Jeffie Husker Sells Out

Ok, so I have some news for my loyal readers. I have recently accepted a position to write for AOL’s NCAA Football FanHouse. I will be covering the Big 12 and should begin to do so shortly. This is a great opportunity for me for several reasons. First off, it means that I will now be paid for my efforts. As a terminal graduate student this is good news for my budget. Secondly, the FanHouse will put my work in front of many more eyes. The FanHouse site recorded 7.3 million page views in January alone (DXP had 6,200), which makes it the most-trafficked sports blog on the web.

So, what does this mean for you and for this site? Right now I plan on keeping DXP going. The way I look at it covering the Big 12 will broaden the brush with which I cover Nebraska football. However, because I will be busy with all 12 conference teams at FanHouse I would like to keep DXP so that I can focus more closely on the Huskers. I’m not positive how this is going to work. Because it is the off-season I may spend more time on FanHouse. Once the season starts, however, I hope to bring my Big Red analysis back here more frequently. There may also be some cross-posting or at least cross-linking at times. I know that Brian at MGoBlog currently writes for FanHouse while keeping his blog alive as well. Last I heard though, he was also scraping out a living as a professional blogger, while I am not.

Lastly, I want to thank all of you for your continued support of DXP. The AOL gig is not a job that I applied for; instead I was “discovered,” (for lack of a better term) here by an AOL producer. I have no doubt that it was word-of-mouth that brought him here. So for anyone who ever told a friend about the site, emailed a link to a particular post or linked to DXP on your own site, I am forever grateful.

You can check out FanHouse’s Big 12 page here. Be sure and bookmark it and make it part of your daily CFB routine. I have some final paperwork to complete, but my tenure should begin shortly. I hope to see all of you join me there (and here) and to continue to comment and share your opinions.

Thanks again. Now listen to Deion Sanders tell it like it is.

Signing Day Eve

So tomorrow is the big day that many live for. No matter how closely you choose to follow recruiting, try and keep in mind that the signing of letters of intent should be extremely meaningful to the players (and their families) and to the coaches who have recruited them. Beyond these parties, the rest of us are just hangers-on.

That being said, the DXP Signing Day Extravaganza will make its appearance sometime after 8:00 pm Wednesday night. I have class until 8:00 and thus will be out of the loop for most of the day. Once I'm home I'll check to see who faxed in their paperwork complete with their respective Herbie Hancock and then put the finishing touches on the piece.

With Travis Lewis already fulfilling our annual quota of Josh Freeman-late in the game-type decommits, lets hope for no more surprises (unless they are good ones).

Oh and don't miss the MZone's hilarous coverage of Mike Bellotti's contract extension. Funniest thing I've seen in a long, long time.

Double Extra Point Store

You'll see a new addition to the sidebar - the Double Extra Point Store. Right now we have a couple of T-shirt designs and a few different shirt styles. These are one-of-a-kind designs that will help you stand out in a crowd (unless you order one in red and show up on gameday). New designs will be added when inspiration strikes. So check out the store and add something to your Big Red wardrobe. If you hurry you can even get your item shipped for free until January 31st, by entering the code FREESHIPPING07.

You can enter the store by clicking on the image above or by clicking here.

Woooo!!!! Validation

The College Football Blog Award nominations are up and unbelievably DXP finds itself nominated in not one, but two categories.

The first nomination is for the Best New Blog award, which goes to the best blog started within the past year. The other nominees are Card Chronicle, Fire Mark May, Conquest Chronicles, Saurian Sagacity, and Corn From A Jar

DXP is also nominated for Best Big 12 Blog along with Burnt Orange Nation, fellow Husker blog Corn Nation, CrossCyed, and The 12th Manchild

In this case it truly is just an honor to be nominated. I've marveled for months at the amount of quality work that is being produced by CFB bloggers. To just be mentioned alongside some of the folks that I have digested daily, linked to frequently, and stolen from blatently, well, that's just groovy man.

So thanks to any and all who might have nominated DXP and to my loyal readers who I can't thank enough for word of mouth traffic.

While our awards festivities won't feature the likes of "Soy Bomb," Sacheen Littlefeather, or lesbian liplocks, it will include the first acceptance speeches typed by pant-less dudes with cheetos-stained fingers, while sitting in their parents' basements. Plus, it will be a whole lot safer than the Source Awards.

Voting is taking place here. Kirk Herbstreit can rest assured, however, that Husker Nation will not be stuffing the ballot boxes, as voting is limited to college football bloggers.

DXP Bowl Game Pick'em Final Results

And the winner is...Brandon Vogel Brennan Vogel. Congratulations. Brennan is the brother of Brandon who was the winner of FOXSports' second ever Next Great Sportswriter competition. You can read Brandon's blog here. Despite Brandon's writing talent, clearly Brennan is the college football expert in the family.

Dr. D had a chance to come away with the win, but much like the bars at closing time, the good doctor walks away empty handed.

Props to my Mom for a solid finish in the Top 20. I won't run down the list of folks that she finished ahead of, but you know who are...cough...Sammy Vegas...cough

Thanks to everyone who entered the contest and I expect I'll be organizing a March Madness pool when the time comes.

DXP Bowl Game Pick'em Update #2

Here are the updated standings in the Bowl Pick’em with three games remaining (click to enlarge). Dr. D looks to be the lone DXP contributor with a chance to finish high. I’m doing miserably despite picking up 30 points for LSU’s easy win over Notre Dame. I’ll blame my efforts on failing to pay attention to details, as I somehow neglected to pick the winner of two games. Oops. I’m not too proud to admit however, that my Mom actually has a one game lead over me in picking winners straight up.

