Posts Tagged ‘Thursday night football’

How was your week

Posted: October 1, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in sports, Uncategorized
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The first two weeks of Thursday Night Football had good games. In Week 1 the Super Bowl rematch saw the Denver Broncos beat the Carolina Panthers 21-20. In Week 2 the New York Jets beat the Buffalo Bills 37-31. In the next two match ups we got a 27-0 blow out as the New England Patriots with a 3rd string quarterback starting beat the Houston Texans and this past Thursday the Cincinnati Bengals easily handled the Miami Dolphins 22-7.

Even in these bad games the ratings are still good. This week the game started off with an 8.24 rating and reached a 11.44 rating; easily winning the night. Now I’m not going to try to pretend I understand what these numbers mean, but they draw two to three times the amount of any pother show that’s on against them. It seems as though people will just watch football. Even bad football. I’ve been disappointed with the NFL for the past couple of seasons and these Thursday night games don’t make me feel any better about the league, but I do still tune in; even if it’s just for a short period of time.

Now some of the reason we get bad games is the match up itself. Miami seemed to be an improved team under new coach Adam Gase, but Cincinnati is a playoff team and it showed. The biggest surprise was the way New England handled Houston. Now looking at the next three weeks the match ups don’t seem much better. Next week we get the Arizona Cardinals at the San Francisco 49ers. In two weeks the Broncos play again on Thursday night this time they’re in San Diego to take on the Chargers. Then in three weeks we’ll get to see the Chicago Bears in Lambeau Field to play the Green Bay Packers. If you’re not a fan of one of these six teams; do you like these match ups? Do you see the 49ers or Chargers pulling off an upset at home? Then if the Bears don’t make a marked improvement you have to wonder how many points the Packers will beat them by. Are we going to have to wait until October 27th when the Jacksonville Jaquars are at the Tennessee Titans to get a good Thursday night game. Just looking at the Thursday night schedule that looks to be the next even match up out there. Even as bad as these match ups might look; we’ll still be watching.

Ask pretty much any baseball fan who the best player is and the majority of them will say Mike Trout. I’m in that group as well thinking Trout is the best, but is there anyone out there who could knock him off the top of the baseball mountain. Don’t forget that Trout is just 24 years old and could be the top guy for a long time. After the season he had in 2015 it looked as though Washington Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper would challenge Trout for that top spot, but injuries have knocked Harper out of contention. Harper is just 23 years old, but seems to have one minor injury after another that holds him down. When Carlos Correa was brought up by the Houston Astros last season he was looked at as a guy who one day might be the best player in baseball. Correa is just 21 and has some time to develop into that, but maybe we’re on the right team. Jose Altuve has put together three very goo seasons in a row and maybe it’s time to start looking at him as a challenger to the top. Altuve hit .341 in 2014 and led the league with 225 hits, but he only hit 7 home runs. You can add a league leading 56 steals to that stat line. In 2015 the average came down to .313, but he still led the league with 200 hits and added some more power with 15 home runs. The stolen bases where still there as he led the league with 38 steals. Now this season Altuve’s average is up; he’s hitting .337. The home runs are up as well; he has 24 home runs and is 4 RBI’s away from his first 100 RBI season. He’s still leading the league with 213 hits and while the stolen bases are down a little he still has 28 steals. There is one stat with a big discrepancy in these three players, but no one cares about that anymore. Trout has 136 strikeouts to go with 114 walks. Harper has 113 strikeouts and 106 walks. Altuve has 69 strikeouts and 59 walks this season. Altuve is listed as being 5″6 and you have to wonder if people look past him because of his height. All three of these players are Gold Glove caliber defenders; so you can’t separate them that way. Now I don’t expect anyone to switch over from Trout to Altuve, but isn’t it time that Alutve starts getting some notice for the numbers he’s put up and the way he plays the game.

With the NBA season starting at the end of the month you have to start wondering if the Philadelphia 76ers are jinxed. They had the #1 pick in the draft and they selected Ben Simmons; who was the consensus top pick. Simmons didn’t shoot great in summer league, but that wasn’t a real concern. He added some weight so he could handle the grind of the NBA season, Now it’s being reported that Simmons broke a bone in his right foot and there’s no timetable for his return. To add to the bad luck Simmons was hurt in the final scrimmage of training camp. X-rays and an MRI revealed a fractured fifth metatarsal. You may have heard of this injury before as it’s commonly called a Jones fracture. The estimated recovery time with surgery is 8 weeks. Add Simmons injury to the list. In the 2014 draft the 76ers selected Joel Embiid with the 3rd pick. Embiid has yet to play a game in the NBA due to multiple surgeries on his right foot. In 2013 the 76ers took Nerlens Noel with the 6th pick in the draft. Noel ended up missing his rookie season with a torn ACL. Even last years #1 pick and #3 overall Jahlil Okafor played in just 53 games last season. Okafor after tearing the Meniscus ligament in his right knee. Okafor has actually had to take some practices off due to soreness in that knee. You add Simmons injury to this list and you have to wonder how much more bad luck the 76ers could have.

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How was your Week?

