December 22, 2014

Angry Pirates Win 2014 Championship with blowout victory over Tahiti Loungers





Congrats to Matt Campbell and the Angry Pirates for winning the Dirty D this year with a Win this week over my team, the two time defending champs, Tahiti Loungers.

The matchup isn't even over yet, but I've already lost to Campbell after my team scored a total of 90 points.

The 90 point output is the second lowest in franchise history, and the lowest score I've had in 3 years. This year's most productive fantasy producer- Andrew Luck- was pulled in the game and left me with 0 fantasy points. Unbelievable. There were a handful of other major disappointments (Greg Olsen, Jamaal Charles) but it all added up to a gross week for me and it just wasn't my week/year to win.

The Angry Pirates, however, came to play. With 3 guys going tonight (including AJ Green and Peyton Manning), this team has already scored 97 points is projected for a healthy 147. Campbell jumped out to a 47-0 lead after the Saturday games and never looked back.



The "D" will be passed on for the first time since we got the trophy, and it will be going back to the last champion before me, Campbell. STILL just 3 of us have ever won the league- Dan (the rental guys) Campbell, and myself. #exclusive

Better luck to everyone else involved next year, but for now, all hail the new fantasy king:





December 19, 2014

2014 Dirty D Championship Preview

*Before I write this blog I want to share a quick story. A couple high school guys and I were standing around at work last night and somehow it came up that "having a blog that is synonymous with being a virgin." First, I laughed because talking to high school kids is almost always entertainaing. Secondly I told them about NWOTB and they were back pedaling like crazy! It was funny. I dont think they/people realize that blogs can be about literally anything? Who knows. But I've now been made fun of high schoolers for having a blog. Check that one off the list.





Week 16 is finally here. It's always kinda of weird.... the while season/ Fall builds up to this and then all of the sudden... its over. For 9 months.

But we do have a great matchup for the championship between my team, Tahiti Loungers and Campbells team, Angry Pirates. 


Last Week, I beat Team Ice Cream for the 3rd time this year, on the backs of Dez Bryant and Leveon Bell. It was a curious week as Andrew Luck had a "bad" game, Jamaal Charles screwed over a TON of people, Josh Gordon did nothing again, etc.

In the other semis, the rental guys needed 60+ points from the Bears going into MNF and Jay Cutler was Jay Cutler and the while offense was gross. Dan lost and it ended up not being close, even though it was. The big concern here for the Angry Pirates is the health of DeMarco Murray. He had surgery on his hand on Monday and his status for this upcoming week is cloudy. I expect him to play but you neevr know. Campbell really needs him to play.

If Campbell and I played every week this year:

Week 15 Tahiti Loungers 147, Angry Pirates 114

Week 14 Tahiti Loungers 202, Angry Pirates 156**

Week 13 Tahiti Loungers 181, Angry Pirates 157

Week 12 Tahiti Loungers 125, Angry Pirates 141 

Week 11 Tahiti Loungers 146, Angry Pirates 127*

Week 10 Tahiti Loungers 164, Angry Pirates 135

Week 9 Tahiti Loungers 104, Angry Pirates 145

Week 8 Tahiti Loungers 135, Angry Pirates 187

Week 7 Tahiti Loungers 146, Angry Pirates 125

Week 6 Tahiti Loungers 120, Angry Pirates 140

Week 5 Tahiti Loungers 119, Angry Pirates 102

Week 4 Tahiti Loungers 129, Angry Pirates 142

Week 3 Tahiti Loungers 155, Angry Pirates 111

Week 2 Tahiti Loungers 113, Angry Pirates 140

Week 1 Tahiti Loungers 142, Angry Pirates 149





*Week 12 was the actual week we played head to head

** Week 14 we didnt actually have matchups as the #1 and #2 seed we had BYES


Well it looks like I would have gone 7-8 vs. Campbell... but obv the most important thing is "What have you done for me recently" and THAT is where I look really good. Since Week 10 when my lineup was solidified i have averaged 160 points. Thats unreal. Campbell is averaging a healthy 138 points per game over the same span, which is no slouch. It's easy to see how these two teams made it to the end. Bottom line is I would have beat Campbell head to head in 4 out of the last 5 weeks! Thats the trend.


Andrew Luck vs Peyton Manning 

When you read the names it looks like its close, but this is a big positional advantage for me based on stats from this year and especially the last month. Lets look at good ol Peyton Mannings fantasy output recently:

Week 15- 13 points
Week 14- 2 points
Week 13- 13 points


Over that same time frame, Andrew Luck:

Week 15- 14 points
Week 14- 22 points
Week 13- 34 points

This week Peyton goes into Cincy on MNF. He is still  a dangerous player, but Ill take Luck all day over him. Luck is in Dallas.... points galore to be had on the fast track in Big D. Advantage Tahiti Loungers 



Calvin Johnson & Dez Bryant 
vs
Antonio Brown & AJ Green 


Ummm.. yea. Thats why we made it to the ship. This is about as close as it gets, it's almost a waste of time to analyze these guys. So lets look at matchups

Megatron vs Vikings (8,700 in Draft Kings)
Dez vs Colts  (8,600 in DK)
Brown vs Chiefs (8,800 in DK)
Green vs Denver (8,200 in DK)


These guys are all top 6 options for this week. Without ODBJR considered, these may even be THE top 4 WRs of the week. Impressive.

The one thing Ill say is that out of all these guys, the one i am worried the most about is AJ Green. And that s strictly because Andy Dalton CRUMBLES in prime time TV games. But he is at home and they will need to score, so AJ Green should be good to go. NO ADVANTAGE 




LeVeon Bell & Jamaal Charles  
vs
DeMarco Murray & LeSean McCoy  


Obv the big question here is Murray. I'm writing this assume he plays and takes a full workload, which I dont see why he wouldnt if he plays. Murray is playing the Colts and they can obv be run on (Pats fan See: Jonas Gray 2014 and Legarette Blount 2013 playoffs) so Murray could have a big game. 

