The SoapBoxers

Fantasy Football Fantastic!

We have just started the NFL Pre-Season and now is the time when many of us turn on our computers and log into the draft- room.

Yep, it is time for fantasy football drafts.

Which Type of Fantasy Leaguer Are You?

I categorize Fantasy Football leagues into one of three categories. And it has nothing to do with what the entry fees are. They include:

The Eager Beaver League: These leagues have already held their drafts. They were likely already working out draft orders, dinner menus back in May. These leagues are made up of the die hards that yearn for the best part of any fantasy league….the DRAFT. Of course they get this out of the way early only to see their star players hurt in pre-season, arrested, suspended or cut from the team. If only they could have waited a few more weeks.

The Average Joe League: This is what 95% of leagues fall into in terms of statistical categorization. They hold their draft in the middle of pre-season as close as possible to the kick-off of the first ACTUAL games. This give all players plenty of time to study all of the overpriced draft magazine, dedicated hour long FFL shows, chat room message boards and trial and error from other leagues they may have already participated in. These players have done countless mock drafts, analyzed all of the 3 deep depth charts, and have already made nice with the spouse to get the extra couple of nights to hang with the group and have a few beverages and act like college aged kids once again.

The Better Late Than Never League: Two types of people fall into this category. They are either people that at the last minute decide they can get their work buddies or fellow students together to put together that last minute league, even though the season has already started…OR…you get the people that were in the Eager Beaver Leagues that miss the action of draft night SO BADLY, that they sign up for another one, even if it breaks every fantasy rule they hold tried and true (meaning it pains them to be doing it late) but they do it anyway, for the thrill of the draft.

Mucho Importante!

Which gets me to the most important part of any fantasy league, be it baseball, football, basketball, golf, hockey, water polo, Equestrian, Checkers, whatever….the Draft is the single most important part of your time in the league as well as the single most fun part of being in the league.

You can spend a lot of money subscribing to insider information, purchasing 14 different magazine and forecast tools for players – – – or you can do a little research and get together with your friends and have a good time.

Weather you play for just pride, a ton of money, or just a cheesy gold trophy resembling something that your dad would have won from his Thursday late-night bowling league, it is a good and fun time to participate, and the draft is always the highlight of every league I have ever been in.

College Anyone?

I for one am planning on entering a college fantasy league for the first time ever. There are a number of sites that offer this free of charge and you end up competing against people from all over the country as you simply sign up to join a league. Guess this means I better start researching the MAC for that bullet armed quarterback, or the Ohio Valley for that never heard before place kicker. Maybe the Mountain West has a stud tight end that has slipped under my previous radar.

All I know is that as World Champion of the World last year in two of the three leagues I competed in, I now my fellow competitors will be amped up and gunning to get me. One of those leagues is not taking place this year (I guessed I scared them all off) but I have added a new one to take its place

So….. Farm Leaguers, Big Ballers Big X Legends and Leaders, Johnny is back for bragging rights and will be talking smack on draft night. Consider yourself advised…..

Until Next Time, Stay Classy St. Onge, South Dakota.

Johnny G will move from his normal run down of sports articles this week and take a quick look at what he enjoys on Sundays and Mondays

Fantasy Football

Here is a re-cap of some of the high and lows of the Fantasy season so far.

Biggest Fantasy Bust thus far:

There are always a lot of candidates here, mostly due to injury. Anyone who drafted Peyton Manning is still hating their pre-draft listing or wishing they had one less adult beverage at draft time.

Miles Austin the #1 wideout for the Cowboys has been injured and he was sure to go high in many leagues. Matt Ryan has been underperforming from a statistical standpoint as well. Most any Philadelphia player outside Michael Vick, has their owners talking as the defense, Jeremy Maclin, Deshaun Jackson, and yes even Kicker Alex Henery have not performed up to the hype of the dream team.

Biggest Surprise thus far:

Has to be Cam Newton. Not only are the Panthers competitive, Newton has put up gigantic numbers for fantasy owners, the jury is still out as he is only four games in, but in 20+ years of fantasy football leagues I cannot remember a rookie that has had this much impactful scoring right out of the gate.

The Safety Play that has worked the best:

Hopefully you took Aaron Rodgers high in drafts, and if you did, you have been rewarded mightily. The weather is still good in Wisconsin and the Packer Scoring juggernaut is in high gear. We shall see if this trend continues if the weather starts to get colder at the frozen tundra.

Best RB thus far – There is a lot to choose from but I am taking Matt Forte from the Bears. He has exceeded all expectations of all owners and is in a contract year. He wants to be shown the money and I am confident that he will continue to put up good numbers as long as the Bears give him the ball more than 15 times a game.

Rookies to keep watching:

Julio Jones and A.J. Green. Both guys are large receivers and seem to be quickly becoming the go to targets at the wide out position of their respective teams. Mark Ingram has not shown that the Saints have a good enough line to block for him so I would be an interested “seller” if someone was looking for him.

Throw Him the Ball More ….Please!

Ok in different leagues I have both Calvin Johnson and Dez Bryant. Neither guy is remotely defendable. Would someone tell Stafford and Romo to throw them the damn ball (my best Keyshawn Johnson impersonation)

Still Sleeping….I like Daniel Thomas from the Dolphins. I think he could be poised to have a good year if he stays healthy and the fish can figure out an offensive identity. I also am encouraged by Curtis Painter as he stepped up in the Monday night game against the Bucs and will sure to have the waiver wire lighting up this week. Lastly how about Jacoby Jones with the uncertainty of Houston Texans Wideout Andre Johnson. Hamstring issues have a way of lingering, and Schaub has to throw the ball to someone.

