Hey guys-
Gosh, it's been a week since i've posted? Groan. Take my word for it, it hasn't been for a lack of trying. On other computers it seems like i get locked out of signing in, it happened a number of times over thanksgiving break over at my house in california. Unbelievable.
Speaking of thanksgiving break, hope everyone had a great break. I truly had one of my more memorable breaks ever, even though i didn't eat any turkey ( we were invited to a party on thanksgiving that didn't serve turkey but did serve some great food). I'm getting my sister mixed up in the spelling bee ( more about that later, but I'm optimistic), and I saw a great holiday movie, Fred Claus. I recommend it to anyone reading this, especially if u like christmas as much as I do. I have christmas music playin as i write this.
Anyway, football analysis. I was gonna do a basketball update on friday, but because of "access denied" situation i couldn't, but a lot of stuff's going down in NBA hoops, lemme assure you. However, on to football, I start with a familiar battle cry:
GATES, baby! 105 yds, 2TD's today. Game's not over. It seems whenever rivers is on, gates gets his numbers. Not suprising correlation/causation, obviously. Tomlinson, to many, is having a down year, but I feel like he's still doing what he does............at a slightly decreased pace. Last year his offense was just so dynamic that he ran free at will, this year people are clamping down on him and it's harder, but he's still putting up tough yards every game, the TD's just aren't there in abundance.
Willis McGahee has quietly put up a TD in his last 5 games. Turning into a pretty good back, too bad baltimore hasn't been winning those games. Another loss today puts them pretty much out of the playoff picture.
The Minnesota D was a fantasy superstar today, returning 3, THREE! interceptions for TD's off of eli manning. Giants fans ( like my one friend Justin) are banging their heads and praying that it's not a repeat of last year's 2nd half meltdown. Plaxico Burress, to his credit, did get on track, getting 93 and a TD. Reuben Droughns started and got a TD for them, but that is NOT who u want ur starting RB to be. Chester Taylor got another solid game.............it seems counterintuitive but should they just rest adrian peterson the rest of the season to keep him healthy or at least time-share him, get as much as they can out of taylor?
San Fran and Arizona going into OT. Larry Fitzgerald monster game, 147 yds and 2 TD's and again, game's not over. I'm not too suprised this game is so close even tho arizona's in the hunt for a playoff spot at 5-5 and san fran sucks, 49ers traditionally play cardinals tough and it's probably difficult for young team to take the niners seriously. It doesn't look like anybody in the NFC wants the last 2 wildcard spots.
Detroit lost to go to 6-5, NYG lost to go to 7-4, arizona might lose, washington lost to go to 5-6........tsk, tsk, tsk.
New Orleans might just back into a playoff spot as they are now 5-6 after demolishing the panthers on the road. Drew brees is the epitome of that team as he is pretty inconsistent from week to week, today we got Dr. Jekyll as he put up 3 TD's thru the air and ran one in. Who knows what we get next week vs. tampa bay, i'm guessing Mr. Hyde.
Steve smith just having a totally repressed season, his numbers could be so much bigger on a better team or one that has a better QB..............that's just a waste in fantasy terms.
I saw that cedric benson got carted off the field and said, o no, but really, i don't feel too bad for the bears. That's really not a big loss. They're losing today after a lot of people picked them against the broncos............bears might finally stop providing false hope if they lose today.
They're driving right now i suppose.
Uh..............jacksonville is a good team. They actually came back after a big win and delivered a big performance......all of their relevant fantasy starters posted good numbers in a thrashing of the bills.......david garrard, maurice jones-drew, fragile fred, reggie williams.
Lee Evans has the steve smith syndrome. ( see above)
Cleveland's offense is legit. And their schedule is favorable inthe last few weeks, but will the defense carry them?
Again, the 3-pronged attack of derek anderson, braylon edwards, and kellen winslow the soldier in the passing game.
Apparently new england is a 24.5 point favorites against philadelphia led by a.j. feeley tonight. That should be interesting.
Alright bears lining up for a TD attempt is this going to OT? I still for some reason want the bears to lose. I guess they're an exciting team, but they're not that good. 4th down.............
What's it going to be?
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Sunday NFL action
Big Sunday of football today. Yahoo! expert Andy Behrens already does something like this every sunday, where he keeps a live update ( sort of) of games that go on in the NFL, tells us the highlights, makes some funny references, makes fun of Brandon Jacobs's weight or the San Francisco 49ers's ineptitude, and gives fantasy implications for each game. I hate to be a copycat, but that's some sound reporting, and i'm gonna get myself on that:
Oakland vs. Minnesota: What's significant about this game is not only chester taylor replacing adrian peterson and running all over the raiders' D ( what happened to warren sapp and ted washington in the middle of that run D?), but sebastian janikowski went FIVE of FIVE on FG attempts. Yes, 100%. THAT sebastian janikowski. He probably has the longest leg in the NFL and if anyone were ever to kick a 70-yarder he'd be the guy to do it, but he's never lived up his first-round draft selection. Today he had a long of 52, which isn't bad. But keep in mind it was in the metrodome. Philip Dawson also had a day of kicking, kicking 4 but in much more important situations, w/ a wierd game-equalizing FG as time ran out that was initially ruled no good. Good thing for Dawson's owners as that 50+ yarder was good, which set up ANOTHER 33-yarder to win the game in OT. That 8-point swing could have decided games for a lot of peeps. Enough about kickers though.
Maurice Jones-Drew has really bounced back after i wrote him off as a classic sophomore slump at about week 4- the guy is really actually a stud RB and i saw it first hand today when he just absolutely knocked OUT shawne merriman on a block, allowing David Garrard to pass to Mercedes Lewis for a JAX TD. Jax also wins by the same margin. GATES wasn't looking too hot for most of the game, just barely missing a potential TD in the first half, but did get a late TD from rivers for 54 yds, 1 TD. That'll work.
Jason Campbell is eventually gonna be a fantasy stud QB. Perhaps next year he'll be a Top 5 fantasy thrower. Today he was really on target against Dallas in mounting a late comeback but ultimately got intercepted by Terrance Newman. But w/ the WR's he's got in Washington, he's doing a heck of a job developing. Too bad Joe Gibbs shouldn't be there too long after this season.
