How to Keep Busy Between Fantasy Seasons

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Guest post from FanDuel.com

Millions of people around the country have suddenly seen loads of free time on Sunday and Monday nights that they didn’t have before. Why has this happened? Anyone with a fantasy football team could tell you the answer with ease. The fantasy football playoffs have started, leaving only those with the best of teams left to spend their Sundays obsessively tracking their players’ football stats as the NFL games are played.

For the rest of us, we await the beginning of fantasy baseball season. Unfortunately, we have nearly four months until baseball games start. While many of us will draft our teams in March or even February, we’re left with a boring stretch of a few months that might force us to (gasp) be more social on the weekends.

How can you keep busy during this downtime? Here are a few ideas.

One way you can consider keeping busy is via fantasy basketball. You’re probably thinking that you’ve missed the boat since the season started over a month ago, but it isn’t too late to get involved if you decide try your hand at daily fantasy basketball. How does that work? It’s simple – you draft a team, but you only own the team for one night. You compete in one day contests against other GMs, and the teams with the highest fantasy point totals that night win.

It’s a great way to enjoy the action without having to be as committed as a normal full season fantasy league would require you to be. If you’re busy on certain nights, no sweat – you simply don’t need to draft a team. And then once baseball season rolls around, you don’t have to worry about juggling multiple teams like you normally would.

You could ordinarily do this with hockey too, but it’s unfortunately looking less and less likely that we’ll have a season this year. This is all the more reason to get involved with basketball. It brings even the most mundane of games (i.e. Timberwolves vs. Bobcats) to a new level, where every minute of the game matters more than you’d ever expect.

So give it a whirl. And if you really can’t stand the thought of fantasy basketball, the new seasons of Homeland and Californication on Showtime could always help to fill the void.

Extra Point: Same story, different day in loss to Rams

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Sunday’s let down was more of a re-run than a new episode in the saga of “The Ways the Bills Lose”. After holding a lead for most of the contest, a late drive and poor offensive execution in the fourth quarter sealed a victory for the visiting St. Louis Rams.Bills Rams

CJ Spiller had eight touches all game and that is really all that needs to be said on the Spiller matter. Chan Gailey has criminally misused Spiller on nearly a weekly basis and hasn’t figured out a way to solve the problem. Spending more than a sentence on Spiller’s misuse on a weekly basis is quite literally the definition of insanity. So, why not focus on the other things the Bills have failed to capitalize on?

The Buffalo defense has been downright angry in the weeks since the bye. Mario Williams is good for at least one big play per game and has become a real issue for opposing lines to handle. In addition, the interior combo of Marcell Dareus and Kyle Williams has added to the headaches for opposing offensive lines. Thanks to the play of those three players, someone is typically bursting through the line each play.

Thanks to the improved play of the defensive line, the Bills run defense has been nothing short of dominant and there has been far less pressure on the defensive backs to make huge plays. Just look at Stephon Gilmore who is rounding into a very impressive talent at corner. Between Gilmore and Jarius Byrd, the Bills have the makings for a very impressive defensive backfield. Continue reading →

Extra Point: Bills run out Jags during a blackout

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Spiller vs Jags

The Bills confirmed much of what the fanbase already knew on Sunday, they’re better than the worst teams in the NFL. The team moved to 5-6, still well outside the playoff and top-five draft pick niche that the team has carved for most of the past 12 years.

What following the Bills has become is little more than a rotation of broken records. You can change the tune and rhythm, but it is always the same song over and over again.

Granted, there are plenty of things to like about this team, especially if both Jarius Byrd and Andy Levitre are given long-term contracts. However, the need for change is well overdue and one day maybe this fan base will see some real progress made. Continue reading →

Canalside public hearing coming soon; but what about more construction?

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Don’t worry, Buffalo. The waterfront you deserve is well on its way and will arrive in 2031. That is if everything goes according to plan.

ECHDC is set to hold a public hearing next Wednesday, December 5 to discuss and detail the revised master plan for Canalside. For those of you who have a vested interest in the development of this fair city and the waterfront, this will be a great event to take in. Unfortunately my work schedule will not allow me to attend.

However, the revised master plan is available for public digestion on the ECHDC website (www.eriecanalharbor.com) and is certainly worth a look. It details nearly everything one could think of regarding the current and future development of the parcels surrounding the Buffalo River. It also details the expected date of completion, 2031. That’s right, in just under 20 years Buffalo should have the waterfront it deserves. Twenty. Years. Continue reading →

Buffalo Pipe Dream: Pucks and Conventions

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Early in the summer – when the threat of a lockout was evident but not looming – I took the time to throw out a few big picture ideas for Buffalo. These ideas ranged from re-working the Cobblestone District to finding a place for a state-of-the-art aquarium on the Outer Harbor.

Swap out those graphics for ones promoting an OHL contest and you’ve got yourself a winner.

