Welcome to Our New Home!

Yes, it's true ... the Internet's favorite fantasy football and fantasy NASCAR teams have pulled up stakes and moved to Blogger! Feel free to bring us some baked goods or any other housewarming presents you deem appropriate.
For those of you new to this blog, this is an experiment. We're trying to determine whether the people of the Internet can run fantasy sports teams better than the alleged experts. We put up polls, and you vote on those polls to help determine our lineup. Nobody takes the field for us without your votes.
Since this is NASCAR season, we are running a fantasy racing team called the People's Pitstop over on Yahoo Fantasy Sports. The rules allow you to pick two drivers from the A List (the best 10 drivers from last year), four drivers from the B List (the next 15 or so drivers) and two drivers from the C List (everybody else who gets behind the wheel). Those eight drivers must be selected by the night before the qualifying session for that week's race. After qualifying is over, we can pick one of the A List drivers, two of the B List drivers and one of the C List drivers to start. We generally pick the drivers who qualified the best from among the eight you picked before qualifying. Those drivers get points according to how they do in that week's race.
Our goal is to steer the People's Pitstop to victory in the ever-competitive 9beersfantasysportstavern group. By the way, if you haven't visited the 9beers home page yet, you're missing out. Fair warning: Some of the images/posts you'll find there are not suitable for work, unless you work someplace like this.
This week, NASCAR is taking its drivers to one of its shortest tracks, Richmond International Raceway. The qualifying session is Friday, so our polls (now available on the righthand side of this page) will stay open until Thursday. We hope you'll contribute to this effort by casting your votes. This experiment doesn't work without you.
And it is working so far. We'll go over our most recent results when we come back.

Moving Up ... the Hard Way

Watching Sunday's NASCAR race was about as pleasant as having to interview Tony Stewart afterward, but the People's Pitstop did benefit from it.
The Internet's favorite fantasy auto racing team scored 230 points in the Sprint Cup at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. That was good enough to move us up three spots, to 8th place, in the 9beersfantasysportstavern group on Yahoo Fantasy Auto Racing.
Here is the breakdown of our results. We'll take care of the bad news first.
Kyle Busch: Started 5th, finished 38th (160 laps behind the leaders) and 16 fantasy points. There are plenty of things you don't want to hear your driver say during the course of a race. One of them is "I've got flames in my face."
Ryan Newman: Started 8th, finished 5th and 82 fantasy points. Once again, all that was missing was a lep led, but Newman certainly has his cars working the way he wants them.
A.J. Allmendinger: Started 7th, finished 19th and 54 fantasy points. Even though he barely kept himself on the lead lap at the end, Allmendinger did manage to stay in the top 10 in the Sprint Cup point standings.
Paul Menard: Started 18th, finished 12th, 3 laps led and 78 fantasy points, including 10 for leading a lap. Does anyone really care if Menard did his best fantasy racing work when everyone else was taking a pit stop? Didn't think so. As Bleacher Report points out, Menard is currently the top-scoring driver on the Richard Childress Racing team.
Maybe that's why NASCAR is giving the Sprint Cup folks this week off. Or maybe it's for one of the reasons listed in this week's poll. Feel free to vote now. The results of our Vegas poll appear below.
[polldaddy poll=4656800]

A Quick Poem

You still have a couple of hours to vote on the drivers who will represent the People's Pitstop in Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The polls are on the right side of the page. Remember that you're picking 2 A List drivers, 4 B List drivers and 2 C List drivers. We have to close the polls tonight, because the qualifying session is Friday.
In the meantime, here's some evidence that auto racing fans are not all illiterate heathens. TOEJAM, one of the players in the 9beersfantasysportstavern group on Yahoo Fantasy Auto Racing, posted a brief NASCAR poem. I thought I'd share it with all of you, because if you've every played fantasy racing (or any other fantasy sport, for that matter), you've had thoughts similar to these:
"no need to be checkin
those are my guys who are wreckin...."
OK, it's not exactly "There once was man from Nantucket," but it works.
We'll be back with the poll results.

