November 29, 2012

SF QB's and Rondo being Rondo

I wanted to comment on a few things that have happened recently.

Last Night Rajon Rondo got tossed from the game because he "punched" and "attacked" Kris Humphries. Humphries committed a "hard foul" on Garnett and Rondo went crazy. Here's the video:



1. Rondo never punched him. He clawed and lunged at him like a bitch.Here is the picture that Humphries tweeted after the game:



2. The foul on KG wasn't even that bad. I'm not a basketball guy but it looked like Humphries barely touched KG. I'm sure it was a foul (everything is in bball) but I don't even know why everyone thinks it was so "hard." KG didn't even seem upset by it and neither did the Celtics bench, which was right there.

3. Rondo was frustrated with Humphries cuz he got stuffed by him once or twice in the few plays before the incident. Obv Rondo was just taking out his frustration with the bitch foul. He is such a baby and has proven so multiple times throughout his career.

4. Anyone who tries to spin this as "sticking up for a teammate" is just dumb. That isn't what was happening. Credit to Doc Rivers who after the game said his team was soft and that none of that stuff that went on during the altercation was worth anything.




Smith's out and Kaepernicks in.
Colin Kaepernick was named the starting QB for the 49ers over Alex Smith this week. This is kind of a crazy situation, that is unprecedented.  In the 2 games before being injured and benched, Alex Smith went like 26/28 with 4 TDs and 0 INTs. Obviously the guy was playing very well and probably the highest level of his career. His career began in 2005 as the #1 overall pick from Utah and Smith has been mostly underwhelming his entire career. He led the 49ers to the playoffs last year and a lot of people are upset the coach has decided to go with the younger, unproven Kaepernick.

I love the decision. Here's why:

1. Kaepernick has so much more potential than Smith. He can be elite. Smith has more than proven he is nothing more than a game manager and mediocre QB. Maybe I just have a huge man crush on Colin because I saw him play a lot in college. He used to pwn Boise State. His first career college start was ON THE BLUE  (video below. watch if you have time) and even in a loss, he went 11/26 for 243 yards and 3 TDs. 0 Ints. Oh and he rushed for 177 yards and 2 more TDs.  Kaepernick also led the Nevada team that beat #4 Boise State in OT because of those 2 missed FGs that cost us the national championship. He was unstoppable then, and I see no reason why he can't play the same way in the NFL.

2. People who support Alex Smith because he led the team to the NFC championship game are delusional-  Smith didn't lead you there... your defense and run game did. Hey, if you asked Jets fans a few years ago if they believed Mark Sanchez was good, they would reply "YES hes good, we went to 2 consecutive AFC championship with him." Welp, we all know how THAT turned out. Sanchez sucks. His team made him look good. Same goes with Smith.

3. Jim Harbaugh took over the team a few years ago and inherited Alex Smith as the QB. He then drafted Kaepernick 2 years ago and clearly, that's "his guy." Kaepernick is going to be a better fit than Smith was for this offense. It was only a matter of time before this change happened.

4. There is no doubt in my mind the 49ers will never win a Super Bowl with Alex Smith at QB. This is 2012, not 2002. You need a great QB to have win the Super Bowl. Fact. Kaepernick COULD be that guy. outside of the Patriots, I think I want the 49ers to win the Super Bowl now that this WAC dude is leading the team.






UPDATE (12/12/12): Felger and Mazz just spent some time comparing Smith and Kaepernick. The link below is the audio. Hopefully this link works....

http://nyc.podcast.play.it/media/d0/d0/d1/d1/dT/dS/dE/11TSE_3.MP3?authtok=5561955400401863407_a4ez6omiZ5glRQpn6SZdW8jjfUc&utm_source=CBSBoston.com&utm_medium=twitter


November 26, 2012

Dirty D Playoff Clinching Scenarios

Well, we are entering the last week of the regular season and only 1 team has clinched a playoff spot. Bill, Campbell, Jenna, and Mr. B are all eliminated but play very important matchups vs potential playoff teams. 

Adam, Kait, Sean, Dan, and Paul are all tied for 2nd place. Donny is half a game behind them and Abe is alive but needs help sitting in 8th place right now a full game behind the large 2nd-6th place pack. Below is each team's clinching scenario. 




Tahiti Loungers (9-3, 1546 )
Next Weeks Opponent: the rental guys

I've clinched the #1 seed and regular season crown. 4th consecutive year to qualify for the playoffs. First time I've finished in 1st place in this league. 



