Updates from August, 2010

  • Keeper draft tonight

    Matt 12:41 pm on 8/29/2010 | 3 Permalink Reply
    Tags: marc colombo,

    I’m in can’t-think-about-anything-else mode for the big event at 7pm tonight, the draft for our keeper league, which is now entering its fifth season. It takes time and effort to build up a mature keeper league with 12 dedicated participants, but it’s so worth it for the long-term strategic element keepers bring.

    Each team can keep up to three players, and you give up your pick in the round that’s two higher than the one the player was drafted in the previous year (so if the player was drafted/kept in the 8th round in 2009, you can sacrifice your 6th-round pick to keep him in 2010). If the player was undrafted, you give up your 12th-round pick to keep him. Brandon’s giving up his 2nd, 11th and 12th picks to keep Ray Rice, Mike Wallace and Jermichael Finley, while I’m giving up my 8th, 10th and 12th picks for Dwayne Bowe, Steve Breaston and Mike Sims-Walker. It’s obviously all about maximizing value by getting to draft your keepers much later in the draft than you’d be able to get them otherwise, and on that count I think we’ve both done pretty well here.

    In unrelated but kind of awesome news, a real live football player is following us on Twitter. Weird:

     

  • Prize Leagues: WTF, ESPN?

    Matt 5:16 pm on 8/23/2010 | 5 Permalink Reply
    Tags: ,

    I just noticed this prize leagues thing on ESPN’s fantasy football website. Apparently, you can pay $29.95 per team to join or start a league that is functionally exactly the same as a free league, but at the end of the season you might just maybe win some fabulous prizes, such as… Best Buy gift cards? (Three total will be awarded, for a grand total value of $5,000.) The real kicker is this part:

    100 Winners [sic] Circle points will be awarded to each Prize-Eligible League Champion for every league won… The approximate retail value (“ARV”) for each League prize is $15.00.

    So if you win the league that you paid $29.95 in real money to enter, you’ll win $15 in Winner’s Circle Points, which as I pointed out last season are basically equivalent to skee-ball tickets at the penny arcade.

    Tellingly, I had to create a league just to find out how much it costs – they don’t reveal the price until you get a few steps along in the process (reminds me of an online store that waits until the final checkout page to tell that you the shipping on your DVD will be $9.99).

    Who the hell does this?! Actually, come to think of it… if I pay my $29.95, am I more or less guaranteed to win the grand prize because I’ll be the only person on the planet who signs up?

     

  • What has Danny Amendola been doing?!

    Brandon 2:12 pm on 8/20/2010 | 0 Permalink Reply
    Tags: danny amendola

    As part of my research for the blog, one of the RSS feeds that I subscribe to is Rotoworld.com‘s Fantasy Football Headlines, a resource many of our readers should probably also use. Anyways, today I learned something very interesting about kick-returner extrordinaire Danny Amendola’s off-the-field (or on-the-field?) activities…

    Let be known that this type of behavior has in no way affected the fact that he’s on my Yahoo! public league team, a league that features a scoring system that makes kick returners comparable to the top running backs :-)

     

  • It's aliiiiiive...

    Matt 12:14 pm on 6/18/2010 | 2 Permalink Reply
    Tags:

    After a much-needed break from the fantasy football blogosphere over the offseason, we can’t help but be drawn to all the intriguing noise coming from the NFL this spring. (Shortened preseason schedule? Yes please!) Brandon’s getting married in a month so his time might be a bit limited over the short term, but we’re ready to get this thing going again.

    Brandon and I have been talking about a few changes we’re planning on making this season to make the blog more useful to our readers and fun for us to manage. To us, the best part of running this site is the discussions we have with commenters, so we’re going to continue to improve that aspect of the site as best we can. We’re also going to focus more energy on weekly positional rankings – we get so many Ask the Geeks questions along the lines of, “Who would you start this week, Player A or Player B,” and positional rankings would help answer some of those (but not all of them, of course, given flex positions and wacky scoring systems).

    So anyway… Vince Young FTW.

     

  • Playoff Fantasy Football Options

    Matt 1:32 pm on 1/02/2010 | 9 Permalink Reply
    Tags: ,

    I’ve never been a huge fan of playoff fantasy football. If real fantasy football is chess, playoff fantasy football is checkers. Or Candyland.

    Nevertheless, sometimes you just aren’t ready to let the fantasy football season die. If that’s you, there are a few sites where you can get your fix. If I’m going to spend any time at all on one of these, there’d better be a decent payoff that I can pretend I might win, so I’ve listed the prizes for each here. (More …)

     

  • Team of the Week - Week 13: One-hit Wonders

    Brandon 8:47 am on 12/07/2009 | 0 Permalink Reply
    Tags:

    Here is the fantasy football “Team of the Week” for week thirteen, listing the players that scored the most points (using standard scoring) over the course of Sunday’s games. With the Monday Night Football game yet to take place (Baltimore @ Green Bay) this list may be a bit premature, but here is your team of the week nonetheless…

    Pos.

