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The Dollars and Cents of the Fantasy Football Boom (Infographic)

With the hockey season just underway and the NFL already far enough in for my Lions to be eliminated from the playoffs, fantasy football’s busiest time of year is in full swing. You know it’s a big deal because you hear people talking about fantasy sports all the time. What you may not know is how big a deal it is. It’s a multi-billion dollar industry with tens of millions of people playing every week.

For more on the dollars, cents and sense of fantasy sports, here’s a handy infographic looking at the fantasy football industry.

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Sunday Link-Off: Dollars and Sense

eugenie-bouchard-flare15-01Another week has come and gone. It seems as though I don’t know where the time goes but I still don’t think that time goes quickly enough either. Maybe it’s more like everything I am obligated to do in my life seems to take forever while I don’t have enough time for other things in my life like reading and blogging and friends and hobbies.

Anyway, if it’s Sunday, that must mean that we’re here to do the links. Let’s kick things off with Canadian tennis star Eugenie Bouchard.

The Globe’s Elizabeth Renzetti wins the day with her column about why Ontario parents fighting against sex ed are doing more harm than good. (The Globe and Mail)

It didn’t take conservative attack ads to derail Justin Trudeau’s momentum. All he had to do was back the government’s so-called “anti-terrorism” legistlation. (ThinkPol)

On that note, the former Bradley Manning says that the US government needs to be more open and transparent about it’s doing. (The Guardian)

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Wednesday Link-Off: At Least The Game Was Good

alessandra-ambrosio-oceandrive15-05It’s been a long week for me IRL and we’re only two days in. I was hoping to write an IndyCar news update for yesterday but I didn’t have any time to do that. I’m lucky I pulled this post together. Maybe I’ll get the IndyCar update tomorrow or Friday. I do have a game review to cover you off one day this week so that should be fun. Remember when I used to do some topical opining at the start of these posts?

Anyway, since it’s Wednesday, that must mean that it’s links time. You might have missed her but fresh off her Super Bowl ad appearance, here’s Alessandra Ambrosio.

You may not know but Albuquerque has one of the highest rates of fatal police shootings in America. So why has no one noticed? (New Yorker)

DJ Esco went to Abu Dhabi to perform at the season ending F1 Grand Prix. His stay included 56 days in jail. This is his story. (The Fader)

Back in 2002, Germany legalized prostitution. Over a decade later, the fallout is still being felt. (The Telegraph)

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Super Bowl 49 Snack Time (Infographic)

I haven’t really paid much attention since my Lions were jobbed out of the playoffs by the refs, the NFL and Roger Goodell but the Super Bowl is this weekend. The Patriots and Seahawks will do battle in a game where most fans hope that both teams can find a way to lose.

One thing that will always happen regardless of which team you hate winning the Super Bowl is the parties. Many years ago, we had an infographic that showed the 50 million cases of beer that would be consumed during the Super Bowl. Today, we have an infographic that looks at the millions and millions of pounds of food that people will gorge themselves on during the Super Bowl.

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Wednesday Link-Off: (Not) Snowed In

sarah-stephens-agentprovocateur15-01I don’t know how but my hometown managed to avoid this seemingly apocalyptic snowstorm that hit most of the Eastern US. I’m not complaining since the snowbanks are way too high as it is but we’ve gotten all the rest of the snow this year so why not this too?

So now it’s time to kick off the links. Let’s heat things up from the start with Sarah Stephens.

What is middle-class per the Conservative government? That would be families who earn over $120,000. (Yahoo News)

Speaking of big money and politics, the Republican National Committee could spend nearly one billion dollars to win the White House in 2016. (Politico)

The man who will lead the Greek economy is the same man Valve had leading the Steam Market. (International Business Time)

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Sunday Link-Off: Looking Forward and Back

emily-ratajkowski-yamamay14-03For the second week in a row, I’m actually not scrambling together the links at the last-minute. No complaints here because that gives me a little time to do some gaming. I’m thinking about spending some time with The Wolf Among Us, Titanfall and Infinite Crisis. Who wants reviews of all three? No, you don’t get a choice. I’ve got a few other tricks up my sleeve that you might be interested in too but I won’t spoil those.

Anyway, you’re not here to hear about what games I’m planning to play to keep me sane before my IRL job’s Christmas party yesterday. You’re here for the links. Let’s kick this one off with Emily Ratajkowski.

