Fantasy Sports Chat

The List (Week 8)

2006-10-30T09:29:00.000-08:00

Let's start by saying I loathe Ben Roethlisberger. Thank the lord, I am not near Pittsburgh. If I was there would be trouble brewing big time. I mean come on 4 picks against Oakland. That means he'll throw 12 against Baltimore.
Oakland managed shade under 100 yards of total offense (98 actually) and beat the Steelers because of 2 interceptions that were returned for touchdowns and really shitty offense of Pittsburgh. They couldn't run up the middle and they were trying to force passes that just weren't there.
At 2-6, the Steelers season is esentially over. They still have Denver, New Orleans, Tampa Bay, Baltimore (twice), Cleveland (twice), and Cincinnati.
I think at best right now 7-9. I am sad a little bit bitter.

Speaking of angry and miserable, I lost again in my money league, which it was a battle of teams who thoughts scoring points was a bad idea. The final score was 77-75, it was the only matchup where both teams failed to score 80 points. The whole thing was pitiful.

My opponent had Hasselbeck and Byron Leftwich at quarterback so he picked up Vince Young. Now Young didn't light up the scoreboard, but with him running and passing, that sucked. It sucked hard. (Stupid Vince Young). Young managed 18 fantasy points, but only threw for a mighty 87 yards. That's it. But when you run for 40+ yards and a touchdown, you decide to be a jackass.
Then I thought okay, it wasn't bad. he had Tatum Bell and Leon Washington who did nothing. Meanwhile, I had Cadillac Williams and Duece McAllister who ran the ball a combined 13 times for 31 yards! Yes, New Orleans was out of the game early against Baltimore, who conviently was on my opponents roster managing 21 points for him. (mostly because of 2 int's returned for tds) But, Tampa Bay not running was the wrong call and I'll mention that later.
I thought I was still okay, when Marvin Harrison, Laveranues Coles, and LJ Smith all had medicore games. But, I had both Lee Evans and Mike Furrey on bye week and my receivers are weak to begin with.
Hines Ward good yardage, no TD's. Santonio Holmes (waiver wire pickup) got me a respectable 4 points with a long reception, no TD's though. The Clayton Bros. (Mark and Mike) sucked it hard. Mike along with the rest of Tampa Bay continues to ruin my life. He had one catch and then fumbled the damn ball he managed -2 points. How the hell does that happen? (Those 2 points will come back to haunt me later)
The opposition has Adam Viniteri who plays tha game of the season for him and basically saves my opponent. That whiney little pain in my ass.
Going into Monday night. The scoreboard read All U Can Eat 70 No Fat Chicks 35.
He had Chad Jackson for NE. I had both Tom Brady and the Minnesota defense. I thought I was going to be screwed. I was expecting to lose by at least 10 points. New England loves the run, like I love potato chips. (mmmmmm......potato chips).
All of a sudden, Tom Brady is throwing the ball all over the place and the lead is slowly shrinking. There might be hope and still an outside chance for victory. Then the Vikings run a punt back for a TD and Brady is having a career game. I am thinking an upset has been made.
Then it all came crashing down to earth. Chad Jackson, the fucking rookie has one catch the whole game for a 10 yard touchdown and gets my opponent 7 points. I was beyond pissed.
Brady ends the game going 29/43 for 372 yards, 4 td's, 1 int. He gets 33 points.
The Vikings defense bombed out, but causing 2 turnovers and getting the punt return for a TD gave us a managable 7 points there.
Final Score read All U Can Eat 77 No Fat Chicks 75.
Two points was the only difference and it boils down to 2 things. 1) Michael Clayton fumbling his one catch against New York giving us a -2 or 2) the way our league is set up if Tom Brady threw one more completion for only 3 yards it would have given him an extra 2 points. (he would have had 30 completitions - we get one poin for every 10 passing completions, and he would have had 375 yards - we get one point for every 25 yards passing.)

Once again, we lose a heartbreaker. At 2-6 we are tied for the worst record and 2 games out of the last playoff spot with 4 weeks left. Two of my losses have been less than 10 points (7 points, which that week Seattle managed a -7 for me and cost that one and this week 2 points, courtesy of Michael Clayton.)

I need to relax and forget about how much Clayton bites. It's giving me nightmares.

Anyways, there are other teams that played so let's try to focus on them for a bit. Now comes the List....

To: Jon Gruden
Re: Seriously, Playcalling?
Cadillac Williams ran the ball 8 times the entire game against the Giants. Now, yes the Giants have a good line up front but 8 times. You don't have Tom Brady or Peyton Manning, you have Bruce Gradkowski.
I do love your explanation of throwing so much, you go to the passing game often in order to exploit the perceived gaps in the Gaints' pass defense (okay, I'll give you that) but the other reason I have big problems with exploiting the 'windy conditions at Giants Stadium'. Windy conditions, are you f*ing kidding me. I always thought if it was windy it would be more challenging throwing something in the air. Therefore, wouldn't you want to try and run the ball a little bit more than 8 damn times. I mean come on. There is a reason you team is awful this year and this is one of those reasons. You are dead to me.
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To: Tony Romo
Re: Welcome to the Big Show
With your first start under your belt considered a success and a victory over a difficult Carolina squad in the Panthers lair. You have won the hearts of Cowboys fans and more importantly have given Bill Parcells hope in Dallas.
PS - Terry Glenn can complain all he wants (He still thinks it's the late 90's and it's New England). He's an idiot.
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To: New Orleans
Re: Down to Earth
You can't get every lucky break, you have to concede every now and again. I can see that you have to work out some kinks before you play a team like Baltimore again. You did show that you won't quit and fight until the bitter end. Making the game almost respectable, but you had too much to overcome.
Also, I didn't agree with the selection of playcalling. Why not throw to the backs more? Just because Reggie Bush went down doesn't mean you have to give up on involving Deuce McAllister.
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To: Denver Defensive Backs
Re: Multiple Receivers
There is a problem here. Champ Bailey can't cover both Marvin Harrison and Reggie Wayne. So which one do you want to beat you all game long?
What was that you thought, Peyton Manning would struggle against you on the road? Come on now, that's funny. Really sad and pathetic but funny.
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To: Jake Plummer
Re: Best Game
You have your best game this season and you still aren't even close to Manning. No excuses or Jay Cutler will be running the show
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To: Indianaoplis Defense
Re: Running Stopping
Suprisingly, you won the game giving up over 200 yards rushing. I mean do you try to stop the run or is Denver just that good.
If that isn't fixed soon, there is no way that you can keep moving along with ease.
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To: Chicago
Re: Fair Play
You didn't even show up in the second half, was that even fair against San Fran. Wait, you say you didn't want to get those orange jerseys dirty. Well, that makes sense.
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To: Oakland
Re: Nice offense
You won on defense, literally. I mean not evne getting 100 yards on offense and winning, well that doesn't happen very often and you will see it won't happen again.

I think that is enough venting for now. Soon to come, upcoming ranking and early playoff projections.
JUBA

The List (Week 7)

2006-10-24T10:45:00.000-07:00

I want to start out by saying if I lived anywhere near Seattle. I would give that Seahawks defense a piece of my mind. Those stupid little posers. I can't stand them and for the most part neither can any other self-respecting Seattle football fan. I mean, it's not like they have done anything completely different and they were a Super Bowl caliber defense last season.
They have cost my money team 2 victories this season and if I miss the playoffs, that will be the sole reason why. I should be a mighty 4-3 but in reality we are a 2-5 team. Which puts me tied for 10th in a 12 team league.
For example, in week 4. My team lost 102-95. I played the Seattle defense in Chicago on Sunday night, because stupid me I thought the game would be a battle of good defense and a close game maybe a field goal fest. Nope, Seattle defense netted a whopping -7. You have to try and achieve a -7 for fantasy football. Meanwhile, I had the Vikings defense on the bench and they managed 7 points against Buffalo which was a great game to watch. Overall a 14 point swing. If that change was made Team No Fat Chicks (NFC) would have won 109-102.
This past week, was not nearly as bad as the -7 thrashing of Rex Grossman, but it was pretty damn close. Seattle plays Minnesota, okay fine I have both defenses. I was thinking that the Seattle offense would overpower the Minnesota defense so I should start Seattle. Yeah, great idea....not.
Final Score Minnesota 31 Seattle 13. From a fantasy perspective...Minnesota defense scored 23 points and Seattle scored 0. I lost 105-95.
Granted I was wicked lucky this week Hines Ward, played the game of his career with 3 touchdowns, 170+ yards receiving, including a long td, wich scored an extra bonus point or two.
Mike Furrey, also come up with a strong game for my team with another touchdown. However, I had zero production of of the 2RB. After losing Dominack Davis in August, I had Duece McAllister as my number 2 RB, but he was on bye week. So it was a toss up between Najeh Davenport of Pittsburgh and Jerious Norwoord of Atlanta. I went with Davenport because the Giants were able to run with ease against Atlanta and I thought Norwood would get nothing against a tough Steeler defense. Yep, wrong again.
Granted, my opponent had Tiki Barber, Randy Moss, Chris Cooley, and Joe Jurevicius had solid performances.

There are 5 weeks left in the regular season until the playoffs start and at 2-5. The top 8 teams make the playoffs and right now their are two teams are 6-1, one team and 5-2, two at 4-3, and four teams at 3-4.
I am only one game out of a playoff spot and this coming week I am against a 3-4 team. They lost Hasselbeck and have to start Byron Lefwich against Philadelphia, and Clinton Portis is on bye this week. It will be another close week and I have learned to stay away from the Seattle defense.

