Fearless Predictions - Week 12

While some people are figuring out how to use those last bites of Thanksgiving dinner, fantasy football players are trying to position themselves for the playoffs. And we at the People's Pigskin are trying to lift our People's League predictions up to the .500 mark. We made some progress last week by going 3-2, lifting our season record to 25-29-1. Let's see if we can keep that momentum going.
People's Pigskin vs. VinSethVaughn Bears: The Bears took a 24-11 lead on Thursday, but the Pigskin has the weapons (including Eli Manning on Monday night) to overcome that deficit and extend its winning streak to four games.
Palm Bay, Fl. BearDown85 vs. Glen Gardner's Finest: As of this writing, the Finest sport a 22-3 lead. As of this writing, the Finest has not chosen a starting quarterback (with Mark Sanchez available on the bench). The BearDowns have Cedric Benson, LeSean McCoy and Vincent Jackson with tasty matchups, not to mention a five-game winning streak. That streak should extend to six, even with Tim Tebow in the starting lineup.
t-bay jacks Young'ry Buccs vs. Arcadia Roses: The Roses lead 19-5. The Roses have the better record, the better fantasy quarterback (Cam Newton), the better fantasy running back (Arian Foster) and better fantasy receivers (Steve Smith and Roddy White). The Roses get the pick.
Team Brotherton vs. LA Lockouts: These two teams are tied at the top of their division. The Brothertons have a 46-26 lead. Drew Brees and Jimmy Graham may make things interesting on Monday night, but Rashard Mendenhall should have a strong enough Sunday night to preserve the win for the Brothertons.
Hudson Valley Hawks2 vs. Minneapolis Fantastic Houll: The Hawks lead this matchup by a score of 24-20. And this matchup might boil down to how you feel about Chris Johnson. He has already wrapped up that Fantasy Bust of the Year award, but this week's matchup against Tampa Bay might be the thing he needs to remind us why the Titans gave him that titanic contract in the first place. Look for Johnson to make the difference in a Hawks victory.
Thanks for reading, and enjoy the games. We'll be back with some fresh polls.

The People's Choice - Week 12

We'd like to thank those of you who were able to tear yourselves away from the joy of shopping long enough to vote on the People's Pigskin lineup for this week. Here are the players who will take the field for the Internet's favorite fantasy football team against the VinSethVaughn Bears.
Quarterback: With Tony Romo voted down on Thursday, you went unanimously with Eli Manning, who will take the field Monday night against the New Orleans Saints.
Running back: After starting Ray Rice on Thanksgiving night, we had only one running back spot left to bestow. Fortunately, you wanted only one running back out there: Michael Bush (hosting the Chicago Bears in the late afternoon).
Wide receiver: The two leading vote-getters this week are the ones who have been getting votes (and points) all season long. Larry Fitzgerald has an early matchup against the St. Louis Rams, and Wes Welker has a late afternoon game against the Philadelphia Eagles.
Flex: The third-place finisher in the wide receiver poll handily beat the second-place finisher in the running back poll. Therefore, Plaxico Burress starts for us this afternoon against the Buffalo Bills.
The voters turned back to our usual starters at defense/special teams (the Pittsburgh Steelers, facing the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday night) and kicker (John Kasay, hosting the New York Giants on Monday night). And longtime readers of the blog will recall that Jason Witten started for us Thursday at tight end.
Thanks for voting. We'll be back later with the People's League picks.

A People's Pigskin Thanksgiving (with Polls)

As this post hits the Web, some of you are watching balloons make their way down Manhattan. Others are preparing your turkeys (hopefully with better results than this). Some are hoping their travel plans don't turn into a Steve Martin movie. And we at the People's Pigskin are preparing for a fantasy football feast. We asked you, the Internet, to help us make some early decisions about this week's matchup against the VinSethVaughn Bears. And here are your piping-hot results.
Quarterback: You treated Tony Romo the way many people treat that canned cranberry jelly that makes its way to so many tables. The majority of you passed on him, so we'll have to go another direction at that position.
Running back: On the other hand, you unanimously reached for Ray Rice the way most of us reach for the pumpkin pie. He'll start for us this evening against the San Francisco 49ers.
Tight end: Since both of the tight ends on our roster have games today, we pretty much knew one would be starting for the Internet's favorite fantasy football team. And the winner is Jason Witten, who hosts the Miami Dolphins in the late afternoon.
As for the rest of our lineup, we still have a lot of decisions to make. So we have whipped up a fresh batch of lineup polls from scratch. They will stay open through Saturday night, so you can vote on them today while waiting for dinner, or you can come back to them later after the crowds have dispersed. Either way, we would appreciate it if you cast your vote and helped this experiment in fantasy sports democracy continue.
Enjoy the games, everybody. And remember your reason to be thankful. If you're having trouble coming up with your own, here's a hint.