LeSean mcCoy was good last week but his back up Chris Polk vultured him and he lost out on THREE TDs. Shadu has a high ceiling but the problem is in the Chip Kelly offense he cant play all the time, Darren Sproles is good, and they pass a lot. So you dont know what youre getting from McCoy but this week vs washington he could possibly have a nice day. 


Leveon Bell is probably the #1 overall pick in next years drafts. Has to be. This kid is an animal. His past 4 games he has fantasy points of 28, 53, 44, and 41. Unreal. I dont know if I can remember a RB that was this dominant. He's basically a lock for 25 points with a crazy high ceiling. This week he has a favorable matchup at home vs KC so LET THE BIG DOG EAT ! 

Jamaal Charles almost fucked me over last week with a gross 6 point performance. The coaches were taking it easy on him which, in retrospect, really helps me out for this week 16. Charles is practicing in full and should get a normal workload back this week. He is playing Pitt which is a solid matchup... it's also pretty cool my two RBs are playing against each other. 

Overall you have to be a psychopath if you pick against the Bell/Charles combo. Advantage Tahiti Loungers 



Antonio Gates vs. Greg Olsen 


Stupid Tight Ends. They all suck this year. G Reg has been better recently and I am very encouraged by the number of looks he is getting. Gates has a good matchup with Denver and with Keene Allen out, Gates may get extra looks. I cant give anyone a real advantage here this week. 



Flex: Jonique Bell vs Mark Ingram 


I'm really sad that I can't start my boy Josh Gordon this week. I just cant. Johnny Football looks too bad and they are on the road. I need points, and J Bell has been a bull recently. Over the past 3 games he has 200+ yards and 3 TDs along with some solid passing game additions. With the lowly Vikings on tap, I just think he has a great chance to score a TD. 

I wont lie. I am playing J Bell because I am perceiving myself to be the "favorite" in the matchup and Ill tend to go with the more conservative option in that case every time. If I was in Campbells shoes and had this decision, I would probably roll the dice on Gordon as his ceiling is much higher. 

Mark Ingram should be a good option this week too at home vs Atlanta. I would be a little worried about Pierre Thomas healthy and at home, but Ingram has been their guy all year. On Fanatsy Pros J Bell is currently the #8 PPR RB and Ingram in the #11 PPR RB. That is close. And I am not confident enough to pick either player over each other so this one is going to be a draw for me, even though if they were the same price in Draft Kings, I'm playing Joique all day. 



Kicker/DST


My kicker is Ghostkowski and my Defense is Detroit. 

Campbells kicker is Bailey and it looks like he's rolling with Denver D. 

Gotta give me the slight advantage there. 






Overall I am going to have to predict a victory for myself. Just too much star power. Luck is the #1 QB this week. Charles and Leveon are the #1 and #2 RBs. Megatron is the #1 WR. I have too much potential and Campbell will have to put together a flawless week to beat me, I think. Regardless of what happens we will NOT have a new champ this year... and if I win its Tahiti 3-peati !!!!!!


Prediction: Tahiti Loungers 170 Angry Pirates 155



This is what we are playing for:  










December 12, 2014

2014 Semi Finals


We are down to the Final 4 teams left in contention for the D this year.

Last week, Dan and the rental guys HANDLED Bill and the Crossing Guards. HANDLED 190-152.

Dan came out with his best week ever. Studs blowing up everywhere, namely Julio Jones on Monday Night and TY Hilton on Sunday. Those performances piggy backed the huge Thursday Night lead Dan took (Forte, Bennett) and Bill just never had enough to overcome. Even with a monster performance by Aaron Rodgers and Jordy Nelson (and Julien Edelman), the Crossing Guards just couldn't keep up. The 152 points Bill scored and lost with was tied for the second highest  losing score of the year. Sucks to suck. 

In the other quarter final matchup only one team showed up- Team Ice Cream. Sean's team, A Pinch Better, scored a season low 79 points. His next lowest score this season was 104 so this was a huge stinker for APB. How did this happen?

Started Rivers over Cam Newton. A choice that cost him 24 points

Started Ruben Randle. No idea what he was thinking here. Randle ended with 1 point while newly acquired Charles Johnson scored 22 and SSS scored 25.

Started Tre Mason over Andrew Williams and Dan Herron

Started the KC defense in AZ. The previous few weeks, KC had scored 1-5-6 points. The 5 points came IN Oakland.

So yea, Seans bench blew up and his starters sucked. He also learned a hard lesson in where you put your eggs. Having the two best TEs is great, but we should all remember they are still TEs, the most volatile position in fantasy (besides kicker.) Having the best TEs may be a large season long advantage, but in a one week window its not as daunting.   Gronk had a nice game and 22 points but Jimmy Graham, the #1 consensus TE going into the season, dropped just 5 points (after a 0 the week before)

Team Ice Cream on the other hand, just business as usual. Adam's team is just chugging along at a modest pace. He scored 109 this week which is nothing to write home about, but it got the job done.

Lets look at Adams recent scoring history:

Week 14- 109
Week 13- 115
Week 12- 110
Week 11- 116
Week 10-  112

Pretty damn consistent. Somehow Adam managed to win 3 of these 5 matchups, but he is clearly going to need more from his squad in Week 15 and 16 if he wants to win the D.


Anyway, moving on to the Semis, here are the Matchups:

Tahiti Loungers vs Team Ice Cream

Last week my team would have scored over 200 points, which would have been my best week in franchise history. It was kind of a waste, but Im hoping my guys stay hot. Heres a position breakdown for this matchup:

QB- Andrew Luck vs Matt Stafford 

Andrew Luck has been amazing this year, and he's likely to have another 25+ point performance this week vs, Houston, who he hung up 370 yards and 3 TDs earlier this year. Stafford has the Vikings this week who he should be able to pass on as well. There is probably only 1 or maybe 2 weeks Stafford has outscored Luck, and I doubt it happens here.

