I feel like I haven't done a late games edition in a while. I'll begin as soon as I get this safety to start off the game.
- I love six team bye weeks. Not for my fantasy team, but for my BST's.
- San Diego starts their eight game winning streak by defeating Tennessee on the road 33-25
- A week after Kenny Britt wins a game by himself he gets zero catches on one target. The Titans hero this week was Nate Washington: 117 yards and a TD. Even with his measly 44% catch rate
- I don't know why but Kerry Collins had 15 attempts to Vince Young's 21. Young was BY FAR the most productive QB. Young started the game and had a TD in the fourth quarter. I'm too lazy to read through the game log but my assumption is that he got injured in the middle of the game and then came back.
- I feel like I say this every week at this point- Chris Johnson had another average game: 59 yards on 15 carries. With CJ along with Ray Rice, Michael Turner, Ryan Matthews, Shonn Greene and a touch of Andre Johnson and Randy Moss, my guess is that you're extremely upset at your first and/or second round draft pick.
- Speaking of Ryan Matthews he performed well for you this week considering of what you now expect of him. Mike Tolbert is now becoming the better back though as they both get TDs but Tolbert gets more rushing yards on 4 less carries. Darren Sproles got a receiving TD.
- Every time Antonio Gates gets a TD, an angel gets his wings. Not quite as catchy, but true nonetheless. No other Bolts receiver really did anything special.
- For some reason I thought Seattle was a good team, but I forgot the caveat of "when they're at home". They lose to Oakland in Oakland 3-33.
- Matt Hasselbeck must have been daydreaming about having sex with his brother's super hot wife with his 43.8 passer rating. Needless to say this was a down week for Mike Williams (1/5, 27 yards)
- Marshawn Lynch (9) gets four more carries than Leon Washington and Justin Forsett (4) yet was 3rd on his team in rushing yards. Washington was first today with his staggering 28. Lynch had a 0.8 YPC this week.
- By law (450 F3d 560) Jason Campbell is allowed three good days a year. His first one came this week: 15/27, 310 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT
- Mea culpa. I was wrong on Darren Mcfadden. DEAD wrong mwahahaha! Run DMC gets 111 yards on 21 carries (5.3 YPC). On Michael Bush's 9 carries he gets 51 yards and a TD (5.7 YPC)
- Darrius Heyward-Bey finally acts like the #1 picked wide out he wasn't supposed to be: only 5 for 9 but 105 yards and a TD. He also got a 30 yard run. Lewis Murphy must be injured because he didn't get a target.
- For all of you who had heard the name "Chazz Schilens" and actually mock drafted him- you were dumb
- Some guy named Marcel Reece got 32 rushing yards, 90 passing yards (3/4) and a receiving TD.
- Tom Brady's hair (and his running game) defeats the Minnesota Vikings 28-18.
- I knew Brett Favre would start but I didn't think he'd be halfway productive and play 3+ quarters. He left the game after what looked like a Pats dislocated Favre's jaw. That's what I get for ranking Tavaris Jackson and not Favre.
- Percy Harvin has just been a beast since the Randy Moss trade. Moss has just been a little pencil troll since his trade. That's why we have bye weeks folks.
- Adrian Peterson was just average to above average: 92 yards on 25 carries and a rushing TD. His longest run was only 9 yards. Although a pretty good first round fantasy draft considering he's seemingly having a down year for him.
- The week I actually jumped off the Brandon Tate bandwagon and hopped on the Deion Branch one. The Branch wagon gets lost on the Oregon Trail and everyone gets cholera. Tate: 3/4, 101 yards, TD. Branch: 1/3 with 21 yards.
- The Pats run game and their awesome old-school-red-jerseys-with-the-dude-in-the-3-point-stance-on-their-helmet dominate this game. The Law Firm of BenJarvis Green-Ellis gets 112 yards and 2 TDs on 17 carries. Danny Woodhead also gets a rushing TD (11 touches in the game).
- I stream defenses in the 14 team GOI league. When the Pats/Viks (I'm too lazy to spell out the actual teams names but not lazy enough to write this verbose sentence explaining myself) game ended, the Tampa Bay/ Arizona game came on. I got scared when I saw the score was 31-35 Arizona because I picked up the Tampa Bay defense. But then I found out the Bucs had two defensive TDs and the world was right again. What also made the world right again is that LaGarrette Blount got a TD run with 5:13 left to play (after an amazing 53 yard bomb to Illinois alum Regis Benn) so that Tampa Bay won 38-35
- Every time I see the end of Tampa Bay games I always see Josh Freeman winning it for them. Last week he got a TD pass to Cadillac Williams as time expired. He does it again this week with his 121.8 passer rating. Freeman only has three interceptions on the year and hasn't thrown one in his past three games. He's thrown a TD in his past three games.
- Blount punches his way into the endzone twice along with his 120 yards on 22 carries (5.5 YPC)
- Please send me your LaGarrette Blount "punching" puns and axioms (as I'm running out of material) to gameofinchesblog@gmail.com. I need to stop using Blount as a punching bag I guess.
- Rookie Mike Williams gets 105 yards on four receptions (6 targets) and Freeman's TD.
- Both Derek Anderson and Max Hall have a 1/2 TD/INT ratio today. Anderson had a 77.4 passer rating. Hall had a 43.5. Hell, Matt Leinart could have done THAT!
- For some reason Derek Anderson can't hit the blind side of a barn (or Larry Fitzgerald) but he can hit Steve Breaston no problem. Breaston has 82.5 yards/game. Fitz has 57.6. What's wrong with that picture? Breaston gets 147 yards on 8 catches (11 targets). Just my luck I didn't start him in fantasy.
- Fits does get 2 TDs today- one from Anderson and one from Hall
- On 12 less carries (4 to 16). The Accounting Firm (apparently The Law Firm is already taken) of LaRod Stephens-Howling gets nine less yards (41 to 50) than Beanie Wells. LSH had a 10.3 YPC. Wells's was 3.1.
I hope you got a big trunk, because I plan on putting my bike in it! Let's go!
Box Score Tonight: Week Eight/Early Games Edition
I'm going to start this thing up as soon as I pop my jaw back into place
Illinois Jerk Off Alert
- Rashard Mendenhall: 15 carries for 71 yards, TD
- Brandon Lloyd: 7/12, 169 yards, 1 TD
- Arrelious Benn: 1/1, 53 yards- shoulda had the TD
- Michael Hoomanawanui: 2/3, 19 yards
- Steve Weatherford: 17 yards on 1 carry- NO FIRST DOWN FOR YOU!
Regular Alert
- No Chicago Bears this week so I'll start in order I see the games on ESPN
- The above average Dolphins defeats the below average Bengals 22-14
- Why is it that every time T.O. has 2+ TDs I have to face him? One touchdown was intercepted, fumbled, and it bounced back into T.O.'s hands. For some reason Carson Palmer gets creditted with that TD as well. How has either Owens or Ochocinco hasn't really said anything yet? Get out a marker or megaphone or tweet SOMETHING!
- Cedric Benson looks like his Chicago self with his 3.5 YPC on 20 carries.
- Carson Palmer (63.0 passer rating) tries to outshit Chad Henne (69.3) but fails. Just like he always does.
- This week Ronnie Brown (61 yards on 16 carries) does better than Ricky Williams (47 yards in 9 carries) but Williams saw a joint in the endzone and had to grab it so he gets the TD run.
- How is Davone Bess (7 for 9) catching more passes than Brandon Marshall (5 for 7)?
- I finally put Brian Hartline in my top 60 wide outs this week and I bet he was top 60 with his 53 yards on 5 receptions
- Jacksonville pulled a Little Big Horn and up ended the Cowboys 35-17. Get it? You never played Cowboys and Jaguars as a little boy?
- Jerry Jones, what the hell are you waiting for and fire Wade Phillips already.
- Jon Kitna did his best Jay Cutler impression: 34/49, 379 yards, 1 TD, 4 INTs
- I'm SO happy I traded away Felix Jones: 22 yards in 8 carries. Barber wasn't much better
- Miles Austin (7/12, 117 yards) and Jason Witten (10/12, 97 yards, TD) go off like Zach Galifianakis's gun in this damn commericla I keep seeing for Due Date. Way to give away every single scene in the movies in your ten trailers studio execs. Way would I see the movie when I can watch the previews on IMDB?
- David Garrard was almost perfect today with his 157.8 passer rating. He completed all of his passes in the first half.
- It took him 27 carries (5 YPC) but MJD finally is himself getting 135 yards.
- Mike Sims-Walker is bi-polar. He'll have like 10 bad games, 3 decent games, and three "I can't believe I benched this mo fo, damn it!" games. This week he had the latter: 8/10, 153 yards, TD
- In 8 games, Mercedes Lewis has 7 TDs. He's the next Visanthe Shiancoe and got two this week.
- Like I predicted, Detroit defeats Washington 37-25
- Calvin Johnson finally was the guy you thought you were getting when you drafted him in the second round: 9/15, 101 yards, 3 TDs. Makes Matthew Stafford look good (and thinned Stafford's face a little as well): 90.2 passer rating, 4/1 TD/INT ratio, 58% completion percentage
- Donkey Kong Suh gets a TD and has 6.5 sacks in 7 games- as a DEFENSIVE TACKLE! He's gotta be the defensive rookie of the year.
- Kevin Smith and Jahvid Best had essentially the same night. Both had 12 carries. Smith had a 4.3 YPC and Best had a 4.0. I think the mere fact that there was a time share is interesting on its own.
- Donovan McNabb was benched for Rex Grossman. On Grossman's first snap, he fumbled and Suh got his TD. Rex Grossman should never be anyone's back up on the off chance he'll play. Mcnabb didn't put up THAT BAD statistical numbers with his 75.7 passer rating (0.2 less than Grossman)
- I can't stand Torain. And apparently neither could Shanahan as he only got 10 yards on 9 carries. (Although he did get Mcnabb's lone TD)
- Keep Anthony Armstrong on your radar. H He's putting up numbers I thought Devin Thomas would (Is Thomas even still on the team?). Armstrong went 3 for 6 and led all Redskins in yards (96).
- Kansas City defeats Buffalo 13-10
- I only saw the game log where both KC and Buffalo kept missing field goals to win it in overtime. Apparently the game was EXTREMELY windy. And according to the few guys I follow on Twitter Bills coach Chan Gailey coached a horrific game- although I wouldn't expect him to do anything less.
- I'm glad I traded for Ryan Fitzpatrick with his 61.4 passer rating and his 50% completion percentage. I'm gonna chalk this one up to the whether because I have a favorable disposition towards Fitzy.
- Fred Jackson is THE guy in Buffalo. He got 20 carries to C.J. Spiller's 6. Neither look all that impressive
- Oh, a Roscoe Parrish sighting as he led all Bills receivers in yards (66). Steve Johnson just KEEPS scoring TDs. He's scored at least one in his past five games.
- As expected Jamaal Charles and Thomas Jones have really good games and Charles was the better guy.
- Is Matt Cassel the best QB to come out of USC within the past decade? He is the quintessential "game manager" with his 84.1 passer rating and no INTs this week.
- Dwayne Bowe has scored at least a TD five out of his past six weeks.
- The Rams defeat the Panthers 20-10 at homes
- With DeAngelo Williams out, Jonathan Stewart goes off! And by that I mean he sucks donkey dick. 30 yards on 14 carries. Boy do the Panthers really miss OT Jeff Otah.
- I'm not even going to dignify Matt Moore with a comment about his shitty shitty play
- I continue to like Sam Bradford as a not bad draft choice for the Rams. Only 191 yards but a damn good 112.4 passer rating. He needs to learn to play on the road.
- Steven Jackson pulls a stinker: 59 yards in 23 carries.
- I don't care who catches Sam Bradford's passes, they're all bad. Even Mike H- their TE from Illinois.
- Green Bay decided to pull their heads out of their asses and defeats the J-E-T-S Jets Jets Jets 9-0.
- Catch percentages: Jerricho Cotchery (31%), Dustin Keller (33%), Santonio Holmes (50%), and Braylon Edwards (25%). That's just fucking AWFUL. And Sanchez still looks good throwing he ball as well but his receivers aren't that good. If only someone has warned you about the bad hands of the Jets receivers.
- For like the quarter or so that I watched, LT looked really really good. But his fantasy and statistical numbers apparently don't reflect what I saw. Wouldn't be the first time.
- If anyone was going to criticize me that Aaron Rodgers was not elite and then he goes out and defeats the Jets- think again. Rogers had a 59.7 passer rating. Brandon Jackson had a 3.7 YPC. I have no idea how the hell Green Bay scored any points at all. Did they just have an awesome punt return three times to put them in field goal range and kicked a FG when the team went 3 and out?
- Does London actually care about American football? I can't imagine considering we always send the worst representatives out there. This week San Fran defeats Denver in Wembley Stadium 24- 16
- OK, one sentence each for the major players in this game: Troy Smith is competent, Frank Gore is a horse, Brandon Lloyd is a beast, Kyle Orton is awesome in fantasy this year but not reality, Michael Crabtree is overrated (this year), Knowshown Morena is pretty bad, and Vernon David is injured. Boom! Nailed it like Stephen Colbert.
Good night and good luck. I think this is going to be my new schtick. Instead of being creative and think of my own way to end BST's (unlike on the GOI podcasts) I think I'm just going to steal other people's famous ending lines.
Illinois Jerk Off Alert
- Rashard Mendenhall: 15 carries for 71 yards, TD
- Brandon Lloyd: 7/12, 169 yards, 1 TD
- Arrelious Benn: 1/1, 53 yards- shoulda had the TD
- Michael Hoomanawanui: 2/3, 19 yards
- Steve Weatherford: 17 yards on 1 carry- NO FIRST DOWN FOR YOU!
Regular Alert
- No Chicago Bears this week so I'll start in order I see the games on ESPN
- The above average Dolphins defeats the below average Bengals 22-14
- Why is it that every time T.O. has 2+ TDs I have to face him? One touchdown was intercepted, fumbled, and it bounced back into T.O.'s hands. For some reason Carson Palmer gets creditted with that TD as well. How has either Owens or Ochocinco hasn't really said anything yet? Get out a marker or megaphone or tweet SOMETHING!
- Cedric Benson looks like his Chicago self with his 3.5 YPC on 20 carries.
- Carson Palmer (63.0 passer rating) tries to outshit Chad Henne (69.3) but fails. Just like he always does.
- This week Ronnie Brown (61 yards on 16 carries) does better than Ricky Williams (47 yards in 9 carries) but Williams saw a joint in the endzone and had to grab it so he gets the TD run.
- How is Davone Bess (7 for 9) catching more passes than Brandon Marshall (5 for 7)?
- I finally put Brian Hartline in my top 60 wide outs this week and I bet he was top 60 with his 53 yards on 5 receptions
- Jacksonville pulled a Little Big Horn and up ended the Cowboys 35-17. Get it? You never played Cowboys and Jaguars as a little boy?
- Jerry Jones, what the hell are you waiting for and fire Wade Phillips already.
- Jon Kitna did his best Jay Cutler impression: 34/49, 379 yards, 1 TD, 4 INTs
- I'm SO happy I traded away Felix Jones: 22 yards in 8 carries. Barber wasn't much better
- Miles Austin (7/12, 117 yards) and Jason Witten (10/12, 97 yards, TD) go off like Zach Galifianakis's gun in this damn commericla I keep seeing for Due Date. Way to give away every single scene in the movies in your ten trailers studio execs. Way would I see the movie when I can watch the previews on IMDB?
- David Garrard was almost perfect today with his 157.8 passer rating. He completed all of his passes in the first half.
- It took him 27 carries (5 YPC) but MJD finally is himself getting 135 yards.
- Mike Sims-Walker is bi-polar. He'll have like 10 bad games, 3 decent games, and three "I can't believe I benched this mo fo, damn it!" games. This week he had the latter: 8/10, 153 yards, TD
- In 8 games, Mercedes Lewis has 7 TDs. He's the next Visanthe Shiancoe and got two this week.
- Like I predicted, Detroit defeats Washington 37-25
- Calvin Johnson finally was the guy you thought you were getting when you drafted him in the second round: 9/15, 101 yards, 3 TDs. Makes Matthew Stafford look good (and thinned Stafford's face a little as well): 90.2 passer rating, 4/1 TD/INT ratio, 58% completion percentage
- Donkey Kong Suh gets a TD and has 6.5 sacks in 7 games- as a DEFENSIVE TACKLE! He's gotta be the defensive rookie of the year.
- Kevin Smith and Jahvid Best had essentially the same night. Both had 12 carries. Smith had a 4.3 YPC and Best had a 4.0. I think the mere fact that there was a time share is interesting on its own.
- Donovan McNabb was benched for Rex Grossman. On Grossman's first snap, he fumbled and Suh got his TD. Rex Grossman should never be anyone's back up on the off chance he'll play. Mcnabb didn't put up THAT BAD statistical numbers with his 75.7 passer rating (0.2 less than Grossman)
- I can't stand Torain. And apparently neither could Shanahan as he only got 10 yards on 9 carries. (Although he did get Mcnabb's lone TD)
- Keep Anthony Armstrong on your radar. H He's putting up numbers I thought Devin Thomas would (Is Thomas even still on the team?). Armstrong went 3 for 6 and led all Redskins in yards (96).
- Kansas City defeats Buffalo 13-10
- I only saw the game log where both KC and Buffalo kept missing field goals to win it in overtime. Apparently the game was EXTREMELY windy. And according to the few guys I follow on Twitter Bills coach Chan Gailey coached a horrific game- although I wouldn't expect him to do anything less.
