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VERSUS
So, who is the better individual to help further the entity that is auto racing? Is it Danica Patrick or Dale Earnhardt Jr.?
I would like to know, so please enlighten me hillbillies… If auto racing is a sport, do you accept the fact that a woman (Danica Patrick, who won her first race on Sunday in Japan) can be as good, if not better than a man?
In most other actual sports, mens and womens leagues are kept separate due to the fact that biologically men are stronger muscularly than women.
If you indeed believe that anyone from either gender has the ability to be the best racer in the world, do you think that genders should be mixed within other sports too? Should the top WNBA players be given the opportunity to join the NBA? Should women be preferred by racing leagues because of their marketability to other demographics (mainly other women that NASCAR doesn’t capture)? And if said female is considered “pretty,” it could mean that they are marketable to men for different reasons (e.g. do a google image search for Danica Patrick, and see what the first 20 pics are). Would you be comfortable seeing a NASCAR covered in Tampax, Monistat, or Victoria’s Secret decals? This could mean a change of everything you left-turning hicks love!
Or, if you believe that men are superior athletes, and becuase you still think drivers are athletes, they are therefore superior behind the wheel. This would have you believing that Danica is just a freak of nature? NASCAR is perfect as is, and 98% of the drivers will remain men, because men are simply better at driving.
So, which box would you like to get put into? Are you in favor of making NASCAR a more feminine-influenced entity? Or are you a sexist chauvinist pig? This is open for discussion!
Some of you have wondered what happened to the greatest assemblage of creative talent since Veronica Corningstone broke up the Channel 4 News Team in San Diego. Well, wonder no more.
Here is that group, pictured at Bo Mitchell’s wedding in October of 2007. From left to right they are as follows:
Christian Peterson—A finalist for FSWA Fantasy Golf Writer of the Year, Christian now works for another former Fanballer, Paul Charchian, on their new product, LeagueSafe. CP is also contributing some fantasy sports writing at Fantasy Football Champs.
John Tuvey—If you’re here, you already know 2V… you know, because, this is his site. But the vast majority of his writing can be found at The Huddle, where he serves as Senior NFL Analyst. He’s also been known from time to time to swing by Fantasy Football Champs and Fantasy Football Trader, perhaps to borrow a cup of sugar.
Bo Mitchell—The groom in this picture and the former publisher of Fanball, Bo moved to a similar role at Fantasy Football Champs, where he is slowly stockpiling former Fanball writers for a palace coup. Bo also indulges his passion for the hardball with the good folks at Inside Edge.
Anthony Maggio—Last I saw Magsh he was on the corner of Washington and 3rd holding a sign that says, “Will write for beer.” Magsh has about 17 irons in the fire, many of them sports related; since I don’t feel like updating this page every four days when he adds another paragraph to his resume, suffice it to say he’s banging a keyboard somewhere.
Jonathan Lopuch—If you’re a parent, you may need to sit down before reading this. Comfy? Pooch is going back to school to pick up a masters in education so he can help form the minds of America’s youth as a teacher. It’s an occupation that will allow him to both coach (he was the second choice to replace Tom Creen; thankfully it never came to that) and write about sports, which he is doing for Fantasy Football Champs and Fantasy Football Trader, among others.
Ted Carlson—The deciding vote in the “blue shirt vs. black shirt” battle, Ted continues to churn out quality fantasy content at Fanball.com. My severance agreement prohibits me from saying anything negative about my former employer, though I don’t know if that extends to things I could say about Ted personally. Of course, I have nothing negative to say about Ted personally, so the point is moot.
Noah Wenz—Kind of like the Fifth Beatle, Noah was the guy who made Fanball products look so gosh darn good despite our photographs being in them. He remains employed by Fanball doing that same voodoo that he does so well. So if nothing else the magazines will still look fantastic. That’s not negative, right?
Jason Powell (not pictured)—We’re pretty sure Jason was at the wedding. Maybe he was taking the picture. Maybe he was trying to talk one of the bridesmaids into a three-way. Maybe he had already left to dote on his common law girlfriend. Maybe he’s the reason Magsh is smiling. Whatever, he is back on the wrestling beat with his own wildly popular website, prowrestling.net. But he still can’t get the Crusher to leave my voice mail message for me.
Kinda brings a tear to your eye, doesn’t it?
Believe it or not, I don’t have any say in where Boston College quarterback Matt Ryan lands in the draft. Shocking, isn’t it? But considering his talent and the needs of the teams in the top 10, it seems pretty clear to me that Ryan won’t make it past the Ravens with eighth selection. And if this fantasy owner has his druthers, that is exactly where he will end up. Let me explain.
First off, the Patriots, Rams, and Raiders have been disqualified from this discussion because they are already set at quarterback. I’m also dismissing the Chiefs because it appears they are comfortable going forward with the dynamic duo of Brodie Croyle and Damon Huard atop the depth chart. And the Jets are out because they appear dead set on having Kellen Clemens and Chad Pennington battle in training camp, a decision which will likely allow them to select near the top of next year’s draft board as well.
