Try Some Black Rice: An Analysis of Ray Rice
Despite my lack of ability to think of a good pun that has to do with rice, I love Ray Rice. If you didn't know who Ray Rice was before this week, I'm sure all you Bears fans got a good dose of him yesterday when Rice and the Ravens destroyed the Chicago Bears yesterday while Rice averaged 5.4 YPC.
Rice has also been a fantasy stud this year. He's been the 4th best RB this year- which is impressive considering his ADP was around 104 coming into the year. However, that low ranking was because nobody really knew how many carries Rice would get, especially considering the RB carousel between him, Willis McGahee, and L'Ron McClain. Coming into this year I actually like McClain the most because he did the most out of all three RBs last year with the carries he got. But this year, Rice has proven himself to be not only the best back on his team, but one of the best backs in the league. And now that Baltimore is smart and giving him the vast vast majority of the carries, he should be a force to reckon with next year.
For starters, Ray Rice should absolutely be the #1 pick for PPC fantasy leagues next year. He ranks first among all RBs in receiving yards (669) and receptions (73). In fact, Rice is t-14th for most receptions in the league. Flacco also looks to Rice for about 19% of his throws. Add to that that McClain and McGahee have gotten about 9% of Flacco's attempts, the amount of targets that Rice will get next year should be even higher. Rice is also 3rd in DYAR (total value) and 2nd DVOA (efficiency per play) among pass catching RBs. Ray Rice is an integral part of the passing game in Baltimore which will only help boost his fantasy numbers and makes him a bigger threat in real life.
But not only can Rice catch, but as any good RB can do- he can run the ball. Very well. Rice is currently 6th among all RBs in rushing yards. Ahead of guys like Cedric Benson, DeAngelo Williams, and Ryan Grant. Ray ranks 3rd among all RBs in YPC (minimum 100 rushing attempt) behind Chris Williams and Jamaal Charles (who has gotten 60 less carries than Rice). Rice is also 3rd in DYAR (total value) among RBs (behind Steven Jackson and Chris Johnson) and 2nd in DVOA (efficiency per play) among all RBs (behind only Chris Johnson). And unlike guys like Pierre Thomas who are great but don't get enough carries to be valuable in fantasy, after about five games into this season, it looks like Rice will get the usual starter 15-20 carries a game next year like he has done this year.
Baltimore also has a great rushing offensive line ranking 5th this year in run blocking (up from 11th in 2008 and 28th in 2007).
Unlike the better pass catching RBs in the league like Steve Slaton and Matt Forte and unlike the great Adrian Peterson, Rice does not cough up the ball. This year, Rice only has one rushing fumble and one receiving fumble. That's a fumble per every 141.5 times Rice touches the ball. If Rice gets about 25 touches a game. That means it's only about one fumble per every 6 games or so.
Best of all, Rice is young. Rice is actually younger than The 'Bright' One being only 22 years old and born in January of '87. Rice was one of many great RBs that came out of the 2008 draft. And even with guys like Rashard Mendenhall, Darren McFadden, Jamaal Charles, Jonathan Stewart, Kevin Jones, and Matt Forte, Rice is probably the second best back to come out of that draft behind Chris Johnson (geez I've said "behind Chris Johnson" a lot in this post. If I didn't already rave about Johnson before, I feel like I should do a post on him).
Doing a rough ADP for next year, I would put Rice as the #5 best player overall behind Chris Johnson, AD, MJD, and Michael Turner. He is in the position that Matt Forte was in last year, except Rice will actually be worth taking in the first round and will actually do something for your fantasy team. And unlike Baltimore, he won't be available in the second round. And if he is next year, your league is dumb.
Podcast Update
Want GOI on your iPod? Well now you can! I know all of you were clicking on the "Podcast" link on the top of the GOI main page to hear all of our podcasts and were extremely upset that you could not listen to our soulful and luscious voices while you were on the go.
Well fret no more baby birds, I'm here to save the day. Now you can download every single podcast GOI has ever done by typing "Game Of Inches" into the iTunes Store. Yes, I have done some messing around with our RSS feed and now instead of being limited to only 10 or so podcast to be downloaded at a time, you can now download all of them.
NOTE: TBO and I did two podcasts the other night. Our first one was gold but stupid Audicity deleted it before it could be saved. You all are lucky the second one was deleted because you now can spend an extra thirty minutes on that porn you love so much.
NOTE 2: Currently, both GOI's old podcasts and our new ones are still on iTunes. To find every single GOI podcast, after you type in "Game of Inches" into the iTunes Store, click on the podcast that has the cool black fuzzy blackground with the red "GOI" letters and not the one with the football stadium as the background. Hopefully soon, our "old" podcast feed will disappear
But more podcasts soon to come. In the meantime, catch up on all the classics you missed!
Well fret no more baby birds, I'm here to save the day. Now you can download every single podcast GOI has ever done by typing "Game Of Inches" into the iTunes Store. Yes, I have done some messing around with our RSS feed and now instead of being limited to only 10 or so podcast to be downloaded at a time, you can now download all of them.
NOTE: TBO and I did two podcasts the other night. Our first one was gold but stupid Audicity deleted it before it could be saved. You all are lucky the second one was deleted because you now can spend an extra thirty minutes on that porn you love so much.
NOTE 2: Currently, both GOI's old podcasts and our new ones are still on iTunes. To find every single GOI podcast, after you type in "Game of Inches" into the iTunes Store, click on the podcast that has the cool black fuzzy blackground with the red "GOI" letters and not the one with the football stadium as the background. Hopefully soon, our "old" podcast feed will disappear
But more podcasts soon to come. In the meantime, catch up on all the classics you missed!
Now I Know "DYAR" and "DVOA" Are Fake Stats
For the three of you that read my football analysis, you know I like to use what I call football sabermetrics. These are stats that Football Outsiders use to measure the "true" worth of football players, because since Moneyball came out, every single "traditional" stat in any professional sport is worthless. I was recently looking through their stats and guess which player was #1 in DYAR, a main football sabermetric stat which is supposed to measure the Total Value of all players: Tom Brady. Now I know ESPN, Bill Simmons, and myself love to jerk it to the greatness that is Tom Brady, but y tu Football Outsiders? As good of a player as Tom Brady is, I don't see any way to claim that Tom Brady has been better than either Peyton Manning or Drew Brees this year. Hell, it's hard to make the argument that Brady is better than Favre, Rivers, or Schaub this year.
Categories that Brady is NOT first in: YPA, QB Rating, Completion Percentage, TD/INT ratio, TDs, Yards, Completions, Attempts, Yards per Game, and just for fun, longest pass thrown. Now yes, Brady is top three in most of these categories, but both Manning and Brees have him beat in essentially ALL of these categories. In fact...
Categories Drew Brees is better than Tom Brady: QB Rating*, YPA*, Completion Percentage*, TD%, Touchdowns**, Interceptions, TD/INT ratio, Yards, YPG. Tom Brady has a 0.1 better INT%, has thrown more passes, and has thrown a longer pass than Brees this year. They both has 15 sacks.
Categories Peyton Manning is better than Tom Brady: QB Rating, YPA, Completion Percentage**, TD%, Touchdowns*, TD/INT ratio, Yards, YPG. To Brady's credit, he turns it over less, but does 4 INTs and a 0.6 INT% really bump you up THAT much higher?
*first in league
** second in league
There are only two categories that Brady is leading all QBs in: good looks and hottest chick he's banging.
