Author: AG

Office Lock of the Day 10/19

Last lock of the day was a real close win thanks to the Celtics hanging in there after the Hayward injury. We had the Celtics + 3.5 and they lost by 3. We’ll take the extra half point (even though the line was closer to 5 when LeBron was announced to be active) and move on to Thursday Night Football. Always hard to predict, the 5-1 Chiefs travel to the 2-4 Oakland Raiders. The Raiders have massive underachieved due in part to the Carr injury. They’ll look to get back on track against the AFC West leaders.

LOTD: 3-0-0

The Pick: Oakland Raiders (+3) vs Kansas City Chiefs
Give me the Home underdog in a different time zone and I’ll take it more often than not. This line screams trap game for the Chiefs and I actually like the Raiders to upset here. The Chiefs were banged up a bit by the Steelers and I like Oakland to finally get their run game started against the Chiefs. Give me the points and give me the Raiders.

Gordon Hayward Fractures Ankle in First Quarter as a Celtic

https://twitter.com/MySportsUpdate/status/920443910593314816

Awful stuff in the first quarter of the Celtics game. Hayward went up for a routine play and came down right on his ankle. Immediately thought to be a broken leg, looks to be a fractured ankle. Unreal stuff watching this live — hope he has a speedy recovery.

 

 

 

 

Good to see that players can put aside their team allegiances aside for each other as well.

Office Lock of the Day 10/17

As the start of the NBA season commences tonight, the Office LOTD is going to make its return appearance. After a brief stint, both the locks and bonuses managed to hit both times. With all four major sports now in rotation, although baseball is coming to an end — we have plenty to bet on. In honor of the NBA returning, we will move there for the action.

Record: 2-0-0       Streak: 2W    Last 10: WW

NBA: Boston Celtics (+3.5) @ Cleveland Cavaliers

For opening night, we have two fantastic games but we’re going to put the action on the ECF rematch between the Celtics and the Cavs. As we all know, this was a huge offseason for both teams which are trying to elevate themselves over that level that the Warriors are on. The teams shuffled players — sending Kyrie over for IT and Crowder. Kyrie needed a new change of scenary and got probably the best possible place for him to go. C’s fans are eager to see their draft pick Tatum is action who is slated to get the start tonight. Can’t sleep on their addition of a top 5 SF in Gordon Hayward either.

However, it’s damn near impossible to sleep on any team that has LeBron James step on the court. The King will certainly make this difficult for the Celtics and there’s no doubt a rivalry brewing between himself and Irving. But — he’s not 100% and I think that will certainly be a factor in tonight’s game. D-Wade and D-Rose aren’t scaring anybody and I think the youth from the Celtics is going to push them to keep this close — if not win outright. I like the Celtics with the points in a tough fought opening game.

Pick: Boston Celtics (+3.5)  (-105)   WIN

 

NaVorro Bowman Signs 1 Yr Deal with the Raiders

As quick as he was released — free agent LB NaVorro Bowman goes across the bay to the Oakland Raiders becoming the third recent player to do so (Crabtree, Aldon Smith). The deal, which was for 1 yr, $3 million, was a no-brainer for the Raiders who suddenly are looking very vulnerable in the AFC West. After winning the first 2 games, they have suddenly dropped 4 in a row — albeit with a banged up Derek Carr. This leaves them looking from the bottom up to the standings, which includes one of the premier AFC powers.

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Embarrassing for a team with such high expectations — the Raiders are looking to follow up their great 2016 season with a dud. They need to figure it out before it’s too late which is why this signing made great sense. Bowman gives the Raiders defense a veteran presence and definitely a strong talent. Will this be the difference the Raiders need? Probably not but definitely a sign of hope for any sort of success before the move to Las Vegas.

Celtics Fail to Reach Extension with Marcus Smart

The deadline came and passed without the Celtics being able to extend their longest-tenured player to an extension. Obviously there are always differences between the agents and the front office but this would have been a nice boost to enter the season.

There’s no doubt the Celtics want to keep Smart after the fire-sale that they had this offseason, keeping only four players from the regular season Eastern Conference champions. On one hand, it may not be the worst thing to let a career 35% shooter see if he can work out his offense woes before signing him to an extension. Obviously, Smart does so many things that don’t end up on the score sheet and gives you a ton of heart and effort every night. However, in this league — you need to also produce from the offensive end as well.

