SPORTS: Weekend Recap, Michigan Robbed

NCAA Football
The BCS selection of Ohio State vs. Florida defined the weekend’s sports landscape. The wrong one-loss team was selected. Both Florida are Michigan great teams, but everyone I know wanted to see Michigan avenge their 42-39 loss to Ohio State.

The shame in this situation is everyone—AGAIN—is talking about a broken system rather than (1) USC blowing its BCS hopes vs. UCLA (complete with free furniture), (2) Arkansas hanging tough against Florida or (3) Rutgers losing out on the Big East title--and the Orange bowl--by losing in 3OT to West Virginia.

When the championship game is set right, the outcome is last year’s Texas vs. USC game, which was an all-time great game.

NFL
Rex Grossman killed my fantasy match up against Kenny Bloggins and seems destined to do the same to the Bears in the playoffs. Assuming the Bears win after their first-round bye, I’m predicting Grossman tosses three interceptions in the NFC Championship game.

More novice QB eras were unfolding this weekend too. Vince Young looks like a winner, despite what ESPN analysts said. Jay Cutler debuted Sunday night, while Mike Shannahan waited for the toughest possible game to introduce his young QB to the league. I like David Garrard and Jack Del Rio made the right albeit difficult decision by benching their “franchise player” Byron Leftwich (if he avoided taking monster hits, he’s a franchise player. Unfortunately, that won’t happen). Jason Campbell threw interceptions and his footwork is poor, but he has a strong arm.

Tony Romo started this novice QB trend, and had an effective game against the diminutive Giants. There’s a reason Romo went undrafted; he’s, at best, average in the pocket. Having said that, there’s a reason Bill Parcells is a genius; I’ve never seen a more accurate passer on the run than Romo, a rare talent indeed. He did this all day against the Giants, and Romo knocked the Giants down from Super Bowl contender to playoff pretender.

NCAA Basketball

FSU’s AL Thornton continues to be a stud against college basketball’s elite. His 28 points and 9 rebounds led the Seminoles to a stunning upset over the fourth ranked Florida Gators.

NHL
Viktor Kozlov’s four goal outburst put the Islanders atop the Atlantic Division after beating the Rangers 7-4.

NBA
Kevin Garnett said he’s angered by the trade rumors and he’s happy in Minnesota. Well, Kevin, I’m calling your bluff you liar.

The storyline for this NBA season is: if KG or Allen Iverson get traded, which uniforms will they don?

SPORTS: This Week's News and Happenings

MLB
The Yankees had an answer to Boston's $51 million bid for Daisuke Matsuzaka, offering a reported $25 million for the rights to negotiate with LHP Kei Igawa. This was one of many Hot Stove happenings in the past 48 hours. MLB Trade Rumors nicely recaps all of the signings and rumors, including the Cubs 3-year, $45-million offer to RHP Jason Schmidt, the Cardinals signing of 2B Adam Kennedy and more on Igawa.

Prospect Insider spoke with an American scout who saw Igawa in Japan, and the YouTube video below backs up his report. You see a decent fastball that has downward action, a quality slider that actually flattens out and gets pounded by David Wright in the video and arm action that's very condusive to a change-up.



NBA
Bobby Jackson was fined $20,000 by the league for being ejected and verbally abusing officials in a loss at Dallas on Saturday. "I think the officials have to be reprimanded just like we get reprimanded," Jackson poignantly noted. Maybe you're right, but maybe you should make your case without dropping F-bombs and making a spectacle of yourself and officials in front of 20,00 fans? ... the Clippers and Mike Dunleavy agreed on a four-year contract extension on Monday, and it came just in time for a five-game losing streak and a fall to the cellar of the Pacific Division ... Check out scores from around the league and updated standings that feature the 5-8 Celtics at the top of the Eastern Conference's Atlantic Division. Wow.

NFL
Falcons QB Michael Vick was fined $20,000 for his postgame antics after the team's 31-13 loss to New Orleans on Sunday. As head coach Jim Mora points out in this video clip from Fox Sports though, "Vick has courage and the heart of a lion." Unfortunately, he also has the middle finger of an angry and drunken Dutch prostitute and is quicker on the draw than Lightning Jack.

