It's never too early.

It's time again for you readers to have some fun (besides reading our posts, what's more fun than that?). This is ITS's second contest that consists of a prize for the winner. This is the first of hopefully many Fantasy Football leagues to come. If you win, you get a free item from our shop at Skreened! If you would like to participate, here is how you can join it.

First, you must have an ESPN account. If you don't, they are free and easy to access. After that, go to this link, and look for a button that says "Join League". It has a password, so only people who read this blog can get in. 

The password is: beaniewells

After that, you can customize your team look, and then your ready for the draft. The 2010 Inside The Shoe Fantasy Football League Draft (mouthful, isn't it?) takes place on July 31st, 2010 at 12:00 P.M.

There are only 20 slots, and 1 prize, so come join in quick so you don't get left out! We will have weekly reminders to join up, and of course add it to the ITS news.

Also, we are all hurting because of what LeBronedict James chose last night. I have to tip my hat to Dan Gilbert, who gave a scathing letter out to Cavs fans..directed toward Lebron. There is no doubt that he has ruined his legacy, and can no longer be great as MJ. No, Kobe won't either. Remember the rape? Yeah, me to. Now it's time to go win a championship without him..we can do it, so says Gilbert.

GPC and Bracket Challenge update 2!

The March Madness tournament is almost over, with the Final Four teams selected, which is Butler, MSU, WVU, and Duke. For most, the tournament is done, but for some of the top people remaining, they are looking for that free item of their choice from our shop. The top 5 people looking for that prize in the Challenge are:

1. Ken 
2. Eric
3. SBB
4. Mali
5. Ben Patrick

As far as the GPC goes, here are the standings:


Writer - Ian: 49-26 - 1st - tied

Writer - Chris: 35-29 - 9th - tied

Reader - Ken: 49-28 - 1st - tied

Reader - Doug: 1-0 - 13th

Reader - Sebastian: 43-30 - 2nd

Reader - Eric: 41-31 - 3rd

Reader - Todd: 39-27 - 5th - tied

Reader - T. Reigle: 38-21 - 6th - tied

Reader - SBB: 36-26 - 8th

Reader - J. Heck: 33-28 - 10th

Reader - B. Patrick: 37-24 7th - tied

Reader - Bill Weaver: 38-30 6th - tied

Reader - Daniel Denton: 35-32 9th - tied

Reader - L. Alicea: 36-32 8th - tied

Reader - Jakob Thais: 36-29 8th - tied

Reader - B. Ludwiczak: 38-25 6th - tied

Reader - Steve Crummie: 32-30 11th

Reader - J. Pham: 39-26 5th - tied

Reader - Mali: 40-22 - 4th

Things are pretty close, so good luck to everyone in the tournament!

The calm before the storm...

The NCAA March Madness Tournament begins tommorow. Then Ohio State plays Friday in their first round opener. We're going to have open threads ALL day long, so we hope you join us. If you haven't had a chance to join the ESPN Bracket Challenge for a chance to win a free item of your choice from the ITS Shop, then you better do it today, because it's your last chance!

http://games.espn.go.com/tcmen/en/group?groupID=10767&entryID=153062

Password is insidetheshoe

Good Luck to everyone!

Recap: Ohio State vs. Minnesota Big Ten Championship

That is how you play Big Ten basketball. With the Selection show coming up here soon, people will be glued to their TV sets as everyone wants to see who goes where, and with what seed. The Golden Gophers started out well, as in the first half they stayed with the Buckeyes, always within 2 or 3. The Buckeyes were led by Evan Turner, but also David Lighty stepped up and had 3 or 4 straight three's. Minnesota will still be looking for the NCAA tourny, but Ohio State is looking for a 1 seed, but Duke and Syracuse are favored for it. This was a big win for the Buckeyes, as the Football, Basketball, and Women's basketball teams won the Big Ten Championship. It's a great time to be a Buckeye, and now we will wait to hear where everyone is going. Jon Diebler and William Buford both topped double digits with 19 and 13 respectively.

