Being a fan’s not something you choose
A sane man would never choose
To be addicted to sports the way that I am
Being a fan’s not something you choose

I’m trying to figure it out
I’m watching my TV
I care so much, I’m tied in knots
What does it mean to me?

As I’ve written before
I always count down the days
Less than 48 hours now
Until my favorite team plays

Being a fan’s not something you choose
A sane man would never choose
To be addicted to sports the way that I am
Being a fan’s not something you choose

The Raiders travel east
The Niners play at THE STICK
One game’s at 10, the other at 1
Between them you don’t have to pick

I’m married to my team
Til death do us part
Silver and Black blood in my veins
Piracy in my heart

Being a fan’s not something you choose
A sane man would never choose
To be addicted to sports the way that I am
Being a fan’s not something you choose

The season’s on the brink
For both Bay Area teams
A loss for either one might mean
The end of playoff dreams

WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?

Silver and Black are the colors I wear
My boys are in Florida, I wish I was there
Miss watching a game, I wouldn’t dare
I’m trying to figure how come I care

My back side’s imprinted in my lucky chair
The flat screen’s bright, for 3 hours I stare
My Dad’s to my right, this is special to share
I’m trying to figure how come I care

A majestic spiral, it glides through the air
Winning brings joy, losing despair
Pain’s real when they lose, I ache everywhere
I’m trying to figure how come I care

NO AMOUNT OF POSITIVE THOUGHT CAN HELP MY TEAM WIN

I admit that I believe
That I can help my team
There’s no superstition that I haven’t tried
My game day routine:
Make sure my mind’s clean
I’m convinced that my thoughts can sway the tide

CHORUS

Sway the tide, sway the tide
I pray that fate’s on my team’s side
By my faith I abide
I’m convinced that my thoughts can sway the tide

Tell me am I nuts
Has THE POET lost his mind
I fear that I am all mixed up inside
I have hope you can relate
To this fanatical state
I’m convinced that my thoughts can sway the tide

CHORUS

Sway the tide, sway the tide
I pray that fate’s on my team’s side
By my faith I abide
I’m convinced my thoughts can sway the tide

In defeat I take the blame
Convinced the failure’s mine
They lost, no matter how I tried
No question, I’m obsessed
If we fail I get depressed

I’m convinced my thoughts can sway the tide

CHORUS

Sway the tide, sway the tide
I pray that fate’s on my team’s side
By my faith I abide
I’m convinced my thoughts can sway the tide

By: Jonathan Furst

Out of the gate: When asked to explain the Mark Reynolds trade, ESPN baseball expert Keith Law stated that, “My wife’s grandfather recently told us the story of how his mother would get rid of bedbugs in the small apartment where he grew up. (This story was prompted by the recent spate of bedbug infestations in New York City.) Apparently, she would pour kerosene into the springs of the mattress where the bedbugs lived and bred … and would drop a lit match down the spring to incinerate them. Of course, the risk of this approach is that if you do it wrong, or are a little too aggressive, you will burn your house down. Well, I think Arizona general manager Kevin Towers has decided that strikeouts are akin to bedbugs, and will gladly bust out the kerosene can to get rid of them”.

Well staying in line with this analogy, newly appointed GM Kevin Towers and the Diamondbacks, one of baseballs worst teams last year, finally burnt down what remained of there tiny little meager hut by dealing 3B Mark Reynolds for two middle relievers. Yes, I repeat two middle relievers. The big loot Arizona brought back goes by the name of David Hernandez and Kam Mickolio. Both are decent MR’s but the fact that they are MR’s is all you need to know to realize that Arizona sold way too low and is clearly intimidated by the offensive strike out. Reynold’s .198 average last year and ever present ability and inclination to strike out are a smear on his resume, but dealing a 3b who hit 44 homeruns in 2009 for two unproven middle relievers is quite considerably one sided from a talent point of view. And after all a fly out to CF counts just as much as a strikeout, right? The Oriole’s will still not be able to beat the Yankee’s or Red Sox’s in 2011, but at least they will go into the 2011 season with a better option at 3B than the previous incumbents Garrett Atkins or Ty Wigginton and might be able to make a run at the Blue Jay’s or Ray’s.

Rounding second: An interesting conversation I had with a fellow Baseball Insider analyst about the Reynolds deal:

Adam Ganeles: failing to understand your rationale. Reynolds will be out of baseball before he plays for a winner.

Morgan Spokny: Disagree. I’m a big Reynolds fan and I guarantee he will bounce back in a big way next year. Sure he batted sub .200 last year but he also battled injuries all year, including a leg injury which killed his speed and limited his defense, not to mention he had little protection in the lineup last year. Career .817 OPS, with a career high .892 OPS 2 years ago for 2 dime a dozen MR’s.. Terrible trade IMO.

Morgan Spokny: Clearly Arizona needs MR’s, as they had one of the worst bullpens in the history of baseball last year, but they also badly needed to improve the offense… Trading one of your better hitters for bullpen arms seems silly.

