Injury Update

In Spring Training, A.J. Burnett, fouled a ball off his bat and it broke a bone in a face. He returned last weekend to throw 7 good innings. Burnett is a guy you can pick up in almost every league and he could return to his form he had with the Blue Jays.

Homerun of the Night

Last night Pablo Sandoval hit a monster shot at Citi Field in New York. Here it is...

 http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=7848369      

NBA Playoff Picks

The NBA playoffs are upon us. Here are my picks.

Miami and Chicago will meet in the East and the Spurs and Thunder will meet in the West.

Yes I know that is chalk but those are the best teams in my opinion.

NBA FINALS:

Heat over the Spurs in 6 games

MLB Picks

My picks for the MLB this season are:

AL West: Rangers
AL Central: Tigers
AL East: Yankees
WC: Angels
WC: Rays

NL West: Giants
NL Central: Reds
NL East: Phillies
WC: Marlins
WC: Cardinals

World Series: Angels over the Phillies in 6 games

Perfect Game

On Saturday Phillip Humber of the Chicago White sox pitched a Perfect Game against my Seattle Mariners. It is the 21st Perfect game in Major League History. Humber is not much of a fantasy star but congrats none the less on the perfect game!

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/lK-gpt8N5tU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Fantasy Drop of the Week

Brian Wilson (SF)

Wilson, one of the games best closer's, is having Tommy John Surgery and will be out for around a year. Bad news for fantasy owner's but hopefully you can find more saves on the free agency market.

Control Your Kids

This is from a game about a week ago and why you should keep a close eye on your kids...

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Fantasy Pick-Up of the Week

Fantasy Baseball Pick-Up of the Week:

Jake Peavy (CWS)

A fantasy star from a few years ago has reemerged into fantasy greatness early this year! Last night Peavy continued his hot start by throwing a complete game shutout against the Oakland A's. Peavy is now 3-0 on the year with a 1.88 ERA. If he is still available in your league go pick him up!

Baseball Season is HERE!

My favorite time of the year has arrived, Baseball Season! Games every night on all different channels and my favorite sports team the Seattle Mariners are playing every night. Baseball being in session means Fantasy Baseball. Here are some guys to keep an eye on this year!

Fantasy Baseball Studs


Pitchers:
Justin Verlander (Det)
Roy Halladay (Phi)
Felix Hernandez (Sea)
Clayton Kershaw (LAD)
Jered Weaver (LAA)
Tim Lincecum (SF)

Hitters:
Albert Pujols (LAA)
Miguel Cabrera (DET)
Prince Fielder (DET)
Matt Kemp (LAD)
Josh Hamilton (TEX)
Joey Votto (CIN)
Jose Bautista (TOR)

The Elbow Heard Round The World

On Sunday, Metta World Peace formerly known as Ron Artest knew an elbow to the head of the Thunder's James Harden and here it is....

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Fantasy Basketball Playoffs

The time has come where you make or break your year. It's Fantasy Basketball Playoffs time!! If you made the playoffs congratulations and if you didn't, better luck next year! For those of you who made the playoffs here are some tips to win in the playoffs.

Rule #1: Check your team daily and update your lineup

Rule #2: Don't mention the playoffs have started to anybody unaware they have started. This can result in an easy win for you. It's not your fault they aren't paying attention

Rule #3: Look aHead and find which days you don't have all your guys playing and pick-up players to insert for those days.

Rule #4: Everybody on your team can be dropped. IT'S WIN OR GO HOME!

Rule #5: In the words of the late great Jim Valvano, "Don't Give Up, Don't Ever Give Up."

Good Luck

My Blog Presentation

I will be doing my presentation over RotoRob.com. It is a fantasy sports blog on all the major sports. They are based out of Canada. REally looking forward to learning more about the blog!

March Madness

Everybody is busy filling out their brackets for the NCAA Tournament. Here are some quick tips to remember when you are filling out your bracket!

Rule #1:

Don't pick the 1 or 2 seeds to lose against a 16 or 15 seed.

