"Expert" Panelists
Our 2007 panel now consists of
20 players (up from 12 two years ago and 16 last year... with more room to
increase). Here is a very quick bio of each, so be sure to check out their
blogs of web sites.
Seth Stohs - Me. I am the writer of
this site, www.SethSpeaks.net - Please read the About Me section for a mini-bio of me (that hasn't
been updated in a long time, since I started the site. One of these days, I
will have to update it.
Roger Dehring - Roger has been contributing to this site for a
couple of years now. He provides the weekly player and pitchers of the week in
the Twins minor league system over at
Twinkie Town. He is as knowledgeable of the Twins system as anyone I
have talked to. This is his second year on the panel.
Stick and Ball Guy -
writer of the site, you guessed it, Stick and Ball Guy - SBG is
one of my favorite writers online. His (and ubelman's!)
thoughts and opinions are always smart and sharp and incredibly interesting and
thought-provoking. He talks baseball, football and basketball knowledgeably.
This is his third year on this panel and will do a good job.
JD Arney - writer of the site, Red Reporter - JD is really a great
blogger. If you're a fan of the Reds, or a fan of Wayne Krivsky,
the former Twins assistant GM, or a fan of any of the former Twins players he
keeps bringing in, you will want to check out his site. This is his second year
on this panel.
Kyle Waldrop - Twins Starting Pitching Prospect - finished the 2007
season pitching for the Ft. Myers Miracle, he did get some time in New Britain
as well this year - Waldrop was the Twins third first round pick (25th overall)
in the 2004 draft out of his Tennessee high school. This is Kyle's second year
on the panel. Last year, he was the overall champion, and seemingly won nearly
every week.
Kevin Slowey - Twins
Starting Pitching Prospect - Slowey was the Twins 2nd
round pick (73rd overall) in 2005 after a stellar three year career at Winthrop
University. As good as he was in 2005... and 2006... he was incredible this year for Rochester, putting up
numbers that have not been seen in the International League for years. He is
back with the Twins for September after spending the month of June with the
team as well. He is now in his third season on this panel. He made strides last
year from the bottom and vows that this is his year!
Jeff Manship - Many Twins fans were surprised that Manship fell to them in the 14th round of the 2006 draft,
but we are thrilled he did. He dominated the Midwest League for the first half
of the year, and did quite well after his promotion to Ft. Myers for the second
half. After a very successful first full season, Manship
is back at Notre Dame finishing up his degree. This is his first year on the
panel.
Joe Benson - Benson
turned down a Big 10 football scholarship to sign with the Twins after they
took him with their 2nd round pick in 2006. He spent the entire 2007 season
with the Beloit Snappers, playing the outfield, where his season was full of
ups and downs but certainly also showed the immense potential he has. This will
be his first season on this panel.
Will Young - writer of Will's Minnesota Twins Site -
Will's site is great. He has really been making use of the Win Probability
charts on his site. His incites on the Twins are great. Will also updates the Twins Organizational
Big Board. This is Will's third year making football picks for this site.
John Bonnes - After a
one year hiatus from the panel, The
Twins Geek and big man at Gameday has come back. He was the guy all Twins
bloggers learned from, and still is. This will be his second year on the panel,
just not consecutively.
Trevor Born - writer of The Twins Junkie - Trevor is a 18 year old student, just beginning his collegiate
career. He has done a great job on his site, but you can also find him
frequently in the pages of the Star Tribune. He tells me that football ranks as
his third favorite sport behind baseball and basketball. He prefers the
Gophers, but is still a rabid NFL fan. He won this league two years ago, but
fell back to the back last year. I'm sure he is hoping to reclaim his title as
league champ.
Nick Nelson - The
college student is one half of the team that combines to give up Nick & Nick's Twins blog
where they do great work covering details of the Twins. This is Nick's first
year on the panel.
Josh Johnson - Another
collegiate, Josh recently started his own Twins blog at Josh's Thoughts. He got
off to a great start with great analysis, minor league updates and a couple of
big interviews. This is also his first year on the panel.
Josh Taylor - Yet
another guy in college, Josh writes a great Twins blog at Taylor's Twins Thoughts.
There is some focus on the Twins minor league system including great
organizational reports and such. This is his first year on the panel.
Bill Ferris - writer of The Detroit Tigers Weblog -
Bill is obviously a Detroit native and a fan of the Tigers so be sure to go to
his website to see how the Tigers and their fans are dealing with the team's
rough second half. I did a Q&A with Bill early
in 2005. This is his second year of making picks.
Al Bethke - writer of Al's
Ramblings - Al does a wonderful job writing a blog which primarily
discusses the Milwarukee Brewers, but he also touches
on all kinds of topics. As with Bill, this is his second year in the
contest.
Cory Hepola - Sports
Anchor at WENY-TV in Horseheads, New York, also see coryhepola.com - I coached Cory for a
few years, from Little League through Babe Ruth. He was one of the good kids.
He was also quite the basketball player in high school. After four years at my
alma mater, Concordia College, Cory is now a sports anchor. But it does seem
that football is Cory's best sport. This is Cory's third year on the panel.
Wes Holtsclaw - Wes is
the Sports Editor for the Elizabethton (TN) Star
newspaper. He has been covering those incredible E-Twins for several years. He
also has been writing a blog called Off the Press.
Mike Brasel - One of my best friends since we were both about 6.
He is listed as the left fielder for my Best Players
I’ve Played Ball With team. After serving in the Navy for 6 years, Mike
went back to school and became an engineer. He’s also a pretty smart
football person, who I turn to for fantasy football advice!!
STANDINGS
Summary
Looking at the selections of
the panelists, here is who the collective "We" think will win each
game:
Sunday –
Atlanta @ Jacksonville – Jaguars 24-0
Buffalo @ Pittsburgh – Steelers 23-1
Cincinnati @ Cleveland –
Bengals 24-0
Green Bay @ NY Giants – Packers 13-11
Houston @ Carolina – Panthers
22-2
Indianapolis @ Tennessee – Colts 24-0
New Orleans @ Tampa Bay –
Saints 23-1
San Francisco @ St. Louis –
Rams 21-3
Dallas @ Miami – Cowboys 23-1
Minnesota @ Detroit – Lions 13-11
Seattle @ Arizona – Seahawks
19-5
Kansas City @ Chicago – Bears 24-0
NY Jets @ Baltimore – Ravens 23-1
Oakland @ Denver – Broncos 24-0
San Diego @ New England – Patriots 17-7
Monday Night –
Washington @ Philadelphia –
Eagles 22-2