What's this? St. Louis has won 2 in a row after 0-8 start? Well, they beat San Fran today in a 13-9 game in a battle of the uglies. I was gonna say, if u can't have a good fantasy day against SF, u can't have good fantasy days, and marc bulger and his WR's really didn't, but then i thought SF is not THAT bad of a D, it's just their offense deserves to play in Div III college ball.
The return of Andre Johnson- i alluded to it yesterday, he came back against the right team too, as NO's jason david probably has been burnt more than the glass beakers in my old chemistry classroom........geez. 8 rec, 120 yds, 1 TD for aj.......i like.
McNabb's hurt. Westbrook still going strong. Urg. I think maybe McNabb has a bounce-back year next year, MAYBE, but frankly this guy hasn't looked too good the last 2 seasons even when healthy and he hasn't bee healthy too much. Is his career in decline? Sure it's against the Dolphins, but every time i look at a PHI box score i see Westbrook w/ some sort of 100+ yardage, either by rush or by air. The sad thing is i could've drafted him or addai on draft day w/ the 6th pick. I picked Shaun Alexander.
I had the Pitt D, Pittsburgh kicker Jeff Reed, Pitt WR Hines WArd, and Pitt QB Big Ben all in on one team playing today, and it wasn't a bad play at all against the bad NYJ team. WEll, it didn't pay off too well, as the Steelers LOST. First of all, when u click on the box score for ur team in a situation where i'm heavily invested like this and ur team did NOT win, or they scored LESS than 28 points, u worry. And i was justified. Reed did okay, but the rest of the team's performance leads me to believe in that particular league i'm gonna be saddled w/ a loss.......
Especially since my opponent had Tom Brady. Another ho-hum, 373 yard, 5 TD, no INT day today. No words to describe what this guy is doing. No words to describe my anguish at getting no part of the New England passing game in either of my 3 leagues on draft day.
Earnest Graham 102 rush yds, 1 TD. This guy's quitely emerged as a solid replacement for Cadillac Williams- I knew he was a pretty good runner in week 3 when he came in for cadillac and ran much harder. Ahh, the power of fresh backs. O, and joey galloway got 63 yds, 1 TD. I'm picking the bucs for that division, but they got another matchup w/ the saints in 2 weeks that they should be able to win. If not, it might get messy.
Sunday was the type of day owners of any Arizona offensive player envisions having all season.......except it was against the Cincinatti Bengals, who would probably get run all over by the Illini offense right now. Juice and Mendenhall would put up at least 14 points against these jokers. But my point was, Larry Fitzgerald got 93 yds, 1 TD, Anquan boldin got 73 yds, 1 TD, edge ran for 52 and a TD................this was supposed to be a mini-version of Indy in the west, especially w/ boldin and fitzgerald. These 2 might still finish very strong, but their stock might never be as high as it was at the start of the last season, when they were both drafted early 3rd roudn.
Finally, there might be something brewing in Indy. Sure, he's got a lot of weapons banged up, especially his top gun marvin harrison, but peyton did NOT look like the peyton we kno and love today against an ordinary chiefs D, throwing 163, no TD's, 1 INT on just 50% completion rate. This after last week's 6 INT-debacle. Hmm........anyway, manning owners must be pissed. I have never in my now 4 years of fantasy football owned manning in any of my leagues, something i'm not that proud about, but this year i am cuz i would have overpaid.
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
Oakland vs. Minnesota: What's significant about this game is not only chester taylor replacing adrian peterson and running all over the raiders' D ( what happened to warren sapp and ted washington in the middle of that run D?), but sebastian janikowski went FIVE of FIVE on FG attempts. Yes, 100%. THAT sebastian janikowski. He probably has the longest leg in the NFL and if anyone were ever to kick a 70-yarder he'd be the guy to do it, but he's never lived up his first-round draft selection. Today he had a long of 52, which isn't bad. But keep in mind it was in the metrodome. Philip Dawson also had a day of kicking, kicking 4 but in much more important situations, w/ a wierd game-equalizing FG as time ran out that was initially ruled no good. Good thing for Dawson's owners as that 50+ yarder was good, which set up ANOTHER 33-yarder to win the game in OT. That 8-point swing could have decided games for a lot of peeps. Enough about kickers though.
Maurice Jones-Drew has really bounced back after i wrote him off as a classic sophomore slump at about week 4- the guy is really actually a stud RB and i saw it first hand today when he just absolutely knocked OUT shawne merriman on a block, allowing David Garrard to pass to Mercedes Lewis for a JAX TD. Jax also wins by the same margin. GATES wasn't looking too hot for most of the game, just barely missing a potential TD in the first half, but did get a late TD from rivers for 54 yds, 1 TD. That'll work.
Jason Campbell is eventually gonna be a fantasy stud QB. Perhaps next year he'll be a Top 5 fantasy thrower. Today he was really on target against Dallas in mounting a late comeback but ultimately got intercepted by Terrance Newman. But w/ the WR's he's got in Washington, he's doing a heck of a job developing. Too bad Joe Gibbs shouldn't be there too long after this season.
What's this? St. Louis has won 2 in a row after 0-8 start? Well, they beat San Fran today in a 13-9 game in a battle of the uglies. I was gonna say, if u can't have a good fantasy day against SF, u can't have good fantasy days, and marc bulger and his WR's really didn't, but then i thought SF is not THAT bad of a D, it's just their offense deserves to play in Div III college ball.
The return of Andre Johnson- i alluded to it yesterday, he came back against the right team too, as NO's jason david probably has been burnt more than the glass beakers in my old chemistry classroom........geez. 8 rec, 120 yds, 1 TD for aj.......i like.