Team Ice Cream (7-5, 1593)
Next week's opponent: Angry Pirates

Adam leads the 5-way tie for 2nd place with a commanding points total, the highest in the league. If Adam takes care of business next week vs Campbell (with a win,) he will be the #2 seed and clinch a bye in 1st round of the playoffs, setting up a potential rematch of the 2010 championship vs. me.  If Adam loses, he would no longer be able to get the #2 seed, however, because of his towering points total,  he would clinch a playoff berth if any of the following teams lose: comeback story, A Pinch Better, A1 Providers, the rental guys, The Godfather. Point is, Adam has pretty much already clinched a spot in the playoffs and grabs the #2 seed & bye with a win. 



Victorious Secret (7-5, 1507)
Next Week's Opponent: Comeback Story

Kait has been hot in the past few weeks and built her points total up enough to create a decent amount of breathing room entering the last week. She would clinch a playoff spot with a win.She would clinch the #2 seed and a 1st round bye if She wins and Adam also loses. If Kait loses, she would need a loss from ANY of the following teams to clinch: Sean, Paul, Dan


A Pinch Better (7-5, 1453)
Next Week's Opponent: Eat More Chicken

Same goes for Sean. If he wins, he is in the playoffs. If he loses he would need  2 people below him to also lose or he could get jumped. 


the rental guys (7-5, 1407)
Next Week's Opponent: Tahiti Loungers

Dan clinches a playoff berth with a win. If he loses, he would need Donny to lose or else Dan is eliminated. 


A1 Providers (6-4-2, 1395)
Next Week's Opponent: The Godfather

Paul clinches a playoff berth with a win. If he loses, he would need both Dan & Donny to lose or else Paul is eliminated. 




comeback story (6-5-1, 1283)
Next Week's Opponent: Victorious Secret

Pretty simple for Donny. If he wins, he is in the playoffs for a 2nd consecutive year, despite a very low point total. If he loses, he is out and Adam Kait Dan and Sean all clinch a playoff spot. 



The Godfather (6-6, 1497)
Next Week's Opponent: A1 Providers

To clinch a playoff berth, first and foremost Abe needs to beat Paul. If he does that, he would clinch a spot in the playoffs if Dan, Paul, Sean, Donny or Adam lose. Basically every single matchup would have to go against Abe for him to miss the playoffs, IF he beats Paul. If he loses to Paul, Abe is eliminated and Paul clinches a playoff spot. 





The Crossing Guards (5-6-1, 1457)- What a sudden, disappointing end to Bill's season (0-3-1 the past 4 weeks). Bill had a lot of bad luck down the stretch and has to wait another year to try again for the playoffs.

Boston Patriots (4-6-2, 1380)- Another tough season for Mr. B. He had a solid roster all year but again, this is fantasy football and bad luck struck too early and too often.

Eat More Chicken (3-9, 1433)- Such a brutal start to the season, Jenna came out scorching hot but lost very high matchups and got too far behind. Philip Rivers burned a roster spot the entire year.

Angry Pirates (2-10, 1181)- From champ to chump, Campbell began the season with an epic 10 game losing streak before recently turning it around with a mini 2 game win streak. Credit to the owner for not mailing it in. 


November 20, 2012

"Play another 18"

 
 
A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, he wordlessly picked up a very large and empty mayonnais... e jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full.. The students responded with a unanimous ‘yes.’

The professor then produced two Beers from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar effectively filling the empty space between the sand.The students laughed..

‘Now,’ said the professor as the laughter subsided, ‘I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things—-your family, your children, your health, your friends and your favorite passions—-and if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full. The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house and your car.. The sand is everything else—-the small stuff.

‘If you put the sand into the jar first,’ he continued, ‘there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life.

If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff you will never have room for the things that are important to you.

Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness.

Spend time with your children. Spend time with your parents. Visit with grandparents. Take your spouse out to dinner. Play another 18. There will always be time to clean the house and mow the lawn.

Take care of the golf balls first—-the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the Beer represented. The professor smiled and said, ‘I’m glad you asked.’ The Beer just shows you that no matter how full your life may seem, there’s always room for a couple of Beers with a friend.
 
 
 
 
Disclaimer: I didn't write this myself.

November 8, 2012

Board Bet vs Wilson- Cecil Shorts vs Dwayne Allen

Tonight's game, fantasy football prop bet:

I have Cecil Shorts, Wilson has Dwayne Allen. Anyone out there man enough to pick a winner leave it in the comment section!

