As the curtain rises on the first NFL games of October, we bid a fond farewell to September (unless you're a fan of the Boston Red Sox or Atlanta Braves, in which case you might just say "Good @#$%!$ riddance!"). We also give a warm welcome to the latest set of fantasy football predictions for the People's League. Last week's forecasts went 3-2, lifting our season record above .500 at 8-7.
People's Pigskin vs. t-bay jacks Young'ry Buccs. This week's game shouldn't get as out of hand as last week's, but the Pigskin should still get enough production from enough sources to handle the Buccs.
Palm Bay, Fl. BearDown 85 vs. Arcadia Roses. Reggie Wayne needs somebody to throw him the ball. And until Curtis Painter demonstrates that he can do that, the Roses will be at an unfortunate disadvantage. The BearDowns should pull this one out.
Glen Gardner's Finest vs. VinSethVaughn Bears. The Finest are counting on Victor Cruz to repeat last week's performance and on Kendall Hunter to make 49ers fans forget about Frank Gore. Getting both things to happen in the same week would be a tall order. The Bears get the pick here.
LA Lockouts vs. Team Brotherton. The Drew Brees vs. Joe Flacco matchup alone would be entertaining. But eventually, the Minnesota Vikings will figure out that their fortunes rest on the shoulder pads of Adrian Peterson. He should have a big day, and the Lockouts should ride him to victory.
Minneapolis Fantastic Houll vs. Hudson Valley Hawks2. Raise your hand if you thought the Tennessee Titans would have a top 10 fantasy defense/special teams this season. They should keep rolling against the Cleveland Browns and help the Hawks win a squeaker.
Thanks again for reading, and enjoy the games. We'll be back with some results.
Showing posts with label baseball. Show all posts
Showing posts with label baseball. Show all posts
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Fearless Predictions - Texas
It's a good time to be the People's Pitstop. The Internet's favorite fantasy NASCAR team sits in 5th place in the prestigious 9beersfantasysportstavern group on Yahoo Sports. But right now is not a good time to be either a Tampa Bay Rays fan or a follower of this blog's predictions. After a series of 1-3 performances, the forecasts for top 10 drivers hit rock bottom last week by going 0-4. The season record is now 3-13. However, like the Rays, these predictions have plenty of time to salvage the season.
One from the front: Three of the top four drivers in today's Sprint Cup race at Texas Motor Speedway are starting for the People's Pitstop this week, so they are ineligible for these picks. We'll go with the only top-four starter who is eligible: Carl Edwards, who also happens to be second in points and won Friday night's Nationwide race on this very track.
One from the back: The pickings are slim once again in the bottom 10. But there is a local favorite lurking here. Bobby Labonte has done well at Fort Worth; he's won the pole twice and has three finishes in the top five. We'll take him as the likeliest driver to surge into the top 10.
Two from the middle: It's surprising that Kyle Busch, who leads the way in points and could have won Friday if not for a close encounter with Tim Schendel, is eligible for this pick. However, he qualified 11th, so technically, he's in the middle. He gets one pick. The other one goes to another "How the heck did he end up back here?" driver, Denny Hamlin. Not only did he win both races in Texas last year, but he's getting praise from folks like Yahoo's Geoffrey Miller, who's not ready to write him off just yet.
Enjoy tonight's race and today's golf. We'll be back with the race results.
One from the front: Three of the top four drivers in today's Sprint Cup race at Texas Motor Speedway are starting for the People's Pitstop this week, so they are ineligible for these picks. We'll go with the only top-four starter who is eligible: Carl Edwards, who also happens to be second in points and won Friday night's Nationwide race on this very track.
One from the back: The pickings are slim once again in the bottom 10. But there is a local favorite lurking here. Bobby Labonte has done well at Fort Worth; he's won the pole twice and has three finishes in the top five. We'll take him as the likeliest driver to surge into the top 10.
