Transactions action

AFC: Drop Bengals, add Chargers

Not feeling the Cincy mojo at the moment.

BCS Lines

Alabama (Pat) -4.5 vs. Texas (Scallet)

TCU (Bosac) -8.5 vs. Boise St. (Pat)

Florida -11 vs. Cincinnati

Bad luck for Bosac. One of his BCS team gets the toughest possible draw and the other faces Boise, giving Pat a chance to kill two birds with one stone and get back in this thing, somewhat.

This could be it

Even if there is no more sequined hat dancing, this may be the last noteworthy weekend of the season in the UFL.

Texas and Alabama each have must-win games for their conference titles. A loss by either would essentially kill any hope Dan or Patty has of winning this league. The Longhorns and Tide would make a BCS bowl even if they lose their conferences, but Dan and Patty need the national title bonus to have a chance here. Meanwhile my Bearcats play a de facto conference title game, with a BCS berth on the line. And in case Texas loses on Saturday, there could be a very interesting debate next week about who should face the SEC champ in the title game - Cincy or TCU!

Assuming Texas and Alabama both win Saturday, the NFL games on Sunday could be big. Patty's Falcons need to beat my Eagles to stay in the playoff hunt, while Dan's Patriots need to rebound with a road win.

I m seeing bean dance with a sequined hat on. . . In his defense, amanda rice is involved.

Transactions of the week

Not gonna be complacent here. One of you dimwits is gonna have to step up if you want to win this.

Zoooooooooooone: drop Gangsters, add Swank

Go to hell Bosac

Standings are updated pre-SNF. If Bosac weren't rocking the most impressive possible team ever, Pat and I would be exactly tied for first with potentially awesome Texas-Alabama in the BCS championship and Colts-Patriots in the AFC championship showdowns to come.

Transactions 11-2

Add Kent State Drop Central Michigan

Is it over?

To my surprise, it's not. Even giving Bosac two BCS teams and assuming his Eagles win a playoff game, both Pat and I can roughly catch him if we win the Superbowl, the BCS Championship, and get a decent performance from our second NFL team or from Da Zoooone. Updated odds of winning both championships for each:

Pat: 3.7%

Scallet: 3.8%

Quick notes

1. Serena will be facing Venus in the finals of the Sony WTA Tour Championships tomorrow morning. This is the last UFL tennis match of the season.

2. My season could end tonight. A Texas win over Oklahoma St. and they have an easy, easy path to the BCS championship game. At the same time, it's game 3 of the World Series and a Phillies loss makes them heavy underdogs to the Yankees.

Transactions 10/26

CFb BCS- Drop Cal- Add Iowa

Can Matt clinch on Saturday? Also, Paths to Victory

Not totally, but he can come close. Basically, for anyone in contention (read, Scallet, Hermann, Hawks, and Pat) to catch him, they're going to need to win two of the three big championships left and hope the Yankees don't win the World Series. And it'll help if TCU doesn't make the BCS either. That makes Saturday a big day as the Yankees can make the World Series and #8 TCU faces its toughest test at #16 BYU (surprising line, TCU -2.5 - thought BYU would be favored at home).

Paths to victory, ignoring the ZOOOOOOOONEE, with odds from 5dimes.com:

Ben - Has no shot at the BCS championship, so he needs the Angels to win two straight and eliminate the Yankees (+600 - way too low, should be around +350), have the Angels go on to win the World Series (+1125 - again way too low, I'd put it at +800) and get a Giants (+950) or Steelers (+1050) Superbowl win. Total odds: 2%

Hermann - Essentially eliminated with the Dodgers loss.

Pat - Needs a Superbowl from either Atlanta (+2600 - seems low for a team with one loss) or Indy (+600) and a BCS championship from Alabama (+225) or Boise (+1500). Luckily he has two contenders in both sports, including the second best in each. Chances of winning both and having the Yankees fall: 2.8%

Scallet - I'm the only person left with a shot at all three remaining sports. I have two possibilities:

1. Phillies win World Series (+165) and either Texas wins the BCS championship (way too high at +500) or the Patriots win the Superbowl (also too high at +700).

2. The Angels win the Worlds Series and I win both football sides.

Chance of all Texas, the Phillies, and the Pats winning it all: .7% Chance of getting past Matt: 11.2%.

Therefore, Matt wins 85% of the time. However, there are a ton of points available in the NFL playoffs and there are probably some other chances for people to win - Ben winning the Zooooooonneeee league and having both the Steelers and Giants make a run, Pat getting a Boise State BCS championship over Alabama, etc. So it's probably closer to 80%.

Transactions this week

Time for some Cincinnati love...

AFC: drop Chargers, add Bengals

BCS: drop Mississippi, add Cincinnati Bearcats

Almost over . . .

I'm watching college football, so I'm spending too much time on this. There are 5 sports still to be played out. Here's how they stack up:

Women's tennis: I glanced at the final tournament Lyons picked for the year. It turns it it's one of those newfangled weird year-end tournaments where only the top eight players are invited. So far, Safina (Bussmann), Serena (Matt), Kuznetsova (Scallet), Wozniacki (unowned), Dementieva (Campbell), Azarenka (Pat), and Venus (Zig) are in. Either Jankovic (Ben) or Zvonereva (unowned) should get the last available spot. The format seems to mean that Serena's ceiling is a bit less than it had been. It's also possible she's still facing a suspension for threatening to ram that ball down the line judge's fucking throat.

MLB: It turns out that there's a ton of points in the setup here, so whoever wins is going to make a huge move. Consequently, Matt can ice the league (if he hasn't already) with a Yankees championship and the Yankees/Angels series is now huge. #2 Ben or #3 Hermann can cut Matt's lead in half with an Angels or Dodgers championship, respectively. Whoever wins the World Series will slide in behind Serena as #2 in the value list.

College Football: Everyone sucks except Alabama (Pat) and Florida (Campbell). No news there. Pat is looking very good with Alabama and Boise St. both very likely to make BCS bowls. Matt's TCU is undefeated and probably better than Boise, but faces a tougher schedule.

NFL: Who the hell knows. I'm only willing to declare two teams any good and they're the Giants (Ben) and the Colts (Pat).

Zoooonnneeeee: Power rankings based on record and roster:

First tier:

1.Mr. Mystery (Scallet) - only 3-2, but leads the league in points and has a devastating roster: Big Ben, both Steve Smiths, Welker and AP.

2. Founder (Hermann) - Not a great lineup, but has a 2 game lead in his division and that's worth a lot. Good WR depth, but his #1 RB is Ryan Grant or a banged up Barber.

3. Jorts (Ben) - A very deep team. Lacks a real star (not convinced on Turner), but has strong performers everywhere. Relying a bit too much on Schaub, maybe.

Not good, but doing something right:

4. Swank (unowned) - Has an underwhelming points score, but is 4-1. Has an intriguing lineup with Peyton, SJax, and Ray Rice. Relying on T.O. and Mario Manningham is a bad sign.

5. Praise Jesus (Brian) - Just respect for putting up 501 points. Only a 2-3 record and in this case, I think the record is more telling. Needs to trade Warner or Flacco for a 2nd RB. The mystifying Slaton for LT trade is crushing.

Very flawed:

6. Fancy Lads (unowned) - Unimpressive 2-3 record and hasn't put up too many points, but has 3 strong RB in Slaton, Brown, and Moreno and has the best performing WR duo in the league in Fitz and Bowe. (Favoritism)

Throw out the records:

7. Heater (Campbell) - Classic waiver team. 1-4 record has given him the first pick every week and he's made the most of it: Mendenhall, Driver (due to Coffee pickup), Saints (#1 D), and Celek. Three other guys are looking red hot: Pierre Thomas (if healthy), Braylon, Brandon Marshall. And he has Megatron. If Brady gets it together, this is the best team in the league. If not, it's second. Is still 3 games back of Founder.

8. Scissor Gang Mafia (Zig) - Is 3-2, but is lucky to be there. Has Rivers and Wayne, but Deangelo Williams is a question mark splitting carries and no one else has stepped up.

9. B+G (Pat) - Only down here for the 1-4 record. Is fourth in points and has a bunch of guys who should play better in the future: Forte, Jennings, Hester, and TonyG. If he had ay RB depth, would take this team over anyone aside from Graham and Campbell's going forward.

10. Heavily Favored Gangsters (Matt) - Is also 3-2, but has the second fewest points in the league. Still, if Mike Sims-Walker is a #1, has no holes, but only one top player in Andre Johnson.

Dregs:

11. Glory Holes (Bussmann) - On paper, I would take his best 3 guys against anyone in the league: Brees, Gore, and Vincent Jackson. In reality, he has started Cadillac Williams and Mewelde Moore two straight weeks.

12. Conatus (Lyons) - Will likely shatter the record for most times dwelling in the cellar. Has MJD, but I think 2/3 of his lineup was on the waiver wire at some point over the last week (not kidding - Garrard, Austin, Nate Washington, Feely, the Jags, and Visanthe "Junk" Shiancoe).

Transaction time again

BCS football - add Mississippi, drop Oklahoma.

Transactions

CFB: Drop Iowa, add Oklahoma

Standings updated

Finally updated the standings. All the MLB playoffs teams are in, the week in football is there, and, most importantly, I've given Lyons the 11 points he earned from his Royals bet with Brian.

Playoffs:

Angels (Ben)

Twins (Bussmann)

Yankees (Matt)

Red Sox (Zig)

Rockies (Bussmann)

Phillies (Scallet)

Cardinals (Campbell)

Dodgers (Hermann)

Transaction

CFB: Drop Penn St, add Iowa.

Football preview, Baseball

With a couple days left in the baseball season, all the drama is in the AL Central. The Tigers (Scallet) should hold a one game lead over the Twins (Bussmann) after tonight. And Lyons' bet with Brian is coming down to the wire as the Indians and the Royals should be tied for last heading into the weekend.

This may look silly, but one month into the college football season, there's only one possible conclusion. There are three good teams in the country and everybody else is garbage. So I say it all comes down to Florida (Campbell), Texas (Scallet), or Alabama (Pat).

On the other hand, the NFL is a lot more wide open.