Adam Ganeles: Perhaps he will bounce back from a sabremetrics perspective, but he won’t suddenly become a run producer. More than half of his career HR are solo shots & I’m quite certain that’s not an aberration. 6/50 career mark with the bases loaded is also a significant sample of failure in the clutch. I’ve seen him swing through more than enough ‘grooved’ fastballs to know he doesn’t have IT, no matter how many bombs he hits. He is, and will always be, at the mercy of the pitcher.

Morgan Spokny: Who was he supposed to be hitting in all this time? Ariz hasn’t had a legit lead-off hitter since Tony Womack, and he wasn’t exactly a HOFer. Reynolds led the squad in 2009 with 102 Rbi’s, 98 runs, 24 steals and 76 walks. The second highest RBI and runs contributor was Justin Upton who chipped in 86 and 84 respectively. In 2010, Reynolds was banged up and he still led the Dbacks in Hr’s and BB’s, was 4th in runs and 3rd in Rbi’s. He clearly regressed from 2009 to 2010, but I really believe this can be attributed to his health. As they say, sell high and buy low. Arizona clearly sold at his lowest point and it will bite them in the ass next year.

Adam Ganeles: Agree with your last sentiment in principle, but believe AZ made the right decision here– regardless of what they received in return. Addition by subtraction. We’ll see how it shakes out in time.

The setup: I just want to go on record now before it is too late. I’ve been there since day 1. I argued against the entire BLSS cast, Penny Hardaway and Kenny Anderson. How could they say that the trio would lack chemistry? How could Lebron and Dwade not coexist? Rubbish, I said. How could you not want Russell and Chamberlain? How could you not want Kobe and Jordan? How could you not want Brown and Sayers? I’ve been in favor of the formation of the trio and I’ve been there every step of the way since rooting for Lebron and Co. I’ve been there defending Lebron when he tanked the Eastern Conference Finals due to some indiscretions from a man known as Delonte, when he decided to use the third person profusely, and when he decided to let us know that he was taking his talents to South Beach. After all, who wouldn’t? On a serious note, how did Delonte get away with driving around with a guitar case full of semi automatic weapons? Seriously did the kid hire Dershowitz? Anyways, I’ve been around when Eddie House starting draining three’s and made it rain, and I’ll still be there even if I have to eat my words and the more well rounded Celtics manage to dethrone the King and his disciples in the Eastern Conference Finals. VIVA LA THRICE!

The Closer: SF Giants closer Brian Wilson while interviewing with Leno. “Oh that’s nothing, that’s just Tibetan Yeti fur”. Is it just me or is this guy’s personality a fusion of Kenny Powers and Will Ferrell? Not that I’m complaining, kid is a stud, just an observation.

Super weak stat of the day: I read this on baseball America about Angels, SS/3B Brandon Wood the other day: “In parts of four seasons with the Angels, he has hit .169, the second-lowest average in major league history for a player with as many as his 479 plate appearances.” But if you think about it, from a glass half full perspective it is actually really quite an impressive stat. With something like 140 years of baseball having been played, wouldn’t you agree that it takes some hard work to be the 2nd worst hitter ever. As Borat would say, “not so much”!

By: Morgan Spokny

Be sure to check out the Bottom Line Sports Show. Every Tues 6 pac, Thurs 6 pac, and Sun 4 pac.

BaseballInsiders.com
blogtalkradio.com/bline

Big Time Interviews, Athletes, and Attitude

Follow me on twitter @ The Spokester

Out of the gate: As I’m sure you have already heard, the 350 lb behemoth, Haloti Ngata landed a big blow early to Ben Roethlisberger’s nose last Monday. Blood spewed and soaked into his jersey. It truly was a grotesque injury. It looked like Big Ben just went 12 rounds with Ali. It seemed like déjà vu. Didn’t I just see this happen to Antonio Margarito’s face? For one night at least we all had hard evidence what it would look like if Big Ben and Michael Myer’s got into a tussle. Yet despite the injury Big Ben and his Owen Wilson schnoz managed to lead the troops to a victorious win against there arch nemesis division rival, the one and only Baltimore Ravens. The Ravens, also happen to be one of my six favorite teams and as a Raven’s fan, I think I can speak for the rest of the world, when I say that even if you think he’s an immature prick, or have no respect for Big Ben after his countless off the field shenanigans and offenses, you have to give kudos to the man for having the heart of champion and the cojones of a Great Mastiff.

Rounding second:I just saw a recent poll on ESPN where 13.9% of respondents said they think Joe Webb should start this Sunday over Brett Favre and Tavaris Jackson. In response to this poll I want to post another poll to gauge drug usage amongst ESPN respondents. I mean c’mon, are you kidding me America? Joe Webb is incredibly athletically gifted, but he’s never started a professional game before and you have another QB, Tavaris Jackson who deserves a look. Let Tavaris start a few more games and if he falters then the Vikings could possibly consider starting one of the fastest men to come out of the South since Forrest Gump. Webb is a freak athlete who jumped 42.5 inches and ran a 4.43 40 yard dash at the combine, which does make him an intriguing prospect, who does deserve an opportunity to start one day, but not just yet.

