My Interview with Bengal Brian

Well in the last few days we have been thinking of ways to advertise some of our affiliates and let you get to know some of the Admin of these sites. So I started with a guy that helped me greatly when I was trying to get NLS off the ground. He was there if I needed him for any type of question. Well with out getting too caught up into it TSZ is proud and honored to sit down with the Admin of the Lair Bengal Brian.

Mike: Bengal Brain (Brian), lol, thanks for taking the time to sit down with me to answer a few questions about the Bengal's Lair and to inform the TSZ members what your site is all about. We are honored to have your site as an affiliate with TSZ.

Brian: Thanks man. I am honored you hold the lair in such high regard.

Mike: Well you are the admin of one of the biggest fan based Bengal's boards on the net how did you come about all of it? Why did you decide to do it?

Brian: Well.. Actually I really didn't get into the forum world until sometime in 2003. I was still pretty much into cars back then and eventually found myself posting a lot on cincystreetscene.com. I wanted to find a comparable site based around the Bengal's. The actual Bengal's organization didn't have one, nor could I find one that was decent, so I decided to wing it myself.

Mike: Wing it you did and you did a mighty fine job of it. Since I know the site already and I think its great but how would you get other Non-Bengal's fans to stop bye and check out the Lair?

Brian: Because we try to treat members from all fan bases equally. I have even been accused of showing favoritism toward non-Bengal fans. lol Reality though is without any sort of diversity among the forum, you lack a lot. So the staff is very welcoming to all fans.

Mike: It is truly a good board and I made it almost home last year. The Bengal's lair is different from most boards...in that most of you meet up at various times of the year, and have relationships away from the board...how did this tradition start and does it add to the board for you? Or is it harder to be the bad guy sometimes?

Brian: It started with just the suggestion of us all meeting up at Dave and Busters on a weekend night.. It was way too crowded and we ended up moving it to a restaurant. From there on out, we let the women arrange the meetings. We aren't the best planners.. It has really brought a lot of us together as close friends. Those of us that get together occasionally get along really well now. And amazingly, it consists of mostly people who met through CincyBengals.com rather than knowing each other before the site.

Mike: I know Bengal Dave from my experiences at the Lair but I want to know what you think of the guy. In 50 words or less describe your relationship with Bengal Dave.

Brian: Bengal Dave. What can I say? He has been there since the beginning almost. He was one of the original members that seemed to always be on. Dave is a dedicated member and has even knocked down the doors of the Bengal's organization itself trying to get us a partnership and run a forum for them. Ironically, weeks after meeting Bengal Dave about this, the Bengal's added a forum to their site. Although the occasional problem child, Dave is an invaluable asset to the site. We get along and talk outside of the site now as well somewhat regularly.

Mike: Well since you are a Bengal's fan and all who is your all time favorite player? And Why?

Brian: It's quickly becoming Carson Palmer actually. In fact, it may be at this point really. The guy is the best thing to happen to Cincinnati football in a long time. And let's face it. You pointed out that I am a Bengal's fan, so you know, being 30 (almost), I didn't exactly have much to cheer for since I was 11, 12, 13 years old. Before Carson, I would say my favorite was always James Brooks. Icky Woods/David Fulcher/Boomer Esiason right behind.

Mike: Well I hate to do this and all but I think you knew it was coming so pony up. In the Media in the last year there has been many Bengal's players arrested what do you think of this situation? How the team took care of the problems or for that matter how you think they should or could have taken care of these problems.

Brian: Next question! (Drew Rosenhaus) Ok.. Seriously though. I hate the fact that as soon as things look bright, we have this lingering over us now. It's extremely disappointing. And if that isn't bad enough, you get through it all thinking at least one huge bright spot in Jonathan Joseph kinda makes you forget a little. Then HE gets arrested. Not really much I can say about how its been handled. The way I would want it handled, I am pretty sure the players association would have an issue with. Honestly, I also think Henry should have been booted from the team if possible, but it's obvious to everyone he is extremely talented and I sometimes wonder if Marvin is giving him too many chances because of it. I think the team lacked a lot of pride this year as opposed to 2005, so I do think it affected the season.

