FMC: Matthew Stafford, QB, DET
I like bravado. I like swagger … and I have to like what I’ve seen from the Detroit offense. Sure, the Vikings got after Stafford early, but he knows the cure-all. Get the ball in the direction of Calvin and marvel at the effort.
FMC: That a Boy, Chipper! Jones Moves Into 33rd All-Time with 450th Home Run
On Wednesday night, the Braves earned a 3-1 win over the Washington Nationals. They remain 7 1/2 games behind first-place Philadelphia (Cliff Lee earned his 15th win of the year), but sit a full 8 1/2 games ahead of St. Louis for the NL Wild Card. The story of the day was the longball launched […]
FMC: Pat Fitzgerald, Coach of the Northwestern Wildcats
OK, so this isn’t really a fantasy story, but it’s the best line of the week. Northwestern University has put together a Heisman campaign for quarterback Dan Persa, who is returning from an ACL injury. When asked about his quarterback’s comeback and the limp exhibited in camp, Fitzgerald responded with a drop-the-mic line … ‘‘Your […]
FMC: Jamaal Charles Takes Top Slot
The time has come for a new round of great debates, and none captures the spirit of the football nation nearly as much as the simple question …. “Who is No. 1?” I opened the early fantasy schedule (you know. that little window post-NFL Draft) with Adrian Peterson in the top slot. As I’ve followed […]
FMC: David Price Makes Lemonade and Signs an Autograph Deal to Get His Share of DJ/3K Cash
David Price inked a deal with Steiner Sports to sign autographed photos and balls in connection with the DJ/3K campaign. Price was the unfortunate victim who served up hit number 3,000 to Derek Jeter and began the whole Christian Lopez debacle. He’s decided to make some lemonade and beef up the 401K by autographing photos […]
FMC: US Soccer Moves On with Hope Solo a Breakout Star
OK, so the “Man-Crush” tag doesn’t quite fit, but it’s my game. So, here goes. Congratulations to the US Women’s Soccer Team for advancing to the World Cup Final by defeating France by a score of 3-1. There were some anxious moments for the United States following that early goal that put them ahead 1-0. […]
FMC: Jair Jurrjens Continues to Mystify Hitters
On Wednesday night, Atlanta hurler Jair Jurrjens continued his fantastic rebound season with another lights-out effort against the Rockies. Jurrjens allowed one earned run on five hits and two walks over six innings. He reduced his ERA to a ridiculous 1.87 mark (1.06 WHIP) and earned his 12th win of the season. Jurrjens has achieved […]
FMC: Tito Ortiz Scores a Win in UFC 132
I’ll keep this brief. If only for one night, Tito Ortiz turned back the hands of time and reminded us how he helped push UFC bouts to a new level years ago. Ortiz was fighting for his legacy and most definitely for his job on Saturday night. He hadn’t won since his 2006 bout against […]
FMC: Chris Bosh, Miami Heat
The matchup was set a little more than a week ago. Jokes circulated throughout the blogosphere and the Twitter-verse about the battle between “2 1/2 Men” and “Derrick Rose’s Chicago Bulls.” Be it a television show, off-Broadway play or film, you could just envision the poster. LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Derrick Rose received all […]
FMC: Serge Ibaka of the Thunder
I know there are numerous candidates for this week’s FMC, many of whom posted fantastic individual efforts on Wednesday night. Though I contemplated a hockey hero or a diamond star, I turned back to the court after watching several fantastic games. The Heat took down the 76ers in the first game of the night to […]
FMC: The Return of Baseball
I am not going to write a 5,000-word love letter to baseball here. I can just note the myriad books, films (or movies … what’s the rule of thumb?) and essays written on the bottom. I’ve scrawled more than a few of those in my past, so I’ll keep it short here. The summary statement […]
FMC: Andrew Bynum of the Los Angeles Lakers
If you rewind to the NBA trade deadline, there was a lot of talk about the possibility of the Lakers parting with 23-year old center Andrew Bynum. There were many clamoring for Bynum to be shipped to Denver in exchange for Carmelo Anthony. For all of the excitement about Bynum’s skillset and potential (the always […]
FMC: Aaron Rodgers, GB
