SEC Fantasy Football Week 1

Chris and I are doing a little something different this season that we actually saw on the SEC Network and decided to change up and turn into our own weekly thing.  We'll be discussing it more on tomorrow's podcast, but this will be our weekly SEC Fantasy Football picks.  The rules are simple - we're using the default point system from NFL.com Fantasy Football, and we're only doing 4 picks per week... and you cannot choose the same player/defense more than once during the season.  So this is all about matchups and who we think will have the best statistical weekend against the team they're playing.  Week 1 is already looking pretty difficult because of the big time matchups, so who did we end up going with?

Podcast: Episode 4 - Aug 30th, 2016

The 4th installment of the podcast is now up!  Gary and Chris discuss the Tim Boeckman situation with Larry Fedora at North Carolina, what the repercussions of this most recent Tony Romo injury could be, Gary rants about the Ole Miss NCAA story that's happening in Oxford, NFL over / unders, division winners and wild card picks along with Super Bowl winners, and we wonder if Colin Kaepernick cost himself a job in the NFL with his latest protest.

NFL Gambling season picks done right

- Chris Gianinni

Gamblers:  this country exists because of gamblers.  When Christopher Columbus set sail for India he stumbled on what is now known as the Americas. He made gamble.  He took a calculated risk that was the wrong choice but still paid off in the end.  We call that a “back-door cover” and it will often times send you into a state of shock and cause you to question all of your beliefs!  When Sam Adams and John Hancock rallied the colonies to start the American Revolution, they took a gamble.  This is the “long shot.”  They had no chance.  They were out numbered and out gunned.  Without the perfect circumstance of Britain trying to fight multiple wars and the American Colonies gaining support from Britain’s other enemies across the pond we would all be drinking tea and bowing to the Queen.  And when President Harry S. Truman ordered the dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima that was the closest scenario I could find that was a “sure thing.”  It had to be looked at from every angle.  The collateral damage had to be assessed carefully.  But at the end of the day every answer came up the same.  This will end the war! If you are looking for a “sure thing,” proceed with extreme caution for in sports, as in life, nothing is certain.

The Friday Five: August 26, 2016

Ahhhhh yes.  The beginning of 4 months of good times.  I was pumped about the opening of the NFL preseason... even with the NFL botching the Hall of Fame game and leaving us a whole week without live action football... but tonight is the real deal for college football.  It doesn't seem real that we're 6 weeks away from the opening of the SEC schedule, and yet, here we are.  Tonight, the College Football season officially is under way.  But on top of that, there are a ton of stories going on that I want to talk about in today's Friday five.

If you have not already, check out our podcast on iTunes and any other podcast app that you'd like, or you can just listen at Soundcloud.com/WinningCuresEverything.  You can also check out this week's episode 2 and episode 3 by clicking these two links.  Give it a listen - I'm sure you'll enjoy.  For now though, here's the Friday Five.

Podcast: Episode 3 - August 25, 2016

Our first college football podcast!  We discuss how Michigan loses a commitment from 4* DT Aubrey Solomon over a mix-up, Week 1 CFB gambling lines coming out (we talk about Tenn vs App St, UGA vs UNC, LSU vs Wisc, So Car vs Vandy and Cal vs Hawaii from Sydney, AU), did ESPN College Gameday make the right decision for Week 1 at Lambeau Field, Ole Miss no longer playing Dixie at football games, Arkansas's troll job with their 4th & 25 play appearing on their Ole Miss tickets, and will Alabama's 9 year streak of being #1 in the AP Poll at some point during the season ever be broken?

Podcast: Episode 2 - August 24, 2016

Chris and I knocked out another podcast last night, discussing a wide-range of subjects.  We have decided to shorten the podcasts and do 2 a week.  This might be easier for people to listen to, considering it's only about 30 minutes per one, and we'll be doing 2 per week, so you won't have to wait an entire week for us to release another one.

Also, we are now available on Stitcher, Tune-In, and will soon be on iTunes.  If that's not how you do it, you can download it from Soundcloud.com and subscribe in your favorite podcast app.  I prefer Podcast Addict on Android.  If you haven't listened before, give us a listen and let us know what you think!  We appreciate you guys!