One UFL matchup in college: #12 Houston (Lyons) at UTEP (Campbell)

#6 Virginia Tech (Lyons) at Duke, #7 USC (Brian) at Cal, Washington at Notre Dame (Brian), New Mexico at Texas Tech (Bussmann), East Carolina (Ben) at Marshall, # 9 OSU (Hermann) at Indiana, #21 Ole Miss (Zig) at Vandy, #15 Penn St. (Matt) at Illinois, SMU at #11 TCU, #3 Alabama (Pat) at Kentucky, UC Davis at #5 Boise (Pat)

Interesting NFL games: Ravens (Zig) at Pats (Scallet), Jets (Bussmann) at Saints (Brian), Chargers (Matt) at Steelers (Ben)

Why is stephen smith on msnbc talking about healthcare? Did i take a wrong turn on the way to around the horn?

Houston!

Value Rundown

At Matt's request, I spent a but of time updating the value sheet while watching college football today. In practice, I finished off golf, added in Tour de France results, and the LLWS. Though I think he wanted the update for more Serena-porn, I'm going to wait until the last tournament of the season at the end of October to do tennis.

Of interest:

Tiger ended up first in golf value, but only slightly ahead of Villegas. They slot in 5th and 6th in the overall rankings. I think Villegas is the only guy to make the cut in all 7 UFL tournaments.

LLWS champion, the US West make it to 14th.

Cycling's most valuable guy, Contador, ends up in 39th. All the points are clustered in winning tours, but Bussmann's Cavendish won so many stages he almost slipped in ahead of Menchov, the winner of the Giro.

At conclusion of vt game: drop kansas, add vtech.

By the way, boy of shit and chunder, as a genetic and social jew, the things i thought about your trade bait and switch today made me feel bad about myself.

Cards game will be so much better knowing that jill campbell's gorgeous eyes are undoubtably trained on it in person.

Football preview

Not the most interesting college football weekend of the year. Most interestingly, Zig has already taken a loss as #4 Ole Miss fell to South Carolina. The two biggest games are probably Houston (Lyons) and TCU (Matt) facing their biggest challenges against major conference teams. Houston is a pick 'em and TCU is a 2.5 point dog. The two UFL matchups:

Texas Tech (Bussmann) at #17 Houston (Lyons), UTEP (Campbell) at #2 Texas (Scallet),

Southern Miss at #20 Kansas (Lyons); Washington St. at #12 USC (Brian), Notre Dame (Brian) at Purdue, Missouri (Ben) at Nevada tonight, Illinois at #13 OSU (Hermann), Fresno St. (Hermann) at #14 Cincy, #1 Florida (Campbell) at Kentucky, Colorado St at #19 BYU (Zig), Iowa at #5 Penn St. (Matt), #15 TCU (Matt) at Clemson (Matt), Louisville at Utah (Scallet), Arkansas at #3 Alabama (Pat), #8 Boise St. at Bowling Green (Pat).

UFL matchups in the NFL:

Falcons (Pat) at NE (Scallet), Jets (Bussmann) at Titans (Campbell), Dolphins (Lyons) at Chargers (Matt). There might be a couple others, but I'm not looking that closely.

Transactions, Lyons the Dwella, Football

Standings are updated.

Pat is making a big time move in football. His college and pro teams are a combined 10-0. I'm not positive, but I'm pretty sure everyone else has lost at least one NFL and one college game. Also, Pat's Boise State came out of last weekend looking great with BYU and Utah both losing. That likely narrows down competition for one BCS slot to Boise, TCU, and maybe Houston.

Two Lyons related pieces of news:

1. The Royals are on a tear and are out of last place, endangering his windfall from Brian.

2. Though Lyons certainly deserved dwella designation for his team's performance, I would also like to add that he left the Zone after ONE HALF to go home and TAKE A NAP. On one hand, I was impressed by his alcohol consumption, but on the other was disappointed at his being such a bitch.

In my favorite transaction of the season, I'm cutting the Fancy Lads and grabbing Graham's team.

Football preview and baseball playoff odds

No real big college football games this weekend. I'd say the two biggest storylines are whether Ben can actually get to .500 with his college teams (1-3 now) and 3 challenges for the 3 leading non-BCS teams. There are two UFL matchups: Texas Tech (Bussmann) at #2 Texas (Scallet), but if Lyons hadn't driven Bussmann away, he certainly would have a better college team right now. Texas is -18 here. Also tonight's Boise St. (Pat) at Fresno St. (Hermann) where the spread is BSU -7.5.

Big games: #18 Utah (Scallet) at Oregon, #10 Boise St. (Pat) at Fresno St. (Hermann), and Florida St. at #7 BYU (Zig).

Cupcake city: Duke at #22 Kansas (Lyons), #3 USC (Brian) at Washington, Michigan St. at Notre Dame (Brian), Hawaii (Busmann) at UNLV, Furman at Missouri (Ben), East Carolina (Ben) at #24 UNC, #11 Ohio St. (Hermann) at Toldeo, Tennessee at #1 Florida (Campbell), UTEP (Campbell) at New Mexico St., SE LA at #5 Mississippi (Zig), Temple at #5 Penn St. (Matt), Texas St. at #15 TCU (Matt), North Texas at #4 Alabama (Pat).

Aside from UNLV-Hawaii, none of the spreads for these games are in the single digits.

No big NFL games really. Giants (Ben) at Cowboys (Zig) could go a long way to deciding the NFC East.

And some quick MLB odds on making the playoffs from Baseball Prospectus:

Lyons
Padres 0
Royals 0

Brian
Cubs .45%
A's 0

Bussmann
Rockies 86.4%
Twins 16.1 %

Ben
Mil 0
Angels 96.6%

Hermann
Dodgers 99.9%
Rays 0

Campbell
Cards 99.8%
Rangers 4.4 %

Zig
Giants 5.1%
Red Sox 99.2 %

Matt
Braves 7.6%
Yankees 99.99 %

Scallet
Phillies 98.8%
Tigers 81.4%

Pat
Astros 0
White Sox 2.4%

Transactions 9/18

Drop OK State- Add Mizzou. Yeah I said it. They have to beat Furman right?..

Just in Case Dan Doesn't read the Zone Board

Also, have any of you noticed that the simple ability to comment on a specific post makes the UFL board far superior to CBS?
Anyway, for Dan's edification:
By Zig
For this Dwella I had to think outside the Cella. With so many bad teams this year picking this week was not easy. Campbell was very close but his Cards trivia and Tom Brady 25 saved him in the end. Patty for his Hasselbeck hate and terrible fantasy advice was also a prime target but he gets a pass and a week 1 loss….for now. Al-never make the playoffs Bauer I just expect to score no points and lose each week so nothing new their. You see I have a talent…. some call it a gift… for spotting Cella Dwella’s. With that said, I fear some of you might not have the vision for spotting this weeks Dwella but believe me when I tell you he exists. For I have seen him many times in many places. Not only does this C-Dwell exist but he also has a foul mouth when it comes to talking about other people’s fantasy football teams especially ones that make the playoffs and win championships. This Dwella has gone under the radar way to long and must be exposed early in the season for being the worst kind of a Dwella, a behind the scene Dwella that uses charts, pen and paper, blogs and other things to obtain worthless football stats to justify his poor fantasy play. He even lives in the shadows of the DDDDDAAAA ZZZZZOOOOONNNNEEEEE among us. This my friends, ends today. Fantasorian mark down this landmark day in the record books, a day in which I have finally exposed a hidden Cella Dwella among us whose Dwella’s ways have gone unpunished for way to long. That’s right Dwella Dan, I know you read these posts and I know you drafted that thing Troy’s calls his “team.” You want to mastermind Troys team? Then you pay the price when his team blows. You sir, are this weeks Cella Dweller. A 44 point loss with a lame 76 points (my bench had that many points) and what company to be in with that low Cella score Al, Campbell, and Bo-Sac (to bad Serena Williams doesn’t play football) Troy look who he drafted for you….Ole Man LT, Cutler, 2 Players from the Chiefs…..Man what did you do to make this Dwella so angry at you in the off season? And my favorite part take a look at Troy’s bench…wait don’t bother because their is nothing to fucking see. So Dwella Dan welcome to the Cella Believe

Zone history

I think it's possible to reconstruct a lot of Zooooooone fantasy history from a couple pages. All the Yahoo league scores can be found in your profiles here: http://profiles.sports.yahoo.com/. The CBS sports one might be tougher, but my league keeps this info, so it's possible. The help mentions a league record book and includes this:

Commissioner Only Features:

Add New Record - Located at the bottom of the Standings/Record Book page. Use this feature to create records that you can keep track of manually. They will show up along with all the otherrecords in the record book page. As with all commissioner-edited records, these will appear on the report in red text.

Edit - Allows you to change the values of the Record Book page. When you override a record, the system will continue to calculate the actual record based on the information it gets. So if you change your mind, you can just delete the override and the original record will then appear. Commissioner edited records will appear on the report in red.

* If you edit a Record Book entry that was created with the "Add New Record Feature," the previous data will be overwritten by your new entry and will not be recoverable

Transactions 9/11

Drop Oklahoma add Oklahoma State.

Not sure of the final ruling, but i'd like myself in Zooooone.  If that doesn't work, I'll take the Fancy Lads

Oh and fantasy teams

If anyone wants a specific team, name it here. I'm going to randomly deal the remaining ones out on my own before Sunday.

Football (ZOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE)

College football week one review:

Winner: Zig's BYU. An easy call after their victory over Oklahoma. Boise State (Pat) got the big win over Oregon and looked likely for the BCS, but BYU's win trumped them easily. Since I have a hard time seeing two non-BCS teams in the BCS, that was a tough break for Boise. If BYU, Utah (Scallet), or TCU (Matt) can run the table in the Mountain West Conference, they should have the edge.

Loser: Oklahoma (Ben) - Self evident. A brutal blow.

College Football Week 2 Preview:

Big game: #3 USC (Brian) vs. #8 Ohio State (Hermann)

Other big game - Hermann wars against himself (if he still cared about the UFL) when his Fresno St. takes on Wisconsin.

Other games: South Carolina vs. #21 Georgia (Lyons), #18 Notre Dame (Brian) vs. Michigan, Idaho St. vs. #13 Oklahoma (Ben), Troy vs. #1 Florida (Campbell), #24 Kansas at UTEP (Campbell), #9 BYU (Zig) vs. Tulane, Syracuse at #7 Penn St (Matt), #16 TCU vs. Virginia, #2 Texas (Scallet) vs. Wyoming, #17 Utah vs. San Jose St., Florida Int vs. #4 Alabama, Miami (OH) vs #12 Boise St. (Pat)

And of course, there is some Zone action Sunday.