    Player

    Stats
    QB Tony Romo (DAL) 392 passing yards, 3 TD
    RB Brandon Jacobs (NYG) 39 rushing yards, 74 receiving yards, 2 TD
    RB Jerome Harrison (CLE) 35 rushing yards, 62 receiving yards, 2 TD
    WR Louis Murphy (OAK) 128 receiving yards, 2 TD
    WR Devin Thomas (WAS) 100 receiving yards, 2 TD
    WR Santonio Holmes (PIT) 149 receiving yards, 1 TD
    TE Vernon Davis (SF) 111 receiving yards, 1 TD
    K Matt Prater (DEN) Kicks – 20-29 (0), 30-39 (2), 40-49 (1), 50+ (0), PAT (5)
    DEF Carolina Panthers 6 points allowed, 2 sack, 5 interceptions
     

  • Bonehead Plays of the Week

    Brandon 9:11 am on 11/30/2009 | 3 Permalink Reply
    Tags: bonehead plays of the week

    I just felt like sharing a couple of my less-than-spectacular roster moves this week and give a forum to anyone else who felt like complaining…

    In one of Matt and my “League of Champions”, where I have Steve Smith (CAR) as a receiver (so I was already at a disadvantage,) I had the awesome foresight to pick up Titans running back Chris Brown as a plug-in for the week. However, at the last minute I panicked and decided to leave in Jason Snelling instead. Snelling proceeded to score me an excellent -1.2 points! Adding insult to injury, I also had Felix Jones on my bench, but apparently thought the third-string Snelling was the smart play…awesome.

    Similarly, in the Blogger League I picked up Bills running back Fred Jackson, but in the end decided to leave him and his two touchdowns on the bench (started Bernard Scott and Chad Ochocinco instead.) I also started Matt Ryan (0.6 points before his injury) in place of the concussed Ben Roethlisberger. Luckily this one didn’t matter much, as our opponent, [cough] Bruno Boys [cough], started Kurt Warner and Mike Wallace, amongst others.

     

  • Brandon 4:58 pm on 11/16/2009 | 1 Permalink Reply

    Just read a funny post on Deadspin.com about fantasy football for the elderly. While their rules are a bit simpler than what we’re used to, I guess I have to support anything that gets more people involved with fantasy football!

     

  • Brandon 10:17 am on 11/08/2009 | 12 Permalink Reply

    In the Blogger League, I just accepted a trade, giving up Peyton Manning (gasp!) and Bernard Berrian for Ben Roethlisberger and Miles Austin. What does everyone think? I also have Matt Ryan as my backup quarterback, so I wasn’t too worried about depth there. My only real good receiver though was Chad Ochocinco, so now I have a solid duo there.

    Anyways, good luck everyone this week!

     

  • Brandon 12:39 pm on 11/01/2009 | 3 Permalink Reply

    I’m heading out to a 5.5 mile road race right now, so I won’t be able to respond to any more last minute line-up questions. If Matt signs on before game-time, maybe he can respond to some, but otherwise good luck and hopefully everyone makes the right choices!

     

  • You know things are bad for Dick Jauron when...

    Matt 12:15 pm on 10/17/2009 | 0 Permalink Reply
    Tags: , dick jauron

    …local radio stations are taking the time to record songs calling for his ouster, despite their complete inability to carry a tune.

     

  • The dumbest football celebration ever?

    Matt 8:50 am on 10/02/2009 | 1 Permalink Reply
    Tags: WTF?

    Via Shutdown Corner… the only thing dumber than the spike was the coaching decision to put those players in the end zone in the first place. Are they coached by a Dick Jauron disciple?

    [youtube N1JpJ53FbXg nolink]

     

  • RotoInfo is stealing our content

    Matt 3:59 pm on 9/28/2009 | 7 Permalink Reply

    UPDATE – Commenter nero noticed some malware coming from their site, so proceed with caution if you click on the link below.

    Here’s my post from earlier today. And here’s RotoInfo’s post. Strikingly similar, eh?

    This isn’t the first time I’ve seen another blog republish what we write without permission, but it’s the first time I’ve ever seen it happen on what appears to be a relatively large, established website. Generally speaking, “blog scrapers” don’t bother to set up a big complex website; they just quickly throw together a default-template WordPress blog because they figure they’ll get caught sooner or later and then just move on to another web host and/or URL. RotoInfo seems to be in the content-stealing game for keeps, which is why I’m taking the time to call them out.

