The People's Choice - Fontana

Some people are getting ready to watch college kids compete for spots in the Final Four. Some are getting ready for the start of baseball season, the only season that holds a candle to NASCAR's in terms of length. But we at the People's Pigskin are thanking you, the Internet, for coming out again in droves to vote on our lineup. Here are the drivers that will represent the People's Pitstop this weekend in Fontana, California.
A List: The winner of this poll is someone who was winning back when Charlie Sheen was just a guy in a troubled marriage. Five-time defending Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson took this poll. He and Carl Edwards will compete during qualifying for a chance to start for the Internet's favorite fantasy NASCAR team on Sunday.
B List: Don't let people tell you stock car racing is strictly for Americans. This poll was won by Colombia's Juan Pablo Montoya. The runners-up were some usual suspects (Ryan Newman and Kasey Kahne), but the final spot went to a Tasmanian named Marcos Ambrose. The two drivers who qualify the best will start.
C List: UPS representative David Ragan won this poll, followed by Bobby Labonte.
Thanks once again for voting. The results appear below, and a new poll on rule changes is available for your votes now. We'll try to update this post once the qualifying session is over.
UPDATED 9:45 P.M. You guys are good. And so is Montoya, who took the pole and will earn us a 10-point bonus. He's joined in the starting lineup by Ragan (who qualified 6th), Newman (9th) and Johnson (16th).
[polldaddy poll=4759885] [polldaddy poll=4759909] [polldaddy poll=4759927]

The Not-So-Golden Rules

In addition to helmets and short fuses, one thing that both NASCAR and the National Football League have in common right now are rule changes.
And in both cases, the changes have more than a few critics.
First, let's deal with the NFL (while there still is one). The owners approved a few rule alterations this week. One of those changes is to bring kickoffs back to the 35-yard line. The idea is that giving the kicker 5 fewer yards of playing area will produce more touchbacks. And who doesn't love the idea of watching more touchbacks and fewer plays like this.
No matter which NFL team you follow, you can find a coach who doesn't like the change. And it's not hard to understand why. The goal might be keeping players safe, but those coaches who don't simply surrender to the urge to kick balls out of the end zone will simply tell the kicker to shorten the kick and try to pin the receiver deep. Players will still be injured, as they have been since the pigskin really WAS made from pig.
Now for the NASCAR changes. The revamp that France & Co. approved to their scoring system is summarized here. I say "summarized" because if the new system had any more 'if's, 'and's or 'but's, it would be a grammar textbook.
NASCAR tells us that the system is supposed to emphasize winning. That, of course, explains why the current points leader has no wins and only one top five finish so far this season. And please note that the wild card spots are available only to drivers who finish in the top 20. That would mean that if the Chase were to start right now, one of the four drivers who have won a race so far this season would not be in NASCAR's version of the playoffs.
Oh, and did I mention that the driver in question -- the one currently sitting 43rd in the new and/or improved points system -- won the alleged Super Bowl of NASCAR?
By the way, you still have a couple of hours to vote on the lineup polls on the right side of this page. Your votes, and your votes alone, will determine which drivers will represent the People's Pitstop at Sunday's NASCAR race in Fontana, California.
We'll be back with the results.

A Post That Shouldn't Have to Be Written

While NASCAR is getting its season off to a rollicking start, the other sport covered on a regular basis on this Web site is heading into a tailspin.
By now, unless you're living in a cave, you've heard about the problems the National Football League and its players have had trying to divide $9 billion of revenue. Words that should never enter the vocabulary of sports stories, like decertification and plaintiff and lockout and boycott, are becoming as common as upside and OTA.
Another unfortunate side effect of this battle of wills is the way fans are being asked to choose sides. Poll after poll asks the people who provide all that revenue which side should be allowed to get more of it. On behalf of sports fans everywhere, we at the People's Pigskin would like the people who put these polls together to borrow a tactic from the Richard Pryor movie "Brewster's Millions" and add another choice to these polls.
"None of the above."
Asking us to say we like one side because we don't like what the other is doing is kind of like asking us to enjoy a toadstool breakfast simply because we don't want to eat skunk. Asking us to choose between someone who signs an eight-digit contract and then talks to us about the costs of health care or someone who takes a billion dollars from the taxpayers for a stadium and then talks to us about revenue distribution is as false a choice as we can get. In the immortal words of Buffalo Springfield, nobody's right if everybody's wrong.
Which side are we on? We're on the side of the fans. They provide the revenue that the players and owners are having trouble dividing. They are the ones buying the tickets, the jerseys, the concessions and the satellite TV packages. They are the ones making the Super Bowl the highest-rated show in the country year after year. They are the ones passing the bond or tax measures that finance the construction of new arenas.
And they seem to be the only ones without a seat at the bargaining table.
Roger? DeMaurice? Whether you realize it or not, you work for the fans. Because their revenue also funds those paychecks you're so cavalierly declining in an empty and futile gesture to convince us that you're right.
If you ignore them or take them for granted, you do so at your own peril. Just ask Gary Bettman.

