Free Agency: Tracking the Moves

For starters, we obviously aren't going to be awake or able to blog around the clock to keep people updated on Free Agency. Here are some resources you can use to stay as up to date as possible:

CBS Sports Transaction Tracker

ESPN Free Agent Blog

ESPN's Adam Schefter

ESPN's Chris Mortensen

Draft Breakdown's Will Spencer

Fox Sports' Jay Glazer

If you haven't yet, do yourself a favor and sign up for Twitter. It makes following Free Agency so much easier. Instant news, just use your head and check out the source to make sure it's reliable.

Finally, we'll try to update with the most recent moves on top so you don't have to scroll all the way to the bottom of the post to look for updates. We put a Steelers section at the beginning of the post so you don't have to dig through everything to try to find Steelers news.

For those of you who might be following the Free Agent market for the first time, here is a brief rundown on how it works: teams are not allowed to negotiate with Free Agents until 12:01 on March 5, 2010. After that time, any player who is an Unrestricted Free Agent (UFA) is free to negotiate and sign with any team they wish. Players that are Restricted Free Agents (RFAs) have a tendered offer - meaning that if they get no offers from other teams in Free Agency, their prior team will retain them for the tendered contract amount. If another team signs an RFA, they have to give up a draft pick (the amount of the tendering offer determines which round the draft pick is in). Since teams can not negotiate with players until after midnight, it is typical for the majority of moves to be made during the day on Friday, after teams have had a chance to fly players in and meet with them face-to-face.

Steelers Players on the Market

Unrestricted Free Agents

FS Ryan Clark

RB Willie Parker

FB Carey Davis

G Darnell Stapleton

SS Tyrone Carter

CB Deshea Townsend

DE Nick Eason

DE Travis Kirschke

Restricted Free Agents

RT Willie Colon - offered 1st round tender

TE Matt Spaeth - offered 3rd round tender

P Daniel Sepulveda - offered 4th round tender

CB William Gay - offered 5th round tender

Free Agency Moves

SIGNING

The mass exodus from Arizona continues -- Safety Antrel Rolle signs a 5-year, $37 million deal with the Giants with $15 million guaranteed.

TRADE

Baltimore traded a 3rd and 4th round draft pick to Arizona for WR Anquan Boldin and a 5th round pick. This is definitely the biggest move of Free Agency thus far. This is a definite upgrade to the Ravens passing game and a big hit to Arizona's offense. Steve Breaston moves into the #2 role in Arizona. Boldin signed a new deal with Baltimore - 4 years, $28 million with $10 million guaranteed.

SIGNING

The Dolphins signed LB Karlos Dansby to a 5-year $43 million deal with $23 million guaranteed.

The 49ers appear to have worked out a deal with QB David Carr. Not sure what this means for backup QB Shaun Hill, who has been shuffled around. This gives the 49ers 3 mediocre QBs in Alex Smith, Shaun Hill, and David Carr. Of them, Hill actually has a winning record as a starter. None of them are exactly fear-inducing for opposing secondaries though. Smith and Carr, both #1 overall picks in the draft, are considered two of the biggest draft busts of the past decade.

SIGNING

Green Bay re-signed OT Chad Clifton to a 3-year deal. This makes it highly unlikely that the Packers would take a run at Willie Colon.

SIGNING

Be thankful we were able to re-sign Casey Hampton when we did. The Patriots had to shell out huge bucks to keep NT Vince Wilfork around -- 5 years, $40 million with $25 million guaranteed (including an $18 million signing bonus). That makes Hampton's 3-year, $21 million contract look fantastic.

WR Brandon Marshall, a restricted free agent with first round tender, will be visiting Seattle on Saturday. If he comes to terms with the Seahawks, the Broncos can either match the deal within a week or surrender Marshall to the 'hawks and receive Seattle's first round pick (#6 overall). Seattle has two first round picks in the draft this year, and may be willing to put one on the line for a player like Marshall.

