Arenas, Crittenton Reportedly Pull Guns in Wizards Locker Room

ESPN.com is reporting that Washington Bullet Wizard Gilbert Arenas pulled a gun on teammate Javaris Crittenton in the locker room of D.C.'s Verizon Center on Christmas Eve, causing him to do the same. Below is an artist's rendering.

Fortunately, assistant coach Sam Cassell's finger started glowing and the situation rapidly returned to normal.

2010 NFL Draft Order, Strength of Schedule and Tiebreakers - Week 17

As we're approaching Week 17, many fans are already looking towards the 2010 NFL Draft. The tiebreaking procedures differ from the playoff rules, since the worst team is generally rewarded with the best pick. The full NFL Draft tiebreakers are below, but generally the worst record picks earlier. If teams have the same record, the team with the easier schedule picks ahead of the team with the harder schedule. It gets more complicated with playoff teams, but I projected the lower seed to lose each game.

The strength of schedule numbers below include all games played through Week 16. They will change slightly after this Sunday's games.

Assuming the 12 teams currently occupying the playoff spots hold on, this would be the draft order after 15 games. Team record and strength of schedule (SOS) are in parentheses.

1) St. Louis (1-14, .525)

2) Detroit (2-13, .517)

3) Kansas City (3-12, .521)

4) Tampa Bay (3-12, .558)

5) Washington (4-11, .500)

6) Cleveland (4-11, .504)

7) Seattle (5-10, .475)

8) Buffalo (5-10, .517)

9) Oakland (5-10, .521)

10) Chicago (6-9, .492)

11) San Francisco (7-8, .483)

12) Jacksonville (7-8, .492)

13) Tennessee (7-8, .546)

14) Carolina (7-8, .550)

15) Miami (7-8, .554)

16) Pittsburgh (8-7, .479)

17) Atlanta (8-7, .508)

18) Houston (8-7, .517)

19) Baltimore (8-7, .521)

20) NY Giants (8-7, .542)

21) New York Jets (8-7, .525)

22) Denver (8-7, .529)

23) Green Bay (10-5, .433)

24) Dallas (10-5, .500)

25) Arizona (10-5, .442)

26) Cincinnati (10-5, .471)

27) New England (10-5, .513)

28) Minnesota (11-4, .433)

29) Philadelphia (11-4, .483)

30) San Diego (12-3, .454)

31) New Orleans (13-2, .425) [Super Bowl Loser]

32) Indianapolis (14-1, .471) [Super Bowl Winner]

Tiebreaking Procedures

The draft tiebreakers are as follows:

1) Super Bowl Winner picks 32nd

2) Super Bowl Loser picks 31st

3) Teams are ranked in inverse order of their record. Ties count as a half win and half loss.

4) A playoff team always picks after a non-playoff team with the same regular season record. If two playoff teams have the same regular season record, but one was eliminated in an earlier round, that team picks first.

5) Ties are then broken using strength of schedule (average of all 16 opponent's winning percentage, divisionmates count twice since they were played twice. Or count the wins of all opponents, same result). Weaker schedule picks earlier.

6) If SOS fails to break the tie, and the teams are in the same division, apply the division playoff tiebreakers (except the "loser" picks higher).

7) If SOS fails to break the tie, the teams are not in the same division, but the teams are in the same conference, apply the conference playoff tiebreakers (except the "loser" picks higher).

8) If the teams are still tied, or are in different conferences, a coin toss decides the order. If three teams are tied such that the tie can be broken as to two teams, but not between any of those two and a third team, the "loser" of the two-team tie flips against the other team first. A scenario where all three teams are stone tied is nearly impossible since there are only two conferences and intraconference tiebreakers go very deep before a coin flip.

2009 NFL Strength of Schedule Through Week 16

1) Tampa Bay (.558)

2) Miami (.554)

3) Carolina (.550)

4) Tennessee (.546)

5) NY Giants (.542)

6) Denver (.529)

7) NY Jets (.525)

7) St. Louis (.525)

9) Baltimore (.521)

9) Kansas City (.521)

9) Oakland (.521)

12) Buffalo (.517)

12) Detroit (.517)

12) Houston (.517)

15) New England (.513)

16) Atlanta (.508)

17) Cleveland (.504)

18) Dallas (.500)

18) Washington (.500)

20) Chicago (.492)

20) Jacksonville (.492)

22) Philadelphia (.483)

22) San Francisco (.483)

24) Pittsburgh (.479)

25) Seattle (.475)

26) Cincinnati (.471)

26) Indianapolis (.471)

28) San Diego (.454)

29) Arizona (.442)

30) Green Bay (.433)

30) Minnesota (.433)

32) New Orleans (.425)

NFL’s Most Annoying Fans - AFC East

This is the fifth in a running feature at ECB. We'll be rating NFL Fanbases by annoyingness and picking a winner for each division. After that, we'll select wild card teams, and have ourselves a little playoff. If you have suggestions for upcoming divisions or wildcard selections, send them to [email protected]. So far we have given you the AFC West, the NFC West, the AFC South, the NFC South, the AFC North, and the NFC North. Who will join the Raiders, Cardinals, Jaguars, Panthers, Ravens, and Packers fans as the most annoying fans in their division? Today we present the AFC East.  Later this week we’ll have the long-awaited NFC East winner and we’ll also announce the Wild Card winners.  We’ll try to do the Annoying Fan playoffs at the same time as the NFL playoffs.

Buffalo Bills

Quick Reaction: Don’t we all just feel sorry for Bills fans?  Their best player ever is a double murdering joke, they lost four Super Bowls in a row, and now the team might move to Toronto.

The most annoying thing about Bills fans (other than Chris Berman) is the fact that they seem to want you to feel sorry for them.  But overall, not a very annoying fanbase.

Miami Dolphins

Quick Reaction: Dolphins fans always seem like Hurricanes fans with nothing better to do on a Sunday.  For a team with a fairly storied history, the Dolphins lack the kind of passionate fans that other teams have.  Fortunately for them, those passionate fans are the truly annoying ones.

New England Patriots

Quick Reaction: Ten years ago, no one knew any Patriots fans, now they’re the kudzu of the Northeast.  As the team went from a joke of a franchise with ugly uniforms to a dynasty, the fans went from Sox/Celts fans to NFL experts.

Anyone who has ever had contact with a Patriots fan, either online or in person knows just how insufferable they are.  Apologists for Spygate, ignoring the fact that the NFL existed before 2001, and insisting that their team and fanbase is somehow perfectly unique are just some of the annoying things all Patriots fans do.

New York Jets

Quick Reaction: Loud, boorish, and obnoxious, Jets fans give little brothers everywhere a bad name.  The fact that their team has to play in a place named “Giants Stadium” has to be grating, but the reaction is to shout down fans of other teams in bars.  Also, Super Bowl III was 40 years ago.  Your only “tradition” since then is to berate women at halftime.

The Big Winner

There was never much doubt the Patriots would win this, although the Jets fans made a good case for Wild Card consideration.  There’s no doubt that the emergence of annoying Patriots fans is the worst thing to happen to NFL fandom this decade.  NO ONE DENIES THIS!