Fantasy Football Guidebook

2011 is behind us, congratulations to SB Champion NY Giants; but how about 2012 and the rookie class?

2012-02-11T07:24:00.001-05:00

NFL Draft expectations
1. IND-QB Andrew Luck. Peyton Manning will be 36, have a huge salary due and...is recovering from multiple neck surgeries. Questions none. The Colts will draft Luck and try and move PM if possible.

2. STL ( I expect CLE to trade up to here though, to get...) QB Robert Griffith III

3. MIN-OT Matt Kalil. AP, if he comes back in 2012 (key injury there) will need some OL help

4. CLE (traded to STL and I expect them to trade down again) OT Riley Reiff Everyone loves a good lineman. If STL stays here they could take Trent Richardson as a eventual replacement for Steve Jackson.

5 TB-RB Trent Richardson

Fantasy Football Guidebook (2nd Edition): Your Comprehensive Guide to Playing Fantasy Football ($19.95) http://www.amazon.com/dp/0982428650

Fantasy Football Tips: 201 Ways to Win through Player Rankings, Cheat Sheets and Better Drafting ($10.95) www.amazon.com/dp/0982428669

Fantasy Football Basics: The Ultimate "How to" Guide for Beginners available ($10.95) at Amazon http://www.amazon.com/dp/0982428634

Fantasy Baseball for Beginners: The Ultimate "How-to" Guide ($10.95) www.amazon.com/dp/0982428693

Fantasy Football (Soccer to Yanks): The Ultimate "How-to" Guide for Fantasy Football/Fantasy Soccer ($14.95) http://www.amazon.com/dp/1936635011

Fantasy Hockey: The Ultimate "How-to" Guide for Fantasy Hockey Players ($14.95) www.amazon.com/dp/1936635100

Free agency/Waiver Wire implications of Thursday Night games every week now in the NFL?

2012-02-09T08:51:00.000-05:00

So how will your league change its waiver wire system in 2012 with the addition of a Thursday night game every week (weeks 1-15 in 2012).

1) Will it stay on Friday night and just say to heck with the Thursday night game implications?

2) Will it expand and add a Wed night WW process too? So two add/drops one on Wed and then another after the Thursday game? If so are the Thursday players allowed to be dropped and replaced before the Sunday games or are they locked out?

3) Is there another waiver wire correction yet to be discovered/discussed?

Fantasy Football Guidebook (2nd Edition): Your Comprehensive Guide to Playing Fantasy Football ($19.95) http://www.amazon.com/dp/0982428650

Fantasy Football Tips: 201 Ways to Win through Player Rankings, Cheat Sheets and Better Drafting ($10.95) www.amazon.com/dp/0982428669

Fantasy Football Basics: The Ultimate "How to" Guide for Beginners available ($10.95) at Amazon http://www.amazon.com/dp/0982428634

Fantasy Baseball for Beginners: The Ultimate "How-to" Guide ($10.95) www.amazon.com/dp/0982428693

Fantasy Football (Soccer to Yanks): The Ultimate "How-to" Guide for Fantasy Football/Fantasy Soccer ($14.95) http://www.amazon.com/dp/1936635011

Fantasy Hockey: The Ultimate "How-to" Guide for Fantasy Hockey Players ($14.95) www.amazon.com/dp/1936635100

NFL announces new Fantasy Football $1Million dollar "Perfect Challenge"

2012-02-08T07:09:00.001-05:00

Look for a NFL ad during the Super Bowl introducing the ''Perfect Challenge,'' a deceptively simple new fantasy game.

Each week, participants must pick an eight-player lineup out of the entire NFL. If every selection earns the most fantasy points at their position in a given week, the owner wins $1 million. I.e you need to pick 8 winners a little easier than picking the lottery numbers because skill will determine the leaders.

The lineups must feature one quarterback, two running backs, two wide receivers, one tight end, one kicker and one defense/special-teams unit. The game is free. I will be interested in the scoring system. Will it be PPR or yardage or 'big play" or bonus oriented?

For a sense of the difficulty of picking the perfect lineup, consider that last season 16 different kickers earned the most points (including ties) for at least one week under the standard NFL.com scoring system.

Yes, the hugely popular NFL believes it's missing out on potential fans, so it's making a splash with the $1 million prize. An estimated 15 million to 20 million people already play fantasy football, but then again, last year's Super Bowl was watched by 111 million viewers.

Regular fantasy football requires the organization to set up a league at the start of the season and the commitment to attend a draft and update a lineup every week. The Perfect Challenge requires less time and knowledge, and fans can play as many or as few weeks as they'd like.

For those avid fans already hooked on fantasy, it's an opportunity to compete for something even if that team they drafted in early September is already eliminated from playoff contention.

''Male, female, younger, older — this appeals across the board,'' said Jeff Berman, the NFL's digital media chief. ''Obviously, having the prize component gives an extra reason.''

The league's hope is that the people who play fantasy for the first time through the Challenge start paying more attention to the sport — maybe they watch the Thursday night game on NFL Network, or buy official merchandise.

''Bringing new players into the fold is good for football overall,'' Berman said.

Organizations can offer $1 million prizes in initiatives like this with the help of the insurance. For the NFL, having to distribute the big payday would carry the kind of buzz the league wants from this program.

''We'd be thrilled for somebody to pick the perfect lineup and win the prize,'' Berman said. ''That would be a terrific outcome.''

FFGuidebook.com (Sam Hendricks) finishes 13th of 25 Experts Overall in the Fantasy Index Magazine Rankings Contest

2012-02-07T09:51:00.001-05:00

Fron Fantasy Football Index magazine (www.FantasyIndex.com)

Below is the overall recap of the 2011 Experts Poll. (Using our traditional
scoring format, anyway; we¹re doing more with other scoring systems, but
we¹re setting those aside for now).

Scott Pianowski of Yahoo! Sports was the winner this year. He was
outstanding in quarterbacks (6th), running backs (1st), tight ends (5th) and
kickers (5th). That allowed him to overcome finishing way down at 23rd among
wide receivers.

Pretzel May of FantasyDraftMaster can argue that he holds a portion of the
title. He won using the more balanced scoring systems that give more weight
to the bottom 10 guys in each top 20. But in this system, he finished 2nd,
helped along by 2nd-place finishes at running back and in the
Defense/Special Teams category.

Bob Henry (Footballguys), Lenny Pappano (DraftSharks) and Tony Holm (Fantasy
Sharks) rounded out the top 5.

The Fantasy Football Index picks aren¹t part of this poll. That¹s been a
long-standing tradition for a handful of reasons. For starters, we score the
thing. With thousands of points and calculations at stake, it¹s not right to
have a competitor in charge of the scoring. Also notably, in typical years
experts must submit their picks in mid-May. The Fantasy Index picks can be
changed in early June so are we suppose to submit double lists of players
in the magazine? Sometimes something big will happen in late May or early
June; Ben Roethlisberger¹s motorcycle crash and Brett Favre¹s admission of
Vicodin addiction come to mind.

So we have settled into the gracious host role of this competition. We do,
however, run our numbers through to see how we would have fared if in the
competition. We turned out pretty solid this year. In the traditional
scoring, we would have come in No. 2 behind Pianowski. In the other two
scoring systems we¹ve discussed in the past few days, we would have moved up
into the No. 1 spot. So apparently a pretty solid year for the Fantasy Index
lists. (We¹ll list some of those numbers in the Fantasy Index Open results
tomorrow that¹s our Experts Poll-like competition that¹s open to all
comers (it's a chance for readers to see how they would fare in this kind of
format).

FANTASY INDEX EXPERTS POLL, FINAL RESULTS
Position-by-position rankings in the 2011 edition of the Fantasy Index
Experts Poll, using the traditional scoring method (with player's production
multiplied by 1-20 points, depending on where they were ranked):

  QB  RB  TE  WR  PK  ST  Total
   6   1   3  23   5   8   214,652  Scott Pianowski
  10   2  13   8   7   2   212,972  Pretzel May
   8  16   1  19  15  16  212,603  Bob Henry
   4   9   5  18  11  19  212,435  Lenny Pappano
  20  22   4   6   2   3   212,252  Tony Holm
  11   8  10   3  19   4   212,113  Eric Schneller
   2   4  16   4  24   7   211,668  Nathan Zegura
  16   3  17  13   9   1   211,637  Geoff Maleman
   3   6   8  25  14  25  210,843  Brian Laskiewicz
   7  17  11   9  22  22  210,750  Jon Millman
  13  19  12  16   3  24  210,576  Chris Liss
  14  24   2   5  10  21  210,532  Alan Satterlee
  22  18   9  12  13   9   210,305  Sam Hendricks
  23  14   7  14  16   5   210,168  David Dorey
   1  15  18  10  23  23  210,154  Gregg Rosenthal
  24  10   6  15  20  18  209,443  Justin Eleff
  12  12  19  17  21  15  209,294  Christopher Harris
   9   5  21  24  18   6   209,128  Cory Bonini
  17  20  20  20   6  14  209,090  James Serra
  25  11  22  21   1  10  208,683  Keith Mason
  21  13  24  22   4  11  208,520  Jeffrey Kamys
  19   7  23  11  17  17  208,468  Austin Kipp
  18  21  15   2  25  20  207,856  Craig Davis
   5  25  14   7  12  13  207,788  Louis Tranquilli
  15  23  25   1   8  12  207,749  Greg Kellogg

Fantasy Football Guidebook (2nd Edition): Your Comprehensive Guide to Playing Fantasy Football ($19.95) http://www.amazon.com/dp/0982428650

Fantasy Football Tips: 201 Ways to Win through Player Rankings, Cheat Sheets and Better Drafting ($10.95) www.amazon.com/dp/0982428669

Fantasy Football Basics: The Ultimate "How to" Guide for Beginners available ($10.95) at Amazon http://www.amazon.com/dp/0982428634

Fantasy Baseball for Beginners: The Ultimate "How-to" Guide ($10.95) www.amazon.com/dp/0982428693

Fantasy Football (Soccer to Yanks): The Ultimate "How-to" Guide for Fantasy Football/Fantasy Soccer ($14.95) http://www.amazon.com/dp/1936635011

Fantasy Hockey: The Ultimate "How-to" Guide for Fantasy Hockey Players ($14.95) www.amazon.com/dp/1936635100

FFGuidebook.com (Sam Hendricks) finishes 13th of 25 in K and 9th in Defenses Experts in the Fantasy Index Magazine Rankings Contest

2012-02-06T08:47:00.001-05:00

From www.FantasyIndex.com
Below are the official, final results for kickers and defenses. I did just
two scoring systems on these (the tradition 1 thru 20, and the alternate
with the last-place guys worth 11 and the No. 1 choices getting multiplied
by 30).

Readers plucked off the street won both of these categories. (We solicated
for volunteers at our website and randomly selected five who applied). How
much outside info/help these guys had, I have no idea. Picks were made in
early August (just before the kickoff of the first preseason games), so they
presumably could have had access to various draft lists produced by various
companies.

Regardless, Keith Mason of Sumter, S.C., was the winner in kickers. He was
followed by Tony Holm (FantasySharks.com) and Chris Liss (RotoWire.com).
When you go to the more balanced 11-30 scoring system, James Serra (First
Place Sports Software) moves up to the No. 1 spot, with Holm and Liss still
in those Nos. 2-3 slots.

For Defenses, they included both defense and special teams, with 6 points
for TDs and 2 for every sack, takeaway and safety. Geoff Maleman of Redondo
Beach, Calif., won this category, followed by Pretzel May and Tony Holm.

If you go to the more balanced scoring system for defenses, then each of
those top 3 spots was filled by these reader entries. Which says what? Maybe
we¹re all spending too much time overanalyzing that position? With no
injuries among defenses (no defenses missed most of the season, like with
the individual players) there was much less difference between the overall
scores about a 5 percent difference between first and last.

EXPERTS POLL, KICKERS (official scoring)
(multiplier numbers ranging from 1-20)
Points
22,249 Keith Mason (Sumter, S.C. / Fantasy Index reader)
22,182 Tony Holm (FantasySharks.com)
22,116 Chris Liss (RotoWire.com)
21,831 Jeffrey Kamys (Dr. Stats Fantasy Sports)
21,636 Scott Pianowski (Yahoo! Sports)
21,526 James Serra (First Place Sports Software)
21,209 Pretzel May (FantasyDraftMaster.com)
21,078 Greg Kellogg (Kellogg's Komments)
20,871 Geoff Maleman (Redondo Beach, Calif. / Fantasy Index reader)
20,804 Alan Satterlee (Dynasty Rogues)
20,666 Lenny Pappano (Draft Sharks)
20,653 Louis Tranquilli (BFD Fantasy Football)
20,630 Sam Hendricks (FFGuidebook.com)
20,625 Brian Laskiewicz (Randolph, N.J. / Fantasy Index reader)
20,591 Bob Henry (Footballguys.com)
20,499 David Dorey (The Huddle)
20,484 Austin Kipp (Olathe, Kan. / Fantasy Index reader)
20,465 Cory Bonini (KFFL)
20,220 Eric Schneller (Indianapolis / Fantasy Index reader)
20,170 Justin Eleff (Fantasy Index)
20,143 Christopher Harris (ESPN)
20,048 Jon Millman (Fantasy Football Champs)
19,644 Gregg Rosenthal (NBC Sports / Rotoworld)
19,262 Nathan Zegura (The Fantasy Consultant)
19,011 Craig Davis (FantasyFootball.com)

EXPERTS POLL, KICKERS (alternate scoring system)
(multiplier numbers ranging from 11-30)
Points
42,836 James Serra (First Place Sports Software)
42,732 Tony Holm (FantasySharks.com)
42,616 Chris Liss (RotoWire.com)
42,106 Scott Pianowski (Yahoo! Sports)
41,990 Sam Hendricks (FFGuidebook.com)
41,865 Cory Bonini (KFFL)
41,831 Jeffrey Kamys (Dr. Stats Fantasy Sports)
41,819 Pretzel May (FantasyDraftMaster.com)
41,779 Keith Mason (Sumter, S.C. / Fantasy Index reader)
41,695 Brian Laskiewicz (Randolph, N.J. / Fantasy Index reader)
41,184 Alan Satterlee (Dynasty Rogues)
41,131 Bob Henry (Footballguys.com)
40,799 David Dorey (The Huddle)
40,756 Lenny Pappano (Draft Sharks)
40,561 Geoff Maleman (Redondo Beach, Calif. / Fantasy Index reader)
40,128 Jon Millman (Fantasy Football Champs)
39,988 Greg Kellogg (Kellogg's Komments)
39,790 Justin Eleff (Fantasy Index)
39,773 Louis Tranquilli (BFD Fantasy Football)
39,764 Austin Kipp (Olathe, Kan. / Fantasy Index reader)
39,730 Eric Schneller (Indianapolis / Fantasy Index reader)
39,411 Craig Davis (FantasyFootball.com)
38,593 Christopher Harris (ESPN)
38,254 Gregg Rosenthal (NBC Sports / Rotoworld)
37,992 Nathan Zegura (The Fantasy Consultant)

EXPERTS POLL, DEFENSES (official scoring)
(multiplier numbers ranging from 1-20)
Points
33,176 Geoff Maleman (Redondo Beach, Calif. / Fantasy Index reader)
33,024 Pretzel May (FantasyDraftMaster.com)
32,814 Tony Holm (FantasySharks.com)
32,800 Eric Schneller (Indianapolis / Fantasy Index reader)
32,762 David Dorey (The Huddle)
32,732 Cory Bonini (KFFL)
32,718 Nathan Zegura (The Fantasy Consultant)
32,714 Scott Pianowski (Yahoo! Sports)
32,696 Sam Hendricks (FFGuidebook.com)
32,616 Keith Mason (Sumter, S.C. / Fantasy Index reader)
32,606 Jeffrey Kamys (Dr. Stats Fantasy Sports)
32,588 Greg Kellogg (Kellogg's Komments)
32,482 Louis Tranquilli (BFD Fantasy Football)
32,378 James Serra (First Place Sports Software)
32,366 Christopher Harris (ESPN)
32,350 Bob Henry (Footballguys.com)
32,288 Austin Kipp (Olathe, Kan. / Fantasy Index reader)
32,256 Justin Eleff (Fantasy Index)
32,220 Lenny Pappano (Draft Sharks)
32,210 Craig Davis (FantasyFootball.com)
32,124 Alan Satterlee (Dynasty Rogues)
32,118 Jon Millman (Fantasy Football Champs)
31,922 Gregg Rosenthal (NBC Sports / Rotoworld)
31,480 Chris Liss (RotoWire.com)
31,412 Brian Laskiewicz (Randolph, N.J. / Fantasy Index reader)

EXPERTS POLL, DEFENSES (Times 3 scoring system)
(multiplier numbers ranging from 11-30)
Points
63,756 Keith Mason (Sumter, S.C. / Fantasy Index reader)
63,440 Eric Schneller (Indianapolis / Fantasy Index reader)
63,436 Geoff Maleman (Redondo Beach, Calif. / Fantasy Index reader)
63,344 Pretzel May (FantasyDraftMaster.com)
63,178 James Serra (First Place Sports Software)
63,174 Tony Holm (FantasySharks.com)
63,122 Louis Tranquilli (BFD Fantasy Football)
62,742 David Dorey (The Huddle)
62,734 Scott Pianowski (Yahoo! Sports)
62,698 Nathan Zegura (The Fantasy Consultant)
62,676 Sam Hendricks (FFGuidebook.com)
62,608 Austin Kipp (Olathe, Kan. / Fantasy Index reader)
62,586 Christopher Harris (ESPN)
62,552 Cory Bonini (KFFL)
62,486 Jeffrey Kamys (Dr. Stats Fantasy Sports)
62,428 Greg Kellogg (Kellogg's Komments)
62,290 Bob Henry (Footballguys.com)
62,236 Justin Eleff (Fantasy Index)
62,190 Craig Davis (FantasyFootball.com)
62,158 Jon Millman (Fantasy Football Champs)
62,100 Lenny Pappano (Draft Sharks)
62,084 Alan Satterlee (Dynasty Rogues)
61,222 Gregg Rosenthal (NBC Sports / Rotoworld)
60,892 Brian Laskiewicz (Randolph, N.J. / Fantasy Index reader)
60,100 Chris Liss (RotoWire.com

Fantasy Football Guidebook (2nd Edition): Your Comprehensive Guide to Playing Fantasy Football ($19.95) http://www.amazon.com/dp/0982428650

FFGuidebook.com (Sam Hendricks) finishes 18th of 25 Experts in the Fantasy Index Magazine RB Rankings Contest

2012-02-05T08:40:00.003-05:00

From www.FantasyIndex.com

Scott Pianowski and Pretzel May were the top finishers in our 2011 Experts
Poll, so fitting that they placed the highest in the pivotal running backs
category. Pianowski ranked the highest in our traditional, official scoring
format, while May placed first in both of our supplemental scoring formats.