SIGNING

The Colts re-signed LB Gary Brackett to a 5-year $33 million deal.

SIGNING

Atlanta signs former Texans CB Dunta Robinson to a 6-year contract.

SIGNING

The Rams sign QB AJ Feeley to a 2-year deal. This doesn't mean they're out of the Sam Bradford sweepstakes, it just means they have no trust in Marc Bulger. With Feeley as a backup, Bradford is looking more and more appealing.

SIGNING

The Bears signed RB Chester Taylor (4 years, $12.5 million with $7 million guaranteed) and DE Julius Peppers

SIGNING

DE Kyle Vanden Bosch agrees to a 4-year, $26 million deal with the Lions. With their trade last night, the Lions could have an entirely new D-line this year, assuming they draft either Suh or McCoy to play the other DT spot.

SIGNING

The Eagles agreed to terms with FB Leonard Weaver. Weaver went to his first Pro Bowl last year, and cashed that into a 3-year, $11 million deal with $6.5 million guaranteed. No doubt Shady McCoy was glad to hear his blocking back would be back.

SIGNING

The Lions signed WR Nate Burleson to a 5-year, $25 million deal with $11 million guaranteed. This is a good move for the Lions, as Bryant Johnson was a disappointment last year, and they need another receiver who can take the double/triple teams away from Calvin Johnson.

SIGNING

The Bears signed TE Brandon Manumaleuna to a 5-year contract.

In the creepiness department, Lions coach Jim Schwartz went to Kyle Vanden Bosch's home in Tennessee to recruit him. Vanden Bosch played for Schwartz when Schwartz was the Defensive Coordinator in Tennessee. This would be a good fit for Detroit, even though KVB is starting to get on the older side.

SIGNING

Houston re-signed punter Matt Turk. This is good news for the Steelers with Sepulveda being an RFA, this is one less team that might try to pry him away.

SIGNING

The Broncos re-signed RB J.J. Arrington. Arrington isn't much more than a 3rd down back. Moreno is the real deal, everyone else there is just depth.

LB Karlos Dansby will visit the Miami Dolphins tomorrow. This is a good move for Miami. Their top 2 tacklers last year were there safeties (they got essentially nothing from their linebackers in run defense). They already cut Joey Porter on the outside, and they need someone to shore up the run defense on the inside. Dansby is versatile and would be a good fit in a Parcells defense.

SIGNING

The Falcons re-sign QB Chris Redman to a 2-year, $5 million contract to remain Matt Ryan's backup. This is a good move for Atlanta. Redman knows their system and played well when he came in last year when Ryan was injured.

The Bears will bring in DE Julius Peppers and RB Chester Taylor on Friday to meet with team representatives. With only 5 picks in the upcoming draft, Chicago is hitting the Free Agent market early and often to improve their roster.

TRADE

Cleveland sends DT Corey Williams to Detroit for a late-round pick in this year's draft. No word yet on what round the pick is in. Don't think this takes Detroit out of the Suh/McCoy sweepstakes at the top of the draft though. They run a 4-3 and could use 2 DT's.

TRADE

San Diego traded CB Antonio Cromartie to the Jets for a 3rd round pick in the 2011 draft. The pick could become a 2nd rounder depending on playing time/performance. With Revis at one corner, the Jets might have the best CB tandem in the league right now. Cromartie is a great fit for Rex Ryan's aggressive defense.

Free Agency: Defense

Midterms week. The defense preview is going to be short and sweet because Free Agency starts in an hour. Deals are already starting to take shape. We'll try to post updates. Twitter is where the action is right now.

We're only highlighting the big names available at each position. There are plenty more out there for the taking, but these are the guys that are going to make the headlines.

