Showing posts with label Fantasy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fantasy. Show all posts

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Football Wrap Week 4: Ducky Boys, Donovan's Revenge, and Sweet Fantasy

"You've never known fear until you've seen ducky boys"

Don't look now but the hottest team in America lies in Eugene. If anyone doubted the Ducks minus Jeremiah Masoli would do anything but win the Pac-10, Saturday should've put them to rest.

Stanford had em up 21-3 in the FIRST quarter. Andrew Luck was auditioning for the NFL as Brent Musberger named him the best college QB he's seen since Peyton Manning. TD pass here, TD run there, he made it look easy.

Somehow, that clicked on a switch and the Ducks just exploded. Drop a 49-pound atom bomb of offense that sent Stanford back to the woodshed. Forget replacing Masoli, they just found the next Dennis Dixon in Darron Thomas (355 total yards, 4 total TD's).




I don't see anybody slowing down this offense. If Thomas isn't throwing and running around like a maniac, he's handing it off to phenom LaMichael James (above, only averaging 8 yards a carry) or Kenjon Barner. They look just as lethal as they with Dixon or Masoli. And in case we all forgot, they shut out the Cardinal in the 2nd half.

Forget winning the Pac-10, if Ohio State loses to Michigan or if by some reason Boise State isn't worthy to be No. 2, Alabama will find out what the Pac-10's gonna see this year. Fear the Ducky Boys.

- Shoelace Robinson nearly put up 500 yards again? But the best part of the last game was that GW drive. That's where you go from an unstoppable video game character to a QB threat. That's how you grow up in 60 minutes - and if Michigan's D ever gets better, the Heisman will be his a landslide

- On that note. Michigan-Ohio State for the Rose Bowl, the Heisman and the national title game???

- I knew Alabama would smoke Florida but I didn't know they'd have BBQ gators by halftime. No. 1 until proven otherwise.



- Deja vu all over again for USC losing a last second kick to UW. Local connects Nick Folk (above with the dagger Pt. 2), Steve Sarkisian and D-coordinator Nick Holt haunt the Trojan program and once Washington sees their Cali recruits pay dividends, it's gonna really haunt USC for years to come. Already saw it with backup QB Keith Price throwing a TD on his first ever college pass.

- I haven't seen UCLA run that well since Maurice Jones-Drew got overshadowed by Reggie Bush 5 years ago. The Pistol is starting produce results and the combo of Johnathan "Jet Ski" Franklin and Derrick "DC-33" is paying off as Thunder and Lightning. Three-game winning streak ain't bad.


If there's a better story than Donovan McNabb coming back to Philly and winning, it'd be his words to his teammates. Everyone makes a mistake and the Eagles made one last year. Nothing better than coming back after you've been kicked out and owning the house you once ruled.

Only regret is that Michael Vick got hurt and had to miss most of the game. Kevin Kolb looked more shook than anybody. Guess that's what happens when your job gets taken and nobody has faith in you anymore. That's the cold part about revenge, it has bigger consequences than you intended.

(#5's prolly got some Kool Moe Dee in his I-Pod: "How Ya Like Me Now")

In one game, McNabb threw a TD, slowed Mike Vick's mojo, made Kolb look like a rookie and turned  Philly into the City of Brotherly Love and Pain. Several players got hurt in the game. Revenge hurts more than your intended target. And McNabb had to revel in it like a champ.

- Glad to see my San Diego Chargers and the NY Midgets have a sack race yesterday. Too bad the Midgets won 10-9 but both defenses tore Arizona and Chicago up like lions. Big ups to Shaun Phillips (3 sacks, scored a TD), Mike Tolbert (first career 100 yd game) and Ryan Matthews scoring his first NFL TD for SD.

- I bugged out when Fox showed LaDainian Tomlinson having 19 CATCHES for 130+ yards. Then I bugged out even more when they corrected their goof. 19 carries, 133 yards??? Turn back the clock LT, nobody's happier than me.



- Sleeper of the year is easily Arian Foster. Best RB of the year so far after he dismantled the Colts in Week 1 and showed his value to his team by playing well after sitting out due to violations. Fantasy owners rejoice but Texas fans should too

- Special Teams Player of the Weekend: Patrick Chung. Blocked punt, Blocked FG and a Pick-6 on Monday? I remember dude at Oregon and thinking he was a good player but THAT's making an impact. Chad Henne must've said "Here have this pass, you played way better than anybody on our team so go ahead and score."

- Hate to admit it but it's getting harder to argue Terrell Owens as not worthy of the Hall of Fame. 1st WR in history to have a 200 yard game with 3 teams and his numbers are still growing. He's a jerk who forced his way off two teams, turned down Baltimore and Ray Lewis (and was unfairly blamed for being a Cowboys distraction)  but he was also one of the best WR's of the last decade.




FANTASY REPORT - Oh, how sweet it is to be back on top. 3-1 this weekend and my only loss was a small one to the fantasy guru in my main ESPN League. I did some extra digging around and found some gems. I'll be going by team names instead of leagues.

