Going into Week 17 Mr. Fantasy has taken a 3 (three) game lead in our Sports Time Radio National Football League (NFL) pick contest. In Week 16 Mr. Fantasy, Dan the Man and Schaumburg Stu all went 10-6 while I was at the bottom again at 8-8. For the season Mr. Fantasy is 158-80-1. Schaumburg Stu has moved into 2nd place with an overall record of 155-83-1. I’m hanging onto 3rd place with a record of 154-84-1. While Dan the Man is stuck in the cellar with an overall record of 150-88-1. We’ve got one (1) week left to catch Mr. Fantasy. Can we do it?
Let’s take a look at the Greg vs. Mr. Fantasy challenge for Week 16. Greg liked Ben Roethlisberger of the Pittsburgh Steelers as the highest scoring quarterback of the week while Mr. Fantasy liked Matt Ryan of the Atlanta Falcons. Roethlisberger scored 10.50 points in Week 16 and ranked 18th among all quarterbacks for the week. Ryan finished the week in 15th place among quarterbacks with 13.64 points. Russell Wilson led all quarterbacks for the week with 34.58 points. Greg liked Fred Jackson of the Buffalo Bills to be the highest scoring running back of the week while Mr. Fantasy went with Joique Bell of the Detroit Lions. Jackson finished with 18.55 points for the week which was good for 19th place among running backs for the week. Bell scored 19.45 points which out him in 16th place among running backs for the week. C.J. Anderson of the Denver Broncos was the highest scoring running back for the week with 30.30 points. Greg liked Calvin Johnson of the Detroit Lions to be the highest scoring wide receiver of the week while Mr. Fantasy went with Odell Beckham Jr. of the New York Giants. Johnson ended up 23rd among wide receivers with 15.05 points. Beckham Jr. was the highest scoring wide receiver in Week 16 with 33.30 points. At tight end Greg liked Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs to be the highest scoring tight end of the week while Mr. Fantasy thought Julius Thomas of the Denver Broncos would lead all tight ends in scoring. Kelce 6.10 points in Week 16 which was good for 22nd place among tight ends for the week. Thomas finished one spot behind Kelce in 23rd place for the week with 6.05 points. At kicker Greg went with Mason Crosby of the Green Bay Packers to lead in scoring for Week 16 while Mr. Fantasy liked Matt Bryant of the Atlanta Falcons. Crosby scored 9 points for the week which was good for an 8th place tie. Bryant put up 16 points for the week which was good enough for a 2nd place tie in Week 16. Sleeper picks for the week where Lance Dunbar of the Dallas Cowboys for Greg and Houston Texans quarterback Case Keenum. Dunbar scored 3.40 points which was good for 67th place among running backs for the week. Keenum put up 4.60 points which was good for 29th among all quarterbacks for the week. There’s one (1) week of picks left; so who will they go with in Week 17. Remember they’re not allowed to select the Top 5 scorers at any position. That means at quarterback they can’t pick Andrew Luck, Aaron Rodgers, Russell Wilson, Peyton Manning and Tom Brady. At running back DeMarco Murray, Le’Veon Bell, Matt Forte, Marshawn Lynch and Arian Foster are off the board. At wide receiver there’s no picking Antonio Brown, Demaryius Thomas, Jordy Nelson, Dez Bryant and Emmanuel Sanders this week. The Top 5 tight ends they can’t pick are Rob Gronkowski, Jimmy Graham, Greg Olsen, Antonio Gates and Martellus Bennett. They’re not even allowed to touch any of the Top 5 kicker who are Stephen Gostkowski, Cody Parkey, Matt Bryant, Dan Carpenter and Adam Vinatieri.
Has the National Basketball Association (NBA) taken over your Christmas Day? Do you have to try to sneak away from your family like Dan the Man does to check the scores of the game or watch a few minutes of on court action? Hopefully you have a game plan in action for tomorrow as the NBA has 5 (five) games on the schedule for your viewing pleasure. Game one (1) has an 11:00 a.m. start time; that’s Central Standard Time (C.S.T.) and features the Washington Wizards at the New York Knicks. Game two (2) a 1:30 p.m. C.S.T. start time has the Oklahoma City Thunder vs. the San Antonio Spurs. Game three (3) a 4:00 p.m. C.S.T. start time has the Cleveland Cavaliers vs. the Miami Heat. Game four (4) a 7:00 p.m. C.S.T. start time has the Los Angeles Lakers vs. the Chicago Bulls. The 5th and final NBA game of the of the day is scheduled to tip off at 9:30 p.m. C.S.T. with the Golden State Warriors vs. the Los Angeles Clippers. The first game will be shown on ESPN. The next two (2) games move over to ABC. The final two (2) games will be telecast on TNT and NBA-TV. How do you rank these games 1 (one) through 5 (five)? You’ll be able to watch three (3) of the Top 5 scorers in action tomorrow. LeBron James 2nd in scoring averaging 25.2 Points Per Game (P.P.G.), Kobe Bryant is 3rd with 24.6 P.P.G. and Carmelo Anthony is 5th with 23.7 P.P.G.. Only one (1) of the Top 5 rebounders will be in action tomorrow. Pau Gasol is averaging 11.4 rebounds per game and that’s good for 5th in the NBA. Watch for John Wall, Chris Paul and Stephen Curry to pass the ball tomorrow as they are three (3) of the Top 5 leaders in assists. Wall averages 10.4 assists per game (A.P.G.) which is good for 2nd in the NBA. Paul is 4th handing out 9.7 A.P.G. and Curry is 5th with 7.7 A.P.G. Look for Wall, Curry and Paul to get a couple of steals tomorrow as well since all 3 (three) are in the Top 5 of the category as well. Wall and Curry are tied for 2nd in the NBA in steals averaging 2.1 per game and Paul is right behind them tied for 3rd with 2.0 steals per game.
The National Hockey League is taking a 3 (three) day Christmas break and will be back in action December 27th with 13 (thirteen) games on the ice. While they’re on holiday break let’s look at some of the league leaders. Jakub Voracek of the Philadelphia Flyers is leading the league in total points with 46, He has a four (four) point lead over Tyler Seguin of the Dallas Stars who has 42 points on the season. Seguin is leading the NHL in goals with 25. That puts him just 2 (two) goals ahead of Rick Nash of the New York rangers who’s scored 23 goals this season. Vorachek is leading the league in assists with 32, but his Philadelphia Flyers teammate Claude Giroux is just a couple of assists behind at 30 on the season. Filip Forsberg of the Nashville Predators is leading the NHL in plus/minus with a +24. Tyler Johnson of the Tampa Bay Lighting is right behind him at +23. In goal Pekka Rinne of the Nashville Predators is leading the NHL in wins with 22. Marc-Andre Fleury of the Pittsburgh Penguins, Carey Price of the Montréal Canadiens and Frederik Andersen of the Anaheim Ducks are all tied for 2nd in wins with 19. Fleury leads all goaltenders in shutouts with 6 (six) followed by Henrik Lundqvist who has 5 (five). Michael Hutchinson of the Winnipeg Jets is leading all goaltenders in two (2) categories. Goals Against Average (G.A.A.) with a 1.67 and Save Percentage with .944. Brian Elliott of the St. Louis Blues is 2nd in G.A.A, with 1.82 while Calvin Pickard of the Colorado Avalanche is 2nd in save percentage with .939. Is your favorite player on this list? If not don’t worry there’s still a long way to go in this NHL season.
Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.
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