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Foolish Games We Play: Win Fame and Fortune with Fantasy Football in Week 9

November 7th, 2009

It’s been some time since we talked about the contest and competitions out there in the fantasy football world. If you’ve lost that lovin’ feeling for your current team, or if you’re so secure in your spot that you’ve grown tired of waiting for the playoffs, here are a few opportunities that might catch your eye.

Buffalo Wild Wings’ Football Challenge

Want to play in a game at Raymond James Stadium?

No, the Bucs aren’t having open tryouts—shocking, I know. Through a contest at Buffalo Wild Wings, fans can win a round-trip ticket to Tampa to play in a flag football game on Feb. 13. Wouldn’t that be a wonderful Valentine’s Day celebration? I think so.

Mike Golic and Mike Greenberg from ESPN will coach the flag football teams, and Jerome Bettis and Marshall Faulk will act as team captains.

Sounds like a pretty nice little Saturday. Much better than Pottery Barn, but here’s the kicker: You have to register in person by tomorrow, Nov. 8. So if you are reading this post, you need to head on over to your local Buffalo Wild Wings right now or tomorrow (to watch all the games, of course) to get registered.

Buffalo Wild Wings Coke CouponYou don’t even have to buy anything to get a chance in this contest. It’s free to anyone who registers at Buffalo Wild Wings.

As an added incentive, Buffalo Wild Wings is circulating a coupon for the month of November (at right, click to view larger, printable copy of the coupon) as if you needed another reason to go right now.

You know, I am a company man when it comes to Buffalo Wild Wings since I’m playing in their All-Star Blogger League this year—or, attempting to play, as my current record might indicate. But you have to appreciate all the love they’ve been giving fantasy football this season.

The official rules and more details are available on the Buffalo Wild Wings contest site.

Best Buy’s Weekly Fantasy Football Challenge

This one’s pretty simple. Best Buy is hosting a contest in which you pick a roster every week to go head-to-head with a celebrity’s team. For every point you beat the celebrity by, you get entered in weekly drawing for prizes. Pretty painless.

This week’s celebrity is Gavin DeGraw, and he’s left himself open for a challenger by choosing Eli Manning as his “bonus” player. You can beat that, people.

Win $50 Gift Card to NFL.com from the Fantasy Football Geeks

The Fantasy Football Geek Blog teamed up with Monster.com to promote the search for the new NFL Director of Fandemonium.

To get your chance at the $50 gift card to NFL.com, all you have to do is pick this week’s top quarterback.

I’d give you a hint of my pick, but I don’t want to taint the contest. Let’s just say I like a certain quarterback coming off a bye and playing a team from Florida, and it’s not Matt Cassel. Piece that cryptic puzzle together if you can.

FanDuel

Finally, Fantasy Football Goat had some nice things to say about his experience with FanDuel. I’ve never played there myself, but he likes it. How can you not trust the word of a goat?

If you take the Goat’s advice and give it a try, feel free to share your experience in the comments for our education.

That’s all I’ve got. Sorry for the late notice on some of these contests, but I thought they were worth sharing, even last minute.

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A Fool and His Money – Week 4

October 4th, 2009

Bengals (-5.5) over BROWNS
The Bengals beat the Packers and Steelers in back-to-back games. The Browns finally benched Ms. Quinn, but Derek Anderson somehow managed to play worse in his second half debut. I have to imagine it’s tough for anybody to like the Browns in this one.

Lions (+10) over BEARS
The first step is admitting you have a problem. I admit I do not like Jay Cutler and that my picks regarding Chicago this year should be taken with a grain of salt.

Raiders (+9) over TEXANS
The Texans were on a nice little win streak before they went to Oakland last year. Oakland’s strength is anything but JaMarcus Russell passing, AKA running the ball. The Texans have one of the worst run defenses in the league. That leads me to believe Schaub will be on the sidelines a lot and that this game will be closer than people think.

