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10) New York Jets 16, Baltimore Colts, 7
January 12, 1969
Orange Bowl, Miami FL
It was the Super Bowl that started all the hype as Joe Namath guaranteed victory just days before the game. The Jets star backed his words with an MVP performance but it was the New York defense that secured the victory by intercepting the Colts three times. The game actually was not very close but the guarantee combined with the image of Namath running off the field holding up ‘number one’ has helped to make the Super Bowl what it is today.

9) San Francisco 49ers 26, Cincinnati Bengals 21
January 24, 1982
Pontiac Silverdome, Pontiac MI
After putting up a 20 to 0 halftime lead the 49ers held their breath as the Bengals scored 21 second half points. Quarterback Kenny Anderson was 25 of 34 with two passing touchdowns and one rushing touchdown. But it wasn’t enough as the 49ers Ray Wersching completed four field goals in the 49ers first Super Bowl win. The game marked the first time in Super Bowl history that the losing team out gained the winners in yardage (356 to 275.)

8) Baltimore Colts 16, Dallas Cowboys 13
January 17, 1971
Orange Bowl, Miami FL
The first Super Bowl played on artificial turf turned out to be quite a defensive battle. The Colts only touchdown came off of a pass that deflected off of two players including the Cowboys’ Mike Renfro. Two interceptions by the Colts led to the touchdown and the game winning field goal with only 5 seconds remaining. Chuck Howley of the Cowboys was named MVP, the first for a defensive player and the only time the award was given to a player from the losing team.

7) Pittsburgh Steelers 35, Dallas Cowboys 31
January 21, 1979
Orange Bowl, Miami FL
Quarterback Terry Bradshaw threw his fourth touchdown pass with just under 7 minutes remaining in the game. The 18-yard catch by Lynn Swan put the Steelers up 35 to 17. But the Cowboys would not give up easily. Roger Staubach led his team to two quick touchdowns thanks in large part to an onside kick. But a second attempt of an onside kick was recovered by the Steelers’ Rocky Bleier and Pittsburgh became the first team to win three Super Bowls.

6) New England Patriots 20, St. Louis Rams 17
February 3, 2002
Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans LA
The Rams out gained the Patriots by 160 yards, but the New England Defense forced three turnovers which the offense turned into 17 points. The final 3 points came at the end of the game. With 1:30 on the clock and no timeouts, Tom Brady drove his team into field goal range, setting up a 48-yard kick for Adam Vinatieiri. It was the first time in Super Bowl history that the game was decided on the last play.

5) San Francisco 49ers 20, Cincinnati Bengals 16
January 22, 1989
Joe Robbie Stadium, Miami FL
Playing for their third Super Bowl victory in eight years the 49ers found themselves losing 16 to 13 with just 3:20 remaining in the game. That was plenty of time for Joe Montana and company. The two-time Super Bowl MVP drove his team 92 yards capping off the drive with a touchdown pass to John Taylor with 34 seconds left on the clock.

4) New England Patriots 32, Carolina Panthers 29
February 1, 2004
Reliant Stadium, Houston TX
This game set two Super Bowl records that seem contradictory. The two teams took the longest amount of time before a score, nearly 27 minutes, and then combined for the most points scored in one quarter, 37 in the fourth. Carolina tied the game with 1:08 remaining but it wasn’t enough as the Patriots quickly drove the ball into field goal territory. Adam Vinatieri kicked the game winner from 41 yards out.

3) St. Louis Rams 23, Tennessee Titans 16
January 30, 2000
Georgia Dome, Atlanta GA
While the high-powered Rams offense dominated the statistics they found themselves tied at 16 points at the two-minute warning. But on the next play Kurt Warner hooked up with Isaac Bruce for a 73-yard touchdown pass. Steve McNair did his best to lead his team downfield but the game ended when an outstretched Kevin Dyson landed just one yard short of a game-tying touchdown.