Rule #2:

Pick a 1, 2, 3 or 4 seed to win the title. One of those seeds have won for 23 straight years.

Rule #3:

It is (almost)impossible to pick a perfect bracket. Make your picks however you want because even the experts can't pick a perfect bracket.

Click here for some other great tips!

Good Luck!

Injury Update-NBA

There are a few weeks left before the NBA fantasy playoffs start. Here are some players you need to keep your eye on or off for the stretch run.

Zach Randolph (MEM): He is getting very close to a return with the Grizz. If Randolph is still available in your league pick him up now.

Richard Hamilton (CHI): After coming back from injury, Rip is hurt again. Rip left last night's game with a shoulder injury, so I think it if safe to say look for other options.

Wilson Chandler (DEN): Chandler finished with his team in China and can only sign with the Nuggets this season. The problem is that Chandler is in a stalemate with the Nuggets on a contract. If you are holding on to him in your league you might look for other options.

Anderson Varejao (CLE): After breaking his hands three weeks ago, Varejao is still targeting the last 25 or so games to play in. If he can come back for the last part of the season he could be a big help in your playoff run.

*Pick-Up of the Week* Kenneth Faried of the Denver Nuggets. Faried has been starting for the Nuggets with Nene and Danilo out of the lineup but he has put up solid numbers. He will see he role decrease some as the season goes but still a very valuable fantasy player. Last night against the Kings he scored 20 points and nabbed 12 rebounds.

Good Luck!

Argument for DH across MLB?

I will admit, I'm an American League guy and of course the DH is in the American League only. This means for non-baseball fans pitchers only hit in the National League. Yesterday A.J. Burnett, who hasn't played in the NL since 2005, was practicing bunting with his new team. Burnett now pitches for the Pittsburgh Pirates. A.J. was squaring to bunt and fouled it off the bat and it hit him in the face. Here is the video...

Does this happen everyday? No. The question I'm asking is if pitchers didn't hit, this wouldn't happen. A.J. Burnett will undergo surgery for a fractured right orbital bone and miss an undetermined amount of time. In fantasy leagues if for some reason you were going to draft Burnett now wouldn't be the time to do that.

Should all of baseball go to the DH and this wouldn't happen?

Just a question to ponder...

Guest Speaker

Tuesday, we had Dave Rhea from the Journal Record in class. He does a little and a lot of everything from writing to blogging to management. Dave was a guy that everyone can relate too I feel like, very laid back. He was very knowledgeable about his profession and also social media.

I found it interesting that he preferred Facebook over Twitter to post things and discuss things. He said twitter he felt is more personal than Facebook. I disagree in the sense that all my good friends are on Facebook. Twitter for myself is more of a forum that I post opinions and people respond. My Twitter followers are comprised of a few of my friends and a lot of people I don't know but they listen to the Sports Animal and follow me. I love all my followers and have conversations with people I've never met everyday. Just my opinion though.

I thought Dave Rhea was a very good speaker and would recommend he is asked to come speak to classes in the future.

@kylehead8 (cheap plug for followers)

NBA All-Star Weekend

Tonight is the last night of NBA basketball before the 2012 NBA All-Star weekend in Orlando. Here is a run down of the All Star festivities...

The Rising Stars Game, Friday February 24th:

Features Rookies and Sophomores including Blake Griffin, Jeremy Lin and Ricky Rubio. The two teams will be coached by Shaq and Charles Barkley.

All Star Saturday Night (February 25th):

This includes the shooting stars competition, skills competition, 3-point Contest and the Slam Dunk Contest. Kevin Durant was just added to the 3-point contest yesterday. Russell Westbrook with be in the skills competition. The Dunk contest will feature guys you've never heard of so I wont put you to sleep typing their names. In my opinion the dunk contest needs to go away or get the true NBA stars to participate in it.

All-Star Game (February 26th):

The All-Star game(tip-off at 6:30p.m.) includes the best basketball players on the planet. Defense is very optional in the game but it is an All-Star game so it is for the fans. The ASG is always a good time and Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, Blake Griffin, and Lebron just to name a few will be there.

