Oh the joys of fantasy football...

It was neither confirmed nor denied, BUT I am still going on record and saying I just handed Brad Evans the biggest loss of his fantasy football career. Thanks to a missed FG AND XPT, Brad was able to flee the ring without losing by triple digits (96.60 Pts). It was a satisfying win, but I still made some phone calls and had Hauschka fired. I wanted Brad to acknowledge this as his worst beating of hes ever taken, but it's hard to talk when the Million Dollar Sleeper hold is slapped on ya! I waited almost an hour for this and had Virgil bribe the call screener, but it was worth it...

here's Brad trying to avoid answering the question on the Fantasy Freakshow... [second call (after Earthquake's brother), about 5 minutes in]

It was a big win for Orton Hears a Boo, but Brad is right... the playoffs are right around the corner. I felt a little sorry for him and gave him a sympathy vote in his matchup this week, but as MDS says... "revenge is best served TWICE!" Come get some Evans, I got Pierre Thomas greased up n ready for Rd 2! no comments

For your viewing pleasure:

Brad Evans taking a Million Dollar Beatdown. Hopefully all the Noise-a-maniacs dont stop praying and eating their flames/lames vitamins.

The Noise is likely to wake up with a few $100 bills in his mouth, courtesy of Virgil. The matchup probably is over, unless Todd Heap can channel the lusty spirit of Wilt Chamberlain. Will he be able to post 100 points? Of course, Hauschka will have to get shut out too. Let's see what Brad needs to pull out the victory...

Todd Heap catches 34 passes for 312 yards and 9 TDs, Baltimore goes for the 2pt conversion on Heap's 9 TDs

not likely going to happen, BUT Brad does need to save some face here. It comes down to Hauschka vs Heap. Will Brad fall to MDS by the tune of 100 points? 100 points!!! Shouldn't have been talking about Virgil like that...

you can click on the images to enlarge them no comments

It's Rivarly Week in the Roto Arcade Invitational, which means it's time for MDS and Andy Behrens to face off inside the fantasy squared circle, no holds barred. Not only am I representing all of Yahoo's elite private leaguers going up against an industry giant, but I am also defending the honor of (the real) Steve Smith. Going on for weeks now, Behrens has been committing fantasy crimes by referring to my boy as Steve Smith (Car). This will not be tolerated.... If Behrens loses, he can no longer belittle my WR. His Steve Smith will go back to being Steve Smith (NYG). The Mario Manningham hype has died down and after what I do to Behrens this week, so will the excitement for his team mate. I've grown tired reading about how Steve Smith, Nate Burleson and Sidney Rice are now top tier WR options. No. They are not.

Ok, so Behrens technically hasn't agreed to my stipulation, but the people have spoken. MDS campaigned his case to the league and the voting is clear: 6 to 3. I even was thinking about calling in on the Fantasy Freakshow, conning my way on air and trapping Behrens into the bet, but I got bleazy'd and before I knew it, the show was over. It's Friday nite, what'd ya expect? I am dedicating this week to the fallen Leon Washington, Mathilda, the real Steve Smith and everyone across the world who drafted this disappointing bum.

note: Behrens used his waiver on my face to pick up Tony Scheffler (I settled for Donald Lee) while both of our TEs have byes. He will have to find a DL before high noon Sunday. Our projected points should be close, with me having a slight edge. Both of our teams are 4-4 and have put up similar point totals for the year. The matchup should be very close. Im sure the Secret Treasure Meat Loaf will do anything for a win, but he wont do that. LEON thePROFESSIONAL will eliminate his target.

you can click on the images to enlarge them

Update: MDS wins!!! 113.36 to 98.06 no comments

It's Danny Ware time. Pick him up now. If you're in one of my leagues, it's too late. Erik Archer stopped MDS from making a clean sweep across my 6 leagues. You can thank him later for stopping the jinx. Ahmad Bradshaw is a manly man and is playing with some broken stuff in his foot. He plans on playing til he can no longer play, which should be real soon. I got my million dollar wager on the 3rd quarter this week. I recently traded Bradshaw n Orton for Steven Jackson, but I still have him on 1 team and I'm proud to roster someone who says this:

“I just plan on going out there and giving it my all and if it breaks, it does,” Bradshaw said. “I’ll get surgery. If not, I’ll wait to the end of the season and hopefully at the end I won’t need it, but more than likely I plan on having surgery.”