McNabb's hurt. Westbrook still going strong. Urg. I think maybe McNabb has a bounce-back year next year, MAYBE, but frankly this guy hasn't looked too good the last 2 seasons even when healthy and he hasn't bee healthy too much. Is his career in decline? Sure it's against the Dolphins, but every time i look at a PHI box score i see Westbrook w/ some sort of 100+ yardage, either by rush or by air. The sad thing is i could've drafted him or addai on draft day w/ the 6th pick. I picked Shaun Alexander.
I had the Pitt D, Pittsburgh kicker Jeff Reed, Pitt WR Hines WArd, and Pitt QB Big Ben all in on one team playing today, and it wasn't a bad play at all against the bad NYJ team. WEll, it didn't pay off too well, as the Steelers LOST. First of all, when u click on the box score for ur team in a situation where i'm heavily invested like this and ur team did NOT win, or they scored LESS than 28 points, u worry. And i was justified. Reed did okay, but the rest of the team's performance leads me to believe in that particular league i'm gonna be saddled w/ a loss.......
Especially since my opponent had Tom Brady. Another ho-hum, 373 yard, 5 TD, no INT day today. No words to describe what this guy is doing. No words to describe my anguish at getting no part of the New England passing game in either of my 3 leagues on draft day.
Earnest Graham 102 rush yds, 1 TD. This guy's quitely emerged as a solid replacement for Cadillac Williams- I knew he was a pretty good runner in week 3 when he came in for cadillac and ran much harder. Ahh, the power of fresh backs. O, and joey galloway got 63 yds, 1 TD. I'm picking the bucs for that division, but they got another matchup w/ the saints in 2 weeks that they should be able to win. If not, it might get messy.
Sunday was the type of day owners of any Arizona offensive player envisions having all season.......except it was against the Cincinatti Bengals, who would probably get run all over by the Illini offense right now. Juice and Mendenhall would put up at least 14 points against these jokers. But my point was, Larry Fitzgerald got 93 yds, 1 TD, Anquan boldin got 73 yds, 1 TD, edge ran for 52 and a TD................this was supposed to be a mini-version of Indy in the west, especially w/ boldin and fitzgerald. These 2 might still finish very strong, but their stock might never be as high as it was at the start of the last season, when they were both drafted early 3rd roudn.
Finally, there might be something brewing in Indy. Sure, he's got a lot of weapons banged up, especially his top gun marvin harrison, but peyton did NOT look like the peyton we kno and love today against an ordinary chiefs D, throwing 163, no TD's, 1 INT on just 50% completion rate. This after last week's 6 INT-debacle. Hmm........anyway, manning owners must be pissed. I have never in my now 4 years of fantasy football owned manning in any of my leagues, something i'm not that proud about, but this year i am cuz i would have overpaid.
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
Saturday, November 17, 2007
Saturday matchup advice
What up fellers- ( every time i say that I'm reminded of a rather energetic Kathleen from SIFE, it's wierd, but anyway.......)
I'm writing from sunny southern California, as Keith Jackson would say, where the USC Trojans march off to battle.........yea. I'm here for a week for thanksgiving break, and i was looking forward to some tanning, beachgoing, outdoors, maybe even disneyland.......and what happens as soon as i get here? My sister emily's piano recital. 3 hours. Plop. O well. Lets me get y'all ready for fantasy football action tommorrow. It's a big week as it's the first time since week3 we've had all teams in action, and even more delicious than that, thanksgiving day games on Thursday!
Lots of football action, and a short week, but first things first, what's going on Sunday.........
Speaking of return on non-bye weeks, the long-awaited return of Andre Johnson occurs this week....he was a stud the first 2 weeks and then just had a lingering injury that lingered for more than half of the season, but we'll forgive him if he blows up in the stretch run. He has a real chance to do so this week against BAD N'orleans secondary.
The return that has the whole league on notice is the patriots after a bye week..........that sick offense is gonna cause more problems the rest of the season, bills are the first victim. Dick Jauron's team might be embarrassed on national television..........i'd say the pats have a 50-50 shot at putting up 40+ points.
My man, GATES, baby, needs to shape up...........He's good, and it's really not his fault cuz philip rivers has been stinking up the joint the last 2, but he needs to get me some production.........i'm sure some of u out there have gates and are grimacing at the last 2 lines, or u have jason witten/kellen winslow and are glad u didn't spend that high pick on gates. Damn you.
I'm writing from sunny southern California, as Keith Jackson would say, where the USC Trojans march off to battle.........yea. I'm here for a week for thanksgiving break, and i was looking forward to some tanning, beachgoing, outdoors, maybe even disneyland.......and what happens as soon as i get here? My sister emily's piano recital. 3 hours. Plop. O well. Lets me get y'all ready for fantasy football action tommorrow. It's a big week as it's the first time since week3 we've had all teams in action, and even more delicious than that, thanksgiving day games on Thursday!
Lots of football action, and a short week, but first things first, what's going on Sunday.........
Speaking of return on non-bye weeks, the long-awaited return of Andre Johnson occurs this week....he was a stud the first 2 weeks and then just had a lingering injury that lingered for more than half of the season, but we'll forgive him if he blows up in the stretch run. He has a real chance to do so this week against BAD N'orleans secondary.
The return that has the whole league on notice is the patriots after a bye week..........that sick offense is gonna cause more problems the rest of the season, bills are the first victim. Dick Jauron's team might be embarrassed on national television..........i'd say the pats have a 50-50 shot at putting up 40+ points.
My man, GATES, baby, needs to shape up...........He's good, and it's really not his fault cuz philip rivers has been stinking up the joint the last 2, but he needs to get me some production.........i'm sure some of u out there have gates and are grimacing at the last 2 lines, or u have jason witten/kellen winslow and are glad u didn't spend that high pick on gates. Damn you.
Monday, November 12, 2007
I-L-L! I-N-I!
So by now everyone in the world knos that the Illini upset #1 Buckeyes at Ohio State on Saturday, but check out my last post and u'll see that there was up-to-the-minute, game-time updates on this blog as it came out, up to the key interception in the back of the end zone that preserved a 21-14 Illini lead in the 2nd half and really finished ohio state. I like how we let ohio state have the ball for just 1:30 in the 4th quarter and just ate them up on the ground, salted the game away. Ron Zook's resume now reads like this: Coached at Florida, wasn't real good, couldn't beat Florida St, came to Illinois, recruited really well, had two 2-win season, and...........see Nov. 10th win @ #1 Ohio State. Seriously, he coached a hell of a game, the first time I've seen him be better than avg. Everyone's pumped.