Time to Bounce Back

The Daytona 500 was a great time to be a rookie but a rough time to be a piece of sheet metal, or the People's Pitstop.
The Internet's favorite fantasy NASCAR team compiled only 142 points during the Sprint Cup season opener. That leaves us in 13th place (out of 14) in the 9beersfantasysportstavern group on Yahoo Fantasy Auto Racing.
Here are some of the details.
Jeff Gordon: Started 2nd, finished 28th (35 laps behind the leaders), 1 lap led and 46 fantasy points, including 10 for leading a lap.
Jeff Burton: Started 4th, finished 36th (116 laps behind the leaders), 5 laps led and 30 fantasy points.
Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Started 1st (technically), finished 24th (6 laps behind the leaders), 9 laps led and 54 fantasy points. So much for that conspiracy theory.
Michael Waltrip: Started 8th, finished 40th and 12 fantasy points. Waltrip was our only started who did not lead a lap. Maybe he should stick to talking.
Anyway, we have a chance to rebound this weekend in Phoenix. The race is Sunday, and qualifying is Saturday. The polls are now open and will remain open through Friday night. Please vote now.
We'll be back.

And We're Back!

The People's Pigskin did not end up winning its group in the ESPN Fantasy Playoff Challenge, but the Internet's favorite fantasy sports site now can turn its sites to the track.
That's right; the People's Pitstop is back! We're going to use the collective wisdom of you, the Internet, to win fantasy NASCAR glory (or at least the 9beersfantasysportstavern group in Yahoo Fantasy Auto Racing). The rules are like those of last season. Each week, you'll be asked to vote in polls like the ones on the right side of this page. We need to pick 2 drivers from the A List, 4 from the B List and 2 from the C List. Each week, one of the A List drivers, 2 of the B List drivers and one of the C List drivers will start for us and earn fantasy points according to their performance in the race. Each driver may start for us only nine times during the NASCAR season.
Anyway, the polls are open. They will close Sunday morning before the start of the Great American Race. (Apparently, anyone talking about the Daytona 500 is contractually obligated to use that phrase. Who knew?) Please vote now. Thanks.

The People's Choice - Conference/Super Bowl Rounds

You, the Internet, have stepped up to the plate and helped the People's Playoffs pick its lineup for the final two rounds of the ESPN Gridiron Playoff Challenge. Our roster locks once the NFC Championship game starts, and it will stay locked all the way through the Super Bowl. The Internet's favorite playoff fantasy football team needs to make up a deficit against the Jersey Mob for control of the 9beersfantasysportstavern group. Here are the players who will help us do it.
Quarterback: In the NFC slot, we have a familiar face. Aaron Rodgers will start for the third -- and fourth -- straight week. On the AFC side, we have a newcomer (to our squad, not to the playoffs): Ben Roethlisberger.
Running back: Both our running backs from the previous round were eliminated, so we have two fresh faces here. From the AFC, we have Rashard Mendenhall. From the NFC, we have the Green Bay Packers rookie James Starks. By contrast ...
Wide receiver: Continuity carried the day in these polls. Greg Jennings and Mike Wallace keep their starting spots from last week.
Tight end: We had a nice run with Todd Heap, but the Pittsburgh Steelers stopped it dead in its tracks. It's appropriate, then, that Heath Miller of the Steelers take his place in our lineup.
Defense/special teams: Yes, there are questions about how effective Troy Polamalu will be this week. But that didn't stop you from selecting the Steelers to take over where the Baltimore Ravens left off.
Kicker: An incumbent has been unseated. Nick Folk was available to you, but you decided you didn't trust the New York Jets kicking game at Heinz Field. You went instead with Mason Crosby, who gets the relatively stable conditions at Soldier Field.
If you haven't noticed already, our lineup is filled with Packers and Steelers. If both teams make the Super Bowl, we'll be able to make a real splash. If the Jets and the Chicago Bears prevail ... well, at least we'll have time to discuss what's been going on in NASCAR.
The poll results appear below, and another Super Bowl poll is now available for voting. Enjoy the games!
[polldaddy poll=4427870] [polldaddy poll=4427874] [polldaddy poll=4427878] [polldaddy poll=4427884] [polldaddy poll=4427887] [polldaddy poll=4427895] [polldaddy poll=4427905] [polldaddy poll=4427913] [polldaddy poll=4427916]