Maybe Football Outsiders takes DME's Grindiness Per Nine stat and incorporates it in into because of Brady's three Superbowl rings? Seriously, how does ANYONE justify Brady being THE BEST quarterback this year?
Categories that Brady is NOT first in: YPA, QB Rating, Completion Percentage, TD/INT ratio, TDs, Yards, Completions, Attempts, Yards per Game, and just for fun, longest pass thrown. Now yes, Brady is top three in most of these categories, but both Manning and Brees have him beat in essentially ALL of these categories. In fact...
Categories Drew Brees is better than Tom Brady: QB Rating*, YPA*, Completion Percentage*, TD%, Touchdowns**, Interceptions, TD/INT ratio, Yards, YPG. Tom Brady has a 0.1 better INT%, has thrown more passes, and has thrown a longer pass than Brees this year. They both has 15 sacks.
Categories Peyton Manning is better than Tom Brady: QB Rating, YPA, Completion Percentage**, TD%, Touchdowns*, TD/INT ratio, Yards, YPG. To Brady's credit, he turns it over less, but does 4 INTs and a 0.6 INT% really bump you up THAT much higher?
*first in league
** second in league
There are only two categories that Brady is leading all QBs in: good looks and hottest chick he's banging.
Maybe Football Outsiders takes DME's Grindiness Per Nine stat and incorporates it in into because of Brady's three Superbowl rings? Seriously, how does ANYONE justify Brady being THE BEST quarterback this year?
Tom Brady v. Peyton Manning
These two are probably the two greatest active QBs right now, and yes, I do consider Brett Favre active just like I consider my grandmother that play Mah Jong and Canasta every night active. Get it, because Brett Favre is old. OK bad joke, let's move on. On FO, there's a running thread called "The Irrational Brady/Manning debate"- and it's a good point. Debating who's better between Manning and Brady is like Tiger Woods debating which model he's gonna sleep with that night- either way you win. I created a poll on the side just to see what the GOI consensus is, but frankly, there will be no right answer.
Brady supporters will say that Brady has three rings versus Manning's one, but let's be honest, the Pats won their Superbowls because of defense and Manning won his because he was opposing Rex Grossman. Plus, saying a QB is good because he wins Superbowls is like saying batting average is the basis for why a player is good or not. Ooh, I'm on fire tonight. But seriously, Trent Dilfer and Brad Johnson have Superbowl rings and Dan Marino doesn't. Big deal, it's not a good metric to determine who is better. Brady supporters will say that Brady has the all time passing TD record. Manning supporters will say that Brady had 78 more attempts to get one more TD.
Again, there is no right answer. I'm a Boston fan so I voted for Tom Brady. But I want you to judge for yourself. Here's are the stats you determine once and for all- who's better?
QB Rating
Tom Brady: 93.2; Peyton Manning: 95.3. Winner: Manning
YPA
Tom Brady: 7.3; Peyton Manning: 7.7. Winner: Manning
TD/INT ratio
Tom Brady: 2.27; Peyton Manning: 2.03. Winner: Brady
TD%
Tom Brady: 5.3; Peyton Manning: 5.6. Winner: Manning
INT%
Tom Brady: 2.3; Peyton Manning: 2.8. Winner: Brady
Completion Percentage
Tom Brady: 63.3%; Peyton Manning: 64.8%. Winner: Manning
Sack Percentage
Tom Brady: 5.0; Peyton Manning: 3.2. Winner: Does getting sacked less mean you're the winner?
SNL Skits
Tom Brady: Sexual Harassment and You; Peyton Manning: United Way Commercial. Winner: The writers that tried to make Michael Phelps look funny
Commercials
Tom Brady: 5 national commercials and every local Dunkin Donuts one. Peyton Manning: 78,456,908,675,786,567,903,456,000. Winner: Donovan McNabb's mom. Remember those Caampbell's Chunky Soup commercials?
Now yes, these stats makes it look like Peyton's the clear winner because he has his name more often that Brady. But then you consider Peyton's had better receivers than Brady throughout his career and he's gotten sacked less but Brady still has had Welker and Moss but Brady turns it over much less. Listen, those numbers up there are damn close and frankly, if you have an opinion on this this post probably didn't change your mind. But hot damn do I love to irrational argue this.
Fuck You Tony Romo
Tonight gave me even more reason to hate the Dallas Cowboys and the NFL. Not only did the fucksticks retardedly called "America's Team" win on a night where professional football should not be played on a network I don't get, but they ruined the chance for "America's New Team", the New Orleans Saints, to go 19-0. Now I have to root for Peyton Manning to be 19-0? Fuck.
Smells Like Mascot (Color Version)
Sexy Rexy here. In the spirit of stealing comics from the very funny Carl Skanberg, author of the Smells Like Mascot blog (seen right), here's my favorite recent post.
TBO's College Bowl Confidence Pool
Bowl confidence pool
1 Uconn over South Carolina
2 Northwestern over Aurburn
3 Ohio over Marshall
4 Tennessee over Virginia Tech
5 SMU over Nevada
6 LSU over Penn St
7 Bowling Green over Idaho
8 Ole Miss over Oklahoma St
9 Rutgers over UCF
10 Central Michigan over Troy
11 Boise St over TCU
12 Minnesota over Iowa St
13 Utah over Cal
14 Texas Tech over Michigan St
15 Georgia over Texas A&M
16 Georgia Tech over Iowa
17 Oregon pver Ohio St
18 Miami over Wisconsin
19 Nebraska over Arizona
20 West Virginia over Florida St.
21 Pitt over N. Carolina
22 Clemson over Kentucky
23 Florida over Cincinnati
24 Southern Miss over Middle Tennessee
25 Fresno St. over Wyoming
26 UCLA over Temple
27 Oregon St over BYU
28 Oklahoma over Stanford
29 USC over Boston College
30 Arkansas over E. Carolina
31 Missouri over Navy
32 South Florida over N. Illinois
33 Houston over Air Force
34 Alabama over Texas
1 Uconn over South Carolina
2 Northwestern over Aurburn
3 Ohio over Marshall
4 Tennessee over Virginia Tech
5 SMU over Nevada
6 LSU over Penn St
7 Bowling Green over Idaho
8 Ole Miss over Oklahoma St
9 Rutgers over UCF
10 Central Michigan over Troy
11 Boise St over TCU
12 Minnesota over Iowa St
13 Utah over Cal
14 Texas Tech over Michigan St
15 Georgia over Texas A&M
16 Georgia Tech over Iowa
17 Oregon pver Ohio St
18 Miami over Wisconsin
19 Nebraska over Arizona
20 West Virginia over Florida St.
21 Pitt over N. Carolina
22 Clemson over Kentucky
23 Florida over Cincinnati
24 Southern Miss over Middle Tennessee
25 Fresno St. over Wyoming
26 UCLA over Temple
27 Oregon St over BYU
28 Oklahoma over Stanford
29 USC over Boston College
30 Arkansas over E. Carolina
31 Missouri over Navy
32 South Florida over N. Illinois
33 Houston over Air Force
34 Alabama over Texas
The Cubs Should Really Consider Signing Kelly Johnson
The legend of Mark DeRosa. All Cubs fans know it, all Cubs fans believe it. Hell, even Cleveland and St. Louis became enamored with it briefly in 2009. What is this legend you ask? It's the tale of the everyday journeyman utility guy turned everyday useful player -- the loveable underdog given superstar status. He's aging, but has quality skills and great club presence. Some call him a "grinder." Others call him a leader. Everyone knows him, everyone talks about him, and every year the tales of his value gets bigger and bigger, until Mark DeRosa becomes baseball's Paul Bunyan.