All in All, It's Just Another Post on the Hall

This post isn't really all that related to fantasy football, but it's something for the people who bring you the People's Pigskin to get off their chest.

Anyone who reads more than one article ever written by Peter King will know that he's one of the people who selects the inductees for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. And in this week's Monday Morning Quarterback, King was bemoaning the fact that nonplayers and noncoaches like Ed Sabol, the man who gave us the invaluable NFL Films, has not made the Hall yet. Then he offered a couple of ideas for changing the selection process to help people like Sabol and Ron Wolf get into the Hall.

Here's how it currently works: The selectors get a premilinary list of modern-era candidates in October and are asked to whittle that list down to 25 semifinalists. The semifinalist list goes to the selectors in November to be whittled down to 15. Then on Super Bowl weekend, those 15 candidates are pared down to 10. Then the selectors vote again to pare those 10 candidates down to 5. Then the selectors vote yes or no on each of those 5 candidates. Any candidate who gets 80% "yes" votes in that last round are elected and are inducted the following August.

A separate process can produce up to 2 "senior" inductees each year, so you can have up to 7 people inducted each year.

Here's what Peter King proposes to change this:

1. Take one of "senior" selections either every year or every other year and designate it for a noncoaching "contributor."

2. "Take the two non-modern-era-candidate slots and make them fit for all other candidates -- seniors, scouts, etc."

Those are nice ideas, but they don't go nearly far enough.

In this season of peace on earth, it's time to blow up the Hall of Fame selection process.

The problem is the seven-enshrinee maximum, which makes it feel as if the selectors are filling a quota instead of a hall. The last year more than seven people were enshrined was 1967, when eight people, including Paul Brown and Chuck Bednarik, were inducted. That year, the National Football League had only 16 teams -- half the number it has now. (The NFL-AFL merger was several years away.) That year, the Green Bay Packers had 43 players on its roster, according to ProFootballReference.com; now their roster has 53 players at any given time. And the Packers had 7 coaches that year, including Vince Lombardi; now they have 21.

In short, the Hall of Fame selection process was designed for a league that no longer exists. There are far more players, coaches and contributors in the NFL now, so it makes sense that there would be more people worthy of induction now. If you look at players alone, there is a glut of worthy candidates getting squeezed out by the numbers game, and that glut will only get worse as time marches on. If Tim Brown has a hard time getting attention in this atmosphere, imagine what Ed Sabol must go through.

The Hall of Fame should give football fans everywhere the Christmas gift of a new rule: We'll start inducting the exact number of people we deem worthy of induction, whether it's 1 or 5 or 25. And yes, they should start with Ed Sabol.

We'll be back with some fresh predictions.

The People's Results - Dover

The leaves are starting to change in certain parts of the country (and so are the quarterbacks), but one thing that isn't changing is your level of enthusiasm for the People's Pitstop. You, the Internet, have selected the lineup that will represent the Web's favorite fantasy NASCAR team this weekend in Dover. Here are the results.

A List. Jimmie Johnson, who is gunning for a fifth straight Sprint Cup, won this week's vote (and starting spot) over Denny Hamlin.

B List. Another week, another tie. This time, it's a four-way draw between Matt Kenseth, Ryan Newman, Kasey Kahne and David Reutimann. The two top qualifiers will start for the People's Pitstop. And if Matt Kenseth starts, it will be his last start for us this season.

C List. There must be something about Scott Speed. He won this poll yet again and will make his fifth start for us this season. Sam Hornish Jr., whose future is still up in the air, will sit on the bench.

You can see the poll results below. Thanks for voting, and if you haven't already voted on the People's Pigskin lineup, please vote on those polls now.

Oh, and if anyone is driving down to Dover for the weekend, would they mind picking me up a few football tickets? (Just kidding.)

UPDATED 6:30 P.M. The qualifying session is over, and Johnson confirmed your confidence in him by winning the freaking pole (and earning us a 10-point bonus). Hamlin qualified 4th; he stays on the bench but give us a 1-point bonus. Speed qualified 20th, or a single spot ahead of Hornish.

The B List qualifying competition was probably the tightest in the People's Pitstop's history. Your starters are Newman (13th) and Kenseth (14th; Sunday will indeed be his swan song for us). Kahne (16th) and Reutimann (17th) will sit on the bench.

