Online Gambling, Online Sportsbooks at Eye on Gambling provides Live Odds Sports News Free Picks Sports Betting and Gambling Odds Online at eog.com - View Single Post

Hache Man · 12-22-06, 03:17 PM

My Leagues

This week, I'll tell you a little bit about my leagues and discuss J.P. Losman, Jay Cutler, and the Tennessee defense. Then, fantasy's best emailers will provide their input on how to maximize respect.
For those of you who are interested in the new movie We Are Marshall (about the rebuilding of the Marshall football program after a 1970 plane crash killed the team), check out my one-on-one interview with Matthew McConaughey that ran on NBCSports.com on Wednesday. You might be surprised by how likeable the superstar is. And I bet you didn't know his dad played for Bear Bryant and was drafted by Green Bay!
Thought of the Week: My Leagues
I get a lot of questions about my leagues; so, being that the season is winding down (and I'm running out of things to talk about), I figured this was as good a time as any to bore you with the details.
I usually only do two leagues a season for football, basketball, and baseball. (I used to play hockey as well but had to cut that out in the interest of time management. Once I even played some fantasy game based on Survivor: The Australian Outback.) I don't like having a lot of teams, because it gets to the point where you don't know who to root for any more. Guys on one of your teams are on your opponent's team in another league, etc., etc. So I usually restrict it to my office league and one "experts" league. I love doing the office league, because trash talking your buddies is what fantasy sports is all about, right? And the experts leagues obviously offer a competitive environment and a way to interact with other fantasy sports writers from various publications/sites.
My Office League
This 14-team league got wacky this year when the commissioner decided to award as many points for passing yards as for rushing and receiving yards. As if that didn't give quarterbacks ridiculously disproportionate value, he then went and added a half point per completion…after the draft. (Don't get me started on changes to league settings after the draft…after everyone plotted draft strategies based on the initial scoring system. What makes it even worse is the fact that the commish's QB, Drew Brees, ranked fourth in completions in 2005.) The result of this absurd scoring system? As of today, J.P. Losman has more fantasy points than LaDainian Tomlinson. No lie.
Still, despite the completely unbalanced scoring system, I was careful not to put too much stock in drafting a QB high. I made that mistake once before in a similar league, drafting Jeff Garcia with the second overall pick in the days when he and Kurt Warner reigned supreme. Unfortunately, that was the year Garcia dropped off like Arsenio Hall. So instead, I drafted Ronnie Brown, Steven Jackson, Reggie Wayne, Plaxico Burress, and Frank Gore (in that order) and took Jake Plummer in the seventh. Plummer obviously turned out to be a dud, but I made up for it by grabbing Jon Kitna (whom the commish dumped—ha ha) and plugging him in as early as Week 3.
I had other embarrassing picks besides Plummer (most notably Michael Clayton in the sixth and the Pittsburgh defense in the eighth), but my ninth pick Laveranues Coles rounded out a nice receiving corps, and of course Jackson and Gore have been out of this world. Robbie Gould, whom I picked up early on, was a help for a while, but I recently dumped him for Mike Nugent (which paid off last week). As a result, I am playing in the championships against none other than the commish this week. Mr. Double Standard is ripping mad, too, because I traded Wali Lundy for Bret Favre back in the days when Lundy was starting for the Texans and used Favre last night instead of Kitna who's facing the Bears (which, of course, was the plan when I made the proposal in the first place). Of course it looks lopsided now, but if he thought it was unfair at the time, why didn't he veto it?
The Sports Buff Reporter/VIP League
I enjoyed this salary cap league, mainly because it weighs all positions—including kicker and defense—very evenly. For that reason, I stuck Baltimore and Chicago in my two defense spots and pretty much left them there all year. The low-priced Frank Gore was also a fixture in my lineup. If I could change one thing it probably would have been jumping on the Marques Colston bandwagon a bit earlier than I did. I tend to play it safe with unproven guys and thus missed out on a couple of his monster weeks. I did hop on the Brees and LT trains at the right times, though, and have subsequently done fairly well. Out of 158 teams, I've been ranked as high as seventh (last week). Currently I'm 11th. Chances of me rising to the top and winning the trip to Vegas are somewhat slim, though, as Sandlot Shrink has over 100 point on me, and we typically score about 200 points a week.
