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Fantasy Football

Odds and Ends: Fodder for fantasy football fires


Remember back in the good ol’ days when running backs where the most important position in the fantasy football universe. Well, thanks to the two-back system sensation that is sweeping the NFL nation, those days appear to be over; at least, according to WhatIfSports.com. They released their 08 season predicitions this week and the QBs are defiantly the dominant species with seven in the top 10 and 10 appearing in the top 15. Here’s their breakdown of the top 10 scorers overall.

1. Tom Brady, QB, Patriots
2. Peyton Manning, QB, Colts
3. Tony Romo, QB, Cowboys
4. LaDanian Tomlinson, RB, Chargers
5. Brian Westbrook, RB, Eagles
6. Drew Brees, QB, Saints
7. Derek Anderson, QB, Browns
8. Carson Palmer, QB, Bengals
9. Adrian Peterson, RB, Vikings
10. Eli Manning, QB, Giants

Just for comparisons sake, here’s a quick rundown of the projected top 10 players prior to the 2007 season as seen by SI.com:

1. LaDainian Tomlinson, RB, Chargers
2. Steven Jackson, RB, Rams
3. Larry Johnson, RB, Chiefs
4. Frank Gore, RB, 49ers
5. Shaun Alexander, RB, Seahawks
6. Willie Parker, RB, Steelers
7. Rudi Johnson, RB, Bengals
8. Brian Westbrook, RB, Eagles
9. Peyton Manning, QB, Colts
10. Joseph Addai, RB, Colts

In other news…

[The Beardown]: Buy Tiger Woods’ apple cores??

[Tirico Suave]: Maricopa County sheriff asks “Shaq, tell me how my ass tastes”

[Giants Football Blog]: Michael Strahan reveals Jeremy Shockey wants out of NYC. Well, duh!

[Deuce of Davenport]: KITT is still cooler than the Hoff

[Bugs & Cranks]: Attack of the broken bat

[Sportaphile.com]: Kobe Bryant continues to take a beating, this time from rapper Nas

[PartMule.com]: “Holy Jesus, look at the butt on that”

[YouTube.com]: You can find Chuck Liddell in the club

[Epic Carnival]: Yippee!! It’s National Sports Bra Week

[Home Run Derby]: The Jheri Curl All-Stars

And finally, crunk is officially dead. Let the era of mumbles begin.

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All Other Sports

Brits believe Brazilian is UFC’s champ of champs


With the UFC headed to London soon for a Chuck Liddell-less pay-per-view, British tabloid The Sun decided to compile a list of their Top 10 UFC fighters. It was a good effort, but, in our opinion, they should stick to ranking the best cricket players because they apparently know as much about the UFC as they do dental hygiene.

10. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
9. Forrest Griffin
8. Wanderlei Silva
7. Matt Hughes
6. Rich Franklin
5. Quinton Jackson
4. Chuck Liddell
3. BJ Penn
2. Georges St. Pierre
1. Anderson Silva

These rankings are completely arbitrary, but one thing for certain about the world of MMA is that Frank Shamrock is one tough S.O.B.!

Links:

[The Sun]: Top 10 UFC fighters
[YardBarker.com]: Frank Shamrock’s Right Hand of Death

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All Other Sports

Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell needs an icepack…or two


Sorry Iceman fans, but there will be no Chuck Liddell at UFC 85. The former light heavyweight champion of the world was forced to withdraw from his June 7th fight against Ultimate Fighter winner Rashad Evans because of an injury. Liddell tore his hamstring (which looks pretty damn painful) while training for the bout and there’s no telling how long he’ll be out of action. After all, would you put a timetable on something as nasty as that?

“Unfortunately, Chuck Liddell tore his right hamstring during training last week, and being the warrior that he is, he still wanted to fight, which is the reason why everyone in the world loves him,” said Dana White, UFC President. “But I wouldn’t let anyone fight with his leg looking that way. Let him heal and come back and fight when he is 100 percent.”

The UFC is going to find another main event for the London pay-per-view and, personally, we’re hoping Mr. Roboto can make a quick turnaround.

