#NerdsUnite: Play on playa! (Breaking down the world of sports so you don't have to!)

<editorsnote> Nerds, meet my buddy Derek - I met him when I was professor for a day at CSF. Really rad dude, and he wants to come on board to help explain to us nerdy folk the wild world of sports. Smart dude, and knows his shizzy shiznat. I only have one more thing left to say ... HIT IT DEREK!!! </editorsnote>

#TalkNerdyToMeLover's @DerekJ_AllDay

Hey everyone! Hope the beginning of your school year is going well and you aren’t too overloaded with work. I know after a long summer it is hard for me to get my rhythm going at school again, but it always comes back after the first few weeks. Keep fighting!

Last week I drafted my annual fantasy football team that I participate in with my girlfriend and my friends. We have cash prizes and everything! After a whole lot of research I was definitely prepared to dominate my draft. I was randomly given the 3^rd overall pick and I ended up getting Arian Foster after he dropped to me from the #1 overall ranking on ESPN. The rest of my draft went in this order Larry Fitzgerald WR, Darren McFadden RB, Steven Jackson RB, Julio Jones WR, Philip Rivers QB, Jermichael Finley TE, Matt Ryan QB, Beanie Wells RB, Robert Meachem WR, Ben Roethlisberger QB, Eagles D/ST, Nate Washington WR and finally Nate Kaeding K.

Because I drafted Rivers after a shaky last season I knew I was going to need QB depth just in case. That is why I also drafted Ryan and Big Ben. My RB core is phenomenal and my WRs are almost as good. My weaknesses are clearly QB and TE. Tweet me @DerekJ_AllDay and let me know what you think of my draft!

Sorry this post is so short, but after being in class all day and just finishing homework I now need to sleep so I can be up for more class in the morning. Just so you guys know I am going to talk to Jen about possibly moving the day of the week that my post goes up. I normally write these on Mondays and with my new schedule that is just a pain in the ass for me. Thanks for reading!

#nerdsunite

Click here to follow Derek on Twitter!

#NerdsUnite: Play on playa! (Breaking down the world of sports so you don't have to!)

<editorsnote> Nerds, meet my buddy Derek - I met him when I was professor for a day at CSF. Really rad dude, and he wants to come on board to help explain to us nerdy folk the wild world of sports. Smart dude, and knows his shizzy shiznat. I only have one more thing left to say ... HIT IT DEREK!!! </editorsnote>

#TalkNerdyToMeLover's @DerekJ_AllDay

Hey guys! So, I won’t be able to do the rankings for part three. Honestly, I was so busy over the weekend that I just didn’t have time. Considering I already gave you guys quite a bit of help for the first 100 picks you should be fine. If you aren’t then just keep trucking! The only way to be good at fantasy “anything” is experience. So, instead of part three of my FF ranking I will just breakdown the start of the college football season over the weekend and talk to you guys longer next week.

If you have ever tried to follow NCAA football and felt confused don’t worry about it. To be honest, it is difficult for me to commit a lot of time to college football during NFL and MLB season. The increasing ambiguity of the ranking system that decides the postseason also doesn’t help with my level of interest. As the season is played out there is a computer controlled ranking system that essentially takes every variable into account and decides the top teams in the league. The championship game is decided by the simple #1 vs #2 style, but the other bowl games are decided by invitation. Owners or general managers of these bowl programs are allowed to invite the teams of their choice, and sometimes those choices are driven by the almighty dollar.

This is why many people are big supporters of a playoff system rather than the current system. The issue as always becomes the money factor. The current system provides a lot of revenue and creates a lot of jobs for many people, but what if the playoff system goes wrong somehow? There is always risk I suppose, but the logic of the playoff system is obvious.

In my household there are two teams that will constantly have our attention every time the NCAA football season kicks off. My father’s favorite team is USC, and naturally mine is UCLA. If you have followed either team over the year you know that the stories are incredibly different. USC is a perennial contender for the National Championship bowl game or one of the highly acclaimed bowl games. UCLA is a perennial contender for what my Dad and I like to call the Toilet Bowl (if they get into a bowl game at all). This is true once again this year as USC is ranked #2 behind almighty Alabama as #1. UCLA also won and it appears that we have finally found a quarterback that we can count on. We have hope in Westwood!