Until next time..Stay Classy Battle Mountain Nevada

Quarterbacks– A couple of guys I like here that will not immediately come off the board but can help you out. First is Josh Freeman – The Bucs are young and people forget they won 10 games last year. Look for even a better performance this year. Also he is a bigger name, but the Cowboys are not going to be ahead in many games so grab Tony Romo to get you some big time stats. Be a little more cautious of him however in leagues that penalize for throwing interceptions

Running Backs – Love me some Ryan Matthews. He was highly touted last year but was banged up early, never really looked to be in shape, and was a large bust as a rookie last year. Have a short memory here. He will get the load of carries for a Chargers offense that was #1 in the league last year.

Legarrette Blount is another guy I like (wow two Bucs players early on) He came on late last year and since he is in Tampa flies under the radar. He should be on yours

Wide Receivers – Former Stud now turned sleeper is Chad Johnson ( I am calling him by his real name since he got shut down by the Jets last year and then never followed through to change his name back) He is with the Pats, Brady has to have someone to throw to…and let’s face it….the Patriots have NO running game at all. Dez Bryant – See my comment from Romo above. Miles Austin still will get the brunt of the coverage which means a healthy and big play maker Dez will get plenty of chances to shine

Tight Ends – Heath Miller – Big Ben is in town for all of the games this year, and with and aging Hines Ward, this guy becomes and even more popular target for the Steelers offense.

Kickers – I will go to the homer card here and take the rookie from Nebraska Alex Henery – He steps right in with the Eagles who have had David Akers…well …forever. This is one of the harder places to kick in all of the NFL due to the wind conditions as well as the fan base, but the Eagles will have plenty of opportunities to score. If you have to have a rookie on your team, this is the guy to have as he is about the safest bet to score 130-150 fantasy points.

College Football Week 1 recap

The early talk of the college football season is not the fact that Johnny G picked straight up upsets by Bowling Green and more impressively the Baylor Bears over TCU. Nope, the newly rolled out uniforms of the Maryland Terrapins made the twitter world blow up last night. If you think these looked funky, wait until you see what they will roll out later this year with some other color combinations that they have available in their arsenal.

Once again Notre Dame proves that they are horribly over-rated in the polls and now have a distinct possibility of starting 0-2 as they face Michigan this week.

Boise State blows out a super over-rated SEC foe in Georgia. Boise State has 17 returning starters and a bunch of seniors….Georgia well…they could not even beat the Colorado Buffaloes last year. This was about the easiest upset pick of the week in Johnny’s opinion. Boise now has a clear path to undefeatedness once again but will they get a shot at the title game once and for all? I am sure the talking heads on ESPN will be rolling this out all day today…too bad I am not home to watch it.

Until next time…stay classy Dubuque Iowa!

As covered last week by yours truly, the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Championship lived up to all the hype.  Joey Chestnut became a three time champ downing a new world record 68 hot dogs in 10 minutes.  Amazing.

Tiger Woods outdueled the field and won for the third time this year.  Hunter Mahan threw an impressive final round 62 at Eldrick at Congressional, but it was not enough. Woods had his game face on all day and won for the third time this year.  He heads to the Open Championship in two weeks and if he can play like this should be considered the favorite..then again…when isn’t he?

Tragedy hits the NFL.  Seems like we have been talking too much lately about untimely deaths of popular figures of American culture.  The more details that are coming out the less the local community feels like they really knew Steve McNair.

Roger Federer wins an unprecedented 15 grand slam title.  While last years match was considered “the greatest game ever played” we do not seem to be hearing the same talk this year about this 2009 version of the Mens’ Wimbledon Final.  Roddick and Federer went more games this year than Nadal v. Federer last year.  Nike wasted no time in having a smooth looking velveteen jacket that was gold and white with a nice “F”  on the front and a smooth number 15 on the back…..wonder how long it will be before that is outdated?

Lance Armstong is making a comeback to vie for the Tour de France this year after retiring some years ago.  The seven time winner finds himself in 3rd place behind current leader Fabian Cancellara of Switzerland just 40 seconds behind.  Can  Livestrong continue this feat and win an 8th Tour?  Either way it will be an amazing story and it will be especially with the French Media, who has looked for every possible angle to try an diminish the great cyclists record in this prestigious event.

For you fantasy geeks out there remember that most Fantasy Football drafts are just around the corner.  Many of my co-workers are already buying magazines and laying out the big plans for the boys bachelor party weekend…errrrr…Draft Collaboration.  It is truly amazing how much wasted efficiencies are realized each year by millions of workers surfing the net and trying to figure out who is a better pick, Adrian Peterson or Michael Turner.  Count me among those that love the fantasy leagues and the draft parties.  I am just not a rabid fan as many I know.  Look for some upcoming fantasy football articles from the Goodman file later this year.

In college sports news “of sorts”  The University of Nebraska allowed comedian, Larry the Cable Guy, to perform a 4th of July concert at Memorial Stadium.  This is big news to those of us here in Nebraska as the last time a “non-football” event was held at Memorial Stadium was the Farm Aid concert some time in the 1980’s.  The only reason that year the University allowed the Farm Aid concert was because they were going to tear up and replace all of the Astroturf in the stadium.  Larry who is a native Nebraskan, charged a whopping $4-$6 dollars for tickets depending on seating and where you purchased them.  You can catch the action on Comedy Central likely in a month or two as the event was taped to be shown on TV at a later time.  Nice Job packing the house with over 50,000 who watched the concert this past Saturday.

Until Next week….GIT – R- DONE!