Archive for October, 2010
Mysterious Mike from New York is your Week 7 FFFC Winner
Mike from New York, who goes by the mysterious name elizabeth4715, has won Week 7 of the FFFC. Mike’s a tough nut to crack, but he’s a great guy and was kind enough to speak with us about his big win. So rather than waste any time, let’s get right to it.
So you won. How did it feel and what was your strategy?
It was a pleasant surprise. You throw your hat in the ring and hope you win. And it wasn’t really strategy, it was just throwing names out there in all honesty.
You actually had the most comfortable win we’ve had in the FFFC yet. You were in first after Sunday and still had a player in the Monday Night Game. What was it like as everything unfolded?
I didn’t pay attention to my score until the 4pm games on Sunday, then I saw I had a chance to be in the top 10. I was a little bit leery about the Minnesota vs. Dallas Monday Night game once Kitna came in, because my only real competitor had Roy Williams. Luckily Kitna went to Dez Bryant instead. Really I wasn’t too stressed out. I started reading the details of the of the contest during the Monday Night game and didn’t realize the contest only went 10 weeks. I thought it would go 15, hahaha.
Have you won anything like this in the past?
Not even close. If I had won a $20 scratcher that would would be big. If it wasn’t for bad luck I’d have no luck at all.
What’s the best thing about the FFFC and FanDuel?
It’s so easy and effortless and it keeps your interest. I also love the chat and being able to communicate with people instantly. There’s real camaraderie on the site.
Who was your best player?
It was actually two players. Roddy White and Michael Turner.
How did you find out about FanDuel?
I was in Philly and I saw it on the Philly.com site and signed up.
How long have you been playing on FanDuel?
I’ve been playing since April. I did well with baseball and football. I’m pretty miserable at the NHL and NBA though.
If you won the $25,000 in the Grand Final, what would you spend it on?
I haven’t really thought about it, and I don’t want to jinx myself, hahaha.
Week 8 of the FFFC is open for team selection – click here to get your picks in now.
Does that $25,000 have YOUR name on it?
NFL Fantasy Stock Up/Stock Down Report: Week 8
All right everyone. Time to hit you up with some more fantasy knowledge. Once again, here are some players that it might make sense to use or avoid this weekend in the FanDuel Fantasy Football Championship (3 week left) or in your head-to-head or league matchups.
So let’s get to it.
Stock-Up:
Ryan Fitzpatrick (QB – Bills): Yes, he plays on a winless team, but he threw four TDs against the Ravens and – hold your breath – is the #1 fantasy QB in points per game right now. No, that’s not a typo. Ryan Fitzpatrick is a better fantasy QB right now than Peyton Manning, Aaron Rodgers or Philip Rivers. One thing to note is that while Bills head coach Chan Gailey is a terrible coach, he’s an extremely gifted offensive coordinator. Gailey has made a lot of journeymen QBs look quite good over the years. As long as Fitzpatrick is playing for Gailey, you can be confident Fitzpatrick will play well.
John Kitna (QB – Cowboys): Kitna’s 38 years old, and doesn’t have much left in the tank, but he has a great matchup in Week 8 against a bad Jaguars secondary. Considering Kitna basically has two #1 receivers to throw to in Miles Austin and Dez Bryant, you’ve got to like Kitna. Plus he’s ridiculously cheap ($5,200).
LeGarrette Blount (RB – Buccaneers): I’ve been touting him for a while, and he finally got his chance against the Rams this last weekend, going for 72 yards on 11 carries. Because he’s a punishing runner, expect Blount to get goal-line duties and about 14-18 carries a game. And don’t be surprised if he takes over nearly full time for Cadillac Williams, who is averaging under three yards per carry.
Nate Burleson (WR – Lions): Burleson is quietly having a good season. This week with Matt Stafford back, and the Lions going up against a Redskins secondary that hemorrhages fantasy points, Burleson is a great third wide receiver.