Posted: November 14, 2015 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, fantasy, football
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It’s almost unbelievable how many times Dan the Man, Mr, Fantasy, Schaumburg Stu and I have all taken the same team to win a game in the NFL and that team has lost. I should’ve known something was up when we all picked the New York Jets to beat the Buffalo Bills on Thursday night. While it was a closer game than most of the Thursday night contests by no means was it a good football game. I’m sure the most interesting part of the game for some people where the uniforms the team where wearing. Buffalo wore all red while the Jets went with all green for a very Christmas kind of a look. I did hear an odd stat; 9% of people have what’s called Red/Green Color Blindness and if they would’ve tried to watch this game they would’ve only seen gray. In the end the Bills got a 22-17 victory and we all start off Week 10 with an 0-1 record.

If you where invested in this game fantasy wise it may be a long week for you. There where 3 touchdowns scored and they all came through the air; so hopefully you didn’t have a running back going in this game. Let’s see what we can find for fantasy owners. Tyrod Taylor went 17 for 27 for 158 yards and 1 touchdown for Buffalo; he was also sacked 4 times, but did add 6 rushing attempts for 12 yards. On the Jets side Ryan Fitzpatrick was 15 for 34 for 193 yards; he threw 2 touchdowns and was intercepted 2 times as well. Fitzpatrick was sacked just 1 time and had 3 rushing attempts for 30 yards.

LeSean McCoy put up good rushing numbers for the Bills with 19 carries and 112 yards, but didn’t get into the end zone. McCoy also had 5 receptions for 47 yards. Karlos Williams was a popular add while McCoy was battling injuries and I did see a couple of fantasy experts say he was “The Play” in this game. Williams ran the football 7 times for 24 yards, but he did add 1 reception that went for 26 yards, but more importantly it was a touchdown catch. Chris ivory led the Jets ground game with 18 carries for 99 yards; he also added 2 receptions for 36 yards and did fumble. Numbers wise it was a good rushing night for both teams as their main backs averaged 5.5 yards a carry or better, but the fact that neither found there way into the end zone will hurt fantasy owners.

Tight End Charles Clay was Buffalo’s top receiver with 5 catches for 52 yards. The Bills wide receivers didn’t contribute much to their fantasy teams this week as both Robert Woods and Sammy Watkins each caught 3 passes. Woods went for 19 yards while Watkins went for 14 yards. Jets wide receiver Eric Decker was the best pass catching fantasy option on the night as he had 6 receptions for 85 yards and 1 touchdown. Brandon Marshall caught 3 passes for just 23 yards, but one of them was good for a touchdown. Devin Smith (22 yards), Tommy Bohanon (18 yards), Jeremy Kerley (7 yards) and Kembrel Thompkins (2 yards) all had 1 catch on the night.

The best fantasy option in this game may have been Buffalo kicker Dan Carpenter. Carpenter did miss and extra point going 1 for 2 on the night, but he made all 3 of his field goal attempts with his longest being from 47 yards. The Jets regular kicker Nick Folk was placed on season ending injured reserve with an with a Quad injury; so Randy Bullock was signed to do the kicking for the Jets. Bullock made all his kicks hitting 2 extra point attempts and a 29-yard field goal.

On defense Preston Brown led the Bills with 8 tackles. Marcell Dareus had the Buffalo sack on the night. Corey Graham had an interception while Bacarri Rambo had an interception and a fumble recovery; Duke Williams also recovered a fumble for the Bills. David Harris led the Jets defense with 9 tackles and had a sack on the night. Demario Davis added 8 tackles and a sack and Muhammad Wilkerson had the other 2 sacks for the Jets defense.

Craig Kimbrel was dealt for the 2nd time in his career this time going from the San Diego Padres to the Boston Red Sox. It was talked about that the Red Sox would be looking to add starting pitching and with Koji Uehara in place as closer this move is a bit of a surprise. Of course Uehara will turn 41 at the start of next season and injuries did limit him to just 43 appearances last season. Kimbrel is one of the top closers in baseball, but he is coming off a season where he had his highest ERA at 2.58. It’s still a very good ERA but when you’ve put up 1.61, 1.21 and 1.01 in the seasons before that it’s noticeable. Kimbrel also had career lows in saves at 39 and innings pitched at 59 1/3rd, but you have to factor in that the Padres where 74-88 in 2015. In return for Kimbrel San Diego gets  outfield prospect Manuel Margot, shortstop Javier Guerra, infielder Carlos Asuaje, and lefty Logan Allen make up the return. All four players rated among the thirty best Red Sox prospects. Don’t forget that San Diego trade away most of their top prospects last season to get the likes of Kimbrel, Justin Upton and Will Myers; so this deal will help rebuild the farm system. While the Padres appear to have gotten some quality prospects in return the question now becomes who closes games for them next season. Kimbrel’s in Boston and Joaquin Benoit was dealt to the Seattle Mariners earlier in the week, Before Kimbrel was acquired before the start of last season there was some talk that Kevin Quackenbush would close; so maybe he gets the first shot at the job.