Smart will now enter RFA next season, where he could easily be offered a max offer sheet by a team. The NBA is notorious for ridiculous contracts — and if Evan Turner can get signed, somebody will throw the money at Smart. Danny Ainge however has managed to have quite the offseason and proves to be savvy in his decisions so hopefully we’ll see this is the right choice. Everyone is expecting big things from Smart this year, jumping into an even more premier role with the loss of Avery Bradley. Not sure I agree with the decision to not sign him and get it over with — but in Danny, we trust.

Packers Confirm Broken Collarbone for Aaron Rodgers

The Packers fell to 4-2 on Sunday after a 23-10 loss in Minnesota to the Vikings. Surely a divisional rival loss stings, but the big news of this game — and the weekend, was that Packers’ QB Aaron Rodgers left injured early in the game. The hit from Griffen wasn’t anything over the top but the way Rodgers fell looked early like a shoulder or collarbone injury. As we now know, this was the latter that fell to be true.

The news broke and a broken collarbone is confirmed — NFL Network’s Ian Rapaport reported that he may be able to return in 8 weeks but that seems like a stretch at this point. He opted for surgery but there is no doubt it won’t be an easy road to recovery.  His backup, third-year QB Brett Hundley, came in and looked painfully mediocre. Though against a tough Vikings defense, he went 18-33 for 157 yards, 1 TD, and 3 INT. The Packers will look to tread water as they already are 4-2 but the North is starting to look to be one of the tougher divisions as now even the Bears are starting to look to be up and coming.

This is a huge hit to the Packers in a season where just about everything is up for grabs. Almost mid-way through the season, there is really no stand-out contender in the NFC and the Packers were certainly a favorite. Though their defense is weak, Rodgers was able to always bail them out (see: last week vs. Cowboys). McCarthy has stated that he’s happy with Hundley going forward and has confidence that he’ll be able to hold the fort. Honestly, nobody has seen anything on Hundley since his UCLA days so it’s tough to say how he’ll do but I can’t see the Packers being able to do anything worth a damn. McCarthy is the same coach who has only been able to win one Super Bowl with a generational talent like Rodgers — and I think he’ll be painfully exposed without his star QB to bail him out.

The rumors are floating around the internet on who the Packers will sign — whether it be Romo, Kaepernick, RG3, or even Brett Favre (yeah right). I believe McCarthy here when he says that he wants to stick with Hundley. Bringing in someone who isn’t in football shape during the middle of the season doesn’t seem like something that McCarthy would do — especially if they’re expecting a chance of Rodgers being back by Week 14.

And by the way, I think Mike McCarthy is already done hearing about Colin Kaepernick.

USMNT Eliminated from World Cup Contention

Earlier this week, all the United States’ Mens soccer team needed to do was secure a point from Trinidad & Tobago. Easy right?

standings

Wrong. The USMNT went into the waterlogged field of T & T and showed absolutely no passion or urgency, losing 2-1. To sum of the management of this team, let’s take a look at what the manager had to say, courtesy of Bleacher Report.

United States manager Bruce Arena has described the team’s failure to qualify for the 2018 World Cup as “a blemish,” and he added there’s “nothing wrong” with the country’s football structure after Tuesday’s shock 2-1 defeat to Trinidad and Tobago.

The problem starts with this mentality that this is acceptable. For reference, Chile was unable to qualify in CONMEBOL and their manager immediately resigned as he knew he had no business being in charge if he was unable to lead them to the only competition that actually matters. Arena’s incompetence cost us any hope of seeing the US compete in Russia and quite frankly should have been fired on the plane ride over. To start this game with the exact same lineup he rolled out the previous game and have no indication of a strong defense is a JOKE. Geoff Cameron was nowhere to be found when he should have been starting.

The US went down quickly after an Omar Gonzalez own goal — fitting after the dreadful outing that he had. A bizarre long distance goal was misplayed by Tim Howard and we only had one highlight the entire game from the only player that actually cared.

 

This team showed no passion and urgency at all. The most passion shown all night came from player turned analyst Taylor Twellman.

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Jokes on us — as of now Bruce Arena is still in charge. Sunil Gulati is still president and the USMNT has no hope for the future outside of Pulisic. Hopefully someone opens their eyes and sees a complete overhaul is necessary but for now we’re going to have to wait another 4 years until Qatar to see the team in a real competition.

 

Week 5 Picks

After a tough Week 4, all writers managed to keep it above .500 (although barely). A week 5 slate looks to be no better as there are no real clear winners in these match-ups. The week highlights an under-performing Packers team taking on a Cowboys team and the Sunday night highlight is the rejuvenated Texans offense taking on the undefeated Chiefs. Should be a fun week — let’s get to the picks.