Shorts
     VS. 


Allen

November 7, 2012

Dirty D Week 9 Power Ranks


1. Tahiti Loungers (Previous #1)- This past week I faced a challenge with Welker and Hernandez on bye. 3 other things sucked for me last week: I traded Doug Martin to Adam and missed out on the highest single week for any one player in our league's history at 67.  I replaced Mikel Leshoure (who had 3 TDs) with Jordy Nelson minutes before kickoff due to Jordy's surprising "Active" tag. Minutes into the game Jordy hurt his ankle and left with me with a 0 spot out of my flex. All things considered I'll take the 124 point  Win, and run. 



Playoff Outlook:  Sitting in first with a 7-2 record puts me in a great position for the playoffs and with a favorable schedule coming up (Bill, Paul, Abe, Dan) my main goal is to win the regular season and lock up one of the 1st round byes. This week I am missing Aaron Rodgers, Jordy Nelson, and Trent Richardson dues to byes so this may be the last week I have any chance of scoring anything lower than 130. 

Key Player down the stretch:  Aaron Hernandez- If Aaron Hernandez gets healthy, he could be the best TE in our format and that would make my team nearly unstoppable. 



2. Team Ice Cream (Previous #2)- Adam was having a miserable afternoon until newly acquired Doug Martin decided to enter the record books. As mentioned his 67 points was a record in our league and vaulted Dougie Fresh to the #1 RB spot thus far into the season. Must be hard to see not only for myself but past owners Campbell and Dan who each sold fairly low on Martin.  Adam also just today made a big move and sold CJ?K and Heath Miller for Jamaal Charles. The move is very, very even IMO. I think Miller is kind of tough chip to give up for the marginal upgrade from CJ to JC, butI think I approve the deal. No one knows whats going on with JC. It's quite a mystery but Adam seems very confident his team can weather the storm. Adam has pictures of Charles busting off 80 yard runs early and often throughout the fantasy playoffs. It's hard to put those images behind you (I owned Charles in 2010 when he busted out and won me a fantasy crown,) but makes it easier when your selling Chris Johnson, who is basically the same player as JC. They were compared early and often in Charles career- scat-backs with blazing speed and elusive moves. Nowadays CJ has seemed to right the ship before, but take away his 80 yard run vs the bears and he puts up a 4 point week last week. Of course, most will argue, you cant just take that run away from CJ cuz he creates it himself and does it somewhat consistently. Ultimately its a high risk high reward move for Adam. If JC figures it out and Dougie Fresh stays hot, you tell me who wants to play against RG3-Green-Cruz-JC-Martin? That's an incredibly explosive top 5.




Playoff Outlook: Adam sits at 6-2 in 3rd place and 10 points clear of me for the highest point total. If he can dodge the bye week bullets (RG3 this week, Cruz next) and get a win or 2, adam will set himself up nicely with 2 easy matchups vs Paul and Campbell the last 2 weeks. 3 Wins would most likely secure a bye. 

Key Player down the stretch: RGIII- This team has a bunch of Studs on it but the true reason why it has been competitive this year is RG3. Hopefully he doesn't hit the same rookie wall Cam Newton did last year. If he does, this team will struggle. If he continues his torrid pace, this team will be in it at the end. He needs to play smart and stay healthy.



3. Victorious Secret (Previous #4)- Kait lost this past week despite having nearly 140 points. It's a tough loss but luck has been in her favor and this kinda evens it out a bit. The fact that Kait scored so high despite pretty bad match ups and also Brady on a bye, justifies this rank. Kait could just be hanging around waiting for the playoffs to explode. Randall Cobb has been the highest scoring fantasy WR over the past 5 weeks. Is that good?



Playoff Outlook: Kait is 5-4 and currently tied with 3 other teams for 5th place. This tea, has Paul, Adam, Campbell, and Donny left so she definitely needs to find a way to win at least 2 of those games.

Key Player down the stretch: Andre Johnson- Andre has had an up and down year but when he comes to play he is a difference maker. Andre need's to start finding the end zone more, but I don't know if that's going to happen. The Texans are happy pounding Foster and playing defense. Kaits team would be taking a large leap forward if Andre were to get hot down the stretch. 


