USA vs. Australia today.
Should be a fierce and competitive game. These teams do not like each other and I'd imagine it could get physical despite not being a medal round game. There were some interesting omissions off the USA's roster (no Cappie, no Seimone?). Ok, In Geno I Trust, but really? Maybe the players had some say in the matter as I know Cappie was spent after the WNBA season, but I think Geno played a bit of his favorites for the roster.
Either way, big game today and I'm picking the US to pull away late in the second half and make a statement.
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
'Melo to Knicks?
So ESPN is reporting that the Nets pulling out of the Melo Sweepstakes-a good sign for the Knicks. Clearly, there is much that has to happen before Carmelo could join the Knicks and in most scenarios, the best one for the Knicks is if he stays put with Denver and becomes a free-agent. Denver will be patient and definitely try to trade Carmelo before the trade deadline so they get something in return. The Nets apparently put together an attractive package, but balked when Anthony would not agree to signing an extension and would have to give up way too much for possibly just having him for one season. That is 'Melo's only trump card and a good sign for the Knicks. There are a few other teams that have been mentioned that are interested, but no way Denver trades him to a Western Conference foe and there are few teams that will have the cap to sign him to a long term deal. So what are the odds he'll end up in a Knicks uniform during this season? I say 30%, but what are the odds he's at MSG for 2011? 65% and those are odds I'll take any day.
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Week Two: Under the Radar
Ok, so after some stellar performance in week 1 (CJ2K, Arian Foster) and then some disappointments here are my picks for some players who will come up big in week 2.
Brandon Jacobs and everyone else for GB. They have Buffalo at home. 'nuff said.
Greg Camarillo: Shiancoe might be Favre's favorite target, but look for GC to emerge as his favorite WR.
Malcolm Floyd: I know Naanee had a monster game, but Floyd was River's favorite target. Look for him to put up solid numbers against the Jags.
Arian Foster: I guess after last week I can't really say he's under the radar, but it's like playing knockout-gotta prove it with one more game before he's no longer UTR.
Michael Vick: Can this really be? I see Vick running wild and doing some damage to Detroit.
Ahmad Bradshaw: Shakes off the cobwebs from a slow start in week 1 and is salivating to play that Indy D on Sunday night.
Dez Bryant: I think in his home debut he comes up big in big D.
Sam Bradford: I only saw the highlights from his debut, but playing Oakland could make him feel like he's back in college. His biggest fan might be the man behind w/Stephen Jackson finally thinking he might not have to face 8 man fronts every down.
Brandon Jacobs and everyone else for GB. They have Buffalo at home. 'nuff said.
Greg Camarillo: Shiancoe might be Favre's favorite target, but look for GC to emerge as his favorite WR.
Malcolm Floyd: I know Naanee had a monster game, but Floyd was River's favorite target. Look for him to put up solid numbers against the Jags.
Arian Foster: I guess after last week I can't really say he's under the radar, but it's like playing knockout-gotta prove it with one more game before he's no longer UTR.
Michael Vick: Can this really be? I see Vick running wild and doing some damage to Detroit.
Ahmad Bradshaw: Shakes off the cobwebs from a slow start in week 1 and is salivating to play that Indy D on Sunday night.
Dez Bryant: I think in his home debut he comes up big in big D.
Sam Bradford: I only saw the highlights from his debut, but playing Oakland could make him feel like he's back in college. His biggest fan might be the man behind w/Stephen Jackson finally thinking he might not have to face 8 man fronts every down.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
The most eventful week for NYRB since...
After a recent announcement that Mike Petke, who started the season paired with rookie standout Tim Ream at centerback, would be retiring at the end of this season, Seth Stammler, only 29 years old and contender for sweetest shot from distance this year (Rafa Marquez would also be a nominee as would Dane Richard if you include exhibitions/friendlies), announced today that he will be leaving the Red Bulls to pursue an advanced degree at the University of Chicago. Stammler has earned respect on and off the field for his play and his commitment to humanitarian work through the Sporting Chance Foundation. He will be a missed presence for the Red Bulls for sure.