WRs- Megatron/Dez/Gordon vs Evans/Golden Tate/ Jeremy Maclin 

Adam has gotten a ton of usage out of Mike Evans, who has surprised me and kept up his scoring rate. He's really good. Maclin has a good matchup and we know he is dangerous. Golden Tate hasnt been near as dominant with a healthy Megatron in play, but he is still a goodplayer with upside.

Megatron is Megatron. He is the #1 WR every week when healthy, which he currently is.

Dez Bryant could also go off this week.... He is facing off against Maclin in the same game so it will be fun to watch this one.

Josh Gordon.... what the fuck bro. 3 points last week? Killing me. I have the option to play Joique Bell over Josh Gordon... and its not crazy. Bell has been hot and Gordon is a wild card, ESP with Johnny Football taking over. But... I think Im sticking with Josh. I think Manziel wants to get him the ball. His upside is huge, and lets remember every week hes getting more and more integrated in this offense. This will be his 4th game back... he hasnt scored yet... that's finna change this week I think.


RBs- 

Mine- Jamaal Charles, LeVeon Bell 
Adams- Isiah Crowell, ????? (Donald Brown?)

Blood Bath City. Should I even waste my time with this? I think not. Leveon could/will/has outscore both his RBs. He has scored over 40 in 3 straight games. Not a typo.

TE- Greg Olsen vs Kyle Rudolph or Dwayne Allen 

I dont know who Adam is starting, but neither are great options. Olsen is better, but he has been hot and cold this season. Last week he was hot. Cam Newton is hurt and so who knows what the QB change does... but I am confident in Olsen over anyone Adam can start.


Prediction:

I really don't see how anyone can predict a Team Ice Cream win here. It would be my 3rd victory over Adam THIS YEAR.  Could it happen? Sure. It's fantasy, anything can happen. But this has to be the biggest mis match in Semi Final history. I stated above what Adam has averaged over the past 5 weeks... here is my averages next to his

Week 14 me 202
Week 14 Adam 109

Week 13 me 181
Week 13 Adam 115

Week 12 me 125
Week 12 Adam 110

Week 11 me 146
Week 11 Adam 116

Week 10 me 164
Week 10 Adam 112

As you can see, it ain't close. So Ill be pretty bitter if I lose this week. But I don't think I will. I will predict a Tahiti Lounger win, 165-120. 




the rental guys vs Angry Pirates 


This should be an epic battle. Dan's team is HOT and Campbell's team, as we know, is stacked. Lets go player vs player here:


Peyton Manning vs Johnny Football

This is bad, real bad. For Dan. First, I think Peyton goes off this Sunday. They have been running a bunch, but this game is in San Diego and if the weather is nice, Peyton should shred.

Johnny Football is interesting. I think he will be OK because of the rushing ability, but damn I would NOT want to start him in the fantasy playoffs. It's dumb. Dan has stubbornly rolled with Kaepernick ALL YEAR. Kaep hasn't scored more than 13 points since early October (!!!) and averages 12 points a game. Thats so gross. It's even grosser that Dan rolled with him this whole time. Just last week, Mark Sanchez was available but stubborn Dan refused to admit Sanchez is a better option that his shitty QB combo. We'll see what happens but it could (and iHope it does) lose him this matchup.


Antonio Brown/AJ Green 
vs
TY Hilton/ Julio Jones 


First, The color combo Campbell has is great. Brown and Green are top 5 guys, both healthy, both playing well. Dan has TY Hilton who is equally as beast especially recently.

The X factor here is Julio Jones. Does he play? He had to leave the game the other night and he'll likely be a GTD. If he does, and he is effective, these WRs all wash each other out. They all could blow up and all have immense upside.  If Julio DOESNT play... and I would bet he doesnt if I had to guess, Vincent Jackson would slip into Dans WR2 spot. Hes a couple tiers below these other studs so Dan will be hoping for the best with Julio


Matt Forte/ CJ Anderson vs DeMarco Murray/ LeSean Mccoy 

Whoa. More truck loads of talent here. Forte and Murray have been top 3 backs all year, so they basically cancel each other out. CJ Anderson has been a beast, again I think this is a Peyton game but Anderson still has a great shot to score. LeSean Mccoy should also have a nice game vs Dallas, although it's sad he doesnt catch passes anymore. Overall you have to give a slight edge to Dan here.

TE- Bennett vs Gates

Bennett had his best game of the season last week after B Marsh went down. He is going to be peppered with targets on Monday Night. Denver is not that great vs TEs so Gates should have a nice game too... but Bennett is the hot hand Ill take him this week.

FLEX- Mark Ingram vs... ??? 


If Julio plays, Dan can flex V Jax. But if he doesnt, I have no idea who he is going to play. Jordan Cameron? Reggie Wayne? Andrew Hawkins? Toby Gerhart? Allen Robinson?  I mean, it doesnt matter. I like Ingram more than all these guys. Not close.


After looking at everything its a little easier for me to predict what I originally thought would be a ANGRy PIRATES victory. Obv Julio Jones health is a big factor here. I still think Campbell has too much fire power for Dan to overcome this week... but Dan has scored a shit ton of points over the past 3 weeks so this one should be good.  I think Campbell wins 150-145




December 2, 2014

2014 Dirty D Regular Season Wrap up



The fantasy regular season is over. Here are the final standings for The Dirty D:



Woo Hoo! As you can see I crushed it this year, and I got pretty lucky along the way. Also something to note is Adam's (Team Ice Cream) playoff berth. Adam selected a kicker in the first round but battled though it and made the dance. Great job.

One of my favorite stats that Yahoo provides is your record if you played every team every week. Essentially this takes out the luck factor and is a good (better) indication on how teams fared this year:


1. Angry Pirates  115-27-1
2. Tahiti Loungers 107-36
3. A Pinch Better  92-49-2
4. Crossing Guards  79-63-1
5. the rental guys  72-70-1
6. Team Ice Cream 70-72-1

Look at that... almost the exact order of the standings for the playoff teams

7. Boston Patriots  65-77-1
8. Victorious Secret  62-79-2
9. Eat More Chicken 60-82-1
10. A1 Providers 48-92-3
11. The Godfather 42-99-2
12. Mosey Machine  38-104-1


Lets also look at Avg points AGAINST. This is a brutal stat to lead in. It means you had the worst luck in the league this year.