Defensive Line

Unrestricted Free Agents:

Julius Peppers (DE-Carolina)

Aaron Kampman (DE/LB-Green Bay)

Kyle Vanden Bosch (DE-Tennessee)

Jevon Kearse (DE-Tennessee)

Jamal Williams (NT-San Diego)

Restricted Free Agents:

Elvis Dumervil (DE/LB-Denver) - 1st and 3rd Round Tender

Ray Edwards (DE-Minnesota) - 1st Round Tender

Linebackers

Unrestricted Free Agents:

Joey Porter (OLB-Miami)

Jason Taylor (OLB-Miami)

Keith Bulluck (OLB-Tennessee)

Scott Fujita (OLB-New Orleans)

Cato June (OLB-Chicago)

Karlos Dansby (ILB-Arizona)

Gary Brackett (ILB-Indianapolis)

Larry Foote (ILB-Detroit)

Restricted Free Agents:

Shawne Merriman (OLB-San Diego) - Tendered

Thomas Davis (OLB-Carolina) 1st and 3rd Round Tender

DeMeco Ryans (ILB-Houston) 1st and 3rd Round Tender

Derrick Johnson (ILB-Kansas City) 1st Round Tender

Stephen Tulloch (ILB-Tennessee) 1st Round Tender

D'Qwell Jackson (ILB-Cleveland) 2nd Round Tender

Cornerback

Unrestricted Free Agents

Leigh Bodden (New England)

Lito Sheppard (NY Jets)

Dunta Robinson (Houston)

Phillip Buchanon (Detroit)

Restricted Free Agents:

Carlos Rogers (Washington) 1st Round Tender

Ellis Hobbs (Philadelphia) 1st Round Tender

Safety

Unrestricted Free Agents:

Darren Sharper (New Orleans)

Antrel Rolle (Arizona)

Ryan Clark (Pittsburgh)

Brodney Pool (Cleveland)

Restricted Free Agents:

Nick Collins (Green Bay) 1st & 3rd round Tender

Bernard Pollard (Houston) 1st round Tender

Antoine Bethea (Indianapolis) 1st round Tender

Roman Harper (New Orleans) 1st round Tender

So there you have it. We'll be making another post shortly to try to track all of the moves (or at least the ones we think are relevant. There will be a lot of minor players changing hands, which doesn't all need to be tracked.

Free Agency: Offense

Have you been following the NHL Trade Deadline religiously? We have. But now that that's over, we can turn our attention back to football. Just when you think the excitment of wheeling and dealing players is over, you're wrong.

NFL Free Agency begins Friday.

If we had been a) smart or b) not had midterms this week, we would have put together a series of posts about all the free agents out there. Instead, we're packing it all into 2 posts. Today's post will be focused on free agents on Offense and tomorrow's post will focus on Defense.

Before we get rolling, here's a brief explanation on how free agency works. There are three types of free agents: Unrestricted (UFA), Restricted (RFA), and Exclusive-Rights (ERFA) Free Agents. We'll be using these acronyms, so if you're not familiar with them, you will be. UFA's are on the open market and can be signed by any team. At any point before the Free Agency period begins, an RFA or ERFA can be made a "tendering offer" by their team. Based on the amount of this offer, if they are signed by a different team that team must give up a draft pick in compensation. For example, Willie Colon is an RFA and the Steelers made him a tendering offer of $2.1 million for 1 year. Based on this number and a scale of draft picks, if another team signs Colon they would have to give the Steelers their first round draft pick. Additionally, if Colon gets an offer from another team, the Steelers can retain him by either matching or exceeding that offer. ERFA's work in a similar manner, but they are made up of only players that have been in the league for 2 years whose contracts have expired.

Quarterback

Quarterback is the most important position on your team. The NFL has become a passing league, and whether you like it or not, that's how it is. There are a slew of teams out there in need of a franchise passer. Here's the teams we believe will be the most active in the QB market (this includes Free Agency and the Draft): St. Louis, Seattle, San Francisco, Arizona, Carolina, Minnesota, Washington, Oakland, Denver, Cleveland, Buffalo.