I live off Green St. right behind Legends, and I could hear people from my apartment yelling on Green St., it was really contagious. I imagine it was like this during the Final Four except better. O, baby! Gettin' some national attention!
In the NFL, things were a bit less exciting. At least for UIUC students like me, i imagine. It was a day of upsets, as the Rams finally got their first win AT New orleans, a team that everybody thought was on the comeback trail. They came back, alright, came back down to earth after 4 straight wins in a big way. Drew Brees struggled mightily in 1st half and basically lost it for them there, but he salvaged somethin for fantasy owners with 250+ yds and 2TD's. Eh.
BIG BEN Roethlisberger- another case of a QB just absolutely blowing up in 2nd half, didn't do too much in first, had like 6 fantasy points, then in 2nd half led the Steelers from down 21-9 to win 31-28, had a 30-yd TD run in there and some nice drives, i watched that game and i'm telling u folks, big ben is back. Get him if you can, but it's probably too late. To think, he was drafted behind Jake Delhomme this season.
Priest Holmes? Didn't live up to hype. Got the opportunities, didn't produce too much, 65 rush yds and 13 rec yards. Eh. That's the thing w/ waiver wire pickups: can't be too disappointed when they only put up 7 points.
You CAN be disappointed, however, when ur studs don't produce. Over and over again. Plax and Antonio Gates have been good for me this year ( GATES, Baby!), but the last 2 weeks for each of them have been pretty dreadful, to say the least. I watched the whole giants dallas game yesterday and didn't even kno where plax was. Gates has the excuse of having a struggling QB, but Plax just didn't get open. Or something.
Peyton Manning had SIX interceptions? He only had like what, 9 or 10 all of last year? AND the year before that? That's sick. He was missing 3 top receivers, but still, interceptions are on the QB most of the time. Who does he think he is, Marc Bulger?
Adrian Peterson went down w/ an injury? Yum. Sorry to say it, but i'm actually a little pleased about this injury, mainly because i don't own AP in any of my leagues, and i kno if healthy he'll probably tear my team apart in the playoffs or something. So hopefully he's not seriously hurt but enough to make him pack it in for the season, or at least not run so damn hard.
Alright boys. Peace.
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
I live off Green St. right behind Legends, and I could hear people from my apartment yelling on Green St., it was really contagious. I imagine it was like this during the Final Four except better. O, baby! Gettin' some national attention!
In the NFL, things were a bit less exciting. At least for UIUC students like me, i imagine. It was a day of upsets, as the Rams finally got their first win AT New orleans, a team that everybody thought was on the comeback trail. They came back, alright, came back down to earth after 4 straight wins in a big way. Drew Brees struggled mightily in 1st half and basically lost it for them there, but he salvaged somethin for fantasy owners with 250+ yds and 2TD's. Eh.
BIG BEN Roethlisberger- another case of a QB just absolutely blowing up in 2nd half, didn't do too much in first, had like 6 fantasy points, then in 2nd half led the Steelers from down 21-9 to win 31-28, had a 30-yd TD run in there and some nice drives, i watched that game and i'm telling u folks, big ben is back. Get him if you can, but it's probably too late. To think, he was drafted behind Jake Delhomme this season.
Priest Holmes? Didn't live up to hype. Got the opportunities, didn't produce too much, 65 rush yds and 13 rec yards. Eh. That's the thing w/ waiver wire pickups: can't be too disappointed when they only put up 7 points.
You CAN be disappointed, however, when ur studs don't produce. Over and over again. Plax and Antonio Gates have been good for me this year ( GATES, Baby!), but the last 2 weeks for each of them have been pretty dreadful, to say the least. I watched the whole giants dallas game yesterday and didn't even kno where plax was. Gates has the excuse of having a struggling QB, but Plax just didn't get open. Or something.
Peyton Manning had SIX interceptions? He only had like what, 9 or 10 all of last year? AND the year before that? That's sick. He was missing 3 top receivers, but still, interceptions are on the QB most of the time. Who does he think he is, Marc Bulger?
Adrian Peterson went down w/ an injury? Yum. Sorry to say it, but i'm actually a little pleased about this injury, mainly because i don't own AP in any of my leagues, and i kno if healthy he'll probably tear my team apart in the playoffs or something. So hopefully he's not seriously hurt but enough to make him pack it in for the season, or at least not run so damn hard.
Alright boys. Peace.
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Super Saturday
What's up, gang-
Today is one of those super saturdays in the year..........the college football season's winding down, NBA action tonight, college football early season, Robert Yan completing his law school applications...........o wait, that's not really progressing too much right now.
My roomies and I are watching the hometown boys, Fighting Illini, going to the #1 Ohio Buckeyes and leading them after the first half 21-14. TTTHHHEEE ohio state buckeyes got a TD in 2 plays to start the game, and it looked like we were in bad shape, i was ready to go the library after halftime expecting it to be a blowout, but hidey ho, whaddya know, illini are playing WELL. DAMN. Ohio state just converted 4th and 1. Very close call, good spot by the refs. Let's do it, boyz
Big night in the NBA last night, as I alluded to. Josh is purring ( one of my roommates is a big buff dude who likes food). As opposed to me, a non-buff asian dude who likes food).
LeBron looks like he might be taking his game to another level this year. Last year he had problems closin out games; last night he sure did on the road vs. the kings, really took that game over along with devin brown and really finished them. Granted, the kings are young and don't have much experience in close games, but still.........the king is reigning over the NBA. And this comin from a guy who's never been high on lebron.
I have guys who i just "like" and those who i "dislike," there are some who are in between who i'm neutral about, but most either fall between 2 categoriies. It also influences my draftin decisions.
My guys list:
Andrei Kirilenko: 10 pts, 8 rebs, 11 asts, 4 stls, 3 blks, 4 TO's. Not a bad little line for that man.