Thankful for Another Win

As you dig in to your turkey tomorrow, the People's Pigskin will be celebrating its third straight win and starting work on a fourth.
The Internet's favorite fantasy football team defeated Glen Gardner's Finest by a score of 92-62. Our season record has improved to 5-6, and we now sit two games behind the division leader in the People's League.
Here is a quick scoring breakdown.
Eli Manning, QB: 18 of 35 passing for 264 yards, 1 touchdown, 1 interception, 1 fumble lost and 10 fantasy points. Unfortunately, Manning is making a habit of giving up late turnovers that cost his NFL team even more than they cost his fantasy teams.
Ray Rice, RB: 20 rushes for 104 yards, 5 receptions for 43 yards, 2 touchdowns and 26 fantasy points. The Baltimore Ravens have figured out that they are more likely to win when they find ways to get Rice the ball.
Michael Bush, RB: 30 rushes for 109 yards, 2 receptions for 20 yards, 1 touchdown, 1 fumble lost and 16 fantasy points. The only thing that might slow Bush down at this point is a recovery by Darren McFadden.
Larry Fitzgerald, WR: 3 receptions, 41 yards, 1 touchdown and 10 fantasy points. It's a good thing Fitzgerald found the end zone. Otherwise, these numbers would be ugly.
Plaxico Burress, WR: 4 receptions, 64 yards and 6 fantasy points. Thursday night was a bad night to be a New York Jet.
Wes Welker, Flex: 2 receptions, 22 yards and 2 fantasy points. Both of Welker's catches came late in the fourth quarter of a game that was decided the moment the Kansas City Chiefs allowed Rob Gronkowski to run free.
Jason Witten, TE: 3 receptions, 85 yards, 1 touchdown and 14 fantasy points. Witten's yardage was his highest in a month and a half.
Buffalo Bills, D/ST: 1 sack, 1 safety, 35 points allowed and 2 fantasy points. It's safe to say this waiver wire pickup didn't pan out.
Mike Nugent, K: 1 for 1 on field goals, 3 for 3 on extra points and 6 fantasy points. Nugent scored 6 fantasy points for the third straight week.
Bench: Tony Romo racked up 23 points on our sidelines. Percy Harvin added 15, and DeAngelo Williams (remember him?) scored 10.
Now, let's talk about Thursday. The National Football League is gracing us with three games, all of which have fantasy relevance. (Even NPR has noticed.) And we need your help setting our lineup. We have four players taking the field on Thanksgiving: Rice, Romo, Witten and Brandon Pettigrew. Our polls are still open and will stay open through Wednesday night. If you'd like to help out, get your votes in now, and encourage your friends/relatives/random holiday visitors to do the same.
We'll be back with the results.

Wrapping Up a NASCAR Season

Thanks for your patience over the past few days as the people who bring you this fine fantasy sports blog have been on the road. We are back home, and another auto racing season is in the books. The People's Pitstop is proud of its performance over the past 10 months, concluding with a 280-point outing on Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Our season total of 9,550 dropped us one spot to 5th place in the 9beersfantasysportstavern league. Congratulations to Dale Jr Amp National Guard 88 for winning the league.
And here are the final results of 2011 for the Internet's favorite fantasy NASCAR team.
Carl Edwards: Started 1st, finished 2nd, 119 laps led and 118 fantasy points. Edwards did everything except what he needed to do to get his first Sprint Cup: win. However, longtime readers will recall that we anticipated that.
Brad Keselowski: Started 5th, finished 20th (1 lap behind the leaders), 11 laps led and 62 fantasy points. Keselowski is certainly someone to watch for 2012. As long as no one asks him about fuel injection.
A.J. Allmendinger: Started 12th, finished 15th and 62 fantasy points. As it turns out, 15 was the number to describe Allmendinger's weekend. With his 15th place finish in Homestead, he secured 15th place in the final NASCAR standings.
Bobby Labonte: Started 35th, finished 27th (1 lap behind the leaders) and 38 fantasy points.
Thanks to all of you for helping the People's Pitstop achieve all it achieved this season. And remember that the People's Pigskin still has some meat left on its season. A fresh set of polls are now open for voting through Wednesday night.
We'll be back with the football results.

Fearless Predictions - Week 11

Without further adue, here are this week's predictions for the People's League. Last week's version of the picks went 2-3, leaving us with a season record of 22-27-1.
People's Pigskin vs. Glen Gardner's Finest: The Pigskin holds a slight lead after Thursday night and should maintain that lead the rest of the weekend.
Hudson Valley Hawks2 vs. Team Brotherton: The Hawks got only a single point from Shonn Greene before he left Thursday's game. The Brothertons should take that break and run with it to a victory.
LA Lockouts vs. t-bay jacks Young'ry Buccs: The Buccs got only 3 points from Santonio Holmes on Thursday. DeMarco Murray has a chance to cement his spot in the Dallas Cowboys starting lineup. That should get the Lockouts another win.
Minneapolis Fantastic Houll vs. Palm Bay, Fl. BearDown85: If this one comes down to Monday night, Aaron Hernandez is a far better bet to score than BenJarvus Green-Ellis. And the BearDowns are a much safer pick as a result.
Arcadia Roses vs. VinSethVaughn Bears: That donut the Bears got from Eric Decker probably isn't very tasty. Neither is A.J. Green's doubtful status for Sunday. The Roses should roll into the winner's circle here.
Thanks for reading, and enjoy the games -- as well as the race. We'll be back when we can with the results.