The List....
To: Oakland
Re: banding together
Wow, you actually won a game. now granted this isn't going to turn around the season or anything but this is still a step in the right direction even if you did beat the Cardinals of all teams.
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To: Dennis Green
Re: Free Checkups at all Phoenix Hospitals
After the meltdown of Monday night, losing to Oakland in a game mnay people expected you to win, you lose. Maybe throwing away your offensive coordinator wasn't the best idea in the world, because who are you going to hide behind now?
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To: Drew Bledso
Re: "I Will Not Be A Backup"
Drew, let's be serious. You are on your last legs and Parcells will not settle for your inability to be mobile. You may not have a choice as you running out of chances to prove yourself, even when your old buddy from New England is having doubts about you.
PS- You can't throw the ball if you can't stay on your feet and no, you cannot blame the offensive line for everything. A part of it, maybe but not everything. You are letting Jason Witten waste away by making him block and not catch the ball. Bad Bledsoe Bad.
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To: Michael Vick
Re: Think with your arm, not with your legs
You can throw the ball, you proved it and even to someone else other than Alge Crumpler. Give it some time and you will improve, but if you complain about it then you will lose the respect of everyone who is trying to help you.
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To: Miami Dolphins
Re: Really?
You lost to the Packers at home. Now, I understand that you are supposed to be a strong team and Culpepper was playing hurt and we have been unlucky, blah, blah, blah, shut up.
You are embarrassing yourselves and football everywhere except in Buffalo where they are smiling that you are worse than the Bills.
Look on the bright side, the high draft pick will be helpful next April. Too bad, Nick Saban might not be around to enjoy it as he could be on his way out if the season progresses like this.
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To: Seattle
Re: You are ruining my life
Read the beginning on this rant about why I loathe the Seahawks defense. But in all honesty, is there any chance of a deep playoff run if you can't stop anyone on defense?
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To: Matt Bryant
Re: 62 yard blast for the win
Dude, you are my kicker that is almost cool enough to not be a kicker this week.
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To: Kansas City Chiefs
Re: Upset City
You showed up loud and proud against the Chargers especially after getting destoryed against the Steelers. My question for you is which team are you for real and more importantly, who is going to be the QB - Trent Green or Damon Huard?
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The Good:
Hines Ward - Scoring without your shoes - That's nasty. Nasty Good
Houston Texans - No one gave you a chance. That's how you prove skeptics wrong
Brett Favre - "I'm in town to play the Dolphins dumbass." Still one of my favorite lines from "There's Something About Mary". He delivered against the Dolphins and showed that they have a little bit of gas in the tank. However, gas prices keep climbing unlike the Packers.....hmmmmm

The Bad:
JP Losman - You lose a fumble because you run into the umpire, that was just comicial. Thanks for the laughs.
San Diego Chargers Defense - Are you overrated because of Mr. Merriman's "Special Juice"
Seattle Seahawks - (See a trend here)

Coming Soon...NFL Rankings and early predictions for the playoffs

Until then.
JUBA

The List (Week 6)

2006-10-18T09:06:00.000-07:00

First thing is first. I have won my money league matchup 2 weeks in a row. We are not down and out after a sluggish 0-4 start, but not we are out of last place and we are slowly fighting back into the pack. Very slowly.

The standings in the league look like this so far
one team is 6-0
another is 5-1
another is 4-2
teams 4-8 all have records of 3-3
I am at 2-4.

This is still very doable.

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The victory came at the hands of some lucky bounces and I do mean lucky. Mark Clayton with 2 TD's both off of deflections. That is wicked excellent hand-eye coordination and I for one am very impressed with that.
Hines Ward found the endzone. I know he is still not 100% and the Steelers still have a bitch of a schedule, but Ward catching the ball is a step in the right direction for my team and the Steelers.
Josh (Jacked) Brown was clutch against St. Louis and to think I was upset because Scobee was on bye this week. Our team managed a respectable 107 points overall. With every player contributing a little (Plummer and Mike Furrey take note)
It was the suprisingly poor performances of the opponent that helped us though. Rudi Johnson only managed 4 points and Thomas Jones 5 points (Cadillac Willams had 11 for me). He had Joe Horn (who somehow decides every year to play huge against me) but that was offset by Derrick Mason, Greg Lewis, and Eric Johnson having a combined 5 points (Furrey had 3 and that was my lowest output). The Steelers defense couldn't vault him ahead, but it made the loss respectable for my worthy foe.
We didn't even start Michael Clayton (who finally found the endzone on one of the sweetest plays of the season) and my opponent didn't start Kevin Jones which was great, because he would have won the matchup then.

This week should be an interesting matchup for me. My opponent had Marc Bulger, Travis Henry, and the Bears defense all on bye this week. He doesn't have a 2nd defense right now, so he will have to pick up whatever is left over and he has to start Chad Pennington against the Lions which destroyed JP Losman last week.
He does have Tiki Barber against Dallas, Roy Williams and Randy Moss but overall depth is off poor quality on this roster. If all goes well team No Fat Chicks could be 3-4.

The List is back....
To: Dennis Green
Re: Monday night meltdown
That was a great press conference after the game. Totally flipping out, it has to be on the highlight reel for the Cardinals because that is the story of the year. Grab defeat from the jaws of victory.
You are at home on Monday night and almost take down the last of the unbeaten teams in the NFL. You defied physics that night you both sucked and blew at the same time.
Smooth move firing the offense coordinator, it really was your fault
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To: Michael Clayton
Re: TD Grab
That's the effort that we expect from you. You bitched about not finding the endzone and now you found it. Let's stay there.
P.S. - Nice effort laying out for the win. That's what the fans like to see.
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To: Matt Linart
Re: Hold onto the ball
Matt, hang in there. It's not like the good old days of USC where 80% of your o-line were going to the NFL and become decent. You don't have a line. You might be safer with no line to protect you and have 11 receivers on the field. We might have something there.
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To: Mike Holmgren
Re: Dumb Luck and 'What Can Brown Do For You?"
How lucky are you getting out of St. Louis alive and with a victory. You need to work on that defense it is pitiful and I thought you were going to make it better. Ummm....okay then where are the sacks and picks and fantasy points for my squad you dumb fuck.
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To: Travis Henry
Re: Gool Old Days
It takes me back to watching him run wild for the Buffalo Bills and then get cast off and do shit until this past week. I don't know who I feel more sorry for. The Titans for thinking Travis Henry is capable of this every week or the Redskins who decided to bend over on Sunday afternoon.
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To: Roy Williams and Terrell Owens
Re: Welcome to the game of Football
You see you have to catch the ball in the endzone for points, until this past week. You obviously forgot that was part of the game. Prediction on both, they suck the next 2 weeks because they are over confidnet now.
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To: Bruce Gradkowski, Vince Young
Way to pick up your first career victories. Cheers to you my good friend. Hurrah!

The Good:
LT - He had 4 touchdowns and did not crack 100 yards. How on earth does that happen since Jerome Bettis is retired?
The Steelers - Looking like yourself, but still a long way to go
The Saints go marching on again, hurrah hurrah.

The Bad:
Bears - Was is it me making too many Ditka references that forced them to give up 6 count them SIX turnovers. Papa Bear Halas is rolling over in his grave with a performance like that.
Oakland - What's black and silver with no hope of victory? The Oakland Raiders. hahaha
The Bengals, Redskins, and Bills - okay, the Bills shouldn't be here because there game was more of a toss up. But, Cincy and Washington there was no excuses. If you don't want to play anymore then fine, but to get paid, you need to play.

Rankings to come soon....
JUBA

NFL Rankings...

2006-10-12T10:57:00.000-07:00

After about 7-8 beers watching Hockey Night in Canada with a buddy from home who was visiting, he was bitching about my blog and saying that I should do an NFL Ranking, which I thought was I good idea.
We are going to give it a try so let's hope we remember everyone here.