And a football note. Knowshon Moreno was declared out for Sunday's game between the Denver Broncos and the Indianapolis Colts because of a hamstring injury. It's too late to alter the poll, but you can rest assured that the People's Pigskin will not start him Sunday. Who should we put in his place? If you haven't voted, do so now.

We'll be back with some predictions.

[polldaddy poll=3789689]  [polldaddy poll=3789695]  [polldaddy poll=3789709]

Texas-Size Results (and Polls)

NASCAR fans (most of them, anyway) would tell you that in this case, the wait for the Sprint Cup race at Texas Motor Speedway was worth it. And the Internet's favorite fantasy auto racing team would agree. The People's Pitstop managed to score 307 points in the Samsung 500. That lifted us to a tie for 99,704th overall on Yahoo Sports and a tie for 118th in the Fans of From the Marbles league. Here's how the points break down.

Greg Biffle: Started 3rd, finished 10th, 13 laps led and 85 fantasy points. Biffle's total included 3 bonus points for qualifying 3rd and 10 more bonus points for leading at least one lap. And yes, that's his seventh top 10 finish of the season. Remember that when the next set of predictions come out.

Kevin Harvick: Started 19th, finished 7th, 78 fantasy points. Surprisingly, Harvick was one of the few top 10 drivers who didn't lead a lap this week. (And by the way, he has only four starts left for the People's Pitstop for the rest of the season.)

Jeff Burton: Started 6th, finished 12th, 10 laps led and 78 fantasy points. Burton was actually in the lead when the Big Wreck took out nearly a quarter of the field. Unfortunately, Burton couldn't hold on to that lead.

A.J. Allmendinger: Started 17th, finished 13th, 66 fantasy points. Allmendinger took some damage from the aforementioned wreck, but he stayed on the track to finish right behind Burton.

Now, we move on to Talladega and a whole new set of polls. They can be found underneath our St. Louis Rams draft poll. As always, the lineup polls will close Thursday night, so we can submit a lineup in time for Friday's qualifying session. The Rams poll will close Wednesday night. We'll be back with more thoughts on racing and football. In the meantime, please vote.

The People's Choice - Phoenix

For NASCAR fans, it's going to feel like a short week with the Sprint Cup race on Saturday night in Phoenix. Nevertheless, you, the Internet, found the time to pick the People's Pitstop fantasy racing lineup for the Saturday race. Here's your lineup.

A List. It was a four-way tie in this week's poll, so we go with the points tiebreaker. Your starting driver is Greg Biffle, while the backup spot goes to Jimmie Johnson.

B List. There was one clear winner in this poll, Matt Kenseth. He gets a place in the starting lineup, along with Jeff Burton, who wins the points tiebreaker. The bench spots go to Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Joey Logano.

C List. A familiar face returns to the starting spot, Paul Menard, who may end up on a different list (say, the Chase, perhaps?) if he keeps this up. The backup is David Gilliland.

We have a new poll up. This one deals with our other focus here at the People's Pigskin: football. Feel free to vote, and enjoy the qualifying, the race and even the golf (if you are so inclined). We'll be back tomorrow with predictions for the top 10 spots. The poll results appear below.

[polldaddy poll=3010585] [polldaddy poll=3010589] [polldaddy poll=3010604]

Sunday Update: Executive Decision

Every democracy has procedures in place for an emergency. In this fantasy football democracy, one of those emergency procedures is being put in place.

At about 3:30 p.m. EST on Sunday, the Arizona Cardinals reported that Kurt Warner would not play against the Tennessee Titans. In light of this, the People's Pigskin has benched Warner in favor of Matt Cassel. You can see the updated lineup here and follow our matchup against the Hawaiian Surfriders here.

The People's Choice (and a New Poll)

Another week has passed, and you, the Internet, have spoken again. In our latest fantasy football poll, you decided that our team should bench Steve Slaton in favor of Matt Forte. Slaton has been benched, and Forte has moved into the starting lineup for our Landshark Maniacs matchup against the Hawaiian Surfriders. You can follow that match live here.

Our latest poll deals with something that has haunted fantasy football pretty much since its creation. Last year I played in an online league where one team was ... and there's no pleasant way to put this ... abandoned. How do we know it was abandoned? By looking at the starting quarterback for all 17 weeks of last year's NFL season: Tom Brady. (You might remember he had a problem with his knee in the season opener that year.)

I remember being frustrated about the fact that whoever was playing this team (which I will not identify here) was getting what was essentially a head start, if not an outright gift of a win, because it seemed as if one fantasy player had suffered a setback and decided that the team was a lost cause.

