Fantasy Football Week XI: The Giants face their toughest test vs Vick

Posted on by georgefattell

Not too long ago it looked as if the Giants were ready to take control of NFC East. Things have changed quickly and now they have to take on the most dangerous player in the league in Michael Vick. I don’t expect this game to be a blow out, but I do think the Eagles will prevail. Accordingly, I am playing both an Eagle and a Giant on my fantasy teams this week. I’m replacing Eli Manning with Michael Vick as one of my QB’s, along with Peyton Manning. I actually played both Mannings for the first time and it did not work out that well. I wanted to replace Peyton Manning with Philip Rivers this week, but I had to prioritize my trades and shore up other positions that were weaker on my Warthogs team than the second QB slot.

I am also playing Hakeem Nicks as one of my 3 WR’s. I think Eli Should be able to hit Nicks for at least 1 TD. Problem with Eli is he might hit a few Eagles for TD’s too!

I used the Giant defense for the last two weeks, but could not keep them after that debacle vs. Dallas. Going with the Ravens on D this week vs Carolina. There really is no dominant defense in the league this year. The best bet is going with match ups that pit good defenses against the weakest offensives.

I did play Vick on my Fantasy B team, the Bulldogs, last week vs. the Redskins and as a result that team was able to yield a decent point total for the week. If you had Vick on your team last week you did well and if not you got left in dust. Vick produced the highest fantasy point total ever at the QB position with his destruction of the Redskins last week. I am now kicking myself for playing him on my A team last. Ironic too, since I was a big Vick supporter early on and I did play him earlier in the season, prior to his injury. Not having Vick on the Warthogs caused me to lose some serious ground against the frontrunners in my office league. I dropped from 2nd position overall to 3rd. With 7 weeks left the situation is not hopeless, but I am going to have get strong performances from my teams from here to the end.

Unless Vick gets carried off the field I am probably going to play him on both my teams the rest of the season.

Aviation Nation 2010

Posted on by georgefattell

I visited Las Vegas this past weekend to attend the annual Aviation Nation Air Show at Nellis AFB. I’m glad I went because the show was spectacular. The mountainous setting of the base provided a very dramatic background for the aerial maneuvers of the high performance aircraft. You wouldn’t think that you were only 14 miles away from the Vegas Strip.

A wide variety of military aircraft were on display, both on the flight line and in the air. Nellis is the home base of the famous Air Force Thunderbirds and they were indeed the stars of this show, but other aircraft also provided very impressive demonstrations, especially the awesome F-22 Raptor.

Aviation Nation is a free event and very well run by the Air Force. I was very impressed by the professional manner in which all the Officers and Airmen at Nellis AFB conducted themselves. They were all very “squared away”, as we used to say in the Army.

Click here to see some of the pictures I took at Aviation Nation.

Videos from the show below.

The Thunderbirds start their performance.

The Raptor: It has no rival

The iPad exceeds expectations

Posted on by georgefattell

The iPad was featured as one of the 39 best gadgets of 2010 in the November edition of  Wired magazine. I’ve owned an iPad for almost a month now and I think a strong case can be made for the iPad being the #1 gadget of the year. Why? Because 10 years from now people will look back at the iPad and see it as the device that redefined mobile computers. I totally agree with the laudatory assessment of the device in Wired, which reads in part as follows:

“The laptop is at its end. You may have already purchased your last one. We’ve touched the future, and it feels a lot like the iPad. The gesture-based interface is instantly understandable and better than anything else we’ve tried-ever…….”

Wired also notes that there is room for improvement:

“Sure, it could be improved: Give it a camera, a supersharp Retina display, and more data-plan option…. ”

I would also suggest to Apple that at least one USB port be added and a SD card slot in the 2nd generation iPad. I think we will see most, if not all, of those improvements in the next iPad.

In fact, it would not surprise me at all if Apple equipped the next iPad with front andrear facing cameras, like the latest versions of the iPhone and iPod. I think the next gen version will also feature Facetime, Apple’s video conferencing app.

I will provide reviews of iPad apps going forward. I’ve already downloaded a couple dozen app and I think some are outstanding.

Chevrolet Cruze

Posted on by georgefattell

I recently took an up close look at new Chevy Cruze at a local Chevrolet dealership and I must say I was quite impressed. For the first in my memory it appeared to me the GM had produced a car the could compete with the best sub 25K compacts from Germany and Asia. The fit and finish of the car seemed to quite high for the class that it is in.