Stock Down
Drew Brees (QB – Saints): Something stinks in New Orleans. Their offense is nothing like it was last year and Drew Brees is having one rough season so far. Is this all due to the Reggie Bush injury? That’s the big question. Bush’s prognosis for playing in Week 8 is up in the air right now. Best to lay off using Brees until Bush gets back and we can reassess the Saints’ offense.
Jordan Shipley (WR – Bengals): Shipley’s Week 7 numbers (6 catches, 131 yards, one TD) were the result of a furious comeback attempt by the Bengals where they had to do almost nothing but throw. No chance he repeats that performance anytime soon.
Brandon Lloyd (WR – Broncos): Lloyd has had some big games this year and is averaging 100 yards per game receiving, but he hasn’t found the end zone all that often. Combine this with the fact that the Broncos are an absolute mess right now, Lloyd is known for being exceptionally streaky, and he’s been held in check for two straight games. The logic is to start backing off from using him. You don’t know what you’re going to get.
Matt Forte (RB – Bears): Forte is unfortunately caught in a terrible situation. Jay Cutler is reverting to 2009 form, the Bears’ O-line is dreadful, and Mike Martz is doing everything possible to avoid running the ball. Combine this with the fact that Chester Taylor is seemingly the goal-line back for the Bears, and Forte looks less and less like an RB you’d trust.
Have you voted for FanDuel?
FanDuel has been shortlisted for Best Sports & Entertainment Startup 2010 by Techcrunch.com. It would be awesome to win this, but the competition is super stiff. So every vote counts. Vote here: bit.ly/azyJTM – it will only take you 2 seconds, honestly!
More publicity = more FanDuellers = more money to win! So, get voting now! bit.ly/azyJTM
Fanduel NBA Writers Contest
We’re running an NBA Writers contest this season, which follows a similar structure to our NHL contest. There will be a total of seven one day contests (each with a cash prize to the top finisher) as well as a prize for the highest individual weekly score of the seven contests. The contests will be on Wednesday’s and the first leg is in the books.
1st (321 points) – Rich Wilson (richw) from Fantasy Pros 911.
2nd (289 points) – Brandon Ribak (nbaprimetime) from NBA Primetime.
3rd (271 points) – Josh (sirahlst) from Sign And Trade.
4th (244 points) – Seth Pollack (seth_pollack) from Bright Side Of The Sun .
5th (242 points) – Nels Wadycki (nelswadycki) from Give Me The Rock.
6th (232 points) – Tom Ziller (tomziller) from Sactown Royalty .
7th (225 points) – Zack Cimini (notjustagame) from Not Just A Game.
8th (190 points) – Andrew Isaac (isaacand) from Guyism.
Rich’s winning roster consisted of Devin Harris, Chris Paul, Monta Ellis, Brandon Roy, Kevin Durant, Carmelo Anthony, Kevin Love, Blake Griffin, and Andrew Bogut.
FanDuel’s Fantasy Football Writers League Week 7 Report: Ben Ice Comes Up Big
Even though pretty much no one selected Darren McFadden or Kenny Britt this weekend (a combined 7 TDs), there were still plenty of other players who put up some monster numbers. And more than a few experts took advantage.
For the first time, two experts finished in the top ten, despite an all-time high of 670 entries in the FFFC this past weekend. Ben Ice, the founder of RotoExperts and senior writer at Fantasy Sharks, came in 2nd, winning $500. Will Brinson of CBS Sports came in 9th, winning $60. Nate Zegura of The Fantasy Consultant (who won Week 4 flat-out and who always seems to be lurking near the top) just missed some prize money by coming in 11th.