- I'm glad I traded for Ryan Fitzpatrick with his 61.4 passer rating and his 50% completion percentage. I'm gonna chalk this one up to the whether because I have a favorable disposition towards Fitzy.
- Fred Jackson is THE guy in Buffalo. He got 20 carries to C.J. Spiller's 6. Neither look all that impressive
- Oh, a Roscoe Parrish sighting as he led all Bills receivers in yards (66). Steve Johnson just KEEPS scoring TDs. He's scored at least one in his past five games.
- As expected Jamaal Charles and Thomas Jones have really good games and Charles was the better guy.
- Is Matt Cassel the best QB to come out of USC within the past decade? He is the quintessential "game manager" with his 84.1 passer rating and no INTs this week.
- Dwayne Bowe has scored at least a TD five out of his past six weeks.
- The Rams defeat the Panthers 20-10 at homes
- With DeAngelo Williams out, Jonathan Stewart goes off! And by that I mean he sucks donkey dick. 30 yards on 14 carries. Boy do the Panthers really miss OT Jeff Otah.
- I'm not even going to dignify Matt Moore with a comment about his shitty shitty play
- I continue to like Sam Bradford as a not bad draft choice for the Rams. Only 191 yards but a damn good 112.4 passer rating. He needs to learn to play on the road.
- Steven Jackson pulls a stinker: 59 yards in 23 carries.
- I don't care who catches Sam Bradford's passes, they're all bad. Even Mike H- their TE from Illinois.
- Green Bay decided to pull their heads out of their asses and defeats the J-E-T-S Jets Jets Jets 9-0.
- Catch percentages: Jerricho Cotchery (31%), Dustin Keller (33%), Santonio Holmes (50%), and Braylon Edwards (25%). That's just fucking AWFUL. And Sanchez still looks good throwing he ball as well but his receivers aren't that good. If only someone has warned you about the bad hands of the Jets receivers.
- For like the quarter or so that I watched, LT looked really really good. But his fantasy and statistical numbers apparently don't reflect what I saw. Wouldn't be the first time.
- If anyone was going to criticize me that Aaron Rodgers was not elite and then he goes out and defeats the Jets- think again. Rogers had a 59.7 passer rating. Brandon Jackson had a 3.7 YPC. I have no idea how the hell Green Bay scored any points at all. Did they just have an awesome punt return three times to put them in field goal range and kicked a FG when the team went 3 and out?
- Does London actually care about American football? I can't imagine considering we always send the worst representatives out there. This week San Fran defeats Denver in Wembley Stadium 24- 16
- OK, one sentence each for the major players in this game: Troy Smith is competent, Frank Gore is a horse, Brandon Lloyd is a beast, Kyle Orton is awesome in fantasy this year but not reality, Michael Crabtree is overrated (this year), Knowshown Morena is pretty bad, and Vernon David is injured. Boom! Nailed it like Stephen Colbert.
Good night and good luck. I think this is going to be my new schtick. Instead of being creative and think of my own way to end BST's (unlike on the GOI podcasts) I think I'm just going to steal other people's famous ending lines.
Jeff Otah: Today's Greatest Run Blocking Lineman?
With the 14th overall pick in the 2008 draft, the Chicago Bears select... Chris Williams. Offensive tackle from Vanderbilt.I have to throw my own team under the bus for being so freaking bad at drafting. Now "experts" like Mel Kiper Jr. tend to wrong a lot of times. And teams make the same mistakes as well because not every first round draft pick is successful (see Lions, Detroit). But still, it was universally considered that Jeff Otah would be a GREAT offensive lineman and would be much better than Chris Williams. And three years later, I think that's pretty much been proven correct.
With the 19th overall pick in the 2008 draft, the Carolina Panthers select... Jeff Otah. Offensive tackle from Pittsburgh.
It's hard to quantify run blocking and lineman blocking in general. Football Outsiders does a pretty darn good job of that- but they quantify line play by the success of the "skill" players like the quarterback and running back. Hell, I can do that. So here we go.
In 2006, the Carolina Panthers drafted DeAngelo Williams. In 2010, Jeff Otah has not played a game due to injury. These two factors mainly will help us determine how good Jeff Otah really is. (Stewart was drafted six picks ahead of Otah the mere fact that he's on the team is not really a factor we have to take into account).
Now the first factor- DeAngelo Williams being on the the team two years before Otah- is surprisingly not the greatest set of data one could generate. In 2008 (Otah's rookie year), Williams got more carries than his first two years combined. In 2006, Williams only started two game and none is 2007. He only got 121 and 144 carries respectively. Then, in Williams MVP season, he jumped up to 273 then to 216 in 2009 (He only played in 13 games). So certainly Jeff Otah could have helped, but carries also plays a significant factor as well.
However, Williams two best years was in 2008 and 2009. I was actually surprised to learn this- but DeAngelo Williams was a pretty good player before his breakout season. He had a 4.1 YPC his rookie year and a 5.0 YPC the year later. The only reason Williams wasn't more productive was because one of the greatest running backs ever to play the game- DeShaun Foster- was stealing carries from him. (At least be honest, he probably should have).
Yet despite those damn good YPC numbers, he had even better numbers in '08 and '09. In 2008, he led the league (min 200 carries) and had a career high 5.5 YPC. The next year he had a 5.2 YPC. And after he's clearly established himself as an elite running back, he only has a 4.1 YPC in 2010.
Williams also jumped from 5 rushing touchdowns in his first two years to 18 in 2008 and 7 in 2009. This year he only has one in six games. Williams was 13th in WAR for running backs in 2006, 35th in 2007, 7th in 2008 (Actually, I think I just gave up on WAR, how was D-Wills not #1?), 8th in 2009, and way too far down the list to count so far in 2010. WAR is also a useful stat because, like YPC, it takes the emphasis off of carries.
Williams YPC, WAR, and TDs all coincide with Jeff Otah's presence blocking for Williams.
However, this data on its own is not that conclusive for me. A first round draft pick finally gets significant playing time and becomes a star? Big deal. That doesn't prove anything. Well my cynical made up friend, you're in luck because the Panthers are one of the few teams that actually have two elite running backs who have gotten significant playing and has played with and without Otah. Can you guess who the other back is my apparition?
Jonathan's Stewart Career Numbers:
(Remember Otah was healthy in 2008 and 2009 and hasn't played yet in 2010)
YPC
2008: 4.5
2009: 5.1
2010: 3.0
Rushing TDs/game
2008: .625
2009: .625
2010: .167
WAR
2008: .63 (10th)
2009: .88 (6th)
2010: -.23 (33rd)
It should be no surprise, like DeAngelo Williams, The Daily Show's YPC, TDs, and WAR are better with Jeff Otah than without Jeff Otah.
Now don't read too much into my title, Otah may not be THE greatest lineman playing. But he's really damn good. His injury this year is affecting the Carolina Panthers greatly. This team depends on Smash and Dash to run their offense and pass second. The Panthers aren't built around passing but if they can't run as well, then they may be in the Andrew Luck sweepstakes by the end of this year. Of course the fantasy impact is obvious- no Otah (and right now no Williams) means you can barely play these guys because they are getting no success whatsoever. But if Otah comes back, then look out America!
And FU Chicago for not drafting Otah and instead decided to stockpile players from the worst team in the SEC.
Linear Weights And Ichiro Suzuki
Taken from The Hardball Times:
Depending on when a given event occurs in a baseball game, it will have a different impact on the runs scoring differential. A single, for example, is worth almost twice as much with a runner on first than it is with the bases empty. These events, based on when they occur, are compared through the use of linear weights (or relative valuation).
The linear weight system is interesting because it lets us see what would happen to runs scoring in theory if we substituted one event for another. For example, what happens to run scoring if a hitter improves his patience at the plate by also increasing the number of times strike three is called. According to Tom Tango's Men On Base Linear Weight System (MOBLWTS), a base on balls is, on average across all possible events, worth +0.35 runs, while a strikeout is comparably worth -0.31 runs. Thus, a player who improves his walk rate at the expense of a comparable decline in strikeout rate is actually improving his runs output.
A few years ago, Ichiro claimed that he intentionally sacrifices power for batting average. Would hitting 40 home runs at the expense of a lower batting average, and thus on base, really hurt Ichiro's run scoring output? Let us examine.
Under that linear system, the average home run is worth +1.42 runs, while the average single is worth +0.49 runs. This means that a home run is roughly equivalent to 2.9 singles. Ichiro has averaged about 8.5 home runs in his nine-year major league career. If we assume that Ichiro could hit 40 homers, that means that he would need to increase his home run output by 31.5 to match his claimed ability.
Using the relative weight of home runs to singles and singles to outs (assuming all non-home run hits sacrificed by Ichiro would be outs), we get a proportion of 1.42(Y)-.30(X-Y)=.49(X), where X equals the number of singles Ichiro would have to hit to "break even" in regard to his run-creation output.
Simplifying the equation, we get: X = 2.18Y. Plugging in the relevant numbers, we find that to "break even," Ichiro would need to hit these additional 31.5 home runs at the expense of 68.5 (or fewer) singles. Ichiro averages about 678 at-bats per season with a batting average of .331 (~224 hits). The loss of 68.5 singles (again, we are pessimistically assuming that all of Ichiro's forgone singles would become outs) would cause Ichiro's batting average to plummet to approximately .229.
Hence, if, as Ichiro claims, he could hit 40 home runs at the cost of a .220 batting average, then he should not do it. Exacerbating the issue, as a commenter points out below, would be that a loss in batting average would also depress Ichiro's on base and stolen base value, which would further lower his overall wOBA. Still, the issue would be a closer one if "Ichiro with power" was be capable of mustering a batting average that is competitive with the likes of Mike Cameron, Adam Dunn, and Russell Branyan, the trade off may be worth it. As is stands, however, ".220 Ichiro" should keep on slapping singles...
What do you think?
Depending on when a given event occurs in a baseball game, it will have a different impact on the runs scoring differential. A single, for example, is worth almost twice as much with a runner on first than it is with the bases empty. These events, based on when they occur, are compared through the use of linear weights (or relative valuation).
The linear weight system is interesting because it lets us see what would happen to runs scoring in theory if we substituted one event for another. For example, what happens to run scoring if a hitter improves his patience at the plate by also increasing the number of times strike three is called. According to Tom Tango's Men On Base Linear Weight System (MOBLWTS), a base on balls is, on average across all possible events, worth +0.35 runs, while a strikeout is comparably worth -0.31 runs. Thus, a player who improves his walk rate at the expense of a comparable decline in strikeout rate is actually improving his runs output.
A few years ago, Ichiro claimed that he intentionally sacrifices power for batting average. Would hitting 40 home runs at the expense of a lower batting average, and thus on base, really hurt Ichiro's run scoring output? Let us examine.Under that linear system, the average home run is worth +1.42 runs, while the average single is worth +0.49 runs. This means that a home run is roughly equivalent to 2.9 singles. Ichiro has averaged about 8.5 home runs in his nine-year major league career. If we assume that Ichiro could hit 40 homers, that means that he would need to increase his home run output by 31.5 to match his claimed ability.
Using the relative weight of home runs to singles and singles to outs (assuming all non-home run hits sacrificed by Ichiro would be outs), we get a proportion of 1.42(Y)-.30(X-Y)=.49(X), where X equals the number of singles Ichiro would have to hit to "break even" in regard to his run-creation output.
Simplifying the equation, we get: X = 2.18Y. Plugging in the relevant numbers, we find that to "break even," Ichiro would need to hit these additional 31.5 home runs at the expense of 68.5 (or fewer) singles. Ichiro averages about 678 at-bats per season with a batting average of .331 (~224 hits). The loss of 68.5 singles (again, we are pessimistically assuming that all of Ichiro's forgone singles would become outs) would cause Ichiro's batting average to plummet to approximately .229.
Hence, if, as Ichiro claims, he could hit 40 home runs at the cost of a .220 batting average, then he should not do it. Exacerbating the issue, as a commenter points out below, would be that a loss in batting average would also depress Ichiro's on base and stolen base value, which would further lower his overall wOBA. Still, the issue would be a closer one if "Ichiro with power" was be capable of mustering a batting average that is competitive with the likes of Mike Cameron, Adam Dunn, and Russell Branyan, the trade off may be worth it. As is stands, however, ".220 Ichiro" should keep on slapping singles...
What do you think?
Sexy Rexy's Fantasy Advice: Rankings For Week Eight
Pardon us while we are experiencing some technical difficulties
Currently, you can click here to see my rankings for now.
This site I use to rank, FantasyPros.com, just started an enabling feature where you can see my picks on GOI instead of clicking to them. But currently their script is not working. Cubsfan, get on this! lol
Currently, you can click here to see my rankings for now.
This site I use to rank, FantasyPros.com, just started an enabling feature where you can see my picks on GOI instead of clicking to them. But currently their script is not working. Cubsfan, get on this! lol
A Reggie Bush Rant
The original title was "A Quick Reggie Bush Rant" but after seeing how much I've typed, I had to delete the 'quick' part.
Much has been made this year about the New Orleans offense. This year the Saints rank 18th in points per game. Right below the Joe Flacco led Ravens and right above the Ryan Fitzpatrick led Bills. With Drew Brees and the wide out talent this team has, how the hell are they only 18th?
Well, ESPN has the answer- the lack of Reggie Bush. They claim because Reggie Bush is such an explosive talent that defenses have to account for him whenever he's on the field. But with him out due to injury, defenses can focus more on Brees, send more guys back in coverage which messes up Drew Brees. To help ESPN prove their point, they show one play in which Reggie Bush is in the game and how the defense is set up and reacts. Then they cut right to another play a few weeks later (sans Bush) and the opposing team has a better defense for the Saints. Two plays to prove their point.
My reaction:
WHAT!? REGGIE BUSH IS NOT A GOOD FOOTBALL PLAYER. THIS LOGIC DOES NOT MAKE SENSE. THIS IS BY THE FAR ONE OF THE STUPIDEST THINGS NFL ANALYSTS HAVE SAID! THIS ANGERS ME GREATLY. WHY ARE WE YELLING?
I will concede a few things. 1) Reggie Bush does have great athleticism and talent. 2) On any given play, Bush does have the capability to take the ball and score a touchdown. 3) Reggie Bush was healthy in the year and now he's injured. 4) He was a great college running back.
Now here's my retort. First, on any given play, ANY skill player has the potential to score a long touchdown. Thomas Jones proved that last weekend with a 70 yard run. Matt Forte has this ability. But who cares, they are still an NFL offensive player. I'm pretty sure teams aren't shaking in the boots whenever Matt Forte has the ball. Yet he still has this amazing ability to be awesome in open space.
The main thing that ESPN is overlooking is that the Saints BEST running back- Pierre Thomas- is also injured. Both Bush and Thomas are out leaving the Brandon Jackson-esque Chris Ivory in to play. And even comparing Ivory to Jackson is an insult to Jackson.
The same two shots ESPN uses for Bush- I bet they could also use for Pierre Thomas. Plus, I'm pretty sure the rest of the league has caught up with Reggie Bush. They are fully aware after that four plus years, he doesn't nearly produce the same as when he was in college. I'm pretty sure that when a team is looking at film, they notice Pierre Thomas is the better running back. Throughout Thomas' entire career in NO, he has proven to be the better running back.
I agree that not having a legitimate running game does hurt Drew Brees and his ability to score points. I agree the lack of a running threat not only hurt play action plays (and let's be honest, the only reason teams run nowadays is to set up the play action) but the overall passing offense. But Reggie Bush alone does not constitute a legitimate running game.
And by the way, it's not like Reggie Bush has been the picture of health in his NFL career. He started, 8, 10, 8, 9 games respectively and he's only played in all 16 games once- his rookie year. The Saints have played without Reggie Bush before and yet still have had a prolific offense.
I still think ESPN has it in their heads that Reggie Bush is still the Heisman talent he was while at USC. During Bush's final year, ESPN jerked off to Reggie like what Kim used to do. (I apologize for the lewd and vulgar). But that praise should have declined at this point in Bush's career.
ESPN's logic just does not add up. The have a premise: Reggie Bush is injured and not playing. This is true. They have a conclusion: The Saints are not scoring that many points. This is also true. But to say Statement A is the reason for Statement B is the quintessential logical fallacy. I agree Reggie Bush is a lot better than any back the Saints can currently start, but I refuse to believe that he alone is the reason for the Saints mediocre offensive play.
Much has been made this year about the New Orleans offense. This year the Saints rank 18th in points per game. Right below the Joe Flacco led Ravens and right above the Ryan Fitzpatrick led Bills. With Drew Brees and the wide out talent this team has, how the hell are they only 18th?
Well, ESPN has the answer- the lack of Reggie Bush. They claim because Reggie Bush is such an explosive talent that defenses have to account for him whenever he's on the field. But with him out due to injury, defenses can focus more on Brees, send more guys back in coverage which messes up Drew Brees. To help ESPN prove their point, they show one play in which Reggie Bush is in the game and how the defense is set up and reacts. Then they cut right to another play a few weeks later (sans Bush) and the opposing team has a better defense for the Saints. Two plays to prove their point.
My reaction:
WHAT!? REGGIE BUSH IS NOT A GOOD FOOTBALL PLAYER. THIS LOGIC DOES NOT MAKE SENSE. THIS IS BY THE FAR ONE OF THE STUPIDEST THINGS NFL ANALYSTS HAVE SAID! THIS ANGERS ME GREATLY. WHY ARE WE YELLING?