The People's Choice - Week 11

Thanks to everyone who voted in this week's polls. Here are the players who will represent the People's Pigskin this week against Glen Gardner's Finest.
Quarterback: Eli Manning edged out Tony Romo. He'll take the field Sunday night against the Philadelphia Eagles.
Running Back: Two players dominated this poll. They were Ray Rice (facing the Cincinnati Bengals) and Michael Bush (visiting the Minnesota Vikings).
Wide Receiver/Flex: Two players topped this poll and beat DeAngelo Williams for the flex spot. As you might expect, they were Wes Welker (facing the Kansas City Chiefs Monday night) and Larry Fitzgerald (playing the San Francisco 49ers in the late afternoon).
There were no changes at tight end (Jason Witten against the Washington Redskins). Earlier in the week, you chose Mike Nugent (facing the Baltimore Ravens) and the Buffalo Bills defense/special teams (playing the Miami Dolphins).
We'll be back with the People's League predictions.

The People's Choice - Homestead (and the Final Prediction)

We at the People's Pitstop would like to thank all of those who have supported us throughout this NASCAR season. The drivers have arrived at their final destination: Homestead-Miami Speedway. And here are the drivers who will represent us there.
A List: Carl Edwards earned the pole (and 10 bonus points for us).
B List: Brad Keselowski (5th) and A.J. Allmendinger (12th) earned starting spots over Jeff Burton and Marcos Ambrose.
C List: Bobby Labonte (35th) earned the final starting spot over David Gilliland.
And, instead of giving you the usual top 10 predictions, we'll end this racing season with the only prediction that matters.
Tony Stewart wins his third Sprint Cup.
We'll be back with the football poll results.

Say Hello to Our New Friends

This week, we threw a Justin Verlander-level curveball at you, the Internet. We asked you to pick a new defense/special teams and a new kicker for the People's Pigskin to fill in for our regular starters, the Pittsburgh Steelers and John Kasay. You voted, we submitted the waiver wire requests -- and came up as empty as this guy.
So, instead of getting our first choice, the Cincinnati Bengals defense/special teams, we ended up with the Buffalo Bills defense/special teams. They will start for us this week against the Miami Dolphins. Joseph Addai was released to make room for the Bengals.
On the kicker side, we couldn't get Neil Rackers (who has a bye week, anyway), so we went with plan B: Mike Nugent of the Cincinnati Bengals. He'll start for us against the suddenly vulnerable Baltimore Ravens. Danny Woodhead was released to give Nugent a roster spot.
Thanks for your input on those polls. And feel free to vote on the others. The one about Plaxico Burress will close Thursday evening (before his New York Jets kick off against the Denver Broncos). The ones about our NASCAR lineup will close Friday evening. And new football polls will go up as soon as we know whether Burress is starting for the Internet's favorite fantasy football team.

We Have Another Winning Streak!

It only took until the middle of November, but the People's Pigskin has its second two-game winning streak of the 2011 season.

The Internet's favorite fantasy football team beat the Minneapolis Fantastic Houll by a score of 122-74. The win lifted our season record to 4-6, and given the tight standings in the People's League, a playoff berth remains a distinct possibility.

Here are all the juicy details.

Eli Manning, QB: 26 of 40 passing for 311 yards, 2 rushes for 4 yards, 2 touchdowns, 2 interceptions and 16 fantasy points. Once again, our quarterback had a strong day -- right up until the end.

Ray Rice, RB: 1 for 1 passing for 1 yard, 5 rushes for 27 yards, 8 receptions for 54 yards, 1 touchdown and 11 fantasy points. It's a good thing Rice got a chance to throw for a score. The Baltimore Ravens seemed bound and determined to give this game to the Seattle Seahawks by keeping the ball away from Rice.

Michael Bush, RB: 30 rushes for 157 yards, 3 receptions for 85 yards, 1 touchdown and 29 fantasy points. You never want to celebrate a player's injury, but Bush is making the most of his opportunity.

Larry Fitzgerald, WR: 7 receptions, 146 yards, 2 touchdowns and 26 fantasy points. Who would have thought all Fitzgerald needed to light up the scoreboard was a new quarterback?

Plaxico Burress, WR: 3 receptions, 39 yards, 1 touchdown and 9 fantasy points. Burress made the most of Mark Sanchez's limited (and possibly hesitant) production Sunday night.

Wes Welker, Flex: 6 receptions, 46 yards and 4 fantasy points. The New York Jets defensive plan seemed to be "Use Darrelle Revis to stop Welker and let the New England tight ends run roughshod over us."

Jason Witten, TE: 5 receptions, 37 yards and 3 fantasy points. We don't get fantasy points for having our tight end pass Ozzie Newsome on the all-time reception list. Too bad.

Pittsburgh Steelers, D/ST: 2 interceptions, 17 points allowed and 7 fantasy points. The Steelers clearly are not the fantasy force they once were, though they are doing enough to beat their opponent most Sundays.

John Kasay, K: 4 for 5 on field goals, 2 for 2 on extra points and 17 fantasy points. Kasay is used to taking advantage of opportunities, even when they are presented to him by the opposing coach.

Bench: Not that we needed it, but Tony Romo did score 22 points on Sunday. Damian Williams scored 16, and Percy Harvin put up 6 points Monday night.

This week is going to be a busy one poll-wise. Our opponent this week is Glen Gardner's Finest. And, in addition to the bye week holes covered in a previous post, we have a Thursday night player on our roster. Burress and his New York Jets take on the Denver Broncos this week. So we have a poll up on whether Burress should take one of the receiver spots. That poll will close Thursday evening and can be found right below the defense/special teams and kicker polls, which will close today. So please get your votes in now.

We'll be back with the results from those waiver wire polls.

