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Chicago Bears Memorabilia - Beware!

Now that the Chicago Bears are in the Super Bowl — BEWARE! You will see a ton of fake memorabilia surface, especially if they win this weekend.

The Bears are one of the most collectible team in the National Football League. Even when they aren’t winning, they have a very loyal following and Bears fans dish it out when it comes to memorabilia.

On a recent news broadcast, a sports memorabilia company reported that Bears memorabilia was outselling Colts memorabilia by 2 to 1.

The Bears last Super Bowl win was in 1985 under Mike Ditka and Bears fans have been waiting over 21 years to get back to the big game.

If they win on Sunday, you will see a ton of fake Brian Urlacher autographs on the market. Urlacher, by far, is the most popular and most collectible player on the team. Most players raise autograph prices when they go to the Super Bowl simply because their “stock value” increases when they are playing the big game. Most Super Bowl champions are hard to nail down for autograph signings. Bottom line is Urlacher items are scarce right now as it is, if he wins a Super Bowl they will be harder to get, but you will see more on the market — if you do the math you will see what I am talking about.

Unfortunately you will find most fake Urlacher and Bears autographs on eBay.

The best thing to do is buy from established, reputable companies who have a history of selling authentic autographs and contracting direct with athletes. A novice autograph collector normally can’t tell the difference between a real and fake autograph. You have to go with companies who have a track record with authentic autographs.

Like I mentioned above, it is very hard to find authentic autographs, you have to pay these athletes a lot of money to sign, so if you see a guy on eBay making certificates on his home computer, you know something is wrong.

You can find a list of authentic sports memorabilia items from legitimate companies at www.ALLAuthentic.com. Look at the different companies on the site, you will see names like Upper Deck, Steiner Sports, and others.

You can also find authentic Chicago Bears Memorabilia on the Bears section of the web site. Look at the autographs, see the authenticity the items come with.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kelly_Johns

2007 Fiesta Bowl-A Game Never To Be Forgotten-And A Team Still Without A Shot At #1

Who would have ever thought? Who could have ever predicted? Who could have ever imagined? The answer to all of the above is NO ONE! It would have been virtually impossible for any body to envision that the 2007 Fiesta Bowl would unfold the way it did, in an unthinkable fashion!

At the end of a long and gut wrenching night, the Boise State Broncos prevailed. The underdog Broncos upended the Oklahoma Sooners 43-42 in overtime in one of the most dramatic finishes in BCS history. A statue of liberty, a hook and ladder, and last but night least, an engagement capped off the Boise State Broncos season in very impressive fashion.

So, the question remains… How does the BCS fix the problem that the Boise State Broncos created in deciding who should be number one? Or, at least have the shot at playing the best of the best! Yes, the Florida Gators proved to be a worthy national champion considering the way they defeated The Ohio State Buckeyes. But, how can you tell the players and coaches at Boise State that they don’t deserve a shot at playing Ohio State? The only two undefeated teams in the country! I guess we will never know.

The debate and conflict over the BCS will go on and on until it is fixed. Personally, I think it makes for great college football discussion, entertainment, and drama from a fans perspective. I just feel bad for the players and the coaches who put in such a terrible situation after practicing and playing their hearts out for months in hopes of being national champions of college football.

I leave you with this. Everyone has their own opinions, thoughts, and arguments about the BCS. I think that is what the BCS committee wants. They want 100% fan indulgence in college football and in the BCS…regardless of the ultimate end result it has on players and coaches. Don’t ever forget, that to the BCS committee, it is a business, not a game. They will do what sells tickets…and nothing less.

Ryan Rutman is an avid sports fan who loves to talk about sports and loves to share his thoughts on college sports. If you are an avid fan, visit Ryan’s website, http://www.collegesportsdvdstore.com, to view his library of some of the greatest moments in college sports history on DVD.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ryan_Rutman

Defense Wins Super Bowls

I often say that football is a violent, brutal game. So, quite naturally, the team that is more violent and brutal will usually win. Only the strong survive, and this maxim has borne itself out time and time again from the bloody core of this beloved, gladiatorial sport.

The standard-bearer for gridiron masochism over the past quarter-century was the 1985-86 Chicago Bears. That team redefined what it meant to dominate with defense and forged a blueprint that has been followed by such recent organizations as Pittsburgh, New England, Tampa Bay and Baltimore.

In 1985 the Monsters of the Midway had the NFL’s top-rated defense in both scoring and yards allowed. They rode that classic unit to three postseason wins by a combined 91-10 score, including a 46-10 maiming of New England in Super Bowl XX.

