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Win a 52″ LCD and a spot on Rules of the League Season 2

February 3rd, 2010

I know I’ve been wrapping the season with several contests, which probably isn’t exactly the kind of heavy-hitting football analysis you crave, but…well, it is Super Bowl week.

I’m also in the middle of finalizing the redesign to make Fools more awesome for 2010. (If you’re sober enough, you may notice most of the changes are already in effect.)

The guys from Rules of the League shot me an email this week about this contest, and considering the prize is a shiny new TV that you receive in time to watch the Super Bowl this Sunday, I couldn’t pass up the chance to tell you all about it.

Of course, you can help the Fantasy Football Fools out as well when you enter the contest, as you’ll read in their explanation of the contest below, exclamation points and all.

But for the CliffsNotes version, just tweet out the text in bold below and follow @therulesdottv on Twitter for a chance to win a TV. See? Easy.

Win a 52″ LCD and a spot on Rules of the League Season 2 – http://therules.tv (RT and follow @therulesdottv to enter) #FFFools

So be nice and tweet about the contest with Fantasy Football Fools’ custom hashtag “#FFFools.”

Not only will you be endeared in the hearts of…well, me…forever, you also might score an excellent TV to watch Peyton Manning and Drew Brees compete to hit 400 yards by halftime on Sunday.

And be sure to tweet now. The contest ends on Feb. 4 (tomorrow) at 9 a.m. P.S.T.

Here’s the complete message from Rules of the League:

Check out Rules of the League web comedy over at http://therules.tv.

Win a 52″ LCD TV?  No Way!

In celebration of their first season of the show, they are giving away a 52″ Widescreen LCD TV, and delivering it to your house in time for the big game this Sunday.  All you have to do is tweet out the following message:

“Win a 52″ LCD and a spot on Rules of the League Season 2 – http://therules.tv (RT and follow @therulesdottv to enter) #FFFools”

A winner will be chosen at random from all the people that participate.

Holy Crap!  A Spot in the Show, too?

The winner of the contest also gets to appear in Season 2 of Rules of the League.  Yes!  You heard right.  You get written into an episode of the show next season.

Help Your Favorite Blog!

See the #hash tag at the end of the twitter message above?  That means you’re helping your favorite blog get written into the show, too.  The blog with the most retweets also gets a spot in the show.  Awesome!  All you have to do to enter is retweet the message above.

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Spice up your postseason with Buffalo Wild Wings and 10 Yards on DVD

January 4th, 2010

I’ve been meaning to get to a giveaway for some time now, but wrapping up my fantasy football leagues and trash-talking the ones in which I won the championship — it’s a requirement of any champion, you know — took more of my free hours than expected last week. With the fantasy season coming to a close (unless you’re playing playoff fantasy football with FF Librarian), I still have a few prizes to give out to you, my awesome readers.

And so, I’ve come up with an idea for a contest.

Buffalo Wild WingsThose of you who stopped by every week, reading my articles and probably not laughing at all the witty banter I thought was entertaining, deserve to get something for sticking it out. So here’s what I’ve got:

  1. A bottle of your very own Buffalo Wild Wings sauce. I’ve chosen Mango Habanero because, as long as you can stand the burn, it’s the tastiest sauce at BWW. Trust me.
  2. 10 Yards: Fantasy Football on DVD. This movie documented our addicting habit, and I reviewed it earlier this season. Now, you can own it and get a chance to review it for yourself in the comments.

How do you get your hands on one of these lovely treats? Well, we’re going to play a game. Mind the bold.

To enter the contest, in the comments below this post, tell me which NFL player will have the best fantasy performance this weekend in the Wild Card games. All offensive players are eligible, including quarterbacks, but don’t go picking a team defense or an IDP player. For the detail-oriented, assume standard ESPN scoring will be used to judge who had the best game.

