Here in Cincinnati, it's hard to be a NFL fan… Really hard… But we do the best we can to support our Bengals. Even as hard as the Bengals make it, I still like to follow what's going on around the NFL, particularly our division. Thanks to the NFL, we have NFL '11 for the iPhone and iPad to handle all of our Professional football needs. Like any App developed by a major entity (think Facebook, MLB, Twitter, etc.) expectations were high for me when I downloaded NFL '11 and it didn't disappoint.

Tons of Features Packed into One App

I don't know about you, but the first thing that I want to see when I fire up any sports App is the current score for my preset favorite team. As much as I hate to talk about what I don't like in an App almost first in the review, there is only ONE thing that I don't like so I hope you'll forgive me . I'd really like to see the ability to have more than one favorite team (especially on the iPad). I have a few teams that I follow, so it would be a nice inclusion.  Okay, done with what I don't like, on to what I DO like, which is everything else! The ability to set your favorite team is there, and when you launch the App that team's current score and live game activity (if a game is being played) shows up immediately.  

Beyond your favorite teams, there is a scores section that shows the scores for the rest of the NFL. Tapping the game time to the right of any game brings up one of my favorite parts of the App, the alerts box. Inside of this box you can tell the App to alert you when the game Starts, there is a scoring play, highlights happen, when the quarter is over and what the score is for that quarter, or when the game is over and what the final score is. All of these alerts are sent via Push so you never miss an important event in your selected game!

Of course like you would expect there is a news section showing you not only the entire league news, but also an option to quickly see just your favorite Team's news. There are lots of times when you want to quickly see what's happening with your favorite team, this makes it easy!

Personally, I don't get into Fantasy football. My brother (and I think half of the rest of the US) however really gets into it. NFL '11 has you covered. At the bottom, one of the main tabs is Fantasy 2011. From here you can log in to your fantasy league and… Do whatever it is that you do in Fantasy football.

Not to be forgotten there are options to see the schedule for the rest of the year for all of the teams, highlights, video clips, and photos from that week, buy tickets, shop at the NFL shop, and visit the about section for the App.

Keep Up With All of the Scores and More

If you are an avid football fanatic, or just the casual fan, get NFL '11 to help you easily keep up with your favorite teams and the rest of the league on your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch.

Get NFL '11 for the iPhone from the iTunes store for Free here:
Get NFL' 11 for the iPad from the iTunes store for Free here:

When I am not working and the weather holds up I very much like to go out for a round of golf. Being a gadget geek I have wanted to find the iPhone app that enhanced the golf round, while not being in the way. As a matter of fact, I actually dislike technology on the golf course, simply because I am there to relax in the nature. What I will not say no to is a well-executed app that takes my scorecard to the next level.

A friend of mine sent me a link to GameBook, an application that lets you keep track of your score live on the iPhone. When I downloaded it—it is a $0.99 app—I was a bit hesitant that it wouldn’t hold up. This hesitation soon went away when I found that the app does exactly what I want. It keeps track of my score live and basically becomes an enhanced scorecard.

A few of the benefits with the app, compared to a normal scorecard is that it is quick and easy to enter the score while walking to the next hole. You just pick up your iDevice and tap the correct score for the hole, which has already been pre-selected. Right when entering the score you get information about Birdie, Par or Bogey since it contains the slope score of a vast amount of golf courses out there.

What makes the app fun to use is the extras, which you may not otherwise use, such as special per-hole contests (closet to pin on par 3’s or longest drive) and the ability to play a secondary contest alongside your primary round type.

If you’re a golfer I suggest you give this app a go! It is hard to say if it is going to work for you since it is much to do with the personal feeling, especially when golfing. The app itself is very well made and at the price of $0.99, something that should well be tried out. I will this this though: My iPhone is in airplane mode from first tee to holing in on the last green.

Why you have to have it

I love baseball in Cincinnati. To me there's nothing better than an evening at Great American Ball Park with friends enjoying a game and maybe a hotdog and beverage. To that end, I really enjoy watching or keeping up with the Cincinnati Reds no matter if I'm at home, on the road, or just around town. With MLB.com At Bat 2011 I can do that and much, much more! At Bat 2011 is the BEST App available for MLB lovers bar none. Packed with enough content to make even the most stat hungry super fan happy but with an interface simple and streamlined, this App is perfect for any level of fan. If you are reading this review to see if you should get At Bat 2011 for your iPhone or iPad you can stop right here. You should. If you want to know about some of the features that make this App great… read on.

On the surface

On the surface this App is great for showing you your favorite teams, their schedules, latest scores, and current (if playing) scoring info.  When you launch the App for the first time you are presented with a screen to choose your favorite teams. For me this was easy. I chose the Cincinnati Reds, our division rivals the St. Louis Cardinals, and the Tampa Bay Rays. From there you select which of your favorite teams that you would like to know about at that time. For me I chose the Cincinnati Reds. You are presented with a screen that shows either the score of the current game (if playing), or the next scheduled game and who they are playing against. Below that you can get your Schedule and results along with many other choices. If you are like me, and don't get too into the stats of each person on the team, this is about as far as you'll go. You can see what is currently going on, when they play next, and what the outcome of the last game was.

