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Digital Dads Watch / February 3, 2012

February 3rd, 2012

Are you ready for the Superbowl this weekend?

I know that everyone around here is jazzed about it and you can be sure that the grills will be fired up, the oven full of goodies and the fridge well stocked with frosty beverages. If you are still wondering what to cook, we suggest you watch the first video for a little inspiration.

Sure, we could show you a bunch of commercials that are going to air this weekend, but you’ve got the rest of the Internet for that. We want to show you other videos that have caught our attention. Enjoy!

001. Char-Broil Meat Stadium 2012

002. The GORUCK Challenge

003. A Sarah Burke tribute video.

004. Sugar House Detroit

005. Celebrity Sleepovers

006. KODACHROME 2010

006. Undefeated Documentary Trailer

Tags: celebrities, detroit, goruck, goruck challenge, grilling, made my hand, meat, snowboarding, stunts
Posted in Digital Dads Watch, Featured | No Comments »

Digital Dads NFL Pre-Game: Superbowl XLVI

February 2nd, 2012

What a pretty trophy.

Welcome to the big game. I’m here in Indianapolis, hanging out on Media Day and trying to find a path through the crowd so I can touch Mel Kiper’s hair. I don’t understand why they let all these fans in. All they are doing is stinking up the joint with their handfuls of nachos and sweat stained Peyton Manning jerseys. There are no Giants or Patriots fans here. I spoke to one of the volunteers, he said that they’ll be flying in several thousand corporate ticket holders, like a ton of people from Doritos, slap some jerseys on them and hope they cheer at the right time. That’s fucked up. There will be no true fans in the building.

I spent a few minutes out in the parking lot with the true fans, guys wearing meatball stained Brady jerseys who drove all the way from the armpits of Boston. They are grilling, drunk at 8am on a Tuesday and they won’t get in the game. A lot of them will go home with citations and injuries. There is a surprising amount of sex going on, considering the weather and how most of the fans are quite overweight. I don’t talk to anyone about how most of the seats are going to be taken up by corporate sponsors, media & all the players baby mamas. There is a whole numbered section reserved just for women that Ochocinco has knocked up. What I do talk to them about is who they think is going to win and why, but honestly they were too drunk and belligerent to get any straight answers beyond “Giants rule!” or “Patriots Rule!” So I went back inside, hoping to sneak into the cheerleaders locker room.

Instead of naked cheerleaders, I spent some time at the brunch buffet with Archie Manning. I asked him if he was proud of his boys. In between bites of a biscuit smothered in turkey gravy, he said that he was proud of both of them, but wished that they hadn’t followed in his footsteps. I asked him why and he told me that he worries they’ll both end up injured for life, and no matter how much money they have it’s not going to matter, they’ll be broken. The game is much rougher now, he said, back in the day you worried about injury but the defense seems out to hurt. He then offered me a slice of ham also smothered in turkey gravy. As I ate the ham, I noticed Merril Hoge out of the corner of my eye.

It took me a couple minutes to get Merril’s attention, as every mirror or reflective surface (including camera lenses) he had to adjust his giant windsor knot. It was like it was stuffed with cotton. Finally I cornered him and was able to ask about his achilles heel this season, Tim Tebow. Merril was quick to point out what a Tebow honk I’ve been this season and I explained it was because I had faith in the guy. He had magic. Merril said that magic is fake and while he might have been wrong on paper, he still feels Tebow will be a bust in the NFL. I decided to drop it and ask who he thought would win the Superbowl. Not Tim Tebow he said, and walked away.

I decided to play the next hour or so fast and loose, so I followed Kelly Clarkson around, counting how many bags of travel size Lays chips she went through. For a fat chick, she smells a lot like an old lady. I guess I should have been surprised by how many linemen she tried to blow, but not surprised that she propositioned them with a mouthful of chips. When her security guy noticed I was trailing her around the stadium he chased me off with a cattle prod. I ended up hiding in Madonna’s dressing room, which was full of dead baby fetuses. Apparently the stem cells were the only thing keeping her alive. Man, that halftime show is gonna suck balls.

New York Giants at New England Patriots

February 5, 2012, 6:29 PM ET
Line: -3.0 55.0 O/U

Flashback: Superbowl XLII – after losing in their last game of the season to the Patriots 38-35 the Giants beat the Patriots in the Superbowl by a final score of 17-14. The Patriots finished the season 18-1 overall, while the Giants became the first NFC Wild-Card team to win a Superbowl. It was a major upset, and plenty of history was made as Eli Manning exceeded expectations and led a last minute, 4th quarter drive highlighted by an amazing “pinned to the helmet” catch by David Tyree. The Patriots, seemingly defeated had 35 seconds to respond, and were stopped cold by the stronger Giants defense.