1- CHICAGO BEARS (5-0)
We all knew how scary the defense was, but did anyone expect the offense to come alive like this. I sure didn't. They have only allowed 36 points in the team's first five games. That is wicked nasty. They are on pace to finish with one of the stingiest defenses in NFL history. Now, let's not do anything stupid like get hurt or something.
2- INDIANAPOLIS COLTS (5-0)
They miss Edgerrin James. But James misses Indianapolis more. They are a deep team spreading the field with a variety of ways. Yes, they barely beat the Vince Young-led Titans last week, but the Colts ran with Joesph Addai, then ran with Dominack Rhodes. Oh yeah, we have that Peyton Manning guy with the arm to end all arms.
3- DENVER BRONCOS (4-1)
Whoever won the Monday night game between Baltimore and Denver was going to the 3 spot. That was a given, but Denver manhandled Baltimore making them look pitiful. The Denver defense was solid all night, in the cold shitty weather that Bronco fans have come to know and love.
4- BALTIMORE RAVENS (4-1)
Yes, they got pushed around in Denver and their running game is soon to be the 'feared' Running Back By Committee. Steve McNair is starting to struggle a little bit. The good news is like Chicago and Denver, the defense will keep them in games. You don't have to wow anyone by winning big, just do well enough to get by.
5- NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS (4-1)
How lucky are the Patriots to be playing in the AFC East, with Miami a complete and total mess this year, New England (barring internal collapse) has stamped themselves with another AFC East title. They need to really figure out the receiving corps or they will be hurting in January come playoff time. I am a big fan of the Maroney/Dillon running back tandem as they are running over opponents and making it look really easy. That shouldn't be happening.
6- SEATTLE SEAHAWKS (3-1)
Dear Mr. Hutchinson,
Please Come Home.
Sincerely,
Seahawks front office.
They need to improve the O-line to improve the running game. Hasselbeck has almost too many options when it comes to receivers but like New England they have a weak division making a return playoff trip likely. Sadly, they will be going through Soldier Field where they were known as the unknown soldier. Completely lost and confused.
7- CINCINNATI BENGALS (3-1)
They are going to outscore people, but they aren't getting the lucky breaks like last year. So, they need to work on the defensive side of the ball. Also, staying out of jail would be a gigantic plus for the mystery Bengals. If you guys keep playing well, then I have to hear Boomer Esiason talk and I can't drink that much to forget about him.
8- SAN DIEGO CHARGERS (3-1)
Philip Rivers needs one more big game for me to launch them into a top 5 team, but they looked really good against the Steelers. Imagine if the receiving corps were upgraded to a decent squad. How solid would the offense be?
9- PHILADELPHIA EAGLES (4-1)
McNabb has proven that he doesn't need T.O. the question will now be can he lead the team to the promised land and deliver a Philly Super Bowl trip. Also, Brian Westbrook slow down, take it easy. We haven't had you healthy this far into the season, ever.
10- ATLANTA FALCONS (3-1)
You love the run, Jeroius Norwood can run through and over people, why isn't he used more often? The receivers need to be more consistent as does Ahsley Lelie. You wanted out, you got out, now deliver some numbers.
11- JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS (3-2)
This is a team I do not want to face, if Leftwhich was only more consistent. Oh, imagine the possibilities. Will the injury to Peterson make a defense in one of the most frightening defenses?
12- ST. LOUIS RAMS (4-1)
Overachieving, which is good for them. They haven't hit the wall or have had their tema falling apart due to injuries. They will falter, unless they take down Seattle this weekend.
13- NEW ORLEANS SAINTS (4-1)
"Team of Destiny" is the new phrase I am hearing, is that the truth though, I don't know. I thought that last year's team underachieved because they lost McAllister, so them playing well this year is not a gigantic shock to me. I think that the Saints will march on, but they can't get every break all season, can they?
14- CAROLINA PANTHERS (3-2)
They lost Dan Morgan due to injury again. Steve Smith is healthy, but DeAngelo Williams is not. The 3-2 record shows hoe up and down this team is. The need be healthy to be playoff bound.
15- NEW YORK GIANTS (2-2)
The Giants are starting to come around which is about time. Are they as good as everyone is saying. Hell no. They will be a wild card team and then get trounced in the first round because I do not think the Giants are going to step and deliver defensviely. They are going to be up and down all season long.
16- MINNESOTA VIKINGS (3-2)
The defense is the highlight of this team for me, they are exceeding my expectations and warrant starting in fantasy matchups if they have a favorable opponent. I would like to see Brad Johnson try and air it out to the receivers a little more. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Keep going until it stops working.
17- DALLAS COWBOYS (2-2)
I will not answer any questions about T.O. and then you answer questions about T.O. guess what Parcelles I DO NOT CARE! You and T.O. can drop dead for I care. I for one, don't want to listen to this soap-opera crap any longer. Who's with me? Also, what is the deal at running back are we going to make up our minds here...Marion Barber or Julius Jones? That's the million dollar question.
18- WASHINGTON REDSKINS (2-2)
Santana Moss, Clinton Portis and a group of overachievers. Washington is the New York Yankees of the NFL, let's continue to throw money at the problem, because hey that has worked out great in the past. Yeah right, it doesn't work, but no one told Daniel Snyder that. ie-Brandon Lloyd, Antwaan Randle El, etc.
19- KANSAS CITY CHIEFS (2-2)
The defense is much improved but can the offense hang on until Trent Green comes back. We hope but nothing is certain. LJ is hurting and it's not like Priest Holmes is right there to step in. They have Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh and the Steelers are ready to take assault on Huard. Herm Edwards is losing control of his players and respect from management. It could be a very short tenure for him.
20- BUFFALO BILLS (1-4)
JP Losman is the right man for the job and Lee Evans is starting to contribute more frequently. Willis is doing well running the ball. There is a young trio in place giving Buffalo some hope. It's not Andre Reed, Thurman Thomas, or Jim Kelly but the potential is there for the Bills to hang in more games the rest of the season. I think they can go 7-9 in a tough AFC this season. (Still to play - NE again, NYJ again, DET, GB, JAX just to name a few.
21- NEW YORK JETS (2-3)
J-E-T-S, Jets, Jets, Jets. Oh, how I loathe you so fucking much. I think it is because every Jets fans I know from college was a huge dick. That must be it. I wanted to punch most if not all of them in the face. They were the same people who told me last year that the Jets should trade their entire draft to Houston to draft Reggie Bush. That's how dumb they were. Anyways, they are a wild card in the AFC East, because they have the potential and luck to stay in games, but they would allow 75 yards rushing to me, with bad knees on any given Sunday.
22- PITTSBURGH STEELERS (1-3)
Say it ain't so guys. You are playing scared football. You aren't intimidating anyone and why should should. Hines Ward is getting blanketed by guys and until Wilson/Holmes/ Washington become a reliable guy, there is little chance the 3 yards and a cloud of dust team makes the playoffs. Panic is so bad, there are rumors of Jerry Porter or Randy Moss to the Steelers in a package possibly including defensive standout Joey Porter.
23- SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS (2-3)
They are getting better each week, I am seeing signs of growth and potential. Alex Smith can throw, can someone please catch the ball. Or even play defense. You need defense to have a fighting chance ask teams that are at the top. They will tell you that defense is king.
24- ARIZONA CARDINALS (1-4)
Playing Matt Leinart is the right thing to do. Let the kid take his lumpps this year and establish a connection with Boldin and Larry Fitzgerald. Edgerrin James needs an offensive line so that he can start to run the ball. It would be a nice thing to get, but it won't happen until next year at the earliest. This is my sleeper for next season. 2007 - the year of the Cardinal.
25- GREEN BAY PACKERS (1-4)
Brett Favre. What the hell is Brett Favre doing in my living room? Sorry, "There's Something About Mary" was on TV last night and frankly, I could not resist myself from saying it. Brett says "I'm in town to play the Dolphins, dumbass." Ah, it takes me back. Anyways, Brett you should have moved on this year, it's tough to watch a legend fade away into mediocracy. I understand you want to go out competitive and a winner, let's face it. Green Bay is not going to give you that. What you need is a core of talent around you. Greg Jennings is wicked awesome, but losing Javon Walker hurt a lot. Even if you won't admit to it. Please stop living in 1997. It is sad to see this. The Free Aaron Rodgers campaign has officially started.
26- HOUSTON TEXANS (1-3)
David Carr can be a good quarterback as long as he is standing upright for more than a few seconds. Mario Williams is not the dynamic player Houston is hoping for and with Domanick Davis out for the year, how bad do you think Houston wishes they had Reggie Bush. I am sure plenty of people. Let's hope the defense can play to the potential of the offense and they will get by. They are better than 1-3. I truly think so.
27- CLEVELAND BROWNS (1-4)
Should they be higher, maybe but not by much. I am anti-Cleveland (being a Steelers fan it's in my blood) and I can't deny it. They are going to contiune to take their lumps, but they have some hope on the horizon, but what happened Rueben Droughns. He has looked ugly this year and needs to pick up the pace. Fantasy owners are calling for his head on a plate.
28- TAMPA BAY BUCCANNEERS (0-4)
They may be winless, but they looked managible against the Saints last week. Bruce Gradkowski, is going to get through this season and Jon Gruden did not panic and sign a retread quarterback to salvage his season ie-Tommy Maddox. Yes, Cadillac Williams will ultimately struggle as will the continued development of receiver Michael Clayton.
29- TENNESSEE TITANS (0-5)
Vince Young, looked okay against the Indy defense. I thought he was going to be falling apart. What is falling apart is the Titans front office and their receiving corps. Rumor has it that management and the coaching staff disagree on things and Jeff Fisher might be the guy to fall on the sword this off-season. If that is the case. The Titans will do a very bad thing there.
30- MIAMI DOLPHINS (1-4)
Joey Harrington, is getting something that very few people get in life. A second chance. I mean that's great. He deserves it and I hope that he does well. Even if it is Miami. He's has Chambers, Ronnie Brown, McMichael around him and he needs just a litte protection and he'll be alright.
31- DETROIT LIONS (0-5)
Yes, I like Jon Kitna as there qb. Joey Harrington got the raw deal, but this team is a mess up and down and there is room for improvement all over the place. I also hear that Roy Williams is hurting a little bit. Awesome, when it rains it pours literally.
32- OAKLAND RAIDERS (0-4)
First off, when Andrew Walter is your starting quarterback you are in trouble. This team should get at least one W. I mean Randy Moss and Lamont Jordan aren't that bad. Oh wait, they are. Well damn. Here's hoping for one win that doesn't come against the Steelers. From the rumor mill and reposted on rotoworld.com The Steelers are interested in either Jerry Porter or Randy Moss. Randy Moss in Pittsburgh, Cowher would definately retire and leave Moss to be someone else's problem.

Week 5 Football Fun

2006-10-11T13:37:00.000-07:00

I have returned from a long a pointless break. Mainly being swamped at work getting ready for the fantasy hockey season, in which I have a legitimate team.
The baseball playoffs are continuing which is fine, but the two teams that I picked to go to the World Series managed to get a total of 1 win between the 2 teams. That's not my fault, but the Yankees lost which is a good thing.

Anyways, let's get down to business. Team No Fat Chicks who almost won in week 4. (We lost because of the Seattle/Chicago game. My team was down 6 points going into that game where I had the Seattle defense and Josh Brown and they decided to suck big time and lose the game for me)
Week 5 was different, the team played with a chip on their shoulder, our opponent was 4-0 going into the week and they were the overachieving squad. They were in the middle of a controversy trying to trade Alge Crumpler, Deion Branch, and DeShaun Foster for Rudi Johnson which our league vetoed becuase both owners were being dumbasses.

First off, everything fell into place we won, but we also managed to score the most points in the league. That's wicked nasty. We were lead by the following guys:
Duece McAllister (123 rushing yards, td = 20 points)
Tom Brady (2 passing td's)
Cadillac Williams (100+ yards rushing)
Lee Evans (94 yards receiving, td against the bears)
Josh Scobee (13 points)
Minnesota Defense (5 sacks, 3 ints, 1 fumble recovery = 29 points)
Now I know I was wicked lucky (also having hines ward, mark clayton, todd heap not producing)
Really lucky was knowing my opponent had:
Peyton Manning (under 200 passing yards, 2 td's against tennessee)
Westbrook (non-factor in shootout against Dallas)
Antonio Bryant (overachiever)
Jericho Cotchery (overachiever)
Marcus Robinson (overachiever)
Keyshawn Johnson (67 yards, td)
Charges Defense (manhandling my boys on Sunday night)

Anyways, there is still some hope for us. As this week we are still the underdog, but our matchup this week boils down to the Cincinnati Bengals and the Tampa Bay Buccanneers. Our opponent also 1-4 has Carson Palmer, Rudi Johnson going we have Cadillac Williams and possible Michael Clayton. It'll be a game to watch.
Also, we have Tom Brady on bye week, so in comes Jake Plummer against Oakland (how can I be this fucking lucky!)
If Duece shows up again this week and my luck continues with Lee Evans (v. Det), Mike Furrey (v. Buf), Heap and Mark Clayton (v. Car).
It'll be a wicked close matchup.