Quick Update, Fresh Polls

Rather than continuing to wait for Rex Ryan to say something provocative about the Pittsburgh Steelers, we'll catch you up on how the People's Playoffs are faring. The Internet's favorite playoff fantasy football team had a rough divisional round, scoring only 108 points and falling to second place in the 9beersfantasysportstavern group standings with a total score of only 221. We now trail the Jersey Mob (hopefully not that one) by 29 points.
Here's a quick statistical breakdown of our divisional round roster.
Tom Brady, QB: 29 of 45 passing for 299 yards, 2 rushes for 2 yards, 2 touchdowns and 19 fantasy points.
Aaron Rodgers, QB: 31 of 36 passing for 366 yards and 3 touchdowns, 2 rushes for 13 yards and 1 touchdown and 33 fantasy points.
Ray Rice, RB: 12 rushes for 32 yards, 7 receptions for 32 yards, 1 touchdown and 12 fantasy points.
Michael Turner, RB: 10 rushes, 39 yards, 1 touchdown and 9 fantasy points.
Mike Wallace, WR: 3 receptions for 20 yards, 2 rushes for minus-2 yards and 2 fantasy points.
Greg Jennings, WR: 8 receptions, 101 yards and 10 fantasy points.
Todd Heap, TE: 3 receptions, 43 yards, 1 touchdown and 1 touchdown.
Nick Folk, K: 4 extra points and 4 fantasy points.
Baltimore Ravens, D/ST: 6 sacks, 2 fumble recoveries, 1 defensive touchdown, 31 points allowed and 9 fantasy points.
Now that you know how we got here, it's time to discuss where we go from here. The conference championship games are Sunday afternoon, and we need to fill a roster. Unfortunately, ESPN rules state that the rosters will freeze after the conference championships. The team we pick this week will also represent the People's Playoffs at the Super Bowl. Therefore, our polls are constructed a little differently this time around. The quarterback, running back and wide receiver polls are divided into NFC and AFC spots, in order to maximize the chances of having players who will still be playing in two weeks.
Feel free to vote now, and feel free to encourage your friends, neighbors and acquaintances to do the same. We'll be back with some predictions.

The People's Choice - Divisional Round (and Predictions)

The votes are in, and you, the Internet, have made the following choices for the People's Pigskin for this divisional round of the ESPN Gridiron Playoff Challenge.
Quarterback: Aaron Rodgers returns to our lineup for a second week. He gets the Atlanta Falcons on Saturday night. He's joined this week by Tom Brady, who will play the New York Jets late Sunday afternoon.
Running back: Another returning player from last week is Ray Rice, who visits the Pittsburgh Steelers on Saturday afternoon. This week, he's joined by Michael Turner, who hosts the Green Bay Packers on Saturday night.
Wide receiver: Yet another player makes a second straight appearance for the Internet's favorite fantasy playoff football team -- Greg Jennings, who has to improve on last week's performance. He faces the Atlanta Falcons. The other receiver spot goes to Mike Wallace, who hosts the Baltimore Ravens.
There was no change at tight end (Todd Heap). The defense/special teams and kicker polls came down to ties. We used dollar value as the tiebreaker, and in both cases, the incumbent held off a challenger. The Ravens defense/special teams ($4.5) beat the Chicago Bears ($4.8), and Nick Folk ($4.0) took the kicker spot over Matt Bryant ($4.1).
And here are some quick predictions for this week's games. Last week's forecasts went 1-3, so take this with as many grains of salt as you wish.
Steelers over Ravens.
Packers over Falcons.
Bears over Seahawks.
Patriots over Jets.
Thanks for voting in this week's lineup polls. The results appear below, and a new poll on the Super Bowl is ready to take your votes now. We'll be back with a look at this week's scores.

