Tonight is home run derby night. The stats don't count, but it's a nice time to have the latest round of UPL hardware dispensation.
All-UPL First Team:
C - Joe Mauer, Phatnapper
1B - Albert Pujols, IAmJabrone
2B - Chase Utley, Westy's Sluggers
3B - Mark Reynolds, IAmJabrone
SS - Hanley Ramirez, Black Sox
OF - Carl Crawford, Cheeseheads
OF - Jason Bay, SuckMyKnuckleballs
OF - Raul Ibanez, Westy's Sluggers
UTIL - Justin Morneau, Benver Droncos
UTIL - Justin Upton, '90 Reds
SP - Tim Lincecum, O.N. Thugs
SP - Dan Haren, '90 Reds
SP - Zack Greinke, Phatsnapper
SP - Felix Hernandez, Phatsnapper
SP - Roy Halladay, Hats for Bats
RP - Joe Nathan, '90 Reds
RP - Jonathan Broxton, IAmJabrone
RP - Brian Fuentes, O.N. Thugs
All-UPL Second Team:
C - Brandon Inge, Westy's Sluggers
1B - Prince Fielder, Black Sox
2B - Ian Kinsler, TheJimmyDixLongballs
3B - David Wright, O.N. Thugs
SS - Ben Zobrist, Hats for Bats
OF - Ryan Braun, SuckMyKnuckleballs
OF - Torii Hunter, Westy's Sluggers
OF - Jayson Werth, Black Sox
UTIL - Matt Kemp, Phatsnapper
UTIL - Mark Teixeira, Phatsnapper
SP - Josh Johnson, IAmJabrone
SP - Matt Cain, Cheeseheads
SP - Jared Weaver, TheJimmyDixLongballs
SP - Justin Verlander, Black Sox
SP - Chris Carpenter, O.N. Thugs
RP - Heath Bell, Hats for Bats
RP - Ryan Franklin, SuckMyKnuckleballs
RP - Jonathan Papelbon, Black Sox
All-UPL Team Killers:
C - Tie, Geovany Soto, Cheeseheads and Russell Martin, O.N. Thugs
1B - David Ortiz, Cheeseheads
2B - Howie Kendrick, Cheeseheads
3B - Aramis Ramirez, '90 Reds
SS - Jose Reyes, Hats for Bats
OF - Josh Hamilton, Phatsnapper
OF - Carlos Quentin, Black Sox
OF - Alfonso Soriano, Cheeseheads
UTIL - Jimmy Rollins, Benver Droncos
UTIL - Grady Sizemore, Muddy Mush Heads
SP - Brandon Webb, Westy's Sluggers
SP - Rich Harden, O.N. Thugs
SP - Cole Hamels, IAmJabrone
SP - Scott Kazmir, Black Sox
SP - Francisco Liriano, IAmJabrone
RP - Brad Lidge, TheJimmyDixLongballs
RP - Kerry Wood, Benver Droncos
RP - Matt Capps, IAmJabrone
Team of the Half-Season: '90 Reds
Manager of the Half-Season: Westy
UPL MVP - Dan Haren, '90 Reds
UPL Cy Young - Tim Lincecum, O.N. Thugs
UPL Fireman Award - Joe Nathan, '90 Reds
UPL Rookie Pitcher - tie, J.A. Happ, Benver Droncos and Ricky Romero, IAmJabrone
UPL Rookie Hitter - Pablo Sandoval, '90 Reds
UPL Out of Nowhere Pitcher - Edwin Jackson, '90 Reds
UPL Out of Nowhere Hitter - tie, Aaron Hill, IAmJabrone and Ben Zobrist, Hats for Bats
As usual, comment away.
-Chairman (aka O.N. Thugs)
Monday, July 13, 2009
Thursday, July 9, 2009
NBA Rumors
I had commented on the potential impact that real-life NBA moves have on our UPL environment before, and there's a major trade that could impact the O.N. Thugs in a major way. The rumor is Boozer to Chicago, Tyrus Thomas to Utah, and Kirk Hinrich to Portland. And considering that I not only own Boozer and Thomas, I also own D-Will, Roy, and Aldridge. From my perspective, there are some individual components to look at.
