Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Fantasy Football. Help me understand it.

Unlike what my portly blogger friend told you, I don’t feel like I’m better than people who play fantasy football, and I don’t feel like it’s below me.

I just don’t get the fascination.  I mean it.  Everyone I know, damn near everyone I know, follows/plays fantasy football like it is their job/career/life.  Shit, even FX is putting a show together that is wholly based around the concept of guys playing fantasy football.  Part of the Sunday Ticket package is to follow “your players’” statistics. It’s literally, I’d say, as big as the game itself now.

That’s fine, I don’t have a problem with it.  It doesn’t get in the way of my watching football, and it usually leads to some pretty entertaining (yet petty) arguments among my friends that I get to watch from the stands.  However, I just don’t see the appeal.  In my mind, and I swear to God, I don’t mean this in a demeaning way, it’s like Dungeons and Dragons.  A bunch of guys create a fantasy scenario where they "own people” and based on stats of events outside of one’s direct control, the game is played out.

Being so disconnected from fantasy sports, I really have some questions that I’d like answered.  Again, this isn’t to demean anyone who plays fantasy football (everyone), this is really just for me to try and understand why it’s so popular.

Brooks over at SBB has put something similar up, so I’m just going to borrow his questionnaire.

  • Why do you play fantasy sports?
    • To keep up with my favorite players
    • To stay close with distant friends
    • To make money
    • Everyone else does it
    • Other
  • How has fantasy football affected your relationship with your significant other?
    • No change
    • Helped
    • Damaged
    • Not applicable
  • How has fantasy sports affected your relationship with your favorite teams?
    • Added to my love for my favorite team
    • Diminished my love for my favorite team
    • No change
    • I’m a bandwagon fan, so it doesn’t matter
  • Has fantasy football been good for the NFL?
    • Yes, it has increased interest
    • No, it’s just perverted fan allegiances
    • No change
  • Fantasy football _____
    • is here to stay, so you might as well get on board
    • is a fad, and isn’t going to last forever
    • isn’t for everyone

Unlike what you might normally think I’d do, I’m not looking to shit on fantasy football because it’s popular…like I do with Twitter and music.   I agree with Brooks in that I think it’s gotten big not because of people, but because the media embraced it…like betting lines or anal.

By the way, just answer the questions or share a quick comment or two, don’t write a fucking essay response like I’ve asked you about you thoughts on the political climate of the United States. (Yes, Bear, I’m looking at your long winded ass)

Monday, September 14, 2009

Patrick Swayze Died

You probably swung by expecting some jokes about how “God has a bouncer for the pearly gates now” or how Whoopi Goldberg is gonna hear shit on the set of “The View”.

I’m not going to do that.  Only because Swayze died of cancer, and cancer isn’t funny.  Making fun of cancer is just asking for some bad shit to happen.  Trust me, my people invented the concept of karma and I’m afraid of jinxing sports teams, so I won’t make a cancer joke.

You know what is funny?

College Footbal Weekly Round up - Week 2

Yea, the Houston hand sign is a shocker. UH my ass. wait, did I just say my ass and shocker in the same caption? That can't be good.



The first "show me" weekend has happened, and 1 team has proven themselves as legit(USC), one that couldn't live up to the hype(Oklahoma Lite), and 3 teams that might be more of a contender than you think(Michigan, TCU, Cincinnati).

Lets just get straigt into the bisnazz.

Main Eventers

No. 1 Florida (Win 56-6, Troy) - HoHum, the best team in the land beat another under matched team in the Gator second pre season game. This week we find out how good they are, and also if Tennessee is for real.

No. 3 USC (Win 18-15, No. 8 Ohio State) - Ohio State has T.Pryor, the fastest man alive, and USC was rolling out their superstar in waiting freshmen QB Matt Barkley. I really thought this was the year Ohio State got this monkey off their back. For 3 and a half quarters, Barkley looked like a freshmen QB starting his first big road game, then the last drive happened, where he was just nails. When USC took the lead 1:05 left, I thought to myself, "self, I really hope Pryor can lead them down to a FG and send this bitch into overtime. This is where the hypetrain really takes off for Pryor." Man was I wrong.

On a side note how is Jim Tressell not on the hot seat? Yea he wins in the big 10. He beats Michigan, which we all know is what they live for in Columbus, but over the past 4 years, he has lost to Texas (VY), beat Texas (Fresh Colt), Lost to USC (Sanchez), and lost to USC (Barkley), in their big non con games. Couple this with his BCS record is an average 4-3, how much magic does his 2002 national title hold, when it itself was about as lucky a season as one could have?

No. 2 Texas (win 41-10, Wyoming) - 13-10 at the half? That's not looking too good, but then Colt McCoy came alive, throwing for 2 TD's and running one in as well. Texas Tech comes to Austin for a revenge game this week, should get a better feel for this team after that one.

No. 4 Alabama (win 40-14, Florida International) - Freshmen RB Trent Richardson was fantastic in this blowout(15-118 2 TD's). I'm still not sold on their QB, but this Bamma team is better than last year. God I hope Riley dosn't play this week and we just chalk it up to a loss and get our paycheck.

