Fantasy Football Tuesday: Championship Week 1

This past weekend was Week 16 in the NFL and the weekend for several championships in a couple of the leagues I'm in currently.  In one league, I lost (unfortunately due to a trade that took place a few days prior to the matchup) but in another league I won.  That league (Dogs of War) was the first year I've been in this league.  I was invited by a couple from church to participate.  Not bad for my first year in the league to win the title.  Here's the recap of the championship game:

Championship: GSP Titans Gets Win Against Minimal Talent

• 
  GSP Titans (10-6) 156.91
• 
  Minimal Talent (8-8) 138.84

GSP Titans, led by Matt Ryan with 47.41 points and Roddy White with 29.65, beat Minimal Talent, 156.91 - 138.84. GSP Titans has put a nice string together after winning their last three matchups in a row. GSP Titans gets revenge for their last matchup with Minimal Talent (a Week 13 loss: 128.64 - 93.95), and their head-to-head record improves to 3-1.

GSP Titans Smooth Moves

• The 29.65 points scored by Roddy White was the second-highest WR score in the league this week and the sixth-best point total by a WR in the league this season.
• The Chicago Bears Defense had 27.00 points, the highest DEF score of the week and the fifth-highest score among DEF in the league this season.
• Stephen Gostkowski scored 11.50 points, the highest K score in the league this week.
• Matt Ryan ranked fourth in the league in scoring and had the highest output of any player on GSP Titans this season with 47.41 points.
• Benched the Seattle Seahawks Defense, which had the lowest DEF score on the team with 19.00 points.

Minimal Talent Regret Tracker

• Owen Daniels scored 2.85 points against a projected 6.06 and has now underachieved in four straight games.
• At the DEF position, Minimal Talent got outscored 27.00 - 3.00 by GSP Titans.
• Minimal Talent fell short at the K position, getting outscored 11.50 - 2.00 by GSP Titans.
• The 3.70 points scored by Arian Foster was a season-low. He had a projected 22.97-point total, and has now underachieved in four straight games.
• Lawrence Tynes was last on the team in scoring with 2.00 points against a projected 7.48 and underachieved for the third time this season.

What If

• GSP Titans would be 7-9 if they played Minimal Talent every week.
• GSP Titans would have beaten only one other team besides Minimal Talent this week.
• Had they played each other last week, GSP Titans would have defeated Minimal Talent 155.10 - 144.08.
• GSP Titans would be 6-6 if they played the same schedule as Minimal Talent.
• If GSP Titans had played every team in the league each week, they would be 37-39.
• Minimal Talent would have lost to two other teams besides GSP Titans this week.
• Minimal Talent would be 8-4 if they played the same schedule as GSP Titans.
• If they played every team every week, Minimal Talent would be 42-34.

Game Notes

• Four of the 10 wins for GSP Titans this season have come despite their opponent scoring higher than their season average.
• Of the losses Minimal Talent has had, six were against opponents who topped their season scoring average that week.
• GSP Titans is on the longest active win streak in the league, winning three straight games.
• Minimal Talent scored 138.84 points and lost. It is the sixth-highest losing score in the league this season.
• It was the second time this season that Minimal Talent has had the lowest score in the league.
• The margin of victory for the matchup ended up being the smallest in the league this week at 18.07 points.
• Minimal Talent could not extend their three-game win streak.
• A.J. Green did little to help GSP Titans, underperforming versus projections for the fifth straight game with 9.80 points against a projected 12.96.

Fantasy Football Tuesday: Week 15

It's Fantasy Football Tuesday.  It's been a few weeks but I'm back (do think next year when I do this I'll make mention of more leagues than just one, be more motivated to blog about that).  It's the middle of the playoffs.  In 8 leagues, I made the playoffs in 5 of them.  In the JustUs Geeks Fantasy League, I limped in as the 4 seed and didn't secure a bye.  But I won last week and then this week had a matchup with the #1 seed and a team I had lost to earlier in the season.  Given the stakes, my team pulled out the upset and is now onto the championship game.  Here's the recap:

Playoffs: Hub City All Stars Gets Comeback Stunner Against Vlad Dracul

• 
  Hub City All Stars (9-6) 189.52
• 
  Vlad Dracul (8-6) 155.16

Hub City All Stars pulled off a comeback on Sunday night and also got the eighth-highest point total in the league to date when they upset Vlad Dracul 189.52 - 155.16. Hub City All Stars had to overcome a 64.36-point deficit and an 18.40-point spread. This shocker avenges a 172.44 - 138.78 loss to Vlad Dracul back in Week 10. On top of the loss, Vlad Dracul had a starter score zero points (Danario Alexander).
Hub City All Stars Smooth Moves

• Tom Brady led the league in scoring and had the 17th-most points in the league this season with 54.82.
• Aaron Hernandez had the most points of any TE in the league this week with 15.20.
• Was smart to sit the Chicago Bears Defense this week, which had 11.00 points, the lowest DEF score on the team.
• Eric Decker had the second-highest score of any WR in the league this week with 25.30 points.
• Frank Gore scored 17.70 points, which ranked sixth out of all the RBs in the league this week.

Vlad Dracul Regret Tracker

• Left the Denver Broncos Defense on the bench, where they scored 30.00 points to beat their scoring projection by 245.6%, the fifth-highest percentage in the league.
• Picked up Dan Bailey, who scored 11.00 points against a projected 7.87, but left him on the bench.
• Vlad Dracul needed more points from the QB position, where Hub City All Stars beat them 54.82 - 20.16.
• At the DEF position, Vlad Dracul got outscored 25.00 - 11.00 by Hub City All Stars.
• Vlad Dracul could have used more points from the TE position, where Hub City All Stars beat them 15.20 - 6.90.

What If

• If Hub City All Stars played Vlad Dracul every week, they would be 6-8 this season.
• Besides Vlad Dracul, Hub City All Stars would have defeated four other teams this week.
• If they played the same schedule as Vlad Dracul, Hub City All Stars would be 8-4.
• If Hub City All Stars had played every team in the league each week, they would be 64-35.
• In addition to Hub City All Stars, Vlad Dracul would have lost to just two other teams this week.
• If they played the same schedule as Hub City All Stars, Vlad Dracul would be 8-4.
• Vlad Dracul would be 65-31 if they played every team every week.

Game Notes

• Vlad Dracul has lost six times and five of them have come to teams who beat their scoring average in that matchup.
• Vlad Dracul scored 155.16 points and lost. It is the fourth-highest losing score in the league this season.
• The 189.52 points scored by Hub City All Stars was the highest in the league this week and the eighth-highest in the league this season.
• The loss snapped a six-game win streak by Vlad Dracul.
• Hub City All Stars remains undefeated in upset games this season, improving to 2-0.
• With 64.30 points, Vlad Dracul got the highest combined scoring output from the WR position for any team this week.
• Vlad Dracul remains winless in upset games this season, falling to 0-2.
• Adrian Peterson scored 35.20 points, the seventh-highest RB score in the league this season, but it was not enough to get a win for Vlad Dracul.

Reflections on the Tragedy in Kansas City

This past Saturday there was a lot of great things going on in the country in the realm of sports.  College football was playing their championship games (and playoffs).  The NFL was gearing up for another great day of action.  But there was one tragic event that cast a somberness to the weekend.

When I woke up that morning and was going about my routine I saw on twitter a tweet by Danny Parkins, a sports talk host from Kansas City, who had tweeted that Arrowhead Stadium was on lockdown.  I thought at the time that was weird and was trying to think of what was going on at the stadium.  Then slowly tweets and news reports were coming in across the internet.  There was a shooting at a house in K.C. & there was an incident at the stadium practice facilities and that those two things were linked.  Then there was a murder-suicide.  Then it was one of the players involved.

Finally, the story came out.  Jovan Belcher, linebacker for the Chiefs, had shot and killed his girlfriend, Kasandra Perkins, and mother of their daughter then killed himself.  As more details came out, the more it was a tragic story.  It started with Belcher getting angry at his girlfriend for staying out too late after spending time with friends at a concert and hanging out afterwards.  It escalated into Belcher shooting and killing Perkins and then driving to the Chiefs practice facility.  There he talked with Chiefs head coach Romeo Crennel, GM Scott Pioli & linebackers coach Gary Gibbs before pulling out a gun and killing himself as they watched unable to stop him.

