Photo by ISIphotos.com

By CASEY CANNON

Hello and Welcome to the Soccer by Ives Fantasy Corner – now even more fertile! Every week I dig through statistics, news, and rumors to provide the reader with the kind of fantasy advice that only a someone with at least one good knee can provide. I am writing this well before the official injury reports come out, so don't be grumpy if I tell you to pick a hurt player. For information on MLS Fantasy Football go to http://fantasy.mlsnet.com/.

Here are a couple of quick notes before the recommendations for the week.

• Make your changes right NOW! There is a Wednesday game this week.

• Watch for national team shenanigans.

• LA had a man advantage for the entire second half and couldn’t score. Now Landon Donovan goes off for National Team time. MMM smell that clean sheet cookin.

• Sometimes during a name calling spat everyone involved comes away diminished. Good for Kei Kamara keeping his mouth shut this time.

• The top two in the SBI league switched places. “Team angler23” is currently top dog with “Celtic1888” just behind. They sit 3rd and 5th overall. For the week the top SBI player was “Black Hearts” 19th overall.

Now, onto this week's picks:

Team Picks

Take Three – Chicago. I am hesitant with this pick. I am afraid that the Fire will look past their opening game this week against Chivas to focus on winning the Brimstone Cup against the Dallas. If Chicago can avoid the trap game Thursday, they should be able to ride the momentum to a hard fought victory over the might Burn/Hoops/The-Team-that-Dallas-Forgot.

Take Three – Columbus Crew. They have a home game against a tired and poorly playing San Jose, followed by a road trip to Seattle. Will Sigi destroy his former team? Well sure, but that first game against the Earthquakes makes this pick a lock.

Avoid – FC Dallas. The universe is itself constantly changing and expanding. Empires rise and fall, continents split and collide, Old Coke is surpassed by New Coke, which in turn is surpassed by Coke Classic. Everywhere everything changes. Except Dallas, we must all continually avoid Dallas.

Two Up, Two Down

Chris Rolfe finds himself on a nice little streak, as does Dwayne DeRosario; both have been moving up the spreadsheet the last couple of weeks.

Robbie Findley – who did not earn a hat trick last week – has gone cold lately, as has Kenny Cooper.

Individual picks

Captain– Marco Pappa. Who’s your Pappa? He is expected to earn 32 points this week. His total cost is $221,000. That’s only $6,906 per point. Extra bonus, he plays for Chicago but isn’t Emperor Plapatine evil yet.

Value – Pontius/Nagamura. Both still cost the minimum $175,000. The two midfielders are separated by .08 points per game or $71 dollars per point. Look at the schedule, decide which match up is most advantageous and pick that guy. I am still going with Pontius, but it’s a coin toss. (Of course, Pappa is the best value this week)

Overpriced – Fred. Fred should stay in bed. Only earns four points a game, might as well be dead. Each point costs 132,000. That’s What I Said! That is why nobody should take poor old Fred.

Stop by next week when Pontius and Nagamura have it out in the Thunder Dome! Special Guest host Tina Turner!