The Tuesday Trifecta: Aug 23, 2016

Good morning and welcome in!  As I said in the last write-up, I'm planning on doing 3 of these per week.  It appears it may be a Tues-Wed-Fri format, with Chris filling in some other days and us throwing in the podcasts at least a couple of times a week.  Today's will be the Tuesday Trifecta.  Basically, we're gonna fill this website up with a lot of information to keep you entertained, so spread the word and share the site on your social media profiles!

There's a few things that have gotten my attention over the last few days so we'll dive right in:

Fantasy Football Running Back Rankings

- Chris Giannini, 8/21/16

The day before I got married in the suburbs of Cleveland, OH all of the guys in my wedding party went with me to Canton, OH for my bachelor party.  It wasn’t your typical night of partying, drinking, and debauchery. It is home to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. We spent hours walking the halls and seeing players we grew up with.  Some I watched as a child, others I only heard stories about.  My favorite room was where the bust of all the former greats was displayed.  In there was a video exhibit where I was able to select anyone in the HOF and it gave me his story with highlights from his time in the league.  I found the players that I searched most were the running backs.  These were men I idolized.  They had speed and power.  They took beatings like no one else, but kept getting up.  I heard stories I never knew about heroes of mine: Jim Brown, Thurman Thomas, and Earl Campbell.  These men were true gladiators in my eyes. 

The Friday Five - Aug 19, 2016

Over the years, I've been looking for a way to do a regular column at least twice during the week, and hopefully more than that.  I'm looking at doing a Monday, Wednesday, Friday column that stretches to a ton of different topics because, honestly, my mind moves 100 miles a minute.  I hate focusing on just one thing at a time... but I suppose that's a way to do more blog posts.

But honestly, I wouldn't want a different blog post for each topic that I want to dive into.

It might push more page views... but it gets annoying having to click through so many different things to get to where you're wanting to go.  I'm a man that strives for efficiency.  So one post will have to work.

Now, there will be times that I do, in fact, focus on one topic.  When something happens that I just have to discuss through this platform, then I'll absolutely write an article about that specific event.  But for the most part, I'll just discuss a whole plethora of news in one little spot.

Like this one.

So let's get rolling with the Friday Five.

Fantasy Football Wide Receiver Rankings

- Chris Giannini, 8/17/16

Selfish, Diva, Just-Give-Me-The-Damn-Ball:  all things that come to mind when I think about wide receivers.  They are fast, they are flashy, and they are always open (just ask them).  These guys are also fun to watch.  Every year they are becoming more important in the NFL and subsequently in fantasy.  The top WRs are the safest picks in the game and this is the deepest position by far.  Their athletic ability and impressive catches fill highlight reels every week. 

Podcast: Episode 1 - Aug 15th, 2016

Good morning!  Chris and I knocked out our first podcast last night.  It was our first attempt, so go easy on us.  I would imagine we'll open up a little bit more as we go along.  Once the season starts, we'll be doing 2 of these per week, discussing college and NFL football, along with fantasy and gambling...
 

Fantasy Football Quarterback Rankings

- Chris Giannini

It has been said that the NFL quarterback is the single most important job in all of sports. If playing QB in the NFL is the most important job in sports then I feel evaluating and grading NFL QBs must be the second most important job.

There was a day when choosing your fantasy QB was serious. This was an important decision that you would live with the entire season. You couldn’t just stand around all night while all the good ones get taken and hope you are fortunate enough to have someone fall to you and you leave the party feeling lucky. This isn’t college and that’s not lucky, that’s sad. If you didn’t make a move for a top QB early then you were going to struggle. But with all the recent rule changes to help increase scoring almost every QB has value in today’s game.

Let's take last year as an example...

Rules of Fantasy Football

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- Chris Giannini, Aug 1, 2016

It's August. Training camps are getting started and sports nerds are gathering information to build imaginary teams to beat their friends' imaginary teams. I couldn't be happier.

I've been playing fantasy football since the season of 2003 and have been the commissioner and champion of multiple leagues. Over the past 13 years, I’ve played the game passionately, and how the game has changed in that time is staggering. In future posts, I’ll explore those changes. But for now, let me give you my always-growing list of rules for Fantasy Football that have kept me playing the game for so long. Following these will lead to a more enjoyable season. If you haven't gotten really involved in playing maybe this can help. If you play competitively every year but don't have as much fun throughout the season as you would like, then hopefully following these rules will help you regain your passion for the game.