    I just did a quick Google search and verified that they are indeed stealing all of our content, word for word, and it’s all coming up in Google right under our own listings.

     

  • Brandon 8:31 am on 9/25/2009 | 0 Permalink Reply
    Tags: sheldon brown

    Too bad he’s getting fine, because Sheldon Brown wearing a Jason mask before last week’s game is pretty awesome!

     

  • Week 1 Poll

    Matt 11:35 am on 9/16/2009 | 0 Permalink Reply
    Tags:

     

  • How many leagues is too many?

    Matt 1:38 pm on 9/03/2009 | 12 Permalink Reply

    I literally can’t tell you how many fantasy football leagues I’ve participated in over the past few years. All I know is it was way too many – at least five each year. I was an addict, and I paid the price – it wasn’t as much fun. I missed the excitement of “owning” players in the sense that what they did really mattered to me. When you’re in a lot of leagues, every big play hurts you in some leagues and helps you in others. If it helps you in more leagues than it hurts – hooray? It’s just not the same as hanging on Peyton Manning’s every move because he’s your quarterback.

    For the first time since 2003, I’m in just two leagues – the two core leagues that Brandon and I have been a part of for years. One redraft, one keeper. Both drafts are this weekend. I’m positively giddy for the season to start, and to spend Sunday afternoons the way I did back when I first started playing fantasy football, happily obsessing over what a handful of players – my players – are doing.

     

  • Skinny LenDale White: Bad for the Titans, good for Chris Johnson's fantasy line?

    Matt 10:09 pm on 7/29/2009 | 1 Permalink Reply
    Tags: , ,

    One of the most interesting things to watch during the preseason will be the newly svelte LenDale White. You have to wonder whether the weight loss will cost the Titans their potent smash-n-dash duo. Is a 30-pounds-lighter LenDale White going to be as good a complement to Chris Johnson as the battering ram that scored 15 touchdowns last year? Or will he prove to be no better at the goal line than Johnson, and thus irrelevant and relegated to backup status? If Johnson starts taking goal line opportunities from LenDale, he could easily be the top-scoring fantasy RB this year.

    Of course, White still weighs in at 230, so while he’s no longer in Brandon Jacobs’ boxing division, he ain’t exactly a featherweight either. He might have focused enough on maintaining his lower-body strength in order to remain more effective at the goal line than Johnson. Hell, he might even steal some of Johnson’s regular between-the-20′s workload.

    The most important takeaway here is that there are a whole lot of unknowns when it comes to taking Chris Johnson in the first round, and almost none of them have to do with Chris Johnson.

     

  • Brandon Marshall: Strike Three. Er, ten. Whatever, you're out.

    Matt 6:13 pm on 3/02/2009 | 1 Permalink Reply
    Tags: ,

    Brandon Marshall Mug ShotHas Brandon Marshall officially become the Ron Artest of the NFL, in that even when he stays out of trouble for a year or two, there’s still something unsettling about that look in his eyes? I mean, given that he’s definitely facing a suspension in ’09, he’s wayyyy down on everyone’s cheat sheet this season, but what if he keeps the crazy under wraps for the rest of the season and has some monster games? Will you trust him enough to make him your WR1 in 2010?

    (As an aside, given that my co-blogger Brandon’s last name is also Marshall, I love the way this guy’s career is heading. Keep it coming, man. May Plaxico be your guide.)

     

  • Offseasons are long, boring, and... restful

    Matt 9:43 am on 2/20/2009 | 2 Permalink Reply
    Tags: offseason

    Obviously, Brandon and I have taken a much-needed break from any real posting for the past month or so. I definitely needed to get away from the fantasy football world for a little while.

    I miss the NFL every time I turn on my TV. The NBA is balls ass boring these days, I don’t really care about hockey (unless we’re talking RIT hockey), and it’ll be a couple of weeks before I pay any attention to college basketball. I’d rather argue about whether the Lions should take Stafford with the top pick than sit through any NBA game that isn’t a Kobe-LeBron showdown, which is really the only compelling NBA storyline I can think of (and even that one’s a stretch).

    Since there isn’t nearly as much to say this time of year (though it seems our pals the Hazean and the Librarian would beg to differ), we’ll probably be taking it fairly easy until the NFL draft is upon us. Just wanted to let y’all know that we haven’t gone anywhere – we’re just on sabbatical.

     

  • Superbowl Poll

    Matt 2:39 pm on 1/30/2009 | 3 Permalink Reply
    Tags: , polls, super bowl

    Vegas is giving Pittsburgh a 6.5-point edge in Super Bowl XLIII. Meanwhile, the only thing anyone seems to be talking about is Larry Fitzgerald – a damn fine receiver, no doubt, but that’s hardly a reason to think the Cards aren’t still significant underdogs in this one, right?

    [poll id="5"]

     

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