Please also tell me whether you would prefer to receive the bottle of wing sauce (Mango Habanero!) or the 10 Yards DVD. Just say “Mango Habanero!” or “10 Yards DVD!” in your comment. Yes, you can only win one. I know you want them both, but hey, we must share the wealth.

Example Submission: Chris Johnson. Mango Habanero!

(And no, those of you who copy my example answer will be awarded no points, will not pass go, and will not collect $200, especially since the Titans did not make the playoffs.)

I know our comments can be edited, which means you sneaky devils can change your answer, but any edits you make to your comment must be finalized by the time the Jets and Bengals kickoff at 4:30 p.m. Eastern on Saturday, Jan. 9 (my birthday, by the way).

If you edit your comment after 4:30 p.m. Eastern Saturday, it will be ineligible for the contest, and you shall feel the shame of cheating to win wing sauce or a DVD. That’s some kind of shame.

It also goes without saying that you can only enter once. But there, I said it anyway.

After the final Wild Card game on Sunday, I’ll review the comments and pick our two winners. The first commenter selected will get their preference on the prize, and the second selection will just have to live with the sloppy seconds.

If exactly two of you guess correctly, those two will be our winners, and my job will be easy. If more than two of you guess the best fantasy performance, I’ll select two from the pool of correct commenters at random. If less than two (or none) of you guess the right guy, I’ll move on to those who guessed the second-highest fantasy performance correctly and so on, choosing a comment at random if we have a pool of more than two to choose from until we have two winners.

Hopefully, we won’t have to go as far as the fifth, sixth, or seventh-best fantasy performance, right?

So get your comment in now. Feel free to go out on a limb. Just don’t do anything too crazy like guess Wes Welker (injured, as if you didn’t know). Best of luck to you all and thanks for reading Fantasy Football Fools this season.

As an added thank you to Buffalo Wild Wings for not only providing a bottle of sauce for this contest (and myself) but also including me in their All-Star Bloggers League this season, let me also make you aware of the promotion they’re running right now on gift cards…

Does your deadbeat fantasy football leaguemate still owe you $5? Rather than abuse his voicemail relentlessly, just use his next gift-giving occasion to buy a $25 gift card to Buffalo Wild Wings, which earns you a $5 gift card in the process.

Buffalo Wild Wings - Buy $25 Gift Card, Get $5 Back

That’ll show him.

Thanks again for reading, and best of luck in this week’s contest.

Disclosure: Buffalo Wild Wings provided the sauce as a sample, and I am not obligated to return it [http://cmp.ly/2]. I received a review copy of 10 Yards: Fantasy Football that I am not obligated to return and received permission to give it away after my review was complete [http://cmp.ly/1].

UPDATE: Congrats to our winners wingateg3 (10 Yards DVD) and ericdickens (Mango Habanero!)

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Foolish Thoughts on 2009 Season: So why didn’t we all draft Chris Johnson?

December 29th, 2009

It’s insanity. That’s what fantasy football is when it comes to the playoffs. Jonathan Stewart and Jerome Harrison become huge fantasy steals in the final two games, and studs that you’ve depending on all season like Drew Brees and Aaron Rodgers clam up and shut down early, even in blowout wins. At least Chris Johnson has continued to be magical every week.

I forget how bizarre it really becomes until it’s this time of year again.

Now Harrison will likely compel some fantasy footballers to draft him as an RB3 or maybe even an RB2 next season. Jamaal Charles could be right up there with him. We can only hope that neither is next year’s Steve Slaton or Pierre Thomas, hot in the playoffs but average or inconsistent the following season when given the full responsibility and trust of fantasy owners.

In Charles’ case, I think he’s got a real chance to thrive in the Kansas City offense as long as the current coaching staff stays intact. He’s a great receiving back, and even if the Chiefs decide that they need to bring in a bigger runner to take some of the carries and compliment Charles in the offseason — LenDale White is available, or so I hear — Charles should get plenty of chances to put up big numbers as part of the explosive offense Todd Haley is trying to create.

