After half a season of NBA basketball, we've learned a lot, like how D-Rose is a monster, Kobe is still clutch, the Heat are still a bit of a mystery, and the Celtics are oldies but goodies.  And after over 190,000 check-ins, we know what fans think about their teams too.  Here's some cool trends we found.  Check out the infographic above for even more info about your favorite teams!

 

Top 5 Most Popular Teams
Based on the percentage of all NBA check-ins to a team's games

1) Los Angeles Lakers
2) Miami Heat
3) Boston Celtics
4) Orlando Magic
5) Chicago Bulls

Interestingly, the Spurs (best record in the NBA) and the Mavs (4th best record) aren't even in the top 5 of most popular teams, as determined by fans.  They rank #9 and #10, respectively, in terms of fan popularity.

 

5 Meekest Fan Bases
Based on percentage of total shouts (teams with winning records only)

5) Oklahoma City Thunder
4) New Orleans Hornets
3) Atlanta Hawks
2) Phoenix Suns
1) Memphis Grizzlies

These are five teams with .500 or higher records, and their fan bases couldn't care less!  In fact, the following 6 losing teams' fans shout more about their teams than the Grizz's fans:  Cleveland, Detroit, Golden State, Houston, Indiana and the Los Angeles Clippers!   Come on Memphis, where you at??

 

The Blake Show
Blake Griffin is making an impact on the court, and on fans!  The Clippers rank highly in a number of interesting categories that you wouldn't expect based on their record.  First of all, they have over 3% of all chatter, second among teams with losing records (those lovable losers in Cleveland actually win that category).  Because of Blake Griffin's highlight reel, fans are picking the Clips to win more often also!  Likely for the first time ever, the Clippers have made an Overrated list!  Sadly, that means they win about 4% less often than fans think they will.  Here's hoping the Blake Show sticks around for a while, and maybe even carries the Clips to the playoffs this year or next!

 

There's lots more interesting data in the infographic above.  Take a look, and let us know what you think.  Feel free to ask questions about your team (@Fanvibe on Twitter) and we'll tell you all you need to know!

 

Make sure you check-in to this weekend's All-Star Festivities!

 

Thanks,
The Fanvibe Crew
Art, Joe, and Vish 

 

 

First and foremost, thank you and congratulations to all who played in our NBA All-Star Contest! We loved hearing your stories, and seeing all of your photos and video!

(Image courtesy of sportsnewscaster.com)

Hey basketball fans! Have you always wanted to go to the NBA All-Star Game but just couldn't manage to get your hands on a pair of tickets? Well, now is your chance to score some seats!!!

Visit facebook.com/fanvibe, "like" us, and tell us why you deserve to win the tickets. (Extra points for creativity and photos!)

OR

Tweet why you deserve to win the tickets. You must use the hashtag #Fanvibe

The Fanvibe staff will vote on which fan truly deserves the tickets -- taking into account creativity, the amount of likes and comments (or RTs) a fan's post receives, etc.

We will announce the winner on February 7 on Twitter, Facebook and our blog so check back on the 7th to see if you're our lucky winner.

Good luck!

The Fanvibe Crew
Art, Joe, Laura and Vish

Fanvibe will provide you two tickets at will call.  Unfortunately, we cannot provide travel or accommodations.  But we recommend you rent a place from AirBnB!

(Image courtesy of popculturepanda.blogspot.com)

Sports are so much better when you're following with a friend! So, why not invite your friends to join the Fanvibe community and support their favorite teams?

Refer a friend this weekend, and WIN BIG! And we mean, BIG!

Since we know how much our Fanvibe users love points, we've decided to hook you up and help you get to the top of the leaderboard, faster then ever before.

For each friend of yours that signs up, today through midnight Sunday, you get 80,000 points added into your account...PER FRIEND!
Plus, every friend that joins get 80,000 points added to his/her account immediately.

To refer a friend, go to your Contacts page and get your personalized referral URL on the right side.  Tweet it, Facebook it, IM it, Email it, write it on a napkin, whatever you have to do!  Once your friend clicks and signs up, you both get 80,000 points!

Here's to a new winner on the Fanvibe Leaderboard this week!

Enjoy the weekend, and as always, thanks for watching the games with us!

 

The Fanvibe Team
Art, Joe, Laura, Tyler and Vish

(Image courtesy of misterirrelevant.com)

The Winter Classic is the most watched regular season contest in the NHL. And why shouldn't it be? Take one of the world's favorite indoor sports (which originally started outdoors), put it in a famous outdoor venue like Wrigley Field or Fenway Park, let the snow fall, and drop the puck.

This year, 67,000 screaming fans (almost 4 times the capacity of the Consol Energy Center, the Pittsburgh Penguins' traditional home arena) will pack Heinz field to watch the Penguins host the Washington Capitals on New Years Day. HBO decided it would be a great idea to document the games leading up to the Winter Classic by following the players, coaches, and management with cameras. They've created must-see TV for any sports fan and one of the most entertaining shows on television right now.

(Image courtesy of blogs.orlandosentinel.com)

Happy Bowl season! We all know there's way too many bowl games, most of which have some pretty horrific names. Some of my favorites are: the Beef O' Brady Bowl, R + L Carriers Bowl, San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl, and the newly renamed Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl. Today, we've decided not to bore you by going over all of the Bowl games, instead we're just going to preview four of the bigger matchups!

 

All of us here at Fanvibe have been thinking long and hard about what we should get our users (and sports fans) for the holidays. We've gone through all of your wish lists and have come up with something pretty cool! So with Christmas just around the corner, we figured we'd hook you up with your gift a few days early.

 So without further adieu, we present to you a...

 New and Improved Fanvibe iPhone app!!

 What's so cool about the latest update? See for yourself!

Total Visual Redesign
As you can see from the images above, our new app is H-O-T with a capital H! (That's right, it's THAT good.) It's so sleek you'd barely recognize it from it's older counterpart! Our designers and developers have worked day in and day out coming up with something that is visually appealing, and that makes the user experience that much better!

Prediction Questions
Before today, Fanvibe users could only answer prediction questions on our website, but now we've brought our users' favorite function to the iPhone! Unlock questions that earn you MAJOR points each time you check in to games and rise to the top of the leaderboard faster than ever before.

 Baseball Card Profiles
This may just be the coolest thing yet! Click on your profile to not only see your awards, check-ins, friends, and teams, but now your profile is a baseball card complete with your Fanvibe stats. If that wasn't enough, you can also autograph your card and share it with friends on Facebook and Twitter!

Leaderboards
In listening to your feedback, the one thing that seemed to be of high importance was being able to check the leaderboards for each and every one of your teams. So, instead of just having access to the overall leaderboard, Fanvibe users can now quickly flip back and forth between their "favorite" teams.

 Check your iPhone now for the latest update and see what other surprises we have for you in the new app. If you haven't downloaded it yet, well you better get on it!!! (It'd be pretty embarrassing to be the last of your friends to get the Fanvibe app.)

Download the latest Fanvibe iPhone app now!

 
Happy Holidays!

 The Fanvibe Team

Was it just us or did it seem like 2010 was a year jam packed (more so than usual) with sports headlines full of drama, gossip, and of course inspiration? So many significant things happened in 2010…not to mention some TMZ-like sports stories as well.

Below you will find lists from two of our favorite Fanvibe staff members. They have taken a few moments to jot down some of their favorite sports stories of 2010. Did yours make the list?

LAURA’S TOP STORIES

1. The Decision
   Over 12 million people tuned in to ESPN to watch LeBron James break the hearts of Cleveland fans as he told the Cavs community he was “taking his talents to South Beach.” What should have been a simple announcement turned into a nationally televised saga. Former ESPN personality Dan Patrick said it best when he criticized ESPN’s hour long telecast -- "Don't play it like its 'American Idol,' " said Patrick.”This isn't how we cover sports ... it was an infomercial." 

   LeBron’s return to Cleveland on December 2, was one of the most watched NBA games of the season and the most checked into game on Fanvibe.

2. Michael Vick’s Road to Redemption
   Everyone knows the story of Michael Vick, the disgraced quarterback who served 18 months in prison for running an illegal dogfighting ring. Well, he’s done one heck of a job trying to redeem himself…at least on the field. He's been one of the most productive quarterbacks in the NFL, despite not starting for the Eagles this season and missing three games due to a rib injury. He’s led the fan Pro Bowl votes, and will forever be remembered for his game against Washington when he threw an 88-yard touchdown pass on the first play of the game and followed it up with 5 more TDs. See the highlights now!

   Oh, and breaking news: He wants to be a dog owner again one day…

3. World Cup
   This year's World Cup was hosted by South Africa—the first African nation to hold the tournament. Spain, a team known for having some of the best fans and players, wound up winning the Cup, defeating the Netherlands in overtime 1-0.  This was the first World Cup title for Spain.

   This World Cup is also credited for getting the United States to briefly fall in love with the world’s most beloved sport, introducing the obnoxious sounds of the vuvuzela to fans worldwide, and making us all fall in love with a psychic octopus named Paul. We miss you little guy! RIP!

