By CASEY CANNON
Hello and Welcome to the Soccer by Ives Fantasy Corner – with extra sarcasm! Every week I dig through statistics, news, and rumors to provide the reader with the kind of fantasy advice that only a the winner of the Brimstone Cup 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/.
A couple quick notes, before the recommendations for the week.
- Odds are that this won’t be published until Friday. Ives will be a bit busy down south and who knows what kind of connection he will have available. If this comes out in time, pick up Kandji from the Red Bulls and consider Rojas and Angel. The spreadsheet says no, but the match ups say yes. As for DC, don’t go out of your way to pick them up. The rest of my comments and recommendations will ignore these two teams.
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Another international weekend. Put in you due diligence when picking players, especially non-US players.
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So McTraitor “earned” a penalty to win the Chivas game. I wonder which teammate taught him to dive like that? (SBI Note- For thoe who haven't caught on, Casey is a Crew fan.)
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Gratz to FC Dallas on winning the Brimstone cup. I interviewed some of the Dallas players, still dripping with champagne, after the game. David Ferreira enthused “I’m glad I could have a big impact on this game. They need me to have as many touches as possible, since I am the best player. I think, in the future, my team will go as far as I can carry the lesser players”
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I asked Kenny Cooper if winning this kind of hardware would improve his chances of transferring overseas. “Of course, everyone hopes to make the jump from Dallas to a really big team, I am sure some teams were watching.” In a SBI exclusive, we discovered that Kenny was right. Swedes 4th division powerhouse Ryssbält has invited him for a tryout. When pressed, a coy Cooper admitted, “I have always wanted to play for a club like the Bevrøren Kabeljauw [Frozen Cod]. I have a great feeling of kinship with the Swedes. You know a Møøse once bit my sister…”
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MLS is holding open tryouts for referees. Bring your resume, whistle and clothes you can run in. Vision test not required.
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No change in the top two SBI league. “Team angler23” is currently top dog with “Celtic1888” just behind. They sit 4rd and 11th overall. For the week the top SBI player was “BrickDancers” 65th overall.
Team Picks
Take Three – Colorado. This pick comes from weighing the suspensions and international absences I know about from each of the two teams. Conner Casey can score on the road, and I don’t think Olave can stop him. RSL seems to have forgotten how to play lately.
Take Three – Houston. Another comparison of what each team is missing. Houston is missing fewer pieces than Chicago. Onstad is the second goalie on the spreadsheet and Houston is the top defense right now.
Avoid – San Jose. Last week on the road San Jose forward Ryan Johnson scored a goal against the Columbus Crew. The Earthquakes had a lead in the first half. Mr. Johnson the “best” forward on the offensively challenged team taunted the militant Crew fans. San Jose lost. The soccer gods will extract more revenge with another loss to a Hunt Sports Group team.
Two Up, Two Down
Eddie Lewis has added almost four points per game to his average while Kei Kamara increased his per game average by eleven.
Aaron Hohlbein and golden boy Chris Pontiushave been off lately. Hohobein is off 5.1 points per game while Pontius is off 4.9 .
Individual picks
Captain – Steve Ralston. In his six games this season, he averages 28.3 points per game. Not bad for only playing 73 mins per game. He will catch the Red Bull Defense on the second of two road games this week.
Value – Kandji/Conor Casey. If he isn’t locked down, pick up Kandji for the $209,000 and hope his $8,458 cost per point holds. The second value is the top forward available, Conor Casey, at $312,000.
Overpriced – Taylor Twellman. His two points this season ain’t bad for only playing part of one game. But is $475,000 total cost will keep me off of his bandwagon for a few weeks.
Stop by next week when the we discuss the alternate ways to get beer onto players without throwing cups of bottles.
Hey Ives; how about some props to the top 5 or 10 finishers in the sbi league in the EPL. Not to mention those HUGE dollar prizes. 😉
Start loading up on Houston players and their coach. Any three of Kamara (should get points as Ching is away with the US team), Holden, Davis, Waibel, Hainault, Boswell, or Onstad. Personally, I would pick Kamara, Davis, and Holden because Houston plays 2 games next week and they should get the most points for your fantasy team. Also, as many as 5 to 6 teams will have bye weeks during weeks 14 and 15 but a lot of teams will have bye weeks all the way to week 18. Houston is not one of those teams and three of their players should serve you well.
MLS Fantasy says Conor Casey is having a foot problem. The report says probable,what’s your take? He’s a points horse right now,and quite the bargain.
Is Kandji injured?
BTW NY has two games this week.
Took your advice on Ralston. I love the guy, but am worried he has lost a step with the injuries. He was good in the DC game, but still was lacking a little of the pace that used to be there. Hope the pick works out and the Revs keep up the form they had in the 2nd half against United.
My god you really try hard to be funny and fail miserably.
Do you have the list of players on international duty???