Impact on Utah: D-Will's going to make plays, no matter who's around him, it seems. They lose out an a legit low block scorer, but get to put AK-47 back into the starting PF role (where he was thriving a few years ago), and get to put Tyrus Thomas/Paul Millsap into the hustle man off the bench, which is what Tyrus Thomas was doing, anyway. The benefit is that Thomas would be, at worst the 4th big on the roster (whereas his playing time in Chicago was just confusing, with not only Brad Miller, Joakim Noah, and Luol Deng taking minutes, but also John Salmons taking minutes at the 3). Plus, having D-Will set up Tyrus in an offensive system (rather than just waiting for a rebound after Gordon or Salmons jack up a shot) should improve his scoring numbers as he'll get one or two more cheap dunks off of D-Will's work.
Impact on Chicago: They finally get a legit low post scorer. And having Boozer as a complement to Brad Miller (who's comfortable in the high post as a shooter/passer) will be nice. Noah silps into a clear role as the "hustle big" that every contender seems to had/have (Chris Andersen in Denver, Varejao in Cleveland, Leon Powe in Boston, etc.). Boozer can get his numbers anywhere, I think, and should still put up 18 points and 10 boards, at the low end (and if the Bulls play faster, maybe more).
Impact on Portland: They get an upgrade from Steve Blake, but also someone who can play some pretty solid D, shoot reasonably well from outside. But more importantly for me, he lets Brandon Roy have the ball in his hands more and doesn't take shots from Aldridge.
I think that I am rooting for this trade to go through, although this just doubly confirms that I botched the Boozer pick last year. I had picked Boozer because I thought that it would be cool to watch D-Will to Boozer for the foreseeable future, and passed up Dwight Howard. Whoops. Oh well. We'll see how things shake out, but it's looking more and more interesting, and it'll be fun to see what moves people make with their keepers.
-Chairman (aka O.N. Thugs)
Impact on Utah: D-Will's going to make plays, no matter who's around him, it seems. They lose out an a legit low block scorer, but get to put AK-47 back into the starting PF role (where he was thriving a few years ago), and get to put Tyrus Thomas/Paul Millsap into the hustle man off the bench, which is what Tyrus Thomas was doing, anyway. The benefit is that Thomas would be, at worst the 4th big on the roster (whereas his playing time in Chicago was just confusing, with not only Brad Miller, Joakim Noah, and Luol Deng taking minutes, but also John Salmons taking minutes at the 3). Plus, having D-Will set up Tyrus in an offensive system (rather than just waiting for a rebound after Gordon or Salmons jack up a shot) should improve his scoring numbers as he'll get one or two more cheap dunks off of D-Will's work.
Impact on Chicago: They finally get a legit low post scorer. And having Boozer as a complement to Brad Miller (who's comfortable in the high post as a shooter/passer) will be nice. Noah silps into a clear role as the "hustle big" that every contender seems to had/have (Chris Andersen in Denver, Varejao in Cleveland, Leon Powe in Boston, etc.). Boozer can get his numbers anywhere, I think, and should still put up 18 points and 10 boards, at the low end (and if the Bulls play faster, maybe more).
Impact on Portland: They get an upgrade from Steve Blake, but also someone who can play some pretty solid D, shoot reasonably well from outside. But more importantly for me, he lets Brandon Roy have the ball in his hands more and doesn't take shots from Aldridge.
I think that I am rooting for this trade to go through, although this just doubly confirms that I botched the Boozer pick last year. I had picked Boozer because I thought that it would be cool to watch D-Will to Boozer for the foreseeable future, and passed up Dwight Howard. Whoops. Oh well. We'll see how things shake out, but it's looking more and more interesting, and it'll be fun to see what moves people make with their keepers.
