Author: John Paulsen (Page 439 of 937)

      Love ‘Em & Leave ‘Em: Week 4

      October 1, 2009 /

      Every week, I will highlight a few players to start and a few players to sit at each position. I’m a firm believer in starting your studs, so I won’t tell you about how Drew Brees or Adrian Peterson has a tough matchup – just go ahead and keep them in your lineup. Instead, I’ll focus on the borderline guys – players you’ll only start under the right circumstances. It’s important to note that depending on your roster and situation, you may not be able to follow these recommendations. For example, if I suggest you bench a solid starter like Tony Romo, only do so if you have a clearly better option on your bench.

      The “love ‘em” players are listed in the order that I’d start them this week.

      love-em

      Jay Cutler is a must-start against the Lions, who have given up 10 pass TD in the first three weeks…Start Eli Manning this week against the Chiefs, who are 20th against the pass…The Titans have been brutal against the pass (275 yards, 2.3 TD), so David Garrard should be in for a nice game…Shaun Hill had a good fantasy game last week against the Vikings, and he should be able to have some success against the Rams defense, which is 25th against the pass…Brett Favre is a pretty good start this week against the Packers, who are just so-so (2.0 TD allowed) against the pass…For the desperate, Trent Edwards (MIA), Jason Campbell (TB) and Kerry Collins (JAX) all have favorable matchups this week.

      Continue reading »

      Fantasy Football

      2009 NHL Preview: Montreal Canadiens

      October 1, 2009 /

      We’ve partnered with On Goal Analysis to bring you a team-by-team preview of the upcoming NHL season. (Just scroll down on the OGA website and hit the calendar.) Here is the preview for the Montreal Canadiens…

      SUMMER SPLASH

      * Big moves over the summer in Montreal as Bob Gainey went against some of the conventional wisdom and provided the club with the shakeup it needed…and may have found the future is now in Montreal.

      * Some big names are gone from the roster, too as the Canadiens enter camp. Favorite Captain Koivu (of the Sako variety) was not re-signed and Alex Kovalev was also welcome to explore other pastures. Two big names in Montreal that are now playing elsewhere left some fans wondering about the overall strategy. They then saw defenseman Mike Komisarek go to Toronto and Chris Higgins traded to the Rangers. Bruiser Tom Kostopoulos left for the Hurricanes.

      * To remake the team, defense was bolstered as a priority by adding size and puck-moving, proven players in: Hal Gill (PIT), Jaroslav Spacek (BUF) and Paul Mara (NYR)

      * Offense was given a kick in the pants with speedy additions of: Scott Gomez (NYR), Mike Cammalleri (CGY) and Brian Gionta (NJD) and the gritty Travis Moen (SJS)

      Click here to read the rest of the preview (which includes the site’s unique Playoff Qualifying Curve and fantasy information) at the On Goal Analysis site.

      NHL

      2009 NHL Preview: Minnesota Wild

      October 1, 2009 /



      We’ve partnered with On Goal Analysis to bring you a team-by-team preview of the upcoming NHL season. (Just scroll down on the OGA website and hit the calendar.) Here is the preview for the Minnesota Wild…

      Team Play: ISSUE – What? Offense!? In the blink of an eye, the oft injured and sometime heart-questioned Marian Gaborik was out the door, winging his way eastward to The Big Apple (where he promptly did not skate on Day 1 of training camp to rest his groin). Had there been any panic, it was short lived as Martin Havlat entered the scene, somewhat angry with Chicago and looking like he is ready to seek retribution for their how they dealt with him. (Game 11 on 26 October is your target as the Wild travel to The Windy City for their first meeting of the season.) The healthy and high-flying Havlat of last season, it seems, is just the kind of offensive direction this team is heading for under new coach Todd Richards and GM Chuck Fletcher.

      The early CBS Sports page for the Wild indicates a No. 1 line of Brunette-Koivu-Havlat from left to right, and Pouliot-Sheppard-Miettinen on No. 2. Take that with a grain of salt – Mike Russo’s interview with GM Chuck Fletcher indicates the team is going into camp with experimentation in mind. In fact, the camp-opening game on 13 September had the same No. 1 line as above with Havlat netting 1 G and 1 A for his team’s 2-1 scrimmage victory. The line they played against was Clutterbuck-Bouchard-Miettinen which may or may not wind up being the No. 2 unit – Pouliot and Sheppard stayed together but Owen Nolan was their third. Keep a watchful eye on training camp as the team solidifies their lines for the new system.

