Fun Time + Some News

I'm just not up to reporting the speculative news today, but would rather have a little fun. There are a couple of news item we'll relay in a few, but first: some fun stuff.

Many NFL teams were named after the existing baseball teams in the same city. For example, over the years there have been NFL teams with the following names:

• Boston Braves
• Brooklyn Dodgers
• Cincinnati Reds
• Cleveland Indians
• Detroit Tigers
• New York Yankees
• Pittsburgh Pirates
• and, of course, the New York Giants

One team that appeared to have been named after their baseball counterpart was the Saint Louis Cardinals. However, as we told you in an earlier post the Cardinals got their name from the color of their jerseys back when they were still the Racine St. Cardinals in Chicago.

On the other hand, one team that was named after the baseball team doesn't appear to be. In 1922 when George Halas purchased the Chicago Staleys, he basically renamed the team after the Cubs but with an interesting twist. Since football players were generally larger than baseball players he decided to supersize the Cubs, the result, the Chicago Bears.

OK, on to some news:

"They don't call it The Mistake on the Lake for nothing"

• Another great player has fallen prey to the Cleveland Curse. Over the years, great players have come in to C town only to see their careers take a major hit. The latest, Jeff Garcia who after one rather disastrous season with the Browns seems to be able to do no better than 2nd string. Garcis was offered the backup spot to Jake Plummer by the Broncos on Saturday and is now considering a backup position to Brian Griese in Tampa Bay. Hey Jeff, we know you would like to play under John Gruden but come on, you're still one of the tops in the league.

"Well at least the city is a little less windy now"

• Outspoken Bears WR David Terrell has been released, something most experts felt was inevitable after the signing of Muhsin Muhammad by Chicago.

"And on you way out can you grab the trash?"

• Tampa Bay has notified Super Bowl XXXVII winning QB Brad Johnson that he is going to be released this week.
  

Mad Ravings, Opinions and News

Earlier this week I gave you some statistics about the NFL Scouting Combine. This information indicated how important it was to the future NFL players to be there, citing numbers that indicated only a small percent of successful NFLers had not attended past combines.

However, the more I thought about it, the more I realized how misleading these numbers can be. Let's face it, the reason so many successful NFL players attended the Combine is because most successful college players attend the combine. It's rather much like saying over 95% first round draft picks attended high school in one of the 50 states.

What might be more interesting than seeing the numbers of how many successful NFL players didn't attend the combine would be to see the statistics for highly rated Combine participants that ultimately became unsuccessful players.

Meanwhile in the news:

"The squeaky wheel gets the Griese"

• Tampa Bay has finally come to terms with QB Brian Griese. Griese agreed to a 5 year $32 M (that's $32,000,000.00) deal. The contract can be reworked after either of the first two seasons.

"I was just standing there peeling an apple when the deceased ran around the corner on to my knife,....15 times....backwards"

• Vickings coach Mike Tice on WR Kelly Campbell who was arrested Thursday in Georgia for drug possession and receiving stolen property (a handgun). "Kelly has his version of the story that he has told me, and he will get his chance to tell it in court...But if there is something to this, I may have to re-evaluate my options with Kelly Campbell. Absolutely."

"Speaking of Minnesota, things seem to be getting less fowler there"

• It is looking less and less like potential Vikings purchaser Reggie Fowler will actually be able to buy the team. It now appears that Fowler will be unable to get the 3/4 approval margin required by the team owners at their meeting in late March.

"The wheels on the Bus go round and round"

• Steelers RB Jerome Bettis has agreed to a contract to continue on with the team. "The Bus" was debating whether or not to retire this year but has apparently decided to go one more season.

"Or maybe they don't go round and round"

• Free Agent CB Ty Law is reportedly still in a wheel chair recovering from foot surgery. Apparently being in the chair has stopped his efforts to sign with someone from rolling along. Chiefs' President/GM Carl Peterson summed it up pretty well when he said "He hasn't even begun walking yet...What we would like to do is bring him in for a physical, but right now they're [Law and his agent] not ready to do that."

StatLeader's NASCAR Nextel Cup Series Auto Club 500 Predictions

Our predictions for the top 20 finishers for today's Auto Club 500 have been posted on the nascar.statleader.com site. Race activities begin at 2:00 Eastern and will be televised on Fox. Meanwhile The Speed Channel (DIRECTV 607) is airing NASCAR This Morning until 12:30 PM Eastern.

As for our football fans, we'll have some more updates a little later in the day.

NFL News

As the player updates continue rolling in, we will publish a few of our favorites, along with an occasional comment. For today:

In the "And we all thought the Titans had cornered the market on that" category:

• Vikings WR Kelly Campbell was arrested in Georgia on Thursday and charged with drug possession and receiving stolen property (a Smith and Wesson handgun)

In the "Aint there some kinda natural law about changin your species like that?" category:

• Former Panther Muhsin Muhammad is about to become a Bear. Muhammad is reportedly ready to sign a multi-year deal with Chicago.

In the "Don't mince words, how do you really feel?" category:

• The Patriots have released CB Ty Law. While turning down a contract extension offered by the Pats, Law stated" I cant even see myself putting on that uniform again. That's how bad I feel about playing there."

In the "A fresh coat of paint can hide bunch of serious problems" category:

• Former Ohio State RB Maurice Clarett has been wowing them at the NFL Scouting Combine with his new attitude and by showing up in shape. What a shame he still isn't showing that same change in his dealings with the Buckeyes. As someone who follows the Bucks very closely, I can tell you that Ohio State always treated Clarett with respect and honor, trying to do everything they could to help him in both academics and sports. His response, to trash talk both the school and one of the finest and most ethical coaches in college sports, Jim Tressel. Now, we would love to see Clarett get his life together. Until everyone is sure he has, however, any interested NFL team needs to figure out if they would be getting a team player or a snake oil salesman.