Here’s how everyone placed this week:
2. Ben Ice – Founder of RotoExperts, Senior writer at Fantasy Sharks (ben_ice) – 153.5
9. Will Brinson – CBS Sports football blogger and writer (rwbrinso) – 142.52
11. Nathan Zegura – Founder of The Fantasy Consultant (tfc_zegura) – 141.94
40. Marc Caviglia – Bruno Boys Fantasy Football (brunoboys) – 131.44
62. Joe Fortenbaugh – National Football Post (national_football_post) – 126.92
153. Tom Herrera – AOL Fanhouse (snydayre) – 114.74
217. Andrew Isaac – Sports editor at Guyism (isaacand) – 110.2
265. Paul Greco – Founder of FantasyPros911 and associate editor of Baseball Digest (paulgreco) – 105.62
272. Jimmy Traina – Sports Illustrated (jimmy_traina) – 105.14
283. Matt Mullin of Philly.com (philly_sports) – 104.44
342. Stephen Douglas – Writer for The Big Lead (crm_stephen) – 100.28
367. Brian Berkowitz – Senior Director of Digital Media at Maxim.com and Blender.com (bberkowitz) – 99.24
410. Chet Gresham – Editor at Razzball (cgdoc) – 95.54
444. Randy Youngman – Columnist at Orange County Register (R_Youngman) 93.14
472. Jack Decker – Lead fantasy football writer at Sports Blog Nation (thesavant) – 90.94
492. Joe Kinsey – Founder of Busted Coverage (bustedcoverage) – 89.54
494. Eric Fisher – Sports Business Journal (e_fisher) – 89.38
504. Matt Ufford – Editor at Uproxx Media, author of Warming Glow, founder of With Leather and Kissing Suzy Kolber (matt_ufford) – 88.78
537. Will Leitch – former editor of Deadspin, contributing editor to New York Magazine, Sporting News columnist (will_leitch) – 85.88
583. Bill Kline – Sports editor of The Morning Call (bill_kline) – 81.14
NHL Writers League Week 3: Hockey Joe Knows His Hockey
Week 3 of the NHL Writers League is complete, and Joe Yerdon (JYerdon), Editor of Pro Hockey Talk on NBCSports.com, knows his fantasy hockey. Joe compiled a team that managed to score 45.8 points, just barely beating Andrew Bucholtz (andrew_bucholtz), Editor of Yahoo’s CFL blog 55-yard Line, Sporting Madness and Canuck Puck, who scored 45.6 points.
So far, that’s three different winners for the first three weeks of the contest.
Kevin Schultz of Barry Melrose Rocks still has the season high score of 50.2 points.
Here’s how everyone did that played in Week 3.
1. Joe Yerdon (JYerdon) – Editor of Pro Hockey Talk on NBCSports.com – 45.8
2. Andrew Bucholtz (andrew_bucholtz) – Editor of Yahoo’s CFL blog 55-yard Line, Editor of Sporting Madness and Canuck Puck – 45.6
3. Mike Chen (bswb97) – Editor of From The Rink – 40.1
4. Gary Wilson (landsharkhockey) – Editor of Landshark Hockey – 32
5. Michael Remis (illegalcurve) – Producer, Webmaster, Twitterer & Tech Wizard for Illegal Curve – 29.2
6. Cam Davie (camdavie) – Editor of Canucks Army – 21.2
7. Sean Leahy (sleahy21) – Associate editor of Yahoo’s NHL blog Puck Daddy – 19.6
8. Chris Wassel (chriswassel) – Editor of Inside Hockey – 19.5
9. Julie Veilleux (metricjulie) – Editor of metricjulie.com – 17.7
If you want to start playing NHL fantasy, then head right here and get started.
Expert fantasy advice on who to pick for your Week 7 NFL games
If you’re like me (currently working on an eight game losing streak) then you can use any extra help you can get for the FFFC or just general matchups. Luckily, a few of the guys in our NFL Writers League were kind enough to offer some insights into who they’re selecting this week for their team.
The two experts who kindly offered their advice are Will Brinson of NFL Facts and Rumors at CBS Sports (Will also recently did a cool podcast with Dan Wetzel of Yahoo! Sports about how dumb the BCS is) and Andrew Isaac, the sports editor for the men’s site Guyism.
Both Will and Andrew have focused on bargain players that might help your team this weekend, because after all, it’s usually the bargain player that makes the difference in your game on FanDuel. So let’s get to their thoughts.
First up is Will:
Matt Cassel, QB – I’m probably riding Cassel’s train for the next few weeks, considering he gets an easy pass D schedule (the Jags are putrid — I also like Bowe this week too) and is cheap enough where if you’re willing to skimp on D, K and TE, you can land two elite RBs and three elite WRs.
Panthers, Defense: The Carolina Panthers stink. Trust me, I’m a Cats fan — but just because they’re 0-5 and can’t get anything going offensively doesn’t mean that they’re not useful from a fantasy D perspective, particularly in a weekly format where you don’t have to drop anyone. They’re third in the NFL in yards per play (4.6) and while they cough up 134.4 yards per game on the ground, that’s mainly because people are icing them after getting up more than one point; they only give up 3.8 yards per carry. Add Alex “Pick Six” Smith to the mix, and you have the recipe for a low-cost, high-output D option this week.
John Kasay, Kicker: Ha, yes, I am a homer, thanks for asking. But look, Kasay ranks as the cheapest possible kicking option that’s a starter and the Panthers should be able to move the ball reasonably well against the Niners without really scoring. Plus, you couple him with their defense and you get to take your pick on elite RBs and WRs.
Next up is Andrew:
Joe Flacco, QB – If you’re looking for a cheaper option at QB, consider Flacco ($7,700). He hasn’t thrown an INT at home this year and they’re playing Buffalo, which has a dreadful secondary.
Mike Williams, WR - A good third WR to go with this week is the Seahawks’ Mike Williams. Yes, the same man who ate himself out of the league is coming off the best game of his career and ultimately, might prove to be a viable go-to guy down the road.
Jamal Charles, RB - Kansas City’s Jamal Charles has an extremely favorable match-up. Jacksonville will more than likely fall behind early on the road which should force KC to run the ball consistently in the second half.
Cal Spears wins FFFC Week 6, wants to give back winnings!
Cal Spears (aka braskey) is our sixth FFFC winner. He’s won $500 cash and an expenses paid trip to Las Vegas to compete for the $25k top prize. But, stop the press, he wants to give his winnings back to you, dear FanDuel users! Well, not all of them. And not yet. But we will be offering you a way to get your hands on some of Cal’s cash. Read on to find out more…
Name: Cal Spears
Age: 29 (will turn 30 the FFFC weekend)
Location: Nashville, TN
Family: Single
Occupation: Co-Owner of RotoGrinders.com – a community/strategy site dedicated entirely to one-day fantasy games
So, you won! You must be so pleased! How did it feel?
Amazing. I needed 16.22 points from CJ2K on Monday night to win. I felt like I was the favorite but was nervous all day Monday. Then Johnson got bottled up the entire game until that incredibly lucky 4th and 5 30 yard TD. My Monday Night Football experience was 2.5 hours of misery ended abruptly by pure, unadulterated joy. I was with a small group of friends at a sports bar (with the FanDuel leaderboard open, of course) and we went nuts. The FFFC is one of the best promotions in fantasy sports and I’m stoked to be a part of it.
I was glued to the live scores from then on.
What was your winning formula?
Cheap QB vs Houston + Cheap WR1 vs Houston + CJ2K = Las Vegas. Seriously, though, at RotoGrinders.com we discuss FFFC strategy quite a bit on our forums. Last week it was all about Dwayne Bowe and Greg Jennings, two cheap WRs that led me to the jackpot. With those two and Cassel I was able to splurge at the other positions.
Have you won anything like this in the past?
I’m always gambling so I’ve chanced into a few lucky wins in the past. Monday night was very reminiscent of the feeling I had when I won a poker tournament for an Aruba prize package in 2004. I played in a World Poker Tour tournament on that trip but didn’t cash, so I figure I’m due for a cash in the FFFC finale.
Other than winning, what for you is the best thing about FanDuel?
FanDuel’s one-day fantasy game format allows me to treat fantasy sports as a serious profit opportunity. I can easily play more games in one week on FanDuel than I have played season-long fantasy leagues in my entire fantasy history. Like in poker, there will be a small percentage of players that make a ton of money playing these games in the long run. Hopefully I’m one of them! Also, the one day fantasy games are simply more fun to me than poker or sportsbetting.