Mid Carders

No. 7 Penn State (Win 28-7, Syracuse) - Like I said last week, they will stay here till they play at Mich in late October. QB Dayrll Clark was solid again going for 240 and 3 TD's.

No. 10 California (Win 59-7, Eastern Washington) - Holy Crap Javeed Best is a Beast! The Golden bear running back is built like an elite back (5'10", 190) in the mold of Emmit Smith, yet is faster than both Barry and Bush. He put it on Eastern Washington for 144 on 17 carries. Watch out USC.

No. 16 TCU (Win 30-14, Virginia) - Yea, UVA lost to William and Mary last week, i know, but they are still a big conference school, and TCU went to their turf, and hit them in the mouth repeatedly. Frogs were lead by a Defense that shut out UVA till late in the fourth. Could this be the year?

No. 9 Brigham Young (win 54-3, Tulane) - No let down here. BYU rolled

No. 13 Oklahoma (Win 64-0, Idaho State) - Poor Idaho State, had to let OU take out all the frustrations of last week out on them. QB Landry Jones played alright, but when your defense allowed only 44 total yards, including -22 rushing, a chimp could play QB and you will win.

Development Teams

No. 23 Cincinnati (Win 70-3, Southeast Missouri State) - I know its against a multi-directional team, but when you hang 70, your doing something right. So now, the BearCats have soundly beaten Rutgers (45-17) and hung 70 on someone. Watch out.

Michigan (Win 38-34, No. 18 Notre Dame) - Well, that Notre Dame run was fun while it lasted. This might have been one of the most fun games to watch that will happen all season. It was back and forth (5 lead changes), high scoring, full of big plays, and won with 5 seconds left, when freshmen QB Tate Forcier hit Greg Mathews for the win. What a game.

No. 24 Kansas (win 34-7, UTEP) - The forgotten team in the Big 12, with the best QB people still aren't talking about, has put up some good numbers over the first 2 weeks of the season. Two weeks, when they host southern miss, we will find out how real this team is.

Auburn (Win 49-24, Mississippi State) - Mississippi State is no Alabama, but they are an SEC team, and Auburn put up 589 total yards, and 390 yards rushing against them. Auburn may not be the cock of the walk in the SEC this year, but they are dangerous enough to make some noise.

Big Ups to all my Haters upset of the week is an easy one. Fresh off of "proving themselves" against Georgia last week, Oklahoma State let little old Houston come in and beat them 45-35. Houston's QB Case Keenum was talked about a lot coming into this year as one of those QB's from a small school that could be a good pro, well, 32-46 for 366 and 3 TD's against one of the best d's in the big 12 will help prove that story.

If you were anywhere in the vicinity of the Mid Cities Saturday night, possibly at the Euless Trinity vs Ceder Hill game i was working, and you heard a giant "FUCK!" seemingly coming from nowhere, I'm sorry, because as I was working, I kept checking the old gay phone to see how my beloved Mean Green of North Texas was doing in Denton. They looked good all game, but blew it in the rain of Denton in double overtime. Good news? We held Ohio to 232 yards, Bad News? Reily Dodge went down in the second half. I kinda hope he dosn't play Saturday due to the fact as Gerry Dorsey puts it "Terrence Cody Takes shits the size of Riley Dodge."

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Late NFL Preview

 

Yes, I’m aware that Week 1 has just started in the NFL, but you know what, last I checked, that’s 1 out of like 20 football weeks.  Unlike women who risk unprotected sex, I can be late with things.

Anyway, here’s my quick overview of the season’s news and some random predictions.

  • Michael Vick is going to be a non factor.  Defenses have learned the Wildcat.  Trust me.   David Carradine’s auto-erotic asphyxiation attempts have been more successful than the Wildcat will be this year.
  • Brett Favre will be a mediocre quarterback.  So mediocre in fact that he’ll be a non-story.  Yup, nothing to see here. 
  • Jessica Simpson is going to resemble Delta Burke really soon.
  • Seriously, I can’t fucking believe Favre did it again.  How the fuck can this shit happen?  Who’s responsible for this?  I want fucking answers that maybe Ja Rule can’t give me!!!!
  • Jay Cutler is a whiny ass hole.  This is a fact.  However, would you rather play for a whiny, granola, Birkenstock wearing hippie fan base and a doucher head coach like McDaniels or would you rather play for a bunch of sausage eating, whiny, girdle wearing Midwestern fan base and the cooolest coach West of Mike Tomlin and East of Mike Singletary…fuck it, I got lost typing that argument. 
  • Terrell Owens is in Buffalo.  How’d Drew Rosenhouse sell this to both sides? 
  • Dallas is going to miss the playoffs. 
  • Sinbad will make a comeback
  • Aaron Rodgers will be the league MVP this year.  He will then engineer a trade to Minnesota.  He’ll do so as a giant fuck you to Green Bay fans who treated him like shit when he was drafted and the 2 years after that.  He will buy Steve McNair’s old house in Mississippi.  Brett Favre will shoot him in the chest four times and then himself in the head.  The story won’t be reported as much as you think it will. 
  • Admit it, you forgot Steve McNair was murdered by a 22 year old girl, didn’t you?
  • Chad Johnson (no, I’m not fucking calling him OchoCinco) will surpass Ashton Kutcher and Shaquille O’Neal as the most followed person on Twitter. 
  • Carson Palmer will be arrested for murdering Chad Johnson.
  • Al Davis will see a surge in popularity when it’s discovered he’s a real vampire and totally knows the Twilight guys!
  • This list will sound more and more like it belongs on a Conan O’Brien “in the year 3000” sketch.
  • NFC
    • Packers (Rodgers will be king this year)
    • Vikings (Peterson and the D, not the old man)
    • Eagles (McNabb has targets now)
    • Giants (Defense wins…even without Spags leading them)
    • 49ers (Pants-Off Dance-Off!)
    • Saints (Brees is that good this year)
  • AFC
    • Patriots (Brady’s back, and he’s baby-daddier!)
    • Colts (Manning’s back, meh)
    • Texans (Yes, this is FINALLY the year)
    • Titans (That running attack and defense)
    • Chargers (Default division winner)
    • Steelers (Best in their division)
  • Super Bowl
    • Patriots OVER Saints