In the 21 years since the 1985 season kicked off there has not been a single Super Bowl champion that finished the regular season ranked lower than ninth in scoring defense. Twelve of those 21 champions boasted a defense rated in the top three in points allowed, and No. 1 units were a flawless 6-0. Further, of the two Super Bowl combatants the team that allowed fewer points per game during the regular season is 18-3 straight up.

I mean, I haven’t uncovered some Rosetta Stone to NFL success here. If you give up less points, you win. Easy enough. I’m just pointing out what a fantastic indicator that one regular season stat has been at predicting the Super Bowl victor (85.7 percent).

Also, there have been only three teams in the past 21 seasons that had a defense ranked outside of the Top 10 in total yardage and went on to win the title. Those three exceptions – New England in 2001, Denver in 1998 and Washington in 1987 – each had scoring defenses ranked in the league’s top eight, subscribing to the bend-but-don’t-break school.

The average defensive ranking for the past 21 Super Bowl champions was fourth in points allowed and sixth in yards allowed.

All of this is pertinent because the difference between the Chicago Bears defense and the Indianapolis Colts defense is about as prominent as the difference between Maria Sharapova and Star Jones.

The Bears have overwhelmed foes this year and have had the best unit in the NFL over the past two seasons. This year they were ranked third in scoring (15.9 points per game) and sixth in total yards (295.1 per game). Conversely, the Colts D was a dismal 23rd in scoring (22.5 ppg) and 21st in yardage (332.2 ypg).

I will give Indianapolis defenders credit for playing better lately. But you can definitely count me among those who are not completely sold on their defensive Renaissance. They allowed 34 points to the Patriots last week at home. Before that they shut down a toothless Ravens unit and a bumbling Chiefs offense that didn’t adjust its scheme and couldn’t get out of its own way.

Indianapolis has the worst rushing defense in the history of the NFL playoffs, and the images of Jacksonville rushing for nearly 400 yards in one game and Ron Dayne actually looking like a legit NFL back are still fresh in my memory. In nine games outside of the RCA Dome this season the Colts have surrendered an average of 34 rushes and 187 yards (5.4 yards per carry).

Therefore, based on the fact that an Indy victory in the Super Bowl with that defense would be unprecedented, it’s kind of hard to justify them as a seven-point favorite.

So I’ll leave you with this thought: explain to me what the difference is between this year’s Colts-Bears “mismatch” and other seemingly one-sided match-ups like the Rams-Patriots in 2002, the Broncos-Packers in 1998, and the Bills-Giants in 1991?

In each of those instances the club with the sexy, high-powered offense was at least a touchdown favorite against a team that was more physical and violent at its core. I don’t think I need to tell you how those three games worked out. Let’s just say that the strong survived.

Check Doc’s Sports site for daily sports betting articles, Super Bowl Picks, Player Prop Bets info, and Super Bowl Point Spread.Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Robert_Ferringo

Brady Quinn: 2007 Draft Day Picks

Brady Quinn was born on October 27, 1984 in Dublin, Ohio. Standing at 6 feet 4 inches and weighing in at 227 pounds Quinn is the perfect size for an NFL quarterback. And not only has he garnered a lot of attention on the field for his performance, but people have taken notice of his good looks off the field as well.

Quinn did not have a stellar high school football career at Dublin Coffman High School, but with that being said he did enough to set himself apart from the rest of the competition. In addition to earning a letter in football, Brady Quinn also excelled on the baseball field. In fact, he was all conference during his junior year and helped to lead his team to the state championship as a senior. But somehow, Quinn slipped under the radar of many college football teams in the country.

During the fall of 2002, Tyrone Willingham (former Notre Dame Football coach) became aware of Quinn and in turn offered him a full scholarship. This was all the opportunity that he needed in order to prove himself. The 2005 season was Quinn’s coming out party. He threw for nearly 4,000 yards and finished the season with 32 touchdowns and only 7 interceptions.

Quinn also had a great year in 2006 by leading his team to the Sugar bowl by throwing for 3,427 yards and 37 touchdowns. He currently holds the record for most attempts, completions, touchdowns, and yards by a quarterback at Notre Dame.

Brady Quinn received a degree in Finance in the spring of 2007. Although he did receive his degree, Quinn is expected to be a top pick in the 2007 NFL Draft. So for now, he will be playing football as his chosen career path.

