A must read from Rotoworld looking back at the waiver wire pickups of 2009...

The "Outhouse to the Penthouse" Award
Goes to … Vince Young! Written off for dead after his opening-game meltdown last season while Kerry Collins' garnered unwarranted MVP consideration, V.Y. rewarded owner Bud Adams' faith in bringing the 0-6 Titans to the brink of a Wild Card berth. Starting in Week 5, Young was a Waiver Wired mainstay throughout the second half of the season. He finished as a borderline Top-10 fantasy option over the final six weeks.

The "Billy Volek" Award
Goes to … Jerome Harrison! Also considered for the "Mangini, You're an Evil Penguin" Award. Thanks to head coach Eric Mangini's machinations, nobody saw Harrison's late-season breakout coming until it was too late. Harrison was alternately unused and injured at mid-season while a plodding Jamal Lewis carried the load. The fantasy playoff season brought a backfield quagmire with Josh Cribbs threatening to steal carries and Chris Jennings bypassing Harrison in Week 14. Ultimately, Harrison's 286-yard, three-touchdown monster performance in Week 15 went to waste. Don't let the door hit you on the way out, Mangini.

The "Waiver Wired MVP" Award
Goes to … Miles Austin! Thanks to Evan Silva's tireless efforts to promote him throughout the offseason, we chose Austin over Jeremy Maclin as our top waiver option in Week 6. With both receivers coming off breakout performances and Austin entering a bye-week, it wasn't necessarily the most popular choice. The Austin faithful were rewarded to the tune of a Top-3 finish at wide receiver despite being held to just five catches in the first four weeks of the season. Totaling 1,230 yards and 11 touchdowns, Austin battled Andre Johnson neck-and-neck for the most valuable fantasy receiver once he finally hit the starting lineup after dropping 250 yards and two touchdowns on the Chiefs in Week 5

The "It's About Friggin' Time" Award
Goes to … Vernon Davis! For all of Mike Martz's offensive genius, Vernon Davis stands as a black mark on his resume. The freakishly gifted tight end showed flashes of brilliance in his first two seasons before Martz turned his most explosive pass-catcher into a blocking specialist afterthought in 2008. New coordinator Jimmy Raye went out of his way to lavish praise on Davis all offseason, making it clear that the tight end would be the focal point of the Niners' passing attack. Undrafted in approximately 50 percent of fantasy leagues, Davis started slowly before blowing up for a 7-96-2 line in Week 3. Finally realizing his vast potential, he finished as the No. 2 fantasy tight end behind Dallas Clark.

COMPLETE ARTICLE

Fantasy Football fantasy advice, fantasy links, waiver wire, 2009 fantasy review

Here's the Week Seventeen Inside Out Promotions Cheat Sheet (last updated 12/31)...

Show your team spirit with NFL and College Inflatables

Follow GetSportsInfo on Twitter

*All rankings are based off year-to-year leagues (yardage/TD combo, non-PPR format) 

COMPLETE RANKINGS

Fantasy Football fantasy advice, fantasy football rankings, player rankings, cheat sheet, week 17

The Cincinnati Bearcats showed that this year may be different. Super frosh Lance Stephenson made two free throws in the waning seconds to lock down a 71-69 victory over ninth-ranked Connecticut, UC's first-ever victory over the Huskies.

It was a measuring-up game for Cincinnati, which expects to hold its own in the Big East and get back to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2005, when Bob Huggins was still the head coach.

COMPLETE RECAP

College Hoops cincinnati bearcats, connecticut huskies, lance stephenson

ESPN.com's Jayson Stark argues Barry Larkin's candidacy for the Hall of Fame...

Barry Larkin is one of the greatest shortstops who ever lived. Period.

I'm not sure why this is a fact lost on most of the non-Ohioans on our fine planet. But it's a fact I can assure you is 100 percent true. And because it's true, you should also know this:

Barry Larkin is a Hall of Famer. An easy Hall of Famer.

That doesn't mean he'll go sailing into Cooperstown next week on the first ballot, of course.

COMPLETE ARTICLE

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Check out another great argument in favor of Larkin from a few years back by Aaron Gleeman.

MLB hall of fame, barry larkin, cincinnati reds

from the Newark Star-Ledger...

Wide receiver Braylon Edwards wasn’t lying poolside with his favorite beverage in his hand like Joe Namath all those years ago, but he all but guaranteed that the Jets would defeat the Cincinnati Bengals Sunday night at the Meadowlands and earn a playoff berth.

"We won’t lose this game," said Edwards Wednesday before a throng of reporters standing in front of his locker. "We want it too bad. You can just talk to the guys and get a feel. You can listen to (coach Rex Ryan’s) conviction when he talks to us.

"Guys are serious about winning this game. Guys aren’t talking about New Year’s Eve. Guys aren’t talking about family. All guys are talking about is the playoffs ... beating Cincinnati. I’m convinced this team is 100 percent in. I don’t think we can lose this game from the mind-set we have right now, the attitude we have. I just don’t see it."

COMPLETE ARTICLE

NFL cincinnati bengals, new york jets, braylon edwards

The Cincinnati Bengals, the AFC North Champions, are one of only two AFC teams not to have a single player that was voted in the Pro Bowl, joining the Kansas City Chiefs.