This is not to say that all these teams need a franchise passer right now. Some (Seattle) are looking for a QB of the future to groom as the replacement for their aging quarterback. Others (San Francisco, Arizona) are looking for servicable back-ups in case their current starter falters. Washington and Denver are on the list because their starting QB from last year (Campbell and Orton) are due to hit the free agent market.

Kyle Orton

This might be the first time Orton has ever topped a list of quarterbacks. However, given the other names on the market, Orton is really the only one with starter potential. Orton has experience playing on teams with a good running game and not much to speak of in the passing game. I fully expect Denver to re-sign Orton, as he is a restricted free agent with first round tender, and it would cost any other team a hefty price in draft picks to pry Orton away.

Projected Team: Denver

Jason Campbell

The Redskins have tendered Campbell, meaning that they offered him a contract. If any team signs Campbell, they will have to give Washington their first round pick and pay Campbell over $3.1 million. We've always felt that Campbell was the product of bad luck and bad coaching. He can be an efficient quarterback, but at that price, don't expect a lot of teams to jump after him.

Projected Team: Washington

Chad Pennington

Pennington, like Orton, will never be a quarterback that racks up a ton of yards. However, in a west coast offense where he isn't asked to make a lot of throws down the field and can make use of his efficiency, he could be a servicable starter. He is coming off an injury, but we wouldn't be surprised if a team like Buffalo took a shot at him, as Pennington knows the division well. Carolina and St. Louis are in play here as well.

Projected Team: Buffalo

Matt Moore

Moore stepped in in Carolina last year and played decently well. At 26, he has the potential to be a "bridge" for Carolina until they can land another franchise passer. With Delhomme becoming a turnover machine, look for Carolina to re-sign Moore as an insurance blanket then maybe go after a quarterback in the later rounds of the draft. UPDATE: Carolina put a huge tendering offer on Moore. Any team that signs him will have to give up a 1st and a 3rd round pick.

Projected Team: Carolina

Troy Smith

A virtual unknown on the QB market. Smith has seen minimal time with the emergence of Joe Flacco as Baltimore's franchise QB. Does Smith think he can be a starter in the league? Is there a team willing to give him a shot despite not really knowing if he is NFL ready? At best, Smith is a back-up right now, but given his young age, Baltimore may be willing to let him walk and go after a veteran backup. Smith is an RFA, so Baltimore will get the opportunity to match any offer made to him.

Projected Team: Baltimore

Donovan McNabb-Kevin Kolb-Michael Vick

Technically none of them are Free Agents this year, but they will have a big impact on the QB market this offseason. All three are entering the last year of their contracts. Conventional thought is that Philly will select one to move forward with as their starter and try to move the other two on the market. Vick didn't do a whole lot last year in Philly, but the Eagles will be a major player in the QB market this year. All three are capable of being starters in the league, and you have to wonder if some team is going to be willing to give up a draft pick for one of them, though McNabb or Kolb would probably cost a first rounder.

Teams in play: If Brett Favre drags his feet, don't be surprised if Minnesota makes a play for McNabb or Vick. They've shown they have the roster to take them deep in the playoffs, they just need a quarterback that can make plays. Carolina is also a possible landing spot for Vick, as they have good run support but also the playmakers on the outside that could make him a threat. As always, never count Oakland out of the mix when trades can be made.

The next best: Tavaris Jackson (Minnesota, RFA), Bruce Gradkowski (Oakland, RFA-2nd Round Tender), Kellen Clemens (NY Jets, RFA), Brodie Croyle (Kansas City, RFA), David Carr, NY Giants, UFA)

There field of "Veteran Backup Quarterback" is deep this year with Charlie Batch, AJ Feeley, Mark Brunell, Daunte Culpepper

Running Back

If you're looking for a free agent running back this year, you might as well go to an AARP convention. Of all the positions in the league, Running Back has the most big names on the market. However, most of them are on the wrong side of 30. Most of the young and exciting players are RFAs and have high tender offers.