When I first heard this rumor they said the Atlanta braves where just “listening” to offers for shortstop  Andrelton Simmons.  Just a few hours later Simmons and minor league catcher Jose Briceno are headed to the Los Angeles Angles of Anaheim for shortstop Erick Aybar and two of the Angles top pitching prospects lefthander Sean Newcomb and right handed pitch Chris Ellis. Simmons is considered by many not only the best defensive shortstop in baseball, but the best defensive player in the game regardless of position. Simmons offense hasn’t caught up to his defense yet, but a lot of experts think it will get there. Simmons did put up his best batting average (.265) for a full season in 2015. After a 17 home run season in 2013 his power number have been way down; 7 home runs in 2014 and just 4 last season. Simmons did win the Gold Glove in 2013 and 2014 and this week Wilson named him the Defensive Player of the Year for 2015. Aybar has 1 year left in his contract and the Angeles sent about $3 million to help cover part of his 2016 salary in the deal. Simmons signed a long term deal last off season; so the Angels pick up his remaining 5 year and the $53 million left on that deal. It wouldn’t be a surprise if Aybar is with the Barves for just the one season he has remaining on his deal as they  have a highly-regarded young shortstop in Ozhaino Albies in there minor league system. This looks like a deal that really favors the Angels, but remember Atlanta is building towards 2017 when they open there new ballpark; so this move appears to be another in that future.

There was a little bit of history made in baseball yesterday as Colby Rasmus (Houston Astros), Matt Wieters (Baltimore Orioles) and Brett Anderson (Los Angeles Dodgers) became the first players to ever accept a qualifying offer from there teams. They all get 1-year deals worth $15.8 million. Instead of the qualifying offer Marco Estrada and the Toronto Blue Jays where able to agree to a 2-year deal. If I understood this the qualifying offer is determined by taking the average salary of the top 125 players salaries from the previous season. The players that didn’t accept the qualifying offer are now free agents, and can sign with any team. However the team that signs a player who was extended a qualifying offer has to send it’s 1st round draft pick to his former team unless it’s a Top 10 pick. Who else is confused?

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How was your Week?

Posted: November 8, 2014 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, basketball, football, sports, Uncategorized
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11/2/14

A couple of week into the NBA season there are three teams still unbeaten and two teams looking for their first win. The Houston Rockets at 6-0, the Memphis Grizzlies at 6-0 and the Golden State Warriors 4-0, while the Philadelphia 76ers 0-6 and the Los Angeles Lakers 0-5 are still trying to get that first win. One of the unbeaten teams will lose tonight (Saturday) as Golden State travels to Houston to play the Rockets. Memphis will also put its undefeated season on the line tonight against the 2-4 Milwaukee Bucks in Milwaukee. Of course the big story these first few weeks of the NBA season is the 2-3 start by the Cleveland Cavaliers. With LeBron James returning to Cleveland and the trade for Kevin Love you had to think it might take a little time for this team to gel, but I don’t believe people thought it would start like this season has. Cleveland did get a 110-101 victory over the Denver Nuggets Friday night with James leading the team in scoring with 22 points as well as leading the team in assists with 11. Love had 19 points and a team high 8 rebounds. Kyrie Irving (12 points) and Dion Waiters (17 points) took a combined 25 shots after possible taking a few too many shots in the Cleveland losses. Early in the season James seems content to let the younger players try to take over games and use these moments to teach. Love is still looking for the place where he fits with this team and Irving and Waiters have to learn when to give way to their superstar. It’s very early in the NBA season and there’s a lot of time for this Cleveland team to come together. If you thought they where going to come out of the gates firing on all cylinders you where fooling yourself. If they’re still having these issues or other after the All-Star break then you can worry about the Cavaliers.

It was the battle of Ohio on Thursday Night Football this week as the Cleveland Browns went into Cincinnati and beat the Bengals pretty easily 24-3. Andy Dalton 10 of 33 for 86 yards while throwing 3 interceptions and ending up with a quarterback rating (RTG) of 2.0 had a lot of issues with the wind. Brian Hoyer 15 of 23 for 198 yards and a RTG of 92.3, was able to beat the weather and lead the Browns to the win. The Cleveland running backs took turns putting the football in the end zone. Ben Tate started the Browns scoring with a 4 yard touchdown run in the 1st quarter giving Cleveland a 7-0 lead. Cincinnati answered with a 43 yard Mike Nugent field goal to make the score 7-3, but who knew those would be the only points for the Bengals. Isaiah Crowell got the Browns next rushing touchdown; a 2 yard run in the 2nd quarter making the score 14-3 Cleveland. A Billy Cundiff field goal put Cleveland up 17-3 going into halftime. Terrance West got the final touchdown of the night for Cleveland. A 1 yard run in the 3rd quarter to make it 24-3 in favor of Cleveland. West got 26 carries and 94 yards along with his touchdown to lead the Browns rushing attack, Crowell had 12 carries for 41 yards and his touchdown while Tate had 10 carries for 34 yards and his touchdown. Jeremy Hill was averaging 4.6 yards per carry for Cincinnati, but with his team down only got 12 carries for 55 yards. Miles Austin had 5 catches for 48 yards for Cleveland to lead all receivers while it was Jermaine Gresham with 3 catches for 29 yards that led the Bengals. Fantasy wise if you started a Cleveland running back you at least got a touchdown out of him, but receiving wise there wasn’t a lot of help for you. A.J. Green had 3 catches for 23 yards while Mohamed Sanu caught 2 passes for 20 yards; ouch. With Browns tight end Jordan Cameron out dealing with a concussion Gary Barnidge filled in at tight end picked up a few fantasy points for you catching 2 passes for 46 yards. If you have a league where defensive players count the Bengals had three players get some good tackle numbers. Linebacker Emmanuel Lamur led Cincinnati with 11 tackles while two other linebackers Nico Johnson and Vincent Rey getting 10 tackles each. Buster Skrine picked off 2 Dalton passes and Craig Robertson got the other Cleveland interception.