Two from the middle: It's surprising that Kyle Busch, who leads the way in points and could have won Friday if not for a close encounter with Tim Schendel, is eligible for this pick. However, he qualified 11th, so technically, he's in the middle. He gets one pick. The other one goes to another "How the heck did he end up back here?" driver, Denny Hamlin. Not only did he win both races in Texas last year, but he's getting praise from folks like Yahoo's Geoffrey Miller, who's not ready to write him off just yet.
Enjoy tonight's race and today's golf. We'll be back with the race results.
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Reason #600 Football Trumps Baseball
You're going to hear about a lot of football happenings over the next few weeks. Some will have a long-lasting impact on your fantasy football league (such as an injury that may cause last season's sack king to miss this season). Some will have almost no impact whatsoever in the long run (such as a certain quarterback's attitude toward training camp). The impact of others will fall somewhere in the middle (LenDale White, anyone?).
Meanwhile, while we wait for the real football games to start and for NASCAR to drop the green flag on its latest race -- hint, hint, vote on the People's Pitstop lineup before Friday evening -- you may have heard that a certain baseball player reached a certain milestone this week. A lot of people are going to see this as a reason to celebrate that baseball player, but we at the People's Pigskin see this as a reason to celebrate something else.
Football.
That's right. Football, the sport that last visited Yankee Stadium during the Alan Ameche era.
For one thing, it's a reminder that the National Football League, for all its faults and failings -- and they are plenty -- got the issue of performance enhancers right.
Step into the Wayback Machine for a trip to 2006, when we learned that Shawne Merriman, one of the NFL's defensive stars at the time, had taken performance-enhancing drugs. Did we learn about it from reading a former teammate's tell-all book? Did we learn about it from an exclusive interview with Rich Eisen? No, we learned about it when the NFL said that it would be suspending Merriman four games (and taking away four game checks) after he failed an NFL test.
There was a swift test, a swift result and a swift and real punishment. Merriman didn't just face a nebulous sense of public shame for what he did. He lost a quarter of his salary for that season. He even became the namesake of a rule barring such players from the Pro Bowl.
And that type of tangible punishment is reflected in another difference between baseball and other sports: a historical record free of question marks.
The NFL's all-time leading rusher is Emmitt Smith, and its all-time leading receiver is Jerry Rice. Both Smith and Rice will be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Saturday. Does anyone suspect them of using shortcuts to get there?
The NBA's all-time leading scorer is Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who, for bonus points, is also featured in one of the funniest movies ever. Does anyone suspect him of using shortcuts?
The holder of just about every NHL record that does not involve goaltending is Wayne Gretzky. Does anyone suspect him of using shortcuts?
Now let's look at baseball's home run record. The current holder of that record not only is suspected of cheating, but he stands accused of lying to a federal grand jury about it. The person whom most expect to take that record is already on the record saying he cheated during the three-year period leading up to his trade to his current employer. And instead of being punished for his transgressions, he's been rewarded with the opportunity to perform on one of the biggest stages in sports.
Don't you feel better knowing that the biggest questions facing your fantasy team probably involve holdouts or Kardashians?
Meanwhile, while we wait for the real football games to start and for NASCAR to drop the green flag on its latest race -- hint, hint, vote on the People's Pitstop lineup before Friday evening -- you may have heard that a certain baseball player reached a certain milestone this week. A lot of people are going to see this as a reason to celebrate that baseball player, but we at the People's Pigskin see this as a reason to celebrate something else.
Football.
That's right. Football, the sport that last visited Yankee Stadium during the Alan Ameche era.
For one thing, it's a reminder that the National Football League, for all its faults and failings -- and they are plenty -- got the issue of performance enhancers right.
Step into the Wayback Machine for a trip to 2006, when we learned that Shawne Merriman, one of the NFL's defensive stars at the time, had taken performance-enhancing drugs. Did we learn about it from reading a former teammate's tell-all book? Did we learn about it from an exclusive interview with Rich Eisen? No, we learned about it when the NFL said that it would be suspending Merriman four games (and taking away four game checks) after he failed an NFL test.
