Monday, February 08, 2010

Post-Super Bowl unwinding

Wow, what an experience. Go out and get yourselves some wings at Buffalo Wild Wings - they truly treated us like royalty this weekend and the game did not disappoint. While my husband and I were clutching our faces in dismay as the interception was returned for a touchdown, and everyone surrounding us seemed to be a Saints fan (50-year-old fan in front of us literally jumped up onto the seat in front of him and a woman nearby was crying she was so happy), it was still an event that I will never forget despite the unwanted outcome. And really, I can't be all that sad that the Saints won, just bummed that the Colts didn't if that makes sense.

Catch up on the highlights from yesterday including our stop by the NFL Alum pre-party sponsored by PrimeSport and of course the game itself. I have SO many photos to post but here's one of me in our amazing seats during pre-game.

Also just a note that I'll be starting a new job bright and early tomorrow morning so my schedule this week might be a little hectic as I figure out the best time to blog. But I'll be around blogging away in the offseason, no worries! Will be back with more soon...

Sunday, February 07, 2010

Super Bowl Day is here!

So how many of you are tuned into the NFL Network's 8 hours of coverage? I've been reading up on snowpocalypse/snowmagaddon/snowtorious BIG in the mid-atlantic states and man, I hope you all are able to see the big game today...and of course have heat, light, and other basic necessities.

You can catch up on all my latest adventures in South Florida on the Buffalo Wild Wings All-Star Blogger League website - and remember that I'll be tweeting during the game, so scope out the tweets if you're interested (there's a twitter feed that you can read on the bottom right of this blog, too, if you don't have a twitter account)!

Had a great time at the DIRECTV Celebrity Beach Bowl and have some great photos to post - I'm sure to have more after today's NFL Alum pre-game party, too. So come on back in the next few days for those pics! And of course my normal links out to fantasy football articles will resume as soon as I return to my normal life in NYC.

Finally, good luck to those participating in the FFLibrarian Playoff Challenge - we're about to have a big winner of the $25 gift card to Amazon courtesy of the Bruno Boys!

Saturday, February 06, 2010

Wingo & Schlereth at Dolphin Mall

I'm sitting on our hotel's pool deck looking out over the beach, enjoying some blue skies and warm temps. My freckle quotient has just skyrocketed. It's possible I'm the only one cranking out anything even close to work here - I'm seeing lots of beers, lots of sun worshipers, and all sorts of football fans.

It's actually really interesting to see all of the teams/players that are being represented down here - I cheered on a fellow Broncos fan who passed me on the sidewalk but I've seen Giants fans, Favre fans, and Steelers fans amongst the throngs of Colts and Saints fans.

So part of this connection with Buffalo Wild Wings means I get a sneak peek at a few things like Gatorade's journey commerical for the Super Bowl - scope it out of you're interested in the preview. And of course don't forget to come by the Buffalo Wild Wings league site for a recap on last night's event with Trey Wingo and Mark Schlereth!

Friday, February 05, 2010

Rolling with the SB44 updates

Just another reminder to swing by the Buffalo Wild Wings All-Star Blogger League website for my latest updates on the Super Bowl extravaganza. I've been taking a fair number of photos with my real camera (iPhone camera not the greatest) so I'll get some more photos up when I'm back home next week. Today on radio row I saw some fun antics between Jamie Foxx and Michael Strahan...and spotted Andy Rooney, who quite frankly, is hard to miss.

Thursday, February 04, 2010

Day 1 in FLA

Just a reminder that I'll be posting updates on my trip down to the Super Bowl over on the Buffalo Wild Wings All-Star Blogger League website. Check it out to see my take on all that's going around over here. Tomorrow looks like it will include another trip to the media center and then down to Miami for both an event hosted by Venus Williams and our event at the Miami Buffalo Wild Wings from 5:30-7:30. Right now I'm taking a breather between the media center and dinner in South Beach by watching the sun sink towards the west from our hotel room. Good times.


Here's a quick photo from the back of the media center - I'm pretty sure the only person of any degree of fame here in this photo would be Papa John (in red shirt, back to camera - I know, I've got great photo taking skills). Yup, the papa himself. There was a steady stream of Papa John's pizzas coming in...