Buford throws the hammer down.

The Buckeyes as a team shot 58.6% (34-58) from the floor and 57.1% (12-21) from three in route to the massacre. The Bucks also out-rebounded the Gophers 18-7 in the second half, completely shutting down the 2nd chance buckets for Minnesota through the end of the game. Evan Turner also had a double double, and played outstanding. The Buckeyes managed to play Kecman, PJ Hill, Jeremie Simmons and Zisis Sarikopoulos for the last minute and a half to give them some floor time during the championship. The Buckeyes next find themselves in the NCAA Tournament with what will very likely be a 2 seed. Those games start on Thursday, March 18th at Noon on CBS. Go Bucks!


Finally, this is your last chance to sign up for the Bracket Challenge on ESPN. The link is http://games.espn.go.com/tcmen/en/group?groupID=10767&entryID=153062

Go there, sign up, and the password is insidetheshoe. If you win, you get a free item of your choice from the ITS shop. Finally, congrats to everyone on the wins in the Big Ten Tourny for the GPC. Here are the standings as of now.

Writer - Ian: 10-3 - 1st



Writer - Chris: 2-0 - 5th


Reader - Ken: 9-3 - 2nd


Reader - Doug: 1-0 - 6th - tied


Reader - Sebastian: 8-2 - 3rd


Reader - Eric: 5-4 - 4th


Reader - Todd: 1-0 - 6th - tied


Reader - T. Reigle: 0-0 - 7th

The Bracket challenge will shoot these records wayyy up, and we wish everyone luck.

Make Your Picks: Big Ten Championship

First off, let me just say I hope you will all be here for our Live Blog event, featuring The Buckeyes taking on the Gophers.

Ohio State has finally reached the final stage of the Big Ten Tournament. They won the regular season trophy, and are now vying for a second one to put in the trophy case next to the regular season one. The opponent is someone that they didn't expect, much like the rest of the nation. The Minnesota Golden Gophers come in after fighting all the way from round 1 against Penn State, to upsetting Michigan State and Purdue, both favorites to reach the semi and finals. Now the Golden Gophers are looking for some love from the media trying to get into the NCAA Tourney. I would be surprised if they didn't, as they took care of the top of the Big Ten, except Ohio State, which still may come. Last time these two teams met Ohio State won in Value City Arena, but the time before that, Minnesota won on their home court. It will be interesting to see what happens. Of course, the stat of the year is that with Evan Turner, Ohio State has become a legitimate contender for the NCAA tournament. So, here's the final game before the March Madness tournament you get to pick on for the GPC.

Ohio State vs. Minnesota 3:30 PM est, CBS

My Pick: Ohio State

Remember, anyone can join the GPC at any time, but you'd better sign up soon, otherwise your chances for winning are slim. All you have to do is leave your name and say you want to participate. Finally, go to this link, and sign up for the March Madness Challenge, and you will be set to try and win a free item of your choice from the ITS Shop! Good Luck! See you here for the Live Blog!

Let's do this: Big Ten Championship.

UPDATE: There will be no POW for this week, as with all the Madness of the March Madness tourny going on, I have to stay on top of the game, and I don't want too many posts a day.

The Big Ten Tournament has been a good one, and will bring some good memories for Ohio State and now Minnesota. Ohio State had to battle and hit a buzzer beater to win their first game against Michigan, and then went into double overtime against Illinois today. They won both, and now they stand to take on Minnesota in the Championship game for the Big Ten. Minnesota had a fun road as well, first taking on the lowest seed, Penn State. Although it was Penn State, they still could have lost, had Taylor Battle, PSU's "Evan Turner", not gotten hurt. In fact, Eric, over at tBBC even went so far to say that Ohio State would be facing Penn State tommorow.