Seahawks (+11) over COLTS
The Colts are looking very good, but 11 points? I can’t turn that down.

Bucs (+7) over REDSKINS
The Redskins are going to be booed by their home fans for losing to Detroit last week. They barely beat the Rams the week before that. The Bucs will smell blood in the water just like the Lions last week.

Titans (-3) over JAGS
I’m having trouble letting go. The Titans are 0-3, yet I keep picking them. I view this game as a win-win situation. If they win, great. If they lose, the Vince Young grumblings will get a little louder.

Giants (-8.5) over CHIEFS
The Chiefs have the 30th ranked total offense and 22nd ranked total defense. The Giants have the second ranked total defense and sixth ranked total offense. That points to a double-digit can of whoop-ass where I come from.

Ravens (+2) over PATRIOTS
This is a tough one for me. The Patriots had a solid statement game against the Falcons last week, but the Ravens have done everything asked of them so far this season. I am going to stick with the Ravens until they do me wrong.

Bills (-2) over DOLPHINS
The Dolphins have a decent run defense, but shutting down the Marshawn Lynch-Fred Jackson combo won’t be easy. And as much as I don’t like him, my gut says T.O. will have a solid game to make up for the goose egg he put up last week.

SAINTS (-7) over Jets
I keep picking against Mark Sanchez and the Jets. Maybe this will be the week that I’m actually right. I think the Saints will put points on the board no matter who they are playing, but I’m not sure the Jets can do the same on the road.

49ERS (-10) over Rams
The 49ers are going to come out angry after letting the Vikings game slip away from them. Their defense is opportunistic at home, and I’m guessing Kyle Boller will try to do a little too much in the starting role.

Cowboys (-3) over BRONCOS
I realize the Broncos are 3-0, but I’m still going with the Cowboys. They have more talent, and their ground game is punishing teams right now.

Chargers (+6.5) over STEELERS
This is way too many points for the Steelers to be favored by. They have lost two in a row and have done nothing this season to justify that spread. This is a no-brainer pick regardless of who you think is going to win.

Packers (+3.5) over VIKINGS
Brett Favre is saying all the right things this week, but there is no way it’s just another game to him. I’m guessing he will go out and try to win this game himself instead of just handing off to Purple Jesus like he should. This is must-watch TV no matter which team you root for.

Season Record: 16-16

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A Fool and His Money – Week 2

September 20th, 2009

Editor’s Note: Yes, we’re a little late with this one, and yes, it’s probably better if you don’t listen to Nick’s picks anyway. We’ll post them now just so we can still hold him accountable for his mistakes.

Texans (+7) over TITANS
I want to choose the Titans in this one, but for some reason this is always a close game so I’m going to take the points. And the Texans can’t be nearly as bad as they appeared in Week 1…I hope.

Cardinals (+3) over JAGUARS
I’m ignoring the curse of West Coast teams that play 1PM ET games. The Cardinals have to realize how much they need this game.

Vikings (-9.5) over LIONS
Did you know that Adrian Peterson’s base salary is only $755,000? Brett Favre gets paid over $12,000,000 in base salary. No wonder A.D. runs like he’s angry.

Panthers (+6) over FALCONS
I love this pick. Everybody’s expectation for Jake Delhomme is so low that he can only overachieve. I believe he’ll play decent against an untested Falcons’ secondary.

REDSKINS (-10) over Rams
I know the Redskin lost last week, but the Rams were shutout by the Seahawks! It’s going to be a very long season in St. Louis.

Seahawks (+1.5) over 49ERS
I said last week that I was picking the Seahawks to win the NFC West, and they didn’t disappoint. Neither did the 49ers in there upset win over the Cardinals, but I’m sticking with my preseason prediction at this point.

Browns (+3) over BRONCOS
Kyle Orton looked awful in his Bronco debut despite the win. Something in my gut says they won’t get a miracle 87-yard touchdown pass to win the game this week.