Hot Results from Phoenix (and New Football Polls)

We'll get to our special football polls in a moment. But first, we picked a heck of a week for the People's Pitstop to have one of its best outings ever.

The Internet's favorite fantasy NASCAR team racked up an astounding 335 points during Sunday's Chase race at Phoenix International Raceway. The season total of 9,270 left us in 4th place in the 9beersfantasysportstavern league, but we got more points than anyone else in the league this week. So, no, we might not win the league, but we got feel what it's like to win a week.

Here is how we got here.

Tony Stewart: Started 8th, finished 3rd, 160 laps led and 106 fantasy points. Stewart got 10 bonus points for leading a lap and 10 more for leading the most laps. But he'll probably focus on the fact that he has turned the Chase for the Sprint Cup into a two-way race.

Kasey Kahne: Started 10th, finished 1st, 14 laps led and 100 fantasy points. Now, that's how you finish a season. Kahne made his 9th and final start for the People's Pitstop. In his nine starts, he scored an average of 51.2 points and had an average finish of 23.3. His worst performance came in Richmond in September, when was collateral damage in a get-together between Marcos Ambrose and Brian Vickers. His best (other than this week, of course) was in Kansas in October, when he finished second to Jimmie Johnson. And it's nice that he got Red Bull Racing something to celebrate before its potential breakup.

Marcos Ambrose: Started 3rd, finished 8th and 79 fantasy points. Once again, all that was missing was leading a lap.

Bobby Labonte: Started 31st, finished 21st (1 lap behind the leaders) and 50 fantasy points. You know it was a good day when the lowest scorer on your fantasy team got 50 points.

The NASCAR folks have one race to go -- at Homestead-Miami Speedway -- and for once, it will be more than simply a coronation. We have one more lineup to field for the People's Pitstop, so the lineup polls are upon once more. Qualifying is Saturday, so these polls will close Friday night. But feel free to get your votes in today.

Speaking of polls, the People's Pigskin has some decisions to make. The bye weeks return this week and will claim both our starting defense/special teams (the Pittsburgh Steelers) and our starting kicker (John Kasay). Since we have no backups at their positions on our roster, we need to hit the waiver wire to get their substitutes or replacements. And since this is a fantasy sports democracy, we have polls for you, the Internet, to help us make our choices. Which kicker and D/ST should we pick up? Who should be kicked off the roster to make room for our newcomers? The polls are now open. These polls will close Tuesday evening, since the waiver wire transactions will be processed Wednesday morning. Please get those votes in right away, too.

We'll be back with the football results for this week.

Fearless Predictions - Week 10

Like the Chicago Bears, the weekly predictions for the People's League took a big step back toward respectability last week by going 4-1, lifting our season record to 20-24-1. One more week like that, and we'll be near the .500 mark. With that goal in mind, here come this week's fantasy football forecasts.

People's Pigskin vs. Minneapolis Fantastic Houll: The Houll used three players on Thursday night and got 11 points. The Pigskin used one player (Michael Bush) and scored 29 points. Mathematics alone point toward another Pigskin win.

VinSethVaughn Bears vs. t-bay jacks Young'ry Buccs: Both sides have full complements of players available. The difference here may be in the receivers. The Buccs can get tons of points quickly from Santonio Holmes and Julio Jones. That's enough to pick the Buccs here.

LA Lockouts vs. Hudson Valley Hawks2: The Lockouts got 4 points from Nick Novak on Thursday, while the Hawks got 19 from Philip Rivers and Antonio Gates. Drew Brees and Adrian Peterson seem primed for big outings, and they should drive the Lockouts to another victory.

Arcadia Roses vs. Glen Gardner's Finest: Both teams are 5-4 and have full complements of players. This could easily by the highest-scoring matchup in the People's League. The Finest have the finest of edges here by virtue of a New York Jets defense that can wreak havoc on the New England Patriots.

Palm Bay, Fl. BearDown85 vs. Team Brotherton: The BearDowns got 8 points from Vincent Jackson and Sebastian Janikowski on Thursday. The Brothertons have a full complement of players, including a sneaky-good Jermichael Finley playing Monday night. Even if the Brothertons don't wrap up the win on Sunday, Finley should push them over the top.

As always, thanks for reading. We'll be back with some results (and some new polls requiring immediate votes).

The People's Choice - Week 10

We at the People's Pigskin don't want to be late like DeSean Jackson, so we're going to have to make this quick. Here are the players who will represent the Internet's favorite fantasy football team this week against the Minneapolis Fantastic Houll.

Quarterback: You must have liked what you saw last week from Eli Manning, because he's starting again this week in a late afternoon game against the San Francisco 49ers.

Running back: We used one of the two starting spots on Michael Bush (with wonderful results) on Thursday night. This poll produced a two-way tie. Using the projected points tiebreaker, we award the second starting spot to Ray Rice. He faces the Seattle Seahawks in a late afternoon game.

Wide receiver: This poll produced the dreaded three-way tie. (Leave the jokes alone, please.) Again, we look to the projections to help us out. The starting spots go to Larry Fitzgerald (visiting the Philadelphia Eagles) and Plaxico Burress (who has a Sunday night date with the New England Patriots).

Flex: This week's flex battle pits a pair of Patriots against each other. With points projections, Wes Welker edges out Danny Woodhead for this starting spot against the New York Jets on Sunday night.