Pianowski, of Yahoo! Sports, was one of only seven experts to put Ray Rice
up in the No. 3 spot (ahead of Chris Johnson and Jamaal Charles). Doesn¹t
seem like that big a deal, but it would be a huge deal if you drafted either
Johnson or Charles back in August. He also earned points (relative to most
of the other experts) by dropping Darren McFadden (foot) down to 15th.

Our secondary scoring systems (which are weighted more heavily to the
quality of the middle and bottom of the top 20s), allowed May to shine. He
was one of only two experts to rank Maurice Jones-Drew 6th. That earned him
points relative to the field (allowing him to move by Pianowski in our other
scoring systems).

By ³scoring systems² we don¹t mean fantasy scoring system. All players are
ranked according to 6 points for TDs and 1 for every 10 run/rec yards. We
mean how WE SCORE THEM.

For years, we have made the top pick in each category worth 20 times as much
as the last.

(1st pick = 20 x player¹s production)
(2nd pick = 19 x player¹s production)
(3rd pick = 18 x player¹s production)
- - -
(20th pick = 1 x player¹s production)

But that scoring system might not give enough credit for uncovering a
later-round gem. If, for example, some expert had the foresight to rank
Marshawn Lynch and Fred Jackson as the final two backs in his top 20, those
picks wouldn¹t have much impact on his overall score. Lynch scored 220
points, so he¹d count 220 or 440 in one of those final two spots, which is
essentially nothing in this kind of scoring system.

In future years, we may go to the more balanced grading approach. If we use
³11² rather than one for that final player (and slide the first guys up to
30), then those final picks are worth a little more than a third of the top
pick. That might be better. Or we can even make them worth more.

We¹re not sure which is best. Out of respect for all the time the
competitors put in, we¹re listing the results both ways for now.

In what we call the ³Times 2² scoring system, Sam Hendricks
(FFGuidebook.com) moves up from 18th to 6th, and David Dorey (The Huddle)
moves up from 14th to 7th.

Chris Liss of RotoWire.com finished outside the top 15 in all three
categories. That was a surprise, considering he ranked LeSean McCoy 4th,
higher than any of the other 24 experts.

EXPERTS POLL, WIDE RECEIVERS (official scoring)
(with multiplier numbers ranging from 1-20)
   Points
   39,624   Scott Pianowski (Yahoo! Sports)
   39,213   Pretzel May (FantasyDraftMaster.com)
   39,058   Geoff Maleman (Redondo Beach, Calif. / Fantasy Index reader)
   39,039   Nathan Zegura (The Fantasy Consultant)
   38,978   Cory Bonini (KFFL)
   38,871   Brian Laskiewicz (Randolph, N.J. / Fantasy Index reader)
   38,791   Austin Kipp (Olathe, Kan. / Fantasy Index reader)
   38,771   Eric Schneller (Indianapolis / Fantasy Index reader)
   38,768   Lenny Pappano (Draft Sharks)
   38,701   Justin Eleff (Fantasy Index)
   38,679   Keith Mason (Sumter, S.C. / Fantasy Index reader)
   38,534   Christopher Harris (ESPN)
   38,492   Jeffrey Kamys (Dr. Stats Fantasy Sports)
   38,390   David Dorey (The Huddle)
   38,300   Gregg Rosenthal (NBC Sports / Rotoworld)
   38,245   Bob Henry (Footballguys.com)
   38,226   Jon Millman (Fantasy Football Champs)
   38,195   Sam Hendricks (FFGuidebook.com)
   38,104   Chris Liss (RotoWire.com)
   38,060   James Serra (First Place Sports Software)
   37,484   Craig Davis (FantasyFootball.com)
   37,352   Tony Holm (FantasySharks.com)
   36,574   Greg Kellogg (Kellogg's Komments)
   36,346   Alan Satterlee (Dynasty Rogues)
   34,600   Louis Tranquilli (BFD Fantasy Football)

EXPERTS POLL, WIDE RECEIVERS (Times 3 scoring system)
(with multiplier numbers ranging from 11-30)
   Points
   74,348   Pretzel May (FantasyDraftMaster.com)
   73,607   Scott Pianowski (Yahoo! Sports)
   73,521   Brian Laskiewicz (Randolph, N.J. / Fantasy Index reader)
   73,182   Justin Eleff (Fantasy Index)
   73,173   Nathan Zegura (The Fantasy Consultant)
   72,734   Geoff Maleman (Redondo Beach, Calif. / Fantasy Index reader)
   72,713   Sam Hendricks (FFGuidebook.com)
   72,508   Eric Schneller (Indianapolis / Fantasy Index reader)
   72,474   David Dorey (The Huddle)
   72,303   Cory Bonini (KFFL)
   72,235   Lenny Pappano (Draft Sharks)
   72,024   Austin Kipp (Olathe, Kan. / Fantasy Index reader)
   71,732   Gregg Rosenthal (NBC Sports / Rotoworld)
   71,609   Keith Mason (Sumter, S.C. / Fantasy Index reader)
   71,335   Christopher Harris (ESPN)
   71,142   Bob Henry (Footballguys.com)
   71,141   Jon Millman (Fantasy Football Champs)
   71,101   Tony Holm (FantasySharks.com)
   70,758   James Serra (First Place Sports Software)
   70,675   Jeffrey Kamys (Dr. Stats Fantasy Sports)
   70,411   Chris Liss (RotoWire.com)
   70,182   Craig Davis (FantasyFootball.com)
   69,335   Greg Kellogg (Kellogg's Komments)
   69,298   Alan Satterlee (Dynasty Rogues)
   68,100   Louis Tranquilli (BFD Fantasy Football)

EXPERTS POLL, WIDE RECEIVERS (Times 2 scoring system)
(with multiplier numbers ranging from 21-40)
   Points
   109,483   Pretzel May (FantasyDraftMaster.com)
   108,171   Brian Laskiewicz (Randolph, N.J. / Fantasy Index reader)
   107,663   Justin Eleff (Fantasy Index)
   107,590   Scott Pianowski (Yahoo! Sports)
   107,307   Nathan Zegura (The Fantasy Consultant)
   107,231   Sam Hendricks (FFGuidebook.com)
   106,558   David Dorey (The Huddle)
   106,410   Geoff Maleman (Redondo Beach, Calif. / Fantasy Index reader)
   106,245   Eric Schneller (Indianapolis / Fantasy Index reader)
   105,702   Lenny Pappano (Draft Sharks)
   105,628   Cory Bonini (KFFL)
   105,257   Austin Kipp (Olathe, Kan. / Fantasy Index reader)
   105,164   Gregg Rosenthal (NBC Sports / Rotoworld)
   104,850   Tony Holm (FantasySharks.com)
   104,539   Keith Mason (Sumter, S.C. / Fantasy Index reader)
   104,136   Christopher Harris (ESPN)
   104,056   Jon Millman (Fantasy Football Champs)
   104,039   Bob Henry (Footballguys.com)
   103,456   James Serra (First Place Sports Software)
   102,880   Craig Davis (FantasyFootball.com)
   102,858   Jeffrey Kamys (Dr. Stats Fantasy Sports)
   102,718   Chris Liss (RotoWire.com)
   102,250   Alan Satterlee (Dynasty Rogues)
   102,096   Greg Kellogg (Kellogg's Komments)
   101,600   Louis Tranquilli (BFD Fantasy Football)

Fantasy Football Guidebook (2nd Edition): Your Comprehensive Guide to Playing Fantasy Football ($19.95) http://www.amazon.com/dp/0982428650

Are you ready for more NFL football ...on Thursday Nights.... 16 total Thursday games

2012-02-04T08:05:00.011-05:00

NFL expands to a Thursday Night game every week (except week 16 and 17)

That's right folks Roger Goodell confirmed what I said a few months ago that the NFL was expanding the Thursday night games to every week...well almost. There will be no Thursday games on week 16 and 17; no doubt due to the fact that playoff bound teams should not have any advantage. There will, of course, be the week 1 Kickoff game (NBC) and then the NFL Network will have a Thursday game expanded from week 2 thru 15. On Thanksgiving, there are two other Thursday games in addition to the NFL Networks late Thanksgiving game (NBC has one). That means 16 Thursday games. So every NFL team will get one Thursday night game and a prime time showcase. And the Thursday to Next Sunday advantage in the following week. The NFL network will have 13 Thursday games in 2012.

What do I think of it? I am torn. Part of me loves another night of NFL football. But the other part of me says my wife is going to kill me when I tell her I now have 3 of 7 nights of NFL football every week (well almost). I love the college games on Thursday nights too and kind of feel like the NFL may be pushing things a little too far. Time will tell. But I also know from a personal point of view that I spend plenty of time in Europe on business and these additional Thursday night games (live at 1 AM in the UK) puts me at MORE of a disadvantage because I choose to not stay up that late when traveling in Europe and thus lose any advantage to making lineup decisions based on pregame warm up intelligence. So when my star RB turns up limping in the pregame I will not be able to see it and change my lineups when I am soundly sleeping in bed at Midnight in Barcelona or Prague. Disadvantage FFGuidebook.com.

Another question comes to mind. Will the Sunday NFL ticket be reduced now that it loses a game on Sunday? How about easing the black out rules for NFL games?

FFGuidebook.com (Sam Hendricks) finishes 12th of 25 Experts in the Fantasy Index Magazine WR Rankings Contest

2012-02-03T13:46:00.000-05:00

From www.FantasyIndex.com

Greg Kellogg of Kellogg¹s Komments is the winner of the Wide Receiver
category of the Fantasy Index Experts Poll.

This isn¹t an experts ³league², with guys drafting teams. Instead, this is a
complex free-for-all, with every expert graded on every player. Andre
Johnson, for example, was on all 25 teams. The higher you rank him, the more
he counts towards your score. If you were lower on Johnson (relative to the
other experts), that would have been a good thing in 2011, since he was hurt
for much of the year. That would have helped you gain points relative to
everyone else.

When we graded all 500 wide receivers named on the 25 ballots, Kellogg came
out on top in what we call our official scoring system. That¹s the one where
each No. 1 player is multiplied by 20 points, each No. 2 gets multiplied by
19 and so on, right down tot he last guy in each 20 getting multiplied by 1.

Reggie Wayne, for example, scored 120 points. If you ranked him first, that
would be 2400 points (20 x 120). If you had him 2nd, that would be 2280 (19
x 120).

Add up all the points for all the receivers and Kellogg comes out in first
with 32,942 points, 498 ahead of Craig Davis of FantasyFootball.com. Eric
Schneller of Indianapolis finished in 3rd.

Kellogg¹s key picks were at the top of his board. He was in the minority
that had Calvin Johnson (not Andre Johnson) at the top of his board. He also
was higher than anyone else on Greg Jennings (2nd). Those picks are worth a
lot more than the others, and they propelled Kellogg to his first place
finish.

If we look at a more balanced scoring system, with the top pick on each
ballot worth only three times as much as the last, then Zegura moves up from
4th to 1st. Sam Hendricks of FFGuidebook climbs from 12th all the way to
2nd, and Pretzel May moves up from 8th to 3rd. With less weight to those key
Megatron-Jennings picks, Kellogg would drop to 10th.

We¹re not trying to be vague or wishy-washy. We¹re just pointing out there
are different ways to look at picks. It¹s rare to be able to look at one
list and say that it¹s definitely better than all the others. There¹s a
subjectiveness to looking at these choices, even after you bring a whole
bunch of numbers into the thing.

Ultimately, with all of these analysts, you have to decide. Do you like the
general look of their top 20? Are they too conservative? Do they take too
many wild chances? And do you like the way they put together an argument in
trying to justify why they¹re high or low on a particular player?

EXPERTS POLL, WIDE RECEIVERS (official scoring)
(with multiplier numbers ranging from 1-20)
   Points
   32,942   Greg Kellogg (Kellogg's Komments)
   32,444   Craig Davis (FantasyFootball.com)
   32,313   Eric Schneller (Indianapolis / Fantasy Index reader)
   32,221   Nathan Zegura (The Fantasy Consultant)
   32,147   Alan Satterlee (Dynasty Rogues)
   32,091   Tony Holm (FantasySharks.com)
   32,007   Louis Tranquilli (BFD Fantasy Football)
   31,989   Pretzel May (FantasyDraftMaster.com)
   31,932   Jon Millman (Fantasy Football Champs)
   31,912   Gregg Rosenthal (NBC Sports / Rotoworld)
   31,908   Austin Kipp (Olathe, Kan. / Fantasy Index reader)
   31,884   Sam Hendricks (FFGuidebook.com)
   31,875   Geoff Maleman (Redondo Beach, Calif. / Fantasy Index reader)
   31,676   David Dorey (The Huddle)
   31,573   Justin Eleff (Fantasy Index)
   31,554   Chris Liss (RotoWire.com)
   31,455   Christopher Harris (ESPN)
   31,451   Lenny Pappano (Draft Sharks)
   31,382   Bob Henry (Footballguys.com)
   31,259   James Serra (First Place Sports Software)
   31,146   Keith Mason (Sumter, S.C. / Fantasy Index reader)
   31,145   Jeffrey Kamys (Dr. Stats Fantasy Sports)
   30,975   Scott Pianowski (Yahoo! Sports)
   30,818   Cory Bonini (KFFL)
   30,637   Brian Laskiewicz (Randolph, N.J. / Fantasy Index reader)

EXPERTS POLL, WIDE RECEIVERS (Times 3 scoring system)
(with multiplier numbers ranging from 11-30)
   Points
   62,552   Nathan Zegura (The Fantasy Consultant)
   62,122   Sam Hendricks (FFGuidebook.com)
   61,734   Pretzel May (FantasyDraftMaster.com)
   61,661   Craig Davis (FantasyFootball.com)
   61,629   Eric Schneller (Indianapolis / Fantasy Index reader)
   61,552   Gregg Rosenthal (NBC Sports / Rotoworld)
   61,544   Tony Holm (FantasySharks.com)
   61,524   Austin Kipp (Olathe, Kan. / Fantasy Index reader)
   61,021   Louis Tranquilli (BFD Fantasy Football)
   60,993   Greg Kellogg (Kellogg's Komments)
   60,919   Chris Liss (RotoWire.com)
   60,842   David Dorey (The Huddle)
   60,829   Jon Millman (Fantasy Football Champs)
   60,788   Geoff Maleman (Redondo Beach, Calif. / Fantasy Index reader)
   60,727   Jeffrey Kamys (Dr. Stats Fantasy Sports)
   59,890   Alan Satterlee (Dynasty Rogues)
   59,826   James Serra (First Place Sports Software)
   59,458   Justin Eleff (Fantasy Index)
   59,405   Brian Laskiewicz (Randolph, N.J. / Fantasy Index reader)
   59,394   Bob Henry (Footballguys.com)
   59,358   Lenny Pappano (Draft Sharks)
   59,032   Keith Mason (Sumter, S.C. / Fantasy Index reader)
   58,838   Christopher Harris (ESPN)
   58,618   Cory Bonini (KFFL)
   58,559   Scott Pianowski (Yahoo! Sports)

EXPERTS POLL, WIDE RECEIVERS (Times 2 scoring system)
(with multiplier numbers ranging from 21-40)
   Points
   92,883   Nathan Zegura (The Fantasy Consultant)
   92,360   Sam Hendricks (FFGuidebook.com)
   91,479   Pretzel May (FantasyDraftMaster.com)
   91,192   Gregg Rosenthal (NBC Sports / Rotoworld)
   91,140   Austin Kipp (Olathe, Kan. / Fantasy Index reader)
   90,997   Tony Holm (FantasySharks.com)
   90,945   Eric Schneller (Indianapolis / Fantasy Index reader)
   90,878   Craig Davis (FantasyFootball.com)
   90,309   Jeffrey Kamys (Dr. Stats Fantasy Sports)
   90,284   Chris Liss (RotoWire.com)
   90,035   Louis Tranquilli (BFD Fantasy Football)
   90,008   David Dorey (The Huddle)
   89,726   Jon Millman (Fantasy Football Champs)
   89,701   Geoff Maleman (Redondo Beach, Calif. / Fantasy Index reader)
   89,044   Greg Kellogg (Kellogg's Komments)
   88,393   James Serra (First Place Sports Software)
   88,173   Brian Laskiewicz (Randolph, N.J. / Fantasy Index reader)
   87,633   Alan Satterlee (Dynasty Rogues)
   87,406   Bob Henry (Footballguys.com)
   87,343   Justin Eleff (Fantasy Index)
   87,265   Lenny Pappano (Draft Sharks)
   86,918   Keith Mason (Sumter, S.C. / Fantasy Index reader)
   86,418   Cory Bonini (KFFL)
   86,221   Christopher Harris (ESPN)
   86,143   Scott Pianowski (Yahoo! Sports)

Fantasy Football Guidebook (2nd Edition): Your Comprehensive Guide to Playing Fantasy Football ($19.95) http://www.amazon.com/dp/0982428650

Ask the Expert Question: What is your top 12 ranking for 2012?

2012-02-03T08:23:00.002-05:00

1Arian Foster

2 Ray Rice

3 LeSean McCoy

4 Calvin Johnson

5 Aaron Rodgers

6 Drew Brees

7 Larry Fitzgerald

8 MJD

9 Andre Johnson

10 Tom Brady

11Matt Forte

12 Rob Gronkowski

Honorable Mention Wes Welker in PPR leagues at #13

ASK THE EXPERTS appears weekly at http://www.fantasyindex.com/
with answers to a new question posted Thursday morning.

Sam Hendricks is the author of Fantasy Football Guidebook, Fantasy Football Tips, Fantasy Football Basics and Fantasy Football Almanac 2011, all available at his website, http://www.ffguidebook.com/, at all major bookstores, and at http://www.amazon.com/. He is a 20-year fantasy football veteran who regularly participates in the World Championship of Fantasy Football (WCOFF), National Fantasy Football Championship (NFFC) and finished 7th and 16th overall (out of 228 top players) in the 2008 and 2009 Fantasy Football Players Championship (FFPC).

Fantasy Football Tips: 201 Ways to Win through Player Rankings, Cheat Sheets and Better Drafting ($10.95) www.amazon.com/dp/0982428669

Fantasy Football Basics: The Ultimate "How to" Guide for Beginners available ($10.95) at Amazon http://www.amazon.com/dp/0982428634

Fantasy Football Guidebook (2nd Edition): Your Comprehensive Guide to Playing Fantasy Football ($19.95) http://www.amazon.com/dp/0982428650

Fantasy Baseball for Beginners: The Ultimate "How-to" Guide ($10.95) www.amazon.com/dp/0982428693

Fantasy Football (Soccer to Yanks): The Ultimate "How-to" Guide for Fantasy Football/Fantasy Soccer ($14.95) http://www.amazon.com/dp/1936635011

Fantasy Sports Writers Association (FSWA) Hall of Fame Inductees

2012-01-29T08:36:00.001-05:00

The following excerpt is from the FSWA email:

To gain entrance to the Hall of Fame, finalists needed to appear on two-thirds of the 21 ballots cast. The selection process for the 2012 class of the FSWA Hall of Fame will begin this summer.

The FSWA welcomed six members to its Hall of Fame at the 2012 FSTA Winter Conference: David Dodds, Brandon Funston, Emil Kadlec, Nate Ravitz, Peter Schoenke and Ron Shandler. The group joins Greg Ambrosius, Matthew Berry, Scott Engel, Eric Karabell and Greg Kellogg, who made up last year's inaugural class.

Here is a brief bio for each of this year's six inductees (in alphabetical order):

David Dodds, FootballGuys.comDodds was the founder of mr.football.com, and his website was featured by Yahoo! as one of the top three fantasy football sites on the internet. After selling mr.football.com to Fanball.com in 1999, Dodds created Footballguys.com with Joe Bryant. Currently, Footballguys.com generates $1.2M in sales, and has just under 40,000 subscribers, boasting a free list of 140,000 names. Dodds has been instrumental in creating some of the industry’s best web-based fantasy tools (draft calculator, schedule maker, QB rating calculator, Draft Dominator, and Rate My Team).

Brandon Funston, Yahoo!Since 2004, Funston has been Yahoo!'s managing editor of fantasy content. Funston also writes several popular online features, including the Big Board and the Skinny. He has also been a primary editor and contributor to the FSWA award-winning Yahoo! draft guides, and Funston has been a featured analyst on Fantasy Football Live since the show's inception. Prior to Yahoo!, Funston worked as a columnist for ESPN the Magazine, managing the fantasy content group, and he was one of the featured writers for their website. Funston began his career on the NFL.com staff as an editor/writer in 1997, covering Super Bowl XXXII in San Diego.

Emil Kadlec, Fantasy Sports Publications/FootballDiehards.comKadlec began publishing the Fantasy Football Pro Forecast magazine in 1990 under the publishing company Fantasy Sports Publications (FSP). Later they added The DraftBook (1996), the CheatSheets (1998), Football Diehards (2001) and WCOFF (2005) magazines to become the country's largest fantasy football publisher. The Pro Forecast was the first magazine to provide readers with actual forecasting of potential player performance and it was also the first magazine to introduce value-based drafting. Kadlec also founded FootballDiehards.com (2004), FSPnet.com (1996) and FantasyNation.com (2010). He is also the co-founder of the World Championship of Fantasy Football. Kadlec is also the vice-president and co-founder of the Fantasy Sports Writers Association and serves as a board member for the Fantasy Sports Trade Association.

Nate Ravitz, ESPNRavitz’s is the co-founder of Rototimes.com and the Fantasy Hot Sheet. Following the merger between TQStats/Rototimes and CDM Fantasy sports, Ravitz served as Executive Director for all content/editorial operations for a company with more than $14 million in annual revenue. One year after arriving at ESPN.com as a writer/editor/talent, Ravitz was named Deputy Editor, responsible for fantasy sports content across all ESPN platforms. Ravitz is also responsible for the writing/career development of such stars as Matthew Berry, Eric Karabell, Stephania Bell, Christopher Harris, Jason Grey and Tristan Cockcroft. Ravitz was also one of the original board members for the Fantasy Sports Writers Association.

Peter Schoenke, RotoWire.comSchoenke co-founded RotoNews.com (now known as Rotowire.com) in 1997. Rotowire has emerged as a pioneer in the fantasy world introducing a plethora of “firsts” including the first real-time customized cheat sheet in 1998, the first free online commissioner service in 1998, the first website to offer a fantasy magazine in print in 2000 and the first website to offer wireless player updates in 2004. Schoenke has written over 50,000 of the player notes used for RotoNews.com and RotoWire.com. Many of them have been used on almost every major media site throughout the years (ESPN, Yahoo!, CBS, NFL.com, AOL and many more). RotoWire has won 18 FSWA awards the last three years (1/3 of all awarded). RotoWire has also won multiple awards from the FSTA for content as well. The RotoWire brand is seen as one of the industry leaders with partnerships from ESPN to Yahoo! Sports to XM Radio to the leagues themselves (NBA.com, NFL.com, NASCAR.com) based largely on the strength and quality of the content.

Ron Shandler, Baseball ForecasterShandler began publishing his unique brand of statistical information under the Shandler Enterprises, LLC name in 1986. Shandler was the first author to develop sabermetric applications for fantasy league play. He is the author of the Baseball Forecaster annual, now in its 26th year of publication, and the founder of BaseballHQ.com, and First Pitch Forum conference series. His "Fanalytics" column has been appearing weekly during the baseball season in USA TODAY since 2008. In fall 2009, he began a periodic blog in the Sports section of the Huffington Post. In 2007, he was a regular columnist for ESPN Magazine and ESPN.com. He has been quoted and cited by many other sources, including The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Business Week and Money magazine. Shandler was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the FSTA in 2005.

My take:

This years class is highly respected and join an outstanding inaugural group.

David Dodds is a colleague (He beats me more than I care to admit, especially in Auction leagues) and I recommend his Fantasy FootballGuys.com website in all of my books. It is that good!

I have read Brandon Funston's articles at Yahoo for many years.

I had the pleasure to meet Emil Kadlec at the World Championship of Fantasy Football (WCOFF) in 2007 and he was kind enough to write the forward for Fantasy Football Basics.

I have followed Nate Ravitz for years and especially enjoy hearing him on ESPNs Fantasy Focus. He has a great mind for talent as evidenced by his impressive list of stars discovered.

Rotowire.com and Peter Schoenke have a high standard and are also recommended in my many books.

I have a great amount of respect for Ron Shandler and his baseball books are mentioned in Fantasy Baseball for Beginners.

Sam Hendricks 9th of 25 Experts in Fantasy Index Magazine TE Rankings for 2011

2012-01-28T07:26:00.007-05:00

Congratulations to Bob Henry of Footballguys.com. He¹s the winner of the
Tight Ends portion of the Experts Poll that appeared in the 2011 edition of
Fantasy Football Index magazine.

Henry ranked Rob Gronkowski 6th, higher than any other expert, and that got
his campaign off to a good start. He also picked up some value by dropping
Antonio Gates to 2nd; the majority of experts had Gates No. 1.

Alan Satterlee of Dynasty Rogues finished in 2nd place, and Scott Pianowski
of Yahoo! finished in the 3rd. The pair of shark entries rounded out the top
5 Tony Holm of ³Fantasy Sharks² and Lenny Pappano of ³Draft Sharks². Those
are separate companies. Pappano founded Draftsharks.com in 1999, and Holm
came along a little later. Same animal, but different guys.

The scoring for this competition is notorious complex. In short, the higher
you rank a player, the more his production counts towards your overall
score. With Gronkowski, for example , he scored 241 fantasy points. If you
ranked him first in your top 20, that would be worth 4,820 points (20 x
241). If you ranked him 2nd, that would be worth 4,579 (19 x 241). If you
ranked him 18th, that would be 723 points (3 x 241). And if you didn¹t rank
him at all, you would take a zero for the Gronk.

EXPERTS POLL -- TIGHT ENDS
Points
23,794 Henry
23,482 Satterlee
23,127 Pianowski
22,802 Holm
22,610 Pappano
22,556 Eleff
22,331 Dorey
22,187 Laskiewicz
22,170 Hendricks
22,162 Schneller
22,105 Millman
21,649 Liss
21,554 May
21,437 Tranquilli
21,297 Davis
21,230 Zegura
21,206 Maleman
21,042 Rosenthal
20,983 Harris
20,454 Serra
19,941 Bonini
19,837 Mason
19,810 Kipp
19,711 Kamys
18,988 Kellogg

DEF, K, WR, RB and QB rankings will follow in the days to come.

Fantasy Football Guidebook (2nd Edition): Your Comprehensive Guide to Playing Fantasy Football ($19.95) http://www.amazon.com/dp/0982428650

Fantasy Football Tips: 201 Ways to Win through Player Rankings, Cheat Sheets and Better Drafting ($10.95) www.amazon.com/dp/0982428669

Fantasy Football Basics: The Ultimate "How to" Guide for Beginners available ($10.95) at Amazon http://www.amazon.com/dp/0982428634

Fantasy Baseball for Beginners: The Ultimate "How-to" Guide ($10.95) www.amazon.com/dp/0982428693

Fantasy Football (Soccer to Yanks): The Ultimate "How-to" Guide for Fantasy Football/Fantasy Soccer ($14.95) http://www.amazon.com/dp/1936635011

Fantasy Hockey: The Ultimate "How-to" Guide for Fantasy Hockey Players ($14.95) www.amazon.com/dp/1936635100

Ask the Expert: What is going to happen in this years Super Bowl?

2012-01-27T08:08:00.001-05:00

New England starts strong and finishes well to revenge their previous Super Bowl loss to the G-Men.

NE is up 17-10 at halftime. The Giants score a late third quarter TD pass from Eli to Hakeem Nicks to make it 23-17.

But a hard TD run by the law firm (BGE) seals the deal 37-20. Tom Brady throws for 300 yards and 3 TDs (one each for Wes Welker, Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez).

Sam Hendricks (aka FFGuidebook.com) places 7th (out of 46) in 2011 New York Times Fantasy Football Accuracy contest

2012-01-25T09:17:00.006-05:00

46 sites participated in the rankings accuracy challenge that is run in conjunction with the Fantasy Sports Trade Association (F.S.T.A.). The results of the contest were revealed a week ago at the F.S.T.A. Winter Conference. Refer to the New York Times blog article below for even more information:

http://fifthdown.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/18/fantasy-football-accuracy-rankings-for-2011

Web sites that were interested in participating in the contest were asked to submit their preseason rankings for the top 25 quarterbacks, 50 running backs, 50 wide receivers and 20 tight ends based on the standard scoring system below:

Passing Yards (25 yards per point)

Passing Touchdowns (4)
Rushing Yards (10 yards per point)
Reception Yards (10 yards per point)
Rushing & Receiving Touchdowns (6)

Interceptions & Fumbles Lost (-2)

Using Fantasy point totals for QBs, RBs, WRs and TEs based on the above scoring system, the Fantasy Football Librarian (aka Sara Holladay ) created an end-of-season ranking for each position by using FFToday .com ‘s statistics page. She took the difference between each site’s preseason positional ranking and the end-of-season positional ranking and squared that difference in order to penalize large errors in rankings. Then she summed those squared differences and averaged them for each position, which determined which site’s positional ranking was most accurate.

Finally, to determine which site was the most accurate across all four positions, she summed each site’s average squared difference for the four positions and divided by four for the four positions analyzed to see which site had the lowest average. The site with the lowest average was the most accurate site.

That is a whole lot of math my friends. And the outcome?

The FFLibrarian/FSTA 2011 fantasy football rankings accuracy results are as follows:

Most Accurate Rankings Across All Positions:

1. The Fantasy Shrink

2. 4 for 4.com

3. FFToolbox

4. FootballGuys .com

5. Draft Sharks

6. Pyromaniac .com

7. Fantasy Football Guidebook

8. Bruno Boys

9. Fantasy Football Maniaxs

10. Fantasy Football Calculator (ADP )

11. Fantasy Football Geek Blog

12. FantasySharks .com

13. CBSSports .com (Dave Richard )

13. FantasyFootball .com

15. RotoProfessor

So to recap 2011. FFGuidebook.com (aka Sam Hendricks) finishes 7th of 46 in the FFLibrarian/FSTA 2011 fantasy football rankings accuracy contest and 6th of 51 in the 411Football.com Experts Rankings contest.
I'd call that a pretty good 2011 FF season.

Fantasy Football Guidebook (2nd Edition): Your Comprehensive Guide to Playing Fantasy Football ($19.95) http://www.amazon.com/dp/0982428650

Fantasy Football Tips: 201 Ways to Win through Player Rankings, Cheat Sheets and Better Drafting ($10.95) www.amazon.com/dp/0982428669

Fantasy Football Basics: The Ultimate "How to" Guide for Beginners available ($10.95) at Amazon http://www.amazon.com/dp/0982428634

Fantasy Baseball for Beginners: The Ultimate "How-to" Guide ($10.95) www.amazon.com/dp/0982428693

Fantasy Football (Soccer to Yanks): The Ultimate "How-to" Guide for Fantasy Football/Fantasy Soccer ($14.95) http://www.amazon.com/dp/1936635011

Fantasy Hockey: The Ultimate "How-to" Guide for Fantasy Hockey Players ($14.95) www.amazon.com/dp/1936635100

Sam Hendricks (aka FFGuidebook.com) places 4th (out of 46) in 2011 TE Fantasy Football Accuracy contest

2012-01-24T08:03:00.001-05:00

Passing Yards (25 yards per point)

Passing Touchdowns (4)
Rushing Yards (10 yards per point)
Reception Yards (10 yards per point)
Rushing & Receiving Touchdowns (6)

Interceptions & Fumbles Lost (-2)

That is a whole lot of math my friends. And the outcome?