Complete list of UFL players left in the US Open:

Serena Williams

Transactions 8/31-9/4

Drop VT/Add Penn State

LLWS - Tennis - College Football

Ziggy has triumphed in the LLWS. Chula Vista or whatever pretty much dominated the tournaments and I eagerly await learning how many 17 year-old kids they had.

The US Open is ongoing. Everyone is undefeated with the exception of Brian's Mauresmo.

And college football starts up tomorrow and heads through the weekend. A quick preview:

Biggest game: #5 Alabama (Pat) vs. #7 Virginia Tech (Lyons) - Awesome betting opportunity here. Alabama is 6.5 point favorite.

Other UFL matchup - #20 BYU (Zig) vs. #3 Oklahoma (Ben) - Another betting opportunity, though Oklahoma is favored by 22.

Big games: #13 Georgia (Matt) vs. #9 Oklahoma St.

#16 Oregon vs. #14 Boise St. (Pat) - probably determines BSU's BCS hopes right here.

Other games: Tulsa (Lyons) vs. Tulane, San Jose St. vs #4 USC (Brian), Nevada vs. #23 Notre Dame (Brian), Central Arkansas at Hawaii (Bussmann), North Dakota at Texas Tech (Bussmann), Appalachian State at East Carolina (Ben), Navy vs. #6 Ohio St. (Hermann), Charleston Southern (Cupcake U.) vs. #1 Florida (Campbell), Buffalo at UTEP (Campbell), #8 Mississippi (Zig) vs. Memphis, LA Monroe vs. #2 Texas (Scallet), Utah St. at #19 Utah (Scallet)

Of note

- Odds are out for the LLWS finals today. To my surprise, Ben's Taipei is a decent-sized favorite.

- The US Open starts tomorrow, meaning Matt will get a little more cushion in his lead.

- Hop in the City is September 19th. After last year's epic showing, I suggest everyone go.

Who would thought the LLWS West would be the team to beat?

I wait I did......Chula Vista all the way. Let freedom ring. Bean and his red fraction team have no biz in these UFL parts. Tomorrow my UFL team beats Bean. 2 weeks from now my Fantasy Football team is going to beat Bean again Week #1 at DDAAA ZZOOONNEEE. Chula Vista I believe.

Fantasy Draft Upcoming - LLWS Semis - Standings

News and notes:

- If anyone is unaware, the ZOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNEEEEEEEEEEE draft is this Sunday.

- LLWS semis are set. It's San Antonio (Bussmann) vs. Chula Vista (Ziggy) and Taiwan (Ben) vs. Mexico (unowned). Chula Vista won a war over Lyons' Georgia team.

- Standings are updated. Of note is that Ben has moved past Pat into second place.

Into the 2nd Round of the LLWS Is... / Transactions if you have them

Georgia (Lyons)

Staten Island (Bosac)

San Antonio (Bussmann)

Chula Vista (Ziggy)

Willemstad, Curacao (Hermann)

Chiba City, Japan (Scallet)

Taoyuan, Chinese Taipei (Ben)

Reynosa, Tampaulipas, Mexico (unowned)

Yes, almost a perfect record showing from 9 guys who (hopefully) know nothing about Little League Baseball. Only "Campbell's" MEA and Pat's Venezuela team fell short and Pat's team was clearly the best not to advance - they lost by one run to two of the better teams in the tournament, Japan and Curacao.

Based on the first few days, I'd say the teams to bet are Chula Vista (Zig), Curacao (Herman), Georgia (Lyons), and San Antonio (Bussmann). Curacao has the best pair of wins over Japan and Venezuela. Chula Vista and San Antonio have been unhittable, only giving up one run between them. And Georgia has probably the best win in the tournament in their victory over Staten Island. San Antonio and Chula Vista still have a game to play in the first round, which should be interesting.

Way too much time spent on the LLWS here.

Ted DiBiase Worried About Current Status Of His Million Dollars

BEL, CA—Once known for his extravagant spending and diamond-studded outfits, former professional wrestler "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase has reportedly fallen on hard times, admitting Tuesday that he did not know the exact status of his $1 million fortune. "Well, the economy has been real bad lately, and Virgil has made some terrible investments over the years," said DiBiase, shaking his head and adding that he hadn't slowly counted a stack of bills in the backseat of a limousine in more than a decade. "I also lost track of where my briefcase is, and that had about $5,000 plus a bunch of IOUs in it." DiBiase went on to claim that "everybody has a price," and said he was currently accepting offers to kiss people's feet for $100.

Iowa threatening after two errors on one play.

Georgia up by three against iowa in the fourth. Iowa pitcher looks like he might cry. I love little league.

LLWS Heads Up

This starts tomorrow and ends August 30th. First, everyone's teams and pools:

Lyons: SE US - Warner Robins, GA - Pool A
Brian: Midwest US - Urbandale, IA - Pool A
Bussmann: SW US - San Antonio, TX - Pool B
Ben: Asia-Pacific - Taoyuan, Taiwan - Pool D
Hermann: Caribbean - Willemstad, Curacao - Pool C
"Campbell": MEA - Dhahran, Saudi Arabia (Obvious scrubs)
Ziggy: West USA - Chula Vista, CA - Pool B
Matty: Mid-Atlantic - Staten Island - Pool A
Scallet: Japan - Chiba City - Pool C
Pat: Latin America - Maracaibo, Venezuela - Pool C

Two teams from each pool move on to the Quarterfinals where teams from groups A+B and C+D play each other until two remain. Then the US team plays the world team in the finals.

I was looking everywhere for odds on who would win, but apparently there aren't enough Lyons-style degenerates to gamble on 13 year-olds this year. Or maybe the odds will just show up tomorrow. Things to look out for:

- This is Bussmann's number one pick. I'm not positive, but I think the last team to win the LLWS from his region was 33 years ago. He deserves to finish below "Campbell."
- MEA is obvious garbage. I am dubious of any team from Iowa as well.
- I am unilaterally declaring the favorites to be Warner Robins (Lyons) and Willemstad (Hermann) since they won two and five years ago respectively. The Western US (Ziggy) and Japan (me) have also done pretty well lately as regions, though not these specific teams, so I'm calling them the sleepers. Also Maracaibo (Pat) won 9 years ago so they have some history of success too.

Bosac ruining league

Standings are updated. The PGA Championship has ended, finishing off golf for the UFL season. UFL golfers did alright, with my Tiger finishing second and Matt's Rory McIlroy finishing third. Bussman's Harrington made the top 10 and Ben's Vijay Singh finished in the top 20.

We now eagerly (not really) awaiting the LLWS, which is imminent. As for the league as a whole, it would actually be kind of interesting if Matt weren't killing everyone. Someone is going to have to essentially run the table in college and pro football to take this thing away from him. That is, assuming he doesn't win the World Series with the current favorite, the Yankees.

Still-Rattled Padraig Harrington Wears Golf Shoes To Airport, Gets On Wrong Flight, Forgets Name

Still-Rattled Padraig Harrington Wears Golf Shoes To Airport, Gets On Wrong Flight, Forgets Name
August 13, 2009 Onion Sports
http://www.theonion.com/content/news/still_rattled_padraig_harrington?utm_source=a-section

Updates - Transactions

Standings are updated. Upcoming schedule:

8/13 - PGA Championship

8/21 - Little League World Series

8/31 - US Open (Tennis)

Updates and Transactions 7/27 - 8/2

I have updated the standings from my vacation on Prince Edward Island, Canada. Yes, my lonely devotion to the UFL foolishly extends that far. Not much has happened beyond Contador's victory in the Tour de France propelling me to a pretty secure 5th place. The Yankees do threaten to extend Bosac's lead even out of reach of the massive points awarded to the BCS champion, but it's a long season.

Most importantly, we're six weeks from ZOOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNEEEEEEEEE season.

Standings Updated / Transactions7-19 to 7-26

Just updated the standings for the first time in about a week. What's happened:

- Everyone got killed in the British Open except Lyons' Villegas who finished 13th. No one else finished in the top 30. My number one pick, Tiger, of course missed the cut entirely.

- My cyclist Contador has won two stages of the Tour de France and should win the race pretty easily. No one else's cyclist has won a stage since the last update.

- Lyons' cyclist Danilo Di Luca got busted for doping, the first UFLer to do so.

- Baseball went on as it always does. Matty's Yankees had a good week.

All-Star Weekend Party Footage from Sunday Night

Good thing they left Ryan Howard out of this footage, that guy likes to drink.

Someone Bring a Dry Erase Marker to Sloshball

I have a dry erase board that we can keep track of the score on but it needs a marker.

Brutal day at the british open. Tiger just double bogied.

Brutal day at the british open. Tiger just double bogied.

Hermann wins All Star bonus, needs new golfer

Hermann has won the least consequential bonus in the UFL as Carl Crawford won the MVP of the All Star game. In other news, the British Open starts tomorrow and Tiger is a heavy favorite. Otherwise, quiet.

Transactions 7/13 to 7/19

Hermann, I'd suggest dumping Mickelson who isn't playing any more tournaments this year, especially since the British Open starts in a couple days.

Celtics pick up rasheed wallace. I think i already know my first round pick for next year.

Paul "P Diddy" Davis Cell #

For those wishing to contact Paul before Sloshball to hang out with him here is his cell # while he is in the United States for the next two weeks. (773) 627-9798 Again he is in town from July 14th-21st

His new nickname is "Sloshball" Paul

Updates/Belated Transactions 7/6-7/13

Standings are updated. Nothing much is going on. Bussman's Cavendish has won 2 stages in the Tour de France and I gave my Contador, Patty's LiveStrong, and "Campbell's" Leiphammer credit for winning a team stage together. My understanding of the race is that it's increasingly between my Contador and Pat's Armstrong. The two guys are on the same team and it's an open question if Armstrong is willing to step aside to assist Contador, the presumed favorite and team leader.

Coming up is the British Open next week and after that, nothing.

New Location Secured for Sloshball

Kayla really went above and beyon and scored us a field at Shaw Park. Alchohol is allowed, just no bottles, which is fine for our purposes. The bases will already be set up when we get there. the price is higher, $120, but that's Clayton for you. Hopefully we can each throw her some money in the next week or so to defray that cost. The field is either 5 or 6, she'll know when she get the contract

Paddy Gets His Wish--We Won't have the same Sloshball field as last time..