2) New York Giants 20, Buffalo Bills 19
January 21, 1991
Tampa Stadium, Tampa FL
With the country at war in the Persian Gulf and following a breathtaking rendition of the National Anthem by Whitney Houston, the two teams in their red, white and blue uniforms competed in one of the best games in the history of football. The Giants perfected the concept of ‘ball control’, possessing the ball for over 40 minutes. But the Bills had the lead late in the fourth quarter before a Matt Bahr field goal made it 20 to 19. Then, with just seconds remaining, Scott Norwood’s 47-yard field goal just missed to the right and the Giants won their second title.

1) New York Giants 17, New England Patriots 14
February 4, 2008
University of Phoenix Stadium, Scottsdale, AZ
David Tyree’s miraculous 32-yard reception setup Eli Manning’s game-winning TD strike to Plaxico Burress to seal the deal for the Giants. The Patriots were denied the shot at being the first team ever to finish 19-0 and their Super Bowl loss forever tarnished their perfect regular season, the first of its kind since the Miami Dolphins finished with undefeated in 1972.

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The first thing that a rookie owner (or any owner for that matter) should do is obtain a cheat sheet from either a magazine, website, or other media publication. Usually a cheat sheet has a list of players in a ranked order, and allows the owner to know which players are available to be drafted. From the cheat sheet an owner can figure out in what order they would draft each player. Many owners rely strictly on the rankings of the cheat sheets they are using because they assume that the magazine knows more than they do, and that they have the most accurate information. This can be true in many instances, but cheat sheets and magazines are often out of date and have players ranked fairly high even though they may be injured or without a team. Because of this, any owner cannot fully rely on a cheat sheet.

After obtaining a cheat sheet, the next thing than an owner should do is formulate a strategy. The owner will use the strategy to figure out when they’ll want to take certain players or positions. While having a cheat sheet is useful, having a good strategy can be more beneficial because it is the basis of how you will draft your team. A cheat sheet can be used to see where other people (or publications) would draft someone, not necessarily where YOU should draft them (it’s just a recommendation). An owner should take that into consideration, and then figure out where they would want to draft a player according to their strategy. Think of the cheat sheet as the bricks and mortar of a house. It will be the materials and tools that the owner will use to help build their house. Unfortunately, a builder cannot build a house without also having a blueprint of how they want to build it (your strategy). Without the materials and the blueprint, the builder is likely to not succeed. However, if the builder has both of them together and follows the blueprint, then success may not be too far away.

Here is a brief description of some commonly used strategies

• Best available player: The owner selects the best player that hasn’t been drafted, regardless of what position they play and who they have already taken.

• Scarcity: The owner selects a running back in the first and/or second round because it is the thinnest position in the draft. It is easier to fill the other positions later on in the draft.

• One/Two Combo: The owner selects the number one receiver from a team and also selects that player’s quarterback. The reasoning behind this is because the owner will get double the points (or so it seems) every time the quarterback throws to the receiver.

• Balanced: The owner will draft a running back, receiver, and quarterback in the first 3 rounds.

Now that you have a general idea of who and when to draft a player, lets get into what you should and should not do in a draft.

• Do: stick to your gut feeling. Regardless of what a magazine says, everything in the Pre-season is just speculation. No one knows for sure.

• Don’t: draft players from your favorite team just because you want to root for them. While it would be ideal to be able to both select a player for your fantasy team and have them be on your favorite NFL team, the name of the game isn’t “rooting”. That’s what cheerleaders are for…this is fantasy football! Owners should draft players that will help them WIN their fantasy league.

• Do: look at more than one cheat sheet. By doing this, an owner gets a better idea of when players are likely to be drafted. It is pooling from more than one source, and there is no need to put all your eggs in one basket (or magazine).

• Don’t: allow someone to pressure you into a draft day trade just because they say you are getting a better deal. Part of fantasy football is out managing the other owners. Don’t allow yourself to be a victim of “peer pressure” or “bullying” tactics.