So much has been written in the past 48 hours that I'm sure a lot of what I say would just be repeating but there are two things that I do want to reflect on here.  The first is that it's a tragic reminder that ultimately (unlike Jason Whitlock & Bob Costas say) there is a sin problem in our world.  Belcher in his anger and jealousy acted in a tragic manner which robbed Perkins of her life and their daughter of her mother.  Sin was at the root of this.  I was reminded yesterday morning by my pastor who preached on anger (it was planned sermon prior to this event) and was reminded of the verse in Ephesians 4:26-27 "Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil."  Unfortunately, Belcher in his anger did sin and in one instant not only his life but the lives of those around him were affected.  Sin has consequences that affect not only us but those around us.  Thankfully we have a savior in Jesus who forgives us of our sins and does not leave us in our sins but until He returns again, we do have to deal with the effects of sin.

The other thing to reflect on was something I read this morning on NBC's Pro Football Talk website.  There was an article written by Mike Florio.  He shared Brady Quinn (Chiefs QB)'s comments postgame.  If you haven't heard or read them yet, they are worth sharing.  I will leave you with those quotes:

“The one thing people can hopefully try to take away, I guess, is the relationships they have with people,” Quinn told reporters after the game.  “I know when it happened, I was sitting and, in my head, thinking what I could have done differently.  When you ask someone how they are doing, do you really mean it?  When you answer someone back how you are doing, are you really telling the truth?
“We live in a society of social networks, with Twitter pages and Facebook, and that’s fine, but we have contact with our work associates, our family, our friends, and it seems like half the time we are more preoccupied with our phone and other things going on instead of the actual relationships that we have right in front of us.  Hopefully, people can learn from this and try to actually help if someone is battling something deeper on the inside than what they are revealing on a day-to-day basis.”

Fantasy Football Tuesday: Week 11

The regular season is quickly drawing to a close in the JustUs Geeks Fantasy League and for the Hub City All Stars, there was a well needed victory that came through in Week 11.  With the win, the record improves to 7-4 and have clinched a playoff berth.  They are #2 overall in the league and still lead the Autobots division with 2 games to go.  Here's the recap:

Hub City All Stars Gets Victory over Starfleet, Undefeated in the Series

• 
  Hub City All Stars (7-4) 111.94
• 
  Starfleet (3-8) 86.60

Hub City All Stars beat Starfleet 111.94 - 86.60 to remain undefeated against them in three matchups. They also earned a playoff berth in the process. Tom Brady put up 36.24 points and was the deciding factor. It was a drop-off from his 53.80 points in the last matchup with Starfleet. The outcome could have gone the other way, Starfleet had several starters score zero points. This marks the closest win for Hub City All Stars in three head-to-head matchups. They defeated Starfleet 150.04 - 103.22 in Week 1 and again 165.70 - 102.44 in Week 6.

Hub City All Stars Smooth Moves

• The 36.24 points scored by Tom Brady ranked fourth in the league this week.
• Hub City All Stars won despite having only 2 of their 11 starters exceed their projected points.
• Hub City All Stars won even though all three of their RBs scored below their projected points.

Starfleet Regret Tracker

• Should have started Philip Rivers, who underachieved, but still had more points than the starting QB with 19.32 against a projected 27.58.
• Lost the matchup even though Hub City All Stars had their lowest-scoring week of the season.
• Miles Austin has now failed to reach his projection for four straight games. This week he scored 5.80 points versus a projected 13.65.
• Wes Welker scored 8.00 points against a projected 12.59 and has now underachieved in three straight games.
• Starfleet tried to fight through 3 of their 11 starters getting zeros, but could not overcome it.

What If

• If Hub City All Stars played Starfleet every week, they would be 10-1 this season.
• Besides Starfleet, Hub City All Stars would have beaten only two other teams this week.
• Had they played each other last week, Hub City All Stars would have defeated Starfleet 138.78 - 43.40.
• If they played the same schedule as Starfleet, Hub City All Stars would be 5-3.
• If Hub City All Stars had played every team in the league each week, they would be 53-24.
• Besides Hub City All Stars, Starfleet would have been defeated by five other teams this week.
• Starfleet would be 3-5 if they played the same schedule as Hub City All Stars.
• Starfleet would be 18-59 if they played every team every week.

Game Notes

• Starfleet has lost six straight games, the longest current losing streak in the league.
• The 25.20 total points by the WRs on Hub City All Stars was their lowest WR output this season.
• The margin of victory of 25.34 points was the smallest in the league this week.
• After scoring 9.10 points against a projected 5.03, Michael Crabtree has now exceeded his projection in three straight weeks.
• Although Hub City All Stars won, it was no thanks to LeSean McCoy, who scored 10.20 points and has now scored below his projection in three straight weeks.
• Hub City All Stars underachieved in the win, recording 76.6% of their projected 146.10, while Starfleet performed better than expected, beating their 76.27-point projection by 13.5%.
• Starfleet got 24.00 points from their WRs, the lowest combined scoring output from the WR position for any team this week.
• The draft continues to pay off for Hub City All Stars, which got 94.9% of their points from players they drafted.

Reflections on Collin Klein

There are a lot of great storylines this year in college football and one of those is Kansas State QB Collin Klein.  Klein, a senior for the Wildcats, has put his team in a position for a Big 12 Title and a possible spot in the national championship game.  He is also very strong in his faith and has shared it on numerous occasions.  I was just recently reminded of this in an interview that he did a couple of months back on "The Dan Patrick Show".  Check out the interview (and check out him singing the Doxology):

Fantasy Football Tuesday: Week 10

It has been a tough stretch for the Hub City All Stars.  They had another loss this week, week 10 of the JustUs Geeks Fantasy League.  The team was hurt by some underperformances by some key players and the other team overachieved greatly.  With the loss, they drop to 6-4 and now are 2nd overall in the league.  However, they still maintain a 1 game league in the division with 3 games to go in the regular season.  Hopefully, the team can bounce back and put together a nice little winning streak heading into the playoffs.  Here's the recap for Week 10:

Vlad Dracul Gets Victory Against Hub City All Stars, Ousts Them from First Place

• 
  Vlad Dracul (5-5) 172.44
• 
  Hub City All Stars (6-4) 138.78

Vlad Dracul picked up their third win in as many matchups when they beat Hub City All Stars 172.44 - 138.78, recording the second-highest score of the week. The streak has been a shot in the arm for Vlad Dracul. They've moved from seventh place to fourth since Week 8. They're doing it by scoring a lot of points and they own the second-highest overall point total in the league, averaging 160.51 points per matchup. Hub City All Stars goes to 6-4 and slides to second place. Vlad Dracul has now blown through My Little Pwny (146.60 - 112.28) and Starfleet (233.44 - 89.76).

Vlad Dracul Smooth Moves

• The 28.60 points scored by Jimmy Graham was the highest TE score in the league this week.
• The Houston Texans Defense beat their scoring projection by a matchup-leading 239.0% and scored the fifth-most points in the league with 32.00.
• Took Jason Witten out of the starting lineup, who scored 4.70 points on the bench, fewer than the starting TE.
• Torrey Smith scored 24.70 points, the third-highest WR score in the league this week.
• Vlad Dracul was still able to pull out a win with only 4 of their 11 starters exceeding their projected points.

Hub City All Stars Regret Tracker

• Left the Seattle Seahawks Defense on the bench, where they led the team in scoring with 26.00 points, beating their scoring projection by 130.1%, which also led the team.
• Had a chance to start Sidney Rice, who outdid his scoring projection of 8.85 points by scoring 17.40 points.
• Eric Decker was last on the team in scoring with 1.50 points, 13.5% of his projected 11.15, which is his lowest percentage of the season.
• It was not a good week for Hub City All Stars at TE, where they were beaten 28.60 - 7.50.
• Hub City All Stars was not able to win even though only 5 of their 11 starters fell short of their projected point total.

What If

• If Vlad Dracul played Hub City All Stars every week, they would be 5-5 this season.
• Vlad Dracul would have beaten five other teams besides Hub City All Stars this week.
• Vlad Dracul would have defeated Hub City All Stars 233.44 - 200.02 had they played each other last week.
• If they played the same schedule as Hub City All Stars, Vlad Dracul would be 5-4.
• If Vlad Dracul had played every team in the league each week, they would be 44-26.
• Hub City All Stars would have lost to three other teams besides Vlad Dracul this week.
• If they played the same schedule as Vlad Dracul, Hub City All Stars would be 7-2.
• If they played every team every week, Hub City All Stars would be 50-20.

