Fantasy Football, Sports

The WN Fantasy Football Report: Week 10 Starts and Sits

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Man. Week 10 is upon us and there are another bevy of fantasy superstars on the shelf with byes. I have six of my nine starters out in one league this week. I have never been an advocate of drafting a team around byes, after all, it’s only one week you have to suffer. Karma isn’t kind to me this time around, as I am rolling into battle with the ferocious backfield of Frank Gore and Jonathan Stewart against the team one game ahead of me for first place. Well played, schedule makers, well played.

Last week, when some of fantasy’s biggest scorers were on bye, you relied on us to get you the right starts and sits. How did we do? Fee missed on starting Russell Wilson who had a quiet game against the Raiders, but hit big with Jeremy Maclin‘s 35-point performance. He was right in sitting Doug Martin, Cam Newton and Stewart, but Percy Harvin surprised a lot of people (including yours truly who had him on my bench) with his 2014 breakout performance. Ted Reed hit on Shane Vereen with his 17-point day and looked like he was right about Andrew Hawkins, who was averaging 10 yards per catch before leaving the game injured. Ted was also correct in sitting all of the Rams’ running backs. J.D. was right in both of his Starts of the Week as Ronnie Hillman and Martavis Bryant both had multiple touchdown days. Me? My Start of the Week Ryan Tannehill blew up for 30 points, while my Sit of the Week Andy Dalton finally had a good game. It still wasn’t a monster output for a quarterback (23 points) but it’s amazing what A.J. Green can do for a slumping QB.

This week, names like Tom Brady, Rob Gronkowski, Andrew Luck, T.Y. Hilton, Philip Rivers, Arian Foster and Alfred Morris are on a bye. Once again, our gurus had to dig deep for some important starts and sits for you. As the season has gone on, we have gotten better and better. Hopefully, you have been listening to us and doing the same!

Continue to Week 10 Starts and Sits

NFL, Sports

Three Big Story Lines for Week 10 of the NFL

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Week 10. Man, the season is flying by isn’t it? As everyone knows by now, Peyton Manning once again fell to Tom Brady and the scorching hot New England Patriots in the 16th edition of the Brady/Manning Rivalry. That means there are only two 7-win teams in the NFL. One is the aforementioned Patriots and the other is the 7-1 Arizona Cardinals.

I can’t quite figure it out, but with all the teams essentially at their halfway point, the Arizona Cardinals have the best record in football. They have a sick secondary, yet their defense is still only 19th overall. They have a steady offense, but they are ranked in the bottom third of the league. To be fair, Carson Palmer and Andre Ellington are finally looking healthy, and Larry Fitzgerald is finally looking like the Fitz of old. Whatever the case is, they are locked down at the top of the Wayniac Nation Power 5.

The Wayniac Nation Power 5: 1. Arizona Cardnials, 2. New England Patriots, 3. Denver Broncos, 4. Indianapolos Colts, 5. Detroit Lions

This week the Pats and the Colts will be missing from action as they are on bye with four other teams. The Houston Texans, San Diego Chargers, Washington Redskins and Minnesota Vikings also get a much needed week off as Arian Foster, RGIII and Philip Rivers (who am I kidding , the whole Chargers team) needs to refresh. Don’t you worry, though. There are still a bevy of not only great, but important games this weekend, including another matchup across the pond. I’m so glad that the Dallas Cowboys marketing department has realized it! As they said themselves on Twitter: #CowboysUK!

Onward to the 3 biggest stories of Week 10!

Basketball, Football, NBA, NFL, Sports

The Wacky Week in Sports

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Well, folks, baseball season is over. The end of the World Series will now bring endless amounts of rumors as to where each big free agent is going to go. College football had some big games and the playoff picture may have gotten a little bit clearer. That’s still weird to hear, huh? Playoff picture and college football in the same sentence? Russell Westbrook proved to be one of the most fragile “superstars” in the NBA and the Dallas Cowboys dropped their second straight loss. Pretty eventful week, huh?

Onward to the wackiness of the week!

Basbeall, Sports, Uncategorized

#DynaSFy… Or Is It?

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The 2014 baseball season ended Wednesday night. The Kansas City Royals fell 90-feet short in ending one of Major League Baseball’s most historic postseason (or was it the Yostseason?) runs with a a victory. That being said, the Royals earned the respect and admiration of the nation, and although ratings were down overall for the World Series, those who watched were taken on an amazing ride.