Great, I’m old

Jordan’s in the Hall of Fame.  

Yes, I still wanna be like Mike…and my favorite pair of shoes I ever owned were the old gray, red and black Jordans from, I think, 1993.

Saturday, September 12, 2009

Whatever happened to Brown?

 

 

Could this be the beginning of a return? 

Is this the rebirth of the baddest motherfucker to sit behind a keyboard or is this going to be wrapped up quicker than Chris Benoit on a bowflex?

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.  Time will tell…

Friday, September 11, 2009

You can't make this stuff up!

From the land of "what the fuck? Really?" news, I'm sure you have heard by now that Chargers linebacker Shawne Merrirmen is in trouble for choking Teli Tequila last weekend.

That right there might be the strangest sentence i have ever written.

But wait there is more

""Sources close to the story [say] jealousy played a role in the early morning altercation. The sources [claim] that witnesses at Merriman's home said the three-time Pro Bowl linebacker went to his bedroom with two women. Sources said Tequila walked into the room and Merriman asked her to join them. However, the sources said Tequila reacted angrily and threatened to have sex with a member of Merriman's entourage. According to sources, Tequila was intoxicated, and she got naked and attempted to leave the house."

That from 10 New in San Diego

Somebody watches too much Entourage.

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

College Football Weekly Round Up - Week 1

Oh, football. You came and sat without taking, and then you just walked away, ohhh football.....

Can I explain how much joy it brought me to wake up late Saturday morning to real football, being played for real? I don't know if I can. I really don't know.

Lets jump into the rankings.

Main eventers

No. 1 Florida (win 62-3, Charleston Southern) - Nice Preseason game for the Gators, ran for 369 yards, first test in two weeks vs Tennessee.

No. 2 Texas (Win 59-20, Louisiana-Monroe) - Same as Florida, nice preseason win. First game that even kinda matters is two weeks when they have revenge on their mind and host the Red Raiders.

No. 5 Alabama (Win 34-24, No. 7 Virginia Tech) - I wasn't sure that Bama was going to be be able to replace its stud running back Glenn Coffee, but 150 by Mark Ingram, and 90 by Roy Upchurch against a good VaTech team has me believing that this Bamma offense might be better than last year. They are rewarded with a game against FIU this week, but then have the biggest BCS buster ever coming to their town in two weeks, the Meanest of all Green, North Texas (more on them later).

No. 4 USC (Win 56-3, San Jose State) - Be honest, when you saw at the end of the first quarter that San Jose State had a 3-0 lead, you telling all your buddies "I knew it, USC is going to suck this year!" Well, not so much buddy. The freshmen QB looked pretty good (15-19 233, 1TD), in dropping 56 over the next 3 quarters, but it was the running game that controlled this game, of the guys who helped USC rock 342 yards on the ground, 3 of them had yards per carry over 10.

No. 9 Oklahoma State (Win 24-10, No. 13 Georgia) - I'm not as sold on this OSU team as some people are, but they did look damn good taking care of Georgia this week, and they have the Schedule, that if they run the table, they won't be left out of the title game. If they want that to happen though, they need to get the ball to Dez Bryant more than 3 times though.

Mid Carders

No. 6 Ohio State (Win 31-27, Navy) - Game I woke up to on Saturday, thought the buckeyes looked pretty good, left it at half time when they were up 20-7. Little did I know Navy wasn't done yet. They came back, and almost stole it. I know OSU was looking forward to this week, when they get USC, as they should be. Gonnna be a fun weekend.

No. 9 Penn State (win 31-7, Akron) - There is going to be a trend on the mid Card level here on CFWRU, Penn State will stay right around here, until they play @Michigan, late October. Because that is the first game that should even test these guys. Daryll Clark was good in the opener (29-40 353, 3TD 1INT), but they need to do better on the ground to help him out. 136 yards rushing against Akron isn't going to cut it.

No. 20 Brigham Young (win 14-13, No. 3 Oklahoma) - Well, one week down, and already my Nat Title game is gone. (I had Oklahoma Penn State if you care). BYU, what can be said that you haven't heard or read over 100 times already this week? Yea, no Bradford in the second half, but BYU just looked like a better team. If Max Hall doesn't throw 2 picks, I think BYU could have really run away with this one. (Side note, best part of Saturday? Driving up to Denton sat night along I35, which is the highway to get back to Norman from Dallas. The road was crowed to say the least, and I believe I said "Man, all these cars are driving so slow and look so sad" It was then I realised that the BYU Oklahoma game was played at Jerry World in Arlington. It made me smile)

No. 15 Georgia Tech (Win 37-17, Jacksonville State) - I know its only Jacksonville State, but what would happen if Paul Johnson and his triple flex option ran the table? Hardest games of the year? @Miami in two weeks, home to UNC, VaTech, and Georgia. The want for this to happen is so large right now I'm salivating. Think if all the big boys just drop one game, to another top 15 team, and Penn State and Georgia Tech go undefeated due to weak schedules? I'm openly rooting for this.

Development guys.

No. 14 Boise State (Win 19-8, No. 16 Oregon) - I really thought Oregon would be better than they showed Thursday night, even so that I made a 10 dollar bet on them. Boy was I wrong. Boise controlled the clock (42:32 - 17:28), the running game (164-31), and held the Ducks to 1 or 10 on third downs. Of course all people will remember about this game is LeGarret Blount knocking out a Boise player after the game. Check it.



No. 23 Notre Dame (Win 35-0, Nevada) - I like the Irish this year alot. If they can put away an improved Michigan team week, they will be in my second tier group. Jimmy Clausen was great (15-18 315, 4 TD), and his receivers might be the best duo in the game.

No. 24 Nebraska (Win 49-3, Florida Atlantic) - Not too bad for the huskers of corn. They got a good performance by Helu Jr, (152 on 16), and a D that forced 3 turnovers and only 122 yards rushing. Gonna be fun to see what they can do against Kansas, the favorite to win the B12 north this year.

Big Up to all my Haters award for biggest upset goes to, BYU. Yea, that was well done.

In a note that matters to only me, North Texas has already won as many games this year as they did all of last season, as they beat Ball State 20-10. The highly anticipated first start at QB for Riley Dodge (coaches kid, was supposed to go to UT, decided to save his dads job at UNT), went very well, 22-33 216 1TD 1INT, 12 rushes 73 yards. If they can beat Ohio this weekend, I'm coming for you Dorsey. UNT is going to shock the world when they beat Bamma! Mark it!

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

QB's as considered by Trent Dilfer


D-Nasty, a loyal reader (one of the only ones left), found a nice article on ESPN.com where Trent Dilfer tells us what QB is the shit, and who is just shitty.

Before we get to the meat of it, allow Trent to explain why he done did this.

"fueled by frustration over pundits' repeated failures to acknowledge and appreciate the most difficult position in sports. After studying quarterbacks throughout my career and spending the past year evaluating the position daily, I believe a strong argument can be made that quarterback play today is as good as ever -- and possibly even better."

I tend to agree with him. Not since the late 90's have we seen the NFL so QB heavy.

"I brought up fantasy football in the beginning because the fantasy mindset has skewed perceptions, encouraging us to view quarterbacks through a statistical lens. We have lost perspective as a result. I purposely did not consult a single statistic in formulating the analysis that follows. My playoff notes, end-of-season notes and firsthand knowledge were my guide."

While I like this non looking at stats bit, its smelled a little to much like "I played the game, I never had good stats, but I have a superbowl ring, so I know good QB's."

"If you can take a five-step drop, keep your eyes downfield and deliver the ball while a 300-pound beast is bearing down on you in a big game, you deserve commendation and appreciation for what you do."

Agreed.

"There isn't a bad player on my list, regardless of category!"

Read: Please still talk to me if I end up being wrong about you! PLEASE!

and now to the rankings. He has Brady and Manning in the "ELITE" range, Bree's and Rivers next in the "SUPERSTARS" range, and next is Roethlisberger, McNabb, Eli Manning, Warner, and Hasselbeck in the "STARS" range.

While I don't think Eli and Warner should be here, he most def puts more emphasis on winning the post season than I do. The next tier is "Knocking on the Door," and number one on that list is our very own Tony Romo. Here is what Dilfer has to say about him.

"1. Tony Romo, Dallas

Analysis: Quickest release in the NFL … unparalleled ability to throw from multiple foot platforms, both intermediately and down the field … as artistic as any quarterback in the league, instinctively using all available resources (eye placement, shoulder nods, pump fakes, arm angles, you name it) … can make something out of nothing on a consistent basis … sometimes careless with the football, both in the pocket and through the air … limited big-game success."