1. A1 Providers  1,754 (135 avg)
2. The Godfather 1,652 (127 avg)
3. Eat More Chicken 1,594 (123 avg)
4. Boston Patriots 1,586 (122 avg)
5. Crossing Guards 1,560 (120 avg)
6. Victorious Secret 1,523 (117 avg)
7. Mosey Machine 1,515 (116 avg)
8. the rental guys 1,504 (115 avg)
9. A Pinch Better 1,496 (115 avg)
10. Team Ice Cream 1,486 (114 avg)
11. Tahiti Loungers 1,379 (106 avg)
12. Angry Pirates 1,373 (106 avg)

As you can see most of the playoff teams had the lower points against. That's just how it works in fantasy. Angry Pirates scored the most points for and had the least against.


Here is the rank of point differential in the league this year:


1. Angry Pirates +428
2. Tahiti Loungers +400
3. A Pinch Better +199
4. Crossing Guards +82
5. the rental guys +67
6. Team Ice Cream +49
7. Victorious Secret -15
8. Boston Patriots -99
9. Eat More Chicken -175
10. Mosey Machine -229
11. The Godfather -325
12. A1 Providers -382


Again, all the playoff teams finished positive, all the losers finished negative. Harmony.


Here are the 3 highest scores of the season:

187 Angry Pirates Week 7 vs The Godfather

181 Tahiti Loungers Week 13 vs Boston Patriots

177 Boston Patriots Week 8 vs Victorious Secret


And the 3 lowest :

61 The Godfather Week 6 vs Tahiti Loungers

63 Eat More Chicken Week 3 vs Victorious Secret

64 Mosey Machine Week 2 vs Angry Pirates


Some other interesting things: 

Tahiti Loungers, Angry Pirates, A Pinch Better all scored over 100 every week

the rental guys and Crossing Guards only scored under 100 once


Who's hot, Who's not:

Team totals from the past 2 weeks:

329 the rental guys
306 Tahiti Loungers
298 Angry Pirates
278 Crossing Guards
267 A Pinch Better
246  Mosey Machine
227 The Godfather
225 Team Ice Cream
215 Boston Patriots
192 A1 Providers
176 Victorious Secret
172  Eat More Chicken


and... drum roll please.... my predictions for the playoffs as of right now:





Crossing Guards vs the rental guys 

This is going to be a good matchup. The Monday Night factor is in full swing here.... Dan will jump out to a huge lead and Bill will need his Packers death combo to deliver on MNF. The question is how many points will they need to lift Bill to victory? TY Hilton may have a tough game vs Joe Haden, and Kaepernick sucks. We'll see if Dan rolls with him or a different QB. Overall, I think the rental guys are too hot and will put up too many points for the Crossing Guards to come back from. I'll predict a victory for Dan.





A Pinch Better vs Team Ice Cream  

I think Adam is in a real tough spot this week vs Sean. The past 4 weeks Adam has scored 112. 116. 110, 115. He's probably going to be right around there again this week, this isn't the same team that had a beast stretch from Week 6-8, and that wont be good enough to beat Sean, who has a healthy Gronk ready to roll for the playoffs. The Stafford-Tate connection needs to really go off for Adam, and I don't know if that will happen. TB sucks so it could, but then again it could all go to Megatron too. Ultimately Sean just has too many studs for Adam to handle and I predict a fairly easy win for Sean.



In our league we re-seed after each round, so if Sean and Dan win as I predict, the semi finals will be:

Tahiti Loungers vs the rental guys 
Angry Pirates vs A Pinch Better 

At this point, anyone can win either of those matchups. Things change quickly in the NFL so it's tough to preidct the future 2 weeks out, but gun to my head I would have to favor my team vs Dan, and Campbells team vs Sean. This would set up a #1 vs #2 seed final and although I know it will be close and could go either way, I still prefer my roster to anyone elses (including Campbell) so..... SURPRISE... I'm predicting the 3peat from myself/ the Tahiti Loungers. 


Good luck to all teams involved! Should be a fun 3 weeks.









November 26, 2014

Petulant Richard Sherman




I’m not a Richard Sherman fan, at all. I think he’s a good player, but he’s just an asshole. Loves attention. I thought his January playoff post-game tirade was disrespectful, unprofessional, and uncalled for.

And yesterday Sherman (along with Doug Baldwin) performed this act:



If you can’t see the video- here is the link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKVPCgKSU3Y


Ummm… what? What the hell was that? A protest to the league because Marshawm Lynch got fined $100,000 for not talking to the media, I guess?  Sherman walked off without answering questions and later apologized for the whole thing, but still… What was he thinking?

1. He is represented by the NFLPA which collectively bargains all of the shit he was complaining about…. So I’m not sure why he is calling out Roger Goddell. If he has a complaint then he should be lashing out at DeMaurice Smith, not Goddell.

2. The fact that he complained that Marshawn Lynch got fined for not talking to the media is a joke. And then he goes on to say its “crazy” the NFL wouldn’t have GIVEN Lynch $100,000 had he talked. It’s literally part of an NFL player’s job is to talk to the media. You don’t get paid extra for that. Are you new? Is this real life?

3. NFL Players actually receive 45% of the revenue from league endorsement deals... so…..

4. He mentioned he can’t plug his partners Beat By Dre… well…  players like Sherman benefit  indirectly from the league's Bose headphones deal. He gets paid by Apple, which owns competitor Beats By Dre. Also… too fucking bad. You can promote your brands on your own time when you are off the clock…. You know, like most other employees in America… Again, the NFL has exclusive marketing deals they need to honor. It’s how their business operates. And it’s normal. Complaining that you cant personally make more money because of this is selfish and misplaced. There are plenty of other avenues NFL players can access to promote the companies who endorse them.