Wednesday, February 03, 2010

Super Bowl, vodka, and 2010 thoughts

Tomorrow morning at this time I'll be on a flight down to Ft. Lauderdale to begin the big Super Bowl weekend trip, courtesy of my win in the Buffalo Wild Wings All-Star Blogger league. Expect to see a decrease in fantasy football articles here over the next week - but a serious uptick in discussions of Super Bowl events. If that isn't your bag, then just duck out for a few days and I'll see you back here next week with lots of offseason analysis.

So let's move onto today's links for your last dose of fantasy footballness for the next few days:

  • Let's start this off by talking about the future. I'm enjoying reading FFManiazs' Dynasty Sleepers: Quarterbacks article - check it out for 5 young QBs with big potential.
  • Or take a look at Rotoworld's Top 50 Keepers (plus a little supplement on their Pancake Blocks blog with those Also receiving votes).
  • Also in a look ahead, FanHouse puts their Man of Intrigue series onto Julian Edelman - if you're a Pats fan or an Edelman fan you'll want to read up on what they have to say.
  • Want some thoughts on who might win the Super Bowl? Razzball writers are taking a stab at predicting the outcome of Sunday's game.
  • Or let's say you want a chance to take a stab at a bevy of prop bets and win some vodka? An obvious combination of course. Well then see what's going on over with The Definitive Dmbosstone's Prop Bet Challenge for the Super Bowl.
  • Or perhaps all you really want are some fantasy thoughts on this weekend's game - if so then mosey on over to FFToolbox's Who to Start Rankings/Projections.
  • Finally, if you're still here on the blog then you're probably well aware that crucial developments can happen during the postseason (or you're a member of my family who has zero interest in fantasy football but wants to hear all about my upcoming Super Bowl trip...) - and NoOffseason.com is here to help. Take a look at their Learning Fantasy from the NFL Playoffs for guys who have proven their worth during the month of January.

Tuesday, February 02, 2010

Media Day is here!

My mom just bought a new TV for the Super Bowl, primarily because she's under the impression that she's somehow going to see me during the game. I really appreciate her enthusiasm but am trying to convince her that it's unlikely that the cameras will find me among all the many thousands of other attendees. Instead maybe I can get her in on my twitter bandwagon...but hey, you've gotta love moms.

Speaking of the Super Bowl, scope out the poster for my BWW appearance on Friday with Trey Wingo and now Mark Schlereth, too. Must say I would've liked to see my face on that poster, too, but I'll take my name! If you're in the area and can come by Buffalo Wild Wings in Miami, please do! We'll be giving away prizes and passes to events over the weekend.

And just a reminder that I'll be tweeting and then also blogging on the BWW All-Star Blogger website during the Super Bowl weekend and the game itself. Swing by to follow along with my crazy escapades! Meanwhile if you're wondering what's going on at the SB right here and now, well it's Media Day.

I could probably talk about the Super Bowl for quite some time but I'l stop myself and move on to today's links instead:
  • One of the reasons The Hazean rocks is that he still manages to get a post up despite a major move and new job - scope out Tuesday Morning Rehab for updates on some of the latest injury news.
  • Looking for some Super Bowl rankings? Look no further than Lester's Legends' Super Bowl XLIV Fantasy Football Rankings.
  • Or see what CBSSports.com has to say about this weekend's players in Rating the starters: Potent Colts hold Super advantage.
  • If you're already scratching your head wondering whether or not Adrian Peterson or Chris Johnson will get the #1 spot in this summer's drafts, then turn to Pyromaniacs.com who look at this question from just about every angle possible.
  • Beastorbust.com has some dynasty rankings up and I've primarily focused on the QB rankings so far - two surprises for me: Brady at 10th and Cutler at 6th. Perhaps I'm just gun shy with Cutler now but there's pretty much nothing you could say to convince me to draft him next year. I know, I know, he's got Martz as his new offensive coordinator...but I'm just not buying into Cutler again.

Monday, February 01, 2010

Super Bowl week revs up

So you all were glued to the Pro Bowl last night weren't you? I'm interested in seeing how their viewers compared to years past when the Pro Bowl aired post-Super Bowl. Anyone seen those stats? I know ticket sales were up so I imagine this might be a trend we see for awhile.

Meanwhile the Super Bowl week hype is building (and not just in my own head!) - I highly recommend following Rotoworld's Gregg Rosenthal on Twitter since he does a great job of updating during the week with interesting nuggets of player and game news. And speaking of Twitter, I'll be blogging and tweeting all throughout my Super Bowl festivities so if you aren't following me on Twitter yet but want to get some news from all the events I hit up, feel free to follow me - promise I'm not a crazy updater with every thought that runs through my mind!