The setup: I was asked by a fan recently on the Bottom Line Sports Show, what my take was on the Patriots decidedly lopsided MNF win. Well in a nutshell, here’s my take. I still think the Jets are a good team, but they also clearly have match up issues with the Patriots, much like the Patriots have a match up issue with the Ravens. I think the biggest issue for the Jets is that they start a DT/NT and DE upfront, which is designed to stop the run, but by playing in a formation such as this, they sacrifice a strong pass rush. Everybody knows you can’t stop the infamous Tom Brady if you don’t put pressure on him. The NFL is all about what you have done lately. So it was no surprise to me that this entire week it seems that all I hear is everyone claiming that the Patriots are suddenly the front runners for a championship, T-Brads is the MVP, and the Hoody is the greatest coach of all time. I’d like to point out that these are also the same folks who said that the defense was too young, too soft and that loss of Randy Moss would without question doom all chances of taking the division. Earth to world, the league is cyclical and Pats will come back down to earth to some degree. The league is designed to ensure parity. No one in the history of the league will ever win every week 45-3. However, with that said the Patriots are one of my six favorite teams for a reason. I love winners, and the Patriots are the epitome of a winner. In fact I’ve been picking the Patriots all season long, and if you don’t believe me, feel free to take a listen to the Bottom Line Sports Show archive. The Patriots most certainly have a chance to win a Super Bowl, especially with the revamped offense and defense, our newly found ability to penetrate the middle, but just because of one incredibly lopsided loss, it doesn’t completely erase the Jets either. These things are not mutually exclusive folks.

The Closer: Just like the USPS, T-Brads delivers rain, sleet or snow.

Super weak stat of the day: Ray Rice in two games against the Steelers this year has 6 combined fantasy points.

By: Morgan Spokny

Be sure to check out the Bottom Line Sports Show. Every Tues 6 pac, Thurs 6 pac, and Sun 4 pac

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/bline

Big Time Interviews, Athletes, and Attitude

As surprising as it may seem, the Giants organization ranked 9th in Major League Baseball in 2010 in terms of payroll. I personally expected them to rank much lower considering that their lineup was filled with underachievers and average hitters. But, now that the Giants are spending, the pitching staff has peaked with the emergence of Matt Cain, and the bullpen is lights out, they need to improve that lineup.

Statistically, the Giants’ top RBI man in 2010 was Aubrey Huff, with only 86! This is anemic for a middle of the order hitter, and if not for Buster Posey, who knows how bad this lineup would have been? Pablo Sandoval also underperformed this season, as he really needs to get his weight under control. It’s evidently a problem.

Other bright spots in the lineup are leadoff man Andres Torres and Cody Ross’ playoff heroics. But, the Giants lack a dangerous bat in the middle of the lineup to couple with Posey’s tremendous contact ability. Posey will bat third for this team, but here’s two obvious options for the Giants to bolster the lineup…

Carl Crawford

After this season, he’s proven his obvious status as a four tool player. He can hit anywhere between the leadoff spot and three hole in the lineup, imagine him in front or behind of Posey!

He lacks tremendous power, but will hit 15-20 homers a season. Crawford is arguably the fastest player in the league, and reaches base at will with his ability to hit .300 or better. Crawford will demand top bash, but he’s young, and will bring so much to a club who lacks offense.

Not to mention, he’s got an all-star glove, as defense is something the Giants take pride in. As one last mental note, think about how well Crawford will hit the NL West after playing in the AL East his whole career. Look out! Carl Crawford in my opinion is this year’s top offensive free agent.

Jayson Werth: He’s come on strong the last two seasons for Philadelphia.

Now that Werth has proven himself as a great middle of the order man, and wants the contract his numbers portray. Werth has a knack for hitting clutch home runs, as he will most certainly help the Giants next October if he’s there.

Werth’s 30 HR power will make it much more difficult for opposing teams to pitch around Buster Posey as well.
As for his defense, Werth has a cannon for an arm, and will play all three places in the outfield. He’s also remained healthy the majority of his career.

Those are my suggestions for this struggling Giants offense, which really needs to provide some run support for top pitcher Tim Lincecum and his side kick Matt Cain.

This team is loaded with talent and I fully expect them to threaten for years to come. The pitching staff is home-grown with Jonathan Sanchez and Madison Bumgarner anchoring the bottom of the rotation, but although pitching wins championships, they’ve got to get some bats. I’m sure they will, as the front office has been fantastic.

By: Constantine Madias

Commissioner Bud Selig’s plan to expand baseball’s playoffs to 10 teams seemed inevitable after little to no opposition emerged during meetings this week with owners and general managers in Orlando, FL. Baseball’s labor contract runs to December 2011, so the extra round of playoffs is not likely to start until 2012. Selig said his special 14-man committee will discuss adding two wild-card teams when it meets Dec. 7 during the winter meetings in nearby Lake Buena Vista.

“We will move ahead, and move ahead pretty quickly,” Selig said Thursday after three days of meetings concluded.

