Okay, so we posted an article first-thing Wednesday morning in which members of the Washington Redskins sounded off on running back Clinton Portis after growing tired of his constant need for attention.

Well, we had no clue how big it would become. It got picked up by the great Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post. It was also picked up by ESPN’s insider service, which was amusing because it meant that because we don’t have a paid account, we couldn’t see the link to our own work. Then the story was linked on ProFootballTalk.com, which was funny because we ripped them earlier this week in our Joe Gibbs writeup.

But the kicker was when we were informed that because of the Portis story, we were voted the ’site of the day’ for a show on ESPN2 called SportsNation. You can see a video of our moment in the spotlight above. If we’re being completely honest, this clip is awesome for one simple reason – Colin Cowherd is nowhere to be found (well, that and the fact that they said we have a totally “awesome name”).

The blowhard/attention whore who is usually the host of SportsNation must have been out Wednesday, because that’s definitely not him in the clip. The only rational explaination seems to be that this the closest thing to a perfect day we’ll ever see, so somebody must have done us a favor and kept the guy from ruining a very memorable occasion.

Most importantly, thanks to all of you who continue to support the site. It’s come a long way since day one, and hopefully will continue to grow and evolve as we search for the best way to bring fellow D.C. sports fans information on the teams we all know and love.

ps – Feel free to subscribe to our YouTube channel. That way, you’ll be the first to know when we post cool videos like this one or the Mike Shanahan videos (part one and part two).

(courtesy photo)

We wanted to take a moment to thank everyone for the continued support. Our traffic numbers over the last two months have easily eclipsed anything we’d done previously. Additionally, our t-shirt sales continue to far exceed any reasonable expectations and we’re even getting regular comments and feedback on our content. Anyway you look at it, things are going well these days.

In an effort to say thanks to our awesome readers, we’re asking for photos of folks wearing our merchandise. The hope is to add some more photos to the rotation for the Homer store and, if we get enough, to possibly even create a fan page. So if you’ve purchased anything from the store, please email us a photo here.

One final note: we’re now on Twitter. If you’re into that sort of thing, then feel free to add us. If not … nevermind. If we’re out and about in the local sports scene and come across something news worthy – like, say, former NFL linebacker Junior Seau hitting the ice at Caps practice yesterday – we’ll post photos, etc. there.

Thanks again for the support. In a perfect world, we’d buy each of you the beverage of your choice to show our appreciation. Let’s be honest – that’s not going to happen. Instead, enjoy this photo of one of our best-selling shirts.

We’d like to pause from our usual coverage of the D.C. sports world for a moment to thank you. Yes you. Since we launched the official Homer McFanboy website in mid-August it’s been amazing how quickly things have taken shape. Each month, we continue to see a steady rise in visits to the site which tells us that not only are people coming, but they keep coming back.

Whats more, those same folks who support us by regularly visiting the site have also shown their support by purchasing some of our popular t-shirts from the Homer Store. Our Predator and Chief Zee is my Homeboy t-shirts were out in full effect during November and December at FedEx Field. And even though our football season is over, folks continue to buy those, as well as others like our I Laich hockey or Bring Back Bullets shirts.

Bottom line – thanks for being awesome. In an effort to give back some love, we’re asking folks who’ve bought our shirts to email us photos. We’re not exactly sure what we’ll do with them all once we get them, but we do want to acknowledge all of those people who have been in our corner as we’ve taken to this blogging thing. Without you guys (and gals), we would have probably been forced to do something productive with our days. Thanks again for everything.

(courtesy photo)

I want to start out by apologizing to old people everywhere.

There was a time whenever I found myself stranded in a room with someone at least twice my age that I did my best to tune you out and go to my happy place. You see, I was too young and immature to understand what was going on when you started mumbling semi-coherently about “back in my day” and proceeded into a long-winded diatribe that didn’t end until you fell asleep at the table mid-sentence. I had no clue that you were simply attempting to warn me of the darker days ahead by drawing parallels to better times. More to the point, I just didn’t have a clue.

But now, here I sit, long after you’re gone, understanding exactly where you were coming from. I see a world where parents raise their overweight children to be pansies because games like dodgeball and kickball are banned. A world where leagues opt to not keep score and give trophies to every kid on every team because, heaven forbid, your blandly named son thinks for one moment that another child is better at soccer than your precious little Devin.

If this is the future, then I’m off to eat a bullet now.