Now that the HARBORcenter project is well underway, the Junior Sabres and Canisius DI teams will have a new home with seating for 2,000 fans. I like to think that my original pipe dream story had something to do with this, but I’m not that naïve.

One piece of common knowledge is the Buffalo’s Convention Center is undersized, dated and incapable of attracting larger events that hit cities like Pittsburgh. The recent waterfront Bills stadium proposal had a new convention center worked into the plans and such a project would be interesting to see. However, I don’t think that a new convention center needs to accompany a Bills stadium project.

Certainly there are plenty of power brokers and decision makers in WNY who are well aware of the glaring need to upgrade the current Convention Center. An updated and modern convention center would help raise the overall profile and perception of the region. Finding a location and project to build a new Convention Center should be high on the priority list of many throughout Buffalo. Continue reading →

Extra Point: Bills fall from playoff contention in loss to Colts

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This week’s loss to the Colts all but eliminated the Bills from playoff contention. I penned the recap for Buffalo Wins this week and rather than write the same thing twice, I’d instruct you to check out the piece I posted for Buffalo Wins.

Disappointing changes made to Pond Hockey

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The Labatt Blue Pond Hockey Tournament has been a welcome event in the middle of the last few Buffalo winters. Taking notes from it’s older cousin in Eagle River, Wisconsin, the Buffalo tournament has truly become a must-play for any beer leaguer in Western New York.

As is the case with sport in Buffalo, things have rarely gone according to plan. The tournament has been plagued by bad ice, warm weather and many hiccups. 2012 was the climax of various hurdles over the first five iterations as the Inner Harbor didn’t freeze and the tournament needed to change over to a street hockey format.

The tournament organizers are obviously trying to combat that by building in additional fail-safe methods for the upcoming tournament. However the changes being made have a very disappointing tone to them. The tournament will change from a weekend long event to a one-day marathon of hockey and the registration process has also changed from first-come first-serve to a lottery process. Continue reading →

Extra Point: Squishing the Fish

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Winning affords teams a number of things. Namely, it absolves them of many of their mistakes made along the way. For one night, at least, the Bills can be absolved from some of their misguided decisions.

Buffalo managed to secure their first division win against Miami thanks to a sound defensive effort and another phenomenal return from Leodis McKelvin. C.J. Spiller had another productive evening on a night when neither offense was capable of building much momentum.

However, the one thing that stood out to many fans were the dubious playcalls made in specific situations by Chan Gailey. His third and short playcalling was particularly questionable on drive ending plays:

–          3rd and 1 from the BUF 33 – Tashard Choice wildcat run, no gain. Punt

–          3rd and 3 from the MIA 14 – Empty set, incomplete pass intended for Donald Jones. Bills FG

–          3rd and 1 from the MIA 16 – Empty set, incomplete pass intended for Scott Chandler. Bills FG

–          3rd and 3 from the MIA 17 – Fitzpatrick sacked. Bills FG

–          1st and goal from the MIA 4 – Three pass attempts, one defensive pass interference penalty and three incompletions. Bills FG from the MIA 1.

–          3rd and 1 from the BUF 44 – C.J. Spiller run for -1 yard.

The final play listed came in the fourth quarter when the Bills were milking the clock. Now, that was probably the right playcall and it just didn’t get the job done. But it is perplexing to think that Gailey would call six pass plays on short yardage situations in the red zone. Maybe the specter of Spiller’s goal-line fumble against New England still haunts the coach. Maybe Fred Jackson’s absence caused Gailey to go in a different direction. However, these are exactly the situations that fans and media have pointed to as shortcomings with Gailey’s attitude towards the run game. Continue reading →

Extra Point: Groundhog Pick

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Sunday must have felt like Groundhog Day for Ryan Fitzpatrick. Just as he did against Tennessee, Fitzpatrick played a sterling game only to unravel late in the fourth when the Bills were trying to lock up a victory.

Just like against the Titans, Fitzpatrick’s late miscue will receive just as much blame as the defense should for another 35+ point performance. That makes five games in which the defense has allowed 30 or more points. Shocking stat of the week: The Bills have lost all five games in which they surrender more than 30 points.

Danny Woodhead’s touchdown scamper was another astounding lack of run support from any of the 11 players on the field. But the rest of the performance wasn’t nearly as bad as the travesty that made up back-to-back losses to the Patriots and 49ers earlier in the year.

Buffalo outgained the mighty Patriots by nearly 140 yards. Yet they lost the game due in part to ugly penalty yardage and an early fumble that gave the Patriots a short field.

Chan Gailey still underutilized his most prolific weapon, CJ Spiller. But that won’t be the case on Thursday, as Fred Jackson will not be available for the Bills. Spiller finished with an average of 10 yards per play (9 carries, 70 yards and 6 catches, 61 yards). Once again, Spiller averaged a first down every time he touched the ball. Continue reading →