"I will not be able to get a permit before Monday. I do suggest that we secure a real baseball diamond with plenty of room in the outfield for me to lay into a Ziegfried ephus pitch, or ZEP for short. Lyons, I am sure that you will be able to get a permit somewhere in Tower Grove on Monday. Agains, lets not get stuck on the same field as last year. Go Baseball!"

Well, we won't be stuck with that shitty field, because Kayla just called to tell me that Tower Grove called her back today to say that all the fields are booked for the 18th. I know you are all TERRIBLY busy with your important lives, but if you could take a moment to reflect of what parks will let us have a keg that would be great.

Serena way ahead

Serena beat Venus pretty easily this morning extending both Matt's lead and her own in the value list. Even with two tournaments left, she's already completely lapping the field.

Tour de France Preview / Post-Sloshball event?

Run down of Tour de France contenders in order of their odds. Hermann, Lyons, and Matt, feel free to take 5 seconds and grab someone on the list. If Bussmann were here, he'd tell me why my 15 seconds of googling wasn't enough for a decent preview.

The favorite is Contador, who I own. Has been dominant, winning all three major tours the past couple years. Has been tangentially tied to a much of scandals (as I just learned from his wikipedia page), so he is probably doping and even more likely to win.

Other contenders: Lance Armstrong (Patty's) who is generally second in the odds. He looked unremarkable in the Giro, but was hurt and may not have been trying. Hard to dismiss his record of success.

Andy Schleck (Zig) - Probably a future champ, but is young and doesn't do anything better than Contador. Among the best climbers, but weak in time trials.

Cadel Evans (unowned) - Strong cyclist and perfectly suited for the course, but kind of a choker.

Menchov (unowned) - won the Giro, so on fire. However that was a weak race and Contador has owned him. Probably isn't in peak condition having peaked for the Giro as well.

Sastre (unowned) - Lasts year's winner. Good rider, but lacks the team to win this time.

Leiphammer (Campbell) - Lots of talent, but has never put it together. Has tools to win, but is also playing 3rd banana on his team behind Contador and Armstrong.





And for a possible post-Sloshball event: the debut of Rick Ankiel wines at The Wine and Cheese Place! July 18th, 8-11 PM. Limited edition wine box comes complete with "The Winebat™ (Rick's game model Rawlings bat, hand-stained with "Hill Harvest Red" wine stain and autographed by Rick)."

Soshball Executive Counsel Business

Gentlemen, we have little more than a fortnight to prepare for the coming Slosh. I depart tomorrow for the islands to drink rum and abuse the local women. Can someone else on the Executive Council perhaps secure a permit for Sloshball?
I'm getting worried and I won't be able to do it before Monday. The buzz on facebook is going well (I know none of you are on facebook, so I tell you here) and I think this might be our biggest ever. I'll front the money for two kegs when the time comes, but someone else needs to reserve us a good field quick! Volunteers?
Oh, Paul Davis says he's coming and it didn't seem like a joke.

Wimbledon update - Huge showdown tomorow - Transactions 6/29 - 7/5

Serena (Matt), Safina (Bussmann), Dementieva (Campbell), Venus (Zig), and Azarenka (Pat) have all made the quarterfinals of Wimbledon. In the biggest tennis match in UFL history, Matt's Serena will take on Pat's Azarenka tomorrow morning. If Serena goes on to win the tournament, I think Matt would open the biggest lead of the year, but an Azarenka win would get Pat within 20 points. It's a long way to the finals, but this is still a big showdown.

Sloshball July 18

I think I got everyone through either facebook or email, but Sloshball is on for July 18 and has been officially announced.

Couple more drop

Mauresmo (Brian), Safina (Bussmann), Petrova (Hermann), Dementieva (Campbell), Venus (Zig), Serena (Matt), and Azarenka (Pat) into the 4th round. Jankovic (Ben) and Kuznetsova (me) join Sharapova (Lyons) on the sideline. Especially bitter for me since I just dropped Ivanovic who's still alive.

To Soon????????

You Hear Michael Jackson Died of Food Poisoning?

He Ate A 9 Year Old Wiener

Very quick Wimbledon update

Everyone into the 3rd round except Lyons' Sharapova. Thought she had a chance to win it too.

Transactions 6/22 to 6/28 - US Open - Wimbledon

Put your transactions here.

US Open turned out a lot better for the UFL than it seemed after the second round. Hermann's Mickelson placed 2nd, while my Tiger, Zig's Garcia, and Matt's McIlroy all finished in the top 10. Anthony Kim and Singh got their owners a few points too.

Also, Wimbledon started today. Sharapova, Serena, Dementieva, Azarenka, and Petrova all advanced without losing a set. The other 5 players are going tomorrow.

US Open Update

Just a quick update on the US Open. Everyone made the cut except Brian's Padraig Harrington. Otherwise, not much notable. No one is in close contention and everyone still has a chance to get some decent points.

12. Mickelson (Hermann) -1

16. Ogilivy ("Campbell) E

16. Sergio (Ziggy) E

24. Furyk (Pat) +1

34. McIllroy (Matt) +2

34. Villegas (Lyons) +2

34. Kim (Bussmann) +2

41. Tiger (Me) +3

51. Singh (Ben) +4

137. Harrington (Brian) +12

Bean you like these guys?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkeZ2P4SiY8

I heard these guys are touring with Jay-Z this summer.

Check out 2:50 into video the Soulja Boy reference is classic.

The worst part is this shit is real.

Transactions 6/15 to 6/21

-----

Phase one over

Ben's Lakers take the NBA title and move him into a reasonably strong third place. Incidentally, if anyone cares, the Lakers also move into the top spot as the most valuable team in the UFL this season, though I'm pretty sure whoever wins the BCS championship will end up with the top spot.

As a refresher, when the UFL began three major sports were ongoing and now all three have ended. Ben's Lakers, the second NBA team picked, won the NBA championship while Hermann's Tar Heels were the first NCAA team picked and won their championship. On the flip side, Matt picked up the Penguins about 2/3 of the way through the season. Oh and I just looked up the soccer teams and Matt won with Barcelona who were the third team picked after Lyons' ManU and Bussmann's random Roma pick. And Brian won the WBC with Japan who was the third team picked after Lyons' USA and Zig's Cuba.

I don't know why I figured that out, but at least I realized that Lyons picked the first NBA, UEFA, and WBC team and got no championships out of any of them.

Golf US open starts on Thursday, Wimbledon a week from Monday.

Cutting time

Advice for everyone:

Lyons, you should drop the Padres and pick up the Reds. They're not particularly good, but are several games better and have at least a little potential.

Brian, you should drop Mauresmo and grab Kuznetsova or Wozniacki. Cause Mauresmo is awful.

Bussmann, you should drop Anthony Kim and grab Retief Goosen. Good history at the Open and Kim has been pretty bad.

Ben, you have few holes, but you should drop Cunego and grab Andy Schleck, whoever he is.

Hermann, cut Petrova and get any decent tennis player. Kuznetsova, Wozniacki, Zvonavera, anyone.

Zig, cut the Marlins and grab the Reds or Giants. Or grab the cyclist Cadel Evans.

Matt, cut your cyclist and grab one of the previously mentioned ones or Menchov.

I might grab one of the tennis players.

Pat, cut the White Sox and go for Toronto.

That's all.

Viva los penguinos!!!!

Now that's what I'm talking about.

Real Madrid looks like the team to beat in '09-'10 UEFA

June 12, 2009
Section: B
For Real Madrid, Spending Grows
ROB HUGHESCristiano Ronaldo, soccer's world player of the year in 2008, is set to join Kaka at Real Madrid, completing a groundbreaking outlay of more than $220 million over four days for two of the world's best players. On Thursday, English champion Manchester United announced that it had accepted $131.5 million to sell Ronaldo to Real Madrid. It is the highest transfer fee ever paid in soccer. The move came three days after Real Madrid completed its $92 million bid to buy the Brazilian star Kaka from A.C. Milan. Ronaldo, a 24-year-old Portuguese wing, will command at least the equivalent salary of Kaka, $12.8 million a year. In addition, both players will share with Real Madrid any income the club can generate in merchandise sales using their image. Once salary and other terms are agreed upon and Ronaldo's contract is written -- by June 30, according to Manchester United's announcement -- it will value one player more highly than the entire amount that Newcastle United, an English club, has been put on the market for. Real Madrid could make it three in a week by concluding the purchase of David Villa, the Spanish striker who is the top goal scorer likely to be available on the global market.

You Think This Will Be In 2009 Summer Clayton Alumi Newsletter?

St. Louisan is Suspect in Holocaust Museum Murder

James Von Brunn Graduated Clayton High in 1938, Wash U in 1943

Interminable bet update; Game 7

If you have this blog set to email you comments, you no doubt remember Lyons and Brian having a never-ending negotiation on a bet that pays Lyons if the Royals finish in last place. At the time, the Royals were 20-18 and a game behind the first place Tigers. Well, since then they've gone 4-15 and have indeed ended up in last place. Way to go Lyons on your terrible squad!

Also, we're looking at game 7 in the Stanley Cup playoffs on Friday (yes, inexplicably that long a wait). A Red Wings win and Ziggy gets 52 points to move into 5th place. If Matt and the Penguins win, he'll finally get past Patty and open up a 50 point lead, one that won't be threatened at least until the LLWS in August and probably not until October.

Updates

The lack of post belies the lack of news in the league. Basically, the Stanley Cup is tied at 2 and if Matt's Penguins win, he'll open a lead that will likely last until October. Unowned Kuznetsova won the French Open and nothing else is going on aside from the NBA finals. In a couple weeks, the golf US Open and Wimbledon will be happening simultaneously, so that should be the next big event.

I freaked out over po daddy s ankle. But, apparently he is indestructible.

Transactions 6/1 to 6/7

Everything should be pretty quiet for the foreseeable future, but maybe someone will want to make one.

Power Rankings

While watching a movie (Mickey Rourke's Angel Heart), I've sketched out some power rankings for the league. Here they are. Will they be more accurate that Lyons's last attempt? Probably. Keep in mind that overwhelming balance of points will be earned in the NFL and NCAA football where predictions are shaky at best.