 

CONSENSUS PICKS:  19-8  (LW: 4-3)

 

nflwk5

CONSENSUS PICKS: DET, IND, NYG, PIT, LAR, GB, HOU

Fantasy Team of the Week – Week 4

Week 4 is in the books and what a chaotic weekend it was. All four of our writers managed to finish above .500 (just barely at 8-7) but this week was full of twists, certainly highlighted by Houston’s shellacking of the Titans. Without further adieu, let’s take a look at the highest scoring team of the week.

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QB:  Deshaun Watson (1st appearance)

25/34, 283 yds, 4 TD, 1 INT

4 rush, 24 yards, 1 TD

34.72 points

The rookie from Clemson had his coming out party this week against the Titans. A once stale Texans offense looks to be on fire with Watson at the helm. He was able to have his way with the Titans defense sans an interception.  His mobility is also a factor as he was able to rush for 24 yards and a TD. Watson may be a solid option going forward and cracks his way into this week’s team.

Image result for le'veon bellRB: Le’Veon Bell (1st appearance)

35 att, 144 yds, 2 TD

4 rec, 42 yds

34.60 points

The consensus Top 2 running back finally breaks into the team in Week 4 after a slow start to the season. There’s no doubt the hold-out had some effect into his rust factor but the Steelers showed they’re not scared to rely on Bell to bring them production. Bell got the ball often and made some plays against the Ravens. Look for him to continue to hold his RB1 spot throughout the rest of the season.

Image result for todd gurley color rush

RB: Todd Gurley II (3rd appearance)

23 att, 131 yds

7 rec, 94 yds, 1 TD

34.50 points

Gurley continues his absolute monster start to the season with the return (maybe) of the Greatest Show on Turf. These Rams look damn good and Gurley is certainly a huge factor. He’s becoming a fantasy monster again and is making owners look stupid for passing over him. Gurley becomes our first three timer and looks to continue this with a tough matchup against the Seahawks.

 

Image result for deandre hopkinsWR: DeAndre Hopkins (1st appearance)

10 rec, 107 yds, 1 TD

26.70 points

Only fitting that the QB of the week’s #1 receiver would make the list. Hopkins and Watson look to have made a chemistry connection early in the rookie’s career. In a somewhat slow week for receivers, Hopkins was able to provide a solid statline.

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WR: Devin Funchess (1st appearance)

7 rec, 70 yards, 2 TD

26.00 points

Funchess surprisingly makes the team of the week thanks to an absolute garbage performance from the Patriots’ secondary. We can’t overlook the performance though as Funchess had his way with the defense en route to two scores.

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TE: Tyler Kroft (1st appearance)

6 rec, 68 yds, 2 TD

24.80 points

Tyler Kroft comes out of nowhere and upends Travis Kelce for a spot on the team of the week. The Bengals’ tight end was able to catch two scores against the lowly Browns and snag a spot on the team. Similar to Lewis of last week, Kroft is not worth a grab and should not appear on this team again.

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FLEX: RB Ezekiel Elliot (1st appearance)

21 att, 85 yds, 1 TD

4 rec, 54 yards, 1 TD

29.90 points

No surprise here — Elliot, who fell in drafts due to his impending suspension, has been able to avoid the ban and find a place on the team of the week. Though a losing effort, Zeke showed that efficiency that had him so highly ranked by fantasy players worldwide. He did not crack 100 yards rushing, but his dual-threat ability landed him a solid 29.9 points.

Image result for greg zuerlein rams

K:  Greg Zuerlein (1st appearance)

1 20-29 fg, 2 30-39 fg, 4 40-49 fg, 2 PAT

27.00 points

An astouding 27 points from the LA Rams’ kicker after he pounded through seven field goals. The Rams couldn’t really reach the endzone but Zuerlein came through whenever they were counting on him and lands a score higher than both our receivers this week. Not a bad week to be a Zuerlein owner.

 

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DEF: Seattle Seahawks (1st appearance)

16 pts against, 3 sacks, 1 INT, 1 fum rec, 2 TD

20.00 points

The daunted Seahawks’ defense finally came alive against the Colts. Though a slow start, they got absolutely rolling during the second half. Two defensive touchdowns led the way for a demolition of the Colts.  The Seahawks wrap up our TOTW.

Total Points: 258.22

This week’s team is good for second place in our TOTY standings. An outstanding kicking performance definitely helped vault this team into a good position. Gurley looks to be the fantasy MVP so far, but it’s still early. Onto Week 5.

Week 1 – 254.72

Week 2 – 233.68

Week 3 – 274.52