I will concede a few things. 1) Reggie Bush does have great athleticism and talent. 2) On any given play, Bush does have the capability to take the ball and score a touchdown. 3) Reggie Bush was healthy in the year and now he's injured. 4) He was a great college running back.
Now here's my retort. First, on any given play, ANY skill player has the potential to score a long touchdown. Thomas Jones proved that last weekend with a 70 yard run. Matt Forte has this ability. But who cares, they are still an NFL offensive player. I'm pretty sure teams aren't shaking in the boots whenever Matt Forte has the ball. Yet he still has this amazing ability to be awesome in open space.
The main thing that ESPN is overlooking is that the Saints BEST running back- Pierre Thomas- is also injured. Both Bush and Thomas are out leaving the Brandon Jackson-esque Chris Ivory in to play. And even comparing Ivory to Jackson is an insult to Jackson.
The same two shots ESPN uses for Bush- I bet they could also use for Pierre Thomas. Plus, I'm pretty sure the rest of the league has caught up with Reggie Bush. They are fully aware after that four plus years, he doesn't nearly produce the same as when he was in college. I'm pretty sure that when a team is looking at film, they notice Pierre Thomas is the better running back. Throughout Thomas' entire career in NO, he has proven to be the better running back.
I agree that not having a legitimate running game does hurt Drew Brees and his ability to score points. I agree the lack of a running threat not only hurt play action plays (and let's be honest, the only reason teams run nowadays is to set up the play action) but the overall passing offense. But Reggie Bush alone does not constitute a legitimate running game.
And by the way, it's not like Reggie Bush has been the picture of health in his NFL career. He started, 8, 10, 8, 9 games respectively and he's only played in all 16 games once- his rookie year. The Saints have played without Reggie Bush before and yet still have had a prolific offense.
I still think ESPN has it in their heads that Reggie Bush is still the Heisman talent he was while at USC. During Bush's final year, ESPN jerked off to Reggie like what Kim used to do. (I apologize for the lewd and vulgar). But that praise should have declined at this point in Bush's career.
ESPN's logic just does not add up. The have a premise: Reggie Bush is injured and not playing. This is true. They have a conclusion: The Saints are not scoring that many points. This is also true. But to say Statement A is the reason for Statement B is the quintessential logical fallacy. I agree Reggie Bush is a lot better than any back the Saints can currently start, but I refuse to believe that he alone is the reason for the Saints mediocre offensive play.
Aaron Rodgers Is Not An Elite Quarterback
A few months ago, I criticized John Clayton for ranking Aaron Rodgers as the sixth best quarterback currently playing. I thought Aaron Rodgers should AT LEAST be top five and ranked him #3. The "Bright" One ranked Rodgers as #3. Cubsfan went so bold and said Rodgers was THE BEST in the game right now. We were all wrong. Mea culpa John Clayton.
Before coming into this season and especially his 2009 campaign, Rodgers showed us some great things. He should us great mobility and did amazing things and put up amazing numbers with one of the WORST offensive lines in the game. Rodgers was on the cusp of greatness, if not there already. But this year he has regressed and is now not an elite quarterback.
Before I continue, let me clarify something, I'm not saying Aaron Rodgers isn't good. Quite the contrary, he's superb. I would absolutely love to have him on my beloved Bears and he's an upgrade to probably at least 26 teams. But what I'm talking about is ELITE. The best of the best. The cream of the crop. The guy who can win games single-handedly. The guy that can make 6th round talent pro bowlers. The guy that can
make the perfect throw in between double coverage.
And Rodgers is just not that guy. At least not yet.
I have seen Rodgers play at least three games this year and by just watching him, he doesn't look elite. He looks very good, but not elite. You watch him play and I'm jealous that a quarterback can actually tell his offensive lineman to pick up a blitz, they do it, and then have the QB throw a 45 yard TD pass. I wonder why Chicago hasn't had a guy under center do that in over 60 years. But when you look down at the stat sheet and you look at the score of the game and you see how Rodgers played, I just can't held but ask myself, "why isn't he better"?
I'll admit I'm not making that good of an argument, but the evidence for what is elite is pretty subjective and weak to begin with. You can point to all the numbers you want and like I said, the mofo can play very well. He's just not at the highest tier yet.
To me I think it's the little, subtle things that separate the Peyton Manning's and the Tom Brady's from the Aaron Rodger's and I don't believe Rodgers is doing all those little things that you can only get while watching a game. I think the biggest thing is his receivers numbers. Greg Jennings is still a top ten talent, but he most certainly does not have top ten talent numbers right now. There's no reason that in a seven game stretch, that Greg Jennings does not have at least three 100 yard games. (This year he only has one). The record also helps. Now I won't put TOO much stock in this because defense and special teams plays a huge part in this and the record not ALL on the quarterback. But with Green Bay's offense and talent, the Packers should have the best record in the NFC right now and it should be because of Rodgers.
I have actually talked to many Packers fan and I have noticed many of them say the same thing. Fans that watch Rodgers play week in and week out I think will agree with me. "Why hasn't Rodgers taken the next step?"
Call me foolish. Call me crazy. Call me what you will. I don't believe Rodgers is in the elite class just yet. I still foresee him getting there. But here's just not there now.
Before coming into this season and especially his 2009 campaign, Rodgers showed us some great things. He should us great mobility and did amazing things and put up amazing numbers with one of the WORST offensive lines in the game. Rodgers was on the cusp of greatness, if not there already. But this year he has regressed and is now not an elite quarterback.
Before I continue, let me clarify something, I'm not saying Aaron Rodgers isn't good. Quite the contrary, he's superb. I would absolutely love to have him on my beloved Bears and he's an upgrade to probably at least 26 teams. But what I'm talking about is ELITE. The best of the best. The cream of the crop. The guy who can win games single-handedly. The guy that can make 6th round talent pro bowlers. The guy that can
make the perfect throw in between double coverage.
And Rodgers is just not that guy. At least not yet.
I have seen Rodgers play at least three games this year and by just watching him, he doesn't look elite. He looks very good, but not elite. You watch him play and I'm jealous that a quarterback can actually tell his offensive lineman to pick up a blitz, they do it, and then have the QB throw a 45 yard TD pass. I wonder why Chicago hasn't had a guy under center do that in over 60 years. But when you look down at the stat sheet and you look at the score of the game and you see how Rodgers played, I just can't held but ask myself, "why isn't he better"?
I'll admit I'm not making that good of an argument, but the evidence for what is elite is pretty subjective and weak to begin with. You can point to all the numbers you want and like I said, the mofo can play very well. He's just not at the highest tier yet.
To me I think it's the little, subtle things that separate the Peyton Manning's and the Tom Brady's from the Aaron Rodger's and I don't believe Rodgers is doing all those little things that you can only get while watching a game. I think the biggest thing is his receivers numbers. Greg Jennings is still a top ten talent, but he most certainly does not have top ten talent numbers right now. There's no reason that in a seven game stretch, that Greg Jennings does not have at least three 100 yard games. (This year he only has one). The record also helps. Now I won't put TOO much stock in this because defense and special teams plays a huge part in this and the record not ALL on the quarterback. But with Green Bay's offense and talent, the Packers should have the best record in the NFC right now and it should be because of Rodgers.
I have actually talked to many Packers fan and I have noticed many of them say the same thing. Fans that watch Rodgers play week in and week out I think will agree with me. "Why hasn't Rodgers taken the next step?"
Call me foolish. Call me crazy. Call me what you will. I don't believe Rodgers is in the elite class just yet. I still foresee him getting there. But here's just not there now.
Game Of Inches Football Results: Week Seven
Pigskin Pick 'Em
1) Sexy Rexy
Overall: 66-38
Last Week: 9-5
Clutch Games: GB over Minnesota, New York (N) over Dallas
WTF Games: N/A
2) The 'Bright' One
Overall: 64-40
Last Week: 6-8
Clutch Games: Tennessee over Philadelphia
WTF Games: Cincinnati over Atlanta
3) Cubsfan4evr1
Overall: 59-45
Last Week: 8-6
Clutch Games: Washington over Chicago (boo!)
WTF Games: N/A
Game Of Inches Fantasy Football League
- Sexy Rexy (L)(5-2): 2nd in Michelle Beadle division, 3rd overall (still #1 overall in points)
- TBO (W)(5-2): 2nd in Erin Andrews division, 4th overall (#1 points leader this week)
- Cubsfan4evr1 (L)(4-3): 3rd in Erin Andrews division, 5th overall
1) Sexy Rexy
Overall: 66-38
Last Week: 9-5
Clutch Games: GB over Minnesota, New York (N) over Dallas
WTF Games: N/A
2) The 'Bright' One
Overall: 64-40
Last Week: 6-8
Clutch Games: Tennessee over Philadelphia
WTF Games: Cincinnati over Atlanta
3) Cubsfan4evr1
Overall: 59-45
Last Week: 8-6
Clutch Games: Washington over Chicago (boo!)
WTF Games: N/A
Game Of Inches Fantasy Football League
- Sexy Rexy (L)(5-2): 2nd in Michelle Beadle division, 3rd overall (still #1 overall in points)
- TBO (W)(5-2): 2nd in Erin Andrews division, 4th overall (#1 points leader this week)
- Cubsfan4evr1 (L)(4-3): 3rd in Erin Andrews division, 5th overall
Box Score Tonight: Week Seven/Early Games Edition
In the 14 team league, the one in which I'm #1 in the standings and #1 in points coming into this week, I was facing the 14th place team. A team that hadn't won a game yet. And on a night where I needed Tony Romo to just be halfway decent, he gets injured and will likely be out the remainder of the season. So needless to say, I not only lost a guy I relied on, but I lost this week. This would help explain my negative undertones throughout this post. I'm pissed.
- To add insult to injury, at home, the Chicago Bears lost to the Washington Redskins 17-14
- You know how I know you're a bad offense, you 1) make DeAngelo Hall look like a good cornerback and 2) You let him be the leading receiver on your team. Hall caught the second most passes of any Bears receiver (4) and had the most yards of any Bears receiver (92 yards and a TD). That was better than the Bears actual leading receiver Johnny Knox: 6/12, 86 yards, and a TD
- Lovie Smith needed to be fired 2 years ago. No surprise this team is bad under him
- D.J. Moore, a back up CB, made an amazing play where he tackled McNabb and while Donovan was falling, he pulled a Brett Favre and threw the ball. That pass was tipped by Israel Idonije and Moore caught the tipped pass and ran it in for a TD
- I feel like a broken record, er, broken record, er broken record- Chester Taylor needs to get more work. He needs to get 10 carries a game. But when Matt Forte only gets 10, its hard.
- I can't stand Torain, he's supa dupa fly! Kudos if you understand my Missy reference. Ryan Torain got 25 carries for 125 yards- good for a 6.0 YPC
- Santana Moss is actually playing like a quality receiver: 5/8, 63 yards, TD
- Donovan McNabb is not- 1/2 TD/INT ratio, 56.8 passer rating
- Atlanta defeats Cincinnati 39-32
- Roddy White is Roddy White is fucking awesome: 11/13, 201 yards, 2 TDs
- Michael Turner finally pulled his head out of his own ass: 23 carries, 121 yards, 2 TDs
- Matt Ryan plays very well. But he's at home so it doesn't count
- I refuse to believe that Carson Palmer's great statistical numbers are true. Must be a glitch on ESPN: 3/0 TD/INT ratio, 412 yards, 116.4 passer rating
- Bungels top 3 wide outs put up great numbers (all have TDs) and in correspondence with their true talent. 1) Jordan Shipley: 6/6 for 131 yards 2) Chad Ochocinco 10/16 for 108 yards 3) T.O. 9/13 for 88 yards
- Tennessee defeats the Kevin Kolb led Eagles 37-19
- Kerry Collins numbers to wide outs other than Kenny Britt: 10/21, 51 yards, 0 TD, 2 INTs. Kenny Britt's numbers: 7/10, 225 yards, 3 TDs.
- I really really really wanted to see Chris Johnson pass Eric Dickerson's record but the other person to do that this year is Steven Jackson (for another reason/record). CJ has pretty bad numbers: no TDs and 66 yards on 24 carries (2.8 YPC)
- Kevin Kolb's line: who cares, Michael Vick is playing next week
- Jeremy Maclin gets 16 targets but my 2008 Madden MVP Jason Avant ties for the Eagles lead in receptions (6) and leads the team in yards (60)
- LeSean McCoy saw how Johnson was playing and decided he too wanted to play pretty bad: 0 TDs and 48 yards on 16 carries (3.0 YPC)
- The Kansas City Patriots defeat a Florida football team nobody cares about 42-20
- Who knew Matt Cassel was actually a capable quarterback. Sure he played like the definition of a "game manager" but he still ended up with a 144.0 passer rating. His line: 13/18, 193 yards, 2 TDs, 0 INT.
- Despite Thomas Jones being the better running back in Week 7 (125 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries) he still needs to get significantly less work than the more talent Chiefs RB Jamaal Charles (71 yards and a TD on 15 carries)
- Both of Cassel's two touchdown's went to Dwayne Bowe who only caught three passes (5 targets)
- Todd Bauman (68.5), who hasn't played a game in I believe, literally, five years had a better quarterback rating that Jay Cutler (54.3). Still better than Todd Collins.
- MJD played just as well as Chris Johnson on the ground (47 yards and zero TDs on 16 carries) as CJ but makes up for it in the air (5/6, 74 yards, and a TD). Mike Sims-Walker also gets a receiving TD.
- Pittsburgh barely squeaks by Miami 23-22
- By now you should have seen the Big Ben replay. It was a fumble.
- Ben Roesthlisberger is back to himself (on the football field Ben, not in a bar Ben): 19/27, 302 yards, 2 TDs, 0 INTs
- Rashard Mendenhall also decided to play like CJ: 37 yards and 0 TDs on 15 carries. maybe instead of my normal "Illini Jerk Off Alert" I should just have a section, guys who played just as well as Chris Johnson. I'd put myself on that list.
- Hines Ward and Mike Wallace get a TD each. Again.
- Brian Hartline and Brandon Marshall have the exact same numbers: 5 receptions, 57 yards, 0 TDs. Even Hartline got 5 targets and Marshall got 9. Sidenote, I'm really regretting dropping Davone Bess (especially considering my opponent this week had him and used him against me). 6/7, 66 yards and a TD
- Both Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams don't do squat
- Cleveland upsets New Orleans 30-17. New Orleans are not a good football team and it's not just because of this loss.
- The Browns did not ask Colt McCoy to do a whole lot. But the defense (mainly D-lineman David Bowens with two pick sixes) and Peyton Hilis (69 yards and a TD on 16 carries) put the team on their back and pull out a win.
- A week after saying I would never start Marques Colston again, I started him. And it paid off: 10/15, 112 yards, TD.
- Chris Ivory thought his last name was Johnson today- 48 yards and 0 TDs on 15 carries.
- Drew Brees pulled out his inner Jay Cutler and got picked 4 times. Still had 356 yards and 2 TDs though.
- The Bucs eek by the Rams 18-17. I'm legitimately surprised that both Josh Freeman and Cadallic Williams were responsible for that.
- LaGarrett Blount punched his way to be the Bucs leading rusher: 72 yards on 11 carries (6.5 YPC)
- Mike Williams (5/11, 82 yards, 0 TDs) and Josh Freeman (80.4 passer rating) are very solid reality and fantasy football players
- Steven Jackson is the Rams leading rusher on the day and all time (passing Dickerson). He also was the Rams leading receiver in yards (35). The Rams wide out that was fantasy relevant today was Danny Amendola because he got a TD.
- Panthers get their first win of the season defeating the 49ers. You're on your way to winning that division huh San Fran?
- I'm convincing myself that the absence of offensive lineman is severely affecting DeAngelo Williams and The Daily Show: 73 yards on 33 carries. Frank Gore got 29 more yards (Stewart's total rushing yardage number) by himself. On 14 less carries.
- Matt Moore actually got over 300 passing yards on less than 60 attempts (he got 41). That's a legit impressive feat for a Panthers QB this year.
- David Carr finally replaces Alex Smith. Unfortunately it was because Smith got injured. This move should have happened sooner. Although David Carr also sucks and doesn't have the excuse now of playing behind an offensive worse than the Bears line (an excuse he had in Texas).
- Again Frank Gore does amazing things through the air and on the ground and again he doesn't get a TD. Vernon Davis does. For all those haters (and a little bit I was one of them) who thought he couldn't be awesome again, you are being proven wrong.
- The Baltimore Ravens barely made it of the elite class because they lost to New England last week by 3. This week they absolutely left the elite class by barely defeating the Buffalo Bills. It took a forced fumble and a field goal to do it. If you're truly elite you should have blown th Bills out of the water. They win 37-34.
- Mea culpa on Ray Rice and Joe Flacco. Flacco looks like a decent QB must nowhere close to the #6 fantasy QB on the like I ranked him. And Ray Rice should have gotten 150 rushing yards and few TDs along with like 50 receiving yards. Instead he gets 72 rushing yards (on 16 carries), one receiving yard, and no touchdowns. Willis McGahee does get a goal line TD.
- Anquan Boldin is Anquan Boldin is, um, himself. 6/13, 92 yards, and a TD. Todd Heap gets 2 TDs.
- Ryan Fitzpatrick is using his Harvard degree more than Mark Zuckerberg: 29/43, 374 passing yards, 4 TDs, 2 INT, and a 106.2 passer rating.
- It looks like TBO's prediction that C.J. Spiller is slipping away. Although I fear he'll win it just because we have a touches minimum and Spiller won't meet is. He has 39 on the year and got 7 yesterday (no receptions). He's on pace for 104. Our minimum is 200. And Spiller has played in all 6 games.