There was a swift test, a swift result and a swift and real punishment. Merriman didn't just face a nebulous sense of public shame for what he did. He lost a quarter of his salary for that season. He even became the namesake of a rule barring such players from the Pro Bowl.
And that type of tangible punishment is reflected in another difference between baseball and other sports: a historical record free of question marks.
The NFL's all-time leading rusher is Emmitt Smith, and its all-time leading receiver is Jerry Rice. Both Smith and Rice will be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Saturday. Does anyone suspect them of using shortcuts to get there?
The NBA's all-time leading scorer is Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who, for bonus points, is also featured in one of the funniest movies ever. Does anyone suspect him of using shortcuts?
The holder of just about every NHL record that does not involve goaltending is Wayne Gretzky. Does anyone suspect him of using shortcuts?
Now let's look at baseball's home run record. The current holder of that record not only is suspected of cheating, but he stands accused of lying to a federal grand jury about it. The person whom most expect to take that record is already on the record saying he cheated during the three-year period leading up to his trade to his current employer. And instead of being punished for his transgressions, he's been rewarded with the opportunity to perform on one of the biggest stages in sports.
Don't you feel better knowing that the biggest questions facing your fantasy team probably involve holdouts or Kardashians?
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Columbus Weekend Reading
The polls on what to do with our lineup and how you set up yours will close later tonight, but while you ponder how you will vote, I thought I'd offer you some links to visit.
Why Fooball Is Better Than Baseball. What does baseball say when the temperature drops below 30 degrees? No way, Jose Molina. What does football say when the temperature does that? Oh, yeah! Bring it on!
I Want My Vick TV. I'm not sure whether this should be called ridiculous or inevitable (or maybe both). Michael Vick (remember him?) will star in an eight-part documentary that will air on BET. Of course, the first thought that came into my mind was when the other Eagles backup QB was getting his show?
Don't Rush to Judgment. (Yes, I chose the cheap pun. Sue me.) Players like Bart Scott and Matthias Kiwanuka heard that someone's actually interested in the Rams and responded by saying they wouldn't play for Rush Limbaugh. Of course, before they say that, they should check out the histories of some of the people who have owned NFL teams in the past. George Marshall, for instance. Heck, at this point, I'd bet the Oakland Raiders would be glad to have an owner with a pulse.
Recommended Links. Sclike offers an insightful (and humorous) view on how Christians should feel about "Playing Fantasy Football for Money."
Also, a newcomer to the fantasy football game, Queen of the Savages, tells us how she got into the game. (Warning: The language here isn't safe for children, unless you want to have a certain conversation with said children.)
Again, vote on the polls. We'll be back with the results and a new poll on Sunday.
Why Fooball Is Better Than Baseball. What does baseball say when the temperature drops below 30 degrees? No way, Jose Molina. What does football say when the temperature does that? Oh, yeah! Bring it on!
I Want My Vick TV. I'm not sure whether this should be called ridiculous or inevitable (or maybe both). Michael Vick (remember him?) will star in an eight-part documentary that will air on BET. Of course, the first thought that came into my mind was when the other Eagles backup QB was getting his show?
Don't Rush to Judgment. (Yes, I chose the cheap pun. Sue me.) Players like Bart Scott and Matthias Kiwanuka heard that someone's actually interested in the Rams and responded by saying they wouldn't play for Rush Limbaugh. Of course, before they say that, they should check out the histories of some of the people who have owned NFL teams in the past. George Marshall, for instance. Heck, at this point, I'd bet the Oakland Raiders would be glad to have an owner with a pulse.
Recommended Links. Sclike offers an insightful (and humorous) view on how Christians should feel about "Playing Fantasy Football for Money."
Also, a newcomer to the fantasy football game, Queen of the Savages, tells us how she got into the game. (Warning: The language here isn't safe for children, unless you want to have a certain conversation with said children.)
Again, vote on the polls. We'll be back with the results and a new poll on Sunday.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)