To fill the void and address a possible lack of depth in the midfield, the Red Bulls also announced today they would be trading forward Mac Kandji, who recently announced that he would not be pursuing U.S. citizenship and therefore would not be eligible to play for the US Men's National Team (I know Bob Bradley is desperate for another striker but can't believe that Kandji was on his radar). In return, the Red Bulls will receive midfielder Mehdi Ballouchy from the Colorado Rapids. Once upon a time, Colorado traded away Kyle Beckerman to obtain Ballouchy, so he was a bit of a disappointment to many Rapids fans. But a fresh start with a new coach who has shown he can bring out the best in his players (i.e. drastic improvements in Dane Richards and Bouna Condoul) and being surrounded by one of the most dynamic mix of attacking players in MLS could be just what Ballouchy needs to flourish. Look for him to be a regular coming off the bench to replace a striker if the Red Bulls are ahead or add an additional attacking option if they are playing from behind.
Some have expressed concern that without Kandji, a major void will be left at forward next season if Juan Pablo Angel is not offered a contract renewal as a Designated Player, which at this point is widely expected. That doesn't mean, however, that he won't resign with the team as a non-DP, very much like Guillermo Barros Schelotto did with Columbus despite being one of the top contributors to the team. The Red Bulls have promising young forwards in Connor Chin who played well during US Open Cup qualifiers as well as Juan Agudelo, who features for the United States U-20 national team. Salou Ibrahim also remains on the roster, but if you've ever been within 1000 feet of me during a Red Bull games you'll know my thoughts on his lacking pace and first touch.
If Angel does indeed leave, look for the Red Bulls to use their third Designated Player spot for another threat up top to pair with Henry. A slew of options at midfield also could lead to a formation shift from the typical 4-4-2 to a 4-2-3-1 with Marquez and Tchani playing behind Richards, Lindpere, and Ballouchy. The Red Bulls organization has shown it is willing to invest the money necessary to build a competitive club team that will be a real threat in US and international club tournaments for at least the next couple of years.
To fill the void and address a possible lack of depth in the midfield, the Red Bulls also announced today they would be trading forward Mac Kandji, who recently announced that he would not be pursuing U.S. citizenship and therefore would not be eligible to play for the US Men's National Team (I know Bob Bradley is desperate for another striker but can't believe that Kandji was on his radar). In return, the Red Bulls will receive midfielder Mehdi Ballouchy from the Colorado Rapids. Once upon a time, Colorado traded away Kyle Beckerman to obtain Ballouchy, so he was a bit of a disappointment to many Rapids fans. But a fresh start with a new coach who has shown he can bring out the best in his players (i.e. drastic improvements in Dane Richards and Bouna Condoul) and being surrounded by one of the most dynamic mix of attacking players in MLS could be just what Ballouchy needs to flourish. Look for him to be a regular coming off the bench to replace a striker if the Red Bulls are ahead or add an additional attacking option if they are playing from behind.
Some have expressed concern that without Kandji, a major void will be left at forward next season if Juan Pablo Angel is not offered a contract renewal as a Designated Player, which at this point is widely expected. That doesn't mean, however, that he won't resign with the team as a non-DP, very much like Guillermo Barros Schelotto did with Columbus despite being one of the top contributors to the team. The Red Bulls have promising young forwards in Connor Chin who played well during US Open Cup qualifiers as well as Juan Agudelo, who features for the United States U-20 national team. Salou Ibrahim also remains on the roster, but if you've ever been within 1000 feet of me during a Red Bull games you'll know my thoughts on his lacking pace and first touch.
If Angel does indeed leave, look for the Red Bulls to use their third Designated Player spot for another threat up top to pair with Henry. A slew of options at midfield also could lead to a formation shift from the typical 4-4-2 to a 4-2-3-1 with Marquez and Tchani playing behind Richards, Lindpere, and Ballouchy. The Red Bulls organization has shown it is willing to invest the money necessary to build a competitive club team that will be a real threat in US and international club tournaments for at least the next couple of years.