Cubs fans I know still look at the situation retroactively. The Cubs should have never traded him and signed Bradley. Past is past, but now the Cubs are in the market for an outfielder. Some, like our good pal TBO, have suggested the Cubs resign Mark DeRosa (who is asking somewhere in the 3 years, $30 million range). Others, like Hendry, want Marlon Byrd to fill the hole.
And now, dear readers, I have a Lingerie Football game to attend. Pics will come tomorrow...
Cubs fans I know still look at the situation retroactively. The Cubs should have never traded him and signed Bradley. Past is past, but now the Cubs are in the market for an outfielder. Some, like our good pal TBO, have suggested the Cubs resign Mark DeRosa (who is asking somewhere in the 3 years, $30 million range). Others, like Hendry, want Marlon Byrd to fill the hole.
Me? I want Mark DeRosa's younger brother, Kelly Johnson. Recently non-tendered by the Braves (DeRosa's former team), Johnson is a 2B/LF with poor infield defense (career -7.4 UZR/15), above average outfield defense (career +17.4 UZR/150 in left over a limited sample size of 648.1 innings), double digit home run power and above average walking abilities (sound familiar?). In 2007, Johnson hit .287/.375/457 (.831 OPS) and was worth +3.2 WAR. In 2008, Johnsot hit for a little less power with a triple slash line of .276/.349/.446 (.795 OPS) and was still worth +2.2 WAR. By contast, DeRosa's 2007 OPS was .792 (+2.6 WAR) and in 2008, it was .857 (+3.8 WAR).
Johnson, who was entering his first off-season for arbitration, is 7 years DeRosa's junior and has the superior ISO (career .166 mark versus DeRosa's career .149 mark) and BB% (career 10.9 BB% versus DeRosa's career 8.6% mark). Last year, Johnson had an incredibly disappointing season, posting a .224/.303/.389 (.692) triple slash line. He did this despite cutting the strike out rate for the third straight season (17.8% in 2009), rebounding his walk rate by a half percentage compared to 2008, and increasing his power output compared to the previous season. The problem? A .249 BABIP (.313 xBABIP). Normalize the bad luck and, assuming that all additional hits would have been singles, Johnson's 2009 triple slash line turns into a much prettier .278/.350/.443 (.797 OPS) line. By contrast, Mark DeRosa (a career .767 OPS hitter entering his age 35 season) posted a .752 OPS last season with a .286 BABIP. DeRosa's xBABIP last season? .285.
So while the Cardinals and some other teams like the Yankees talk about bringing the legend of Mark DeRosa to their club, maybe the Cubs should consider his younger, healthier, equally versatile doppleganger who just happens to have a better career ISO and BB%. You could do some much worse in left (you know, like Juan Pierre or Marlon Byrd) for so much more money. A $9 million, three year deal with a $7 million option ($1 million buyout) for 2013 sounds fair and reasonable; it's a low risk less deal (<1 WAR expectational value) with high upside.
But then again, Kelly Johnson is not one of "Jim Hendry's guys"...
Johnson, who was entering his first off-season for arbitration, is 7 years DeRosa's junior and has the superior ISO (career .166 mark versus DeRosa's career .149 mark) and BB% (career 10.9 BB% versus DeRosa's career 8.6% mark). Last year, Johnson had an incredibly disappointing season, posting a .224/.303/.389 (.692) triple slash line. He did this despite cutting the strike out rate for the third straight season (17.8% in 2009), rebounding his walk rate by a half percentage compared to 2008, and increasing his power output compared to the previous season. The problem? A .249 BABIP (.313 xBABIP). Normalize the bad luck and, assuming that all additional hits would have been singles, Johnson's 2009 triple slash line turns into a much prettier .278/.350/.443 (.797 OPS) line. By contrast, Mark DeRosa (a career .767 OPS hitter entering his age 35 season) posted a .752 OPS last season with a .286 BABIP. DeRosa's xBABIP last season? .285.
So while the Cardinals and some other teams like the Yankees talk about bringing the legend of Mark DeRosa to their club, maybe the Cubs should consider his younger, healthier, equally versatile doppleganger who just happens to have a better career ISO and BB%. You could do some much worse in left (you know, like Juan Pierre or Marlon Byrd) for so much more money. A $9 million, three year deal with a $7 million option ($1 million buyout) for 2013 sounds fair and reasonable; it's a low risk less deal (<1 WAR expectational value) with high upside.
But then again, Kelly Johnson is not one of "Jim Hendry's guys"...
And now, dear readers, I have a Lingerie Football game to attend. Pics will come tomorrow...
Falling out of a Truck....................
I am still confused of why he was in the back of a truck in the first place. This teaches everyone not to be playing around in the back of trucks. This is the 911 call of people trying to explain what they saw. Seems like many questions to complete the story.
Bulls Celebrating the Holidays
It is nice the Bulls are helping out kids during the Holidays, but really, they need all the practice time they can get! This should not be cutting into their practice time!
The Exact Odds Of The Bill Belichick Call
I stumbled upon a great website called footballcommentary.com. They have a "Go For It" table that calculates the exact odds of a team winning a football game given the time left in the game and how many points the team is up by. New England was up by 6 with 2:08 left to go. The Colts got the ball back on New England's 29 yard line. Unfortunately, the site does not have the exact odds at every time limit, but we can get very close. The site measures the odds on specific yard line. A team on their own 20 yard line with three minutes left to up by six has about a 66% percent chance of winning the game by going for it on fourth down. A team on their own 40 yard line with three minutes left to go up by six has about a 59% of winning the game by going for it. Considering the Pats were on their own 30 with about 2:00 minutes to go, the Pats probably had about a 63% chance of winning the game by going for it on 4th down.
However, I can do one better. According to the Win Probability Calculator, one can actually calculate the exact odds of the Pats winning that game. At that moment, the Pats had a 77% chance of winning that game. However, they only had a 7% chance of making the first down and by going for it, they were expected to LOSE by .9 points. They did end up losing by 1 point. They also had a 2% chance of getting a TD and a 0% chance of making a field goal (I don't know how the odds of making a TD were higher, but whatever).
On the flip side, you change 4th down to 3rd down in the Win Probability Calculator (thus, the odds of the Pats winning if they had punted instead of going for it on 4th down), the Pats had a 85% chance of winning that game and were projected of getting 0.0 points, thus, they would have probably won that game.
In my original post, The "Bright" One said that in the future when robots are coaching, they'd even know to punt it. Well, I guess that day is here when coaches can just use the calculator and realize that Belichick actually made the wrong call. When you look at the qualitative aspects of that game- that the D was letting Peyton throw all over them towards the end of the game and the Pats offensive looked awesome. But who cares about the qualitative aspects when you have stats!
I therefore rescind all my defense of Belichick after figuring out that by going for that 4th down, the Pats theoretically gave the game away to the Colts. And obviously, they did.
GOI Football Predictions: Week Fifteen
Here are my Picks for this week (Selection in bold):
Indianapolis at Jacksonville
Dallas at New Orleans
Arizona at Detroit
Cleveland at Kansas City
San Francisco at Philadelphia
Chicago at Baltimore
New England at Buffalo
Green Bay at Pittsburgh
Miami at Tennessee
Houston at St. Louis
Atlanta at N.Y. Jets
Oakland at Denver
Cincinnati at San Diego
Tampa Bay at Seattle
Minnesota at Carolina
N.Y. Giants at Washington
I think I took all the safe picks this week. No good upsets I liked. What do you think?