Mike: Besides running the board and being the networking guru, and always taking time to answer my questions what does Brian do in his spare time?

Brian: I have 2 daughters, 4 and 2. They are the best thing in my life most definitely. I love spending any time I can with them. Luckily, I work from home so I do get to spend some extra time with them when the wife isn't working on those days. I am not much of a TV or movie person, but I do watch a couple shows religiously such as Office, My Name is Earl, Lost, and Heroes. I am a huge music lover and can even be caught sitting around just listening to tunes. I don't quite have the time as much as I used to, but I am also a Madden freak and as of recent, a Guitar Hero freak. But really, due to the ages of my kids, I spend most of my spare time watching them grow up and introducing new things into their lives.

TSZ Mike

My Interview with Bengal Brian

Well in the last few days we have been thinking of ways to advertise some of our affiliates and let you get to know some of the Admin of these sites. So I started with a guy that helped me greatly when I was trying to get NLS off the ground. He was there if I needed him for any type of question. Well with out getting too caught up into it TSZ is proud and honored to sit down with the Admin of the Lair Bengal Brian.

Mike: Bengal Brain (Brian), lol, thanks for taking the time to sit down with me to answer a few questions about the Bengal's Lair and to inform the TSZ members what your site is all about. We are honored to have your site as an affiliate with TSZ.

Brian: Thanks man. I am honored you hold the lair in such high regard.

Mike: Well you are the admin of one of the biggest fan based Bengal's boards on the net how did you come about all of it? Why did you decide to do it?

Brian: Well.. Actually I really didn't get into the forum world until sometime in 2003. I was still pretty much into cars back then and eventually found myself posting a lot on cincystreetscene.com. I wanted to find a comparable site based around the Bengal's. The actual Bengal's organization didn't have one, nor could I find one that was decent, so I decided to wing it myself.

Mike: Wing it you did and you did a mighty fine job of it. Since I know the site already and I think its great but how would you get other Non-Bengal's fans to stop bye and check out the Lair?

Brian: Because we try to treat members from all fan bases equally. I have even been accused of showing favoritism toward non-Bengal fans. lol Reality though is without any sort of diversity among the forum, you lack a lot. So the staff is very welcoming to all fans.

Mike: It is truly a good board and I made it almost home last year. The Bengal's lair is different from most boards...in that most of you meet up at various times of the year, and have relationships away from the board...how did this tradition start and does it add to the board for you? Or is it harder to be the bad guy sometimes?

Brian: It started with just the suggestion of us all meeting up at Dave and Busters on a weekend night.. It was way too crowded and we ended up moving it to a restaurant. From there on out, we let the women arrange the meetings. We aren't the best planners.. It has really brought a lot of us together as close friends. Those of us that get together occasionally get along really well now. And amazingly, it consists of mostly people who met through CincyBengals.com rather than knowing each other before the site.

Mike: I know Bengal Dave from my experiences at the Lair but I want to know what you think of the guy. In 50 words or less describe your relationship with Bengal Dave.

Brian: Bengal Dave. What can I say? He has been there since the beginning almost. He was one of the original members that seemed to always be on. Dave is a dedicated member and has even knocked down the doors of the Bengal's organization itself trying to get us a partnership and run a forum for them. Ironically, weeks after meeting Bengal Dave about this, the Bengal's added a forum to their site. Although the occasional problem child, Dave is an invaluable asset to the site. We get along and talk outside of the site now as well somewhat regularly.

Mike: Well since you are a Bengal's fan and all who is your all time favorite player? And Why?

Brian: It's quickly becoming Carson Palmer actually. In fact, it may be at this point really. The guy is the best thing to happen to Cincinnati football in a long time. And let's face it. You pointed out that I am a Bengal's fan, so you know, being 30 (almost), I didn't exactly have much to cheer for since I was 11, 12, 13 years old. Before Carson, I would say my favorite was always James Brooks. Icky Woods/David Fulcher/Boomer Esiason right behind.