Darren Sproles

Sproles isn't going to run anyone over any time soon, but he's shifty, speedy, and can single-handedly take over a game (see: Wild Card Round vs. Indianapolis, January 2009). He is young and the top free agent on the market. He was franchised by San Diego last year, meaning he made a whole lot more than he was actually worth. He's going to try to cash in on this and make some team pay big bucks for a specialty back. There are teams that could actually use a back like him, particularly Seattle and Detroit, two teams short on playmakers.

Projected Team: Seattle

Thomas Jones

Behind the Jets big beefy line, Jones racked up a ton of yards last year. But Jones will be 32 by the start of next season, and while he can still run hard between the tackles, he doesn't have what it takes to be a feature back any more. Jones will be best served in a situation where he can split carries with someone. There are teams out there who have a need for a hard runner like Jones, and he should find a home on the market.

Projected Team: Washington

LaDainian Tomlinson

The biggest news of the year so far has been San Diego cutting ties with LT. Not that it came as an incredible surprise to anyone, we all knew that LT's time had passed. But he's still got enough in him to get those hard yards when he needs it. A team like Houston would benefit greatly from having someone like LT in their backfield.

Projected Team: Houston

Chester Taylor

The Spring Chicken of the Over-30 running back group. Taylor has been a sure-handed and serviceable back-up to Adrian Peterson in Minnesota for a few years now. But there are teams out there that will give him a bigger role than the 20-80 split he gets in Minnesota. He would be a perfect fit in a place like Detroit.

Projected Team: Detroit

Leonard Weaver

Weaver was a one-man wrecking crew at fullback for the Eagles last year. We would love to see the Steelers pick up someone like him that can just annihilate linebackers in the open field to clear holes for the running game. Chances are, he goes somewhere where fullbacks are actually appreciated. Weaver went to the Pro Bowl last year and the Eagles are looking to work out a new deal.

Projected Team: Philadelphia

Running Backs with Tendered Offers:

Ronnie Brown (Miami) - First Round

Le'Ron McClain (Baltimore) - First Round

Jerious Norwood (Atlanta) - First Round

Pierre Thomas (New Orleans) - Second Round

Leon Washington (NY Jets) - Second Round

Jason Snelling (Atlanta) - Second Round

LenDale White (Tennessee) - Second Round

Other Big Names: Brian Westbrook (Philadelphia), Willie Parker (Pittsburgh), Kevin Faulk (New England), Larry Johnson (Cincinnati)

Wide Reciever

The biggest names in the Wide Receiver market all have tendered offers made, but given the lack of first round talent at Wide Reciever in this year's draft, don't be shocked if someone makes a run at one of these guys.

Brandon Marshall

Marshall has a 1st round tender, but if a team can get past his off-field antics, his skills would actually be worth a first round pick. He has repeatedly said that he wants out of Denver. There are teams at the bottom of the first round in need of receivers that might be willing to give up their first round pick to land a guy like Marshall. Teams like Baltimore, Miami, Cincinnati or Dallas could be in play here.

Projected Team: Denver

Miles Austin

The Cowboys chose not to use their franchise tag on Austin. This is really where the whole WR market hinges. If Austin doesn't get a deal done with Dallas and tests the open market, that puts Dallas in play for the other receivers at the top of the market.

Projected Team: Dallas

Davone Bess

This FA class is loaded with slot receiver potential. Bess is the youngest of the group and the one with the most upside. After a solid college career at Hawaii catching passes from Colt Brennan, Bess has had some decent seasons with the Dolphins.

Projected Team: Cincinnati

Terrell Owens

We couldn't go without mentioning TO. After a lackluster year with a lackluster team, TO is going to want to go out with a bang (are you surprised?). Look for him to try to weasel his way onto a contender's roster.