4. Tiger Woods
   Ok, we know most of the Tiger drama happened last year, during Thanksgiving. But it all seemed to roll into 2010, which proved to be a not-so-great year for Tiger. In 2010, he “lost” his wife (and a $110 million divorce settlement), dropped from his No. 1 ranking, was shut out of a reported $22 million in endorsement income, and no longer has what TMZ.com referred to as "237 mistresses". On a positive note, at least 2011 can’t get any worse for the guy. Or can it?
5. Brett Favre
   Where do I even start? It pains me to even write this because at one time I really liked Brett Favre, a 3-time MVP for the Packers, you know, until he texted me. Now I can’t stand even hearing his name. Yet again, football fans this year had to watch Favre committing to another post-retirement comeback. Utterly painful.

   If that wasn’t enough, Favre really alienated any fans he had left when he then became involved in a humiliating ‘sexting’ scandal with former Jets employee Jenn Sterger. I mean, really…who wants to get a text from “little Favre” any way?  Other than Greg Oden’s girlfriend.

   NFL commissioner Rodger Goodell is currently reviewing the case and will be announcing a punishment before the end of the season. Yet another NFL fine for leading with your head…

JON’S LIST

1. The Heisman Controversy
   Is it just me, or is the NCAA under constant criticism for everything they do? People are calling for Death to the BCS, criticizing conference expansion, March Madness tournament expansion, and of course, illegal recruiting. In the same year that the NCAA's investigation resulted in Reggie Bush forfeiting and returned his Heisman trophy, controversy surrounded the 2010 Heisman winner, Cam Newton. Newton was even ruled ineligible by Auburn only to be quickly reversed by the NCAA in a bizarre 24 hours of college football. These two "student athletes" have forever changed the idea of illegal recruiting and voter skepticism when it comes to the Heisman balloting.
2. Zenyatta
   Even if you don't like horse racing, you should watch this video of Zenyatta's 19 wins. Zenyatta was a truly incredible talent who seemed to know exactly how to entertain race fans. It takes a really special horse for people to start talking about horse racing with so many different sports and media outlets. Horse racing will never be like it was during the days of Secretariat, Seattle Slew, and Affirmed, but this horse captured the attention of racing and casual fans alike.  She started her (yes, her) career 19-0 with her signature move of hanging at the back of the pack then kicking it into an insanely high gear down the final stretch. She was unable to win her 20th race at the 2010 Breeders Cup, but remains in the debate as one of the greatest thoroughbred race horses of all time.
3. Canada defeats USA for Olympic Gold Medal
   Everyone knows that Canada owns hockey. It's their sport, not ours. Canadians make up the largest number of players in the NHL, and it's not even close. So it was fitting that the United States was an underdog to their North American rivals in the 2010 Winter Olympics. One game for the gold in Vancouver created one of the biggest sporting events of 2010. Behind a brilliant goal tending performance from Ryan Miller, The United States had a dramatic late goal in the 3rd period to force sudden death overtime. The Canadians would prove too talented and scored the gold medal winning goal in overtime. No, the United States didn't win, but for one game, Americans were glued to their TV sets rooting as a country, for hockey.
4. Armando Galarraga's Imperfect Game
   This could go down in history as the most significant single calls in baseball history. Retiring 27 batters in a row is a feat that few pitchers will ever be able to accomplish. Before this year, in baseball's 110 year history (modern era), only 16 pitchers had achieved this feat. Galarraga would have achieved this, but 1st base umpire Jim Joyce simply blew the final out call at first base. Galarraga clearly stepped on the 1st base bag before the runner, but Joyce saw it differently. The better story here was Galarraga and Joyce's mature response to the situation afterward. Both Galarraga and Joyce acted like true sportsmen and handled an unfortunate situation gracefully, giving us the good sportsman story of the year.
5. Championship Droughts Ended
   146 years is a long, long time. That's how long Blackhawks, Saints, and Giants cumulatively waited to see their team win a championship. Saints fans waited 42 years, Blackhawks fans 48 years, and Giants fans 56 years. For the first time in many of these fans' lives, they didn't feel the heartbreak of an ended season. These aren't Lakers or Blue Devils or Yankees fans who feel that every year they are entitled to yet another championship. They are faithful and tortured fans who didn't go rooting for another team when their team didn't get it done year after year. In 2010, they got a dream season, and that dream is still going until the next champion is crowned.

These stories are our “Top 10 Sports Stories of 2010” and we can bet yours are completely different. In fact, we hope they are. That's what makes sports so great! There is a story for everyone. We at Fanvibe thought that 2010 was a fantastic year for sports, and we hope you did too!