When I was at ESPN.com, the top item on my wish list for things ESPN.com should’ve been doing was opening up the Fantasy engine with good APIs. My reasoning was twofold. First, there were lots of features people wanted that simply weren’t popular enough for a site like ESPN, where audience is measured in millions. Second, the team is small and couldn’t (and wouldn’t) build everything in house. It doesn’t make sense.

So, the idea is that a clean API that exposed just enough of the game engine for external tools to integrate in and then independent developers could build (and charge for, if they wanted) all the little niche features that are out there. FAAB free agency and auction drafts were the biggest features I thought were missing (though ESPN did roll out limited auction drafts this year).

Another thing to consider: Facebook was just “eh, Facebook” until the developer API came out. Then, they became a darling, started growing audience a bit more quickly, and now even Friendster has a developer API. There are positive business effects for concentrating on the core platform and turning your game into a service.

You have no idea how much I wanted to do this. Had I stayed at ESPN, I would’ve pushed for that as a new architecture. I had it documented out, plans on how to implement it, and was lining up the ducks to turn the sports group at ESPN.com into a stealth data provider. I was really considering this to be the next startup idea for someday in the future after we turn Fanzter into a media giant.

Now, it seems I won’t have to do it. TechCrunch just wrote up a new company called OPEN Sports Network. While the company web site talks more about the social piece (perhaps they integrate into social networks?), the TechCrunch post suggests that their game platform will have open APIs.

I’m making a prediction now: if this is executed well (and there’s reason to hope because this guy ran SportsLine), this will become the fantasy platform of choice for serious gamers quickly, with casual games following as soon as enough third party features extend the game.

The only thing I don’t understand is launching the platform in August. That gives 0 time to developers to extend the game before the NFL kickoff. I’m sure I’m just missing something, or they’re going out cautiously in year 1.

Man, that was some finish! After a really boring game for 3 quarters, the final 10 minutes were un-freaking-believable.

I’m glad that Brady got shut down. He showed, once again, that even a little bit of pressure in his face will make him an average quarterback. He also showed that he doesn’t have the arm to throw to Moss. That last deep play where the ball went off of Moss’s hands… another yard further on the throw and Moss is home free, TD, Pats win. Tom Terrific is human after all.

He’s still a great QB, and the 2007 Pats will go down as one of the best teams in history. Let’s be honest though. The defense was overrated. The offense was the difference, but the Giants blitzing scheme was a great match for it. After watching the Eagles nearly pull of the upset of the century, I had the Giants circled as the only team that could shut down the Brady/Moss offense.

Even then, though, I thought the Pats had this one in the bag. Never would’ve predicted a Giants win.

Another thing: that catch by David Tyree after Manning somehow escaped the Pats rush… man, that’s why I watch sports. Great finish. Congrats New York Giants!

BTW, did anyone see Tom Brady congratulate Eli Manning after the game? Or was he still a classless jerk at the end?

Friend just said this joke to me:

“I heard the Fins couldn’t get into their locker room last week.”

“Why, what happened?”

“Someone painted a goal line in front of the door.”

I feel bad for the Miami Dolphins, but they are really bad…

ESPN (not an uninterested observer in this mess, btw) covers the NFL Network and why the nation can’t see the Packs/Cowboys game this week. One thought: allowing a la carte purchases with a cheap monthly fee, say $5/month + the individual subscriber fees for each channel you want would solve this.
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Watching the classless, absolute a-hole move by Belichick, going for it on 4th and 1 with a 28 point lead, I have to say that a bus crash or some other misfortune will be in the Pats future if they keep this up. There was no honor or necessity in going for it on 4th and 1 with that lead, none. Don’t give me any BS about how the game isn’t over until it’s over and how any team could come back. It’s the Bills and you’re the Pats, with the football equivalent of the 2000 Yankees lineup. The Bills are not coming back, and you’re going to put up more points.

The Patriots have no class. They continue to show it every week. This is just the latest example.

I’m sure many of you have seen this highlight but in case you missed it, this desperation play was unbelievable.

In the case of tonight’s Monday Night Football game, they are, in order, family and the Philadelphia Eagles. I need a huge night from Terrell Owens to win my fantasy game but really, I have to stand with the wife’s fam in Buffalo and hope for an upset. Keeping the Dallas Cowboys from widening their lead over the Philadelphia Eagles makes a nice side benefit.

So, to the clan back in Buffalo, Go Bills!

Update: That was one hell of a game, but ultimately I ended up with the Bills losing along with my fantasy team. The Bills played inspired football. Irony of ironies, I drafted J.P. Losman as my bye week QB, looking at this matchup this week as a favorable one for Buffalo. After his poor play, I dropped him. In our league, we actually draft Team QBs, which means we get the backups, too. Thought it wasn’t a high scoring night (1pt), it still beat my choice this week, the Falcons TQB, which netted me a fancy -2. Ugh. Anyway, good luck to the Bills, but we return to our all Eagles, all the time NFL fandom next week.

