Fantasy Football Week 1 Recap

Overall a pretty good week, 4-1 with one squeaker. Had Rice, Mathews, and Bowe against Jets D and 2 point defecit. I only won by 1 point. My loss came where a win was possible but not sure that I could have made those decisions beforehand. Worse case scenario I took a loss there but gained some confidence in my benched players that they can be starters. Anyhow, here are how the games matched up.

WPM - QB 2 RB 2 WR TE K DST    Lost 91-79
Philip Rivers - 22, Joseph Addai - 6, Cadillac Williams - 9, Ochocinco - 21, Steve Smith(nyg) - 4, Kellen Winslow II - 3, Mason Crosby - 9, and Steelers - 4.
Opponent: Cutler - 26, Ray Rice - 5, Forte - 32, A. Johnson - 3, M. Colston - 6, B. Celek - 3, Bironas - 8, Packers - 8

Sweetness - QB 2RB 2WR TE K DST   Won 97-74
Carson Palmer - 23, Matt Forte - 31, Michael Turner - 4, Miles Austin - 20, Dwayne Bowe - 1, Vernon Davis - 7, Sebas. Janikowski - 7, and Saints - 4
Opponent: D. Anderson - 17, J. Best - 15, R. Rice - 5, R.Wayne - 15, R. White - 11, Z. Miller(oak) - 4, Hartley - 2, Dolphins - 5

FTC - QB  2RB  RB/WR flex  3WR  TE  WR/TE flex  K  DST  Won 254 - 199
Derek Anderson - 32, Cedric Benson - 24, Mo. Jones-Drew - 36, Matt Forte(rb/wr flex) - 57, Greg Jennings - 25, Hines Ward - 23, Mike Williams(sea) - 15, Kellen Winslow II - 13, Todd Heap(wr/te flex) - 21, Matt Prater - 7, and Chargers - 1
Opponent: Kolb - 6, R. Grant - 10, T. Hightower - 31, J. Best - 42, L. Fitzgerald - 17, Sims-Walker - 0, Welker - 39, Gates - 24, Boldin - 26, Hartley - 2, 49ers - 2

Wannabes - QB 2RB 3WR/TE K DST  Won 82 - 81
Jay Cutler - 28, Ray Rice - 5, Ryan Mathews - 7, Dwayne Bowe - 1, Hines Ward - 10, Vernon Davis - 7, Matt Prater - 5, and Giants - 19
Opponent: Palmer - 25, Mendenhall - 18, D. Williams - 6, D. Clark - 13, Garcon - 4, Witten - 2, Hartley - 2, Jets - 11

Addiction - QB 2RB 3WR TE K DST  Won 123.32 - 85.68
Peyton Manning - 35.32, Rashard Mendenhall -19.5, Jahvid Best - 15.6, Greg Jennings - 14.2, Hines Ward - 10.8, Steve Breaston - 13.2, Jermichael Finley - 4.7, Matt Prater - 7 , and 49ers - 3
Opponent: Romo - 17.28, C. Johnson - 27, Addai - 7.3, B. Marshall - 5.3, D. Bryant - 5.6, D. Driver - 9, K.Winslow II - 3.2, Gould - 7, Ravens - 4

Recap Bookieman Week 1

I added 2 bets in the NCAA on Friday night and split them. WVU -13 @ marshall and Over 75 UTEP/Houston. WVU needed OT to win by 3 but 78 points were scored in the late game. 1-1 coupled with 8-5-1 from last weekend makes me 9-6-1 headed into Saturday.

My Saturday NCAA selections were Miami, FL +9 @ tOSU, Cal -9 vs Colorado, and Stanford -6 @ ucla.
Cal & Stanford rolled to easy wins while the Canes were beaten soundly by the Buckeyes. Finish Saturday 2-1. Overall: 11-7-1

Sunday picks were Miami -3, Oak/Ten Over 41, Ten -6, Pit +2, SF -3, Ariz -4, GB/Phil over 48, Dal/Was over 41. Started out HOT! 4-0 in early games. Mia, Oak/Ten over, Ten, and Pit all good. Wheels fell off after that. SF was embarrassed by Seattle, Arizona pushed at St. Louis, GB/Phil came up a point short, and Dal/Was put up tons of yards but the end zones were protected by a force field. Finished 4-3-1.