There were no changes at tight end (Jason Witten, hosting the Buffalo Bills), defense/special teams (the Pittsburgh Steelers, facing the Cincinnati Bengals) or kicker (John Kasay, matching up against the Atlanta Falcons).

We'll be back later with the People's League predictions.

Fearless Predictions - Phoenix

Those of you working the night shift will get first crack at this week's predictions for the NASCAR drivers who will finish in the top 10 at Phoenix International Raceway. Last week's predictions went 2-2, leaving us with a season record of 47-81.

One from the front: No matter how anyone tries to spin it, the Chase for the Sprint Cup has become a two-driver competition. One of the competitors, Tony Stewart, is starting for the People's Pitstop. The other one, Carl Edwards, will start in the 9th spot and is therefore eligible for this pick.

One from the back: It's pretty safe to say that Kyle Busch is ticked off. First, NASCAR suspended him for a Nationwide race and a Sprint Cup race for wrecking Ron Hornaday. Then M&Ms pulled itself off his car for the last two weekends of the season. Then he qualified 34th after having to change an engine. And if there's anything we've learned about Kyle Busch over the years, it's that he does some of his best driving when he's ticked off at the world.

Two from the middle: If Jimmie Johnson wants to make this more than a two-man race, he has to do something pretty extraordinary in Phoenix. He starts 16th this week, but finishing there is no longer an option.

And let's have a shout-out for Paul Menard, who starts 11th in this race. Menard started this year on Yahoo Sports' C List, the list for every random driver who decides to put a car together for a particular race. And after the year he's had, including a win at Indianapolis, it's safe to say he won't be on that list in 2012.

We'll be back with the results of our football polls.

The People's Choice - Phoenix

We have reached the second to last weekend of the NASCAR season, and, unlike Kyle Busch or David Reutimann, the People's Pitstop has a chance to end its season on a strong note. Here are the drivers who will represent the Internet's favorite fantasy racing team during Sunday's Chase race at Phoenix International Raceway.

A List: There was no doubt about how you, the Internet, felt in this poll. You gave all your votes to the two drivers who have the best chance to hoist this year's Sprint Cup: Carl Edwards and Tony Stewart. And it looks like they'll really have to work to get some separation from each other. Stewart qualified 8th, or one spot in front of Edwards, so he gets the start.

B List: The winner of this week's poll was Brad Keselowski. Jeff Burton tied for second with a surprise latecomer to the party, Marcos Ambrose. The fourth spot on our roster went to Kasey Kahne by virtue of the points tiebreaker. And the surprises did not end there. Ambrose qualified 3rd, earning a starting spot for himself and 3 bonus points for the People's Pitstop. Kahne (10th) earned the other starting spot over Keselowski (12th) and Burton (14th). Kahne will be making his ninth and final start for us of the season. His next start for us will be as a teammate of Jimmie Johnson's.

C List: All the votes in this poll went to David Gilliland and Bobby Labonte. And Labonte (31st) got the starting spot over Gilliland (42nd).

Thanks as always for voting, and don't forget to get your votes in on the fantasy football polls tonight. We'll be back later with some racing predictions.

A Pregame Update (and New Polls)

The real "Must See TV" starts tonight as NFL Network brings back Thursday Night Football. Our first Thursday matchup inspired the first Thursday night poll of the season for the People's Pigskin. We asked you, the Internet, whether we should start Michael Bush this week. And you voted unanimously to put him into the starting lineup tonight against the San Diego Chargers.

We'd like to thank all of those who voted in that poll. And we have plenty more opportunities to make your voice heard. In addition to the fantasy NASCAR polls, which will close Friday night, we now have a full complement of fantasy football polls. After all, Bush can't carry the Internet's favorite fantasy football team by himself. The football polls will close on Saturday night. Please note that we now need you to vote for only two running backs, since Bush has already claimed a starting spot.

The People's Pigskin halted its losing streak last week. Now we need to build our winning streak into multiple games. And we need your help. So please vote now.

We'll be back with some more relevant thoughts.

The 3.5-Point Question Revisited

Citizens across America -- at least, the ones who remembered that our democracy functions every year, not just once every four years -- did their patriotic duty and cast votes on all sorts of decisions Tuesday. They voted for legislators, executives, judges and ballot initiatives of every sort.

One referendum that passed in New Jersey covered a topic near and dear to the People's Pigskin's heart.

By a margin of nearly 2 to 1, residents of the Garden State authorized their legislature to amend the state's constitution to legalize sports betting there. Now, before you book your reservations, there are a few things you should know. First, the state still needs to overcome a federal law prohibiting sports betting in all but four states (including Delaware). New Jersey could get Congress to overturn the law, or it could get a court to declare the law unconstitutional. Either effort would take a while. Then, if the state got one of those things to happen, it would still have to work out the mechanics of sports betting. What games would be offered? Who would set the odds? Who would make sure everything was on the up and up? Et cetera.

Longtime readers of this blog know how we feel about the issue. It's silly to allow someone to walk into a convenience store, put a $50 bill on the counter and say, "Give me two Wheel of Fortunes, three Win $500 a Week for Lifes, five Minute to Win Its and 10 dollars on the Powerball," while arresting someone for going to that same counter and saying "Give me Cowboys minus the 3 for $50." And those who worry about betting scandals and game-fixing aren't paying attention. Neither college athletes nor their professional counterparts have needed legalized sports betting to corrupt themselves.