Returning by popular demand is the list (I have lots to bitch about)

To: Terrell Owens
Re: Play the Game...
You are still alive after the Philly matchup and you were a non-factor. But, hey I hear that your new children's book deal is exciting. (Here's a title for you...Little T learns to shut the hell up, no one cares!)
So far 4 games, 17 catches for 232 yards and 1 touchdown....hmmm - here's a note YOU SUCK THIS YEAR!
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To: Art Shell
Re: Unemployment
Did you really need the money that much? You could make the same amount of money selling crack or turning tricks. Not tricks like making the Raiders not suck balls. You get the picture. Will you be around for those magic words "With the first pick in the 2007 NFL Draft, the Oakland Raiders select..."
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To: Bill Cowher
Re: Let's Circle the Wagons
The Superbowl hangover is getting wicked ugly. Roethlisberger is tough as nails and would not admit if he is injured or would dare sit himself down if his hair was on fire. But, we need to start figuring out how to move the ball a little bit better. I have some ideas it's called spreading the field, utilizing the versatility of players Hines Ward, Santonio Holmes, etc. Just a thought. I mean Ken Wisenhunt was a top choice to be a head coach and now he is looking foolish in the offensive coordinator role for the Steelers.
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To: Rex Grossman
Re: Pro-Bowl Caliber QB
Whatever the hell you are eating, I want seconds of that. Holy hell, no one saw this coming. Not even Rex himself. Chicago is blowing the dust off of the Superbowl Shuffle Vinyl Single. Little kids are going as Ditka for Halloween. (okay, that's a bit extreme. It would be hilarious though)
Grossman is doing exactly what his name implies, being Gross man, wicked Gross, making Bernard Berrian Honolulu bound.
Will they run the table against the 72 Dolphins, not a chance in hell. But it could be interesting to watch....
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To: Pregame Television Announcers
Re: No Personalitity
You all are overpaid, ex-athletes who needs to relate more to the average football fan. I would love to see some 300 pound die hard fan of football giving us insight, rather than Boomer Esiasion. Hey, Boomer we get it when you were with the Bengals the Ickey Shuffle was still cool. It's not and neither are you.
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The Good:
Any Chicago Bear not named Cedric Benson
Philip Rivers (yes, he beat Pittsburgh like it was his job...oh, what was that it IS his job. fuck)
Lawrence Maroney (he's sick and getting better)
Duece McAllister (he is quietly producing after being out for most of last year. It's that pesky Reggie Bush guy that is keeping him from a return top 10-15 back)

The Bad:
I thought Randy Moss was supposed to be talented and good. Well, he is awful now a days
Daunte Culpepper - put your ego at the door and fully recover from injury. It's Joey Harrington who has the job. It'll be easy to get it back.
Hines Ward - Thanks for showing up, poser. You are killing my team.
Tampa Bay - Chris Simms may have gone down, but you can't blame him for everything.

Until next week.
JUBA

MLB Playoffs

2006-10-03T08:40:00.000-07:00

The Football post will come later today, but I wanted to make my MLB Playoff Predictions right now, before the first game at 1 PM. That way, if it's true, then people know I am not copying them.

First thing is first. The Twins who I have been touting for quite some time is going to win the World Series. Now, I know that they are the trendy pick among sports writers who want to be cool, but let's look at the facts. How many teams have been hotter than Minnesota? The Twins know how to come back late in games. And I don't care how that since it's the post-season Mariano Rivera is the greatest closer ever, that was the past. This is 2006, Hello Joe Nathan! He will make the leap to superstardom this post-season.
On the NL side, it would have been pretty easy to say that the Mets were going, but let's get real. No Pedro, not going to happen. Jake Peavy and all-time saves man Trevor Hoffman will be representing the NL.
Twins/A's - Twins in 5
Tigers/Yankees - Yankees in 4

Twins/Yankees - Twins in 6

Mets/Dodgers - Mets in 4
Padres/Cardinals - Padres in 5

Padres/Mets - Padres in 6

World Series --Twins/Padres - Twins in 7.
MVP - Something tells me that Michael Cuddyer will come up big, it's just a feeling. Yeah let's see the Twins hoist the trophy for Kirby Puckett, who passed away during spring training.

Until later.
Juba

The List (Week 2)

2006-09-18T13:39:00.000-07:00

Another week has passed and first let's hear it for the Tenacious D of Western New York!
No, I don't mean the off-color humorous band featuring Jack Black, but the defense of the mighty Buffalo Bills throwing around Daunte Culpepper like a rag doll. More importantly, the Bills won. They evened their record at 1-1, preparing for a home opener next weekend against the New York Jets (who lost a close game to New England, but mainly because of some miraculous plays and poor Patriot tackling.)

Once again, my money league team, spent way too much time in the buffet line as team No Fat Chicks, were beaten with 2x4's and broken beer bottles. My team, which went down hill, when we had to draft in early August and then Dominack Davis went down for the year. But that's besides the point. 0-2 to start the year, makes me very very very angry and pissed off. My whole team has made 'The List'

To: Rex Grossman
Re: Stop Ruining my Life
Okay, we get it. You went to Florida and thought hey I used to be a run n' gun quarterback, If I spent more time on my feet, throwing the ball downfield I then bending over and taking it deep, then I should be fine.
Me: You stupid little (beep)(beep)(beep). My opponent had Trent Green as his other qb, and I am thinking that we are made and we are going to even our record at 1-1. Yeah, Um no.
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To: Jon Gruden
Re: Your Ass From a Hole in the Ground
Your offense is so bad, it couldn't beat a bunch of high school football players in a beer chugging contest. You can't pass, You definately can't run. You are forcing me to stop liking Cadillac Williams. If you don't step up, then I along with the city of Tampa Bay, will probably hunt you down and kick your ass. Atlanta misses 4 FG's. Four! That's unheard of in the NFL and you still manage to suck on it hard. You stupid little....

To: Cadillac Williams and Michael Clayton
Re: One Irate GM
You two are the biggest a-holes on the planet. I get it, Chris Simms isn't Brian Griese. Hell, he's not even Phil Simms (the retired, fat, old commentator not the player). But, not everything is this kid's fault. You even the big money. Damn it, act like you deserve it, play like you deserve it. Otherwise, You are dead to me.
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To: Tom Brady
Re: Throw the ball, and stop being an idiot
After your 'lucky' game against the Jets, you look like you are going to cry. Because they never should have been in the game towards the end. You lost, Deion Branch and David Givens, but management decided to give you the Trent Green syndrome. We have a quarterback who is good, but let's give him the shittiest receivers in the world, so he can be the worst of the top flight quartbacks. But, it's okay but we have three mother-F*ing running backs, who couldn't help Brady rack up passing yards. That's right, that's the job of Reche Caldwell. Are you kidding me? No wonder, Brady looks like he is crying. It's because he is.
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To: Miami Offensive Line
From: Daunte Culpepper
Thanks for making the Bills Defense look like the Steel Curtain of the 1970's. If you give me just 5 seconds I could make a pass, but I need some pass protection. I am Way more important than you and I will show you how Culpepper does things around here. I know people.
PS- You should drive your own cars to the stadium, by yourself unless you are carpooling with other offensive linemen.
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To: Football Fans Everywhere
From: New Orleans
Thanks for giving us a Monday night showdown with Atlanta. Reggie Bush is the renaissance of New Orleans.

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The Good:
Rex Grossman - QB Chicago (Yeah, you really can't ignore the nastiest numbers of the week)
Chad Pennington - QB New York Jets (I know, he got wicked lucky out of some fluke plays from his receivers, but the shoulder is looking like it could be okay this season)
Jericho Cotchery - WR New York Jets (I mean, did you see that catch, it was filthy. Catch of the Year, in only week 2)
Peyton Manning - WB Indianapolis (400+ yards, I don't care if it was against Houston)
Rudi Johnson - RB Cincinnati (140+ yards rushing and 2 TD's just in time for the Pittsburgh game next weekend)

The Bad:
Everyone on my fantasy team.
The Tennessee Titans Offense
The Tampa Bay Buccanneers Offense
Michael Konenen, K Atlanta (0-4 on FG's and you still win the game, wow)
*also, the Falcons signed Morten Anderson out of a 2 year retirement, but don't worry Konenen you always have punting to fall back on.

Until next week,
Juba

- Let's hope team, No Fat Chicks finally leaves the buffet line and finds their way to victory
I Loathe You Will Everything I Have:
Tom Brady, Duece McAllister, Cadillac Williams, Lee Evans, Hines Ward, Michael Clayton, Mark Clayton, Michael Jenkins, Todd Heap, Josh Brown, and Rex (Whore) Grossman.

Until next time.
~Juba

Off to the Races...

2006-09-14T07:50:00.000-07:00

The Minnesota faithful are crossing their fingers and lighting candles in the Twin Cities curches hoping that Fransisco Liriano, doesn't need to have (gulp) Tommy John surgery which could sideline him for the 2007 season.

The Wild Card leading Twins, have officially shut down Liriano, known as "The Franchise" after his dominanation of AL hitters, thus far. If there is any positive news for the Twins after Wednesday's game is that Matt Garza (named USA Today's Sports Weekly, Pitcher of the Year) shut down the Oakland offense and kept the Twins in the game. Garza who struggled a little bit when he was promoted is now back in the rotation, which is a crapshoot after "Mr. Automatic" Johan Santana.

Many people are jumping off the Twins bandwagon, much like the Titanic, but I believe the Twins are still going to hang around. They were still hanging around the race after Liriano went down the first time and their bullpen is the best on the planet. If they can get some servicable starts out of the starting pitchers, watch out forthe Mighty Minnesota Twins.

Until next time.
~Juba

Baseball at it's finest

2006-09-13T08:53:00.000-07:00

I was sitting up late the other night, flipping through the television channels and stumblied across one of my favorite sports movies, Major Legaue. Now I never said it was a good movie, in terms of meaningfulness, but it is crazy funny. It always makes me laugh.