It looks like it’s Jon Lester, James Shields and Max Scherzer who are at the top of everyone’s fee agent lists this off-season. You can never have enough starting pitching and there’s been a lot of predictions on where these three pitchers will end up. Most people see Lester ending up with the Chicago Cubs, but I have a feeling he’ll end up back with the Boston Red Sox. Shields has been predicted to stay with the Kansas City Royals and there’s a very good chance that will happen unless a team throws a lot of money at him. Scherzer is a tough call. He’s a Scott Boras client; so that means he’ll be one of the last players to sign with a team. Scherzer turned down a 7 year $144 million dollar deal before the 2013 season from the Detroit Tigers. This sounds like a signing for the New York Yankees, but would a team like the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim jump in and sign Scherzer. If your team doesn’t land one of the top three pitchers the next level of pitchers features Ervin Santana, Brandon McCarthy, Francisco Liriano and Kenta Maeda the 27-year-old Japanese pitcher who the Hiroshima Carp are expected to post. How would you feel if your team signed a Justin Masterson, Jason Hammel or Jake Peavy. This seasons playoffs and World Series proved that you need good arms in your bullpen and in this years free agent crop it looks like closer David Robertson is the best reliever on the free agent market. Andrew Miller the left-handed set up specialist is also available along with another set up guy Luke Gregerson. The closers who are free agents after Robertson look like Rafael Soriano, Francisco Rodriguez (K-Rod) and Sergio Rome. Is your favorite team looking for pitching? Are these some of the names you’re looking for your team to sign?

As the baseball off-season gets started will try to look at the free agents out there and see where they might end up or if they’re a good fit for your favorite team.

We featured some good interviews this week on Sports Time Radio this week. On Tuesday and Wednesday Mark O’Neil from Around the Foghorn joined us to talk San Francisco Giants baseball. On Thursday we had Al Yellen from Bleed Cubbie Blue with us to talk Joe Maddon and possible Cubs free agent targets as well as which young prospects should be on the team in 2015. You can go into the archives at Sports Time Radio and listen to these podcasts.

So how was your week?

You can find Sports Time Radio on BlogTalk Radio and you can find me on Twitter @Burketime.

10/25/14 How was your Week?

Posted: October 25, 2014 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, basketball, football, sports, Uncategorized
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Game 3 of the World Series went to the Kansas City Royals 3-2 giving them a 2 games to 1 lead in the series with Game 4 tonight in San Francisco. After games that were won by 5 runs and 6 runs Game 3 was more of the style the Royals have played through the playoffs. Alcides Escobar doubled to left field to lead off the game against Giants starter Tim Hudson. A ground out by Alex Gordon moved Escobar to 3rd and another ground out by Lorenzo Cain gave the Royals a 1-0 lead. With 1 out in the top of the 6th inning Escobar singled, Gordon followed that with a double and Escobar scored for a 2-0 Royals lead. Cain ground to 3rd for the 2nd out of the inning and that was it for Hudson. Giants left hander Javier Lopez was brought into the game to face Royals first baseman Eric Hosmer. Hosmer singled to center off of Lopez scoring Gordon as the Royals took a 3-0 lead. The Giants cam back in the bottom of the 6th inning off of Royals starter Jeremy Guthrie. Brandon Crawford singled, Mike Morse pinch hit for Lopez and doubled Crawford home for the Giants 1st run. Morse’s double ended Guthrie’s night as the Royals went to their bullpen for Kelvin Herrera. Herrera walked Gregor Blanco to put Giants on 1st and 2nd. Joe Panik grounded out moving the runners to 2nd and 3rd then a ground out by Buster Posey scored Morse as Blanco went to 3rd. Pablo Sandoval ground out to end the Giants half of the 6th and the scoring for the night at 3-2. Guthrie got the win for Kansas City pitching 5 innings giving up 4 hits and 2 runs. Out of the Royals bullpen Herrera pitched 1 1/3rd innings, Brandon Finnegan pitched 2/3rd of an inning, Wade Davis pitched and inning and Greg Holland pitched the 9th inning for the save. In their 4 innings the Kansas City bullpen didn’t give up a hit and struck out 4 batters. Hudson took the loss for San Francisco pitching 5 2/3rd innings giving up 3 runs and 4 hits while walking 1 and striking out 2. Lopez pitched a 1/3rd of an inning out of the San Francisco bullpen followed by Sergio Romo for an 1 1/3rd innings, Jeremy Affeldt for 1 1/3rd innings and Santiago Casilla for a 1/3rd of an inning. The San Francisco bullpen didn’t give up any runs just 2 hits while striking out 5 Royals. Game 4 is tonight at 7:00 p.m. weather permitting. There is some rain forecast for the San Francisco area tonight. Jason Vargas is the scheduled starter for Kansas City While Ryan Vogelsong is listed as the San Francisco starter.

