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.