Players of Note
Chad Pennington – With his career-high 339 yards last week, Pennington opened some eyes. But before you get overly excited about plugging him in, realize that his big day came against a Vikings' pass defense that ranks second worst in the league. His matchups over the final two weeks are not nearly as friendly, as he faces the third- and first-ranked pass defenses (Miami and Oakland, respectively). You'll want to go with a better option if you have one.
Jay Cutler – It's definitely premature to put a lot of confidence in the rookie, but Cutler has a superb matchup this week against Cincinnati. Not only do the Bengals have the 30th-ranked pass defense, but they're likely to get a lead and force Denver to throw. If your starter is a mid-tier kind of guy with a poor matchup (e.g., Kitna), think about rolling the dice on the rook.
J.P. Losman – Quietly, Losman has transformed into a reliable quarterback…and fantasy option. In fact, on the year, he has fewer interceptions than Carson Palmer, Drew Brees, and Tom Brady and only one more than Peyton Manning. Over the last three weeks, he has seven TD to just two INT. Perhaps most impressively is that last week's 200-yard, three-touchdown performance came against Miami's third-ranked pass defense. On paper he looks to have a nice matchup against Tennessee's 22nd-ranked pass defense this week, but then again Pacman Jones and company have been picking off quarterbacks left and right. They did, however, yield 233 yards to David Garrard last week.
Ron Dayne – If ever there was a time to use Ron Dayne, it was now. Houston Coach Gary Kubiak loves him (though maybe not quite as much as Bill Parcells loves Tony Romo or Jim Mora loves Michael Vick), and he's facing the second worst run defense in football (the Colts). Certainly, he's not the kind of guy you expect to evade tacklers and break off long scampers resulting in monster numbers, but he should better his solid numbers from last week (18 carries, 94 yards, TD).
Tennessee Defense/Special Teams – Unlike running backs, receivers, and quarterbacks, defenses that get hot don't send fantasy owners racing to the waiver wire. But what the Titans have done of late warrants attention. In Week 12, they intercepted Eli Manning twice. The next week, they picked off Peyton Manning twice. Then last week, they reeled in three passes from David Garrard and returned all of them for touchdowns. (One return even included a devastating stiff arm by Cortland Finnegan.) Pretty surprising for a defense to whom no fantasy owners were paying attention. One reason for their newfound success is the emergence of Pacman Jones. The sophomore is living up to the hype that made him the sixth overall pick in last year's draft. In fact, last week alone he returned an interception 83 yards for a score and also provided a 70-yard kickoff return. If you don't have a top defense, you might consider using them against J.P. Losman and the Bills this week. Losman, though, has been taking good care of the ball recently, with no picks over the last two weeks and only 10 on the year.
The Trash Dump
Submit your questions/comments to jgangi@rotoworld.com.
{In response to Brad Hill's "great idea" of creating a couples league to involve the wives/girlfriends}: MY A$$ !!!! If you want lubby-dubby couples action, take it to a swingers resort!!! This move you suggest/support takes the competitive spirit completely out of Fantasy Football. Besides, how many of the couples involved are going to follow the rules.....namely letting the guys do the educating and the ladies setting the lineups ??!! Fuggettaboutit!! Give me a freak'n break already!!!! To make things fair...here's another "great idea". How about having the ladies show their pansy husbands how to carry their purses, so they won't look anymore stupid than they usually do when they carry them in the shopping mall!!!
- Tony Acello, Philadelphia, PA This takes me back to second grade when boys busted on other boys for including girls in their game of tag. What you don't realize that Brad does is that turning your girl onto fantasy sports beats the hell out of getting guilt trips for the rest of your existence whenever you choose to watch a game or set your lineup over candle shopping. What other activities do you recommend leaving women out of? Going to a game? Dinner and a movie? Sex?

12-22-06, 03:17 PM	#2
Hache Man Moderator "Seven Days Without Gambling Makes One Weak" Join Date: Aug 19, 2005 Location: Orlando, Florida Posts: 62,331	Re: Fantasy Football News 12/22/06 My Leagues This week, I'll tell you a little bit about my leagues and discuss J.P. Losman, Jay Cutler, and the Tennessee defense. Then, fantasy's best emailers will provide their input on how to maximize respect. For those of you who are interested in the new movie We Are Marshall (about the rebuilding of the Marshall football program after a 1970 plane crash killed the team), check out my one-on-one interview with Matthew McConaughey that ran on NBCSports.com on Wednesday. You might be surprised by how likeable the superstar is. And I bet you didn't know his dad played for Bear Bryant and was drafted by Green Bay! Thought of the Week: My Leagues I get a lot of questions about my leagues; so, being that the season is winding down (and I'm running out of things to talk about), I figured this was as good a time as any to bore you with the details. I usually only do two leagues a season for football, basketball, and baseball. (I used to play hockey as well but had to cut that out in the interest of time management. Once I even played some fantasy game based on Survivor: The Australian Outback.) I don't like having a lot of teams, because it gets to the point where you don't know who to root for any more. Guys on one of your teams are on your opponent's team in another league, etc., etc. So I usually restrict it to my office league and one "experts" league. I love doing the office league, because trash talking your buddies is what fantasy sports is all about, right? And the experts leagues obviously offer a competitive environment and a way to interact with other fantasy sports writers from various publications/sites. My Office League This 14-team league got wacky this year when the commissioner decided to award as many points for passing yards as for rushing and receiving yards. As if that didn't give quarterbacks ridiculously disproportionate value, he then went and added a half point per completion…after the draft. (Don't get me started on changes to league settings after the draft…after everyone plotted draft strategies based on the initial scoring system. What makes it even worse is the fact that the commish's QB, Drew Brees, ranked fourth in completions in 2005.) The result of this absurd scoring system? As of today, J.P. Losman has more fantasy points than LaDainian Tomlinson. No lie. Still, despite the completely unbalanced scoring system, I was careful not to put too much stock in drafting a QB high. I made that mistake once before in a similar league, drafting Jeff Garcia with the second overall pick in the days when he and Kurt Warner reigned supreme. Unfortunately, that was the year Garcia dropped off like Arsenio Hall. So instead, I drafted Ronnie Brown, Steven Jackson, Reggie Wayne, Plaxico Burress, and Frank Gore (in that order) and took Jake Plummer in the seventh. Plummer obviously turned out to be a dud, but I made up for it by grabbing Jon Kitna (whom the commish dumped—ha ha) and plugging him in as early as Week 3. I had other embarrassing picks besides Plummer (most notably Michael Clayton in the sixth and the Pittsburgh defense in the eighth), but my ninth pick Laveranues Coles rounded out a nice receiving corps, and of course Jackson and Gore have been out of this world. Robbie Gould, whom I picked up early on, was a help for a while, but I recently dumped him for Mike Nugent (which paid off last week). As a result, I am playing in the championships against none other than the commish this week. Mr. Double Standard is ripping mad, too, because I traded Wali Lundy for Bret Favre back in the days when Lundy was starting for the Texans and used Favre last night instead of Kitna who's facing the Bears (which, of course, was the plan when I made the proposal in the first place). Of course it looks lopsided now, but if he thought it was unfair at the time, why didn't he veto it? The Sports Buff Reporter/VIP League I enjoyed this salary cap league, mainly because it weighs all positions—including kicker and defense—very evenly. For that reason, I stuck Baltimore and Chicago in my two defense spots and pretty much left them there all year. The low-priced Frank Gore was also a fixture in my lineup. If I could change one thing it probably would have been jumping on the Marques Colston bandwagon a bit earlier than I did. I tend to play it safe with unproven guys and thus missed out on a couple of his monster weeks. I did hop on the Brees and LT trains at the right times, though, and have