Have you been to Las Vegas before?
Vegas and me get along pretty well. I was just there in September for the World Championship of Fantasy Football draft. I used to be an avid poker player and co-owner of an online poker community called PocketFives.com, which led me to Vegas many times over the years. I’ll be celebrating my 30th birthday that weekend, strangely enough. I’m planning on flying in early to catch the Celine Dion show. I kid, I’m going to shoot craps and gorge myself at the Wynn Buffet.
If you won the $25,000 in the Grand Final, what would you spend it on?
I’ll give 10% of it back to Fanduel/RotoGrinders.com members! We just worked out a promotion with FanDuel called the FFFC Second Chance Freeroll Tournament. This tournament will take place during week 10 of the NFL season. The winner of this tournament will have 10% of my action in the FFFC final. If I win, the winner gets $2500. If I finish 3rd, the winner gets $500. If I finish out of the money, the winner gets nothing, but it will still be fun to watch! To participate in the freeroll all you have to do is create a RotoGrinders.com account, tell us your FanDuel Screen Name, and then post at least one victory in a football game between now and Week 10. More details to come!
Week 7 of the FFFC is now open for team selection –click here to get your picks in now.
What would you do with $25,000?
NFL Fantasy Stock Up/Stock Down Report: Week 7
We’re going to start a new post each week here on the blog highlighting players that we think you might want to use and might want to avoid as we move towards another weekend of football action. Most of these players are bargain players, the guys you debate selecting when you’ve got your team all set except for that last guy, and you have less than $6,000 left to spend. These are the guys who can make or break you.
This advice will help you out in your head-to-head matchups and the FanDuel Fantasy Football Championship. Also, if you have an interest in writing fantasy columns of any kind, shoot me an email at geoff@fanduel.com.
Now let’s get to the report.
Stock-Up:
Patrick Crayton (WR – Chargers; $4,700): Crayton had a very good Sunday with six catches for 119 yards, but that’s not why he’s on the stock-up list. He’s here because Malcom Floyd has a bad hamstring, meaning he might not play this next weekend or might be quite limited. Plus with the Chargers facing a young Patriots secondary, combined with Philip Rivers constantly airing it out, expect Crayton to have a big Week 7 seeing as he’s the best healthy receiving target for the Bolts.
Colt McCoy (QB – Browns; $5,300): The fact that Colt did more than just survive against the Steelers is a testament to the fact that he could be the solution at QB the Browns are aching for. Even though McCoy threw two picks against the Steelers, he was his usual highly accurate self, completing 22 of 33 passes. You have to love that in a QB, because accuracy is everything at the pro level. McCoy is expected to get another start this weekend against the Saints, who statistically have a better secondary than the Steelers, but McCoy still seems like a very good risk. Plus, he’s an incredible bargain at QB.
Todd Heap (TE – Ravens; $4,800): Heap was nailed by Pats safety Brandon Meriweather on a bad helmet-to-helmet hit, so make sure he’s on track to play this week before adding him to your roster. If he does play, the matchup couldn’t be better against a Bills defense allowing the most fantasy points to opposing tight ends.
Danny Woodhead (RB – Patriots; $5,600): Everyone thought when the Patriots picked up Woodhead early in the season they were just getting him for a week so they could learn everything about their divisions rivals the Jets. However, Woodhead’s turned into an all-purpose yards monster for the Pats. He’s an extremely agile running back, averaging 6.4 yards per rush and is an exceptional receiver, which the Pats used to their advantage against the Ravens. Woodhead caught five passes for 52 yards. The only issue with Woodhead’s ever expanding role is that he isn’t getting the TD carries, which are going to BenJarvis Green-Ellis. But look for Woodhead to continue to be heavily involved in the Pats’ offense.
Danario Alexander (WR – Rams; $3,600): Everyone was wondering who would replace Mark Clayton as the go-to receiver in St. Louis. No one in a million years thought it would be Danario Alexander…..except the Rams. Interestingly, although Alexander was on the practice squad until Sunday’s game, he was given a four-year contract. I’ve never heard of a practice squad player ever getting a four-year deal, so obviously the Rams knew something we all didn’t. Of course, Alexander was a very good college WR, but has had four surgeries on his right knee. Long as that knee holds up, he looks like a monster steal.
