And now, 7:49 of funny cats… worth skipping around and watching.
Question: Am I getting lazy with blog posts lately, or just more efficient?
Blowout of the Weak
This week in the NFL, we saw several blowouts, but which one really jumped out at us and said it was truly “The Blowout of the Weak”?
In week one we saw a Tennessee Titans team run buck-wild over the haphazard Oakland Raiders team 38-13, Chris Johnson going off for 142 yards and 2 touchdowns on 27 carries (including 4 receptions for 8 yards). The Raiders would total 136 yards on the ground with 180 yards by air (286 net yards on offense) to go along with two turnovers and a missed field goal.
Then there was the 49ers embarrassment of a showing in the great Northwest city of Seattle, a game in which one of the really good running backs of the National Football League carries the ball only 17 times for a measly 38 yards (6 receptions for 45 yards); a game that saw a the 49ers convert only 14 total first downs all day. Really a big difference maker in this one were the two interceptions thrown by Alex Smith resulting in 52 return yards by the Seahawk defense. It seemed like the Niners could do nothing right on opening week, dropping a 31-6 ball game to a team that is destined to win but maybe 3 games all year (the Seahawks that is).
But this week, was truly a showing of weak.
41-7 Falcons romp the hapless Cardinals. Could this one hurt me anymore? The Cards somehow managed to only move the chains 11 times… 11 first downs … wow, no matter how you say it, it’s pathetic isn’t it? Tim Hightower provided some spark for the red-birds with an 80-yard touchdown scamper (totalling 115 yds on 11 carries), a feat which matched the third longest run in franchise history.
Matt Ryan tied a career high with 3 touchdown passes to go along with his 225 yards passing (21/32).
Did I mention that the Cards were 0/8 on 3rd down conversions? Meanwhile the Falcons were 11/17 on their side, en route to a total 33 first downs in the shellacking.
Story of the game: 222 net rushing yards by the Falcons, which in turn lead to 39:13 time of possession (20:47 for Arizona). Micahel Turner had 9 rushes for 75 yards before being take out of the game due to injury while Jason Snelling (third stringer) filled in with 129 yards and 2 touchdowns on 24 carries of his own (throw in 5 receptions for 57 yards and a touchdown to boot!).
Story of the game (pt 2): 3 – 84
What does “3 – 84” refer to? How about 3 interceptions for 84 return yards. That stings a bit don’t it? Derek Anderson threw a pair while rookie Max Hall was allowed to get on the field and throw one of his own.
Bottom Line:
You can’t throw picks, allow for two-hundo yards on the ground, and expect to be within 20 points (let alone 30 points).
I’m wondering what it will be like this week at Arizona Cardinal practices…
Highlights (?)
Stay tuned for more “Blowouts of the Weak!”
Totally Random: Today’s thoughts
– Microwaves don’t seem to cook my frozen food as well as they have in the past. Are the frozen entree’s to blame, or my microwave? Or, should I just look in the mirror and do an intervention on the consumption of frozen foods?
– Spent the weekend canning peaches with my mother and sister. Three-fourths the way through a great idea hit me: do alcoholic canned peaches. Following some internet research, this is apparently a great, inexpensive way to make excellent peach/pear brandy!
– Crushed ice just gets your drinks watered down faster; go with cubes
– This post is barely 100 words long …
Fantasy Basketball: Part I
I’m not going to pretend to be a seasoned pro that knows everything about how to play, draft, or talk Fantasy Hoops.
But today, I’m going to do my best to layout some early rankings and predictions on who will be available where, as well as some basic theory behind the game itself.
Theory
First question:
Which categories will be used in your league?
This is the most important ideal to stand by. If you’re the commish, and you use too many, and you’ll end up canceling out a lot of the categories; should you use too few, nothing matters anymore – it becomes a yawn fest.