SPORTS: Recapping the Weekend in Sports

By Dustin Hockensmith

College Football
Ohio State vs. Michigan – Both teams proved how good they really were, but Troy Smith and the top-ranked Buckeyes won 42-39 and secured a spot in the national championship game. The teams went nose-to-nose like a couple of heavyweight fighters, but Smith threw for four touchdown passes and essentially locked up the Heisman Trophy … BCS Implications – Ohio State became the first team in three seasons to earn a perfect 1.000 BCS score, and both OSU and Michigan finished their regular seasons … despite the loss, the Wolverines ended up No.2 in Sunday's BCS rankings, but won't stay there when No. 3 USC takes care of No. 5 Notre Dame next week.

NBA
Shaq to Have Surgery - Miami Heat center Shaquille O'Neal is having surgery on his left knee and is expected to miss the next 4-6 weeks. We're starting to see accelerated wear and tear from supporting such a large human all these years. Maybe again he's 'fresh' for a playoff run, but that only happens if he can return to the lineup by January and get back into playing shape … Don't Get Too Excited Jazz Fans - The Utah Jazz is off to its best start in franchise history at 9-1, but don't get too excited just yet. This isn't the first time a Jazz team has flown out of the gates, and I don't buy them as a contender just yet. The Northwest Division is very average, so they'll win that and get a Top 4 seed, but they're not up to par with the Mavs or Spurs.

NFL
Chad Johnson Did It Again - Bengals WR Chad Johnson caught six passes for 190 yards and three touchdowns against the Saints on Sunday. That gives the wideout two-week totals of 17 receptions for 450 yards and five TD's … McNabb, Eagles Done - Philadelphia Eagles QB Donovan McNabb tore his ACL on Sunday, effectively putting an end to the Eagles and your fantasy season. Needless to say, that offense just won't run the same with Jeff Garcia leading it ... Steelers Still Have a Pulse - They've got work to do, but the Pittsburgh Steelers aren't dead yet. Big Ben Roethlisberger threw for 224 yards in the third quarter after being picked off three times in the first half, and the Steelers rallied to beat the Browns on a Roethlisberger-to-Willie Parker connection with 30 seconds remaining … Colts Loss a Blessing in Disguise – They've been walking a tightrope for some time now, and I don't think anyone was shocked when the Colts lost to the Cowboys on Sunday. They'll get their edge back and be in better shape for the playoffs than they were last year … LT a Touchdown Machine – Not much you can say here that the numbers don't already suggest. LaDainian Tomlinson reached the 100-touchdown plateau faster than any player ever over the weekend, and he put the Chargers on his back in a comeback win in the process.

MLB
Cubs Keep Working in Free Agency – The Chicago Cubs have inked outfielder Alfonso Soriano to an 8-year, $136 million contract, it was announced on Sunday. It was the fifth-largest deal in Major League Baseball history. His rare 40-40 potential and dynamic bat combined with the signings of Neal Cotts and Mark DeRosa and the resigning of Aramis Ramirez have made for an outstanding off-season already for the Cubbies.

MLB: Barfield for Kouzmanoff Trade Reaction

By: Dustin Hockensmith

The San Diego Padres have made two significant moves early in the offseason, bringing in new manager Bud Black and sending 2B Josh Barfield to Cleveland in a two-for-one deal for 1B/3B Kevin Kouzmanoff and RHP Andrew Brown on Wednesday afternoon. The Tribe did well to not only improve their middle infield defense, but also add a rising star in Barfield, who can make the game easier in several ways for their powerful offense and terrible defense.

Call Barfield and Kouzmanoff total equals in terms of overall talent, which I don't think they are, but the Indians addressed a bigger need. Kouzmanoff hit .379 with 22 home runs and 75 RBIs between Double-A Akron and Triple-A Buffalo last season and was the Indians Minor League Player of the Year, so make no mistake, the Padres got an outstanding player in return. But there's no projecting with Barfield, you need not look further than his home/away splits last season: .319 avg./.355 OBP/.484 slugging on the road, .241/.279/.361 at Petco Park. He's going to be a star at Jacobs Field.

Combine Barfield with Grady Sizemore, Victor Martinez, Travis Hafner and Andy Marte, and the Indians have got one of the best young foundations in baseball. A porous defense has also improved with Barfield's steady glove shoring up their middle infield.

