Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Tom Brady: The Anti-Christ OR Bellicheat

If you are anything like me, you despise the patriots. If the anti-christ were to come to earth, I am sure he would look like this:

I admit to bias. Tom Brady beat my St.Louis Rams on the night Ricky Proehl accurately predicted "Tonight, a dynasty is born". To bad good ole Ricky got the team wrong.

So with this hatred of the Patriots in mind you need to read this article.

It's old for sure, but there is nothing like stirring that pot of hatred of the Patriots from time to time.

The link is basically a statistical break down of the patriots seasons and how they consistently performed higher than would have been predicted by their efficiency stats. Higher even than other teams that out performed their expected production. It's really an interesting read and It is very apparent from the blog "Advanced NFL Stats" that Brian Burke does his homework.

Monday, September 28, 2009

Podcast Episode 5 - Week 3 In Review




Week 3 in review plus Monday Night predictions with Dr. Wang and Tom Potts.

Topics include:

Tony Romo over under 39 points on Monday?




Stepdads vs T-baggn Whiteys
129 147
DeAngelo Williams
Jason Witten Roy Williams

18 point difference



Top fantasy producers:


Peyton 24 for 379 for 4 td's and 1 pick 60 points
MJD 35 points on 119 rushing yards 3 tds 4 recp 28 yards 35 points
Santana Moss 10 for 178 1 td 43points Bonus points
Vernon Davis 7 for 96 2 td's 28 points

Are Santana Moss and Vernon Davis for real?



Lock of the week: Giants only 7% picked them


Is Tampa Bay the worst team in the league?

Redskins

Rams, Browns, Chiefs

Miami Dolphins

Winless Titans


Notice we aren't mentioning the Lions


Undefeated teams

3-0 Denver Broncos
Jets
Saints



Vikings
Ravens
Giants
Colts

Saturday, September 26, 2009

Podcast Episode 4 - Week 3 Breakdown




Dr. Wang and myself break down week 3 Fantasy Football action.

We had a lot of fun this week. Tried to let a little more personality come through. We ramble on about non-football related stuff for a while and ask what people would like to hear about on the podcast.

Some topics include:
Pick 'em Debates
New England at Atlanta
Tennessee vs Jets
Buffalo vs NO


which Backup RB that is starting this week would you rather have?

Felix Jones
LeSean McCoy


Fantasy teams of the week

Chicago Bears

Baltimore Ravens

Houston Texans


Lock of the week
Giants at home vs Tampa Bay


Which Chicago WR would you rather have?
Devin Hester
Johnny Knox
Earl Bennett


Which Giants WR would you rather have?
Steve Smith
Mario Manningham


Which Ravens RB would you rather have?

Willis McGahee
Ray Rice

Enjoy!

Friday, September 18, 2009

Podcast Episode 3 - Week 2 Predictions



Episode 3 in the books!
Did some work in the studio for an intro, I hope Goldfinger doesn't mind the sample =)

Week 2 Fantasy Football Predictions, Pick'em, Survival choices! Week 2 players to sit and start, Join The Doctor and I as we lay out our guide to week 2 NFL action.

Good luck in your games this week!

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Kanye is a D-Bag

If you haven't seen or heard about this check it out here

Basically Kanye comes up, takes the mic from Taylor Swift and proceeds to say Beyonce should have won. It's actually pretty funny. Beyonce is like WTF?!?!

Now this isn't the first time Kanye has stuck his foot in his mouth.

Case in point. Best part of the above video: Chris Tucker speechless when they cut to him after Kanye drops his "Bush doesn't care about Black People" bomb. (George W. Bush did not in fact care about black people, but that is beside the point.)

Back to the 2009 Video Music Awards...
The President thinks Kanye is a jackass. Even better than that, is what 50 Cent had to say about the situation.

"I wish he would come take one of my awards, so I could black his eye in front of everyone... He pick and choose who you feel safe doing that with... shit Pink was gonna get to him"




In the end though you have to feel sorry for Kanye. Must be hard to be a gay fish.



Requisite link to full gay fish episode.

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Fight Night 19, TUF 10

There are basically only two fights on this card that interest me.

1.) Nick Diaz v. Melvin Guillard. This should be an exciting fight. Melvin has always been a banger and Diaz has never backed down from a fight. Overall I think Nick Diaz is probably the more well rounded fighter but Guillard brings KO power to the table. Diaz should win this one easily if he doesn't let himself get drawn into a KO game. Seeing as how this would be Nick Diaz's third loss in a row, I see him staying within the game plan and doing away with Guillard by decision.