- Fred Jackson is the main back and gets 73 yards on 23 carries.
- I don't know if you've heard of Buffalo's receives (I'm not being sarcastic like I normally am. Seriously, have you heard of these receivers?) but they put up monster numbers. Lee Evans had 105 yards and THREE touchdowns. Steve Johnson had 158 yards and a TD.
And that's the way the cookie crumbles. My apologies for any spelling/grammatical errors. I'm sure there's a handful.
- To add insult to injury, at home, the Chicago Bears lost to the Washington Redskins 17-14
- You know how I know you're a bad offense, you 1) make DeAngelo Hall look like a good cornerback and 2) You let him be the leading receiver on your team. Hall caught the second most passes of any Bears receiver (4) and had the most yards of any Bears receiver (92 yards and a TD). That was better than the Bears actual leading receiver Johnny Knox: 6/12, 86 yards, and a TD
- Lovie Smith needed to be fired 2 years ago. No surprise this team is bad under him
- D.J. Moore, a back up CB, made an amazing play where he tackled McNabb and while Donovan was falling, he pulled a Brett Favre and threw the ball. That pass was tipped by Israel Idonije and Moore caught the tipped pass and ran it in for a TD
- I feel like a broken record, er, broken record, er broken record- Chester Taylor needs to get more work. He needs to get 10 carries a game. But when Matt Forte only gets 10, its hard.
- I can't stand Torain, he's supa dupa fly! Kudos if you understand my Missy reference. Ryan Torain got 25 carries for 125 yards- good for a 6.0 YPC
- Santana Moss is actually playing like a quality receiver: 5/8, 63 yards, TD
- Donovan McNabb is not- 1/2 TD/INT ratio, 56.8 passer rating
- Atlanta defeats Cincinnati 39-32
- Roddy White is Roddy White is fucking awesome: 11/13, 201 yards, 2 TDs
- Michael Turner finally pulled his head out of his own ass: 23 carries, 121 yards, 2 TDs
- Matt Ryan plays very well. But he's at home so it doesn't count
- I refuse to believe that Carson Palmer's great statistical numbers are true. Must be a glitch on ESPN: 3/0 TD/INT ratio, 412 yards, 116.4 passer rating
- Bungels top 3 wide outs put up great numbers (all have TDs) and in correspondence with their true talent. 1) Jordan Shipley: 6/6 for 131 yards 2) Chad Ochocinco 10/16 for 108 yards 3) T.O. 9/13 for 88 yards
- Tennessee defeats the Kevin Kolb led Eagles 37-19
- Kerry Collins numbers to wide outs other than Kenny Britt: 10/21, 51 yards, 0 TD, 2 INTs. Kenny Britt's numbers: 7/10, 225 yards, 3 TDs.
- I really really really wanted to see Chris Johnson pass Eric Dickerson's record but the other person to do that this year is Steven Jackson (for another reason/record). CJ has pretty bad numbers: no TDs and 66 yards on 24 carries (2.8 YPC)
- Kevin Kolb's line: who cares, Michael Vick is playing next week
- Jeremy Maclin gets 16 targets but my 2008 Madden MVP Jason Avant ties for the Eagles lead in receptions (6) and leads the team in yards (60)
- LeSean McCoy saw how Johnson was playing and decided he too wanted to play pretty bad: 0 TDs and 48 yards on 16 carries (3.0 YPC)
- The Kansas City Patriots defeat a Florida football team nobody cares about 42-20
- Who knew Matt Cassel was actually a capable quarterback. Sure he played like the definition of a "game manager" but he still ended up with a 144.0 passer rating. His line: 13/18, 193 yards, 2 TDs, 0 INT.
- Despite Thomas Jones being the better running back in Week 7 (125 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries) he still needs to get significantly less work than the more talent Chiefs RB Jamaal Charles (71 yards and a TD on 15 carries)
- Both of Cassel's two touchdown's went to Dwayne Bowe who only caught three passes (5 targets)
- Todd Bauman (68.5), who hasn't played a game in I believe, literally, five years had a better quarterback rating that Jay Cutler (54.3). Still better than Todd Collins.
- MJD played just as well as Chris Johnson on the ground (47 yards and zero TDs on 16 carries) as CJ but makes up for it in the air (5/6, 74 yards, and a TD). Mike Sims-Walker also gets a receiving TD.
- Pittsburgh barely squeaks by Miami 23-22
- By now you should have seen the Big Ben replay. It was a fumble.
- Ben Roesthlisberger is back to himself (on the football field Ben, not in a bar Ben): 19/27, 302 yards, 2 TDs, 0 INTs
- Rashard Mendenhall also decided to play like CJ: 37 yards and 0 TDs on 15 carries. maybe instead of my normal "Illini Jerk Off Alert" I should just have a section, guys who played just as well as Chris Johnson. I'd put myself on that list.
- Hines Ward and Mike Wallace get a TD each. Again.
- Brian Hartline and Brandon Marshall have the exact same numbers: 5 receptions, 57 yards, 0 TDs. Even Hartline got 5 targets and Marshall got 9. Sidenote, I'm really regretting dropping Davone Bess (especially considering my opponent this week had him and used him against me). 6/7, 66 yards and a TD
- Both Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams don't do squat
- Cleveland upsets New Orleans 30-17. New Orleans are not a good football team and it's not just because of this loss.
- The Browns did not ask Colt McCoy to do a whole lot. But the defense (mainly D-lineman David Bowens with two pick sixes) and Peyton Hilis (69 yards and a TD on 16 carries) put the team on their back and pull out a win.
- A week after saying I would never start Marques Colston again, I started him. And it paid off: 10/15, 112 yards, TD.
- Chris Ivory thought his last name was Johnson today- 48 yards and 0 TDs on 15 carries.
- Drew Brees pulled out his inner Jay Cutler and got picked 4 times. Still had 356 yards and 2 TDs though.
- The Bucs eek by the Rams 18-17. I'm legitimately surprised that both Josh Freeman and Cadallic Williams were responsible for that.
- LaGarrett Blount punched his way to be the Bucs leading rusher: 72 yards on 11 carries (6.5 YPC)
- Mike Williams (5/11, 82 yards, 0 TDs) and Josh Freeman (80.4 passer rating) are very solid reality and fantasy football players
- Steven Jackson is the Rams leading rusher on the day and all time (passing Dickerson). He also was the Rams leading receiver in yards (35). The Rams wide out that was fantasy relevant today was Danny Amendola because he got a TD.
- Panthers get their first win of the season defeating the 49ers. You're on your way to winning that division huh San Fran?
- I'm convincing myself that the absence of offensive lineman is severely affecting DeAngelo Williams and The Daily Show: 73 yards on 33 carries. Frank Gore got 29 more yards (Stewart's total rushing yardage number) by himself. On 14 less carries.
- Matt Moore actually got over 300 passing yards on less than 60 attempts (he got 41). That's a legit impressive feat for a Panthers QB this year.
- David Carr finally replaces Alex Smith. Unfortunately it was because Smith got injured. This move should have happened sooner. Although David Carr also sucks and doesn't have the excuse now of playing behind an offensive worse than the Bears line (an excuse he had in Texas).
- Again Frank Gore does amazing things through the air and on the ground and again he doesn't get a TD. Vernon Davis does. For all those haters (and a little bit I was one of them) who thought he couldn't be awesome again, you are being proven wrong.
- The Baltimore Ravens barely made it of the elite class because they lost to New England last week by 3. This week they absolutely left the elite class by barely defeating the Buffalo Bills. It took a forced fumble and a field goal to do it. If you're truly elite you should have blown th Bills out of the water. They win 37-34.
- Mea culpa on Ray Rice and Joe Flacco. Flacco looks like a decent QB must nowhere close to the #6 fantasy QB on the like I ranked him. And Ray Rice should have gotten 150 rushing yards and few TDs along with like 50 receiving yards. Instead he gets 72 rushing yards (on 16 carries), one receiving yard, and no touchdowns. Willis McGahee does get a goal line TD.
- Anquan Boldin is Anquan Boldin is, um, himself. 6/13, 92 yards, and a TD. Todd Heap gets 2 TDs.
- Ryan Fitzpatrick is using his Harvard degree more than Mark Zuckerberg: 29/43, 374 passing yards, 4 TDs, 2 INT, and a 106.2 passer rating.
- It looks like TBO's prediction that C.J. Spiller is slipping away. Although I fear he'll win it just because we have a touches minimum and Spiller won't meet is. He has 39 on the year and got 7 yesterday (no receptions). He's on pace for 104. Our minimum is 200. And Spiller has played in all 6 games.
- Fred Jackson is the main back and gets 73 yards on 23 carries.
- I don't know if you've heard of Buffalo's receives (I'm not being sarcastic like I normally am. Seriously, have you heard of these receivers?) but they put up monster numbers. Lee Evans had 105 yards and THREE touchdowns. Steve Johnson had 158 yards and a TD.
And that's the way the cookie crumbles. My apologies for any spelling/grammatical errors. I'm sure there's a handful.
GOI's Worthless World Series Predictions
NOTE: Fellow GOI authors, please don't make another post about your predictions. Either write your predictions in the comments or edit this post to add your predictions
Texas Rangers over San Fransisco Giants in 5
WS MVP: Cliff Lee
Pitcher of the Series: Cliff Lee
Hitter of the Series: Aubrey Huff
ANOTHER NOTE: Besides who I think wins the series, my predictions are based off of absolutely nothing. I essentially just pulled names and numbers out of my butt. Plus, I really haven't been correct so far, so why start now?
Texas Rangers over San Fransisco Giants in 5
WS MVP: Cliff Lee
Pitcher of the Series: Cliff Lee
Hitter of the Series: Aubrey Huff
ANOTHER NOTE: Besides who I think wins the series, my predictions are based off of absolutely nothing. I essentially just pulled names and numbers out of my butt. Plus, I really haven't been correct so far, so why start now?
The Boise State Debate
Currently Boise State ranks 3rd in the BCS standing. Although number one Oklahoma just lost, number four Auburn just defeated number six LSU, so most likely they will jump ahead of BSU in the BCS standing so that, once again, Boise State will not be a top 2 team in the standings.
While I do not follow college football all that closely or discuss it all that often, I have noticed that the debate of whether Boise State should be given a chance in this current BCS format seems to be very polarizing. While it could just be a small and limited sample size of the people who I have been exposed to about this debate make this a polarizing debate, I have a sneaking suspicion this is not the case.
I believe this to be true in regular football as well, but even more so in college football, your strength of schedule helps determine your BCS ranking. Schools in say the Big Ten and SEC are more prone to play better competition just because of the of their conference. As of this writing, four Big Ten teams (Michigan State, Ohio State, Wisconsin, and Iowa are ranked and for most of the season Michigan was also ranked), six SEC teams (Auburn, LSU, Alabama, South Carolina, Mississippi State, and Arkansas), three Pac-10 teams (Oregon, Stanford, and Arizona, and five Pac-10 teams (Oklahoma, Texas, Oklahoma State, Missouri, and future Big Ten team Nebraska) are ranked. 72% of the top 25 BCS teams come from the top four conferences. The main reason for this (besides the coaches from these schools being able to recruit top, good talent) is because of a circular effect.
Let me explain what I mean by circular effect. There is already this perception that the best teams are the top teams in the major conferences. That is not to say this perception isn't true, but this perception I feel holds more weight than it actually should. Why is Wisconsin good? Because they defeated Ohio State and Iowa. Well why is Ohio State good? Because they defeated Miami, and um, Illinois?
It is my belief that the talent of the 22 players that start for offensive and defense week in and week out should determine how good you actually are and where you should be ranked. I don't care about the play of your opponents and the perception of how good they are, all I care about is how YOUR team plays. If you're a shut down cornerback, you should be able to stop everybody's wide receiver. If you're a top tier quarterback, you should be able to pick apart any defense.
Now granted this can get a bit muddled because how do you actually determine how good your players are? And not only that, no team is the best at every position. Some teams have just decent lineman individually but work very well together as a whole. Some teams can handle zone coverage but not man to man coverage and vice versa. Many say that you determine the talent and worth of players by seeing how they face against tougher and easy challenges. Some say you can just watch a team to see how good they are.
Opponents of Boise State
The main argument I hear is, "Join a real conference." This has become even easier than ever. The Pac-10 and Big Ten I'm sure would welcome Boise State with open arms. This will allow BSU to play against tougher competition and help determine BSU's true worth. If they really are as good as the proponents say they are, let them prove it by facing tougher competition. Currently, there is only one top 25 BCS that Boise State defeated- and that's #25 Virginia Tech. At the time Va Tech was ranked top 15. Nevada was ranked and will play Boise State soon, but lost last week so they are out. Boise State also defeated Oregan State- who was ranked at the time. But currently they are also out of the top 25. So opponents point to the fact that really, Boise State has not faced anyone good- so of course they're going to be undefeated.
Boise State does have a pretty comfy schedule allowing them to beat up on a lot of really awful teams. If Boise State were to make it to a national championship game, they would not have had the thumps and lumps like a team from a top 4 conference (you have noticed I repeatedly say top 4 and not top 5 because the ACC sucks) making them "more healthy" for the game. This makes Boise State more fresh and better equipped to win. Even if Boise State does win the National Championship Game, it won't really be fair because of their easy schedule.
Proponents of Boise State
As you may have guessed, I am on this side. I will try to be as objective as possible but clearly that's not going to happen.
First, in recent memory, was their ever a challenge Boise State has not met and succeeded at? One of the best games ever, not just college football games, was when Boise State recently faced the Adrian Peterson led Oklahoma Sooners in the Fiesta Bowl. Oklahoma had proven their worth and was the cleat cut favorite. And although it took BSU a few overtimes, they still got the job done defeating Oklahoma.
Secondly, I think it's universally agreed upon that the BCS, or any rankings system is bad. Imagine if the ESPN Power Rankings for baseball and football determined the actually standings of the sport. That's essentially what the BCS does. I believe there really is too much parity to determine a team's true worth- especially by ranking them.
I'm going back to another Big Ten example because that's all I really know. Wisconsin defeated Ohio State in Camp Randall. But if those two teams met 10 times, do you think Wisconsin would win even 5 of those games? If that very same game was held in The Horseshoe, do you think UW would have still won? Bama lost to South Carolina after defeating a top 15 team home and away. If Nick Saban's crew had one or two easy, cooshy games in between Florida and South Carolina, do you think the Crimson Tide would have won then? Everyone universally thinks Alabama is the better team seeing as they rank higher than South Carolina in all polls.
I believe that if you follow college football week in and week out, you can just determine by watching the talent how good they are. I think if Alabama faced Boise State 10 times out of ten, then Bama wins at least 8 of those games, maybe nine. Yet BSU is currently ranked higher just because The Crimson Tide have one loss.
Admittedly, neither the BCS ranking approach nor my eye approach is very good. In fact, my approach is WAY too subjective to be realistic or even remotely fair or good. But I do believe that you need to judge a team on its pure talents, and the "tough opponents" approach doesn't do that either.
Next, I don't buy the logic that because Boise State has had an easier schedule they are more fresh for the Title Game. The reason I don't buy that is because there's about a month between the regular season and the National Title Game to help heal and wounds. BSU and it's opponent would have equal time to prepare and get healthy. And crappy teams can still injure a BSU player. It only takes one funny hit to take a player out 6-8 weeks. Bad teams still tackle Boise State players. The odds of that happening, sure, are diminished, but it could still happen.
I have also heard this logic, "With the weak schedule Boise State has, all their coach has to do to the best players is say 'Come play for us and you'll be guaranteed a national title'" 1) If you were recruited by BSU I don't know why you would believe that considering BSU has never been to a title game before and the overwhelming majority believes that as good as Boise State is, they aren't good enough to ever go 2) How is that any different than what Jim Tressel or Nick Saban says? (I would say that's how Pete Carrol used to do it but we know that's a lie, he had "other" methods) Sure, the "easy schedule" part is left out for them, but that's part of how they recruit. They can get the best of the best because year in and year out because they compete for the National Championship year in and year out. If if Boise State can get even better by actually becoming eligible to play in the Title game, then good for the team. The the strong get stronger.
Lastly, how do you not love that blue field!? It's just too cool.
The Solution
The clear solution is to have a playoff. Let Boise State prove year in and year out that they deserve to play. If they lose, then I say "mea culpa" and go on my merry way. I also think if Boise State ends the year without a loss they deserve to go to the National Title Game. If they win, they absolutely deserved to be there. If they defeat an Oregon or Auburn or even a one loss Ohio State or Alabama team, they absolutely deserved to be there. I've heard the argument that if they defeated (at the time) and no loss Ohio State team, that that still doesn't prove they deserved to be there. If they lose by only by a little and make it a good game I think that also shows they can at least hang with the big boys. But if they pull an Illinois like in the 2008 Rose Bowl, then I again will admit I was wrong and move on.
But you just don't know unless you give them a chance. You can't truly be a hater for something that's unproven
While I do not follow college football all that closely or discuss it all that often, I have noticed that the debate of whether Boise State should be given a chance in this current BCS format seems to be very polarizing. While it could just be a small and limited sample size of the people who I have been exposed to about this debate make this a polarizing debate, I have a sneaking suspicion this is not the case.