A change would have to be approved by owners, who next meet Jan. 12-13 in Paradise Valley, Ariz., and by the players’ association, which has said it is open to the extra round. The additional games also would have to be sold to baseball’s national television partners and slotted into a crowded schedule that already has pushed the World Series into November in the past two years.
“I’m not going to rule out anything,” Selig said. “We’ll just proceed and whatever we decide, then we’ll just see how fast we can get it done. Once we pass something, I’m always anxious to get it done.” Selig’s committee includes managers Tony La Russa, Jim Leyland and Mike Scioscia, and former manager Joe Torre, who recently stepped down from the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Assumedly, the proposal includes two wild-card teams in each league, and those wild-card teams would meet in a Best of 5 head-to-head series to determine which advances to division series with the three first-place teams in each league. Presumably this would take a week following the end of the 162 game regular season and would push the World Series one week further – completely into November.

All-November World Series
“I think it’s definitely worth looking at. I have no problem with that,” Yankees co-owner Hank Steinbrenner said. There seems to be reasonable support among owners for this additional revenue-generating venture. When the wildcard and NLDS was introduced in 1995 baseball purists were shouted down by greedy team owners who saw the profit value. This also was the general consensus in 1969 when the LCS was introduced among divisional play. Some would have the new round be best-of-three, and others would have it as a one-game winner-take-all. The mechanics and logistics appear to be at issue more than the concept of playoff expansion.

“I pretty much know where all the constituencies are now,” Selig said. “Eight is a very fair number of playoff teams – but so is 10.” Before leaving the meeting, Texas Rangers president Nolan Ryan agreed with the premise that the extra round of playoffs was beneficial.

Umpires gesture to have ground crews tend to the mound during the fifth inning of game five of the Major League Baseball (MLB) World Series between the Tampa Bay Rays and the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S., on Monday, Oct. 27, 2008. The Phillies lead the best-of-seven game series 3-1. The game took 3 days to complete due to weather delays
Baseball doubled its postseason teams to four in 1969 and again to eight in 1995, a year later than intended because of a players’ strike that wiped out the 1994 World Series. The vote to first add wild cards took place in September 1993.

“I got ripped and torn apart, and it was pretty bad,” Selig said. “If I had defiled motherhood I don’t think I could have gotten ripped any more than I did. But now it’s fascinating to me. Now they not only like it so much, they want more of it.” The regular-season schedule will almost certainly not be reduced from 162 games, ensuring an all-November World Series.

Selig’s committee also will discuss whether to expand video review of umpires’ calls, which began in August 2008. Its use has been thus far limited to whether potential home runs went over fences and were fair or foul.

Grounds crew positions a tarp over the infield as rain falls during game five of the Major League Baseball (MLB) World Series between the Tampa Bay Rays and Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park Oct. 27, 2008.
“It doesn’t hurt to expand it some and have it for a few other things, like plays at first base,” Steinbrenner said. “I’ve always been for as much instant replay as you can get in a sport. The NFL, at least, has that right.” Selig has said he’s against an expansion of replay but willing to consider it.

“There are opinions everywhere on that,” he said. “Managers have opinions. General managers have opinions. Owners have opinions. I want to hear them all and look at them.”

A consensus also appeared to have developed to propose a slotting system for amateur draft picks and possibly a worldwide draft when collective bargaining begins next year.

While there is a sense the NFL, the NBA and the NHL could be headed for labor strife, baseball players and owners anticipate stoppage-free bargaining. Baseball hasn’t had a strike or lockout since the 7½-month walkout in 1994-95, and Selig termed current dealings with the union “a constructive relationship.”

“Nobody ever could have dreamed we’d have 16 years of labor peace,” Selig said. “In American labor history, as I someday will say if I ever get around to writing my book, it probably was as bad a relationship as ever existed.”

Selig also said:

-Baseball’s revenue will total nearly $7 billion this year, a record.

-He was declining comment on Anheuser-Busch’s lawsuit against the sport, which accuses MLB of improperly trying to back out of an April agreement to extend the company’s exclusive sponsorship deal.

1969 World Series
It is naiveté to think that MLB owners care about anything so much as they care about revenue. It is equally foolhardy to think that MLB doesn’t look at the NHL, NFL and NBA and realize that more playoffs generate more revenue. Does anyone care about the integrity of the baseball regular season? The NFL season is 16 games. NBA and NHL are 82 games. MLB plays a 6-month, 162 game schedule to determine the best teams. In the 41 seasons of the LCS Era and the 16 seasons of the Wildcard/LDS Era, how many times have the two best teams squared off in the World Series? How many times have the teams with the best record faced one another in the League Championship Series? Another round of playoffs simply waters down the pool of playoff teams, negates the importance of the 162-game season and makes it possible for a team to simply “get into the tournament” and get hot in October. I’m not averse to the best teams being determined on the field of play, but after these teams play a 162-game schedule, haven’t we done that? Now we are asking these teams to play 162 games to get to the postseason and then need to win another 11 games in order to be crowned champions. Are the San Francisco Giants the best team in Major League Baseball for 2010? No but they won the World Series and to do so they beat the Texas Rangers. The best teams were the Philadelphia Phillies and Minnesota Twins, who had the best regular season records. San Francisco beat the Phillies in the NLCS. The next-best record belonged to the New York Yankees, who lost to Texas in the ALCS. Maybe it is just as well. If Philadelphia and Minnesota had made the World Series it would have been in November – possibly in a driving blizzard. Maybe MLB can work out a deal with the NFL to balance the Thanksgiving Day television coverage?