Alright, so we finally have the left/right splits for Donovan McNabb after the game against the New York Giants. Here are the new totals:

That means for that game, this was his breakdown:

That’s pretty much what I saw during the game. No passes off the left, which is where the pressure was coming from. Now, looking back I think I was being unrealistic during the game. Call it fan frustration. It’s more likely that the pressure from the left side made it hard to throw that way, plus he did have a few batted down, and it wasn’t like a quick WR screen or out was going to work against press coverage.

The real NFL commentators on ESPN, for example, have been railing against Andy Reid because he didn’t adjust by having a TE cover and help Winston Justice against Osi Umenyiora. That’s a fair point and amazingly obvious in hindsight.

Another correction/observation, McNabb was at least doing one look left on most of the sack highlights I saw, so I was probably wrong about that. Looking at it, he was still holding the ball too long, because he’s used to being able to scramble away. He’s not able to right now, and that looks to be the biggest adjustment he needs to make before they come back off the bye.

The splits aren’t updated, but my quick scan of the game’s play-by-play log shows that he was 1 for 3 going to the left side over 31 attempts. So, 28 to the right and center, 3 to the left. See, I do pay attention during games. Granted, that’s the side the pressure was coming from and where Winston Justice was getting schooled.

Also, after watching the replays, Donovan McNabb was looking left at the top of his drop but he never came back. He scrambles right, and was consequently looking that way almost always when pressure came.

Donovan McNabb has the following splits as of the end of last week’s games:

If I remember correctly, passing splits are updated after STATS does their tape review of the games on Monday/Tuesday, so I’d expect it to be updated by Wednesday if not tomorrow. I’ll send out the new numbers then.

I’m a pretty big Donovan McNabb fan. I’m not one of those Eagles fans who wants to run him out of town at the first sign of struggle. So, understand that when I say that McNabb is the reason the Eagles look so awful tonight, I don’t say it with malice or with a predisposition for picking on McNabb.

Couple of observations from tonight’s game (and from the first two, as well — I missed most of last week’s game).

1. His timing is off, he’s throwing late and holding the ball too long.
2. Yes, the receivers aren’t getting open as much as they need to against press coverage.
3. That being said, McNabb isn’t scanning the field like he used to. Too often, he’s only looking right (the natural side for a righty) and isn’t looking left. That’s a rookie mistake. Follow your progressions, Donovan. This is the biggest issue tonight, I’ve seen Curtis, Buckhalter, and others open left during a lot of the sacks.
4. Accuracy is down. He does throw a few into the turf every other game or so, but this year he’s been missing right, high, and behind receivers. This is uncharacteristic.
5. McNabb looks to be slow on his scrambles. Probably due to the injury, but he needs to adjust to that fact, then.

This is a quick list, but item 3 is by and far the most frustrating thing to me. When I’m watching QBs for my fantasy team (stop snickering!), that’s one thing I look for. His head should hit both sides on many if not most of the pass plays. A QB that only looks one way cuts off half his receivers. This also leads to a lot of interceptions.

The easiest way to see if I’m right or wrong will be to see the breakdown of passes by zone. I bet there has only been 1 or 2 attempts to the left side of the field. Pick any other game from last year and I bet that’s not true. (I’ll look this up tomorrow).

11 sacks (and counting) have to more with McNabb’s performance rather than the injuries hurting the team. I’m not saying Winston Justice isn’t making mistakes, or that Brian Westbrook isn’t a big loss. What I’m saying is that McNabb has done better with less. The Giants are good, but they’re not this good.

The good thing is that this stuff can be fixed, especially over a two week break (well, except for the speed issue). McNabb shouldn’t be immune from criticism, and it shouldn’t be we love you or leave town. Let’s go Eagles, this season isn’t over yet. McNabb does his part, the rest of the team does their’s and the playoffs are still in reach.

It seems that Michigan isn’t the most overrated team in the NCAA. With their defeat of Notre Dame, Michigan has proven they are only the second most overrated team in college football. I guess our friends in South Bend have finally proven they are number 1 in something.

Just saw this on ESPN.com’s front page poll:

Now, as an Eagles fan, I’m predisposed to not like New England, but this is a pathetic penalty for something the league considered a point of emphasis this year. I know I’m a few days late to the story, but it’s been a bit busy and, quite frankly, it still amazes me that the Pats get away with something like this with a tiny slap on the wrist.

It’s bugging me so much so that it’s My OneThing! on my Facebook page:

The NFL should be ashamed that they would suspend Wade Wilson for 5 games for a violation that didn’t affect the competitive balance of his team’s games, but Belichick, who was cheating, gets no game suspension and a more affordable fine. It’s disappointing, to say the least.