Contenders:

1. Pat - Currently owns the lead and has two aces in the hole in Boise State and the Indianapolis Colts. Azarenka seems like she'll contend in the remaining tournaments and he should get some points from Alabama football and the New York Mets.

2. BenBounce - I think he should have little problem making this very close. He has far and away the best NFL tandem with the Steelers and the Giants and also has Oklahoma anchoring his college football duo. His chances probably rest with whether Oklahoma can actually win a bowl game or if the Angels can turn it around while the Brewers hold on.

3. Schnuck - Possibly favoritism, but I'm holding onto the best college football duo with Texas and Utah and back that up with the Super Bowl favorite New England Patriots. Throw in the best golfer (Tiger), the best cyclist (Contador), a strong LLWS team (Japan), and the only team with two first place MLB teams (Detroit and Philadelphia) and I think I should leapfrog a number of teams in front of me.

4. Born Again Gangstas - Currently in second place and could easily be in first soon with Serena and the Penguins in contention for serious points. Has some interesting teams behind that with the Eagles, TCU, and the Yankees. Think he'll need some serious points from the Yankees and another major championship from Serena to win.

Outside looking in:

5. 2 Cats - Currently near the top, but I don't see enough to keep him there. Has two strong cards to play in the Dodgers (certainly the most valuable MLB team) and Ohio State, but behind that he's relying on some shaky bets like the Rays, the Broncos, and the Bears.

6. Zooooooone - A team with no real weaknesses aside from the Marlins and is the favorite to take the Stanley Cup with the Red Wings, but I don't see any potential championship teams aside from the Red Sox. Still, Ole Miss, BYU, the Ravens, and the Cowboys should rack him up some points and he could make some moves with a little luck.

Unlikely:

7. Conatus - Suffered some bad luck with the Celtics and Manchester United and is running on fumes now. His MLB teams are weak (Padres and Royals) and I wouldn't expect much from the Miami Dolphins. Virginia Tech should rack up some points and Tulsa is an interesting team, but I think he needs a Vikings championship to get near the top.

8. "Campbell" - Could get an Orlando Magic championship and has two strong MLB contenders in the Cardinals and the Rangers. Throw in Florida, the college football favorites, and an intriguing Tennessee Titans team and "he's" got a chance to finish in real contention. Still, I think there's too much of a chance that one of "his" teams washes out and "he'll" be stuck with them since "Campbell" can't make moves. Still, if everything breaks right "he" could win this.

No Chance:

9. Team A - I don't see much shot at contention in the NFL with New Orleans or Texas, and has two slumping MLB teams with Oakland and the Cubs. Though the Cubs should make a run and he also has USC, there just isn't enough to get back in the game.

10. Pineapple - A clear last place. Nothing in the NFL or the major leagues and has only mediocre college football teams.

Various updates

Well, as usual Pat has temporarily beaten back any challengers to this throne as Azarenka has cruised, even beating my tennis player, defending champion Ana Ivanovic this morning. It also looks like Lyons has made an astute pickup in Sharapova as she's in the quarters as well. The number one seed, Busmann's Safina, is through too, while Matt's Serena and Ben's Jankovic will both play tomorrow.

My cyclist Denis Menchov won the Giro. Lyons finished second with Di Luca.

And the NBA finals are set with Ben's Lakers taking on "Campbell's" Magic. It should be a tossup.

Patty Should Buy These......

So Fresh, so Clean

http://www.zazzle.com/bacon_shoes_-167779678983910350

Pat shouldn't look back . . .

Cause Matt is right behind him. Pat's tennis player, Azarenka, has a match suspended which is tied at one set apiece. If she loses tomorrow, Serena will be very likely to put Matt in first within the next couple days. And if the Cavs don't come back and Matt wins the Stanley Cup with the Penguins, we'll all be looking up at him for the foreseeable future.

'Angry' Man Utd fan kills four in bus attack

http://www.cnn.com/2009/SPORT/05/28/nigeria.death.united.barcelona/index.html

Matt wins Champions League, Stanley Cup Final Set

Barcelona defeated Manchester United 2-0 today giving Matt the 50 point bonus and propelling him into a strong second place. He's also got the Penguins in the Stanley Cup final who'll be facing Ziggy's Red Wings. Ziggy, I've given you the points you won from me in our bet.

Fuck

Leprosy Update

Almost six months ago Herman bested me in an argument over whether or not Leprosy still exists. It was the last time I lost an argument and I am still smarting. However, as Leprosy is apparently the last topic about which I do not already know everything, I have been researching it voraciously ever since. Here then is an update on the Alpha of leprosy, since we've already covered the fact that it hasn't yet Omega-ed:

5/27/09 N.Y. Times A62009 WLNR 10006959
New York Times (NY)
Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
May 27, 2009
Section: A
A Skeleton 4,000 Years Old Bears Evidence of Leprosy
NICHOLAS WADEThe oldest known skeleton showing signs of leprosy has been found in India and may help solve the puzzle of where the disease originated. The skeleton, about 4,000 years old, was found at the site of Balathal, near Udaipur in northwestern India. Historians have long considered the Indian subcontinent to be the source of the leprosy that was first reported in Europe in the fourth century B.C., shortly after the armies of Alexander the Great returned from India. The skeleton is described in the journal PLoS One by Gwen Robbins, an anthropologist at Appalachian State University, and colleagues in India. The authors say the skull shows signs of erosion typical of leprosy. The authors say their find confirms that a passage in the Atharva Veda, a set of Sanskrit hymns written around 1550 B.C., indeed refers to leprosy, a reading that had been doubted because until now the oldest accepted written accounts of the disease were from the sixth century B.C. The bacterium that causes leprosy seemed to have spread worldwide from a single clone, biologists reported three years ago. But for lack of sufficient samples, they could not tell whether the bacterium was disseminated when modern humans first left Africa about 50,000 years ago, or spread from India in more recent times. Other biologists have contended that because the bacterium is not very transmissible, requiring prolonged intimate contact between people, it would not have started to spread until around the third millennium B.C., when people started living in dense populations in cities and long-distance trade sprang up. Helen D. Donoghue, an infectious disease specialist at University College London, said the new finding was fascinating and fit in with the theory that Alexander's army had brought leprosy back from its campaigns in India. This was the right period for leprosy to have spread from India to Europe, Samuel Mark, an anthropologist at Texas A&M, argued in an article in 2002. But he doubted that Alexander's troops were the mode of transmission. More likely, in his view, is the possibility that leprosy arrived with women imported as slaves by ship from India to Egypt. Dr. Robbins said she planned to extract ancient bacterial DNA from the Indian skeleton and hoped it might resolve how the disease originated.

UEFA final imminent

Just a headsup that the Champions League final between Manchester United (Lyons) and Barcelona (Matt) will start around 1:45. Also, I didn't realize until I just looked at the results, but we had our first UFL matchup in the French Open with Lyons's new pickup Sharapova edging out Hermann's Petrova 8-6 in the 3rd set.

Summaries and Updates

The standings are updated through tennis this afternoon. So far, the only player to fall is Brian's Mauresmo, though Venus, Ivanovic, and Sharapova all ran into a few problems here and there.

In the Giro, "Campbell's" Leiphammer stumbled today leaving it a two man race between my Menchov and Lyons's Di Luca. The tour ends this weekend.

The NBA playoffs remain very interesting. Pat has the best team, but it's increasingly clear that his Cavs match up terribly with "Campbell's" Magic. If Ben's Lakers get a win tonight, he'll be favored to move into a strong second place.

Champion's League final on Wednesday. Lyons v. Matt.

Jose Canseco's Japanese mixed martial arts fight is happening sometime well after midnight tonight, airing on HD Net. Do not be surprised to wake up and read he's in the hospital. Or maybe the fight will be fixed.

Finally, looking for something to do while watching the Cavs and Magic last night, I messed around with the spreadsheet and came up with a page ranking the value of every real-life team so far. Basically, I used a spreadsheet to figure out how many points each team has earned in all the UFL sports so far, then calculated the baseline for each sport (the value of the 10th ranked team since there are 10 UFL members), and calculated every team's value over that baseline. As one would expect, the Tar Heels are first at this point being the only team to win a major championship. Whoever wins the NBA title should vault into first place comfortably. You can view that here.

The "absolute golf" tab is done only because it turns out that golf follows a different model than the other sports. Where it's almost certain that UFL members will identify the 10 or so best teams in the NBA, NCAA, or even the 10 best female tennis players , no one could predict that Angel Cabrera and Ian Poulter would rack up comparable points to Tiger and Mickelson. Consequently I felt it offered a better estimate of their value to compare golfers to the 10th best reasonably prominent player rather than the 10th best overall. That's where everyone is ranked. The absolute column is what you get if assume perfect knowledge at the draft and calculate their value from the 10th best overall.

Transactions 5/25 to 5/31

Somebody pick up the Blue Jays.

Don't forget the Frenc

French Open starts May 24th. And Sharapova is almost certain to compete (10th best odds to win, so they must figure she'll enter.) This might be my favorite Sharapova picture ever. It is not hard at all to imagine my hand holding that ankle in the air.

Immediate future preview

The standings are updated to the minute. Of note is that with the exception of Hermann, the teams at the top are all in serious contention to expand their lead greatly over the next few weeks. And Hermann at least has the Dodgers, the closest thing to a sure-thing playoff team.

In basketball, remaining are Pat, Ben, Matt, and "Campbell." The former three are among the top four teams in the league and, to be honest, it looks like any of them could win the championship.

In the Champions League, teams 4 and 5, Matt and Lyons will be battling for the championship next Wednesday.

Only in hockey where myself (#6), Ziggy (#8) and Matt comprise the remaining contenders is there a chance of a team upsetting the standings a bit.

Oh, and in the Giro, I read a power rankings article somewhere on the web that tells me it is likely a two man race between my Menchov and "Campbell's" Leiphammer (I made no attempt to spell this name correctly).

Giro in the stats?

Not sure if Scallet has been updating, but here are the stage winners through 11 stages:
1 [Team Award]
2 Petacchi
3 Petacchi
4 Di Luca (Yay!)
5 Menchov
6 Scarponi
7 Boasson
8 Siutson
9 Cavendish (Boooo!)
10 Di Luca (Yay!)
11 Cavendish (Booooo!)

http://www.cyclingnews.com/road/2009//giro09/?id=results/giro091

Transactions 5/18 to 5/24

Somebody pick up the Royals.