The FFLibrarian/FSTA 2011 fantasy football TE rankings accuracy results are as follows:

Most Accurate Tight End Rankings:

1. The Fantasy Shrink

2. NFL Soup

3. Football Guys

4. FF Guide (FFGuidebook.com)

5. Fantasy Football Sherpa

6. Stocks Jocks

7. Fantasy Football Calculator (ADP)

8. 4for4.com

9. Yahoo!

10. Fantasy Football Starters

FFGuidebook.com (aka Sam Hendricks) finishes 7th of 46 in the FFLibrarian/FSTA 2011 fantasy football QB rankings accuracy contest and 4th of 46 in TE and 6th of 51 in the 411Football.com Experts Rankings contest.

Great job in 2011!!

Fantasy Football Guidebook (2nd Edition): Your Comprehensive Guide to Playing Fantasy Football ($19.95) http://www.amazon.com/dp/0982428650

Fantasy Football Tips: 201 Ways to Win through Player Rankings, Cheat Sheets and Better Drafting ($10.95) www.amazon.com/dp/0982428669

Fantasy Football Basics: The Ultimate "How to" Guide for Beginners available ($10.95) at Amazon http://www.amazon.com/dp/0982428634

Fantasy Baseball for Beginners: The Ultimate "How-to" Guide ($10.95) www.amazon.com/dp/0982428693

Fantasy Football (Soccer to Yanks): The Ultimate "How-to" Guide for Fantasy Football/Fantasy Soccer ($14.95) http://www.amazon.com/dp/1936635011

Fantasy Hockey: The Ultimate "How-to" Guide for Fantasy Hockey Players ($14.95) www.amazon.com/dp/1936635100

FF Librarian and FSTA WR rankings accuracy contest

2012-01-23T08:00:00.003-05:00

Passing Yards (25 yards per point)

Passing Touchdowns (4)
Rushing Yards (10 yards per point)
Reception Yards (10 yards per point)
Rushing & Receiving Touchdowns (6)

Interceptions & Fumbles Lost (-2)

That is a whole lot of math my friends. And the outcome?

The FFLibrarian/FSTA 2011 fantasy football WR rankings accuracy results are as follows:

Most Accurate WR Rankings:

1. ESPN

2. Fantasy Football Sherpa

3. Bruno Boys

4. FFToolbox

5. CBSSports.com (Dave Richard)

6. Football Guys

7. Fantasy Football Maniaxs

8. RotoProfessor

9. Fantasy Football Geek Blog

10. FF Trader

FFGuidebook.com (aka Sam Hendricks) finishes 7th of 46 in the FFLibrarian/FSTA 2011 fantasy football QB rankings accuracy contest but not in the top 10 in RB or WR and 6th of 51 in the 411Football.com Experts Rankings contest.

Fantasy Football Guidebook (2nd Edition): Your Comprehensive Guide to Playing Fantasy Football ($19.95) http://www.amazon.com/dp/0982428650

Fantasy Football Tips: 201 Ways to Win through Player Rankings, Cheat Sheets and Better Drafting ($10.95) www.amazon.com/dp/0982428669

Fantasy Football Basics: The Ultimate "How to" Guide for Beginners available ($10.95) at Amazon http://www.amazon.com/dp/0982428634

Fantasy Baseball for Beginners: The Ultimate "How-to" Guide ($10.95) www.amazon.com/dp/0982428693

Fantasy Football (Soccer to Yanks): The Ultimate "How-to" Guide for Fantasy Football/Fantasy Soccer ($14.95) http://www.amazon.com/dp/1936635011

Fantasy Hockey: The Ultimate "How-to" Guide for Fantasy Hockey Players ($14.95) www.amazon.com/dp/1936635100

FF Librarian and FSTA RB rankings accuracy contest

2012-01-22T08:55:00.003-05:00

Passing Yards (25 yards per point)

Passing Touchdowns (4)
Rushing Yards (10 yards per point)
Reception Yards (10 yards per point)
Rushing & Receiving Touchdowns (6)

Interceptions & Fumbles Lost (-2)

That is a whole lot of math my friends. And the outcome?

The FFLibrarian/FSTA 2011 fantasy football RB rankings accuracy results are as follows:

Most Accurate Running back Rankings:

1. CBSSports.com (Jamey Eisenberg)

2. Pyromaniac.com

3. Fantasy Football Starters

4. Bruno Boys

5. The Fantasy Shrink

6. FFToolbox

7. FFToday.com

8. FantasySharks.com

9. RotoProfessor

10. Draft Sharks

FFGuidebook.com (aka Sam Hendricks) finishes 7th of 46 in the FFLibrarian/FSTA 2011 fantasy football QB rankings accuracy contest but not in the top 10 in RBs and 6th of 51 in the 411Football.com Experts Rankings contest.

Fantasy Football Guidebook (2nd Edition): Your Comprehensive Guide to Playing Fantasy Football ($19.95) http://www.amazon.com/dp/0982428650

Fantasy Football Tips: 201 Ways to Win through Player Rankings, Cheat Sheets and Better Drafting ($10.95) www.amazon.com/dp/0982428669

Fantasy Football Basics: The Ultimate "How to" Guide for Beginners available ($10.95) at Amazon http://www.amazon.com/dp/0982428634

Fantasy Baseball for Beginners: The Ultimate "How-to" Guide ($10.95) www.amazon.com/dp/0982428693

Fantasy Football (Soccer to Yanks): The Ultimate "How-to" Guide for Fantasy Football/Fantasy Soccer ($14.95) http://www.amazon.com/dp/1936635011

Fantasy Hockey: The Ultimate "How-to" Guide for Fantasy Hockey Players ($14.95) www.amazon.com/dp/1936635100

Mission Impossible 4 and what it means to Fantasy Football

2012-01-21T12:21:00.001-05:00

Okay, I just saw Mission Impossible 4: Ghost Protocol at the theaters. I spent $8 (it was a matinee) and left disappointed. Overall I thought it was worthy of a Netflix rental or pay per view pop at $3 but not $8 or the eye gouging $10 that movies charge these days for a night time visit. But I digress.

What did I not like? Plot was old with nuclear bombs and Russians (very cold war-ish), the action especially the final scene was ...boring. Tom Cruise fighting an older villain and both looking like they had arthritis at the end limping around, and the theme of "disavowed" as if it is new. I thought the MI team was allows "disavowed" if they messed up...so why the big deal about this time?

Don't get me wrong I appreciate the work that went into MI 4. It just was not as good as some of the other MI films.

To be fair I liked the cat fight scene between the good girl and the bad girl (but it was too short) and the funny Brit computer guy and the high altitude scenes on the Dubai hotel were interesting, But to be honest I think the MI series has run its course. I also saw Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows and it was much much better IMHO. I left the theatre really excited about the outcome and the way it played out on the big screen. It was great!!! PS Previews for Red Tails look great as well.

What does this have to do with Fantasy Football you ask?
All too often we get carried away in the hype of something FF wise. Whether it be Cam Newton (deservedly) or Terrell Owens (not so much), the bottom line is we need to evaluate things on our own and not believe all the hype or pundits. Take the time to ask yourself "is this a real trend or just a story? Do I like this or am I just carried away by the media". Just like a movie with a ton of build up (MI 4) you should evaluate things on your own. Sometimes the best things come in small packages (Ray Rice anyone).

Fantasy Football Guidebook (2nd Edition): Your Comprehensive Guide to Playing Fantasy Football ($19.95) http://www.amazon.com/dp/0982428650

Fantasy Football Tips: 201 Ways to Win through Player Rankings, Cheat Sheets and Better Drafting ($10.95) www.amazon.com/dp/0982428669

Fantasy Football Basics: The Ultimate "How to" Guide for Beginners available ($10.95) at Amazon http://www.amazon.com/dp/0982428634

Fantasy Baseball for Beginners: The Ultimate "How-to" Guide ($10.95) www.amazon.com/dp/0982428693

Fantasy Football (Soccer to Yanks): The Ultimate "How-to" Guide for Fantasy Football/Fantasy Soccer ($14.95) http://www.amazon.com/dp/1936635011

Fantasy Hockey: The Ultimate "How-to" Guide for Fantasy Hockey Players ($14.95) www.amazon.com/dp/1936635100

FFGuidebook.com finishes 7th of 46 in the FFLibrarian/FSTA 2011 QB rankings accuracy contest

2012-01-21T08:50:00.001-05:00

Passing Yards (25 yards per point)

Passing Touchdowns (4)
Rushing Yards (10 yards per point)
Reception Yards (10 yards per point)
Rushing & Receiving Touchdowns (6)

Interceptions & Fumbles Lost (-2)

That is a whole lot of math my friends. And the outcome?

The FFLibrarian/FSTA 2011 fantasy football QB rankings accuracy results are as follows:

Most Accurate Quarterback Rankings:

1. Fantasy Football Maniaxs

2. FOX Sports

3. Football Outsiders

4. Fantasy Football Geek Blog

5. 4for4.com

6. Pyromaniac.com

7. FF Guide ( I think this is me FFGuidebook.com)

8. KFFL

9. Junkyard Jake

10. Ask the Commish

FFGuidebook.com (aka Sam Hendricks) finishes 7th of 46 in the FFLibrarian/FSTA 2011 fantasy football QB rankings accuracy contest and 6th of 51 in the 411Football.com Experts Rankings contest.

Fantasy Football Guidebook (2nd Edition): Your Comprehensive Guide to Playing Fantasy Football ($19.95) http://www.amazon.com/dp/0982428650

Fantasy Football Tips: 201 Ways to Win through Player Rankings, Cheat Sheets and Better Drafting ($10.95) www.amazon.com/dp/0982428669

Fantasy Football Basics: The Ultimate "How to" Guide for Beginners available ($10.95) at Amazon http://www.amazon.com/dp/0982428634

Fantasy Baseball for Beginners: The Ultimate "How-to" Guide ($10.95) www.amazon.com/dp/0982428693

Fantasy Football (Soccer to Yanks): The Ultimate "How-to" Guide for Fantasy Football/Fantasy Soccer ($14.95) http://www.amazon.com/dp/1936635011

Fantasy Hockey: The Ultimate "How-to" Guide for Fantasy Hockey Players ($14.95) www.amazon.com/dp/1936635100

Ask the Expert: Through two weeks of playoff games, which player in your eyes has HELPED or HURT himself the most for the 2012 fantasy season?

2012-01-20T09:11:00.004-05:00

Through two weeks of playoff games, which player in your eyes has HELPED or HURT himself the most for the 2012 fantasy season?

Two WRs: Hakeem Nicks and Marques Colston. Both finished in the top 15 in PPR leagues for the regular season, but they missed a few games. Their playoff performances so far (13-280-4 for Nicks; 16-256-1 for Colston) will boost them into the top 10 for 2012.

ASK THE EXPERTS appears weekly at http://www.fantasyindex.com/
with answers to a new question posted Thursday morning.

Sam Hendricks is the author of Fantasy Football Guidebook, Fantasy Football Tips, Fantasy Football Basics and Fantasy Football Almanac 2011, all available at his website, http://www.ffguidebook.com/, at all major bookstores, and at http://www.amazon.com/. He is a 20-year fantasy football veteran who regularly participates in the World Championship of Fantasy Football (WCOFF), National Fantasy Football Championship (NFFC) and finished 7th and 16th overall (out of 228 top players) in the 2008 and 2009 Fantasy Football Players Championship (FFPC).

Fantasy Football Tips: 201 Ways to Win through Player Rankings, Cheat Sheets and Better Drafting ($10.95) www.amazon.com/dp/0982428669

Fantasy Football Basics: The Ultimate "How to" Guide for Beginners available ($10.95) at Amazon http://www.amazon.com/dp/0982428634

Fantasy Football Guidebook (2nd Edition): Your Comprehensive Guide to Playing Fantasy Football ($19.95) http://www.amazon.com/dp/0982428650

Fantasy Baseball for Beginners: The Ultimate "How-to" Guide ($10.95) www.amazon.com/dp/0982428693

Fantasy Football (Soccer to Yanks): The Ultimate "How-to" Guide for Fantasy Football/Fantasy Soccer ($14.95) http://www.amazon.com/dp/1936635011

ESPN Radio: Fantasy Focus Football-Great Podcast!

2012-01-19T08:44:00.018-05:00

It is has ended for the year, but I have been meaning to award kudos to ESPN's Fantasy Focus Football podcast. Hosted by ESPN Fantasy experts Matthew Berry and Nate Ravitz, they provide daily fantasy football player previews, game overviews, injury reports and strategy. It reminds me of getting together with a few close FF friends and just talking over the days events or the upcoming week.
Make no mistake this is entertainment and you are not going to find non stop FF strategy. But you will get so good advice and it is great way of talking (ok listening) through some discussion points.
I especially love when Stephania Bell (the injury lady) comes on the show too.

I try to listen to every episode and often download it and listen while i am at the gym working out. Killing two birds with one stone. Look for it in 2012 when it starts again before the FF season.

Fantasy Football Guidebook (2nd Edition): Your Comprehensive Guide to Playing Fantasy Football ($19.95) http://www.amazon.com/dp/0982428650

Fantasy Football Tips: 201 Ways to Win through Player Rankings, Cheat Sheets and Better Drafting ($10.95) www.amazon.com/dp/0982428669

Fantasy Football Basics: The Ultimate "How to" Guide for Beginners available ($10.95) at Amazon http://www.amazon.com/dp/0982428634

Fantasy Baseball for Beginners: The Ultimate "How-to" Guide ($10.95) www.amazon.com/dp/0982428693

Fantasy Football (Soccer to Yanks): The Ultimate "How-to" Guide for Fantasy Football/Fantasy Soccer ($14.95) http://www.amazon.com/dp/1936635011

What happened this weekend? None of my teams won....

2012-01-17T09:06:00.009-05:00

Had Houston as a long shot to win AFC.
Had NO as long shot to win Super Bowl.
Had GB as favorite to win SB.
Hoped the good guy Tim Tebow would continue his fantastic journey.

O for 4. Now I get NYG@SF and BAL@NE.
Now I am rooting for another Harbaugh brothers Super Bowl.....or am I just trying to jinx them and get a rematch of NE vs NYG. You make the call.

Fantasy Football Guidebook (2nd Edition): Your Comprehensive Guide to Playing Fantasy Football ($19.95) http://www.amazon.com/dp/0982428650

Fantasy Football Tips: 201 Ways to Win through Player Rankings, Cheat Sheets and Better Drafting ($10.95) www.amazon.com/dp/0982428669

Fantasy Football Basics: The Ultimate "How to" Guide for Beginners available ($10.95) at Amazon http://www.amazon.com/dp/0982428634

Fantasy Baseball for Beginners: The Ultimate "How-to" Guide ($10.95) www.amazon.com/dp/0982428693

Fantasy Football (Soccer to Yanks): The Ultimate "How-to" Guide for Fantasy Football/Fantasy Soccer ($14.95) http://www.amazon.com/dp/1936635011

Congratulations to the Footballguys Players Championship (FPC) National Champion

2012-01-16T09:22:00.001-05:00

Ronald Eltanal stands alone on top of 2,963 other teams as the 2011 Footballguys Players Championship National Champion. Ronald won $125,000 and a custom-made TitleCraft trophy. Not bad for a $350 entry.

Ronald's team finished the regular season 7-4, with 1651.70 points. He was the #2 seed and had the most points scored in his league. Ronald ended up winning both of his league playoff games and took down his league title.

Ronald's three week playoff round scoring total was as follows:

Week 14: 178.55
Week 15: 244.90
Week 16: 162.50

That is a 3 week average of 195.31 points.

Ronald's draft is below where he had the 11 pick:

1.11 Calvin Johnson
2.2 Roddy White
3.11 Micheal Turner
4.2 Mark Ingram
5.11 Tom Brady
6.02 Marshawn Lynch
7.11 Aaron Hernandez
8.02 Rob Gronkowski
9.11 Michael Bush
10.02 Sidney Rice
11.11 Jermaine Gresham
12.02 Eagles D/ST
13.11 Donald Driver
14.2 Jerome Harrison
15.11 Montario Hardesty
16.2 Jason Hill
17.11 Stephen Gostkowski
18.02 Donovan McNabb
19.11 Terrell Owens
20.02 Eric Decker

Ronald has some excellent value picks in Brady, Lynch, Gronkowski, Michael Bush and Eric Decker.
Ronald ran a 3 RB, 2 WR, 2 TE lineup for the playoff run. Here was his typical starting lineup in the playoffs:

QB - Tom Brady
RB - Michael Turner
RB - Marshawn Lynch
WR - Calvin Johnson
WR - Roddy White
TE - Rob Gronkowski
Flex 1 - Michael Bush
Flex 2 - Aaron Herndandez
K - Stephen Gostkowski
D - Seattle

The FPC pays out $1,000 or more through 60th place in 2011.