Thursday night football had an AFC West battle as the Denver Broncos beat the San Diego Chargers 35-21. Denver improved to 6-1 while San Diego fell to 5-3. At halftime Denver was up 14-7, but out up 2 touchdowns in the 3rd quarter to take a 28-7 lead before San Diego got on the board in the 3rd to make it 28-14 going into the 4th quarter. Denver scored first in the 4th quarter to go ahead 35-14 before San Diego got the final touchdown making the score 35-21. Luckily for us we had all picked Denver to win the game.

Fantasy wise it’s always a good play to have your Broncos in your line up. Peyton Manning was 25 for 35 for 286 yards and 3 touchdowns. All 3 of Manning passing touchdowns went to Emmanuel Sanders. Sanders also had 9 catches for 120 yards to go with those 3 touchdowns. Demaryius Thomas also had 8 catches going for 105 yards. Ronnie Hillman put up 109 yards on the ground carrying the football 20 times and adding 3 catches for 29 yards. Juwan Thompson only had 7 carries for 29 yards, but 2 of those carries went for touchdowns. For San Diego Phillip Rivers was 30 of 41 for 252 yards with 3 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. Keenan Allen had 9 catches for 73 yards and a touchdown while Antonio gates had 5 catches for 54 yards and 2 touchdowns. Malcolm Floyd also added 4 catches for 58 yards. The San Diego ground game didn’t get much going Thursday night. Branden Oliver led the Chargers in rushing with 13 carries for 36 yards, but Oliver did add 7 receptions for 27 yards. If you’re in a PPR (Point Per Reception) league those catches Oliver got will help a lot. If you’re in a league that scores defensive players Brandon Marshall got in on 10 tackles for the Broncos with 2 going for losses while Chris Harris and Rahim Moore had the Broncos interceptions. For the Chargers Eric Weddle totaled 11 tackles with 9 of them being solo tackles.

Tonight (Saturday) is our Sports Time Radio fantasy league NBA draft. There are some injured players that will have to figure out how we’re going to handle. Steve Nash of the Los Angeles Lakers is out for the season; so of course you don’t want him on your team, but here are some more players will have to think about. While Kevin Durant of the Oklahoma City Thunder is out of his cast and in a walking boot he’s still a long way away from returning to the court. The earliest Durant might return is the end of November, but it will probably be later than that. It looked like the Thunder’s free agent signing Anthony Morrow would get more minutes in Durant’s absence, but Morrow is also injured and will be out until November as well. The Thunder also lost 1st round draft pick Mitch McGary in pre-season to a foot injury and he’s doubtful for the start of the season. For the Orlando Magic guard Victor Oladipo out indefinitely with facial fracture. Also for the Magic 3 point shooting big man Channing Frye is expected to be out for the start of the season with a knee injury. Philadelphia 76ers star point guard Michael Carter-Williams will be out until November with a shoulder injury. The 76ers also maybe without their 1st round draft pick Joel Embiid who may miss the start of the season with back problems. Kawhi Leonard made a name for himself in the NBA finals, but the San Antonio Spurs guard is having some eye issues and may miss the start of the season. I was looking for a big season out of Washington Wizards guard Bradley Beals, but he’s out until November with a wrist injury. New Orleans Pelicans point guard Tyreke Evans may miss the start of the season with a knee injury. While the Milwaukee Bucks may not win a lot of games this season their center Larry Sanders is a valuable fantasy player if he can stay on the court. Sanders has had personal and injury issues and may not start the 2014-15 season because of t=what the Bucks are calling an undisclosed injury. Like I mentioned we know the Steve Nash is done for the Lakers, but Nick Young (Swaggy P.) is doubtful for the start of the season with a thumb injury. We all saw the horrible injury Indiana Pacers forward Paul George sustained playing for Team USA this summer. George has said he may be back for the end of the season and the playoffs and while it would be great for him to make it back he won’t be much help to fantasy players. Pacers power forward David West is also dealing with an ankle injury and may miss the start of the season. Shaun Livingston who is now playing for the Golden State warriors looks like he’ll miss the start of the season because of a toe injury. The Denver Nuggets look like they might be missing three players to start the season. Point guard Nate Robinson (knee) and Forward/center JaVale McGee (leg) might miss the start of the season and J.J. Hickson has a banged up knee as well as having to serve a 5 game suspension to start the season. Jimmy Butler of the Chicago Bulls has a thumb injury and may miss the start of the season. Kemba Walker of the Charlotte Hornets is having a foot issue and may miss the start of the season. Kevin Garnett, Brook Lopez and Deron Williams of the Brooklyn Nets are all dealing with injury issues and may miss the start of the season. Rajon Rondo the Boston Celtics point guard may miss the start of the season with a hand injury. These are just some of the players will have to decide what to do with tonight. While I’m sure some of them will play opening night for their teams some of w=them will miss games and playing time. making the right choice in a draft can make or break your fantasy basketball season from the opening tip.