Josh Smith: 8 pts, 5 rbs, 4 asts, 1 stl, 2 blks, 4 TO's. Not too hot, but j-smoove will have awesome season.
AI2: Andre Iguodala: 26 pts, 8 rebs, 7 asts, 3 stls, 2 TO's. Those 2 TO"s are minimized, nice to see him cutting down on mistakes w/ his new go-to status.
ILLINI INTERCEPTION IN THE BACK OF THE END ZONE!
One more my guy: Stephon Marbury, 14 pts, 4 rebs, 7 asts, 5 TO's, 3 stls, bad FG%...........he's sort of an enigma, but i always seem to wind up w/ him every season for what i think is good value............he used to be like a 2nd round draft pick, and he performed like so in the 2004-2005 season, but since then he's been stinkin. Think it's gonna be somewhere in between this year, slight chance he takes over that NY team, but it's hard w/ 5 ballhawgs on the court at any time. we'll see.
Fantasize on, Robert Yan
Today is one of those super saturdays in the year..........the college football season's winding down, NBA action tonight, college football early season, Robert Yan completing his law school applications...........o wait, that's not really progressing too much right now.
My roomies and I are watching the hometown boys, Fighting Illini, going to the #1 Ohio Buckeyes and leading them after the first half 21-14. TTTHHHEEE ohio state buckeyes got a TD in 2 plays to start the game, and it looked like we were in bad shape, i was ready to go the library after halftime expecting it to be a blowout, but hidey ho, whaddya know, illini are playing WELL. DAMN. Ohio state just converted 4th and 1. Very close call, good spot by the refs. Let's do it, boyz
Big night in the NBA last night, as I alluded to. Josh is purring ( one of my roommates is a big buff dude who likes food). As opposed to me, a non-buff asian dude who likes food).
LeBron looks like he might be taking his game to another level this year. Last year he had problems closin out games; last night he sure did on the road vs. the kings, really took that game over along with devin brown and really finished them. Granted, the kings are young and don't have much experience in close games, but still.........the king is reigning over the NBA. And this comin from a guy who's never been high on lebron.
I have guys who i just "like" and those who i "dislike," there are some who are in between who i'm neutral about, but most either fall between 2 categoriies. It also influences my draftin decisions.
My guys list:
Andrei Kirilenko: 10 pts, 8 rebs, 11 asts, 4 stls, 3 blks, 4 TO's. Not a bad little line for that man.
Josh Smith: 8 pts, 5 rbs, 4 asts, 1 stl, 2 blks, 4 TO's. Not too hot, but j-smoove will have awesome season.
AI2: Andre Iguodala: 26 pts, 8 rebs, 7 asts, 3 stls, 2 TO's. Those 2 TO"s are minimized, nice to see him cutting down on mistakes w/ his new go-to status.
ILLINI INTERCEPTION IN THE BACK OF THE END ZONE!
One more my guy: Stephon Marbury, 14 pts, 4 rebs, 7 asts, 5 TO's, 3 stls, bad FG%...........he's sort of an enigma, but i always seem to wind up w/ him every season for what i think is good value............he used to be like a 2nd round draft pick, and he performed like so in the 2004-2005 season, but since then he's been stinkin. Think it's gonna be somewhere in between this year, slight chance he takes over that NY team, but it's hard w/ 5 ballhawgs on the court at any time. we'll see.
Fantasize on, Robert Yan
Friday, November 9, 2007
Big trade
Big trade in the NBA today.........Jermaine O'neal and Al Jefferson for Yao Ming, Bonzi Wells, and Jamaal Tinsley. Wait, what? those guys weren't on the same team in the first place? O wait, that's cuz the trade happened in my fantasy league!
I'm in a realy cool fantasy league that's on campus, Illinois Fantasy Basketball is the name I suppose, and we got 15 guys, 15 active members, really pretty sweet if you ask me.
Played some real basketball today at CRCE, the local recreational facilities. I really elevated what was a pretty puny game into a semi-decent game last year at those courts, and I really do have a legitimate shot, especially from 3-point range. Not too good off the dribble, i understand passing and stuff, and play pretty hard all the time, which helps w/ rebounds, loose balls, and stuff, so from my perspective i'm an above average player, at least for an asian ( that's not a racist comment, just an honest evaluation). I get REALLY pissed when people in a 5-on-5 game just hog the ball. O baby. Even in the NBA there's a conscious effort to get everyone involved even if it's like the L.A. lakers w/ kobe. I've really been consistent in scoring points this season as I'm more confident w/ my shot and more confident in my role on a pickup team, and hopefully that'll even pick up as i spend more time in the gym during the winter months.
Anyways, big trade today........as u may have guessed, i was on the receiving end of jefferson and o'neal. It's a unique league, so the values of players are a little different, but Yao is probably the best player in the deal, but i hedged his risk of sustaining a devastating injury by picking up jefferson and o'neal, two big guys who will probably get hurt too but actually have somewhat of a better history of injuries. Tinsley and Wells are marginal players and basicially guys i threw in there. Tinsley has potential to put up a lot of assists which is a key category in our league, but i doubt he will do enough.
The return of Priest Holmes is generating a lot of hype within the fantasy community. I really love it too, honestly. I love guys who used to be really good, former 1st-round draft picks who are ignored ( in this case, justifiably cuz priest was in retired) but come back. I have him in two leagues, and if LJ is out for the year, which rumors say he is, Priest might have one of those trademark fantasy playoff runs. That'd be sweet.
Elsewhere, Chris Henry of the Bengals, the WR, not the RB, is comin back this week vs. ravens. Given what he did in limited time last year and the Bengals always being behind, he looks like he could have some good value.
Plaxico Burress.............intriguing player, started off really hot, but a bad week and a bye later he isn't so hot of a commodity........big game against dallas this week, he could prove himself big or prove he's having another "one of those" seasons.