By: Christopher Rowe

Greetings my fantasy brethren & sistren. I am back again this week with Love ‘Em or Leave ‘Em Alone. As always keep in mind this list is a compilation of waiver wire additions and possible players to start or not start this week. I apologize as the list is a little guard heavy and there are a few repeat customers from last week but that is where I see most of the trending topics of discussion. So without further a due…

Chris Anderson: The Birdman is supposed to be back this week maybe as early as today (Monday) versus Golden State. No better way to get some easy stats than against the up tempo Warriors. Anderson is probably on your waiver wire and is worth an add given the Nuggets lack of front court depth. They are starting Shelden Williams out of sheer necessity and that’s never a good thing. Even if Anderson doesn’t start immediately he should see the lion’s share of the minutes once he gets his legs under him. That might take a few games. Love ‘Em.

Eric Bledsoe: His minutes were cut this week with the return of Randy Foye. Baron Davis is allegedly due back this weekend. I don’t trust Davis to return and Foye might have tweaked his hamstring again. That said given Coach Del Negro’s propensity to mess with the minutes of everybody not named Blake Griffin, I can’t endorse Bledsoe this week. If Foye and or Davis return you can be sure that will spell disaster for Bledsoe. Leave ‘Em Alone

Jose Calderon: For the most Calderon is on most fantasy rosters already but I found him in free agency in a few leagues I am in this weekend. In case you missed the news Jarrett Jack was shipped out of town to back up Chris Paul in a 5 player deal with New Orleans. Calderon is the only true point guard on the roster although Leandro Barbosa and newly acquired Jerryd Bayless might see some time behind him. For now Calderon is the guy to own and start. The last time Calderon had this opportunity he wore down and was unable to handle the load…let’s hope history doesn’t repeat itself. Love ‘Em (very cautiously)

Darren Collison: After underwhelming everybody with his performance this season Collison is now dealing with a troublesome ankle injury. T.J. Ford is playing well enough to keep Collison out untill he is fully healed. He might return vs. the Heat tonight but I still think he is going to be tough to start this week. I don’t like anything about his vibe right now I would rather wait and see. Leave ‘Em alone.

Carlos Delfino: Concussions are always a tricky scenario and that is what we are dealing with in regards to Delfino. He was playing well but has missed 2 full weeks to the benefit of Drew Gooden. Word out of Milwaukee is that Delfino is still day to day but unfortunately most of our lineups are week to week. No time for the uncertainty! Leave ‘Em alone.

Jeff Green: On the list for the 2nd straight week I still don’t like starting Green. If it were the playoffs he would be playing according to him but since it’s not, he is not. Same story as last week if he plays it will likely be limited production for your team. Leave ‘Em alone.

Donte Green: First of all he is Donte Green. Yes he had 15 and 10 in his last game but he is Donte Green. The Sacramento fantasy situation is a disaster, no reason to complicate your life by adding him to your roster. In fairness I guess you should watch him over the next couple of games just to be sure but when he disappoints you, just remember that he is Donte Green. Leave ‘Em alone.

Andre Iguodala: He is reportedly feeling better and ready to start the week. He hasn’t been right all year so I hope this last week of rest was just what the doctor ordered. Based on who he is and the numbers he is capable of I give him a somewhat reluctant Love ‘Em.

Amir Johnson: A popular sleeper pick before the season started Johnson is still a model of inconsistency. Reggie Evans is still the starter but often shares court time with Johnson during large stretches while Bargnani gets his rest. It will be interesting to see how the trade affects the Raptors. David Anderson was playing a decent amount of minutes as Raptor big. With Anderson gone that just means more minutes of Johnson, or at least it should. I think it is time to add Johnson but not necessarily plug him into your lineup yet. Love ‘Em as a wait and see addition to your roster.

Wesley Matthews/Brandon Roy: The key here is that the Blazers are off until Friday. Wesley Matthews was outstanding in Roy’s absence. Make sure Matthews is not on your wire. The situation surrounding Roy and his bone on bone knee is cloudy at best. He will be re-evaluated again this week. I actually think Roy will force himself to play this weekend but Matthews is an excellent substitute or at least has been so far. I do believe Matthews will get the majority of the minutes as Roy awaits definitive word on his knee. Matthews Love ‘Em and Leave Roy alone.