That is a man's man. Ahmad must have been a lumberjack in his former life. Maybe one of those crab fisher guys who fell overboard and surfed a wave back into the boat on the carcass of a dead manatee. I think Sasquatch would even tolerate Ahmad messing with him in a beef jerky commercial.

so...... it's Danny Ware time. That guy who was annoying me preseason when everyone was trying to say he was the true handcuff to Brandon Jacobs. I always countered saying Bradshaw was the guy to own as he is the change of pace n (hopefully) the third down RB. Fortunately, Danny suffered an elbow injury and didn't hurt my investments. Bradshaw is a ticking time bomb and soon enuff, the farmers are coming after the football Frankenstein with pitchforks. Danny Ware could be set to deliver nice stats down the stretch run. Scoop him up asap.

Also in RB news, Vince Young is about to destroy Chris Johnson's value. I gotta go send more offers for good RBs... peace out no comments

Veto'ing a trade is a big gray area in fantasy sports. There are no rules or regulations for blocked trades. In most leagues, you have the right to veto every trade and really, its a viable option. There's no reason for you to approve of one team, or even two, improving. It is in your team's best interest to block all trades and I know a manager who will do just that. I don't think it has as much to do with his team's best interests rather than his disdain of all managers who want to beat him. Normally, its ok tho cuz he's the only one doing it. Luckily, over the years I have befriended? enough good managers that I have a regular group of private leaguers that don't need anyone telling them how to manage their team. Trades in my private leagues are automatically passed through. No waiting, no votes. It's great.

Trade Reject Time: 0
Trade Review: Commissioner

Most people (including me) will say a trade doesn't deserve to be blocked unless there is obvious collusion, but sometimes I will secretly cast a veto for lopsided deals. Maybe I'll even post a sly comment about the trade in hopes of other managers doing the same. The word veto won't be mentioned, but in the back of their mind the reader is thinking about it. It's all apart of the MDS subliminal message and propaganda machine.

I have finally tried to veto a trade this fantasy football season. Yes!!! Brad Evans is trying to deal Marques Colston for Rashard Mendenhall. Brad just lost Leon Washington for the season and doesn't want to start Julius Jones. He turned down my Pierre Thomas n Jermichael Finley offer (two of his fav man crushes) and sent a bad counter offer my way. After that I sent a few more questionable offers to tease him and his situation. Good times. Anyway, I tried to nix his Sproles for Royal trade last year so I thought I'd continue the festivities and try to block this one too. Similar to Festivus, this will be my off the wall holiday. The Bring the Noise Blog League uses a Yahoo! Sports trade review system. No one in the league, including Brad himself, has the ability to cast a vote. You have to "protest" and send a message to someone. I don't know who these people are, but they have let some real questionable trades slide thru so it is basically useless to try. Last year I told them the dude sending Eddie Royal to Brad was just trying to buddy up to him and bribe him for an invite next year. No dice. They weren't buying the MDS conspiracy theory. Maybe this year I can bribe them lol.