Offensive/Defensive Breakdown (Giants O v. Patriots D): The Giants are a ground and pound team, with an occasional emphasis on the deep pass. Manning has got the receivers to make this happen and while he hasn’t relied as much on his tight ends as other teams, they are available to pick up outlet passes. The Giants ran, ran, ran against the Niners, who had the best run defense in the league. It paid off, as they didn’t pick up a ton of yards but ground out the game and were able to control the tempo. Manning has shades of Peyton when it comes to making adjustments, just with less wild body language. The Giants should have a smooth day on offense, as the Patriots defense, while stepping their game up and looking good against a limited Ravens offense, are still lagging in many areas, such as run defense. The Patriots defense is going to have no choice but to stack the box with five if they want to stop the run. Of course this will pull one man out of coverage, which Manning can easily exploit. The Giants will win this battle of offense v. defense. The only question is whether the Patriots can score more points.

How to Ruin a Classic: What is more appealing about the Superbowl? The game itself or the commercials? At a whopping $3.5mm for a 30 second spot, the commercials better not disappoint. Of course we’ll have a full slate of Budweiser commercials, Coke Polar Bears, Doritos causing people to act like idiots and probably that white trash Pepsi guy pretending he’s a coach. But we’ll also have a lot of car commercials, most of which will come off as douchey and pretentious. Like the ad from Honda for their CRV. In it, they (along with the vapid participation of Matthew Broderick) destroy a classic and save us the trouble of being pissed off during the game.

Many people enjoyed that ad, many people did not. Really, it doesn’t matter. It’s a fucking commercial. The larger point is this, many ads are being shown before the game. Many people watch the game for the ads (because they are mindless fucking Americans) – meh, who am I kidding? It won’t matter. It’ll still be the highest rated television program of the year, in the world, on every channel. Yearggh Football!! Screw you soccer!

Offensive/Defensive Breakdown (Patriots O v. Giants D): The Patriots have one of the most unpredictable, explosive offenses in the league. Most of it comes down to play calling and Bellichick’s ability to recognize defensive tendencies and make in-game adjustments, something many other coaches fail to do on both sides of the ball. His biggest accomplishment this year was handing TE Gronkowski with precision. When not lined up to block, he could be handling business as a receiver, or as a running back. Using Hernandez on the end around while Gronk was being double teamed was genius. Pulling Gronk back to the traditional TE set to throw off a defense that was looking for him as a wide receiver, also genius. The thing is though, that the Patriots offense is all about timing. The Ravens showed that if you disrupt their timing and get after Brady, you can hold their scoring down. The Giants have probably the best front four in the league and will certainly mess up Brady’s rhythm. Having a good front four who can apply pressure without the blitz is important, because that leaves more in coverage to handle the receivers, in this case, two very proficient tight ends.

Final Analysis: The difference between the Giants and the Ravens is that the Giants can score. Even if the Patriots defense steps up, the Giants offense is much more explosive than the Ravens offense. The Patriots defense won’t stack up in the end. While high scoring, the game against the Ravens showed that the Pats offense can be held down and smothered, which is what the Giants are going to do. I’m looking for the Giants to come out running, and to come out pushing hard on Brady. Bottom line, defense wins championships. And yes, the Patriots have a bottom ranked defense and beat the Ravens, but the Patriots defense did not play like a bottom ranked defense in that game. They played like a top ranked one. It won’t matter. The Patriots have been good this year, but have struggled against teams with a winning record, and beating the lethargic offense of the Ravens and the strange one of the Broncos won’t prepare them to face the Giants again. I’ve got the Giants winning this one, final score 27-24.

Next week: Nothing. The Digital Dads NFL Pre-Game will return in August with the NFC/AFC predictions. There might be a draft day column, but don’t hold your breath.

Tags: Brady, ferris bueller, Giants, honda, Manning, Matther broderick, nfl, Patriots, superbowl 46, XLVI
Posted in Everything & Anything, Featured, Sports | 2 Comments »

Digital Dads NFL Pre-Game: Pro Bowl = Lame

January 26th, 2012

The pro bowl, who cares?

I always have trouble filling this space in the week before the Superbowl. Recently though, the NFL moved the Pro Bowl from the week after the Superbowl (where no one gave a shit about it) to the week before the Superbowl (where no one gives a shit about it). First off, the Pro Bowl selections are made before the season is even over. What the fuck is up with that? The best players haven’t even had a full season to shine? That just proves that it’s nothing more than a bullshit popularity contest. Then, consider that many players that deserve to be in the Pro Bowl aren’t, because they are playing the Superbowl. Which is where they’d rather be anyway.

So of course I have no picks this week, because the Pro Bowl is a waste of time and I don’t think I’ve watched it in about 10 years. Instead, I’m going to repost some text from the middle of the offseason where I ranked the All-Star games among all major sports. I think that Hockey has gone back to the regular format for All-Stars, rather than team captains, but the ranking hasn’t changed. Actually, I have no idea. First though, I’ll run down my pre-season playoff picks and see if I got any right.

