Category: Featured

LiAngelo Ball Arrested in China for Shoplifting

Not a good day to be a Big Baller. LiAngelo Ball is locked up over in China — which I can’t assume is going to be easy to get out of. There’s no further details to what they shoplifted but not a good look to LaVar and the family. Lavar has gone on record saying that ‘Gelo is probably the least likely to make the NBA — essentially throwing him under the bus. I’m not sure what Gelo would be shoplifting as these kids are only supposed to be sporting BBB. I hate to give any attention to the Ball family,  but I cannot wait to hear what Lavar has to say about this. Most likely, he’ll deflect it and just talk about Lonzo’s next game or something but I will be waiting.

Or maybe Lavar wanted this to happen so we continue to talk about the Ball family even when you think there is absolutely nothing to talk about. Either way, not a good look for the Big Ballers and I have to imagine UCLA will hand out some short of suspension which is not great this close to the start of the season.

Fantasy 101: Winning Your Trades

     I don’t remember much from my Economics degree in school, and I use even less in any given day.  But one thing I do remember: timing is everything.  If you want to sell something at a high price, you need to do it when demand is high and supply is low.  Conversely, to buy a player for great value you should strike when demand is low and supply is high.

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Trading, at least in most leagues I am in, is a seemingly impossible thing to do. Everyone wants the big win.  At the beginning of this year someone offered me a soon-to-be suspended Zeke for Tom Brady and OBJ.  Luckily, down the road of offensive offers and selfishness, I do believe there is a light at the end of the tunnel.  

People, far too often, think about trades on a player by player basis; as opposed to addressing them situationally.  Often I hear people saying “I need to get rid of x” or “Y had a really good game, I want to target him”, but all that’s doing is chasing points.  Instead, you should address the situation as a whole, and manipulate good timing to your advantage.  Here are a few examples I went through this year.

I was an OBJ owner, if you are grieving as well I understand your pain.  As soon as he went down, I had to upgrade my WR core.  I did not chase a particular player, instead I looked at my situation.  What I did have, was Duke Johnson Jr., who had scored three touchdowns in the last three weeks, before that he only has scored three in his previous two years.  Looking at what is most likely to happen next, I traded Duke for Doug Baldwin, a historic slow starter and potential top 10 WR every week.  Here are their outputs before and since the week 5 trade:

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These don’t always work out.  Similarly, I was struggling at RB, so I looked for more depth.  I traded for C.J Anderson in week seven only giving up Sammy Watkins.  He had a few bad games, but so did the offense as a whole, and I think he is the best running back on Denver.  It has not served me well thus far, but I think the trade was the right move at the time, and am more optimistic about C.J. becoming fantasy relevant again before Sammy Watkins.

I’ll give one more example.  Zeke got ‘suspended’ in week 9, supposedly keeping him out until the last two weeks of the fantasy playoffs.  There is one team in our league that has a dominant roster, and plenty of skill to spare.  He traded Doug Martin, his fourth best running back on his roster, for Zeke straight up.  A trade like this would only be possible with this timing, because he traded a starter now for a league winner later.

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Rarely, in competent leagues, can you outright rob someone in your trades.  The best way to upgrade the strength of your team is to trade based on situations, not players.

Jameis Winston With An All-Time Pregame Speech

Things are going south in Tampa Bay fast. After a predicted NFC South champion by most media outlets, the Bucs find themselves at 2-6 in a suddenly stacked division. Hopes are definitely low and according to some people, the team has already quit.

The Saints game was definitely a chance for the Bucs to bounce back but before the game, Winston tried to rally his troops.

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I’m a huge Jameis Winston guy — but this was embarrassing. Nobody had any clue what the hell he was doing. DeSean Jackson has never looked more confused in his life in the background. Winston, of course, did not finish this game due to injury, looked horrible in the first half, and started a fight that ultimately sees Mike Evans suspended for one game. Tampa lost 30-10 and somehow Ryan Fitzpatrick manages to find himself starting on yet another team.

Winston needs to focus on his performance on the field and stop trying to have a gimmick pregame speeches. To add insult to injury, Golden Tate even had something to say.

 

Not a good look Jameis.

Texans’ Outlook Post-Watson Injury

Terrible news swept through Houston right after the Astros won the World Series — their star rookie QB Deshaun Watson tore his ACL in practice on Thursday afternoon. There were some rumblings that he had first injured his knee in the Seattle game but the tear officially happened on a non-contact injury during practice.