Considering most teams pad their schedule with an easy win in week 1 there weren’t any big upsets. There were two games of interest though. Previous #2 Alabama defeated #8 Michigan in a complete blowout. That is the reason Alabama is now ranked #1 even though USC also won. #13 Michigan St. beat #24 Boise St. in the only other game that was between two ranked teams. The season always starts slow, but big games will be coming very soon! Talk to you guys next week!

#nerdsunite

Click here to follow Derek on Twitter!

#NerdsUnite: Play on playa! (Breaking down the world of sports so you don't have to!)

<editorsnote> Nerds, meet my buddy Derek - I met him when I was professor for a day at CSF. Really rad dude, and he wants to come on board to help explain to us nerdy folk the wild world of sports. Smart dude, and knows his shizzy shiznat. I only have one more thing left to say ... HIT IT DEREK!!! </editorsnote>

#TalkNerdyToMeLover's @DerekJ_AllDay

Welcome back for part two of my fantasy football breakdown! Search the site using my twitter handle @DerekJ_AllDay to find all my posts including part 1. This post will cover rounds 6-10, and part 3 will be 11-16. Due to how difficult it is to create these rankings I am adding a third post.

It’s always really fun to draft for the first five rounds, but it is also really easy to make good choices early on. Championship teams are created by the production they drafted in the later rounds. That is why researching rounds 6-16 is just as important as 1-5! So let us begin with round 6.

Round 6. #51 (46) Marques Colston WR, #52 (54) Stevan Ridley RB, #53 (55) Percy Harvin WR, #54 (48) Miles Austin WR, #55 (56) Antonio Gates TE, #56 (57) Dwayne Bowe WR, #57 (52) Johnathan Stewart RB, #58 (59) Jeremy Maclin WR, #59 (60) Steve Johnson WR, #60 (64) Philip Rivers QB

There is some serious value here, but some players have more risk than others. The first that comes to mind is Ridley, who has never been a starter before. He clearly has potential and the Patriots feel he can run the ball, but nobody really knows what he will do when game one comes. It is tough for Austin and Gates to stay healthy, but when they are on the field they can be the best at their positions.

Round 7. #61 (73) Matt Ryan QB, #62 (58) Shonn Greene RB, #63 (61) Vernon Davis TE, #64 (63) Denarius Thomas WR, #65 (65) Beanie Wells RB, #66 (68) Eric Decker WR, #67 (69) Jermichael Finley TE, #68 (66) Antonio Brown WR, #69 (64) Roy Helu RB, #70 (71) DeSean Jackson WR

You may notice that I tend to value quarterbacks highly, and for good reason. Everybody needs one strong QB. They get the most points and can carry your team at times, so I rank them highly. Obviously, if you already drafted a QB first round, you can ignore the QB rankings until you want a backup.

I flat out love the WR talent available in this round. Decker has a strong repertoire with Peyton already and DeSean Jackson is a lazy pro bowler that has something to prove this year. Antonio Brown is a great young talent that could take over the number one receiver role. Then, we see Finley at the TE position. Green Bay has a million options which can hurt sometimes, but in the case of Finley I believe it helps. Teams will forget about him sometimes and even as a TE he can make some big plays.

Round 8. #71 (67) Ben Tate RB, #72 (82) Deangelo Williams RB, #73 (70) Doug Martin RB, #74 (74) Robert Meachem WR, #75 (78) Torrey Smith WR, #76 (77) Pierre Garcon WR, #77 (79) Ben Roethlisberger QB, #78 (75) Michael Bush RB, #79 (76) CJ Spiller RB, #80 (80) Steve Smith WR.

At this point you are looking at a lot of backup RBs and some quality WR/TEs. De/St and K still hasn’t come into play

I can’t say I am particularly thrilled about these players, but you will find some valuable WRs here.