Game Notes

• All four of the losses for Hub City All Stars this season have come when their opponent scores higher than their season average.
• Four of the starters for Vlad Dracul scored higher than the leading scorer for Hub City All Stars.
• It was a tough loss for Hub City All Stars, which put up the ninth-biggest score for a losing team in the league this season.
• The WRs on Hub City All Stars collectively had their worst week of the season with only 31.20 points.
• The margin of victory for the matchup ended up being the smallest in the league this week at 33.66 points.
• In the loss, the Chicago Bears Defense scored 20.00 points against a projected 10.16 and has now overachieved in nine straight games.
• Despite being on the winning team, David Akers scored 6.00 points against a projected 8.74 and has now underachieved in five straight games.
• Vlad Dracul has now won three straight games.

"Winning the Big One": Reflections on Mark Richt

People that know college football know the name of Mark Richt, head football coach of the University of Georgia Bulldogs.  They also know that he is follower of Jesus.  In interviews that he's done throughout his coaching career, he's made clear that his faith is important in all aspects of his life including coaching.  A great example of this is an interview that Yahoo! Sports writer Dan Wetzel did this week.  The Bulldogs are in a great position to lock up the SEC East and have a shot of playing in the National Championship game if things fall into place.  But even in the midst of that, Richt has his priorites in order.

You can read the article here.  There were two quotes that I'll leave you with that stood out from me in the article that Richt said.

The first was:  "If we're doing the best we can every day and we're doing it in a first-class manner so that when I go home at night I can lay my head on the pillow and God would be pleased with the decisions I made, how I treated players and the coaches, the media, my wife and kids, I'm OK with that."

The second was:  "And Coach Bowden said (following FSU winning the national championship in 1993), 'You know why you don't feel any different? Because that's not really winning the big one. Winning the big one is when you accept Christ as your Lord and savior.'"

Fantasy Football Tuesday: Week 9

The fantasy football season is heating up and each week the games being played become more and more important.  Whether it's making sure you're in a position to make the playoffs or securing a top seed, it's important to be competitive and win.  After two straight losses in the JustUs Geeks Fantasy League, the Hub City All Stars needed to get a win.  And sure enough they did just that.  They came out and blasted their opponent, the transaction happy Joel's Juggernauts by the 2nd largest margin of victory this week.  With the win, the All Stars remain atop of the Autobots Division & #1 overall in the league.  And after 9 weeks, I have the most points scored and the least points allowed to go along with the 6-3 record.  Here's the recap:

Hub City All Stars Puts the Sting on Joel's Juggernauts, Puts Them in Sixth Place

• 
  Hub City All Stars (6-3) 200.02
• 
  Joel's Juggernauts (4-5) 82.40

Hub City All Stars trashed Joel's Juggernauts 200.02 - 82.40 while also putting up the fourth-highest point total this season. Joel's Juggernauts (4-5) sits just two games back of Hub City All Stars (6-3), but point totals show a much bigger gap, 1,490.14 - 1,124.18. This was a bragging-rights result, with the 117.62-point margin of victory being the second-highest recorded in the league this season.

Hub City All Stars Smooth Moves

• The 30.20 points scored by Brandon Marshall was the second-highest WR score in the league this week and the 10th-best point total by a WR in the league this season.
• The Chicago Bears Defense scored the fourth-most points in the league and beat their projected point total by 185.2%, the seventh-highest percentage in the league.
• Sat TE Brent Celek on the bench, where he had the lowest TE score on the team with 3.70 points.
• The 21.90 points scored by Eric Decker was the fourth-highest score by a WR in the league this week.
• Mike Wallace ranked sixth in the league in scoring among WRs this week with 18.60 points.

Joel's Juggernauts Regret Tracker

• Picked up Isaac Redman but left him on the bench, where he beat his scoring projection by 133.7%, the highest percentage of any player on the team.
• Picked up Brian Hartline but left him on the bench, where he scored 10.70 points against a projected 7.52.
• Hakeem Nicks has now underachieved in four straight games after scoring a matchup-low 1.00 point against a projected 10.98.
• Picked up Tony Romo but left him on the bench, where he led the team in scoring with 25.84 points.
• Robert Griffin III has scored below his projection in three straight games after scoring 13.90 points against a projected 29.81 this week.

What If

• Hub City All Stars would be 8-1 if they played Joel's Juggernauts every week.
• Hub City All Stars would have beaten five other teams besides Joel's Juggernauts this week.
• Had they played each other last week, Hub City All Stars would have defeated Joel's Juggernauts 140.36 - 115.38.
• Hub City All Stars would be 6-2 if they played the same schedule as Joel's Juggernauts.
• Hub City All Stars would be 47-16 if they played every team every week.
• Besides Hub City All Stars, Joel's Juggernauts would have been defeated by five other teams this week.
• Joel's Juggernauts would be 3-5 if they played the same schedule as Hub City All Stars.
• Joel's Juggernauts would be 23-40 if they played every team every week.

Game Notes

• Hub City All Stars had six starters who scored more points than the highest-scoring starter for Joel's Juggernauts.
• Joel's Juggernauts underachieved for the sixth time this season, including the last five weeks in a row, scoring 82.40 points against a projected 135.27 this week.
• Hub City All Stars got a combined 84.50 points from their WRs, the highest combined scoring output from the WR position for any team this season.
• The margin of victory of 117.62 points was the biggest of the season for Hub City All Stars and second-largest in the league this season.
• Hub City All Stars had their highest score of the season and the fourth-highest in the league this season with 200.02 points.
• Joel's Juggernauts had 82.40 points, their season-low.
• The WRs on Joel's Juggernauts collectively had their worst week of the season with only 12.70 points.
• Jamaal Charles did little to help Hub City All Stars, underperforming versus projections for the third straight game with 6.60 points against a projected 10.00.

Fantasy Football Tuesday: Week 8

Week 8 proved to be another down week in the JustUs Geeks Fantasy League for the Hub City All Stars.  The All Stars lost the second week in a row.  It doesn't help when one of your starting running backs only puts up 1.00 point (blame Chiefs HC Romeo Crennell for that one).  Fortunately, I still have the lead in the division and overall (by point total).  Hopefully next week, I can get off the losing streak.  Here's the recap:

[Winner Goes Here] Gets Victory over Hub City All Stars for Third Straight Win

• 
  [Winner Goes Here] (5-3) 155.44
• 
  Hub City All Stars (5-3) 141.36

[Winner Goes Here] registered the highest point total this week on the way to their third win in a row when they beat Hub City All Stars 155.44 - 141.36. The streak has been a real boost for [Winner Goes Here]. They've climbed from sixth place to third since Week 6. Hub City All Stars goes to 5-3 and stays in first place. [Winner Goes Here] has recently knocked over Alabama Autobots (181.82 - 133.02) and Starfleet (128.18 - 77.10).
[Winner Goes Here] Smooth Moves

• The New England Patriots Defense ranked ninth in the league in scoring with 28.00 points against a projected 12.54 and has now overachieved in five straight games.
• Marshawn Lynch scored 22.60 points, which ranked third out of all the RBs in the league this week.
• With 19.40 points, Trent Richardson ranked sixth in scoring among all RBs in the league this week.
• With 17.60 points, Denarius Moore ranked seventh in the league in scoring among WRs this week.
• The 14.80 points scored by Brandon Lloyd was the ninth-highest score by a WR in the league this week.

Hub City All Stars Regret Tracker

• Did not start Matt Bryant, who scored 13.00 points and beat his projected point total by a team-leading 51.0%.
• Picked up Brent Celek, who scored 3.20 points against his projected 6.20.
• Jamaal Charles was last on the team in scoring with 1.00 point, 8.2% of his projected 12.26, which is his lowest percentage of the season.
• 7 of the starters on Hub City All Stars scored less than their projected points.
• With 6.20 points, Mike Wallace scored only 47.1% of his 13.17 projected point total.

What If

• [Winner Goes Here] would be 3-5 if they played Hub City All Stars every week.
• [Winner Goes Here] would have beaten every other team in the league this week.
• If they played the same schedule as Hub City All Stars, [Winner Goes Here] would be 3-3.
• If [Winner Goes Here] had played every team in the league each week, they would be 29-27.
• Hub City All Stars would have lost to just two other teams besides [Winner Goes Here] this week.
• [Winner Goes Here] would have lost to Hub City All Stars 134.86 - 128.18 had they played each other last week.
• If they played the same schedule as [Winner Goes Here], Hub City All Stars would be 5-1.
• If they played every team every week, Hub City All Stars would be 41-15.

