Unbelievably, I had a few minutes in between writing and heading out to cover some events, so I took the time, as I have the past several years, to pore through the NFL Schedule. I have come away with my conclusions and predictions on how the season will shake out.
I am never right.
For example, let's take a look at how I predicted last season:
Round 1:
NFC
Arizona (WC) at Green Bay
Carolina (WC) at Seattle
AFC
Cincinnati (WC) at Pittsburgh
Kansas City (WC) at Tennessee
Divisional Round:
AFC
KC at New England
Pittsburgh at Oakland
NFC
Carolina at Atlanta
Green Bay at Dallas
Conference Championships:
NFC
Green Bay at Atlanta
AFC
Oakland at New England
Super Bowl:
New England vs. Green Bay
Champ: New England
Ouch. The only positive take away from this is that I picked the Patriots to go to the big game. However, an untrained monkey could have seen that coming. I picked GB to be playing them, and perhaps had Aaron Rodgers not been crushed by Anthony Barr, they may have. I chose the 8-8 cardinals to make the playoffs, as well as the 7-9 Bengals. However, the worst was picking the 6-10 Raiders to have a first round bye.
In total, I had only 2-of-6 NFC teams correct in the playoffs, but didn't get a single game right. Over in the AFC, picks were much more pleasant, as I had four of the six playoff teams correct. I even had a first round match-up between KC and Tennessee correct. Unfortunately, the only games I got right were the ones that NE won.
This was probably one of the best years I have ever had. A 50 percent rate of picking playoff teams. One of the Super Bowl teams correct. Dang! Maybe I have gotten the hang of this.
So, with that confidence surging through my body, here are my picks for 2018:
Round 1:
NFC
Green Bay(WC) at New Orleans
Carolina (WC) at Philadelphia
AFC
Baltimore (WC) at Houston
Jacksonville (WC) at LA Chargers
Divisional Round:
AFC
Baltimore at New England
LA Chargers at Pittsburgh
NFC
Carolina at LA Rams
Green Bay at Minnesota
Conference Championships:
NFC
Carolina at Minnesota
AFC
Pittsburgh at New England
Super Bowl:
Pittsburgh vs. Minnesota
Champ: Minnesota (34-18) MVP: Kirk Cousins
There you have it! The Vikings win the Super Bowl! My life is complete. I can die a happy man. I mean, the way that this team has been put together, I don't know how this plan could fail. Sure, last year they went 13-3 after I chose them to be 7-9, but there is no stopping them. I did not just jinx the Vikings. Don't you dare talk to me like that. Come at me, bro!
Sorry. I kind of went ballistic there. Thanks for reading, and hopefully I AM really getting better at this, and the Vikings do in fact win the Super Bowl.
Thursday, August 30, 2018
Wednesday, August 29, 2018
Something Human
"Something Human" is something a bit different from Muse. The single, which has been out for more than a month just reminds me of what this next album from Muse is going to be, and that's likely amazing. It has a little less edge than Muse's latest offerings like "Though Contagion," but it brings me back to the "Black Holes and Revelations" days and could have a "Starlight"-type appeal. I'm excited for the album, which is rumored to be out in November.
Here are a some photos from the Prairie Conference volleyball scrimmage and tennis match in Long Prairie, Aug. 22.
Here are a some photos from the Prairie Conference volleyball scrimmage and tennis match in Long Prairie, Aug. 22.
Wednesday, August 22, 2018
pete davidson
America's resident pop princess, Ariana Grande, recently released "sweetner" her latest album of dance-friendly popiness. It is what it is. I wouldn't call it good, but it certainly isn't the worst thing I've ever heard either. The single and current top 20 hit, "no tears left to cry" is pretty good, as is "pete davidson" about her current dating partner (he's no Mac Miller imo). Other songs like "get well soon" were blah.
Here are some photos from the Region 8C Championship, Aug. 11 and the Upsala parade and Morrison County Fair.
Here are some photos from the Region 8C Championship, Aug. 11 and the Upsala parade and Morrison County Fair.