So how was your week?

You can find Sports Time Radio on BlogTalk Radio and you can find me on Twitter @Burketime.

10/11/14 How was your Week?

Posted: October 11, 2014 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, basketball, football, hockey, sports, Uncategorized
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Another post season extra innings game for the Kansas City Royals is another Royals win. Last night the AL championship series got started last night (Friday) in Baltimore. The Royals broke a 5-5 tie in the top of the 10 inning with a solo home run by Alex Gordon off of Orioles reliever Darren O’Day. Also in the 10th Mike Moustakas added a 2 run home run off of the Orioles Brian Matusz. The Baltimore Orioles were able to get just 1 run back in the bottom of the 10th off of Royals closer Greg Holland, but that wasn’t enough, as the Royals take Game 1, 8-6. If you would’ve told me that the Royals would hit 3 home runs and the Orioles would steal 2 bases I would’ve thought that you had the teams backwards. Alcides Escobar hit the 1st home run for the Royals in the top of the 3rd inning to give them their first run and a 1-0 lead. Gordon doubled with the bases loaded to put the Royals up 4-0. Adam Jones got 1 run back for the Orioles singling in the bottom of the 3rd to make it 4-1. Billy Butler hit a sacrifice fly in the top of the 5th for a 5-1 Kansas City lead. The Orioles got 3 runs in the bottom of the 5th; 1 on a Nelson Cruz double and then 2 runs on a Ryan Flaherty single to cut the lead to 5-4. The Orioles tied the game up at 5-5 in the bottom of the 6th inning on an Alejandro De Aza infield single. The game stayed that way (5-5) until the 10th inning. I’m not sure that either team got the effort they thought would get out of their starting pitchers. Chris Tillman lasted just 4 1/3rd innings for Baltimore while James Shields lasted just 5 full innings for Kansas City. These are two teams with very good bullpens, but in Game 1 both Kelvin Herrera and Wade Davis pitched 2 innings for the Royals. You have to wonder if they would go to either guy today. It’s an afternoon game for these teams today with Yordano Ventura and Bud Norris listed as the starting pitchers for each team. The later game is the San Francisco Giants against the St. Louis Cardinals as the National League championship series gets started in St.Louis. Madison Bumgarner is the Game 1 starter for the Giants while Adam Wainwright starts for the Cardinals. If you’re looking for the games on television. The Royals/Orioles game is on TBS while the Giants/Cardinals is on Fox.

It didn’t start off that way, but the critics finally got their close Thursday night football game. The Indianapolis Colts beat the Houston Texans 33-28. The Colts jumped out to a 24-0 lead and it looked like your typical Thursday night blow out. Andrew Luck threw two touchdown passes in the 1st quarter. One to Ahmad Bradshaw and one to Coby Fleener along with a Trent Richardson touchdown run and an Adam Vinatieri all in the 1st quarter gave the Colts that 24-0 lead. The Texans added the next two touchdowns a Ryan Fitzpatrick to Andre Johnson 4 yard pass and an Arian Foster 12 yard run. Vinatieri add a field goal before halftime and the Colts went in with a 27-14 lead. Houston struck first in the 3rd quarter with Foster 2nd touchdown run. This time 2 yard run. Luck cane back and found T.Y. Hilton on a 33 yard pass for the Colts last score. J.J. Watt scored on a 45 yard return of a fumble for the last points of the night. The Texans had some chances in the 4th quarter, but a Johnson fumble ended one drive and a Fitzpatrick fumble ended their last drive and the game.

On the fantasy side of the game Luck put up good numbers for you going 25 of 44 for 370 yards and 3 touchdowns. Luck did throw an interception and fumbled once. Hilton was another big fantasy guy with 9 catches for 223 yards and a touchdown. Bradshaw had 34 yards rushing and 25 yards receiving with a touchdown. Fleener only had 2 catches, but with one being for a touchdown that will look good among tight ends. Indianapolis other tight end Dwayne Allen had 3 catches for 49 yards, but didn’t get into the end zone. Again though he should give you solid numbers for a tight end. Foster was the big fantasy guy for the Texans with 109 yards rushing and those two touchdowns. He also added 3 receptions for 32 yards just for a few extra points. Johnson also had a good night with 7 catches for 99 yards and a touchdown. If your league scores for individual defensive players Houston safety Kendrick Lewis had 10 tackles with 6 of them being solo tackles and of course there’s Watt who not only had the fumble return for a touchdown, but added 2 sacks, 3 tackles for loss and 4 quarterback hits. That won’t be a bad fantasy night for a defensive player of your league scores them. While we’re on the fantasy side of football a couple of big players may be out this week. I saw a report that said Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver A.J. Green will not play tomorrow. because of a toe injury. Also Detroit Lions wide receiver Calvin Johnson is being listed as doubtful because of that ankle injury he’s been dealing with for a few games now. Make sure to check your injury status on these two guys before you set that fantasy line up.

