The Jordan Countdown

MJ's going in to the Hall of Fame this year. About time.

ESPN has finally done something to earn their money, too, by creating "Jordan's Top 23 Moments" complete with commentary from the people he beat and Flash videos of each huge moment.

Awesome to watch... right now moments 23-20 are up there and I'm very excited for the rest.

Defense Wins Championships - Coolest Fantasy League Ever

Hello, gentlemen. Yesterday I had an idea, an idea that I was so pleased with that right away I made several overly excited phone calls and did some serious scheming.

That idea? A Defensive Players-Only Fantasy League! Yahoo just added functions that let you not only have individual defensive players, but also play guys by specific position.

So in this league, you start 11 players, just like in a real game. Two any-position defensive guys, three linebackers, a defensive tackle (they're not much for racking up stats), two DE's, a Safety, and two corners. Points are awarded in all defensive statistical categories including passes defensed (1 pt), tackle assists (.2 of a pt), etc. I've been monkeying with the various values on and off all day to find a good mix. It's almost impossible to set a point value that doesn't have linebackers cramming the first couple of rounds, and defensive linemen are undervalued no matter what you do, but by making INTs worth more than Forced Fumbles and Fumbles Recovered, I got a nice mix...

Last year's top scorers:

1) Antoine Winfield 151.8 points
2) OJ Atogwe 151.6
3) DeMarcus Ware 151
4) Patrick Willis 149.9
5) James Harrison 149.8

A couple of Bears show up near the top, too...

9) Charles Tillman 141.4
10) Lance Briggs 141.25

And I have to note Ed Reed, at #14 with 138.9. Justin Tuck was the top D-Lineman, with 116 points.

ANYWAY.

If you want to join this league (and please do, because it will be more fun if it's not just me), the leagueID is 784267 on Yahoo!Fantasy Football and the password is "buddyryan" (no caps). Just follow this link and enter that info to join up. Should be a good time for all.

ESPN: Return of the Nar-Nars

For whatever reason ESPN has decided to allow David Flemming to write articles in their magazine. In his most recent article, he spends his time chastising Jay Cutler (Insider required). He had this to say about Jay:

"When Cutler gets this way, and he gets this way often, he looks a bit like an annoyed viper -- with a frat boy haircut and a slight double chin."

He also talks about how he is like Jeff George. All this does is make me question ESPN's intentions. Isn't it likely that this guy never writes this article if McDaniels didn't do what he does best (which is clearly destroy a team) and Cutler stayed in Denver? ESPN would probably be calling Cutler the next great QB. I highly doubt they would be comparing him to Jeff George. Really though, when you start comparing him to Jeff George it really shows how little you truly know about football. After Jeff George's first three seasons in the NFL he had thrown for 7,025 yards 33 TDs and 40 Interceptions. In Jay's first three seasons he has thrown for 9,024 yards 54 TDs and 37 Ints. Him, 2,000 more yards 20 more TDs with 3 less interceptions, oh yeah and he has started 2 less games in that same time period. Somehow I think Jay Cutler is a little more talented.

So why do they keep calling him names, such as Jeff George? Maybe it is because (as Steve noted) they actually do hate Jay Cutler. Did you know that Brett Favre has never thrown for as many yards as Jay Cutler did last year? I mean honestly, ESPN is clearly hate mongering. They do nothing but babble on and on about how bad Cutler is, whats wrong with him, how could the Bears make that stupid trade. I'll tell you what ESPN, I'll start listening to your opinions when you actually show me that you aren't the world's leader in crappy journalism and illiterate personalities (Who really thinks that Mark Schlereth can read?).



Why don't we just throw the truth out there: Jay Cutler has put up better numbers in his first three years (of actual play) than Brett Favre, John Elway, Drew Brees, and Tom Brady. So, lets just call him what he just might be: This generations premiere QB. So, ESPN stop being so dumb(?) To be honest, I cannot remember what was actually here, or if this was actually the end of the post. Oh well, ESPN you have downsyndrome; end of story.

