bender's profile

bender
15449
Name: Jeff Zelek
Location: Clifton, VA
Gender: male
Member since: September 13, 2006
Last visit: March 18, 2024

bender has posted 21 links and 1,905 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

SportsFilter: The Thursday Huddle

Wow! That was very clearly in-time from videos in the tweets.

posted by bender at 03:14 PM on March 07, 2024

SportsFilter: The Monday Huddle

Is the target on the clipper in that new logo?

posted by bender at 06:05 PM on February 26, 2024

Marathon World Record Holder Dies

.

posted by bender at 11:27 PM on February 13, 2024

NFL Playoff Pickem: Super Bowl 0x3A

My picks:

49ers by 6 (lock)
Passer: Patrick Mahomes
Rusher: Christian McCaffrey
Receiver: Travis Kelce
Player with interception: Tashaun Gipson
Player with sack: Nick Bosa
Player with first turnover: Patrick Mahomes
Super Bowl MVP: Christian McCaffrey
Tiebreaker: Never. They're magic, folks!

posted by bender at 02:53 PM on February 11, 2024

49ers Come Back from 27-7, Advance to Super Bowl 0x3A

A disappointing result. After such a fabulous start, the Lions really let this one slip away.

posted by bender at 11:47 PM on January 28, 2024

NFL Playoff Pickem: Conference Championship Round

My picks:

Ravens by 7 (lock)
Lions by 4
Passer: Brock Purdy
Rusher: David Montgomery
Receiver: Brandon Aiyuk
Player with interception: Geno Stone

posted by bender at 12:06 AM on January 28, 2024

NFL Playoff Pickem: Divisional Round

My picks:

Texans by 3
49ers by 5
Lions by 12 (lock)
Bills by 7 (lock)
Passer: Brock Purdy
Rusher: David Montgomery
Receiver: Amon-Ra St. Brown
Player with interception: Nick Bosa

posted by bender at 01:40 PM on January 19, 2024

SportsFilter NFL Pickem Champion: Truthhurts

Woohoo! Back-to-back Costanzas!

Congratulations truthhurts!

posted by bender at 09:31 AM on January 15, 2024

Enter the SportsFilter NFL Playoff Pickem

Yikes, 1/4 so far with a busted lock. I might have to switch to making my picks and then flipping them all to the other team.

posted by bender at 09:29 AM on January 15, 2024

Enter the SportsFilter NFL Playoff Pickem

My picks:

Browns by 3
Dolphins by 4
Bills by 3
Cowboys by 17 (lock)
Lions by 7
Buccaneers by 3
Passer: Dak Prescott
Rusher: James Cook
Receiver: CeeDee Lamb
Player with interception: Antoine Winfield, Jr.

posted by bender at 01:42 PM on January 12, 2024

NFL Pickem Week 18: All the Marbles Edition

My picks:

Browns by 3
Lions by 12 (lock)
Packers by 3
Jaguars by 11 (lock)
Texans by 5
Raiders by 5
Dolphins by 7 (lock)
Patriots by 3
Saints by 14 (lock)
Eagles by 17 (lock)
Cardinals by 5
Chiefs by 3
49ers by 13 (lock)
Cowboys by 9 (lock)
Buccaneers by 1
Ravens by 8 (lock)

posted by bender at 02:52 PM on January 06, 2024

NFL Pickem Week 17: Chief Concerns Edition

My picks:

Browns by 17 (lock)
Lions by 7
Bills by 7 (lock)
Bears by 3
Colts by 10 (lock)
Giants by 7 (lock)
Eagles by 10 (lock)
Saints by 5
49ers by 10 (lock)
Jaguars by 14 (lock)
Ravens by 9 (lock)
Titans by 3
Seahawks by 3
Chargers by 3
Chiefs by 12 (lock)
Vikings by 4

posted by bender at 03:08 PM on December 28, 2023

NFL Pickem Week 16: You Never Should Have Cut Me Edition

My picks:

Saints by 7
Steelers by 6 (lock)
Bills by 3
Colts by 7 (lock)
Titans by 2
Lions by 10 (lock)
Jets by 3
Packers by 7 (lock)
Texans by 7 (lock)
Jaguars by 6
Bears by 3
Dolphins by 10 (lock)
Broncos by 2
Chiefs by 14 (lock)
Eagles by 7 (lock)
49ers by 3

posted by bender at 06:18 PM on December 21, 2023

NFL Pickem Week 15: Remember the Titans Edition

My picks:

Raiders by 3
Bengals by 3
Colts by 3
Lions by 17 (lock)
Browns by 14 (lock)
Falcons by 7 (lock)
Packers by 2
Titans by 3
Dolphins by 7 (lock)
Saints by 7
Commanders by 3
49ers by 10 (lock)
Bills by 6
Chiefs by 12 (lock)
Jaguars by 3
Seahawks by 3

posted by bender at 06:50 PM on December 14, 2023

SportsFilter: The Monday Huddle

Yeah, I thought I was joking when I asked that. Then when Miami punched in after the muffed punt and the bad pitch/fumble with 5 minutes left, it was surely over.

posted by bender at 07:48 AM on December 12, 2023