Nothing happened to that player as far as I can tell. Was that right? This poll is your chance to answer. Please vote now, and enjoy the Sunday games. The lineup poll results can be seen below.

[polldaddy poll=2304605]

Saturday Afternoon Reading

If you're reading this, let me congratulate you on surviving your Thanksgiving dinner and Black Friday.

The People's Pigskin got off to a disappointing start against the Hawaiian Surfriders. Greg Jennings and Nick Folk scored 5 fantasy points each, giving us a 10-0 lead heading into Sunday's games. There is still time to vote on the rest of our lineup. That poll will close late Saturday night.

So before you settle into a plate of leftover turkey and a slate of college games, here are some fantasy football links to peruse.

Forget the budget! I've gotta set my lineup! Who says politicians can't make tough decisions? Twelve mayors from across the country are competing in the Yahoo Sports Mayoral Face-Off. The grand prize: a $15,000 donation to a nonprofit of the winning mayor's choice. One of the participants is Oklahoma City's Mick Cornett, a former sportscaster. How much has his sports background helped him in this competition? At the time the article was posted, his team was 11th.

Another set of opposing views. A couple of WordPress bloggers make this week's list. First, there's Big Rips, who offers this comparison of fantasy football versus gambling. The thesis: fantasy football "has turned many people into “that guy” at the bar." In this case, "that guy" means the guy who annoys everyone else in the bar, to the point where the barkeep tosses the guy out on his Oshiomogho Atogwe.

Another blogger, Glenn's World, offers some thoughts on having NFL games on Thursday. In a nutshell, Glenn would prefer to have games on Sunday or Monday only. "With every Sunday spent watching football, I really don’t want to devote more time to watching more football other days."

(Glenn also invited me to give him a set of confidence picks to compare with his own. My picks, which skipped the already-played Thursday games, can be found in the comments section of his post.)

And just in case... you haven't seen this yet, here is video proof that Ray Lewis hasn't cornered the market on big defensive plays.

We'll be back tomorrow with an update on our lineup.

Fearless Predictions - Week 12

Somebody should cue Al Michaels -- we have a miracle. Last week the Landshark Maniacs predictions went (hang on, this is gonna require the Caps Lock) FIVE-AND-OH, BABY!!! OH, YEAH!!! This lifts the season record to 31-24.

With the dinner-busting tripleheader on Thanksgiving, we have to get this week's predictions in early. Let's see if the short week affects the forecasts as much as it does the New York Giants.

Peoples Pigskin vs. Hawaiian Surfriders. If the forecasts can have a perfect week, then the Pigskin can make the playoffs.

Ravens Fan T Sizzle vs. T-bay jacks 151rum stumblrs. It comes down to one letter: Q. That's the letter you'll see next to Calvin Johnson's name. The Lions may either inactivate him or hold down his playing time. That will be enough for the stumblrs to squeeze out a win.

Big Lough O vs. Houston Wreckin' Crew. You'll see another Q next to Michael Turner's name, but that one won't matter as much. The Lough Os have too many weapons and will cruise to a victory.

Southern Rebels vs. D.C. Destroyers. This is your wishbone game of the week -- the one that could go either way. The difference? Chris Johnson. He's heading for a rushing title, and the Destroyers are heading for the winner's circle.

Northeast Dragons vs. Tinks Revenge. There are two indisputable facts to remember this week: One of your relatives will attack Thanksgiving dinner the way these folks attack hot dogs, and the Dragons will chalk up another win.

Please remember to vote in our polls, both of which will close tonight. Have a happy Thanksgiving, and be sure to save me some pie.

Saturday Afternoon Reading

This would have been posted earlier, but we were unavoidably detained at Sofia Restaurant, the unofficial second home of the People's Pigskin. Anyway, here are some links to peruse while you decide how you will vote in our polls. (Reminder: the lineup poll will close Saturday night.)

Maybe he and the producers should huddle. I wish I could find video to support my point here, but I can't, so you'll just have to trust me on this one.

The NFL Network has a show called Playbook, where several National Football League veterans, including the inimitable Sterling Sharpe, analyze game film and try to use what they see on that film to predict the outcome of the upcoming games. If it sounds familiar, it's because ESPN has been using that format for years for its "NFL Matchup" show with Ron Jaworski and Merrill Hoge. (If you're looking for that show on your TV listings, it's easy to find -- just look in the boxes marked "3:30 a.m. EST Sunday" and "7:30 EST Sunday." You know, the times when every football fan's TV is on.)