Then it hit me, like a Rick Vaughn fastball. The Florida Marlins are the real life team in Major League. It makes perfect sense. No one knew anyone on the Marlins except for Dontrelle Willis, Miguel Cabrera, and manager Joe Girardi (specifically because everyone happens to be a Yankees fan, because that's the cool team to root for.)

Quick, think back to April and you were looking at team previews. Who ignored the Florida roster almost entirely? Who is this Scott Olsen kid, Anibal Sanchez (never heard of him), Hanley Ramirez, Dan Uggla (his name alone made you cringe). Uggla exactly what the Marlins were going to be this year right? Unless, you were a die-hard Marlins fan or an Alberquerque (N.M.) Isotopes fan (AAA for the Marlins) there was very little to root for.
I mean come on if they are going to pack up and bolt in the night just get it over with. Go to Portland, or Vegas, or Indianapolis for all I care. In the words of Nike "just do it."

There is one thing that happened though. No one told the Marlins that they were not supposed to be competitive. All of a sudden, they are the chic team to root for. Everyone loves to be a part the success story of an underdog team, are these fans for real?

The Marlins are one game over .500 (73-72) and only two games back in the NL Wild Wild Wild Card Race. Everyone in the NL is still mathematically alive for the Wild Card. There are already rumors circulating that Girardi will be fired by the owner Jeffery Loria (who ironically was a part of the Expos exile to Washington D.C.)

I think that the Marlins are a dangerous team, because they are filled with young talent that will not quit. They are anchored by a few pieces left over from the World Series team in 2003, which seems like decades ago now.

In Major League, my favorite part is where they are sitting in the locker room and they have a cardboard cutout of the female owner and for every win they get, the team reveals another piece from underneath. My only question is do the Marlins have a cardboard cutout of Jeffery Loria? It would be funny and make sense.

Let's go out and win the whole f*ing thing! That's how the Marlins operate.

Until next time.
~Juba

Week 1 Thoughts Cont'd

2006-09-11T12:12:00.000-07:00

Deion Branch is a subscriber to the Fantasy Sports Chat. That has to be it. Within hours of me venting about how he needs to shut up and play, the Patriots then trade him to the Seatlle Seahawks for a draft pick, what round or when? Who knows, who cares?

Branch now is a decent option with Hasselback, Darrel Jackson, Nate Burleson, and Shaun Alexander. Was this something that was inevitable or was the panic of squeaking by Detroit a cause for something drastic. The world may never know?

16 Weeks until the playoffs...
~Juba~

Week 1 Thoughts and Recap

2006-09-11T08:39:00.000-07:00

This was a busy weekend in sports, but everyone's attention was glued to opening weekend in football.
(Also, a side note that hockey training camps open up. Being in Canada that's a more popular topic around the watercooler than, why the Bills choked against New England, but that's irrelevant.)

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My money league team (Team No Fat Chicks) decided to take this week off and pretend not to play. They did not live up to the name as they forgot yesterday was opening day and were hanging around the all you can eat buffet. My most productive player was Michael Jenkins, who conviently was on my bench, because of some bizzare thought that Carolina's defense would manhandle him and the Falcons. Son of a.....
My team was lead by Tom Brady (3 passing yards in the first half against Buffalo, 3 no that is not a misprint.) I thought about how much I dispised him. Then the Buccanners against the Ravens. Oh, the Ravens how I loathe you now even more so. So, nothing out of Michael Clayton and nothing out of Cadillac Williams.
In fact I only had 3 'players' achieve more than 10 points due to our crazy scoring system. (Josh Brown with 11, Hines Ward with 11, and the winner is the Seattle defense with 15.) Nothing, love out of anything. Meanwhile as of this morning my opponent has a 77-68 lead on me, meanwhile he still has LaMont Jordan, McCardell, Santana Moss and the Redskins defense. Are you frickin kidding me. I am so pissed.
That lead me to my brilliant idea of THE LIST (mainly me writing and venting to people who ruined my lovely Sunday afternoon.)
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To: Deion Branch
Re: Get your Ass on the field

Last I checked, you don't win friends over whining and complaining about not getting paid enough. While you obviously need your teammates as much as they need you. You want the money, shut up and play. Flat out. Because, you can't see the light, you cost my Fantasy 'Golden Boy', Tom Brady some good numbers. Watch your back, you have made the list.
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To: J.P. Losman
Re: You Don't Take Safeties and Win Games
This one is really self explanatory. Think about it. You are outplaying the New England Patriots, which shouldn't happen and once again you destroy the love of football in Western New York by letting the victory slip away quicker than a drunk one-night stand. Also, hey I have a great idea. Let's not throw the ball to Lee Evans he is our number 1 receiver, but hey I hear Robert Royal has game and we can't forget about the big-play capabilities of Rosco Parrish.
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To: Tampa Bay Buccanneers
Re: moving the ball
Jon Gruden is an offensive genius, oh wait. Rich Gannon is no longer MVP. No, he is in Tampa Bay, right. You play Baltimore, who has a good defense, but you gotta establish a running game. Hey, let's run the ball 13 times the entire game. Note to Jon Gruden, Chris Simms isn't Peyton Manning and this isn't Madden football. You can't throw 34 out of 47 plays and win games, for that matter really scare anyone. Especially with the receiving core of Micheal Clayton (34 yards, 3 catches) leading in yardage.
There is one positive though, Chris Simms now knows the difference between the white jersey of Baltimore and the red jersey of Tampa Bay. Don't throw to the white ones at home, that's a bad thing (as proven by the 3 picks.)
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To: Brett Farve
Re: What a performance
The last time I saw a shitty performance like that out of Farve was watching "There's Something About Mary" You should have done the right thing here, let Green Bay know if you were going to come back, then give them some time to find some talent around you. I think you should be back home enjoying your retirement, nothing is more sad than watching a veteran hang on for too long. I am starting the Aaron Rodgers watch, any takers??
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and Finally
To: Jerome Bettis
Re: Opening Night
Nice dance in the suit on the field. You gotta give the man some props for still breaking out the patented Bettis jig, while not destroying the suit. Also, coming in on the school bus. That was simply the shit.
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That's Good.....
Kurt Warner (ARZ) Quarterback Rating of 114.8
Chad Pennington (NYJ) Over 300 yards, I don't care if it was against the Titans, I think he can be a contributor.
Warrick Dunn (ATL) 132 yards, who needs Duckett.
Donte' Stallworth (PHI) nice debut with 141 yard receiving and a TD. Who needs TO?
Welcome back from oblivion....
Antonio Bryant (SF) 114 yards receiving
Ahman Green (GB) 100 yards rushing (Someone decided to play for Green Bay)
Alex Smith (SF) 288 yards passing. There are signs of life in San Fransisco.

The Bad.....
Shaun Alexander (SEA) you played Detroit, come on. Detroit really isn't your place is it? Please tell me the fumbles aren't the beginning of Tiki Barber fumblitis.
Larry Johnson (KC) no 100+ rushing, no TD, no love, injured QB. Yep, you definately choked. Cincinnati defense may be improved, but it's not an elite defense.

Your thoughts on week 1....
Until then,

Juba

Back to Baseball (Down the stretch...)

2006-09-06T07:42:00.000-07:00

With football only a few days away. I am still focusing on fantasy baseball as I am clinging to the last spot in my money league (top 5 teams get some return on investment for the season).

It can be quite challenging trying to find quality players down the stretch, especailly because rookies are getting called up and trying to audition for spots for the 2007 season. For example, people in my AL-only keeper league were fighting over Cleveland Indians prospect, Kevin Kouzmanoff, who did hit a grand slam in his first MLB at bat. But honestly, do we really need to sit down and aruge about who is going to get the rights to him, when in all honest could be in AAA-Buffalo for most of the 2007 season.

I don't really care for the roster expansion in September, both from a baseball fan perspective and from a fantasy sports perspective. You have your roster of guys that are working real hard all season, and then they are supposed to not play the last month of the season, so some other player can audition for a spot in the lineup, not necessarily at that position, but just in general. I don't care for that. Everyone is trying to maximize their value and play as hard as they can. You can't make everyone happy though.

Some of the call-ups that I really like besides the obvoius (Delmon Young) are:
Adam Lind, OF/1B Toronto - This kid can hit, he started out the season in AA-New Hampshire and he was promoted to Syracuse and only improved on his numbers. (.310 in AA, .394 in AAA). With the Blue Jays falling out of control as of late and LF/DH Frank Catalanatto a free agent at the end of the season, Lind is going to get a long look to see if the Blue Jays need to keep the Cat, north of the border.
Troy Tulowitzki, SS Colorado - He is going to end the Clint Barmes reign in Colorado sometime in late 2007. Troy was the Rockies, first round draft pick in 2005 (7th overall) and he has done nothing to disappoint thus far he was hitting .291, with 13 homers and 34 doubles in AA ball this season. That does some hope for the future. He is a similiar style of ballplayer to Oakland's Bobby Crosby, but without the extensive injury history. He could be a force in Colorado down the road.
Kevin Kouzmanoff, 3B Cleveland - Kouzmanoff, as I mentioned earlier hit a grand slam in his first MLB at bat after he was called up from the minors. Interesting note, Kouozmanoff was replacing Travis Hafner in the lineup (who leads the majors in grand slams this season, with 7.) Kouzmanoff, started the season in AA and he dominated while playing for Akron, he was called up to Buffalo where he was outplaying his teammates and opponents. The $10,000 question is this...Where is Kevin Kouzmanoff going to play? The Indians landed another youngster in Andy Marte to play third, they shifted Ryan Garko from catcher to play first (meanwhile they have been trying Martinez at first a little).
Cleveland has too many young guns and not enough lineup spots for off of them to develop.
Andrew Miller, P Tigers - Yes, Andrew Miller was one of the most polished pitchers out of THIS YEAR'S DRAFT and he has done nothing to disappoint. He has come up to Detroit and they will use him out of the bullpen in the stretch drive for the feroicous Tiger pen. He is going to be something special and we will not even see the potential being tapped yet.