I believe this to be true in regular football as well, but even more so in college football, your strength of schedule helps determine your BCS ranking. Schools in say the Big Ten and SEC are more prone to play better competition just because of the of their conference. As of this writing, four Big Ten teams (Michigan State, Ohio State, Wisconsin, and Iowa are ranked and for most of the season Michigan was also ranked), six SEC teams (Auburn, LSU, Alabama, South Carolina, Mississippi State, and Arkansas), three Pac-10 teams (Oregon, Stanford, and Arizona, and five Pac-10 teams (Oklahoma, Texas, Oklahoma State, Missouri, and future Big Ten team Nebraska) are ranked. 72% of the top 25 BCS teams come from the top four conferences. The main reason for this (besides the coaches from these schools being able to recruit top, good talent) is because of a circular effect.
Let me explain what I mean by circular effect. There is already this perception that the best teams are the top teams in the major conferences. That is not to say this perception isn't true, but this perception I feel holds more weight than it actually should. Why is Wisconsin good? Because they defeated Ohio State and Iowa. Well why is Ohio State good? Because they defeated Miami, and um, Illinois?
It is my belief that the talent of the 22 players that start for offensive and defense week in and week out should determine how good you actually are and where you should be ranked. I don't care about the play of your opponents and the perception of how good they are, all I care about is how YOUR team plays. If you're a shut down cornerback, you should be able to stop everybody's wide receiver. If you're a top tier quarterback, you should be able to pick apart any defense.
Now granted this can get a bit muddled because how do you actually determine how good your players are? And not only that, no team is the best at every position. Some teams have just decent lineman individually but work very well together as a whole. Some teams can handle zone coverage but not man to man coverage and vice versa. Many say that you determine the talent and worth of players by seeing how they face against tougher and easy challenges. Some say you can just watch a team to see how good they are.
Opponents of Boise State
The main argument I hear is, "Join a real conference." This has become even easier than ever. The Pac-10 and Big Ten I'm sure would welcome Boise State with open arms. This will allow BSU to play against tougher competition and help determine BSU's true worth. If they really are as good as the proponents say they are, let them prove it by facing tougher competition. Currently, there is only one top 25 BCS that Boise State defeated- and that's #25 Virginia Tech. At the time Va Tech was ranked top 15. Nevada was ranked and will play Boise State soon, but lost last week so they are out. Boise State also defeated Oregan State- who was ranked at the time. But currently they are also out of the top 25. So opponents point to the fact that really, Boise State has not faced anyone good- so of course they're going to be undefeated.
Boise State does have a pretty comfy schedule allowing them to beat up on a lot of really awful teams. If Boise State were to make it to a national championship game, they would not have had the thumps and lumps like a team from a top 4 conference (you have noticed I repeatedly say top 4 and not top 5 because the ACC sucks) making them "more healthy" for the game. This makes Boise State more fresh and better equipped to win. Even if Boise State does win the National Championship Game, it won't really be fair because of their easy schedule.
Proponents of Boise State
As you may have guessed, I am on this side. I will try to be as objective as possible but clearly that's not going to happen.
First, in recent memory, was their ever a challenge Boise State has not met and succeeded at? One of the best games ever, not just college football games, was when Boise State recently faced the Adrian Peterson led Oklahoma Sooners in the Fiesta Bowl. Oklahoma had proven their worth and was the cleat cut favorite. And although it took BSU a few overtimes, they still got the job done defeating Oklahoma.
Secondly, I think it's universally agreed upon that the BCS, or any rankings system is bad. Imagine if the ESPN Power Rankings for baseball and football determined the actually standings of the sport. That's essentially what the BCS does. I believe there really is too much parity to determine a team's true worth- especially by ranking them.
I'm going back to another Big Ten example because that's all I really know. Wisconsin defeated Ohio State in Camp Randall. But if those two teams met 10 times, do you think Wisconsin would win even 5 of those games? If that very same game was held in The Horseshoe, do you think UW would have still won? Bama lost to South Carolina after defeating a top 15 team home and away. If Nick Saban's crew had one or two easy, cooshy games in between Florida and South Carolina, do you think the Crimson Tide would have won then? Everyone universally thinks Alabama is the better team seeing as they rank higher than South Carolina in all polls.
I believe that if you follow college football week in and week out, you can just determine by watching the talent how good they are. I think if Alabama faced Boise State 10 times out of ten, then Bama wins at least 8 of those games, maybe nine. Yet BSU is currently ranked higher just because The Crimson Tide have one loss.
Admittedly, neither the BCS ranking approach nor my eye approach is very good. In fact, my approach is WAY too subjective to be realistic or even remotely fair or good. But I do believe that you need to judge a team on its pure talents, and the "tough opponents" approach doesn't do that either.
Next, I don't buy the logic that because Boise State has had an easier schedule they are more fresh for the Title Game. The reason I don't buy that is because there's about a month between the regular season and the National Title Game to help heal and wounds. BSU and it's opponent would have equal time to prepare and get healthy. And crappy teams can still injure a BSU player. It only takes one funny hit to take a player out 6-8 weeks. Bad teams still tackle Boise State players. The odds of that happening, sure, are diminished, but it could still happen.
I have also heard this logic, "With the weak schedule Boise State has, all their coach has to do to the best players is say 'Come play for us and you'll be guaranteed a national title'" 1) If you were recruited by BSU I don't know why you would believe that considering BSU has never been to a title game before and the overwhelming majority believes that as good as Boise State is, they aren't good enough to ever go 2) How is that any different than what Jim Tressel or Nick Saban says? (I would say that's how Pete Carrol used to do it but we know that's a lie, he had "other" methods) Sure, the "easy schedule" part is left out for them, but that's part of how they recruit. They can get the best of the best because year in and year out because they compete for the National Championship year in and year out. If if Boise State can get even better by actually becoming eligible to play in the Title game, then good for the team. The the strong get stronger.
Lastly, how do you not love that blue field!? It's just too cool.
The Solution
The clear solution is to have a playoff. Let Boise State prove year in and year out that they deserve to play. If they lose, then I say "mea culpa" and go on my merry way. I also think if Boise State ends the year without a loss they deserve to go to the National Title Game. If they win, they absolutely deserved to be there. If they defeat an Oregon or Auburn or even a one loss Ohio State or Alabama team, they absolutely deserved to be there. I've heard the argument that if they defeated (at the time) and no loss Ohio State team, that that still doesn't prove they deserved to be there. If they lose by only by a little and make it a good game I think that also shows they can at least hang with the big boys. But if they pull an Illinois like in the 2008 Rose Bowl, then I again will admit I was wrong and move on.
But you just don't know unless you give them a chance. You can't truly be a hater for something that's unproven
The Indy Injuries From A Fantasy Perspective
Friend of the blog Fantasy Pros asked many of their experts (as yes, I am considered an expert) what will happen with the Indy situation now that Dallas Clark and Austin Collie have gone down with injuries.
As expected, the other six spouted the usual "I live Pierre Garcon and want to marry him and have his kids" cliche dribble. But I took a stand! While I do have unnecessary love for Anthony Gonzalez where I want to marry him and have his kids, I predicted that Gonzalez will be Indy's best receiver behind Reggie Wayne (assuming health, which is a BIG assumption for A-Gon). While my head and the rational world says Garcon should be awesome now, my heart says it will be Gonzalez.
You can read my "full" review here. And I just want to point out, that out of EVERYONE, I am the 5th best predictor of WR fantasy talent. Just sayin'
____________________
EDITOR'S NOTE: Since the release of this post, my reviews regarding the New Orleans running back situation and the non-Wes Welker New England offense situation have also been posted
As expected, the other six spouted the usual "I live Pierre Garcon and want to marry him and have his kids" cliche dribble. But I took a stand! While I do have unnecessary love for Anthony Gonzalez where I want to marry him and have his kids, I predicted that Gonzalez will be Indy's best receiver behind Reggie Wayne (assuming health, which is a BIG assumption for A-Gon). While my head and the rational world says Garcon should be awesome now, my heart says it will be Gonzalez.
You can read my "full" review here. And I just want to point out, that out of EVERYONE, I am the 5th best predictor of WR fantasy talent. Just sayin'
____________________
EDITOR'S NOTE: Since the release of this post, my reviews regarding the New Orleans running back situation and the non-Wes Welker New England offense situation have also been posted
Box Score Tonight: Week Six/ Night Games Edition
Because I have enough time on my hands to do an extra game (I was just going to do MNF) but not enough time to do all the afternoon games. Even though I had time to write BST for the early games on Sunday I did not have time to/ did not care to watch the Sunday and Monday night football games. But all sports are played/ analyzed on paper and there's no need to EVER watch a game. Although I also didn't have time to watch the Mad Men season 4 finale so what does that tell ya?
- Indianapolis Colts defeated the Washington Redskins 27-24. A lot closer game that anyone thought, but did anybody realistically expect the Colts not to win this game? Of course they would.
- My number one fantasy sleeper of 2010 was this QB named Peyton Manning. He's so far doing amazing things. I think he could be a pro bowler someday. Maybe even go into the Hall of Fame. But let's not dream TOO big here.
- Pierre Garcon was this week's Manning lotto winner getting the most yards (103) and a TD while getting less targets and receptions that Collie, Wayne, and Clark.
- Dallas Clark just saw his 19th specialist today to tell him he can't play for the rest of the year. With him and Jermichael Finley out of the rest of the year and Gates now hurt, my $11 overbid for Tony Gonzalez doesn't look so bad. And there he goes. Probably. With my luck and pessimistic attitude.
- I don't know if you're aware of Joseph Addai's career but sometimes he'll have amazing games and sometimes he'll just take a poop on the field and then leave. Sunday's game was the former getting 128 yards on 17 carries (7.5 YPC) and a TD.
- Mike Hart gets a significant amount of carries (11) and gets a decent 43 yards (3.9 YPC) out of it.
- Donovan McNabb is Donovan McNabb is Alex Smith. 67.5 passer rating 1/2 TD/INT ratio, with 246 yards.
- I'm singing in the Torrain. Ryan Torrain gets 100 yards in 20 carries (5.0 YPC) and 2 TDs. This is what I expect every running back to do. Seriously. If you think you deserve to start, you need to get at least 100 yards if you get 20 carries in a game. (Maybe the TWO touchdowns is a tad high, but you get my drift)
- The yards look exactly how you would expect the yards to fall on Washington's side: 1) Moss 2) Armstrong 3) Cooley 4) Fred Davis.
- Speaking of Cooley and Davis, although it's not in the box score I believe Cooley is out for some time and Fred Davis is a damn fine replacement. Damn damn fine
- Nobody's ever on your side Betty!
- Sleeper alert! Sleeper alert! I feel like there's a sleeper with the last name of 'Williams' on every team. Washington has Keiland who scored a receiving TD with his 4 receptions and 2 carries.
- Tennessee defeats Jacksonville 23-3. Scratch that. With 1:40 left to play, converting a FOURTH down, Chris Johnson gets a 35 yard TD so the Titans actually win 30-3.
- I don't know what to think of Fischer not only running on 4th down (instead of punting) when you have the game locked up, but having the best back in the game still on the field. I guess I'm just indifferent. I don't think that hurt CJ in the long run nor do I own CJ on any fantasy teams nor did I play against CJ in any fantasy teams. Plus I love it when coaches bring out their inner Belichick!
- Speaking of Chris Johnson, that play gave him 111 yards and a TD on 26 carries (4.3 YPC) as opposed to 76 yards on 25 carries with no TDs (3.04 YPC). FU Eric Dickerson! - We're going to play a quick game called Relevant or Irrelevant. Kenny Britt gets a receiving TD. Relevant. Bo Scaife gets a receiving TD and led all Titans receivers in receiving yards (53). Irrelevant.
- Despite my shit talk in the past of Kerry Collins. see here and here and here and here (boy did we here at GOI act like Collins was the field and we were Joseph Addai taking a crap on him- Team America style), I actually like Collins. I not only think he's a great back up, but probably a top 32 QB in this league- and he's not even starting! Hell, I'll take him over anyone Carolina is and Cleveland was shitting out so far. (You'd think I'd have to poop with all this "shitting" reference, but no). Collins completed 69% of his passes and ended up with a 108.9 passer rating. Sure, he did it with a Rich Gannon-esque dink and dump stuff (I'm guessing) but hey, whatever gets the job done. Oh bee tee dubs, Vince Young leaves this game real early and isn't expected to play in Week Eight.
- Speaking of shit, Mike Sims-Walker get 8 targets (2nd only to Mike Thomas' 9) but only catches 2 of them and was 4th in his team in receiving yards.
- I think this is actually worth noting- I sort of like Mike Thomas (maybe not as much as Davone Bess, whom I dropped Thomas for, but I like him nonetheless). He caught 8 out of his 9 passes and led his team in receiving yards (88)
- Since it was such a "treat" that the Jaguars won the Trent Edwards sweepstakes, he goes and proves his worth with his 40.3 passer rating and a 0/2 TD/INT ratio. On the plus side, he did better than David Garrard's limited work (33.0 passer rating). To add insult to injury Edwards is injured so he can't play next week. Todd Bauman, who hasn't played a single game since 2005 gets to start for Jacksonville. Was Todd Collins not available? At least he started a game in this decade. And I use the word "started" very very very loosely.
- I just finished cleaning so I'm going to take this soapbox, turn it over, and stand on it. People in the State of Florida only care about college football, the Dolphins, and now the Miami LeBrons. They don't care about the Jaguars, they don't care about the Marlins, and they most certainly don't care about the Rays. I don't care how populated that state is, they need to stop getting expansion teams. Move them to L.A., Vegas, or Oklahoma City before you even THINK about moving them to Florida. That is all.
- I officially hate Betty Draper. She was always kind of disliked but now I have joined the I Hate Betty Draper Minus Her Hotness bandwagon.
- What the hell Don Draper? I feel like there needs to be a Really!? With Seth and Amy about your actions.
- This post was unnecessarily long.
- Th-th-th-th-th-that's all folks!
- Indianapolis Colts defeated the Washington Redskins 27-24. A lot closer game that anyone thought, but did anybody realistically expect the Colts not to win this game? Of course they would.
- My number one fantasy sleeper of 2010 was this QB named Peyton Manning. He's so far doing amazing things. I think he could be a pro bowler someday. Maybe even go into the Hall of Fame. But let's not dream TOO big here.
- Pierre Garcon was this week's Manning lotto winner getting the most yards (103) and a TD while getting less targets and receptions that Collie, Wayne, and Clark.
- Dallas Clark just saw his 19th specialist today to tell him he can't play for the rest of the year. With him and Jermichael Finley out of the rest of the year and Gates now hurt, my $11 overbid for Tony Gonzalez doesn't look so bad. And there he goes. Probably. With my luck and pessimistic attitude.
- I don't know if you're aware of Joseph Addai's career but sometimes he'll have amazing games and sometimes he'll just take a poop on the field and then leave. Sunday's game was the former getting 128 yards on 17 carries (7.5 YPC) and a TD.
- Mike Hart gets a significant amount of carries (11) and gets a decent 43 yards (3.9 YPC) out of it.
- Donovan McNabb is Donovan McNabb is Alex Smith. 67.5 passer rating 1/2 TD/INT ratio, with 246 yards.
- I'm singing in the Torrain. Ryan Torrain gets 100 yards in 20 carries (5.0 YPC) and 2 TDs. This is what I expect every running back to do. Seriously. If you think you deserve to start, you need to get at least 100 yards if you get 20 carries in a game. (Maybe the TWO touchdowns is a tad high, but you get my drift)
- The yards look exactly how you would expect the yards to fall on Washington's side: 1) Moss 2) Armstrong 3) Cooley 4) Fred Davis.
- Speaking of Cooley and Davis, although it's not in the box score I believe Cooley is out for some time and Fred Davis is a damn fine replacement. Damn damn fine
- Nobody's ever on your side Betty!
- Sleeper alert! Sleeper alert! I feel like there's a sleeper with the last name of 'Williams' on every team. Washington has Keiland who scored a receiving TD with his 4 receptions and 2 carries.
- Tennessee defeats Jacksonville 23-3. Scratch that. With 1:40 left to play, converting a FOURTH down, Chris Johnson gets a 35 yard TD so the Titans actually win 30-3.
- I don't know what to think of Fischer not only running on 4th down (instead of punting) when you have the game locked up, but having the best back in the game still on the field. I guess I'm just indifferent. I don't think that hurt CJ in the long run nor do I own CJ on any fantasy teams nor did I play against CJ in any fantasy teams. Plus I love it when coaches bring out their inner Belichick!
- Speaking of Chris Johnson, that play gave him 111 yards and a TD on 26 carries (4.3 YPC) as opposed to 76 yards on 25 carries with no TDs (3.04 YPC). FU Eric Dickerson! - We're going to play a quick game called Relevant or Irrelevant. Kenny Britt gets a receiving TD. Relevant. Bo Scaife gets a receiving TD and led all Titans receivers in receiving yards (53). Irrelevant.
- Despite my shit talk in the past of Kerry Collins. see here and here and here and here (boy did we here at GOI act like Collins was the field and we were Joseph Addai taking a crap on him- Team America style), I actually like Collins. I not only think he's a great back up, but probably a top 32 QB in this league- and he's not even starting! Hell, I'll take him over anyone Carolina is and Cleveland was shitting out so far. (You'd think I'd have to poop with all this "shitting" reference, but no). Collins completed 69% of his passes and ended up with a 108.9 passer rating. Sure, he did it with a Rich Gannon-esque dink and dump stuff (I'm guessing) but hey, whatever gets the job done. Oh bee tee dubs, Vince Young leaves this game real early and isn't expected to play in Week Eight.
- Speaking of shit, Mike Sims-Walker get 8 targets (2nd only to Mike Thomas' 9) but only catches 2 of them and was 4th in his team in receiving yards.