Game Notes

• All three of the losses for Hub City All Stars this season have come when their opponent scores higher than their season average.
• [Winner Goes Here] led the league in scoring for the second time this season with 155.44 points.
• [Winner Goes Here] won again and is on a three-game winning streak, currently the longest in the league.
• Although Hub City All Stars lost, they did put up the sixth-highest score for a losing team in the league this season.
• After scoring 20.00 points against a projected 13.35, the Chicago Bears Defense has now exceeded their projection in seven straight weeks.
• [Winner Goes Here] got the best total score from their WRs of any team this week with 58.90 points.
• It was the biggest loss of the season for Hub City All Stars.
• [Winner Goes Here] is leveraging their draft well. This week they got 98.9% of their points from players they drafted.

Brandon Marshall and Stephen A. Smith talking Christianity on ESPN

I caught this thanks to a retweet I saw this evening.  It was of an interview on ESPN First Take this morning.  For those that don't know the show, it's basically an argument show between Skip Bayless & Stephen A. Smith.  This morning they had on Bears WR Brandon Marshall, whose team won last night on Monday Night Football.

I'm sharing it on here because A) I found out that Brandon Marshall is a follower of Jesus, which is good considering that I didn't know that he was and B) it's a good discussion to listen to regarding being a Christian and how that plays out in life.

Fantasy Football Tuesday: Week 7

Week 7 has proven to be the week that "anybody can win any given week" in fantasy football has proven true.  This week saw the Hub City All Stars get their second loss of the season in the JustUs Geeks Fantasy League to the team with the worst record in the league.  Granted I had my two starting running backs on the bye along with one of my starting wide receivers & Chris Johnson decided to actually play well this week which contributed to the loss.  However, because of how the rest of the league shook out, I'm still in 1st place in my division and 1st overall in the league.  Here's the recap for Week 7:

Alabama Autobots Picks Up Victory over Hub City All Stars to Even Season Series

• 
  Alabama Autobots (2-5) 148.18
• 
  Hub City All Stars (5-2) 134.86

Alabama Autobots defeated Hub City All Stars 148.18 - 134.86 and got the second-highest point total in the league this week. The win was an answer to a 122.24 - 120.42 heartbreaking loss to Hub City All Stars in Week 2. Leading Hub City All Stars, the Chicago Bears Defense (27.00 points) and Tom Brady (22.36) both ranked highly overall for the week. Alabama Autobots (2-5, 901.78 points) remains mired in the cellar while Hub City All Stars (5-2, 1,152.16 points) stays in first place.
Alabama Autobots Smooth Moves

• Chris Johnson had 37.80 points, the highest RB score of the week and the second-highest RB score in the league this season.
• Eli Manning put up 28.88 points, which was the eighth-highest score in the league this week.
• Jordy Nelson ranked fifth in the league in scoring among WRs this week with 20.20 points.
• The 17.70 points scored by Santana Moss was the sixth-highest score by a WR in the league this week.
• Marques Colston overachieved by 24.9%, scoring 13.30 points against a projected 10.65.

Hub City All Stars Regret Tracker

• The 7.30 points scored by Reggie Wayne was a season-low for both scoring and for his performance against projections. He reached only 74.8% of his 9.76 projected points this week.
• 6 of the 11 starters scored less than their projected points.
• With 5.90 points, Mike Wallace scored only 47.7% of his 12.37 projected point total.

What If

• If Alabama Autobots played Hub City All Stars every week, they would be 1-6 this season.
• Besides Hub City All Stars, Alabama Autobots would have defeated five other teams this week.
• If they played the same schedule as Hub City All Stars, Alabama Autobots would be 3-2.
• If Alabama Autobots had played every team in the league each week, they would be 20-29.
• Hub City All Stars would have lost to just two other teams besides Alabama Autobots this week.
• Had they played each other last week, Alabama Autobots would have lost to Hub City All Stars 165.70 - 133.02.
• Hub City All Stars would be 4-1 if they played the same schedule as Alabama Autobots.
• Hub City All Stars would be 37-12 if they played every team every week.

Game Notes

• After scoring 148.18 points against a projected 130.44, Alabama Autobots has overachieved for four straight weeks.
• Hub City All Stars beat their scoring projection for the sixth time this season by scoring 134.86 points against a projected 125.24. They have now overachieved five weeks in a row.
• Hub City All Stars scored 134.86 points and lost. It is the ninth-highest losing score in the league this season.
• In the loss, the Chicago Bears Defense ranked ninth in the league in scoring with 27.00 points against a projected 12.04 and has now overachieved in six straight games.
• Maurice Jones-Drew scored a season-low 0.60 points and underachieved for the third straight week.
• Alabama Autobots was able to win with little help from Calvin Johnson, who had a season-low 3.40 points and is on a three-week underperforming streak.
• The RBs on Alabama Autobots collectively had their best week of the season with 49.00 points.
• Hub City All Stars got a combined 17.30 points from their TEs, their highest combined scoring output from the TE position this season.

Fantasy Football Tuesday: Week 6

It is almost at the halfway point in the regular season of the JustUs Geeks Fantasy League.  Week 6 just finished and there are about 7 weeks left (it's a 13 week regular season).  At the unofficial halfway point, I am leading the league.  I started out Week 1 in third place overall and moved my way up to first place overall in Week 2 and have held there since.  Week 6 saw a rematch of Week 1 matchup between the Hub City All Stars and Starfleet.  It is the second of three regular season matchups within the Autobots division.  After a little bit of worrying about the Monday Night game, it ended up being a blowout.  Out of five wins, three have been blowouts, including two straight weeks and three of the last four weeks.  So my record is 5-1 and leading the league in points scored (1014.90) and given up the fewest points (747.90).  Here's the recap for Week 6:

Hub City All Stars Beats the Pants Off Starfleet and Remains Unbeaten in Head-to-Head Play

• 
  Hub City All Stars (5-1) 165.70
• 
  Starfleet (3-3) 102.08

Hub City All Stars humiliates Starfleet after another blowout, this time by a final score of 165.70 - 102.08. Tom Brady put up 53.80 points and was a force. It was much more than his 21.54 points in the last matchup with Starfleet. Hub City All Stars won 150.04 - 103.22 in Week 1, and now has a 55.22-point average margin of victory over Starfleet.
Hub City All Stars Smooth Moves

• The 53.80 points scored by Tom Brady was the second-highest QB score of the week and is the ninth-highest QB score in the league this season.
• With 21.40 points, Mike Wallace ranked ninth in the league in scoring among WRs this week.
• The 15.30 points by James Jones topped a projected 8.03, extending his overachievement streak to three weeks.
• The Seattle Seahawks Defense has now overachieved in five straight games after scoring 13.00 points against a projected 6.64.
• In scoring 17.80 points, Eric Decker put up his largest point total of the year.

Starfleet Regret Tracker

• Starfleet needed more points from the QB position, where Hub City All Stars beat them 53.80 - 9.68.
• The 6.10 points scored by Reggie Bush was a season-low for both scoring and for his performance against projections. He reached only 40.0% of his 15.26 projected points this week.
• With 3.10 points, Miles Austin had his lowest output of the season and tallied just 25.4% of his 12.21 projected points, his lowest percentage of the year.
• It was a season-low 2.10 points for Dwayne Bowe this week. It was also a season-low for his performance versus projections, reaching only 22.2% of a projected point total of 9.46.
• 8 of the 11 starters scored less than their projected points.

What If

• Hub City All Stars would be 5-1 if they played Starfleet every week.
• Hub City All Stars would have beaten five other teams besides Starfleet this week.
• Had they played each other last week, Hub City All Stars would have defeated Starfleet 185.72 - 123.78.
• Hub City All Stars would be 3-1 if they played the same schedule as Starfleet.
• If Hub City All Stars had played every team in the league each week, they would be 33-9.
• Starfleet would have been beaten by every other team in the league this week.
• Starfleet would be 2-2 if they played the same schedule as Hub City All Stars.
• Starfleet would be 15-27 if they played every team every week.

Game Notes

• With 102.08 points, Starfleet was last in the league in scoring and had their lowest score of the season.
• It was the third-biggest margin of victory in the league this season at 63.62 points.
• Hub City All Stars beat their scoring projection for the fifth time this season by scoring 165.70 points against a projected 133.52. They have now overachieved four weeks in a row.
• Starfleet had their worst loss of the season, losing by 63.62 points.
• The 55.70 points by the WRs on Starfleet was the season-high for combined points from the position.
• With the big loss, Starfleet remains winless in blowout games this season, falling to 0-2.
• Hub City All Stars remains undefeated in blowout games this season, improving to 3-0.
• In the loss, Wes Welker scored 32.60 points, the fifth-highest WR score in the league this season.