2.) "Hollywood" Roger Huerta v. Gray Maynard. Gone are the days of Gray Maynards lay and pray (hopefully) as he has developed a nice boxing game to go along with his wrestling background. Huerta after a long hiatus returns to the octagon for what could be the last time as he will try his hand in Hollywood. I do not see his head being in the game and I think if it comes down to losing his "Hollywood" good looks, and winning the fight, OR winning the fight and getting beat about the face. I think he chooses not to get beat about the face and gives up a "please stop hitting me in the face" rear naked choke.



TUF 10


I might be looking forward to this more than the fight night! Rampage has been a long time favorite of mine and I dislike Evans enough to tune in just for that. Add to that potent reality tv mix, Kimbo Slice. Kimbo is one of those guys that you either love or hate. I started out loving him on youtube, Hating him when I had to watch him almost get beat by cans. I think I am back to loving him now that he is trying to prove he is legit. If nothing else this guy garners viewers.

Another fighter I like to watch that is on the show is "Big Country" Roy Nelson. This guy has got to be the most experienced/technical fighter on the show, but looking at him you would not know he was supposed to be an athlete. In shape I doubt this guy is even a heavyweight (I have no facts to back that up) but hey, he kicks ass and takes names. I wonder if he got into top physical condition what kind of damage this guy can do.

Until next time, Enjoy the fights!

I Love Dana White...

"Guess what Rashad Evans is thinking about right now," White said he plans to tell Jackson. "He's thinking about beating your fucking ass. He's not sitting around thinking about how him and his mom used to watch the fucking 'Love Boat' together and (how) he wants to get the role of Isaac the bartender."

"'Get a fucking grip, dude. You're going to make a lot of money. You ain't going to make a lot of money playing B.A. Baracus on 'The A-Team.' Jesus Christ. This fucking drives me fucking nuts.' So yeah, I'm not a big fan of fighters doing movies. When your career is over, if you turn into a movie star, that's awesome."

Ahh Dana, Dana. I love this man. The above quote is a response from Dana White, the UFC president, about one of his fighters taking time off from fighting (and dodging a fight with Rashad Evans) to star in the role of Mr. T in the remake of the A-Team.

Why so mad?

Well, Dana is devoting a full season of his reality show, The Ultimate Fighter, to get as many viewers as he can to possibly purchase the upcoming PPV between the two coaches. Do you remember when Matt Serra and Matt Hughes were coaches of a previous TUF? Tentions were high and ALOT of people wanted to see them bang and fight it out. The fight didn't happen until damn near 2 years later due to injuries and what not and by then, no one gave a shit.

The UFC reality show, TUF, is THE MAIN reason why the UFC has gotten so big. It gets viewers to purchase PPV events and it definitely gets viewers to purchase the PPV of the two coaches fighting eachother.

With one of the coaches taking time off to play the role of Mr. T, who knows when fight is going to take place and the casual fans of the sport that would have bought the PPV will now forget all about it and that is why Dana White is so mad.

I feel for the guy really. UFC is getting so big that he is losing his fighters to entertainment business.

I wonder what he thinks of that???

"I hate it with a fucking passion," White said when asked about UFC fighters who take movie roles. "'You're a fighter; you're not a movie star.' It's so fucking funny because fighters want to be movie stars, and movie stars want to act like they're fighters. 'Get a fucking grip. You're a fighter, and you're a fucking movie star. Alright?'"

Dana White for US President 2012 in my opinion. Can you imagine capital hill with this sweet talker in there?

<3

For the whole story, check it out here.

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Brock Lesnar Defends and Tito Emerges

UFC 106 main event has been confirmed. It will be Brock Lesnar (4-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) versus the undefeated, top contender Shane Carwin (11-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC).

I remember reading an article sometime right after UFC 100. It had to do with Shane Carwin "tweeting" saying that what Brock did after he won against Frank Mir was disrespectful, bad for MMA...blah, blah, blah. Shane did state that he wanted to beat Brock's ass during that same "tweet" so...now he will have his chance to put up or shut up.

Lets be real here too....Shane is going to get worked. I imagine the fight going just like the Heath Herring fight when he got worked by Brock. That was over a year ago and the present day Brock is MUCH better then he was in that fight. I want to see someone whoop Brock's ass too, but it isn't going to be Shane Carwin.

Of course I am going to watch though!

Talk about Old Heads....

I mean seriously....Tito versus Mark Coleman? Tito is only 34 years old, not old by MMA standards, but Mark Coleman is damn near 50.