Let's get to today's links:

Finally, I've been playing around with Pickemfirst a bit more - that cool tool I mentioned last week that helps your news/waiver wire research move along a little more smoothly...and I think I'm in love. I'm using it in my fantasy basketball league (where I can use all the help I can get) and it's so helpful to just run the tool as I'm looking at waiver wire articles and wondering who I can add to my squad. My one qualm is that it uses my google account to log me in but even when I have my gmail open in another tab, I still have to go through the steps of logging into Pickemfirst - would be ideal if it was smart enough to know I was already logged into my google account. But that's small potatoes really.

Friday, January 29, 2010

Super Bowl countdown

The countdown is on - in T minus 6 I'll be in Ft. Lauderdale or Miami or wherever all the Super Bowl festivities are occurring. I'm wondering just how early I can arrive at the game on Sunday - is it inappropriate to show up 12 hours early? Perhaps. Once again I want to be sure to extend an invitation to all of you in South Florida to swing by the Miami Buffalo Wild Wings for the party I'll be co-hosting with Trey Wingo on Friday, Feb 5th. E-mail me if you want more details.

With all the chaos of the FSTA conference I forgot to note the leaders in the FFLibrarian Playoff Challenge - our top 5 players at this time are:
1. People of Walmart (428 points)
2. Titleist432 and ColdOne (tied at 404 points)
4. pink fury (403 points)
5. Planet 10 and MIAMI64 (tied at 402 points)

Onto today's links:

Thursday, January 28, 2010

2009 Accuracy Results Are In!

There are few things about my "job" as the FFLibrarian that I enjoy as much as the annual accuracy challenge, so this week is just a really awesome week for me - I get to share with you all which site had the most accurate preseason rankings for the 2009 season: CBSSports.com. Congrats CBSSports.com! So first things first - head over to the Fifth Down's Rating the Rankings in Fantasy Football to read up on how the challenge works (just a small dose of math) and see which other sites dominated this year. Then come on back here and read up on some of the other details...

Okay, now that you've been to the Fifth Down, I want to be sure and alphabetically list all 48 sites that I looked at in the challenge:

Accuscore
Ask the Commish
Bruno Boys
CBSSports.com
Draft Analyzer Guru
Draft Analyzer Ultimate
Draft Sharks
ESPN
Fanhandle
FantasyFootball.com
Fantasy Football Geek Blog
Fantasy Football Maniaxs
Fantasy Football Sherpa
Fantasy Football Starters
Fantasy Football Toolbox
Fantasy Football Trader
Fantasy Football Xtreme
Fantasy Hulks
Fantasy Mojo
FantasySharks.com
FantasyPros911
Fantazzle
Fantistics
FFCalculator (ADP)
FFToday
Fighting Chance Fantasy
Football Guys
Football Outsiders
FOX Sports
Junkyard Jake
KFFL
Lester’s Legends
Mission Competition
MyOfficePool
NFL.com
Numbers & Guts
Pigskin Addiction
ProFootballWeekly.com
RapidDraft
RealTime Fantasy Sports
Rotohog
Rotoworld
Sporting News
Sports Data Hub
Sports Illustrated
The Huddle
WhatIfSports
Yahoo!

If you are from any of those sites and want to know how you did in the contest, send me an e-mail. I'd be happy to share how you did in each position and across all 4 positions. Speaking of which, let's mosey on over to the positional ranking details:

Top 15 overall sites:
    SITE    SQ ROOT
1.   CBSSports.com    20.33
2.   KFFL    20.71
3.   ProFootballWeekly.com    20.90
4.   Draft Analyzer Ultimate    21.12
5.   Sports Illustrated    21.56
6.   Draft Analyzer Guru    21.60
7.   Fantasy Mojo    21.81
8.   Lester's Legends    21.87
9.   FFCalculator    21.96
10.  Rotohog    22.04
11.  Football Guys    22.06
12.  FFTrader    22.22
13.  Bruno Boys    22.24
14.  Sporting News    22.39
15.  RealTime Fantasy Sports    22.40

Top 10 sites for QBs:
    SITE    SQ ROOT
1.   Rotoworld    6.913
2.   WhatIfSports    7.557
3.   Junkyard Jake    7.623
4.   FantasySharks.com    7.7485
5.   FFCalculator    8.280
6.   Lester's Legends    8.385
7.   Ask the Commish    8.430
8.   Fantazzle    8.639
9.   KFFL    8.726
10.  Fantasy Hulks    8.752