Projected Team: Baltimore

Plaxico Burress

Is there a team out there willing to give him a shot fresh out of the can? It's quite possible. There are some desperate teams out there in need of big play receivers. It may not make Plax happy to go to a non-contender, but I highly doubt he's going to get any offers from any teams at the top. That being said, a team like Chicago in drastic need of receivers for their "franchise" passer to throw to would probably be willing to take a flyer on a guy like Plax.

Projected Team: Chicago

Players With Tendered Offers:

Braylon Edwards (NY Jets) - 1st and 3rd round picks

Vincent Jackson (San Diego) - 1st and 3rd round picks

Steve Breaston (Arizona) - 1st round pick

Lance Moore (New Orleans)

Tight End

Ben Watson

Watson has been a reliable tight end for New England for many years, but it seems that the two teams might be parting ways. If it's anyone's bet, he goes to New England West.

Projected Team: Kansas City

Tony Scheffler

Scheffler has a low-round tender offer from Denver, but in a weak market for pass-catching tight ends, he might draw some attention. Then again, this draft class is very deep at the tight end position, so chances are teams will be more inclined to invest a draft pick in a tight end.

Projected Team: Denver

Players with Tendered Offers:

Owen Daniels (Houston) - 1st and 3rd Round

Bo Scaife (Tennessee) - 1st Round

Jeff King (Carolina) - 2nd Round

David Thomas (New Orleans/Wendy's)

Offensive Line

There isn't anything spectacular going down on the O-line front this year. Most of the top-tier players have been tendered. If anything happens, it will be a trade and not a free agent signing. On the whole, teams seem to be playing it a lot closer to the vest in this un-capped year, offering tendering offers to players that might not usually get them for fear of what they might get over-paid on the open market.

Brackets n'at

One of the great things about this time of year is College Basketball coming down the stretch run towards Selection Sunday. For us, Selection Sunday is usually one of the best half hours of television in the year. And once the brackets come out? Well, there's nothing better than looking over a freshly printed bracket, quickly scribbling down your predictions, then erasing them all and starting over because you realized you had 4 teams from the same conference in the final four.

Last night, we took a brief informal poll of our twitter followers and everyone who responded was really into the idea of us running some kind of bracket tournament. Since both of us are in grad school and therefore have no money, there won't be any prizes (at least from us).

After looking around at what different types of bracket games are available, we settled on two different games to set up groups for. Both are free to enter, and while there are no prizes, you'll get bragging rights, which on the internet is a pretty good prize.

The first game is a bit more challenging, but if you're up for it, it's a lot of fun.

The Selection Sunday Challenge is a game offered on NCAA.com. This is a game for before the tournaments start. The point of the game is to correctly predict which teams will make the field of 65. NCAA.com and CBSSports.com use the same password system, so if you are a member on one of the sites, you are automatically a member on the other. If you are not, it's free and easy to sign up.

The game gives you a blank 65-team bracket to fill in. All you have to do is drag-and-drop the teams from the list on the left into the place on the bracket (region & seed) where you believe they will be placed by the selection committee. You can make changes to your bracket up until 5 minutes before the Selection Show airs on March 14th.

Here's the scoring system:

1 point for correctly predicting a team makes the tournament.

1 point for correctly predicting the seed that a team gets in the tournament.

1 point for correctly prediction the region that a team is placed in.

Points are cumulative, meaning that each team can earn you up to 3 points. The person with the most points wins. If you put a team in the right region but predict the wrong seed, you still get 2 points. If you predict the right seed but wrong region, you get 2 points. If you have the wrong seed and wrong region, you only get 1 point.

Since you can make your selections up through 5 minutes before the selection show, make sure you keep a close eye on who earns automatic bids to the tournament and make sure to include those teams in your bracket!