Darko Milicic: Where to begin with Darko? The perennial laughing stock of a lottery pick is on an upswing. Of course I am not totally sold and I doubt he himself is even sold on his ability to play at this level. Ordinarily I would ignore anything he does but what can’t be ignored is his 23pt, 16reb, 6blks, 5ast, 2steal effort in a season high 40 minutes against the World Champion Lakers in his last outing. Chances are even the most desperate of owners took a pass on picking Darko up out of the free agent pool. There is just no telling if he is for real or not but with all the run he is getting in Minnesota I find it hard not to recommend him with a wait and see approach. Darko we have seen your type before! I will not be fooled nor will I be foolish based on your recent play. Love Em’ as an addition to your roster.

Troy Murphy/Derrick Favors/Kris Humphries: Now appearing on a waiver wire near you is Troy Murphy. Claimer beware as there is no telling when Murphy’s DNPCPs will come to an end. It is looking like a trade is necessary as I can’t see this scenario lasting peacefully all season. Avery Johnson is a decent coach but he is over thinking his power forward situation in New Jersey. Favors and Humphries are the guys to own with Humphries being the starter. Johnson is going to flip flop playing the hot hand each night make it tough to go gauge the worth of both. Since Humphries has more experience and is already the named starter I say Love ‘Em at least for the week. Keep a close eye on Favors and I love Troy Murphy as an addition if your team has the depth to carry his dead weight.

Steve Nash/Goran Dragic: This one I think should be short and sweet. Groin injuries tend to linger but word is Nash is feeling great and moving without discomfort. Dragic is a capable backup and should be handcuffed to Nash if you are really concerned. I believe Nash will be fine for the week. Love ‘Em.

Rajon Rondo/Nate Robinson: There isn’t a whole lot of information coming out of Boston regarding Rondo and his hamstring injury. Nate Robinson filled in admirably Sunday afternoon with more points but considerably less assist. The Celtics are notorious for resting their stars and sacrificing wins for the sake of health later on. A wise move by a veteran team that does nothing to help fantasy owners! I still think Rondo will play the last two games of the week but something tells me to error on the side caution. Leave Rondo alone and as for Nate I like him don’t love him for the week.

Beno Udrih: To put it quite frankly I thought Udrih was slightly overachieving to start the season. Now Coach Westphal has decided to tinker and regulated Udrih to a bench role behind Luther Head. Luther Head, really Coach Westphal? Nobody in basketball circles believes that this is going to stick but Udrih is not playable while this lineup change is in place. Leave ‘Em alone.

John Wall: Wall left his owners high and dry last week. The news broke that he was battling an ankle injury but he was still more or less day to day despite being in a walking boot. I don’t think we are in for a repeat as he was very close to playing on Sunday and decided to take one more game to rest. I would be surprised if he didn’t lace them up and play in all of the Wizards games this week. Love ‘Em.

As always thanks for reading along. I hope to be back later in the week with another edition of the Hoops Stock Market. I am seeing trades abound as owners start to realize the depth or lack thereof in their rosters.

By: Warren Shaw

What went wrong in Puerto Rico?

Perhaps this team was drinking too much rum punch from its Friday night victory over Hofstra. Last night in Puerto Rico reflected a nightmare for Tarheel fans bringing them back to the likes of the 2009 season. The team squared off against its first real test of the season, in the Minnesota Golden Gophers, who defeated a complacent UNC team 72-67.

It is evident that UNC will struggle this year against physically demanding teams, while the Golden Gophers were just that. The size of Ralph Sampson III inside proved to be too much as he opened up the game for the Golden Gophers forcing the Tarheels to double-team him on the post. Unfortunately, this created open looks along the perimeter for Blake Hoffarber, who buried (5) 3-pointers. The Tarheels, were outrebounded, out-shot, and out-played.

At 7’0 tall, Tyler Zeller, proved to be our “Dual-Ply Charmin Player Of The Game.” Is it humanly possible to be this tall and collect only 5 rebounds in 26 minutes? Yes, Zeller did lead the team in scoring, however he also allowed Minnesota to push him around down low and out-muscle him for rebounds. It’s time for him to realize this team needs him to toughen up and learn how to box-out and grab rebounds.

The night before the Tarheels surprised critics shooting an impressive 70% from three-point land. Unfortunately, the trend fell short and the Tarheels shoot a measly 22% from beyond the arc and 60% from the free-throw line. All American candidate’ Harrison Barnes, was partially responsible forcing many ill-advised shots ending the evening with 6 points (0-12 FG). It appeared that Barnes was pressing trying to live up to the hype of his pundits. I wouldn’t worry too much about Barnes, as he will prove to be UNC most dominant player throughout the course of the season.

The Tarheels hoped that 2010 would be different than last season as they searched for consistency from their point-guards. Roy Williams’ style is to set the tempo of games allowing his point guards the freedom to run the break. The Tarheels have benefitted from the likes of quick guards like Raymond Felton and Ty Lawson who were able to execute the Williams’ philosophy. It is evident that the last two seasons the Tarheel guards are slow and lack the ability to get to the basket. Last night displayed memories of 2009 as Larry “Nancy” Drew, struggled immensely proving he is better suited in non-fiction female novels than as a floor-general for a Top 10 team. Larry Drew III was careless with the ball ending the evening with more turnovers than assists. I get that everyone has a bad night, but his refusal to get his hands dirty and dive for loose balls or play defense are more of a detriment to this team than anything else. Kendall Marshall provided some minutes off the bench, however the team’s inability to set the tempo of this game ultimately led to its downfall. It is clear that Coach Williams has to make a change at the point position and its time to led Marshall run the show.