For me, the veto'd trade is a love hate relationship. It's always fun to veto a trade out of sheer spite, but it is not healthy for a league. Especially if you veto my trade. Oh boy. I will make evil promises of veto'ing all future trades and then start making accusations of who I think secretly blocked my deal. People get called out, threats are made and the commish gets strict orders to push it thru via commish tools. It definitely takes awhile for the dust to settle, sometimes it never does. My advice: play vs people you know/trust and get rid of the "league votes" trade review system. Easier said than done, but it is nice. Otherwise, just stick to stopping collusion. no comments

Some people call me Link Linkovic, you may remember my story from the movie Encino Man. I am the unthawed caveman brought to the high school of fantasy sports. After too many tequila shots and watching wrestling videos, I think its time to "Weeze the Juice"

Brad Evans and his weekly Flames n Lames [Roto Arcade]
Week 4 sleepers, busts, top performers chart [Fantasy Pros 911]
Week 4 projections for everyone , position by position [SI.com]
RB Touch leaderboard, quick hits n more: All-Out Blitz [FFToday]
Roto Experts week 3 nfl review [Y! Fantasy]
Position rankings from four experts [Y! Fantasy] and their Dissenting Opinions [Roto Arcade]
Antonio D'Arcangelis provides insight for week 4 IDP matchups [Y! Fantasy]
John Hansen's week 3 nfl review: Shortcuts [Y! Fantasy] and target info [Y! Fantasy]
BFun's week 4 nfl preview: NFL Skinny [Y! Fantasy] and his Big Board [Y! Fantasy]
Some of the better Buy Low / Sell High players [Top Fantasy Football]
Andy Behrens provides the weekly and yearly targets leaders [Roto Arcade]

Ray Flowers looks at some pitchers and their BABIP [Fanball]
Charlie Saponara provides lists of MLB's hardest to hit pitchers [FB365] and worst contact hitters [FB365]
Waiver wire possibilities from [Fantasy Cafe]

Roto Expert's Janet Eagleson with some NHL insight [Y! Fantasy]
Roto Wire's Evan Berofsky with his preseason edition of Neutral Zone Wrap [Y! Fantasy]
David Rogers provides some nuggets from NHL blogs [Fanball]
Mike Finewax takes a look at the week ahead for NHL teams [Roto World]

Matt Buser goes through NBA news: Quick Hitters [Buser Sports]
Cory Elfrick reviews the NBA's free agent signings [Fanball] and last seasons rookie class [Fanball]
Jeff Andriesse tiers the Guards for fantasy basketball [Roto Experts]
Eno Sarris tries to find late, good value picks for deeper leagues [Roto Experts]
Trevor Lane wants to you everyone about these potential bust picks [Roto Experts]
Mock draft results [Roto Synthesis]

week 4 waiver wire scavenge hunt
Brad Evans, Pick-Up Artist, FFToday, FFToolbox, Fanball, Fanball, SI.com, theHazean
Fantasy Cafe, NotJustaGame, Fantasy Brothers, Bruno Boys

week 4 nfl sleepers
FFToolbox, Fanball, Roto Professor, theHazean, Fantasy Cafe no comments

Friday, Sept 22nd

Why do I hate fantasy football so much? Is it because of the absurd amount of injuries? LT and Pierre are fueling some anger right about now. Maybe it's the inconsistency of week to week production. Greg Jennings, you're dead to me. Perhaps it's the 2-0 team who hasn't even scored 200 pts yet, in a PPR league. I'm sure part of it is Toyota trying to use MDS' name to sell their sweet rides, two weeks in a row. Where are my royalties beyotches? A lot of it is probably just left over hatred from Cedric Benson. I will never stop hating that guy. A few of my teams have looked ugly so far, but it's only week two. At least Carson Palmer had 4 TDs vs the Packers and an old dude got a few shots in on the Ocho, niiice. Is that Cecil from Mr. Deeds? What else happened that I like... Devery Henderson pulled in 71 yds receiving. Him n Buckhalter made Behrens look bad. Playing with my boys is like playing with my emotions. If MDS was cruisin in a low rider and rolled up on Behrens in the hood, our convo would have prolly gone down like this (with Virgil driving of course):

Behrens: Wassup MDS?
MDS: Where you got Devery n Bucky ranked?
Behrens: man, I didn't rank em
MDS: you still aint rank my boys yet Behrens!
Behrens: man I'm trying to MDS, but defenses are tough this week
MDS: I dont think youre applying yourself Behrens
Behrens: Huh?
MDS: you adding n starting my boys!?!
Behrens: hell no, starting your boys? hell no!
MDS: you starting my boys?!?
Behrens: now why would I start your boys?
MDS: Im gonna have to mess your team up Behrens. Playing with my boys is like playing with my emotions.