Monday, September 13, 2010
Fantasy Football 101
So a lot of my non-fantasy football friends ask me what fantasy football is and what is the big deal. Well fantasy football is now a billion dollar enterprise for what used to be a bunch of armchair quarterbacks. We don't care about if the Patriots win or lose, we just want to know how many touchdowns Tom Brady threw, how many receptions Randy Moss got and how many points the opponent was held to for the game. We are addicted to stats and look for any advantage to give us a statistical edge.
For the die-hard fantasy owners this is something you do year round-not just in September when the NFL season starts or even in August with mock drafts, but this can be a 365 day obsession. You follow the offseason workouts, college combines, the draft, trades, waivers, GMs, coaches, strength of schedule; everything and anything that will give you an edge for the fantasy draft and when the season starts.
The Basics:
Fantasy football is a competitive game where owners earn points by using real NFL players statistics each game. The idea is to have the team that accumulates the most wins in your league over the course of the 17-week NFL regular season. So how do you get a win? Well each player on your team will earn fantasy points based upon their statistical performance in their real game that week. Every week you will compete head to head with another owner and see who can get the most points.
Ok, so hopefully you're following so far. Next question: How do you earn fantasy points? There can be slight variations, but I will give the most basic scoring format. Quarterbacks, running backs, wide receivers and tight ends can earn points for yardage and touchdowns. Kickers earn points for extra points and field goals. Defenses earn points if they get a defensive touchdown, how many points they hold their opponent too, and turnovers.
Likewise, players can lose points if they turn the ball over (interceptions or fumbles), a kicker misses a field goal/extra point or if a defense gives up a lot of points to their opponent.
Quarterbacks generally earn 1 fantasy point for every 25 passing yards, 4 points for every touchdown they've thrown, and 6 points if they ran for a touchdown themselves. So if your fantasy quarterback was Peyton Manning and for Week 1 his stat line was 250 passing yards, 2 passing touchdowns and 1 interception he would get 10 points for his 250 passing yards, 8 points for passing touchdowns, but lose 2 points for the interception so his net fantasy points that week would be 16 fantasy points.
Running backs, wide receivers, and tight ends earn points mainly 3 ways: 1 point for every 10 yards receiving/rushing, 6 points if they score a touchdown, 1/2 point per reception and can lose points for fumbles. So if you had Randy Moss as your wide receiver and he had 10 receptions for 100 yards and 1 touchdown with no fumbles he would earn 5 points for the 10 receptions, 10 points for the 100 receiving yards, and 6 points for the touchdown he scored for a total 21 fantasy points.
Each of your starters will earn points, you take the grand total and hope it's more than your opponent's starters. You do not get points for players on your bench.
Most leagues have 9 starters, which consist of: 1 Quarterback, 2 Running backs, 2 Wide Receivers, 1 Flex player (allows you to play a RB or WR), 1 Tight End, 1 Kicker, and 1 team Defense. There are variations to this. For example some leagues don't have a Flex option and regulate 2RBs and 3WRs or maybe you draft individual defensive players instead of the team defense, but for the most part you have 9 starters and 7 bench players that comprise your team.
Ok, but how do you get your team? Well first you join a league. You can create your own with your friends or join a public league. Generally they range from 10-16 members (owners) per league. 12 is the most common number of owners. Once you've joined a league the next step will be to participate in a draft. There are different types of drafts, but basically you can either have a computer make all your picks for you or you can enter what's called a "live" draft and make the picks yourself. Most fantasy owners will enter a live draft with their league and each team gets 16 picks. The draft order is chosen at random and everyone makes their picks depending upon that predetermined order.
This is where following football year round can pay off because everyone knows the obvious star fantasy players. I say "star" fantasy players because you can have a quarterback who may be a great NFL quarterback, but an average fantasy quarterback because in the NFL everything is based on wins; in fantasy everything is based statistics. A quarterback who gets 13 wins a season for his team is great, but if he only averages 10 fantasy points a game-well that's not what we like to call a fantasy stud.