Giants (+2.5) over COWBOYS
I thought the Giants would be favored in this game. That makes this a pretty easy pick from my standpoint. Brandon Jacobs is going to punish the Cowboys’ defenders in this game.

PACKERS (-9) over Bengals
I think everyone knew the Packers had the talent, but last week’s win will finally let the Packers themselves believe in it. Does that make sense? It does to me.

Steelers (-3) over BEARS
Big Ben looked great against the Titans, and I thought the Bears could not have had a worse debut. This game will be a blowout. You heard it here first.

Patriots (-3.5) over JETS
The Jets looked hungry last week at Houston. The Pats struggled to beat the might Bills. But a certain Mr. Brady found his mojo at the end of the game, and that makes all the difference to me.

Colts (-3) over DOLPHINS
This isn’t so much a vote of confidence in the Colts as it is doubt in the Dolphins. They had an easy schedule last year, but things are different this year.

Raiders (+3) over CHIEFS
I’ll admit it: I was a little impressed by how the Raiders looked against the Chargers on Monday night. It’s a shame they didn’t keep Jeff Garcia around instead of JaMarcus Russell because he will undoubtedly lose several games for them.

BILLS (-5) over Bucs
Trent Edwards looked decent despite not getting T.O. the ball much in Week 1, but that just makes me like him more. The Bucs defense also looked porous gave up three touchdown bombs of more than 60 yards.

CHARGERS (-3) over Ravens
The Ravens covered the spread last week by unconventionally going for the touchdown instead of the field goal while already up one score with 50 seconds left. That made their win look more impressive than it actually was. The Chargers didn’t look impressive, but I’m going to give that up to being rusty…and the fact that I have L.T. on several fantasy teams and need him to have a successful season.

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Guest Post: 2009 NFL preview from a fantasy outsider

September 13th, 2009

This guest post comes to Fantasy Football Fools from Eric Amzallag of sports pick site UnlockedSports.com. Rather than stay in our fantasy bubble this season, I thought taking a look at the playoff picks from a relative fantasy outsider would be a nice jump start to the conversation — since, inevitably, my Super Bowl and playoff picks would be largely influenced by what players I have invested in this season.

I think Eric makes some interesting calls that should get us talking, but keep in mind that Eric sent these to us this offseason before much of the news had been made.

Feel free to share your own playoff predictions on this glorious Sunday of football in the comments. We’ll give greater cred to those who post before their picks destroy opponents in their opening game this week. Now on with the show…

Now that football season is quickly approaching, fans, poolers and bettors are eager to gather as much information as they can to make some informed sports picks in the upcoming season.

Every single year, we seem to come into the NFL season with all eyes on Tom Brady and the New England Patriots to win it all. There is nothing wrong with that. The Patriots always have a great team surrounding arguably the best quarterback of our time.

But times are a-changing, and this season we will see some new teams in the running for the Lombardi trophy. With a relatively painless offseason, the Pittsburgh Steelers will be looking to repeat and have a good chance to do so.

Don’t count out these playoff contenders from the AFC:

  • Indianapolis Colts: Peyton Manning! With Peyton behind center the Colts will always be contenders.
  • Oakland Raiders: The AFC West is the worst division in football right now, and the Raiders are the only team with promise and a good, young core of players. This year will be the season they break out of the funk.
  • Buffalo Bills: Although some people disagree, getting T.O. was huge for the Bills. Not only will their offense be hard to stop with two star receivers, a promising young quarterback and Marshawn Lynch in the backfield, but they are well-coached and poised to have a breakout season.

The NFC is another beast altogether. The Arizona Cardinals will be good but not as good as they were last season. The Dallas Cowboys may have dropped some baggage, but this year will be a make-or-break season for Tony Romo.

