KC's Weekend Preview 10/5
Immediate Article Disclaimer
RG Nation I am writing this while watching the inaugural MLB one-game playoff featuring my hometown St. Louis Cardinals. If the mood of the article seems to trend one way or the other, you can probably attribute these shifts to the strong or poor performance by the RedBirds. Just thought you should know.
Now that we got that out of the way, we can formally begin our Weekend Preview. Hello everyone, its nice to be with you again.
I’m going to begin the formal part of this week’s article with a little bit of a rant. My own personal version of a ‘Backs Beef’. And while I’m sure the impression I leave won’t be nearly as meaningful as what is handed down by Dan ‘db730’ Back, I hope that at least a few of you find it eloquent.
So last night, I did my St. Louis duty, and attended the Rams v. Cardinals Thursday Night Football Game. It was a good game and I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the football… but I was irate by some of the people around me and I’m not sure whether my attitude is justified. So tell me what you guys think of this action:
ATTENDING A SPORTING EVENT IN THE JERSEY OF A PLAYER NOT IN ANY WAY INVOLVED IN THE GAME.
So two rows in front of me, there were two grown men wearing Roethlisberger and Adrian Peterson jerseys respectively. Why would a reputable man engage in such an atrocity? This is a Cardinals/Rams game… I don’t think Big Ben or AP have St. Louis ties (at least as far as I know) and I can’t come up with any good reason for these guys to be rocking these jerseys. And this is not an isolated incident. I see this shit all the time. Yankees hats at Brewers/Cards games, Red Wings Jerseys at Blues/Blackhawks, so on and so forth.
To me these people are douche bags. Plain and simple. Your obviously trying to stand out and make a scene and it infuriates me. Go rock your jersey at a bar or a tea house (where you belong) but don’t parade yourself or your dumbass jersey in front of people genuinely interested in the sporting event they are attending.
Freakin’ Idiots.
Okay now I’m done with that, so lets get in to some news outside of the fact that some people just suck.
May I introduce our sport-by-sport analysis for the week.
MLB News
Actual News
It’s the playoffs fellas. But its hard to provide any type of analysis seeing as the playoffs have ‘started’ and we still don’t know what the 5-game series matchups will be until Friday Night concludes.
But let me say as a life-long fan of the game, I’m truly excited to see the true ‘underdog’ stories in play this postseason. The As and Os are true miracles of the sport and I’d really like to see either or both of them advance deep into October.
- World Series Prediction with my brain:
SF Giants / Detroit Tigers
- World Series Prediction with my heart:
St. Louis Cardinals / Oakland As
DFS News
Many sites will continue to run contests through the first few playoff rounds. Formats and selection criteria will vary, but I’m fairly sure most sites have been sending out emails for clarification.
I’m not a huge fan of these playoff contests due to the lack of variance, but for those die hard Baseball Grinders, take advantage of your last chance for action for a few months.
Congrats to all that had a successful MLB season of DFS. And for those (like Cam) that did not, be thankful its almost over.
College Football
Actual News
We have a fantastic week of games for College this week, as most teams have started their conference schedule. This is where the sexy matchups begin to come into play. Here are the big ones from a strictly fan (not DFSer) perspective:
- Afternoon: (4) LSU at (10) FLA
These are 2 highly ranked teams that are somewhat of a mystery. They haven’t gotten the hype of most of the other top 10 squads but I think this may be the coming out party for the team that can come out of the Swamp on top. Old School SEC Football at its best here. Can’t wait to see how it plays out.
- Evening (1): (8) WVU at (11) Texas
How does Geno Smith follow up his awe-inspiring performance from last week? Is the WVU offense really this good or have the defenses they’ve faced been that bad? I think both of these questions should get answered when the Mountaineers travel to face a Longhorns team that has answered a ton of questions already with their good early play. WVU should get a lesson in Big 12 football as face one of the classic coaches in Mack Brown and his roster full of young talent.
- Evening (2): (5) UGA at (6) SCAR
Georgia has impressed on offense. South Carolina has impressed on Defense. Which of these teams’ strengths will prevail? To me this looks like a true smash-mouth football game to say the very least. I’m predicting at least 3 guys leave with injuries, but in the end the Ol’ Ball Coach and his vaunted Defense lead the Gamecocks to a big win and a place in the AP Top 5.
DFS News
I’ve been a busy man this week and haven’t had time to truly dig into the week’s CFB matchups. But off the top here are a few guys I think will outperform their salaries this weekend:
- O.J. Ross – WR – (Purdue)
The Boilermakers are going to have to throw throw throw if they are gonna keep up with the Wolverines and Denard in this one. That means Ross and his moderate price tag make an intriguing play this week. Hes caught at least 5 balls every week to this point and if he can get one in the endzone he easily pays himself off.
- Collin Klein – QB – (KanSt.)
The Wildcats get in-state rivals the Kansas Jayhawks this week and I think Klein is tired of hearing all the talk about Geno Smith for Heisman. This guy was a legitimate contender coming into the year and nothing says reemergence like the 140th ranked pass defense of the Jayhawks. I’m calling at least a 4 score game for Klein this week making him my top QB pick of the week (yes, over Geno Smith).
- Vance McDonald – WR – (Rice)
Not gonna lie, I don’t have a whole lot of ‘inside info’ on Rice v. Memphis. But what I do know is that this game has an O/U of 62. This is a solid point total and McDonald is a hybrid TE/WR that poses big problems for poor defenses. I think Memphis qualifies. I think 80 yds and a TD is a realistic expectation from a guy that costs very little this week.
Big time CFB tourneys are being featured on most sites this weekend. Most notable of these tourneys are the $10k GPP on DraftKings and the $55 SuperJoust Qualifier on DailyJoust. Can anyone wrangle these things away from HeadChopper or Dan who have just been torching their way through fields to date this CFB season?
NFL News
Actual News
Brady v. Manning is the only real news you need this weekend. I loved this rivalry before Peyton became a Bronco, but now it’s my sole focus for Sunday. The Patriots have looked very beatable to this point and I think this game Sunday goes a long way towards determining the class of the AFC.
If for some reason your interested, other big games include Eagles/Steelers in the Matchup of Pennsylvania as well as Texas/Jets on Monday Night. Is it finally Tebow time in the Meadowlands? I can’t think of a better time to hand him the rains then under the bright lights of Monday Night Football.
DFS News
Lots of big tourneys everywhere on Sunday boys. I expect at least a few of them to be taken down by the hot Grinders that have been featured all over the sites since football kicked off.
But for those that have struggled thus far, keep your head down and get on back on track this week. I believe in you.
I’ve found that the 50/50 games can serve as awesome slump busters if you play them the right way. Find yourself some consistent performers at good prices and mix them in with your surefire studs and that bankroll is bound to bounce back.
For advice on the guys you should roll with visit the many awesome RG research features currently being utilized by some of the industry’s biggest winners. Who knows, maybe you’ll find yourself on top of a tourney and staring at a big payday too?
Parting Words
Well anyways I’m spent boys. After a week of mandatory OT and very little sleep (for those concerned, I’m a little bit sick) I’ve gotta get some rest. I’ll see you all on the leaderboards this weekend.
Hardly sincere and with kisses,
KC