The NHL season got under way on Wednesday night with four games and every team has taken the ice for the 2014-15 season. The Montreal Canadiens Tomas Plekanec, the Anaheim Ducks Corey Perry and Mason Raymond of the Calgary Flames got off to quick starts for their teams scoring 3 goals in these first few games. I know, I know each team has only played two games at the most, but sometimes a hot start for a player can continue though a season. There is a full slate of games tonight and it looks like all of them will be covered by their local broadcast teams. For me that means the Chicago Blackhawks open at home tonight against the Buffalo Sabres.

We have a Sports Time Radio fantasy basketball league set up. If you’re interested in playing e-mail us sportstimeradio@hotmail.com and I’ll send you the link to sign up. It’s free and we run it through Yahoo’s fantasy sports site. So if you’re a fan of the NBA get in contact with us and sign up.

You’ll really want to check out Last Thursday’s show (10/9) We had the President of the Negro Leagues museum Bob Kendrick on. It’s an interview you’ll want to hear.

So how was your week?

You can find Sports Time Radio on BlogTalk Radio and you can find me on Twitter @Burketime.

How was your Week? 10/4/14

Posted: October 4, 2014 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, football, hockey, sports, Uncategorized
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So as you can guess doing Sports Time Radio 5 days a week gives me an excuse to watch and listen to sports all the time. When their’s not a game on I like to see what everyone else is talking about. Sadly it’s almost always negative and the story towards the end of this week was how bad the Thursday night NFL games have been. Since these games aren’t moved able like the Sunday night game is you kind of get what you get and people seem to forget that these match ups are pick way ahead of time. While I’ll give it to people on some of the games I’m not sure if you can include this week”s Green Bay Packers 42-10 victory over the Minnesota Vikings. When this game was scheduled for Thursday night did they know that the Vikings would be down to Christian Ponder their 3rd string quarterback? Did they know that Adrian Peterson would be on the Exempt/Commissioner’s Permission List? So while we still did get a Thursday night blow out game can you really lay all of the blame on the NFL.

Did you get your fantasy players in for Thursday nights game. If you did I’m not sure it will help your team a whole lot this week. There where two Green Bay Packers that should’ve put up good numbers for you. Eddie Lacy had 105 yards rushing and 2 touchdowns and while Aaron Rodgers didn’t put up great yardage numbers (156 yards) he did throw 3 touchdowns to make up for it. Jordy Nelson and Randall Cobb each caught a touchdown pass and for Nelson it was the only catch he had in the game. Cobb caught 3 passes for 34 yards along with his touchdown and Nelson’s touchdown catch covered 66 yards. Davante Adams caught Rodgers 3rd touchdown pass and depending on how deep your league is would depend on if he scored for you. On the Vikings side Matt Asiata averaged 4.8 yards a carry and rushed for 72 yards, but didn’t get into the end zone. If you where down to playing Ponder at your quarterback spot your team might have been in trouble any way. Ponder had 222 yards passing, but threw 2 interceptions. He did add 15 yards running the football and scored a rushing touchdown. The surprise fantasy player in this game might’ve been Minnesota tight end Chase Ford. Ford had just 3 catches for 31 yards and while these aren’t huge numbers if you happen to be in a big league or a league that starts 2 tight ends a week or maybe both he’d put up a solid week for you. Of course finding Ford may have been tough since Rhett Ellison has been starting at tight end for the injured Kyle Rudolph. If you’re in a league that scores defensive players Green Bay’s Morgan Burnett had 9 solo tackles and was in on 12 tackles total; so he would’ve scored some points for you. Next week’s Thursday night game is the Indianapolis Colts against the Houston Texans; so will see how this Week 6 match up goes.

With the MLB regular season over and the playoffs getting started I sent Mr. Fantasy, Schaumburg Stu and Dan the Man a list of just stats with no names attached. I sent them 10 American League and 10 National League hitters along with 10 pitchers from the AL and NL as well. I asked them to rank these players 1 through 10 and here’s how there rankings turned out. These rankings are a combined average of the 3 rankings and it’s who they think had the best season not who should win any individual awards.

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What do you think of their rankings. Did they get them right ? Did we leave someone out? Look up the stats that they had to work with and see how your rankings would’ve ended up. The better question might be; do you think they matched up the player with the stats before they out their lists together? You can let me know what you think on Twitter www.twitter.com/burketime.

Tonight is the first Sports Time Radio hockey fantasy draft. It’s an auction league format, it’s free to play and we run it through Yahoo fantasy sports. If you’re interested in signing up and playing fantasy hockey with us follow this link https://yho.com/nhl?l=26209&k=5c41b61fd37e5a63 and join the league. I hope to see you in the draft room tonight.

So how was your week?

You can find Sports Time Radio on BlogTalk Radio and you can find me on Twitter @Burketime.