• Do: cross off each player as they are selected in the draft. By doing this you’ll know which players you can select, and won’t get pinned as the person who says, “Has this guy been drafted yet?”

• Don’t: be afraid to tweak your strategy in the middle of the draft. If a highly touted player happens to slip a few picks then by all means take him. A strategy is just a general guideline to follow. By no means is it set in stone.

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from USAToday.com...

After a one-day truce, the NFL and the NFL Players' Association agreed to extend the current collective bargaining agreement for one week and continue labor negotiations before a federal mediator

If there isn't a third extension or a new CBA isn't negotiated by March 11, the NFL could lock out the players. The union, though, has the option to decertify as collective bargaining agent for the players and take the dispute into federal court.

According to NFL.com, the union was prepared to begin and finish the decertification process Friday if the league didn't agree to a 10-day extension of talks with FMCS. The two sides appear to have compromised on a seven-day extension.

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We have already looked at tips to starting a fantasy baseball league and some draft/auction day basics. Now we wrap up our Fantasy Baseball 101 series with a look at roster management.

The most important day of the fantasy baseball season is the one when you select your team. While it’s a virtual certainty that your team won’t look like it does that first day, the draft or auction is where your team’s foundation is created. However, there are still plenty of opportunities to optimize your performance as the year goes along.

Every week can be crucial to your season, so it’s important to know what’s going on each Monday through Sunday. Always check the coming week’s schedule, since some teams play seven-game slates while others may only play five or six games. And late in the year, rain makeups can even force some teams to play eight games in seven days. Maximizing playing time by shuffling your roster can help those counting stat categories.

Just as critically, you need to know which of your starting pitchers will take the mound twice, and where. A two-start week in Florida and San Diego is nice, while one in Arizona and Colorado can do serious damage to your ERA and WHIP.

This approach also can be applied to your hitters. If you have two roughly equivalent outfielders, playing the one with games in Boston and Texas is certainly better than going with the guy trying to put up big numbers in San Francisco and Los Angeles.

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Of course, the way you can make the biggest improvement is through trades. After the first several weeks of the season, you should have a good idea of where your team is strong and where it needs help. Be sure to take into account any unreasonably hot starts, rough spells, or injuries that may be skewing the standings.

Once you’ve figured out your needs, find a potential partner, or partners, to help you out. See if you can give up some of your strength to address your weaknesses. Remember to be reasonable when approaching a fellow owner with a trade offer. Any proposal has to help the other guy as well as yourself. No one wants to deal with the owner offering Ryan Klesko and Shawn Estes for Albert Pujols and Joe Nathan.

No matter how good your team is doing, always look to improve, focusing first and foremost on this season. If you’re in first place on July 4th, don’t stand pat. If another owner is out of the running early, see if you can give him some prospects in exchange for one or two of his good players in the last year of their contracts. It will strengthen you for the stretch run, when the good teams make their push and the bad teams look toward next season. Even if you’re solidly in first place, consider a move like this. Because if you don’t get those good players that are sure to be available, someone chasing you down will, and that nice lead you have could dwindle quickly.

Of course, there’s always the flip side, where everything that can go wrong does. You know, those times when your ace starter goes down with a season-ending injury, your stud hitter is indicted, and your not-so-hot sleeper is sent back to Double-A. When this unfortunately occurs, you first need to decide who you’ll want to keep for the next season. Everyone else should be thrown out there for potential trade. The best bait to dangle is the strong performer in the last year of a contract. He won’t help you this year and he’ll be available next year if you want to try to get him back, so the best thing to do is deal him for a cheap player or two who can help your squad next season. Getting something in return is always better than getting nothing.

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Even the best owners can improve, and there should have been at least one or two nuggets of information in this series that everyone was able to take away to make their teams that much stronger.