Out of the five fantasy football leagues I played in this season, I made the playoffs in three and had the chance to play for three championships this week. Of those, I won two and lost one by just a single point (as long as current calculations hold up) after Peterson racked up those two short-yardage touchdowns last night. It was incredibly frustrating, but I can’t be completely unhappy with the results. Even losing that one championship game out of three, this year has been my best season so far.

And next season, I want to focus even more on the leagues that were truly competitive. I’ve reduced the number of leagues I played in over the past two seasons. This year, I was down to five, and next season, I’ll probably take it down another league or two until I find the sweet spot for managing leagues, writing fantasy football analysis, and enjoying the game.

Here are some questions you can answer in the comments below: How many leagues do you play in? Do you find it more fun to play in a small number of leagues or as many as possible? These are the decisions I always debate this time of year.

Dallas Cowboys v Washington Redskins

I think I’m one of the few fantasy football fans out there, especially among fantasy football bloggers, who cares more about their real team winning (in my case, the Cowboys) than their fantasy team. It excited me to no end when the Cowboys shutout the Redskins last night and secured a playoff spot.

I wasn’t nearly as pumped when my fantasy football teams made the playoffs. Satisfied? Yes, but excited? Not off-the-wall excited. That said, it wasn’t a close call for any of them either. I knew weeks in advance that I was bound for the playoffs.

I’d hope we’re all fans of the game and the action-packed saga that is the NFL. If not for it, we wouldn’t have fantasy football.

So even if you lost your league, even if you got shot down in the championship game, even if your league dues were wasted as soon as you drafted Brian Westbrook and Matt Forte, I hope you’ll sit down and watch a few more games next week and deep into the playoffs.

Playoff football is a treat that only comes around once each year, much like the holiday season that just passed. Our presents? The Super Bowl, one of the most extravagant and exciting sporting events in all the land.

If you truly want to win in fantasy football, I think you first have to love the game because you have to understand how to translate what you watch and get excited about on the field into what works on your fantasy roster. So sit down, crack open a cold one (or a nice, frosty beverage of a less alcoholic persuasion if that’s your thing), and enjoy some football over the next month.

Of course, it’d be nice to know you’re all doing it with a championship trophy on your mantel, like me, but if you didn’t win, there’s no shame in cheering your fantasy studs on to a Super Bowl as you start to prep for next season.

And don’t feel like the fantasy season has to end. I’ll still be posting to Fantasy Football Fools because we have to start looking ahead to 2010 and because I still have some prizes to give to you, my dear readers. If you need help with Week 17 decisions (for those terrible, terrible leagues that go into the dreaded final week of the regular season), drop me a line on Twitter or in the comments.

Thanks again for reading Fantasy Football Fools this season and being part of the foolish community. Stay tuned for more over the coming days. Even if you didn’t win your championship, you deserve to take home some prizes.

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Why the Colts Won’t Win the Super Bowl

December 29th, 2009
New York Jets v Indianapolis Colts

I usually don’t write these kinds of posts, the ones that look at just one particular team’s chances in the NFL playoffs, but considering the fantasy season is winding to a close, I felt compelled to share my take on one of this week’s big storylines.

In the midst of a 15-10 third quarter with the Jets this week, the Colts, on the path to perfection, decided to sit their starters, Peyton Manning included, rather than push through to finish the game with a chance to go undefeated next week. The Colts had the lead at the time, but they by no means had the game locked up, especially not when their backup quarterback, rookie Curtis Painter, was ill-prepared to control the clock against a New York Jets team fighting to remain in the playoff hunt.

Coach Jim Caldwell had to know what would happen if he pulled his team out of the game with the score still so close.

The Colts lost in brutal fashion. First, Painter was stripped for a fumble that the Jets recovered in the end zone for a touchdown. Painter would later be intercepted, and the Colts never scored again. The Jets just ran away with it, right in front of the Colts’ starters’ eyes as they watched from the bench.

All the while, the highly competitive Peyton Manning stood on the sidelines, helmet on, brooding over what might have been had he stayed in the game.

