Tag: News

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I hear what you’re saying. It is the middle of the season. Your fantasy football team is on the right track to win your championship. You have studied the Yahoo cheat sheets religiously. Or, you have looked at the ESPN Fantasy Football Rankings until you can’t see straight. Or, on the other hand, maybe your team is headed right for the cellar. Despite your best efforts, you haven’t been able to make your fantasy football team work. You actually showed up for the draft. You bought the Athlon fantasy football guide. You had the best fantasy football draft software. You had every fantasy football cheat sheet and fantasy football rankings sheet. Yet, you couldn’t make it work. Don’t despair. There is still time.

Before you get to the cellar, I ask that you take a minute to read this article, read a few mid-season fantasy football tips, and perhaps, you can get your fantasy football team on the right track to success. However, if you are the guy who is operating the fantasy football team that is on the right track, you just might benefit from a few tips also that will make the rest of your season a success. Trust me; these tips are better than digesting more fantasy football rankings.

Here are my five mid-season fantasy football tips to getting your fantasy football team ready for the fantasy football playoffs:

1. Check your fantasy football team. Now, I know this sounds common sense and completely ridiculous. You have been checking your fantasy football team the entire season, right? Well, if you have been checking your fantasy football team and making changes, hopefully, you’re on the right track. But, if you are not, realize that at this point in the season many fantasy football owners have thrown in the towel. They are tired of adjusting their line-ups and reading fantasy football rankings. This will enable you to be able to capitalize on their late-season laziness. Simply checking your fantasy football team and making the appropriate changes (e.g., benching players who are injured, etc.) will enable you to possibly pick up one or two wins that you otherwise might not get late in the season.

2. Look ahead at the NFL schedule and get play-off bound players out of your fantasy football team line-up. Every single year, I see a great team in one of my leagues get destroyed due to a lack of planning. And, for a serious fantasy football player, a lack of preparation is tragic and inexcusable. Many fantasy football owners think that they can simply operate with Yahoo fantasy football rankings, ESPN fantasy football rankings, CBS SportsLine fantasy football rankings, Athlon fantasy football rankings, or the fantasy football rankings from another publication. But, at this point in the season, you have to start looking at the schedule. This season, it is fairly clear that the Colts will win the AFC South, for example. You need to be looking at your fantasy football schedule-at week’s 14, 15, 16, and 17. You need to look at your fantasy football playoff schedule and compare it to the NFL schedule. Examine who you have at running back. Examine who you have at wide receiver. Are these players on teams that are absolute shoe-ins for the playoffs? I will give you an example to illustrate my point. A few years ago, when the Philadelphia Eagles locked up their home field advantage early on and Donovan McNabb was having such an outstanding fantasy football season, a friend of mine in a league that I’m in had his fantasy football team implode because the Eagles benched McNabb. You do not want this to happen to you. Look at the NFL standings, see who will be benched, and plan ahead to get them out of your fantasy football team’s lineup.

3. This goes along live Tip Number Two. Look ahead at the NFL schedule and find backups to place in your lineup. When you see that certain teams are locking up home-field advantage or getting to the playoffs (and they don’t have a hope for home-field advantage), capitalize! If you know the starting running back will be on the bench late in the season, grab his backup. If you know the starting wide receiver who has been your go-to guy all season will be benched because his team is going to the playoffs, grab his backup if you are in need of depth at that position. Even if you are not in need of depth at the particular position, it may be advantageous for you to grab that player anyway to prevent your fantasy football competition from doing so.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/361489

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGkDcAd48sk

Football season is upon us. If you consider yourself a fan, hopefully you have all of your necessities at the ready: an HDTV the size of a refrigerator; an oversized foam hand emblazoned with your favorite team’s mascot; snacks, sweet and savory alike; and plenty of heated opinions for the next water-cooler discussion or, failing that, for yelling at the radio. If you have an iPhone or iPod Touch, then consider yourself lucky, as you’ll have even more ways to enjoy the season. Here are the top five ways to bring the excitement of Football Season to your iDevice.

ESPN Fantasy Football 2010: This is the essential fantasy football app. With ESPN Fantasy Football 2010, you can carry the entire fantasy football experience in the palm of your hand, with high-end graphics and an intuitive interface that beats the desktop web browser version, hands down. This app not only lets the user manage multiple teams and leagues, but also access news feeds with valuable stats, news, and more. The only drawback is that ESPN Fantasy Football 2010 will make fantasy football more addictive than ever.

CBS Sports Pro Football: Tired of having to page through all the unimportant news of the day, just to get to those few precious football updates and videos? Then, first of all, you may want to examine your priorities. Second, does CBS have the app for you! CBS Sports Pro Football takes the day’s breaking football news, play-by-play analysis, videos, and standings, and weaves them into a free and fun to use app for the iPhone. Staying up to speed has never been easier.