Here's how to sign up:

Go HERE (if you are not signed in to your account, it will prompt you to do so) and click the "Join A Group" tab. It will then ask you for a Group Name and Password, which are:

Group Name: thesteelersnat

Password: sixburgh

After that, happy bracketing! For the at-home bracketologists out there, we're going to warn you, this game is dangerous because you can spend hours and hours researching and moving teams around. In other words, it's a lot of fun!

The second game is the typical "Tournament Pick 'em" game. We set it up on Yahoo! because we like their system the best. We made it a public group, so anyone can join. You need a Yahoo! account, which is free and pretty easy to sign up for.

Joining the group is simple. Click here. Then hit the "Join Group" button. If you're not signed in to your Yahoo! account, it will prompt you to do so. If you are, you will be added to the group. Don't forget to check back after Selection Sunday to make your picks!

If anyone has any suggestions for other games for us to organize, just let us know!

Olympic Hockey Bracket

Just so you all can follow along as we progress through the tournament, here's the bracket. We'll try to update it after the games each day to make things easier to follow.

Schedule/Results

All times EST

Tuesday, February 23

Switzerland 3, Belarus 2 (OT)

Canada 8, Germany 2

Czech Rep 3, Latvia 2

Slovakia 4, Norway 3

Wednesday, February 24

USA 2, Switzerland 0

Canada 7, Russia 3

Finland 2, Czech Rep 0

Slovakia 4, Sweden 3

Friday, February 26

3:00pm USA v. Finland

9:30pm Canada v. Slovakia

Saturday, February 27

10:00pm Bronze Medal Game

USA/Finland loser v. Canada/Slovakia loser

Sunday, February 28

3:15pm Gold Medal Game

USA/Finland winner v. Canada/Slovakia winner

USA! USA! USA!

Wow. What a performance by Ryan Miller and Team USA to beat Canada 5-3 in regulation. If you missed the game, you might be able to watch it here. If you're able to figure out NBC's crazy log-in system, then you'll be treated to one of the best hockey games you'll ever see. It's a shame the majority of America probably missed it because NBC was showing Ice Dancing instead.

At any rate, here's a look at the standings in the tournament and some scenarios for tonight's game between Sweden and Finland.

Group A

1/2. USA - 9 points (+9)

6. Canada - 5 points (+7)

8. Switzerland - 3 points (-2)

10. Norway - 1 points (-14)

Group B

3. Russia - 7 points (+7)

4/5. Czech Rep - 6 points (+3)

7. Slovakia - 5 points (+5)

12. Latvia - 0 points (-15)

Group C

Finland - 6 points (+9)

Sweden - 6 points (+4)

9. Belarus - 3 points (-4)

11. Germany - 0 points (-9)

Here's the first round matchups that are locked in stone:

#6 Canada v. #11 Germany

#7 Slovakia v. #10 Norway

#8 Switzerland v. #9 Belarus

Latvia will play the #5 seed, which will either be Sweden, Finland, or the Czech Republic. More on this below.

And now to look at how things will shake out depending on tonight's games:

If Finland wins in regulation

Since Finland and the US both have a +9 Goal Differential, a win by Finland in regulation would give them 9 points and increase their goal differential, making them the #1 seed in the tournament. If Finland wins by more than 2, the Czech Republic would get the #4 seed and the final bye. If Finland wins by 1, the Czechs and Swedes would be tied with 6 points and a +3 goal differential. I'm not sure what the next tiebreaker is.

If Sweden wins in regulation

This would give Sweden 9 points. Since Sweden's goal differential is only+4 right now, they would need to win by 5 to get into a tie with the US for the #1 overall seed. If Sweden wins by 4 or less, they will be the #2 seed and the US will be the #1 seed. Additionally, Finland would get the #4 seed if Sweden wins by less than 6 goals, based on goal differential against the Czech Republic. If Sweden wins by more than 6, the Czechs will be the #4 seed and get the last bye.