So now you're in a league, you've drafted your team, and you compete week in and week out with the other owners mostly for bragging rights, but there are plenty of buy-in leagues anywhere from $10 to $10,000.
I hope this has helped those of you understand fantasy football a little better. Hit me up with questions or comments.
For the die-hard fantasy owners this is something you do year round-not just in September when the NFL season starts or even in August with mock drafts, but this can be a 365 day obsession. You follow the offseason workouts, college combines, the draft, trades, waivers, GMs, coaches, strength of schedule; everything and anything that will give you an edge for the fantasy draft and when the season starts.
The Basics:
Fantasy football is a competitive game where owners earn points by using real NFL players statistics each game. The idea is to have the team that accumulates the most wins in your league over the course of the 17-week NFL regular season. So how do you get a win? Well each player on your team will earn fantasy points based upon their statistical performance in their real game that week. Every week you will compete head to head with another owner and see who can get the most points.
Ok, so hopefully you're following so far. Next question: How do you earn fantasy points? There can be slight variations, but I will give the most basic scoring format. Quarterbacks, running backs, wide receivers and tight ends can earn points for yardage and touchdowns. Kickers earn points for extra points and field goals. Defenses earn points if they get a defensive touchdown, how many points they hold their opponent too, and turnovers.
Likewise, players can lose points if they turn the ball over (interceptions or fumbles), a kicker misses a field goal/extra point or if a defense gives up a lot of points to their opponent.
Quarterbacks generally earn 1 fantasy point for every 25 passing yards, 4 points for every touchdown they've thrown, and 6 points if they ran for a touchdown themselves. So if your fantasy quarterback was Peyton Manning and for Week 1 his stat line was 250 passing yards, 2 passing touchdowns and 1 interception he would get 10 points for his 250 passing yards, 8 points for passing touchdowns, but lose 2 points for the interception so his net fantasy points that week would be 16 fantasy points.
Running backs, wide receivers, and tight ends earn points mainly 3 ways: 1 point for every 10 yards receiving/rushing, 6 points if they score a touchdown, 1/2 point per reception and can lose points for fumbles. So if you had Randy Moss as your wide receiver and he had 10 receptions for 100 yards and 1 touchdown with no fumbles he would earn 5 points for the 10 receptions, 10 points for the 100 receiving yards, and 6 points for the touchdown he scored for a total 21 fantasy points.
Each of your starters will earn points, you take the grand total and hope it's more than your opponent's starters. You do not get points for players on your bench.
Most leagues have 9 starters, which consist of: 1 Quarterback, 2 Running backs, 2 Wide Receivers, 1 Flex player (allows you to play a RB or WR), 1 Tight End, 1 Kicker, and 1 team Defense. There are variations to this. For example some leagues don't have a Flex option and regulate 2RBs and 3WRs or maybe you draft individual defensive players instead of the team defense, but for the most part you have 9 starters and 7 bench players that comprise your team.
Ok, but how do you get your team? Well first you join a league. You can create your own with your friends or join a public league. Generally they range from 10-16 members (owners) per league. 12 is the most common number of owners. Once you've joined a league the next step will be to participate in a draft. There are different types of drafts, but basically you can either have a computer make all your picks for you or you can enter what's called a "live" draft and make the picks yourself. Most fantasy owners will enter a live draft with their league and each team gets 16 picks. The draft order is chosen at random and everyone makes their picks depending upon that predetermined order.
This is where following football year round can pay off because everyone knows the obvious star fantasy players. I say "star" fantasy players because you can have a quarterback who may be a great NFL quarterback, but an average fantasy quarterback because in the NFL everything is based on wins; in fantasy everything is based statistics. A quarterback who gets 13 wins a season for his team is great, but if he only averages 10 fantasy points a game-well that's not what we like to call a fantasy stud.