It’s one thing to sit your starters. It’s another to spit in the face of a record that’s almost impossible to reach.

Earlier this season, Michael Irvin said that he would trade all three Super Bowl rings and his Hall of Fame membership for one undefeated season, a notch on the belt that only one NFL team in the history of the game has ever had.

But the Colts, just a little more than five quarters away from being perfect through the regular season, decided it wasn’t worth another quarter of play. It wasn’t worth the risk of injury.

Without any consideration for the fact that when the Manning-led Colts won a Super Bowl, the Colts were coming off a regular season in which they didn’t rest starters and entered as a Wild Card, Caldwell opted to let his primary players take a breather for the big one.

I don’t think that players get rusty. Some NFL stars don’t practice much in the offseason and come in Week 1 ready to dominate, but there’s something to be said for playing it out all the way to the end, especially when you have something to accomplish. I think the teams that have the momentum on their side should keep that momentum by at least playing until a win is secured in their final games.

By giving up on a historic record, and doing so in such a brutal fashion by feeding a rookie quarterback to the wolves of an attacking defense, the Colts got their spirit broken, their dreams crushed, and no lollipop when it was finished.

Peyton Manning had to watch as a rookie quarterback blew apart his perfect season in just a little less than two quarters of play. In his entire career, Manning may never get another chance to do that.

So don’t tell me that all the players agreed it was the best idea, Caldwell. Don’t tell me that the record doesn’t matter, Colts. To your fans, to your players, and to the many NFL icons around the league, the Colts looked like an unstoppable force because they were undefeated, and now, they’ve become just another team.

Look at the Saints. One week after losing to the Cowboys, they lost to the miserable Bucs. Sure, they’re still the No.1 seed in the NFC, but the Saints are exposed. They’re no longer the monster they seemed to be weeks ago. They can lose. They can give up.

And for the Colts, I wouldn’t be surprised to see them lose again — maybe not against the Bills next week, but to Chargers in the playoffs? Yes. San Diego has far more hype than the Colts now that Indy doesn’t have an undefeated streak at their backs, and the Chargers have had the Colts’ number in the postseason.

Once you give up, even in a game that doesn’t matter, it’s easy to get caught doing it again. Maybe it will strike in the playoffs; maybe it hits them in the Super Bowl. It’s only a matter of time before this morale-killing loss catches up to the Colts.

If you want to win a Super Bowl ring, something that takes a no-quit attitude, you simply can’t quit — not in any game, not on any record. You have to keep the wind at your back. You have to keep the momentum in full swing.

And that’s why the Colts won’t win the Super Bowl, no matter what they say these next two weeks. They quit in the third quarter. They quit too early, and they can’t forgive themselves for doing that.

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Buzztime Fantasy Football: Fun game even during the time you aren’t buzzed

December 23rd, 2009

A couple of weeks ago, I got the chance to play Buzztime Fantasy Football. If you’ve never played it at your local watering hole or seen it in real life before, it’s much like the trivia games you’re used to seeing at sports bars and restaurants. In order to play, you have to get a keypad console, or Playmaker, from the establishment that allows you to login to your Buzztime account and participate in the games that are scrolling across the various Buzztime-dedicated TV screens.

Like many of the games I’m sure some of you are seeking this time of year, Buzztime Fantasy Football allows you to pick an entirely new team every week. Just like college graduation, your past defeats no longer continue to haunt you like they would with a traditional fantasy football team after a poor draft.

Each week, you select two quarterbacks, two running backs, two wide receivers, one tight end, one kicker, and one team defense as well as a tiebreaker question. Buzztime gives you five players to choose from for each position, and once your picks are entered, you’re good to go.

The onscreen experience enhances your pick selections by running through player stats. I would have liked more side-by-side comparisons or a commentary provided in video format about each of the players, but in a busy bar environment, the Buzztime selection screens worked for what they are.

