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SBI Fantasy MLS: Round 22 Preview

WillJohnson2 (PortlandTimbers)

By CASEY CANNON

Hello and Welcome to the Soccer by Ives Fantasy Corner – now with even more refreshing! Every week I dig through statistics, news, and rumors to provide the reader with the kind of fantasy advice that only a guy with a sunburn on half his chest can provide.

It’s good be back at the keyboard after a short July break. At the Midpoint of the season I want to set out a short table for those players still churning in the SBI fantasy League.

Overall Place Points
50th 1463
100th 1412
200th 1382
300th 1354
400th 1343
500th 1329
700th 1305

The difference between the 700th player 200th is 77 points. 77 points is hitting the right captain for three weeks. This tells us players in the top 700+ are still in the running for a free subscription for MLS live – a $50 value. It’s even safe to assume some of the top 500 players will manage to miss this weeks deadline – TODAY JULY 17TH. Additionally, anyone in the top 100 still easily has a shot at the Free Jerseys and such that come from landing in the top 50 players. Keep churning and making good picks.

Speaking of good picks this week the De Facto head of the Chris Wingert fan club RSL4LIFE scored 78 points to win for the week. Meanwhile Flannel Jackson holds the top spot for the SBI league and is at 5rd overall. Over my break I have climbed up a bit to 30th in the SBI league. Want to see the kind of “logic” that got me to 30th? Read on.

TEAM PICKS

Take Three – Colorado Rapids: Of three teams that play two games this Round the Colorado Rapids are the best off. First they play home against the New England Revolution. This will be a tight, low scoring game. Once travel and altitude is considered I really like the Rapids in the first game. Also the Revolution haven’t won in Colorado since 2002. Then they travel to Seattle to play the Sounders back up squad. Of course, the Rapids have never won in Seattle.

Take three – New England Revolution: This week the Rev’s will earn about 10,000,000 frequent flyer miles. First they fly across the country to play the Rapids. While there I would personally be thrilled with a 0-0 tie; however, I expect Mr. Kraft’s Stepchildren to give up at least one goal in Colorado. Then the Rev’s continue on to the Columbus Crew. Here is the challenge for New England and their travel weary legs: don’t screw up and don’t let Dominic Oduro make them look stupid. New England hasn’t given up a penalty kick all year. If they manage to maintain that streak and hold Oduro at bay a 0-0 tie or even a 1-0 upset is possible. My spread sheet has this second game as an almost even matchup.

Avoid – D.C. United: D.C. United are getting better by taking cast-offs from Toronto FC. They play away at the Chicago Fire and have a 65% chance of being shut out. Nobody believes that D.C. United can keep Sneaky Mike Magee off the score sheet.

INDIVIDUAL PICKS

Captain – Nathan Sturgis , Colorado Rapids. As I mentioned earlier I like the match ups and travel schedule better for the Rapids then the Revolution. That is what puts Sturgis over Goncalves or any of the other Rev’s. Note Sturgis is shockingly owned by only 5.8% of the league.

Value – Will Johnson – Portland Portland is a good team. With Will Johnson and Rodney Wallace they are a very good team. This week is the last chance to get Johnson on the cheap. He is a top five Midfielder and many fantasy players don’t even know he is back from the Gold Cup. His price will only go up over the next few weeks. Next week look for Wallace in this space.

Overpriced – Sheanon Williams – Union. Owned by 6.1% of the league. He had three huge weeks and then quickly regressed to his Mean. Even with those double digit weeks he still has one of the worst $/PPG among the top 50 defenders. The auto-select on the Fantasy main page keeps suggesting him but value conscious players need to look elsewhere.

THREE-PLAYER MONTE

The three player Monte game has two elements selecting: three players to score goals and creating a streak of picking a captain who scores every week. The players can be awful, tossed out of the game for reprehensible fouls, and single handedly responsible for costing his team the game but like the inventor of Sham-Wow all that matters is that singular moment of brilliance.
Captain: Marco Di Vaio, Montreal
2. Mike Magee, Chicago
3. Camilo Sanvezzo, Vancouver
Tiebreak: 25

That’s all for today. I’ll be back next week with more Fantasy tips.

Comments

  1. There was talk that Di Vaio was in Italy on family business. I don’t trust him to go there and back and be useful.

    Reply
  2. 3 Goal Monte:

    I have Magee, Henry, and Morales. Di Vaio is too much of a risk as he’s been disappointing lately, and NYRB against TFC sounds like a good match up for Henry to score. Camilo is hot, but up against a tough home match against the Galaxy. While the Galaxy might be awful away (and by awful, I mean good up until injury time and concede late goals), they play well at home. Morales is an arguable choice and I may change that one.

    Reply
  3. Are your numbers accurate? Because I’m inside the top 200, but I have fewer points than what is listed for 200th. In fact, according to your chart I should be outside the top 500.

    1412 Appears to be the total for 50th place.

    Reply

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