Final 4's

The standings are updated through last nights results, with the exception of a day of baseball. Hawks passed by Lyons into 4th place as his Lakers won their game seven a few hours before Lyons's Celtics lost theirs.

Consequently, we're down to four teams in the NBA and the NHL. In the NBA, Pat's juggernaut Cavs will take on "Campbell's" Magic while Hermann's Nuggets will take on Ben's Lakers in what should be a very interesting and competitive series.

In the NHL, Ziggy's Red Wings already have a one game lead on my Blackhawks while unowned Carolina is taking on Matty's Pittsburgh Penguins in game 1 tonight.

Also at the moment, Lyons's cyclist Danilo Di Luca has roughly a one minute lead over his main rivals in the Giro d'Italia. I have no idea his chances of holding on.

Next week is a big one as it will have the beginning of the French open in tennis and the Champions League finals (Lyons v. Matt).

A Friendly Wager for D

10 UFL pts says that the future NHL Champs AKA Redwings beat your Blackhawks in 6 games or less.  (I'm giving you the extra game to even out the bet)  

Oh how the mighty fall- Ode to the bald headed ho

Founding Geto Boy member Willie D was arrested by federal authorities who accuse the gangsta rap pioneer of running a scam involving iPhones. Willie D., born William James Dennis, was taken into custody at Bush Intercontinental, after he was indicted for his relationship with a company named Texas One Wireless. The rapper allegedly posed as an electronic salesman and used eBay to interact with international buyers. He conducted businesses transactions independent and outside of eBay, and allegedly took numerous orders for iPhones and other electronics. Funds were transferred into Willie D's bank account and he allegedly sent tracking numbers out, but never sent the iPhones or electronics. After numerous complaints, the rapper would tell the consumers that the packages were either lost in the mail, or that he could not refund their money until he located the products, but he would eventually cease communications with the victimized parties. Willie D faces a 20 year sentence in prison along with a $250,000 dollar fine.

Where we stand

I've been a bit too busy to recap the last week, but here's some bullet points to catch everyone up:

- The standings in the spreadsheet will now auto-sort. The only catch is that they will temporarily break in the case of a tie, but that shouldn't occur too often.

- The Player's Championship ended on Sunday and UFLers put up an altogether mediocre performance. Furyk, Tiger, and Singh racked up the most points by finishing between 5th and 10th for Pat, myself, and Ben respectively. Matt and Bussmann took the biggest hits as McIllroy and Kim missed the cut.

- In the NBA, Pat's Cavs are the only teams to advance thus far. I expect Hermann's Nuggets to join them tonight. In the other series, Lyons's Celtics are up 3-2 on "Campbell's" Magic and Ben's Lakers are up 3-2 on Matt's Rockets.

- In the NHL, we're looking at a bunch of game 7's since only my Blackhawks have advanced having knocked off Ben's Canucks. It's Bussmann's Caps against Matt's Penguins, Brian's Bruins against the Hurricanes, and Ziggy's Red Wings against the Ducks.

- Most importantly, someone has gotten points from cycling! Danilo Di Luca won a stage yesterday, meaning Lyons has a 3-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0 lead in the category.

Drop my tennis player, add sharapova. Texting it in. Sorry it is not on the transactions post.

Does anyone here want to go half on a Spider Monkey?

Transactions 5/11 to 5/17

Remember, unlimited cycling transactions are allowed if you care enough to study up. I do not.

New Spreadsheet

In the first of three posts today, I'm just writing to let everyone know that while watching the Celtics and Magic last night, I streamlined the spreadsheet and formatted it slightly differently. All the missing fields are just hidden and I'll display them again when those sports start back up. You can access the new one here, the old one will no longer be updated. Lyons, I'll send you an email to give you access.

Quick Update

- We're down to two in the Champions League. The pride of Lyons' squad, Manchester United, will be taking on Matt's Barcelona. Both began the tournament as favorites, but each had a rocky road getting here, most notably Barcelona needing a goal in the 93rd minute to slip past Chelsea. The final game will take place on May 27th.

- The Giro starts tomorrow. I'm going to give "Campbell" the best cyclist available from the odds posted at the beginning of the week. Brian, pick someone or risk getting "Campbell"-esque quotes around your name.

- Finally, UFL golfers are getting killed at the Player's Championship. Only Lyons's Villegas is in contention and he tried to drop him a couple days ago. Aside from Villegas, I'd say only Furyk and Ogilivy are totally assured of making the cut.

Speaking Of Rappers Check these 2 video's Out the "Notorious B.U.M."

Watch this one 1st

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENAbFBQxZVw&feature=related

Watch 2nd

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvD7pq198dE

zig gonna love this

this is from my sister....the characters are my mom´s twin sister suzanne and big uncle ron, ceo of a certain HVAC market leader named ....ohhhhhh.....johnson heater

anypoop, here goes the quote...

Anyway, hope all’s well. Oh, funny story: So Ron and Suzanne attended Nelly’s Black and White Ball recently. This, of course, is a popular and very formal event for which everyone wears black and white. Suzanne showed up in red. Yes, it’s true. I laughed so hard. Mom said Suzanne was so embarrassed. Can you imagine? Everyone in black and white and Suzanne in red – and red, could she have chosen a more noticeable color?! Dad and my theory is that Suzanne and Ron thought “black and white” referred to the fact that black and white people would be in attendance. Hee hee. Are you laughing out loud right now?

Lyons - transaction notes

First, well done cribbing off the betting site I posted to grab Danilo Di Luca before Ziggy got him (her?).

Second, Furyk is already ensconced on team Patty.

Actual things happening?

This actually seems to be a pretty busy week coming up. Lyons has already ripped his head out of the wall and moved his Manchester United team into the Champions League finals, eliminating Hawks's Arsenal. Tomorrow at 1:45 either Campbell's Chelsea or Matt's Barcelona will join them. The winner will advance while any tie aside from 0-0 will go to Barcelona. Incidentally, it looks like Henry will miss the game, dealing a pretty big blow to Barcelona's chances.

Two other big events this week. On Thursday, the Player's Championship begins. You may want to check the field to make sure your golfer is going.

And finally, Saturday will mark the most important day of the league thus far as cycling begins. Who will conquer the hills of Italy in the Giro de Italia? Which guy with a funny name will skate by the drug tests? Will the excitement reawaken Bussmann from his Lyons-induced torpor? Ziggy and Brian, please grab some cyclist, any cyclist. I'll make it easy for you: here are the latest odds. The top 3 guys, Sastre and Lance Armstrong are all owned. Everyone else is free game. If anyone cares enough, they can make unlimited cycling moves in a week, as per the rules.

I was really hoping for pk s, but apparently arsenal isn t interested in winning.

Transactions 5/4 to 5/10

I'll probably post a longer note later today, but I also wanted to point out that the second leg of the Champions League semis are today and tomorrow. At 1:45 today, it's Manchester United (Lyons) against Arsenal (Hawks). Arsenal needs to win 1-0 to force a shootout or by two goals to advance.

Why the WWE is good

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0up6R3hrHaU&feature=PlayList&p=D57519150EA5CC4F&index=9

Whiskey Link

http://picasaweb.google.com/conatus0/UltimateFantasyLeague#

I don t know how useful this will be, but i can now trash talk via text message on the ufl board.

Looking forward

Standings are updated through yesterday. Current threats to Patty's lead over the next month:

Hermann (27 points back) - San Jose getting upset hurts his chances badly. He'll need someone to beat the Cavs to stay close as the Nuggets aren't getting him too many more points. His best chance is to stay in the hunt until the end of the baseball season. Additional astute bets could help too. Chance of catching Patty soon: 1%

Matt (77 points back) - Could actually get close. He's going to get a series win out of Houston soon, has a Champions League team with a good shot, and the Penguins are playing as well as anybody. Again, he needs someone to beat the Cavs. Chance: 4%

Lyons (~110 points back) - Since Lyons made a baseball move and disrupted my plan to use the standings as an occasional update, his score is easier to leave an approximation. I have a system though. That said, like a lot of people, Lyons will be waiting for football season to make a move. He's got Manchester United who's currently got the best chance in the Champions League, but nothing left in the NHL and the Celtics are a dead team walking. Chance: 0

Hawks (116 points back) - Probably has the best shot. The Lakers could easily win the championship and cut the deficit in half. If Arsenal can come back and take the Champions League or the Canucks win the Stanley Cup, he'll likely make it to the top. It is unlikely. Chance: 12%

I actually used a calculator to figure those odds, so they are EXACT.

Round 2 of the NHL playoffs starts tonight:

Boston (Brian) - Carolina
Washington (Bussmann) - Pittsburgh (Matt)
Detroit (Zig) - Anaheim
Chicago (me) - Vancouver (Hawks)

For Zig: Dream, a mixed martial arts groups in Japan, has signed a fight between these two men:

Hong-Man Choi (the tall guy) and Jose Canseco:

The Last Week

Here's a quick rundown of what's happened:

NBA:

Pat and the Cavs have advanced.
Boston (Lyons) tied 2-2 with Chicago
Orlando (Campbell) tied 2-2 with Philly
LA (Hawks) up 3-1 on Utah
Denver (Hermann) up 2-1 on New Orleans (Zig) with 15 points at stake
Houston (Matt) up 3-1 on Portland (me)
Dallas up 3-1 on San Antonio (Brian)

NHL:
Boston (Brian), Detroit (Zig), Pittsburgh (Matt), and Vancouver (Hawks) have advanced. The Flyers (Lyons) have been eliminated.
New Jersey (Pat) and Carolina are playing game 7 tomorrow.
NY ("Campbell") and Washington (Busmann) are playing game 7 tomorrow too.
Chicago (me) is up 3-2 on Calgary.
Anaheim is up 3-2 on San Jose (Hermann)

Soccer:
Barcelona (Matt) - Chelsea ("Campbell") on Tuesday in one semi. In the other, Manchester United (Lyons) - Arsenal (Hawks) on Wednesday.

Draft Day Drinking:
Pat last seen nearly passed out on a sun chair demanding Lesley come over and make out with him.
Lyons smoking in a dark corner somewhere.
Hawks apparently disappearing on boyfriend duty midway through (no judging here as it was his girl's birthday).
Zig making an impressive stop over on the way to the recording studio. Lost points for not partaking in the game of shots.
Me - stumbling out of there thanks to Lyons destroying me in the aforesaid game of shots.
Hermann was surprisingly steady, likely thanks to wussing out on the game of shots despite no recording studio-esque excuse.

