With camps opening and the regular season reving up, it's time to pass out some awards (and some raspberries) for the best and worst of SB Nation's football bloggers in the 2006 off-season:
Best story by an SB Nation blogger this past offseason: SeanYuille's fantasy football article.
SeanYuille KNOWS fantasy football. His write-ups are outstanding. Read his article on how to run your team, who to draft, and how to play it cool when you hit a "cold patch." In fact, read Sean's site period. The Lions have been nothing but bad news for a while now, yet Sean finds new and interesting stories that take you into WHY the Lions haven't been good. And, he offers some hope for Lions fans. If you want to know about the Lions, read Pride.
Worst story by an SB Nation blogger this past offseason: Tommasse's article on how the Patriots won't miss Willie McGinest, Adam Vinatieri, and David Givens this season.
It's not that the article isn't well written. Tommasse usually writes some good stuff. I just strongly disagree with Tommasse's opinion, which isn't grounded in anything other than blind Patriot homerism. Look, I'm a Colts homer and it often blinds me from a true "objective" view. But, I've often stated that the lose of certain free agents, like Edgerrin James, will indeed affect the Colts. However, despite such loses, they will overcome. They'll find new people to fill the void, and change the offense a bit. Plus, they drafted Joseph Addai, who everyone is ga-ga over. Tommasse suggest the Patriots won't miss players like McGinest, Vinatieri, or Givens at all. My response to that is simple: if they were so disposable, why were they playing on the team at all last year? If they could be so easily replaced, why did New England try to re-sign a player like Vinatieri to a big contract, only to get their prized free agent scooped up by the Colts?
Best SB Nation football blogger logo: PatsPulpit
The logo is perfect for the site: clean, crisp, and well branded. Tommasse works to establish a serious tone to his site, and the logo does a good job conveying that.
Worst SB Nation football blogger logo: Daily Norseman
Honestly, why does the Vikings blog have a friggin' BOAT in the logo? Of all the things to have in the logo, a boat is the LAST image any football fan wants to see in association to the Vikings.
Best SB Nation football blogger site name: Field Gulls
It's a play on "field goals." And it works. It's catchy. And it's clean. It fits the logo well (Field Gulls' logo comes in second behind PatsPulpit by the way). I dig it. There was some debate early on from Shrug (who writes at Field Gulls) as to whether or not is site name was good. Shrug, it's good.
Worst SB Nation football blogger site name: Behind The Steel Curtain
Whenever I hear or read the site's name, I think of the 1970s porn called Behind the Green Door. Porn and Bill Cowher have no business going together.
This 
and this 
do NOT mix.
Does anyone else think Behind The Steel Curtain and Behind the Green Door sound the same? Anyone? No one does? Ok, excuse me while I take a long, cold shower.
Best football blogging community: Blogging the Boys
They are crazy over there.
Worst football blogging community: Blogging the Boys
They are crazy over there. (hehe)
Best SB Nation site to bash the Green Bay Packers: Windy City Gridiron
SB Nation has added a Detroit Lions blog and a Minnesota Vikings blog within the last 4 months... and WCG doesn't care! He wants a Packers blog. He's BEGGING for a Packers blog. In fact, dare I say, WCG might just start taking hostages outside Soldier Field if a Packers blog is not started by Kickoff Weekend. So please, for the love of Pete, if someone wants to blog the Packers for SB Nation, email this guy ASAP. Think of the children.
Worst SB Nation site to bash the Green Bay Packers: Arrowhead Pride
There is no Packers bashing there. NONE. How is that possible? I don't care that the site just went live! There should always be Packers bashing. And Raiders bashing to. Lots of Raiders bashing. Chris has 6 stories posted already, and not one is a joke at the Raiders' expense. Not one. What, do you need someone to show you how it's done? Fine, follow my example: Peyton Manning can kick Tom Brady's butt. All Peyton has to do is lean forward and his massive forehead with crush Tom (and his man purse) like a hammer.
There. Now, go do some Packers and Raiders bashing, rookie!
Best place to work and blog about the sports: SB Nation
The bloggers for all the SB Nation sites are all excellent writers. Every. Single. One. Check out Global Futbol and Fake Teams for some really unique sports blogging. And, obviously, read the football bloggers. I guarantee you we know more about football than Jeremy Green. I personally enjoy reading DawgsByNature, CincyJungle, and Windy City Gridiron. I really enjoy WCG for the sole reason that the head writer (WCG) is starting to get ornery with lazy sports writing. I think I'm having an effect on him (MWHAHAHAHAHA!!!).
Worst place to work and blog about sports: Most Valuable Network and Colts Couch Crew
These guys update their site once every lunar eclipse. And in the latest post, they bemoan the state of the Colts. Here's my favorite line, one that gets me all fired up heading into a new season:
Wow. Listen, I love football. I enjoy watching it and rooting for my team. But, in the end, it is just a game. It's a fun distraction, and if you are that much of a loser that you can't root for your team unless they win the Super Bowl, then my advice is simple:
STOP WATCHING FOOTBALL!
And finally...
Best new SB Nation football blogger: Kirkendall, CincyJungle
Josh Kirkendall has had to deal with all the off-season crap that's gone on in Cincy, and he's done a good job reporting the facts and attacking the lazy journalism that states the Bengals are a team of turds.
Worst new SB Nation football blogger: BigBlueShoe, StampedeBlue
Man, this guy is a homer! I mean, not only does he hate EVERYONE, but he just can't comes to grips with the fact that Peyton Manning is a gutless choker and he'll never win a playoff game. Wait, he did already, didn't he? Ok, he'll never win in Foxboro! He did that too? Really? By 20 points? Ok, he'll never win the Super Bowl, and all QBs who don't win Super Bowls are gutless chokers...
... oh, nevermind. Can't the season start already!