[polldaddy poll=4374582] [polldaddy poll=4374589] [polldaddy poll=4374593] [polldaddy poll=4374600] [polldaddy poll=4374603] [polldaddy poll=4374611]

Off to a Wild Start

Sorry this post is so late...I was waiting for Stephen Ross to return my calls.
Anyway, you, the Internet, came through once again. You helped the People's Playoffs rack up an amazing 113 fantasy points during the wild card round of the ESPN Gridiron Playoff Challenge. For those of you who forgot your secret decoder rings, we currently have a 7-point lead in the 9beersfantasysportstavern group.
Here's how the scoring happened.
Joe Flacco, QB: 25 of 34 passing for 265 yards, 7 rushes for 26 yards, 2 touchdowns and 20 fantasy points. The biggest headlines came from the other side of the ball (and we'll discuss that later), but Flacco, who now has four playoff victories on his resume, fully earned his own kudos from authorities like NFL.com's Vic Carlucci.
Aaron Rodgers, QB: 18 of 27 passing for 180 yards, 3 rushes for 4 yards, 3 touchdowns and 19 fantasy points. It's too bad fantasy football doesn't award bonus points for things like awkward congratulations hugs on national TV.
Ray Rice, RB: 17 rushes for 57 yards, 5 receptions for 42 yards, 1 touchdown and 15 fantasy points. It might be going too far to say he made the Kansas City Chiefs look like there were "trying to grab a wet bar of soap," but he did find his way to the end zone.
Jamaal Charles, RB: 9 rushes for 82 yards, 1 reception for 15 yards, 1 touchdown and 15 fantasy points. Charles also crossed the goal line to save his fantasy performance. Unfortunately, he was swallowed whole by Terrence Cody and won't be joining us for the rest of the postseason.
Jeremy Maclin, WR: 3 receptions, 73 yards and 7 fantasy points. Maclin also won't be with us the rest of the way. He ran into a solid Green Bay Packers defense, who gave him one big 44-yard catch and little else.
Greg Jennings, WR: 1 reception, 8 yards and 0 fantasy points. The big difference between Jennings and Reggie Wayne: Jennings had enough sense not to complain publicly about getting only one catch in a playoff game.
Todd Heap, TE: 10 receptions, 108 yards and 10 fantasy points. Maybe the Baltimore Ravens should make sure Heap is matched up against rookie safeties the rest of the playoffs.
Nick Folk, K: 1 field goal, 2 extra points and 5 fantasy points. His big kick was the last one.
Baltimore Ravens, D/ST: 3 sacks, 3 interceptions, 2 fumbles, 7 points allowed, 1 win and 22 fantasy points. That's right; our top fantasy scorer was our defense. They played their hearts out for one of their leaders, Ed Reed, who was playing with a heavy heart. Keep him and his family in your thoughts.
Now it's on to the divisional playoffs. Four new sets of players are joining in the fantasy playoff festivities. And six new polls are available for voting. Once again, they will stay open until shortly before the first game kicks off Saturday, so feel free to vote now.
We'll be back with some more football thoughts.

The People's Choice - Wild Card

Thanks to all of you who voted on the People's Playoffs lineup for the wild card round of the ESPN Gridiron Playoff Challenge. Our quest to dominate the 9beersfantasysportstavern group begins with this roster. (No need to race to your TV to follow these players; all but one play on Sunday.)
Quarterback. The clear winner in this poll was Aaron Rodgers, who plays the Philadephia Eagles late Sunday afternoon. For the second QB spot, we had a tie between Peyton Manning and Joe Flacco. As the tiebreaker, we chose the player will the lower salary, and Flacco (5.7) beat Manning (6.1) for the spot. He gets the Kansas City Chiefs early Sunday afternoon.
Running back. Again, we had a clear winner: Ray Rice, who plays the Chiefs. And once again, we had a tie for the second spot. In this tiebreaker, Jamaal Charles (5.8) edged LeSean McCoy (5.9). Charles plays the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday.
Wide receiver: Yes, we had one clear winner again: Greg Jennings, who faces the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday. And once again, we have a tie for second. Jeremy Maclin (5.6) beats Dwayne Bowe (6.1) by virtue of the tiebreaker. He faces Jennings' Green Bay Packers.
Tight end: This time, there was only one spot available, and it came down to a tie between two players. Todd Heap (4.8) beat Jacob Tamme (4.9) and gets the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday.
Kicker: Another poll, another tie. Nick Folk (4.0) beat David Akers (4.2) to give us our only Saturday player. He faces the Indianapolis Colts.
Defense/special teams: Yes, even this one resulted in a tie to be broken by salary. And, believe it or not, the Baltimore Ravens (4.5) had a lower salary than the New Orleans Saints (4.6). They get the Kansas City Chiefs.
By the way, if you would have liked a different outcome, one solution would be to get a friend to vote on these polls, too.
Speaking of polls, a new one about the wild card teams is now available for voting. Enjoy the games, everybody.