If the game goes to overtime

If the game goes to overtime, the US will be the #1 overall seed because the winner will only get 2 points and finish with 8 rather than 9. In this case, the winner of the game would be the #2 seed and the loser would be the #4 seed and get the extra bye, pushing the Czech Republic back to the opening round.

Did that all make sense? If not, here's a picture of the bracket to try to make things a little clearer:

Now, what does all this mean for the US? A bye to the quarterfinals means that we are two wins away from a medal, three away from Gold. In order to get to the medal round, we will need to win our first round game. After that is the semi-finals, in which the winners go to play for Gold and the losers play in the Bronze medal game.

How important is it that the US get the #1 seed? Very. You might not think it's all that important, but look at the bottom half of the bracket. Russia is the #3 seed and Canada is the #6 seed, which means they will probably face off in the quarterfinals. If the US is the #2 seed, we would probably have to play Slovakia in the quarterfinals (bring back the Marian Hossa hate) and then the winner of the Canada/Russia game just to get to the Gold Medal game.

On the other side of the bracket, things look a bit easier. The #1 seed will get a quarterfinal game against either Switzerland or Belarus, a much easier opponent than Slovakia. After that, to get to the Gold Medal game, we would have to play the winner of the 4-5 matchup (unless 12th seed Latvia shocks the world), which would be the Czechs against either Sweden or Finland. Based on what we've seen in the tournament so far, the top half of the bracket offers a much better path to the Gold Medal game than the bottom half, which will be stacked with Russia, Canada, Slovakia, and the winner of tonight's Sweden-Finland game.

NBC Thinks Hockey is Boring

NBC has the NHL television contract. So, when the player you've decided to make the face of the game (Sidney Crosby) is playing against Team USA in one of the marquee games of the Olympic Hockey Tournament thus far (in prime time nonetheless), what does NBC put on? Ice Dancing. And the US-Canada game? Relegated to MSNBC.

Obviously, hockey isn't NBC's #1 priority. But we've known that for a while. The Pensblog has done a great job documenting just how little NBC cares about hockey, starting with the treatment (or should I say lack of treatment) headliner hockey games get on nbcsports.com. You would think when you have the television contract for only 1 of the 4 major sports, you would do a little more to promote it. Nope.

This didn't hit home for us until a few days ago when we were trying to re-watch the Canada-Switzerland game on NBC's website. We had missed the game when it was originally broadcast, and wanted to go back to watch it because we knew it was a good game. However, when we went to NBC's Olympics website where you are supposed to be able to watch full event replays, we were shocked to discover that the Canada-Switzerland game featured no announcing, only the crowd/arena noises. Since the game had been on television, we knew there had to be announcers there and that NBC somehow managed to edit out their audio track from the game they put online. This didn't make much sense to us, so we took our question to Twitter.

These are actual screenshots, but we've provided the links as well so that you can see we're not making this up.

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Wait, what?

"Long and boring"

Go ahead, read that again.

An NBC employee, specifically the one they have running their Olympic Hockey Twitter Account thinks that hockey is boring?

WTF?

Seriously, WTF?

In the end, this is the network that trashed Conan, so I guess we shouldn't expect too much from them. Honestly, if they didn't have the NHL, The Office, and 30 Rock, there would be no reason to watch NBC.

I think we have someone on our blogging staff that can handle this. Minister of Ire, take it away...

UPDATE: Via comments here and some responses on Twitter, some people have mentioned that it is possible the NBC person meant that the reason was long and boring, not the object in question (the hockey game). We believe this is possible and it may be a case of poor wording. Given that you only have 140 characters on Twitter to get your point across, sometimes things get abbreviated. However, they could have saved space by saying "There's a long & boring reason" rather than the wordage they used. Additionally, had they said something like "There's a reason that is long and boring" or "There's a reason, which is long and boring" it would have been much more clear what they meant. We'll be the first to admit that this very well could be a case of poor wording. However, NBC stays On Notice for not showing the US-Canada hockey game. And for employing Pierre McGuire.