You can argue that Mark Coleman is still a worthy opponent, but is he really? He gets no points for beating Stephan Bonnar...I seriously think that I have a shot against that scrub. Before UFC 100, the last time Mark Coleman fought in the UFC was in 1996.

Yes, 1996. If you are thinking WTF, then you and I are on the same wave length. Tito should put this senior into permanent retirement. I really don't see it any other way...I know at this level of competition anyone has a chance to win, but damn if Tito doesn't win....I am not sure what is next for either of these fighters.

Friday, September 11, 2009

TUF Heavyweights - Its almost time

Good video I just watched, figured that I would share it with masses. The new season of TUF starts up next week, Wednesday Sept 16th.

Enjoy


Meet The Heavyweights

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Draft Results - Grade and Overview

NFL season is less then 20 hours away. So if you still haven't done your fantasy draft....you're probably not going to make it.

However...

I want to post my leauge's draft, give each team a grade, and a brief overview of what I think of their team.

Before we get into the draft, I want to inform you that this is a PPC (points per completion) and PPR (points per reception) leauge. Also, this is a keeper leauge. That means that each team gets to keep a player from their team last year. The first person listed on each team is their keep from the previous year.

Here are are starting lineup positions

QB
QB
WR
WR
WR
RB
RB
WR/RB
TE
Kicker
DEF

So with that said...here we go...

Team 1
  1. T. Brady
  2. P. Manning
  3. S. Slayton
  4. R. White
  5. D. Clark
  6. D. Jackson (PHI)
  7. V. Jackson
  8. M. Lynch
  9. K. Moreno
  10. J. Addai
  11. J. Lewis
  12. J. Cotchey
  13. C. Benson
  14. M. Stafford
  15. NY Giants DEF
  16. E. Graham
  17. N. Folk
  18. L. McClain

Best Pick - Steve Slayton. He was the best FA pickup in our league last year and is a BEAST in our league due to the PPRs. Looking back at it, I wish I would have picked him instead of R. Wayne in the third round while I had the chance. Mr. Slayton will have multiple games of 30+ points in our format. Great pick in the 3rd round.

Worst Pick - This team is pretty solid and had a good draft. I do think that drafting Marshawn Lynch in the 8th round was a mistake. He isn't even going to play for the first three games and even when he does get in game, I don't see him doing much fantasy wise.

Reach (Too early) Pick - Dallas Clark in the 5th round is a pretty big reach for me. He doesn't have much upside to him besides the fact that he has Peyton on his team. There was still alot of players still on the board that would be a better pick...even better TEs at that.

Grade - C+. Pretty solid draft. Got some really good QBs and that will carry this team far this year in our format

Team 2 (Drunk's Team)

  1. A. Johnson
  2. M. Turner
  3. G. Jennings
  4. M. Scaub
  5. D. McFadden
  6. T.O.
  7. R. Brown
  8. C. Palmer
  9. D. Ward
  10. T. Edwards
  11. A. Bryant
  12. C. Cooley
  13. L. Coles
  14. D. Mason
  15. R. Mendenhall
  16. Bal DEF
  17. J. Maclin
  18. J. Brown

Best Pick - I think that T.O has alot of questions marks. However, to get him in the 6th round as your 3rd WR in a pretty heavy WR format is great in my opinion.

Worst Pick - Looking at his draft, no one jumps out as a bad pick in this format. If I had to pick one I would say its A. Bryant, the WR from Tampa Bay. Alot of "experts" rated him very high and at this point in the draft he was taken 40 spots higher then he was projected....So with that in mind, I guess its not a horrible pick. I still think it is, especially when players like Ochocinco, P. Harvin, and D. Hester are still on the board.

Reach (Too early) Pick - Darren McFadden is a reach in the 5th round for me. He has been tearing it up in the preseason, but its just that...the preseason. I don't see DMC doing anything fantasy wise this year.

Grade - B. He has a good solid team with alot of players that have the potential to blow up. I can't give him anything higher then a B when M. Scaub and C. Palmer are your starting QBs in this format though. I do not see this team having less then a .500 winning average.

Team 3 (Tom Potts Team)

  1. D. Williams
  2. S. Jackson
  3. D. McNabb
  4. J. Culter
  5. J. Witten
  6. TJ. Whourmama
  7. A. Gongzalez
  8. B. Edwards
  9. L. Evans
  10. L. McCoy
  11. D. Avery
  12. A. Bradshaw
  13. E. Bennett
  14. M. Jenkins
  15. L. Johnson
  16. J. Delhomme
  17. R. Bironas
  18. San Deigo DEF

Best Pick - Larry Johnson in the 15th round is quite possible the best pick in the whole entire draft. He drafted him as his 5th RB and can use him when the matchup is in his favor. I like it.