Overall 15-10-2  new selections Thursday.

My 2 winners, Miami & Arizona won. My 3 losers, Minnesota, Buffalo, and St. Louis all lost. Still alive in both pools.

Fantasy Football Week 1

I have 6 leagues but only 5 are for money so we will stick to those 5 from this point forward. League names and prices are as follows, all are 12 team leagues. Walter Payton Memorial $95, Sweetness League $100, For The Cash $125, Wannabees $200, and Addiction $50. [side note: I have a $100 side bet for best finish with an owner who thinks he is the only person in the world who knows anything about sports.]

I will post opponents lineups during the Tuesday recap since I can't control whether their lineup is set by Friday. Chances are I could end up making last minute changes along the way too but I'll give you my best effort by Friday.

WPM - QB 2 RB 2 WR TE K DST
Philip Rivers, Joseph Addai, Cadillac Williams, Ochocinco, Steve Smith(nyg), Kellen Winslow II, Mason Crosby and Steelers.

Sweetness - QB 2RB 2WR TE K DST
Carson Palmer, Matt Forte, Michael Turner, Miles Austin, Dwayne Bowe, Vernon Davis, Sebas. Janikowski and Saints (4 points last night)

FTC - QB  2RB  RB/WR flex  3WR  TE  WR/TE flex  K  DST
Derek Anderson, Cedric Benson, Mo. Jones-Drew, Matt Forte(rb/wr flex), Greg Jennings, Hines Ward, Mike Williams(sea), Kellen Winslow II, Todd Heap(wr/te flex), Matt Prater, and Chargers

Wannabes - QB 2RB 3WR/TE K DST
Jay Cutler, Ray Rice, Ryan Mathews, Dwayne Bowe, Hines Ward, Vernon Davis, Matt Prater, and Giants

Addiction - QB 2RB 3WR TE K DST
Peyton Manning, Rashard Mendenhall, Jahvid Best, Greg Jennings, Hines Ward, Steve Breaston, Jermichael Finley, Matt Prater, and 49ers

Scoring varies from league to league so I will just use that particular players total for that given league on Tuesday's recap.

Bookieman Returns

OK, I promised my picks each week. I have slacked off on writing this week but was up back to back to back nights til after 4am. Back, hips, and legs are killing me recently and now I have this deep, dry, cough that has made my lungs its personal playground. Been a tough week to be down with so much new life around as the football season begins. More importantly the betting season.

First up my survivor pool. I have 2 entries and I must pick a winner each week but I cant use the same team twice. Factoring in not using the same team twice I am taking MIAMI over buffalo and ARIZONA over St. Louis. I liked the Titans and the Saints too but figured I could use them down the road. Next is the opposite of the survivor pool, I have to pick a team to lose each week. Can use the same team all year if you want. Even with that rule in place only 9 of 94 made it to week 17 last year. If more than one makes it to week 17 you must pick every game and I was one of the 9. I went something like 13-3 or 12-4 in the final week. Won over $900, used half to pay for Cubs tickets, fitting huh, "losers" pool bought losers tickets. I have 3 entries, part of entry goes to a memorial scholarship fund to honor a friend who passed a few years ago. My picks to lose: RAMS, BILLS, VIKINGS. All my eggs in 1(two) basket(s) with Mia/Buf and AZ/STL games. There is a theme keep reading.

NCAA: I haven't looked at many games here but I like Stanford -6 @ ucla. I'll also take Miami, FL +9 @ Ohio State and Cal -9 vs Colorado.

I play in two pools in which you must pick games with the spread. One is a Pick 6 and most weeks you have 100 choices to pick 6 from. That includes all NFL games with sides and o/u and between 18 and 20 NCAA games (sides only). I used Stanford -6 here and also like Miami -3 @ buffalo, Oak/Ten over 41, Arizona -4 @ st. louis, GB/Philly over 48, and Dal/Was over 41.