Anyway, this week on Playbook, Sterling and company were analyzing this week's titanic matchup between the Cleveland Browns and the Detroit Lions. Sterling was telling us that the Lions would prevail, because he likes what he's seeing from the Lions defense. While he was praising the defense, the producers were showing three plays from last week's game between the Lions and the Minnesota Vikings. The plays: a long Sidney Rice touchdown, a long reception by Percy Harvin and a touchdown run by Adrian Peterson. In at least two of the plays, the Vikings player broke at least one Lions tackle.

I still don't know whether the producers were paying tribute to Alanis Morissette's take on irony, or whether they didn't get the memo that all three analysts were picking the Lions to beat the Browns. Or maybe it was just easier to find three plays where the Lions were schooled.

Conflict of interest? By now you know that Maurice Jones-Drew's taking a knee at the 1-yard line last week hurt a lot of fantasy football players last week. Well, the Chicago Tribune learned that one of the players burned by the decision was Robbie Gould of the Chicago Bears. He has a team in the NFL Players Association league, and his team had Jones-Drew in its lineup.

That's right. The NFL Players Association has a fantasy football league. Now, it would be the height of hypocrisy for me to criticize NFL players for playing fantasy football. But it is interesting that a league that sued to keep Delaware from taking bets on football games allows its players to play fantasy football, a game where inside knowledge about who's starting and who's healthy (and who's lying about their injury reports) would be worth a king's ransom.

Your weekly "opposing view" update. A fellow WordPress blogger, Pigskin Is the New Pink, has something to say about fantasy football. In the post "Fantasy or Loyalty," the blog (which, to be fair, is written by a fantasy player) tells us that fantasy football "has shamed the way fans treat their rivals." The thesis: Playing fantasy football encourages you to root for players on your archrival's team, in the hopes that said players will reward you with points and victories.

"I encourage you all to stop playing fantasy football for money and start cheering for what really matters, when your most hated team and/or player has a TERRIBLE GAME and LOSES!"

Ummm...good luck with that.

Now to the important stuff. Remember what's truly important about football: the chance to enjoy whatever your favorite beverage may be, even if you feel the same way as this guy.

We'll be back Sunday morning with an update on our lineup.

The People's Pro Bowl

At this time of year, the People's Pigskin is not the only football team seeking your help in choosing its lineup. (Hint: the polls are on the right.) The National Football League is soliciting fans' help in picking the players who will be invited to play in the Pro Bowl. The official ballot is here. The winners will be invited to play in Dolphin Stadium (not Landshark Stadium; the NFL has its own beer sponsor) the week before the Super Bowl.

Of course, the fans won't have the final word on the lineups. At least officially, the fans, players and coaches get an equal say in who goes to the Pro Bowl. But that doesn't mean fans can't put a little thought into their votes.

One of the consistent knocks against pro football's all-star game is that reputations count more than results -- a player who gets more TV interviews and films more commercials (or one who simply has been going to the Pro Bowl since the "Seinfeld" finale) will be chosen over a player who actually made the mistake of having a better season. But you, the Internet, have the power to overcome that, and you don't have to watch 40 hours of game film to do it.

Here's where fantasy football comes in. There are few better ways to compare one player to another heads-up without the bias of team logos or Nielsen ratings. This year, instead of simply voting for your favorite team's players or the first players that pop into your head, I would encourage you to vote for the players who are putting up the best fantasy numbers this year. If you do that, here's how your Pro Bowl ballot might look.

OFFENSE

Quarterback (3 from each conference). If you use ESPN fantasy points as your guide, your NFC passers would be Aaron Rodgers (185), Drew Brees (159) and Brett Favre (147, just 1 point above Tony Romo). Your AFC picks would be Peyton Manning (178), Tom Brady (176) and Matt Schaub (155).

Running back (3). Again, using ESPN points, your NFC backs would be Adrian Peterson (163), Michael Turner (138) and DeAngelo Williams (137). Your AFC picks: Chris Johnson (181), Maurice Jones-Drew (169) and Ray Rice (142).

Wide receiver (4). From the NFC: Larry Fitzgerald (115), Miles Austin (104), DeSean Jackson (103) and Roddy White (99). From the AFC: Reggie Wayne (130), Randy Moss (128), Vincent Jackson (112) and Andre Johnson (102).

Tight end (2). From the NFC: Vernon Davis (89) and Brent Celek (78). Yes, that means saying no to a certain PETA fan. From the AFC: Dallas Clark (90) and Antonio Gates (74 -- he's behind Owen Daniels but isn't on injured reserve).

Fullback (1). Here you can vote for the fullback with the most fantasy points or the fullback who helped his fellow running back get to the top of the fantasy heap. In that case, you would pick Minnesota's Naufahu Tahi for the NFC and Tennessee's Ahmard Hall for the AFC. (And if you haven't heard of either one until now, you're welcome.)