5. It’s really not that hard to understand why the league doesn’t allow players to individually endorse alcohol, while still having Bud Light as a title sponsor of the league. It’s called category exclusivity. The league can negotiate a better deal with Bud Light if they can promise Bud Light no players will individually promote other brands. It prevents guerrilla marketing.

6. The 3 games in 5 days thing is laughable. It rarely happens, and should be considered a privilege to play on Thanksgiving. Maybe the NFL could expand rosters for the game to take some of the burden off the players, but in my opinion it’s a reach to say the NFL isn’t promoting safety by having games so close together. Grow up dude. You’re playing football, a game. The league promotes player safety as best as it can… if you don’t like playing games so close together take it up with DeMaurice Smith or don’t play football. You sound like a child trying to call out Roger Goddell.


Overall, while I recognize the league is not perfect and some of the issues Sherman brought up are real topics to be discussed (at the appropriate time, not how he did it yesterday), I think Sherman is just being such a deuchebag here. A real, real bad look. I know most people think this was “Awesome” and “So Cool” …. I personally think it’s petulant, selfish, and unprofessional.



PS- Makes total sense these two clowns are friends:



Also-
















November 25, 2014

2014 Dirty D playoff scenarios

Dirty D Playoff Clinching Scenarios:





Tahiti Loungers- Has clinched the #1 Seed and 1st round BYE.

Angry Pirates- Has clinched a playoff spot, and will clinch the #2 seed and BYE with a win in Week 13 (vs Mosey Machine) OR if Sean loses to Jenna.

A Pinch Better- Has clinched a playoff berth already. Can secure the #2 seed and a BYE with a win combined with a Loss for Campbell. Sean is currently 88 points behind Campbell in points scored.

Team Ice Cream- Adam has almost clinched a playoff spot. For Adam NOT to make the playoffs, all of this would have to happen:

Adam loses to Paul
James loses to Mr. B
Abe loses to Bill
Dan and Kait do not tie.

If all that happens, without a change point totals, you are looking at :

1. James
2. Campbell
3. Sean
4. Bill (7-6)
5. Dan or Kait (7-6)
6.  Mr. B (7-6)
7. Adam (6-6-1)

So to review, Adam is IN with a WIN, OR a loss by Mr B or a loss by Bill. And Adam's total points do not matter, as he has a tie and is half a game ahead/behind of everyone else.


Crossing Guards- Bill will clinch a playoff spot with a win over The Godfather OR if Mr. B loses to James.

If Bill loses, and Mr. B wins, the last playoff spot will come down to a points tiebreaker between BILL and the loser of the KAIT/DAN matchup. Bill has a pretty large lead on both of them (+72 over Kait, +81 over Dan)... so it is unlikely Bill will miss the playoffs.


the rental guys & Victorious Secret- Kait and Dan are playing head to head. The winner of the matchup is in the playoffs, the loser is essentially out.  For the loser of this matchup to get in the playoffs,  Mr. B would have to lose to James AND this loser would have to catch up to Bill in points, and as mentioned, he currently holds a commanding lead over both Kait (+72) and Dan (+81). So again, its basically WIN and you're IN,  LOSE and you're OUT.


Boston Patriots- Mr. B is currently last out of the four 6-6 teams due to a low point total. If he loses to James this week, he is out. He would be IN the playoffs with:

A win combined with a Loss for Adam
A win combined with a Loss for Bill


EVERYONE ELSE- Is already eliminated.

ABE is playing against BILL
JENNA is playing against SEAN
PAUL is playing against ADAM
BECK is playing against CAMPBELL




Good Luck! Also remember....

The #6 seed will be playing Sean or Campbell
The #4 and #5 seeds will play each other





November 24, 2014

2014 Tahiti Lounger trade reviews


Even though the season isn't over, and a lot still has to be played out, its a solid time to look back on fantasy football trades and see if/how they are panning out. I made 7 trades this year, which is low for me, lets take a look at them one by one.






9/11/14 (After Week 1) 
James gets: Randall Cobb
Adam gets: Pierre Garcon, Isiah Crowell

A+ trade for me here. Probably the best trade I made all year.... Garcon has SUCKED (but he was goo din week 1 before this trade)  and Cobb is a beast. Crowell is solid, but only recently has he really gained a lot of value. Adam moved him well before this so he didn't really help Adam too much.




9/21/14 (After week 2) 
James gets: Roddy White
Kait gets: Terrance Williams, Alfred Blue, MJD

Fairly even here. Roddy has been the best player of the group, but T Williams had a couple nice weeks for Kait while she was thin at WR and Alfred Blue has been a critical back up for her Arian Foster. This trade was made on a Sunday morning when Foster was made inactive. If Kait had been paying attention she could have used a waiver on Blue and would not have been forced to trade Roddy. This is a common theme with Kait and other owners in our league who every year, are forced to lose talent in the trade market because the are not active on the waiver wire. Alfred Blue is a prime example of this.




10/1/14 (After Week 4) 
James gets: Jamaal Charles, Knile Davis, Chris Ivory 
Abe gets: Eddie Lacy, James Starks, Roddy White, Taliferro

This was a monster trade that caused controversy. Other owners saying its insanely lopsided (In my favor.) Well, its time to judge the trade so lets break it down. As a note, I was also given Kendall Wright as a throw in. I dropped him immediately as I never wanted him and he wasn't discussed in trade talks.

Relevant players Since Week 5:

Lacy- 148 points in 7 games, 21.1ppg
Charles- 143 points in 7 games, 20.4ppg
Ivory- 50 points in 5 games (10 ppg)
White- 107 points in 7 games, 15.3ppg


Knile Davis and James Starks were both traded as handcuffs to their superior teammate. Both guys have been solid on their own, but not startable. Purely handcuffs here (2 of the very best handcuffs)

Antoher reason why Abe made this trade was because he was facing me the next week. Charles was on a BYE. Abe really needed to win, so a side benefit of this trade was Abe giving me Charles during his bye week so I couldn't play him vs Abe. SO pre trade I went from starting Lacy to starting a back up for this week.