Back in my day (see what I did there) shit happened. Sometimes bullies took your lunch money and sometimes you struck out at the plate during gym-class baseball. You didn’t go to therapy, you went to science class. Your parents didn’t put you on medication because of anxiety or your “inability to cope.” You just sat on the opposite side of the lunch room and prayed like hell the bully picked on someone else the day your parents accidentally put two Little Debbie snackcakes in your lunchbox. If some kids at the bus stop made fun of you for a pimple on your face, you didn’t come to school the next day with a semi-automatic weapon and open fire on the football team. You went home that night and washed your face half a dozen times in hopes the blemish went away that very second.

Those days, things were definitely simpler. Ned Bitters and I used to give each other a ton of shit. He, being a native of Pennsylvania, loved all things Pittsburgh. Whether it be the Steelers, Penguins or cock, he just couldn’t get enough of it. I, having grown up in the D.C. metro area, always rooted for my home teams – including the Redskins, the Capitals and the Baltimore Orioles (we didn’t have our own baseball team, so the O’s sufficed until Peter Angelos got involved).

I’ll never forget the day Bitters started his own “Ripken streak.” While the rest of the world was happily saluting Cal Jr. for showing up to work every day for 2,632 consecutive games, Bitters decided it’d be clever to start counting the consecutive days Cal Sr. had been dead for. And you know what? It was funny. To get even, I decided to take a shot at his beloved Penguins and their posterboy, Mario Lemieux.

I distinctly remember saddling up next to him and saying I had a solution for the small-market Pens, who were having a bit of financial trouble.

“To save money on pregame festivities, they could get rid of fireworks or laser shows and simply have Lemieux hit the ice after a chemo session,” I said. “As long as he doesn’t melt the ice, you’re in for a helluva show.”

Was it politically incorrect? Absolutely. But it cracked both of our dumb asses up. We weren’t making light of death or disease. We were just being morons.

The NHL shouldn’t suspend Dallas Stars forward Sean Avery for saying Calgary Flames defenseman Dion Phaneuf fell in love with “his sloppy seconds,” they should be thankful hockey is relevant again.

Click here for the full article.

Note to self is a weekly sports column written for HoboTrashcan.

(photo by Brian Murphy)

From all of us here at Homer McFanboy to all of you, here’s hoping you get everything you wish for this holiday season. Cheers.

(photo by Brian Murphy)

Holy shit.

That was our reaction when a friend sent us a link to a Sports Illustrated feature story on Washington Redskins rookie safety Chris “The Predator” Horton. In it, writer Lee Jenkins talks to Horton about following in his idol Sean Taylor’s footsteps, but one particular passage caught our eye and elicited the above reaction:

Redskins’ blogger Homer McFanboy started referring to Horton as The Predator — because of his shoulder-length hair and aggressive style — and somehow the nickname stuck. Horton is so enamored with the moniker that his website is www.predator48.com.

Needless to say we weren’t expecting to be mentioned by the biggest name in the business when we woke up this morning. We haven’t been this excited since we got some love on Alex Ovechkin’s official website. So thanks to Jenkins and Sports Illustrated for the shoutout and to Horton for being such a good dude and a nice story for ‘Skins fans to enjoy this season.

Today is an exciting day for sports fans in our nation’s capital. Not only do we get to enjoy the Washington Redskins taking on the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday Night Football, but we’ll get to know which presidential candidate will win the election 24 hours early. While that’ll make for must-see TV tonight, it doesn’t really help folks get through another boring Monday now. That’s why we’re here.

First of all, thanks for helping make last week a record-setting week for Homer McFanboy. Maybe it was our in-depth look at running back Clinton Portis. Or our widely-popular ‘ask a cheerleader‘ feature (and don’t forget part two, three and four). Or maybe it was our photo of linebacker London Fletcher’s unique pregame ritual. Whatever the reason, our website had it’s best week, in terms of hits, in our six-month history. We know there are many ways to blow off work, so thanks for wasting some of your time with us.

Which brings us to our big news of the day – we’ve officially opened the Homer McFanboy Store (just in time for the holidays!) We currently offer six t-shirts, including the fan-favorite ”Predator” t-shirt pictured above. We’ve also got hockey and basketball themed t-shirts as well, so take a look and let us know what you think of the new merch. And here’s the best part – if you buy a shirt, send us a photo of you wearing it (or better yet, a photo of a hot chick wearing it) and we’ll post it online. You’ll be e-famous and we’ll be able to pay the sweatshop for all their hard work. That’s what we in the business call a win-win.