Rodgers took care of business in the Wild Card round in defeating the Eagles. He dominated the Falcons in the divisional round to set up Round III of the NFC North battle with the Bears. Rodgers passed for 366 yards with three touchdowns and added a rushing touchdown in the 48-21 blowout win over Atlanta. […]
FMC: Matt Hasselbeck Leads The Seahawks
Amid a great deal of controversy about their entrance to the playoffs (let alone the ability to host a playoff game), Matt Hasselbeck and the Seahawks went to work against the Gregg Williams’ defense. Remember, the Saints had allowed only 13 passing touchdowns all season. Hasselbeck threw four on Sunday, taking multiple shots over the […]
FMC: Andrew Luck of Stanford
In what may be (should be) his final game as a collegiate athlete, Andrew Luck directed the Stanford Cardinal to a resounding 40-12 win over Virginia Tech. Frank Beamer’s vaunted defense was no match for Jim Harbaugh’s (49ers?) offense, as Luck capped off a fantastic season with a 284-yard, four-touchdown performance. He threw one interception, […]
FMC: Cam Newton of the Auburn Tigers
If you haven’t watched a lot of college football, break out a Thesaurus, look up “great” and just start reading. Then, pull up his stats , get cracking on YouTube and let that new-found litany of adjectives fly. Newton was electrifying in the SEC Championship Game, single-handedly dismantling the South Carolina Gamecocks and leaving Steve […]
FMC: Week 10 Superhero Michael Vick
The Redskins’ pass defense was terrible coming into Monday’s matchup with the Michael Vick-led Eagles squad. They left embarrassed, defeated and injured (Laron Landry and Carlos Rogers may both miss Week 11 against Tennessee). I don’t need to belabor the point. You’ve heard the absurd statistics regarding Vick’s performance and its place in the pantheon […]
FMC Week 9: Terrell Owens of the Bengals
I banged the drum this offseason for myriad teams to take a shot at veteran receiver Terrell Owens. Ultimately, he teamed with Chad Ochocinco to form one of the finest media-savvy duos ever. Unfortunately, Ochocinco has been relegated to the role of decoy right now (he was nearly shut out in Monday’s loss to Pittsburgh). […]
FMC: Ben Roethlisberger, QB, PIT
It’s time to honor this weekend’s “Fantasy Man-Crush” for heroics on the field of play. There are many worthy candidates out of Sunday’s action, but I would be remiss if I failed to acknowledge Ben Roethlisberger’s return to action against the Browns. * Again, we’re looking in-between the white lines for fantasy heroism here. We’ll […]
FMC Week 5: Kyle Orton
I want to give a nod to Baltimore running Ray Rice, who took on a huge workload for the victorious Ravens. Rice piled up a sizable touch count and scored twice against a strong Denver run defense to help the Ravens coast to victory. However, I have to look at this from the Fantasy angle. […]
FMC: LaDainian Tomlinson of the Jets
Tomlinson has experienced a resurgence in New York. He’s running behind a better offensive line and is thriving as one of the veteran pieces of a strong Jets squad. We anticipated that he’d earn a better rushing average as the complement to Shonn Greene while vulturing some of the goal-line work. Tomlinson’s proficiency in the […]
FMC: Mark Ingram Carries The Tide
If you watched Saturday’s slugfest between Alabama and Arkansas, you probably got caught up in the emotion and swings of this game, whether or not you have any affiliation or love for the SEC. I bleed the purple of Northwestern, and even I couldn’t sit and watch the slate of terrible games proffered by the […]
FMC: Arian Foster, Houston Texans
I shan’t belabor the point. The stat line says it all. Following Bob Sanders’ departure, the Texans took a cue from the Saints’ Thursday playbook and pounded the rock in the second half. The Texans ran the ball 13 times in 15 plays to open the second half, with Foster amassing 49 yards on 10 […]
FMC: Manny Ramirez’s Aura, Essence or Shadow
Given that I reside in Los Angeles, I’ve been inundated with news reports about Manny Ramirez’s future for weeks. Would he get dealt to my hometown White Sox? Would he get released? What would happen to the warehouse full of wigs that folks spent $25 a pop for (seriously!) at the team’s spring training complex […]