bender's profile

bender
15449
Name: Jeff Zelek
Location: Clifton, VA
Gender: male
Member since: September 13, 2006
Last visit: January 21, 2025

bender has posted 21 links and 1,950 comments to SportsFilter and 0 links and 97 comments to the Locker Room.

Sports Bio

Spofi Contests:
NFL 2011 Playoff Pick 'em co-Costanza
Fantasy Baseball 2012 Costanza
CFL 2012 Pick 'em Champion
Women's World Cup 2015 Confidence Pool Champion
Fantasy Baseball 2015 Costanza
NFL 2015-16 Pick 'em Costanza
Euro 2016 Pick 'em Champion
CFL 2016 Pick 'em Costanza
CFL 2016 Playoff Pick 'em Champion
CFL 2017 Pick 'em Costanza
CFL 2018 Pick 'em Costanza
NFL 2020 Playoff Pick 'em Champion
NFL 2022 Playoff Pick 'em Costanza
NFL 2023 Pick 'em Costanza
NFL 2024 Pick 'em Costanza

My teams:
Ohio State Buckeyes
US Soccer
Washington Nationals
Tennessee Titans
Columbus Crew
Cleveland Indians
Vanderbilt Commodores
Washington Capitals
Nashville Predators

Significant sporting events I've attended:
1999 Cincinnati Bengals vs. Tennessee Titans (inaugural game for the Titans)
2001 and 2002 Memorial (golf) Tournaments
Ohio State vs. M*ch*g*n 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004 (and many other Ohio State games)
2004 Fiesta Bowl Ohio State vs. Kansas State
2006 World Cup USA vs. Ghana
2007 BCS National Championship Game Ohio State vs. Florida
2010 Rose Bowl Ohio State vs. Oregon
2013 Dos a Cero IV USA vs. Mexico WCQ
2019 NL Wild Card Game Milwaukee at Washington
2019 World Series Game 3 Houston at Washington
2021 USA vs. El Salvador WCQ

Stadia I've been to:

Football:
Neyland Stadium (University of Tennessee)
Vanderbilt Stadium
Adelphia Coliseum (Tennessee Titans)
Memorial Stadium (University of Illinois)
Notre Dame Stadium
Ohio Stadium
Cleveland Browns Stadium
Paul Brown Stadium (Cincinnati Bengals)
Hall of Fame Stadium (Canton)
RCA Dome (Indianapolis Colts)
Michigan Stadium
Carter-Finley Stadium (NC State University)
Kinnick Stadium (University of Iowa)
Ryan Field (Northwestern University)
Ross Ade Stadium (Purdue University)
Spartan Stadium (Michigan State University)
Sun Devil Stadium (Arizona State University)
Nippert Stadium (University of Cincinnati)
Hubert H Humphrey Metrodome (University of Minnesota)
FedEx Field (Washington R******s)
University of Phoenix Stadium (Arizona Cardinals)
Husky Stadium (University of Washington)
Beaver Stadium (Penn State University)
TCF Bank Stadium (University of Minnesota)
Rose Bowl (University of California-Los Angeles)
Byrd Stadium (University of Maryland)
Lane Stadium (Virginia Tech)
M&T Bank Stadium (Baltimore Ravens)

Baseball:
Municipal Stadium (Cleveland Indians)
Greer Stadium (Nashville Sounds)
Fulton County Stadium (Atlanta Braves)
Hawkins Field (Vanderbilt University)
Camden Yards (Baltimore Orioles)
Jacobs Field (Cleveland Indians)
Comiskey Park (Chicago White Sox)
Bobby Dodd Stadium (Ohio State University)
Cinergy Field (Cincinnati Reds)
Cooper Stadium (Columbus Clippers)
Great American Ballpark (Cincinnati Reds)
RFK Stadium (Washington Nationals)
Citizens Bank Park (Philadelphia Phillies)
Nationals Park (Washington Nationals)
Wrigley Field (Chicago Cubs)

Basketball/Hockey:
Memorial Gymnasium (Vanderbilt University)
Gaylord Entertainment Center (Nashville Predators)
Value City Arena (Ohio State University)
St. John Arena (Ohio State University)
Nationwide Arena (Columbus Blue Jackets)
Patriot Center (George Mason University)
Verizon Center (Washington Capitals)
Quicken Loans Arena (Cleveland Cavaliers)