4. A Pinch Better (Previous #7)- Sean's team has exploded recently and in a 3 week span Sean has jumped up 7 spots in my rankings. Marshawn Lynch/Ray Rice lead this team and with the emergence of Miles Austin being the old Miles Austin, I'm liking this team a lot. Still not sold on Steve Smith and I don;t trust Dez, but the numbers are there for this team. 2nd highest scoring over the past 3 weeks. Oh yea and this is the lucky owner of the Chicago Defense. 

Playoff Outlook: Huge matchup between Sean and Adam this week. If Sean can find a way to win, he has pretty easy remaining schedule. Sean would be a favorite for a bye or at least the #3 rank if he can take care of business this week. Campbell, Donny, and Jenna remain on this schedule. 

Key Player down the stretch: Mike Vick. Who else? The risk-reward player. This guy is getting sacked more than Ham and Cheese sangwiches so he is a high injury risk. When he plays, for the most part, he is incredibly dangerous.  


5. Crossing Guards (Previous #3)- Bill is in a tough spot. He should have lost with 97 points last week but got lucky and tied with Paul instead. This week he is playing me, and next week he has Percy, AP, Eli, and Nicks all on bye vs Abe. That makes this week critical for Bill. We haven't seen this team put up a high score in a few weeks, but that needs to change this week. Eli and Nicks have a nice matchup. 


Playoff Outlook: Another team with 5 wins, as mentioned Bill has a tough couple weeks this and next he needs to find a way to win at least 1 of the matchups. The last 2 weeks of his schedule has him rematching the rental guys and the patriots. 

Key Player down the stretch: Adrian Peterson. Bill has a very solid lineup so what he needs is consistent production from his studs. Owning AP is a very good thing for that!


6. The Godfather (Previous #5)- Abe's team looked like it was going down the toilet early in the week. After Thursday night's "game" Jamaal Charles left him with only a few points after another weak game, and then out of nowhere the Sproles injury news pops up. Crisi averted though, the Godfather wisely picked up Isaac Redman and he scored over 2 points and Abe came through and saved his season with a win. Now he has replaced Charles with CJ?K and gained a reliable TE, Heath Miller in the process. 



Playoff Outlook- Abe is 1 game behind the huge pack so he can maybe, MAYBE afford to lose one more time this season. This week he has Jenna's once dangerous team, next week he has Bill's team with most of the studs on bye, but looming in Weeks 12 and 13 are matchups with the 1st Place Tahiti Loungers and 2nd place A1 Providers, two teams Abe has already lost to this season. 

Key Player down the stretch: Chris Johnson. The Godfather is looking to CJ?K to save his season. He's done it before can he do it again? Maybe. I like the risk!


7. A1 Providers (Previous #6)- Of course Paul scores 97 measly points and snakes by with a Win. Brent Celek even fumbled his last catch to bring Bill back down to 97 so Paul should be very satisfied with a Tie. Still though, Paul doesn't need too many more wins to clinch a playoff spot. 



Playoff outlook: Paul is 6-1-2 and all alone in 2nd place. He has Kait this week, the Loungers next week, then Adam and ends with Abe. A very brutal stretch ( teams # 1,2, 3 and 6 in this weeks ranks) but you never know with Paul. 

Key Player down the stretch: Vincent Jackson. Not the best player to rely on, but when he shows up he shows up in a big way. Paul is going to need V Jax to show up big time against the other stacked rosters in the league he faces down the stretch. 



8. Boston Patriots (Previous #11)- Nothing goes right for this team. Nothing. This weeks problem? Mr B was the poor victim of Doug Martin. The Boston Patriots have averaged a margin of loss by 5 points over the past 4 weeks, so Mr B is losing close games, whether they are low scoring or high scoring. This week he had the 4th highest score in the league and still lost. 



Playoff Outlook: Playoff chances for Mr. B are all but gone. He is 2-6-1 and if he wins out there is a slim chance 6-6-1 might be good enough for 6th, although the low point total won't help. Pirates, Comeback Story, Eat More Chicken and the Crossing Guards the 4 remaining opponents.  

Key Player down the stretch: Julio Jones. He was drafted in the top 15 and Mr. B could use a few 40 point performances from Jones to back that selection up and knock other people out of the playoff race. 


9. the rental guys (Previous #12)- Wow, well we have seen what this team is capable of. Dan of course has the Bear's twosome of Forte and Marshall and both stood out this past week, especially Marshall. He has been a stud so far this season, living up to the high draft pick I used on him before shipping him off to the JV squad. Now Dan has him and the Bears scored 51 points this week to boost Dan to his largest week of the season and biggest blowout victory for the 2nd straight week.