I have a trade on the table in fantasy football too, drew brees and jessie chatman for jon kitna and marion barber...............i was debating it, and in most seasons i'd make this trade cuz barber's actually a pretty good back, but the way brees is playing and my recent favor of QB's, ( my other QB in that league is philip rivers, not exactly trusting him just yet). Also, that team's also 2-6, which is actually making me want to do the trade just to do the trade, but of course that falls in the trap of "making a trade just to make a trade" trap. Brees is facing St. Louis this week, and being 2-6 i'd have to go undefeated pretty much to win that league, so i think i'm gonna pass on this deal. hope i don't get bit in the butt.
Someone in one of my leagues dropped the Chicago D. Part of the reason the Chicago D is really struggling this year is no TD's. That's also why they're struggling in actuality. Without those defensive TD's that swing the course of the game, they're nothing.
Alright that's all i got for tonight. Big night in the NBA. Come back w/ some analysis of it tommorrow.
I'm in a realy cool fantasy league that's on campus, Illinois Fantasy Basketball is the name I suppose, and we got 15 guys, 15 active members, really pretty sweet if you ask me.
Played some real basketball today at CRCE, the local recreational facilities. I really elevated what was a pretty puny game into a semi-decent game last year at those courts, and I really do have a legitimate shot, especially from 3-point range. Not too good off the dribble, i understand passing and stuff, and play pretty hard all the time, which helps w/ rebounds, loose balls, and stuff, so from my perspective i'm an above average player, at least for an asian ( that's not a racist comment, just an honest evaluation). I get REALLY pissed when people in a 5-on-5 game just hog the ball. O baby. Even in the NBA there's a conscious effort to get everyone involved even if it's like the L.A. lakers w/ kobe. I've really been consistent in scoring points this season as I'm more confident w/ my shot and more confident in my role on a pickup team, and hopefully that'll even pick up as i spend more time in the gym during the winter months.
Anyways, big trade today........as u may have guessed, i was on the receiving end of jefferson and o'neal. It's a unique league, so the values of players are a little different, but Yao is probably the best player in the deal, but i hedged his risk of sustaining a devastating injury by picking up jefferson and o'neal, two big guys who will probably get hurt too but actually have somewhat of a better history of injuries. Tinsley and Wells are marginal players and basicially guys i threw in there. Tinsley has potential to put up a lot of assists which is a key category in our league, but i doubt he will do enough.
The return of Priest Holmes is generating a lot of hype within the fantasy community. I really love it too, honestly. I love guys who used to be really good, former 1st-round draft picks who are ignored ( in this case, justifiably cuz priest was in retired) but come back. I have him in two leagues, and if LJ is out for the year, which rumors say he is, Priest might have one of those trademark fantasy playoff runs. That'd be sweet.
Elsewhere, Chris Henry of the Bengals, the WR, not the RB, is comin back this week vs. ravens. Given what he did in limited time last year and the Bengals always being behind, he looks like he could have some good value.
Plaxico Burress.............intriguing player, started off really hot, but a bad week and a bye later he isn't so hot of a commodity........big game against dallas this week, he could prove himself big or prove he's having another "one of those" seasons.
I have a trade on the table in fantasy football too, drew brees and jessie chatman for jon kitna and marion barber...............i was debating it, and in most seasons i'd make this trade cuz barber's actually a pretty good back, but the way brees is playing and my recent favor of QB's, ( my other QB in that league is philip rivers, not exactly trusting him just yet). Also, that team's also 2-6, which is actually making me want to do the trade just to do the trade, but of course that falls in the trap of "making a trade just to make a trade" trap. Brees is facing St. Louis this week, and being 2-6 i'd have to go undefeated pretty much to win that league, so i think i'm gonna pass on this deal. hope i don't get bit in the butt.
Someone in one of my leagues dropped the Chicago D. Part of the reason the Chicago D is really struggling this year is no TD's. That's also why they're struggling in actuality. Without those defensive TD's that swing the course of the game, they're nothing.
Alright that's all i got for tonight. Big night in the NBA. Come back w/ some analysis of it tommorrow.
Thursday, November 8, 2007
That is ABSURD!
- title quote by rick james, courtesy of the chapelle show.
Hey y'all, back on this blog, a little belated i suppose, i was home last week w/o internet access, and we were getting a little paperwork done on my car, ( or as my boston side likes to call it, my cahhhhhhh), and once again it's been a busy week. It's really interesting, i feel like i've been a lot busier and more diligent, less falling asleep and not making it to things i want to get to, and in that sense i've been satisfied so far this semester, but i KNOW my grades aren't gonna be as good as last semester's. That might be because of the classes themselves, but i dunno. If I do go to law school, this is the last semester undergrad grades should matter at all, so i wanna at least end on a good note.
I'm so excited about our ASB trip this winter. Last year, i didn't know what would go down on the trip, how group dynamics were gonna be, and i made our group start late like half an hour, but I STILL had a great time. Actually, Jan. 10th, 2007 was classified as one of my "top ten" days ever, one of the more memorable days of my entire life. There's no telling what's gonna happen this year on our trip, and I have really bonded with my group already. It's gonna be sweet. O, and yea, i like volunteering as well as working w/ children, so the work part of the trip will be covered.
On to fantasy. Watchin the bulls-pistons game on TNT. NBA on TNT! Rip Hamilton, sick floater over Tyrus Thomas, pulls pistons within 1 w/ a minute and change to go. Grrrr. If they go 0-5, it's gonna be a world of hurt. Circus trip coming too.
Tyrus Thomas is silently the only fantasy force on teh bulls right now, he's really started the season off well and looks motivated to do somethin this year. He won't be that offensive big man that the Bulls have been looking for, but he's another high energy, high skill level bulls player. And young.
The season is, also, young, and after 5 games it's really hard to tell who's gonna be good, who's be gonna be bad.........however, my motto for fantasy NBA is that it's a lot less volatile than fantasy football.......in fantasy football, adrian peterson can become the #1 fantasy player as a rookie, and shaun alexander can turn from a first round back to a bucket of crud. NBA is not like that, usually players will perform up to their averages, and the season is long enough ( 82 games) that players can have weeks that our sick to balance out bad starts. So guys like Ben Wallace, vince carter, Brad miller, jermaine o'neal, you need to be patient on. Of course, injuries threaten to put any of these guys on the shelf, but that's the NBA. Injuries are truly, truly, part of the game. You have to draft guys and consider value expecting a certain type of fragility. So injuries aside, you need to consider the "correction" factor...........a.ka. the averaging force.