Preseason Playoff Picks

NFC

Cowboys (division win)
Packers (division win, Superbowl)
Lions (wild-card)
Bucs (wild-card)
Falcons (division win)
Rams, Cardinals, Seahawks, Niners (division win – couldn’t decide)

AFC

Steelers (division win)
Ravens (wild-card)
Colts (division win – assuming Peyton was playing)
Texans (wild-card)
Patriots (division win, Superbowl)
Chiefs (division win)

So let’s see, I was right about the Lions, Falcons, Packers, Ravens, Steelers, Texans and Patriots making the playoffs. However, only the Patriots have been my most reliable pre-season pick, yet I picked against them last week like an idiot. Whatever.

Ranking the All-Star Shenanigans

Originally posted July 2011 and I was too lazy to change the specific detail pertaining to last years dates, so deal.

#5 The NFL Pro-Bowl

This game went from being a joke, to an absolute joke. Not only do most of the players complain about going, but it’s like watching a game of touch football. Understandably, no one wants to get hurt in the last game of the season, and most of them just want to get their short vacations started. Even though now we’re seeing them experience an extended vacation. The NFL thought they solved this issue by moving the Pro-Bowl from the week after the Superbowl to the week before the Superbowl in Miami. This was a terrible idea, as now the best players in the league (you know, the ones in the Superbowl) can’t even be recognized as all-stars because they can’t play in the game. For those two reasons, the quality of play and the lack of players, this is my worst rated All-Star game. Add on the fact that the television coverage is basically second rate, the Pro-Bowl blows ass.

#4 MLB All-Star Game

Now, don’t get me wrong – I love the build-up to this game. Specifically the homerun derby, especially since they started letting players pick their hitters. This is a fun time and seems like the players truly enjoy hanging out and slamming free homeruns. Plus, a lot of charity is involved in the derby, so that’s a good thing too. It’s also a lot more entertaining to watch than the game the next day. Now, not everyone agrees with me that the MLB All-Star game is one of the worst, and that’s all well and good but I think for me it’s more the coverage that ruins it for me than the game itself. First off, Fox’s coverage of the game is way too much pomp and circumstance. This year, it was even worse when they led in with ridiculous previews for the X-Factor show. No one watching the game gives a shit. Not to mention, is anyone else just plain tired of Joe Buck?

The game itself isn’t too bad. The teams actually appear like they are trying to win the game. They are a little held back, and usually it comes down to who hits the homeruns. The pitchers are certainly holding back, as an injury on the mound is always in their minds. But what makes it real shit is that it “means something.” You can blame Bud Selig for that, in response to an All-Star game that went 11 innings with no winner, Selig decided that it would be a good idea that the winner of the All-Star game determines home field advantage in the World Series. Are you fucking kidding me? No where does home advantage mean more than in the World Series and it was determined by a meaningless game played by the most popular (because it is a popularity contest, that was assured by letting the fans vote) players and not by record as it should, and is throughout the playoffs. This is a ridiculous end result of the game, and is just plain stupid. I hope, whatever National League team (as the NL All-Stars won this year off a Cecil Fielder homerun) send a thank you note to Fielder for that win. Of course, they could also send fuck you notes to the American League pitchers, who spoon fed him that homerun. Weak.

#3 MLS All-Star Game

I’ve actually never watched a MLS All-Star game. I know that they do it a little different, the best of the U.S. teams vs. a world team like Manchester United. That’s a pretty kick-ass game, because in between dives, they actually play a hard game because it’s based on pride. Sadly, I think the American team loses a lot, but that really doesn’t matter much in the scheme of things. I’ll watch it this year, I promise.

#2 NBA All-Star Game

Like the MLB game, the best part of the NBA All-Star break is the pre-game stuff the day before. The dunk contest highlights everything that is wrong with the NBA, as far as the individualism and so on, but it’s a fucking blast to watch. They jump over cars, shoot 3-pointers and have a blast. The game itself is highly competitive for a game that doesn’t mean anything, this is the general mindset in the NBA though, so that makes sense. It’s probably the only NBA game I watch all year besides the playoffs, as it’s a true All-Star game, with a lot of who-dat players based on stats rather than pure popularity, though there is some of that. In the end though, it’s still the NBA and doesn’t have half as much energy as my number one.

#1 NHL All-Star Game

The NHL game wasn’t always my favorite. For a long while it was East vs. West, which was okay but a bit bland to watch. Then it was USA vs. Canada (or was it World, I can’t remember) but this year they blew me away with their handling of the All-Star game. They went all playground rules on us. First they picked team captains, then they staged a mock draft where the captains picked their teams. The coverage of this took itself a bit too seriously, but it was great that there was no telling who was going to be on which team. This added a level of enjoyment to it because you knew that heated rivals could end up on the same team, and they did. I don’t remember what team won, but I know the score was in the double digits on both sides.