Links:

[UFC.com]: Chuck Liddell Injured; Forced To Withdraw From UFC 85

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All Other Sports

Countdown to UFC 71: Chuck Liddell vs. Quinton Jackson


The UFC spent a whole lot of money to pry Quinton “Rampage” Jackson away from Japan’s PRIDE Fighting
Championships and now it’s time for Jackson to earn his money and show off his skills in front of an American audience as he competes for the world light heavyweight belt against “The Iceman” Chuck Liddell.

Rampage has been making his living overseas for some time now and he has built up a Godzilla-sized reputation as one of the baddest men in the world when inside the ring with a 26-6 record that includes 12 victories determined by either KO or TKO. One of his most notable wins came against The Iceman back in 2003 when Jackson threw him hard to the mat and unleashed a barrage of punches that caused Liddell’s corner to throw in the towel. That was the last time that Liddell lost a match.

Since getting pummeled in Tokyo, The Iceman (20-3) has ripped off seven straight victories, won the light heavyweight championship and avenged two (Randy Couture and Jeremy Horn) of his three career losses. Oh, and he whopped some guy named Tito Ortiz’s ass…twice! The only measure of professional revenge that Liddell lacks is a victory over Rampage.

Jackson loves to get a hold of his opponents and slam `em on their heads but Liddell has such an excellent defense against the takedown that this will probably turn into a Liddell/ Ortiz style of stand-up fight. And since both of these guys have tremendous power in their hands and chins made of concrete, nobody will complain about an all out slugfest.

Unlike the debacle that was Oscar De La Hoya and Floyd Mayweather, this fight will be exciting. The Iceman always puts on a show for the fans and he almost never lets the judges decide his fights; in fact, it has been nearly five years since one of his bouts went to the cards. We love Rampage’s entertaining style, both in and out of the octagon, but he doesn’t always perform to his best against the elite competition; just look what happened against Wanderlei Silva (twice) and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua. Liddell is on top of his game right now and not even a monster of a man like Jackson is going to knock him off his MMA throne.

Prediction: Liddell wins by TKO

The weigh-in will be broadcast live on ESPNews at 3:50pm PT/6:50pm ET on Friday

Links:

[UFC.com]: UFC 71: Liddell vs. Jackson

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All Other Sports

Can the UFC finally KO boxing for good?


ESPN rode the Oscar De la Hoya/Floyd Mayweather fight for as long as they could and now that the “fight of the century” has turned out to be the biggest waste of $55 since the last “fight of the century” it looks like the mother ship is ready to give the UFC some love. You know, the same Ultimate Fighting Championship that has been criticized by the world of “legitimate” sports news for years now. Well, ESPN doesn’t care about having a consistent approach to their professional beliefs; no, they are concerned with getting ratings and selling magazines. And that’s why the Iceman Chuck Liddell will be on the cover of the May 21st issue of ESPN The Magazine.

Could this be the push that the UFC needs to become a regular fixture on Sports Center? Will we soon be hearing Stuart Scott and Scott Van Pelt trying in vain to be funny as clips of Tito Ortiz and Matt Hughes performing some ground and pound techniques roll during the voice over? Only time will tell, but one thing we do know is that professional boxing is losing steam with every 12 round, snooze fest, split decision that comes down the road. So, it’s no coincidence that ESPN has jumped onto the UFC bandwagon just as one of the most anticipated fights in recent history comes rolling around.

UFC went out of their way to lure one of Pride’s best fighters over to the U.S. and on May 26 at UFC 71, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson will take on the light heavyweight champion, and current ESPN cover boy, Liddell.

We happen to be huge fans of the whole mixed martial arts scene here at Sportscolumn and, frankly, we don’t understand why it hasn’t moved past being considered a fringe sport long ago. So it’s no surprise to us that the UFC is on the verge of blowing up to mainstream proportions, and UFC President Dana White knows that his company can provide something that no boxing promotion has been able to do for quite some time, and that is have a fight that lives up to the hype.

Saturday night is what pisses everyone off,” said White. “It’s crazy. It just drives people further from boxing. You get one fight for 55 bucks. One fight for a $2,500 ticket. You get people all excited for the buildup and then the fight ends up sucking. Both guys try to outpoint the other and win a decision.”

“In the UFC, we give you eight or nine fights, they’re all good, and the guys are fighting their asses off trying to finish it. There’s tons of energy.

Links:

[BostonHerald.com]: Liddell, White have it covered