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Fantasy Football Advice
November 19
CBSSports.com
columnist Jamey Eisenberg
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Start 'Em & Sit 'Em is our weekly look at the best and worst matchups from around the NFL and how they might affect lineup decisions for your Fantasy Football team. We are not in the business of stating the obvious, so you won't be reading here why you need to start Peyton Manning, Adrian Peterson or any other top-tier players. Kevin Smith has been dealing with a sophomore slump. After a promising start to 2009, Smith has struggled. He had double digits in Fantasy points in three of his first four games and appeared on his way toward an outstanding season. But a shoulder injury and tough matchups against Pittsburgh, Green Bay and Minnesota has ruined his production the past five games. He ..."
November 19
Foxsports.com
columnist Mike Harmon
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The playoff chase in our glorious fantasy realm has officially begun. The dreaded bye weeks are a thing of the past, so all teams are back at full strength. Well, they're back at full strength in theory . The games of Week 10 saw player after player succumb to injury. Owners are still awaiting the final word on a number of tailbacks, including DeAngelo Williams for Thursday night, as well as Michael Turner and Brian Westbrook. We did get a definitive answer on Ronnie Brown, who's now officially out for the year with a foot injury. As a result of these injuries, fantasy owners have been combing the waiver wire to locate any possible help available for running back and Flex positions. We ..."
November 19
Rotoworld.com
columnist Adam Levitan
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From an injury standpoint, this fantasy season was gliding along about as smooth as a baby's bottom. The lack of injuries felt weird, like something was missing. But we didn't talk about it, kind of like when a pitcher is throwing a no-hitter. Then, of course, Week 10 hit and the diaper got very dirty. On Wednesday, we learned about the biggest casualty of the week and possibly the season. Ronnie Brown will miss the entire season with what is believed to be a Lisfranc fracture. That injury could threaten his status for 2010 training camp. Condolences to Ronnie and his owners, but no one is going to feel bad for you. Let's move on. Ricky Williams is the obvious beneficiary of this. After ..."
November 19
Philadelphia Inquirer
columnist Tony Reali
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So it happened. The Week Fantasy Spit You Out And Laughed. Stud injuries. A player taking a knee at the 1-yard-line. The fourth and 2 that launched a thousand points. In a word, catastrofail. And now one question: How much ya bench? If you've got Michael Turner, Cedric Benson, Ronnie Brown, Julius Jones, Brian Westbrook - we're about to find out. Your bench is deciding whether you make the playoffs or not. Regretting that lifelong devotion to jazzercise? Week 11StartersRicky Williams - no brainer of the week. The one backup you know is ready for his close-up. Running on the Panthers is like running on a treadmill. Start Ricky like it's 2001.LeSean McCoy - Three games as starter: 5.1 yards ..."
Fantasy Basketball Advice
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With the Atlanta Hawks posting a 10-2 record that tops the entire league and having won six straight, they are definitely looking like they might be more than just a pretty good playoff team. This is not, of course, unrelated to fantasy, where Josh Smith, Joe Johnson and Al Horford are all in the process of submitting career seasons statistically. The most impressive player, though, given how things looked in Atlanta last season, has to be Josh Smith. A consensus top-20 fantasy player heading into last season, Smith was a huge disappointment, suffering precipitous drops in every single fantasy category besides field goal percentage, despite playing roughly the same amount of minutes per ..."
November 19
Lester's Legends
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Here's a look at some fantasy basketball players that blew up the box score last night. James Harden, Oklahoma City Thunder 31 minutes, 24 points, 7-14 FG, 4-4 FT, 6 three-pointers, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover You knew he had the ability. He just needed an opportunity. He took full advantage of his team-high 31 minutes. Elton Brand, Philadelphia 76ers 42 minutes, 19 points, 8-17 FG, 11 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals, 6 blocks, 1 turnover Elton was given the start and he more than made the most of it. This is a great sign of things to come. Now that his confidence is back, the rest should fall into place. Antawn Jamison, Washington Wizards 38 minutes, 31 points, 12-22 FG, 5-6 ..."
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The Warriors played their first game since shipping Stephen Jackson off to the Charlotte Bobcats Monday. While they did have new pickup Vladimir Radmanovic in the starting lineup, they had only seven players in uniform. Raja Bell, who came over with Radmanovic, is expected to undergo what likely will be season-ending wrist surgery. A free agent at season's end, he likely will never set foot on the hardwood in a Warriors uni. The Warriors also will play the rest of the season without Kelenna Azubuike, who is slated for surgery to repair a torn patella tendon. The absence of Jackson, Bell and Azubuike has opened up a lot of playing time and touches, so we should all watch the Warriors' box ..."
November 18
ESPN.com
columnist Seth Landman
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It's early still, friends. If this season were your day, you'd still be making coffee. It's easy to think we're further along than we are, but reality says otherwise; sample sizes are still small, and your fantasy players, whether they've been disappointing or glorious thus far, may still be settling in to the story of their 2009-10 season. So far, though, as far as I'm concerned, the early part of this season has belonged to Brandon Jennings. His 55-point outburst against the Warriors is getting all of the attention (most points by a rookie since Earl Monroe!), but how about the 4.8 rebounds per game, or the revelation that he can shoot the 3? Just last night, my friend Dave and I were ..."
