Marshawn Lynch updated his blog today, for the first time in way too long. I love the kid, I really do. And it's fun to cruise the comments for people who can't handle his Oakland accent.
Showing posts with label fantasy/football. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fantasy/football. Show all posts
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
2008 NFL Schedule Released
Replace every instance of 'Seahawks' with '49ers', and I pretty much agree with Ufford's intro to the 2008 season. San Francisco will be terrible, no doubt, but hopefully not as crippled by the weight of every one's expectations as last year. I look forward to another season of not being able to watch them because I don't have Direct TV.
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Just a Little Off the Top 04/03/2008
Don't have much to say today, so a few links for your entertainment:
The inimitable Big Daddy Drew made me laugh today, with his metaphorical take on Davidson's recent March Madness adventures.
Slate has an entertaining story about the all-consuming nature of fantasy baseball. I still haven't told the girlfriend I'm actually in two leagues this year instead of one. Shh!
Speaking of, Sam Walker's Fantasyland is a fun fantasy baseball read (talk about phrases you never thought you'd hear). I mean, it's no Moneyball, but Amazon is selling the hardcover for seven bucks for some reason, so you can't go wrong.
I think that just about catches us up. I'm trying to arrange another guest post, and might have lined up a full time contributor to the site, so there's a pretty decent chance y'all will get a break from my frequent complaining about the Giants misadventures in the N.L. West.
Until I have something interesting to say...
The inimitable Big Daddy Drew made me laugh today, with his metaphorical take on Davidson's recent March Madness adventures.
Slate has an entertaining story about the all-consuming nature of fantasy baseball. I still haven't told the girlfriend I'm actually in two leagues this year instead of one. Shh!
Speaking of, Sam Walker's Fantasyland is a fun fantasy baseball read (talk about phrases you never thought you'd hear). I mean, it's no Moneyball, but Amazon is selling the hardcover for seven bucks for some reason, so you can't go wrong.
I think that just about catches us up. I'm trying to arrange another guest post, and might have lined up a full time contributor to the site, so there's a pretty decent chance y'all will get a break from my frequent complaining about the Giants misadventures in the N.L. West.
Until I have something interesting to say...
Monday, March 24, 2008
Woe...
It's going to keep getting worse, 49er fans. At least Eddie DeBartolo cheated in a way that made the team better...
Words fail me. I'm going to attempt to take solace in my fantasy baseball drafts and hopefully not remember this come April.
Words fail me. I'm going to attempt to take solace in my fantasy baseball drafts and hopefully not remember this come April.
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Saying Goodbye
There's a nice farewell to Justin Forsett over at Bears Necessity. I agree with his evaluation (although I don't really see what Forsett's faith has to do with anything, apart from explaining his taking a knee after touchdowns), and share his hopes for Forsett's future. Probably not a top tier back, but he'd be great as the speedy half of a Thunder & Lightning backfield. Dallas comes to mind, but I think they just signed someone to pair with Marion Barber III. (Or maybe not. ESPN.com has Barber as the only RB on the team. OK, then, Forsett would be a good fit for the Cowboys.)
Between Marshawn Lynch and Justin Forsett, Cal has benefited from a strong running game over the past few years. (I remember J.J. Arrington and Adimchinobi "Joe" Echemandu both having strong Berkeley careers as well, in spite of their relative lack of professional success.) It will be interesting to see if the Bears are as strong on the ground in 2008. We all know they didn't want Kevin Hart's help. Jahvid Best looked strong last year as a compliment to Lynch, but he's coming off a hip injury. Hopefully he's back up to speed. A strong running game will go a long way in helping Cal reestablish their place near the top of the Pac 10.
Between Marshawn Lynch and Justin Forsett, Cal has benefited from a strong running game over the past few years. (I remember J.J. Arrington and Adimchinobi "Joe" Echemandu both having strong Berkeley careers as well, in spite of their relative lack of professional success.) It will be interesting to see if the Bears are as strong on the ground in 2008. We all know they didn't want Kevin Hart's help. Jahvid Best looked strong last year as a compliment to Lynch, but he's coming off a hip injury. Hopefully he's back up to speed. A strong running game will go a long way in helping Cal reestablish their place near the top of the Pac 10.
Friday, March 14, 2008
A Little Off the Top 03/14/2008
The Play in CA calls for Ben Braun's job. It's embarassing debacles like last night's game against UCLA that makes me glad I don't have cable. Although I'm sure I'll fold by football season.
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Earth shattering, mind blowing news!
Everyone put down your beverages. Find a comfy chair. This is important:
Marshawn Lynch has a blog.
Now, I'm on the record as being a huge fan of the former Golden Bear / current Buffalo Bills running back, but this is cooler than a faux hawk. Consider:
I can't wait to draft the kid on my fantasy football team again. (OK, I only had him on one team out of three. But still) As a bonus, if he ever gets hurt, he can drive himself off the field:
Marshawn isn't posting very often these days, but hopefully things will pick up when we get closer to football season. Oakland in da house, y'all.
Solid. Solid.
(Thanks to the fine folks at 64MillerLites, where I first discovered this bundle of goodness, and to my buddy C-Ro, for an impromptu lesson on embedding video. I might not understand it, but I have some code I can copy and paste...)
Marshawn Lynch has a blog.
Now, I'm on the record as being a huge fan of the former Golden Bear / current Buffalo Bills running back, but this is cooler than a faux hawk. Consider:
I can't wait to draft the kid on my fantasy football team again. (OK, I only had him on one team out of three. But still) As a bonus, if he ever gets hurt, he can drive himself off the field:
Marshawn isn't posting very often these days, but hopefully things will pick up when we get closer to football season. Oakland in da house, y'all.
Solid. Solid.
(Thanks to the fine folks at 64MillerLites, where I first discovered this bundle of goodness, and to my buddy C-Ro, for an impromptu lesson on embedding video. I might not understand it, but I have some code I can copy and paste...)
Friday, February 8, 2008
Kevin Hart: Evil Genius?
As a (sometimes) proud Cal alum, I haven't decided yet how to feel about the whole Kevin Hart signing day fiasco. Those of you unfamiliar with the saga can find links to all the deadspin posts on the wonderful Mr. Ufford's With Leather. For fans of the Worldwide Leader, Gene Wojciechowski has a pretty thorough article as well.
Honestly, my first reaction was frustration with the Cal program. The team just finished an epic, embarrassing collapse of a season that makes the 2007 Mets look like strong finishers. A 5-0 start followed by a single win in 7 games when the wheels came suddenly, horribly off against Oregon State. A win in the Bell Helicopter Armed Services Bowl against an Air Force team that doesn't even run the triple option anymore. I don't know if it's as bad as the Tom Holmoe years, but it's close.
Cal has enjoyed a strong running game over the past few years, with players like Justin Forsett and the incredibly gangter Marshawn Lynch running rampant out of the backfield. So when a 6'4, 305 pound 2-star recruit, holds a press conference in his hometown and proudly declares his intention to enroll at Berkeley, instead of Pac-10 rival Oregon, why, oh why would Coach Jeff Teford turn down the opportunity to secure a strong addition to the offensive line?
Well, it turns out he's not very good. I guess two stars (out of 5) at rivals.com doesn't mean nearly as much as two stars (out of 3) from Michelin. This also happens to be when the story gets interesting. When it came out that Cal (and, for that matter, anyone) had no interest whatsoever him, Hart initially claimed to have fallen victim to a shady recruiter named Kevin Riley.
Now, I know there are 300 million people in this country, but surely a recruiter just happening to have that name is at least a little coincidental. Cal football fans will remember Kevin Riley virtually single-handedly ruining the Golden Bear's shot at a number 1 ranking in the aforementioned Oregon State game. Remember, the very same day that LSU lost in triple OT to Kentucky? Yeah, so do I. Anyway, that was when alarm bells started clanging in my head.
It turned out in the end that Hart made everything up, getting caught in an elaborate story that went back weeks, if not months. And you can understand his desire to play D-1 football. Heck, I thought of myself as a pretty decent hockey player at one point. But what exactly did he think was going to happen? Sure, if he was a 4 star prospect, Tedford might have said 'Hey, we didn't think we had a shot at this kid, but if he wants to come here so bad, let's try to work something out.' After all, Cal's recruiting class didn't exactly set the world on fire. No top 150 recruits, and only 2 teams in the conference ranked worse. Then again, if the kid was a 4 star recruit, Cal probably would have recruited him.
It's going to be a long offseason, Bear fans. And I haven't even started on the basketball team yet (A lousy 5-5 in conference so far)...
Honestly, my first reaction was frustration with the Cal program. The team just finished an epic, embarrassing collapse of a season that makes the 2007 Mets look like strong finishers. A 5-0 start followed by a single win in 7 games when the wheels came suddenly, horribly off against Oregon State. A win in the Bell Helicopter Armed Services Bowl against an Air Force team that doesn't even run the triple option anymore. I don't know if it's as bad as the Tom Holmoe years, but it's close.
Cal has enjoyed a strong running game over the past few years, with players like Justin Forsett and the incredibly gangter Marshawn Lynch running rampant out of the backfield. So when a 6'4, 305 pound 2-star recruit, holds a press conference in his hometown and proudly declares his intention to enroll at Berkeley, instead of Pac-10 rival Oregon, why, oh why would Coach Jeff Teford turn down the opportunity to secure a strong addition to the offensive line?
Well, it turns out he's not very good. I guess two stars (out of 5) at rivals.com doesn't mean nearly as much as two stars (out of 3) from Michelin. This also happens to be when the story gets interesting. When it came out that Cal (and, for that matter, anyone) had no interest whatsoever him, Hart initially claimed to have fallen victim to a shady recruiter named Kevin Riley.
Now, I know there are 300 million people in this country, but surely a recruiter just happening to have that name is at least a little coincidental. Cal football fans will remember Kevin Riley virtually single-handedly ruining the Golden Bear's shot at a number 1 ranking in the aforementioned Oregon State game. Remember, the very same day that LSU lost in triple OT to Kentucky? Yeah, so do I. Anyway, that was when alarm bells started clanging in my head.
It turned out in the end that Hart made everything up, getting caught in an elaborate story that went back weeks, if not months. And you can understand his desire to play D-1 football. Heck, I thought of myself as a pretty decent hockey player at one point. But what exactly did he think was going to happen? Sure, if he was a 4 star prospect, Tedford might have said 'Hey, we didn't think we had a shot at this kid, but if he wants to come here so bad, let's try to work something out.' After all, Cal's recruiting class didn't exactly set the world on fire. No top 150 recruits, and only 2 teams in the conference ranked worse. Then again, if the kid was a 4 star recruit, Cal probably would have recruited him.
It's going to be a long offseason, Bear fans. And I haven't even started on the basketball team yet (A lousy 5-5 in conference so far)...
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
The real Super Bowl MVP: Sideburns!
02/05/2008
I was in Vermont a few weeks ago, over the recent three day weekend (Thanks, LBJ!). It was a great trip, full of maple-flavored foodstuffs, snowshoeing, beer, and more cheese than you can shake a stick at. If, you know, you're the sort of person who shakes sticks at inanimate foodstuffs. Anyway, it was such a good trip that I decided to do what any good Vermonter would: turn my too-lazy-to-shave stubble into an honest to god beard. It was thick. It was luxurious. It was red.
It was also terribly unlucky. The drive home took several hours than the drive there, even with (or maybe because of) the GPS. I couldn't land a new job, even after more interviews than I can remember. The beard got into an argument with a friend of mine. The Chargers stunk in the AFC title game. The missus had rug burn on her cheeks. I could go on. An ugly situation all around.
By Super Sunday, it was clear something had to be done. Drastic measures would be required. Boldly, I took my Mach 3 Super-duper Power Turbo Razor in hand. In a matter of minutes, the viking mane was transformed into gi-normous, California shaped sideburns (Ok, I'm homesick. Deal with it.). Thus reborn, I proudly put on my Repli-thentic (Whatever that means) 1990 red Joe Montana 49ers jersey and ventured out to watch the game somewhere in Morningside Heights, looking like Hugh Jackman's Wolverine (at least the facial hair).
By now, you all know what happened. The Patriots played like they had somewhere to be. David Tyree defied the laws of physics. Eli played like his older brother, and for once, I don't mean Cooper. The Giants won the freaking Super Bowl.
And I went 7-2 on my props, only missing on a shot in the dark highest scoring quarter bet and a Patriots-biased double result hedge.
So, you can have your trophy, Eli. You can have all the glory. But just consider: would you really have played the game of your young career if I hadn't done my best General Ambrose Burnside impression that very morning?
Sure, some of the kinks still need to be worked out. I haven't found a new job yet. But I haven't lost my current one, either, which is nice. The sideburns are on good terms with my friends. And Joe Montana is still the greatest quarterback of all time (for now).
But, still: All hail sideburns!
I was in Vermont a few weeks ago, over the recent three day weekend (Thanks, LBJ!). It was a great trip, full of maple-flavored foodstuffs, snowshoeing, beer, and more cheese than you can shake a stick at. If, you know, you're the sort of person who shakes sticks at inanimate foodstuffs. Anyway, it was such a good trip that I decided to do what any good Vermonter would: turn my too-lazy-to-shave stubble into an honest to god beard. It was thick. It was luxurious. It was red.
It was also terribly unlucky. The drive home took several hours than the drive there, even with (or maybe because of) the GPS. I couldn't land a new job, even after more interviews than I can remember. The beard got into an argument with a friend of mine. The Chargers stunk in the AFC title game. The missus had rug burn on her cheeks. I could go on. An ugly situation all around.
By Super Sunday, it was clear something had to be done. Drastic measures would be required. Boldly, I took my Mach 3 Super-duper Power Turbo Razor in hand. In a matter of minutes, the viking mane was transformed into gi-normous, California shaped sideburns (Ok, I'm homesick. Deal with it.). Thus reborn, I proudly put on my Repli-thentic (Whatever that means) 1990 red Joe Montana 49ers jersey and ventured out to watch the game somewhere in Morningside Heights, looking like Hugh Jackman's Wolverine (at least the facial hair).
By now, you all know what happened. The Patriots played like they had somewhere to be. David Tyree defied the laws of physics. Eli played like his older brother, and for once, I don't mean Cooper. The Giants won the freaking Super Bowl.
And I went 7-2 on my props, only missing on a shot in the dark highest scoring quarter bet and a Patriots-biased double result hedge.
So, you can have your trophy, Eli. You can have all the glory. But just consider: would you really have played the game of your young career if I hadn't done my best General Ambrose Burnside impression that very morning?
Sure, some of the kinks still need to be worked out. I haven't found a new job yet. But I haven't lost my current one, either, which is nice. The sideburns are on good terms with my friends. And Joe Montana is still the greatest quarterback of all time (for now).
But, still: All hail sideburns!
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