Tuesday, August 21, 2018
Final Fantasy Football preview: TE
This will be the final blog for everyone's fantasy football benefit, and I will focus on tight ends. This is often an overlooked position, but a top tier tight end or a decent one that is drafted very late, can be extremely valuable. This of course is the final blog on fantasy because the season is quickly approaching us, and because kickers and defenses don't really matter, kickers most especially. I'll give my thoughts on them after my TE rankings, however. As for those fickle tight ends, there are a couple of strategies. One can always pick up one of the top options, as tight ends don't tend to have too much turnover at the top, and get one of those solid TEs in the third to sixth round. The second option is to wait until the third to last pick or so and taking someone that has a lot of upside, or being very diligent on the waiver wire to find someone who can service as a starting tight end, thus allowing the drafter to take more WR/RB or QB in the earlier rounds.
Before we get to my rankings for this year, let's look back at how I did a year ago:
Picked No. 1 for 2017, Jordan Reed. Actually finished: 33. I advocated not taking a tight end early last season, but said that Reed was a high-upside gamble. That upside did not show itself last seaosn, as played in only six games, and he only had one good one.
Picked No. 2 for 2017, Rob Gronkowski. Actually finished: 1.Good decision here, but it was not a tough one. He finished first despite missing two games. He would have been the 11th ranked receiver in points, so having him as a TE is like having another WR1 almost.
Picked No. 3 for 2017, Kyle Rudolph. Actually finished: 7. Rudolph did not quite have the same rapport with Case Keenum as he did with Bradford, which hurt him some.
Picked No. 4 for 2017, Greg Olsen: Actually finished: 49. Olsen was injured from week three to week 12, and it was the first time that Olsen was ever hurt that significantly in his career. He hadn't missed a single game since 2007, so bad luck.
Picked No. 5 for 2017, Delanie Walker. Actually finished: 6.Good pick here. He had a solid season as expected.
As for 2018, here are my ranks for TE:
1. Rob Gronkowski: He is getting older (29) and he does tend to get injured, but he is also still with Brady, still on the Patriots and most importantly, still Gronk.
2. Zach Ertz: Last year's No. 3 TE, he should benefit that Trey Burton (2017's No. 26 TE) will be out of the picture this year (Burton is playing for Chicago). It shouldn't matter whether it is Foles or Wentz at QB either. He did well with either, averaging double digit points under both QBs.
3. Travis Kelce: Though he may dip a bit from his 192-point, second place finish a year ago with a new and inexperienced QB at the helm in KC, Kelce is still a big, reliable target, and should still push 150+ in points this year.
4. Evan Engram: Engram is almost a WR. He is a pure receiving TE, and he will be an even more familiar target for Eli and the Giants in 2018 than he was in his rookie campaign, where he finished fifth among TEs.
5. Kyle Rudolph: Rudolph is the Vikes redzone go-to, and he has a much better QB throwing to him this year, who happens to enjoy throwing to TEs. Expect his numbers to stay pretty close to a year ago, if not go up.
Others worth taking in 5-7 round range: Delanie Walker, Jimmy Graham. Sleepers to take in 13-15 round: OJ Howard, Jack Doyle, Austin Hooper, George Kittle and David Njoku.
As for kickers, as a say every year, there is only one thing that puts one kicker over another: kicking indoors. Free from the varying winds, kickers who play at least half of their games in domes can be more accurate. That's my only advice. Take a kicker with your last pick, and take one that kicks indoors, there are eight teams with an indoor stadiums, so chances are an indoor kicker will be left no matter what.
Lastly, team defenses. Most fantasy leagues employ a team defense in their lineup. I almost always take a defense in the second to last or last round. There are a couple of ways that I approach them. Pick out a defense or two or three that you believe can possibly perform week in and week out, and if they are available when you feel comfortable tacking a defense, then take them and ride with them all season, or as I call it, the lazy method. Or, do what I normally do, which is draft based on week one match-ups and then each week evaluate whether there is a better defense for that week that could be picked up. This is called streaming. Good defensive match-ups to look for are defenses that are playing backup QBs, rookie QBs, turnover prone teams or teams with weak special teams.