That's pretty right on i suppose. Take a look at the article, its a nice read, and at the end the last group of "not bad players" is the NOT ENOUGH EVIDENCE range, where you will find Alex Smith, Travis Jackson, and JaMarcus. Not Enough Evidence my ass.

Thanks Nasty for bringing us this.

Bigs Fantasy Football Preview

Depending on who you are, and what kind of "fan" you are, Fantasy Football is either the greatest or the worst thing that has ever happened to watching the NFL. It either gives you a legit reason to care about almost every game on Sunday, or it makes you a head hunter, caring only about player that you have on your team, and not the real NFL team your watching.

Brown is one of the later guys who thinks fantasy sports is below him, and I'm one of the smucks who play in about 10 fantasy leagues every year. Its what you love about us, the hatered that boils right below the surface, after all, Indians are the new Jews.

Anyway, I consider myself a strong to quite strong fantasy footballer. I'm not going to say I'm the best, but last year I did win enough money to buy a new big screen TV from fantasy. I've already had one of my drafts this year (the one I care most about), and I have another tonight, and another sometime early next week, so i don't think I will be giving away to much of my strategy with this Fantasy Football Preview.

I will give you three categories, and a couple of tips at the end. The first categories is guys you want on your team, and I'll give you three types, A sure thing first rounder, a slight sleeper, and a super sleeper, for each position that matters.

Guys You Want.

Stud
QB - Aaron Rodgers Green Bay. - Outside of Brady, Rodgers is my number 2 QB tied with Brees. He was the 3rd best scorer in all of fantasy last year, and he lost nothing around him. His 2nd year as the starter will give him more confidence, and the defense is getting there to help Green Bay win some games this year.

Sleeper
Matt Hasselbeck - He is healthy for the first time in a couple of years, and more importantly, so is his receivers. The addition of T.J. Houshmandzadeh, who had over 90 catches last year (with no Carson Palmer btw), will give Seattle one hell of wr corp.

Super Sleeper
Marc Bulger STL - This guy was in the top 4 or QB just a few short years ago. His O line has to be better this year than last, and he has some speedy WR's to throw the ball to. I wouldn't suggest you drafting Bulger as your number 1, but he is worth a look in the late late rounds to take a flyer on.

RB
Stud - Matt Forte Chi - If your in a PPR league, Forte might be worth taking over AD, all other leagues he needs to be at worst the 4th player taken. He has a good offense that is conducive to running the ball, and with defenses having to respect Cutler as a QB way more than they did the Neck Beard, his running lanes will be even more open.

Sleeper - Ray Rice Bal - I don't really like to look to hard at pre season numbers, but Rice played in half a game last week and had over 100 combined rushing and receiving yards. Salty is an understatement. Rice is falling because a big name, Willis McGahee, is still on this team, but the number of carries that Rice gets will far overshadow Mr. Monkey Knee. IF you can get Rice as a 2 or a even a three, you will be happy at the end of year.

Super Sleeper - LeSean McCoy Phi - Here is a rookie, who has alot of talent, yet not alot of reps at the moment. The reason is he is behind Brian Westbrook, one of the best backs in all of football. Good news, Westbrook will get hurt at some point, and McCoy will play well when he does. So, if you draft Westbrook, you have his handcuff, if you don't, when westbrook goes down, you now have something that can help your team in a number of ways, with either playing time, or trade bait.

WR

Stud
Andre Johnson Randy Moss Calvin Johnson Larry Fitzgerald - Any 4 of those guys are worth a late first round early 2nd. Crap shoot.

Sleeper - Chad Ochocinco Cin - He is healthy, he is focused, he is the clear number one at the Bengels, and most important, Carson Palmer is healthy too.

Super Sleeper - Nate Washington Ten - Here is a guy you can grab at the end of most drafts that I beleive will be a solid performer this season. He comes over from Pit last season, where he was the number three WR behind Santonio Holms and Hines Ward, but he is now the best WR that Tenn has. Tenn has to play a division winning schedule this year, and if you think teams wont be keying on Chris Johnson and LenDale White, your wrong. With that said, Kerry Collins will have to pass more, leaving his best WR Washington, with the potential to have a great year. The reason this guy is falling in drafts is because he is hurt right now, and might miss a few regular season games due to his hamstring injury. While that is bad news, if you draft him late and stick on the end of your bench, you might just find a quality guy that can help you in the playoffs.

TE

Stud Jason Witten Dal - No more TO, Roy Williams hasn't proved he's can handle the #1 WR spot, Pat Crayton has a tendency to drop balls, Miles Austin, Sam Hurd, Kevin Ogletree are all unproven, but you know who is proven? Hard Hittin' Jason Witten. 100+ catches and 10 TD isn't out of the question.

Sleeper - Dustin Keller Jets - What is the greatest security blanket for a QB? TE. Whats a rookie QB really need to start a season? A security blanket. 1 + 1 = 2. See where I'm going.

Super Sleeper - Anthony Fasano Mia - He finds the endzone. Simple and plane.

A couple of draft notes.