- I think this is actually worth noting- I sort of like Mike Thomas (maybe not as much as Davone Bess, whom I dropped Thomas for, but I like him nonetheless). He caught 8 out of his 9 passes and led his team in receiving yards (88)
- Since it was such a "treat" that the Jaguars won the Trent Edwards sweepstakes, he goes and proves his worth with his 40.3 passer rating and a 0/2 TD/INT ratio. On the plus side, he did better than David Garrard's limited work (33.0 passer rating). To add insult to injury Edwards is injured so he can't play next week. Todd Bauman, who hasn't played a single game since 2005 gets to start for Jacksonville. Was Todd Collins not available? At least he started a game in this decade. And I use the word "started" very very very loosely.
- I just finished cleaning so I'm going to take this soapbox, turn it over, and stand on it. People in the State of Florida only care about college football, the Dolphins, and now the Miami LeBrons. They don't care about the Jaguars, they don't care about the Marlins, and they most certainly don't care about the Rays. I don't care how populated that state is, they need to stop getting expansion teams. Move them to L.A., Vegas, or Oklahoma City before you even THINK about moving them to Florida. That is all.
- I officially hate Betty Draper. She was always kind of disliked but now I have joined the I Hate Betty Draper Minus Her Hotness bandwagon.
- What the hell Don Draper? I feel like there needs to be a Really!? With Seth and Amy about your actions.
- This post was unnecessarily long.
- Th-th-th-th-th-that's all folks!
You Can't Plagurize Yourself: Whose Best Position Is DH?
Want to play in the THT 2011 Experts League? Click here for details.
Last year, I pontificated as to whether Adam Dunn was as "underrated" as sabermetrics types make him out to be. In what I labeled "Valuable Post Script," I noted the following:
Fangraphs, which uses the UZR system to account for a batter's WAR (except catchers, for whom the plus/minus system is used), gives the following pro-rated defensive adjustments per 150 games by position to account for the ease/difficulty of the position:
Catcher: +11.6 runs (again, plus/minus system is used for the fielding)
First base: -11.6 runs
Second base: +2.3 runs
Third base: +2.3 runs
Shortstop: +6.9 runs
Left field: -6.9 runs
Center field: +2.3 runs
Right field: -6.9 runs
Designated hitter: -16.2 runs
Clearly, all "average fielders" (UZR/150=0) belong in the field. At the worst, an "average" fielder playing first will cost you 12.5 runs per season, whereas that player, at DH, would burden you with 17.5 runs. Even most below-average fielders belong in the field, at least depending on what position they play. A poor first basemen who costs you less than half a win per 150 games played is clearly worth having (or at least not worth not having) at the slow corner.
While clearly someone needs to play each of the nine field positions for eight or nine half-innings per game, there are just flat out some players who should be plopped at DH. What this threshold is varies by position, as follows:
Catcher: -27.8 fielding runs
First base: -4.6 fielding runs
Second base: -18.5 fielding runs
Third base: -18.5 fielding runs
Shortstop: -23.1 fielding runs
Left field: -9.3 fielding runs
Center field: -18.5 fielding runs
Right field: -9.3 fielding runs
Using these thresholds, here are three-year data (to help smooth out small sample fielding volatility) of all fielders who have played a minimum of 1,500 innings at a given position, put to the "should you be a DH" test via their three-year UZR/150 ratings. (Because Fangraphs' WAR system doesn't use UZR data to determine the value of catchers, they are omitted here.) The results are presented below. Click to enlarge. You can download my DH data sheet by clicking here.
Hitters are categorized into three categories: should be DHed (UZR/150 is below the threshold); maybe should be DHed (UZR/150 is less than five runs above the threshold), should not be DHed (UZR/150 is above the threshold). Within the later category is a sub-group of players who contribute +3.0 WAR to their team by playing the field. The residuals (guys who should not be DHed, but provide less than +3.0 WAR defensively) have been omitted from my presentation below. You can find them in the data sheet (or by the process of elimination).
First, let's look at the players whose gloves should absolutely be burned in a bonfire:
Here, we find players with the worst defensive reputations in baseball. Dunn is not listed as an outfielder (he has played fewer than 1,500 innings in the outfield over the past three seasons, but his career OF_UZR/150 of -13.3 would have landed him a spot), but he's nonetheless representing first basemen everywhere. All but three of the players on this list are corner outfielders, the traditional "put your slugger here when first base is blocked" vacuum. The other three are first basemen. This should not come as a surprise. Given the comparative "ease of fielding" in the corners (a 10-run swing in difficulty compared to center field), I wonder if there's really an excuse for being that bad. We also see the reason why teams were reluctant to sign Jermaine Dye, who allegedly refused to play first base/DH for a team.
Next, the borderline DH types:
Here again, we almost exclusively find first basemen and corner outfielders. Almost, because Jorge Cantu and Vernon Wells tried really hard to make this list. Note the following: Ryan Braun, who was untenable at third, is almost unplayable even in left. Ditto with Miguel Cabrera, substituting first base for left field. Chris Davis, Jason Bay, Corey Hart and Aubrey Huff also are borderline unplayable in the field, assuming that you have another option who can play at replacement level. We also find old/aging/injury-prone players like Magglio Ordonez and Carlos Pena. These hitters should probably be DH-ing just to keep their health/longevity in check.
And finally, those guys who you play at DH only if Ozzie Guillen is your manager
Here we find many of the true "Gold Glove" fielders of baseball: Jack Wilson, Franklin Gutierrez, Evan Longoria, Adrian Beltre, Ryan Zimmerman, Adrian Gonzalez, and Carl Crawford. The list is sprinkled with premium position players (positional adjustments greater than zero), though one sub-premium position player, free agent Crawford, made the list as well.
Omar Vizquel, whose career wOBA is .313 and whose wRC+ is below 90, is not listed here, due in part to his two-year stint as a utility fielder. Nonetheless it is worth noting that his three-year UZR/150 at shortstop, the hardest non-catcher position to play defensively, was +17.4. At least Ozzie started him at DH in only one game.
From: The Hardball Times.
Last year, I pontificated as to whether Adam Dunn was as "underrated" as sabermetrics types make him out to be. In what I labeled "Valuable Post Script," I noted the following:
As a right fielder, Dunn's cumulative batting and fielding production gets a -7.5 positional adjustment (UZR measures all defense equally; Fangraphs accounts for differences in fielding difficulty between positions in WAR calculations through positional adjustments). As a DH, Dunn would get a flat -17.5 positional adjustment and a zero fielding rating. In other words, as a DH, Dunn gets just -17.5 runs subtracted from his batting line. As a right fielder (or left fielder, for that matter), Dunn gets -7.5 subtracted from his batting line in addition to his lackluster fielding. Thus Dunn, like anyone with a consistent -10 or worse fielding glove at RF/LF, belongs in a DH role.As noted then and expand upon now, at some point, a player's defense is so poor, so sub-par, so Adam-Dunn-like that a player just simply should have his glove Mark Kotsayed.
Fangraphs, which uses the UZR system to account for a batter's WAR (except catchers, for whom the plus/minus system is used), gives the following pro-rated defensive adjustments per 150 games by position to account for the ease/difficulty of the position:
Catcher: +11.6 runs (again, plus/minus system is used for the fielding)
First base: -11.6 runs
Second base: +2.3 runs
Third base: +2.3 runs
Shortstop: +6.9 runs
Left field: -6.9 runs
Center field: +2.3 runs
Right field: -6.9 runs
Designated hitter: -16.2 runs
Clearly, all "average fielders" (UZR/150=0) belong in the field. At the worst, an "average" fielder playing first will cost you 12.5 runs per season, whereas that player, at DH, would burden you with 17.5 runs. Even most below-average fielders belong in the field, at least depending on what position they play. A poor first basemen who costs you less than half a win per 150 games played is clearly worth having (or at least not worth not having) at the slow corner.
While clearly someone needs to play each of the nine field positions for eight or nine half-innings per game, there are just flat out some players who should be plopped at DH. What this threshold is varies by position, as follows:
Catcher: -27.8 fielding runs
First base: -4.6 fielding runs
Second base: -18.5 fielding runs
Third base: -18.5 fielding runs
Shortstop: -23.1 fielding runs
Left field: -9.3 fielding runs
Center field: -18.5 fielding runs
Right field: -9.3 fielding runs
Using these thresholds, here are three-year data (to help smooth out small sample fielding volatility) of all fielders who have played a minimum of 1,500 innings at a given position, put to the "should you be a DH" test via their three-year UZR/150 ratings. (Because Fangraphs' WAR system doesn't use UZR data to determine the value of catchers, they are omitted here.) The results are presented below. Click to enlarge. You can download my DH data sheet by clicking here.
Hitters are categorized into three categories: should be DHed (UZR/150 is below the threshold); maybe should be DHed (UZR/150 is less than five runs above the threshold), should not be DHed (UZR/150 is above the threshold). Within the later category is a sub-group of players who contribute +3.0 WAR to their team by playing the field. The residuals (guys who should not be DHed, but provide less than +3.0 WAR defensively) have been omitted from my presentation below. You can find them in the data sheet (or by the process of elimination).
First, let's look at the players whose gloves should absolutely be burned in a bonfire:
Here, we find players with the worst defensive reputations in baseball. Dunn is not listed as an outfielder (he has played fewer than 1,500 innings in the outfield over the past three seasons, but his career OF_UZR/150 of -13.3 would have landed him a spot), but he's nonetheless representing first basemen everywhere. All but three of the players on this list are corner outfielders, the traditional "put your slugger here when first base is blocked" vacuum. The other three are first basemen. This should not come as a surprise. Given the comparative "ease of fielding" in the corners (a 10-run swing in difficulty compared to center field), I wonder if there's really an excuse for being that bad. We also see the reason why teams were reluctant to sign Jermaine Dye, who allegedly refused to play first base/DH for a team.
Next, the borderline DH types:
Here again, we almost exclusively find first basemen and corner outfielders. Almost, because Jorge Cantu and Vernon Wells tried really hard to make this list. Note the following: Ryan Braun, who was untenable at third, is almost unplayable even in left. Ditto with Miguel Cabrera, substituting first base for left field. Chris Davis, Jason Bay, Corey Hart and Aubrey Huff also are borderline unplayable in the field, assuming that you have another option who can play at replacement level. We also find old/aging/injury-prone players like Magglio Ordonez and Carlos Pena. These hitters should probably be DH-ing just to keep their health/longevity in check.
And finally, those guys who you play at DH only if Ozzie Guillen is your manager
Here we find many of the true "Gold Glove" fielders of baseball: Jack Wilson, Franklin Gutierrez, Evan Longoria, Adrian Beltre, Ryan Zimmerman, Adrian Gonzalez, and Carl Crawford. The list is sprinkled with premium position players (positional adjustments greater than zero), though one sub-premium position player, free agent Crawford, made the list as well.
Omar Vizquel, whose career wOBA is .313 and whose wRC+ is below 90, is not listed here, due in part to his two-year stint as a utility fielder. Nonetheless it is worth noting that his three-year UZR/150 at shortstop, the hardest non-catcher position to play defensively, was +17.4. At least Ozzie started him at DH in only one game.
From: The Hardball Times.
Announcing THT’s “Compete Against the Experts” League
Want to play fantasy baseball with writers from the Hardball Times (including GOI's very own David MVP Eckstein)? Think you can beat "the experts"? This is your chance to prove it!
The writers at THT Fantasy Focus want to see what you bring to the table. We will be holding a contest open to all fantasy baseball players, with the winner invited to join the inaugural Hardball Times Fantasy League (for 2011) to compete against some THT's best fantasy minds: Brad Johnson, Brian Cartwright, David Wade, Jeffrey Gross (aka David MVP Eckstein), Joe Dimino, Jonathan Halket, Josh Shepardson, Mike Silver, Paul Singman, Steven Booth and Vince Caramela.
What's more, you will get to compete for a $190 top prize at no expense (at least not to you)!
How do you enter, you ask?
In addition to providing us with your name, phone number, email address and a hilarious and original fantasy baseball team name (e.g. "The Good The Vlad and The Uggla" or "Good Morneau America"), draft up a fantasy analysis article on a topic of your choosing and submit it, with the subject line "submission," to CompeteAgainstTheExperts@gmail.com by Dec. 1. We will announce a winner in January. Email us any procedural questions you may have about the competition to this email address as well (but please label emails "questions" so they do not accidentally get sorted in to the submissions pile).
The analysis can truly be anything, but please keep it PG. Think Jose Bautista is a toxic asset in 2011? Write how you came to that conclusion. Do you have a special strategy to using starters and relievers? Tell us. THT is known for its analytical approach, but your submission doesn't need to invent a new stat or entirely redefine the way fantasy players are evaluated. It just needs to be insightful, well written, and interesting to a wide audience. Bonus points for parsimony. Double bonus points for organically using words like "embiggen."
The best entry will win a bevy of prizes that Mastercard could only call "priceless." In addition to being invited to the league, you will also receive a FREE one-year subscription to Brian Cartwright's Oliver projection system. Furthermore, your analysis will be published on the Fantasy Focus page of THT for the whole world to see! Who can say what other opportunities will arise if you actually manage to beat us all?
Unfortunately, we can only take ONE winner, but exceptional analysis pieces that miss the cut may still be considered for publication on THT, with full credit, so great work will not go unnoticed!
Best of luck to everyone. We greatly look forward to reading your submissions and and the opportunity to compete against one lucky fan next year!
End Transmission.
The writers at THT Fantasy Focus want to see what you bring to the table. We will be holding a contest open to all fantasy baseball players, with the winner invited to join the inaugural Hardball Times Fantasy League (for 2011) to compete against some THT's best fantasy minds: Brad Johnson, Brian Cartwright, David Wade, Jeffrey Gross (aka David MVP Eckstein), Joe Dimino, Jonathan Halket, Josh Shepardson, Mike Silver, Paul Singman, Steven Booth and Vince Caramela.
What's more, you will get to compete for a $190 top prize at no expense (at least not to you)!
How do you enter, you ask?
In addition to providing us with your name, phone number, email address and a hilarious and original fantasy baseball team name (e.g. "The Good The Vlad and The Uggla" or "Good Morneau America"), draft up a fantasy analysis article on a topic of your choosing and submit it, with the subject line "submission," to CompeteAgainstTheExperts@gmail.com by Dec. 1. We will announce a winner in January. Email us any procedural questions you may have about the competition to this email address as well (but please label emails "questions" so they do not accidentally get sorted in to the submissions pile).
The analysis can truly be anything, but please keep it PG. Think Jose Bautista is a toxic asset in 2011? Write how you came to that conclusion. Do you have a special strategy to using starters and relievers? Tell us. THT is known for its analytical approach, but your submission doesn't need to invent a new stat or entirely redefine the way fantasy players are evaluated. It just needs to be insightful, well written, and interesting to a wide audience. Bonus points for parsimony. Double bonus points for organically using words like "embiggen."
The best entry will win a bevy of prizes that Mastercard could only call "priceless." In addition to being invited to the league, you will also receive a FREE one-year subscription to Brian Cartwright's Oliver projection system. Furthermore, your analysis will be published on the Fantasy Focus page of THT for the whole world to see! Who can say what other opportunities will arise if you actually manage to beat us all?
Unfortunately, we can only take ONE winner, but exceptional analysis pieces that miss the cut may still be considered for publication on THT, with full credit, so great work will not go unnoticed!
Best of luck to everyone. We greatly look forward to reading your submissions and and the opportunity to compete against one lucky fan next year!
End Transmission.
Game Of Inches Football Results: Week Six
Pigskin Pick Em
1) The 'Bright' One
Overall: 58-32
Last Week: 10-4
Clutch Games: Miami over Green Bay
WTF Games: N/A
2) Sexy Rexy
Overall: 57-33
Last Week: 9-5
Clutch Games: N/A
WTF Games: Tampa Bay over New Orleans
3) Cubsfan4evr1
Overall: 51-39
Last Week: 7-7
Clutch Games: N/A
WTF Games: Atlanta over Philly, Oakland over San Fran
Game Of Inches Football League
- Sexy Rexy (W) (5-1)- 1st in Michelle Beadle division, 1st overall in league
- Cubsfanevr1 (W) (4-2)- 2nd in Erin Andrews division, 5th overall in league (#1 overall in points this week)
- The 'Bright' One (W) (4-2)- 3rd in Erin Andrews division, 6th overall in league
1) The 'Bright' One
Overall: 58-32
Last Week: 10-4
Clutch Games: Miami over Green Bay
WTF Games: N/A
2) Sexy Rexy
Overall: 57-33
Last Week: 9-5
Clutch Games: N/A
WTF Games: Tampa Bay over New Orleans
3) Cubsfan4evr1
Overall: 51-39
Last Week: 7-7
Clutch Games: N/A
WTF Games: Atlanta over Philly, Oakland over San Fran
Game Of Inches Football League
- Sexy Rexy (W) (5-1)- 1st in Michelle Beadle division, 1st overall in league
- Cubsfanevr1 (W) (4-2)- 2nd in Erin Andrews division, 5th overall in league (#1 overall in points this week)
- The 'Bright' One (W) (4-2)- 3rd in Erin Andrews division, 6th overall in league
Fuck You Malcolm In The Middle
Jeez, we're trying.