Mike: Well I hate to do this and all but I think you knew it was coming so pony up. In the Media in the last year there has been many Bengal's players arrested what do you think of this situation? How the team took care of the problems or for that matter how you think they should or could have taken care of these problems.

Brian: Next question! (Drew Rosenhaus) Ok.. Seriously though. I hate the fact that as soon as things look bright, we have this lingering over us now. It's extremely disappointing. And if that isn't bad enough, you get through it all thinking at least one huge bright spot in Jonathan Joseph kinda makes you forget a little. Then HE gets arrested. Not really much I can say about how its been handled. The way I would want it handled, I am pretty sure the players association would have an issue with. Honestly, I also think Henry should have been booted from the team if possible, but it's obvious to everyone he is extremely talented and I sometimes wonder if Marvin is giving him too many chances because of it. I think the team lacked a lot of pride this year as opposed to 2005, so I do think it affected the season.

Mike: Besides running the board and being the networking guru, and always taking time to answer my questions what does Brian do in his spare time?

Brian: I have 2 daughters, 4 and 2. They are the best thing in my life most definitely. I love spending any time I can with them. Luckily, I work from home so I do get to spend some extra time with them when the wife isn't working on those days. I am not much of a TV or movie person, but I do watch a couple shows religiously such as Office, My Name is Earl, Lost, and Heroes. I am a huge music lover and can even be caught sitting around just listening to tunes. I don't quite have the time as much as I used to, but I am also a Madden freak and as of recent, a Guitar Hero freak. But really, due to the ages of my kids, I spend most of my spare time watching them grow up and introducing new things into their lives.

TSZ Mike

Whats Going On at the Zone?

If you miss a day at TSZ,
you are seriously missing out.

Following are only a few of the events, contests, and happenings.....register or check in often, as you do not want to lose out on ANY of these.

TSZ is your own one-stop fantasy playground.

We will be running a free baseball league as well as a "Dynasty league"....which for a small fee of $30, you will be going head-to-head with all the big hitters, the best of the best.

Also for you baseball fans, we have our very own Home Run Derby......we have two versions....First...our free version.....What it is: You must be a member to take part in this.You select a team of players at each position...1b, 2b, 3b, ss, c, of, of, of, dh and one tie breaker player. You can not select a player from the same team though including the tie breaker. So for example...Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz together could not be on your team.At the All Star Break, you will be entitled to 2 switches. What that means is at this time you can change 2 players and all stats will remain from the previous half. This helps for injured players or a guy that has not done anything during the first half. The "no same team" rules apply at the half as well.

We will tally up the numbers periodically as the season goes on and at the end of the year (regular season) there will be a winner.

Cost:Each Entry will cost you 5000 Points with the max of 2 teams.

The number of entrants will determine the payouts.
See chart below...
1. 1-19 - 1st place: 80% and 2nd place: 20%
2. 21-39 - 1st place: 70%, 2nd place: 20% & 3rd place:10%
3. 40-x - 1st place: 50%, 2nd place: 25%, 3rd place: 15%, and 4th place: 10%

TSZ will be adding 100,000 Points to the pot!

And for you DIEHARD COMPETITORS, we also have a Home Run Derby for a minimal cost of $10.00....money is due before the season starts with a limit of two entrants per email.

MOCK DRAFT-

Just because the Super Bowl is over doesn't mean you have to suffer through football withdrawal. TSZ will be hosting a Battle of the Boards Mock Draft Competition and how this will work is as follows...

Who: Your entire board...this all depends on how your board wants to do this. Whether it be an individual or a team of members or even the entire board, this is up to you.

How: You will simply PM me your draft (first round only) 1-32. I will be updating this thread with the correct draft order and this will not change. It will remain the same for each board until the due date once I post it here.