Indianapolis at Jacksonville
Dallas at New Orleans
Arizona at Detroit
Cleveland at Kansas City
San Francisco at Philadelphia
Chicago at Baltimore
New England at Buffalo
Green Bay at Pittsburgh
Miami at Tennessee
Houston at St. Louis
Atlanta at N.Y. Jets
Oakland at Denver
Cincinnati at San Diego
Tampa Bay at Seattle
Minnesota at Carolina
N.Y. Giants at Washington
I think I took all the safe picks this week. No good upsets I liked. What do you think?
"The Dark [Ugly] Knight"
Listening to The Scott Van Pelt show with Ryen Russillo, they were doing the same old run down "greatest (insert anything) of the decade" routine. Something so lame that GOI would never consider doing, ever. Stop laughing, i'm being serious. The ESPN radio gang were discussing the greatest movie of the decade. I will still go with "Good Will Hunting", regardless what decade it was made. I first saw it this decade so it's new to me. The guys would not accept "The Dark Knight" as the best movie for 2 reasons. First, why did Batman have to use the Batman voice the entire movie? I understand using the Batman voice when you're fighting bad guys and all dressed up in your bat suite, but going with the deep, scratchy voice when you're enjoying hot coco in front of the fireplace is what we call over-acting. Second, how realistic is it for a superhero to be fighting over a 4. And yes, we are objectifying women with numbers. The 4 referring to Maggie Gyllenhaal playing the love interest in "The Dark Knight".
I had the absolute same reaction when we were leaving the movie theater. By no means am I a movie buff like DME and Sexy Rexy, but it just didnt make sense to me why the greatest, richest movie in history couldn't find a pretty face to put on screen. Not surprisingly, the only girl at the movie with us said she thought Maggie was pretty...which in girl speak means I'm glad they put some ugly bitch on screen making me look better. Hence, I decided to give Maggie a slight makeover that would have put "The Dark Knight" head over feet above every other movie this decade, except "Good Will Hunting". Actually, I may need to give Mini Driver a new look too, except for the sexy accent. The accent can stay.
Should The Colts Rest Their Players?
This has been a huge topic during a slow news week over at ESPN. There is a simple answer to the question- NO!
I understand the logic behind resting players, coaches want their stud players healthy enough to win a few games so they can win a Superbowl. However, there are so many flaws with this principle if you don't look at other factors.
1) This strategy has NEVER worked for the Colts in the past. The year the Colts won the Superbowl was the year they had a 3 seed and were still fighting and trying towards the end of the year. The years in which they locked up home field advantage were years in which Dungy rested his players. Those years the Colts never even made it to the Superbowl
2) This is a causality thing and not a correlation thing either. When players are rested towards the end of the season, they obviously don't play. This screws up the timing and chemistry when these players do come back. Historically, Peyton Manning and his offensive line have not been on the same page during playoff runs. This is because the players are rested and have gone out of sync with each other. The reason you rest players is so you can get optimal performances out of them. But you get the optimal performance out of these players by starting them every week, not by resting them
3) Recent history has pointed towards Superbowl winners still trying towards the end of the season. The Giants played the Patriots hard in Week 17 the year they won the Superbowl. The two times the Steelers have won Superbowls recently were years in which they needed to win games down the stretch.
4) Why not go for 16-0? Jesus, that's a historic fucking milestone and starting your starters will help you achieve that milestone! Plus, if you go 16-0 AND win a Superbowl, you'll be hailed as the greatest team of all time. Nobody really remembers a singular Superbowl team. Everyone would remember a 16-0 team, or even better, a 19-0 team. Even though the Patriots lost, they are still remembered for going 16-0.
I understand the logic behind resting players, coaches want their stud players healthy enough to win a few games so they can win a Superbowl. However, there are so many flaws with this principle if you don't look at other factors.
1) This strategy has NEVER worked for the Colts in the past. The year the Colts won the Superbowl was the year they had a 3 seed and were still fighting and trying towards the end of the year. The years in which they locked up home field advantage were years in which Dungy rested his players. Those years the Colts never even made it to the Superbowl
2) This is a causality thing and not a correlation thing either. When players are rested towards the end of the season, they obviously don't play. This screws up the timing and chemistry when these players do come back. Historically, Peyton Manning and his offensive line have not been on the same page during playoff runs. This is because the players are rested and have gone out of sync with each other. The reason you rest players is so you can get optimal performances out of them. But you get the optimal performance out of these players by starting them every week, not by resting them
3) Recent history has pointed towards Superbowl winners still trying towards the end of the season. The Giants played the Patriots hard in Week 17 the year they won the Superbowl. The two times the Steelers have won Superbowls recently were years in which they needed to win games down the stretch.
4) Why not go for 16-0? Jesus, that's a historic fucking milestone and starting your starters will help you achieve that milestone! Plus, if you go 16-0 AND win a Superbowl, you'll be hailed as the greatest team of all time. Nobody really remembers a singular Superbowl team. Everyone would remember a 16-0 team, or even better, a 19-0 team. Even though the Patriots lost, they are still remembered for going 16-0.
Athlete Of The Decade
Today AP voted Tiger Woods the Player Of The Decade. Recently, I discussed the most dominant players of the decade. So who do you think is #1?
Money Or The Ring? (Part II)
I advocated and still do that a free agent should take a pay cut to play for a team to win a championship. It seems to me that a player should try to go for a championship so that he can have the glory all his life of winning it all- because that's a happiness that you just can't measure. However, I did explicitly have a caveat in this- that it's only for players who already have money. I was criticized that a player needs to support his family and himself, but if he already has more money than God before he becomes a free agent, then the money shouldn't matter.
There is an analogous situation with college kids deciding to go pro. Recently, Washington QB Jake Locker decided not not go into the 2010 NFL Draft to play his senior season at Washington. Jake Locker was projected to be the #1 QB off the board and a top five draft pick. The logic that these kids have is essentially the same one free agents have, should I go for the money in the pro level or to try and win a ring at the college. Matt Leinart was projected to be, and realistically would have been the #1 pick over Alex Smith. Instead, he decided to stay another year at USC to try and win it all. This happens all the time, college kids deciding to play college ball instead of going pro. However, in this situation, these kids should take the money over the ring.
First of all, this seemingly never works. The only time in recent memory where kids come back to win a championship and a championship was won, was in 2007 when guys like Joakim Noah, Corey Brewer, and Al Horford all decided to play another year and they won it all, again. But the vast majority of the time is doesn't work. Matt Leinart would have easily been the starter in San Fran. Instead, he played another year, didn't even make it to the National Championship game, and dropped all the way to tenth to now be Kurt Warner's back up. Sam Bradford, after winning the Heisman, probably would have been drafted #1 by Detroit over Matthew Stafford- and probably would have also gotten Stafford's hefty contract as well. Instead, Bradford decided to play another year, got hurt, so now he might not even by a first round pick in this draft.
In the pro level, I only advocated players taking the ring over the money if the player had any money. With college kids, they don't have any money at all. That means they should always take the money so they could support themselves. And winning a ring in the college game is sort of meaningless. In football, there are so many bowl games that who really cares if you win the Ponsietta Bowl? Sure, these players will have some unmeasurable happiness, but I can't imagine it would even come close to anything that these players will feel in the pro game.