I hope all of this helps someone. I know writing it really gets my juices flowing for the season!
Before we get to my rankings for this year, let's look back at how I did a year ago:
Picked No. 1 for 2017, Jordan Reed. Actually finished: 33. I advocated not taking a tight end early last season, but said that Reed was a high-upside gamble. That upside did not show itself last seaosn, as played in only six games, and he only had one good one.
Picked No. 2 for 2017, Rob Gronkowski. Actually finished: 1.Good decision here, but it was not a tough one. He finished first despite missing two games. He would have been the 11th ranked receiver in points, so having him as a TE is like having another WR1 almost.
Picked No. 3 for 2017, Kyle Rudolph. Actually finished: 7. Rudolph did not quite have the same rapport with Case Keenum as he did with Bradford, which hurt him some.
Picked No. 4 for 2017, Greg Olsen: Actually finished: 49. Olsen was injured from week three to week 12, and it was the first time that Olsen was ever hurt that significantly in his career. He hadn't missed a single game since 2007, so bad luck.
Picked No. 5 for 2017, Delanie Walker. Actually finished: 6.Good pick here. He had a solid season as expected.
As for 2018, here are my ranks for TE:
1. Rob Gronkowski: He is getting older (29) and he does tend to get injured, but he is also still with Brady, still on the Patriots and most importantly, still Gronk.
2. Zach Ertz: Last year's No. 3 TE, he should benefit that Trey Burton (2017's No. 26 TE) will be out of the picture this year (Burton is playing for Chicago). It shouldn't matter whether it is Foles or Wentz at QB either. He did well with either, averaging double digit points under both QBs.
3. Travis Kelce: Though he may dip a bit from his 192-point, second place finish a year ago with a new and inexperienced QB at the helm in KC, Kelce is still a big, reliable target, and should still push 150+ in points this year.
4. Evan Engram: Engram is almost a WR. He is a pure receiving TE, and he will be an even more familiar target for Eli and the Giants in 2018 than he was in his rookie campaign, where he finished fifth among TEs.
5. Kyle Rudolph: Rudolph is the Vikes redzone go-to, and he has a much better QB throwing to him this year, who happens to enjoy throwing to TEs. Expect his numbers to stay pretty close to a year ago, if not go up.
Others worth taking in 5-7 round range: Delanie Walker, Jimmy Graham. Sleepers to take in 13-15 round: OJ Howard, Jack Doyle, Austin Hooper, George Kittle and David Njoku.
As for kickers, as a say every year, there is only one thing that puts one kicker over another: kicking indoors. Free from the varying winds, kickers who play at least half of their games in domes can be more accurate. That's my only advice. Take a kicker with your last pick, and take one that kicks indoors, there are eight teams with an indoor stadiums, so chances are an indoor kicker will be left no matter what.
Lastly, team defenses. Most fantasy leagues employ a team defense in their lineup. I almost always take a defense in the second to last or last round. There are a couple of ways that I approach them. Pick out a defense or two or three that you believe can possibly perform week in and week out, and if they are available when you feel comfortable tacking a defense, then take them and ride with them all season, or as I call it, the lazy method. Or, do what I normally do, which is draft based on week one match-ups and then each week evaluate whether there is a better defense for that week that could be picked up. This is called streaming. Good defensive match-ups to look for are defenses that are playing backup QBs, rookie QBs, turnover prone teams or teams with weak special teams.
I hope all of this helps someone. I know writing it really gets my juices flowing for the season!
Wednesday, August 15, 2018
Gold Rush
I've enjoyed, but been a bit lukewarm about Deathcab for Cutie's past two albums, but after a first blush listen of their latest, "Thank You For Today," I am mesmerized, much like I was when I first heard them on "Plans." Obviously, I'll be listening again, but after the first listen, songs like "I Dreamt We Spoke Again," "Gold Rush" and "Autumn Love" were super good. It was the best album I've heard in some time.
Anyhow, I have a large number of photos from the second weekend of Region 8C amateur baseball playoffs. Enjoy.
Anyhow, I have a large number of photos from the second weekend of Region 8C amateur baseball playoffs. Enjoy.
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