Of the teams remaining in the top eight, Baltimore is the lesser of the evils because it is the only franchise which features both a proven running back and a 100-catch receiver already in place. Atlanta is a close second on this list because of the potential of players like Michael Tuner, Roddy White and even the seemingly forgotten Jerious Norwood; however, there are too many questions surrounding their offensive line and tight end position for me to declare them the optimal landing spot for any rookie quarterback. The Dolphins are in even worse shape, as Ronnie Brown still has to prove he’ll be healthy enough to be a factor in 2008, and unless Ted Ginn develops at a rapid pace, there is no receiver on the team that will strike fear in the heart of a major college team’s secondary.
Baltimore isn’t Ryan’s best destination just because the other options are atrocious, though. With Willis McGahee and his 1,200 rushing yards in the backfield to provide balance, Matt wouldn’t be counted on to immediately carry the offense on his broad, catholic-school educated shoulders. He will also be aided by the presence of veteran wideout Derrick Mason, who is not much of a fantasy option outside of PPR leagues but could be a big help to a rookie quarterback. Baltimore also has one of the top pass-catching tight ends (when healthy) in Todd Heap, which provides a nice security blanket for a young signal caller. The Ravens receiving corps also includes a couple of intriguing youngsters in Mark Clayton and Demetrius Williams who could one day replace Mason atop the depth chart and grow up with Ryan if all goes according to plan.
Of course, even if Ryan ends up with the Ravens it will be a couple of years before fantasy owners can reasonable expect consistently solid numbers from him. But of the teams picking at the top of the draft, Baltimore offers the best chance of preventing him from having to endure a short learning curve.
After being sick for the last week and change I have come to hate winter just a little bit more. I curse the descendants that thought living in Minnesota would be a good idea. Just because it has a similar climate to Scandinavia, does not mean it’s a great place to settle down and start an onion farm. I suppose if I wanted to be in a warmer climate, we could load up the truck and move to Beverly, but it’s not so easy when the kids are involved and I don’t have a truck. So, I’m stuck here in this snow globe until it all melts after March Madness.
The first half of winter doesn’t seem to drag on as long as February does simply due to a little diversion that I like to call the National Football League, and the lovely by-product of said league called fantasy football. I love fantasy football. No other sport is arranged quite as perfect as the NFL for the fantasy game. I believe this so much that I simply cannot stick with any of the other conventional fantasy sports. My gripes about the other leagues are as follows…
The NBA just feels like one of the most heartless sports ever. If the average NBA player doesn’t care until mid-May, why should I?
The NHL just has never cut it for me in a fantasy sense, simply because I can’t stay motivated to keep up with those teams that drop the puck south of the Mason-Dixon Line. If they cannot produce an outdoor rink, they should not produce an NHL squad.
Major League Baseball is pretty cool, and I follow it as much as I can, but the length of the season and amount of games played turn me off from a fantasy standpoint.
NASCAR is not a sport.
So, with that being said, I feel like I need to find something to fill in the dead time between Week 16 and March Madness. I love to place a bit of money on contests of strength and skill, but what contests are left to be contested? Here are three different ideas, even though some of which already exist.
Fantasy American Idol At this point there are 20 contestants left on one of the worst shows ever to grace the airwaves. Even though I truly believe that the show is terrible, I have probably seen a portion of half of the shows this season, and have realized the fantasy potential. I figure if one were to enter a league of any size, each owner could select four idols as your team. A simple one point for every round survived should suffice as a scoring system. Everyone could pick and just wait for the weekly outcome. My team of four players would include David Archuleta, Carly Smithson, David Cook and Kady Malloy. Think you could choose better? Post a comment on the blog.
Fantasy LostYou could almost run a death pool on the show, because it seems fairly obvious that someone could die on any given show. Since we now know that only the Oceanic Six leave the island, and the O-6 seem to have to lie about the lives of so many other plane survivors. I think that a roster of any six people on the island would be appropriate, with any new characters finding their way to the island being a part of the free agent pool. Every character is available for all owners, and people can pick up and drop as many times as they want. Receive one point for every death on your roster. On my roster I want Claire, Miles, Charlotte, Desmond, Karl and Juliet.
Minnesota State High School Hockey Tournament PoolIf you call yourself a hockey fan, you know that the premier event in all of hockey happens in Minnesota in early March, and is known only as the “Hockey Tournament.” As of last year I started a pool for both the Class A and AA tourneys. Every year it’s a complete crapshoot, even with the addition of the top four seeds in the eight team tournament. Last year the Iron Range dominated the tourney, with Hermantown beating Duluth Marshall in class A, and Roseau defeating Grand Rapids in the big school title. My home school, Minnetonka is still alive in their section finals, and don’t count them out if they make the tourney. If you want to be in this year’s pool, email me at smoothmat@hotmail.com, and I’ll send you a bracket.