I think this car is going to sell quite well for Chevy and it comes to market at a crucial time for General Motors, with the company preparing to introduce a new IPO in just a few weeks.

Would William F. Buckley support the Tea Party?

Posted on by georgefattell

“I’d rather entrust the government of the United States to the first 400 people listed in the Boston telephone directory than to the faculty of Harvard University. ”

William F. Buckley, Jr.

I think William F. Buckley would indeed be a strong supporter of the Tea Party movement if he were alive today. His famous anti-academic, anti-elitist statement, made over 40 years ago,  never seemed more relevant than it does today. The Obama Administration probably comes closer than any prior Administration to resembling an Ivy League faculty and the Tea Party represents regular, middle class folks. The kind you would likely find if you selected a random group of people from a phone directory, even one in Boston.

In some ways it was quite ironic that Buckley would make such a statement because he came from a very elite background himself. He was the son of a wealthy oil barron and educated at  a Catholic boarding school in England and Yale University, where he was a member of the Skull and Bones society. Buckley was very much an intellectual and yet he recognized that those who have spent their entire lives in the Ivory Tower probably would not exercise very good judgement as political leaders, no matter how high their IQ’s might be.

 

Fantasy Football Week VII: Sticking with Philip Rivers

Posted on by georgefattell

The Chargers have a MUST WIN game tomorrow against the NE Patriots and I’m banking on the Bolts finding a way to win that game. In order to do so San Diego will need another great game from Philip Rivers. I think Rivers will do his part and pass for over 300 yards and at least 2 TD’s. I’ve started Rivers as one of my fantasy QB’s since the beginning of the season and he has worked out very well. Unfortunately, the rest of Chargers have not played so well to date this season, especially the defense and special teams. The Chargers record stands at 2-4, but they could easily be 5-1. I still think the Chargers are a playoff caliber team, but they have to prove it on field.

I’m going with Ben Roethlisberger as my other QB this week. As I stated in FF post last week, I was inclined to add Big Ben to my team if looked good in his return game vs. Cleveland. Well, he looked pretty darn good throwing for three TD’s, so I’m going to play BR for at least a few games.

Since Roethlisberger is still cheap on the Rotohog site I was able to use the money I saved with him to pay for some high priced talent at other positions that would have been unaffordable if I had lay out big money for each of my QB’s. I used that money to add RB Adrian Peterson to my team this week.

UFC 121 Anaheim

Posted on by georgefattell

Heavyweight Championship Fight: Brock Lesnar vs. Cain Velasquez

UFC HW Champion Brock Lesnar faces another tough opponent in Cain Velasquez , who holds a record of 8-0 in the UFC. Velasquez is a former D-1 All-American wrestler (ASU) who is also powerful striker and skilled all around martial artist. He can hurt an opponent with strikes, kicks or his great wrestling moves. However, Velasquez gives up significant size to Lesnar and I think that will prove to be decisive in this fight. At 6′ 3/1 2 and 270 – 280 pounds Brock is 2 1/2 inches taller and 30 to 40 pounds heavier than Cain and is just as athletic, if not more so, imo.

Las Vegas has made Brock Lesnar the favorite (he is -150, to Velasquez’a +120) to win this fight and I would agree. If I to bet on the outcome of this fight I would bet on Lesnar. Will I be shocked if Cain wins? No. I am well aware that he can deliver blows that will stop any fighter in the UFC. But Cain is not invincible either. Yes, he is undefeated in his eight fights but no one that he has fought is anywhere near as good as Lesnar.

Prediction: Lesnar by TKO inside of 3 rounds.

Welterweight Fight: Jake Shields vs. Martin Kampmann

This will be Jake Shields first fight in the UFC since leaving Strikeforce.  Dana White & Co. have decided to give Shields a very challenging opponent in Martin Kampmann, who has a record of 17-3, with victories in his last two fights. Kampmann is a good all around MMA fighter, but he prefers to rely on his striking to win.

Shields is former All-American college wrestler. He has also been trained in Jiu Jitsu by Cesar Gracie. Shields ground skills are top notch and his recent victory over former UFC legend Dan Henderson is proof of that.

This fight will be a classic battle between an elite wrestler and skilled striker who prefers to stand up and trade blows. The fighters with elite wrestling backgrounds have been winning a lot recently in the UFC and I think Shields will continue that trend.

Prediction: Shields by decision.