Alright, let’s dive into how I cobbled together that NFL picks page. It’s a bit of a b man job, but hey, it works!
First off, I started with the basics. I’m talking HTML, CSS, and a sprinkle of JavaScript. Nothing fancy. I wanted a clean layout, so I sketched out a rough wireframe on paper. Something with columns for each week of the NFL season and rows for each game. Real caveman stuff.
Then, I fired up my code editor. I’m not gonna lie, I’m a VS Code guy. Judge me if you want. I built the basic HTML structure with divs for the overall page, the weekly columns, and individual game containers. Each game container had placeholders for the teams, the spread, and my pick.
Next, CSS time! I ain’t no designer, so I kept it simple. A basic font, some padding, and a border to separate the games. I used flexbox to get the columns looking right. Took a bit of fiddling, but eventually, it lined up. Color scheme? Team colors, of course. I grabbed those from a quick Google search. No shame in my game.
Now, here’s where things get interesting. I needed the actual NFL game data. I looked around for a free API. Some are free with limits; some are subscription-based. I ended up using one with rate limits, which was a pain. I had to write some JavaScript to fetch the data and populate my HTML. Lots of `fetch` calls and DOM manipulation. It was messy, but it worked.
JavaScript was also key for handling my picks. I added radio buttons for each team in a game. When you click one, it gets stored in local storage. That way, when you refresh the page, your picks are still there. Crude but effective.
Here’s a quick list of things I learned the hard way:
- API Rate Limits Suck: I had to implement caching to avoid hitting the limit. It involved storing the API responses in local storage and only fetching new data when necessary.
- Date Formatting is a Nightmare: NFL game times are weirdly formatted. I spent way too much time wrestling with JavaScript’s date object.
- Responsive Design is Hard: My initial layout looked terrible on mobile. I had to add some media queries to make it responsive. Still not perfect, but it’s passable.
The “b man” part comes in because I didn’t bother with any proper error handling or input validation. The code is probably full of bugs. And I’m sure there are much better ways to do it. But hey, it’s my NFL picks page, and it gets the job done. It’s all about getting those W’s, baby!
So, that’s pretty much it. A duct-taped, JavaScript-fueled NFL picks page. Would I recommend this approach to anyone else? Probably not. But it was a fun little project, and I learned a thing or two along the way.