Of course, not everyone thinks that way. While New Jersey residents were passing their referendum, residents of Maine were defeating a casino proposal. Still, it's clear that progress is being made.

Quick reminder: The first fantasy football poll of the week will close on Thursday. We need to know whether the People's Pigskin should start Michael Bush on Thursday night against the San Diego Chargers. Your vote counts, so please make it now.

A Quick NASCAR Update

The People's Pitstop racked up 280 fantasy points during Sunday's Chase race at Texas Motor Speedway. That leaves us with a season total of 8,935, which is good enough for sole possession of fourth place in the 9beersfantasysportstavern league.

Before Kyle Busch tries to wreck us, here's the scoring recap.

Tony Stewart: Started 5th, finished 1st, 173 laps led and 110 fantasy points. It's hard to tell which is more amazing -- that this was Stewart's fourth win in this year's Chase, or that he's still trailing Carl Edwards in the driver standings.

Marcos Ambrose: Started 12th, finished 11th and 70 fantasy points. Ambrose got as close as 2nd place, but late tire changes were not enough to keep him in the top 10 at checkered flag.

Brad Keselowski: Started 8th, finished 24th (1 lap behind the leaders), 2 laps led and 54 fantasy points. It's hard to win a Sprint Cup if you can't avoid other cars on pit row.

Regan Smith: Started 10th, finished 23rd (1 lap behind the leaders) and 46 fantasy points. This was Smith's final start for the People's Pitstop this season. In his nine starts for us, he scored an average of 46.6 points and had an average finish of 22.6. His worst performances for us were his first two, at Phoenix in February and at Dover in May. In both cases, he finished 34th and scored 24 points. His best finish was last month at Martinsville, where he finished 13th and scored 66 points. And yes, we missed out on his single win of the season.

That's 34 races down and two to go. Next up is a Sunday afternoon Chase race at Phoenix International Raceway. Qualifying is Saturday, so the lineup polls will stay open through Friday night. Feel free to get your votes in now.

And, since this is Election Day, we at the People's Pigskin/Pitstop want to urge each and every one of you to get to a polling place and cast a ballot. You may not like all the people on the ballot, but this country would be worse off if we left the critical decisions about who represents us to the zealots. Yes, our troops deserve our thanks for defending our way of life, but a democratic form of government is one of the things that makes their sacrifices worthwhile.

Also, if you hear someone say today, "I don't vote. Why bother? What's the point?"...

Hit that person.

Very, very hard.

An Early Taste of Victory

The streak is over for the People's Pigskin.

The Internet's favorite fantasy football team beat the Arcadia Roses by a score of 105-66. Our season record has been raised to 3-6, and even if we did ruin our chances to draft Andrew Luck, we'll take it.

Here is the most pleasant scoring breakdown we've run in six weeks.

Eli Manning, QB: 20 of 39 passing for 250 yards, 3 rushes for 11 yards, 2 touchdowns, 1 interception and 17 fantasy points. No, he doesn't get extra fantasy points for leading a last-minute comeback victory, but those last-minute points count just the same.

Ray Rice, RB: 18 rushes for 43 yards, 5 receptions for 43 yards, 1 touchdown and 14 fantasy points. Considering that he got those statistics against the Steelers in Pittsburgh, you have to call them impressive. And they'd be even more impressive had it not been for a certain holding call.

Michael Bush, RB: 19 rushes for 96 yards, 2 receptions for 33 yards, 1 touchdown and 18 fantasy points. Bush has been the big beneficiary of both Darren McFadden's injury and Carson Palmer's misadventures.

Larry Fitzgerald, WR: 4 receptions, 43 yards, 1 touchdown and 10 fantasy points. Who would have guessed the way to get Fitzgerald his first touchdown in a month was to get John Skelton under center?

Plaxico Burress, WR: 5 receptions, 79 yards and 7 fantasy points. There had been questions about Burress' back, but there are no questions about his hands.

Wes Welker, Flex: 1 rush for 13 yards, 9 receptions for 136 yards and 14 fantasy points. All that was missing was a touchdown.

Jason Witten, TE: 4 receptions, 71 yards, 1 touchdown and 13 fantasy points. Weeks like this are the reason Witten keeps showing up on "under-appreciated weapons" lists.

Pittsburgh Steelers, D/ST: 1 fumble recovery, 3 sacks, 23 points allowed and 4 fantasy points. Those last two figures were more impressive until Joe Flacco put that last drive together.

John Kasay, K: 2 for 3 on field goals, 3 for 3 on extra points and 8 fantasy points. Kasay is not the top fantasy kicker anymore, but he remains serviceable.

Bench: We would have been all right with Tony Romo, after all. He scored 20 fantasy points. Damian Williams scored 9, and Danny Woodhead scored 5.

Now, we have to deal with a new fantasy football wrinkle: Thursday Night Football on NFL Network (the same network that told us the greatest touchdown celebration of all time was by Barry Sanders). We have one player involved in this Thursday's match between the Oakland Raiders and the San Diego Chargers. That would be Michael Bush. And the decision on whether to play him won't wait until Saturday. So we have a special poll set up for him now. That poll will close Thursday evening before kickoff. Please vote now.

We'll be back shortly with the fantasy racing results.