Plus, the risk is just way too great. While players who come back don't normally get injured like Bradford, the risk of getting injured seems too high to risk losing all that money. The players who can make the choice of a ring or money, if they get injured, it's really not that bad because they could live off the money they already had. And let's be honest, that player might be taking a "pay cut", but that contract would still be must more than any of us see in our lifetime. All coming back to play in another season seems to do is hurt your draft stock and limits the amount of money the player will be able to achieve.
There is an analogous situation with college kids deciding to go pro. Recently, Washington QB Jake Locker decided not not go into the 2010 NFL Draft to play his senior season at Washington. Jake Locker was projected to be the #1 QB off the board and a top five draft pick. The logic that these kids have is essentially the same one free agents have, should I go for the money in the pro level or to try and win a ring at the college. Matt Leinart was projected to be, and realistically would have been the #1 pick over Alex Smith. Instead, he decided to stay another year at USC to try and win it all. This happens all the time, college kids deciding to play college ball instead of going pro. However, in this situation, these kids should take the money over the ring.
First of all, this seemingly never works. The only time in recent memory where kids come back to win a championship and a championship was won, was in 2007 when guys like Joakim Noah, Corey Brewer, and Al Horford all decided to play another year and they won it all, again. But the vast majority of the time is doesn't work. Matt Leinart would have easily been the starter in San Fran. Instead, he played another year, didn't even make it to the National Championship game, and dropped all the way to tenth to now be Kurt Warner's back up. Sam Bradford, after winning the Heisman, probably would have been drafted #1 by Detroit over Matthew Stafford- and probably would have also gotten Stafford's hefty contract as well. Instead, Bradford decided to play another year, got hurt, so now he might not even by a first round pick in this draft.
In the pro level, I only advocated players taking the ring over the money if the player had any money. With college kids, they don't have any money at all. That means they should always take the money so they could support themselves. And winning a ring in the college game is sort of meaningless. In football, there are so many bowl games that who really cares if you win the Ponsietta Bowl? Sure, these players will have some unmeasurable happiness, but I can't imagine it would even come close to anything that these players will feel in the pro game.
Plus, the risk is just way too great. While players who come back don't normally get injured like Bradford, the risk of getting injured seems too high to risk losing all that money. The players who can make the choice of a ring or money, if they get injured, it's really not that bad because they could live off the money they already had. And let's be honest, that player might be taking a "pay cut", but that contract would still be must more than any of us see in our lifetime. All coming back to play in another season seems to do is hurt your draft stock and limits the amount of money the player will be able to achieve.
I Was Right On Pierre Thomas
Pierre Thomas is a great talent. I've preached the greatness of Thomas since he was the back up to the crappy Reggie Bush. Since the beginning of the season, I expected great things from Thomas. Not only in that he's an Illini alum, but he was named the starter. Because of this, I expected him to do very well in fantasy. So I decided to take a look at Pierre Thomas to see how well he's going.
Currently, Thomas is tied for 3rd in YPC with 5.3. He's also first in DVOA, which means that per play, Thomas has the best value out of any other RB. Even better than the great Chris Johnson (who's #2) and 7th in DYAR (total value). But Thomas only ranks 16th among all fantasy RBs which means I gonna lose my dumb board bet that Thomas will be a top 12 RB. So what gives?
The reason is because coach Sean Peyton is dumb is not giving Thomas enough carries. In fairness, Mike Bell is doing pretty well and stupid Reggie Bush is even doing well in the passing game. Plus, when you have Drew Brees, it's kind of hard to find carries for a RB, I guess. But Pierre Thomas is a top ten talent, maybe even top five and is getting shit for carries. Thomas ranks 33 among all RBs in carries. Mike Bell is getting more carries than Thomas. Beanie Wells, Ahmad Bradshaw, Larry Johnson, Cadallic Williams, Jamal Lewis, and Laurence Maroney all have more carries than Pierre Thomas. That's just unacceptable.
I personally am not a big fan of this two running back system. If you have a stud RB, you should play them. Correll Buckhalter should be starting and Knowshon Moreno should be sitting on the bench. I even think Jonathan Stewart should just be traded because DeAngelo Williams should be getting 20-25 carries a game. And Pierre Thomas should be getting at least 15-20 carries a game and Bush and Bell should really not be getting any.
So I was right about the talent that is Pierre Thomas, but stupid Sean Peyton let me down about Thomas' fantasy value.
Currently, Thomas is tied for 3rd in YPC with 5.3. He's also first in DVOA, which means that per play, Thomas has the best value out of any other RB. Even better than the great Chris Johnson (who's #2) and 7th in DYAR (total value). But Thomas only ranks 16th among all fantasy RBs which means I gonna lose my dumb board bet that Thomas will be a top 12 RB. So what gives?
The reason is because coach Sean Peyton is dumb is not giving Thomas enough carries. In fairness, Mike Bell is doing pretty well and stupid Reggie Bush is even doing well in the passing game. Plus, when you have Drew Brees, it's kind of hard to find carries for a RB, I guess. But Pierre Thomas is a top ten talent, maybe even top five and is getting shit for carries. Thomas ranks 33 among all RBs in carries. Mike Bell is getting more carries than Thomas. Beanie Wells, Ahmad Bradshaw, Larry Johnson, Cadallic Williams, Jamal Lewis, and Laurence Maroney all have more carries than Pierre Thomas. That's just unacceptable.
I personally am not a big fan of this two running back system. If you have a stud RB, you should play them. Correll Buckhalter should be starting and Knowshon Moreno should be sitting on the bench. I even think Jonathan Stewart should just be traded because DeAngelo Williams should be getting 20-25 carries a game. And Pierre Thomas should be getting at least 15-20 carries a game and Bush and Bell should really not be getting any.
So I was right about the talent that is Pierre Thomas, but stupid Sean Peyton let me down about Thomas' fantasy value.
Colin Cowherd Says Something Dumb
I was up late recently so I popped on ESPN and Sportsnation was on. They were doing a bit where athletes would "call" into the show about their career and Colin and the hot chick would respond. Chris Johnson "called" into the show asking
Very true. Chris Johnson is just fucking amazing and he's having one of the best seasons for a RB. But it was Cowherd's response that just struck me as so utterly dumb that I felt compelled to say something about it. He said:
There are SO many dumb fuck things wrong in that sentence I don't know where to begin.
1) People are talking about Chris Johnson. As evidenced by the multiple posts on this site and the poll on the side, people are fully aware of the awesomeness that is Chris Johnson. Anyone who even sort of checks a fantasy football team or somewhat follows football knows of the awesomeness that is Chris Johnson and talk about him whenever we can. There is only so much you can say about how great of a player he is, but he still gets talked about. The only one NOT talking about Johnson is the dumb fucks over at ESPN.
2) ESPN is the sole proprietor of sports propaganda. So first of all, it seems a little odd that an entity who's job it is to mention all things sports is asking itself why it is not talking about something it should, doesn't it? Secondly, the real reason why "nobody" is talking about Chris Johnson, is because ESPN isn't talking about ESPN. The producers of Sportscenter and NFL Live and such are just not doing their jobs by not putting Chris Johnson on the list of things the analysts should talk about. ESPN is just dumb by not constantly jerking off to a player that deserves all the jerking he can get!
3) Who says this is a "pass first league"? Do all 32 teams always "pass first"? What does it even mean to "pass first"? Does that mean that the first play of the game for all 32 teams will be a passing play? When you really think about, the term "pass first" is a pretty dumb one. But I know what Cowherd is referring to and he's still wrong. Sure, there are SOME teams that predominantly pass more than they run like the Saints, Colts, Patriots, and Eagles. But this isn't a league wide thing. Teams like the Rams, Dolphins, Titans, and when they can- the Bears are more run first teams. And then there's a lot like the Vikings who have a good combination of both the run and pass. Teams choose to pass or run first is based solely off of the necessity of the team's talent- not because of the "nature of the league"
4) Even if the NFL was a pass first league, that's absolutely no reason not to talk about one of the greatest rushing seasons of all time. The same way ESPN jerked off to Sean Alexander and LT in their TD breaking years in this "pass first league" is the same reason they should be talking about Johnson.
5) You can not host your own show on ESPN and spew your dumb opinions as facts or say things without support. Like the statement "People care more about WRs than RBs" and "The wide out is the new running back" What are you basing this off of!?
I hate you Colin Cowherd. But you still might be better than a hot chick giving sports advice.
Why is nobody talking about me? I'm having a great season and I'm getting no love.
Very true. Chris Johnson is just fucking amazing and he's having one of the best seasons for a RB. But it was Cowherd's response that just struck me as so utterly dumb that I felt compelled to say something about it. He said:
It's because the NFL right now is a pass first league. People care more about the QBs than they do the RBs and thus right now, people also care more about WRs than they do RBs. WRs have become the new RBs. That's just the sad reality of it. He's having a fantastic year and he's a great player, but because of this pass first league, he's just not going to get the respect he deserves.
There are SO many dumb fuck things wrong in that sentence I don't know where to begin.
1) People are talking about Chris Johnson. As evidenced by the multiple posts on this site and the poll on the side, people are fully aware of the awesomeness that is Chris Johnson. Anyone who even sort of checks a fantasy football team or somewhat follows football knows of the awesomeness that is Chris Johnson and talk about him whenever we can. There is only so much you can say about how great of a player he is, but he still gets talked about. The only one NOT talking about Johnson is the dumb fucks over at ESPN.
2) ESPN is the sole proprietor of sports propaganda. So first of all, it seems a little odd that an entity who's job it is to mention all things sports is asking itself why it is not talking about something it should, doesn't it? Secondly, the real reason why "nobody" is talking about Chris Johnson, is because ESPN isn't talking about ESPN. The producers of Sportscenter and NFL Live and such are just not doing their jobs by not putting Chris Johnson on the list of things the analysts should talk about. ESPN is just dumb by not constantly jerking off to a player that deserves all the jerking he can get!
3) Who says this is a "pass first league"? Do all 32 teams always "pass first"? What does it even mean to "pass first"? Does that mean that the first play of the game for all 32 teams will be a passing play? When you really think about, the term "pass first" is a pretty dumb one. But I know what Cowherd is referring to and he's still wrong. Sure, there are SOME teams that predominantly pass more than they run like the Saints, Colts, Patriots, and Eagles. But this isn't a league wide thing. Teams like the Rams, Dolphins, Titans, and when they can- the Bears are more run first teams. And then there's a lot like the Vikings who have a good combination of both the run and pass. Teams choose to pass or run first is based solely off of the necessity of the team's talent- not because of the "nature of the league"
4) Even if the NFL was a pass first league, that's absolutely no reason not to talk about one of the greatest rushing seasons of all time. The same way ESPN jerked off to Sean Alexander and LT in their TD breaking years in this "pass first league" is the same reason they should be talking about Johnson.
5) You can not host your own show on ESPN and spew your dumb opinions as facts or say things without support. Like the statement "People care more about WRs than RBs" and "The wide out is the new running back" What are you basing this off of!?
I hate you Colin Cowherd. But you still might be better than a hot chick giving sports advice.
Santo For Three More Years
Ron Santo is a Chicago Cub legend. He played for the Cubs from 1960 to 1973 playing third base. Then he joined WGN Radio to do the Chicago Cubs broadcasts on the radio in 1990. Ron Santo was one great player, but he was never a All-star broadcaster like he was on the field. That is why he is in Game Of Inches
"The Worst Sports Announcer In The World Competition." He just signed a three-year extension. He will turn 70 in February, and has showed signs of confusion a few times throughout games the past few seasons. Santo loves the Cubs and shows it in every broadcast.
I read about his extension on the Cubs website. If you look at the subtitle of the article under the title where it says "Analyst Santo signs three-year extension" you will see it says "Former Cubs DH entering 21st season in radio booth". To my knowledge Santo was third basemen for the Chicago Cubs his entire Cubs career. It would be hard for him to DH with the Cubs in the National League! Santo did play for one year with the White Sox after his Cubs career ended and I believe he was a DH with them, but this subtitle says "Former Cubs DH entering 21st season in radio booth" so how was he a Cubs DH?
"The Worst Sports Announcer In The World Competition." He just signed a three-year extension. He will turn 70 in February, and has showed signs of confusion a few times throughout games the past few seasons. Santo loves the Cubs and shows it in every broadcast.
I read about his extension on the Cubs website. If you look at the subtitle of the article under the title where it says "Analyst Santo signs three-year extension" you will see it says "Former Cubs DH entering 21st season in radio booth". To my knowledge Santo was third basemen for the Chicago Cubs his entire Cubs career. It would be hard for him to DH with the Cubs in the National League! Santo did play for one year with the White Sox after his Cubs career ended and I believe he was a DH with them, but this subtitle says "Former Cubs DH entering 21st season in radio booth" so how was he a Cubs DH?
Geovany Soto: Where Have You Gone (Part 2)
Earlier this year, I analyzed Geovany Soto's "sophomore slump." Through a medley of serious injuries (which zapped his power) and bad luck (which zapped his BA/OBP), Soto's improving approach at the plate was masked beneath the appearance of "slumpiness."
After posting a super .285/.364/.504 (.868 OPS) triple slash line with an 11.2 BB% and 24.5 K% in his rookie of the year season, Geo Soto posted a disappointing .218/.321/.381 (.702 OPS) triple slash line last year with an ISO that fell over .050 points. No one is arguing that Geovany Soto's production fell short of expectations last year; however, Soto's peripherals seem to indicate that he is not a one-season wonder and that the team may have a golden opportunity, a la The Braves with Brian McCann, to lock Soto up long term for cheap.
Despite all of his failures last season, Geovany Soto improved his walk rate (13.1 BB%) and decreased his strikeout rate (23.3 K%). He swung at more pitches inside of the zone and less outside of the zone in 2009 compared to 2008. Soto also increased his contact rates on pitches both in and outside of the zone. These factors point to improvement and Soto's 2009 seemingly would have been equally good, if not better, than his 2008 rookie season if not for injury and bad luck.
First, let's look at the injury aspect. As previously noted, shoulder and oblique injuries are deadly. They limit movement and range, which limits strong contact and power. Beyond the dip in ISO, this is noticeable in Soto's change in runs produced per 100 pitches for each and every pitch type between 2008 and 2009. Soto's ability to drive fastballs decreased by almost a full run (also visible in Soto's -2.9% change in LD% last season), while breaking pitches --most of which Soto had success with in 2008 -- became almost "unhittable" (clearly Soto was making contact with him, as evidenced by the increase in contact percentage, but he was unable to drive the ball with sufficient authority due to his injuries, which the Cubs rushed Soto back from, that gave him limited mobility). With no WBC in 2010 and plenty of time to recuperate from a long and injured 2009, Soto should be back in full health next season and -- assuming he retains his gains in K%, BB% and contact rates -- he should be ready to return to form.