Wait till the last 2 rounds to take a K and a Def. In my 12 team league, I did this and ended up with Nate Keading, the K from San Deigo, and the Green Bay Packers. The best kicker last year, Gostkowski, had 9.2 pts a game, Keading 7.9. Is 1.3 pts per game worth a pick a full 6 rounds higher? Same thing with the D. Green Bay isn't the top pick, but a middle pick, and i didn't have to use an 11th round pick on them.

Limit yourself to 2 handcuff players per team. Even better if you can just use one. It may seam like a good idea to take Sprolls, McCoy, Taylor, and Norwood, due to the fact that when one of those guys goes down, you have the back up, but all of those guys are backups for a reason. Most of them arn't even really sharing duites with the incumbent. Guys like Kevin Smith, Thomas Jones, Cedric Benson, Julius Jones, and Joseph Addai may not be "sexy" picks, but they are their teams number one backs. When your starter goes down, and all you have on your bench are handcuffs, you will be in a world of hurt, so keep your handcuffs to just 1 or 2.

IF you don't get an elite WR, scatter shoot and play the match ups. After the first 5 or 6 WR's there is a significant drop off. then after the next 5, there is even a bigger one. This means taking more WR's than you normally do, and playing the match ups and "who's hot" game. A corp of WR that you can get in round 5-12 could be a group like this: T.J. Houshmandzadeh, Braylon Edwards, Anthony Gonzalez, Ted Ginn Jr., Domenik Hixon, and Michael Jenkins. Now this group is a mix of week number one's (Housh, Edwards) strong number 2's (Gonzalez, Jenkins), and a guys with potential to either suck, or be very solid (Ginn, Hixon). Now you have some room to play around.

I hope this helps, and if ya got any questions, hit us up vie email.

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

College Footbal Weekly Round up - Preview

Its Time!

Its Time!

Its Vader College Football Time!

With the College Football season set to start in less than a weeks, its time for us here at TB&TB to get off our lazy asses and start talkin' some football.

Last week the AP top 25 came out, so I guess its time to bring back the Roundup. For those of you who didn't follow us last year, let me explain how the round up works. During the regular season, i will pop on most mondays and talk about the previous weekends slate of College Football games. I rank teams baised on how I think they look and give no credence to where they were ranked a week prior.

The rankings break down into 3 different categories, all wrestling terms, Like to hear it, here it goes.

Main Eventers - Teams with a legit shot at the BCS Championship. (Just fyi, last year the opening Main Eventers were Florida, USC, Oklahoma, Georgia, and Ohio State)

Mid Carders - Teams that are on the next plaato. (Last year, LSU, Texas, West Virgina, Missouri, Auburn)

Developmental Teams - While these guys don't really have a shot at the BCS title, they are teams to watch out for, either because they are good non-BCS teams, or teams on the rise. (Last year the list included Texas Tech, Alabama, Kansas, Penn State, Brigham Young)

So lets get to my list, shall we?

Main Eventers:
1 Florida. They have Seniors in the most important positions on both sides of the ball in Brandon Spikes (LB), and the Great Tim Teebow. Urban Meyer has committed to Florida for like 20 years or somesuch. The only thing to watch for is if this team can find a legit playmaker to replace Percy Harvin.

3 Oklahoma. I give the nod to the Sooners over the Longhorns based on a gut feeling. Its going to be hard to replace all those WR's, but Sam Bradford has one hell of a TE in Jermaine Gresham, and the defence did well against Florida in the title game last year.

2 Texas - With McCoy returning, and Jordan Shipley given another year of eligibility, the Longhorns should have an explosive offence this year. Their chance to run the table will be a stiff one, having to play Oklahoma at Jerry World, then travel to Missouri and Oklahoma State, and if they get through all of that, then the last game of the year is at Kyle Field, and if the Horns are undefeated, no matter the record of A&M, that won't be an easy game.

4 USC - The whole O is back, sands QB Mark Sanchez, but not to worry, his replacement is ......a freshmen? Matt Barkley will helm the men of Troy this season, but no worries they have like 15 stud running backs, ohh, and a pretty good defence lead by all American Taylor Mays.

Mid Carders (Guys just a step below).

6 Ohio State - They play at the shoe this year, week 2, vs USC. It will be a watershed game for the Buckeyes, if they the super stud Terrelle Pryor can get past USC, another undefeated season going into January is a real possibility.

9 Oklahoma State - This years Texas Tech? Maybe. They have talent, QB Zac Robinson, WR Dez Bryant, that will be playing on Sundays next year, but in a conference where they have to play Texas, OU, Tech, and a road game at upstart Baylor, and a then a non con where the first game of the year is hosting number 13 Georgia, will put anyteam to the test.

5 Alabama - I'm not as high on Alabama as some are, but they may be the best overall team in the SEC West. The douche John Parker Wilson is gone, so is Glenn Coffee, but Julio Jones, the nations best WR is still there, and they did return All-American LB Rolando McClain, and stud DT Terrence Cody on defence.