If anyone else is as bored with the weather as I am, they would see that the format of the American Idol game could be used in any reality show, and if you have any great fantasy ideas, such as Fantasy America’s Next Top Model, leave a comment on the blog.
Late last week, there was a report on ESPN that the Panthers were looking to trade DeShaun Foster. As a man who has loved fellow Panthers running back DeAngelo Williams ever since he was in college, I can only say, “What took you guys so long?”
Now don’t get me wrong, I think Foster is a solid back, but Carolina has been making a big mistake by not letting Williams, who left school with the NCAA record for career 100-yard rushing games (34) and 7,573 all-purpose yards. Heck, DeAngelo doesn’t need me to tell you about him, he has created his own website to do that. I will use this handy chart to help illustrate how good he has been in Carolina Blue.
DeAngelo Williams, Panthers
| RUSHING | RECEIVING |
| Year | G | Rush | Yds | Yds/G | YPC | TD | Rec | Yds | TD | |
| 2006 | 13 | 121 | 501 | 38.5 | 4.1 | 1 | 33 | 313 | 1 | |
| 2007 | 16 | 144 | 717 | 44.8 | 5.0 | 4 | 23 | 175 | 1 |
Need visual evidence of his elusiveness?
Assuming the Panthers can find a trade partner and don’t end up pairing DeAngelo with another back to split the load, Williams should get about 275 carries in 2008. Even his per-carry average falls half a yard from last season to 4.5 a carry, he will end up with over 1,200 rushing yards, and that doesn’t even count his receiving yardage. Heck, even if he drops to 4.0 yards per carry, he will still end up with over 1,000 yards.
As much as I love DeAngelo (and any long-time reader of Fantasy Football Weekly knows my love for him is endless), I still have too many concerns about the Panthers to include him in my running back top-10 if Foster is dealt. First off, he w is yet to prove he can handle the load of being a featured back for an entire season. Secondly, the interior of their line is very suspect. While their tackle situation is in good shape with Travelle Wharton and Jordan Gross (assuming he stays), guard Mike Wahle has been a titanic disappointment andcenter Justin Hartwig can’t stay healthy. Also, several serious questions remain about the passing game, not the least of which is, who will quarterback the Panthers in 2008? Without a reliable passing game to distract defenses, Williams’ ability to consistently post excellent yardage numbers will be limited, as will his chances to score touchdowns. Of course, Carolina can address some, if not all, of those concerns with an aggressive offseason. If they accomplish that and ship out Foster, Williams suddenly emerges as one of next season’s most popular sleepers, and you can bet I’ll be leading the charge.
If you’re a big fan of reality TV—you know, shows that provide living, breathing proof of the decline of civilization—stop reading.
If, on the other hand, you appreciate quality television and don’t want to be subjected to another Guess How Much Money Is In My Pocket or Dance With Attractive People We Found Working At Denny’s, you owe it to yourself to check out Friday Night Lights.
Sure, the programming geniuses have it scheduled at one of the worst possible times—“Hey, let’s put a show about high school kids on at exactly the time high school kids won’t be around to watch it!”—but we’ve got TiVO and DVR and VHS so there’s really no excuse.
As we speak the brain wizards at NBC are planning to cancel Friday Night Lights. This is a move tantamount to buying a successful fantasy sports site then replacing everything that made it great with cheaper, lesser talent; however, unlike that shrewd business move you can actually do something that might prevent this travesty. Sign this petition and maybe, just maybe, we’ll be spared another night of idiots hugging Howie Mandel and passing up six figures for a one-in-72 shot at a million dollars.
Please. Because if we don’t stop them now, they may never be stopped.
It looks like the Erik
Bedard trade is almost complete. And kudos to the Baltimore Sun for using a timely reference for the title of the story.
Once the deal is complete I will be back with a breakdown of the players involved and compare what Baltimore received for Bedard with the package the Twins got in return for Johan Santana. Is it possible the Orioles actually got a better deal?
Speaking of the Santana deal, Fanball’s Christian Peterson takes a stab at defending the Twins in a blog entry.
If you are looking for a very good mock fantasy baseball draft, check out the latest one
from Mock Draft Central. You should recognize the man who is drafting out of the No. 5 because he is Chris Bracke, whose blog 108 Stitches is linked on my blogroll. You can also check out MDC’s Top 30 Prospects, also done by Mr. Bracke.
CBS Sportsline has posted another fantasy baseball podcast. There is nothing groundbreaking in this edition (unless you are privy to their inside jokes perhaps), but they say one thing that caught my attention enough to conduct an experiment. Do No. 1 pitchers really face other team’s aces on a consistent enough basis that it should worry fantasy owners? Check back to the Pooch Report on Thursday for my conclusion using mounds of data from the 2007 season.
When they construct a Hall of Shame for terrible announcers, there will be a wing dedicated to Emmitt Smith’s rookie season.
Scott Wright’s NFL Draft Countdown has a mock draft that was posted Friday and it looks like it takes all the right things into account. We’ll be all over the NFL Draft here like stink on a hobo.
