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Derek's Bio

Hello I'm Derek. That's me on the far right. I'm 25 years old. I'm an insurance auditor for a fortune 100 company by day and a bleacher report contributor by night. I currently live in Indianapolis, IN, but I am originally from Normal, IL (home of Illinois State University and State Farm corporate headquarters).

I'm a huge baseball fan first and foremost. Over the past few years I've also gotten into MMA and auto racing. Most of my articles will center around those three areas. I welcome all feedback regarding my articles whether it be positive or negative.

Derek Writes About

The Short List facts and information about Derek Bolender

Favorite Athletes

Active - Albert Pujols, Steve Nash, Brian Urlacher, Dan Henderson, BJ Penn, Rich Franklin, Tony Stewart, etc... Retired - Joe Montana, Michael Jordan, Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, etc...

Favorite Sports Teams

St. Louis Cardinals, University of Illinois Football and Basketball, Chicago Bears, and Chicago Bulls.

All Time Sports Moment

Al Michaels call at the end of the 1980 Olympic hockey game between the United States and the heavily favored Russian squad.

Most Memorable Game Attended

Pretty much all the games I have been to have not been that memorable. The 2006 Indianapolis 500 where Sam Hornish Jr. passed Marco Andretti on the final turn and won by 0.0635 seconds is probably my favorite.

Most Unbreakable Sports Record

It would be easy to say that Cy Young's career complete games, career wins, career innings pitched, or career games started records will never be broken. If a pitcher had a long enough career he could do it, but the game is very different now and you can't really draw a comparison. I believe the hardest record in sports to break is Joe DiMaggio's 56-Game hit streak in 1941. Right behind him is Johnny Vander Meer's back-to-back no-hitters in 1938.

Ruth or Mays?

Ruth

Unitas or Montana?

Montana

Pele or Maradona?

Pele

Jordan or Gretzky?

Jordan

Pac 10, Big 12, Big 10, SEC, ACC, or Big East?

Big 10 all the way.

Bulletin Board (11) Post a note »

  1. by Jeffrey
    2 days ago

    Derek,

    Noticed your piece was on the front page of Bleacher Report. I read it, but don't know enough about MMA to comment on it.

    The only thing that I could tell you about MMA is the name "Kimbo Slice". But I realize that it's the fastest growing sport on the planet, and I'd love to have more knowledge in MMA.

    I'd love to read an article if you gave an overview of the sport as a whole, tell me what I should know, who I should know about. Even touch on who I should love, and who I should hate (give a couple of sentences on the key names that I should know)

    "Why Should I Watch MMA?"
    "Top 10 Players to Watch in MMA"
    "Top 5 Fights to Love, Top 5 Fighers to Hate in MMA"

    Anyways, just a suggestion. (make sure to post this article on my wall, so that i can vote it for my pick of the day. that is, if you decide to write something like this, for us uneducated folks)

    I'm a Illini hater, as I'm currently an undergrad at the University of Wisconsin, but Big 10 all the way baby!

  2. by Jon
    14 days ago

    With a little bit of luck (and a lot of money) I will be there. With a little big more, I might actually be covering it.

    I think that people tend to forget how many big name fighters Minnesota has turned out. Sherk, Huerta, Thompson, Larson, Lesnar... ok, those are the big names, but they are huge!

  3. by Ryan
    15 days ago

    Hey Derek, I wanted to bounce an idea off of you for a piece. Let me know if your interested and I'll drop you an e-mail.

  4. by Jon
    17 days ago

    I suppose that depends on whether or not Kimbo is really the face that MMA wants. Me personally, after UFC 83, there is enough poor performances to deal with without having a bare-knuckle fighter being the new MMA posterboy.

  5. by Cameron
    18 days ago

    hey man thanks for the read!

    on facebook an ad came up for the website, it said are u an mma expert and i followed along and wrote my fist article, ive always wanted to write articles and this site is perfect, i will be contributing mma stuff all the way!

  6. by Zander
    about 1 month ago

    Glad you are enjoying yourself Derek. Our flourishing MMA community is indeed unique and we are very happy to provide a home for all of you fighting fans on the web.

    Keep the great stuff coming—and don't hesitate to let me know if you have questions about anything at all.

    Zander

  7. by Jon
    about 1 month ago

    Actually, above all, I just like to see someone that knows a bit about MMA contributing to the site with any regularity. I hope that you hang around for a while.

  8. by Jon
    about 1 month ago

    I've been enjoying your rankings articles. I think that you give a pretty solid perspective and it is obvious that you can at least do your research on fighters. I also like that you are going outside the box as far as fighting leagues. I would be interested to see more of your take on individual fighters and their performances.

  9. by Zander
    2 months ago

    Hey Derek,

    I hope you've been enjoying the new and improved Bleacher Report—we're really happy with the feedback we've received so far.

    Just thought I'd let you know that next week we'll be launching the site to the world with some public announcements, and thus it'd be great to get a contribution from you between now and Tuesday to make Bleacher Report's launch a success.

    Let me know if you need any help with ideas or have questions. Have a great weekend Derek!

    Zander

  10. by Ryan
    2 months ago

    My apologies for the picture glitch, Derek. There seems to have been some kind of error in the image library, with the Ellis pic getting cross-wired with the Danica shot. I've switched to a generic shot of a race car...which I know isn't ideal, but will have to do for the time being. Apologies, again, and thanks for bearing with us.

    Best,

    RA

  11. by Jared
    3 months ago

    thanks for the comment man, i appreciate it, im only 15 so when i signed p i didnt think ppl would take my stuff seriously.