Anyway, I love this trade for both teams. Abe took a risk by trading Charles for Lacy, who had been struggling, and it paid off big time. Roddy White easily makes this trade favor Abe, ALTHOUGH I would likely still do this again if I could go back in time. I still prefer Charles to Lacy in the playoffs, but maybe I should have waited a few more weeks to get full value from Lacy.



10/9/14 (After Week 5) 
James gets: Ghostkowski, Delanie Walker
Adam gets: Branden Oliver, Dwayne Allen

Woof. It's not that I wouldn't do this trade again, but I sold low on these guys. EVERYONE PAY ATTENTION. This is why you makes trades with me. I needed to make roster space and wanted to upgrade my kicker so I made the swap with Adam. Oliver was turned into JEREMY MACLIN and Dwayne Allen scores like 5 TDs in a row after I made this trade. Real solid move for Adam. And it allowed em to upgrade my TE and acquire the best kicker.



10/12/14 (After Week 5) 
James gets: Dez Bryant
Mr. B gets: Randall Cobb, Pierre Thomas 

Pretty simple trade here... I viewed (and still view) Dez as an upgrade over Cobb. I had extra RB depth that MR. B NEEDED so he made the trade. Solid move for both teams. Just for fun, since the trade:

Cobb- 115 points in 6 games
Dez- 127 points in 6 games




10/23/14 (After Week 7) 
James gets: Calvin Johnson, Greg Olsen 
Paul gets:  Julio Jones, Delanie Walker 

The reason Paul made this trade was because Megatron was injured at the time, and not expected to play for 3 more weeks. Paul couldn't afford to hold such a valuable player on his bench, so he made a trade for Julio Jones, who obviously has enormous upside. Julio didnt really perform as well as Paul expected, and Delanie Walker suffered a concussion shortly after the trade. So it wasnt a good one for Paul, but then again if he didnt make any move at all it wouldnt have been good either. SIince the trade:

Megatron: 0-BYE-26-10-9 for 45 points in 4 games
Olsen: 2-6-19-BYE-11 for 46 points in 4 games.

Julio: 9- BYE-21-11-17 for 58 points in 4 games
Walker: 13-6-BYE-0-26 for 45 points in 3 games

So when you look at how this panned out.... Paul was kinda doomed from the start but he definetly didn't hurt himself with this trade. I, on the other hand, lost a bunch of points with Olsen not really performing near as well as the beginning of the season. However, moving forward in the playoffs, now Im starting Megatron and that is pretty good. I like him over Julio for the playoffs so ultimately, I like the trade.



11/6/14 (After Week 9) 
James gets: Joique Bell, Justin Tucker 
Kait gets:  Terrance West, Chris Ivory

Right time, right place for Kait here. It was Thursday night, I needed to drop or trade West and instead of losing him completely, I acquired a kicker for the week. Ive since dropped Tucker and J Bell has kind of sucked, so really this trade was kinda gross.



Anyway, now everyone can see how I built such a beast team... it was a combo of good drafting (Leveon Bell, Andrew Luck, Josh Gordon) and good trading. But most importantly.... it's because I was able to target the weak teams that needed help in the trade market, especially Kait and Paul. If these teams were more active, I wouldn't be able to provide the value to their team.




2014 NFL WR class- Best ever?




As we approach Thanksgiving 2014, it is time to take notice and blog about the current rookie WR class.

It's been remarkable. It's pretty well known that the 1996 NFL Draft was undeniably the best for WRs in the history of the draft, Let's take a look at the WRs who were selected in the first round:

Overall Pick #1- Keyshawn Johnson
Overall Pick #7- Terry Glen
Overall Pick #18- Eddie Kennison
Overall Pick #19- Marvin Harrison
Overall Pick #24-  Eric Moulds

Those 5 WRs all had at a minimum of 10+ year career. All of them had multiple 1,000 yard seasons. It is very rare for no 1st round WRs to "bust"... these guys all lived up to expectations.




Other WRs taken in the 1996 draft-

Overall Pick #34-  Amani Toomer
Overall Pick #43-  Muhsin Muhammad
Overall Pick #52-  Bobby Engram
Overall Pick #89-  Terrell Owens
Overall Pick #135-  Joe Horn
Overall Pick #153-  Jermaine Lewis

TO is the name But when you look at this WR class as a whole... incredible.

NOW. 2014 has a chance to rival this amazing class. Obviously its very early, but let's just take a look at the rookie WRs and what they have done thus far:

Overall pick #4- Sammy Watkins
Overall pick #7- Mike Evans
Overall pick #12- Odell Beckham Jr.
Overall pick #20- Brandin Cooks
Overall pick #28- Kelvin Benjamin
Overall pick #39- Marqise Lee
Overall pick #42- Jordan Matthews
Overall pick #45- Paul Richardson
Overall pick #53- Davante Adams
Overall pick #56- Cody Latimer
Overall pick #61- Allen Robinson
Overall pick #63- Jarvis Landry
Overall pick #86- Josh Huff
Overall pick #90- Donte Moncrief
Overall pick #91- John Brown
Overall pick #118- Martavis Bryant

There are a bunch of other WRs that were drafted, but these guys stand out right now. Look at the names on this list!!!



Sammy Watkins has had some really bad play at QB, but has still produced at a very high level. He currently has 45/649/5 though 10 games. He's a legit WR1 in the NFL and his speed is killing defenses. He'll be around for a long time. IF he gets a good QB any year soon, watch out.




Mike Evans just set a team record for catching a TD in his 4th straight game. Benefiting from having a threat on the other side (V Jax), Evans has been a MONSTER recently. He currently has 49/841/8. He is a TD MAVEN... tall, physical, fast... yikes.



ODBJR- Beckham has only played in 8 games this year due to an injury that slowed the start of his season... but he is now averaging 6 catches for 87 yards and has 5 TDs in 7 games. Is that good? Oh and it looks like someone is going to give Golden Tate a run for "best hands in the league"




Brandin Cooks- Unfortunately Cook's rookie season was cut short due to a thumb injury that will require surgery, ending with a 53/550/3 line as a receiver, and seven rushes for 73 yards and an additional score. Cooks is a play maker... he is not like the other down field WRs on this list, but playing for the Saints and Drew Brees makes for Cooks as big time breakout candidate next year.