Fearless Predictions - Week 9

Now here's something we didn't anticipate. The People's League has something you don't see in hockey or college football anymore: a tie.

But even that result couldn't save these fantasy football picks from a dismal outing. They went 1-3-1 last week, dropping our season record to 16-23-1. Like the New Orleans Saints, we need to make a quick comeback, and here's how we're going to do it.

People's Pigskin vs. Arcadia Roses: We've got Eli Manning reliving his finest hour. That should get the Pigskin an elusive win.

Hudson Valley Hawks2 vs. VinSethVaughn Bears: This one really could go either way. The Bears have a bunch of Monday night players, so a late comeback is always possible. However, Philip Rivers is the type of player who follows up a rotten performance with a great one. He should lift the Hawks to a winning record.

Team Brotherton vs. Minneapolis Fantastic Houll: The Brothertons are on a roll, having won three straight. And the Baltimore Ravens defense/special teams should be much stiffer against Ben Roethlisberger than the Patriots were last week. Make it four straight for the Brothertons.

Glen Gardner's Finest vs. t-bay jacks Youngry Buccs: Expecting Josh Freeman & Company to beat the New Orleans Saints twice this season may be asking a little too much of a team that's still up and coming. Look for the Finest to prevail here.

Palm Bay, Fl. BearDown85 vs. LA Lockouts: Cedric Benson is back from his suspension, and he'd like to remind the NFL that it was supposed to miss him last week. He'll run over the Tennessee Titans and life the BearDowns to the upset here.

Thanks again for reading, and enjoy the games. We'll be back with some results.

The People's Choice - Week 9

Daylight Savings Time is in our rear view mirror, and Thursday night football is just around the corner. (We'll discuss that further on Monday.) In between those two events, you, the Internet, have selected a lineup for the People's Pigskin. The Internet's favorite fantasy football team may be 2-6, but we're putting on a brave face and, with your help, fielding this lineup against the Arcadia Roses.

Quarterback: It's unanimous. You, the Internet, want to see Eli Manning take on the New England Patriots for the first time since this game. Well, you've got it. Eli takes the field late Sunday afternoon.

Running back: There were two clear winners in this poll to select two starters. They are Ray Rice (facing the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday night) and Michael Bush (hosting the Denver Broncos in a late afternoon game).

Wide receiver/Flex: Three wide receivers dominated the voting, so all three are going to get starts over the third-place running back (Danny Woodhead). Your winning receivers are Larry Fitzgerald (in a late afternoon game against the St. Louis Rams), Plaxico Burress (visiting the Buffalo Bills) and Wes Welker (in a late afternoon game against the New York Giants.

Yes, the people who run this blog have noticed the "Q"s next to Burress and Welker. All indications are that both players should play today. However, if they can't, we have backups available to plug in, and we'll let you know if we're forced to use them.

There were no changes at tight end (Jason Witten, taking on the Seattle Seahawks), defense/special teams (the Pittsburgh Steelers, who play the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday night) or kicker (John Kasay, looking to bounce back against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers).

Thanks again for your contributions. We'll be back with the People's League predictions.

Fearless Predictions - Texas

Things you won't see anytime soon include Ron Hornaday inviting Kyle Busch over for Thanksgiving dinner anyone recommending these NASCAR predictions for anything other than "entertainment purposes." Last week's forecasts went 2-2, leaving us with a season record of 45-79. But let's see which NASCAR drivers you should expect to see in the top 10 on Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway.

One from the front: Everyone has been talking about Tony Stewart's victory last week, and rightly so. But you shouldn't forget that Carl Edwards remains the points leader. He starts in 7th place this week in Texas, where he has won three times in his Sprint Cup career.

One from the back: The usual suspects are occupying the back 10 spaces this week, so we'll go back to last week's selection, Travis Kvapil, who starts 41st. For the reasons behind this decision, see last week's predictions.

Two from the middle: Time for a trivia question: Who got his first Sprint Cup victory in a 2000 race at Texas Motor Speedway? The answer: Dale Earnhardt Jr., who finished 9th in the April race here and starts in the 16th spot on Sunday.

For our final pick, we at the People's Pitstop would like to recognize Mark Martin. Sure, he's starting 30th on Sunday, but he has four top-six finishes in his last five races on this track. And he'll get more opportunities here, now that he's agreed to drive for Michael Waltrip Racing. I wonder if they've warned Martin not to touch whatever is being put in the engines over there.

There are still a few hours for you to get some votes in on the People's Pigskin lineup. Your votes will determine who starts this week for the Internet's favorite fantasy football team against the Arcadia Roses. Thanks. We'll be back with the results.

The People's Choice - Texas

We have reached the last weekend of Daylight Savings Time, one of the few things that last nearly as long as NASCAR season. But before you worry about adjusting your clock, it's time to thank you once again for voting on the polls for the People's Pitstop. Let's see who will be starting for the Internet's favorite fantasy NASCAR team during Sunday's Chase race at Texas Motor Speedway.

A List: The voters were paying attention last week in Martinsville. They gave this poll to Tony Stewart, with Kevin Harvick coming in second. And Stewart must still have something left in the tank. He qualified 5th, or 16 spots in front of Harvick, and will start for us this week.

B List: The votes in this poll were all over the proverbial map. In first place, we had a tie between Brad Keselowski and Marcos Ambrose. But maybe the voters were on to something. Keselowski (8th) and Ambrose (12th) earned starting spots over A.J. Allmendinger (26th) and Jeff Burton (31st). Interestingly, Ambrose will be making his first start of the season for us.