      Click here to read the rest of the preview (which includes the site’s unique Playoff Qualifying Curve and fantasy information) at the On Goal Analysis site.

      NHL

      2009 NHL Preview: Los Angeles Kings

      October 1, 2009 /

      We’ve partnered with On Goal Analysis to bring you a team-by-team preview of the upcoming NHL season. (Just scroll down on the OGA website and hit the calendar.) Here is the preview for the Los Angeles Kings…

      Team Play: ISSUE – Assembling the Puzzle. The Kings bottomed out in 2006-07, and have steadily improved since. On paper, it appears GM Dean Lombardi has collected enough pieces to assemble the puzzle – a Stanley Cup Playoff-caliber team. In July, LA made a couple of significant moves: On July 2nd, they signed free agent blueliner Rob Scuderi from the Stanley Cup Champs. The next day, they sent defensemen Tom Priessing and Kyle Quincey to Colorado for power forward Ryan Smyth. Trade rumors continue to swirl around the Kings (including the now-debunked myth of LA being part of a three-team deal with Ottawa and San Jose involving Dany Heatley), but the thinking here is that unless someone makes Lombardi an offer he can’t refuse, he’ll now put the roster in the capable hands of Head Coach Terry Murray, and see what sort of team the coach can assemble.

      One thing is certain: it will be a young team, as 33-year-old Ryan Smyth instantly becomes the oldest forward (in fact, Michal Handzus (32) and Raitis Ivanans (30) are the only other forwards over the age of 27), and four of the Kings’ top six d-men will be 26 or younger…Oh, yeah: Erik Ersberg, 27, is the only goalie on Los Angeles’ training camp roster over the age of 23.

      Look for the Kings to continue to improve in 09-10, but in a very tough Western Conference, their playoff chances will depend just as much on other teams’ failures as on their own successes.

      Click here to read the rest of the preview (which includes the site’s unique Playoff Qualifying Curve and fantasy information) at the On Goal Analysis site.

      NHL

      How a Packer fan copes with Brett Favre

      September 30, 2009 /

      Back in 1969, Elisabeth Kübler-Ross introduced the five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. As a long time Green Bay fan (starting with Packers teams that featured Lynn Dickey, Paul Ott Carruth, Eddie Lee Ivery and a host of other players with ridiculous-sounding games), I have firsthand experience with these five stages as I’ve dealt with Brett Favre and his annual retirement dance.

      In the summer of 2008, when the news leaked that Favre was interested in unretiring, I argued that the Packers should bring him back. He was coming off a stellar season and I firmly believed that he gave Green Bay the best chance to win. At this point, I couldn’t comprehend that the Packers would choose to move on without Favre and this denial quickly turned to anger as I saw just how entrenched management was in that decision.

      But I wasn’t aware of a crucial fact: Favre flirted with coming back earlier in the spring and then changed his mind when head coach Mike McCarthy and general manager Ted Thompson were prepared to fly to Mississippi to discuss it. At that point, I totally understood why the Packers said ‘enough is enough’ and made the decision to cut the cord once and for all. And I understand why Favre was upset that the organization didn’t welcome him back with open arms. After all, he is one of the most iconic players ever to play in the NFL and has to have an ego to match. I figured that if he couldn’t come back and play for the Packers, then he’d make the wise decision and hang ’em up, once and for all. This is the third stage of grief — bargaining.

      Unfortunately, Favre’s anger towards the Packers quickly turned to spite as he tried to maneuver his way into either Chicago or Minnesota, the Packers’ two biggest rivals. It was obvious what was going on at the time — that Favre wanted to stick it to the Packers, specifically Ted Thompson, who made the final call (and was the one who drafted his successor) — and Favre confirmed this in a interview conducted a few months later. At this point, depression sunk in. I couldn’t believe that Brett Favre — my all-time favorite player and the guy that I would schedule my Sundays around — would risk the goodwill of the Packer faithful just to get revenge on those whom he believed wronged him. This spiteful behavior was just sad.

      Continue reading »

      NFL

      « Older posts Newer posts »

      © 2026 The Scores Report – The National Sports Blog

      Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