Fantasy Football Tuesday: Week 5

Just finished Week 5 in the JustUs Geeks Fantasy League and had another tough matchup to overcome.  Having lost last week's matchup, my team needed to stop the losing streak and get back in the win column.  And that is what happened as the Hub City All Stars once again posted the most points in the league this week along with having the biggest margin of victory.  With the win, the record now improves to 4-1 and still the #1 seed.  Here's the recap for Week 5:

Hub City All Stars Wins Shocker over Marauders, Drops Them into Fifth Place

• 
  Hub City All Stars (4-1) 185.72
• 
  Marauders (2-3) 135.50

Hub City All Stars put up the highest point total this week and upset Marauders 185.72 - 135.50, overcoming a 16.95-point spread. With this win, Hub City All Stars scored 27.8% more than projected and has now beaten expectations three weeks running. Drew Brees, with 59.60 points, racked up the highest score for the week. Marauders (2-3, 740.60 points) drops to fifth place and Hub City All Stars (4-1, 851.60 points) remains in first place.

Hub City All Stars Smooth Moves

• With 30.20 points, Reggie Wayne had the second-highest WR score of the week and the fifth-highest WR score in the league this season.
• The Chicago Bears Defense had 37.00 points, the highest DEF score of the week and the third-highest score among DEF in the league this season.
• Took Jermaine Gresham out of the starting lineup, who scored 6.00 points on the bench, fewer than the starting TE.
• Brandon Marshall scored 20.40 points, the eighth-highest WR score in the league this week.
• Frank Gore had 16.60 points, the sixth-highest score among RBs in the league this week.

Marauders Regret Tracker

• Picked up Jared Cook but left him on the bench, where he scored 9.70 points against a projected 5.62.
• BenJarvus Green-Ellis was last on the team in scoring with 1.60 points against a projected 13.05 and has now underachieved in four straight games.
• Brandon Tate has now failed to reach his projection for three straight games. This week he scored 4.90 points versus a projected 12.13.
• Marauders got beat 37.00 - 9.00 by Hub City All Stars at the DEF position.
• It was not a good week for Marauders at TE, where they were beaten 13.90 - 3.50.

What If

• Hub City All Stars would be 3-2 if they played Marauders every week.
• Hub City All Stars would have beaten every other team in the league this week.
• Had they played each other last week, Hub City All Stars would have defeated Marauders 195.10 - 155.24.
• If they played the same schedule as Marauders, Hub City All Stars would be 3-1.
• Hub City All Stars would be 27-8 if they played every team every week.
• Marauders would have lost to three other teams besides Hub City All Stars this week.
• If they played the same schedule as Hub City All Stars, Marauders would be 3-1.
• If they played every team every week, Marauders would be 22-13.

Game Notes

• Hub City All Stars had a league-high for the week with 185.72 points, which is the fifth-highest score in the league this season.
• It was the third-biggest margin of victory in the league this season at 50.22 points.
• Hub City All Stars scored 185.72 points against a projected 145.31 and beat their scoring projection for the fourth time this season, including the last three weeks in a row.
• It was the worst loss of the season for Marauders, with the margin of victory coming in at 50.22 points.
• Marauders scored 135.50 points and lost. It is the seventh-highest losing score in the league this season.
• In the loss, Drew Brees led the league in scoring and had the fifth-most points in the league this season with 59.60.
• The 60.40 points by the WRs on Hub City All Stars was the season-high for combined points from the position.
• Marauders got a combined 11.90 points from their RBs, their lowest combined scoring output from the RB position this season.

Very Cool Opportunity: Giving the Invocation

Last Saturday I had the opportunity to give the invocation at a Wofford football game.  The story behind it & the experience was an interesting one that I thought I'd share here.

It all started back around late August.  My director was talking to the chaplain at Wofford and was asked about being a part of their orientation worship service.  While talking about that, the chaplain suggested that I could do the invocation at a football game at some point this season.  She said he should talk to me about it and he did.

When I talked with him, he told me that it was to be an "inclusive" prayer.  When I asked what "inclusive" meant, he said that I just couldn't say at the end "in Jesus name we pray, amen."  Aside from that, I could say whatever.  After giving it some thought and praying about it, I said sure I'd do it.

A few weeks later, the chaplain asked me when I would like to do it.  I gave him some dates in order of preference, with the top choice being the last game of the season vs Chattanooga (reason being home state and all).  The chaplain comes back and says "We'll go with Furman.  There will be a lot of people here and there will be a lot of Baptists."

There is a long standing rivalry between Wofford and Furman.  Furman is a private university with Baptist roots (but don't really hold much to that anymore) that's just down the road in Greenville.  These two schools actually played in the first college football game that was played in the state of South Carolina way back in 1889.  So this is a big time game.  Couple that with being "Family Weekend" on campus & "Church Youth Day" at the game, led to a lot of people (believe the attendance at the game was 9,170).

So with all that as a backdrop, I went to the game.  I got there early because I knew there would be a lot of people and wanted to give myself some time before I had to be where I needed to be.  I got a special parking pass and got to park in special parking area.  I also got a "media pass" which allowed me to go up to the press box, which is where I would be giving the invocation.

Around 12:45pm I made my way up to the press box.  When I got up there, I was met up there by the chaplain who then introduced me to the PA guy for the stadium (who is also one of the morning news anchors for one of the local networks).  He went over with me how it would go basically telling that when it was time he would push the button on the mic, announce me, then lean out of the way and I would give the prayer.  I would have no more than 40 seconds to give it (it really was down to a time frame like that).  So I hung out in the press box until it was my time and then I went over and gave the prayer.  It was short and to the point and then I was done.  Afterwards, I got some food that was in the press box (I could've ate it earlier but I didn't want to eat right before I was going to give the invocation) then went out into the stands and found a seat to watch the game.  Wofford ended up beating Furman 20-17 to keep their record undefeated.

It was a really cool experience and one I'll remember for a long time.

Fantasy Football Tuesday: Week 4

It was bound to happen.  In all my years of playing fantasy football, I have never had an undefeated season.  And it will not happen in the JustUs Geeks Fantasy League.  I had a feeling going into this week against my friend and fellow Union University alum Marty that I would get my first loss.  I had two of my top receivers out on the bye week plus I was still without starting TE Aaron Hernandez.  But I will say this about my team, they did not quit.  It ended up being the closest matchup by the end of the Monday Night game and I put up the second most total points of the week.  Coupled with a loss by the 2nd place team in the Autobots division, I'm still atop the Autobots division and #1 overall in the league.

After 4 weeks, I'm 3-1.  If I can do that every 4 weeks, I'll be happy with that.  Here's the recap for Week 4:

My Little Pwny Gets Past Hub City All Stars

• 
  My Little Pwny (3-1) 203.56
• 
  Hub City All Stars (3-1) 195.10

My Little Pwny registered the second-highest score of the season, stealing one from Hub City All Stars 203.56 - 195.10. This was a matchup that could have gone either way, with the 8.46-point margin of victory being the third-smallest recorded in the league this season. Hub City All Stars had two players rank highly this week. Tom Brady scored 45.00 points while the Chicago Bears Defense put up 31.00. My Little Pwny (3-1, 632.94 points) remains in second place and Hub City All Stars (3-1, 665.88 points) stays in first place.
My Little Pwny Smooth Moves

• The 57.76 points scored by Matt Ryan was the second-highest QB score of the week and is the fifth-highest QB score in the league this season.
• Scott Chandler had 18.20 points, the highest TE score of the week and the second-highest TE score in the league this season.
• The Baltimore Ravens Defense has now overachieved in every game this season after scoring 22.00 points against a projected 13.42.
• Took the Philadelphia Eagles Defense out of the starting lineup, which scored 5.00 points on the bench, fewer than the starting DEF.
• The 21.90 points scored by Darren Sproles was the third-highest score of any RB in the league this week.

Hub City All Stars Regret Tracker

• Did not start Owen Daniels, who beat his scoring projection with 13.20 points against a projected 5.52.
• With 4.10 points against a projected 7.55, Sidney Rice did not meet his projection for the third straight game.
• Hub City All Stars was dominated at the TE position, scoring 4.70 points versus the 18.20 for My Little Pwny.
• Hub City All Stars had only 3 of their 11 starters underperform versus their projections, but they still lost.

What If

• If My Little Pwny played Hub City All Stars every week, they would be 2-2 this season.
• My Little Pwny would have beaten every other team in the league this week.
• If they played the same schedule as Hub City All Stars, My Little Pwny would be 2-1.
• If My Little Pwny had played every team in the league each week, they would be 18-10.
• Hub City All Stars would have beaten every other team in the league besides My Little Pwny this week.
• My Little Pwny would have lost to Hub City All Stars 198.50 - 154.82 had they played each other last week.
• If they played the same schedule as My Little Pwny, Hub City All Stars would be 1-2.
• If they played every team every week, Hub City All Stars would be 20-8.