Fearless Wild Card Predictions

There's still time for you to vote on which players the People's Playoffs will field in the wild card round of ESPN's Gridiron Playoff Challenge. Our goal is to dominate the 9beersfantasysportstaven group in this postseason fantasy football game.
Speaking of the postseason, it's time to offer a peek at what will happen on Saturday and Sunday in the wild card games. The Week 17 predictions for the People's League (including picks for that week and overall results) went 5-5, leaving us with a final season record of 59-36.
Seattle Seahawks vs. New Orleans Saints. When we last saw Matt Hasselbeck, he was straining his hip running into the end zone. And we're supposed to believe he's ready to face a New Orleans Saints team that has to be ticked off they're flying across the country to visit a 7-9 team. And it won't matter if they bring back Archie Manning to play halfback; the Saints should make short work of the Seahawks. And the sooner we all forget that a 7-9 team won its division, the better off we'll all be.
New York Jets vs. Indianapolis Colts. Let's discuss the recent Jets arrivals. Rex Ryan has spent most of the last two seasons running his mouth. LaDainian Tomlinson has spent the last few postseasons sulking. And Mark Sanchez...well, this pretty much sums it up. No, the Colts won't find this game easy, but it is undoubtedly winnable for Peyton Manning and Company. The Jets' road ends here.
Kansas City Chiefs vs. Baltimore Ravens. The Chiefs are not exactly charging full-speed ahead into the playoffs. Matt Cassel has been sacked nine times and thrown three picks in the last three weeks alone. Last week, the Oakland Raiders -- a team that would show its coach the door days later -- tossed the Chiefs around like rag dolls. Ray Lewis can still dominate a team like that, even if he does look ridiculous in his commercials. Look for the Ravens to manhandle the Chiefs.
Philadelphia Eagles vs. Green Bay Packers. This one is probably the hardest game to call. Is Michael Vick fully healed from that thigh injury? Can Green Bay find enough of a running game to keep the Eagles defenders honest? Did Andy Reid have one of his coaches explain to his quarterbacks how the new overtime rules work? So many questions, but only one answer: fantasy football. And since this game does feature fantasy football's 2010 Most Valuable Player, we have to go with him. The Eagles should find a way to win at Lambeau Field.
Remember to get your votes in before the lineup polls close Saturday. Thanks. We'll be back with the results.

Fantasy Football: Playoff Edition

Those of you who thought that your fantasy duties with this site expired when the Fighting Amish beat the People's Pigskin for a league title were wrong. So wrong.
That's because one of the newest developments in the fantasy sports world is the rise of fantasy playoff games. Lots of sites have them, including ESPN, which is running a Gridiron Playoff Challenge. The idea is to form a team (2 quarterbacks, 2 running backs, 2 receivers, a tight end, a defense/special team and a kicker) while adhering to a fictional salary cap. The team that compiles the most fantasy points between now and the end of the Super Bowl wins. It's simple, unlike the overtime rules.
The people who bring you this wonderful Web site have set up a Gridiron Playoff Challenge team called the People's Playoffs. We'll compete in the 9beersfantasysportstaven group (and others, if we're invited). And once again, we need you, the Internet, to pick our lineup. The polls are now open in the usual place and will remain open through Saturday morning.
Please note that this week's polls include only players in wild card games. We'll get no points this week from the Atlanta Falcons, Chicago Bears, Pittsburgh Steelers or New England Patriots (not even this guy). And please feel free to vote now.