Offensive line (2 centers, 3 tackles, 3 guards). Here's where things get tricky. Most fantasy formats don't have scores for individual linemen. Your options: vote for the lines that got their running backs to the top, vote for the lines that got their quarterbacks to the top, or register for a site like Trench Fantasy that actually tracks blocking stats. For example, in the first half of the season, Trench Fantasy's top-scoring lines were the New England Patriots, the New Orleans Saints, the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Indianapolis Colts.

DEFENSE

If you play in a league that treats defense/special teams as a single entity (as most leagues do), you can simply vote for the players on the top-scoring defense/special teams. In ESPN's case, that would be the Saints, Eagles and Vikings on the NFC side and the Ravens, Broncos and Bengals on the AFC side. However, you can make more precise votes if you have access to IDP (individual defensive player) stats. These numbers come courtesy of FFToday.

Defensive end (3). NFC: Jared Allen (98), Andre Carter (80) and Julius Peppers (76.5). AFC: Robert Mathis (76), Aaron Schobel (65) and Dwight Freeney (59).

Defensive tackle (3). NFC: Kevin Williams (55.5), Jonathan Babineaux (48) and Albert Haynesworth (42). AFC: Marcus Stroud (52), Tommy Kelly (40) and Shaun Rogers (32.5).

Outside linebacker (3). NFC: Lance Briggs (74.5), Chad Greenway (74) and Mike Peterson (74). AFC: James Harrison (97.5), Brian Cushing (94) and Elvis Dumervil (85.5).

Inside linebacker (2). NFC: Patrick Willis (111.5) and Curtis Lofton (86.5). AFC: David Harris (85.5) and D.J. Williams (85.5).

Cornerback (3). NFC: Charles Woodson (92.5), Tracy Porter (75.5) and Terence Newman (74.5). AFC: Leon Hall (80.5), Johnathan Joseph (72) and Chris Johnson (68).

Strong safety (1). NFC: Roman Harper (73.5). AFC: Tyvon Branch (71.5).

Free safety (1). NFC: Darren Sharper (97). AFC: Antoine Bethea (92).

SPECIAL TEAMS

Kicker (1). Going back to ESPN stats, you get David Akers (90) for the NFC and Stephen Gostkowski (84) for the AFC.

Kick returner (1). If you can find a fantasy league that credits receivers with return points, you get votes for Percy Harvin (only 889 yards, but 2 touchdowns to put him past Danny Amendola) for the NFC and Joshua Cribbs (1,236 yards, 2 touchdowns) for the AFC.

Punter (1). Here you can simply go with the NFL leaders: Andy Lee (2,665 yards) for the NFC and Shane Lechler (2,938 yards) for the AFC.

Special team player (1). OK, there are some areas where fantasy football can't help you. Pick your personal favorite.

You'll notice that this list is missing some famous names -- players who have spent so much time in Honolulu that they should probably be registered to vote there. But when you make your Pro Bowl picks according to fantasy stats, you realize something: Reputation is not a fantasy stat.

We'll be back tomorrow with the Landshark Maniacs predictions.

The People's Choice - Week 10

You, the Internet, have spoken, and you have said a change needs to be made.

Apparently, enough of you were concerned about Jamal Lewis' injury to vote that Chris "Beanie" Wells should take his place. Wells is now in the starting lineup for our fantasy football matchup against Big Lough O. You can follow that matchup here.

You were also all over the map on our fantasy league prize poll. You can see the results for both polls at the bottom of this post.

Last night, the good folks at Fantasy Sports Shack invited me to participate in their Name Your Sleepers Matchup. Basically, the Fantasy Sports Shack and a guest picked some under-the-radar fantasy players. You can see our choices here. By the way, I think I messed up. They define sleepers as someone owned in less than half of fantasy leagues, and I think on some of the choices I was looking at how many leagues were starting that player. If the Shack is reading this, all I can say is I guess I picked the wrong week to stop doing this.

A new poll is up, and this one will stay up until Thanksgiving. We'd appreciate your vote. Enjoy the games, everyone.

[polldaddy poll=2237347] [polldaddy poll=2228017]

A Midweek Link Batch

The NFL gets a head start on week 10 tomorrow, when the San Francisco 49ers will face the Chicago Bears. While you get your lineups ready (and decide what to do with ours), here is some recommended reading.