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Francisco Liriano threw a bullpen session today, and is close to returning. I, like many others are saying if he can come back and help the Twins (who have maintained with a patchwork rotation, they are going to be extremely dangerous come playoff time). They have to get their first. The Twins begin a gigantic series in Detroit which could decide the division. You hear it first.

On a sadder note, after everything that has happened in baseball this week and as of late. The Red Sox, who have found themselves fighting for a wild card spot, realized something very important outside of baseball. Anything can happen to anyone at anytime. Jon Lester, a 22-year old flamethrower was diagnosed with lymphoma. I have to say that his is in the thoughts and prayers of baseball fans everywhere and we all wish him a speedy and successful recovery. While this is a daunting task for anyone to deal with, for a 22-year old athlete, this is especially difficult to handle.
Lester, will beat this and come back and pitch again. Anything is possible with positive thinking and he should be successful with this too.

Big sports weekend with NCAA Football, NFL Opening Weekend, and MLB stretch drive.

Until next time,
Juba

Drafting til your Eyes Bleed

2006-09-05T09:52:00.000-07:00

Most people were out enjoying their Labor Day weekend, while I (along with many others, I assume) were going over last minute updates for their fantasy football drafts that are just before Thursday's mayhem in Pittsburgh.

I drafted my third of four teams. (My final draft being tonight.) I think that my team is very solid. Many people were pissed off at me but you know what. tough. I took the players I wanted and they seemed to be really upset, meaning I took 'their' players. I enjoy being an a jerk at times, especially being the snake in the grass on draft day.

My roster shakes down like this...
qb- Jake Delhomme
qb- Ben Roethlisberger (he may be out for Week 1 - appendecemy, but he's only my backup)
rb-Ronnie Brown
rb- Rueben Droughns
rb- Mike Bell (bench)
rb- Deangelo Williams (bench)
wr- Larry Fitzgerald (I didn't like the RB's left when I picked in the 2nd round, someone took Cadillac Williams right before I took Fitzgerald)
wr- Darrell Jackson
wr- Lee Evans
wr- Ernest Wilford
wr- Ashley Lelie (last round choice - everyone else forgot about him)
te- Heath Miller
te- Kellen Winslow Jr. (late round choice)
k- Nate Keading
d- Atlanta (something tells me they are mounting the comeback this year with Abraham)

Thursday is opening night and I am an irate Steelers fan that wants Big Ben out there to be dominant against Miami. I like Charlie Batch, but not on opening night.

Tonight, I have my final draft (18 teams). This is going to be a painful one. Hopefully I have a decent pick, otherwise I am hosed.

Until then,
Juba

NFC West Preview

2006-09-05T06:55:00.000-07:00

NFC West Preview

In the last of our pre-season previews, we are going to look at the NFC West.
Home of the NFC Champion Seattle Seahawks and three other teams who are not up to the caliber of Seattle, otherwise known as Arizona, St. Louis, and the once mighty 49ers.

The predicted order of finish is as follows...
1) Seattle (HUGE Suprise here)
2) St. Louis
3) Arizona
4) San Fransisco

Seattle barring injury will win this division and go back to the playoffs. They scored the most points in the league last season and they have the most potent runner in some guy named, Shaun Alexander. Yes, the Seahawks did lose out on Steve Hutchinson which could diminish some of the ease that Seattle moved the ball, but I doubt it. I still think that Alexander will have a monster year (breaking the Madden cover jinx) and Hasselback will be a force yet again.
Unless, plague strikes through the Pacific Northwest. Count them in the playoffs.

St. Louis comes in next. They lost Adam Achuleta to free agency and they lost Mike Martz but they have added in Jim Haslett a defensive minded coach to help sure up a team that looked abyssmal last season. They couldn't stop anything last year. If the defense turns it around then they might be in the playoffs, but they are going to need big performances out of Steven Jackson and Marc Bulger.

Arizona has been the talk of the league, lately. You heard me correctly. Arizona has talent. Larry Fitzgerald, Boldin, Kurt Warner were dynamic last season. So, new coach Dennis Green comes in and strikes gold. They add Edgerrin James (esentially stole him from Indianapolis) and they fall into Matt Leinart on draft day. He can throw the ball while Warner is not a young guy anymore.
If the Cardinals can improve on defense, they could be somewhere that few people could have imagined...the playoffs.

Lastly, the 49ers. I don't know whether to laugh or cry when describing the 49ers to you. They did draft Vernon Davis at TE and brought in Norv Turner. But there are so many problems with this team, that it will be a stretch for them not to be in the running for the number 1 pick in next year's draft.
At least Frank Gore, finally get's to start. He should deliver if he's healthy.

Season is only days away.
Juba

AFC West Preview

2006-09-01T07:00:00.000-07:00

The AFC West, where every game is a shootout. Oh wait, only seems like that most of the time.

I see the division beaking down like this....
1) Denver
2) San Diego
3) Kansas City
4) Oakland

Denver, what can we say about Denver excpet that, they are looking at both this year and down the road all at the same time. For example, who ran to their waiver wire in the fantasy football league and wantedto know who the hell Mike Bell was? More importantly, was he worth using a high waiver priority on?

The answer is maybe. Team Bell (both Mike and Tatum) will be used in the famed 'system' of Denver that have made somebody's out of everyday joes. That's not all though. Let's pick up a #2 receiver to go with Rod Smith, who has been playing forever. Hmmm......we could get someone in the draft or get Javon Walker. Let's get Walker. We have extra draft picks, great let's get Jay Cutler (who, apparently is as good as he was advertised).
Be advised that Gary Kubiak, lon-time assistant to Shanahan has bolted to Houston to coach and took that offensive system with him.
The Broncos are the class of this division and barring injuries punch their ticket for a January playoff run.

Next the San Diego Super-Chargers. They didn't want to overpay for Drew Brees, but they do have Philip Rivers and it is his time to shine. Can he step up to the plate or will he fall flat on his face. Remember he was picked ahead of Ben Roethlisberger and was a key component of the famed Eli Manning trade. They still have a couple guys named Tomlinson and Gates, maybe you heard of them. I think those guys are pretty good, so we will wait and see on that.
There schedule last season was hell, but it is a little bit better and the young guys on defense have had a full-season to develop. If anyone, takes down Denver this will be the team to do it.

Next up is Kansas City, the Chiefs brought in a defensive head coach in Herm Edwards who has finally excaped the New York media swarm. Can he bring his magic to Arrowhead? Offensive guru, Al Saunders is gone and that leaves a solid offensive scheme in limbo. Can Larry Johnson step up and deliver like a number 1 back can, or was last season an absolute fluke. The world may never know. Also, can Trent "Statuesque" Green stay upright or is he going to be down and out. If that's the case it will be a good thing gone bad in KC.

Oakland must have spent the off-season hanging around the Buffalo Bills, watching Back to the Future. Oakland management thought, hey let's bring in Aaron Brooks and Art Shell. Didn't Art Shell coach when Bo Jackson was playing? Oh wait, Jackson was in camp (my mistake). There are so many egos on this team that it would be a challenge for anyone to come in and fix them. They gave up on Charles Woodson, but brought in Duane Starks and drafted safety, Michael Huff from Texas. If Brooks and Moss come to life then it will be a fun thing to watch in Oakland. If not, then ouch.

The last one standing, the NFC West....

Until then,
Juba

NFC South Preview

2006-08-31T13:38:00.000-07:00

The NFC South, this is known for highly competitive football and a lot of bloodshed on the field.
This to me the one of, if not the most challenging division in all of football.

My predicted order of finish is as follows...
1) Carolina
2) Atlanta
3) Tampa Bay
4) Saints

Now, I know people are going to have my head on a platter for thinking the Bucs are the third team in the standings, but there is a method to my madness.

Carolina is one of two teams, I see coming out of the NFC and playing this year in the Super Bowl. There were not many glaring needs that needed to addressed, however Carolina stepped up to the plate and filled those needed holes. They added a solid 2 WR in Keyshawn Johnson, which hopefully will open things up a little bit better for Mr. Automatic (Steve Smith). They got arguably the best running back NOT named Reggies Bush in the draft (DeAngelo Williams) and beefed up a strong defense to begin with.
The running game needs to stay healthy, which is quite the challenge in Carolina and Steve Smith needs to be healthy. If those happen, then Carolina will be on my mind deep into the playoffs.

The Falcons have a good core of talent. I like Michael Vick, but I like Matt Shaub even more as his back up. Duckett is now gone and Ashley Lelie is in town. Yeah, another underachieving receiver. It's the defense that needs to credit though, they choked last season and caused headaches for many a fantasy owner. However, veteran leadership has been brought in with Lawyer Milloy and John Abraham. These two guys will help energize a defense that will return to being a top 10 defensive unit in the NFL.

The Bucs, yes Cadillac Williams is 'nasty', when he's healthy. But, Chris Simms? I just don't see it this year, I need to see a full season out of him for me to become a believer. Also, where in Tampa Bay is Michael Clayton? Fantasy hero in 2004, Fantasy goat in 2005, who shows up in 2006? I hope hero, becuase I have him on many teams. The Buccanneers have done more with less, but they are a feast or famine pick right here.

Lastly, the New Orleans (wait San Antonio, wait Baton Rouge) Saints. Last year, the team without a home after the devestation of Hurricane Katrina had a challenging time focusing on football and who can blame them. I wouldn't be focused if everything around me was in thousands of pieces and under water. The good news is that, the Saints are coming home, they did find a quarterback who understands that you need to throw the ball (Drew Brees) and they picked up, arguably the most dynamic player to come out of college in decades in Reggie Bush. I think Bush will be used a little bit of everywhere, including receiver as Duece McAllister is recovering from surgery, but has performed well in pre-season. Bush will be in the slot and take over a little bit of the #2-receiver role since Donte Stallworth is now in the city of Brotherly Love. With a new coach and new star in New Orleans, it is just a matter of time until things turn around in the Big Easy.

AFC South Preview

2006-08-30T08:34:00.000-07:00

Hmmm....the AFC South the story of two have's and two have-not's.
Real big suprise here, actually not really.