Kelvin Benjamin-  Here is what Jeremy said about Benjamin in our 2014  mock draft- "Eagles need a WR to replace DeSean Jackson. Kelvin Benjamin isn't quite the same player DJax is. Benjamin is a physical beast at 6'5 240 pounds. He will be a big time red zone threat and will have favorable matchups against shorter defensive backs. I think he has some skills polishing to do, but under a guy like Chip Kelly I think he can definitely develop quickly"

Pretty spot on there. Obv. Chip Kelly is NOT Benjamin's coach, but he is developing nicely. And he def does need to polish his skills a but as he has only caught 52-of-98 targets while battling some drops and poor routes. Benjamin, like Evans, is a Red Zone machine, though. He's really good.


Marqise Lee hasn't quite developed yet, he is somewhat buried in the JAX depth chart. Lee had been the Jaguars' distant No. 4 receiver in recent weeks, as he's battled hamstring and ankle injuries, to go along with playbook concerns.

Jordan Matthews is coming along nicely... of course he benefits from playing gin the high-octane Eagles offense... his rapport with Mark Sanchez is good too, so I don't know what that means but you have to be pretty damn good to provide Sanchez with chemistry. He has been playing in the slot, where he provides a severe mismatch as he is  6'3/212.

Davante Adams has been OK... but he is buried in the depth chart of the Packers behind Jordy Nelson and Randall Cobb. If one of those guys gets hurt, we will have a chance to truly see what Adams can do with a full compliment of snaps with the best QB in the league, Aaron Rodgers, who had this to say about his rookie WR: "Davante, he’s open on film a lot. He’s run a lot of good routes. He only had one catch last week, but if he stays confident and keeps making plays like he’s doing in practice, the ball is going to keep coming his way."

Cody Latimer is someone people really thought could be good right out of the gate, being in the Broncos, but he has been leashed all year by John Fox. Maybe we will get to see more of Latmmier down the stretch.




Donte Moncrief is the last guy I'll make a note on, and it's because I think this guy has a chance to be special. Right now he is "buried" in the depth chart behind TY Hilton, Reggie Wayne, and Hakeen Nicks. However, Nicks and Wayne are on the way out. Moncrief is freakishly talented and with Andrew Luck developing into an elite QB, Moncrief has a chance to explode as soon as next year.




When it's all said and done, 2014 could be the best WR class ever, even better than 1996.








November 21, 2014

2014 NFL Board Bet Update



Here are all the prop bets I've made in 2014. Some have been decided, others still yet to be resolved. Also, I'm pretty sure I've made more board bets than this, so if anyone reading this has something to add that I left out, let me know.

I'm also willing to add to this anytime. If anyone reading my material disagrees with me, confront me about it and we can make a wager to out on the board.





Bets with Jeremy:

$5- I say Aaron Rodgers scores more points on the season, Jeremy says Drew Brees. Both need to play 13 games.

Current score- Rodgers 236,  Brees 184 


$5- I say Josh Gordon has at least 1 catch this year. Jeremy says 0 catches.

Current Score- He is still at 0 but that should change by about 1:06pm on Sunday


$5 each-  I say both Dennis Pitta and Jordan Cameron will outscore Greg Olsen on the season

Current Score- Olsen 129, Pitta 20, Cameron 37 


$5- I say Foles +65 will outscore Drew Brees. Both Need to play at least 13 games.

Current Score- OFF. Foles never made it to 13 games. The bet would have been very close. 

$5- Week 2  I say Tony Romo will outscore Big Ben

Result- Romo 11.84,   Big Ben 6.68




Bets with Wilson:

$5- I say Foles -35 will outscore Big Ben. Both Need to play at least 13 games.

Current Score- OFF. Foles never made it to 13 games, which is good as I probably would have lost this one. 


$5- Season long I say AJ Green/Randall Cobb will outscore Brandon Marshall/ Michael Crabtree

Current Score- Green/Cobb 253,  Marshall/Crabtree 225





Bets with Kevin (my cousin)

$20 my fantasy team will outscore his in the regular season

Current Score- Kevin 1593, James 1552 with 2 weeks left 




Bets with Dan

$5 James says AP rushes for at least 1,200 yards

Current Score- 75 yards. Loss. AP played 1 game. 


$5 James says AP will outscore Matt Forte, season long fantasy

Current Score- AP 10, Forte 231


$5 James says Matt Ryan will outscore Colin Kaepernick on the season

Current Score- Ryan 169,  Kaepernick 156


$5 Rest of Season Weeks 11-16 I say Lacy will outscore Bradshaw

Current Score- Lacy 25, Bradshaw 4... and Bradhsaw is done for the season now so this one is over. 




Bets with Adam

$5 James says LeSean Mccoy will outscore Jamaal Charles on the season

Current Score- Charles 159,  Mccoy 111


$5 James says Ruben Randle will outscore Mike Evans on the season

Current Score- Randle 110,  Evans 178 


$5 Rest of Season Weeks 11-16 I have Ivory, Adam has Rainey

Current Score: Ivory 0, Rainey 0 


$5 James says Golden Tate will not finish in the top 15 WR

Current Score: Tate is WR#6 and has 195 points. The #16 WR currently has 147 points. 


$5 Week 11 James has Megatron, Adam has Golden Tate

Result: Megatron 10, Tate 6 




Bets with Sean 

Week 4 - Week 16 Scoring, I have Torrey Smith, Sean has Steve Smith Sr.

Current Score- Torrey 91,  Steve Sr 91




Bets with Abe

Week 2 Scoring James says Steven Jackson Abe says Harry Douglas

Result- Jackson 5,  Douglas 7


Week 15-16 Scoring I have Luck/Dez, Abe has Big Ben/ODBJ

Current Score: N/A




Bets with Marty El

Week 8-16 Marty has Demarco Murray, I have Matt Forte

Current Score:  Murray 49, Forte 57


Weeks 9-16 Marty has Alshon Jeffery, James has TY Hilton

Current Score:  Alshon 35,  Hilton 18 






November 13, 2014

Week 11 Video Podcast



Audio quality is for some reason spotty at times, will make sure it's back on point next time. Enjoy.