P.S. You were like my 6th favorite brother on that show
- Dewey
- Francis
- Reese
- The black kid in the wheelchair(brotha from a different motha)
- Anyone other than you
- You
Box Score Tonight: Week Six/Early Games Edition
We at Game O Inches nevr clame to spel chek are worc
Let me start off by saying that the only football I watched today was the end of the Jets/Broncos game while on the treadmill. I spent the weekend at my alma mater (I think ONLY true GOI fans would guess/know/pull out of their ass which school that is. Speaking of true GOI fans, one of them told me this weekend that they prefer my BST over TBO's. So if the other four of you (rather three after DME accosted one of them in an earlier post) disagree, POLITELY disagree and maybe TBO can do some more now and again. Also my apologies on no FF rankings this week and little posting. I'll try to get better but this stupid law school thing is getting in the way.
Illinois Jerk Off Alert
- Rashard Mendenahll: 27 carries, 87 yards, TD
- Brandon Lloyd: 4/10, 74 yards, no TDs
- Arrelious Benn: 1/3, 9 yards, no TDs
- Michael Hoomaawoowowowowowowowiuiuiui: 1/2, 5 yards, no TDs
Regular Alert
- As always we'll start off with Chicago.
- The Jekyll and Hyde Seattle Seahawks defeat the Jekyll and Hyde Chicago Bears 23-20
- Devin Hester is back as an elite return man with his second kickoff/punt return for a TD this season.
- I still want Chester Taylor to get more work and he was the Bears leading rusher with 31 yards on four carries. But good lord was the rushing game bad/ inefficient/ nonexistent. Forte gets 11 yards on 8 carries for a pitiful 1.4 YPC but he gets a rushing TD. I was surprised to to learn he actually got it in the red zone. I guess it's the D'Angelo Hall effect where you get so many opportunities to get an interception (because everyone is passing on you) that you eventually get one or two INTs.
- I'm convinced that Jay Cutler is still concussed because even Derek Anderson can complete over 43.5% of his passes.
- Todd Collins can not.
- On the bright side Cutler didn't throw an interception. On the downside he didn't throw a TD either. At least I get the joy that my opponent in the 14 team GOI league started Cutler. I need to have some optimism after an abysmal performance, don't I?
- Speaking of the GOI league it looks like I will, for the third straight week, be the top points leader. EDITOR'S NOTE: I'm right now 2nd behind Cubsfan. I'm guaranteed to be on top of the Michelle Beadle division (as I beat first place/ GOI fan/ pre season division winner favorite Viking Quest and I'll be #1 overall if TBO can hold of 5-0 Swag On.
- To my dismay Marshawn Lynch still get 15+ carries. Justin Forsett gets 10. Like always, Forsett is the more productive back from a YPC standpoint (and yards) and both get rushing TDs.
- With Deion Branch traded away Mike Williams gets 123 yards on 10 catches (15 targets). Deon Butler gets Hasselbeck's lone passing TD. Golden Tate did the same as his fellow Notre Dame wide out alum Jeff Samardzija did this week. Nothing. (0 catches on 2 targets)
- I'm always a happy camper when I can use a Jeff Samardzija reference.
- I'm also ways a happy camper whenever the Packers lose as they did 23-20 to the hands of the Dolphins.
- Lynch goes to Seattle. Jerome Harrison goes to Philadelphia. I guess that means the Packers are super content on Brandon Jackson. How can they not be with his 12 carries for 52 yards and no TD performance. As talented as this team is on paper, I'm convinced this organization might be as well run as Chicago's.
- On a day where a lot of people (probably) benched Greg Jennings he goes off catching 6 out of his 7 targets for 133 yards and a TD.
- Aaron Rodgers completes only 54.5% of his passes and only throws one TD (mainly b/c of the awesomeness of Jennings). In the beginning of the season I ranked him as the 3rd best QB playing the game. Cubsfan ranked him #1. He's now shown to me he's out of the top 5 (Although clearly still top 10).
- I asked Cubsfan to rank RBs for me fantasy-wise for this week. He put Ronnie Brown in the top five. I yelled at him for that. 73 yards on 19 carries and no TDs. Still better than Ricky Williams. This week.
- Forgetting Brandon Marshall does what he does best: 10 catches for 127 yards (Granted also on 17 targets). I don't know if dropping Davone Bess in the GOI league was a good idea seeing as he got 9 targets, 5 catches, and a TD (Granted only 37 yards)
- Chad Henne is Chad Henne is Carson Palmer
- San Diego loses to St. Louis 20-17. Don't worry Chargers fans, they'll win their last eight games as always. Although this year it might not be enough with KC playing the way they are.
- Sam Bradford had a bad fantasy day, a decent reality day and not the worst drafting decision the Rams have made in recent years. Assuming that Swiss Cheese/ Chicago Bears O-line can keep Bradford somewhat healthy, he could be really good really soon.
- Steven Jackson is Steven Jackson is 2008 Ryan Grant. It should not take 29 carries for any NFL running back to barely get over 100 yards.
- The Rams have a whole bunch of receivers I've never heard of. One of them played for U of I (sort of) and another one gets a TD. Whoopie.
-Ryan Matthews has a bad fantasy day 64 yards and no TDs but a good reality day with a 5.3 YPC.
- Patrick Crayton comes alive like a zombie movie catching 6 out of his 7 passes for 117 yards. Next week someone will pull a Shawn Of The Dead and cut his head off with a record.
- New England has replaced Baltimore as an elite team because they defeated them 23-20. In overtime. Another 3 point win and another 23-30 win out of the four games I just mentioned.
- Baltimore is the 4th best team (3 elite AFC teams) and better than any team in the NFC still.
- Brandon Tate does what everybody thought he would do with Randy Moss gone and gets 98 yards and catches 9 out of his 12 passes with a TD. Oh wait, by Brandon Tate I mean Deion Branch. Tate doesn't catch any of his 4 targets but has a 22 yard run. Get more rushing yards than The Law Firm (BenJarvis Green-Ellis) who got 20 on 10 carries. Danny Woodhead gets the most carries (11), rushing yards (63), and doing everything.
- Ray Rice gets 28 carries. And pulls a Matt Forte (first name that came to mind. Maybe Brandon Jackson would be more appropriate?) by only gaining 88 yards with a 3.1 YPC.
- Derrick Mason gets 100 yards on 8 receptions. Anquan Boldin gets 63 yards and a TD on 6 receptions. Todd Heap gets 49 yards and a TD on 3 receptions. Suck to be you T.J. Houshmandzadeh!
- Remember that time we convinced Andre that that Asian guy was Anquan Boldin? anQUAN, Kwan, Michelle Kwan, It made sense!
- Because I liked Joe Flacco a lot coming into this season I see his 119.3 passer rating as a sign of good things to come and not as a fluke and sort of a bad thing against a bad New England defense.
- Detroit Lions lose to the Giants in New Jersey. In other news, the sun rose this morning.
- Why is Brandon Jacobs still on this team as he vultures not one but two TDs from Ahmad Bradshaw. I don't care that Bradshaw got 133 rushing yards on only 19 carries (hey Rice and Jackson, this is how it's done son!) and got me 15 fantasy points, I'm greedy!
- Hakeem Nicks is a legit #1 starter as he gets 8 yards, no TDs, 3 receptions, and 7 targets against the Lions D. Er, wait...
- Crappy Steve Smith (NYG) now officially hands his name to Carolina's Steve Smith. Awesome Steve Smith's line: 6/9, 70 yards (led team), no TDs. Manningham gets a TD.
- Eli Manning does his best 2008 David Garrard impression: 20/30, 177 yards, 2 TDs, no INTs. Maybe these type of numbers should just be indicative of Manning. Sidenote: Manning threw for only 44 more yards than Ahmad Bradshaw had rushing yards.
- Combined Detroit QBs had over 300 yards passing. Another Lions QBs leaves the game with an injury and Michigan State alum Drew Stanton comes in and does better than what Todd Collins can do.
- Stanton also led all Lions rushers with 30 rushing yards. Even though I went up against Jahvid Best in Week One, I'm glad I stayed away from him in all fantasy leagues.
- Megatron is awesome. And so is Calvin Johnson.
- The Eagles defeated the Falcons 31-17 because Michael Vick really wanted to stick it to his former team! And because in all five passing highlights I saw, Atlanta's secondary looked like they all had Kevin Kolb, Jeremy Maclin, and DeSean Jackson on their fantasy teams. Jackson left the game with an injury and with Jackson out of the game they decided to double cover Maclin for the rest of the game. Which is why Maclin was wide open for an 83 yard TD pass.
- The Eagled traded for Harrison so LeSean McCoy can get 64 yards on 21 carries (geez, and I was ripping on Steven Jackson earlier), Jackson can get 44 yards on 2 carries, and some guy named Eldra Buckley (yes I used the word "guy" correctly) can get 40 yards on 12 carries.
- Maclin caught all 7 of his targets
- Matt Ryan is a reverse Eli Manning and really bad on the road. At least he was smart enough to send both of his 2 TDs to Tony Gonzalez. But he was also dumb enough to give Michael Jenkins the same amount of targets as Roddy White (11) and make Jenkins the Falcons leading receiver with 99 yards.
- Michael Turner is Brandon Jackson: 45 yards on 15 carries. The only reason I'm winning my Turner vs. Ryan Grant bet is because Turner is actually getting carries. I'm convinced that Ryan Grant right now could perform better than all RBs I mentioned in this sentence.
- Jesus Christ are there still more early games! What happened to some damn byes!?
- Steelers defeat the Browns 28-10. No 'obvious' jokes here.
- Big Ben ra.. er... destroys Cleveland's secondary with 3 TD passes. One to Hines Ward, one to Mike Wallace, and one to Heath Miller.
- Rashard Mendenhall is Rashard Mendenhall is Ryan Grant: 84 yards on 27 carries and a rushing TD.
- Colt McCoy wasn't statistically terrible and probably did better than what a player with Jake Delhomme and Senaca Wallace's combined, Human Centipede style, QB would have done.
- Ben Watson is a nice TE as he gets a TD.
- NO pulls an upset (to me) and beats Tampa Bay 31-6
- Drew Brees looks like his 2009 self
- I'm absolutely done with Marques Colston. I've been trying to get Robert Meachum (TD this week) in the GOI league but my 14th waiver wire order is never good enough. I have Colston and Lance Moore in a league and I will never start Colston over Moore again. Although I may regret saying this now.
- Chris Ivory has one of (if not) THE best rushing performances of the day: 158 yards on 15 carries. How we doesn't have a rushing TD is beyond the pale. Was there just one guy sitting at the goal line just ready to tackle Ivory?
- Tampa Bay is meaningless to me and I'm sick of writing. Nothing fantasy relevant to me and as we all know, that's the only thing that matters. Their receiving and rushing game was a clusterfuck.
- Texans score a lot of points and give up a lot of points. Like every game they play. They defeat the Kansas City Chiefs 35-31.
- I have no sympathy for you if you didn't start Dwayne Bowe this week. There's no reason he should be on your fantasy team if you weren't going to start him against the worst pass defense in the NFL. 6/9, 108 yards, 2 TDs.
- Despite Thomas Jones getting 3 more carries, 7 more yards, and 1 more touchdown than Jamaal Charles, Charles needs to get at least 20 carries a game and Jones needs to get about 5. Or even better- zero. Signing Jones (especially for THAT much money) was a waste and Charles needs to get the vast majority of carries. In fairness, Charles and Jones got equal touches. The touches still shouldn't even be remotely close.
- Matt Cassel puts up professional National Football League numbers against the worst pass defense in the league: 69% completion percentage and a 122.9 passer rating.
- Andre Johnson puts up Andre Johnson numbers due to another bullshit defensive pass interference call on Brandon Flowers. The call allowed Johnson to gain an extra 42 yards and a touchdown.
- Knowing when the Flowers pass interference call and knowing that it was actually an offensive pass interference on Johnson was a result of SportsCenter and not the Box Score. You caught me.
- Let me get up on my soap box here for a minute. I'm sick and tired of defensive pass interference calls being called on cornerbacks who are just being awesome at their jobs and covering their receivers like white on rice. In my thirty minutes of watching actual football/ highlights I saw this happen twice (The Flowers play and at the end of the Broncos/ Jets game- which I may or may not have time to get to). Clean hits/ sacks on the quarterbacks need to stop being called personal fouls as well. This is football! Be a man! I'm a man! I'm 40! Alrighty, I'm getting down and I'll finish up.
- Schaub puts up numbers like he should and was quote unquote clutch when his team needed him the most: 25/33, 305 yards, 2 TDs, 0 INTS, 123.9 passer rating.
- Arian Foster is going to Hawaii if he keeps playing like this. He might also get a Pro Bowl selection. Only 71 yards on 18 carries but 2 touchdowns.
And we... are.. OUT!
Let me start off by saying that the only football I watched today was the end of the Jets/Broncos game while on the treadmill. I spent the weekend at my alma mater (I think ONLY true GOI fans would guess/know/pull out of their ass which school that is. Speaking of true GOI fans, one of them told me this weekend that they prefer my BST over TBO's. So if the other four of you (rather three after DME accosted one of them in an earlier post) disagree, POLITELY disagree and maybe TBO can do some more now and again. Also my apologies on no FF rankings this week and little posting. I'll try to get better but this stupid law school thing is getting in the way.
Illinois Jerk Off Alert
- Rashard Mendenahll: 27 carries, 87 yards, TD
- Brandon Lloyd: 4/10, 74 yards, no TDs
- Arrelious Benn: 1/3, 9 yards, no TDs
- Michael Hoomaawoowowowowowowowiuiuiui: 1/2, 5 yards, no TDs
Regular Alert
- As always we'll start off with Chicago.
- The Jekyll and Hyde Seattle Seahawks defeat the Jekyll and Hyde Chicago Bears 23-20
- Devin Hester is back as an elite return man with his second kickoff/punt return for a TD this season.
- I still want Chester Taylor to get more work and he was the Bears leading rusher with 31 yards on four carries. But good lord was the rushing game bad/ inefficient/ nonexistent. Forte gets 11 yards on 8 carries for a pitiful 1.4 YPC but he gets a rushing TD. I was surprised to to learn he actually got it in the red zone. I guess it's the D'Angelo Hall effect where you get so many opportunities to get an interception (because everyone is passing on you) that you eventually get one or two INTs.
- I'm convinced that Jay Cutler is still concussed because even Derek Anderson can complete over 43.5% of his passes.
- Todd Collins can not.
- On the bright side Cutler didn't throw an interception. On the downside he didn't throw a TD either. At least I get the joy that my opponent in the 14 team GOI league started Cutler. I need to have some optimism after an abysmal performance, don't I?
- Speaking of the GOI league it looks like I will, for the third straight week, be the top points leader. EDITOR'S NOTE: I'm right now 2nd behind Cubsfan. I'm guaranteed to be on top of the Michelle Beadle division (as I beat first place/ GOI fan/ pre season division winner favorite Viking Quest and I'll be #1 overall if TBO can hold of 5-0 Swag On.
- To my dismay Marshawn Lynch still get 15+ carries. Justin Forsett gets 10. Like always, Forsett is the more productive back from a YPC standpoint (and yards) and both get rushing TDs.
- With Deion Branch traded away Mike Williams gets 123 yards on 10 catches (15 targets). Deon Butler gets Hasselbeck's lone passing TD. Golden Tate did the same as his fellow Notre Dame wide out alum Jeff Samardzija did this week. Nothing. (0 catches on 2 targets)
- I'm always a happy camper when I can use a Jeff Samardzija reference.
- I'm also ways a happy camper whenever the Packers lose as they did 23-20 to the hands of the Dolphins.
- Lynch goes to Seattle. Jerome Harrison goes to Philadelphia. I guess that means the Packers are super content on Brandon Jackson. How can they not be with his 12 carries for 52 yards and no TD performance. As talented as this team is on paper, I'm convinced this organization might be as well run as Chicago's.
- On a day where a lot of people (probably) benched Greg Jennings he goes off catching 6 out of his 7 targets for 133 yards and a TD.
- Aaron Rodgers completes only 54.5% of his passes and only throws one TD (mainly b/c of the awesomeness of Jennings). In the beginning of the season I ranked him as the 3rd best QB playing the game. Cubsfan ranked him #1. He's now shown to me he's out of the top 5 (Although clearly still top 10).
- I asked Cubsfan to rank RBs for me fantasy-wise for this week. He put Ronnie Brown in the top five. I yelled at him for that. 73 yards on 19 carries and no TDs. Still better than Ricky Williams. This week.
- Forgetting Brandon Marshall does what he does best: 10 catches for 127 yards (Granted also on 17 targets). I don't know if dropping Davone Bess in the GOI league was a good idea seeing as he got 9 targets, 5 catches, and a TD (Granted only 37 yards)
- Chad Henne is Chad Henne is Carson Palmer
- San Diego loses to St. Louis 20-17. Don't worry Chargers fans, they'll win their last eight games as always. Although this year it might not be enough with KC playing the way they are.
- Sam Bradford had a bad fantasy day, a decent reality day and not the worst drafting decision the Rams have made in recent years. Assuming that Swiss Cheese/ Chicago Bears O-line can keep Bradford somewhat healthy, he could be really good really soon.
- Steven Jackson is Steven Jackson is 2008 Ryan Grant. It should not take 29 carries for any NFL running back to barely get over 100 yards.
- The Rams have a whole bunch of receivers I've never heard of. One of them played for U of I (sort of) and another one gets a TD. Whoopie.
-Ryan Matthews has a bad fantasy day 64 yards and no TDs but a good reality day with a 5.3 YPC.
- Patrick Crayton comes alive like a zombie movie catching 6 out of his 7 passes for 117 yards. Next week someone will pull a Shawn Of The Dead and cut his head off with a record.
- New England has replaced Baltimore as an elite team because they defeated them 23-20. In overtime. Another 3 point win and another 23-30 win out of the four games I just mentioned.