Game Notes

• This matchup featured the two highest-scoring teams in the league this week.
• In the loss, the Chicago Bears Defense scored 31.00 points against a projected 9.95 and has now overachieved in every game this season.
• Hub City All Stars scored 195.10 points and lost. It is the highest losing score in the league this season.
• The 8.46-point win by My Little Pwny failed to cover the 28.35-point spread.
• The 8.46-point margin of victory was the smallest in the league this week.
• The 55.40 points by the WRs on Hub City All Stars was the season-high for combined points from the position.
• Hub City All Stars could not extend their three-game win streak.
• My Little Pwny stays undefeated in close games this season at 2-0.

Fantasy Football Tuesday: Week 3

We just finished Week 3 of the NFL season & of the JustUs Geeks Fantasy League and needless to say it is crazy.  I was interviewed by Josh, one of the hosts of the podcast and in predicting the season I mentioned I don't know who to pick to win it all because it can be so crazy and it's proven to be the case.  With the smoke clearing after 3 weeks, I'm still the only undefeated team at 3-0.  Here's some crazy statistics:  there are 3 teams that are 2-1 and 2 of those teams have been outscored by their opponents after 3 weeks; there is a team that's 1-2 that has outscored his opponents by over 70+ points after 3 weeks.  Needless to say, I stand behind my statement in that I have no idea who will win this league.

This past week I matched up against another of the hosts of the podcast, Josh.  And it turned out to be the blowout of the week though I was shocked at the result.  After having such a close matchup last week and sweating through the Monday night game, this week I could breathe easy after Sunday.  I know to enjoy those when they come because that could all change next week.  Next week I'll be squaring off against my friend from college and the #2 team in the league in what will be the game of the week.  Before that happens, here's the recap from Week 3:

Hub City All Stars Smokes [Winner Goes Here] for Third Straight Win

• 
  Hub City All Stars (3-0) 198.50
• 
  [Winner Goes Here] (1-2) 83.12

Hub City All Stars got the second-highest point total this season on the way to their third straight win when they annihilated [Winner Goes Here] 198.50 - 83.12. The streak is due in part to Hub City All Stars having the second-highest scoring output in the league at 156.93 points per matchup. [Winner Goes Here] stays in seventh place with a 1-2 record. Hub City All Stars stays unbeaten and in first place after having blown through Starfleet (150.04 - 103.22) and Alabama Autobots (122.24 - 120.42).
Hub City All Stars Smooth Moves

• With 40.00 points, the Chicago Bears Defense had the highest score of any DEF in the league this season.
• Jermaine Gresham had 12.40 points, the fourth-highest TE score of the week and the 10th-highest TE score in the league this season.
• With 42.80 points, Jamaal Charles ranked fifth in the league in scoring and beat his scoring projection by 284.9%, which was the highest percentage in the matchup.
• Stephen Gostkowski has now overachieved in every game this season after scoring 13.00 points against a projected 8.19.
• Mike Wallace ranked ninth in the league in scoring among WRs this week with 18.40 points.

[Winner Goes Here] Regret Tracker

• Left Ben Roethlisberger on the bench, where he ranked second in the league in scoring with 62.16 points.
• Left the New York Giants Defense on the bench, where they scored 25.00 points and beat their projected point total by 186.0%, the 10th-highest percentage in the league this week.
• Dez Bryant has scored below his projection in every game this season after scoring 10.50 points against a projected 13.25 this week.
• 10 of the 11 starters scored less than their projected points.
• At the DEF position, [Winner Goes Here] got outscored by Hub City All Stars 40.00 - 7.00.

What If

• Hub City All Stars would be 2-1 if they played [Winner Goes Here] every week.
• Hub City All Stars would have been undefeated if they played every team in the league this week.
• Hub City All Stars would be 1-1 if they played the same schedule as [Winner Goes Here].
• If Hub City All Stars had played every team in the league each week, they would be 14-7.
• [Winner Goes Here] would have been beaten by every other team in the league this week.
• Hub City All Stars would have lost to [Winner Goes Here] 124.26 - 122.24 had they played each other last week.
• [Winner Goes Here] would be 2-0 if they played the same schedule as Hub City All Stars.
• If they played every team every week, [Winner Goes Here] would be 7-14.

Game Notes

• The top players for Hub City All Stars were elite in the matchup, as seven of their starters outperformed the leading scorer for [Winner Goes Here].
• The matchup had both the highest-scoring and lowest-scoring teams in the league this week.
• [Winner Goes Here] scored the fewest points in the league this week and had the lowest score in the league this season.
• LeSean McCoy had a season-low 7.80 points against a projected 16.88 in the win and has now scored below his projection in every game this season.
• Hub City All Stars won by the largest margin of victory in the league at 115.38 points.
• [Winner Goes Here] has underachieved every week this season, scoring 83.12 points against a projected 140.07 this week.
• Hub City All Stars remains undefeated in blowout games this season, improving to 2-0.
• Hub City All Stars got the win despite Frank Gore having a season-low 6.20 points and falling short of his projection for the first time this season.

Reflections on Steve Sabol

Yesterday, Steve Sabol passed away.  Some may not know who that is but to the sports fan and in particular the football fan, Steve Sabol is a household name.  He was the president of NFL Films and son of the founder, Ed Sabol.  He started as a cinematographer and then worked his way up to being over the whole thing.

NFL Films defined for several generations what it meant to watch the NFL.  They were pioneers in getting audio from players and coaches.  Before the age of ESPN cable, NFL films captured the sights and sounds of the game in a way that made it accessible to the people.  Even into the 80s & 90s (when I was a kid), NFL Films was the marquee department in capturing the sport like no other company capturing sports.

The music played over highlights was unmistakeable.  The voiceovers by John Facinda were epic.  Steve Sabol was a huge part of that.  When I think of watching football, I can't help but think about that music and the voiceovers when thinking about the "frozen tundra of Lambeau Field" or the "Autumn wind" being like a Raider.

I actually own a CD of the music from NFL Films and when I was playing flag football I would have some of those music and soundbites to listen to on my iPod as I'm warming up and stretching before games.

Steve passed away from cancer at the age of 69.  He will be missed.

250th Post: Fantasy Football Tuesday Week 2

It is almost fitting that the 250th post for Reflections on Sports is a post on fantasy football.  It is a cool feat that this blog has reached a milestone like this and have enjoyed the ride so far and look forward to hopefully 250 more posts.

It was in interesting week 2 in the JustUs Geeks Fantasy League.  After the aftermath of Week 1, I was in 3rd place overall and 1st in the "Autobots" division.  On the podcast last week, the guys at JustUs Geeks made mention of my performance by saying that my point total for week 1 "was never wrong".

Week 2 saw a crazy output by all the teams in the league.  Going into Monday night it looked as if every team in the league would have 1 win and 1 loss.  I was down going into the Monday night game with Eric Decker left to play.  I was hurt big time by Aaron Hernandez getting hurt early in his game and putting up 0 points and Jamaal Charles & Brandon Marshall getting next to nothing.  Thankfully I was helped that my opponent Jared started Antonio Gates who didn't play and Eli Manning who was on the bench.  It literally took a late 4th quarter rally aided by a punt return and reception by Decker to put me over the top and to secure the victory.  With the win, I go to 2-0 and atop the JustUs Geeks Fantasy League after two weeks.  Here's the recap of Week 2:

Hub City All Stars Comes from Behind to Squeak By Alabama Autobots

• 
  Hub City All Stars (2-0) 122.24
• 
  Alabama Autobots (0-2) 120.42

Hub City All Stars (2-0, 272.28 points) edged Alabama Autobots (0-2, 223.34 points) 122.24 - 120.42, led by Tom Brady with 22.54 points. Hub City All Stars came into the Sunday games already in front 17.40 - 8.40. They gave up that lead after the late Sunday games and were behind 111.02 - 99.54. However, Hub City All Stars pulled off the comeback victory on Monday night, with 6.20 points from Eric Decker.

Hub City All Stars Smooth Moves

• The 17.00 points by Stephen Gostkowski was the league-high for a K this week.
• Frank Gore scored 16.50 points, which ranked 10th out of all the RBs in the league this week.
• Even with a zero from starter Aaron Hernandez, Hub City All Stars was still able to win.
• The Chicago Bears Defense exceeded scoring projections by 88.4%, with 15.00 points against a projected 7.96.
• Even with only 5 of the 11 starters scoring more than their projection, Hub City All Stars was still able to win.