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How was your Week? 9/20/14

Posted: September 20, 2014 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, basketball, football, hockey, sports, Uncategorized
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I remember last season hearing people complain that they didn’t like the match ups the National Football League (NFL) was showcasing on Thursday night football. With the games moving to CBS everyone thought the match ups would be better, but this Thursday night wasn’t one of them. The Atlanta Falcons beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 56-14. The Falcons where up 56-0 before Tampa Bay added a couple of meaningless 4th quarter touchdowns. Dan the Man, Mr, Fantasy and I picked the Falcons to win this game while Schaumburg Stu was alone in selecting a Buccaneers win. Matt Ryan was 21 of 24 in the game for 286 yards and 3 touchdowns before getting the 4th quarter off. Atlanta also ran the football 36 times for 144 yards and 3 touchdowns. Stephen Jackson was the Falcons leading rusher with 54 yards and 1 of the Atlanta rushing touchdowns. Devin Hester and Antone Smith had the other Atlanta rushing touchdowns. In the 2nd quarter with the score already 28-0 there was about 7 minutes before halftime and Tampa Bay was punting. Hester fielded the punt and returned it 62 yards for a touchdown. This was the 20th return touchdown of Hester’s career breaking the record he shared with Deion Sanders. I was a little surprised that Hester’s former coach and now head coach of the Buccaneers even kicked the ball to Hester. I figured since Smith was Hester’s head coach for 19 of his return touchdowns he wouldn’t let the ball get anywhere near him, but they did and Hester took advantage. While watching the game it seemed like Ryan and Julio Jones where just out playing catch, Jones end up with 9 catches for 161 yards and 2 touchdowns. Harry Douglass caught the other touchdown pass from Ryan and when Douglass went down with a foot injury Eric Weems stepped in and add 4 catches for 69 yards. T.J. Yates came in to wrap up for the Falcons and went 3 for 4 in the passing game for 64 yards, but did throw an interception that was returned 27 yards by Danny Lansanah for the final Tampa Bay touchdown. Josh McCown was inured during the game and Mike Glennon came in and play decently for Tampa Bay. Which has to make you wonder of there will be a quarterback controversy. While in the game McCown was 5 for 12 for 58 yards and 1 interception while Glennon went 17 for 24 for 121 yards and 1 touchdown. Bobby Rainey was the leading rusher for Tampa Bay. Rainey had 11 carries for 41 yards, but did fumble twice; Rainey also caught 7 passes for 64 yards. Vincent Jackson caught the Tampa Bay touchdown pass and Brandon Myers added 5 catches for the Buccaneers. Atalanta improved to 2-1 and are on the road against the Minnesota Vikings next week. Tampa Bay dropped to 0-3 and have a Week 4 road game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

We’ve set up fantasy leagues for hockey (NHL) and basketball (NBA) for Sports Time Radio. The league is free and run through the Yahoo sports site. Here’s the link for the hockey league if you’re interested in signing up Sports Time Radio Fantasy League and then here’s the link to the basketball league if that’s what you’d be interested in Sports Time Radio Fantasy League They are both set up in the suction league format with live drafts scheduled. Dan the Man and I will be playing in both leagues while Mr. Fantasy only has time to do the basketball league. Hope you sign up; we’re always looking for new players.

The Kansas City Royals are hosting the Detroit Tigers this weekend in a 3 game series that may decide who wins the American League (A.L.) Central. Detroit won the 1st game Friday night 10-1 behind Justin Verlander. Verlander went 7 1/3rd innings giving up 7 hits and 1 earned run while striking out 4. With the win Verlander improved his record to 14-12. Offensively Ian Kinsler led the way for Detroit going 3 for 5 with a home runs and 3 RBI’s and scored 2 runs. J.D. Martinez went 3 for 4 with a double and a run scored. Tori Hunter, Victor Martinez, Nick Castellanos, James McCann and Eugenio Suarez all added 2 hits. Suarez also added 2 R.B.I.s for the Tigers. Jason Vargas started for the Royals lasting 3 1/3 rd innings giving up 9 hits and 5 earned runs in the loss. With the loss Vargas is 11-10 on the season. Game two is the national telecast on the Fox network and the pitching match is Max Scherzer (16-5) for Detroit and “Big Game” James Shields (14-7) for Kansas City. This is a rematch from a week or two ago and Shields shut down the Tigers and got a big win for the Royals. Can he do it again?

Clayton Kershaw got his 20th win yesterday against the Chicago Cubs Friday at Wrigley Field. Now a lot of pitchers in baseball history have won 20 or more games, but Kershaw is only the 2nd pitcher to win his 20 game in less than 30 starts. Kershaw is 20-3 in 26 starts for the Dodgers this season and is a lock to win the National League (N.L.) Cy Young award for the 2nd time in a row and his 3rd Cy Young in 4 seasons. It wasn’t a dominant outing for Kershaw as he went 5 innings giving up 7 hits and 3 earned runs, but did strikeout 9 hitters in a 14-5 Dodgers victory. Just to let you know Pedro Martinez is the only other pitcher since World War II with 20 wins in fewer than 30 starts. Kershaw is also the first Dodgers pitcher to reach the 20-win mark twice since Claude Osteen in 1969 and ’72. At 20-3 (.870), Kershaw has the best winning percentage for a Dodgers pitcher since Preacher Roe went 22-3 (.880) in 1951. Kershaw’s ERA is 1.80.

So how was your week?

You can find Sports Time Radio on BlogTalk Radio and you can find me on Twitter @Burketime.