In the "Long Live the King...we're just not sure the King of where" category:

• WR Jerry Rice has been given his release by Seattle. Rice, who we believe is still among the NFL elite when actually thrown to, will be looking for a featured role on his new team. One possibility being thrown about (pun intended) is Washington since the Redskins have lost just about everyone who could catch the ball.

Crew Chief's Revised Auto Club 500 Predictions.

Our resident NASCAR expert has sent in her surprising (based on the starting order) predictions for the the top ten finishers in tomorrow's Auto Club 500. See them over at http://nascar.statleader.com/

Some Early Morning Thoughts

With the game of musical teams continuing, here are a couple of early morning ramblings:

"Well gosh, now I feel a whole lot better"

• Concerned about new starting QB J.P. Losman's talent for getting injured, the Bills' have decided that they need a strong backup. Their choice, their own Shane Matthews. Matthews, who has started 22 games in 11 years in the league has 31 career TDs and 24 Ints and has a completion percent of 58.6. In the last two years he has thrown 3 passes total. With Losman's 5 passes in '04 that brings the grand total for the Bills current top two QBs to 8 over the past two seasons.

"Alright Partner, Drew!...I mean Draw!"

• Cowboys' new gunslinger Drew Bledsoe has already been named the starter over less experienced popgunslinger Drew Henson. Question: What have the Cowboys gained by replacing last year's starter Vinny Testaverde with Drew #1? Bledsoe's career average QB rating is 76.7. His rating last season? 76.6. Last year, Testaverde's QB rating was 76.4 (75.4 career). Drew's best two ratings were 87.7 (1997) and 86.0 (2002). Meanwhile Vinny's best two were 101.6 (1998) and 90.6 (2003). Granted Vinny is older than dirt (which still makes him younger than yours truly) but the real question is have the Cowboys really gained anything, especially with the other QBs who are currently or may soon be available?

Combine Notes

The NFL Scouting Combine is underway in Indianapolis. (Isn't an Indiana Combine a piece of farm equipment?) One may ask: "Why is the Combine so important?" Well, in addition to being a place where NFL hopefuls can strut their stuff (or fall flat on their face) in front of all 32 teams at once, it also seems to have become almost a requirement to be a top round draft pick. Consider this:

• In the past 17 years (1988 through 2004) only 13 out of 667 total players drafted on day #1 of each year's draft did not attend that year's Combine.
• In that same 17 year period only 3 first round picks did not attend the Combine.
  
• Over the past 12 years over 95 percent of the Combine attendees have ended up in the NFL either through the draft or via the free agent route.

So, who is causing the biggest stir at the Combine? Hard to say, but former Buckeye Maurice Clarett seems to be getting a lot of attention, especially for someone who only played one year of college football (2 years ago). As much as it pains this Buckeye to say this, in Indiana (land of farms and combines), if players like Ohio State's Mike Nuggent or USC's Mike Williams are the cream of the crop, then Clarett provides the fertilizer.

More Player Updates

A busy day today. Here are the Highlights:

Franchised:

• NE - K Adam Vinatieri
• Seattle - RB Shaun Alexander (What a surprise)
• SF - LB Julian Peterson

Tendered (Don't ask. No, not made more tender,.....well...ok...but just quickly...Kinda like franchise except only one first round pick involved and the Eagles pay Westbrook $1.43 M if he doesn't sign a long term contract )

• Philadelphia - Brian Westbrook

Released/Waived:

• Chicago - QB Jonathan Quinn
• Dallas - DE Marcellus Wiley
  
• Detroit - S Brian Walker
  
• Miami - QB Jay Feidler, S Arturo Freeman, DE Jay Williams.
  
• Minnesota - WR Kenny Clark, RB Larry Ned, CB Rhett Nelson, CB Terrance Shaw, C Cory Withrow
• NYJ - CB Jamie Henderson
• NYG - DB Terry Cousin, DB Omar Stoutmire, DL Lorenzo Bromell, DB Martin Chase, RB Antonio Womack

Resigned (as in to sign up with again, not to quit):

• Carolina - RB Rod Smart
• Indianapolis - RB Dominic Rhodes
• NO - SS Jay Bellamy
• Oakland - WR Jerry Porter
• Philladelphia - TE James Whalen
  

Gone But Not Forgotten:

• To Oakland (?) - WR Randy Moss

Forgotten But Not Gone:

• Nobody - QB Tim Couch

AP Reports: Moss Traded to Raiders?

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) Randy Moss is heading to Oakland, the receiver's agent said Wednesday.

Dante DiTrapano, Moss' agent, told The Associated Press that the Minnesota Vikings and the Raiders had "come to an agreement on Randy playing for Oakland next year."

Neither the Vikings nor the Raiders would confirm the deal, which was first reported by The St. Paul Pioneer Press on its Web site.

NFL News - A Busy Day

This is one of those times of the NFL year where football web sites (Real or Fantasy) struggle to find something interesting to put on their pages. That's one reason why so many rumors are published. Today however, there was actually was quite few newsworthy items.

In the "What this really means is that They absolutley aren't going anywhere" category:

• The list of franchise players continued to grow. Added to the group are: NE K Adam Vinatieri, Jacksonville S Donovan Darius (for the 3rd straight year), and Colts RB Edgerrin James.
• After reaching an agreement with QB Matt Hasselbeck, Seattle looks to be ready to slap the franchise tag on RB Shaun Alexander.
• Raiders WR Jerry Porter has agreed to a contract extension and Colts RT Ryan Diem has signed a 7 year deal to remain in Indy.
  