Soccer:
Columbus Crew Stadium
Jesse Owens Stadium (Ohio State University)
RFK Stadium (DC United)
Frankenstadion (Nürnberg, Germany)
A. le Coq Arena (Tallinn, Estonia)
Audi Field (DC United)
Lower.com Field (Columbus Crew)

Recent Links

World Cup 2022 Draw: Group A: Qatar, Ecuador, Netherlands, Senegal Group B: England, Iran, USA, Scotland/Wales/Ukraine Group C: Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Poland Group D: France, UAE/Australia/Peru, Denmark, Tunisia Group E: Spain, Costa Rica/New Zealand, Germany, Japan Group F: Belgium, Canada, Morocco, Croatia Group G: Brazil, Serbia, Switzerland, Cameroon Group H: Portugal, Ghana, Uruguay, South Korea

posted by bender to soccer at 01:56 PM on April 01, 2022 - 8 comments

Big Ten nixes fall college football season, eyes spring: Big Ten conference presidents and chancellors voted Tuesday to postpone all fall sports seasons, including football, amid the coronavirus pandemic with the hopes of playing in the spring.

posted by bender to football at 10:17 AM on August 12, 2020 - 1 comment

An 82-game season? A universal DH? Key takeaways from MLB's 2020 proposal: MLB owners approved a proposal that aims to have Major League Baseball back in early July. Commissioner Rob Manfred reportedly plans to present the proposal to players Tuesday.

posted by bender to baseball at 09:31 AM on May 12, 2020 - 2 comments

VAR Has One Job, And It's Failing Miserably At It: The most common complaint against VAR—or any form of video review in sports—in one of aesthetics. If referees insist on stopping the game for several minutes to double check every key play, the thinking goes, all the drama and intensity and emotion of the biggest moments will be lost, and the celebrations of fans will be replaced by hesitance and trepidation while they wait to confirm that what they just saw with their own eyes actually happened. It’s a fine argument, one that at least a strong minority of sports fans would agree with. But most leagues around the world have chosen to ignore it. If the game gets delayed for a bit, they’ve decided, that’s okay, because it’s a small price to pay to avoid controversy and make sure officials are making an objectively correct call.

posted by bender to soccer at 04:34 PM on June 24, 2019 - 8 comments

Altuve Ruled Out on Fan Interference in ALCS Game 4: Mookie Betts tries to make a play at the wall on a Jose Altuve hit, and the umpires rule that a fan interfered and call Altuve out.

posted by bender to baseball at 09:22 AM on October 18, 2018 - 20 comments

Recent Comments

NFL Playoff Pickem Divisional Round

Revised picks:

Player with interception: Taron Johnson

posted by bender at 01:00 PM on January 18, 2025

NFL Playoff Pickem Divisional Round

My picks:

Chiefs by 12 (lock)
Lions by 4
Rams by 3
Bills by 7
Passer: Patrick Mahomes
Rusher: Jahmyr Gibbs
Receiver: Amon-Ra St. Brown
Player with interception: Tarpon Johnson

posted by bender at 01:00 PM on January 18, 2025

Enter the SportsFilter NFL Playoff Pickem

Revised picks:

Texans by 11 (lock)

posted by bender at 02:08 PM on January 11, 2025

Enter the SportsFilter NFL Playoff Pickem

My picks:

Texans by 11
Steelers by 3
Bills by 10 (lock)
Eagles by 5
Commanders by 4
Vikings by 7
Passer: Lamar Jackson
Rusher: Saquon Barkley
Receiver: Justin Jefferson
Player with interception: Byron Murphy, Jr.

posted by bender at 02:08 PM on January 11, 2025

NFL Pickem: All the Marbles

My picks:

Ravens by 7 (lock)
Bengals by 3
Falcons by 3
Cowboys by 2
Packers by 10 (lock)
Texans by 7
Colts by 13 (lock)
Bills by 5
Giants by 7
Buccaneers by 5
Broncos by 7
Chargers by 3
Rams by 7 (lock)
Jets by 3
Cardinals by 10 (lock)
Lions by 4

Man, it wasn't that long ago that I was in the top 2 or 3, and now I'm battling to not be the Costanza...

posted by bender at 10:48 AM on January 03, 2025

NFL Pickem Week 17: Happy Footmas

My picks:

Steelers by 4
Texans by 7
Bears by 9 (lock)
Chargers by 3
Bengals by 13 (lock)
Cardinals by 5
Bills by 14 (lock)
Saints by 3
Colts by 3
Eagles by 5 (lock)
Buccaneers by 12 (lock)
Titans by 7
Browns by 3
Vikings by 7
Commanders by 17 (lock)
Lions by 4

posted by bender at 10:17 PM on December 24, 2024

NFL Pickem Week 16: Penix Time

My picks:

Chargers by 5
Chiefs by 7
Steelers by 3
Falcons by 3
Lions by 12
Bengals by 4
Colts by 7
Jets by 3
Commanders by 7
Cardinals by 3
Vikings by 9
Bills by 21 (lock)
Raiders by 4
Dolphins by 2
Buccaneers by 3
Packers by 5

posted by bender at 06:21 PM on December 19, 2024

NFL Pickem Week 15: Ask Me About My Fantasy Team

My picks:

49ers by 5
Chiefs by 12
Titans by 3
Commanders by 3
Ravens by 7
Panthers by 2
Jets by 2
Texans by 14 (lock)
Broncos by 4
Lions by 4
Steelers by 4
Cardinals by 17 (lock)
Chargers by 11 (lock)
Packers by 3
Vikings by 10 (lock)
Raiders by 3

posted by bender at 04:45 PM on December 11, 2024

Juan Soto does what he said he was going to do

It is interesting how many of the Nationals' stars of the 2019 championship team (*) or +/- a year have found their way to other NL East teams:

- Juan Soto (Mets) *
- Max Scherzer (Mets, though not anymore) *
- Trea Turner (Phillies) *
- Bryce Harper (Phillies)
- Kyle Schwarber (Phillies)

posted by bender at 09:34 AM on December 09, 2024

NFL Pickem Week 14: Deliver Me from Pick-Sixes

My picks:

Lions by 3
Titans by 4
Jets by 2
Vikings by 12 (lock)
Giants by 14 (lock)
Eagles by 17 (lock)
Steelers by 3
Buccaneers by 2
Cardinals by 10 (lock)
Bills by 7
49ers by 7
Chiefs by 9
Bengals by 10

posted by bender at 02:18 PM on December 05, 2024

NFL Pickem Week 13: Turkey Bowl Time

My picks:

Lions by 10 (lock)
Giants by 7
Packers by 14 (lock)
Chiefs by 12 (lock)
Chargers by 3
Bengals by 3
Vikings by 11 (lock)
Colts by 4
Seahawks by 5
Commanders by 7
Texans by 11
Rams by 3
Buccaneers by 11 (lock)
Ravens by 5
Bills by 17 (lock)
Broncos by 3

posted by bender at 01:26 PM on November 27, 2024

NFL Pickem Week 12: Jerryworld is Falling Apart

My picks:

Steelers by 7
Vikings by 10
Lions by 21 (lock)
Dolphins by 4
Buccaneers by 3
Commanders by 12 (lock)
Chiefs by 24 (lock)
Texans by 14 (lock)
Broncos by 4
Packers by 7
Cardinals by 3
Rams by 8
Chargers by 2

posted by bender at 11:09 PM on November 19, 2024

NFL Pickem Week 11: Is This Detroit's Year?

My picks:

Commanders by 3
Bears by 5
Lions by 21 (lock)
Vikings by 12
Raiders by 3
Rams by 2
Browns by 3
Jets by 6
Steelers by 3
Broncos by 3
49ers by 10
Bills by 4
Chargers by 7
Texans by 14 (lock)

posted by bender at 07:08 AM on November 14, 2024

SportsFilter: The Thursday Huddle

Bengals by 4 (I know the game has started by now, but I do not know what the score is)

posted by bender at 10:06 PM on November 07, 2024

NFL Pickem Week 9: B-E-T-S Bets Bets Bets

My picks:

Falcons by 4
Bills by 17 (lock)
Bengals by 7
Browns by 2
Titans by 7
Giants by 3
Panthers by 3
Ravens by 14 (lock)
Eagles by 15 (lock)
Bears by 3
Lions by 5
Seahawks by 2
Vikings by 21 (lock)
Chiefs by 22 (lock)

posted by bender at 01:41 PM on November 01, 2024