Fantasy Football Guidebook (2nd Edition): Your Comprehensive Guide to Playing Fantasy Football ($19.95) http://www.amazon.com/dp/0982428650

Fantasy Football Tips: 201 Ways to Win through Player Rankings, Cheat Sheets and Better Drafting ($10.95) www.amazon.com/dp/0982428669

Fantasy Football Basics: The Ultimate "How to" Guide for Beginners available ($10.95) at Amazon http://www.amazon.com/dp/0982428634

Fantasy Baseball for Beginners: The Ultimate "How-to" Guide ($10.95) www.amazon.com/dp/0982428693

Fantasy Football (Soccer to Yanks): The Ultimate "How-to" Guide for Fantasy Football/Fantasy Soccer ($14.95) http://www.amazon.com/dp/1936635011

Congratulations to the winners of the Fantasy Football Players Championship (FFPC) in 2011

2012-01-15T10:10:00.002-05:00

From a FFPC (www.theFFPC.com) email blast:

"The FFPC has crowned a new World Champion! Tim Daneau and Tim Beaulieu, aka T-N-T, have won the 2011 FFPC Main Event. In a close battle, T-N-T held off Glenn Lowy and his team Glenneration X to win it all. T-N-T and Glenn were vitually tied heading into the Monday night game. T-N-T had Colston and Glenn had kicker Matt Bryant. Bryant started with an early field goal, but there would be no denying Drew Brees, and Colston was his favorite target. T-N-T finished with 701.42 points, while Glenneration X ended with 692.55. Glenn takes 2nd place and cashes for $20,000.

On top of the $200,000, Daneau and Beaulieu also have won a beautiful, custom FFPC TitleCraft trophy.

Daneau and Bealieu drafted online and were in league #52, "We Let 'Em Off The Hook". Let's check out their draft round-by-round which was from the 8 hole:

1.8 - Arian Foster
2.5 - Hakeem Nicks
3.8 - Miles Austin
4.5 - Ryan Mathews
5.8 - LaGarette Blount
6.5 - Steve Johnson
7.8 - Matt Stafford
8.5 - Devery Henderson
9.8 - Marques Colston
10.5 - Rob Gronkowski
11.8 - Delone Carter
12.5 - Greg Little
13.8 - Brandon Gibson
14.5 - Heath Miller
15.8 - Shane Vareen
16.5 - Dexter McCluster
17.8 - Eric Decker
18.5 - Marion Barber
19.8 - Josh Brown
20.5 - Shaun Hill

Colston at the 9.8 and Gronk at the 10.5 were the obvious keys to their team success. What insane values. Similarly to the 2011 Footballguys Champion, Ronald Eltanal, T-N-T did not make any high impact free agent pickups. Here is their typical starting lineup for the playoffs:

QB - Stafford
RB - Foster
RB - Mathews
WR - Colston
WR - Austin
WR - Steve Johnson
WR - Nicks
TE - Gronkowski
K - Nugent
D - Eagles"

Fantasy Football Guidebook (2nd Edition): Your Comprehensive Guide to Playing Fantasy Football ($19.95) http://www.amazon.com/dp/0982428650

Fantasy Football Tips: 201 Ways to Win through Player Rankings, Cheat Sheets and Better Drafting ($10.95) www.amazon.com/dp/0982428669

Fantasy Football Basics: The Ultimate "How to" Guide for Beginners available ($10.95) at Amazon http://www.amazon.com/dp/0982428634

Fantasy Baseball for Beginners: The Ultimate "How-to" Guide ($10.95) www.amazon.com/dp/0982428693

Fantasy Football (Soccer to Yanks): The Ultimate "How-to" Guide for Fantasy Football/Fantasy Soccer ($14.95) http://www.amazon.com/dp/1936635011

BN offers 15% off the price of one book by Extra Point Press-use by Jan 16th!

2012-01-14T11:48:00.001-05:00

Barnes and Noble and BN.com are now offering 15% off one Extra Point Press book purchased between now and the end of 16 Jan. Enter code D8C7C9J at checkout. That means Fantasy Football Guidebook can be $16.95 or Fantasy Football Tips will be $9.35. Great deals for those after holiday gift cards!!!!

Fantasy Football Tips: 201 Ways to Win through Player Rankings, Cheat Sheets and Better Drafting ($10.95) http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/fantasy-football-tips-sam-hendricks/1017000616

Fantasy Baseball for Beginners: The Ultimate "How-to" Guide ($10.95)
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/fantasy-baseball-for-beginners-sam-hendricks/1028503683

Fantasy Football (Soccer to Yanks): The Ultimate "How-to" Guide for Fantasy Football/Fantasy Soccer ($14.95) http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/fantasy-football-sam-hendricks/1100639984

Fantasy Football Guidebook(2nd Edition): Your Comprehensive Guide to Playing Fantasy Football ($19.95) http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/fantasy-football-guidebook-sam-hendricks/1008633837

Fantasy Football Basics: The Ultimate "How to" Guide for Beginners available ($10.95) at
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/fantasy-football-basics-sam-hendricks/1030680433

Congratulations to the winners of the National Fantasy Football Championship (NFFC) for 2011

2012-01-14T08:37:00.048-05:00

The National Fantasy Football Championship (NFFC) winners:
NFFC Classic (a 14 team high stakes event):

Michael Treffiletti beat 279 other teams in the National Fantasy Football Championship’s Classic event and took home the $100,000 grand prize. The 35-year old Albany, New York native has a 14 year history of playing fantasy football. He is a seven year veteran of the NFFC.

Oh and in case you did not hear, Michael beat his brother, as Joe Treffiletti also had one of this season’s finest teams. When the playoffs began Michael’s team was the No. 2 seed in the playoff competition while Joe’s was fourth. Week 16 began with both brothers one and two in the standings.

Victor Cruz was one of Michaels waiver wire pickups and he proved critical in week 16. But Tony Romo let him down by departing his game early with an injury and zero points. That departure crushed many FF fans that Sunday. But Michael came back when NO Scored on their last play from scrimmage with a late TD to Darren Sproles-the record setting TD pass with minutes left in the MNF game--to win the NFFC Classic. And what of his brother Joe? A very respectable third place finish.
George Melbrod Rancho finished 2nd winning $15,000.

What did his team look like? He drafted Gronkowski in the 8th and Sproles in the 10th. Cruz and SF K David Akers were waiver wire pickups.

NFFC Primetime Event (a 12 team high stakes event):
1st Place: Dave Clum Pembroke Pines, Florida Primetime $100,000
2nd Place: Bradley Shairson Hermosa Beach, California Primetime $15,000

Fantasy Football Guidebook (2nd Edition): Your Comprehensive Guide to Playing Fantasy Football ($19.95) http://www.amazon.com/dp/0982428650

Fantasy Football Tips: 201 Ways to Win through Player Rankings, Cheat Sheets and Better Drafting ($10.95) www.amazon.com/dp/0982428669

Fantasy Football Basics: The Ultimate "How to" Guide for Beginners available ($10.95) at Amazon http://www.amazon.com/dp/0982428634

Fantasy Baseball for Beginners: The Ultimate "How-to" Guide ($10.95) www.amazon.com/dp/0982428693

Fantasy Football (Soccer to Yanks): The Ultimate "How-to" Guide for Fantasy Football/Fantasy Soccer ($14.95) http://www.amazon.com/dp/1936635011

Ask the Expert Question: In a playoff fantasy league with a single draft for the entire postseason, who should be the first player selected?

2012-01-13T08:30:00.001-05:00

Which player, performance, or fantasy trend was the biggest surprise to you this season?

The record setting year for QBs was a surprise. On the bright side, I predicted lots of good TE depth, an injury plagued year, a poor performance from Peyton Hillis and the sinking of the Titanic.

ASK THE EXPERTS appears weekly at http://www.fantasyindex.com/
with answers to a new question posted Thursday morning.

Sam Hendricks is the author of Fantasy Football Guidebook, Fantasy Football Tips, Fantasy Football Basics and Fantasy Football Almanac 2011, all available at his website, http://www.ffguidebook.com/, at all major bookstores, and at http://www.amazon.com/. He is a 20-year fantasy football veteran who regularly participates in the World Championship of Fantasy Football (WCOFF), National Fantasy Football Championship (NFFC) and finished 7th and 16th overall (out of 228 top players) in the 2008 and 2009 Fantasy Football Players Championship (FFPC).

Fantasy Football Tips: 201 Ways to Win through Player Rankings, Cheat Sheets and Better Drafting ($10.95) www.amazon.com/dp/0982428669

Fantasy Football Basics: The Ultimate "How to" Guide for Beginners available ($10.95) at Amazon http://www.amazon.com/dp/0982428634

Fantasy Football Guidebook (2nd Edition): Your Comprehensive Guide to Playing Fantasy Football ($19.95) http://www.amazon.com/dp/0982428650

Fantasy Baseball for Beginners: The Ultimate "How-to" Guide ($10.95) www.amazon.com/dp/0982428693

Fantasy Football (Soccer to Yanks): The Ultimate "How-to" Guide for Fantasy Football/Fantasy Soccer ($14.95) http://www.amazon.com/dp/1936635011

Fantasy Sports Writers Association (FSWA) Players of the Year Named

2012-01-11T07:24:00.002-05:00

I am proud to announce that all of my FSWA ballot players were named as players of the year with the exception of IDP London Fletcher.

FSWA members named Green Bay's Aaron Rodgers the 2011 Fantasy Football Most Valuable Player.

Drew Brees and Rob Gronkowski tied for second, with LeSean McCoy and Cam Newton coming in fourth and fifth, respectively.

In Rookie of the Year voting, Newton dominated, receiving every first place vote cast. A.J. Green finished second, followed by DeMarco Murray (third) and Julio Jones and Andy Dalton (tied for fourth).

The 2011 All-Fantasy Team:

QB: Aaron Rodgers
RB1: LeSean McCoy
RB2: Ray Rice
WR1: Calvin Johnson
WR2: Wes Welker
TE: Rob Gronkowski
K: David Akers
IDP: London Fletcher

This is the fourth year FSWA members have helped to select the official fantasy football awards.

Fantasy Football Almanac 2011: The Essential Fantasy Football Reference Guide (10.95) http://www.amazon.com/dp/1936635003

Fantasy Football Tips: 201 Ways to Win through Player Rankings, Cheat Sheets and Better Drafting ($10.95) www.amazon.com/dp/0982428669

Fantasy Football Basics: The Ultimate "How to" Guide for Beginners available ($10.95) at Amazon http://www.amazon.com/dp/0982428634

Fantasy Football Guidebook (2nd Edition): Your Comprehensive Guide to Playing Fantasy Football ($19.95) http://www.amazon.com/dp/0982428650

Fantasy Baseball for Beginners: The Ultimate "How-to" Guide ($10.95) www.amazon.com/dp/0982428693

Fantasy Football (Soccer to Yanks): The Ultimate "How-to" Guide for Fantasy Football/Fantasy Soccer ($14.95) http://www.amazon.com/dp/1936635011

FFGuidebook.com (aka Sam Hendricks) finishes 2011 Fantasy Football season in 6th overall out of 51 Experts in the 411fantasy.com Rankings Contest

2012-01-07T07:20:00.002-05:00

In Week 7 Paul Greco (Fantasy Pros 911) set a 411Fantasy.com record with a 28-point effort, which propelled him into a commanding lead over a field of 50 fellow experts. It was enough to sustain him for the next 10 weeks and Greco held on to win the 2011 411Fantasy.com Expert’s Contest.

Greco has worked in the Fantasy Sports industry since 2007. As a member of the Fantasy Sports Writers Association, Greco made his mark on the industry by teaming up with legendary fantasy baseball analysis Lenny Melnick to help create FantasyPros911 along with Patrick DiCaprio and Tony Cincotta. Greco also is the Associate Editor at BaseballDigest.com and co-owner of Gotham Sports Media Inc. Along with Cincotta, Greco has co-hosted the FantasyPros911 show for the last two years on SiriusXM Fantasy Sports radio. His body of work includes contributing to USA Today’s Sports Weekly, World Championship of Fantasy Football Magazine, Gotham Baseball Magazine, and Baseball Digest.

Greco actually took the lead in Week 6 with a 19-point effort, but it was his 28 points in Week 7 that gave him a one point lead, which is rather large in this format (that’s what she said). He backed it up with two second place finishes in Weeks 10 and 11 and his lead swelled to 1.73 points. But he would average 12.83 points over the last five weeks which allowed several, namely Schauf, Jamey Eisenberg (CBS Sportsline), John Paulsen (Fantasy Shrink), Scott Pianowski (Yahoo Sports) and Sam Hendricks (FF Guidebook) to gain ground and threaten to steal the title.

The Final Top 25:

1. Paul Greco (Fantasy Pros 911) 17.38

2. Matt Schauf (Draft Sharks) 17.23

3. Scott Pianowski (Yahoo Sports) 16.92

4. John Paulsen (Fantasy Shrink) 16.85

5. Jamey Eisenberg (CBS Sportsline) 16.77

6. Sam Hendricks (FF Guidebook) 16.77

7. Brad Evans (Yahoo Sports) 16.69

8. Adam Conn (411Fantasy) 16.62

9. Jeff Boggis (Fantasy Sports Empires) 16.54

10. Adam Helbling (411Fantasy) 16.23

11. Jake Ciely (RotoExperts) 16.23

12. Andrew Feingold (RotoExperts) 16.15

13. Ross Mandel (NFL Draft Bible) 15.92

14. Ken Zalis (Fans FF) 15.77

15. Brandon Funston (Yahoo Sports) 15.77

t16. Jeff Thitoff (97.1 The Fan) and Dave Richard (CBS Sportsline) 15.54

18. Jason Sarney (Fantasy Phenoms) 15.54

19. Tristan Cockroft (ESPN) 15.38

20. Tommy Landry (RotoExperts) 15.31

21. Eric Karabell (ESPN) 15.23

22. Andy Behrens (Yahoo Sports) 15.23

23. Jody Smith (Gridiron Experts) 15.08

24. Mike Gilbert (RotoExperts) 15.08

25. Chris Morgan (RotoWire) 15.0

Week 11 article after placing first.

http://411fantasy.com/2011/11/24/hendricks-writes-the-book-on-rankings/

Fantasy Football Almanac 2011: The Essential Fantasy Football Reference Guide (10.95) http://www.amazon.com/dp/1936635003

Fantasy Football Tips: 201 Ways to Win through Player Rankings, Cheat Sheets and Better Drafting ($10.95) www.amazon.com/dp/0982428669

Fantasy Football Basics: The Ultimate "How to" Guide for Beginners available ($10.95) at Amazon http://www.amazon.com/dp/0982428634

Fantasy Football Guidebook (2nd Edition): Your Comprehensive Guide to Playing Fantasy Football ($19.95) http://www.amazon.com/dp/0982428650

Fantasy Baseball for Beginners: The Ultimate "How-to" Guide ($10.95) www.amazon.com/dp/0982428693

Fantasy Football (Soccer to Yanks): The Ultimate "How-to" Guide for Fantasy Football/Fantasy Soccer ($14.95) http://www.amazon.com/dp/1936635011

Ask the Expert Question: In a playoff fantasy league with a single draft for the entire postseason, who should be the first player selected?

2012-01-06T07:37:00.000-05:00

In a playoff fantasy league with a single draft for the entire postseason, who should be the first player selected?

Drew Brees, as I see NO going to the SB and thus playing 4 playoff games.

ASK THE EXPERTS appears weekly at http://www.fantasyindex.com/
with answers to a new question posted Thursday morning.

Sam Hendricks is the author of Fantasy Football Guidebook, Fantasy Football Tips, Fantasy Football Basics and Fantasy Football Almanac 2011, all available at his website, http://www.ffguidebook.com/, at all major bookstores, and at http://www.amazon.com/. He is a 20-year fantasy football veteran who regularly participates in the World Championship of Fantasy Football (WCOFF), National Fantasy Football Championship (NFFC) and finished 7th and 16th overall (out of 228 top players) in the 2008 and 2009 Fantasy Football Players Championship (FFPC).

