Week 4 Matchups; The Joe Smack Edition
(JV Insider lines in parenthesis)

***THE LEFTOVER GAME OF THE WEEK*****
JVE vs Rage (JV by 7.5)
Series: 0-1
    Coach Babjack just cant figure out what is wrong with his team.  An impressive draft had Rage looking tough this season.  Players are all in place, so what is the problem?  Well lets hope Rage can figure it out soon.  On the other hand,  JVE was on a roll but ran into a tough and overachieving Psuckos team last week.  Look for them to rebound this week with a close win over Rage.
PICK:  JVE by 2

*****UPSET OF THE WEEK*****
MT vs. Herd (MT by 23)
Series: 1-0
    MT vs Herd....Everyone has been ripping TC and Coach Joe, if there was ever a time for Herd to sneak out of the cellar and the subject of smack talk.  MT somehow won a game even with all the trouble he has this season.  Call me crazy but the Herd will take this one in a last second thriller.  We got a thriller...too bad no one cares about either team...lets just hope we can find enough interest in it to get stats done on time.
PICK:  Herd by 3.5

****SPECIAL GAME SPOTLIGHT*****
THH vs. TC (THH by 8)
Series: 1-1
    GM Joe McHugh and Toin Coss have already taken plenty of heat this season.  While TC's gimme the damn ball approach to fantasy football has been somewhat of a disappointment to coach Joe, the rest of the league is not surprised.  "Toin Coss doesn't matchup with my team at any position, save kicker"  --Coach Richard Fusinski.  Well, lets take a look at these match ups:
**NOTE:  Joe's lineup was not turned in at press time, so this is his projected lineup

TOTAL SEASON POINTS LISTED NEXT TO PLAYERS NAME
 

QB	Cunningham 48	Bledsoe 60
QB	Plummer 16	Grbac 0

Cunningham looked like he was improving in the first half of the game last week.  Bledsoe is the number three QB in our league behind Manning and Gannon.  Grbac has 700yds and 3 tds so far this season, but this is his first fantasy start.  Plummer is averaging 3 INTs a game, and faces an anxious Deion Sanders this week.  I had a chance to speak with Deion earlier this week and this is what he had to say:
"Lord, please let Jake throw the ball to me, because I've got a new holy ghost dance Im going to give you guys out there on that field."
Click here for complete story and interview.
I think Deion helped me decide this one...until Plummer plays even half as good as the Joe Montana label he was given by Bill Walsh, TC will be out manned and outgunned at QB.
EDGE:  THH
 

RB	Murrell 19	Taylor 9
RB	Brown  (or Stewart) 0 (9)	Allen 24

This one is a gimme pick...for kicks well say Allen and Murrell cancel each other out.  That leaves us with Fred Taylor vs Gary Brown or Taylor's backup.  Hmmm....Gary Brown hasn't played a game yet this season, and wasn't very impressive in the pre season.  James "I hope I can run well enough to force Taylor to get benched" Stewart has been decent in the previous couple games, but will never unseat the mighty Fred "I can bust an 80 yd run for a TD at least twice a season" Taylor.
EDGE:  THH
 

WR	Westbrook 40	Owens 28
WR	Glenn 32	Carter 28

Consistency for THH, Depth for TC.  How many of us would be able to have Jerry Rice sit on the bench week in and week out.  Well maybe a few, but THH WRs havent lived up to expectations yet.  WRs give TC reason to talk smack.
EDGE:  TC
 

Slot

Dyson 5

Collins 0

Collins has yet to play, Dyson has been streaky...both players are unpredictable and are wild cards in this weeks game.
EDGE:  EVEN
 

TE

Sharpe 12

Glover 10

Shannon Sharpe may be one of the best TEs in football right now, but fantasy wise he is no superman.  Glover has done a nice job of getting involved in the MIN offense.
EDGE:  EVEN
 

PK

Mare 13

Richie Cunningham 11

Mare is clutch.
EDGE:  TC
 

DF	Arizona 33	Chicago 16
DF	New England 33	Pittsburgh 45

ARZ will be ripped up by DAL, PIT will be destroyed by JAC
NE plays CLE, CHI plays a Ricky Williamsless Saints...close call either way
EDGE:  EVEN

I'm with JV on this one, TC wants the series bragging rights and wants to put to rest all the non constructive criticism.  However, THH is flat out the better team this week.  Might all come down to the play of Plummer and ARZ DF...and Coach Fusinski is counting on that.
OVERALL:  THH by 9

****FRIENDLY GAME OF THE WEEK*****
PSU vs. AA (PSU by 0.5)
Series: 1-1
    Psuckos are 3-0 defeating teams with a combined total record of 5-4. 2-1 AA has played teams with a combined record of 2-7, including a humiliating 125-133 week 1 loss to TC.  While a loss here may be expected, that week one loss may come back to haunt AA come playoff time.  AA's success rides on one game RAMS vs. BENGALS, not exactly two teams you'd be willing to bet the farm on (unless it was a fat farm).  Psuckos are looking like the team to beat on, but have played like the the team that will go unbeaten.
 

*****GAME OF THE WEEK*****
T&A vs MM (MM by 9.5)
Series: 2-1
    At this point I am more interested in how many games TC will lose this season.  Just want to take a quick time-out to clarify why I let Joe's team win in week 1.  Everyone else is going to try their damnedest to defeat Joe.  Well I'll be damned if he is gonna get the first pick in next year's draft.  If he drafted correctly we would have to create a separate smack board just to supply all his big ego comments.  So what does this have to do with this game?  Absolutely nothing, which joe is about to become (Gratuitous Spaceballs reference).  Well on with this preview.  MM vs T&A,  This could be a possible Fantasy Bowl preview, as both teams look well on their way to playoffs.  MM scored 178 last week, while T&A taunted Joe by scoring only 89 (still 9 points more than he needed to win).  Coach GJ will be looking to find replacements for Harrison and Manning this week. While T&A will have no problems trying to come up with more smack to talk to Joe, he needs to focus on this week and move on.  Stewart had a bad game last week, and may struggle to bounce back against the Jags.  O Donnell has filled in nicely.  T&A will be rejoicing the return of smith, ismail, dallas DF, and irvin this week...esp with the loss of Rob Moore.  GJ will be trying to come up with some new smack talk for joe, and may find a difficult time competeing with Coach Vince Levigne's clutch comments from earlier this week.  If Dallas includes Irvin in the game plan this week, look for Deion to show up and kick ass.  GJ may be able to learn a few tips from the "EXPERIENCED MAN", or as Joe would say: the "OLD MAN".  Losing to T&A last week has already made Joe one year older going into this game.  Has he matured in his ways?  or does the "OLD MAN" still have a few tricks up his sleeve.  Coach GJ can only watch and hope that a few of those tricks may be learned and released at a later date.

PICK:  T&A by 30 years