Worst Pick - Earl Bennett in the 13th round was a complete and utter shock to me. I understand that its the 13th round and the talent pool is getting short...but hell...there is still talent out there. Earl Bennett did not catch 1 pass last year and probably won't get too much playing time this year. I think this pick is horrible....but only time will tell.

Reach (Too early) Pick - Donnie Avery in the 11th round is a bit of a reach. This team picked up ALOT of unproven players, but Avery is not one of them. He shown us what he can do last year, but he does play for the Rams and he is still hurt.

Grade - C+. Way too many unproven players for me to give a higher grade. Don't get me wrong, I like the majority of his picks, but I like to draft players that have NFL stats and not just go off of a feeling. Then again, A.P was once a unproven back...so it might work out really good for him.

Team 4

  1. D. Brees
  2. K. Warner
  3. R. Moss
  4. B. Westbrook
  5. B. Jacobs
  6. A. Gates
  7. B. Marshall
  8. R. Grant
  9. H. Ward
  10. K. Smith
  11. Ochocinco
  12. W. Parker
  13. C. Taylor
  14. C. Pennington
  15. K. Curtis
  16. Chicago DEF
  17. R. Gould
  18. NE DEF

Best Pick - Kevin Smith in the 10th round is a steal! Not sure how he crept to the 10th round unoticed.

Worst Pick - Brandon Jacobs. He was on my do not draft list. He picked him in the 5th round, which isn't a terrible spot. However, he is too much of a risk to pick even that high in my opinion.

Reach (Too early) Pick - Don't see a reach pick on this draft. Kurt Warner was picked so high because of our format, so I can't argue with that. I think that you could have gotten R. Grant a tad bit later, but this team had a pretty solid draft.

Grade - A. Great QBs and WRs. I see this team making it to the playoffs.

Team 5 (My Team)

  1. A. Rodgers
  2. MJD
  3. R. Wayne
  4. M. Hasselbeck
  5. C. Portis
  6. T. Gonzalez
  7. E. Royal
  8. D. Driver
  9. R. Bush
  10. S. Holmes
  11. L. Washington
  12. D. Hester
  13. L. White
  14. Julius Jones
  15. Hakeem Nicks
  16. Kyle Orton
  17. M. Crosby
  18. Phi DEF

Best Pick - C. Portis in the 5th round is a great value. We all know that he has his issues, but he should be a productive back fantasy wise.

Worst Pick - Reggie Wayne. Randy Moss and Wes Welker were on the board and I picked Reggie Wayne. I don't know if I was in a state of temporary insanity or just hung over. Either way, I picked the wrong guy here.

Reach (Too early) Pick - Eddie Royal was picked a little too early for my liking. With the situation in Denver, there were better picks out there on the board.

Grade - C. I made some cruical mistakes in this draft, but ended up with a solid team. I am really going to have to be on my game coaching wise during the season to make the playoffs.

Team 6

  1. P. Rivers
  2. L. Fitzgerald
  3. LT
  4. S. Smith (Car)
  5. D. Gerrad
  6. P. Thomas
  7. M. Barber
  8. S. Moss
  9. J. Stewart
  10. L. Moore
  11. G. Olston
  12. D. Brown
  13. J. Campbell
  14. K. Walter
  15. Pitts DEF
  16. V. Shiancoe
  17. R. Longwell
  18. J. Norwood

Best Pick - LT in the 3rd round will prove to be a brilliant move. He was injuried last year and couldn't make his breaks. I don't think he is going to have a huge fantasy year, but he will be one of the top 5 RBs hands down.

Worst Pick - Just a ton of bad picks in my opinion. If I had to pick one, I would say that its David Gerrad in the 5th. Just a ton of better picks on the board, including QBs at this point.

Reach (Too early) Pick - Lance Moore in the 10th...really?

Grade - D. I just don't like this team at all. I would be suprised if he gets 6 wins, keyword being IF.

Team 7

  1. A.P.
  2. M. Ryan
  3. Chris Johson
  4. M. Coleston
  5. R. Williams
  6. E. Manning
  7. T. Holt
  8. R. McMicheal
  9. Th. Jones
  10. B. Berrian
  11. M. Cassel
  12. D. Sproles
  13. H. Miller
  14. Big Ben
  15. I. Bruce
  16. Minn DEF
  17. NE's Kicker
  18. F. Taylor

Best Pick - Chris Johnson in the 3rd round was a very good pick. Tenn is a running team in Johnson will put up some big numbers.