Houston was only 3-4 on the season but the rookie was lighting it up and beloved by fans of the NFL — because who can hate on the Texans offense? He had just put up 38 points against the daunted Legion of Boom before having the game slip away in the last minute. As soon as this news broke, the Texans season was done. Obviously having to overcome the injuries to JJ Watt and Whitney Mercilus were no joke but atleast they had a QB that could sling the ball. Watson was well on his way to a Rookie of the Year award with the slowing down of Kareem Hunt and ACL injury to Dalvin Cook but now looks like he’ll be joining Cook in that category.

Tom Savage took the ball on Sunday’s game against the Colts and looked HORRENDOUS.  The Colts, who have only won against the winless Browns and 49ers, were able to go into Houston and get the W. Don’t forget the Colts are led by arguably one of the most incompetent coaches in Chuck Pagano and still managed to let Houston have a chance in this game. Savage was able to bring them to 4th & Goal at the end of the game but ultimately failed to find DeAndre Hopkins in the endzone.  A line of 19-44 with 219 yds and 1 TD (no interceptions though!) is just not going to get the job done. The ceiling for the Texans was probably the same it was every year — one win in the playoffs and then a loss to a real contender but this one hurts alot. Watson also tore his ACL in college but was able to lead Clemson to two national championship games (one title). We know he can bounce back but for the short-term, it’s going to be ugly in Houston.

 

Buffalo Adds Kelvin Benjamin

Big news out of Buffalo last week, when they traded for Carolina’s #1 receiver Kelvin Benjamin for a 3rd and 7th round pick. Benjamin, who was a huge talent at Florida State, hasn’t really impressed since coming into the NFL. The Panthers were hoping to find their perennial  #1 WR to pair up with Cam Newton but instead just found a big body with bad hands. The biggest news that had revolved around Kelvin Benjamin was how fat he was when he showed up to training camp.

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He finished his last season as a Panther with 32 receptions for 475 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Not bad numbers definitely — but not what you want out of your #1 WR mid-season on a playoff contender. This move makes sense for the Bills but I’m still scratching my head on why the Panthers were so quick to give up on KB especially on a year that their main #1 target, Greg Olsen, is out with an injury. The Panthers seem to have enough trust in Funchess to wait out the storm until they get Olsen back.

For the Bills, this makes all the sense in the world — a team that is desperately trying to break the NFL’s longest standing playoff drought who actually look decent this year. They sit in second place in the AFC East with a 5-3 record but are only being carried by Shady McCoy. Tyrod Taylor has no weapons outside of rookie Zay Jones (who’s hardly a weapon). KB gives the Bills that big body and a potential #1 that teams need to respect rather than just stacking the box against McCoy. Although the Bills aren’t going to win the AFC East (because — well let’s be honest they have no shot), the wildcard is certainly in reach. They still have four divisional games to go (2 against the Patriots & the Dolphins) and a date with the Chiefs & Saints give them a tough finish to the season. It’ll be interesting to see how KB can stretch out defenses and we’ll see if they can hold onto that second wildcard spot.

Spoiler: They won’t — It’s Buffalo. 

Thoughts After the Garoppolo Trade

The trade deadline came and went, leaving us with perhaps the most exciting one in years. The big one that dropped Monday night, a day before the deadline, was the move made by the New England Patriots for a second-round pick from the San Francisco 49ers.

Huge news from the Patriots regarding the supposed heir to Brady’s throne. Garoppolo had been pumped up by Patriots fans to be the next franchise QB once Brady finally throws the towel in. After playing 100 snaps and looking solid last year, he went down with an injury — which led to Brissett and then back to Brady and we all know how last year ended. Brady has been on record saying that he wants to play atleast 4 more years, and still looks really good (leading the NFL in passing yards after Week 8). However, he is 40 years old and age will eventually catch up to him — that or Giselle making him stop.

Regardless, Garoppolo has always been highly touted and keeping him through the draft last year while the rumors were floating around certainly made people scratch their ends. Garoppolo is at the end of his contract and it was highly doubtful that the Patriots were going to be able to provide him with the money and the opportunity that another team would be able to. However, he stayed on the roster as Brady’s only backup when the Brissett trade happened — furthering the belief that the Pats thought this was their guy.

Then the news broke — a second round pick from the winless Niners (which is pretty much the same as a late 1st rounder at this point) for a potential franchise QB. I don’t hate the move from the Patriots view — they were going to be put in a tough spot in the offseason with the potential for Jimmy G to leave without them receiving anything. It’s probable the Pats have their eye on a QB in this draft. It’d be very surprising to see them not to take a young QB considering the only insurance policy is now Brian Hoyer.

For the Niners, I think this is a great move. They’re going all in on a young, potential franchise QB to pair him up with their young coach. Although the talent isn’t necessarily there, other than Carlos Hyde, this is the right move to start to build up. CJ Beathard wasn’t going to provide you the victories that you strive to have as part of a historically good organization. Garoppolo gives you that chance. At this point, the Niners are going to have a solid draft pick so they can look to provide him with the talent that’s necessary. Historically, almost everyone traded by the Patriots never seems to quite pan out as expected but the Niners taking this chance was a good move.

 

Week 8 Picks

Finally a good week in terms of picks where all writers were above .500. Week 8 features some premier primetime matchups, with the highlight having to be the NFC East showdown between the Cowboys and the Redskins. Essentially a playoff game for the two, it’ll be tough to have a chance in the NFC East falling to 3-4 with the Eagles looking sharp. Other matchups see the red hot Chargers at the Patriots and the Lions taking on the Steelers in Sunday night.

 

CONSENSUS PICKS: 30-14  (LW: 6-0)

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CONSENSUS PICKS: CIN, NE, NO, PHI, SEA, KC

Cam Newton Strikes Again

Cam Newton did his weekly press duties on Wednesday (which in itself isn’t consistent thanks to the female route question incident) and left abruptly after receiving a normal question. The legend of Cam Newton being a sore loser and acting ridiculous after a loss continues.

Cam is rivaling Odell at the point for biggest primadonna in the NFL. There was absolutely nothing wrong with this question but you can see Cam immediately shuts off and then leaves shortly after. Does the word “chunk” trigger Newton? Perhaps but this doesn’t really make sense. I’m sure we’ll get some muffled explanation from the Panthers brass but I doubt they’ll clarify this. Cam still needs to learn how to grow up after experiencing a loss, especially one that he was so detrimental to. He played like garbage, and in turn so did the Panthers. I’m sure if they win this weekend, he’ll be all smiles celebrating into the camera with his Superman pose like the clown he is.

Stern Green-Lights the Idea of Marijuana Being Removed from Banned Substance List

SI- In an interview with former NBA player Al Harrington, ex-NBA commissioner David Stern said he is in favor of removing marijuana from the league’s list of banned substances.

“I’m now at the point where, personally, I think [marijuana] probably should be removed from the ban list,” Stern said. “I think there is universal agreement that marijuana for medical purposes should be completely legal.”

Harrington, who became a cannabis entrepreneur after retiring from the NBA, produced a documentary with UNINTERRUPTED to highlight the medicinal use of marijuana in professional sports. The 37-year-old said he believes “over 70 percent of athletes in major sports smoke marijuana.”

“I think it’s that big,” Harrington said. “Not only the players, but I think coaches consume, I think the owners consume. I think in sports it’s very prevalent and it’s right there.”

As part of the documentary, Harrington invited Stern to speak about the drug because “he was the commissioner during the roughest time for the NBA for drugs.”

Stern, who served as commissioner from 1984-2014, said his policies were appropriate at the time. “Some of our players came to us and said [players] were high coming into the game, so we began tightening it up,” he said.

Big words from the former NBA commissioner in regards to one of the (assumed) most frequent used banned substances in the NBA. I have to imagine that during the next CBA, this will be a highly debated topic as it is becoming legalized across the United States. It makes sense to not have something that is legal to use be a banned substance in the NBA. It always blows my mind how these athletes — not so much the NBA lately — can’t just wait until they are out of the league (see: Josh Gordon, Justin Blackmon) before they start up the drug habits. It makes huge sense here to just remove it from the list and avoid the problem altogether.

The big stand-out from this article was Al Harrington saying that he believes over 70 percent of athletes in major sports smoke marijuana. Obviously, we take Al Harrington’s word with a grain of salt but that is an absurdly high number to roll out into the public. We knew the major sports leagues’ drug testing is sub-par at best but give me a break. It’ll be interesting to see if Silver has any reaction to what his old commissioner says especially considering Stern could have easily taken this path when he was in office.

Meanwhile, JR Smith still has no idea it’s banned.