If you want to dig a little deeper

If you want to dig a little deeper, they have you covered as well. You can press the little baseball silhouette directly below the current score and stats. This will take you into what's called "Gameday". Gameday is a live showing of what is currently going on at the game. There are icons to show how many men are on base, what the count is, pitcher and batter stats, etc. There is also a a graphical representation of the pitches that are being thrown to the batter that indicate where around the plate the ball was thrown, and also if it was a strike, ball, or foul.

Get it!

There are many, many more features that dive really far into the game of baseball that I never use. One of which is the MLB.com live viewing of the game with a subscription charge. The list just goes on and on. The features that I have mentioned above already make it a "Best App" in my book. Try it for yourself, tell me what you think.

You can get MLB.com At Bat 2011 for your iPhone from the iTunes Store for $14.99 here:

You can get MLB.com At Bat 2011 for your iPad from the iTunes Store for $14.99 here:

Admittedly I’m not a huge sports fan; never have been. I’ve always rooted for the local teams, which here in Cincinnati where I live is the Cincinnati Reds and the Cincinnati Bungles… I mean Bengals. But over the past few years I have began to watch a few more teams which probably has something to do with my brother who is in sports broadcasting. Like everything else in my life, I tend to try to simplify or manage most things with my iOS devices. This is no exception. I went looking for an App that I could follow my favorite teams easily and in one place. What I found was ESPN Score Center. It fits my requirements perfectly.
 

What I wanted

What I wanted was an App that allowed me to group all of my favorite teams from all sports on one page. I wanted to see the scores of their last contest, and when their next contest was to be played. Score Center delivered. Upon initial setup you decide which teams are your favorites in every major sport played in the US. These teams can be a mix of NFL, MLB, NBA, NCAA(Basketball/Football etc.), Cricket, Ice Hockey, Rugby, Soccer, etc. These are going to be YOUR teams that show up on the first page of the App when you fire it up.
The interface is simple, easy to use, and intuitive. The first page shows your teams, their last contest, and the score. Simple. If you want to drill down further and see more in depth stats that is simple too; just tap your team’s latest contest. If you want more information, at the bottom of the drilled down screen there is an option for a recap of the game. The recap gives you more in depth coverage of the game.

Besides the “your teams” page, there are also several other customizable pages. These can be set as whatever sport you would like. There is also “The Lead” page. The Lead shows the current sports that are being played across all of the sports.
 

Best Sports App

This App is awesome. It gives me everything that I want in a sports App. I can track my favorite team, or check out what’s happening with all of the teams across the whole league. Before I meet my brother for any event I check Score Center just so I have something to talk to him about.

You can get ESPN’s ScoreCenter for your iPhone or iPod touch for free here from the 

You can get ESPN’s ScoreCenter for your iPad for free here from the 

Although I'm hardly a sports fan, I do like to keep up with the occasional game here and there. It's sometimes hard to avoid the topic of "the big game" during social gatherings. So it's easier just to know the highlights rather than fight it. With that said, Sportacular is AMAZING! I can't see how anyone who is even mildly interested in sports, not having this App.

Sportacular has it all

When I first looked at this App it was basically a score keeper for your favorite teams and that was nice. Since then it has become so much more/better. One thing right off the bat that makes this App sing is the Push Notifications. You can choose your game and have Sportacular automatically alert you to things like score change, game start, game end, quarter end, etc. Sportacular doesn't stop there. You can get all the stats you would ever want. You can see overall which team is the "favorite" to win. You can see scores for games past as well as the schedule for upcoming games. Like I said, this one has it all.

The best score keeper is here

Sportacular does an amazing job of keeping you up on the scores. It has several views and ways to look at what you want and it presents it in a very well designed interface.
 

What it's not

Sportacular doesn't give you much in the way of multi-media. No live video or audio. So if you have those requirements, you should look at other apps.
 

The Bottom Line

Since Sportacular is FREE and GREAT, there is no reason not to check it out today!

If banner ads bug you, you can get the Sportacular Pro version here.

Admittedly I'm not a huge sports fan. In other words unless it's something special, I don't plan to watch sports on TV. That doesn't mean that I don't have favorite teams and like to engage in conversations with friends about who's winning and who's losing. Speaking of losing, no cracks about the Detroit Lions. Enough said.

Sportacular gets it right

Sportacular is a FREE app for the iPhone and iPod touch that allows you to keep track of your favorite teams. The interface is brilliant. You simply select your favorite teams across national and college leagues and Sportactular will give you up to the minute scores, schedules of upcoming games, and stats.

Just last weekend I was in a workshop and someone mentioned that the Lions were playing. So I pulled out my iPhone and tapped Sportacular and in a few seconds I had the score (they were winning by the way at the point). Scores are updated every 30 seconds as long as the app is running. Every year my buddy who graduated from Ohio State likes to come over and watch the Ohio vs. Michigan game. I have no vested interest in either team, but it's fun watching him get all worked up. With Sportacular I can keep track of Michigan's college games too including the schedule of upcoming games.

Sportacular is another example of a well thought out app that just works! That's why it's my pick for the iPhone App of the Week.

Download Sportacular from the App Store here:

Congratulations to the winners of the iPhone Photo Contest

I want to take a moment to congratulate and thank the Winners of the iPhone Photo Contest. Lot's of great entries and it was certainly hard to pick winners. Luckily the public helped out in a big way by voting!