Adding another fun dimension to the game was having the goalies miked up during the game. In between blocking shots, they were bullshitting with the announcers, just having a fun time and performing for the fans. Because in the end, that’s what this game highlighted – the fans. Before the game there was tons of fan interaction, the referees didn’t even call offsides until the 3rd period and were just letting the players play, and the fans enjoy a high scoring exhibition game. Which is what all the All-Star games should be, exhibition games for the fans, to see the best players in the league let loose a little bit so we can look at them as people like us, rather than rich superstars.

Tags: All-star, Brady, Giants, Manning, MLB, MLS, nfl, NHL, Patriots, pro-bowl
Posted in Featured, Sports | 1 Comment »

Reviewing the Nissan Quest

January 23rd, 2012

If you remember, last month just before the holidays I mentioned that I was taking part in a review of a Nissan Quest.

We had the car for the last two weeks of the year and I used it for pretty much of all of my driving during that time. We even used it to drive up to my parents house on Christmas day with the kids, dog and everything else so that we could fully give it a test drive.

It is a great minivan for sure. We forgot how much room you actually get in a car of this size. If you have kids and need a lot of room you can’t go wrong with a minivan. We had one for a number of years, but hadn’t driven one in almost 5 so it was nice to see that they’ve been updated.

I can’t compare the Nissan Quest to other minivans out in the market today because I have not driven any others, but besides a few points we liked it.

The Good

Having so much room feels great whenever you have to load up the kids and hit the road. They don’t it because they are not sitting on top of one another.
Having a DVD system with wireless headphones is great for long trips. We didn’t hear a peep from them the whole ride and we got to enjoy our music at the same time.
The automatic sliding doors on both sides are great when you have an armful of groceries.
I loved that when the back row of seats are down flat you can still get to the storage in the back. We put presents under there while our dog was safely laying on top.
It was winter so we couldn’t fully enjoy the dual sunroofs, but I love the idea of having this much natural light and fresh air at our fingertips.

The Not So Good

I don’t know what the designers were thinking, but putting the stick between the driver and all of the dash controls was not a smart idea. Blocking the driver from being able to get to the radio and climate controls makes zero sense.

My wife hated how big the side mirrors were. I hadn’t noticed them until she mentioned them, but they were crazy big for no real added benefit.

While I got my phone to connect via Bluetooth, I could never get the voice commands to work with it. This needs to be much more intuitive.

I was disappointed to find that the Nissan Quest does not include some features that I would expect to find standard on a vehicle of this type. The biggest being the lack of a navigation system. I was going to drive it to a meeting, but when I discovered it lacked this I parked it and took my own car instead. I would have also loved to see blind spot notification and better phone integration made standard safety features.

So overall it drove good, got great gas milage for a vehicle of it’s size and gave us more room than we were use to. But, the quality of the car as a whole left a lot to be desired. Again, I can’t say how it compares to other minivans as I’ve got nothing to compare it to, but I do know there are better options for family of four with a dog like I have.

Thank you Nissan for having me be part of the #HolidayQuest.

Disclosure : http://cmp.ly/1/jfVEST

Tags: car review, holidayquest, nissan quest
Posted in Featured, Reviews, Travel | No Comments »

What Paula Dean Did Wrong: Feeding America A Line of Bull

January 20th, 2012

Paula Deen is a hero to millions. With restaurants, books, magazines, TV shows and more, Deen is both an icon and an industry.

So many people really seem to love her, understandably. She is lively, gregarious, charming and fun. And she cooks the kind of Southern fried favorites that people dream of, doing it with joy in her heart.

But hers is also the kind of food that can bring you some trouble over the long term if you eat too much of it too often. As evidenced now by Paula Deen herself. Hey, I like fried chicken as much as the next guy, but I don’t make a steady diet of it.

So when it was announced this week on the Today Show that Paula was diagnosed with Type II diabetes, it was as surprising as an alcoholic waking up with a hangover and tremors.

The real surprise surfaced when she revealed that she was diagnosed three years ago. That’s right, she has known about her condition for three years. Al Roker rightly inquired as to why she waited until now to say anything at all about it.

Because, she said, she had “nothing to bring to the table.”

Except that she did.

For three whole years, she continued to bring to the American table a steady diet of the very same death-defying food that brought her Type II diabetes. Her belated claims of having preached moderation would be laughable if they weren’t so transparent.

What finally brought Paula out of the pantry was her announcement that she is now being paid as a spokesperson for a big drug company that sells diabetes medicine. She had the opportunity to do the right thing without having to be compensated. Instead, whether one views hers as a savvy business maneuver or a distasteful, disingenuous hypocrisy is up for discussion. As is her legacy.