So now you're in a league, you've drafted your team, and you compete week in and week out with the other owners mostly for bragging rights, but there are plenty of buy-in leagues anywhere from $10 to $10,000.
I hope this has helped those of you understand fantasy football a little better. Hit me up with questions or comments.
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Why Nadal Will Win
After winning the French Open, Rafael Nadal during his post match interview gave everyone that was watching what title he was zeroed in on after reclaiming his King of the Clay title. He told Johnny Mac that he wanted to add the US Open to his trophy case. What had hindered Nadal in the past was not that he was a poor hard court player, but after playing front loaded schedule his body simply could not withstand the hard courts. He was broken by the time September came around. Anyone that plays tennis knows that hard courts can be grueling on your body. Add that with Nadal's physically demanding style of play meant he was running on empty.
This year though he really cut down on the number of tournaments knowing that if he came in healthy he'd have a great shot. What you've seen is a fresh Nadal with an improved serve that gets him free points that he's never had before. Nadal has been a great player, but always lacked a serve that was a weapon, which only compounded the number of balls he would have to hit. Now, he's getting more free points, which keeps him fresher, longer. Not that conditioning has ever been an issue for Rafa, but I'll take an ace/service winner over a 15 stroke rally any day. I don't care who he's playing (props to Djokovic for a great semi-final), but he's winning this match. He'll have a career grand slam and a chance to have all 4 titles at the same time if he can win the Aussie Open-something Federer has yet to do.
Viva Rafa.
This year though he really cut down on the number of tournaments knowing that if he came in healthy he'd have a great shot. What you've seen is a fresh Nadal with an improved serve that gets him free points that he's never had before. Nadal has been a great player, but always lacked a serve that was a weapon, which only compounded the number of balls he would have to hit. Now, he's getting more free points, which keeps him fresher, longer. Not that conditioning has ever been an issue for Rafa, but I'll take an ace/service winner over a 15 stroke rally any day. I don't care who he's playing (props to Djokovic for a great semi-final), but he's winning this match. He'll have a career grand slam and a chance to have all 4 titles at the same time if he can win the Aussie Open-something Federer has yet to do.
Viva Rafa.
Live Commentary and Under the Radar Starters for Week 1:
Some guys who will be solid if not spectacular this week.
Jabar Gaffney: Denver’s number 1 receiver. Someone’s got to catch the ball and if he picks up where he left off from last season he could be addition off the waiver wire. Add that Jacksonville has a weak passing D only helps the case for him to start.
Brandon Marshall: Playing against Buffalo. Miami wears the Bills down with the run and the Henne hits Marshall for a few short passes that turn into 25+ yard plays.
Ahmad Bradshaw: He’s getting the start over Jacobs and will back it up with a solid performance.
Ryan Mathews: Makes his debut and it will be big.
Cadillac Williams: Finally healthy this year and Browns will be without Shaun Rogers.
Arian Foster: Explosive game with high octane offense and he’ll benefit from it.
Chad Henne: More because he’s playing Buffalo, but will be a solid starter today.
Matthew Stafford: Look for him to put up enough stats for to be a top 10QB this week.
Jabar Gaffney: Denver’s number 1 receiver. Someone’s got to catch the ball and if he picks up where he left off from last season he could be addition off the waiver wire. Add that Jacksonville has a weak passing D only helps the case for him to start.
Brandon Marshall: Playing against Buffalo. Miami wears the Bills down with the run and the Henne hits Marshall for a few short passes that turn into 25+ yard plays.
Ahmad Bradshaw: He’s getting the start over Jacobs and will back it up with a solid performance.
Ryan Mathews: Makes his debut and it will be big.
Cadillac Williams: Finally healthy this year and Browns will be without Shaun Rogers.
Arian Foster: Explosive game with high octane offense and he’ll benefit from it.
Chad Henne: More because he’s playing Buffalo, but will be a solid starter today.
Matthew Stafford: Look for him to put up enough stats for to be a top 10QB this week.
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