He was wrong, and Minnesota took care of business winning 76-55. Then, Minnesota faced a heavily favored Michigan State last night, in which they won in dramatic fashion, in overtime. They shocked not only the Spartans, but a lot of the Big Ten. Purdue was the next opponent, also heavily favored, and was looking forward to the match-up, because they thought they could get by with an easy, comfortable win. Instead, they got blown out just a little bit ago, 69-42. Now the Gopher's must take down the heavily favored Buckeyes. If Ohio State was smart, they would give it their all right away, or risk being upset and losing the possible 1 seed. Right now, ESPN is saying that Syracuse is in the lead for the 1 seed, but anything can happen.

As far as the Game Picking Center goes, things are starting to heat up in the competition, as I picked wrong a couple of times, and Ken was the only player that picked Minnesota to win. Here are the standings as of now.

Writer - Ian: 9-3 - 1st

Writer - Chris: 2-0 - 5th

Reader - Ken: 8-3 - 2nd

Reader - Doug: 1-0 - 6th

Reader - Sebastian: 7-2 - 3rd

Reader - Eric: 4-4 - 4th

Reader - Todd: 0-0 - 7th

The GPC is still open for players to join, but if you don't sign up before the NCAA tourney, you will most likely NOT win. So, if you want to participate, leave your desired name, and tell us you want to join in the fun. Remember, if you sign up for our blog bracket challenge over at ESPN, then you have a chance to win a free item of your choice from our ITS Shop! How cool is that?

Quick Shout out to Todd Hiltibran for joining the challenge, and that also puts you in the GPC. Good Luck!

The link has been provided, and time is running out, so please join up!

Password for the group is: insidetheshop

Good Luck everyone!

Make Your Picks: Big Ten Tournament round 1

The Big Ten Tournament starts tommorow. Michigan and some other teams that aren't Ohio State will be kicking it off for us, and we want all you to make your picks as a comment below for the GPC. The following games are the games we want you to decide who the winner will be for each one Since you don't know if I cheat or not, I will put my picks below the game.:

Michigan (14-16, 7-11 Big Ten) vs. Iowa (10-21, 4-14 Big Ten) Game is at 2:30 PM est on ESPN2

My Pick: Michigan

Indiana (10-20, 4-14 Big Ten) vs. Northwestern (19-12, 7-11 Big Ten) Game is at 4:55 PM est on ESPN2

My Pick: Northwestern

Penn State (11-19, 3-15 Big Ten) vs. Minnesota (18-12, 9-9 Big Ten) Game is at 7:30 PM est on ESPN2 

My Pick: Minnesota

We encourage you all to join the GPC by commenting below as well as posting your picks. We wish everyone good luck in the tournament. We will have an Open Thread up all day, so feel free to post your thoughts, comments, and opinons on the days action! Looking forward to seeing you all there!

Sign up for a chance to win a prize, if you win you get it. Password is insidetheshoe

Would like to give a shout out to Sebastian, who signed up for the GPC, we now have 3 readers involved..Join for a chance to win a free item out of our shop if you get the most monthly winning records!

Yes, it is time for some fun.

I mean, whenever you read this blog, when is it not fun, right?

Anyway, this is the start of our brand new group on ESPN. It's time to get those bracket's going! I created the group, and here's the information to join:

Group Name: Inside The Shoe

Password: insidetheshoe

• Rules: Must be human
• One bracket per person

Folks, this is going to be some serious compeitton, because if you win, you win a free item from our ITS Shop! The best part is, you do not have to be over 18, and you even get bragging rights. Of course, when you fill out your bracket, keep in mind if you join this group, you also sign up for the Game Picking Center here at Inside The Shoe. So if you end up not wanting to particpate in the GPC for the Big Ten Tournament, then you can come back for the March Madness tournament, and kick some butt. You all should know by now how to sign up for the GPC, but to sign up for our group on ESPN.com, just go to this link.

Also, there is a reason to try for the GPC, because at the end of the year, (long way away right now, but still) you also win a free item from the shop! We want to wish everyone good luck in the challenge, and I expect to see you all there!