The other pool is 5 team parlay and only includes Sun/Mon NFL games and only the sides, no totals. For that I like Miami -3, Arizona -4, Tenn -6 vs oakland, SF -3 @ seattle, and Pitt +2 vs atlanta.  I told you those Mia/Buf and Az/Stl games were a theme for week 1.

My fantasy teams will be covered tomorrow then recap the picks on Monday and fantasy on Tuesday

Dabbling in the odds a bit

It's always easier to tell the story after the fact but you'll just have to trust me this one time. Going forward I'll make it a weekly staple to put my picks out before the weekend begins.

College football got underway this past Thursday so I logged in to the old sportsbook account and made a small deposit to get things started. Looking at the Thursday lines I liked Ohio State at home minus 4 TD's, I liked the Golden Gophers on the road -1.5 and I loved the under on the NIU at Iowa State game. Good MAC team returning 11 starters on defense against a bad BCS conf team smelled like under 51 to me. I added the Gamecocks ML (-700) as a small boost and parlayed the selections. Open the season with a WINNER! All 4 selections good and away we go. Stayed up for the late game on ESPN, USC at Hawaii, bet the 2nd half over at 28.5. BAM! 2nd winner of the night.

Small wager on Friday night took Arizona -16 at Toledo but parlayed it with the over (59). Zona wins by a boatload but Toledo can't score so the total stays under. On to Saturday, out until about 11:15am running errands so I missed the early kickoffs. I looked over the entire day and decided I liked LSU -9 vs UNC, Wisconsin -20 at UNLV and Fresno St -3 at home vs Cincinnati. 1 win, Fresno State, 1 Push, Wisconsin, and 1 Loss, LSU. I had it parlayed so it was only bet lost. After watching the 1st halves of the Michigan and Notre Dame games I made a 2nd half line wager on those two games, Michigan pk em, ND -4. 1 win, Michigan, and 1 loss, Notre Dame.

No betting weekend would be complete without a story of a bad beat so here's mine. I liked the under(50) in the Oregon State vs TCU game. Neutral site but in Texas, TCU built their reputation last season on playing defense. Felt good! 35 points scored in the 1st half. All good feelings gone but having done this before knew that there was a chance this game stalls in the 2nd half and I still have a chance. Bingo! TD early in the 3rd and a 2nd TD to end the 3rd. TCU is up 7 and plays 'D' in the 4th. About 8:30 to go OSU and TCU have exchanged punts and TCU has a long field. Grind it to midfield, stall and punt. More importantly knock over 4 minutes off the clock.

Oregon State fair catch at their own 18 and 4:18 on the clock. 49 total points, if TCU can force a punt they will kill the clock and I'll win the under(50) even after a 35 point first half. Commercial break after the punt, I jump over to the Fresno State/Cincinnati game. Flip back just in time to see the OSU QB chasing the ball towards the end zone and kick it out the back. Safety! 2 points TCU. Total 51, game over! Wager lost.

The first play from scrimmage, in shotgun formation, the ball was snapped over the QB's head and he chased it and kicked it through the end zone rather than attempt to fall on it and take the loss of yards!!

I did hit a small play on Fresno State by themselves and  finished the weekend with 3 of 7 bets as winners and 8-4-1 on the individual selections. Most important, account balance is 4x's the initial deposit. I like the Hokies Monday night.

The "other" two teams

The final two teams have been drafted. I'll start with the slow draft because this is the only time that type of draft and this one in particular will ever be first at anything.

This nightmare started on 8/21 and is a hybrid league of sorts. Its a PPR league where 3 pts are awarded for receptions but RB also get 1 pt for a rush and QB's get a point for completions. Its also a 3 player keeper league. It was a snake draft, I picked 11th(last year's runner up). 16 rounds. I had no 2nd round pick, no 6th, and  no 7th. I had two 9's, two 14's, and 2 15's to make my draft even out. Starting lineup QB, RB, RB, WR, WR, WR, RB/WR, TE, WR/TE, K, DST

My keepers: Maurice Jones-Drew - JAX, Cedric Benson - CIN, Greg Jennings - GB Draft picks in order: Matt Forte - CHI, Hines Ward - PIT, Cadillac Williams - TB, Kellen Winslow, Jr - TB, Donovan McNabb - WAS, Donnie Avery - STL(drafted the morning before he got hurt), Kevin Walter - HOU, Greg Olsen - CHI, Legedu Naanee - SD, Jason Campbell - OAK, Mike Williams - SEA, Todd Heap - BAL, Rashad Jennings - JAX, Josh Morgan - SF, Matt Prater - DEN, San Diego - DST

This nightmare still isn't over but it has lasted 13 days and the sloth of the draft has logged over 62 hours of down time while he was on the clock. My draft time, 59 min 10 sec. Less than an hour on the clock for the entire mess. I hate this format and would suggest jumping from a tall building before getting involved in this type of frustration.

5th and final money league for 2010, yahoo league with a live draft and a 90 second clock. These things go so fast its hard to keep up. We finished in 90 minutes. 15 rounds, re-draft, all TD's worth 6 pts, QB yds 1 pt for every 25 yds RB/WR/TE 1 pt for every 10 yds. Starting lineup QB, RB, RB, WR, WR, WR, TE, K, DST. I picked 10th in a snake draft.

Draft: Peyton Manning - IND, Rashad Mendenhall - PIT, Greg Jennings - GB, Jahvid Best - DET, Hines Ward - PIT, Jermichael Finley - GB, Steve Breaston - ARI, 49ers DST,(let it be known, my internet went down here and I got stuck with a DST no way I take one here, wanted bernard berrian) Marion Barber - DAL, Louis Murphy - OAK, Tim Hightower - ARI, Laurent Robinson - STL, Todd Heap - BAL, Mike Williams - SEA, Matt Prater - DEN

I only have 1 QB but its Peyton Manning his bye week is 7, I'll pick one up for that week.

NCAA Football Kickoff Weekend

It's baaaaaaack! Thursday night marks the beginning of another wonderful college football season. There are only two things wrong with that, still no playoff system in place and Jim Tressel still has a job. How is it that tOSU has managed to escape any kind of serious sanctions? Tressel ran a dirty program at Youngstown State and it has carried over to tOSU all the way back to the Maurice Clarrett days.

Hopefully the offseason conference realignment that took place will apply more pressure for the NCAA to adopt some form of playoff system to determine a National Champion in football. I think 3 of the bigger stories in college football will be in the SEC. Can Alabama repeat? What will the Gators and Urban Meyer do w/o Tebow? Can LSU be better than a 3 or 4 loss team?

Two other big stories will be Can RichRod get Michigan back on track or does another coaching search begin in Ann Arbor? and Who wins the Pac 10 now that USC has been punished for cheating? Other questions that will get answered, Is this JoePa's final year? Will Florida State return to glory without Bobby Bowden? Is Nebraska really back? Can new coaches win at Kansas and Texas Tech?  Is it Wisconsin's time to shine in the Big 10? Is this really the best team that Northern Illinois has ever had?(threw that in to see who was paying attention) Coach Jerry Kill says this is his best team in his short time at NIU but could it be that they are the best NIU team ever? I was there for 4 years I think they won 4 games.

For me there is only one question about NCAA football that even matters, Can Brian Kelly return the Irish to prominence?  I have been a Notre Dame fan for as long as I can remember and my memories began with the Lou Holtz era. I cheered on the '88 title team I watched as they were screwed out of the '93 title, I saw Lou get run out of town because he was threatening the all time wins record for a ND head coach(politics). I watched the parade of bad coaches(and liars) starring Bob Davie, George O'Leary, Tyrone Willingham, and Charlie Weis. I really thought Charlie was the answer. Now its Brian Kelly's turn. I wasn't a huge fan of the hire but all the news about the program has been positive and hopefully the tarnish has been polished from the golden dome.

The first half of the 2010 schedule should be an indication of how far Coach Kelly and the Irish have come or how much work still needs to be done. The second half of the schedule should be a big confidence boost for the program going forward. I am expecting no worse than 9-3 from the 2010 Irish and hoping big things are on the horizon.  The Irish open at home with Purdue on Saturday.

The season kicks off Thursday night with an ESPN doubleheader and the NIU Huskies traveling to Iowa State which is on TV in Chicagoland on CSN.  It's finally football season!