Round 9. #81 (81) Peyton Hillis RB, #82 (83) Isaac Redman RB, #83 (82) Lance Moore WR, #84 (86) Matt Schaub QB, #85 (87) Aaron Hernandez TE, #86 (84) Malcolm Floyd WR, #87 (85) Santonio Holmes WR, #88 (89) Lance Moore WR, #89 (88) Mark Ingram RB, #90 (91) Anquan Boldin WR

Aaron Hernandez really should be ranked higher, and now that I look back on it he may even be seventh round material. He plays “behind” Gronkowski, but the Pats often times line up with two TEs or give Gronk a breather. This gives Hernandez plenty of time to make catches and produce for a fantasy team. Once again, plenty of late WR talent.

Round 10. #91 (90) Toby Gerhart RB, #92 (92) Donald Brown RB, #93 (94) Michael Crabtree WR, #94 (93) Tony Gonzalez TE, #95 (95) David Wilson RB, #96 (98) Nate Washington WR, #97 (96) Kenny Britt WR, #98 (99) Jay Cutler QB, #99 (100) Robert Griffin III QB, #100 (97) Shane Vereen RB.

Late QB value here big time. RG3 might be the Cam Newton of last year and break out as a top fantasy performer, but he also might be a bust. Frankly, he won’t be Newton but he will definitely be better than many pure passers. RG3 runs quite a bit and that will give him those extra points he needs to be a great QB play.

Thanks for reading again guys! Tweet me @DerekJ_AllDay. Part 3 next week.

#nerdsunite

Click here to follow Derek on Twitter!

#NerdsUnite: Play on playa! (Breaking down the world of sports so you don't have to!)

<editorsnote> Nerds, meet my buddy Derek - I met him when I was professor for a day at CSF. Really rad dude, and he wants to come on board to help explain to us nerdy folk the wild world of sports. Smart dude, and knows his shizzy shiznat. I only have one more thing left to say ... HIT IT DEREK!!! </editorsnote>

#TalkNerdyToMeLover's @DerekJ_AllDay

Hola amigos! Boy, I have been living it up in Arrowhead since the house my parents bought has gotten so close to completion. This is my second weekend in a row hanging up there, and this time I got to go with my gf and her awesome puppy named Benjamin Harold Finch Linus (If anyone gets the reference, tweet me DerekJ_AllDay). I bring this up because we got lost on our way home and our 9pm arrival turned into an 11:30 arrival really fast. My gf (I love her) and I woke up at 5:30am to go fishing and besides a nap I have been running on fumes since 7. So, this weeks post will be shorter than normal, but it is also going to give me a chance to break down a couple of sports stories that should be shared.

There was some sad baseball news that broke on Monday, 92 year old Johnny Pesky has passed away. He is primarily know for his time playing for the Red Sox and having the right field foul pole in Fenway Park named after him. Pesky's pole was legendary to me as a kid before I even knew who Johnny Pesky was. Pesky was primarily a contact hitter who had little power, only hitting 17 home runs during his career. Legend has it, that Pesky won a game in 1948 for the Red Sox by hitting a home run that barely snuck inside that short right field porch that is so legendary in baseball lore. Interestingly enough, research has shown that Pesky never won a game for the Red Sox by hitting a home run like the one described in the story. So, we sit here wondering...why would someone make that up? Or did it really happen and become lost in history over time? Nobody knows.

Like many athletes of the time, Johnny Pesky missed the 1943-1945 seasons because of his time spent fighting for the US in WWII. The selflessness of this man, and many men at that time can never be forgotten. After his career as a baseball player ended, Pesky stayed around the Sox organization as a manager from '63-'64 and then coached or helped the Sox players in any way he could until the day he died. This was a man who loved the game and respected a lot more than himself, and the two paragraphs I wrote talking about him probably isn't enough to honor him.

In Olympic news, there is no surprise here but the USA mens basketball team took home the gold medal over the weekend after beating Spain in a close game 107-100. USA has proved that they are the best once again, but there is also a lot of evidence suggesting that the rest of the world is catching up with them. Even more evidence is present suggesting that the '92 USA Dream Team would wipe the floor with the '12 USA team. Disagree? Let me know why on twitter @DerekJ_AllDay.