subsequently done fairly well. Out of 158 teams, I've been ranked as high as seventh (last week). Currently I'm 11th. Chances of me rising to the top and winning the trip to Vegas are somewhat slim, though, as Sandlot Shrink has over 100 point on me, and we typically score about 200 points a week. Players of Note Chad Pennington – With his career-high 339 yards last week, Pennington opened some eyes. But before you get overly excited about plugging him in, realize that his big day came against a Vikings' pass defense that ranks second worst in the league. His matchups over the final two weeks are not nearly as friendly, as he faces the third- and first-ranked pass defenses (Miami and Oakland, respectively). You'll want to go with a better option if you have one. Jay Cutler – It's definitely premature to put a lot of confidence in the rookie, but Cutler has a superb matchup this week against Cincinnati. Not only do the Bengals have the 30th-ranked pass defense, but they're likely to get a lead and force Denver to throw. If your starter is a mid-tier kind of guy with a poor matchup (e.g., Kitna), think about rolling the dice on the rook. J.P. Losman – Quietly, Losman has transformed into a reliable quarterback…and fantasy option. In fact, on the year, he has fewer interceptions than Carson Palmer, Drew Brees, and Tom Brady and only one more than Peyton Manning. Over the last three weeks, he has seven TD to just two INT. Perhaps most impressively is that last week's 200-yard, three-touchdown performance came against Miami's third-ranked pass defense. On paper he looks to have a nice matchup against Tennessee's 22nd-ranked pass defense this week, but then again Pacman Jones and company have been picking off quarterbacks left and right. They did, however, yield 233 yards to David Garrard last week. Ron Dayne – If ever there was a time to use Ron Dayne, it was now. Houston Coach Gary Kubiak loves him (though maybe not quite as much as Bill Parcells loves Tony Romo or Jim Mora loves Michael Vick), and he's facing the second worst run defense in football (the Colts). Certainly, he's not the kind of guy you expect to evade tacklers and break off long scampers resulting in monster numbers, but he should better his solid numbers from last week (18 carries, 94 yards, TD). Tennessee Defense/Special Teams – Unlike running backs, receivers, and quarterbacks, defenses that get hot don't send fantasy owners racing to the waiver wire. But what the Titans have done of late warrants attention. In Week 12, they intercepted Eli Manning twice. The next week, they picked off Peyton Manning twice. Then last week, they reeled in three passes from David Garrard and returned all of them for touchdowns. (One return even included a devastating stiff arm by Cortland Finnegan.) Pretty surprising for a defense to whom no fantasy owners were paying attention. One reason for their newfound success is the emergence of Pacman Jones. The sophomore is living up to the hype that made him the sixth overall pick in last year's draft. In fact, last week alone he returned an interception 83 yards for a score and also provided a 70-yard kickoff return. If you don't have a top defense, you might consider using them against J.P. Losman and the Bills this week. Losman, though, has been taking good care of the ball recently, with no picks over the last two weeks and only 10 on the year. The Trash Dump Submit your questions/comments to jgangi@rotoworld.com. {In response to Brad Hill's "great idea" of creating a couples league to involve the wives/girlfriends}: MY A$$ !!!! If you want lubby-dubby couples action, take it to a swingers resort!!! This move you suggest/support takes the competitive spirit completely out of Fantasy Football. Besides, how many of the couples involved are going to follow the rules.....namely letting the guys do the educating and the ladies setting the lineups ??!! Fuggettaboutit!! Give me a freak'n break already!!!! To make things fair...here's another "great idea". How about having the ladies show their pansy husbands how to carry their purses, so they won't look anymore stupid than they usually do when they carry them in the shopping mall!!! - Tony Acello, Philadelphia, PA This takes me back to second grade when boys busted on other boys for including girls in their game of tag. What you don't realize that Brad does is that turning your girl onto fantasy sports beats the hell out of getting guilt trips for the rest of your existence whenever you choose to watch a game or set your lineup over candle shopping. What other activities do you recommend leaving women out of? Going to a game? Dinner and a movie? Sex?