Alabama Autobots Regret Tracker

• Left Eli Manning on the bench, where he led the league in scoring with 61.20 points.
• Left Brent Celek on the bench, where he scored 15.70 points and surpassed his scoring projection by 173.5%, the highest percentage of any player on the team.
• Did not start Maurice Jones-Drew, who underachieved but still scored more than any RB on the team with 12.70 points against a projected 15.74.
• Should have started Nate Kaeding, who underachieved, but still had more points than the starting K with 8.00 against a projected 9.69.
• Hub City All Stars won the K position battle, beating Alabama Autobots 17.00 - 7.00.

What If

• Hub City All Stars would be 2-0 if they played Alabama Autobots every week.
• Besides Alabama Autobots, Hub City All Stars would have beaten only two other teams this week.
• Hub City All Stars would have defeated Alabama Autobots 150.04 - 102.92 had they played each other last week.
• Hub City All Stars would be 7-7 if they played every team every week.
• Alabama Autobots would have lost to four other teams besides Hub City All Stars this week.
• If they played every team every week, Alabama Autobots would be 3-11.

Game Notes

• Hub City All Stars was not able to cover the 7.04-point spread in the win.
• At 1.82 points, the margin of victory was the tightest of the week.
• Hub City All Stars won even though Alabama Autobots performed better against their scoring projection. Alabama Autobots scored 86.0% of their 139.98 projected points, while Hub City All Stars recorded 83.1% of their 147.02-point projection.
• Alabama Autobots got smallest total score from their RB position of any team this week with 11.80 points.
• Hub City All Stars had the lowest winning score in the league this week with 122.24 points.
• The 120.42 points put up by Alabama Autobots ranked sixth in the league this week.
• Cam Newton did what he could in the loss for Alabama Autobots. He scored 32.22 points, the sixth-highest score in the league this week.
• Vincent Jackson did his best in the loss, ranking sixth among all WRs in the league with 20.80 points.

Fantasy Football Tuesday Week 1

I did this a few years ago and figured why not do it again this year (partly because a lot of this done for me).  :)

The NFL season kicked off with Week 1 this past weekend and with that comes fantasy football.  I'm in 8 leagues this year (I know a lot of friends who asked me to be in their leagues).  The one league that I will focus on here is the JustUs Geeks Fantasy League.  This league features the hosts of the JustUs Geeks podcast, of which I'm a regular contributor of questions and have been a guest on an episode.  I'm also apparently one of the resident "experts" in fantasy football.  So I figure this would be the best league to highlight on this blog how I do in that league.  And thanks to Yahoo, which has added a great recap, I can do that.  So here's the result of Week 1 (my team is the Hub City All Stars):

Hub City All Stars Waxes Starfleet, Makes Early-Season Statement

• 
  Hub City All Stars (1-0) 150.04
• 
  Starfleet (0-1) 103.22

Hub City All Stars got 21.54 points from Tom Brady to stomp Starfleet, 150.04 - 103.22. Hub City All Stars beat expectations and scored 10.1% more points than projected (136.29). Starfleet got 92.0% of a projected 112.24 points. Starfleet was led by Jay Cutler with 28.92 points and Miles Austin who scored 13.30. To make matters worse, Starfleet had a starter score zero points (Jonathan Stewart). Hub City All Stars kicks off the campaign with a 1-0 record, good enough for third place. Starfleet debuts at 0-1 and in sixth place.
Hub City All Stars Smooth Moves

• The 17.90 points scored by Brandon Marshall was the eighth-highest score by a WR in the league this week.
• Frank Gore had 17.30 points, the ninth-highest score among RBs in the league this week.
• Aaron Hernandez had the second-highest TE score in the league this week with 12.40 points.
• Hub City All Stars saw the majority of their starters (7 of 11) beat their projected point total.
• The Chicago Bears Defense exceeded scoring projections by 55.9%, with 19.00 points against a projected 12.19.

Starfleet Regret Tracker

• The RBs for Starfleet got outscored 40.60 - 14.70 by the RBs for Hub City All Stars.
• Starfleet lost despite having only 4 of their 11 starters score less than their projected points.
• Left Jonathan Stewart in the starting lineup, where he didn't score any points.
• Wes Welker fell short of his scoring projection with 1.40 points, just 16.7% of his projected 8.36.

What If

• Hub City All Stars would have beaten three other teams besides Starfleet this week.
• If Hub City All Stars had scored 66.25 more points, they would have beaten all teams in the league this week.
• Starfleet would have lost to four other teams besides Hub City All Stars this week.
• If Starfleet had scored 0.65 fewer points, they would have lost to all teams in the league this week.

Game Notes

• Hub City All Stars won by 46.82 points, covering the 24.05-point spread.
• The margin of victory of 46.82 points was the second-highest margin in the league this week.
• Starfleet scored 103.22 points, ranking them sixth in the league in scoring.
• Despite the loss, Jay Cutler led the matchup in scoring with 28.92 points.
• Robbie Gould tried to help Starfleet in the loss, beating his scoring projection by 30.0%, scoring 11.00 points versus an 8.46-point projection.
• Although Hub City All Stars won, they got little help from Eric Decker, who only put up 5.40 points of a projected 12.24.
• Hub City All Stars beat their projected points, while Starfleet fell below their projection.

Predictions for the 2012 NFL Season

It is almost that time of year again.  Time for the NFL season to get cranked up.  This is my 5 time predicting at the start of the year for the season.  You know how many times I'm right?  Not that often.  But that's the fun of predicting is you never know.  So here's my predictions for the upcoming season (and yes I'm a homer)...

NFC East
NY Giants
Dallas
Philadelphia
Washington

NFC North
Green Bay
Chicago
Detroit
Minnesota

NFC South
Atlanta
Carolina
New Orleans
Tampa Bay

NFC West
San Francisco
Seattle
Arizona
St. Louis

Wild Card:  Seattle, Chicago

AFC East
New England
Buffalo
NY Jets
Miami

AFC North
Pittsburgh
Cincinnati
Baltimore
Cleveland

AFC South
Tennessee
Houston
Jacksonville
Indianapolis

AFC West
Kansas City
Denver
San Diego
Oakland

Wild Card:  Houston, Cincinnati

Super Bowl:  Tennessee over Seattle

Reflections on the 2012 Summer Olympics

The 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London have come to a close.  Here are some reflections looking back at the XXX Summer Olympics.

*Like I said before, Michael Phelps was dominant.  He will go down probably as the best Olympian of this generation.  It will be a long time (if ever) that someone will match his medal total.

*Along the lines of dominant, Usain Bolt would qualify as well.  To repeat gold in sprinting is very impressive.  Definitely when you think speed, Bolt comes to mind.  It will be interesting to see if he will compete in Rio in 4 years.  I haven't heard otherwise.  So we could have the first man to three-peat winning the gold in the 100m....which would put him in line for best Olympian of this generation with Phelps.

*It was great to see an All-American final in women's beach volleyball.  Misty May-Treanor & Kerri Walsh Jennings won their 3rd gold in a row.  They were impressive in that they only lost 1 set in their Olympic career together.  I admit that I was rooting for Jennifer Kessy and April Ross to win but in the end was happy for Misty and Kerri.  What's interesting is that Misty is retiring but Kerri is continuing on to Rio.  So she could be going for her 4th gold medal in 4 Olympics.  Something to watch for...

*The women's basketball team won their 5th consecutive Gold medal dating back to the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.  It is the longest Gold medal streak in any women's sport in the Olympics.  It seemed that in this Olympics a lot of talk went to the women's soccer team and not so much to the basketball team.  But regardless, what the basketball team did was impressive and they will strive for a 6th straight Gold medal in Rio.

*On the men's side, they did their job in winning another Gold medal.  They had a tough finals against Spain and won by only 7.  A lot was made about this year's team in comparison to the '92 Dream Team but in an of themselves they were a good team.  I still don't think this year's team could beat the '08 Redeem Team, but they did win the Gold so props to them.  I hope that the pros continue to play in the Olympics because it makes it mean more.  I don't think there will be changes in 4 years but after that who knows.

*This Olympics was definitely the "Social Media" Olympics.  Twitter was still in it's infancy in '08 and was picking up steam in '10 in Vancouver but this year it was everywhere.  Coupled that with smart phones and online coverage and it seemed that everyone was talking about the Olympics in those mediums.  That coupled with the disdain for tape delay (a tradition in Olympic coverage) made for a lot of frustrating times when it came to the "primetime" events.  Part of that I said before was the '08 games had more of the "primetime" events live & not on tape delay given it was halfway around the world.  With it only being about 5 hours from East Coast to London it was just rough.  However, the next Winter & Summer games could be less of that.  I do think NBC will tweak their coverage and improve it based on the "social media" response that was given.