Predicted Order of Finish
1) Indianapolis
2) Jacksonville
3) Houston
4) Tennessee
* I flipped a coin and held a series of potato sack races to determine 3 and 4 between Houston and Tennessee. I will explain that later though.

Indianapolis manhandled everything in their path last season had a streak of consecutive victories that had the '72 Dolphins a little nervous. But, then came the playoffs, then came the emotionally high-Steelers, cue "The Fumble" and "The Tackle". But don't forget Vanderjagt and his big mouth, shanking a kick that would have kept the Colts alive in that game.
They have had an entire off-season to fix some glaring ommissions. The Colts send Vanderjagt and his ego packing, while swiping Adam (Mr. Clutch) Vinatieri from the Patroits causing a power shift West from Foxborough to Indy. Edgerrin James ran to the Land of Sun and Millions to play for the Cardinals. The Colts quietly draft LSU stud Joesph Addai to replace him and he could be a starter by mid-season.
The Colts have to 'maintain' and if that can be achieved, then the playoffs will have the Colts penciled in.

The Jacksonville Jaguars are determined to knock Indy down a step or two. This cocky, young, energetic team upgraded the corner with Brian Williams. However, it really needs to be time for Byron Leftwich to step up. (My friend can tell you I am the biggest supporter of Leftwich outside of the Jacksonville area.) He needs to be healthy and he needs to be a force for the Jaguars. He lost Jimmy Smith (who finally retired), but can Matt Jones, Ernest Wilford, and Reggie Williams become more reliable.
Lastly, Fred (I stubbed my toe and I am questionable for the rest of the season) Taylor is back, but his backup and one of my sleepers (Greg Jones) is out for the season with a torn ACL. If Taylor goes down, rookie Maurice Drew takes over. Frightening.

Houston was number 3, but then Domanick Davis decided to be the spawn of satan himself and screw over the money league team! I am livid and this further solidifies that money leagues shouldn't draft in early August. They did make the right move, in not drafting Reggie Bush, because they have...oh wait Domanick Davis. Yes, the defense will be improved as will the passing game with Eric Moulds and Gary Kubiak running the show.

Tennessee also makes number 3, let's say (3.5). They draft Vince Young, and Lendale White. They got David Givens, but let the franchise go in Steve McNair. I just don't understand it. But wait it gets better, because we have Kerry Collins. (Who was unemployed until about 4 days ago.) Tennessee has made one thing distinctly clear. They are in the rebuilding mode this season. I say let the kids play and see what they can do.

Later the NFC South, with teams that are geographically in the South. (I am talking to you Indianapolis)

NFC North Preview

2006-08-28T07:24:00.000-07:00

Lions and Vikings and Bears, oh my.
(I just couldn't resist)
The NFC North, the old-time, pound out the football, bloodbath that true football fans love.

The predicted finish is as follows...
1) Chicago
2) Detroit
3) Minnesota
4) Green Bay

Da' Bears. Quick who would win in a fight Ditka or a hurricane? Trick question, the Hurricane's name was Ditka. (I had to do it, I couldn't resist.) The defense is there, but is the offense there. That's the big question leading up to the season. No, Brian Griese is not the answer like most of you Bears believers would like to think. The Bears need to figure out who i the 2 receiver with Mushin Muhammed and who is going to be their running back. Benson or Thomas Jones. Everyone is Chicago and everyone playing fantasy football are dying to know.

The Lions are 2nd. What the hell? The (yawn) Lions. Mike Martz thinks he can save them, the truth is he cannot save them at all. Joey Harrington run out of town. Oh wait, you mean he's really bad. Get an offensive line and give him time to throw the ball. No running game, everyone covers the receivers. Look, to completions. Harrington also can't help the fact that the management of Detroit couldn't find their way out of a paper bag.
I liked Harrington and thought that he got a raw deal. Martz will earn his paycheck this season, because Jon Kitna and Josh McCown are no Joey Harrington.

Let's all hold hands and become one with the team. The Vikings need a spiritual retreat to get everything back on track. The Vikings are a mess both on and off the field. They have tons of problems and thought that trading away Daunte Culpepper would be a good idea. Yeah, it wasn't. Brad Johnson is the second immoblile quarterback in the entire league. (Bledsoe is number 1). They overpaid for Chester Taylor who isn't going to do much, with a porous offensive line (Yes, they take Steve Hutchinson away from Seattle but does that really matter, when the day is over?
The Vikings are at least a year away, but actually two years because the players are not the brightest around.

Lastly, let's all ask ourselves what the hell is Brett Farve still doing in the league. Didn't Farve want to have a winning team around him, but Javon Walker is gone and the 3-headed monster at running back can't be a good thing. Yes, the defense is upgraded with Charles Woodson and AJ Hawk, but how are they going to score points? Farve will gaurantee one thing. He will put fans in the stands by playing out his 'last' season.

Counting the days til opening night in the 'Burgh.
Juba

AFC North Preview

2006-08-28T06:31:00.000-07:00

Continuing with the preseason predictions and their fantasy implications. Today we will get caught up a little bit and look at the AFC North.

The AFC North is projected like this....
1) Pittsburgh (they are still the defending champs and deserve to be on top because of that)
2) Baltimore
3) Cincinnati
4) Cleveland

First in the AFC, this division historically is "a last man standing wins, no holds barred, grudge match." Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, and Cleveland. Pittsburgh the defending champs may have lost some personnel off their title winning team (Randel El, Hope, Bettis) however, they landed Santonio Holmes is the draft and typical Steelers style football let's replace within. Pittsburgh doesn't burn up the headlines by getting the top free agent on the market, they have their system and the players understand the concept of "Steeler Football."
The big question is will Willie Parker be able to withstand the full season of being the primary back or will guys like Deuce Staley and Verron Haynes step up and try to replace the immortal Bettis. Roethlisberger, needs to stay focused this season and after the near-fatal motorcycle crash I think that he is more focused than ever.

Next we find the Baltimore Ravens, who last season couldn't move the football down the field to save their lives. That apparently will all change as Steve "Air" McNair comes in from Tennessee and reunite with wide receiver Derrick Mason (he suprisingly had over 1,000 yards receiving last season.
This has quickly turned into a veteran team and the question will be if they can maintain the intensity over a full season. Also, a side note here Jamal Lewis will not be a full-time starter my money is on Mike Anderson to take over.

Now the Mighty Cincinnati Bengals (now many Cincy fans are irate) over the prediction of 3rd place. They won the division last year not the Steelers and Carson Palmer is improving with each and ever snap from surgery. They did add big Sam Adams (always a good thing, oh wait the football player not the beer.....anyways) to clot up the middle and let the linebackers run a little more freely. I think that the defense overachieved a little bit last season and that the offense will struggle because no one is afraid of the mighty bengals anymore.

Lastly, the Browns (now don't get me wrong I think that the Browns will be improved) are a good team playing in a bad divison. If the Browns played in the NFC North or AFC East I might be able to predict a few more wins out of them and a possible playoff hope (maybe 5% percent instead of 2%). However, Channing Frye is their permanent starting quarterback, which may or may not be a good thing for the Browns imfamous Dawg Pound. I like what Romeo Crennel is doing but he is a year maybe two from shaking things up in the AFC North.
One final note, Reuben Droughns went 8th overall in my moeny league draft. 8th! and no, the owner is not directly related the Droughns. (Excuse me, but thanks for your donation to the eventual champions.)

Until next time,
Juba

Fantasy Sports Chat

2006-08-25T09:10:00.000-07:00

NFC EAST PREVEIW (more like massacre)

So far this division has been the craziest from the most competitive, most psychotic, and most annoying.

The Cowboys, Giants, Redskins, and the Eagles. (Does someone really have to win this division?)
I suppose I am jaded because only the Eagles didn't manhandle those Mighty Bills in a Super Bowl, but Westbrook is evil and has cursed every fantasy team he has been on. (Therefore, my hatred of the Eagles.)

Anyways the predicted order of finish looks as this....
1) Philadelphia
2) Dallas
3) Washington
4) New York

Now first off, didn't the Giants win this division this past season. I think that they did. Don't they have a Manning at quarterback? I didn't think that this team has regressed to being predicted in the bottom of the division, but then again it's the NFC East and I can't focus my attention on that for very long.
I have this theory that every New York Giant fan in the tri-state area is currently driving to Sportsline and beat them with all their might. Every thread from the predictions were irate Giant fans. So, irate I was happy that I wasn't at college in New York State because I would have had to listen to this crap. All the f*ing time. I am an AFC boy and honestly, if I have to listen to how the Giants are the best team in football on Super Bowl weekend again (especially when the Seahawks and MY Steelers are playing) I will have to do something I truly regret.

Okay, stop angry lunatic rampage. Anyways, The Eagles are at the top and the Cowboys are 2nd for one simple factor. Terrell Owens. For the Eagles it's addition by subtraction and the distraction is something that the Cowboys brass should be able to keep in control (if not Parcelles will reitre). McNabb is in control of this team and rightly so, it is his team. Andy Reid will find a way again, the road of the NFC no longer will go through Philly but the Eagles will be clawing all season.

The Cowboys made a good move and a bad move recently. Good - Getting Owens , Bad - Getting Owens, Vanderjagt (punk kickers need to kick or they will be released), not getting a solid veteran backup for 'Statue Drew' Bledsoe. Don't be suprised if Bledsoe is knocked out of more than a few games early this season. At these the "Behind the Star-E True Hollywood Story" will be entertaining coming out of Dallas.

Washington - News Flash. Antawn Randle El is not worth the money you spent on him. Neither is everyone on your roster. Welcome to the L.A. Dodgers or N.Y. Mets (before they turned things around) of Football. Washington is the funniest team this side of the Mississippi. Let's keep Brunell and surround mediocre targets around him. Yes, Santana Moss had a great season last year, but I think that he is 1) the product of a system and 2) so happy to be out of New York that last season was a fluke.
I am not impressed with the Redskins. It will take time and this team doesn't stop and reflect they throw money around like idiot college students buying every iPod accessory on the planet. Newsflash- Brunell hurt and in comes, Jason Campbell (Yep, playoffs written all over there)

Lastly the Giants. Yes, the secondary wasfeatured on extreme home-field makeover. Oh wait, that was a dream. Their defense was a suprise to many in fantasy leagues, but this season they will show more of their true form. Also, Tiki Barber cannot keep up with his monster season from last year - can he? Eli is still growing up, but Sinorice Moss isn't going to be a factor much this season. Remember this - Plaxico Burress in playoff game = dropped passes and choke artist.