-Chairman (aka O.N. Thugs)
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Throwing The Game... The Baseball Edition
In my other baseball league we've got a few stat categories that can play differently than the UPL's, mainly because its a weekly heads-up league. Our pitching is ranked by 9 stats, all worth 1 point each...
1. Innings Pitched
2. Wins
3. Complete Games
4. Saves
5. Walks (least wins pt)
6. K
7. ERA
8. WHIP
9. K/9
Well, I'm in a situation where my starting pitching kicked ass in the beginning of the week and I'm thinking that I'd be ok with winning most of the categories but benching all but my closers. I like and trust my closers, who have done well for me over there, but I'd almost certainly be punting Innings Pitched, Wins and Strikeouts. But 30 innings with no walks and a K/9 of 11 is something to be cherished and protected, I think.
1. Innings Pitched
2. Wins
3. Complete Games
4. Saves
5. Walks (least wins pt)
6. K
7. ERA
8. WHIP
9. K/9
Well, I'm in a situation where my starting pitching kicked ass in the beginning of the week and I'm thinking that I'd be ok with winning most of the categories but benching all but my closers. I like and trust my closers, who have done well for me over there, but I'd almost certainly be punting Innings Pitched, Wins and Strikeouts. But 30 innings with no walks and a K/9 of 11 is something to be cherished and protected, I think.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
New Positions in Football
Apparently, they're letting us have more positions.
They've added new flex positions. In addition to WR/RB and WR/TE, you can also have WR/RB/TE or QB/WR/RB/TE.
I don't think that adding a 2nd QB each week is a great idea. However, one change that I'm thinking is that we switch it to just having two guys at WR/RB/TE, instead of 1 each at WR/RB and WR/TE? This makes for a little more flexibility with the bye weeks.
Also, with individual defensive players, we used to just pick 2 guys at any position. Now, they are letting us have specific positions: DE, DT, LB, CB, and S (if you want to get really specific), DL and DB (a little less specific), and of course, you can still have just D (any position at all).
I'm sort of leaning toward going with 4 individual defensive players: DL, LB, DB, and D. Thoughts?
Finally, they are adding a "rivalry week" feature, where we can have an additional game against a specific rival. This can't get set up until everyone signs up. But, this is cool. We've got a 12 team league, with 13 regular season games. This means that you can play everyone once, and then we can have 2 weeks where you can play a particular rival. I'd think that it would be sweet to have the first and last week of the season be rivalry weeks.
So, this means that everyone gets 2 rivals. Any requests for your personal rivalries? Some interesting rivalries in the UPL... I sort of want an extra shot at Mikey. And C-Lauff, too. Of course, those rivalries are against two of the more successful franchises... I guess that if I was smart, that I'd try to go for a perennial bottom feeder as my rival... Jeff? You're playing football, right? :-)
Mikey/Bobby makes sense. I'm guessing that Westy/C-Lauff would be a pretty natural one. Schultzie/Olthoff seems to make sense. I think that this is sort of cool...
-Chairman (aka O.N. Thugs)
They've added new flex positions. In addition to WR/RB and WR/TE, you can also have WR/RB/TE or QB/WR/RB/TE.
I don't think that adding a 2nd QB each week is a great idea. However, one change that I'm thinking is that we switch it to just having two guys at WR/RB/TE, instead of 1 each at WR/RB and WR/TE? This makes for a little more flexibility with the bye weeks.
Also, with individual defensive players, we used to just pick 2 guys at any position. Now, they are letting us have specific positions: DE, DT, LB, CB, and S (if you want to get really specific), DL and DB (a little less specific), and of course, you can still have just D (any position at all).
I'm sort of leaning toward going with 4 individual defensive players: DL, LB, DB, and D. Thoughts?
Finally, they are adding a "rivalry week" feature, where we can have an additional game against a specific rival. This can't get set up until everyone signs up. But, this is cool. We've got a 12 team league, with 13 regular season games. This means that you can play everyone once, and then we can have 2 weeks where you can play a particular rival. I'd think that it would be sweet to have the first and last week of the season be rivalry weeks.