Enjoy your All-Star Weekend everyone!

Injury Update

Since the Rest of the World is talking about LINsanity, I will too! Here is a video of the rising star. Enjoy! If you don't know his story click here.

INJURIES

Anderson Varejao (Cavs)

Broke his wrist last week and still no timetable has been set for his return. Experts are saying around a month or longer. This is a big loss for fantasy owners.

Gerald Henderson (Bobcats)

Set to return in exactly two weeks from his strained hamstring on Friday at Toronto. Henderson was averaging 15 points per game. If you need some points he is a guy to look to pick-up

Zach Randolph (Grizzlies)

It's looking like he could return aHead of schedule in early March from his knee injury. Good news for Fantasy players, if he is available go grab him NOW.

J.R. Smith (Unknown)

Smith finally finished out the season in China and is now looking for a home in the NBA. The frontrunners for J.R. are the Knicks and Clippers. I still don't rule out the Lakers. He is a guy who will put up big fantasy numbers so you might look to add him.

Class Speaker

On Tuesday we had a special guest in class, Kurt Hochenauer. He runs the blog okiefunk.com. One thing I really took away from him was that write about something you have a passion for. My passion is sports so, of course, I am writing about one of my passions. He also mentioned you cant blog too much. I post a couple times a week and my posts aren't text heavy so I'm sure my readership won't go down with a couple posts a week.

Dr. Hochenauer did a very good job speaking and is very insightful about blogs.

Future Stars in Baseball

Keith Law came out with his yearly Top 100 Prospects of 2012 this week. You have to be an ESPN Insider to read it but the top three players are..

#1 Mike Trout (LAA)

Trout got the call-up last year and played well. He has a ton of power and one of the fastest guys in the majors. If you are in a Baseball Keeper League, you might look at him this year.

#2 Bryce Harper (Was)

Some people believe Harper will make the Nationals opening day roster. If he does watch out because he has a big time upside. Hopefully Bryce isn't as cocky as he was in Minor League ball because if he is he will have some sore ribs..

#3 Matt Moore (TB)

Moore pitched for the Rays in the Playoffs last year and beat the Yankees and will be starting with the Rays this year. He is defiantly worth a pick-up in all baseball formats this year.

Pick-Ups for the Week

Monday, February 6th, was a rough day for fantasy owners and players in the NBA. Carmelo Anthony, Chauncey Billups, Danilo Gallinari and Derrick Rose all got hurt or left the game due to injury.

Carmelo Anthony:

Hurt his groin and is said to be out 1-2 weeks.

Chauncey Billups:

Left Monday's game with an Achilles injury. Billups will take some tests today(Feb.6th).

Danilo Gallinari:

Has what doctors are calling a chip fracture in his foot. George Hill had the same type of injury and missed 3-4 weeks.

Derrick Rose:

Left Monday's game with a back injury but I would consider him day-to-day.

HOT Pick-Ups of the Week:

Jeremy Lin (Knicks):

Lin got his first start in the NBA on Monday and had 28 points and 8 assists. With Amare dealing with the death of his brother and Melo out for a week or two, I think Lin is a must pick-up. Lin is owned in 48% of ESPN Leagues and 51% of Yahoo! Leagues. If he has another good game wednesday against the Wizards he will be owned in around 80% of leagues so get him while you can.

Chris Kaman (Hornets):

After being on the trading block for a couple weeks, the Hornets have decided to keep their back-up center. On Monday, Kaman responded with a double-double. Kaman is a guy to keep an eye on with several Hornets being injured.

Dunk of the Year? I'd say so...

One day after Lebron had an amazing dunk over John Lucas, Blake Griffin answered with this..

Blake is an amazing talent but let's not forget about the greatest dunker of ALL TIME.

Hot Pick-Ups for the Week:

Anybody from Memphis or Detroit. The Grizz and Pistons have four games left this week and Memphis plays on Sunday. Only four teams play on Sunday this week because of the Super Bowl.