*Overall, London did a great job and should be commended.  It'll be interesting how Rio does in 4 years.

Reflections on Terrell Owens

On Monday, a 38 year old WR was working out for a team trying to earn a chance to get on an NFL team.  He had been out of the league for a year and was trying to get one more shot.  His workout was impressive enough that the team agreed to terms to sign him to a 1 year deal.  That team was the Seattle Seahawks.  That player was Terrell Owens.

When I heard that T.O. was working out for the Seahawks, I didn't know what to think.  Owens, for all intents and purposes, had hit rock bottom.  He was out of the league last year after coming off of knee surgery.  He tried to do a workout last October and no teams took a flyer on him.  He ended up signing with the Allen Wranglers, an Indoor Football League team (which is a rung lower that Arena Football) and didn't even finish the season before booted off.  He's had financial & personal problems involving bad investments & child support.  And this was only a few months ago.  So needless to say, I was somewhat surprised that head coach Pete Carroll was giving T.O. a tryout after all that.

Then word came out after the tryout, Owens ran a sub 4.5 40yds.  That's fast no matter how old or young you are.  They said he looked "ridiculous" (in the good sense of the word).  Because of this, that is why they signed him to a 1 year, 1 million dollar contract.

Much has been said about Owens, how he's narcassistic.  How he disrupts the locker room.  How he's bad for the chemistry of a team.  And given his recent history with the indoor football team, it's hard to argue against it.  However, he is a great talent.  He is gifted athletically.  He has a high "football" I.Q.  Even at 38, he's probably in the top 10 WR in the league if he truly is 100%.  And given the need for WR in Seattle and the contract that they signed here, it's a low risk/medium to high reward.

Personally, I do hope that Owens turns his life around.  I do think this will be his last shot in the NFL and I think he understands that.  Time will tell if he truly has changed.  But if he has & he's playing at a level that he can, then things just got more interesting at CenturyLink Field.  As some have been saying on Twitter, get your lattes ready.

More Reflections on the London Olympics

*Michael Phelps ended up with 22 medals with 18 of them gold medals.  That is ridiculous.  He medaled in 22 of 24 Olympic finals.  That is a pretty good percentage right there.  Some compared his finish to that of Michael Jordan retiring (the 1998 retirement).  The crazy thing is that Ryan Lochte is older than Phelps and will be at the Rio Olympics in 2016.  So honestly, if Phelps wanted to, he could add to that total.  But given his comments, I don't think he'll go back on saying he's retiring.  There are Olympic athletes that dominate a generation.  Phelps is definitely one of those athletes.

*Usain Bolt is fast.  Anyone who watched the final of the 100m race can attest to that.  And that final had some big time names in it:  besides Bolt, there was his teammate and fellow countryman Yohan Blake, who beat Bolt at the Jamaican Olympic qualifiers and also is the reigning World Champion at 100m, Justin Gatlin, USA runner who won the gold back 2004 & was coming off of suspension, Tyson Gay another USA runner who won the World Championships in 2007.  So it was a big time race.  And Bolt came through with an Olympic record time & 2nd fastest time in the world only to himself.  It was one of those blink and you'll miss it.

A cool side story.  After the race, Bolt was being interviewed by a Spanish network.  The reporter was trying to ask questions just as the national anthem was being played for the medal ceremony for the winner of the women's 400m, American Sanya Richards-Ross.  Bolt politely stopped the interview and pointed to the medal podium and paused while the American anthem was played.  Afterwards, he finished the interview with the reporter.  Classy move and one that deserves props.

*On the flip side of that, the USA women's soccer team.  This tournament has seen them win every match so far (though there were some scares against France & recently in their semifinal matchup against Canada).  Along with that, there has been some antics they've done which has been disappointing.  After some of their goals (particularly against New Zealand) there were over the top in their celebrations.  Now I'm all for celebrations, in the heat of the moment, excited spontaneous celebrations are great.  But if you're choreographing them (especially the worm one) that's a bit too much, especially in the Olympics.  I haven't seen the women's basketball team do things like that (and they're the best in the world), neither has the women's volleyball team either (and they're undefeated so far in these games as well).  I think the soccer team should take a page from those teams and win without losing respect of other teams.

*Speaking of the USA volleyball teams (both men's and women's) both sides look dominating.  They both won their groups and are in line for a chance to both get gold.  Beach volleyball could have a USA gold medal final on the women's side with Misty May-Treanor & Kerri Walsh Jennings vs. Jen Kessy & April Ross.  Unfortunately, on the men's side both US teams got bounced so no medals there.  That'll have to be rectified in 4 years in Rio.

*Hopefully in 4 years as well, NBC will have better coverage of the games.  This has been a bad summer games for the network as they have gotten a lot of things wrong.  Part of it I think is not updating with the times & part of it is having London be a 5 hour time difference from the East Coast.  Next summer games, it will be in Rio, which is only a 1 hour time difference.  So hopefully more live prime time events will help out.  They can get a jump start on this in 2 years with the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, which is an 8 hour time difference.

Reflections on Michael Phelps

Yesterday Michael Phelps, swimmer for Team USA, became the winningest Olympian with 19 medals.  He tied the mark for most at 18 with a silver in the 200 fly .  He broke the record with a gold in the 4x200 IM relay.  Starting in the 2004 Athens games up to this point, Phelps has 15 gold medals, 2 silver and 2 bronze (he also raced in the 2000 Sydney games but did not medal).  He still has a few more races left in London so he could add to his medal count.

The record that he broke had stood since 1964 with Russian gymnast Larisa Latynina.  I will admit, as much of a Olympic geek as I am, I hadn't heard of her prior to Phelps being on the brink of breaking the record.  Latynina won 9 gold medals (still the only woman to hold that honor) and competed until she was 30, which is unheard of today in gymnastics.  She was on hand to watch Phelps break the record and was happy for him.

These London Olympics haven't been the best swan song for Phelps (finishing 4th in one final, not getting gold in his best event) but he has accomplished something that no Olympian has ever accomplished.  He broke a record that stood for 48 years.  It's moments like that which make sports so great to watch.  So congrats Michael Phelps, arguably the best swimmer and one of the greatest Olympic athletes of all time.

Reflections on Opening Weekend of London Olympics

The Olympics are back.  The 30th Summer Olympic games have started and I'm watching as much as possible.  There were several things that stood out after this first weekend of games:

*It is one of those times where I wished I had cable or dish.  Many of the events are on live on the various networks of NBC (CNBC, MSNBC, NBC Sports Network, Bravo) and you can't see them unless you have cable.  And even in 2012 when a lot of sports events are streamed online or app, you have to have cable/dish accounts to access them.  Fail.

*For Michael Phelps, this is not Bejing.  Four years ago, he had a record medal haul.  So far, he's gotten a 4th place finish and a silver medal in relay.  It is a good reminder that one can't rest on history but have to focus on today.

*Another NBC gripe, still using tape delay when everyone can know the results through twitter or online.  No matter if you try or not, you find out.  It's 2012, you can show stuff live and still replay it later.

I'll probably blog some more about the games as they go along.  I'm enjoying watching when I can and what I can so far. 

Reflections on Ichiro Suzuki

Change, it is one thing that we can count on happening.  Time passes and things change.  This occurs in sports as it does every other realm of life.  Yesterday evening, the news broke that Ichiro Suzuki, long time Seattle Mariner, had been traded to the New York Yankees.

I was shocked in a lot of ways to hear this news.  I knew that Ichiro was in the last year of his deal but I didn't expect him to get traded, let alone to the New York Yankees for two minor league pitching prospects.  Along with being shocked, I was also sad.  Sad because he left the Mariners and also going to the Yankees.  Everyone who knows me knows that I don't like the Yankees.  I made reference to this in a post I made here several years ago.  So it'll be weird and sad to see Ichiro put on pinstripes the rest of the season.

It's also sad because it's another reminder that players don't stick with teams like they used to.  It makes what Chipper Jones is doing a rarity, playing with one team your whole career and retiring with them.  Yes I know Ichiro played in Japan before coming to the U.S. but the M's were his one MLB team.  He became synonymous with the M's like Ken Griffey Jr. & Edgar Martinez before him.  In my three years in Seattle, I loved watching Ichiro play in the outfield.

I'm sure when he retires, he will go into the Hall of Fame.  And when he does, he will go in as a Mariner which will be good.  In the meantime, seeing him not in a Mariners uniform and not wearing #51 will be another reminder that things change and time moves forward.