Stock Down
Michael Bush (RB – Raiders; $5,700): I had Bush in the stock-up section recently since Darren McFadden went down with an injury. Unfortunately, Bush didn’t take advantage of his opportunity in Week 6. It also looks like McFadden will be back this week and the Raiders have hinted they have no interest in a running back committee. So look for Bush to be getting less than 10 carries this weekend if Run DMC is healthy.
Eddie Royal (WR – Broncos; $5,200): Despite Kyle Orton throwing like there’s no tomorrow, Royal has only had two decent games all season. Royal also injured his groin on Sunday. And on top of all that Knowshon Moreno coming back, which means Denver is likely to try and get the running game going again. This is all fancy talk for “dump Royal.”
Devin Hester (WR – Bears; $5,100): Hester may be great at returning punts and kickoffs, but he’s been absolutely abysmal as a consistent receiver. You never know what you’re going to get from him. Plus with the Bears’ O-line parting like the Red Sea on a consistent basis, giving Cutler no time to throw, Hester has no chance of ever getting those bombs we were expecting to see him catch this year. If you’re in a league that somehow records punt returns and kickoffs, pick Hester up, but otherwise, avoid him entirely.
Ryan Fitzpatrick (QB – Bills; $7,600): Even though the Bills are atrocious, Fitzpatrick has been a great value of late for fantasy owners. In his last three games, he’s thrown seven TDs to only two picks. He also had 74 yards rushing in one of those games. Crazy enough, he’s one of the top fantasy QBs out there based on his stats. The only problem though is that these are primarily garbage time stats. And guess who the Bills are facing this week? A team that never gives up any garbage time stats: the Baltimore Ravens. In all honesty, I wouldn’t be surprised if Fitzpatrick gets pulled from this game. Avoid him completely.
Michael Jenkins (WR – Falcons; $4,700): Jenkins made his season debut on Sunday and caught five passes for 99 yards. Time to pick him up, right? No. This is Jenkins’ seventh season in the NFL and he still has never had a 100-yard receiving game. His best season ever (2008) he had 777 receiving yard, which is an extremely mediocre 48.6 yards per game. Jenkins may have had a big Sunday, but trust me, it was a fluke.
NHL Writers’ League: Illegal Curve brings the pain
Week 2 of the NHL Writers’ league is complete, and Michael Remis of Illegal Curve brought it. Or more specifically Sidney Crosby brought it for Michael. Crosby went nuts on Saturday accounting for 15.2 points. All told, Michael’s team scored 46.2 points and he’s now $50 richer.
Last week’s winner, Kevin Schultz of Barry Melrose Rocks, still has the season high score of 50.2 points.
Here’s how everyone did that played this week.
1. Michael Remis (illegalcurve) – Producer, Webmaster, Twitterer & Tech Wizard for Illegal Curve – 46.2
2. Mike Chen (bswb97) – Editor of From The Rink – 34.2
3. Joe Yerdon (JYerdon) – Editor of Pro Hockey Talk on NBCSports.com – 30.6
4. Gary Wilson (landsharkhockey) – Editor of Landshark Hockey – 26.2
5. Sean Leahy (sleahy21) – Associate editor of Yahoo’s NHL blog Puck Daddy – 26
6. Andrew Bucholtz (andrew_bucholtz) – Editor of Yahoo’s CFL blog 55-yard Line, Editor of Sporting Madness and Canuck Puck – 24.4
7. Cam Davie (camdavie) – Editor of Canucks Army – 18
8. Julie Veilleux (metricjulie) – Editor of metricjulie.com – 17.4
9. Kevin Schultz (Schultz80) – Editor of Barry Melrose Rocks and writer for AOL’s NHL Fanhouse – 15.6
If you want to start playing NHL fantasy, then head right here and get started.
