Can you get me a quick list of players? »

require 'net/http'

players = File.new("players.txt", "w+")
('A' .. 'Z').each do |letter|
  begin
    response = Net::HTTP.get_response(URI.parse("http://www.sportsline.com/nfl/playerindex/" + letter))
    data = response.body
    playerfound = false
    while !playerfound do
      # grab player details if we can; example - <a href="/nfl/players/playerpage/187381"> Abraham, John</a> DE, Atlanta Falcons
      data =~ /"/nfl/players/playerpage/(d+)/is
      playerid = $1
      data =~ /#{playerid}"> ([a-zA-Z' .-,]+)/is
      playername = $1
      data =~ /#{playername}</a> ([a-zA-Z]+),/is
      position = $1
      data =~ / #{position}, ([A-Za-z. ]+)/is
      nflteam = $1
      line = "#{playerid}|#{playername}|#{position}|#{nflteam}"
      if playerid != nil
        players.puts line
        puts line
      end
      chopspot = data.index(playerid) + 20
      datasize = data.length - chopspot
      data = data[chopspot, datasize]
      if (!data =~ /"/nfl/players/playerpage/(d+)/)
        playerfound = true
      end
      playerid, playername, position, nflteam = "","","",""
    end
  rescue
  end
end

405198|Abdullah, Husain|DB|Minnesota Vikings
405208|Abiamiri, Victor|DE|Philadelphia Eagles
187381|Abraham, John|DE|Philadelphia Eagles
395911|Adams, Anthony|NT|Chicago Bears
1614642|Adams, Chester|G|Chicago Bears
12175|Adams, Flozell|T|Dallas Cowboys
405275|Adams, Gaines|DE|Tampa Bay Buccaneers
517269|Adams, Jamar|DB|Seattle Seahawks
1222573|Adams, Michael|DB|Seattle Seahawks

posted by Kevin Marshall on 2008-10-06 00:00:00+00

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