It was a little nerveracking to select my team on location at Buffalo Wild Wings, which I chose to draft at because I’m a company man like that (Buffalo Wild Wings had me participate in their All-Star Bloggers League this season).

I brought along some friends, which made the evening more enjoyable but added an extra layer of difficulty to selecting players.

Between each position pick for your team, there’s a break. That could sometimes lead you to forget about selecting your next player, but the Playmaker does beep at you to let you know it’s time to get your head back in the game. If you came to your local Buzztime location ready to do some serious drafting and with a few fantasy football friends in tow, I don’t think you’d have as much of a problem.

If you do miss anything, as an added bonus, you can always login to the online site, Buzztime.com, to make picks that you left blank or change your picks before the games start.

Luckily, I found that it wasn’t too difficult to make your pick if you know your fantasy football, but the player selection is no cakewalk. Buzztime creates an interesting mix, not just the top five at each position or the most highly projected in any given week. You have to know when there are favorable opponents for a fantasy stud, which the Buzztime stats help you see, but you often have to make a call between a stud and a sleeper.

Buzztime.com and the mobile site, Buzztime.com/m, allow you to track your scores and see how you stack up each week.

I was impressed that Buzztime had the mobile site, especially considering sites like Yahoo! and Fleaflicker still haven’t caught up to ESPN’s mobile offerings when it comes to fantasy football management. I found myself more involved in my ESPN leagues this season and more comfortable tracking scores from my phone thanks to their mobile sites — although an application for Android phones would be great, whichever one of you big guns wants to make one first.

It’s clear from Buzztime’s mobile site offerings that they have thought about accessibility, and I like that. You don’t have to go to a restaurant or bar that has the Playmakers available, but they certainly do make it more social and sports bar-friendly.

While the Playmaker itself leaves something to be desired, it’s not bad. So it’s pretty much just a keyboard with a two-tone green-on-black input screen? So what? The real visuals here are the TV screens that show you the players that you’ll be selecting. You’re just inputting numbers into the Playmaker to make your selections. If you want more aesthetics, they do have that mobile site I just plugged.

It’d be nice if there were more times available to draft your team “on location.” The Buzztime locations I found all offer fantasy football selection times several times on Wednesday nights, but no other nights of the week were available.

As long as you plan to be there on time, you’ll be around for the selections, and even if you miss it, you can always put together your team on Buzztime.com. But it’d be nice if I could do it on Thursday night before Thursday Night Football begins or on Monday, right after the Monday Night Football game has ended. For those of us who can’t frequent sports bar establishments, it would allow us to maximize our football watching time.

Then again, maybe we deserve an excuse to go out with some fantasy football buddies on a Wednesday night?

Overall, if you’re looking for a fun way to relive the fantasy football draft throughout the season, or if you need a fantasy football fix when your playoff hopes have run dry, head down to your local sports bar, restaurant, or watering hole and try out Buzztime Fantasy Football. Use Buzztime’s Site Finder to find the location nearest you equipped with Playmakers.

As an added bonus, after selecting my players on the Playmaker, I used it to enjoy some football trivia. The questions weren’t your typical “going to commercial” tossups that you see during football broadcasts. They were tough, but Buzztime keeps it interesting by providing clues, the last of which would often give away the answer for lesser sports fans with logic skills.

Buzztime also offers an interesting game called QB1, where you try to predict the play just before a team runs it. I might have to give that one a try next time I’m in there on Sunday.

Even if you don’t get a chance to try out the fantasy football game this season, the trivia and other games are worth battling in next time you’re out and in need of some midgame entertainment.

And it’s hard to beat the price. All of Buzztime’s games are free.

If you’ve played Buzztime at your local house of sports, share your thoughts in the comments. I’m interested to see what others think of the games and the experience.

Full Disclosure: Buzztime covered my visit to Buffalo Wild Wings to experience the Playmaker device and play some Buzztime Fantasy Football (http://cmp.ly/2). No wing sauces or Playmakers were injured in the writing of this review.

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