At the same very moment, in the other dugout, baseball fans were in fact treated to history. We watched the culmination of the best overall individual pitching performance in a seven-game series. We also watched the official birth of a dynasty. I think. Wait, did we?

Are the Giants a dynasty? Click to find out!

Fantasy Football, NFL, Sports

The WN Fantasy Football Report: Week 9 Starts and Sits

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What do Brandon Marshall, Alshon Jeffrey, Jay Cutler, Aaron Rodgers, Jordy Nelson, Randall Cobb, Eddie Lacy, Matt Ryan, Julio Jones, Roddy White, Martellus Bennett, Calvin Johnson, Matthew Stafford, Golden Tate, Reggie Bush, Joique Bell and Matt Forte all have in common? Clealry it isn’t that they are all mature leaders on their teams because Jay Cutler is listed in the mix. No, these are all big-scoring guys that all have a bye this week. Picking the right people to start is leaps and bounds more imperative than picking who to sit this week. One of my teams has six people on a bye this week, for crying out loud. What that basically comes down to is if you are on the schedule, you are suiting up for my Fighting Blue Hose.

Last week, I called out our three worst statistical fantasy gurus. I told you that their first half of their rookie fantasy expertise was under par. How did they respond? Dunton was perfect last week as his Start of the Week, T.Y. Hilton, dropped 26 points and his Sit, Marshawn Lynch put up a meager seven points. Fee also went perfect, getting 30 points out of his Golden Tate start and  a mere 16 from his Matt Ryan sit. Ted Reed responded by pulling a Larry Fitzgerald 32-point performance against a tough Eagles defense out of nowhere, and agreeing with Fee on the Matt Ryan Sit of the Week. Six-for-six, folks. If you had doubt in us before, that should erase any left.

Keep on keeping on for your STARTS AND SITS

Football, NFL, Sports

Three Big Story Lines for Week 9 in the NFL

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I told you. The Dallas Cowboys are a joke. I told you they were two weeks ago when every one was on their junk as the best team in football, and I told you last week when they didn’t even crack my Top 5 teams in the NFL. They are a good team. But a good team led by Tony Romo would eventually crumble, as they did Monday night losing to the Colt McCoy-led Redskins. Please refrain from the injury excuse as well, because you know what? Brandon Weeden looked sharp in his fill-in time.

There are a ton of teams on bye this week. The Falcons and Lions get to rest after their trip across the pond. The upstart Bills are off, as are the Bears, Packers and Titans. That leaves 13 games on the slate for this week’s NFL action. Four of the five teams in the Wayniac Nation Power 5 (in order the Broncos, Cardinals, Patriots, Lions and Colts) will see action this week. So what should you pay closest attention to this week? Come on now, you know I got that answer for you!

Continue on to the biggest story lines of week 9!

Fantasy Football, NFL, Sports

Sunday Morning Football Poll: Did You Like It?

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This Sunday, NFL fans experience the earliest game played in football history. I’m very curious on what my loyal Wayniacs thought about the game. Well, not so much the game in particular. I live in Atlanta, I have heard plenty about the Falcons epic collapse in Jolly Old England. Thomas Dimitroff needs to go. He went all in on the Julio Jones trade and has a team that has absolutely no depth. The NFL is a league in which someone gets injured on a weekly basis, sometimes by celebrating a sack (LaMarr Houston, you sir, are an idiot). Mike Smith has no one to turn to on his depleted offensive line and paper thin defense. His coaching calls are a bit peculiar, but so are Ned Yost’s and he is in the World Series. He needs players that play, and maybe this team can return to that 13-3 level they were just a few seasons ago.

(Photo Credit: Getty Images)
(Photo Credit: Getty Images)

But I digress. I am torn on how I feel about the game. You know by now that I am a total football geek, so a literal full day of football was pretty much like porn. But was it necessary? How many people said screw it and didn’t wake up?  Football is about beer and buffalo wings and none of those go particularly well with 9:30 in the morning. Here in Atlanta, without a special permit, bars can’t serve alcohol until 12:30 on Sundays. Who wants to go to a bar for football when you can’t booze?

It also totally screwed up my fantasy team. I had several running backs on bye, so I had to plug-and-play Bernard Pierce. Pierce was announced inactive at noon, but unlike every other Sunday in the history of time, the waiver wire had locked at 9:30 AM. I couldn’t make a move and had to roll into Sunday’s action down an RB. I know, I know, most people think that the NFL doesn’t care about fantasy football, they care about that dollar bill. Then why does NFL.com, the official site of the NFL, have it’s own fantasy football site with league play and experts? Why does the NFL Network air Fantasy Football Live twice a day? Why do active NFL players tweet about benching themselves and losing? Fantasy football is played by everyone, it is a very real issue in pondering moves Goodell makes. Of course, Goodell doesn’t put much thought into anything, so this shouldn’t be shocking.