Sunday Feb. 5th Games:

Memphis @ Boston

Toronto @ Miami

Guys to keep an eye on:

Baron Davis (NYK)

Davis should be coming back sometime soon for the Knicks who need a pointguard very badly. Baron will start from day 1 and should be good for points and assists.

J.R. Smith (Unknown)

J.R. is playing in China and is currently locked into his team until the end of the season and that could be as early as mid-Feburuary. Smith will be someone a team looks to for points. Keep on eye on him and he can help your team when he comes back to the NBA.

Manu Ginobili (SA)

Manu is still a couple weeks away from returning from injury. If you can afford to stash him on your roster do so because he will no doubt help you in your playoff run this year.

Things to make my Blog better

After reading an article by Darren Rowse, I feel I really need to work on being more specific in my blog posts.

I don't need to add fluff to my projections and opinions on which players are good pick-ups.

Another thing that will help your blog not fail is not rambling and not being repetitive. I feel I do a good job of not talking on and on and on about a topic. One thing I can work on is not being repetitive, which I feel I can do from time to time.

Hot Pick-Ups of the Week

If you are looking for a late week pick-up here are a couple of ideas...

Richard Hamilton-Chicago Bulls

Rip has played in 5 games since coming back from injury. In each game since returning from the injury he has scored in double figures. In ESPN Standard Leagues he is owned in 72.8% of leagues. In Yahoo! Leagues he is owned in just 53% of leagues. Hamilton plays Friday(1/27) and Sunday(1/29) so you could get two more plays out of him this week.

Tiago Splitter-San Antonio Spurs

Tiago has seen his minutes increase of late and in turn has been playing very well. In his last three games he has posted 25, 12 and 16 points along with 10, 6 and 8 rebounds in those games. Splitter is owned in 19.4% of ESPN Leagues and 23% of Yahoo! Leagues. The Spurs also have games FRiday(1/27) and Sunday(1/29).

Good Luck!

Technorati

I think a key for my blog that I learned on Technorati is social media. I'm a huge fan of twitter and facebook. Twitter is a great networking tool to get your blog noticed. Facebook I see as more of a personal site but your friends and family can check out your blog as well.

You can connect your twitter and your blog and everybody is one click away. I think this is a great advancement in Blogs in this social media age we live in.

With that being said....

Anybody interested in putting an ad on my blog just let me know!!

@kylehead8

Fantasy Basketball Week 1/23-1/29

This is a weird week in Fantasy with most teams playing on two nights this week (Wednesday & Friday). Also there are almost no games on Thursday which is the case most weeks because of national television. On Thursday there are only two games Boston at Orlando and Memphis at Clippers.

Players to Watch:

Randy Foye (LAC)

As long as Chris Paul is out Randy Foye will be starting for the Clips. I expect Chris Paul to be back Wednesday when the Clippers play the Lakers. Foye on Sunday chipped in 15 points with 2 steals and 3 blocks. I think as well as Foye is playing he will still see minutes but the backcourt is crowded in L.A.

Lamar Odom (DAL)

Dirk Nowitzki is sitting out this week and Odom is starting in his place. Don't go pick up Odom just yet but he is a guy to keep your eye on. He is off to a rough start but starting a few games could jump start this usually fantasy stud

Injury Updates:

Manu Ginobili (SA)

Manu has been out since the second week of the season with a broken hand. This past weekend he got his splint off and is right on schedule in his rehab. He should be back Mid-February.

Chris Paul (LAC)

Paul sat out the last week rest his bad hamstring but expect him back for the Laker game on Wednesday.

Fantasy Stud Update of the Week:

Kevin Love had 15 consecutive double-doubles to start off the season and had his streak snapped on Saturday night. On Monday night K-Love was back to his normal self with 39 points and 12 rebounds.

Welcome

Welcome all to my new blog. In this blog I will be writing about all things fantasy sports. Right now is the heart of the NBA fantasy basketball season. My next post I will be giving you some Hot PickUps of the Week and also guys you should Add or Drop. All Comments Welcome.