She had the prerogative not to say a word, but how many others have been similarly diagnosed during her three-year silence? She has to live with her coverup.

As of now, the Paula Deen message is that you can eat as much of whatever you want as you’d like without regard or worry because there’s a drug for that.

But she still has the opportunity to do the right thing and turn this into what they call a “teachable moment.”

What do you think?

Tags: Cooking, diabetes, Food & Drink, paula deen, trust
Posted in Featured, Food & Drink, Health & Fitness | 11 Comments »

Digital Dads NFL Pre-Game: Championship Weekend

January 19th, 2012

Niners vs. Giants. Should be a new classic.

I’m not going to bore you with mindless statistics and blather. The fact is that last week was a tough week to pick and statistics did not lie. 75% of the home teams won, but not the 75% I picked. By the time the Giants v Packers game started, three home teams had won. So I loudly declared to pretty much one person that the Giants were going to win the game. They did, and the Packers, who had a monumental season all for naught, are done. Now we have four teams left and picking the winners is toughest it’s been all season.

That being said, it is only two games so I have to fill up this space with something. So in personal news, I’ll be in Chicago this week (Friday – Sunday) attending a Kenmore event at their bequest. If you are around, or just on Twitter, come hang out downtown Chicago. CC will be there with me as well, killing some deep dish. On with the picks!

AFC Championship: Baltimore at New England
Sunday, 3:00 PM ET
Line: 50.0 O/U -7.5

This game is the proof – does defense win championships? The Patriots have a bottom ranked defense, yet they sure came alive against the Broncos – but the Broncos defense was also terrible, so there’s that. The Patriots have won games with offense all year long, and I don’t expect that strategy to totally turn around in a week. They are going to come into this game firing and looking to rack up the score against the defensive minded Ravens. It’s not going to happen. The Ravens held the Texans, who in effect – held the Ravens. The Ravens offensive line didn’t perform as well as they should have, but really have nothing to worry about with the weak pass rush of the Patriots. Sure, they managed to fluster Tebow a couple times, but that was a fluke. Most of the time he had all day and then some to throw. The Ravens are going to force the Patriots hand on offense, as their defense will be swarming Brady and throwing off his timing. This is what I said the Broncos needed to do, but failed to do. Everything about the Patriots offense is timing, especially with the routes run by the tight ends. On the offensive side of the ball for the Ravens, they’ll have to tighten up their protection a bit and re-establish the running game, which should be easy against the Patriots poor run defense. Bottom line, the Patriots don’t have the defense to stop the Ravens mediocre offense, and they might have a powerful offense, but defense wins championships. Bottom line. On championship weekend the statistics state that 50% of the home teams win. So in this one, I’m taking the Ravens to overcome and get into the Superbowl, against (obviously) the Niners, and I’ll tell you why in the next paragraph.

NFC Championship: New York at San Francisco
Sunday, 6:30 PM ET
Line: 44.0 O/U -2.0

Everyone loves the Giants in this game, because they can’t believe that the Niners are restoring their franchise to glory. Where Singletary coached with negative enforcement, Harbaugh coaches with positive reinforcement, something that was evident in Vernon Davis’ tears and hug after he scored the winning touchdown last week. That was the Saints game to lose, and they made sure to lose, especially on that last drive when their secondary seemed to forget they were still playing a game and gave the Niners the whole field. So now the Niners welcome the hot and cold Giants to town, who turn it on when they need to. And they needed to last week and they damn sure did. They ran the Packers right off their own field, dominating on offense and on defense. They made it look easy. Part of that might have been the Packers offense not playing up to par with all the drops, but the pressure on Rodgers helped as well. Against the Niners, they are going up against probably the best fundamental defense in the league. Rather than go for the flashy Sportscenter play, the Niners just plain cover and tackle well. They bump receivers at the line to throw off timing, they get the pressure on with their front four, rarely running a crazy eight man blitz and almost always win the turnover game. Their defense will stifle Manning and his receivers, so the Giants will have to rely on their own defense. They might have a slight edge over the Niners offense in that case, but Alex Smith is a legit playmaker, but he gets no love for it. Right now, his report with his receivers is the best it’s ever been. I’m taking the Niners to win at home, and for this game to become a new classic. Harbaugh vs. Harbaugh in the Superbowl. You want to know who I’m going to pick to win that game? You’ll have to wait two weeks.

Next week: Pro Bowl Idiocy and where I went wrong with my pre-season picks.

Tags: AFC Championship, chicago, Giants, harbaugh, kenmore, Manning, NFC Championship, nfl, niners, Patriots, Picks, Playoffs, Ravens
Posted in Featured, Sports | No Comments »

ableGiving – A Promotion to Help Massachusetts Nonprofits

January 17th, 2012

Nonprofits are always looking for more money. It is a constant struggle to raise the money they need to stay in business. I’m on a board of a couple of organizations so I know about this struggle first hand.