Running back Cedric Benson and starting corners Jonathan Joseph and Leon Hall have put up Pro Bowl-type performances, but were amongst the snubs.

Here is the team-by-team breakdown for the AFC:
Colts: 6
Ravens,Broncos, Chargers: 5
Texans, Patriots: 4
Jets: 3
Steelers, Browns, Raiders: 2
Bills, Jaguars, Dolphins, Titians: 1
Bengals, Chiefs: 0

Unlike years past, this year's Pro Bowl will be played the week leading up to rather than the week following the Super Bowl. In addition, it will be played in Miami rather than in Hawaii as normal. Whichever teams make it to the Super Bowl will not have any of their players participate in the game which means there will be some changes ahead.

COMPLETE ROSTERS

NFL pro bowl, cincinnati bengals, pro bowl snubs, cedric benson, leon hall, jonathan joseph

Kentucky point guard John Wall continued his amazing breakout freshman campaign by dishing out a UK-record 16 assists in Tuesday’s 104-61 win over Hartford at Rupp Arena.

Wall, who came into the contest leading the SEC and second in the nation is assists, was averaging 6.8 assists per contest.

The previous record was set by Travis Ford on December 8, 1993 against Eastern Kentucky.

With the win, the Wildcats move to 14-0 and are now set to welcome in-state rival Louisville to Lexington on Saturday.

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John Calapari has this team believing and the young Wildcats continue to grow up right in front of our very eyes.  What makes Wall so great is that he is capable of dishing the rock and spreads the ball around well to UK’s many weapons.  With Patrick Patterson’s leadership and the young combo of Wall, Eric Bledsoe, and DeMarcus Cousins (third straight double-double), the sky is the limit for Big Blue.

College Hoops kentucky wildcats, uk, john wall, eric bledsoe, demarcus cousins, patrick patterson

AFC
Seed	Team	Division	Record
1	Indianapolis (yz*)	South	14-1-0
2	San Diego (yz)	West	12-3-0
3	New England (y)	East	10-5-0
4	Cincinnati (y)	North	10-5-0
5	Denver	West	8-7-0
6	N.Y. Jets	East	8-7-0
Still alive (below)
7	Baltimore	North	8-7-0
8	Houston	South	8-7-0
9	Pittsburgh	North	8-7-0
10	Miami	East	7-8-0
11	Jacksonville	South	7-8-0

NFC
Seed	Team	Division	Record
1	New Orleans (yz)	South	13-2-0
2	Philadelphia (x)	East	11-4-0
3	Minnesota (y)	North	11-4-0
4	Arizona (y)	West	10-5-0
5	Green Bay (x)	North	10-5-0
6	Dallas (x)	East	10-5-0

x-clinched playoff berth
y-denotes division winner
z-denotes first-round bye
*-clinched home-field advantage

AFC Playoff tiebreakers
--New England earns the No. 3 seed over Cincinnati based on strength of victory (.433 to Bengals' .403).
--Denver earns the No. 5 seed over N.Y. Jets and Baltimore based on strength of victory (.513 to Jets' .492 and Ravens' .387) and conference record over Houston (6-5 to Texans' 5-6).
--N.Y. Jets earn the No. 6 seed over Baltimore based on strength of victory (.492 to Ravens' .387) and conference record over Houston (6-5 to Texans' 5-6).
--Baltimore finishes ahead of Houston based on conference record (6-5 over Texans' 5-6).
--Houston finishes ahead of Pittsburgh based on common games (3-1 over Steelers' 1-3).

NFC Playoff tiebreakers
--Philadelphia earns the No 2 seed over Minnesota based on conference record (9-2 to Vikings' 8-3).
--Green Bay earns the No. 5 seed over Dallas based on head to head (1-0).

COMPLETE SCENARIOS

NFL nfl playoffs, playoff scenarios

The graph below indicates the fantasy points allowed by each team by position, ranked from 1 through 32. The higher the number means the better the match-up...

(from AskTheCommish.com): Scoring System Used - Passing Yards: 1 point per 30 yards; Rushing Yards: 1 point per 15 yards; Receiving Yards: 1 point per 15 yards; Passing TDs: 4 points per TD pass; Rushing TDs: 6 points per TD run; Receiving TDs: 6 points per TD reception; Interceptions: -2 points per interception; Fumbles: -2 points per fumble lost; Two Point Conversion: 2 points per pass, run, or reception; Field Goals Made: 3 points per field goal made; Field Goals Missed: -1 point per field goal missed; Extra Points: 1 point per extra point; Missed Extra Point: -1 point per missed extra point.

Fantasy Football y advice, fantasy points allowed, points allowed by position

Sadly I have friends that play in a death poll game. Here's HolyTaco.com's best guess of who will die in 2010?

Dick Clark used to be called The Boy Who Couldn't Age.  Then he aged all at once really quickly.  Clark suffered from a stroke in 2004, and since then he's been on the way out.  He's still been co-hosting the New Year's Rockin' Eve" television special every year, but you can see that he's slipping.  Last year, he wished the entire country a "Happeneryer" at midnight.  When your job is saying "Happy New Year" and you can't do that anymore, that means it's time to go.
 
Predicted Cause of Death: Dick loses control of his electric wheelchair, plows into the new years ball, and blacks out Times Square on live TV. That night, he dies peacefully in his sleep.

COMPLETE LIST

Just For Fun humor, lists, death poll