Fantasy Football Update

Fox Sports Fantasy Football is now live. That means you can draft fantasy football teams now. Just remember, if you draft them, make sure you play them in September. Nobody likes dead teams. If you just want to practice drafting most sites now offer a "Mock Draft Lobby" where you draft but that's it.

Off to the track, lets hit them 'fectas!

Whurly.

Whurly = Worry + Early

The Belmont Stakes

I'm not a professional handicapper. And as a handicapper my area of expertise is NFL money lines, not the ponies. But it's the sport of kings and it's amazing what a $1 superfecta can win. Big Brown is the prohibitive favorite (2-5, bet $5 to win $2) but he has issues. Think Curt Shilling's bloody sock type of issues. So I'm gonna take a crack at my top 4. I don't ask for much but if I give out the winners and you rake in the dollars, buy a round for the bar. OK?

WIN
Denis of Cork (12-1)

PLACE
Big Brown (2-5)

SHOW
Icabad Crane (20-1)

4TH
Anak Nakal (40-1)

There you go. Win, eat, drink at be merry. Remember, Big Brown is sponsored by Hooters. I don't know if they have any specials if he wins, but bug your waitress anyway. Girls love difficult guys.

Fantasy Sports News

Check out who's open and who's not as of June 5th.

FANTASY BASEBALL

• CBSSports.com (Until 7/17)
  
• Yahoo Sports (Until 6/15)

FANTASY FOOTBALL

• NFL.com (LIVE)
• CBSSports.com (LIVE)
• FOXSports.com (OFFLINE) (ALERT WHEN AVAILABLE)
• Yahoo Sports (OFFLINE) (ALERT WHEN AVAILABLE)
• ESPN.com (OFFLINE) (NO ALERT AVAILABLE)
  

Joba, Joba, Joba

The latest Joba news

• Johnny Damon questions Joba Chamberlain's move out of bullpen (Daily News)
• Leaky pen with Joba a starter (Newsday)
• A turning point in Chamberlain's career (NY Times)
  

I guess everybody has to take sides on this huh? Isn't there some way to stretch him out as a long reliever and keep him in the pen but spot start him every 10 days or so? If you can let Chamberlain pitch the 7th and 8th innings (maybe even the 6th on occasion) and turn the ball over Rivera the game is basically over in the 6th inning. But by using Joba for more inning less frequently he should be available to start should the Yankees suffer an injury in the rotation or they really need a spark. Doesn't that make more sense than starting him every 5 days when opponents know he's always going to be on some sort of pitch count?

Well that's my take on that, and yaameen.

The NBA Finals Begin. Finally.

Well here we are. Every prognosticator on the planet is dropping his or her dime on who's going to win the NBA Finals. It's pretty easy for me. I always pick the best team to win. Maybe not to cover, but to win in the end. If you look back through the rest of the decade there's probably only one exception to this rule. That would be the Miami Heat beating the Detroit Pistons. But I write that off as Larry Brown's fault. Every team he's ever coached in the NBA has tuned him out after awhile, much more so than other coaches. That's why he's a coaching nomad. Do you really think he lasts longer than 2 years in Charlotte? Maybe 3. Max.

Anyhow, the Celtics are the best team. Kobe is the best player. We've heard all about how this is the best defensive team (Celtics) against the best offensive team (Lakers). I think we're all forgetting about who's not playing. That would be Andrew Bynum, center for the Lakers. For all of their talent, the Lakers are not a team built to bang under the hoop. They lack a shot-blocker in the paint and Lamar Odom is their best shot blocker. Gasol is a nice player but he's a finesse guy and KG will make him earn everything the hard way. The Celtics bench is far more experienced in these situations and does anybody put it past Sam Cassell to hit a game winner or two? This is what they got him for. The Lakers need the kids to do it in order to win. Kobe can try but if he gets frustrated, it's all over. So.....