What else is going on in my fantasy hood? I'd like to buy-low on Steve Slaton. The Jets and Titans have provided some of us, better managers, a window of opportunity to acquire Slaton. Felix Jones has given me some room to breathe. I'm happy I landed Brent Celek in a few leagues. He was getting hyped up from a couple different sources so it was getting hard to tell when someone would step up and grab him. I'm starting to dislike Ahmad Bradshaw more n more. He better start catching some passes. Chester Taylor isn't giving me much hope for production. Nothing from him vs the Lions, AP seems to be getting a bigger share of the touches and the offense's potential is limited with Favre throwing short passes. I'm glad I fell for the Desean Jackson hype. I recognized the problem, but still fell for it. Hype is a powerful seductress. I think I'm officially done with Donnie Avery and everyone else named Donnie. Has anyone seen Chris Henry or Josh Morgan? I tried to sell on them before the season, but it aint easy being greasy in tougher leagues.

I've always claimed I could get more points from my kicker spot (by streaming) than the dude who drafted Stephen Gostkowski in rd 11. For the most part, I didn't even draft a kicker and the one time I did, I dropped him for a free agent. I like kickers playing for strong offenses, vs weak defenses and games in a dome are always a plus. There's no science to it. Sometimes I'll go with a kicker on a team that has a good passing game, but weak running game or vice versa. Or simply, a team with bad red zone efficiency. So far, across 6 teams, I've played:

Week 1: Tynes vs Was, Carney vs Det, Mare vs Stl
Week 2: Tynes @ Dal, Carney @ Phi, Scobee vs Ari

Some week 3 Vinateri @ Ari action doesn't look too bad. Maybe some Suisham @ Det too no comments

By great demand, the original fantasy news filter links are back! When I say great demand, I mean the fantasy manager formerly known as Erik Archer and Virgil. Those guys are great. The links are for relevant fantasy advice, you will not find out who Tony Romo is pretending to date or what Tom Brady is going to name his spawn of satan. So without further ado, I present to you... MDS' Glorious Sausage Links! hmmm tasty

Y! has 5 sets of rankings if you need help choosing starters. updated ranks from Behrens
Thursday practice injury notes & random thoughts from John Hansen
Antonio D'Arcangelis with some IDP info for week two
BFun with a week two preview: NFL Skinny
Brad Evans' week two Flames n Lames
Top Fantasy Football with Risers n Fallers
Target leaders after week one from Roto Arcade
some Matt Leinart crazy talk from Gehlken starring Pianow
if you want a recap from the week one games
Ray Flowers' BABIP: Skills vs Luck article
my latest add, Gregerson gets some love from Fangraphs
like white castle, David Price's sliders suck
Fanhouse has a fantasy football podcast
TJ Thomas says whats up with the LT hate? plus more: All-Out Blitz
sortable fantasy football points allowed team stats

football sleepers for week two:
Fantasy Cafe, Roto Professor, the Hazean, FF Toolbox

fantasy football waiver wire pick ups:
Brad Evans, Anontio D'Arcangelis, Pick-Up Artist, Fanhouse, Fantasy Cafe, Bruno Boys, FF Toolbox, SI.com

fantasy baseball waiver wire pick ups:
Deep End, Pick-Up Artist, Fantasy Cafe, Roto World no comments

Initially shunned by Lithgowian-like managers, this strange, unknown receiver should be strapped onto the roofs of all fantasy football teams and taken home immediately. Overlooked for the experienced Lance Moore and/or the sleeper who keeps sleeping, Robert Meachem, Devery Henderson is ready to make believers out of skeptics and cynics alike. He's already displayed his potential in the Saints offense, he posted a 100 yd game with a TD vs the abominable Lions. This is what gets me so giddy about Devery: he is listed ahead of Lance Moore on the Saints depth chart, he had the most targets (8) of all Saints receivers in week 1 and John Hansen has this to say about him... no comments