Fantasy Football Almanac 2011: The Essential Fantasy Football Reference Guide (10.95) http://www.amazon.com/dp/1936635003

Fantasy Football Tips: 201 Ways to Win through Player Rankings, Cheat Sheets and Better Drafting ($10.95) www.amazon.com/dp/0982428669

Fantasy Football Basics: The Ultimate "How to" Guide for Beginners available ($10.95) at Amazon http://www.amazon.com/dp/0982428634

Fantasy Football Guidebook (2nd Edition): Your Comprehensive Guide to Playing Fantasy Football ($19.95) http://www.amazon.com/dp/0982428650

Fantasy Baseball for Beginners: The Ultimate "How-to" Guide ($10.95) www.amazon.com/dp/0982428693

Fantasy Football (Soccer to Yanks): The Ultimate "How-to" Guide for Fantasy Football/Fantasy Soccer ($14.95) http://www.amazon.com/dp/1936635011

Sam Hendricks and FFGuidebook.com 5th of 51 Experts thru Week 16

2012-01-01T09:10:00.000-05:00

Patrick Welsh (Fantasy Pros 911) was Week 16’s co-winner with 23 points. He was joined by CBS Sports guru CBS Sports guru Dave Richard as each expert eclipsed his season high by three points (both in Week 7).

Leader board through Week 16:
(first numer is adjusted for dropping lowest weekly score; number in parenthesis is the weekly average):

Leaderboard through Week 16:

1. Paul Greco (Fantasy Pros 911) 17.15 (15.56)

2. Matt Schauf (Draft Sharks) 16.62 (15.38)

3. Jamey Eisenberg (CBS Sportsline) 16.54 (15.63)

4. Adam Conn (411Fantasy) 16.54 (15.0)

5. Sam Hendricks (FF Guidebook) 16.46 (15.0)

6. John Paulsen (Fantasy Shrink) 16.31 (15.0)

7. Andrew Feingold (RotoExperts) 16.15 (15.06)

8. Brad Evans (Yahoo Sports) 16.08 (14.94)

9. Scott Pianowski (Yahoo Sports) 15.92 (14.94)

10. Ken Zalis (Fans FF) 15.77 (14.75)

11. Jeff Boggis (Fantasy Sports Empires) 15.77 (14.69)

12. Jason Sarney (Fantasy Phenoms) 15.77 (14.56)

13. Jake Ciely (RotoExperts) 15.62 (14.69)

t14. Jeff Thitoff (97.1 The Fan) 15.54 (15.0)

t14. Dave Richard (CBS Sportsline) 15.54 (15.0)

16. Adam Helbling (411Fantasy) 15.54 (14.63)

17. Ross Mandel (NFL Draft Bible) 15.38 (14.38)

18. Brandon Funston (Yahoo Sports) 15.15 (14.31)

19. Eric Karabell (ESPN) 14.85 (14.33)

20. Jared Smola (Draft Sharks) 14.85 (14.31)

21. Jody Smith (Gridiron Experts) 14.85 (14.29)

22. Tristan Cockroft (ESPN) 14.85 (13.88)

23. Robb Perkins (FF Trader) 14.62 (13.88)

24. Mike Gilbert (RotoExperts) 14.54

Week 11 article after placing first.

http://411fantasy.com/2011/11/24/hendricks-writes-the-book-on-rankings/

Fantasy Football Almanac 2011: The Essential Fantasy Football Reference Guide (10.95) http://www.amazon.com/dp/1936635003

Fantasy Football Tips: 201 Ways to Win through Player Rankings, Cheat Sheets and Better Drafting ($10.95) www.amazon.com/dp/0982428669

Fantasy Football Basics: The Ultimate "How to" Guide for Beginners available ($10.95) at Amazon http://www.amazon.com/dp/0982428634

Fantasy Football Guidebook (2nd Edition): Your Comprehensive Guide to Playing Fantasy Football ($19.95) http://www.amazon.com/dp/0982428650

Fantasy Baseball for Beginners: The Ultimate "How-to" Guide ($10.95) www.amazon.com/dp/0982428693

Fantasy Football (Soccer to Yanks): The Ultimate "How-to" Guide for Fantasy Football/Fantasy Soccer ($14.95) http://www.amazon.com/dp/1936635011

Ask the Expert Question: If you were writing an "end of the year" recap story, what would be the Fantasy Football story of the season?

2011-12-30T08:56:00.002-05:00

If you were writing an "end of the year" recap story, what would be the Fantasy Football story of the season?

The 2011 fantasy football season will forever be known as the “Year of the Injury”. The absence of off-season training activities (OTAs) and abbreviated preseason training camps resulted in more injuries this season. Good owners were forced to suffer through numerous hamstring injuries and the dubious returns of some of the top players.

The waiver wire and injury reports dominated FF performance rather than the start/sit decisions of otherwise sane individuals. This rant comes not from a down on their luck owner who lost one too many bids for a playoff spot, but instead is from an owner who won much more this season than any other. Playoffs in 64% of my leagues (I play with some of the best in Expert leagues and the FFPC and NFFC). Of those I won the championship in 57% of them. Return on investment 260%. But there was too much luck!

I hate luck. I hate good luck and bad luck. Luck in any form. Luck is a cruel mistress. 2011 will be remembered for the fickle hand of fate and how she toyed with fantasy footballers through Arian Foster, Andre Johnson, Darren McFadden, Matt Forte, Jahvid Best, Peyton Hillis, Ahmad Bradshaw, Frank Gore, Felix Jones, Steve Johnson, Ryan Mathews, Greg Jennings, Miles Austin, LeGarrett Blount and DeSean Jackson. And that was just the first two rounds of most drafts. I defy any FF owners to find a starting roster untouched by the mayhem that fate (the lock out) wrecked upon us all. I can only hope 2012 brings some sanity. And less luck… unless it is the rookie QB kind... maybe in Indianapolis?

ASK THE EXPERTS appears weekly at http://www.fantasyindex.com/
with answers to a new question posted Thursday morning.

Sam Hendricks is the author of Fantasy Football Guidebook, Fantasy Football Tips, Fantasy Football Basics and Fantasy Football Almanac 2011, all available at his website, http://www.ffguidebook.com/, at all major bookstores, and at http://www.amazon.com/. He is a 20-year fantasy football veteran who regularly participates in the World Championship of Fantasy Football (WCOFF), National Fantasy Football Championship (NFFC) and finished 7th and 16th overall (out of 228 top players) in the 2008 and 2009 Fantasy Football Players Championship (FFPC).

Fantasy Football Almanac 2011: The Essential Fantasy Football Reference Guide (10.95) http://www.amazon.com/dp/1936635003

Fantasy Football Tips: 201 Ways to Win through Player Rankings, Cheat Sheets and Better Drafting ($10.95) www.amazon.com/dp/0982428669

Fantasy Football Basics: The Ultimate "How to" Guide for Beginners available ($10.95) at Amazon http://www.amazon.com/dp/0982428634

Fantasy Football Guidebook (2nd Edition): Your Comprehensive Guide to Playing Fantasy Football ($19.95) http://www.amazon.com/dp/0982428650

Fantasy Baseball for Beginners: The Ultimate "How-to" Guide ($10.95) www.amazon.com/dp/0982428693

Fantasy Football (Soccer to Yanks): The Ultimate "How-to" Guide for Fantasy Football/Fantasy Soccer ($14.95) http://www.amazon.com/dp/1936635011

Fantasy Football Tip #222: Information management-what you need to know and how to compile it

2011-12-29T08:03:00.029-05:00

Unfortunately this is too late for the 2011 season since most leagues have played their championship games this week. I highly encourage week 16 League Championship Games (LCG) because if you play them in week 17 you are much more likely to get players resting or not playing entire games (see GB in week 17). NFL teams do this to prevent an injury to key players when those teams have nothing to play for in the remaining regular season games. This is much more common in week 17 than in week 16. Although in previous years there have been some rare week 16 shenanigans...but I digress. This tip is how to manage the information flow during the week. From the news flashes on Sunday and Monday night to the following Sundays pregame shows, a ton of information is out there and you need to organize it.

I start with a clean sheet of paper and label the top with the week ahead and any bye week teams that will be out.
Next I divide the top 1/3 into 4 columns:
New Starters ETP (Expected to Play) P (probable) Q (questionable)

the 2nd 1/3 of the page is labeled with 6 columns:

D (doubtful) GTD(Game Time Decision) NETP (Not expected to play) OUT DNP-W/Th/Fr Watch

Finally the bottom 1/3 of the page is for free agents to add and drop, so labels are:

Add: QB RB WR TE K DEF and Droppable

Now as information comes out I can place it under these categories:
If a starter is out he goes in the OUT column and his replacement goes in the New Starters column. Players who miss practice go in the DNP (Did not practice) Column and beside their name is a W for Wed practice; Th for Thursday and Fr for the dreaded miss of Friday practice (never a good sign).

The watch category is position battles or injuries not yet reported or performance/disciplinary issues.

I also have a sheet where I track free agency deadlines each week and lineup decisions. So that I do not forget to do either in a league.

Got gift cards? Use them at Amazon and BN.com to uy Fantasy Sports books!

2011-12-27T17:12:00.002-05:00

These great holiday gift ideas are available at Amazon, BN and other online retailers as paperbacks and ebooks. Use your holiday gift vars to purchase them.

Fantasy Football Guidebook
Fantasy Football Tips
Fantasy Football Basics

Fantasy Baseball for Beginners

Fantasy Hockey

Fantasy Soccer

Fantasy Basketball Handbook (coming soon)

Fantasy Football Guidebook (2nd Edition): Your Comprehensive Guide to Playing Fantasy Football ($19.95) http://www.amazon.com/dp/0982428650

Fantasy Football Tips: 201 Ways to Win through Player Rankings, Cheat Sheets and Better Drafting ($10.95) www.amazon.com/dp/0982428669

Fantasy Football Basics: The Ultimate "How to" Guide for Beginners available ($10.95) at Amazon http://www.amazon.com/dp/0982428634

Fantasy Baseball for Beginners: The Ultimate "How-to" Guide ($10.95) www.amazon.com/dp/0982428693

Fantasy Soccer: The Ultimate "How-to" Guide for Fantasy Football/Fantasy Soccer ($14.95) http://www.amazon.com/dp/1936635011

Fantasy football conundrum with Drew Brees

2011-12-26T13:38:00.000-05:00

I am in 3 Championships heading into Monday Night Football and the ATL-NO matchup.
Unfortunately I have Drew Brees in my local league and FACE Drew Brees in the two other leagues.
I also have Roddy White in the local and play him in one of the others.

So I have to root for and against him. ARG! That is what happens when you play in tons of FF leagues.

Good luck to all in the last NFL game that will matter for week 16 and most FF league Championships.
And heres hoping Brees and Roddy scors enough for me to win the local league but not enough for my opponents to beat me in the other leagues.

I do have Matt Bryant ATL K in one of the money leagues and John Kasay NO K in the other league so I can hope for a ton from them.

Fantasy Football Almanac 2011: The Essential Fantasy Football Reference Guide (10.95) http://www.amazon.com/dp/1936635003

Fantasy Football Tips: 201 Ways to Win through Player Rankings, Cheat Sheets and Better Drafting ($10.95) www.amazon.com/dp/0982428669

Fantasy Football Basics: The Ultimate "How to" Guide for Beginners available ($10.95) at Amazon http://www.amazon.com/dp/0982428634

Fantasy Football Guidebook (2nd Edition): Your Comprehensive Guide to Playing Fantasy Football ($19.95) http://www.amazon.com/dp/0982428650

Fantasy Baseball for Beginners: The Ultimate "How-to" Guide ($10.95) www.amazon.com/dp/0982428693

Fantasy Football (Soccer to Yanks): The Ultimate "How-to" Guide for Fantasy Football/Fantasy Soccer ($14.95) http://www.amazon.com/dp/1936635011

ESPN Outside the Lines program exposes World Championship of Fantasy Football (WCOFF) bankruptcy

2011-12-25T07:28:00.003-05:00

ESPN Outside the Lines program exposes World Championship of Fantasy Football bankruptcy.

Check it out at:
http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=7357411

Fantasy Football Almanac 2011: The Essential Fantasy Football Reference Guide (10.95) http://www.amazon.com/dp/1936635003

Fantasy Football Tips: 201 Ways to Win through Player Rankings, Cheat Sheets and Better Drafting ($10.95) www.amazon.com/dp/0982428669

Fantasy Football Basics: The Ultimate "How to" Guide for Beginners available ($10.95) at Amazon http://www.amazon.com/dp/0982428634

Fantasy Football Guidebook (2nd Edition): Your Comprehensive Guide to Playing Fantasy Football ($19.95) http://www.amazon.com/dp/0982428650

Fantasy Baseball for Beginners: The Ultimate "How-to" Guide ($10.95) www.amazon.com/dp/0982428693

Fantasy Football (Soccer to Yanks): The Ultimate "How-to" Guide for Fantasy Football/Fantasy Soccer ($14.95) http://www.amazon.com/dp/1936635011

Week 16 Implications or what is FFGuidebook.com playing for...

2011-12-24T07:42:00.003-05:00

Week 16 and I am in 4 of 11 Championships. Sure I am in few other Expert league contests but I am so far behind I do not count them. Here are the 4 I have a shot at winning. I lead in 3 of the 4.

1) NFFC Private Auction League (11-2, 1st H2H, 4 in TP) #1 seed in 3 week playoffs; Leading by 17.19 points in 3 week playoffs which end this week

2) National Fantasy Football Championship (NFFC) $125 Satellite League (9-3-1, 2nd H2H, 4th in TP) #2 seed in playoffs. Leading by 17.95 pts in 3 wk playoff that ends this week.

http://nffc.stats.com/football/reports/league_home.asp

3) Local League (11-2, 1st H2H, 1st in TP) #1 seed in playoffs (bye in week 14) League Championship game

4) Pros vs Joes FFPC League 2 "Caspers Ghost Hunters" (Draft Masters) 1st place overall in my league (based on points) (and 5th overall out of 84 teams, 37 points out of first) Last week.

http://leagues.myffpc.com/cgi-bin/welcome_page?UID=q7ko74ga3116fg3wq991ak2egp3p15l&LN=93779&USER=908283&EID1=19316&OPER=1770

Don't forget I already came in 2nd in the FFPC Main Event League and earned $3500.00 from that league. I received the check yesterday! What a great Christmas gift! Thank you FFPC for great customer service and the fastest payouts in high stakes fantasy football.

13 Saturday games tomorrow on Christmas Eve and I will not see any of them...

2011-12-23T13:31:00.000-05:00

How in the "wide world of sports" did I miss the fact that 13 NFL games will be played on Christmas Eve?
Tomorow 13 games will decide many playoff seeds and cause fantasy football owners worldwide to react on the day before Christmas. I have promised my wife that I will not watch any football on Saturday (she is Danish and the danes celebrate XMAS on the 24th). I guess it DVD recording time...

But I have negotiated some Internet and pregame show time to set my lineups. LOL

Fantasy Football Almanac 2011: The Essential Fantasy Football Reference Guide (10.95) http://www.amazon.com/dp/1936635003

Fantasy Football Tips: 201 Ways to Win through Player Rankings, Cheat Sheets and Better Drafting ($10.95) www.amazon.com/dp/0982428669

Fantasy Football Basics: The Ultimate "How to" Guide for Beginners available ($10.95) at Amazon http://www.amazon.com/dp/0982428634

Fantasy Football Guidebook (2nd Edition): Your Comprehensive Guide to Playing Fantasy Football ($19.95) http://www.amazon.com/dp/0982428650

Fantasy Baseball for Beginners: The Ultimate "How-to" Guide ($10.95) www.amazon.com/dp/0982428693

Fantasy Football (Soccer to Yanks): The Ultimate "How-to" Guide for Fantasy Football/Fantasy Soccer ($14.95) http://www.amazon.com/dp/1936635011

Ask the Expert Question: Looking ahead, let's say you expected to be playing a meaningful game in Week 17. Who is one likely available player you'd try to pick up now to be ready for that contest?

2011-12-23T07:45:00.001-05:00

Looking ahead, let's say you expected to be playing a meaningful game in Week 17. Who is one likely available player you'd try to pick up now to be ready for that contest?

Most of these RBs should not be available simply because of their handcuff value yet a few are out there. Kendall Hunter tops the list as SF could easily rest Gore in week 17 against STL, but what a great matchup. Another candidate is Ben Tate who faces TEN @ HOU, assuming Arian Foster gets a rest before the playoffs. Of course, if these teams are fighting for a higher seed all bets are off. In the non contender category, Isaac Redman (@CLE) and Evan Royster (WAS RB@ PHI, now we are diving deep) are sneaky plays for week 17 too. Mark Sanchez and Kyle Orton at QB could surprise against tough defenses at MIA and DEN.

ASK THE EXPERTS appears weekly at http://www.fantasyindex.com/
with answers to a new question posted Thursday morning.