Some standards to follow and to do your research by would be:
Points scored
Rebounds
Blocks
Steals
3-pointers
Assists
Field goal percentage
Free-throw percentage
Okay, now you know your league settings and you’re ready to go, right? Let’s do this then … wait, wait, wait, wait, wait! Where you gonna draft? I mean, what is your draft position!??! While it’s safe to do general research before knowing your draft position, I feel it is always best to go into things with a strategy, knowing who you’ll be targeting and who you value over other people at these said draft intervals.
(Early) Rankings
TOP TIER (1-15)
Kevin Durant – SF
Chris Paul – PG
LeBron James – SF
Dirk Nowitzki – PF
Kobe Bryant – SG
Deron Williams – PG
Danny Granger – SF
Dwight Howard – C
Pau Gasol – PF/C
Stephen Curry – SG/PG
Dwayne Wade – SG
Carmelo Anthony – SF
Steve Nash – PG
Gerald Wallace – SF/PF
Tyreke Evans – PG/SG
Some guys that you can find on the cusp of the top tier would be: Jason Kidd, Brook Lopez, Josh Smith, Brandon Roy, Amare Stoudemire. Taking a look at Amare’s team, I’d be prepared to move him up a bit higher in this list as D’Antoni’s teams can really boost stats for players (see: David Lee).
From here on, let’s do a little bit of a “buy”, “sell”, or stay even with them in regards to their listed ranking…
MID TIER (21-35)
David Lee – SELL!
* GS Warriors are in flux, he’ll be the big guy and board, but I’d be surprised if he’s a 20/10 guy again. Monta and Steph Curry will be using too many shots for him to really assert his “game” (or lack thereof).
Rajon Rondo – BUY!
* Rajon may have left Team USA prematurely, but he strikes me as the kind of player that uses that sort of “rejection” and puts it to good use. Look for him to put on a show and carry the Celtics.
Chris Bosh – even…
* One of the “Big 3” is going to under-produce, there just aren’t enough possessions in a game. I’m picking Bosh to be that guy. He may get some boards and assists, but his points will dip.
Monta Ellis – SELL!
* If my David Lee prediction proves to be false, it’s because Monta Ellis is being shown the door. Okay, Monta Ellis may be shown the door anyways this season. (IMO).
Russell Westbrook – BUY!
* After a great Team USA showing, lookout for Mr. Westbrook.
Joe Johnson – SELL!
* Sure his contract was big, but his delivery in the playoffs was sub-par. I’m taking it as a sign of decline from Joe.
Andre Iguodala – SELL!
* Didn’t they draft Evan Turner?
Chauncey Billups – SELL!
* Old man playing too much ball in the summer months=old man playing too many minutes over the course of the season.
Stephen Jackson – SELL!
* He plays for Charlotte, enough said.
Al Jefferson – BUY!
* Al will tear it up under the hoop this year. When this train gets going, get out of the way!
Tim Duncan – even…
* Father Time, as I like to call him, will produce, but at another year below his career averages. Keep an eye on his FT% should you choose to select him.
Carlos Boozer – BUY!
* I’ve always been a Boozer-Believer, and I believe he will have a hay-day in Chicago with DRose.
Al Horford – SELL!
* I guess I’m just not too high on the Atlanta Hawks and their new head coaching choices.
Paul Pierce – even…
* Paul is aging, the Celtics are aging, don’t draft them too high in your leagues!
Darren Collison – BUY!
* Darren Collison will have a phenomenal year alongside Danny Granger. I’d push him to the top in PG’s taken in the second round of your drafts (aside from the peeps in the list previous).
Some good value to be had just outside of this group in: Zach Randolph, Antawn Jamison, Andrea Bargnani, Aaron Brooks, and Marc Gasol. Take a look at that group, a couple of them are slated to be “the guy” on their team. Antawn Jamison, who else will be taking the load for the Cavs? Bargnani is setup to take on the nay-sayers in regards to his number one draft ranking. Aaron Brooks could end up playing 40+ a night for that Rockets team, which isn’t a bad thing.
Spotlight on 3
Let’s take a step back from the player rankings and look at a few guys that could really shine this year (meaning, you should keep an eye out for them!).