So, this means that everyone gets 2 rivals. Any requests for your personal rivalries? Some interesting rivalries in the UPL... I sort of want an extra shot at Mikey. And C-Lauff, too. Of course, those rivalries are against two of the more successful franchises... I guess that if I was smart, that I'd try to go for a perennial bottom feeder as my rival... Jeff? You're playing football, right? :-)
Mikey/Bobby makes sense. I'm guessing that Westy/C-Lauff would be a pretty natural one. Schultzie/Olthoff seems to make sense. I think that this is sort of cool...
-Chairman (aka O.N. Thugs)
Monday, July 6, 2009
What's in a Name? UPL Football 2009-10:
...McNair Dating Service.
What? Too soon?
In any case, it appears that Yahoo! is finally catching up with the times and has made a few adjustments (including offering the live stats for free, which they've been charging for for about 5 years now). So, we've got a couple options. Sadly, having fantasy punters is not of of these options. But allowing some customization for the waivers process is.
The first is weekly waivers. Essentially, what it does is puts all available players on waivers starting on Sunday night, and then processes waivers right before midnight on Tuesday (players go on to rosters starting Wednesday). Practically, what this means is 2 things. For those of you who make last minute roster moves to pick up players for Monday night would have to do so before 10pm on Sunday. And second, this gives everyone the same chance at available players. Westy asked for this years ago. I'm inclined to move to weekly waivers, but will give everyone the chance to chime in.
Second, if we do have the weekly waivers, how do you want to do the waiver priority? There are multiple options. The first is to do the waiver order, just like we do now, initially based on where you draft, and then each pick-up puts you to the back of the line. A second option is essentially reset the waiver order each week, so that the team in last place has first priority. A third option (and one that I find intriguing) is to go with the Free Agent Acquisition Budget (FAAB), which creates a blind, single-bid auction for each person you want to acquire on waivers. In the case of a tie, then the tiebreaker would fall back to season standings. In this scenario, everyone will start with the same budget at the start of the season (say, $130). This also puts a cap on the number of waiver acquisitions that you can make, since each acquisition costs at least $1. Then at the end of the regular season, I'll reset all of the playoff teams budgets back to $130.
What do you guys think? I mean, besides that I'm an ass for already naming the league after Steve McNair.
-Chairman (aka O.N. Thugs)
What? Too soon?
In any case, it appears that Yahoo! is finally catching up with the times and has made a few adjustments (including offering the live stats for free, which they've been charging for for about 5 years now). So, we've got a couple options. Sadly, having fantasy punters is not of of these options. But allowing some customization for the waivers process is.
The first is weekly waivers. Essentially, what it does is puts all available players on waivers starting on Sunday night, and then processes waivers right before midnight on Tuesday (players go on to rosters starting Wednesday). Practically, what this means is 2 things. For those of you who make last minute roster moves to pick up players for Monday night would have to do so before 10pm on Sunday. And second, this gives everyone the same chance at available players. Westy asked for this years ago. I'm inclined to move to weekly waivers, but will give everyone the chance to chime in.
Second, if we do have the weekly waivers, how do you want to do the waiver priority? There are multiple options. The first is to do the waiver order, just like we do now, initially based on where you draft, and then each pick-up puts you to the back of the line. A second option is essentially reset the waiver order each week, so that the team in last place has first priority. A third option (and one that I find intriguing) is to go with the Free Agent Acquisition Budget (FAAB), which creates a blind, single-bid auction for each person you want to acquire on waivers. In the case of a tie, then the tiebreaker would fall back to season standings. In this scenario, everyone will start with the same budget at the start of the season (say, $130). This also puts a cap on the number of waiver acquisitions that you can make, since each acquisition costs at least $1. Then at the end of the regular season, I'll reset all of the playoff teams budgets back to $130.
What do you guys think? I mean, besides that I'm an ass for already naming the league after Steve McNair.
-Chairman (aka O.N. Thugs)
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