This team has a lot of work to do before going on the road to play a formidable team like Illinois. The Illini present more issues for the Tarheels having physical guards and a low-post presence. Hopefully, we will see a rejuvenated team this week, putting last nights’ defeat behind them.

By: Brian Wubbe

So the trip to Pittsburgh was not as prosperous for the Oakland Raiders and Raider Nation as they would have liked for it to be, as they get hammered by the Steelers 35-3.

So you knew the game was over when a) quarterback Bruce Gradkowski enters the game and throws an interception at the end of the 3rd quarter, b) Steelers’ wide receiver Mike Wallace scores on a 52-yard touchdown pass to begin the 4th quarter, c) CBS switches the game to a more competitive contest, or d) all the above. If you saw the game you know the obvious answer.

You knew that the Steelers would play with an edge after an embarrassing home loss to the New England Patriots last week (39-26). You also figured the Raiders, after a bye wouldn’t travel across the country to lay an egg, especially now that they have something to play for. After breaking a losing streak to the San Diego Chargers, and a losing streak at home against the Kansas City Chiefs, the Raiders could not break the trend of losing seven (now eight) straight games after the bye week.

Sunday afternoon started off solid for the Raiders. They jumped out to a 3-0 lead to begin the game, and then it went all down hill from there. Playing the Steel Curtain at the “Big Ketchup Bottle” , you knew it was going to be a slug fest, especially with Steelers having the #1 ranked run defense, and the Raiders having the #2 ranked rushing offense. Sunday’s display by the Steelers’ defense was a microcosm of why defense wins championships.

Running back Darren McFadden was kept in a stray jacket totaling only 14 rushing yards, when he averages 108 rushing yards per game (tops in the NFL). Quarterback Jason Campbell threw for only 70 yards and was benched late in the 3rd quarter. Bruce Gradkowski’s insertion into the game was almost the right spark plug the offense needed until he threw an interception right before the 3rd quarter came to a close. In only one quarter of action, Gradkowski threw for 98 yards. Regardless of offensive coordinator Hue Jackson’s play calling, and old flaw with the Raiders offense reared its ugly head, as the offensive line was dominated from start to finish. Not a good look for an offense that averaged 38 points in their three-game winning streak. They definitely have to regroup for next week’s game.

The defense actually held their own and kept the Raiders within striking distance up until the beginning of the 4th quarter. Playing without Nnamdi Asomugha, but getting back defensive tackle John Henderson, the Raiders defense had the right mentality and attitude to begin the game. Led by Richard Seymour, the intensity between the two teams reminded you of the old 1970’s rivalry games. Emotions escalated late in the 2nd quarter, when after throwing a touchdown pass, quarterback Ben Roethlisberger appeared to run up on Seymour, who turned around and slapped Big Ben to the ground. A big shoving match occurred, and the result was Seymour being ejected from the game.

The irony of the occurrence was that before the game, Big Ben believed Richard Seymour was his early candidate for “Defensive Player of the Year.” Now I wander if he wants to take that claim back. For the game, Roethlisberger threw for 275 yards and 3 touchdowns. The Raiders held running back Rashard Mendenhall in check as he rushed for 59 yards and a touchdown, but overall the Steelers rushed for 162 yards.

For Raider Nation, no more hangovers because the season is not over by far, as the division title is still in Oakland’s grasp. Now, with a legitimate shot to make the playoffs, the Raiders have to overcome two hurdles. First, they need to learn how to make in season adjustments, and learn how to bounce back from tough losses and still move in the right direction. Secondly, they must learn how to win on the road, because true playoff caliber teams know how to win in hostile environments, and these group of Raiders have a lot of room to grow in that department. For now, let’s see if the Silver and Black finally get the hang of beating teams they are suppose to take care of, as they face the Miami Dolphins next week.

By: Arthur Kai

What is the number one goal of any team in the off-season? Improvement. Besides the Kansas City Chiefs, there were few teams that needed that exact thing at the end of the 2009 season. Dismal seems to be an appropriate word to describe their season, but it was an improvement upon 2008. They scored a total of 294 points (18.4 points/games), which was good enough for 23rd in the NFL and allowed an embarrassing 424 points (26.5 points/game). To put this in perspective, just note that there are 32 teams in the league. Frankly, that is not a recipe for success and the Chief’s record wound up being 4-12. Even though it was Todd Haley’s first season as head coach and Scott Pioli’s first year as general manager, it still would have been hard to do worse than the franchise’s worst season yet in 2008 when they finished 2-14. For the 2009 season, they switched the defense from a 4-3 to a 3-4 and I think that Jamaal Charles came up huge late in the year after he took over for Larry Johnson. He started ten games and finished with 1120 yards rushing and 7 touchdowns. They may have finished 4-12 and last in the AFC West, but look at it this way: they doubled their amount of wins.