Further review? I've got your further review. If you feel your fantasy football team was robbed when Ryan Moats fumbled the ball last week against the Indianapolis Colts, think how Houston Texans coach Gary Kubiak must feel. Kubiak said he has filed a report with the NFL about how the replay of that fumble was handled:

"The bottom line, they're saying that the ball was not touched by anybody who was out of bounds. Or if it was, it was only touched by Ryan (Moats), who was on top of another player. We thought looking at it that 41 (DB Antoine Bethea) is touching the ball and he's out of bounds."

How far will that report get Kubiak? I'm hoping he's not holding his breath (or anyone else's).

Well, they're both filled with large male human beings. That's a similarity. It can't be easy to be Eric Mangini right now. He has a quarterback with worse stats than JaMarcus Russell, his hand-picked GM is out, and he may be next to get the heave-ho if his owner brings in the football czar he wants.

But Mangini is mounting a defense. (Off the field, at least.) He claims that there are "remarkable similarities" between how his Browns are now and how the New England Patriots were when Bill Belichick arrived. "It was top-heavy financially, there were tough decisions that had to be made, and we didn't have much success that first year."

The Patriots went 5-11 in Belichick's first year there and 11-5 in his second. If Mangini thinks he can pull off something similar in his second year -- heck, if he thinks he can match that 5-11 record this year -- he might be sharing an office with these guys.

It's not just for slackers anymore. The Boston Globe has a nice story about a nursing home that started a fantasy football league for its residents. About a dozen people who are old enough to have watched Sammy Baugh are now monitoring Sammy Morris' stats. If anyone from that league is reading this, kudos to you (and don't be afraid to help our team out by voting in the polls).

If this isn't enough for you... The NFL Network, apparently afraid that some football fans may not feel invested in Thursday's tussle, is offering a Fan Challenge. It's basically a mini-fantasy football league in which you pick from the players involved in the NFL Network's eight Thursday and Saturday night games. No, this guy isn't available. But then again, neither is this guy.

We'll be back with more thoughts tomorrow.

Monday Afternoon Update (and a New Poll)

Premature congratulations are in order for Tinks Revenge, who will likely get that against the People's Pigskin this week. The Revenge currently enjoys a 103-70 lead over our team. In the Monday night matchup between the San Diego Chargers and the Denver Broncos, the Revenge has Antonio Gates, while we have Matt Prater, our newly acquired kicker. To paraphrase the immortal Sydney Greenstreet in "Casablanca," it would take a miracle for the Pigskin to beat the Revenge, and the Landshark Maniacs have outlawed miracles.

Speaking of Matt Prater, his time with the People's Pigskin will have to be brief, since his team has a bye next week. Yes, that means that you, the Internet, will be picking a free agent kicker for the second straight week. Here are the nominees:

Nick Folk, Dallas Cowboys. His team had a bye this week, but Folk has scored at least 5 fantasy points in every game this season. He's currently tied for 6th with 38 fantasy points for the season.

Jay Feely, New York Jets. A botched snap doomed his hope of kicking the winning field goal Sunday against the Buffalo Bills, but Feely has scored at least 4 fantasy points every game this season. He's tied for 8th with 37.

Dan Carpenter, Miami Dolphins. His team had a bye this week, but the only time Carpenter has scored fewer than 7 fantasy points was the season opener, when he scored 1. He's in 9th place with 36.

Those are your choices. Again, the polls are now located on the right-hand side of this page. Be sure to vote by Wednesday night, when this poll will close.

By the way, if you haven't done so already, you should check out Malcolm Gladwell's piece in the New Yorker on brain trauma and football players. I don't think it will stop anyone from putting on pads in hopes of being someone's fantasy football star someday, but it is a sobering reminder of what's truly on the line during every game.

We'll be back tomorrow with a detailed look at our team's performance and what can be done about it.

The People's Choice - Week 5

You, the Internet, have spoken once again on our lineup. You voted to leave it the way it is. And we successfully picked up Chris Cooley for the tight end slot, so here's how we look right now. And if you want to watch our matchup against t-bay jacks 151rum stumblrs, you can click here.

This week's poll deals with a certain reality about football: You probably fell in love with football -- and with a certain football team -- long before you got involved with fantasy football. Please vote.

We'll be back later with an update on this week's competition. Until then, enjoy the games and your Columbus Day weekend.

[polldaddy poll=2105175]

Receiver Developments

Don't oversleep if you're a fantasy football fan. If you do, you run the risk of missing major stories about your players.

If you were one of the many who drafted Michael Crabtree before the season, only to ditch him as his holdout lingered into the regular season, you may be interested to know that Crabtree has agreed to a deal with the San Francisco 49ers. Of course, this doesn't automatically make Mr. I Should Get As Much As Darrius Heyward-Bey relevant to fantasy football. Just because Crabtree is on the team does not automatically mean he'll be in the starting lineup on Sunday. He has a lot of catching up to do.