In the "And when I say They absolutley aren't going anywhere I mean They might be going somewhere else" category:

• The Raiders are expected to name CB Charles Woodson their non-exclusive franchise player. By doing this they can prevent Woodson from leaving (unless someone is willing to give up two draft picks) while shopping him around. If there are no takers, the non-exclusive part allows the Raisers to remove the franchise tag and allow Woodson th be a free agent.
• The Packers named TE Bubba Franks as their transition player. Remember, the transition tag allows the Pack to meet any offer Franks receives but does not provide for two first round draft pick if Franks should sign with the other team.
  

In the "They absolutley are going somewhere else...maybe" category:

• The Chargers are expected to release WR Tim Dwight.
• The Redskins are offering up WR Laveranues Coles.
• Depending on if contract negotiations start moving or not TB QB Brian Griese may also be gone.
• The Steelers have indicated they will not franchise WR Plaxico Burress opening the door for him to go elsewhere.
  

In the "He's definitely coming Mr. Luthor" (Otis - Superman 1) category:

• As we indicted was likely two days ago, Drew Bledsoe has agreed to rejoin his former coach Bill Parcells in Dallas.
• Free agent punter Steve Cheek has signed with Jacksonville.
  

In the "What he really means is the most inexperienced team" category:

• After releasing roughly about half of their team, Titans GM Floyd Reese indicated that the Tennessee linup would contain many of their younger players. "Next year, we'll probably be the youngest team in the league." he said.

And Finally, In the "We're going to miss you" category:

• Doctors have told Raiders QB Rich Gannon that his playing days are over. Gannon, who suffered a broken neck last season, appears to relegating himself to that fact.

Props To Our Contest Winner

Congrats to Robert K. of...well, somewhere around Columbus (Go Bucks!) for being the first one to correctly answering our trivia question, Who was the Cardinals most lopsided victory against?, What was the score?, and When was it?

The correct answer: The Chicago Cardinals defeated the Rochester Jeffersons 60-0 on October 7, 1923.

For his answer, Robert wins a 1 year full membership to StatLeader which will include the 2005 draft package and our full NFL coverage through the 2006 Super Bowl. Good Job.

NFL Facts - Did You Know?

The Arizona Cardinals received their team name not from the bird currently used in their logo but from the color of the Jerseys they wore back in the first days of the team's history. Around the start of the 20th century a gentleman named Chris O'Brien purchased some faded maroon jerseys for a team he had formed as the Morgan Athletic Club in 1898. When several individuals joked about the faded red color of the jerseys, O'Brien stated that they were, in fact cardinal red. His team thus became known as the Racine Street Cardinals since they played their games at corner of 61st St. and Racine St.

In 1920 the Cardinals joined the American Professional Football Association (APFA), forerunner of the NFL. They were quickly challenged for territorial rights by the Chicago Tigers (The two fought to a 0-0 tie in their first game in the APFA). Deciding that "This town ain't big enough for both of us", the teams agreed to hold a loser leaves town game. It was a tough game but the Cardinals prevailed, winning by a 6-0 count (Maybe the Jets and Giants should try this).

As the champions of Chicago, the Cardinals remained in the Windy City through the 1959 season (becoming charter members of the NFL along the way). In 1960 they moved to Saint Louis, and in 1988 to Phoenix (first called the Phoenix Cardinals and then in 1994 renamed the Arizona Cardinals).

Now, let's see how many of you are still paying attention. We will give away our second 1 year free membership to the first person who can answer the following questions:

Who was the Cardinals most lopsided victory against?, What was the score?, and When did it happen?

The winner will be determined by the first email to reach me with the correct answers. Send your answers to docbitters@statleader.com. Previous winner(s) are not eligible (Sorry Matt).

NFL Headlines - On The Move, But To Where?

Some headlines as we approach the date players can be released (Feb. 22), the NFL Scouting Combine (Feb 26), and the start of the Free Agency period (March 2) here are some of the headlines we are looking at:

In the "Occasionally there's even a bad Buckeye nut." category:

• Former Ohio State RB Maurice Clarrett will be attending the Combine this year despite not having played football in over 2 years. Last year, Clarrett , who has not built the best reputation in Columbus, furthered his image by showing up at the 2004 Combine overweight and refusing to work out. Oh well, Ohio State's gain will likely be the NFL's loss.

In the "I guess bail was more that we thought it was going to be." Category:

• In order to get under their salary cap the Tennessee Titans have indicated that they will may release WR Derrick Mason, CB Samari Rolle, DT Kevin Carter, T Fred Miller, FB Robert Holcombe, and K Joe Nedney. You may recall Rolle and teammate Tank Williams were both arrested in separate incidents last week.

In the "Yes, but doesn't a Philadelphia Flush still beat a pair of Drews?" category:

• The Dallas Cowboys may be interested in almost former Bills' QB Drew Bledsoe. So far, the "Boys" have shown little interest in resigning Vinny Testaverde and seem to have their hopes pinned on an inexperienced Drew Henson for the '05 season. Bledsoe is a possibility since Dallas coach Bill Parcells oversaw Bledsoe for four years in NE.
  

And finally, in the "Just because it sounds the same doesn't mean we named the field after him." category:

• Pittsburgh WR Plaxico Burress is expected to test the free agency market. Burress, who plays opposite (in frequently in the shadow of) 4 time Pro Bowler Hines Ward, has been unable to reach an agreement with the Steelers.

NASCAR Daytona 500 Lineup Reminder

You still have a few minutes left in most leagues to pick your activer drivers for the Daytona 500. Our projections for the race (as well as the Crew Chief's) are posted on our http://nascar.statleader.com/ site.

The Draft Is Coming

Yes, the NFL season is barely over, coaches and players are playing musical teams, and now we can add the 2005 NFL Draft to our list of things to watch. Scheduled for April 23 and 24, all of the pre-draft activities are starting to take place. First of the major items will be the NFL Scouting Combine which starts Wednesday February 23 and continues through Tuesday March 1 in Indianapolis.

At the Combine roughly 330 of the top college players will go through a series of drills before representatives of the 32 NFL teams. The top players in each position will have the opportunity to increase their rating by running faster, jumping higher, and generally trying to do better than anyone else in their area. This, of course, can lead to a higher draft pick which, in turn, leads to more money.

We will be looking at the top players during the week and will also keep you up to date of what goes on during the Combine.

One last bit of information. If you happen to have NFL Network, you can watch the Combine live each day from noon to 2:00 Eastern. Additional coverage will be provided at 7PM Eastern during NFL Total Access followed at 8:00 by a rebroadcast of the noon event. We will provide the schedule for you as we approach the Combine.

StatLeader Daytona 500 Predictions Are Up

Our race analysis and Finishing Position predictions for the Daytona 500 are now posted on http://nascar.statleader.com/.

Crew Chiefs Daytona 500 Predictions Are Up

Our resident NASCAR analyst has posted her projections for the top ten finishers in tomorrow's Daytona 500 over on http://nascar.statleader.com/ The Official StatLeader Projections will be up shortly.

Franchise Tag vs. Transition Tag

Before the March 2nd Open Season on NFL players, teams around the league have been scrambling to designate their "Franchis Players". It has come to our attention that many an NFL fan does not know what this means or its how it differs from being given the transition tag.

In both cases the player given the Franchise or Transition Tag is one who will be eligible for free agency at the end of the season. This is a player that the team wants to keep but does not want to get into a bidding war over.

When given the Franchise Tag, the player has the following options:

• The player can resign a one year contract with a salary equal to the average of the top 5 players at his position. So for Rudi Johnson, it's the average of the top 5 RBs, for Drew Brees, the average of the top 5 QBs. Or,
• He can also entertain offers from other teams. If an offer is made the player's current team can match that offer. Here's the catch. If the new team signs the player they must provide his old team two first round draft picks.
  
• So, assuming the average salary for the top 5 RB's is $6.3 Million (which it is) Rudi automatically has the option for a one year $6.3 Million contract with the Bengals. Now suppose Dallas comes along and offers Rudi $8.0 Million. The Bengals can match that offer. If they decide not to, or if Rudi decides to sign with the Cowboys despite the Bengals matching Dallas' offer then the Cowboys have to give Cincinnati two first round draft picks.

For the Transition Tag the rules are similar with two major differences:

1. The amount of the one-year contract is based on the average salary of the top 10 players at the same position as the Transition Player. (For RBs that is $5.2 Million)
2. There are no first round draft picks provided as compensation to the player's current team if he signs with another team.

The advantage of the Franchise Tag to the team is that the two first round draft picks effectively deter most teams from making an offer to the player. This basically eliminates the benefits of free agency, however, the player gets a higher guarenteed salary.

With the Transition Tag, the risk of losing the player is greater, but other than that the current team is in a good position since they can match any offer (increasing the chance their player stays). Additionally, if no one else makes an offer they get him at a salary lower than the Franchise price, a savings that can be applied to the salary cap. Meanwhile the player has a greater opportunity at hand to test the free agency market.

Which is best? Well, that is why GMs get the Big Bucks. To make those decisions.

NFL Headlines - Trouble in Titan Town

In the "I May be Drunk But You're Ugly. However, In the Morning I'll be Sober While You'll Still be Ugly" Category:

• Tennessee Safety Tank Williams became the second Titans player put in the slammer this week (Read yesterday's headlines about Samari Rolle) when he was arrested on a DUI. Ah, it brings back memories of the good old days when the NFL was said to stand for the National Felons League.

In the "Maybe Some of This Can be Used For Their Bail Money" Category:

• Tennessee QB Steve McNair is restructuring his contract to help get the Titans under their salary cap. His efforts should save the Titan's roughly $5 Million as they try to get under the cap by March 1. By the way, they are only a mere $27 Million over.

In the "Their Still Sleepless in Seattle" Category:

• The Seahawks can't decide whether to make QB Matt Hasselbeck or RB Shaun Alexander their Franchise player. Alexander is the odds on favorite as reports indicate some progress in negotiations with Hasselbeck. See, you should have given Alexander that ball 1 more time.

In the "Just Think What Would Happen If You or I Tried That" Category:

• After being designated the Bengals Franchise player, RB Rudi Johnson has indicated that he will sit out the entire season unless he gets a multi-year, fair-market offer. True at a mere $1.25 Million the average NFL salary is the lowest of the major pro sports (NBA is tops at $4.92 M, MLB 2nd at $2.5 M, the NHL 3rd [when playing] at $1.81 M) but then again they only play 16 regular season gave vs 162 for baseball and 82 for both ther NBA and the NHL. What's that? You say they deserve it because the average NFL player's career only lasts a few years? Think about this, a laborer whose job is as physically demanding as any player (only year round) would have to work for 25 years at an average $50 K/year to earn that $1.25 M. (and he doesn't even get a signing bonus)
  

In the "Man You Really Fowlered That Up" Category:

• Vikings' purchaser Reggie Fowler had to try to explain why some of the information in his released Bio which concerned his business, sports career, and educational background wasn't quite true. Come on Reggie, when you have that type of money, your success speaks for itself. You don't need to tell people you have a business degree when it's actually in Social Work. Just be yourself.

Finally,

In the "What a Bunch of Mularkey" Category:

• Bills Coach Mile Mularkey has confirmed that J.P. Losman will start for the Buffalo next year. A pretty bold statement for February, especially when the young fellow has seen 5 whole plays under center. We wish J.P. the best but don't be surprised if a more familiar name really ends up starting in 05.

NASCAR Nextel Cup Countdown Continues

With only 3 days remaining until the Daytona 500, our countdown to the Daytona 500 continues over on our NASCAR page.

Tonight, the Crew Chief posts her (her?......Yes, our top racing expert is a her) prediction for the 2005 Nextel Cup Champion. A devout Tony Stewart fan, the Chief surprised us all with her painful pavement prognostication. Check nascar.statleader.com in a little while to see if you can guess her final choice.

Also, some more NFL news will be posted on this page shortly including, More Trouble in Titan Land.

StatLeader Looks at the News

Here is some of the latest news around the NFL:

In the "When the Season's Over and You Can't Hit the Guys Anymore" Category:

• Titan's CB Samari Rolle was arrested yesterday after an altercation with his wife. Danisha Rolle was treated and released from a local hospital Monday with a cut over her left eye. The cut required three stitches.

In the "First it was Miami Vice, then Nash Bridges, Now Chicago Hope?" Category:

• The Chicago Bears have offered UCLA DL Coach Don Johnson their vacant DL position.

In the "If this is the Nation's Capitol Then There Must be Budget Problems" Category:

• Having lost Rod Gardner, it looks like the Redskins will have a difficult time signing any top tier WRs because of salary limitations.

In the "The Only Things Missing are Lucy, Fred, and Ethel" Category:

• A federal judge took only 2 days to uphold an arbitrator's ruling that Ricky Williams must repay the Miami Dolphins $8.6 Million.

In the "Maybe if You Had Used Some You Wouldn't Have This Problem" Category:

• Former Raiders TE Marcus Williams wants 3 defendants in the BALCO Steroids case to testify in his suit against former Raiders teammate and Line Backer Bill Romanowski. Williams claims that a punch by Romanowski ended his career prematurely. It's unclear what the intent of the BALCO 3's testimony would be.
  

In the "Well Marshall, Looks Like the Deputy's a-Takin Over" Category:

• The Rams announced the former starter Marshall Faulk will now be the backup to former backup and now starter Steven Jackson.

In the "Oops! I Said it Again" Category:

• Eagles WR Freddie Mitchell continues to suffer from diarrhea of the mouth. Mitchell is still trashing the Patriots by claiming that the Eagles would beat the Pats 8 out of 10 games. Too bad for Freddie that the Super Bowl just happened to be one of the other two.

And Finally,

In the "But What About Drew Carey?" Category:

• The two QB Drews (Bledsoe and Breese) are going in opposite directions. Bledsoe is going to be released by the Bills in favor of J.P. Losman while the Chargers are expected to name Brees their Franchise player.

StatLeader Email and Mister2 are Alive and Well

The evil forces have been vanquished and the darkness has lost to the light as the demons that infested the StatLeader email system have been removed. Our crack(ed) IT team has saved the day (along with their own heads) and have assured us that all necessary precautions have been taken to prevent a reoccurrence of this problem...until the next time.

We have not been able to find proof that this dastardly deed was perpetrated by a University of MeatChicken fan, but we'll find some way to.

Meanwhile, you can once again send us your regular stream of rave reviews. ....Or was that grave reviews?

One thing more. Many of you have asked where Mister2 has been of late. I'm reasonably happy to announce that he is alive and well and has been working on a special assignment involving our upcoming site upgrades and expansion of our Fantasy Football coverage for next season.

For the 1 or 2 of you that actually find him more interesting......ah......I mean for all of you that enjoy reading his insightful pieces, don't worry, Mister2 will be back soon. (Yeh, yeh, whatever! You think the guy could actually show up for work sometime. Ya know? And what kind of name is Mister2 anyway? I mean....What?...What do you mean the keyboard is still on?...WELL TURN IT OFF BEFORE

Peyton Manning vs Priest Holmes

Yesterday we noted that Peyton Manning, the NFL regular season and Pro Bowl MVP was not always the top player in Fantasy Football. Perhaps the most surprising was his finish behind Dante Hall in the ESPN Yardage league.

Well tonight we are going to look at another angle. Among the values we calculate at StatLeader is the average fantasy points a player scores counting only the games they have played in. Not a difficult task if you know both the total number of fantasy points scored based on the specific league scoring system and the number of games in which the player actually played.

This number is especially interesting when projecting what might have been. Let's take, for example, Priest Holmes. Holmes was injured in Week 9 and missed the rest of the season. While he was not among the top point earners for the year, how did he rank during the part of the season in which he did play?

Looking at his points through we 9 we find the following:

• Holmes finished 3rd behind Manning and Culpepper but ahead of McNabb in 8 of the 12 leagues we tracked (ESPN LM Standard, ESPN LM Traditional, ESPN Traditional, Yahoo, CBS, NFL.com, Sporting News/Fox, and AOL).
• He finished in a 2nd place tie with Culpepper in the ESPN Performance League.
• Finished 4th behind McNabb in the ESPN Yardage league
  
• However, Holmes was #1 in the remaining two leagues (Best Buy and Ninety Five Five) including a wide margin victory under the Best Buy scoring system. (Holmes 31.5, Manning 28.1, Culpepper 27.2, and Shaun Alexander 23.3).

One more interest twist. Holmes left the Week 9 game early getting only about 2/3 of his normal participation. This significantly reduced his average point production. If you go back to the week 8 stats and reevaluate, things shift around quite a bit. Based on the Holmes' Week 8 Average Fantasy PPG:

• Holmes is now the top fantasy point producer in 6 of the 12 leagues (ESPN LM Standard, ESPN LM Traditional, ESPN Traditional, Best Buy and Ninety Five Five)
  
• Moves from 4th to 2nd in the ESPN Yardage league.
  
• He remains 3rd behind Manning and Culpepper in the remaining 5 leagues (Yahoo, CBS, NFL.com, Sporting News/Fox, and AOL)

The most surprising number is the margin that exists under the Best Buy scoring system. Through week 8 his Average fantasy PPG was an incredible 33.9 (again the next three were Manning 28.1, Culpepper 27.2, and Shaun Alexander 23.3).

Once again, further proof of the StatLeader KYSS principle (Know Your Scoring System).

Manning MVP? Maybe...,Maybe Not

As most of you know, Colts QB Payton Manning has been named both the regular season MVP and the Pro Bowl MVP. A tremendous accomplishment. But, was he the MVP in your league?

To answer this question, we went back and looked at the 12 leagues that we tracked during the regular season. We took only the first 15 games since a lot of players saw limited action in week 16. Based on total points scored for the season, here is wat we discovered:

• Manning, Culpepper, and McNabb finished 1-2-3 in 9 of the 12 leagues. The closest race was in the ESPN LM Standard where Manning finished only 1 point ahead of Culpepper, winning 369 to 368. In three other ESPN leagues, Manning won by only 5 points.
• Manning and Culpepper also finished 1-2 under the Best Buy scoring system. However, Shaun Alexander beat our Mr. McNabb for third place.
• In the AOL Leagues, Culpepper beat out Manning by one point (409 - 408) with McNabb finishing third with 340 points.
• The biggest surprise was the ESPN yardage where Manning tied for fourth with Tiki Barber. Manning and Barber each had 184 points placing them behind Culpepper (211 pts), Edgerrin James (194 pts), Dante Hall (also 194 pts). Dante Hall?.....Yes, Dante Hall. Why Dante Hall you ask? Simple, the ESPN yardage scoring system gives equal value to rushing, receiving, kickoff and punt return yards and we all know about Hall and those return yards.
  

So you see, based on your league's specific Fantasy Football Scoring System, your MVP may not be who you thought it was.

Tomorrow, we'll look at things in a slightly different manner by checking average points per game. This will give us an interesting look at who might have been an MVP had they played the entire season.

StatLeader Email Under Fire

Those of you who have trying to email us over the past few days have probably had little success. This is because our email server was recently attacked. It has been shut down while we determine who, what, and how. (Probably a disgruntled University of MeatChicken fan [are there any other kinds?] ). We hope to have everything back up and running later this week (at least that's what our IT people who fear for both their jobs and personal safety are saying). We appreciate your patience.

Footballs and RPMs

As the pro football season comes to an end, the 2005 NASCAR season got underway with the qualifying round for next Sunday's Daytona 500.

While our coverage of NASCAR and Fantasy Auto Racing continues at http://nascar.statleader.com/ we will be here throughout the NFL's off season, starting tomorrow, to help fill the football void.

In the meantime, for those Football fans who also happen to be racing fans, Fox Sports has posted the entire Qualifying Run results at the following site:
http://msn.foxsports.com/nascar/story/3394036

Pro Bowl Pick A Play

For those of us that just can't get enough of Fantasy Football activities, here is our chance to play coach one last time. The NFL site is giving us the opportunity to vote on one play for each conference. The winning plays will be run by each team at the start of the fourth quarter. The plays are:

For the AFC:

• Ride 34 Flea Flicker
• Halfback Screen Left
• Ride 335 Solid Right Throwback
• Double Out and Up

For the NFC:

• Double Right "Z" Around LT Fake 18 Strong
• Green Right Fox 2 Double Go
• Double Right Pass 17 "Zeb" Wheel
• Strong Right 24 Double Stutter Go HB Burst

Descriptions and diagrams of all plays are provided. Links are also provided to allow you to vote for the Pro Bowl MVP and for more game information.

You can vote for your favorite play at: http://www.nfl.com/probowl/features

The Pro Bowl will be shown on ESPN starting at 7:30 PM Eastern (6:30 in Houston, 5:30 in Phoenix, and 4:30 in LA dude, 2:30 local, and Monday 11:30 AM in Sydney).

We All Too Often Forget The Good

Sometimes those of us who cover both real and fantasy sports get so involved in how witty and cute we can be trashing those who play the game, that we forget about the good that many of these same athletes do.

Take, for example, today's story on NFL.com concerning Kurt Warner's and Amani Toomer's trip to Indonesia to help the victims of the tsunami. The NFL as a whole has made a tremendous effort in this matter, raising over $4,000,000 for the cause. Furthermore, there have been some wonderfully generous acts by individuals such as Ben Roethlisberger who donated his entire check from the Steelers-Jets playoff game to the relief effort. But Warner and Toomer have gone beyond the call of duty with their selfless efforts..

While the pro football world has its eyes focused on the Aloha State for tomorrow's Pro Bowl, rather than lying around on the sunny beaches of Honolulu, these two men and their wives have traveled halfway around the world to help those who have lost everything. Doing everything from loading and unloading supplies to helping with reconstruction efforts they represent all that is good and right with the NFL. They deserve the respect and appreciation of fans everywhere and we at StatLeader salute them.

Fantasy NASCAR

Our survey of some of the top Fantasy Auto Racing games continues over at nascar.statleader.com . These are also the games, many of which offer huge cash prizes, that we will be covering once the Nextel Cup Series gets underway. So while you are here, click on the above link, check out the games, and see which is the one for you.

Latest Rumblings

A few of the items rolling around the NFL

In the "Ho-Hum" Category:

• As you probably know by now Jerome Bettis will replace the supposedly injured Corey Dillon who replaced the allegedly injured Edgerrin James

In the "Now I REALLY Don't Care" Category:

• Ricky Williams' attorney claims that the former Dolphins RB should not have to repay the $8.6 Million in bonus money he received prior to deciding not to play. After all, since when do signed contracts really mean anything! It would be interesting to see how serious Williams and his spokeshole took the contract if it were the Dolphins who had to pay the $8.6 Million.
  

In the "Good for You Guys" Category:

• Jerry Rice has indicated he wants to retire as a 49er. Don't expect that to be anytime soon.
• Speaking of retirement, don't expect Brett Favre to retire this year either. All signs indicate, barring any major family problems, that Favre will be back with the Pack in '05.
  

In the "What a Surprise" Category:

• Relations appear a little strained between Daunte Culpepper and his bud Randy Moss. Take for example Culpepper's recent quote to the AP: "He's my good friend, but you almost get to thinking that maybe enough is enough".

The Last of the Predictions...........Sort Of

Over the last two days we have been having a little fun during the normally slow news time after the Super Bowl. We decided to have one last night of frivolity before going back to our normal commentary.......at least for a little while.

• Freddie Mitchell signs a new contract with Philadelphia that includes a muzzle and gag order.
• At a special ceremony to honor the Vikings, Daunte Culpepper is given a $75,000 Divisional Championship ring by the City of Minneapolis. After the ceremony, city officials ask for the ring back but promise to send him something else later. Meanwhile, Culpepper installs turf in the back of his SUV so his friends can legally drive around with grass in the car.
  

And now, the StatLeader Name Awards (With a name like Bitters, who better to present them).

The "Best Football Name" Awards:

• Joey Goodspeed, Shannon Money, Josh Savage, Alge Crumpler, James Thrash

The "Worst Football Name" Awards:

• Chris Angel, James Darling, and Erik Flowers
  

The "It's Not Pronounced Like It Looks" Award:

• Fred Pagac (Pronounced Pug-itch)

The "Good and Bad Body Things" Awards:

• Reggie Tongue, Michael Hart, Norman Hand, and Amani "It's not a " Toomer

The "Elmer Fudd" Awards:

• Dewayne White and Joe Wong

The "Calendar" Awards:

• Cato June and Jeff Saturday
  

The "Opposite End of the Spectrum" Award:

• Derrick Strait and Randall Gay
  

The "I've Got A Rumbly in my Tumbly" Awards:

• Jerry Rice, Julius Peppers, Wayne Bacon, Mike Curry, Matt Cherry
  

The "Other Professions" Awards:

• Tiki Barber, Priest Holmes, Jameel Cook, Lito Sheppard, and Joe Judge
  

The "Most Fun To Say" Award:

• Ebenezer Ekuban and Adimchinobe Echemandu

The "Say That Three Times Fast" Award:

• Mafa.....Maha....Ma'afala Fuamatu
  

The "Most Like His Name" Award:

• Warren Sapp

Daytona 500 Countdown

Our countdown to the Daytona 500 continues over at nascar.statleader.com. We are currently surveying the Fantasy Auto Racing games we will be covering throughout the Nextel Cup Series.

A Few More Predictions

Continuing with our predictions for the 2005 season:

• In an attempt to keep RB Shaun Alexander happy the Seattle Seahawks present him with a six foot long strip of Qwest Field in the hope that Alexander will believe that those two yards give him the 2004 Rushing Championship.
• Former Browns' coach, Butch Davis accepts the head coaching job at Ramshackle University and announces this is the deepest team they have had in the history of the school. Later, having lost just two players through the first 9 games, he then blames the 1-8 record on the team's devastating number of injures.
• Jamal Lewis turns out to be only the 3rd best RB on the prison football team. The Ravens immediately sign the other two and arrange for them to have their life sentences commuted just prior to the start of training camp.
• Terrell Owens is sued by Disney for infringing on their "Angels in the End Zone" arm flapping. For a settlement, he agrees to do the "Chicken Dance" for the entire 2005 season.
• To further enhance their reputation for responsible reporting, ESPN adds Geraldo Rivera and Jerry Springer to their Sunday Night broadcast team.

To Be Concluded

Our Trade, Signing, and Other Predictions

As we noted earlier (See "The Body isn't Even Cold Yet") the trade rumor mill is already running wild. Is Randy Moss really on the trading block? Where will Travis Henry end up? Will Denver get a first round pick for Reuben Droughns?

Bottom line, teams can't do anything until March 2, by which time the entire landscape will have likely changed. In the meantime, the media scrambles frantically to come up with the "scoop of the day".

In keeping with the spirit of our more famous media siblings, here are a few of our predictions:

1. After learning the Medical Marijuana is no longer legal in California, Ricky Williams decides not to sign with the Oakland Raiders or the San Francisco 49ers.
2. Not realizing that the Redskins' offensive line can't open a hole big enough to drive through, Joe Gibbs signs Tony Stewart and Bobby Labonte as his new running backs.
3. Peyton Manning is released by the Colts after he reads a book by Woody Hayes and becomes a firm believer in the fact that of the three things that can happen when you throw a pass, two really are bad.
4. Randy Moss is traded to the Dolphins where he only appears on field during the playing of "Moon Over Miami".
5. In an effort to become the first team in history to have a starting lineup entirely named "Johnson" the Bengals trade for QB Brad Johnson, WR Keyshawn Johnson, DT Tank Johnson, C Al Johnson, and more to join their stable of current Johnsons (Rudi, Chad, Jeremi, Belton, Derrick, Eric, and Landon). To further prepare for their 2006 season goal of being the first team to have the entire starting lineup named "Eric Johnson" they also sign LB Eric Johnson (ATL) and TE Eric Johnson (SF) to go with their current DT, you got it, Eric Johnson.
6. The Cleveland Browns move to LA, change their name to the Crows and win the Super Bowl within 3 years. Meanwhile, the Patriots move to Cleveland, become the new Browns, and immediately lose 31 of their first 32 games.

More predictions tomorrow.

Daytona NASCAR Coverage Starts

While we will continue to provide our regular Fantasy Football information, our 2005 Nextel Cup Series coverage has started on nascar.statleader.com with a preview of the pre-race festivities at this year's Daytona 500.

Check back daily as we provide the information and statistics you need to have your most enjoyable season of Fantasy Auto Racing. Ladies and Gentleman, Start Your Engines.

Now What?

Now that Fantsay Football has finally finished up for the season, the question arises as to what is going to happen now.

Well, as far as StatLeader is concerned there are two things:

First, we will continue to keep you posted on all the news during the off season as we work towards the all important StatLeader 2005 Fantasy Football Draft Package. Keep checking back as you will want to see the changes to the site. There may just be a few more free memberships for the 2005 season offered as well.

Second, we will now begin our coverage of the NASCAR season over at nascar.statleader.com. We'll be posting some information on the Fantasy Auto Racing games that are available and some of the really great prizes they offer.

Just remember, we haven't left you all season, we're not about to start now.

Super Bowl Final Countdown is Active

The Super Bowl edition of The Final Countdown is now active on the member side.

Final Game Thoughts

Some final thoughts concerning the Super Bowl:

First, apologies for accidentally posting two versions of the point predictions for Fanball Hold'em. Dang high tech stuff still confuses me. The correct version is now the only one posted.

As for the game. The biggest topic of interest appears to be whether or not Terrell Owens will play. Eagles fans are sure that if TO sets foot on the field the Super Bowl is theirs. Patriot fans know they will win and are only wondering if they should make TO one of their fantasy picks instead of Pinkston or Mitchell.

Well, kids, bottom line is that I don't think it's going to matter much. Why? A couple of reasons.

First, I don't think he is going to be on the field all that much. Sure he has practiced, but practicing a few times after sitting around for several weeks with a broken leg hardly puts you back in mid-season form.

Second, while an injured, TO is as good as any of the normal (i.e. average) Eagles WR the fact is that a normal Ealgles WR just isn't all that great. Pinkston, Mitchell, Lewis...need I say more.

Look at how McNabb has thrown the ball in the playoff's without TO. Freddie Mitchell in the first game, and Chad Lewis (out for the Super Bowl). Where were Pinkston and Greg Lewis in those games? For that matter, what happened to Freddie in the Atlanta game?

As for the Super Bowl, who knows? McNabb could toss a pair to L.J. Smith...or Pinkston...or Lewis...or Mitchell again...or somebody else. Maybe even Owens, but don't count on it.

WR and TE picks on both sides of the ball are at best a crap shoot. The confidence factor in Patten , Branch, Givens, and Graham is no better than Mitchell, Pinkston, Lewis, and Smith. About all you can count on is that someone is going to score. So good luck in picking you players. We hope that the numbers posted on the site the last few days help.

As for who is going to win...Doc says....I don't care. OK, who do I hope wins?....I don't care. As a StatLeader commentator, I strive to remain neutral and I really do not have any favorites. That said, I suppose if I had to root for someone, it would be the Eagles but only for two reasons.

First, 2 out of 3 is enough. Time for someone else to to be the champs, especially a team that hasn't won since, well...since Rocket Man had hair (a long, long time ago).

Second, there is just something not right about Tom Brady winning. As a successful University of MeatChicken alum (dang, that is hard to admit), he is proof that there is an exception to every rule. But it's just not natural. (Plus if I have to hear him say "I'm going to Disney World" again I may kill my TV.)

Ultimately, whomever you are rooting for, I hope you enjoy the game and may you fantasy playoff teams do great as well. Remember, we'll be back 90 minutes before the game with Final Countdown.

Super Bowl Final Countdown

Our Super Bowl Final Countdown will start 1 1/2 hours prior to the game. That means we will be active at 5:00 PM Eastern (2:00 PM Pacific). The Final Countdown, which provides last minute player updates, is only available on the member side. (Fortunately, it is still free to join.)

Fanball Playoff Hold'em Point Projections

Here are our point projections for the Super Bowl based on the Fanball Playoff Hold'em game scoring system.

Corey Dillon - Projected: 20.14, +/- 9.83
Donovan McNabb - Projected: 19.07, +/- 9.87
Brian Westbrook - Projected: 14.48, +/- 14.55
Tom Brady - Projected: 12.48, +/- 3.96

David Patten - Projected: 8.25, +/- 7.42
David Givens - Projected: 7.49, +/- 7.72
Deion Branch - Projected: 7.40, +/- 12.68
Kevin Faulk - Projected: 7.38, +/- 7.90

Daniel Graham - Projected: 6.33, +/- 7.17
L.J. Smith - Projected: 5.48 , +/- 5.28
Todd Pinkston - Projected: 5.05, +/- 4.45
Dorsey Levens - Projected: 4.54, +/- 5.37

Freddie Mitchell - Projected: 3.48, +/- 4.71
Patrick Pass - Projected: 3.41, +/- 1.94
Bethel Johnson - Projected: 2.07, +/- 3.84
Christian Fauria - Projected: 2.07, +/- 3.39

Troy Brown - Projected: 1.84, +/- 3.76
Greg Lewis - Projected: 1.29, +/- 1.64
Reno Mahe - Projected: 0.89,