SnoTap's National League Playoff Team Rooting Scale

With the Milwaukee Brewers out of the playoff hunt, we as Wisconsinites and Tappers need to find a team to get behind. This is where I come to help and pick out who is worth rooting for in October.  

5.) St. Louis Cardinals - This is an obvious choice.  Last year with the wound from the 2011 Playoffs still very fresh, when St. Louis came back to beat Washington, I took it as if the Brewers suffered that nut-punching defeat. St. Louis is a very good team, but let's be real, no Brewers fan wants to see this team win baseball games in October. They are a model of consistency and truthfully, it makes me sick only because I wish the Brewers could be that way. I will admit my hatred for St. Louis has lessen a bit with Tony La Russa not being in the dugout. There was something about TLR that just made me infuriated. I do not mind new manager Mike Matheny but 'the best baseball fans' are generally pinheads.

4.) Atlanta Braves - WHO COULD HAVE PREDICTED THIS ONE LAST MONDAY?!?! Seriously, I am not a big fan of Cincinnati, but these guys take the cake right now. Brian McCann, the celebration sheriff, might have his hands full with Yasiel Puig in their ALDS series which could get really fun for the rest of us. Freddie Freeman will probably overreact like a drunk kid whom gets his fries knocked out of his hand before sitting down to eat them at 2:30 am. Reed Johnson will throw another chicken shit punch. This team is so annoying with their baseball ethos. If we get an Atlanta-St. Louis NLCS, I will probably watch something else. I just could not take all the Mt. Pious attitudes and seeing one of these teams celebrate a World Series appearance.

3.) Cincinnati Reds - These guys are really not much better than Atlanta and St. Louis. They like to play the game a bit differently throwing at guys and Dusty Baker finding a way to mismanage the pitching staff. Cincinnati does have some personality and maybe that is what makes them just shade more likable. Guys like Brandon Phillips, Mat Latos, Alroids Chapman and Joey Votto staying in the playoffs are good for baseball's business. The Reds are also entertaining to see how many times Baker deserves the blame for a playoff loss. Dusty is always great to see in the playoffs displaying the struggle.

2.) Los Angeles Dodgers - This team spent all their money to buy a World Series. It is annoying especially cheering for a small market team, but how do you not want this team playing deep into October?! They have Puig, a player who could be the most electrifying thing about baseball and give the casual fan a reason to check into the games next month. Former Brewer Zack Greinke is having a great season on the mound and terrorizing the shit out of pitches when he steps up to the plate as he is hitting well over .300. Clayton Kershaw might not be the personality like Puig or Greinke, but he is damn good and it would be please to see him pitch for the duration of October.

1.) Pittsburgh Pirates - Ah yes, little brother who grew up. Pittsburgh was Milwaukee's whipping boy for quite some time and now they found themselves in the playoffs even if it is for just one game. Pittsburgh has been known for tormenting their fanbase whether it is Sid Breem or awful management decisions throughout the years. The Pirates are back in the playoffs for the first time in 21 years. They also had losing seasons in all of those years without a playoff appearance. The Pirates are likable with the guys like Andrew McCutchen, Francisco Lirano, Jason Grilli and a couple others. Also seeing PNC Park for a long time in the playoffs would geuninely make my heart happy.

Charlie.

Tampa Bay Takes Down Texas

Game 163 seems to always deliver the goods of baseball. Who can forget Carlos Gomez finding a way to score giving Minnesota the AL Central title over Detroit? Or how about Scott Hairston hitting a home run for San Diego in the top of the 11th inning only to have Trevor Hoffman give up three runs in the bottom half of the inning? This one did not feature any of the late game dramatics, but Tampa Bay defeated Texas with relying on the cornerstones of their franchise.

David Price has a chance to go for a complete game every time he tows the rubber. He truly defines the
baseball term 'ace pitcher.'  Price went for a complete game on Tuesday night giving up seven hits, two runs and only had two walks. He did have some men on base throughout the game, but Price found a way to wriggle out of the inning without any damage. The Rays had relievers Joel Peralta and Fernando Rodney ready to go in the game in case Price had his own Dave Bush inning, but it never happened. Price put the team on his back and really could use a YouTube video like Greg Jennings and Marshawn Lynch.