At the end of the year, we all see tons of asks for money. It is good for the charities because everyone is in a giving spirit and it is good for the individual because donating gives you a tax write off. It is a win win situation.

But, this also means that January is the hardest month on nonprofits as giving dives to a yearly low as people dig out from holiday shopping debt.

ableBanking is a new kind of bank that has just announced a promotion to give some of your favorite Massachusetts based nonprofits a boost of cash in this new year.

Jump on over to ableGiving.com and nominate your favorite Massachusetts nonprofit. Then encourage your friends and family to nominate that same charity (or their own that they are passionate about). The five most nominated organizations will each get $1,000. Hurry though because you only have until January 31st to get in your nominations.

I had never heard of ableBanking before a couple of weeks ago when I got hired to help spread the word about this promotion. Part of this reason is because it isn’t open yet. Makes sense why I never heard of it.

Founded by three former traditional bank executives, this is an online only bank with only savings accounts. This means you don’t have to leave your current bank and at the same time in addition to getting good rates, the bank will be donating to your chosen charity on a yearly basis.

ableBanking was founded on the belief that customers:

Don’t need brick and mortar branches to bank anymore.
Should be earning more for their money and not paying ridiculous fees.
Would be appalled if they knew how much money their banks spend on advertising and would rather see their bank give those marketing dollars to worthy causes in the community.
Know the needs of their own communities better than banks – so why not let every customer choose where to donate in the community.

What really got my attention was that they only require $250 to open an account and they instantly donate $25 to the charity of your choice. Then every year they will make another donation on the anniversary of you opening your account to the charity of your choice in the amount of 0.25% of your average balance. That sounds like an amazing perk to me.

I’ve signed up to be notified when they start accepting accounts because I’m curious to check it out. I had the chance to talk to one of the founders on the phone and I’m excited about the possibilities. I just hope the idea works and spreads because it is a great one, but only time will tell if they’ll be able to get enough accounts to keep it going.

If nothing else, please be sure to go to ableGiving and nominate your favorite nonprofit.

I personally nominated Wediko of which I’m a proud member of their Board. If you don’t have anyone to nominate, I’d be very happy if you would nominate them as well.

Disclosure – I’m being compensated for sharing this promotion with my audience. All thoughts and comments are my own. That being said, I really believe in what they are trying to do and hope it works out. If nothing else five local nonprofits are going to get a nice donation to start off the new year.

Tags: ablebanking, ablegiving, donations, nonprofits
Posted in Featured | No Comments »

Digital Dads NFL Pre-Game: Divisional Round Madness

January 12th, 2012

"Stop Gore and they won’t score"

I guess last week I must have been smoking something heavy, because I went 1-3. The only correct pick I had was the Saints. Now, the teams I wanted to win, won. I wanted Houston to win and I wanted the Broncos to win, I just didn’t pick them. This week should make a little more sense as since 1990 (when the current playoff format started) the home teams in the divisional round are a stout 61-23. That’s .726 winning percentage or about 75%. So based on percentages, only one of this weeks road teams will win. So which one will it be?

Well, the reason that the home team has such an advantage in the divisional round is because all four home teams have been spending the last two weeks resting sore muscles, studying tape and practicing. Take the Patriots v. Broncos. While the Patriots starters have essentially had three weeks off, the Broncos are coming into New England on a short week. Only six days to prepare. Against three weeks? Who will be the more prepared team? Of course, the only positive is there is such a thing as over preparing.

This might be a good time to mention that my Superbowl pick this year was the Packers vs. Patriots. It should also be noted that I had no idea that Tim Tebow was going to be in the playoffs. I had the Broncos dead last in their division and the Chiefs going back to the playoffs. Great call there right? Who knew the Chiefs were going to suck so freaking bad? And who knew that Jesus would come down from the heavens, anoint Tim Tebow the savior of football, kick Merril Hodge in the balls and zip back up to the clouds? Football! Yearggh!

New Orleans at San Francisco
Saturday 4:30 PM ET – Line: +3.0
“Stop Gore and they won’t score,” opined @mbletsch at lunch the other day. There is a little more to the San Francisco offense than Frank Gore, but they need his legs to be chugging against the Saints front line in order to open up the passing game. But the Saints are no fools, rarely using an overload blitz against the run (as many teams seem to foolishly do these days) and shouldn’t have much problem defending the pass. The Niners don’t have a guy like Megatron, who still managed to scorch the Saints defensive backs last week. The Saints tore up the Lions like it was an arena football game, after giving them slight hope in the first half. The Niners will have to contain Sproles and push through to pressure Drew Brees. The Saints run such complex and unique passing routes, that Drew Brees needs as much time as possible to let the play develop. There is tons of misdirection and the key here is pressure, pressure, pressure. If the Niners and their top ranked defense fail to move Brees out of the pocket, they will fail to win this game. It’s that simple. The Lions failed to do this, they failed to properly cover receivers in the secondary and they failed to win. The key to a Saints victory is score fast and keep scoring, something they do well. Something the Niners do well is ground out the clock and games once they have a lead. The Saints have to avoid that from happening. This is my one away team pick though, as I’m sticking with the Saints to go to the NFC Championship game.