Last night MDS and a few of his private leaguers did battle and drafted against four experts and some esteemed commenters in Andy Behrens' fantasy football blog league, the Roto Arcade Invitational. This is a 16 team league with a handful of IDP players mixed in at DL (2), LB(2) and DB(1). The four experts, one for each division, include Roto Arcade editor Andy Behrens (obviously), Paul Bourdett aka The Pick-Up Artist, the Fantasy Baseball Sherpa and a dude from razzball. This was my first IDP league and decided it was best to seek some help from an experienced IDP drafter. Roto Experts' Antonio D'Arcangelis heard my cries for help and provided me with some links and advice. Heading into the draft, my plan was to get my offense set first, not be the first team to take an IDP player and make sure to take my DB late in one of the last few rounds because we only needed one and there was plenty to be had. After the draft I provided Antonio with the draft results and prepared some questions for him. So with that, lets get into some Q & A with Antonio D'Arcangelis:

1. Quickly skimming over the draft do you think any of the managers reached for IDP players too early and/or stole some players later in the draft? How do you feel about where Patrick Willis (99), DeMarcus Ware (107) and Oshiomogho Atogwe (168) were selected in the draft? These were the players first drafted from their respected IDP positions.

I’d say once it’s Round 7 and your team is pretty much settled, it’s okay to grab a Top LB if they score about the same as an RB3 or WR3. But I’ll always take a Top Tier TE before I grab a Top Tier LB. So no – I don’t think Willis was a reach, because he wouldn’t have made it back to Mackenzie had he passed him up there — LBs DeMarcus Ware, Barrett Ruud, James Harrison, Top 5 DE Jared Allen and LB Jon Beason all were drafted in front of Mackenzie’s next pick. The IDP reach of the draft was definitely Nu-Yawk Giants selection of Antoine Winfield in Round 9 while D’Qwell Jackson, Jon Vilma, Karlos Dansby, Ray Lewis, Lance Briggs and E.J. Henderson were available. And while I think DE-eligible Terrell Suggs by BLAZE in the middle of Round 9 was great value, his O.J. Atogwe pick in Round 11 was a definite reach. Too much volatility at the DB position to warrant DB selections that early. They should’ve grabbed LBs.

2. Which team(s) applied an IDP draft strategy that you find most appealing?

As far as IDP goes, Downfield Vision applied and stuck to the best strategy. He filled his lineup, grabbed a handcuff and a quality backup RB, a solid TE, and then value-drafted defense with precision. LB London Fletcher, snuck in RB Mike Bell, LB Brian Urlacher, DL Justin Smith, DB Eric Weddle, good backup QB in Shaun Hill, DL Dwight Freeney, K, then closed it out with a third-year WR sleeper in Robert Meacham (albeit a perennial sleeper!).

3. What do you think of the four experts teams? Do you think they handled the addition of IDP players well and lived up to the expectations associated with being labeled as an expert?

I really like PUA’s team (I heart E.J. Henderson, R. Mathis and E. Reed) and Razzballer’s got a pretty nasty squad with lots of upside. But Razz should’ve grabbed Cap’N Kirk Morrison, David Harris or even rookie Rams MLB J. Laurinaitis before K.Wimbley, who could blow up this year with sack totals under Rob Ryan but isn’t a Top 20 LB. I think Behrens (Secret Treasure Loaf) has arguably the best all-around team, but I’m biased because I’m HOHILW Steve Slaton and Calvin Johnson this year. Not so sure about T.J. Houshmandzadeh – I might’ve snagged Jason Witten or Antonio Gates there – but I understand there’s not much of a dropoff to Keller, who could go pure apedung this season with capable rookie Mark Sanchez tossing him the rock. The Sherpa surprised with Larry Johnson in Round 3 – figured he should’ve gone WR or TE there, but maybe "The Disgruntled One" will rebound and score 20 a game. We all know he could. He also might’ve gotten the IDP steal of the draft with Laurinaitis in Round 16. As far as I’m concerned, experts they are (though I woulda beat the pants off all of you in this one!)