And if you're a fantasy player, that's not even the biggest news from Wednesday morning. ESPN Radio is reporting that Braylon Edwards has been traded to the New York Jets. That one, obviously, is huge. Edwards goes from playing with the Brady Quinn/Derek Anderson combo platter to catching passes from Mark Sanchez. He also escapes the Eric Mangini stalag that the Cleveland Browns are quickly becoming. (No word on whether LeBron James is letting Edwards off the hook, though.)

Back with more fantasy thoughts later.

Weekend Reading (and Thoughts)

Remember, now's the time to vote on our starting lineup for this week's game against the Southern Rebels.

I'll offer my predictions for the Landshark Maniacs league later, but first I wanted to offer some interesting links and thoughts, some of them germane to fantasy football.

Put me in, Coach. If you looked at the bench players for Southern Rebels, you'd notice that she has Larry Fitzgerald, whose Arizona Cardinals have a bye week. (Insert huge sigh of relief here.) You would also notice a symbol next to Larry's name that indicates a promotion. ESPN is giving away footballs autographed by Larry himself. All you have to do to be eligible is put Larry into your starting lineup -- you know, as if you were on the fence about starting him or something. I'd try to persuade the Southern Rebels to start him this week to get another chance at a football, but clearly my opponent is too smart for that. She's starting Cedric Benson against the Browns, after all.

Clearly, this was the problem. What do you do if you're the coach of a team that's an unimpressive 1-2 and is having its home games blacked out? You cancel your quarterback's radio show. At least, that's what you do if you're Jack Del Rio, who shut down David Garrard's weekly show. Del Rio says he didn't like the timing of the show (which aired Friday afternoons and didn't conflict with any scheduled team activities) or the fact that Garrard was talking about things other than the upcoming opponent so close to game time. I'm not going to argue that Garrard couldn't use more film study -- these stats don't lie -- but I'm wondering if Del Rio would be better served worrying about his 25th-ranked defense rather than how his quarterback spends his down time.

(How does the above relate to fantasy football? Umm...don't start Garrard, regardless of when he's on the radio.)

Hot read. In addition to kissing babies and rigging Lambeau Leaps, our good friend Chad Ochocino has written a book, "Ocho Cinco: What Football and Life Have Thrown My Way." The book (written with help from Jason Cole of Yahoo! Sports) is set for release Oct. 27 and features insights like this: "I got six paintings of myself in the living room of my town house in Cincinnati. Why? Because I love me. I’m great and I know it." I'm sure you'll be keeping that factoid in mind while deciding the People's Pigskin lineup.

Nobody asked, but... I don't get why Terrell Owens is getting sandblasted in some places for his press conference after the Buffalo Bills lost to the New Orleans Saints last week and his 185-game reception streak ended. He was given opportunity after opportunity to throw his coaches and teammates under the bus and then back the bus over them, but this time he didn't take the bait. (And I've got to be honest here -- some of the questions were an attempt to bait him.) He said that his job was to run the plays that were called. In other words, he's there to be a player, not a coach. If he had given that type of answer a few more times in Dallas, he may still be a Dallas Cowboy today. If he had given that type of answer a few more times in Philadelphia, he may still be a Philadelphia Eagle today. If he had given that type of answer a few more times in San Francisco ... well, you get the idea. And if that makes me a contrarian, then I'll have to be a contrarian who would still start Owens in any fantasy matchup.

Speaking of contrarian thoughts. Continuing a theme from last week, I couldn't resist offering this link to a fellow blogger's post, "Why I Dislike Fantasy Football." Even though I disagree with her about liking fantasy sports (and I'm sure many of you feel the same way), I appreciate Jessica Morrey's reasoned approach to fantasy and her love for the sport of football itself. Most articles in the "I don't like fantasy" genre are much less kind to those of us who play fantasy sports.

Stay tuned for predictions later today.

Opening Night

I'm not sure why the National Football League has decided to start its season on a Thursday night, taking away from the idea that the start of the season is a quasi-holiday. I also don't know why teams are allowed to pull shenanigans like this with their injury lists.

But right now, I DON'T CARE! IT'S FOOTBALL TIME!

According to the alleged experts at ESPN.com, the People's Pigskin is an underdog in the first weekend against Ravens Fan T Sizzle. I don't see any big numbers from either offense, but the Sizzle has Rob Bironas tonight, so we'll get a glimmer of clarity on our situation.

In the meantime, be sure to vote on our lineup, and leave a comment if you think I'm nuts.