It looks like the contest could hinge on the Western Michigan vs. Cincinnati, and Ohio vs. Southern Miss games, as all of the major contenders have Ohio State over Florida. That being said, there are a surprising number of points still out there in some cases. It should be interesting to watch over the next few days.

DXP Bowl Pick'Em Top 20 Update

In case you haven't checked your entry lately, here are the standings through 8 games (click to enlarge). There are several names I recognize on there and more that I do not. There are a ton of games left, so there is plenty of time for a strong finish. At least that is what I keep telling myself.

Home For The Holidays

I am leaving this morning for ten days back in Nebraska for the holidays. I plan on continuing to post and to get started on my Cotton Bowl preview while I'm back. I also wanted to take this time to thank all of my readers for their patronage and their contributions to the site. Happy Holidays to you and yours!

Oh, and I'm also switching to the new (beta) version of Blogger. I have no idea how the switch will go, so the site may be unavailable at times.

Bowl Pick'Em Reminder

This is a reminder to get signed up for the DXP bowl game pick'em contest. There are still plenty of spots available. At this point, I'm sure T. Rose thinks he is going to walk away with it. We can't let that happen.

Join the Double Extra Point Bowl Game Pick'em

DXP Light - Now with 28% less posting!!

Ok, so I have 160 papers and extra credit projects to grade by Monday, so that I can turn in final grades and stay in the good graces of the University of Houston faculty. As a result, things might be a touch slow around here. I am going to try and get something else up on Friday, but can't promise anything. To hold you over here is a highlight video from the Big 12 Championship Game.



Oh, and here is an absolutely amazing article by Jason Whitlock (a combination of words you may never see again), highlighting the exploits of a legally blind running back in Kansas.

DXP Bowl Game Pick'em

This is an invitation to any and all readers of Double Extra Point to join our bowl game pick'em contest. The contest will be hosted by ESPN because they are the worldwide leader and do all of the work for us. Although you can't actually pick any of the games until December 10, our group is ready and awaiting your entry.

Join the Double Extra Point Bowl Game Pick'em

Good luck and maybe we can think up a prize package like a night out drinking with Sammy Vegas, or an autographed picture of Matt Slauson in his man-panties.

So Close...

Great atmosphere. Great game. With my travel schedule and a need to recover from the let down, it might be a slow week around here. I'll try my best to get back on schedule ASAP.

Welcome New Visitors

No doubt many of you arrived here in search of the Kenny Wilson video. If so, you were probably thoroughly impressed by Wilson’s efforts. Unfortunately you were also probably thoroughly embarrassed by the dancing efforts of former Husker Sandro Deangelis. We here at Double Extra Point hope that you will stick around and enjoy the rest of the site. We feel we can provide a great deal of insight, solid commentary, and irreverent humor on all things Nebraska football.

If this is one of your firsts visit check out the archives.

Don’t miss our comprehensive Louisiana Tech Preview.

Find out our take on the addition of Sam Keller.

Discover how much you know about the myths surrounding the Big Red in Husker Urban Legends Part I and Part II.

Check out Sammy Vegas’s All-Time Nebraska NFL Bust Defensive Team.

Take a peek at the Tour de Camp leaderboard.

If you like what you see, please keep checking back. The season is just kicking off and so are we.

Quick Update

Just a Friday reminder of why we are all here. You’ll need sound so you might have to watch it at home (or invite your boss to check it out too). I could probably put this up every week and most of you would still watch it.

Anyway, you may have noticed some minor changes to the site. First, I have added some contributors to bring in some fresh commentary and insight. These are friends from college who have also refused to grow up or to lose their passion for the Huskers. Their profiles are now up on the site. I will let them introduce themselves if they so choose, but I am looking forward to their contributions and I know you will enjoy what they bring to the table.

Secondly, you'll now see weekly Top Ten rankings. This is because I was successful in my quest to attain a vote in the BlogPoll. I wasn’t expecting it and I’ll fully admit that I walked ass-backwards into it, as there were no Nebraska bloggers with a vote. However, I am extremely grateful to Brian at MGoBlog for the opportunity. Ok, here is how it is going to work. We will post our provisional Top 25 each Sunday night (or Monday) on the site. We are then asking you (Yes, YOU small, but dedicated group of readers) to give us feedback in the comments. We’re serious about getting your feedback. We may not use it, but we would like to see it. So, don’t be shy and tell us what you think (my parents are tired of carrying the comment load). If we get drunk and don’t actually remember the fourth quarter of a game with poll implications, well that’s where you come in. Or maybe you saw a late night Pac-10 game we might have missed, just let us know. Then after pondering your feedback, we then have until Wednesday to turn in our final poll for the week

The addition of the poll along with the new contributors should enliven the site and hopefully keep you coming back for your Husker fix.

Comment Changes

I converted over to a new commenting program that allows me to do some fancier blog stuff. In doing so all of the previous comments were deleted...Sorry. I also apologize for switching when you had probably just figured out the other one. I tried the new one out and it seems easier. All you need to do is enter your name and the comment. Let me know what you think, by you know...leaving a comment.

Taking the Field

Ok, so I've decided to start a second blog due to my varied interests. This one will cover college football, with a specific focus on the Huskers (because clearly there is not enough coverage of both on the Web already). In other words, my friends and family now have to bookmark two sites to keep up with my incessant ramblings.

In addition, if you thought the birth of this site and the opening of Fall practices were a clever coincidence...you would be right. I'm hoping Fall camp provides sufficient "grist for the mill'' to keep this thing going.