Celtics in 5

I'm probably wrong. Most people are. The easy thing to do here is pick it to go 7 games or even 6. I think every game comes down to the last 3 minutes and it's just a matter of who scores last. In that situation I like the Celtics multitude of options better than I like the Kobe Show. I picked 5 games instead of a sweep because I'm sure Kobe will at bare minimum will the Lakers to at least 1 victory. So KG for MVP I guess.

I am in no way disparaging the Lakers. They're a helluva a team, I just think they arrived a year early. Give them a healthy Bynum, more experience for the kids and a veteran role player or 2 and they're the favorites next year. To win the whole thing, win or lose this year. A loss just delays the inevitable for the Lakers. The Celtics have maybe 2 more years after this left in their "window". I don't know if Jesus Shuttlesworth even has that long left in him. But that's alright, who doesn't want a He Got Game sequel? And you know Rick Fox needs work. He's the go to guy for a role player in a basketball movie.

It's Monday. If Only I Were Garfield. Or There Was Football Tonight

It's So Monday And You Don't Even Know It Yet (Morning Edition)

• Here's a great piece by Darren Rovell of CNBC.com about the last shot of Game 5 of the Spurs vs Lakers game. To recap the Lakers were up 5 as the clock expired and Laker Sasha Vujacic hit a "meaningless" 3 as time expired to help the Lakers win by 8? Guess what the spread was? You got it, 8 points at tip-off and it fluctuated to 7.5 at some sportsbooks.
  
• It seems that the rumor that Matt Leinart could actually lose his starting job to Kurt Warner are heating up. And why not? Warner tossed 27 TD passes last season. Leinart got hurt and disappointed fantasy owners everywhere who had him as a sleeper tossing 27 TDs.
  
• I know a bunch of guys who attended the Best Buy 400 at Dover yesterday. I don't do the NASCAR thing but they left at 5 AM and came back home bearing gifts as the sun set. By gifts I mean leftover food and beverages. They swore it was a great time and actually seemed to mean it. I doubt that I'd go but these are not guys you would ever see watching a race on TV so I'm assuming this means that the tailgating was so excellent the race was just an ancillary event.
  
• We're not going to touch on Jason Taylor's press conference much. He wants a trade but does not want to destroy his image while pursuing a trade. He also claims that this is his last season in the NFL. My money is on him getting traded as training camps open for a conditional 2009 draft pick that can be no lower than a 4th and no higher than a 2nd. If you're still interested click here for more.
  
• I'm going to hit all of the Detroit Piston shit right here, right now. It looks like Flip Saunders is staying. Can you imagine 'Sheed playing for Larry Brown under MJ? Could Rip Hamilton both be moving as well? That seems about right because I can't picture them trade Billups or Prince.
• Can one kid single-handedly change the course of a season instantly? The early results are in and the test is positive. The kid is Jay Bruce and the team is the Cincinnati Reds.
  
• Check out an entertaining bit on some dream position eligibility scenarios for fantasy baseball. Wow, I feel more like a stat geek from just having written that. And I'm not a huge sabermetrics guy. Yet.
• Quick injury updates on Ryan Zimmerman, John Smoltz and David Ortiz.
  
• More crap on the latest NFL team to be linked to Los Angeles. The worst part is the speculation will never end until there is a team in LA.
  
• Looks like Gilbert Arenas is going to opt out. Odds are this is just a formality before he signs a multi-year deal with the Wizards. The only dark horses I can see are the Clippers or the Warriors. The Clippers would be interested if Brand and Maggette opt-out. The Warriors would offer a sign-and-trade scenario with Baron Davis and Arenas switching teams. Remember Arenas was originally a second-round pick of the Warriors and almost signed with the Clippers before heading to Washington.
• Mike Lieberthal has officially retired as a Philadelphia Phillie. Here's a nice article about him from the Philadelphia Daily News.
  
• Is Matt Holliday on his way out of Colorado?