- Baltimore is the 4th best team (3 elite AFC teams) and better than any team in the NFC still.
- Brandon Tate does what everybody thought he would do with Randy Moss gone and gets 98 yards and catches 9 out of his 12 passes with a TD. Oh wait, by Brandon Tate I mean Deion Branch. Tate doesn't catch any of his 4 targets but has a 22 yard run. Get more rushing yards than The Law Firm (BenJarvis Green-Ellis) who got 20 on 10 carries. Danny Woodhead gets the most carries (11), rushing yards (63), and doing everything.
- Ray Rice gets 28 carries. And pulls a Matt Forte (first name that came to mind. Maybe Brandon Jackson would be more appropriate?) by only gaining 88 yards with a 3.1 YPC.
- Derrick Mason gets 100 yards on 8 receptions. Anquan Boldin gets 63 yards and a TD on 6 receptions. Todd Heap gets 49 yards and a TD on 3 receptions. Suck to be you T.J. Houshmandzadeh!
- Remember that time we convinced Andre that that Asian guy was Anquan Boldin? anQUAN, Kwan, Michelle Kwan, It made sense!
- Because I liked Joe Flacco a lot coming into this season I see his 119.3 passer rating as a sign of good things to come and not as a fluke and sort of a bad thing against a bad New England defense.
- Detroit Lions lose to the Giants in New Jersey. In other news, the sun rose this morning.
- Why is Brandon Jacobs still on this team as he vultures not one but two TDs from Ahmad Bradshaw. I don't care that Bradshaw got 133 rushing yards on only 19 carries (hey Rice and Jackson, this is how it's done son!) and got me 15 fantasy points, I'm greedy!
- Hakeem Nicks is a legit #1 starter as he gets 8 yards, no TDs, 3 receptions, and 7 targets against the Lions D. Er, wait...
- Crappy Steve Smith (NYG) now officially hands his name to Carolina's Steve Smith. Awesome Steve Smith's line: 6/9, 70 yards (led team), no TDs. Manningham gets a TD.
- Eli Manning does his best 2008 David Garrard impression: 20/30, 177 yards, 2 TDs, no INTs. Maybe these type of numbers should just be indicative of Manning. Sidenote: Manning threw for only 44 more yards than Ahmad Bradshaw had rushing yards.
- Combined Detroit QBs had over 300 yards passing. Another Lions QBs leaves the game with an injury and Michigan State alum Drew Stanton comes in and does better than what Todd Collins can do.
- Stanton also led all Lions rushers with 30 rushing yards. Even though I went up against Jahvid Best in Week One, I'm glad I stayed away from him in all fantasy leagues.
- Megatron is awesome. And so is Calvin Johnson.
- The Eagles defeated the Falcons 31-17 because Michael Vick really wanted to stick it to his former team! And because in all five passing highlights I saw, Atlanta's secondary looked like they all had Kevin Kolb, Jeremy Maclin, and DeSean Jackson on their fantasy teams. Jackson left the game with an injury and with Jackson out of the game they decided to double cover Maclin for the rest of the game. Which is why Maclin was wide open for an 83 yard TD pass.
- The Eagled traded for Harrison so LeSean McCoy can get 64 yards on 21 carries (geez, and I was ripping on Steven Jackson earlier), Jackson can get 44 yards on 2 carries, and some guy named Eldra Buckley (yes I used the word "guy" correctly) can get 40 yards on 12 carries.
- Maclin caught all 7 of his targets
- Matt Ryan is a reverse Eli Manning and really bad on the road. At least he was smart enough to send both of his 2 TDs to Tony Gonzalez. But he was also dumb enough to give Michael Jenkins the same amount of targets as Roddy White (11) and make Jenkins the Falcons leading receiver with 99 yards.
- Michael Turner is Brandon Jackson: 45 yards on 15 carries. The only reason I'm winning my Turner vs. Ryan Grant bet is because Turner is actually getting carries. I'm convinced that Ryan Grant right now could perform better than all RBs I mentioned in this sentence.
- Jesus Christ are there still more early games! What happened to some damn byes!?
- Steelers defeat the Browns 28-10. No 'obvious' jokes here.
- Big Ben ra.. er... destroys Cleveland's secondary with 3 TD passes. One to Hines Ward, one to Mike Wallace, and one to Heath Miller.
- Rashard Mendenhall is Rashard Mendenhall is Ryan Grant: 84 yards on 27 carries and a rushing TD.
- Colt McCoy wasn't statistically terrible and probably did better than what a player with Jake Delhomme and Senaca Wallace's combined, Human Centipede style, QB would have done.
- Ben Watson is a nice TE as he gets a TD.
- NO pulls an upset (to me) and beats Tampa Bay 31-6
- Drew Brees looks like his 2009 self
- I'm absolutely done with Marques Colston. I've been trying to get Robert Meachum (TD this week) in the GOI league but my 14th waiver wire order is never good enough. I have Colston and Lance Moore in a league and I will never start Colston over Moore again. Although I may regret saying this now.
- Chris Ivory has one of (if not) THE best rushing performances of the day: 158 yards on 15 carries. How we doesn't have a rushing TD is beyond the pale. Was there just one guy sitting at the goal line just ready to tackle Ivory?
- Tampa Bay is meaningless to me and I'm sick of writing. Nothing fantasy relevant to me and as we all know, that's the only thing that matters. Their receiving and rushing game was a clusterfuck.
- Texans score a lot of points and give up a lot of points. Like every game they play. They defeat the Kansas City Chiefs 35-31.
- I have no sympathy for you if you didn't start Dwayne Bowe this week. There's no reason he should be on your fantasy team if you weren't going to start him against the worst pass defense in the NFL. 6/9, 108 yards, 2 TDs.
- Despite Thomas Jones getting 3 more carries, 7 more yards, and 1 more touchdown than Jamaal Charles, Charles needs to get at least 20 carries a game and Jones needs to get about 5. Or even better- zero. Signing Jones (especially for THAT much money) was a waste and Charles needs to get the vast majority of carries. In fairness, Charles and Jones got equal touches. The touches still shouldn't even be remotely close.
- Matt Cassel puts up professional National Football League numbers against the worst pass defense in the league: 69% completion percentage and a 122.9 passer rating.
- Andre Johnson puts up Andre Johnson numbers due to another bullshit defensive pass interference call on Brandon Flowers. The call allowed Johnson to gain an extra 42 yards and a touchdown.
- Knowing when the Flowers pass interference call and knowing that it was actually an offensive pass interference on Johnson was a result of SportsCenter and not the Box Score. You caught me.
- Let me get up on my soap box here for a minute. I'm sick and tired of defensive pass interference calls being called on cornerbacks who are just being awesome at their jobs and covering their receivers like white on rice. In my thirty minutes of watching actual football/ highlights I saw this happen twice (The Flowers play and at the end of the Broncos/ Jets game- which I may or may not have time to get to). Clean hits/ sacks on the quarterbacks need to stop being called personal fouls as well. This is football! Be a man! I'm a man! I'm 40! Alrighty, I'm getting down and I'll finish up.
- Schaub puts up numbers like he should and was quote unquote clutch when his team needed him the most: 25/33, 305 yards, 2 TDs, 0 INTS, 123.9 passer rating.
- Arian Foster is going to Hawaii if he keeps playing like this. He might also get a Pro Bowl selection. Only 71 yards on 18 carries but 2 touchdowns.
And we... are.. OUT!
GOI Divisional Series Predictions
NOTE: Fellow GOI authors, please don't make another post about your predictions. Either write your predictions in the comments or edit this post to add your predictions
American League
Texas defeats New York (A) in six
Pitcher of the Series: C.C. Sabathia
Hitter of the Series: Nelson Cruz
National League
Philadelphia defeats San Fransisco in seven
Pitcher of the Series: Cole Hamels
Hitter of the Series: Aubrey Huff
ANOTHER NOTE: Besides who I think wins the series, my predictions are based off of absolutely nothing. I essentially just pulled names and numbers out of my butt.
American League
Texas defeats New York (A) in six
Pitcher of the Series: C.C. Sabathia
Hitter of the Series: Nelson Cruz
National League
Philadelphia defeats San Fransisco in seven
Pitcher of the Series: Cole Hamels
Hitter of the Series: Aubrey Huff
ANOTHER NOTE: Besides who I think wins the series, my predictions are based off of absolutely nothing. I essentially just pulled names and numbers out of my butt.
Not Sports Related!
So I was bored and wrote this parody of Bohemian Rhapsody titled "Obamian Rhapsody." Enjoy it. Particularly to the Muppets Version of the song.
Is this the real life?
This must be fantasy
He won in a landslide
To take the presidency
Open your eyes
To his useless policies
He's just a fall guy
Communist puppetry
Corrupt as they come, ask Resko
Tax them high, tax them more
Anyway the economy goes
Money doesn't matter
To him
Obama,
Just passed a bill
To give us all health care
But it leaves no cash to spare
Obama,
My career had just begun
But now you've gone and taxed my whole salary
Obama,
Ooh (don't regret him)
Didn't mean to vote you in
I won't repeat that sin again tomorrow
Carry on, carry on
Money doesn't matter
Too late,
His bills have passed
He was wrong about Iran
Now they've got a nuke in hand
Take note, everybody
He's got to go
Gotta wake the liberals up to the truth
Obama
Oooooooh (where'd the votes go)
I'm not conservative
But sometimes I wish I'd never voted for him at all
[Guitar Solo]
I see a little silhouetto of a promise
He lied to you, he lied to you, did you really believe him
World peace, no tax increase? None of it ever fooled me
(Abraham Lincoln) Abraham Lincoln (Abraham Lincoln) Abraham Lincoln, Abraham Lincoln's cabinet my a-a-a-a-a-ass
I didn't do it, blame G.W.B.
Just like Jimmy Carter, poor foreign policy
Spare us this prophet of the democrat party
Easy come, easy go, will you let him go?
Wish me luck!
No, we will not let him go
Let him go
Wish me luck!
We will not let him go
Let him go
Wish me luck!
We will not let him go
Let him go (Will not let him go)
Let him go (Will not let him go)
(Never, never, never, never)
Let him go, o, o, o, o No, no, no, no, no, no, no (Obama mia, bama mia)
Obama Mia, let him go
Harry Reed has the devil put aside for me, for me, for me!
So you think you think you're entitled to my money?
Do you think you can take my vote and then just lie?
Ohhhhh, bama, you can't do that Obama
Just go back to, just go back to Hawaii bitch
[Guitar Solo] (Oooh yeah, Oooh yeah)
Money doesn't matter
Fuck the economy
Money doesn't matter
Money doesn't matter to him
Is this the real life?
This must be fantasy
He won in a landslide
To take the presidency
Open your eyes
To his useless policies
He's just a fall guy
Communist puppetry
Corrupt as they come, ask Resko
Tax them high, tax them more
Anyway the economy goes
Money doesn't matter
To him
Obama,
Just passed a bill
To give us all health care
But it leaves no cash to spare
Obama,
My career had just begun
But now you've gone and taxed my whole salary
Obama,
Ooh (don't regret him)
Didn't mean to vote you in
I won't repeat that sin again tomorrow
Carry on, carry on
Money doesn't matter
Too late,
His bills have passed
He was wrong about Iran
Now they've got a nuke in hand
Take note, everybody
He's got to go
Gotta wake the liberals up to the truth
Obama
Oooooooh (where'd the votes go)
I'm not conservative
But sometimes I wish I'd never voted for him at all
[Guitar Solo]
I see a little silhouetto of a promise
He lied to you, he lied to you, did you really believe him
World peace, no tax increase? None of it ever fooled me
(Abraham Lincoln) Abraham Lincoln (Abraham Lincoln) Abraham Lincoln, Abraham Lincoln's cabinet my a-a-a-a-a-ass
I didn't do it, blame G.W.B.
Just like Jimmy Carter, poor foreign policy
Spare us this prophet of the democrat party
Easy come, easy go, will you let him go?
Wish me luck!
No, we will not let him go
Let him go
Wish me luck!
We will not let him go
Let him go
Wish me luck!
We will not let him go
Let him go (Will not let him go)
Let him go (Will not let him go)
(Never, never, never, never)
Let him go, o, o, o, o No, no, no, no, no, no, no (Obama mia, bama mia)
Obama Mia, let him go
Harry Reed has the devil put aside for me, for me, for me!
So you think you think you're entitled to my money?
Do you think you can take my vote and then just lie?
Ohhhhh, bama, you can't do that Obama
Just go back to, just go back to Hawaii bitch
[Guitar Solo] (Oooh yeah, Oooh yeah)
Money doesn't matter
Fuck the economy
Money doesn't matter
Money doesn't matter to him
Box Score Tonight: TBO Edition
Sexy Rexy was too busy pimping out his bitches and hoes this week to watch any football, so TBO has to do Box Score Tonight in the middle of midterms. I better get a discount Sexy Rexy that's all i'm sayin
- The Jags win their second straight game after MJD called out the team, though it was against the Bills so I'll give them half a win. Mike Sims-Walker wakes up from the dead for a TD score and Garrard has a very Garrard game. 80% 3/1 TD/INT
- Despite trading away Marshawn Lynch, CJ Spiller only gets 5 carries. Maybe thats why you suck Buffalo. That or your overweight cheerleaders. In you face
- News flash, TO has ideas about how to get the Bengals to start scoring some points, but no one will listen to him. He is getting the ball, a lot with a second 100+ yard game and a TD. Ochocinco on the other hand is quickly becoming the 2nd if not 3rd option for Palmer and his 78 QB rating
- Tampa is quietly 3-1 and Josh Freeman may actually be a legit QB one day. 85 QB rating as a 22 year old is pretty sweat.
- Michael Turner finally breaks out 2008 style with 140 yards. Seneca Wallace got hurt so the Browns had to it was Jake Delhomme time! 13/23 97 yards 2 int. Giggidy giggidy goo
- Sam Bradford struggles against the Detroit D as the Lions lay a 38 point wooping on the Rams. 5 different receivers all catch 4 passed for the Lions, CJ gets another TD
- Peyton Manning puts up a 65 QB rating so the Colts lost, right? Nope. Colts run 20 more plays than the Chiefs, hold the ball and win 19-9. No receiver on the Chiefs is worth owning, but Jamal Charles is finally the #1 back
- TBO picked GB to lose to Washington, because I just dont believe in the cheeseheads the way everyone else does. No RB, too many injuries, you just cant win like that especially when the #1 receiver Jennings d/n show up half the time
- Nothing of note for the Skins, but if your a fan just be happy you finally have a good coach. Not hard when you follow Jim Zorn to be honest
- Ta da da Chicago Bears, 4-1 baby. When you win a game where your QB completes just 2 less passes to the other team, than he does to his own is pretty impressive. 6.2 rating. Is Collins cut yet? My intramural football QB is better than Collins. Matt Forte woke up on the right side of the bed Sunday and ran for 166 and 2 TD. I'll take it. And Peppers is really good at football
- Kyle Orton has another 300 yard game, so I'm guessing Josh McDaniels can make anyone a legit QB, but they are dead last in rushing (I assume without looking it up). Alert Alert Bradon Lloyd 135 yards and 2 TDs. In the words of Hawk Harrelson, "you've got to be [bleeping] me, MERCY!
- Still Ray Rice dominates the game on the ground with 2 scores and anyone knows the run beats the pass 70% of the time, everytime
- Tiki Barber called out the Giants for quiting on their coach, so they responded by knocking out fools. Dominated the Bears, now dominate the Texans. Hakeem Nicks goes Brandon Lloyd and Foster and Johnson just get shut down
- Cardinals finally get a win under rookie Max Hall. They don't score any offensive TDs with a QB rating of 65 and a YPC of 1.7, but the D scores 3 times, include 1/2 of my favorite NFL relative Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie
- Drew Brees continues to struggle, though Colston finally breaks out for 97 yards
- Alert Alert Alert the Cowboys are 1-3. Oh no, hell is freezing over, this cannot be. Not Americas team. Who the frick cares. Most of us dont even remember the great Cowboys teams so the only thing any of us remember is their lack of a playoff win. Ever. Still Romo dominates, Felix Jones is getting his carries, and Miles Austin may be the top receiver in the game. Still so many issues, starting and ending with Wade Phillips.
- Vince Young just wins. Plays solid, hands off to CJ, who runs for 130 and 2 scores. Yes, he is struggling, yet still on pace for 1552 yards on the ground. Not too shaby
- Jason Campbell got his job back from the griddy, scrappy Bruce Gradkowski and does a superb job. On the other side Phillip Rivers keeps rising up the QB depth chart, but has so little help on the ground and defense. Kinda sad
- Kevin Kolb can play a little QB. Still not up to par with Michael Vick, but showed some nice skills of his own. McCoy is the next great Pitt grad following Larry Fitzgerald and Darrell Revis. On the other sidelines, Mike Singletary should do a little less screaming and a bit more coaching. Ohh, and Michael Crabtree looks like the Texas Tech Michael Crabtree for the first time
- I am so on the Jets bandwagon. Revis and the other half of my fav relatives Antonio Cromartie. Santonio Holmes and Edwards. Green and Tomlinson. Mangold and Feguson. Pretty solid
- Favre plays like shit, dont care about his 3TDs. Apparently Randy Moss only knew one route cause he just went deep on every play and it only worked once. Favre may actually have to miss a game with tendinitis of the elbow. Or tendinosis to be more accurate.
In related news, do you think the NFL will have to take out the chains to measure the pics Brett Favre sent to Jenn Sterger. Zing!