Next let's cruise to the Central.
Send me your thoughts.

Juba

AFC East Preview

2006-08-24T11:40:00.000-07:00

I saw today the CBS. Sportsline has already begun their preseason predictions for the actual football season and I am a little confused and wanted some clarification on things.

Sportsline, won't return my emails or phone calls and I believe they have completely lost their minds.....
Let's talk about the AFC East. Ah I know it well, being an hour from Buffalo and having gone to college with ignorant JETS fans for the last four years. (One advantage of graduating, I hate those J-E-T-S, JETS, JETS, JETS chants. I want to punch someone in the face when I hear it.)

Predicted order of finish
1) Patriots (Wait, let me regroup myself out of shock and awe for that.) (Yawn)
2) Bills (Am I dreaming? The Bills? Has Jim Kelly been revived and is able to guide them to victory again?)
3) Jets (Oh, how I loathe you)
4) Dolphins (Aren't they the 'trendy' pick this season?)

The Patriots they should win barring the plauge, apocolyptic disasters occurring.

The Bills in 2nd. This is the ONLY, place outside out Western New York who puts the Bills this high. The Bills, are a 3rd place team at best this season unless Lee Evans turns into Andre Reed and Willis McGahee become vintage Thurman Thomas. Just because Marv Levy is back in the helm, doesn't mean he is bringing back the old magic.
Wasn't it directly after the draft in April all the football experts were questioning what the Bills were thinking? The Bills were being talked about as a potential front-runner for a Adrian Peterson or Brady Quinn at the top of next year's draft.

The Jets, yep your qb is injury prone, your backup is too. The running back is long overdue for a breakdown, but hey Wayne Cherbet is still there (wait, what was that he finally retired too). I like what they did in the draft and they are going to be 'building' something special with POTENTIAL, but they are barely behind the Bills in my eyes.

The Dolphins, waht can I say about Miami. Ricky Williams loves hit pot so much he fled to the CFL (He is also currently out with a broken wrist.) This has meant that more people know who the Toronto Argonauts and Edmonton Eskimos are but in all seriousness. Ronnie Brown was drafted number 2 for a reason. He is that good. It's addition by subtraction in my mind and this guy is nasty. He is a top back and for fantasy players should be a favorite of many.
Culpepper has arrived and the Dolphins now has someone who can throw the ball to Chambers and McMichael. Joey Harrington is the back up there, but Culpepper is the important piece.
People have wanted to cut the Dolphins and give up on them for quite some time, but a buy low team ready to become playoff bound is Miami and those tricky Dolphins.

Until next time
~Juba

Fantasy Sports Chat

2006-08-23T10:55:00.000-07:00

Blog on Baseball....

The stretch drive is here and I wanted to take a quick moment and chat about some ongoing things I have noticed going on in baseball.

First Thing's First
In this corner weighing in at 180 LHP from the Toronto Blue Jays, Ted Lilly and in this corner weighing in at a robust 225 Head Coach, John Gibbons. (I mean...) If you missed this, what were doing? Lilly refuses to be taken out of the game and he and Gibbons go after each other in the dugout. I thought that their was lots of security at the Rogers Center, where are the mounties when you need them?
What is going on in Canada? The Blue Jays were the chic pick to snake a playoff spot from the Red Sox and/or the Yankees. Right now they couldn't find their way out of a paper bag. Roy Halladay is their saving grace and if he doesn't win the Cy Young this year it is a crime against baseball. Without him the Blue Jays are at the same level as the Orioles and Devil Rays. (That's tough to say as an Orioles fan.)

Mighty Mauer and the Minnesota Maniacs
Joe Mauer will win the AL batting title, the first for himself and the first for a catcher in ages. "Mauer Power" is all the rage in Minnesota, who again finds themselves back in the playoff hunt after a horrendous start to the season.
Justin Morneau is the first Twin to hit over 30 homers and 100 rbi's since 1987 (Yep, Gary Gaetti and Kent Hrbek both did it then). Johan Santana is in prime form, but don't forget about the suprisingly play of Michael Cuddyer, Jason Kubel, Jason Bartlett (once thought of as a AAA castoff), and Nike Punto.
The bullpen shuts the door almost everytime. I wish I had a bullpen like the Twins. Joe Nathan, could be the best closer this side of Rivera, and setup guys Rincon, Reyes, Crain, and rookie Pat Neshek (his quirkly delivery has made him nearly unhittable--- 3-0, 0.84 ERA, 32K-3BB, 21.1 IP after dominating in AAA--- 6-2, 14 SV, 1.95 ERA, 87K-14BB, 60 IP). Now those are results out of a rookie.

Oakland pulling away, again
Raise your hand if you gave up on Frank Thomas (I did). He is on pace for 33 HR, 94 RBI, .278 AVG. He is outperforming the last two seasons combined. Oakland will win the West if injuries and Milton Bradley don't cost them.
This next stretch is crucial as Huston Street is on the DL and the Rangers and Angels are still fighting for their playoff lives.

No Abreu, No Problem
Bobby Abreu goes to the Yankees. Okay, fine. The real story is the Phillies in the wild card race. My potential sleeper team is back from the dead. I thought the apocalpyse would happen first. Ryan Howard, Pat Burrell, Chase Utley, and Jimmy Rollins are leading the "Brotherly Love Phillies" back to contention and with Glavine aching for the Mets, the East may not be out of reach.

Wild, Wild, NL
Everyone is still alive for the playoffs, the NL Central and NL West are cat fights and will be until early October. I am smelling one game playoff scenarios. (No holds barred action)
The Cardinals, the Reds, who wants the Central. Will the Dodgers band together with their egos and drive towards the playoffs? Will the Padres, Giants, and D-Backs sneak in? Or could the Rockies move closer.
The Wild Card is crowded as ever in the National League and an interesting thought for everyone to ponder... Cincinnati is currently atop the Wild Card race with a 66-60 record (.524 winning percentage). However, they would be no where close to the playoffs in the AL the Chicago White Sox (.584), the Twins (.581), the Red Sox (.552), the Angels (.532), and yes the dysfunctional Blue Jays (.532) would be leading the NL Wild Card, but are in the wrong league.

Until next time.
Juba

Fantasy Sports Chat

2006-08-22T06:49:00.000-07:00

More for Gore

With yesterday's trade of Kevin Barlow to the New York Jets. Frank Gore barring injury is king of the castle in San Fransisco. He has already been on my radar screen as I am a founding member of the Barlow hurts and fantasy team he's on.
Remember Gore was supposed to start in front of two running backs named, I believe McGahee and Portis at the U in Miami. I think those guys turned out all right.
I think it is pretty simple to say Gore will be going for more.

Any thoughts, how's are the drafts going?

Until next time.
Juba

Fantasy Sports Chat

2006-08-21T07:06:00.000-07:00

Fantasy Sports Chat

I had another draft over the weekend with friends from back in the states. It would have been better, but with everyone's schedule we had to do an automated draft, which sucks big time.

I dispise the automated draft, because it is so much more fun to read into the other players and their strategies and tyr to pysche them out.

I luckily ended up with the 5th overall pick (out of 10) so it really didn't matter where yo were, because there was going to be quality players everywhere. Also, the commissioner failed to tell me we also had to draft individual defensive players, which I wasn't prepared for I would have listed a few that I wanted, but I didn't. Therefore, I was subject to whatever crap Yahoo gave me.

My roster (Toronto Argonauts) shapes up like this offensively....
qb- Culpepper
qb- Farve
rb- Barber
rb- Cadillac Williams
rb- Frank Gore
rb- Chester Taylor
wr- Hines Ward
wr- Reggie Wayne
wr- Reggie Brown (someone has to catch McNabb's throws)
wr- Keyshawn Johnson
te- Tony Gonzalez
te- Mercedes Lewis
k- Nate Kaeding
def- Pittsburgh
individual defensive players are overall weak (I won't even waste the time by posting them)

Looking at this lineup without making any moves, I predict a middle of the road team here. I have my work cut out for me.

Until next time.
Juba

Fantasy Football 06

2006-08-18T08:04:00.000-07:00

The leaves are starting to turn the 4th of July has come and gone and now it's time to get down to business. It's time for fantasy football and as millions have discovered it's an ugly addiction that just cannot be avoided.

This year I have cut back and I am only involved in four leagues.
My money league team shaped up like this:
(My co-owner and I picked 10th out of 12 teams this year)

qb- Tom Brady
qb- Jake Plummer
rb- Cadillac Williams
rb- Dominack Davis (he was a reach but the dropoff of backs after him were rough)
rb- Ryan Moats (westbrook hasn't had a healthy season in years)
rb- Deuce McCalister (he broke my heart last season, but I still managed to run away with the title thanks to Barber, Chris Chambers, Roy Williams, and Marvin Harrison)
wr- Hines Ward
wr- Lee Evans
wr- Mike Clayton
wr- David Givens
wr- Mark Clayton
wr- Michael Jenkins
te- Todd Heap
te- Jermaine Wiggins
k- Josh Brown
k - Josh Scobee
D- Seattle
D- Minnesota

it's a 12 team league. so notable suprises were Reuben Droughns going 8th overall. I had a toss up between Ronnie Brown and Cadillac Williams at 10. Brady falling to the 5th round. I was quite satisfied with that.

This year my league added a flex position of wr/te to our starting lineup. So the run on wide recievers caught me off guard and in a panic had to take Lee Evans early, because it was him or a low tier #1 receiver (ie-Eddie Kennison) Also, Deion Branch went with the pick right before mine and he was the player I was looking at.

You thoughts and let me know how your drafts went.

Until next time.
Juba