IU to Play in FedEx Field in 2010

So the big news this morning is the Indiana University Hoosiers will be playing a 2010 game in Washington D.C.’s (ok Landover Maryland’s) FedEx Field (details here). The team we are playing….Penn State. Yes you read the right, Penn State, and even crazier, it’s a home game for the Hoosiers.

The financial structure is nice because IU only has to sell 7,000 tickets (91k capacity) and will receive 3 million for the game.

Initially, I am really excited for this game. Penn State will probably beat the Hoosiers, but it will be a game on the east coast, and the D.C. area has produced numerous good recruits. This game can help Lynch and Co recruit in markets that IU traditionally hasn’t had. Also, a game like this will bring attention on itself because it is being played at a unique location for either team (think Notre Dame vs Washington State in San Antonio). Lastly the reason I like this, is it does get IU closer to many IU alumni. I believe the Washington D.C.’s IU alumni association is the 3rd biggest behind Indianapolis and Chicago.

So I guess the next question is, how much are plane tickets to D.C. going for?

Watching Hard Knocks

Has anyone else been watching this season of "Hard Knocks," featuring the Cincinnati Bengals?

A few notes.

My main concern with Cincy is in regards to fantasy, since I don't have any kind of rooting interest. And it sure looks like Chad Ochocinco might be close to regaining top form, if both he and Carson Palmer can stay healthy.

Last year, the Bengals were basically a fantasy wasteland. Take it from a TJ Houshmandzadeh owner - you didn't want to be anywhere near this team. But this year, Ocho, Palmer, and maybe even Chris Henry look like worthwhile prospects, at least based on this HBO coverage. However, I would still avoid Cedric Benson like the proverbial plague.

Other random stuff?

I like Marvin Lewis better after getting a little bit of a sense of his personality. Shockingly, he has one!

Tank Johnson is awesome. Wish he was still on the Bears. There's a scene where he puts together a bunk bed for his baby daughters and (HOT) wife which was really cool. He seems to have done a lot of growing up.

This ones for Fodor

I know Fodor loves T-Pain, so i'm linking this song. T-Pain has done a remix to the Miami Dolphins fight song, and it's suprisingly good. I can't get the song stuck out of my head so listen with caution.

Coincidence: I think not

Hey guys, it's A to the K writing from Barcelona. Before laying down the jock-political smack down, I'd like to let everyone know this city is beyond gorgeous and is more than well worth the visit. I'm here to blow off some steam from Army training and I couldn't find a better scenario. There's a reason why they brought the Olympics here; everyone likes it :-)

So getting off my my Mediterranean trip, let me do some Picasso like abstract thinking: one of my snitches (aka college friends) in DC sent me a clip Glenn Beck talking about Phoenix, AZ being the kidnapping capitol of the US and basically blaming it on Mexicans. I'll lay off my political stuff for later, but this dude has some reasonability issues. Anyways, so why is Phoenix the kidnapping capitol of the US? There is one extremely simple reason:

The Suns traded Shaquille O'Neal to Cleveland, check it:

- Shaq takes his volunteer cop act to Miami and brings Shaq-fu to the streets that Scarface menaced.
- Other bloggers, in that warzone that John McCain governs, have lamented the loss of Volunteer Police Officer O'Neal

I'm a bit too beered up (San Miguel and Estrella Damm are niiiiiiiiiiice) and mentally worn out (Gaudi and Picasso? big change of pace for a Renessiance guy) to bring up the actual stats, but this much I am sure of:

The loss of 'he who mad Kazaam' did more to degrade Arizona public security than anything done by those who celebrated our 2-1 defeat in Azteca Stadium.

As for Mr. Beck, until you bring Shaq or an equivolent (maybe even an upgrade to Hakeem Olajuwon), simmer down and work with management.
Peace,
-AK