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Part One covered the details and logistics of starting a fantasy baseball league. Part Two goes through the happenings on that greatest of all days, draft/auction day. This is the most important time of all for your team. A good draft or auction will put you in the running and should keep you near the front of the pack, while a bad one could leave you waiting for football to start - by Memorial Day!
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First, you must know what kind of numbers the available players have posted, not just last year but over the past two or three seasons, and even over their entire careers. Is a player’s performance rock solid season to season, or does he go up and down like a Yo-yo? Steady players are great - if they’re consistently good, that is. On the flip side, you’ll never find a hidden gem if you don’t take some risks with your selections. Don’t go with one type of guy or the other exclusively, just be aware of roughly what you should (or shouldn’t) expect from the player you’re picking/bidding on.

It’s a good rule of thumb to consider hitters to be more stable than pitchers, and budget accordingly. Many owners allocate twice as much money for hitting as for pitching. There are just so many variables that can greatly impact a pitcher’s performance that you can’t predict. He could get injured, suffer from poor run support, develop Steve Blass syndrome, be traded to Colorado (sans humidor), etc. With hitters, the track record is more reliable. While the general trend of improvement up to a player’s late 20s and decline as he gets older doesn’t fit everyone, it’s a good starting point.

For all players, be sure to keep track of their health status. Forgetting a guy will start the year on the DL could start you off in the cellar.

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Here’s a set of potentially tough but important questions. What do you know about your fellow owners? Are they beginning fantasy leaguers or extremely experienced? What are their favorite players and teams? Do they have any “must-have” or “won’t-own” players? Find out as much as you can about your fellow owners and their tendencies.

On the flip side, try not to let others know who you’re targeting and be sure you don’t overvalue your favorite players - otherwise you could get bid up well beyond what’s reasonable. Also, don’t have any players you must have or won’t have on your team. Yes, there are nice guys and there are jerks in the major leagues, but it’s only what they contribute to your stats that determines their value in this game.

In an auction, are there owners who like to drive up the bidding, even on players they don’t want, just to get more money out of everyone’s pockets? Is someone afraid to go above a certain dollar amount on any player? Is someone holding back his money for a particular player or two? Is one owner throwing his money around early, leaving him with little for the end game?

In a draft, be particularly conscious of the owners sitting on either side of you. Do they have a similar strategy to yours? As the draft passes the mid-point, are they looking to fill out the same roster spots as you? If so, they could steal the player you’re waiting to take, so be ready to pounce if they leave him out there. If your needs are different from theirs, consider focusing more on the best available player still out there.

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In either system, as the day unfolds, you must be flexible. Know your strengths and weaknesses. For example, don’t overload on power and neglect speed. Don’t get all the flamethrowers on bad teams, giving you a ton of strikeouts but few wins.

In a draft especially, avoid taking part in runs at a position. If you get in on the end of a run, you’ll probably be picking up a guy now who you could get a couple rounds later. If everyone is going after closers, instead look at starters and position players. Zig when they zag.

Also, although some owners have been successful doing this, don’t “punt” any categories. Not drafting a closer not only means you’ll be last in saves, it also could hurt your ERA and WHIP, since saves guys tend to do well in those categories also. A guaranteed last-place finish in one category can seriously hinder your chances of coming out on top overall.

Finally, play to win this year. Everyone wants to snag the next Ryan Howard or Johan Santana before they reach prime time, but odds are the consistent, reliable six-year veteran is the better pick than the unknown rookie. Finding a diamond in the rough isn’t easy, while going with a bunch of guys you can count on can be very comforting and very successful. If you want to go with a crazy pick (and everyone loves to do it), make it at the end of the day, with one of your $1 picks or in the reserve round.

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from the GSI archives...

Regardless of whether you’ve played fantasy baseball for years or if this will be your first season, there are numerous topics, strategies, and details that must be addressed before and during the season. This is the first of a three-part overview of what you need to organize a fantasy baseball league, construct your rosters, and - most importantly - win! Let’s get to it.

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If you’re creating a league from scratch, there are several key decisions that you should be making RIGHT NOW.

First, how many owners will your league have? And will you stock your rosters from all the major leagues or just the American or National League?