Denver at New England
Saturday 8:00 PM ET – Line: -13.5
I’m going to be honest here, I want the Broncos to win. I want them to overcome nearly a two touchdown line to beat the Patriots, in New England and go to the AFC Championship game. But I’ve already played the percentages. I picked the Saints to win, and that’s my one away team. This is a history making year though, so anything is possible. But is a Denver win possible? The Patriots rolled into Denver a few weeks back, and after letting the Broncos get an early lead, simply annihilated them on offense, making the Denver defense look the fool. There were a couple things happening in that game that are different now. First off, John Fox finally started calling in passing plays. Second, Tebow started completing passes on passing plays. Of course, the Patriots are going to be watching tape from the Pittsburgh game and wondering how receivers got that open, and how Tebow got that accurate. But will they be looking for the pass, the run or the Tebow run? You can’t anticipate all three and I think John Fox and crew, with absolutely nothing to lose, will have some serious surprises in store for the Patriots and their bottom ranked defense. Remember, the Steelers had the number one ranked defense, and the Broncos torched them through the air. Maybe because they didn’t see it coming, whatever. It’s not going to matter against the Patriots, they have a terrible defense. This game will be won or lost by the Denver defense. It’s not about containing the run, it’s about guessing if the ball is going to Welker, Hernandez or Gronkowski. Double teaming a tight end is out of the question. So what’s the key? Get. Tom. Brady. Sack his pretty ass. For finesse QB’s like Brady, everything is about timing. Throw off his timing, throw off his game. We’ll see if the Broncos can accomplish this. Either way, as much as I want the Broncos to win, I don’t think they’ll be able to keep up with the score. I expect this game to be a lot closer than 14 points, but still picking the Patriots to win and make a lot of Tebow fans very, very sad. Merril Hodge will be happy though, but fuck Merril Hodge.

Houston at Baltimore
Sunday 1:00 PM ET – Line: -7.0
The worst team in the playoffs was proven to be the Bengals, as they completely rolled over for the Texans, who overpowered them on offense and on defense. The Bengals didn’t seem to be playing in the same league. It was the first match-up of rookie QB’s in a playoff game, and only the 3rd stringer prevailed. This week Yates takes his team into the very hostile Baltimore to go up a defense just as, if not stronger than his teams. Really, Flacco and Yates basically cancel themselves out. While not a rookie, Flacco still makes the same late game errors that rookies tend to make. Plus, the rushing game makes for a great storyline too. And that’s where the win is going to come from. Who can break the line and get the yards, Ray Rice or Arian Foster? I think it’s going to be Rice, based on the continued strength and pull of the Ravens offensive line. I think Foster will get plenty of carries and break off a couple good runs, but Rice is a very explosive player that also receives well in the flat. Since the defenses are so good, it’s going to come down to offense and it’s going to be the running game that seals the deal. This is a great match-up and should be a very exciting game to watch. Big defensive plays and great running. Statistics are statistics though, so I’m taking the Ravens to win.

New York at Green Bay
Sunday 4:30 PM ET – Line: -9.0
There are pundits talking about how the Giants beat the Packers in the playoffs on their way to a Superbowl. Most of those same Giants, especially on the defense, are still on this team. So after making short work of the Falcons (who are barely worth a mention at this point) the Giants roll into the hallowed field in the middle of the small town of Green Bay Wisconsin. I would love to think that the Giants really do stand a chance this year against the explosive offense of the Packers, but I really don’t think they do. At least not for 60 minutes. Look, while the Packers don’t have the best defense, they do have a playmaking defense. That’s enough to keep the game in their favor when they get ahead, or fall slightly behind. The keys to victory lie in the hands of the starting QB’s. Both Manning and Rodgers are kings of the two minute drill, with only Eli slipping up now and again with a late interception (see Seahawks loss.) I’m taking the Packers in this game not just because of statistics but because they will just score more points. Math wins at this point. Packers to win.

Tags: Brady, brees, Broncos, divisional round, Giants, gore, nfl, niners, Packers, Patriots, Playoffs, Ravens, Saints, Tebow, Texans
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Digital Dads NFL Pre-Game: Wild-Card Weekend

January 5th, 2012

"Hey Joe, see you next week. Maybe."

