A sports blog by and for Midwest Sports Fans
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Welcome to the Week One recap of the Midwest Sports Fans Fantasy Football League!
As a way to build unity and for Jerod to (somewhat legally) take money out of our paychecks, we started up a 14-team league. Teams were selected through an auction draft, a first for a majority of us in the league, which will become crystal clear when you look at our teams.
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As my Non-BCS Watch List series continues, we are back in the Horizon League to look at a team with every key player back from last year’s squad, including five double-digit scorers.
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Week One is complete, and we are all trying to keep ourselves from making the worst fantasy mistake possible – overreacting to the surprises of Opening Day.
The goal is to weed out the aberrations from the real deals. There has been quite the shakeup in my rankings from Week One. Below, I have highlighted some of the major movers and shakers from the week that was.
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Welcome to the first MSF Power Rankings of the 2011 NFL Season!
You may have noticed that we are starting after Week 1, and there is a good reason for that. My Preseason rankings would have been awful. Just a peak into what I originally had: Colts at 14 (Before the Peyton news), Bears at 21, Chiefs at 11, Steelers at 2, and the Bills at 30.
Thank goodness I waited. Now off to the rankings after actually watching the teams play.
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By now we’ve all seen the statline for Cam Newton against the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday, but the magnitude of his performance bears repeating.
Newton finished with 422 yards passing and two touchdowns and also ran for 18 yards, picking up a rushing touchdown as well. 422 is the most passing yards ever for anyone in their debut, and that includes other-worldly players like Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Chad Henne, and Jay Cutler. [Editor's note: the latter two who dominate.]
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Do you realize that an entire week of NFL football went by without Brett Favre or Peyton Manning taking a snap? Kind of incredible when you stop and think about it. I think I was in junior high the last time that happened, maybe younger.
But we all survived, and now we head into Week 2 with a few teams feeling quite good about themselves (Buffalo, Chicago, San Francisco, for example) and several others already starting to get a slight feeling of desperation (Kansas City, Tampa Bay, and Denver, to name a few).
This Viewer’s Guide for Week 2 of the NFL season breaks down the TV schedule (date, network, kickoff times) and announcer assignments for each game on the NFL Week 2 schedule.
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Since we pride ourselves on getting this out early, I submitted the Week 2 waiver wire advice column prior to the Monday night games. When applicable, I will submit updates to the column with any waiver-worthy players from Monday night.
So don’t start going Ron Jaworski on me and cussing about missing these games! I’ve got you covered.
As luck would have it, only one man stood out among the fantasy neglected on Monday night. And that man was none other than…
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As many people were, I was caught off guard by a few results in Week 1.
I definitely did not expect the Bengals to play as well as they did (relatively speaking of course, because it was still the Browns…); I figured Pittsburgh would put up much more of a fight against Baltimore; and the Rams barely even had enough offensive players to finish the game, let alone compete with the explosive Eagles.
Still, I pulled off a plus-.500 week, going 8-7-1 in Week 1. I strive for much better, but like the 49ers and Bills I’m just happy to have my head above water. Hopefully this week I can start to build some momentum and a nice cushion above .500.
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While EA Sports still won’t listen to former college athletes whose likenesses the company has used without permission, it’s nice that EA listened to 14-year-old Lexi Peters, who was upset that the game only allowed for custom characters with male bodies:
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Do. Not. Overreact.
If there’s one piece of advice I can give you following Week One, that’s it.
If a player on your roster had an off week (yeah, I’m talking to you DeAngelo Williams), ask yourself whether you would dump them if they did the same thing in the middle of the season. If so, cut away. Otherwise, trust your draft research and strategy for another week or two. Now, if you took a few late-round fliers and see someone on the waiver wire you like more, go for it.
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We have now completed the second full weekend of college football games and have just two Monday night contests tonight before Week 1 of the NFL season is in the books. Here are 12 things we learned:
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While reasonable minds could and did disagree – especially here at MSF – on how the NFL should properly honor the 10th anniversary of 9/11, I don’t think anyone anywhere could have gotten anything but chills while watching or listening to Jim Cornelison’s rendition of the National Anthem on Sunday before the Bears-Falcons game.
All Chicago sports fans and most Midwest sports fans are aware of just how incredible Cornelison’s singing of the National Anthem is. If you somehow missed this yesterday, have a listen:
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After an immensely fun but exhausting weekend helping my brother celebrate his 21st birthday, I am spending this Monday morning getting caught up on all of the MSF duties that piled up over the weekend. I unfortunately won’t have time to get a full Monday Night Football preview posted for the second of tonight’s MNF double-header (Miami-New England Preview here), but here is all of the info you need to know plus a prediction and my spread pick from earlier week.
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About the Author: Howard Alperin is the new guest soccer columnist for Midwest Sports Fans. He is the Founder and Managing Editor of AmericanizeSoccer.com.
In Mexico’s First Division and throughout all of its leagues, water breaks at the 25 and 70 minute marks are becoming more common. These breaks are decided by the weather. If officials see the weather as very hot, they are allowing for these breaks to occur, so players can hydrate and play on effectively.
These water breaks are causing quite a stir in staunch Soccer circles in Mexico because there are many who believe the breaks are being manipulated by television stations to interject commercials, and that what started off as the perceived right thing to do for the players has turned into a marketing ploy by those in positions of power.
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If you are looking for some last minute help for your semifinal or final matchup, here are six guys likely out there on your waiver wires who could pay immediate dividends.
[Read more...]