Sam Hendricks is the author of Fantasy Football Guidebook, Fantasy Football Tips, Fantasy Football Basics and Fantasy Football Almanac 2011, all available at his website, http://www.ffguidebook.com/, at all major bookstores, and at http://www.amazon.com/. He is a 20-year fantasy football veteran who regularly participates in the World Championship of Fantasy Football (WCOFF), National Fantasy Football Championship (NFFC) and finished 7th and 16th overall (out of 228 top players) in the 2008 and 2009 Fantasy Football Players Championship (FFPC).

Fantasy Football Almanac 2011: The Essential Fantasy Football Reference Guide (10.95) http://www.amazon.com/dp/1936635003

Fantasy Football Tips: 201 Ways to Win through Player Rankings, Cheat Sheets and Better Drafting ($10.95) www.amazon.com/dp/0982428669

Fantasy Football Basics: The Ultimate "How to" Guide for Beginners available ($10.95) at Amazon http://www.amazon.com/dp/0982428634

Fantasy Football Guidebook (2nd Edition): Your Comprehensive Guide to Playing Fantasy Football ($19.95) http://www.amazon.com/dp/0982428650

Fantasy Baseball for Beginners: The Ultimate "How-to" Guide ($10.95) www.amazon.com/dp/0982428693

Fantasy Football (Soccer to Yanks): The Ultimate "How-to" Guide for Fantasy Football/Fantasy Soccer ($14.95) http://www.amazon.com/dp/1936635011

FFGuidebook.com and Sam Hendricks remain in 2nd place out of 51 Experts in the 411Fantasy.com contest

2011-12-22T08:26:00.003-05:00

Congratulations to Michael Pichan, aka the Fantasy Nomad, who captured his first weekly prize of the season in the 411Fantasy.com Expert’s Contest. Pichan, of Rotoinfo.com, is a Nomad in every sense of fantasy sports. His Blogtalkradio show, the Fantasy Nomad Show, features everything from the NFL to the NBA, to the Arizona Fall League to musicians. But he found a home at 411 in Week 15 when he topped all experts with a score of 18.

Leaderboard through Week 15:
(first numer is adjusted for dropping lowest weekly score; number in parenthesis is the weekly average):

1. Paul Greco (Fantasy Pros 911) 16.85 (15.73)

2. Sam Hendricks (FF Guidebook) 16.0 (14.93)

3. Adam Conn (411Fantasy) 16.0 (14.87)

4. Jamey Eisenberg (CBS Sportsline) 15.85 (15.33)

5. Matt Schauf (Draft Sharks) 15.85 (14.93)

6. Brad Evans (Yahoo Sports) 15.85 (14.87)

7. Andrew Feingold (RotoExperts) 15.77 (14.93)

8. Jeff Boggis (Fantasy Sports Empires) 15.54 (14.73)

t9. John Paulsen (Fantasy Shrink) 15.54 (14.67)

t9. Scott Pianowski (Yahoo Sports) 15.54 (14.67)

11. Adam Helbling (411Fantasy) 15.31 (14.67)

12. Jason Sarney (Fantasy Phenoms) 15.31 (14.47)

13. Jeff Thitoff (97.1 The Fan) 15.15 (14.87)

14. Ken Zalis (Fans FF) 15.08 (14.53)

15. Ross Mandel (NFL Draft Bible) 15.0 (14.27)

16. Jake Ciely (RotoExperts) 14.92 (14.4)

17. Eric Karabell (ESPN) 14.69 (14.36)

18. Brandon Funston (Yahoo Sports) 14.62 (14.07)

19. Eric Dell (BabyBlueMonkey) 14.46 (14.0)

20. Dave Richard (CBS Sportsline) 14.38 (14.38)

21. Tristan Cockroft (ESPN) 14.38 (13.73)

22. Jared Smola (Draft Sharks) 14.31 (14.0)
23. Robb Perkins (FF Trader) 14.31 (13.8)

24. Tommy Landry (RotoExperts) 14.31 (13.53)

25. Alessandro Miglio (Pro Football Focus) 14.23 (13.67)

Week 11 article after placing first.

http://411fantasy.com/2011/11/24/hendricks-writes-the-book-on-rankings/

Fantasy Football Almanac 2011: The Essential Fantasy Football Reference Guide (10.95) http://www.amazon.com/dp/1936635003

Fantasy Football Tips: 201 Ways to Win through Player Rankings, Cheat Sheets and Better Drafting ($10.95) www.amazon.com/dp/0982428669

Fantasy Football Basics: The Ultimate "How to" Guide for Beginners available ($10.95) at Amazon http://www.amazon.com/dp/0982428634

Fantasy Football Guidebook (2nd Edition): Your Comprehensive Guide to Playing Fantasy Football ($19.95) http://www.amazon.com/dp/0982428650

Fantasy Baseball for Beginners: The Ultimate "How-to" Guide ($10.95) www.amazon.com/dp/0982428693

Fantasy Football (Soccer to Yanks): The Ultimate "How-to" Guide for Fantasy Football/Fantasy Soccer ($14.95) http://www.amazon.com/dp/1936635011

Time is running out for an easy gift mailed directly to you or recipient

2011-12-21T11:15:00.003-05:00

These great holiday gift ideas are available at Amazon, BN and other online retailers as paperbacks and ebooks. Order today to make sure you (or your gift recipient) can receive them before Christmas!!!

Fantasy Football Guidebook
Fantasy Football Tips
Fantasy Football Basics

Fantasy Baseball for Beginners

Fantasy Hockey

Fantasy Soccer

Fantasy Basketball Handbook (coming soon)

FFGuidebook.com and Sam Hendricks results from Week 15

2011-12-21T08:10:00.002-05:00

Week 15

Money Leagues first ("Show me the money")

Fantasy Football Players Championship (www.theFFPC.com) Championship Round 127 of 145

National Fantasy Football Championship (NFFC) $125 Satellite League  (9-3-1, 2nd H2H, 4th in TP) #2 seed in playoffs                                         Leading by 17.95 pts in 3 wk playoff that ends this week.
http://nffc.stats.com/football/reports/league_home.asp

NFFC Private Auction League                                                                         (11-2, 1st H2H, 4 in TP) #1 seed in 3 week playoffs; Leading by 17.19 points in 3 week playoffs which end this week

Local League                                                                                                    1sr round bye (11-2, 1st H2H, 1st in TP) #1 seed in playoffs (bye in week 14)                  WIN, now in Super Bowl

Expert Leagues

Fantasy Sports Writers Association (FSWA) League/Division 3 "Jay Clemons" 18th of 20 in 5 week playoff
(6-5, 3rd H2H, 1st TP) Made playoffs as WC5 (top 10 scoring other teams from 5 league get in)
http://blue.rtsports.com/cgi-bin/display_standings?LN=55559&UID=0zp23f3k07b2f7rn0o3n8qzxxu29r94&TN=4764594&X=1316889097900

Fantasy Football Index Magazine Expert Auction League (Draft Masters but play every team each week)                                                                                                              Win 8-3 (73-91-1), 9th place
http://goalline.rtsports.com/cgi-bin/display_standings?LN=100828&UID=94m1czr95356fbq3406bidw7k8mhu34&TN=4854786&X=1316889246868

Fantasy Football Pro Forecast Magazine Expert League                                  (4-10, 5th H2H, 9th TP)
http://www23.myfantasyleague.com/2011/home/32210#0

Fantasy Football Pro Forecast Magazine Expert PPR League                           (7-7, 3rd H2H, 5th TP)
http://www23.myfantasyleague.com/2011/home/60587#0

Pros vs Joes FFPC League 2 "Caspers Ghost Hunters" (Draft Masters) Win (10-1 this week) 1st place overall in my league (based on points) (and 5th overall out of 84 teams, 37 points out of first)
http://leagues.myffpc.com/cgi-bin/welcome_page?UID=q7ko74ga3116fg3wq991ak2egp3p15l&LN=93779&USER=908283&EID1=19316&OPER=1770

Fantasy Football Tip #221: Never give up on a team.

2011-12-20T08:18:00.000-05:00

Fantasy Football Tip #221: Never give up on a team, even when it looks bleak, keep fighting on with lineup changes and add/drops to make your team have a chance.

I have a friend (yes one) who recently exclaimed that he no longer had to fight the "waiver wire worries" because he lost in the playoffs. He seemed almost relieved that his team no longer had to play. I can understand this feeling a little bit (we probably all can with all the injuries and suspensions that have hit us this year) since he had no starting RBs left heading into the playoffs. But it made me think about what others should or could do in the few weeks before the playoffs. I can honestly tell you that nothing beats the feeling of being almost mathematically eliminated but then somehow managing to make the playoffs. It is such a great high knowing that everyone dismissed you and then you showed them! But if you give up on your teams that look like they do not have a chance, you will NEVER experience that great feeling. The point of this tip is to always try and win every game, even if you are out of contention and cannot make the playoffs. Try your best! Set the best lineup you can. Give it your best shot and then no matter what, you can hold you head up high, proud in the knowledge that you did everything you could.

I am not suggesting you spend 14 hours a day searching for sleeper RBs and WRs in leagues where you are officially eliminated from the playoffs. That would be taking resources that could (and should) be used more productively in other leagues (where you are in or fighting for the playoffs). I am suggesting that you add players for "out for the season" players and bench players who are "out" or "questionable" for the game and replace them with players who can earn you points.

There is nothing worse than seeing your opponent who you need to lose to make the playoffs playing the last placed team who does not even bench his injured reserve (IR) players (these types of teams are called "dead money" teams because the owners have given up on them and their lost entry fee). You would never be able to come from 4 game behind to make the playoffs if most of the leagues losing teams did not put up a fight. Do not be like that.

And remember, in many leagues everyone starts the same in the playoffs at 0-0. So in these instances, as my father always said, "It does not matter how high you made it over the fence, just that you made it over the fence"

Note: some leagues do allow the average of the regular season points scored as a starting point-I like this
Note: Both the National Fantasy Football Championship NFFC) and FFPC (www.theFFPC.com) have a system in place for these "dead" teams.

Fantasy Football Guidebook (2nd Edition): Your Comprehensive Guide to Playing Fantasy Football ($19.95) http://www.amazon.com/dp/0982428650

Fantasy Football Tips: 201 Ways to Win through Player Rankings, Cheat Sheets and Better Drafting ($10.95) www.amazon.com/dp/0982428669http://www.amazon.com/dp/0982428634

Fantasy Football Basics: The Ultimate "How to" Guide for Beginners available ($10.95) at Amazon http://www.amazon.com/dp/0982428634

Fantasy Baseball for Beginners: The Ultimate "How-to" Guide ($10.95) www.amazon.com/dp/0982428693

Fantasy Soccer: The Ultimate "How-to" Guide for Fantasy Football/Fantasy Soccer ($14.95)
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1936635070

Fantasy Football Tip #220: Smart flex assignments could win a game for you

2011-12-19T08:53:00.000-05:00

Fantasy Football Tip #220: Be smart about who you assign to the flex position, it could win you a game!

Many leagues today have a flex spot or position in addition to the standard 1 QB, 2 RB, 3 WR and 1 TE positions. So in the National Fantasy Football Championship (NFFC) you start 1 QB, 2 RB, 3 WR, 1 TE, 1 Flex, 1 K and 1 DEF. In fact the FFPC (www.theFFPC.com) has two flex spots as they start 1 QB, 2 RB, 2 WR, 1 TE and 2 flex positions in addition to the lowly kicker and defense. In most formats the flex can be either a RB, WR or TE. In the FFPC the TE earns 1.5 points for catches and thus are more valuable as a potential flex player, so in those leagues you can expect to see more TEs drafted and used a flex player.

But my tip today is a simple one yet rarely employed by fantasy owners. I suggest you always attempt to make the flex player the player with the latest game. If you can make this happen it gives you great freedom to replace them with some else if needed. For example, you have two TEs one will be the TE, the other the flex player. Put the TE with the latest game at flex. Now if the starting TE gets hurt in warm-ups you can put the flex player in at TE and move another player from RB or WR into the flex position. Another example, you are planning on starting 4 WRs (3 as WRs and one as a flex), put the WR with the latest game (say Monday night) in the flex spot. That way if something happens to another WR before game time, you can replace that hurt WR with the flex player and move another player into the flex position. If you had filled the flex position with a WR who started in the early games (1 PM EST) or a Thursday game then that flex spot is over and done and should you need to rearrange due to injuries, etc you no longer have the flexibility to change positions since the flex spot is taken up by the early game player.

Since the flex position can be either a RB, WR or TE it is best to keep that position available until the last possible moment, hence the put in a player with the later game. Big picture-you want to keep all your options open as long as possible and that is what making the flex player the later play does.

The best tip is to fill the flex with the latest playing player for the greatest flexibility. Who knows it just may win you a game one day.

Fantasy Football Guidebook (2nd Edition): Your Comprehensive Guide to Playing Fantasy Football ($19.95) http://www.amazon.com/dp/0982428650

Fantasy Football Tips: 201 Ways to Win through Player Rankings, Cheat Sheets and Better Drafting ($10.95) www.amazon.com/dp/0982428669http://www.amazon.com/dp/0982428634

Fantasy Football Basics: The Ultimate "How to" Guide for Beginners available ($10.95) at Amazon http://www.amazon.com/dp/0982428634

Fantasy Baseball for Beginners: The Ultimate "How-to" Guide ($10.95) www.amazon.com/dp/0982428693

Fantasy Soccer: The Ultimate "How-to" Guide for Fantasy Football/Fantasy Soccer ($14.95)
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1936635070

Week 15-Who is in and who is out?

2011-12-18T10:16:00.000-05:00

Week 15 Info
OUT FOR WEEK 14: Andre Johsnon WR HOU, Fred Davis (susp 4 games), Matt Forte, Mark Ingram NO RB, Darren McFadden OAK RB, Jacoby Ford, Scott Chandler BUF TE, Colt McCoy CLE QB, Javon Ringer TEN RB, Greg Jennings GB WR, Kevin Kolb QB AZ (not starting might be QB3), Deion Branch NE WR, Emanuel Sanders PIT WR and Shane Vereen NE RB

Not Expected to Play: Sam Bradford STL QB, Dallas Clark IND TE

Expected to Play: Vick, C Wells, A Bradshaw, Brandon Jacobs, Adrian Peterson, Kevn Smith DET RB, Jimmy Graham NO TE, T.J Yates HOU QB, Christian Ponder MIN QB, Tarvaris Jackson SEA QB, Joe McKnight NYJ RB, Matt Hasselbeck TEN QB

Who Knows? Hasselbeck or Jake Locker TEN QB, Matt Moore MIA QB, Ben Rothelisberger PIT QB, Josh Cribbs, Devin Hester, Denarius Moore, Braylon Edwards Montario Hardesty

WATCH: Wes Welker NE WR listed as questionable, Frank Gore not 100% so maybe not a full load on MNF, Rothelisberger unknown and on MNF

Fantasy Football Almanac 2011: The Essential Fantasy Football Reference Guide (10.95) http://www.amazon.com/dp/1936635003

Fantasy Football Tips: 201 Ways to Win through Player Rankings, Cheat Sheets and Better Drafting ($10.95) www.amazon.com/dp/0982428669

Fantasy Football Basics: The Ultimate "How to" Guide for Beginners available ($10.95) at Amazon http://www.amazon.com/dp/0982428634

Fantasy Football Guidebook (2nd Edition): Your Comprehensive Guide to Playing Fantasy Football ($19.95) http://www.amazon.com/dp/0982428650

Fantasy Baseball for Beginners: The Ultimate "How-to" Guide ($10.95) www.amazon.com/dp/0982428693

Fantasy Football (Soccer to Yanks): The Ultimate "How-to" Guide for Fantasy Football/Fantasy Soccer ($14.95) http://www.amazon.com/dp/1936635011

Fantasy Football Tip #219: Your free agent system should determine your roster for FF playoffs

2011-12-18T07:28:00.000-05:00

Fantasy Football Tip #219: Your free agent system should determine your roster for FF playoffs

What I mean by this is your ability to add new players (or lack thereof) will be the deciding factor on what allocation of positions you have for the playoff run. If, for example, there are NO adds, drops or trades allowed after the playoffs begin (a common system in many of the money leagues), then you need to be more conservative in which positions you carry into the playoffs. In this case, always have an extra QB, TE and K on your roster. Yes kicker . Why because in Nov and Dec weather and kicking outdoors becomes more of a factor. There is nothing worse than watching your playoff team lose by 5 points simply because your one and only kicker is hurt or playing in a snowstorm. Same goes for QB and TE. Both can be affected by game time weather and injuries. Look at all the Rothelisberger, Bradford and Hasselbeck owners who are sweating it out this week if they are there only QBs.