Brandon Jennings: surrounding an explosive 2nd year guy with savvy veterans is never a bad idea. Will he have to score 55 points in many games this year? No. And while his scoring could take a dip, look for his other intangibles to rise up – i.e. assists, steals. Jennings is currently hovering around #60 in predraft rankings, putting him in the possible 4th-5th round come draft time.
Paul Millsap: Paul is in an interesting situation. The national media seems to have pegged him as the backup PF for the Utah Jazz. Problem is, Al Jefferson will likely be the starting center for the Jazz all season long (can you really picture Mehmet Okur storming back into a starting role on this team?), this would leave the starting PF spot to Mr. Millsap. His scoring will remain to be up and down, but should you need rebounds, blocks, or FG%, consider taking Paul Millsap around the 5th-6th rounds.
DeMar DeRozan: DeMar had a huge summer league this year putting up 21 ppg in 26 minutes to go along with 58% FG shooting and 40% 3PT FG’s. Will it be the DeMar and Bargnani show in Toronto? Why not? What else are they going to do? While currently not in the top 150 of several sites, stash him away for later in your leagues draft.
Part II: Fantasy Schmantasy – coming soon …
Day Off: Enjoy this Clip
Blazing Saddles in 359 seconds, enjoy!
See ya Thursday!
2010 NFL Opening Weekend
So here it was and there it went. The opening weekend for the NFL; how did it feel for you? For me, the timing couldn’t be more perfect – the smell of Autumn was truly in the air, it was cool, crisp weather around the valley (of SLC).
Bring it on. I’m ready for some football.
Let’s touch on a few of the games I really followed this weekend, shall we?
I watched an Eagle team sport an amazing near comeback on the feet and by the arm of a once “shamed” Michael Vick. At the end of the day it was the Green Bay Packers that held on for the win, 27-20.
The Arizona Cardinals had a near botch of an opening game at the hands of rookie quarterback, Sam Bradford, and the terrible St. Louis Rams. Unfortunately, I was forced to “watch” this game through the unconventional format of online updates on ESPN, Twitter, and Yahoo! Sports Fantasy Football app … a little behind the real time, but I’ll take a win (even if Tim Hightower has a REAL fumble problem that needs to be dealt with). Cardinals 17-13.
But the real stinker of opening weekend was watching the way that the Detroit Lions got the shaft in a final toss to the end zone. It was WR Calvin Johnson that had an apparent game-winning touchdown which was waived off with 24 seconds left. He appeared to catch the ball with one hand, but it bounced free when he laid the hand on the ground. The officials ruled, and video replay confirmed, that Johnson did not complete the catch. But, watching it time and time again, he had the ball, took two steps, his butt hit the ground, followed by his off-hand, then he appears to put the ball on the ground in celebration … sorry Megatron, not this week. Bears win it through nothing more than luck and a rabbits foot, 19-14.
While the Patriots seemingly throttled the Bengals in their opener, it wasn’t without some controversy. Patriots 38-24
(Toss in a rant by Randy Moss – 5 rec. 59 yds):
(forgive the audio sync)
There was a point where I was watching the Washington Redskins try their best to give the game to the Dallas Cowboys, but the ‘Pokes would have nothing to do with it. Costly penalties ended the game for them as they drove towards the end zone while the ‘Skins just watched pass after pass be completed with no defenders in sight. Can you say “Anti-Climatic”? Redskins 13-7
I was going to talk about the Jets-Ravens game, but it was an awful event to waste television time on (125 yards in penalties for those J-E-T-S, Jets, Jets, Jets!?). Ravens 10-9
And how about them Chiefs?!!? Was it the 94 yard punt return by McCluster that really made you say “Who Dat?”, or was it Jamaal Charles 11 rushes for 92 yards and a touchdown that evoked that classic response? Either way you shake it, we had yet another game where the defense could not stop an offense in the final minute of the game, only to come out on top in the end. Was it good defense, or a lucky break? I’m calling lucky break as it seemed Chargers wide receiver Malcolm Floyd slipped on that final heave into the end zone. Fate? Chiefs 21-14
What a wild weekend for football!!!
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