Price was not the only Tampa Bay cornerstone leading their team to victory.  Once again, Evan Longoria came up with the clutch home run at the perfect time.  As the Tampa Bay Rays Twitter account pointed out, Longoria had six home runs in the final game of the year, which is a weird statistic but given the Rays' success lately, it is an important stat.  Longoria blasted a two-run homer in the third inning giving the Rays a 3-1 lead.  Longoria passed Stan Musial's record of most home runs hit on the last day of the season in his sixth year of baseball. Longoria seems to have a feel for the moment. That is an important thing to have heading into the playoffs and the scary thing is it seems like Longoria is getting better as he ages. Longo as his friends call him will definitely need to carry that hitting magic over into Wednesday night.

Tampa Bay moves on to play Cleveland for the right to play Boston. They send one of their supposed future cornerstones to the mound in Alex Cobb. He will face off against Danny Salazar, one of Cleveland's best young pitchers. With two men playing in their first postseason game, this could be a blowout or a slugfest as it is expected one or both of the pitchers could truly struggle in this game.  It is hard to know what their hooks will be as both teams are looking ahead to getting their pitching staff right for the ALDS Playoffs on Friday.

As for Texas, it has been real Ron Washington. Texas has now had two straight years where the bottom fell out from them in the month of September. Last year, they blew a massive AL West lead and ended up losing at home to Baltimore in Wild Card Game.  This year, Texas did not even make it to the playoffs. Washington also pulled Martin Perez after only 74 pitches and he retired eight batters in a row prior to him putting a few runners on. Washington overthought himself in a big game for his future with the team. He knew damn well that a pink slip might be coming for him if he failed to win this game. I would be stunned if Washington is managing the Rangers in 2014.

Tampa Bay made the playoffs for the fourth time in six years. Oakland and Cleveland are in the playoffs as well.  The small market gap is not as significant as it was in the early 2000's. These teams can compete with anyone and win themselves a World Series.

Charlie.

TFR: Week 4

Here at SnoTap, we will be helping you weekly throughout the football season. We will recap what happens each week on Tuesday, and also give you some advice on how to use these happenings to win your league. If you have any questions, put them in the comments below, or email SnoTap12@gmail.com, and we will answer them in a future post.

This week represents a bit of a change in the weekly TFR column. No doubt, there were a lot of fantasy happenings to discuss, and we will get to those in a bit, but a conversation with Charlie over this past weekend motivated me to cover a specific topic in this week’s column.

In fantasy football, you have to win by being you.

Understand what your best strategy options are, what type of fantasy football player are you? If you don’t understand how you operate best, you won’t be entirely successful at it. For example, my style is to load up on as many talented players as I can early in the season, and to identify what other teams in the league have specific position weaknesses. I try to use my depth to acquire other players that I had my eye on, but wasn’t able to acquire.  Needless to say, I am usually one of the most active players in free agency and trades in any league I’m in.

I’ve also seen players who focus entirely on drafting the best team possible, and then are very hesitant to make moves throughout the season, as they like to believe in the team they drafted initially, and believe that team is the best it can be. Other teams like to make sure their favorite real life players are on their team, so that they can comfortably cheer for both their real life and fantasy teams.

No matter what strategy you employ, the best option is to own it. If you try to match another strategy, or force others to play by your strategy, it makes things less fun, and less successful. The great part about fantasy sports is that there are many paths to a league championship; it’s all about execution to see who wins.

This week, our analysis looks solely into the running back position.

The first four weeks of 2013 have been the year of the bad running backs. Much has been made about how the league is becoming a pass first league, and wide receivers are getting more points than ever. Remember, fantasy football is about value above replacement players, and running backs are very difficult to replace. If you drafted CJ Spiller, Ray Rice, Doug Martin, Trent Richardson, Alfred Morris, Stevan Ridley, Maurice Jones-Drew, or Steven Jackson and you’re unhappy with the number of points you are getting, check first to see what is causing the lack of points. Is it injury, lack of touches, lack of talent, or defensive attention? Before moving forward, it’s important to understand what can be fixed, and what can’t be. My gut feeling on who can bounce back and who can’t is as follows.