The second problem with Soto's 2009 season was plain old poor luck. From a .337 BABIP in 2008 to a .251 BABIP in 2009, it is no surprise that Soto's OPS fell by a whopping .166 points. Soto's 2009 xBABIP (screenshot of the xBABIP calculator pictured right) was a significantly
higher and more palpable .314. By adjusting Soto's 2009 triple slash line by utilizing his .314 xBABIP (assuming all additional hits would have been singles), we find that Soto's luck-neutral (but still injury affected) 2009 triple slash line would have been .269/.365/.432 (.797 OPS). Had Soto not been limited by injury, that .797 figure would have easily approached his .868 rookie season OPS (which was slightly inflated by good luck).
Assuming that his shoulder and obliques are healthy in 2010, there is much reason to expect big things from Geo Soto. Between a rebound by Soto, a full season by Aramis Ramirez and an expected rebound by Milton Bradley (if he is not traded) and Alfonso Soriano (he can't been 2009 bad next year...can he?), there is no reason the Cubs cannot compete and win in 2010. In 2008, they had one of the league's best offenses. The Cubs 2009 was marred by injury and bad luck to many core players. With their rebound and perhaps D-Lee's return to form, the Cubs should be the NL central force to fear next year.
And just in case you are like Jim Hendry and not big on Milton Bradley, let me do a quick luck adjustment for his .257/.378/.397 (.775 OPS), as his .311 BABIP was lower than his .326 xBABIP. Assuming that Milton Bradley's power outage (his 2009 ISO was .035 pts below his career ISO) continues, his 2009 luck neutral adjusted line (assuming all additional hits would be singles) would have been a much less ugly .270/.390/.410 (.800 OPS) line. That's an .800 OPS hitting for power like Juan Pierre. Bradley normally doesn't hit like Juan Pierre. Hate him all you want; that .390 OBP is valuable at the top of the order even without power.
After posting a super .285/.364/.504 (.868 OPS) triple slash line with an 11.2 BB% and 24.5 K% in his rookie of the year season, Geo Soto posted a disappointing .218/.321/.381 (.702 OPS) triple slash line last year with an ISO that fell over .050 points. No one is arguing that Geovany Soto's production fell short of expectations last year; however, Soto's peripherals seem to indicate that he is not a one-season wonder and that the team may have a golden opportunity, a la The Braves with Brian McCann, to lock Soto up long term for cheap.
Despite all of his failures last season, Geovany Soto improved his walk rate (13.1 BB%) and decreased his strikeout rate (23.3 K%). He swung at more pitches inside of the zone and less outside of the zone in 2009 compared to 2008. Soto also increased his contact rates on pitches both in and outside of the zone. These factors point to improvement and Soto's 2009 seemingly would have been equally good, if not better, than his 2008 rookie season if not for injury and bad luck.
First, let's look at the injury aspect. As previously noted, shoulder and oblique injuries are deadly. They limit movement and range, which limits strong contact and power. Beyond the dip in ISO, this is noticeable in Soto's change in runs produced per 100 pitches for each and every pitch type between 2008 and 2009. Soto's ability to drive fastballs decreased by almost a full run (also visible in Soto's -2.9% change in LD% last season), while breaking pitches --most of which Soto had success with in 2008 -- became almost "unhittable" (clearly Soto was making contact with him, as evidenced by the increase in contact percentage, but he was unable to drive the ball with sufficient authority due to his injuries, which the Cubs rushed Soto back from, that gave him limited mobility). With no WBC in 2010 and plenty of time to recuperate from a long and injured 2009, Soto should be back in full health next season and -- assuming he retains his gains in K%, BB% and contact rates -- he should be ready to return to form.
The second problem with Soto's 2009 season was plain old poor luck. From a .337 BABIP in 2008 to a .251 BABIP in 2009, it is no surprise that Soto's OPS fell by a whopping .166 points. Soto's 2009 xBABIP (screenshot of the xBABIP calculator pictured right) was a significantly
higher and more palpable .314. By adjusting Soto's 2009 triple slash line by utilizing his .314 xBABIP (assuming all additional hits would have been singles), we find that Soto's luck-neutral (but still injury affected) 2009 triple slash line would have been .269/.365/.432 (.797 OPS). Had Soto not been limited by injury, that .797 figure would have easily approached his .868 rookie season OPS (which was slightly inflated by good luck).Assuming that his shoulder and obliques are healthy in 2010, there is much reason to expect big things from Geo Soto. Between a rebound by Soto, a full season by Aramis Ramirez and an expected rebound by Milton Bradley (if he is not traded) and Alfonso Soriano (he can't been 2009 bad next year...can he?), there is no reason the Cubs cannot compete and win in 2010. In 2008, they had one of the league's best offenses. The Cubs 2009 was marred by injury and bad luck to many core players. With their rebound and perhaps D-Lee's return to form, the Cubs should be the NL central force to fear next year.
And just in case you are like Jim Hendry and not big on Milton Bradley, let me do a quick luck adjustment for his .257/.378/.397 (.775 OPS), as his .311 BABIP was lower than his .326 xBABIP. Assuming that Milton Bradley's power outage (his 2009 ISO was .035 pts below his career ISO) continues, his 2009 luck neutral adjusted line (assuming all additional hits would be singles) would have been a much less ugly .270/.390/.410 (.800 OPS) line. That's an .800 OPS hitting for power like Juan Pierre. Bradley normally doesn't hit like Juan Pierre. Hate him all you want; that .390 OBP is valuable at the top of the order even without power.
GOI Football Prediction Results: Week Fourteen
Pigskin Pick 'Em
1) Cubsfan4evr
Last Week: 13 out of 16-81%
Overall: 143 out of 207-69%
2) The 'Bright' One
Last Week: 13 out of 16-81%
Overall: 137 out of 207-66%
3) Sexy Rexy
Last Week: 9 out of 16-56%
Overall: 130 out of 207-63%
Fantasy Football League
The Playoffs-Quarterfinal (Round One)
Cubsfan4evr (7-6 1259pts) VS. Sexy Rexy (7-6 1259pts)
Summary: Sunday night Cubsfan4evr was winning over Sexy Rexy 97 to 96. They each had two players left in Monday night’s game. Cubsfan4evr had his QB Kurt Warner and wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald. Sexy Rexy had his star running back in Frank Gore and TE Vernon Davis. Well if you watched that game you should know who won! Warner ended up getting one point and Fitzgerald ended up getting two points! How does a QB who plays the entire game only get one point? Cubsfan4evr had some bad luck and Sexy Rexy had a good night with Gore having a big game and getting 23 points. That was more than enough points, but Vernon Davis added nine so Sexy Rexy won 128 to 100. Now Sexy Rexy will go to the semifinals trying to upset the number one seed!
The 'Bright' One (7-6 1258pts) VS. Eagles! (7-5-1 1250pt)
Summary: The 'Bright' One was the 6th seed facing the 3rd seed and he showed him who the boss is. The 'Bright' One had Brandon Marshall score 32 points, Andre Johnson 31 points, Rob Bironas 19 points, and Buffalo’s defense of 16 points to lead a whipping of 142points to Eagles! 95. Now the The 'Bright' One also goes to the semifinals, but in the other match up, not the one Sexy Rexy is in.
Note: Both Sexy Rexy and The 'Bright' One were upset’s to win this pass week. They both managed to pull off the win though. If Sexy Rexy and The 'Bright' One win next week they will face each other in the finals! That would be a very good matchup.