The theme of this past off-season has been change. Former Notre Dame head coach Charlie Weiss was brought in as offensive coordinator and they also brought in former Cleveland Browns head coach Romeo Crennel as defensive coordinator. Both Weiss and Crennel coached in their respective positions for Pioli while he was the GM in New England a few years back. Also, Richie Anderson who previously coached for the Arizona Cardinals was brought in as the wide receivers’ coach. Former New England Pats lineman, Anthony Pleasant is the new defensive line coach. Weiss’s buddy, Bernie Parmalee who coached with him at Notre Dame has been another welcomed addition to the staff. He has taken over as the tight end coach. KC great Emmitt Thomas is the new defensive backs’ coach. Also, former New York Jet and NE Patriot great Otis Smith is the new defensive quality control coach. It all starts in the gym and I think the Chiefs understand that. One of the most well respected strength and conditioning coaches has been brought in as well. Mike Clark has been a terrific acquisition.

This past off-season has been a tremendous draft year for Kansas City. They took Eric Berry out of Tennessee with their first round pick and he has not disappointed. Their defense is ranked 8th. They have only given up 18 points/game and are making plays. Not to mention that their takeaway/turnover differential is a +6, which is good enough for 5th in the league. Well done, Kansas City. Eric Berry is great and all, but I think we should stay on the topic of rookies and spend a little time talking about the rookie MVP of the season so far-Tony Moeaki out of Iowa. He was the 93rd pick overall in the 3rd round, but he has with out question been one of the Chiefs unsung heroes this far into the 2010 campaign. Everyone always talked about how he has great hands and was a good blocker when they drafted him. You cannot complain with their choice to take him in the 3rd round, but my ears perked up a bit after he caught two touchdowns in the first 3 games. Oh, and at the halfway point he has looked like Matt Cassel’s favorite receiver leading the team in catches with 30 and 344 receiving yards. Not too shabby.

Offense wins games, but defense wins championships. This is a Chiefs defense that is not going to roll over to anybody. They have beaten the teams that they are expected to beat and have held their own against legitimate contenders. In the week five game against one of the most tactical and impressive quarterbacks known to man, Peyton Manning did not even throw Indy’s first touchdown, which actually came in the 4th quarter on a Mike Hart run. Defense is a collective effort. With that being said, the defensive MVP at this point would have to be LB Tamba Hali. The dude is a beast. Everyone had a lot of questions coming into 2009 because he was being switched from a defensive end to an outside linebacker when the team went from a 4-3 to a 3-4. With a year in the new formation under his belt, he has simply flourished in 2010. Right now he is 3rd in the league in sacks and leads the NFL in QB knockdowns and hurries. Not only that, but he is also a blue-collar guy who goes out every down and does his job. How could you not like him?

The end of the last year showed just how electric Jamaal Charles can be and it was a great move bringing in Thomas Jones, an established veteran who would be a welcomed addition anywhere. If I didn’t know any better, I would have thought Priest Holmes was still getting the ball for KC. He is young so sky is the limit, but he is the single most effective back on a per carry basis in the league. He is leading the Chiefs with 719 yards on 113 carries and last time I checked the depth chart, Thomas Jones was number one. Read this statistic-Charles has 24 less carries than Thomas Jones and 149 more yards. It is simply unheard of and this two back monster they call a backfield is winning them games. Despite limited carries, Charles is on track to hit the 2,000 yard mark rushing and receiving. I am looking forward to seeing this guy in a couple years when he has a franchise tag.

You cannot talk about a team’s success without mentioning the quarterback. However, with all the success and new acquisitions for the Chiefs, Matt Cassel has almost not been mentioned in conversations. He is minding his own business and restoring pride back to Kansas City. Cassel has had some great weapons put around him and he is doing some work with them. Honestly, it feels like every game there is at least one 40 yard touchdown pass to Dwayne Bowe or Dexter McCluster is taking a kick back 90 yards. I am counting on a few Pro-Bowlers wearing KC helmets. He has 1412 passing yards with 12 touchdowns and 4 picks. His completion percentage is right around 58% and Cassel is sporting a quarterback rating of 89.2. Me being a Lions fan (and trust me, I know how depressing it is), those are quarterback stats I would take any day.

I feel a bit proud. Weeks before the season started I was sitting down having a conversation with my brother about fantasy football. I told him to take Jamaal Charles a few rounds into the draft. I told him that KC’s offense will have a breakout year and Jamaal Charles will be the talk of the league. The weapons on that team are too plentiful to not be a contender and they picked the perfect year to make some noise. The AFC West is a division waiting for a team to take control and not let go. The Chargers have been a disappointment and I laugh at my girlfriend every time she says she is a Broncos fan. The Raiders are actually surprising me a bit with this three game winning streak, but I am not sold on them yet. This is your time KC, show the league what Arrow Head Pride is all about.

By: Josh Sames