Will be okay: Spiller, Martin, Rice and Richardson

Spiller is splitting carries with Fred Jackson, and that has many owners freaking out. Spiller’s value isn’t as a workhorse back; it’s as a speed threat that can score from anywhere and participate in the passing game. As EJ Manuel gets more comfortable, he should improve. The Buccaneers are still feeding Doug Martin the ball constantly and eventually a few more holes should open up. Martin won’t lead the league in yards per carry, but seems to be the number one option in Tampa, he’ll bounce back.  Ray Rice has been battling a hip injury, and against Buffalo, he didn’t get a lot of work. With the Ravens struggling, I’m guessing they start going back to the basics, which means a lot of work for Rice. Richardson has had a crazy first few weeks of the season, but after the Colts bye-week, I’m guessing he’ll take over as the full-time back, much like he was able to with Ahmad Bradshaw missing the most recent game to injury.

Time to be concerned: Ridley, MJD, Morris and Jackson

It’s clear that Ridley is in a timeshare now. Although he is the lead back, he loses a lot of carries to his teammates, which decreases his value. He’ll likely finish with decent yardage and touchdowns, but they will be hard to predict. Jacksonville is a mess, and isn’t using MJD to his full potential, and when they do, they aren’t able to block for him. This is starting to feel like a season in which Washington will not be able to catch a break, and much of Morris’ success last year came from the fact that defenses had to focus on RGIII. Jackson might just be too old now, with injury issues forcing him to miss a chunk of time. By the time he gets back, he might come back into a timeshare in a passing offense.

These are all gut feelings, so I recommend you really go deep, and see what is causing these issues. Find out what you think is going to happen in the next 13 weeks.

Week 5 Bye-Week Fill-ins: Terrelle Pryor, (yes again) Danny Woodhead, Tashard Choice, Mohamed Sanu, Austin Pettis, Coby Fleener.

The Doug-out #107: Eddie Murphy feat. Snoop Lion "Red Light"

EDDIE MURPHY FEAT. SNOOP LION
"Red Light"
9 [2014]

Eddie Murphy feat. Snoop Lion - "Red Light"

This sounds like the set-up for a bad joke: Mega-comedian well past his prime meets up with rapper-converted-reggae-artist to record a new reggae record. When my friends told me to check this out, I thought I would find it as insufferable as that fox video everyone seems to like. As it turns out, its a pretty great song and worth checking out.


The Doug-out #106: A-Trak "Piss Test"
The Doug-out #105: CHVRCHES "The Mother We Share"
The Doug-out #104: Cut Copy "Free Your Mind"
The Doug-out #103: George Harrison "My Sweet Lord"
The Doug-out #102: The Avalanches "Stalking To A Stranger"

NFL Liquor Cabinet Week 4

For the entire NFL season, we will be breaking down the rest of the NFL not named Green Bay by looking at it like a liquor cabinet. Why did we choose this method? I like to booze and it makes things really easy to determine what's great, average and poor. 

TOP SHELF
Kansas City's defense is full of nightmares for opponents - Are we still unsure whether Kansas City is a fluke? New York needed a win badly and even if the game was played in a fired up Arrowhead Stadium, the Giants would be playing more inspired. Kansas City's defense shut them down like me trying to talk to Naya Rivera. We talk all the time about a team 'stepping on the opposition's throat.'  Kansas City did just that and played great.

Major League 4: Cleveland Browns - ESPN Cleveland's Tony Grossi mentioned the Cleveland Browns are the movie Major League and he could not be more right. The team is expected to tank and they now have won two straight looking damn good while doing it. At least until a team gets a book on him, Brian Hoyer looks like a legitimate NFL quarterback. Their defense is balling out led by Ray Horton who deserves a head coaching job. The AFC North looks like the worst division in the AFC and entirely up for grabs. A 9-7 team can win it.
reminding some of

Grown ass man win by New England - I came away really impressed with New England. Atlanta is a team who wins at home and Mike Smith does not have many Atlanta teams lose back-to-back games. Tom Brady had his best game of the year and looked more in sync with Kenbrell Thompkins. Also LaGarette Blount continues to run the football well for this team. Their defense takes a major hit losing Vince Wilfork for the season with an Achilles injury, but Aqib Talib appears to be a lockdown cornerback. He held Julio Jones in check for the greater part.