Worst Pick - WOW...so many horrible picks...Randy McMicheal in the 8th is the worst though in my opinion. Just terrible.

Reach (Too early) Pick - Did he really pick Matt Ryan in the second? Way too early and is by far the biggest reach in the whole draft.

Grade- F. From top to bottom, this team is horrible. I mean really....just horrible lol. This guy should really start reading some articles and listening to our podcast...

Team 8 (P's Team)

  1. M. Forte
  2. T. Romo
  3. Cal. Johnson
  4. A. Bolden
  5. W. Welker
  6. F. Gore
  7. D. Bowe
  8. J. Flacco
  9. F. Jones
  10. R. Rice
  11. B. Favre
  12. O. Daniels
  13. Bennie Wells
  14. C. Henry
  15. Percy Harvin
  16. S. Hill
  17. Tenn DEF
  18. N. Kedding

Best Pick - Wes Welker in the 5th was the best pick in his draft in my opinion. He is a BEAST in PPR leauges and he has to be happy to get him so late in the draft.

Worst Pick - Dwayne Bowe in the 7th round isn't a great pick. Mr. Bowe was on my do not draft list. I just don't think he is going to be a fantasy threat. He is this team's 3rd WR, which is not terrible...but if I had to pick a worst, it would be Dwayne.

Reach (Too early) Pick - I think Felix Jones was taken a tad bit early, but the rule of thumb is if you don't think he will be there in the next round, take him now. This is probably what he was thinking when he made this selection.

Grade - A minus. He has a good balance of proven and unproven players. He has one solid fantasy QB and his WRs and RBs have the potential to blow up and get bonus points every week. I really hate to say it, but I think this team is going to the playoffs.

______________________________

So there it is....Pretty crazy live draft. It was a good time though. There was a TON of QBs gone with in the first 2 rounds. This is because we play PPC and we have two starting QB slots in our starting roster. We went in a snake order, which means that draft order goes 1st-8th, then 8th - 1st, then back again.

Yes, that does mean that whoever is 1st and last gets two picks in a row. Pretty nice.

I would love to hear your thoughts on this and as always, we will be continuing to do weekly Fantasy Football podcasts. So bookmark us and stay in touch.

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Podcast Episode 2 - Preseason Predictions



EPISODE 2: Round table discussion highlighting divisional champs and fantasy players to watch. Featuring myself, Drunk (a new contributor here at Lincoln Freed the Slaves) and the always opinionated Tom Potts.

Enjoy!

If you have any questions you would like answered on the podcast leave a comment and we will get to it next show.

What a Bitch...

What up people.

I was doing my usual browsing and I came across a fight video labeld "Sucker Punch = Fail".

I will embed the video after I say a few things about it.
  1. First and foremost, this dude is a bitch. That was a complete sucker punch and in my opinon you can't really declare yourself the winner when you do something like that.

  2. However, this is a fight. Even though it was a bitch way to win a fight, he still won and he still collected his check. You should always be prepared in a fight. This video proves it.

  3. This is why I do NOT like touching gloves after the match has started. There is no reason for it and can only be a risky move...as you can see from the video
What are you thoughts on this?

Sportsman-Like Fail Sucker Punch from FailPost FailPost on Vimeo.

Thursday, September 3, 2009

The "Hard Knocks" Phenomenon

One of the things I have noticed in the last few years since HBO started airing "Hard Knocks" is that inevitably the show makes you think that the team is on the brink of making the next step. As with everything produced by NFL films, this show makes you think the team is and/or was a whole lot better than they really are/were. This makes for great entertainment and a compelling show. It does not make for useful fantasy football advice.

I am guilty of this myself, every mock draft Ochocinco, Chris Henry, Cedric Benson, and Carson Palmer all seem to start creeping up my list. Don't get me wrong. Ochocinco is better than he was last year. Chris Henry is a touchdown machine but the one handed grabs they show on Hard Knocks makes you think he is the second coming of Randy Moss. He is not. His best year was 2006 and he only caught 36 balls for 605 yards ( he did have 9 td's though)

I am still feeling the effects of last years show on the Cowboys as I ended up with Martellus Bennett on one of my teams!

Keep this in mind on draft day. I'm off to see when "NFL Films presents the 2008 Lions" airs.