Top 10 sites for RBs:
    SITE    SQ ROOT
1.   Draft Analyzer Ultimate    20.823
2.   Numbers & Guts    20.967
3.   KFFL    21.589
4.   ESPN    21.820
5.   Accuscore    21.910
6.   Pigskin Addiction    21.940
7.   CBSSports.com    22.121
8.   ProFootballWeekly.com    22.501
9.   RealTime Fantasy Sports    22.751
10.  FFSherpa    23.064

Top 10 sites for WRs:
    SITE    SQ ROOT
1.   CBSSports.com    31.677
2.   KFFL    32.314
3.   ProFootballWeekly.com    32.337
4.   Draft Analyzer Guru    32.921
5.   Lester's Legends    33.051
6.   FFCalculator    33.552
7.   Sports Illustrated    33.820
8.   Sporting News    34.056
9.   Fighting Chance Fantasy    34.200
10.  Draft Analyzer Ultimate    34.310

Top 10 sites for TEs:
    SITE    SQ ROOT
1.   Sports Illustrated    7.172
2.   Fantasy Mojo    7.238
3.   FFToday    7.368
4.   MyOfficePool    7.476
5.   FFStarters    7.549
6.   FFXtreme    7.823
7.   Fantistics    7.870
8.   Ask the Commish    7.937
9.   FFCalculator    7.968
10.  The Huddle    7.971

I've got a lot more in the works during the offseason - I'm going to take a look at the past results from 2007 and 2008 and combine them with these 2009 results to start building a more comprehensive look at which sites are the most accurate with their rankings. I'll also be taking a look at which sites were the riskiest (as compared to ADP from FFCalculator) to see who was risky and accurate, a favorite combo of mine.

If you have any other thoughts about what one could do with all of this data, please e-mail me or leave a comment - I'd love to hear any thoughts on this.

Now for those interested in projections, don't worry we've got you covered there, too. For the first time we included projections in the annual contest and I'll be posting details on those results soon. My buddy Donnie at The Most Credible ran the projections analysis for both football and baseball and the same site came out on top for both: Rotohog. More details on that front to come!

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Leaving Las Vegas

Greetings from the Las Vegas airport where I'm waiting on my delayed flight to get back home to New York after another great Fantasy Sports Trade Association conference. The delay would be a bummer but frankly I'm happily working away on a fully charged laptop with free wifi - and listening to the sweet sounds of slot machines. Heavy sarcasm on the "sweet" there...let's just say I'd go crazy if I worked in a casino all day, every day.

So I had a wonderful time meeting some of the brilliant fantasy minds behind all of the the links that I send you to - many thanks to the guys (and yes, it was about 98% male, big surprise) that kept me company throughout the conference. I've been toying with coming up with superlatives for all of the folks I hung out with there - Most Entertaining, Biggest Character, Dude I Was Most Excited to Meet, etc - but there were just too many top notch guys there to narrow the field.

Also I would be remiss if I didn't note the fact that I'm on a lucky streak right now...not only did I win that trip to the Super Bowl but at the FSTA conference I won a football signed by 30 Hall of Famers at this past year's HOF weekend. Crazy lucky, my friends. So a big hearty thanks to Yesteryear Fantasy Football for that great prize.

Now finally we can get to today's links:

  • FantasySharks.com's Draft Day 2009 - Lessons Learned does a nice job of summing up some of the draft strategies that you might have employed last summer, and assessing what you might want to focus on for 2010.
  • Pyromaniacs.com is doing a great job with their in-depth analysis and I dig their detailed look back at some of the season's flops that might be acquired at a good value next year in Flops to Tops.
  • Lester's Legends is cranking out their early 2010 rankings - take a look at the top 25 RBs.
  • Read why FFManiaxs think Steven Jackson will be a top 5 back in 2010 - agree? Disagree?
  • Since I will soon be a librarian based in an art museum in NYC, it only seems appropriate that I link out to this amusing back-and-forth between the Indy and New Orleans art museum directors (kudos to Football Outsiders for that link). Fine art is hanging in the balance of this game, my friends. 
  • I learned about an awesome add-on that has been around for a little while - but it's for FFers who are in multiple leagues, play several different fantasy sports, or just those of us who could use all the extra research help we can get: Pick 'em First. Check it out but basically it uses a nice little icon to help you identify which players are available in your leagues (or on your own team) when you're on your favorite FF websites scoping out news, injury updates, start/sit, etc. Good stuff.
Finally, take a look at the Fifth Down tomorrow for the results of my annual accuracy challenge - I'll be back talking about it in depth here on the blog for the next several days, weeks, months, however long it takes me to cover it all. If you're desperate to know who was #1 with their preseason rankings this year before tomorrow's post with all the details on the Fifth Down, scope out FantasySportsBusiness.com's write-up.

