to watch! The field is half the size, 50 yards, so games are very high scoring! On the top of the standings is the 9-1 Philadelphia Soul who started off red hot going 9-0 before losing to the Cleveland Gladiators last week. The Soul's division foe, Dallas Desperados, has the league's second best record at 8-1.  The Western Division is led by the San Jose Sabrecats at 6-5, the Central Division is led by the Chicago Rush at 8-2, the Southern Division is led by the Orlando Predators and New Orleans Voodoo at 7-4. And the Soul lead the Eastern Division. At the bottom are the Utah Blaze at 1-9 and the Kansas City Brigade at 1-8. Overall, there are 17 teams in the AFL. Below are my picks for some of the upcoming AFL games:

THE FOX'S FIVE

Columbus Destroyers- 51         Kansas City Brigade- 59

Grand Rapids Rampage- 42         Dallas Desperados- 68

Colorado Crush- 72         Utah Blaze- 48

New York Dragons- 55         Los Angelos Avengers- 56

Philadelphia Soul- 60          Georgia Force- 54

Well, I hope you think the Arena Football League is interesting after reading this. Some people even say that it is too high scoring that it is actually boring, LOL. Anyway, if you have a home team that you're rooting for or if you want to make predictions for the ArenaBowl or anything, remember that all your comments are great!