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8B23wjl7Iv4

November 10, 2014

Haters Fuel Bubba Watson





This past weekend reigning Masters Champion Bubba Watson won the WGC- HSBC Championship in Shanghai. This is a European tour event that most every big name golfer plays.

If you haven't seen how Bubba won you have to check out this link or watch the video below:

Link- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ub8N6yzr6P8



Incredible shot. That was to force a playoff, which he won on the first hole with a birdie.

What's makes it even greater is how bad he played on the 16th and 17th holes.. he bogeyed 16 and on the par 3 17th, he took two shots to get out of the sand, ended up scoring a double bogey 5. So on 18 he must have had that in the back of his mind in that bunker... still drained the shot.

Outside of being Mr. Augusta National, a two time winner of my favorite tournament, Bubba is also a cool dude and has a great personality off the course. He was already one of my top 10 favorite golfers, but now he is making a hard case to be #1. Why? Haters fuel him. Check THIS clip out:




For those who cant view the video, it's Bubba Watson before the tournament with this absolute gem, thanking the media for criticizing him:

"If everybody said I was great all the time, I would never improve as human being. So, I love it. I love that the media calls me out, I love that my friends call me out, even my mom calls me out a lot."

Perfect.






November 7, 2014

Random Sports Tidbits



Outside of Power Ranks for our fantasy football league, I haven't posted in a while, which is shameful. My bad. To make up for this.... here is a random thought or 2 on some random stuff I've thought about in the past few weeks and just haven't gotten around to posting:







link for video- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-OEHtSPB8Kg


This really pissed me off. As a general rule, I HATE when people ask others to sit down at sporting events. I get it- you don't want the person in front of you standing- but too bad. You're at a stadium, not a movie theater. Everyone has a right to stand and cheer for their team, especially at a college football game... And not only is Standing appropriate, but admirable. If you have a problem with someone standing in front of you, find a different seat. If you want to have a perfect view of the game- watch from home.

This is just embarrassing for Boise State Football. If other college programs and fan bases around the country saw this, they would point and laugh.. it's embarrassing that these are the types of fans Boise State has right now. People who complain about standing at football games. 1-AA (whatever its called now) type shit.









I thought we were over this but we aren't, Irrational Lebron Hate is back big time. Let's take a look why:

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/11790930/lebron-james-says-first-game-back-cleveland-cavaliers-one-biggest-sporting-events-ever

In a conversation the was focused on the city of Cleveland, Lebron said that their Home Opener vs the Knicks last week was "maybe the biggest sporting event ever."

1. People took these comments out of context, He was clearly talking about "in Cleveland" but that wouldn't suit the agenda of the haters so it was mis-represented.

2. Athletes use Hyperbole ALL. THE. TIME. all the time.

3. Because of the prejudice against Lebron, instead of the much more logical explanation- that Lebron was being hyperbolic- people actually tried to tell me that they thing Lebron is such an EGOMANIAC that he TRULY believes the game was the biggest sporting event ever. What a joke.

Also, a little more NBA hate for you here.... The Cavs literally dont need to start trying for a couple more months. They suck now, and that means nothing. Because the regular season means nothing. Which means your league sucks.

Also, here's  perfect Vine to sum up the NBA.


A 3 way flop. Cool.




Patriots Update:




They are crushing it right now. The offense took a few weeks to click, everyone cried the while time, and now we have the best team in the league. The defense is great, the offense is hot, and as per usual, the Pats are on track to dominate the season.



A major reason why they are so good now? Gronk. Duh. He's possibly the most dominant player of all time when he is on the field. You read that right, All time.

But guess what... he can't stay healthy. So do you know what I am NOT looking forward to? Grnk getting hurt in the next 6 weeks before the playoffs. It's going to happen, for sure.

Every game defenders dive at is knees to try and take him out. Why are we risking his health like this for regular season wins we don't need?



Ive said it before but Gronk should be considered as a playoff player only for the time being. Rest him from now until Christmas, bring him back for the last couple games of the regular seaosn so everyone is on the same page, and boom... a healthy Gronk for the Super Bowl run. Basically all we need to actually win one this year, with the improved defense.



Last and certainly not least is a Bruins update.



3 things to highlight....

1. The best teams find different ways to win. That's what the Bruins are doing right now.... With injuries to the D Men (esp Chara) the team has been forced to find other ways of winning than they normally do. And they have. Since Chara went down with his PCL injury:



It's not like they are playing the best teams in the league but they are finding ways to win and that is what is important.





2. Claude Julien Extension

BOOM. 3 year extension. Love it. He was in the last year of his deal, so this is huge.  The guy's style isn't loved by everyone as it is not flashy, but you can't argue with his numbers... he has been one of the best coaches in the NHL since he has been in Boston. Here is what #37 had to say about Claude:

“I think he’s had a big role, him and Peter, in rebuilding the team and turning the franchise around,” Bergeron said after practice at TD Garden on Monday. “But also I think our team identity and mentality here needed some changes and I thought he was there to make sure we had a lot more pride in wearing the spoked ‘B’ and playing a lot harder and working harder, and by doing that we got the success that we wanted and we achieved the goal that we wanted in 2011. And we definitely want more of that.”'


3. Carl Soderberg



The One eyed Swede has been the best Bruin forward this year. He's a beast. His excellent play started in about March of last year and he hasn't lost momentum.




It's great Carl is playing so well... but it also kinda sucks. He is a free agent after this season and will force the Bruins management to make some tough decisions. He is playing like a 1st or 2nd line NHL center right now.... being stuck behind Bergeron and Krejci is not ideal for him. Depth is a great problem to have, but I am worried about Soderberg. I don't want him to be on a different team, mostly because I still don't think he has reached his full potential yet. But he is fun to watch, that is for sure.