4. What do you think of million_dollar_sleeper's team? Did I come out looking like an IDP rookie or did the power of Antonio help me stay afloat against these guys?

The Power of Antonio is a force to be reckoned with (Just ask the dude I had to tackle the other day for using the "N" word repeatedly in my presence and then swinging at me when I told him to stop. Bad move, bub). Actually, aside from the Felix Jones reach in Round 3 (love him but you coulda had him in Round 4) I think A Good Day to Addai has a real shot at taking this one down, MDS…just make sure we keep my waiver-wire addition that I’m gonna give ya on the DEE-ELL. There’s a couple LBs I really like who are left sitting out there on your wire – and I think they’ll be Top 20 IDP guys this year! But F’Your Couch Ninjas probably needs those guys more. He got "auto-effed," as I like to call it.

5. How many leagues are you playing this fantasy football season and what kind of settings do you prefer? (size, positions, competition level, etc)

I’m playing in probably 15-20 leagues when it’s all said and done, and that includes just about every format available. I like a heady mix – like Hakeem Nicks -- ya heard? I prefer 12-team IDP, QB, RB, RB, WR, WR, WR, TE, K, DL, LB, DB, D-flex, D-flex. That’s my long-standing home league that I play in with my bro-in-law and it is PURE CRAZINESS. The draft is grueling and wonderful at the same time.

6. Are there any players (IDP or not) that have been landing on your teams often? Are you over-invested in any players? Do you have any favorites? Did you miss out on anyone you really like? Are there any specific players you purposely avoided?

I’ve got Donovan McNabb (Eagles look sharp) as my QB in two money leagues (but I have a partner in both, so that kinda lessens the blow of having the QB from the rival Eagles who I have to now root for – I’m a Cowboy fan). I also have Felix Jones in a bunch of leagues, though I snagged him in Round 8 of a 14-team draft last night, so I’m not reaching for him (I draft with Giants fans who hate all Cowboys, Redskins and Eagles – Marion "The Barbarian" Barber and Clinton Portis lasted until like the fifth round last night). I like Shiancoe’s value in middle rounds (got him REALLY late before everybody jumped on in a few), and I love me some Jay Cutler. I’ve repeatedly missed out on Steve Slaton, although it’s a matter of where I’ve drafted. And I’m avoiding Thomas Jones, Jamal Lewis, Carson Palmer, Chad Ochocinco, and Terrell Owens. IDP faves are all the LB/DE types who are DL-eligible (Trent Cole, Suggs, Aaron Kampman, Elvis Dumervil, Justin Smith, etc.) I also love Ruud and DQwell Jackson, as well as DBs Abram Elam and Erik Coleman.

7. Finally, on a scale of 1 to 10, how jealous should Paul Bourdett, the Pick Up Artist, be after watching me draft Chris Gamble 40 picks after he selected Ed Reed?

11 he should be extremely jealous.... ok, thats not Antonio's real answer. he is it:

Ummm — 5.2? Gamble was definitely a nice value, but I’m one of the only guys out there who think he can sustain his big numbers from a year ago. And I love Ed Reed. Sometimes you just have to draft guys that take it to the hizzy once in a while, and balance the low-risk, high-reward guys with medium-risk, even-higher reward. Reed is one of those guys.

8. If there’s anything else you’d like to comment on?

YEAH -- Why was KC LB Derrick Johnson and Browns DB Abram Elam not drafted? LOLZ for the masses…
catch ya all through the wire and through the ranks….Antonio OUT…　

Until the league is made viewable to the public, youll have to click here to see the full results of the Roto Arcade Invitational draft. If you have any need for IDP sleepers, watch list players, injury replacements or bye week fillers be sure to catch Antonio's articles. They are highly entertaining and informative. no comments