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.