When: Your draft will be due one week before the NFL draft via pm to me at any site that I frequent. If it's not in by then, you will not be able to participate in this challenge.S

coring is as follows...
1. 30 Points - Each Correct Pick of Player and Team
2. 15 Points - Each Correct Team or Position (Example: You have Calvin Johnson at 1 for the Raiders, but he was actually drafted at 1 by the Chiefs because they made a trade)
3. 10 Points - For each player selected one spot away from where they were picked (above or below)
4. 5 Points - For each player selected two spots away from where they were picked (above or below)
5. 5 Points - For each player in your mock draft not selected in the first or second round.

If your board would be interested in this, please pm one of us. Thanks for your time and happy drafting!

On the graphics front...Feel free to take part in our weekly King of the Sigs Tournament. Each week anyone who wants to try to be the King of the sigs will design their own sig...as long as it fits into the rules of the contest. The first person that posts their design will be the competition to the previous week's winner. So there will only be two sigs in the competition every week.

We are just finishing up our Super Bowl Sig Competition done in cooperation with 8 other boards. Nice job done by all.

One of the many things that is unique to TSZ is ourMMA forum (Mixed Martial Arts). There, you will find fighter profiles and websites, discussion, events, and results. It's one of our fastest growing forums and something unique to TSZ.

Our arcade is always bustling with over 1000+ games. The bookies that run our casino work non-stop to make all the biggest sporting events available to you for your entertainment.

The doors are always open, the action never stops. The staff is always available to assist you. All sports....all the time!

TSZ STAFF

Alright lets start this up

Most of you are going to know me because of The Sports Zone but for those of you who don't then welcome to my blog. I am relatively new to this so bare with me. I will be breaking down various things in sports and maybe some other things as well. We will see how it goes.

A little about the Sports Zone in an interview I did with DCFU:

Az: I just joined The Sports Zone...a VERY nice site. Tell us more about it. What's the focus there? What's it all about?Steel-x: Glad you asked.

We offer it all at TSZ from Football to Mixed Martial Arts and everything in between. Breaking news coverage for every team from coast to coast, mock drafts, player profiles, and we are currently working on an in-depth links page that will cover every sport. We offer a casino where you gamble your earnings at the site on games and prop bets, an arcade with over 1000 games, and much more. There is just so much more I don’t want to bore you with my words just go and check it out. It’s a great place to hang out and just have some fun.

I am pleased to say I was apart of what we have done there and we hope to welcome you to the site once you check it out.

Az: How, why and when did you get involved with The Sports Zone?

Steel-x: Before I even came to TSZ (the-sportszone.net (shameless plug)) I ran a fantasy sports site (NLS - No Limit Sports) and it just was not panning out the way I wanted. Well I got an invite to help out at TSZ from Koopa, Roy, and Steelerfan (currently admin at steeleraddicts.com) to be an admin at there site. So I took the opportunity at the end of October to try it out and see where it took me. When I brought my staff and members over, the site was around 250 members and now we are currently at 753 in less then 3 months. We are growing and learning together to bring the best Sports site on the net.


Az: What's most important to you in a sports fan site?

Steel-x: The Members are my most important part of my every day occurrences at TSZ. Ask anyone of the members at the site about me and I am sure most of them will tell you that I am there to help them and get them what they want. I know some sites out there are much bigger but I still think they should have someone to answer questions that there members want answers too. Make them feel at home. Its tuff to mix fans from different sites and it’s also hard to bring all the info everyone needs or wants. But I can guarantee you can come there every day and learn something new about a rivalry team.


Az: What attributes does The Sports Zone possess that makes it special for you...and in your opinion...for your members?

Steel-x: Take a minute and think about your "Team Board" can you find info about all other teams in the NFL? We can at the Sports Zone. Most boards do not have a gfx team that darnik44 has set up at TSZ. WE have some of the best designers on the net. Can you gamble on your home site on Hockey games with true lines and odds? at TSZ you can. Can you play 1000+ games at your site? at TSZ you can. All in all it’s just a great place to hang out and really find something for everyone.


Well Lets see how this goes please discuss this here. - Click Here