Too few owners and too many players to choose from will give everyone an All-Star squad, which can take strategy, research and skill out of the equation. Too many owners drafting too few players can leave you picking from a bunch of backups, which no one wants to do.

If the number of owners is eight or less, you should stick to either the AL or NL. If you’re over eight, opening up the pool of players to all of MLB is fine.

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Roster size plays an important role in the previous section, so this needs to be settled early. The typical roto roster has 23 players - two catchers, a first baseman, second baseman, third baseman, shortstop, corner infielder (1B/3B), middle infielder (2B/SS), five outfielders, nine pitchers, and a utility player (most often an additional hitter). You can trim down or add to this standard, but don’t go overboard in either direction.

Many leagues also have reserve squads in case of injury or ineffectiveness. The number of reserves usually ranges from five to 15. In general, the more owners you have playing, the fewer reserves you should have, since there will be less talent to choose from.

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You’ll also need to determine what categories to use. Standard Rotisserie uses 4x4 - batting average, home runs, RBI, and steals for hitters; wins, ERA, saves, and WHIP (Walks plus Hits divided by Innings Pitched) for pitchers. The popularity of 5x5 leagues (adding runs scored for hitters and strikeouts for pitchers) has increased greatly over the last few years.

Other leagues assign positive or negative points for numerous categories - doubles, triples, steals, caught stealing, shutouts, hits allowed, etc. Some leagues go overboard by using too many categories. This approach makes putting together a good strategy almost impossible because there are too many factors to consider.

Besides, you’re more likely to get a good idea of player values from web sites (like GetSportsInfo.com) and magazines if you stick with 4x4 or 5x5 scoring. However, if you’re looking to be creative and unique, come up with a scoring system all your own. Just make sure you and your fellow owners understand and agree to it in advance.

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To fill out your rosters, choose either a draft or an auction. If you draft, determine the order of selection randomly - picking names from a hat, for instance. And to be fair to the poor schmuck who picks last, you MUST use a snake draft, where the order of selection reverses every other round. For example, if you have a 10-team league, the owner who picks tenth also picks eleventh, and the person who picked first will make the 20th and 21st selections, etc.

If you go with an auction, make sure everyone can set aside plenty of time, because this could take several hours, especially if you’re starting a brand-new league.

You also must decide whether owners can keep players for subsequent years. If so, let everyone know how many players can be kept, for how many years, and at what price - the same as their draft price, or is their a premium added each season?

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You also need to determine how much money (pretend or real) owners will have to fill out their rosters. The standard Rotisserie amount is $260, although this is very flexible. (Why $260? My best guess is that they chipped in $10 a week for a 26-week regular season.).

The money, of course, is crucial. Does the entry fee equal the amount you have available for the auction, or is it some other amount? Are there transaction fees for trades? Will teams have a free agent budget to acquire undrafted talent?

All these questions need to be answered so potential owners know how much it will cost to play. You have to find a financial level that’s comfortable for everyone, but also enough to make it worth playing for. Only you and your friends can make that decision.

And of course everyone wants to know what the payouts will be. How many places in the overall standings will get money at the end of the year? Usually the top third or so get prizes. Also, will you pay out for category or weekly leaders? This is a nice option since it gives everyone a chance to win some cash. And how will ties be broken? You can go with whoever wins the most categories, simply share the money equally, do “Rock, Paper, Scissors” - whatever you like. Just be sure to decide in advance. No one wants to being surprised to find out they’re getting less money that they thought.

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Finally, you’ll have to determine how the stats will be tracked. In the old days one of the owners, usually the commissioner, kept track. It can be a difficult, time-consuming responsibility, which is why stat services have become so popular. Some services are free, while others charge a (sometimes hefty) fee. Yahoo! or somewhere else can do the job for no cost, but you may have to pay to get specific features you’re looking for.

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Well, that’s all for Part One, covering everything you need to take care of before draft day.

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