The Weekly RootZoo Awards: August 19th, 2008

For the sports fan, mid-August comes with a sense of intense anticipation. The MLB playoff races are truly beginning to take shape, and we can begin to feel the excitement that only postseason baseball can bring. We are mere weeks away from the kickoffs of both the NFL and NCAA football seasons, and nothing matches the passion that football brings out in fans. We continue to see world records set in the Olympics, as Michael Phelps dominates the headlines and the "Redeem Team" seeks gold. Here are this week's award winners.

RootZoo Athlete of the Week: Michael Phelps

For the second consecutive week, there was no doubt who would win the RootZoo Athlete of the Week award. Michael Phelps has defined the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. The phrase "eight gold medals" says it all. Phelps beat Mark Spitz's record of seven gold medals in a single Olympics and walks away from the games with a record 14 Olympic gold medals. Despite all the other great storylines and outstanding performances this Olympics has seen, Phelps will be the athlete history remembers, as well as the story we share with the next generation. RootZoo members recognized him with over 75% of the votes, as the five other well-deserving athletes never stood a chance this week.  Congratulations, Michael Phelps!



RootZoo Team of the Week: USA Men's Olympic Swim Team

***A special thanks to RootZoo member BronxBlogger for the following write-up about the RootZoo Team of the Week:

Gold seems to be the treasure of choice for our Olympic Men's Swim Team as they win this week's Team of the Week award, anchored by the man himself, two-time defending Athlete of the Week (sorry, no gold medal for that) Michael Phelps. The men’s team participated in the 4x100m free relay, 4x200m free relay and 4x100 medley relay, winning the gold in all three events. In the 4x100 free relay, the team broke a 15 hour old world record with a time of 3:08:24 and edged out the French team on the final leg after being down nearly a full body length at the last turn. The 4x200 free relay also saw another record fall as they swam to a world's best 6:58:56, becoming the first team ever to break the seven minute mark. As the cliché goes, good things come in threes, and in this case, it held up. The Americans broke a third and final relay record in the 4x100 medley relay with a time of 3:29:24, a half-second ahead of Australia and just over a full second under the world record. Congratulations to Michael Phelps, Aaron Peirsol, Brendan Hansen, Garrett Weber-Gale, Cullen Jones, Ryan Lochte, Ricky Berens, Peter Vanderkaay and Jason Lezak - your Men's Olympic Swim Team - as they bring home three more gold medals in the 2008 Beijing Games.


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WEEKLY AWARD WINNERS

RootOff of the Week

Gold Medal (+500 points): gmitch13 and coltsfan150 I Should the MLB stop players from using maple bats? I

Silver Medal (+250 points): Tie

gogators503 and jprdbulldog20 I NCAA Rootoff Tournament Round 2: Heisman I

wpm5587 and Canesfan1899 I Who will win the Heisman Trophy I

Bronze Medal (+100 points): zacubsch9519 and FlyMan2 I Barry Bonds does not deserve to be called home run king I

Honorable mention to other top nominees: AdamKesher and KoufaxSpahn, rrileybc and tabascomj, BK77 and muwwy987, coltsfan150 and baseball hero
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Poll of the Week

Gold Medal (+500 points): BronxBlogger I What will Michael Phelps do with all his gold medals? I

Silver Medal (+250 points): Tie

Saints are Like Whah I Best Free Agenst pickup for your favorite NFL team I

Saints are Like Whah I Best name at the Summer Olympics I

Bronze Medal (+100 points): Mothman405 I If you could go back in time to one sporting event, just to be able to say "I was there," which would it be? I

Honorable mention to other top nominees: Coug_Fan, muwwy987, Owner, Flyman2
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Thread of the Week

Gold Medal (+500 points): Tie

Saints are Like Whah I TC: Micheal Phelps is NOWHERE near the best Olympian ever I

The Hill 14 I Will the Real Robinson Cano Please Stand Up? I

babyruth34 I TC: Real Madrid is a better club than Manchester United I

Silver Medal (+250 points): Mothman405 I After winning his 7th straight gold by .01 seconds, I hearby give Michael Phelps permission too... I

Bronze Medal (+100 points): boogss03 I What made you a football fan? I

Honorable mention to other top nominees: Special K, wpm5587, Owner
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Article of the Week

Gold Medal (+500 points): joe I The Top 10 NBA Duos Of All-Time I

Silver Medal (+250 points): Tie

indyeagle308 I Hooliganism: What Not To Do I

BK77 I The Future Of Dominance: Part Deux I

Bronze Medal (+100 points): The Dream I NFL 2008 Preview AFC Edition I

Honorable mention to other top nominees: fwbaseball, Tribetime, mcnameefan1, z_dizzle
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RootZoo News Update

RootZoo News Update

1.  If you were a video blitz participant, you might have received the wrong shirt in the mail today.  The mistake was made on our end, and if you did in fact receive the wrong shirt, keep that one.  You'll be receiving a second (will work for roots) t-shirt soon.

2.  The futures section launched over the past week and while its upcoming impact on the point system remains unknown, some big wagers have been placed on many of the different listings and things will undoubtedly get interesting as the outcomes of these events are determined.  Thanks to the many of you who've submitted suggested events - you'll see a handful of them already listed in the section and we'll continue enter more of these as time permits.  Keep the great stuff coming.

3.  Stay tuned for a very exciting new style of pick 'em contest with a planned launch around the time of NFL season.

4.  There's more, but we'll keep quiet for now.

-RZ