San Diego Chargers v Atlanta Falcons

In the NFC, watch for these teams to make an impact this season:

  • Atlanta Falcons: Matt Ryan, Michael Turner and Roddy White! ‘Nuff said.
  • Dallas Cowboys: Do or die! If the Cowboys are going to stay in the title contender picture they will need to come together. This season will be the one that defines them, and I think they will come through.
  • San Francisco 49ers: Kind of a sleeper pick here, but I am sticking with it for one reason, Mike Singletary’s first full season.
  • Chicago Bears: Although the defense was suspect last season, this year everything is going to come together for Chicago. Not only will the defense get back to its stingy ways, but with Jay Cutler in the offense, this team could be scary!

So those are Eric’s picks, made right around the time of the NFL draft this offseason. Who do you think is going to win it all this year? You can check out more from Eric and UnlockedSports.com.

As always, the comments are yours.

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A Fool and His Money – Week 1

September 12th, 2009

Week 1 is my favorite week to make bets. You get to trust your gut more than any other week of the season, and you feel extremely smug when your predictions come true.

But the first games are also full of questions. Which teams developed chemistry over the offseason? Who will exceed expectations, and who will disappoint? There is money to be made if you can answer these questions correctly.

STEELERS (-6) over Titans
Will the Titans’ defense be the same without Albert Haynesworth? I have no qualms with the Titans’ defense, but I do have problems with trusting Kerry Collins. I predict Vince Young will get his chance for redemption at some point in the season.

Cowboys (-6) over BUCS
Are the Cowboys serious NFC contenders this year? They need to stomp teams like Tampa Bay if they are.

Lions (+13) over SAINTS
Did Kevin Smith really guarantee the playoffs this year? Even Lions’ players and fans can be optimistic this time of year.

FALCONS (-4) over Dolphins
Which one of these teams will take a step back this year? My vote is for the one that loses this game.

TEXANS (-4.5) over Jets
Have you met Mario Williams yet? Rookie QB Mark Sanchez is about to meet him for first time. This is the year the Texans need to finish over .500. People have been talking about this team for a couple of seasons — now show us something!

BENGALS (-4) over Broncos
Does anybody know what to expect from either of these teams? I think the Bengals have more potential so I’m going with them.

PANTHERS (+1.5) over Eagles
Why isn’t anyone talking about the Panthers this year? They had the best fantasy player in the game last year and the best record in the NFC.

Jags (+7) over COLTS
Has any team been more consistent this past decade? No Bob Sanders or Marvin Harrison this season. I like the Colts to win, but seven points is just too much for me.

Vikings (-4) over BROWNS
Is Brady Quinn still a loser? The answer is always yes. This line seems suspiciously low to me, but I’m going to take the bait and pick the Vikings.

Chiefs (+13) over RAVENS
Who can turn down 13 points? Not me — at least not during the first week when we still have a lot to learn about teams.

Redskins (+6.5) over GIANTS
Is this Jason Campbell’s last chance? If he doesn’t step up this year, I think it’s time for the Redskins to start looking in a different direction.

SEAHAWKS (-8.5) over Rams
Was last year a fluke? Everyone knows these teams were decimated by injuries last year, but we need to see who will bounce back quicker. I personally expect an NFC West division title for the Seahawks.

49ers (+6.5) over CARDINALS
Who doesn’t love Mike Singletary? From his future Coors Light commercial quotes to his obsession with hills, I want to believe the 49ers can take a step forward this year.

PACKERS (-3.5) over Bears
Do you believe the hype? A lot of people are very high on both these teams in the NFC. I don’t forget which players and teams wronged me last year, and Jay Cutler is at the top of that list. I bet he hangs out with Brady Quinn in the offseason.

PATRIOTS (-10.5) over Bills
Is Brady back? Normally, I don’t like giving double-digit points in the first week, but I believe the Patriots will try and turn this into a statement game by running up the score.

Chargers (-9) over RAIDERS
Could anything the Raiders do surprise you at this point? Stupid draft picks, violent head coaches, dumb trades. I wish I could bet the over on L.T. getting more than 30 fantasy points this week.

Season Record
Nick: 0-0-0

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