ESPN: California Crushers 1-3 (Lost by 9 despite four guys with over 20 point. Freaking Colts D screwed me over)
ESPN: Inglewood Stars 1-3 (Finally got my first win since my opponent apparently took the week off)
Yahoo: EvBeez's Army 2-2 (See Inglewood Stars)
Yahoo: Boltin Cowboys 2-2 (Took down the #1 team in the league. BAM!)

Fantasy Winners: San Diego Chargers D, Patriots tailback Ben Green-Ellis. ATL kicker Matt Bryant. Late pickups that boosted my squads and I see em doing damage later on too. And finally glad Maurice Jones-Drew got off his cold start.

Fantasy FAILS: Giants WR Steve Smith. I had high hopes dude would prove me right calling him a sleeper. It's hard to hate on one of the greatest athletes Los Angeles has ever produced but dude's having a disappointing season. Blame Eli Manning but he's killing me worse than MJD. Same with the Colts D and Jeremy Maclin.

Key this week was being proactive and doing work. Just gotta do it again to keep it a great week.

Monday, September 20, 2010

Football Wrap Week 2: UCLA aint dead yet


As I said in my last post, I was hoping for some bday mojo after last week's disappointment. Boy did I get it from UCLA, who destroyed Houston in Westwood while ending the season of Houston QB Case Keenum.

Even better, sophomore tailback Johnathan Franklin, above, had a career day (158 yards, 3 TD's), junior DB Rahim Moore had an INT and the defense was flying all over the field. Franklin's taken a lot of heat for his fumbleitis but along with Moore, you won't find too many kids finer than him. I found this out when I interviewed him 3 years ago when he was a senior at Dorsey HS here.

You don't meet 17-18 y.o. kids talking about wanting his peers to not say the N-word and writing a book to teenagers giving them advice how to live. You don't meet kids talking about the pride of having a UCLA education, not just playing football. It's still one of my favorite interviews and that's why I root for him. Great win for UCLA, but it gets a lil harder visiting Texas down in Austin. Far cry from the days when we used to run up 66 on Ricky Williams.

Even better mojo came from San Diego where the Chargers lit up Jacksonville. Home cooking does a body good and I'm proud of our defense stepping it up and regaining their form. The offense will do what it does but when the D can shut down Maurice Jones Drew, who famously took apart Shawne Merriman, that's a good sign.

Too bad my Cowboys didn't get the memo. Miles Austin and Jason Witten turning completions into interceptions. David Buehler missing the game-tying kick. And watching Devin Hester score on a pass made me sick.

(Sidenote: You notice how short a shelf life return guys have nowadays. Devin Hester's been almost MIA and anybody seen Dante Hall lately?)

We have some problems and it's time to sort them out NOW! 0-2 isn't how a playoff contender is supposed to be. Dez Bryant had a great punt return for a TD but i'm seeing some panic in Big D and it's not good. The only downside of the weekend is wondering what needs to happen.

Other NFL notes





- Randy Moss did something I've never seen. Make a one-handed catch and send your man to the DL after burning him. That's called "stylin" folks. Get well soon, Revis.

- Michael Vick still has it. A playmaker but finally a quarterback who can pass 1st, run 2nd. Best backup in the NFL? At least, the most valuable.

- Call him unclutch, call him a January Jane. Just keep calling Peyton Manning the best QB in the game.

- Saints are 2-0 but they aren't playing like champs yet. And Reggie Bush possibly being out with a knee injury doesnt help. But the 49ers showed why they have plenty of potential and why they haven't fulfilled it...yet.

- That said, Alex Smith on that last drive looked as good as I've seen him since he was running with Utah and Urban Meyer.

- Houston Texans 2-0. Repeat that sentence. I like it.

NCAA hits

- Robert Woods had a 97 yd kick off return for USC. It'll be the first of many for him.

- Mark Ingram is still an NFL caliber running back. Yes it was against Duke but he ran with the same force and energy he showed last year.

- The Pac-10's still impressive. Arizona shocked Iowa on a blocked punt. Oregon's still rolling. Save for Cal getting blasted by Navy, I think it's gonna be a deep year. Ducks still are the favorites.

Fantasy Watch (AKA, Glad this isn't reality)

ESPN: U Mad League (won my matchup thanks to Frank Gore). Record 1-1
ESPN: South Beach NWO (MoJo Drew's bad night didn't help and I got killed). Record 0-2
Yahoo: Sports Gurus League (Steve Breaston/Pierre Garcon? FAIL!). Record 1-1
Yahoo: Fantaball! (Lost 72-65 if we round up, low scoring and FAILS!). Record 0-2

Fantasy Wins: Far and Few between. Phillip Rivers and Antonio Gates besides Gore.

Fantasy FAILS: MJD got me good on a bad night. Pierre Garcon burned me another week. Why I have faith in that guy I'l never know.

I need do some serious revamping next week. My guys arent scoring and I gotta look for some trades or good finds to jump start my yahoo teams.