1) Cubsfan4evr
Last Week: 13 out of 16-81%
Overall: 143 out of 207-69%
2) The 'Bright' One
Last Week: 13 out of 16-81%
Overall: 137 out of 207-66%
3) Sexy Rexy
Last Week: 9 out of 16-56%
Overall: 130 out of 207-63%
Fantasy Football League
The Playoffs-Quarterfinal (Round One)
Cubsfan4evr (7-6 1259pts) VS. Sexy Rexy (7-6 1259pts)
Summary: Sunday night Cubsfan4evr was winning over Sexy Rexy 97 to 96. They each had two players left in Monday night’s game. Cubsfan4evr had his QB Kurt Warner and wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald. Sexy Rexy had his star running back in Frank Gore and TE Vernon Davis. Well if you watched that game you should know who won! Warner ended up getting one point and Fitzgerald ended up getting two points! How does a QB who plays the entire game only get one point? Cubsfan4evr had some bad luck and Sexy Rexy had a good night with Gore having a big game and getting 23 points. That was more than enough points, but Vernon Davis added nine so Sexy Rexy won 128 to 100. Now Sexy Rexy will go to the semifinals trying to upset the number one seed!
The 'Bright' One (7-6 1258pts) VS. Eagles! (7-5-1 1250pt)
Summary: The 'Bright' One was the 6th seed facing the 3rd seed and he showed him who the boss is. The 'Bright' One had Brandon Marshall score 32 points, Andre Johnson 31 points, Rob Bironas 19 points, and Buffalo’s defense of 16 points to lead a whipping of 142points to Eagles! 95. Now the The 'Bright' One also goes to the semifinals, but in the other match up, not the one Sexy Rexy is in.
Note: Both Sexy Rexy and The 'Bright' One were upset’s to win this pass week. They both managed to pull off the win though. If Sexy Rexy and The 'Bright' One win next week they will face each other in the finals! That would be a very good matchup.
White Sox Acquire Juan Pierre...Why?
In another edition of "useless moves by Kenny Williams," the White Sox GM has traded two young prospects with potential -- RP Jon Link (great stuff, poor control) and SP John Ely (average-slightly above average "stuff", above average control) -- for the infamous Juan Pierre. The Sox, perpetually in search of "the prototypical lead-off man" (circa 1942), have finally found their man and can say sayonara to that old, shitty and greedy player known as Scotty Pods, who wants a ridiculous $5-7 mil per for 2-3 seasons...or have they?
Scotty Pods is a career .720 OPS hitter. Juan Pierre's career OPS? .720.
Scotty Pods is 33 years old. Juan Pierre? 32 years old.
Scotty Pods had the 39th weakest arm (-2.1 runs) in the OF amongst all OFs given 400+ PAs. Juan Pierre's ranking? 41st to last (-1.9 runs).
Scotty Pods' career speed score? 7.1. Juan Pierre? 7.3.
On that same topic, Scotty Pods has a career stolen base success rate of 76.7% (286/373). Juan Pierre? 74.8% (459/614).
Sure, Juan Pierre has been worth +33.5 Fielding Runs Above Average (FRAR) --one half of which came in 2002 -- against Scotty Pods' career -8.0 FRAR, but Pods is nonetheless a somewhat averageish defender. It's also worth noting that Pods has hit 3x as many HR in 1/2 as many career PAs (in fact, Juan Pierre has exactly one home runs in his last 1,606 PAs).
And because baseball fans love irrelevant, bizarre and situational stats, I will also point out that both Juan Pierre (.910) and Scotty Pods (.905) had almost identical OPS's in their respective teams World Series bids.
What's the point? Juan Pierre is not much of an upgrade over Scotty Pods. The Sox are saying no to Scotty Pods' 2 year, $10-14 million demands in favor of a player with slightly better defense and equally crappy offense for $10 million for two season plus a pair of prospects. It just seems like the Sox, if that hell bent on acquiring a shitty OF to play lead off, could have just resigned Pods at approximately the same monetary cost without the waste of prospects. It's not exactly like the White Sox are overwhelmed with quality prospects (I see a lonely Tyler Flowers and overrated Jordan Danks, but who else remains?). I wonder if Kenny Williams noticed that Mike Cameron was available until a couple of days ago. Maybe he just wanted another overpaid outfielder to keep Alex Rios company/distract the fans from the terrible Alex Rios acquisition.
Oh, well. That's Kenny Willaims for you.
Scotty Pods is a career .720 OPS hitter. Juan Pierre's career OPS? .720.
Scotty Pods is 33 years old. Juan Pierre? 32 years old.
Scotty Pods had the 39th weakest arm (-2.1 runs) in the OF amongst all OFs given 400+ PAs. Juan Pierre's ranking? 41st to last (-1.9 runs).
Scotty Pods' career speed score? 7.1. Juan Pierre? 7.3.
On that same topic, Scotty Pods has a career stolen base success rate of 76.7% (286/373). Juan Pierre? 74.8% (459/614).
Sure, Juan Pierre has been worth +33.5 Fielding Runs Above Average (FRAR) --one half of which came in 2002 -- against Scotty Pods' career -8.0 FRAR, but Pods is nonetheless a somewhat averageish defender. It's also worth noting that Pods has hit 3x as many HR in 1/2 as many career PAs (in fact, Juan Pierre has exactly one home runs in his last 1,606 PAs).
And because baseball fans love irrelevant, bizarre and situational stats, I will also point out that both Juan Pierre (.910) and Scotty Pods (.905) had almost identical OPS's in their respective teams World Series bids.
What's the point? Juan Pierre is not much of an upgrade over Scotty Pods. The Sox are saying no to Scotty Pods' 2 year, $10-14 million demands in favor of a player with slightly better defense and equally crappy offense for $10 million for two season plus a pair of prospects. It just seems like the Sox, if that hell bent on acquiring a shitty OF to play lead off, could have just resigned Pods at approximately the same monetary cost without the waste of prospects. It's not exactly like the White Sox are overwhelmed with quality prospects (I see a lonely Tyler Flowers and overrated Jordan Danks, but who else remains?). I wonder if Kenny Williams noticed that Mike Cameron was available until a couple of days ago. Maybe he just wanted another overpaid outfielder to keep Alex Rios company/distract the fans from the terrible Alex Rios acquisition.
Oh, well. That's Kenny Willaims for you.
Chris Johnson Greatest Season Ever?
There are many ways to judge the greatness of a running backs season. You can look at TDs, yards, carries, averages, or most importantly the offensive lines in front of the back. I like the traditional stats to judge running backs, total yards from scrimmage. Yards are yards, regardless how they are attained, and that is what I like to look at.
The greatest single season total yards from scrimmage seasons belong to Marshall Faulk(2429) in 1999, Tiki Barber(2390) in 2005, and LaDainian Tomlinson(2370) in 2003. Other great seasons in recent memory belong to Jamal Lewis, Larry Johnson, Priest Holmes, and Shawn Alexander.
No matter what anyone says, Chris Johnson is the MVP this season. No one has had more impact on his teams performance this season than Johnson. With 3 games left in the season, he's already eclipsed the 2000 yards from scrimmage mark. At 2017 yards, he is on pace to finish with 2482 yards setting the all time record. You add 13 touchdowns and 3 TD runs above 85 yards and you have your league MVP. As I mentioned earlier, no running back in the SB era has more than two 85 yard runs in their career, let alone a single season.