Observations from early season
David West might be taking over some rebounds from tyson. I like chandler still, but west is a really quite but solid young player.
Staying with the hornets, Peja hit 10 threes in a game this week. Still don't like him. He promptly shot 2-13 the next night. I think he's one step above damon jones, don't expect too much from him except 3's.
Kevin martin is who we thought he was. He'll be the offensive centerpiece of that time, even when artest comes back. Brad miller is still looking shaky. Still soft on defense, very little blocks.
Wizards and gilbert arenas not looking good. Hibachi averaging 4 assts per game, 5 TO's. Not a good average. Definite correction candidate, barrin injury i doubt gilbert is under 25PPG, 6 ASPG, and 2 STL's. Be patient people. This man's got a contract he's playing for.
Josh Smith averaging 3.5 Stl's, 4 Blk's in early going. So sick. I don't have him in any of my leagues because the secret actually got out this year. Darn. Those defensive #'s in fantasy are huge, do not underrate them. Andrei Kirilenko and Josh Smith are posterboys for "sexy players" who put up defensive stats like none other.
G.S. vs. Dallas tonight. My prediction: Dallas is pissed this season, have been waiting all season for this game, will win.
Fantasize on, Robert Yan
Hey y'all, back on this blog, a little belated i suppose, i was home last week w/o internet access, and we were getting a little paperwork done on my car, ( or as my boston side likes to call it, my cahhhhhhh), and once again it's been a busy week. It's really interesting, i feel like i've been a lot busier and more diligent, less falling asleep and not making it to things i want to get to, and in that sense i've been satisfied so far this semester, but i KNOW my grades aren't gonna be as good as last semester's. That might be because of the classes themselves, but i dunno. If I do go to law school, this is the last semester undergrad grades should matter at all, so i wanna at least end on a good note.
I'm so excited about our ASB trip this winter. Last year, i didn't know what would go down on the trip, how group dynamics were gonna be, and i made our group start late like half an hour, but I STILL had a great time. Actually, Jan. 10th, 2007 was classified as one of my "top ten" days ever, one of the more memorable days of my entire life. There's no telling what's gonna happen this year on our trip, and I have really bonded with my group already. It's gonna be sweet. O, and yea, i like volunteering as well as working w/ children, so the work part of the trip will be covered.
On to fantasy. Watchin the bulls-pistons game on TNT. NBA on TNT! Rip Hamilton, sick floater over Tyrus Thomas, pulls pistons within 1 w/ a minute and change to go. Grrrr. If they go 0-5, it's gonna be a world of hurt. Circus trip coming too.
Tyrus Thomas is silently the only fantasy force on teh bulls right now, he's really started the season off well and looks motivated to do somethin this year. He won't be that offensive big man that the Bulls have been looking for, but he's another high energy, high skill level bulls player. And young.
The season is, also, young, and after 5 games it's really hard to tell who's gonna be good, who's be gonna be bad.........however, my motto for fantasy NBA is that it's a lot less volatile than fantasy football.......in fantasy football, adrian peterson can become the #1 fantasy player as a rookie, and shaun alexander can turn from a first round back to a bucket of crud. NBA is not like that, usually players will perform up to their averages, and the season is long enough ( 82 games) that players can have weeks that our sick to balance out bad starts. So guys like Ben Wallace, vince carter, Brad miller, jermaine o'neal, you need to be patient on. Of course, injuries threaten to put any of these guys on the shelf, but that's the NBA. Injuries are truly, truly, part of the game. You have to draft guys and consider value expecting a certain type of fragility. So injuries aside, you need to consider the "correction" factor...........a.ka. the averaging force.
Observations from early season
David West might be taking over some rebounds from tyson. I like chandler still, but west is a really quite but solid young player.
Staying with the hornets, Peja hit 10 threes in a game this week. Still don't like him. He promptly shot 2-13 the next night. I think he's one step above damon jones, don't expect too much from him except 3's.
Kevin martin is who we thought he was. He'll be the offensive centerpiece of that time, even when artest comes back. Brad miller is still looking shaky. Still soft on defense, very little blocks.
Wizards and gilbert arenas not looking good. Hibachi averaging 4 assts per game, 5 TO's. Not a good average. Definite correction candidate, barrin injury i doubt gilbert is under 25PPG, 6 ASPG, and 2 STL's. Be patient people. This man's got a contract he's playing for.
Josh Smith averaging 3.5 Stl's, 4 Blk's in early going. So sick. I don't have him in any of my leagues because the secret actually got out this year. Darn. Those defensive #'s in fantasy are huge, do not underrate them. Andrei Kirilenko and Josh Smith are posterboys for "sexy players" who put up defensive stats like none other.
G.S. vs. Dallas tonight. My prediction: Dallas is pissed this season, have been waiting all season for this game, will win.
Fantasize on, Robert Yan
Thursday, November 1, 2007
That's how we do
Hey folks-
First post in November. Checking past posts real quick, got 8 posts down in October, but remember, that was cuz I didn't start posting until like mid-month.
Playing a stock market game in fin300, doing really well in it. Started out w/ 4 million dollars, got a 20% return by now. It's pretty sweet. We also really started investing when the stock market got hot, but I still think we're doing a solid job, got some really volatile stocks mixed in w/ some slow-movers; shorted WWE stock, bought GOOG AND BIDU, which I know they're essentially the same type of company but i saw how far they could go just in a day and was tempted.
Also, I'm really suprised by Berkshire-Hathaway's progress. It takes like millions of dollars to buy their stock, but it goes up substantially just because of its sheer price.
Anyway, the game has really made me conscious of something that I've always wanted to have an awareness, in stock markets. I got a lot of stuff to learn, but at least I'm interested. That's the way I am, I guess: If I'm passionate about something, I'll really get into it, move myself to excel in it.