Monday, January 25, 2010

FSTAing in Las Vegas

Before I get into today's post I just wanted to extend my thanks to you all for being patient with me while I took some time off - and for all of the kind e-mails and comments that you all sent my way about my grandpa. He was an incredible man, a real contributor to his community, and probably the reason that I love football. And ice cream.

But now I am in Las Vegas after a whirlwind week of flying between New York, Michigan, and now Nevada. I'm here for the Fantasy Sports Trade Association conference which begins tomorrow morning. I met a lot of awesome folks in the industry here last year so I'm really looking forward to seeing them - and some new faces! - over the next few days. I'll also be presenting the annual accuracy award that looks at the most accurate preseason rankings for 2009 - the results will be posted on the Fifth Down on Thursday and I will likely blog a lot more about it in the weeks to come here on FFLibrarian.

But there have been lots of quality articles over the past several days so I thought I'd get a few links up this afternoon - and hopefully I'll have time to get a post up tomorrow as well.

  • First up, let's take a look back at yesterday's games with the Bruno Boys' Championship Risers & Fallers. Or read this week's MMQB where you'll learn among far more football-relevant things that Favre gave his daughter the unfortunate name of Breleigh (sorry, I'm many years behind on my Favre trivia clearly). Is that some sort of Brett + Leigh = Breleigh? Not digging it, but hey, to each their own.
  • Meanwhile one of the only sites with Super Bowl projections up already? Fantasy Depth Chart - check out their Player Rankings.
  • And now a turn to the 2010 season...the FFManiaxs have been busy pulling together their dynasty positional rankings - take a look at their RB and WR rankings.
  • For more dynasty rankings, see what one of my favorite sites, Rotoworld, has to say in Dynasty Ranks: Wide Receivers
  • Or take a look at No-Offseason.com's Top 100 Player Rankings.
  • Over the past few weeks we've heard of several coaching changes - Athlon/Grogan Sports' Finger on the Pulse: NFL Coaching Carousel has a nice look at what these new coaching scenarios might mean for fantasy football in 2010.
  • Plus with the next crop of rookies preparing to show their wares, let's scope out some NFL Draft linkage:

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Taking a break

I might take a few days off of the blog - my grandpa passed away. There's not enough room on this blog to describe how wonderful of a man he was and I will miss him dearly.

For fantasy football help this weekend, be sure to swing by some of the great regulars like Rotoworld, The Hazean, Bruno Boys, and FFToday. They'll be able to provide you with plenty of rankings, projections, and game reviews.

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Conference Champ game prep

Well the field just keeps getting smaller - we're down to the final four teams and I for one will be excited about any of these clubs making it to the Super Bowl. But if I must pick, I'm pulling for a Colts vs Vikings game; Colts for my husband's sake (they're his team) and Vikings since we've got some connections with them via Buffalo Wild Wings.

Meanwhile, I've got a new set of top teams in my FFLibrarian Playoff Challenge (there are 164 of us in the league):

  1. The NFL Night Club (256)
  2. MIAMI64 (254)
  3. KevinGould (254)
  4. Titleist432 (253)
  5. itsawrap (253)
Congrats for the solid 2 week performances - will one of you win my $25 gift card to Amazon courtesy of the Bruno Boys?!

So we've got Conference Championship advice already pouring in so let's head right over to today's links:

Monday, January 18, 2010

MLK Day FF links

Just a quick post for you all today - I've got a coffee date with my sister soon (love it when my family is free to meet up on holiday weekdays!) but I have some good news to note: I have a job! Starting next month after I'm back from the Super Bowl trip, I'll be starting a part-time job working as a librarian at an art museum here in NYC. I'm really pleased and am excited that it will still give me plenty of time to work on the blog. Here's to employment!

So let's jump right into today's links: