By Dan O’Shea

You can make snap judgements about your quarterback’s fantasy football performance after just one game, or even just two, but what about three? After Week 3 of the NFL season, there are couple fantasy surprises at the QB position. Tom Brady is not among the top 10 fantasy QBs thus far, though he was probably an early second-round pick in many leagues. Joe Flacco has not only avoided a sophomore slump after a great rookie season, but has actually performed as one of the top 5 fantasy QBs thus far – even though he was probably a back-up choice at the position in many leagues.
Brady is coming back after playing only a few minutes in the opening game of the 2008 season, but the injury itself doesn’t seem to be a factor. One of his favorite targets, Wes Welker, has been battling a knee injury, and he’s also getting used to a new receiver, Joey Galloway, though Galloway is of course a very experienced receiver who usually, if anything, makes QBs look better than they are.

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Posted on September 30, 2009

By Mike Luce
I’m not clear on why the AP College Football Poll exists. My guess is that the Poll sprung out of our national obsession with ranking things. And to give guys in bars something to talk about.

Ofman: Are The Bears Who We Think They Are?

The first poll appeared on November 15, 1934. Football as we know it had not been around for too long at that point. The game originated in 1869, but innovations such as numbered jerseys and the forward pass didn’t appear for decades. Players crashed into the goalposts on the goal line until someone thought to push them back 10 yards in 1927. This was not an elegant game. But records were kept and no one had a good answer to the sport’s most vexing questions. Who was the best team? Princeton or Pittsburgh? Syracuse or Santa Clara? Columbia or Colgate?
By 1934, I imagine drunken arguments amongst sportswriters were at an all-time high. A system was needed. A poll sounded lovely, I’m sure, until someone realized the horribly manual process involved. I’m guessing cocktail napkins came into play.

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Posted on September 29, 2009

By George Ofman
One man’s ex-wife is another man’s soul mate.
Sure beats one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.
The Bears’ victory at Seattle wasn’t pretty. Neither is the Mona Lisa when you take a closer look. But consider losses to Tampa, Atlanta and Houston last season and all of a sudden Mona looks like Miss Universe.
It’s a new season producing different results, at least for now.

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Posted on September 29, 2009

By Andrew Reilly
If the White Sox run the table from here on out, history will inevitably add variants of “just another .500 team” to the litany of alternately bland and damning terms needed to talk about this club.
“They were terrible, but at least they didn’t have a losing record.”

Beachwood Sports: The Cub Factor SportsMonday will return next week

“They couldn’t hold a lead to save their life, but at least they didn’t have a losing record.”
“They couldn’t put up a fight when they needed to, but at least they didn’t have a losing record.”
And to this, let us collectively ask, “who cares if they didn’t lose 82 games?” At best, they can only finish in a tie for second place, and the Sox themselves have not just shown but also told us just how much a near-miss is worth. So why bother? Why not just tank the rest of the way and take that 10th pick in next year’s draft for all it’s worth?

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Posted on September 28, 2009

By Marty Gangler
This week good ol’ Uncle Lou was asked what he wanted for next season. He said a big RBI guy for the middle of the lineup. Seeing how Uncle Lou wanted the same thing last year and we got Milton Bradley, we here at The Cub Factor were thinking Lou should ask for something different this time around. Like:
* World peace.
* A new diet.
* True transparency in the Obama administration.
* A second baseman who can play 150 games without being exposed as a fraud.

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Posted on September 28, 2009

By Thomas Chambers
There was no “To be continued” attached to last week’s TrackNotes, but that’s what this week’s installment will be as reaction has been received and we’ve seen a fairly even-handed new treatment of the subject by a mass media outlet. Imagine that.

George Ofman: Dis and Dat

My contention is that some of the tracks that have installed artificial racing surfaces to replace dirt acted in a capricious, ill-informed manner and may be putting jockeys, in particular, in more danger than they were in before.
A paradox is that while methodical information-gathering and study on the subject seems lacking, there is some solid anecdotal evidence that should be listened to. The spin from racing officials is maddening. It’s also morally appalling, as two jockeys just in this summer’s Arlington meet lay paralyzed from racing accidents.

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Posted on September 25, 2009

By George Ofman
White Sox General Manager Ken Williams is an astute fellow. Dummies do not attend Stanford. Williams is also a tough-talking, no-nonsense guy who strongly believes the teams he puts together every season should compete for a division title and more. His mantra is, win the whole thing or the season is a failure.
I don’t ascribe to that theory but this is Williams-speak, not mine.
He’s blaming this year’s team for underachieving. He’s not blaming himself, just the team . . . the team he put together which did not underachieve. Paging Mr. Colon and Mr. Contreras! Yes, Jermaine Dye disappeared in the second half, Mark Buehrle won only one game after being perfect and both Alex Rios and Jake Peavy have been non-factors. But youth was served and the way Williams sees it, it may have been wasted a bit.

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Posted on September 25, 2009

By Mike Luce
We will hear a great deal this weekend about the “so-and-so ranked offense battling against the nation’s such-and-such defense.” Ignore this data. Every college football team in the nation has played only two, at most three, games. Do we care that Kansas is third in total yards on offense or that Ryan Mallet (QB, Arkansas) is the country’s top passer? No.
This week, I am only focusing on a few pieces of information. First, I am looking for road favorites playing decent opponents. Second, can we identify any teams that might be a bit overrated? I am thinking of good teams that have played well, yet could find themselves looking too far ahead. Keeping giddy 20-somethings focused on the task at hand may be the least-discussed aspect of coaching.
Finally . . . does the home team have a prayer? I mean, really. Theories are fun, but I’d rather not pick a bust. As always, the following is for entertainment purposes only.

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Posted on September 24, 2009

By George Ofman
Autumn has arrived. Unfortunately for the Blackhawks and their rabid fans, Adam Burish has left.
An off-season of miscalculations, dismissals, questions about a shady shoulder and one infamous cab ride has amounted to a rather bumpy few months for an organization that galvanized a city. Now, a gritty and extremely popular player is out six months with a torn ACL in his right knee. The injury occurred Sunday night in a pre-season game.

Fantasy Fix: Whither Forte?

Burish is not the best player on the Hawks, not by a long shot. He’s a fourth-line winger who doesn’t score very often. He has just 17 points in 156 regular season games. He’s considered one of the enforcers, an odd moniker found only in hockey.
What Adam Burish does is stir the pot. He invigorates the Hawks with an unyielding aggressiveness.

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Posted on September 23, 2009

By Dan O’Shea
Much of the fantasy football pre-season buzz concerned laments that the top crop of RBs could disappoint this year. The beef with Michael Turner and Matt Forte was that they were over-worked last year and would see their chances limited in more pass-happy offenses this year. Adrian Peterson was supposed to see his workload cut by Brett Favre, while Chris Johnson was likely to see touches limited by a lighter, tequila-free LenDale White. Frank Gore would suffer from poor blocking. LaDainian Tomlinson and Clinton Portis would show their age. Only Maurice Jones-Drew, DeAngelo Williams and Steve Slaton were viewed as rising stars.
So how are the big names stacking up after Week 2, and what should you do about it? Let’s check in with our Fantasy Fix Action Ratings and find out.

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Posted on September 23, 2009