Titans impress again, but lose Locker - Tennessee is looking like one of the teams I completely misread going into the season. Their defense once again put the clamps on a team and while it is the New York Jets, remember they played great against Buffalo's defense last week. Jake Locker also dazzled in the game before leaving the game after a big hit injuring his hip. Locker will be out for at least a month, maybe two and in steps former Buffalo quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick. He is a competent quarterback although he throws too many interceptions.

MIDDLE SHELF
Sloppy drunken game in Detroit - This is really not a win where Detroit should put on their mantle. The game featured seven combined turnovers and did not really feature crisp football. Detroit did force turnovers and Reggie Bush looked solid yet let's pump breaks that the Lions are the best thing since sliced bread.

Indianapolis takes care of business - The Colts had to play at Jacksonville. The Jaguars are struggling mightily but being at home, weird things could happen. Indianapolis rolled with an interception return by Darius Butler and a good Andrew Luck performance.

Washington bounces back - Oakland can be a house of horrors for road teams. Truthfully, I saw Robert Griffin's knee flash before my eyes on that putrid turf, but Washington made sure they would not be the second team in the NFC East to be 0-4.  One big positive with Washington is the duo of Robert Griffin III and Pierre Garcon seems like a solid one. I would not get too excited about this defense yet as it turns out Matt Flynn is not very good.

Cannot read San Diego - I have no idea if San Diego is good or not. They had a classic collapse in Week 1, beat a lowly Eagles team, nearly beat Tennessee and then they come back at home to take down the NFC East leading Dallas. The Chargers do look improved from last season, but I am not sure if this is just a team who will win somewhere between seven or eight games or a playoff contender.

BOTTOM SHELF
Tampa Bay Terribles - We call things 'Dumpster Fires' all the time but what is going on in Tampa Bay is a dumpster, tire, oil fire combined all together. News came out today that Josh Freeman is in Stage 1 drug program for the NFL.  This led to some wild assumptions but in reality, Freeman is there because he has a prescription for Adderall for ADHD and he has to be in the program. Freeman also has passed 46 drug tests. This is a disaster. Get rid of Greg Schiano. Get rid of Freeman. Just shut it down like the government. Tampa Bay management basically threw Freeman under a 18-wheeler and it is completely pathetic.

Houston could be 0-4 - Think about this one for a second... If San Diego does not collapse, if Tennessee's defense makes a stop, the Texans have two more losses on the season. This is not a good football team. Matt Schaub has apparently lost it at quarterback. It feels like shitty Phil Rivers transformed into shitty Matt Schuab. Heading to San Francisco is not the best thing for this team going forward. Houston really does not have a backup quarterback so they will have to ride with Schaub for the season.

Let's not all shit on Chip Kelly at once - The snark squad, not to be confused with the scuba squad, is out in full force after Philadelphia's third straight loss. They gave 52 points and this is what I meant about the Eagles in August. They are an unpredictable team. Philadelphia looks more like a 6-10 team who will put up some points once in awhile.

Fine, I will say it, the Ravens are in trouble - I am worried about this team. Joe Flacco threw five interceptions against a defense that gave up 500 yards to the New York Jets. Baltimore might not be a good team and we have to accept it. I will say their defense was put at a disadvantage with all the turnovers.

Charlie.

Tap's Trailers: About Last Night

Kevin Hart is on the verge of breaking out as a movie star. He really is sort of hanging there. Hart had a comedy movie come out this summer that did not receive as much buzz as other comedy-related movie. Hart has a couple movies coming out in 2014 where he will be the lead actor so it will be interesting to see where his career goes after 2014. This looks like a classic romantic comedy that both sexes can enjoy. It seems like a fun movie. It also stars Michael Ealy, Regina Hall and Joy Bryant.

Charlie.

First Taste: Grading Arizona State's 'Flames' Helmet

Arizona State is pulling out all the stunts for their primetime game against Notre Dame this weekend in Dallas, Texas. The Sun Devils will face their fourth straight tough team and they will be doing it this week with flames on their helmets. I am not a fan of these at all. It is like the guy whom thinks it is a great idea to put flames on the sides of his truck. Those guys are 98 out of 100 times absolute douchebags. There is a chance where these will look a hell of a lot cooler when they are actually on television. GRADE: C-, there is a chance it goes up to a C+ if they are cool on television.  

Charlie.