There’s an election coming up in Canada next year. What economic indicators should you be looking as we head to the polls? (MacLean’s)

Speaking of that election, our electoral system and the regional vs. national popularities of the three parties is going to make it easier for the Conservatives to re-form a government. It could hypothetically happen even if the Liberals win the popular vote. (ThreeHundredEight)

Model Beverly Johnson adds her name to the list of people accusing Bill Cosby of rape with this terrifyingly detailed account. (Vanity Fair)

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Sunday Link-Off: Foreign Affairs

penelope-cruz-esquire14-03One of the results of having such an interconnected world is that it seems that something that happens in one country will have an impact on many others. For example, a effects of a war in another part of the world will be front page news in this part. A lot of the news stories in this week’s SLO have an international impact.

So with that preamble out of the way, it’s time for the links. Here’s Penelope Cruz who was named Esquire’s sexiest woman alive. Before anyone complains, realize that it’s all marketing for everyone involved.

Former Prime Minister Jean Chretien wrote an op-ed supporting a non-combat role against ISIS which once again puts him opposed to Stephen Harper’s Middle East military policy. Chretien was right in 2003. Could he be right again here? (The Globe and Mail)

A Canadian man is selling Trader Joe’s in Vancouver using his grey market store. It’s an ingenious way to make money and get around all the legal hoops Trader Joe would have to go through to legally export into Canada. (Priceonomics)

American banks are opening up branches in high schools. How else are you going to take from the suckers? (Salon)

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Sunday Link-Off: Happy (Canadian) Thanksgiving

lauren-cohan-gq14-04Good news! It’s Thanksgiving weekend in Canada which means copious amounts of turkey. Bad news! We have to sit through the Yanks doing the same in a month-and-a-half. It’s probably a good thing to space out Thanksgiving and Christmas like us Canucks because 1) that means that you’re not freezing during Thanksgiving weekend and can actually go outside; and 2) there’s not a run on the turkeys all at once.

Anyway, since The Walking Dead is back this weekend, here’s Lauren Cohen. Has the show gotten any better since early Season Four? I kind of wish I abandoned it earlier than that.

Ebola is something that should be scaring governments worldwide. The number of people infected is doubling every three weeks right now and is showing no signs of slowing down. (Washington Post)

Two Nation editors interviewed Edward Snowden. The preview includes some interesting quotes already. (The Nation)

Paul Krugman was one of President Obama’s biggest critics at first. Now, he’s changed his tune and thinks that President Obama is a success. (Rolling Stone)

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Wednesday Link-Off: Puck Drop

It’s not often that I run a bunch of sports links in one of my linkdumps but it’s not often that a new NHL season starts. It only comes around once per year and it gets pretty close to a national festival in Canada. Basically, it’s the Canadian equivalent to the start of the NFL or EPL seasons.

So let’s start this post off with a good Canadian girl. Here’s Nina Dobrev.

The story of the 2014 NHL offseason was the analytics boom. While fancy stats are common place in baseball and pretty common in basketball and soccer, hockey lagged behind those sports until now. (MacLean’s) I told my Leafs loving associates about things like Corsi, Fenwick and PDO last year and they ignored me right until the point where the Leafs crashed out of playoff contention and realized I explained what would happen all along.

The NHL’s move to Sportsnet has seen many changes. The biggest change is in the host’s chair which see Strombo replace Ron MacLean whose contentious relationship with NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman has seen him pushed aside. (The Globe and Mail)

For all the talk that fighting needs to be legislated out of hockey, it appears that the three minutes of ice time per game enforcer may be going the way of the dodo. Less than half the teams will open with an enforcer on their 23-man rosters. (CBC Sports)

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Sunday Link-Off: Dropping the Ball

yara-khmidan-beachbunny14-14It’s been a while since I’ve done a sports focused linkdump. Over the last couple of years, we’ve kind of transitioned from being a sports and pop culture blog to a pop culture and sports website. Okay, it’s almost the same thing but we’re doing more video game and entertainment posts than sports posts. It’s nice to go back to our roots every now and then.

One thing that hasn’t changed is that we’re starting off the links with a picture of a woman because Google Image Search is still the best friend of this blog. Here’s Yara Khmidan.

Not surprisingly, while Rob Ford was in rehab, the Toronto Police were looking to see if the crack videos could form the basis of criminal charges against the Mayor. (The Globe and Mail)

With the Conservative Speaker of the House of Commons seemingly playing favourites to help his party, it’s time for him to resign and let someone competent take the role. (The Chronicle Herald)

You see, Forbes, when you’re a respected publication and you hand over your website to anyone looking to make a quick buck by democratizing writing as if it’s bloody WordPress, stuff like this happens. A community contributor wrote a piece called “Drunk Female Guests Are the Gravest Threat To Fraternities.” It went over quite well. (New York Daily News)

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