Fantasy Football. Kind of a slow week of football, in my opinion, with just one game that EVERYONE's looking out for, Patriots and Colts at Indianapolis. That game is probably gonna set regular season viewer rating records for CBS; people all around the country are buzzing about it, and there's no way I could see anybody NOT watching it if you like football. I think the consensus is that the Patriots are a little better right now, but I see the Colts winning for some reason. Brady's got a lotta weapons now, and the Colts secondary really needs to be stout against Moss & Co. Any way you slice it, this is gonna be a close game, and at least 60 points are gonna be scored here.
I miss playing cards. Last year in our dorm room, we had five guys basically living together, and chances were at any time at least 4 of us would be around to get a card game going, whether it was hearts, spades, euchre, go fish, B.S., etc., etc. etc. Not happening this year. My roommates either are always out or wanna use alcohol for entertainment. Not that there's anything wrong w/that, but it was definitely better for me when cards were played. I'm a REEEEEAAALLLLY competitive person.
If anyone is still getting a fantasy basketball league together, consider hoops.sports.ws. It's the website that Illinois Fantasy Basketball is using, and it's really a pretty neat system. As with other sites, it's got its problems, but it really garners a league atmosphere and has a unique head-to-head matchup configuration. O, and it's got pictures of the NBA players. Selling factor for me.
To finish, I'll state my preferences give 2 different players at this point of the season.
Joseph Addai/ Brian Westbrook: I like Addai. Still concerned that Westbrook will get hurt at some point.
Peyton Manning/Tony Romo: Some have argued for Romo cuz Peyton's not throwing as many TD's this year. I saw pshaw. Romo's a flash in the pan, can we really trust him in the fantasy playoffs? I think not.
Braylon Edwards/ Reggie Wayne: I'm almost thinking Braylon right now. He's in the middle of his breakout year, he's the undisputed #1 receiver there, and the Browns throw a lot. Plus, that team's Week 14, 15, and 16 can't get any more favorable.
Jason Witten/ Antonio Gates: GATES, baby!
LaMont Jordan/ Travis Henry: I choose death.
Roethlisberger/Favre: Legacy-wise, I take Favre. And this is a semi-bears fan talking, but I'd take roethlisberger: looks like he's reconnected w/ hines ward, they've got a nice pass game going, i like that pittsburgh team. Favre's nice, i guess. Bleh.
Laverneaus Coles/ Roy Williams: Uh, i think the lions will start to throw A LOT more, kitna's due, and williams's his big, bad target. Look out.
Fantasize on, Robert Yan
First post in November. Checking past posts real quick, got 8 posts down in October, but remember, that was cuz I didn't start posting until like mid-month.
Playing a stock market game in fin300, doing really well in it. Started out w/ 4 million dollars, got a 20% return by now. It's pretty sweet. We also really started investing when the stock market got hot, but I still think we're doing a solid job, got some really volatile stocks mixed in w/ some slow-movers; shorted WWE stock, bought GOOG AND BIDU, which I know they're essentially the same type of company but i saw how far they could go just in a day and was tempted.
Also, I'm really suprised by Berkshire-Hathaway's progress. It takes like millions of dollars to buy their stock, but it goes up substantially just because of its sheer price.
Anyway, the game has really made me conscious of something that I've always wanted to have an awareness, in stock markets. I got a lot of stuff to learn, but at least I'm interested. That's the way I am, I guess: If I'm passionate about something, I'll really get into it, move myself to excel in it.
Fantasy Football. Kind of a slow week of football, in my opinion, with just one game that EVERYONE's looking out for, Patriots and Colts at Indianapolis. That game is probably gonna set regular season viewer rating records for CBS; people all around the country are buzzing about it, and there's no way I could see anybody NOT watching it if you like football. I think the consensus is that the Patriots are a little better right now, but I see the Colts winning for some reason. Brady's got a lotta weapons now, and the Colts secondary really needs to be stout against Moss & Co. Any way you slice it, this is gonna be a close game, and at least 60 points are gonna be scored here.
I miss playing cards. Last year in our dorm room, we had five guys basically living together, and chances were at any time at least 4 of us would be around to get a card game going, whether it was hearts, spades, euchre, go fish, B.S., etc., etc. etc. Not happening this year. My roommates either are always out or wanna use alcohol for entertainment. Not that there's anything wrong w/that, but it was definitely better for me when cards were played. I'm a REEEEEAAALLLLY competitive person.
If anyone is still getting a fantasy basketball league together, consider hoops.sports.ws. It's the website that Illinois Fantasy Basketball is using, and it's really a pretty neat system. As with other sites, it's got its problems, but it really garners a league atmosphere and has a unique head-to-head matchup configuration. O, and it's got pictures of the NBA players. Selling factor for me.
To finish, I'll state my preferences give 2 different players at this point of the season.
Joseph Addai/ Brian Westbrook: I like Addai. Still concerned that Westbrook will get hurt at some point.
Peyton Manning/Tony Romo: Some have argued for Romo cuz Peyton's not throwing as many TD's this year. I saw pshaw. Romo's a flash in the pan, can we really trust him in the fantasy playoffs? I think not.
Braylon Edwards/ Reggie Wayne: I'm almost thinking Braylon right now. He's in the middle of his breakout year, he's the undisputed #1 receiver there, and the Browns throw a lot. Plus, that team's Week 14, 15, and 16 can't get any more favorable.
Jason Witten/ Antonio Gates: GATES, baby!
LaMont Jordan/ Travis Henry: I choose death.
Roethlisberger/Favre: Legacy-wise, I take Favre. And this is a semi-bears fan talking, but I'd take roethlisberger: looks like he's reconnected w/ hines ward, they've got a nice pass game going, i like that pittsburgh team. Favre's nice, i guess. Bleh.
Laverneaus Coles/ Roy Williams: Uh, i think the lions will start to throw A LOT more, kitna's due, and williams's his big, bad target. Look out.
Fantasize on, Robert Yan
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