Next week is our next golf tournament, The Players Championship, and the first stages of the Giro de Italia, if we end up counting it.

Transactions 4/27 to 5/3

If you feel like it.

Just a note

Standings are being constantly updated. There's just tremendously little going on aside from the playoffs, which anyone can follow pretty easily. Hawks has defeated his beloved Blues, but that's the extent of the excitement. Champions League semis next week and the Giro de Italia start soon enough though.

Saturday's Draft Event

The weather seems to be holding up for us this weekend. The Current forcast is 82 degrees and breezy. Sounds like the perfect weather for sitting on the porch and drinking.

A couple notes: We will hopefully have burgers instead of dogs to feed the masses, but if you're looking for something specific, please bring it with. Along those same lines, we have plenty of Schnuck and Cola, but nothing to fancy. Bring your booze of choice. If the Sams price is right, it's possible a tub of PBRs will show up.

This whiskey cup will be officially presented on Saturday for those UWL participants that would like to see it.

It's also my girlfriends B'day, so feel free to bring your significant others, if said female/male exists.

Ziggy will not be attending due to DJ P. A sad day. With any luck he'll drop the pimp juice off for shot betting and prepare his Redwings for a Canuck Beat Down!

See you all on Saturday!

Transactions 4/20 to 4/26

If you have something to do.

A UFL Bet for Herm-E

15 points that my NO Honets beat your crappy Den Nugs in round 1.  Holla

Where we are

Standings are updated through last night.

In the Champions League, Manchester United (Lyons), Barcelona (Matt), Chelsea ("Campbell"), and Arsenal (Ben) remain. I'd peg Barcelona as the favorite, though the semifinal to watch is the Battle of That One House in Maplewood, Hawks's Arsenal against Lyons's Manchester United. Semis start April 28th-29th.

In the NHL, "Campbell," me, Ziggy, Brian, Matt, Pat, and Hawks have won their first game. Only Bussmann, Lyons, and Hermann took a loss.

In the NBA, Lyons took the biggest hit of the week with the news of KG's busted knee. His prediction of an easy Celtics championship looks increasingly improbable. Matchups:

Cleveland (Pat) - Detroit
Boston (Lyons) - Chicago
Orlando ("Campbell") - Philly
Atlanta-Miami
Lakers (Ben) - Utah
Denver (Hermann) - New Orleans (Ziggy)
San Antonio (Brian) - Dallas
Portland (Me) - Houston (Matt)

There are some interesting unowned teams up there. Someone could aim low and grab Miami hoping to just steal a first round series before going out. By the same token, Dallas is an intriguing pick as they're red hot, face a depleted Spurs team, and then would have a winnable series against the NO/Denver winner. If I were Ziggy with New Orleans or Bussmann with nobody, I'd give it some thought. That presumes, of course, that Bussmann is paying any attention to this in the first place.

Quickly

The only reason I'm posting this is to remind everyone of the last leg Champions League quarters tomorrow. Other things of note: tomorrow is the first day of the NHL playoffs and the last day of the NBA regular season, "Campbell's" Chelsea bounced Pat's Liverpool in an awesome game, and Matt's Barcelona finished off Brian's Bayern Munich.

Champs League quarterfinals start at 1:45 tomorrow. In one game, unowned Villareal takes on Ben's Arsenal. Whichever teams wins advances, a scoreless tie goes to Arsenal, 1-1 goes to a shootout, and everything other tie goes to Villareal. In the other game, Lyons's Manchester United is matched up with unowned FC Porto. Again, winner advances, scoreless and 1-1 ties go to FC Porto, 2-2 is a shootout, and every other tie goes to ManU.

Previews Galore

Well the Masters is in the books and Tiger and Mickelson took down the highest scores, both finishing in the 5-10 range and earning 20 points. Of note: Pat dropped Villegas (finished 13th) to pick up Watney (finished 19th) who he dropped at the last second to grab Paul Casey (finished 20th). Despite the poorer finish, Casey earned the same number of points as Villegas so no harm done. On the other hand, Lyons decision to drop Furyk (10th place finish) to grab Villegas did cost him a bit.

The NHL playoffs are set. Teams can be added and dropped until the first faceoff on Wednesday, so make your moves now. We're looking at:

5. Flyers (Lyons) - 4. Penguins (Matt)
7. Rangers ("Campbell") - 2. Caps (Bussmann)
6. Carolina - NJ (Pat)
8. Montreal - 1. Bruins (Brian)

6. Blues - 3. Canucks (Traitor Hawks)
5. Calgary (former Schnuck) - 4. Chicago (current Schnuck)
8. Anaheim - 1. San Jose (Hermann)
7. Columbus - 2. Detroit (Ziggy)

Also tomorrow is half of the second leg of the Champions League Quarterfinals with:

Chelsea (Campbell) - Liverpool (Pat) - Liverpool needs to win 3-1 to force a shootout or win by at least two goals while scoring at least 3 to advance.
Barcelona (Matt) - Bayern Munich (Brian) - Bayern Munich needs to win 4-0 to force a shootout or by 5 goals to win outright.

Also, I just realized I forgot to give everyone points for making the NHL playoffs, which I'll do tomorrow.

Transactions 4/13 to 4/19

I drop the Carolina Hurricanes and pick up the Chicago Blackhawks.

Pat drops Casey and picks up Furyk, closing the circle with Lyons who dropped Furyk to pick up Pat's former player Villegas.

Signifying Nothing

Standings are updated through Saturday, though there wasn't a whole lot going on. Every golfer made the cut and, since the Masters are over as I write this, we know that only Mickelson cracked the top 5. Next week we'll reach the end of the NHL and NBA seasons as well as the second half of the Champions League semifinals. And the Repeal Festival at the Tap Room Saturday too.

Various Things

- This is the best football highlight ever.

- Busmann, please drop the Suns and pick up a real team.

- The second day of the quarterfinals were devastating for Bayern Munich (Brian) and Liverpool (Pat). I've included odds of advancing to the semis from one gambling site. It's not often you get a shot to bet on something 1-500 like Barcelona's chances of making the next round. Note Manchester United is essentially a tossup at this point.

Liverpool - 10-1

Chelsea - 1-33

Bayern Munich - 40-1

Barcelona - 1-500

Arsenal - 1-5

Villareal - 10-3

Manchester United - 4-5

FC Porto - 10-11

- The Masters start today. As I write this, all UFL golfers who have teed off are between -1 and +1. Odds to win of UFL golfers:

Tiger - 11-5

Mickelson - 8-1

Ogilivy - 8-1

Harrington - 15-1

Sergio - 25-1

McIllroy - 25-1

Casey - 25-1

Kim - 30-1

Villegas - 40-1

Vijay - 60-1

- Also, I'm too lazy to enter in baseball wins. I'll do these every couple weeks based on the standings which will be much quicker and easier. Also, if anyone makes a transaction I'll update their page then.

Ben and Mark's Draft Day Spectacular- April 25th

Just a quick heads up. Draft day is quickly approaching and with that, the 2nd annual BBQ Drunken Fiesta Watch the Rams Fuck up Event of the season. Everyone is invited. Bring your own Meats and Drinks. Prepare for betting shots on picks and hopefully enjoying a lovely day. We're located in Maplewood right around Big Bend and Manchester. The address is Below. Come get stupid.

From what I'm reading the draft starts at 3pm. I'm guessing we'll start boozing around noon. Mark may pour himself a glass on Schnuck around 10 so come over whenever.


2515 Oakland Avenue
St. Louis, MO 63143

Results all around

The combination of NBA, NHL, Soccer, and MLB makes this one of the busiest days of the year. That said, a pretty boring set of games yesterday. The key results were Arsenal's (Ben) 1-1 tie with Villareal which was a pretty good result for Arsenal giving them an away goal and Manchester United's 2-2 tie with FC Porto, which was pretty bad for them. Aside from getting outplayed, Manchester United having given up two away goals means that Porto will likely advance in the case of a tie in the second game. Right now Barcelona (Matt) is crushing Bayern Munich (Brian) to the point that they are essentially guaranteed entry into the next round and Liverpool (Pat) and Chelsea ("Campbell") are tied.

Hermann gets the win

Hermann made the first pick of college basketball teams and he chose wisely as UNC won the championship last night. The win moves him into a comfortable second place, but the next month and a half or so of NHL and NBA playoffs should shake everything up a great deal.

As I mentioned yesterday, the Champions League will be resuming in about 30 minutes and anyone without a real job (half this league including me) can watch it on ESPN 360.

Also, Ziggy, it was with a heavy heart that I read news of Reggie Williams recent arrest. We rest easy in our hearts though, knowing that Bernard Berrian still runs free.

Once again, the biggest game of the season

Standings are updated with all games, bets, and brackets accounted for. MSU (Hawks) against UNC (Hermann) tonight with the winner clearing 62 points for the victory. Pat's betting redemption has pulled him out of reach, but he could be vulnerable over the next few weeks, at least until the Cavs cruise to the championship.

Aside from opening day today, the Masters starting Thursday, and the last week of the NHL regular season, the biggest event of the week is the Champions League quaterfinals. Tomorrow is Villareal (Unowned) v. Arsenal (Ben) and Manchester United (Lyons) v. FC Porto (unowned). Wednesday is Barcelona (Matt) v. Bayern Munich (Brian) and Liverpool (Pat) v. Chelsea ("Campbell"). If anyone wants a quick primer, I googled a preview that might be helpful.

Transactions 3/5-3/11

Conatus: Drop Jim Furyk/Add Camilo Villegas

Ending and Beginning

As I'm sure everyone knows, we're down to the NCAA tournament final with Michigan St. (Ben) facing UNC (Hermann). Whoever wins that game will vault comfortably into second place. Pat has answered the challenge, however, as Azarenka cruised to victory over Serena yesterday, giving him the tournament bonus and a secure lead. 

We've got opening day tonight, too, with the Phillies (me) taking on the Braves (Matt). Over the next week, we'll have the Masters (is Tiger back?) and the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinals as well.