Development guys (teams to watch out for)

15 Georgia Tech - Yea, Paul Johnson runs a felxbone, trip option offense, but in a down ACC, Tech could win a lot of games.

23 Notre Dame - One thing is for certain, this team will be better than last year. How much better depends on the offensive line that will protect Jimmy Clausen. Last year Clausen spent too much time on his back. If they can keep him upright, the Oct. 17th game at USC might feature 2 undefeated top 10 teams.

24 Nebraska - Year 2 under Bill Poleni will have continued improvement for this once powerhouse. They made strides last year, but will have to breat in a new QB in Zac Lee. The defence is anchored by what might be the best DT in all of college football, Ndamukong Suh.

as the year goes on, I will bring you guys more and more college football. Like my Big Ups to all my haters upset of the week, and some BCS Busters next time. Stay hard.

Friday, August 28, 2009

RIP Reading Rainbow

Today is a sad day for any child who grew up in the 90's. The beloved show, Reading Rainbow will be airing its finial episode today on PBS. As a child, LaVar Burton, and the show Reading Rainbow was a staple. Sad to see you go. Stay hard my friend.



Sing with me, one last time.

"Lets take a look, its in a book, Reading Rainbow."

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Silly Jerry. Your big TV is too Big.



Yea, he hit the big TV.

Friday, August 21, 2009

Random thoughts for the Day.

* I wish Google Maps had an "Avoid Ghetto" routing option.

* More often than not, when someone is telling me a story all I can think about is that I can’t wait for them to finish so that I can tell my own story that’s not only better, but also more directly involves me.

* Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you're wrong.

* I don't understand the purpose of the line, "I don't need to drink to have fun." Great, no one does. But why start a fire with flint and sticks when they've invented the lighter?

* Have you ever been walking down the street and realized that you're going in the complete opposite direction of where you are supposed to be going? But instead of just turning a 180 and walking back in the direction from which you came, you have to first do something like check your watch or phone or make a grand arm gesture and mutter to yourself to ensure that no one in the surrounding area thinks you're crazy by randomly switching directions on the sidewalk.

* I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was younger.

* Do you remember when you were a kid, playing Nintendo and it wouldn't work? You take the cartridge out, blow in it and that would magically fix the problem. Every kid in America did that, but how did we all know how to fix the problem? There was no internet or message boards or FAQ's. We just figured it out. Today's kids are soft.

* There is a great need for sarcasm font.

* Sometimes, I'll watch a movie that I watched when I was younger and suddenly realize I had no idea what the f*** was going on when I first saw it.

* I think everyone has a movie that they love so much; it actually becomes stressful to watch it with other people. I'll end up wasting 90 minutes shiftily glancing around to confirm that everyone's laughing at the right parts, then making sure I laugh just a little bit harder (and a millisecond earlier) to prove that I'm still the only one who really, really gets it.

* How the hell are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?

* I would rather try to carry 10 plastic grocery bags in each hand than take 2 trips to bring my groceries in.

* I think part of a best friend's job should be to immediately clear your computer history if you die.

* The only time I look forward to a red light is when I’m trying to finish a text.

* Was learning cursive really necessary?

* Lol has gone from meaning, "laugh out loud" to "I have nothing else to say".

* I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.

* Answering the same letter three times or more in a row on a Scantron test is absolutely petrifying.

* My brother's Municipal League baseball team is named the Stepdads. Seeing as none of the guys on the team are actual stepdads, I inquired about the name. He explained, "Cuz we beat you, and you hate us." Classy, bro.

* Whenever someone says "I'm not book smart, but I'm street smart", all I hear is "I'm not real smart, but I'm imaginary smart".

* How many times is it appropriate to say "What?" before you just nod and smile because you still didn't hear what they said?

* I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars teams up to prevent a dick from cutting in at the front. Stay strong, brothers!

* While driving yesterday I saw a banana peel in the road and instinctively swerved to avoid it....thanks Mario Kart.

* MapQuest really needs to start their directions on #5. Pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.

* Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died.

* I find it hard to believe there are actually people who get in the shower first and THEN turn on the water.

* Shirts get dirty. Underwear gets dirty. Pants? Pants never get dirty, and you can wear them forever.

* I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired.

* Bad decisions make good stories

* Whenever I'm Facebook stalking someone and I find out that their profile is public I feel like a kid on Christmas morning who just got the Red Ryder BB gun that I always wanted. 546 pictures? Don't mind if I do!

* Is it just me or do high school girls get sluttier & sluttier every year?

* If Carmen San Diego and Waldo ever got together, their offspring would probably just be completely invisible.

* Why is it that during an ice-breaker, when the whole room has to go around and say their name and where they are from, I get so incredibly nervous? Like I know my name, I know where I'm from; this shouldn't be a problem....

* You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you've made up your mind that you just aren’t doing anything productive for the rest of the day.

* Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after DVDs? I don't want to have to restart my collection.

* There's no worse feeling than that millisecond you're sure you are going to die after leaning your chair back a little too far.

* I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten page research paper that I swear I did not make any changes to.