I am still trying to map out my fantasy football post, but I will probably do a two part post with part one of my fantasy football advice being next week. Thanks for the time guys!

#nerdsunite

Click here to follow Derek on Twitter!

#NerdsUnite: Play on playa! (Breaking down the world of sports so you don't have to!)

<editorsnote> Nerds, meet my buddy Derek - I met him when I was professor for a day at CSF. Really rad dude, and he wants to come on board to help explain to us nerdy folk the wild world of sports. Smart dude, and knows his shizzy shiznat. I only have one more thing left to say ... HIT IT DEREK!!! </editorsnote>

#TalkNerdyToMeLover's @DerekJ_AllDay

Helloooooo sports fans! The sports world has been all over the place this week from yet another huge comeback by the U.S women's soccer team while on the brink of elimination, to the Tebow turmoil in New York. Not to be overshadowed by other drama, seven All Star starting pitchers started yesterday including CY Young favorite and hopeful Jered Weaver who threw a complete game shutout with seven strikeouts against the Athletics. Also, Justin Verlander, the reigning AL CY Young and MVP award winner pitched eight shut-out innings against the Yankees and struck out fourteen batters along the way making a great lineup look foolish. These are the stories that I will be covering today, but first I must acknowledge a tragic story from the NFL.

Garrett Reid, the oldest son of Philadelphia Eagles head coach Andy Reid, passed away on Sunday. Reid's son has had a history of serious drug abuse issues and what people have called “run-ins” with the law. Naturally, the masses are assuming that this is a drug related death and they are probably correct. Regardless of the cause, the death of Garrett Reid is a tragedy to the Reid family and I wanted to take a paragraph here to acknowledge him and his loved ones.

On to more uplifting news, the USA Women's soccer team has done it again! The US was matched up against Canada yesterday in a semi-final battle for a trip to the gold medal game. Our girls have never missed a trip to the gold medal game, and they sure as hell weren't going to start now. The Canadians played a great game, and in many ways it is warranted to say that they outplayed the Americans. Canada was leading 3-2, until the referee called a foul against Canada that I have never seen called before on any level in my life. The call was that Canada's goalkeeper held onto the ball for longer than six seconds which is technically against the rules. Although, this foul is never called and especially not during such an important game. Abby Wombach proceeded to drill home the following penalty kick to tie the game at 3-3 with just ten short minutes left in the game. Regular time ended 3-3, and in extra time the American's won the game with a great header from young star Alex Morgan. It is fair to say, that in this instance the US completely lucked out, but sometimes (all the time?) it is better to be lucky than good, and now they will meet Japan in the gold medal game.

Does anyone think that the Jets would have been better off signing Brett Favre rather than trading for Tim Tebow? Me either, but I can't believe how close it is. I just don't get it, the Jets were already stuck with a mediocre quarterback in Mark Sanchez, so it was my assumption they would load the team with talent around him to make him look better than he is like they have done in the past. Instead, they decide to trade for an even more mediocre QB in Tebow! I suppose the plan is for Tebow to go in and work his comeback magic whenever the Jets are losing, or to give opposing defense a different look with Tebow in a wildcat formation. The only issue is, last time I checked it took Tebow a whole four quarters of constantly chucking the ball up in the air and scattering around the field to score just seven or ten points. The reason Tebow had a chance to win was because his defense was the best in the NFL for most of the games he played in. They want an unbelievable amount of low scoring games and that is almost always a sign of great defense. I mean hell guys, why do you think Denver traded him? He was too good? My point is simple, Tebow is not a talented quarterback and there is no way that his lucky streak can continue.

Thanks for reading again guys! Just as a side note, I went up to Lake Arrowhead with my buddy and fished all day yesterday. Great fishing! Caught a couple crappie, easily 7 or 8 small mouth bass and there were a few trout sightings but nothing on the hook. Hit that place early morning around 5:30 and you will be swimming in trout and bass which both eat regular bait worms. Tweet me @DerekJ_AllDay about anything!

#nerdsunite

Click here to follow Derek on Twitter!