C List: This poll has fallen into a predictable pattern. As expected, Regan Smith won the vote over Bobby Labonte. As we might expect by now, Smith (10th) qualified better than Labonte (32nd). Therefore, as Yahoo Sports rules dictate, Smith will be making his ninth and final start for the People's Pitstop on Sunday.

By the way, if you haven't already, feel free to add your voice to the lineup polls for the People's Pigskin. The Internet's favorite fantasy football team is trying to pull out of a tailspin, and we'll need your help to avenge an earlier loss against the Arcadia Roses. Thanks.

We'll be back with some racing predictions.

The Last Time We Visited Texas

People like to criticize the National Hockey League and Major League Baseball (and, until recently, the National Basketball Association) for having seasons that are too long, but consider this. Back in early April, when baseball was having its opening ceremonies, the NASCAR season was already six weeks old. And now that baseball has crowned a champion for this year, the NASCAR season continues to roll along. This week, it's pulling into Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth.

And this just might be the cure for what's ailing the People's Pitstop.

Again, turn back to early April. That's when NASCAR held the first of its two Sprint Cup races of the season in Fort Worth. The Internet's favorite fantasy racing team racked up a mind-boggling 376 points in that race.

It would be easy to write that off as the side effect of having race winner Matt Kenseth starting for us. But the truth is that three of our starters finished in the top 10 that day and led at least one lap. And the fourth starter, Juan Pablo Montoya, managed to finish in 13th place.

As the People's Pitstop considers its lineup for this week's race, two of our starters from that golden weekend (David Ragan and Clint Bowyer) are no longer available. Both are victims of the Yahoo Sports "nine starts only" rule. So are two of our bench drivers that week (Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Paul Menard), who both finished in the top 10 that April day. But results like that show you that good things can happen on any given weekend in fantasy sports. Hope doesn't have to be simply a word on a poster. Ask the St. Louis Cardinals about hope. Heck, ask the St. Louis Rams about hope. It springs eternal, even in November.

Our hope is that you'll get your votes in for our lineups. The fantasy NASCAR polls will close later tonight, while the fantasy football polls will stay open through Saturday night. Thanks in advance for your votes and your support.

We'll be back with the poll results.

As Ugly as It Gets

It's hard to tell whether the People's Pigskin had a worse weekend than Tim Tebow, but they are definitely running neck and neck.

The Internet's favorite fantasy football team lost a butt-ugly 81-64 matchup to the LA Lockouts. Our season record is now 2-6, and the losing streak now stands at five games.

Here are all the charisma-challenged details.

Tony Romo, QB: 18 of 35 passing for 203 yards, 1 rush for 9 yards, 1 touchdown, 1 interception and 10 fantasy points. It would be nice to say Romo's stats would be better if the Philadelphia Eagles let him play more. But the Dallas Cowboys offense stank just as much as the defense. No, Jerry Jones isn't pushing a panic button, but he's probably considering turning down future opportunities to play on Sunday night.

Ray Rice, RB: 18 rushes for 63 yards, 7 receptions for 36 yards, 3 touchdowns and 27 fantasy points. Feast your eyes on the only bright spot in this report. Rice maximized his opportunities in the red zone and produced a season-high fantasy score.

DeAngelo Williams, RB: 7 rushes for 26 yards, 2 receptions for 13 yards and 3 fantasy points. Williams is being paid like a featured back but certainly isn't be expected to perform like one at this point.

Larry Fitzgerald, WR: 3 receptions, 98 yards and 9 fantasy points. Most of Fitzgerald's points came on one catch early in the game. Other than that, he fully earned his spot on this list.

Wes Welker, WR: 6 receptions, 39 yards and 3 fantasy points. Welker was a victim of a Pittsburgh Steelers defense that had the New England Patriots' collective number on Sunday.

Danny Woodhead, Flex: 0 rushes, 0 receptions and 0 fantasy points. Woodhead, on the other hand, was a victim of Kevin Faulk's comeback.

Jason Witten, TE: 4 receptions, 28 yards and 2 fantasy points. The good news: Witten was targeted 12 times and clearly remains a go-to guy in the Dallas Cowboys offense. The bad news: It doesn't do any good to be the go-to guy if your offense isn't going anywhere.

Pittsburgh Steelers, D/ST: 3 sacks, 1 safety, 17 points allowed and 8 fantasy points. Say what you want about Troy Polamalu's hair, but his slapping the ball out of the end zone did wonders for his team's fantasy score.

John Kasay, K: 0 for 1 on field goals, 3 for 3 on extra points and 2 fantasy points. You know you're having a bad week when one of the top kickers in fantasy football misses his only field goal attempt of the game.

Bench: This loss could have been different with a different set of starters. Eli Manning scored 21 points from the bench. Percy Harvin scored 10, and Damian Williams scored 6, a week after those two players gave us 1 point combined.

What do we do now? We get ready for our next matchup and hope things will get better. This week's opponent is the Arcadia Roses, who beat the Pigskin 122-86 earlier in the season. And this week's bye week victims are Williams, Brandon Pettigrew and Percy Harvin. And this week's polls are open. They will stay open through Saturday night, which should be plenty of time to round up some friends and get them to vote. Thanks.