Real Quick

The standings are updated. In the end, Pat chose the right tennis player as Azarenka won and will face Serena (Matt's) in the finals, which will turn out to be a pretty big match in the overall standings. The day's other big winner has to be Hermann, whose Chicago Bears look a good deal more formidable than they did the day before.

Now, back to furiously cramming for a fantasy baseball league.

Williams v. Williams, Pat v. Pat

Standings updated. Still quiet until the Final 4 this weekend aside from the pulse-pounding excitement of the Sony Ericcson Open. Later tonight we have Venus (Zig) v. Serena (Matt) in one of the semis (whose turn is it to win?) and in the other, happening right now, we have former Biscuits and Gravy player Kuznetsova against current player Azarenka.

UFL Don't miss out on the sleeper PPV of the year

Yawns all around

Scores are updated. Not much going on, though Pat has continued to show impressive acumen in his selections as recent pickup Azarenka has made it into the semis at the Sony Ericcson Open. It looks like Serena will join her momentarily and Venus plays later today.

Tennis dwindling down

Monday, as most Mondays are, was a pretty quiet day. Mauresmo lost, so the only players left in the Sony Ericcson Open are Serena (Matt), Venus (Zig), and Azarenka (Pat). Both the Williams sisters dropped a set yesterday, so maybe they're slightly vulnerable, but probably not. Azarenka will be trying to make the semis later today and the Williams sisters will be going tomorrow.

Ask D and you shall Receive

Business is picking up

We now have a final four - UConn (Bussman), Michigan State (Hawks), UNC (Hermann), and Villanova (unowned). Whoever wins out from here will gain 74 points, enough to put Hermann into the lead, Ben within 10 points of Pat, or to get Bussman back into this thing. The rest of us are stuck rooting for Villanova to win out and deprive anyone of the championship bonus.

In tennis, more UFL players fell yesterday as Petrova and Zvonarera joined Jankovic, Safina, and Ivanovic in the losing circle. As I write this, Venus is down a set and Dementieva has already lost, so Pat should be feeling pretty good that recent pickup Azarenka has moved on to the quarterfinals this morning.

Incidentally, Ziggy, I demand some type of preview of the upcoming Wrestlemania.

Transactions 3/30 to 4/5

That's all.

Two In, Two Left to Go

Bussman is the first to get a team in the final four with UConn's win over Missouri. Today, we've got MSU (Hawks) going against Louisville (Pat) and UNC (Hermann) against Oklahoma (me) for the final spots. All the losers have a horse in the race too as a Villanova championship would keep the 50 point championship bonus away from everyone else.

In tennis, Jankovic (Hawks) was the only player to fall in the second round, though Safina (Bussman) and Ivanovic (me) have both already lost today in the third. 

OK, I'm going back to focus on L'ville-MSU now.

A Dominant Night for the UFL

Yesterday, UFL teams went 17-3 across 4 sports as favorites tended to win out. Four more UFL teams advanced into the Elite 8 and every team left is owned aside from Villanova. All the women's tennis players cruised while Venus, Serena, Zvonarera, Petrova, and Jankovic are all playing their second round matches today. 

No need for a preview of tonight, everyone knows who's left in the tournament and who isn't. 

Also, though Ziggy is out of the tournament, he is a heavy favorite to win 21 points in the UFL tournament pool. The only scenario I can find in which he loses requires:

Oklahoma to beat UNC

Pitt to beat Villanova

Then Pitt to beat Oklahoma to go to the finals

Everyone is down to one bullet if they have any at all

Well, Lyons only went 1 for 2 last night, but he won the big one when Mizzou knocked out Memphis. Pat takes another blow in a rough week for him, but can console himself with the number one team in the country going tonight. With Xavier and Memphis both losing, that means everyone (aside from zombie Campbell) has lost their non-BCS squad so things are pretty even from here on out as only Duke (Zig) and UCLA (Brian) have fallen in the BCS category.

The second round of the Sony Ericcson is underway today and we have the usual assortment of NBA and NHL games to go along with the last half of the Sweet 16.

Edited to add:

Tennis players going today: Azarenka, Dementieva, Ivanovic, Mauresmo, Safina.

A STL Boxing Update form "Hyphy 4 Lifey" Bauer

Does Lyons Have a Date with Destiny?

Standings have been updated. With the tournament resuming, we have two big UFL games: Xavier (Lyons) vs. Pitt (Matt) and Mizzou (Lyons) vs. Memphis (Pat). If Lyons can sweep both games, he will enter a virtual tie for first place with Pat and likely celebrate with some delicious bourbon. If he loses both, he'll be forced to drown his sorrows with that same drink.

Hey Bussmann

Dunno why but this made me think of you Mike:


Man gets 90 days in jail in vacuum sex act case

FYI for y´all - I´m in Europe for the next 6 weeks so the trash talk will be sparse and the only sports I might be watching will be Barcelona warming up against one of the local teams before they go out and slaughter your lame fútbol squads.

Comen mierda.

On to tennis

I'm pretty sure we've hit a bit of a lull until the weekend. A few scattered wins across the league and everyone gets a tennis win by way of a bye. Standings largely unchanged.

1 - 318.5
2 - 288
3- 210
4 - 256
5 - 275
6 - 202
7 - 260
8 - 294.5
9 - 272.5
10 - 343

Brian whines, Brian wins the WBC

Following some epic self-pity in this week's transactions thread, Brian and his Japanese team prevailed in extra innings over my Korea team making him the first to win a UFL sport. The victory moves him into 4th place and considering that UFL NCAA teams will likely start falling very soon, it's not a bad spot to be in following UCLA's second round loss.

The biggest UFL news of the day is Lance Armstrong's broken collarbone. Though his team has said he will still likley compete in the first UFL event, the Giro de Italia, they don't expect him to even attempt to contend. Another blow for Patty following his weak gambling over the weekend. On the other hand, it is just cycling.

Also, by picking up a new tennis player, Pat just brought it to my attention that the next women's tennis event, the Sony Ericsson Open, begins tomorrow. I'd recommend checking the draw to make sure your player is going.

Tournament ongoing, WBC concluding, Pat bad at betting

With one weekend of the tournament down, everyone has one team left aside from Lyons and Pat with two and Brian with none. I highly regret missing Sienna threaten Lousiville and Ziggy's fleeing moments of triumph, but I persevere. 

Tonight our first sport concludes as Korea (me) takes on Japan (Brian) in the WBC final in a battle of one of the first picks against one of the last. 

Lastly, Patty's weak betting has brought him back to the pack and given the winner of the tournament a real shot to catch up. I'm sure we all appreciate his generosity.

Transactions 3/23 to 3/30

Make your moves. 

Few Things and Betting Results from the Weekend

1) We only get points for advancing in the tourney, not wins.

2) I dropped Kansas after the Big 12 tourney and added Missouri, so please adjust that even though I'd probably rather have KU v. Mich St. than Mizzou v. Memphis...except that Kansas sucks and I hate myself for picking them up even briefly.

3) Wild betting action yesterday at Friendly's...the bet I should have made is "how long can I talk to Katelyn before she storms out in anger. Herman, do you remember what we were arguing about? All I remember is something about Dublin...

Anyway, I spotted young naive Patrick 10 points in the second half of the Wisconsin/Xavier game and we bet 15 UFL points on that outcome. Xavier by 11.

Then Herman wisely wagered me 10 UFL points on the Mizzou/Marquette game and talked me into moving the spread from 4 to 4 1/2. Mizzou by 4, Herman takes 10 points from me.

So, Scallot, knock 15 off B&G, add 5 to Conatus and add 10 to 2 Cats...Or, I'll just use my admin wizard powers to do it...but, I wanted to give you a chance first in order to keep everything straight.

Oh, I think ziggy got in on a bet with the badger licker as well, but I don't have details on that.

Korea moves Schnuck up, NCAA holds form

Yesterday's biggest game, Korea (me) vs. Venezuela (Hermann), unbeknownst to me, turned out to be an elimination game. Venezuela inexplicably started Carlos Silva instead of Felix Hernandez and Korea won in a rout, moving to the finals. Lyons (USA) will face off with Brian (Japan) to determine the other finalist tonight. Oswalt against Dice-K so it should be good.

NCAA BCS teams continued to dominate with UConn (Bussman), UNC (Hermann), Duke (Ziggy), and Oklahoma (me) all moving on and only Brian's UCLA falling. As I said yesterday, Sienna (Ziggy) vs. Louisiville (Pat) will be our first UFL matchup of the tourney. Surprisingly, the only possible sweet 16 UFL matchups are Xavier (Lyons) vs. Pitt (Matt) and Michigan St. (Ben) vs. Kansas (Lyons), so enjoy this one.

Lyons, Still on Fire

Behind a win from Xavier, Lyons has caught Matt and moved into second place. Non-BCS teams have continued to stumble with only Xavier, Memphis (Pat), and Siena(Zig) surviving. If the draft were held today, would Memphis be the number one pick? Maybe. All the BCS teams survive, though I dodged a bullet by cutting Wake last week. On the off chance we do this again, I'd probably suggest drafting 2 BCS teams apiece to add a little excitement here at the beginning of the tourney.

Lyons, small scoring question - should I be giving NCAA teams credit for both winning a game AND advancing in the tourney or just the latter?

WBC picks back up tonight with Korea (me) against Venezuela (Hermann). And in the touney, we have our first UFL matchup set for tomorrow with Louisville (Pat) vs. Siena (Zig).

Also, Pat, just got the emails you've been sending my Gmail account. Sorry, I only use that to chat and log into Blogger, but I just worked up the energy to forward them to my actual account from now on.

One day down

One day of the tournament has ended and, as one might expect, the BCS teams did very well and the non-BCS teams got killed, with only Patty's Memphis team surviving. Some of the bigger guns are going today like Utah and Xavier, so their collective record should turn around a bit.

As an aside, Brian, you forgot to fill out a champion in your bracket. Throw it in the comments here before round 2 and we'll just add it up ourselves.

Also, the Champions League announced the matchups for the next round, which begin April 7th. The co-favorites ManU (Lyons) and Barcelona (Matt) drew relatively weak opponents in FC Porto and Bayern Munich (Brian), though Munich has had success against Barcelona in the past. Arsenal (Ben) also got lucky by getting to face Villareal. Liverpool (Pat) and Chelsea ("Campbell") will face off in the most even matchup of the round. As in the last set of matchups, these rounds will consist of two games between the same teams.