Fantasy Baseball Advice
November 18
Foxsports.com
columnist John Halpin
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This week, we move on to the keystone, where I will not mention Robinson Cano (after this paragraph, anyway). Call me a spoiled Yankee fan, but Cano's hacking ways drive me nuts. I don't care if he had 75 extra-base hits this season — I don't want to write about him until I have to. I guess my World Series euphoria is gone, huh? As we've mentioned previously, these positional previews will appear every Tuesday until around Christmas, with complete position-by-position ranking lists ready by mid-December. The Man (or two) Ian Kinsler, Rangers — Go ahead, beat me up if you want, but I'll take Kinsler by a hair over Chase Utley again. Kinsler's worst category in 2009 was his .253 batting ..."
November 16
CBSSports.com
columnist Al Melchior
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In a recent column I singled out some of the batters who are fueling the strikeout trend that has gripped Major League Baseball for the last four seasons. The lack of contact, along with stagnant power numbers, has been bad for offense, but has been a boon for pitchers, as the major league ERA has dropped from 4.53 in 2006 to 4.32 for each of the last two seasons. For every Bengie Molina who has killed his batting average with a more whiff-happy approach, there is an Adam Wainwright taking advantage of all those extra Ks. What follows is a list of pitchers who have contributed to and benefited from the strikeout trend. While dozens of starting pitchers have been gorging themselves on the ..."
November 16
Foxsports.com
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Johan Santana had long been considered the best pitcher in baseball. From 2004-2008, there wasn't a pitcher who could touch him, posting some remarkable numbers, especially when you consider that he called the AL home up until 2008: # Struck out 200 or more batters every season # Had a sub-3.00 ERA in four out of five seasons (the other year saw him at 3.33) # Posted three WHIPs of 1.00 and better (and the other two seasons saw him post marks of 1.07 and 1.15) # Won 15 games or more every season, including years of 19 and 20 How many pitchers can boast that type of consistent success? His 2009 season looked to be off to a similar start, going 7-2 with a 1.77 ERA, 1.09 WHIP and 11.73 K/9 ..."
November 15
CBSSports.com
columnist Eric Mack
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We break down the top five prospects for each organization for 2010, taking into consideration: games, at-bats, innings and major-league service time. We expect these players to have rookie status remaining heading into next year. According to MLB rules: "A player shall be considered a rookie unless, during a previous season or seasons, he has (a) exceeded 130 at-bats or 50 innings pitched in the major leagues; or (b) accumulated more than 45 days on the active roster of a major league club or clubs during the period of 25-player limit (excluding time in the military service and time on the disabled list)." Note: Statistics are those at each stop in the minors this season and age ..."
Fantasy Hockey Advice
November 19
CBSSports.com
columnist Michael Hurcomb
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For a coach that prides himself on having a stout defense, Devils head coach Jacques Lemaire started to feel the heat when he not only lost Paul Martin to an injury but also fellow blueliner Johnny Oduya. Both players went down in a span of a week in late October and left their head coach scrambling to replace arguably his two most effective defenders. What seemed like a sure disaster has actually turned into a blessing in disguise. Lemaire has been pleasantly surprised by the depth along his blue line, especially with the play of Andy Greene. "I have no choice but to have confidence in Andy," Lemaire told NHL.com. "From the start of training camp to right now, he's a totally different ..."
November 19
ESPN.com
columnist Victoria Matiash
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Both the Edmonton Oilers and Sheldon Souray's fantasy owners alike are awash in gratitude concerning his healthy return. After missing 16 games with a concussion, Souray had warned it might take awhile to get his timing back, but judging from his play on Monday night against the Columbus Blue Jackets, that short stretch of "while" has already passed. In the 3-2 shootout loss, the veteran spent nearly 27 minutes on the ice, earned two assists (both on the power play) and garnered himself a roughing penalty. Best of all, having had the chance to initially get his feet wet against the Atlanta Thrashers the day before, the 33-year-old looked completely at ease and like his old self, that shot ..."
November 19
ESPN.com
columnist Tim Kavanagh
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Still owned in just 55.8 percent of ESPN fantasy hockey leagues, Tampa Bay Lightning netminder Antero Niittymaki is playing like a true No. 1 for our purposes -- in nine starts this season, he's posted five wins to go with a 1.93 goals-against average and a .939 save percentage. That goals-against average trails only Ryan Miller for the top spot, and the save percentage is tied with Miller at No. 1. Moreover, Niittymaki's stats on the season put him No. 7 among goalies on the Player Rater, ahead of many goalies drafted in the top three rounds; Tim Thomas, Niklas Backstrom, Pekka Rinne, Roberto Luongo and Tomas Vokoun all find themselves trailing the 29-year-old from Finland with about a ..."
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Water always seems to find its level, doesn't it? Considering that we're 90% H2O ourselves, perhaps the same can be said for we humans. Colorado, world-beaters in October, have won only 2 of their 6 November games. Those Edmonton Oilers, winners in 6 of their first 9 have lost 10 of their last 12. Phoenix, who won 8 of their 13 October contests, have lost 4 of 6 in month number two. The New York Rangers, for the second year in a row, dominated most of October only to see themselves become a .500 club the following month. Conversely, those "struggling" Red Wings, for the second year in a row, have lost only one of their first 6 November games after providing more questions than answers to ..."