So I don’t know how I feel about it. I am a traditionalist at heart. I don’t even like Thursday Night Football even though it gives us an extra day. I remember in my youth after midseason, we had Saturday games. What happened to those? It’s so much better than Thursday because teams have the right amount of rest. Anyhooo…. I think I would rather the normal slate of 1 PM and 4 PM games and never have to watch football before I finished my coffee and eggs again. What do you think?

Football, NFL, Sports

The Wacky Week in Sports

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It was an interesting week to say the least. TCU played a hell of a basketball game on Saturday. What was that, you say? That was their football team? Well, then, a wacky week it was indeed! There was also the World Series and early morning NFL action to go down that was second to none. This week, however, was also full of tragedy.

Onward to all that is wacky

Fantasy Football, NFL, Sports

The WN Fantasy Football Report: Week 8 Starts and Sits

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Well, fantasy folks, we are essentially at the hallway point of the season. As we are cruising along in the 2014, I thought it would be fair to let you know where our experts stand and take some accountability in our first season as fantasy gurus (that term is used very loosely here at The Nation!). Fee, Dunton and Ted Reed have struggled thus far all coming in at around 30 percent accuracy in their predictions. J.D. has been the all-star of the bunch and his starts and sits have hit almost every time coming in at almost 90 percent correct. The Wayniac? Well, I am right around 70 percent accurate, but in my defense, I pick eight more starts and sits then the rest of the bunch.

So, are we there yet? Not quite, but we have succeeded in getting you some wins. Last week, for example, J.D. was on again. He told you to start Odell Beckham, Jr. who went off for two touchdowns, 34 yards receiving and a 13-yard rush for a 20 point day. He also told you to sit Zac Stacy who got the ol’ goose egg this past Sunday. Ted Reed was right in sitting Frank Gore who was shut down and eventually made a non-factor in the 49ers blowout loss registering two points. Fee and I nailed it on Lamar Miller who is quietly becoming a solid RB1 with the backfield finally all to himself. I missed big on Kirk Cousins who got benched for the lowly Colt McCoy, but I hit on starting Owen Daniels who returned to the end zone, and sitting the way overblown flavor-of-the-week Andre Holmes.

This week the Giants and the 49ers are on byes. Those are two teams that are pretty heavy in fantasy talent. This is also the time of the fantasy football season that if your hovering around .500 with a 4-3 or 3-4 record that every game counts if you want to make the post season. So, who gets you those extra fantasy points this week? We got you covered!

Continue onward for your Week 8 Starts and Sits

Football, NFL, Sports

Three Big Stories for Week 8 in the NFL

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Last week, I came on here and told you that the Cowboys were not the best team in the NFL, despite many pundits seeing things differently. If you saw my Wacky Week in Sports (click here if you haven’t), you will see I have acknowledged that the Cowboys are a legit team. But they still aren’t the best. That honor belongs to Peyton Manning and his Denver Broncos. They were the best team last season and ran into a hot Seahawks team that is struggling to stay out of the cellar in 2014. Manning now stands alone as the all-time touchdown king in NFL history. It’s a record that will continue to grow, and although they say records were made to be broken, I don’t know how this one would ever be.

Heading into the halfway point of the season, the five best teams right now are the Denver Broncos, the Dallas Cowboys, the Arizona Cardinals, the Philadelphia Eagles and the Indianapolis Colts or Green Bay Packers. All six of these teams have huge games this weekend that are must-wins to keep the likes of the Chargers, Lions and Patriots from continuing to climb to the top. The five worst teams right now are the Oakland Raiders, Jacksonville Jaguars, the New York Jets, the Tampa Bay Suck-a-neers and Atlanta Falcons. The Titans, Vikings and the Saints are probably all worse off than the Falcons, but this Atlanta team was supposed to bounce back this season and instead, they seem to be sinking deeper into the abyss that their 2013 collapse was.

The San Francisco 49ers and New York Giants both have off this week which means we got a pretty full slate of 15 games. What should you be paying close attention to this weekend? Well, that’s why you clicked on this article, right?

Continue on to the 3 biggest stories of week 8

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