SlingPlayer Mobile: Major League Baseball has its own live-streaming app for the iPhone, but unfortunately football fans are left wanting. Enter SlingPlayer mobile. Sure, at $29.99 the app is on the expensive side, and, yes, the app requires a Slingbox which might itself cost about $100, but in the end it will turn your iPhone into the ultimate entertainment device: live television, DVR, and remote control, all rolled into one. SlingPlayer will stream whatever content you get from your cable or satellite provider over 3G and WiFi, football included. Put another way, it is very, very cool.

Backbreaker Football: Backbreaker isn’t just the best football simulation on the iPhone– it’s one of the best games in the app store, period. Unlike other football games, Backbreaker Football puts the player down on the field, at eye-level with the players, right in the center of the action. The graphics in this game are incredible, and the hits are so hard you can almost feel them. Add to this a great list of features like multiplayer gaming modes, custom teams, and online score sharing. This game lives up to its hype.

History of American Football: If watching football, playing fantasy football, and getting into some simulated football isn’t enough for you, why not learn about the rich and storied history of American football? This is the sole purpose of the History of American Football app for the iPhone. This app is an offline encyclopedia of football, with a clean user interface and some nice hi-res photos to class it up a little. Articles include History of Professional Football, Origins of College Football, Players, Rules, and more. Who said learning couldn’t be fun?

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/5294190

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGkDcAd48sk

An examination of the state of American football and a comprehensive solution to ensure its continued life

Football is dying because our brains just can’t take it. More specifically, the brains of football players. One key thing you probably note in the title of this article is the absence of the word “professional”, and that is because I am referring to the brains of all football players and not just professionals. Current media coverage might lead you to believe that the principle injury concern in football today – the effect of repeated concussions or more specifically, chronic traumatic encephalopathy (C.T.E.) – is one specifically concentrated in the professional ranks. This is not the case. Perhaps the most alarming aspect of this issue is that it is a long term issue and not one born in the NFL or CFL. The grave nature of this problem is receiving a cascade of study and the evidence supporting football’s contribution to this illness is steadily building, but I will leave the researchers to the task of further building the scientific and medical case. Instead, I will concentrate this article on the impact of these study results on the game Americans obviously love and how that game may be changed in a way that might help it survive – along with the brains of its many participants.

A Dead Sport Walking

Why am I giving American football this fatal moniker? Because as it is structured today… it is. Concussions are a common occurrence in football, as any player at any level can tell you. In addition, neurologists have already stated once a person suffers a concussion, there is a high probability that he will sustain another. They have added that it takes less of a blow, after several concussions, to cause the same level of injury and it requires more time to recover. This we already know as fact. Consequently, the simple math says football is fundamentally a game that causes concussions.

Further, research is solidifying the link between concussion head trauma and long-term degenerative brain disease. Thus enters C.T.E. into the picture. Adding up a little more math leads to an answer that says football, a sport that includes concussions as a basic part of the game, is a breeding ground for long term brain illness. At this point it is pretty clear that we all love a sport that is very bad for its participants’ brain over a long period. When you consider that a young man just playing from the age of 8 until his senior year in high school has 10 years of sudden brain shifts caused from contact, it becomes obvious that a professional player at the age of 28 or 30 is clearly in danger of having long term problems from brain injuries.

Now ordinarily it would seem like common sense to stop doing things that hurt, but this is football. On an emotional level it is a national pastime and perhaps the most popular game in the land. On a financial level it is an engine that generates billions in revenue and supports millions of people, businesses and institutions. Given this view of the game how can I still say it is going to die? The simple answer is… mothers.

As the scientific evidence mounts, mothers will be faced with indisputable evidence that they are subjecting their babies to danger – and that is not something mothers are hardwired to do. So, even though most of the attention is being paid to the impact of this issue on the professional level, the game will actually be killed, literally, in its youth. Mothers will simply not allow their sons to play. The feeder system will be shut down. It has already started but as study results become more public even the most ardent football moms will succumb to the pressure from others who will question their motivation behind exposing their sons to clear danger.

And finally, there is a financial threat looming. Several lawsuits already exist regarding this issue. Based on the outcome of these suits, and to some extent regardless of their outcome, insurers will find it increasing difficult to provide the same level of coverage for professional teams, college teams, equipment providers and even coaches. The level of coverage required and the premium cost demanded by insurers alone can and will threaten many programs – if not the entire game.

So the dilemma becomes how to save a dangerous sport, but one that is enjoyed by everyone.

Bringing It Back From the Dead

The major problem in formulating a viable solution is that the issue is being discussed largely in a compartmentalized way. As I have stated, it is not an NFL problem… it’s a football problem. The long term effects may be more apparent at the professional level, but it is increasing evident that its genesis is at a much lower level – perhaps even in youth recreational leagues. However, this approach has largely prevented a broader discussion – and a comprehensive solution – around the issue.

Given the long term nature of the problem, and that the end of the game will probably come at its lowest level – because of lack of participation from youths – the obvious answer needs to include changes at every stage from youth recreational football to the professional ranks. The solution I am offering is such a comprehensive solution.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7511397