I am not advocating dropping a starting RB for these potential #2 QB, TE or K. Instead try and make room for them by dropping the WR#7 or RB#6 on your team that has yet to see your starting lineup since bye week 7. In other words be realistic, do not drop a player you could easily see starting the following week if needed. Instead look to slim down the fat at plentiful positions and stock up on a rainy day/insurance extra QB or K.

On the other hand, if your league allows adds or drops (trades are tougher in the playoffs because who wants to give you any help then), in the playoff it will be a matter of how the system works. If it is first come, first serve right up until the kickoff time of each game then you can ignore the above advice and DO NOT carry an extra QB, TE or K. Why not? Because you can add one from free agency if absolutely needed at the last second. Do not drop a potential RB or WR for the extra kicker in this case. If you find yourself without a kicker or one with a bad match up in a snow storm, simply add the best available before game time.

One last note of caution, be careful with not carrying an extra QB in leagues where QBs are more valuable (6 pts for passing TDs) or where rosters are so deep that most teams carry extras (or that have so many teams that few QBs are on the waiver wire). In these cases, you may not be able to find a starting QB. In these instances it is best to have a QB#2 going into the playoffs.

Notice also I do not advocate having an extra DEF for the playoffs. Team defenses do not become injured so the worst case scenario is bad weather and often that helps defensive scoring in fantasy leagues.

Fantasy Football Guidebook (2nd Edition): Your Comprehensive Guide to Playing Fantasy Football ($19.95) http://www.amazon.com/dp/0982428650

Fantasy Football Tips: 201 Ways to Win through Player Rankings, Cheat Sheets and Better Drafting ($10.95) www.amazon.com/dp/0982428669http://www.amazon.com/dp/0982428634

Fantasy Football Basics: The Ultimate "How to" Guide for Beginners available ($10.95) at Amazon http://www.amazon.com/dp/0982428634

Fantasy Baseball for Beginners: The Ultimate "How-to" Guide ($10.95) www.amazon.com/dp/0982428693

Fantasy Soccer: The Ultimate "How-to" Guide for Fantasy Football/Fantasy Soccer ($14.95)
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1936635070

Fantasy Football Guidebook and Fantasy Football Tips both make great holiday gifts!!!

2011-12-16T15:39:00.000-05:00

These great holiday gift ideas are available at Amazon, BN and other online retailers as paperbacks and ebooks:

Fantasy Football Guidebook
Fantasy Football Tips
Fantasy Football Basics

Fantasy Baseball for Beginners

Fantasy Hockey

Fantasy Soccer

Fantasy Basketball Handbook (coming soon)

Ask the Expert Question: You just suffered a heartbreaking playoff loss. What do you say to yourself to come to terms with it?

2011-12-16T08:07:00.004-05:00

You just suffered a heartbreaking playoff loss. What do you say to yourself to come to terms with it?

I put it all in perspective. I have my health, a loving wife and a devoted cat and in the big scheme of things that is not too bad. So a tough fantasy football loss really does not warrant too much worrying. Of course talk is cheap. Some losses will stay with you for life. I will never forget losing in the 2007 World Championship of Fantasy Football (WCOFF) League Championship Game when all I needed was one catch on Monday Night from Heath Miller (A University of Virginia alum no less). I watched PIT battle MIA in week 12 during a torrential rain storm. Heath had no yards and no catches during no targets. Really Heath….no catches. But I am not bitter.

ASK THE EXPERTS appears weekly at http://www.fantasyindex.com/
with answers to a new question posted Thursday morning.

Sam Hendricks is the author of Fantasy Football Guidebook, Fantasy Football Tips, Fantasy Football Basics and Fantasy Football Almanac 2011, all available at his website, http://www.ffguidebook.com/, at all major bookstores, and at http://www.amazon.com/. He is a 20-year fantasy football veteran who regularly participates in the World Championship of Fantasy Football (WCOFF), National Fantasy Football Championship (NFFC) and finished 7th and 16th overall (out of 228 top players) in the 2008 and 2009 Fantasy Football Players Championship (FFPC).

Fantasy Football Almanac 2011: The Essential Fantasy Football Reference Guide (10.95) http://www.amazon.com/dp/1936635003

Fantasy Football Tips: 201 Ways to Win through Player Rankings, Cheat Sheets and Better Drafting ($10.95) www.amazon.com/dp/0982428669

Fantasy Football Basics: The Ultimate "How to" Guide for Beginners available ($10.95) at Amazon http://www.amazon.com/dp/0982428634

Fantasy Football Guidebook (2nd Edition): Your Comprehensive Guide to Playing Fantasy Football ($19.95) http://www.amazon.com/dp/0982428650

Fantasy Baseball for Beginners: The Ultimate "How-to" Guide ($10.95) www.amazon.com/dp/0982428693

Fantasy Football (Soccer to Yanks): The Ultimate "How-to" Guide for Fantasy Football/Fantasy Soccer ($14.95) http://www.amazon.com/dp/1936635011

FFGuidebook.com and Sam Hendricks finish 9th out of 51 Experts in week 14.

2011-12-15T14:43:00.000-05:00

Congratulations to Jamey Eisenberg (CBS Sportsline) who made his move in Week 14 in a three-way tie for first place with 20 points and is now in a tie for third place overall (gross score***). The CBS Sportsline guru was joined by Steve Siniski of College and Pro Weekely and Scott Pianowski (Yahoo Sports) who also had 20 points and it marked the third time this season there has been a three-way tie for the top score in a single week.

I placed 9th this week (I have had 4 Top 5 finishes this year) and remain in second place behind Paul Greco. Paul also scored 17 points and tied me for 9th, so I did not gain any ground on him.

Leaderboard through Week 14:

1. Paul Greco (Fantasy Pros 911) 16.21

2. Sam Hendricks (FF Guidebook) 15.36

t3. Matt Schauf (Draft Sharks) and Jamey Eisenberg (CBS Sportsline) 15.14

5. Andrew Feingold (RotoExperts) 15.07

t6. Adam Conn (411Fantasy) and Jeff Thitoff (97.1 The Fan) 15.0

8. Scott Pianowski (Yahoo Sports) 14.93

9. Brad Evans (Yahoo Sports) 14.86

10. Jeff Boggis (Fantasy Sports Empires) 14.71

t11. John Paulsen (Fantasy Shrink), Ken Zalis (Fans FF) and Adam Helbling (411Fantasy) 14.64

14. Eric Karabell (ESPN) 14.54

t15. Jody Smith (Gridiron Experts) and Dave Richard (CBS Sportsline) 14.5

17. Jake Ciely (RotoExperts) 14.43

t18. Jason Sarney (Fantasy Phenoms) and Ross Mandel (NFL Draft Bible) 14.29

20. Jared Smola (Draft Sharks) 14.14

21 Brandon Funston (Yahoo Sports) 14.07

t22. Tristan Cockroft (ESPN) and Eric Dell (BabyBlueMonkey) 14,0

23. Alessandro Miglio (Pro Football Focus) 13,93

24. Joe Everett (Fantasy Exchange) 13.92

Week 11 article after placing first.

http://411fantasy.com/2011/11/24/hendricks-writes-the-book-on-rankings/

Fantasy Football Almanac 2011: The Essential Fantasy Football Reference Guide (10.95) http://www.amazon.com/dp/1936635003

Fantasy Football Tips: 201 Ways to Win through Player Rankings, Cheat Sheets and Better Drafting ($10.95) www.amazon.com/dp/0982428669

Fantasy Football Basics: The Ultimate "How to" Guide for Beginners available ($10.95) at Amazon http://www.amazon.com/dp/0982428634

Fantasy Football Guidebook (2nd Edition): Your Comprehensive Guide to Playing Fantasy Football ($19.95) http://www.amazon.com/dp/0982428650

Fantasy Baseball for Beginners: The Ultimate "How-to" Guide ($10.95) www.amazon.com/dp/0982428693

Fantasy Football (Soccer to Yanks): The Ultimate "How-to" Guide for Fantasy Football/Fantasy Soccer ($14.95) http://www.amazon.com/dp/1936635011

Books on Fantasy Sports make great Holiday gifts!!

2011-12-14T15:15:00.001-05:00

FFGuidebook.com and Sam Hendricks playoff results

2011-12-14T08:09:00.000-05:00

Week 15

Money Leagues first ("Show me the money")

Fantasy Football Players Championship (www.theFFPC.com) Championship Round 114 of 145

National Fantasy Football Championship (NFFC) $125 Satellite League  (9-3-1, 2nd H2H, 4th in TP) #2 seed in playoffs
http://nffc.stats.com/football/reports/league_home.asp

NFFC Private Auction League                                                                         (11-2, 1st H2H, 4 in TP) #1 seed in 3 week playoffs

Local League                                                                                                    1sr round bye (11-2, 1st H2H, 1st in TP) #1 seed in playoffs (bye in week 14)

Expert Leagues

Fantasy Sports Writers Association (FSWA) League/Division 3 "Jay Clemons" 17th of 20 in 5 week playoff
(6-5, 3rd H2H, 1st TP) Made playoffs as WC5 (top 10 scoring other teams from 5 league get in)
http://blue.rtsports.com/cgi-bin/display_standings?LN=55559&UID=0zp23f3k07b2f7rn0o3n8qzxxu29r94&TN=4764594&X=1316889097900

Fantasy Football Index Magazine Expert Auction League (Draft Masters but play every team each week)                                                                                                              Win 9-2 (65-88-1), 10th place
http://goalline.rtsports.com/cgi-bin/display_standings?LN=100828&UID=94m1czr95356fbq3406bidw7k8mhu34&TN=4854786&X=1316889246868

Fantasy Football Pro Forecast Magazine Expert League                                   Loss (4-10, 5th H2H, 9th TP)
http://www23.myfantasyleague.com/2011/home/32210#0

Fantasy Football Pro Forecast Magazine Expert PPR League                            Win (7-7, 3rd H2H, 5th TP)
http://www23.myfantasyleague.com/2011/home/60587#0

Pros vs Joes FFPC League 2 "Caspers Ghost Hunters" (Draft Masters) Win (10-1 this week) 1st place overall in my league (based on points) (and 6th overall out of 84 teams)
http://leagues.myffpc.com/cgi-bin/welcome_page?UID=q7ko74ga3116fg3wq991ak2egp3p15l&LN=93779&USER=908283&EID1=19316&OPER=1770

Fantasy Football Guidebook and Fantasy Football Tips make great gifts for Christmas!

2011-12-13T13:17:00.000-05:00

All of the books at Extra Point Press are available at amazon.com and BN.com. They all make great Christmas gifts and are in paperback and ebook formats. Pick up more than one and you get free shipping!!!!!!

Fantasy Football Tips: 201 Ways to Win through Player Rankings, Cheat Sheets and Better Drafting ($10.95) http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/fantasy-football-tips-sam-hendricks/1017000616

Fantasy Baseball for Beginners: The Ultimate "How-to" Guide ($10.95)
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/fantasy-baseball-for-beginners-sam-hendricks/1028503683

Fantasy Football (Soccer to Yanks): The Ultimate "How-to" Guide for Fantasy Football/Fantasy Soccer ($14.95) http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/fantasy-football-sam-hendricks/1100639984

Fantasy Football Guidebook(2nd Edition): Your Comprehensive Guide to Playing Fantasy Football ($19.95) http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/fantasy-football-guidebook-sam-hendricks/1008633837

Fantasy Football Basics: The Ultimate "How to" Guide for Beginners available ($10.95) at Amazon http://www.amazon.com/dp/0982428634

Sam Hendricks finishes 6th for week 13 and moves into 2nd place overall (out of 51) in the 411Fantasy.com Experts Contest.

2011-12-13T07:33:00.001-05:00

Congratulations to Matt Schauf (the IDP Guru for Draft Sharks) for winning week 13 with a 24 point effort and coasting to a Week 13 victory.

I placed 6th this week (I have had 4 Top 5 finishes this year)

From 411Fantasy.com

"Tied for 10th last week, Schauf vaulted into third place overall and finds himself an even point out of first.

Schauf may have cruised to victory, but the field did well overall. The average score in Week 13 was 16.41, the second highest this season.

Tied for second last week was Jason Sarney (Fantasy Phenoms) and Tommy Landry (RotoExperts) with 21 points apiece. Sarney’s entry wasn’t looking good early on, but he rallied by sweeping the multiple choice section.

In fourth with 20 points was Adam Conn (411Fantasy) and Alessandro Miglio (Pro Football Focus). This was Conn’s fourth 20-spot this season, Miglio’s first and yet they are separated by only .77 points overall….

The following were tied for 6th place last week with 19 points: Sam Hendricks (FF Guidebook) (who moved up to second place overall), Andrew Feingold (RotoExperts), Jamey Eisenberg (CBS Sportsline), Brad Evans (Yahoo Sports), Ross Mandel (NFL Draft Bible) and Michael Pichan (RotoInfo)."

Your leaderboard through Week 13.

1. Paul Greco (Fantasy Pros 911) 16.15

2. Sam Hendricks (FF Guidebook) 15.23

3. Matt Schauf (Draft Sharks) 15.15

4. Jeff Thitoff (97.1 The Fan) 15.08

5. Andrew Feingold (RotoExperts) 14.92

6. Adam Conn (411Fantasy) 14.85

t7. Jamey Eisenberg (CBS Sportsline) and Adam Helbling (411Fantasy) 14.77

9. Eric Karabell (ESPN) 14.58

t10. John Paulsen (Fantasy Shrink), Ken Zalis (Fans FF), Scott Pianowski (Yahoo Sports) and Brad Evans (Yahoo Sports) 14.54

14. Dave Richard (CBS Sportsline) 14.5

t15. Jeff Boggis (Fantasy Sports Empires) and Jake Ciely (RotoExperts) 14.46

17. Jason Sarney (Fantasy Phenoms) 13.38

18. Jody Smith (Gridiron Experts) 14.27

t19. Tristan Cockroft (ESPN) and Ross Mandel (NFL Draft Bible) 14.15

21. Alessandro Miglio (Pro Football Focus) 14.08

t22. Eric Dell (BabyBlueMonkey), Mike Gilbert (RotoExperts), Robb Perkins (FF Trader), Jared Smola (Draft Sharks) and Joe Everett (Fantasy Exchange) 13.92

Week 11 article after placing first.

http://411fantasy.com/2011/11/24/hendricks-writes-the-book-on-rankings/

Fantasy Football Almanac 2011: The Essential Fantasy Football Reference Guide (10.95) http://www.amazon.com/dp/1936635003

Fantasy Football Tips: 201 Ways to Win through Player Rankings, Cheat Sheets and Better Drafting ($10.95) www.amazon.com/dp/0982428669

Fantasy Football Basics: The Ultimate "How to" Guide for Beginners available ($10.95) at Amazon http://www.amazon.com/dp/0982428634

Fantasy Football Guidebook (2nd Edition): Your Comprehensive Guide to Playing Fantasy Football ($19.95) http://www.amazon.com/dp/0982428650

Fantasy Baseball for Beginners: The Ultimate "How-to" Guide ($10.95) www.amazon.com/dp/0982428693

Fantasy Football (Soccer to Yanks): The Ultimate "How-to" Guide for Fantasy Football/Fantasy Soccer ($14.95) http://www.amazon.com/dp/1936635011

Week 14-Who is in and who is out?

2011-12-11T11:52:00.000-05:00

Week 14 Info
OUT FOR WEEK 14: Kevin Smith DET RB, Andre Johsnon WR HOU, Adrian Peterson MIN RB, Fred Davis (susp 4 games), Matt Forte, James Starks GB RB, Mark Ingram NO RB, Darren McFadden OAK RB, Jacoby Ford and Denarius Moore OAK WRs, Scott Chandler BUF TE, Rian Lindell BUF K

Not Expected to Play: Sam Bradford STL QB

Expected to Play: Vick, C Wells, A Bradshaw, Brandon Jacobs

Playing: Jeremy Maclin PHI WR, Christina Ponder MIN QB but looked bad in warmups
New Starters: Ryan Grant, Toby Gerhart (again),

Who Knows?

Fantasy Football Almanac 2011: The Essential Fantasy Football Reference Guide (10.95) http://www.amazon.com/dp/1936635003

Fantasy Football Tips: 201 Ways to Win through Player Rankings, Cheat Sheets and Better Drafting ($10.95) www.amazon.com/dp/0982428669

Fantasy Football Basics: The Ultimate "How to" Guide for Beginners available ($10.95) at Amazon http://www.amazon.com/dp/0982428634

Fantasy Football Guidebook (2nd Edition): Your Comprehensive Guide to Playing Fantasy Football ($19.95) http://www.amazon.com/dp/0982428650

Fantasy Baseball for Beginners: The Ultimate "How-to" Guide ($10.95) www.amazon.com/dp/0982428693

Fantasy Football (Soccer to Yanks): The Ultimate "How-to" Guide for Fantasy Football/Fantasy Soccer ($14.95) http://www.amazon.com/dp/1936635011