Cowboys Pride Radio special edition

The Counselor is IN:

As most of my readers know, I am the co-host on the Cowboys Pride Weekly Radio show on Blog Talk Radio. This week, Doyle and I will be making a huge announcement. Please tune in for the announcement on Thursday March 4, 2010 at 8:00 PM CST.

The Counselor is OUT:

32 Team Mock Draft @ Sports Jabber

The Counselor is IN:

The fine folks at Sports Jabber, aka the Wally World of sports sites, is having a 32 Team Mock Draft. If you would like to try your hand at the being the General Manager for a team and pick the first 3 rounds of the NFL Draft, this is the game for you. You will need to sign up with Sports Jabber but it is a free sign up. There are several teams left. Here is a link to the post. If you stop by there, let them know I sent you.

The Counselor is OUT:

MLB Fantasy Dynasty Draft

The Counselor is IN:

As The Fantasy Sports Counselor, I like to experience new and unique fantasy leagues. I am currently in the middle of a unique fantasy baseball draft. Most fantasy baseball leagues will not start drafting until very late January through early April but this one starts early. This will help me get prepared for the rest of the fantasy baseball drafts by forcing me to examine players now.

The league I am participating in is a a MLB Fantasy Dynasty Draft over at Talk-Baseball.com, a fun baseball centric forum. The draft preparation started with each team selecting a roster of a current MLB team (set on Jan 1, 2010). Not only do you have that team's roster as a base but their salary total for last season as your salary cap. You use last season's salaries for players and have to stay under that cap. Here are their categories: OFFENSE: OBP, HR, R, RBI, SB and PITCHING: W, S+H (saves plus holds), SO, ERA, WHIP.

After selecting your team, you take the 40 man roster and cut it down to 10-25 players. You need to be conscience of last year's salaries and the fantasy value of these players. You could take the full expected 25 man roster for a team but it should depend on the team you select.

After submitting keep roster, they have a 15 round draft of available free agents but you take on their salaries from last season. There is a lot of strategy to this. You have to weigh the fantasy potential of the player against their salaries and your team needs. Since you are not going in empty handed, you may or may not have specific positions of need that may need to be filled first. A small market team will be looking for more value and potential of a player over a fantasy stud that has a huge salary.

After the draft, you can have a roster up to 40 players until late in March where you have to set your 25 man roster. You must have your team lineup meet (Active-C, 1B, 2B, 3B, SS, IF, LF, CF, RF, [yes you have to have 20 games at an outfield position to qualify] OF, U, SP, SP, SP, SP, RP, RP, RP, RP- and 6 bench spots and one spot for a DL) and be under your salary cap. You also need to leave enough room to pick up other players for injuries and replacements.

I selected the Texas Rangers, since they are my favorite team and were still available. There are some benefits to picking the Rangers and some challenges. The big benefit is this team is loaded with young talent at the position players which have low salaries. They have a solid starter in Josh Feldman, who is young, talented, with #1 pitcher potential for #5 starter salary. They also have a solid closer and set up guy. The challenges I face in selecting the Rangers stem from their lack of quality starting pitching beyond Feldman and some of their young talent has not produced on the field yet such as Chris Davis at 1st base.

My first two picks were the high salaried stud pitcher - Roy Halladay and then the more moderate salaried Cy Young winner Zack Greinke to shore up my pitching staff. I then picked up 1B Kendry Morales, who has a fairly low salary, so I can let Chris Davis sit on the bench and develop as a prospect.

This is a fun experience and different than any other fantasy league I have been a part of. If you are looking for a new fantasy baseball challenge, let me encourage you to check out a MLB Fantasy Dynasty Draft. It will bring a lot of new wrinkles to your fantasy baseball season.

As the draft continues, I will try to update FSC on the status of my team and the challenges I face.

The Counselor is OUT:

Line 'em up/ Bench their butts

The Counselor is IN:

This column's intent is to give the readers an idea of few good players in favorable match ups and a few good players in bad match ups. If you have a great player, then it may not advisable to bench him for someone in the Line 'em Up section. If I suggest that you bench one of your studs, you can only do this if you have a good option behind him. If you don't have a good player behind him, don't bench 'em. Remember every league is different and I am advising from a standard league.

Happy Fantasy Championship weekend for most leagues!

Line ‘em Up

QB Aaron Rogers Green Bay. Rogers has been gold all season and is a fantasy must start. This week he has a great match up against the 29^th ranked pass defense of the Seahawks. Look for big numbers from Rogers this week.

QB Tom Brady of New England. This is another no brainer. Brady has a great match up against the Jags 27^th ranked pass defense.

RB Cedric Benson of Cincinnati. Benson has been a very solid #2 RB this season to the surprise of most fantasy experts. This week he faces a very week KC rush defense (31^st against the run). He is a great start this week.

RB Pierre Thomas of New Orleans. Everyone thinks of the high flying passing offense of the Saints but the Saints have the 5^th ranked rushing offense. Thomas is a good start most weeks but a great start this week against the Bucs 30^th ranked rushing defense.

WR Anquan Boldin of Arizona. Boldin has been sporadic all season. He is a good start this week against their old city’s 30^th ranked defense for scoring points. Look for the Cardinals to score and score often.

WR Greg Jennings of Green Bay. As mentioned in the Rogers section, Jennings has a great match up this weekend. He should perform at a top WR 2 at the minimum.

Bench their Butts

QB Donovan McNabb of Philadelphia. McNabb is facing the second ranked pass defense in the Boncos. McNabb will still be better to start than the average fantasy backup but if you have a good option, you might want to bench his butt this weekend.

QB Eli Manning of New York Giants. Eli has been up and down as a fantasy starter all year long. You never know if you will get 5 or 20 points from him. This week he faces the surprisingly good Carolina pass defense. If you have another good option, you might consider starting him.

RB Jamaal Charles of Kansas City. Charles has been a good fantasy player since taking over the starting job in KC. This week he faces a tough 3^rd ranked Cincy rush defense. He is not a good start during this fantasy championship weekend.

***RB Ray Rice of Baltimore. Rice is a fantasy must play most weeks. It would be hard to bench him this week with for the Championship game but if you have another good option, you probably want to examine it. Rice is facing the #1 run stopping defense of the Steelers. The Steelers are in must win games and look for the Rush Defense to step up.

WR Sidney Rice of the Minnesota. Rice has become a good fantasy player and one of Favre’s favorites. This week he is going against the 7^th ranked pass defense. As crazy as it sounds, I look for Chicago to try to force Peterson to beat them. It is a good possibility that you might have a good replacement on your bench.

WR Steve Smith of the New York Giants. The Giants face the 4^th ranked pass defense in the Panthers. I would look for the Giants to focus on the run and not so much with the pass. Smith should have a down game.

The Counselor is OUT:

Week 16 Fantasy Injury Report - Friday Edition

Here are the Thursday (Friday this week) edition of Week 16 fantasy injuries and my commentary. I am posting a Friday's edition along with the regular Weekend edition. The Friday Edition will list injuries for the Friday's game only.


Chargers:
No significant fantasy injuries.



Titans:
WR Nate Washington has an ankle injury and is probable for this Friday's game. He was limited in practice this week. He should play and not be a concern.

The Counselor is OUT: