Help me pick the best projector for me

The w1000 is already a semi-light cannon. So if you need an even brighter image than that, well I almost would say buy a TV.
Ok but for a projector, the Panny ar100u is about as bright as it gets for under 2k.

I would look at getting a different screen though, either a postive gain gray or a Da-Lite High Power. The P-Gray will do better in ambient light, but the Da-Lite is a compromise and often a cheaper price that also does good in dark rooms. If you do not have light shining directly on the screen when wanting to watch in ambient light, a new PJ + Da-Lite HP MIGHT work for sports. The problem with the Da-Lite HP screen is the viewing cone isn't that wide (no more than 3 people per row), so if your seating is spread out for viewing parties, go with a Positive-Gray screen instead.

For under 3K
There are certainly many other projectors in your range, some are brighter. There is the Optoma th1060p and the Epson g5450, but neither of those are 100% pure HT projectors, they are both crossovers basically. There is also a Benq sp910 I think it is which is almost the same as the Optoma th1060p. There is probably one or two I am forgetting about.

The Epson 5010 is another one that has a pretty bright torch mode for Sports, but it won't be as bright as the others I just listed.

I would probably replace the projector with an Epson 5010 and then get a new screen to match that will also help, because overall the Epson 5010 has the best image out of all these and should still be bright enough if you replace the screen.
Edited by coderguy - 7/27/12 at 11:32am

The Panny 100 has less lag than the Epson, but double check me on that, but I am pretty sure the Panny was just around or under 40ms.
I do know the Epson is around 80ms to 90ms.