With the regular season over it’s time to ask the question we ask every playoff season in the NFL – does defense win championships? The Packers and the Patriots have the leagues Worst defenses, but the leagues best offenses. The Steelers, Niners, Texans and Ravens have the best defenses with moderate offenses. So does defense win championships? Well, history would tell us that they do, but history hasn’t seen offenses like the Packers, Saints and Patriots.

It’ll be interesting to see what happens. And consider this stat, the last three teams the Steelers have beaten in the Superbowl were the Cardinals, Seahawks and Rams. This year, they are in and the Niners are in. So are they fated to meet in the big game so the Steelers can sweep the NFC West? Another fun storyline. Only four games to pick this week, so let’s get this done.

Cincinnati at Houston
Saturday 4:30 PM ET – Line: -3.0
Once the Texans secured a playoff spot, they stopped winning. They also lost another QB to injury. So now they are down to Jake Delhomme, who I don’t put a lot of confidence in. Hell, who wants to put anything into a one time starter who is now the 4th string QB? Hopefully Yates will be back in the game, as his injury wasn’t as severe as the Matts. The Bengals are playing smart football right now, but were unable to beat teams with better defenses than them, namely the Ravens and the Steelers. While teams tend to play different (or better) in the playoffs, the Bengals have to really step it up to beat the Texans and their defense, who play with a similar attack as the Ravens. I’m taking the Bengals in this game though, because Andy Dalton has been quite impressive this season. Their offense has really clicked this year, and while they haven’t beaten tough defenses, they have the tools to do so. Based on the QB siutation in Houston, Bengals to win.

Detroit at New Orleans
Saturday 8:00 PM ET – Line: 11.0
My 11 year old pointed out that as dominant as the Saints have been since their Superbowl win, they still got beat in the playoffs last year by the Seahawks, who had won their division at 8-8 and played at the Saints in the dome. So the Lions, who have had a back and forth season now slide down to the dome to play the Saints, who have all the advantages. They set all kinds of offensive records this year, and the Lions, well, they got into the playoffs. That’s a huge win for them. The Saints have the offense, and the defense to get it done with little trouble. The problem is going to be if the defense of the Lions can play without penalty after penalty. I doubt they can, their agressiveness level will be at an all time high. I’m taking the Saints to win this game, just for the same reason I picked them last year. On paper they are the better team but as they showed last year, anything can happen. Saints at home.

Atlanta at NY Giants
Sunday 1:00 PM ET – Line: -3.0
I was reading something, I don’t remember what, that said Matt Ryan is not Drew Brees, not Tom Brady and not Eli Manning. That’s right, he’s not but he’s a damn accurate QB with the best running game in the playoffs. The Falcons will have a few surprises in store for the Giants in the ground game, but they’ll be up against the best part of the Giants, which is the front four. The offense struggles at times, as Cruz is good for the big play when he can get open, but that doesn’t happen as often as it should. The Giants have to attack quickly so the Falcons can’t ground out the clock on the ground. They need to force Ryan to the air as quickly as possible. For the Falcons, they need to hold the run game and push the Giants defense back for as long as possible. Tire them out and dry out the offence on the bench. I’m taking the Falcons to win here, just because of the running game.

Pittsburgh at Denver
Sunday 4:30 PM ET – Line: +9.0
The Broncos backed into the playoffs thanks to the Raiders completely sucking and getting beat by the Chargers. That’s all in the past now. The Broncos, finishing the season at an even 8-8 are hosting a playoff game this weekend, which begs for the argument that the playoffs should be a seeded system based on record for homefield advantage. The Steelers, at an impressive 12-4 have to play an away game for the Wild-Card. That’s bullshit right there. Either way, they roll into Denver and have all the advantages in this game. At one point seeming like a visionary, John Fox has coached Denver into three straight losses, making Tebow look like a terrible QB by abandoning the run too early, but then keeping all the passing short instead of just letting Tebow loose on the field. Teams have kind of figured out the read option, but if Denver brings the run back, then they have their advantage back. It won’t matter though, with James Harrison on the other side of the ball, Tebow is going to be scrambling a lot. I’d love to see Denver win this game, but they won’t. Maybe I shouldn’t put it that way. They might. If they watch some tape, and see the way Cleveland (not a playoff team or anywhere close) ground out the Steelers, they might have a chance. They have to run the ball and they have to let Tebow take chances. Even Elway wants Tebow to throw more. One of the reasons for three straight losses was ultra-conservative play calling. This is the playoffs, you are 8-8 and no one gave you a rats chance in hell of winning, take some fucking chances. Pittsburgh has struggled on the road this year, which gives Denver a chance at taking advantage. We’ll see. Pittsburgh to win.

Tags: Bengals, Broncos, falcons, Giants, nfl, picks predicitions, Playoffs, Steelers, Texans, Wild card
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