* "Do not machine wash or tumble dry" means I will never wash this ever.

* I hate being the one with the remote in a room full of people watching TV. There's so much pressure. 'I love this show, but will they judge me if I keep it on? I bet everyone is wishing we weren’t watching this. It's only a matter of time before they all get up and leave the room. Will we still be friends after this?'

* While watching the Olympics, I find myself cheering equally for China and USA . No, I am not of Chinese descent, but I am fairly certain that when Chinese athletes don’t win, they are executed.

* I hate when I just miss a call by the last ring (Hello? Hello? Darnit!), but when I immediately call back, it rings nine times and goes to voicemail. What'd you do after I didn't answer? Drop the phone and run away?

* I hate leaving my house confident and looking good and then not seeing anyone of importance the entire day. What a waste.

* When I meet a new girl, I'm terrified of mentioning something she hasn't already told me but that I have learned from some light internet stalking.

* I like all of the music in my iTunes, except when it's on shuffle, then I like about one in every fifteen songs in my iTunes.

* As a driver I hate pedestrians, and as a pedestrian I hate drivers, but no matter what the mode of transportation, I always hate cyclists.

* Sometimes I'll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not know what time it is.

* It should probably be called Unplanned Parenthood.

* I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.

* I think that if, years down the road when I’m trying to have a kid, I find out that I’m sterile, most of my disappointment will stem from the fact that I was not aware of my condition in college.

* Even if I knew your social security number, I wouldn't know what do to with it.

* Even under ideal conditions people have trouble locating their car keys in a pocket, finding their cell phone, and Pinning the Tail on the Donkey - but I’d bet my a$$ everyone can find and push the Snooze button from 3 feet away, in about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed, first time every time...

* My 4-year old son asked me in the car the other day "Dad what would happen if you ran over a ninja?" How the hell do I respond to that?

* It really pisses me off when I want to read a story on CNN.com and the link takes me to a video instead of text.

* I wonder if cops ever get pissed off at the fact that everyone they drive behind obeys the speed limit.

* I think the freezer deserves a light as well.

* I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or Saturday night more kisses begin with Miller Lites than Kay.

* The other night I ordered takeout, and when I looked in the bag, saw they had included four sets of plastic silverware. In other words, someone at the restaurant packed my order, took a second to think about it, and then estimate d that there must be at least four people eating to require such a large amount of food. Too bad I was eating by myself. There’s nothing like being made to feel like a fat b@st@rd before dinner.

Monday, August 10, 2009

USA USA USA

Got a little bit of big soccer match coming this week. And with that, i bring you our Europen Futball Master, Sir Arter Chillumsworth.




The last time we spoke I had some very harsh words for our neighbors to the south. But I'm not a violent man, I was just reacting to all their voodoo doll bullshit they were trying to pull in an effort to snap their horrible loss streak on American soil. Well, they've slain their personal demons at the Gold Cup finals, in case you missed it we lost 5-0 (ouch). But if you rewind the tape a little to last month; a full strength US squad defeated the world champions Spain 2-0 then marched to the final and stunned the Brazilians in the first half but after awakening the giant they were promptly squashed 3-2. It was exciting to watch and the quality of play was good the US team is well deserved of the #12 world ranking. But at times the team can be schizophrenic, let's hope the confident side shows throughout the match.

On Wednesday August 12th the United States Mens National Soccer team has a fair shot of defeating Mexico in their own stadium during World Cup Qualifying. A feat accomplished only once before by Costa Rica. You can get more background on the match here. This match is very important for the Mexican team as they need to win it in order to get the automatic berth for the World Cup Tournament next year. They are feeling confident and a small bit worried I would suspect. This could be an epic match that makes history.

I hope you can tune in somehow and support our purple mountains majesty and star spangled plains and such. This one is going to be tricky; it starts at 3pm broadcasting out of Mexico so the main channel is Telemundo (hooray!), however I found a sweet tip for DirecTV customers here. There are ways to get the game streaming onto your computer and most of these are in English so that's sort of a bonus.

I'd write some more but I'm really busy so just follow the links above and get psyched and even if you can't watch the match on wednesday just shout USA! USA! USA! from your office desk sometime around three.

Friday, August 7, 2009

Fantastic read regarding ESPN

Over at SportsByBrooks, Brooks has written up a fantastic article regarding the evolution of ESPN and how it has driven to the Twitter muzzling over at Bristol.

BIg’s in radio, so he can probably speak to the battle between programming and sales.  Fucking sales guys.  Scum of the earth.

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Future of Hip-Hop?

Nas on the Future of hip hop.



Funny. HT WWTD

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Guess what's coming back soon!!!



Can't have a Sunny post with out the greatness of Greenman!



(what, you thought i was talking about something else?)

Friday, July 31, 2009

Elvis is my hero

A certain team that won't be named, has a certain young SS named Elvis. This is his walk up music. Holy Crap.




Chacaroon indeed.

Big, in madmen



Do it youself,here. Of course I couldn't do anything about madmen without some picks of my newest Muse, Christina Hendricks.