Bob writes for DraftDayPicks.com and MVPProShop.com. Where you can purchase a Brady Quinn Jersey or NFL JerseysArticle Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Bob_Johnson

Super Bowl Trends

For bettors that really like to handicap, this week is the greatest time of the year. There’s only one football game to look at, and you have two full weeks to analyze it, so you can cover every possible angle you could want to. You can fire up your spreadsheets, devise every variety of power ratings, and look at every possible match-up in a hundred different ways. If you’re a trend junkie then you’ll also have time to figure out every possible reason to back one team or the other, and you’ll also have the time to discount and ignore the trends that don’t help to justify your opinions. To help you out on that front, here are nine Super Bowl trends to get you started in your analysis:

1) Bears and the over. Chicago is perceived to be a defensive team — and they are — but bettors have clearly overcompensated for that fact all year, and they aren’t learning from their mistakes. Chicago went over the total in 11 of their 16 regular season games, and hit the number in another. The trend is still solid in the playoffs, too - they have gone over in both games. In a lot of games it hasn’t even been close - 65 points with a total of 35 against Tampa Bay, 69 points against St. Louis when the total was a season-high 41.5, 51 points with a 37 total against Seattle in the playoffs. Indy’s presence will mean a reasonably high total, but there still is a fairly good chance, given history, that Chicago will go over.

2) The historical over. Over the course of the last 31 Super Bowls, the over has been a very good default pick. In that time, the total has been exceeded 19 times. That’s more than 61 percent - certainly a solid winning rate.

3) Bouncing back from the last game. You generally shouldn’t have to bounce back from a win, but there is some reason to believe that both teams might struggle to do that. Indianapolis put up 474 total yards of offense against the Patriots in the conference final. The last five times that they have put up more than 350 yards they are just 1-4 ATS in the following game. The Bears have their problems, too - they are just 2-5 ATS the last seven times they have played after allowing at least 250 yards passing, and 2-5 ATS in their last seven in the game after they have won against the spread. One team might have an edge, though - the Colts are 12-5-1 ATS in games following games in which they have covered.

4) Going on the road. The Super Bowl is the only game of the year, outside of the preseason, in which both teams are playing on the road. That seems to favor the Bears. Indianapolis was 3-5 ATS on the road during the regular season, and they failed to cover the last four times they left the cozy RCA Dome. Not surprisingly, given their previous playoff woes, they are also just 2-5 ATS in their last seven playoff road games. They’ve also failed to cover the last four times that they have been favorites on the road. Chicago was only 4-4 ATS on the road this year, but they were a more impressive 3-2 in their last five trips.

5) Dealing with poor passing games. Critics everywhere are using Rex Grossman and his often questionable performances as a good reason to pick against the Bears. The Bears are used to playing after sub-par passing performances, though. Grossman put up 144 yards against the Saints. The last eight times the Bears have put up less than 150 yards of passing they have come back in the following game and covered all but once.

6) Bears defense rebounding. Though the scoreboard didn’t show it last week, there was some reason to be concerned about the Bears’ defense. They were fairly successful at keeping the Saints out of the end zone, but they weren’t nearly as good at defending the pass - Drew Brees threw for 354 yards. Indy obviously can pass fairly well, too, so the Colts could do some damage if they can exploit the same holes that Brees found. Bears backers don’t need to worry too much, though - the team is 14-6-1 ATS in games after they have allowed more than 350 yards passing.

7) Playing on grass. Given that the Bears play all of their home games on grass, while the Colts play on their rocket carpet, the natural assumption would be that the Bears would have the advantage on the grass in Miami. Though Chicago should certainly be more comfortable and familiar with the surface, the Colts have shown that they can hold their own on the real stuff - they are 9-4-1 ATS over their last 14 on grass.

8) The Bears’ running game. Though it remains to be seen if the Colts defense can hold up one more time and stop the run, the Bears will benefit from their ability to run easily against the Saints. They ran for almost 200 yards. After they have rushed for 150 yards in a game the Bears must feel unbeatable, because they come back very well the next game - they are 20-7-1 ATS in the following game the last 28 times that that has happened.

9) The 30-point barrier. The Bears scored more than 30 points last game. The last five times they have done that they have been just 1-4 ATS in the following games. The Colts scored 30 points, too, but they also allowed more than 30. You might think that they should be concerned, but it’s actually a good thing - they are 4-0 ATS in games after they have allowed at least 30 points.

Check Doc’s Sports site for daily Basketball Lines including NBA Odds and NCAA Basketball odds.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=T.O._Whenham

 
 

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