Presuming that Kouzmanoff can play third base in San Diego, the Padres did well to fill a troubled position. They just lost too much team speed when they dealt Barfield and lost Dave Roberts to free agency. Adding power and losing speed in that ballpark doesn't make enough sense to make this deal because you need to make things happen and not rely on the long ball. The third base combination of Geoff Blum, Russell Branyan and Mark Bellhorn was pretty bad, though, so Kouzmanoff is no doubt a huge upgrade.

Andrew Brown, who spent time at Triple-A and Cleveland, was also sent to San Diego as part of the deal. He won't make a huge impact in the Majors, but he has the look of a decent journeyman reliever. A big body at 6-foot-6, 230 pounds, Brown has been a little erratic and is one of an increasing number of right-handed pitchers who fare much better against left-handed hitters (1.00 ERA, .191 avg.) than right-handers (3.82 ERA, .254 avg.).

FANTASY NBA: Drafting a Team That Could Almost Nearly Win Your League – Part Two

• Drafting a Team – Part One

By Dustin Hockensmith

So we got you pointed in the right direction with Part One. You know where you pick in the draft, you know who's picking around you and you should have an idea of which players you're targeting. Now comes the hard part: executing the draft. In Part Two, we'll talk about prioritizing your players, crunching the numbers and finishing the draft on a high note to get your season started with a bang.

The Early Rounds
You can probably guess that the first five rounds are the most crucial and difficult in the draft. You get to use your imagination in the later rounds, but in the early rounds you're feeling the pressure of filling all your positions as best you can. This includes not just getting the best players, but also filling most of the spots in your starting lineup. Timing is a key, and it's the first pick you make that sets the pace of your draft and how you want to use your next handful of picks.

The first round always seems to be broken down in thirds, and many times you'll do well by picking with the last of the picks in those groups. With picks No. 4, No. 8 or No. 12, you should usually get as good a player as the ones leading up to yours. An example from my lone draft of the season went as follows: I had the fifth overall pick and Dwyane Wade, Gilbert Arenas and Kobe Bryant virtual equals. So the way to differentiate between the three is how you feel about what they give you. Do you like Wade's field goal percentage and blocks, Arenas' 3-pointers and steals or Bryant's scoring and lesser mix of the other two's strengths?

After you make this choice, you should be able to narrow your next pick down to who you should expect to be there. Brace yourself for the possibility of all three being there and know how all three would complement your first round pick. How you want them to complement that player is entirely up to you: You can find a player with similar strengths and hope to 'kill' categories, address your first-rounder's shortcomings or complete a dominant backcourt or frontcourt. Be flexible how you view this pick, but keep these types of strategies in the back of your mind as you go.

My Personal Take
I overplayed this strategy in my draft this year, but I think it is always a good idea to select players who can put up DOMINANT numbers in steals, blocks and, to a lesser extent, 3-pointers. These categories are available in the form of weaker players in the middle of the draft and in moderate doses late, but anchoring these categories with big-time producers greatly increases your odds of scoring big points. Points, rebounds, assists and percentage numbers are available in decent packages throughout the draft, but these harder-to-find categories come at a higher sacrifice to at least one area of your team.

Middle and Late Rounds
These rounds should be pretty wide open to personal preference. You have the opportunity to guess a little and try to hit home runs or choose the safer producers to be fixtures in your lineup. Again, there's no right or wrong way to do it, but I try and have it both ways. My theory is to seek out 'controlled upside', as in third or fourth year players in new roles or who appear ready to break out. The worst-case scenario is that they underachieve and you're left with the same player from the season before. Not great if it happens often in your draft, but not bad if you're closer to the upside for some other key players.

With that in mind, my advice is to usually stay away from the popular rookie and let your opponents overpay for them. I'll take slightly less upside in a less risky package, though it's usually a non-issue since someone always takes these guys too early. Give me (actual examples) Charlie Villanueva, Danny Granger, T.J. Ford or Shaun Livingston, guys that can be found at cheaper prices than the top rookies.

I hope that paints a pretty good picture of where your thoughts should be on draft day. With the draft complete, our thoughts will next shift to the upcoming free agency market and what you can do to be the first to act. In the third and final Fantasy NBA preview segment, we'll talk about how to strike gold on the waiver wire, address your needs through trades and field a consistent team for an entire season.