Playoff Outlook: Dan is part of the 5-4 cluster and will need at least 2 wins, maybe 3 because of the low point total, to qualify for the playoffs. It;s not going to be easy with comeback story, Eat More Chicken, and rematches with Bill and Myself. Dan better hope his playoff streak doesn't come down to the last week. 

Key Player down the stretch: Cam Newton. Plain and simple is Cam Newton revives his game and plays at his highest level, Dan is going to the playoffs. If he continues to be mediocre so will this team. 


10. Comeback Story. (Previous #10)- The 3 week win streak is snapped after Donny failed to overcome his bye week problems this time. Of course it doesn't help when McFadden leaves the game injured, and now seems to be a week-to-week injury problem. Bad timing for Donny who JUST traded for DMC but that's the risk he came with. Andrew Luck looks to me emerging as a really solid weekly play at QB, but still this team is hurting at a couple other places. I don't know what it is about this team, but they just don;t have the "it" factor it takes to make a run right now. 



Playoff Outlook: Another one of the 5-4 teams, but Donny is last of the four because of the 2nd lowest point total in the league thus far. Not an easy road ahead with the last 4 weeks being played against the Patriots, Victorious Secret, the rental guys and A Pinch Better. This team DOES ind of resemble Campbell's championship squad from last year, but I highly doubt the chips fall the right way for Donny to get as lucky as C-bell did last year. 

Key Player down the stretch: Andrew Luck. If Luck can keep putting up whoa crazy crazy numbers this team will compete down the stretch a lot more fiercely than I originally thought. 


11. Eat More Chicken (Previous #8)- Very Disappointing week for Jenna's team as she gets dealt another loss. After starting the season hot, Jenna has scored 93-101-93-94 during her current 4 game losing streak.   The bad luck early in the season has really caught up with Jenna. At least it looks like Megatron won't be a factor in this year's fantasy playoff's (pending any trade.)


Playoff Outlook: Forget about it. At 2-6 if Jenna wins out she will still be left under .500 and that won't get it done this year. 

Key Player down the stretch: Philip Rivers. Calvin Johnson. He alone can save this team and possibly help her bury a few teams down the stretch. 



12. Angry Pirates (Previous #9)- Another completely pathetic performace. I don't even know what to say, this team doesn't look as bad on paper as it has been on the field on Sunday's. Who's going to be the first to lose to the chump? Or will he go defeated? The 4 teams left are Mr. B, Sean, Adam, and Kait, so it is very, VERY possible we are all witnessing history here folks. 



Playoff Outlook: Good joke. 0-9 and still counting. 

Key Player down the stretch: Peyton Hillis. Remember when Peyton Hillis was the king of the fantasy world a couple years ago and now he's trash? That's Campbell. It's fitting that Hillis is on his roster. 


 

 


 

November 5, 2012

Dirty D Record Book Update

I made a spreadsheet with everyone's scores from every week in our league's history (2009-present) and here are the updated (through week 8 of this year) all time stats. I made a few charts of some relevant stuff.







All-Time Standings





Top 10 Highest  Single Week Scores:

193- Sean, PLAYOFFS, Week 14 in 2011 vs. Donny 
189- Kait, PLAYOFFS, Week 15 in 2011 vs. Sean
184- James, Week 3 in 2010 vs. Donny
182- Dan, Week 2 in 2011 vs. Donny
179- Adam, Week 11 in 2010 vs. Bill
177- Sean, Week 12 in 2010 vs. James
175- James, Week 2 in 2010 vs. Adam
172- James, Week 2 in 2011 vs. Paul
172- Mr. B, Week 2 in 2009 vs. Paul
169- James, Week 6 in 2012 vs Adam


Longest Win Streak: 7- Kait. Week 3-Week 9 in 2009. Streak snapped by Donny

Longest Unbeaten Streak: 10- Kait.  Week 1- Week 10 in 2011 (9-0-1). Streak Snapped by James. 


Longest Losing Streak: 9* Campbell. Week 1- Current in 2012! 

Largest Margin of Victory: 112 James beat Adam by 112 points (175-63) in Week 2 of 2010



Oh, and most Importantly....


2009 League Champion- Dan (beat Sean in the Championship)

2010 League Champion- James (beat Adam in the Championship)

2011 League Champion- Campbell (beat Kait in the Championship)