Why Ignoring Bye Weeks Can Help Your Fantasy Football Team Succeed

When involved in a draft, many fantasy football managers actively keep an eye on bye weeks. They will often sacrifice a better player for a lower performer because they already have someone at that position who is already out for the specified period. However, by ignoring this information, you can often do significantly better and come out with a higher record.

The reason people pay such close attention to their bye weeks is that their players can't play that week as they don't have a game. As a result, they'll need to pull players from their bench who might not be as good to use. What's more, with multiple players with bye weeks in the same week, team managers might not even be able to command a full active roster. As a result of this, having a number of players with the same week off from games can almost guarantee a loss as your entire team is unable to play that week.

However, is that such a big deal? Even if you lose one week in the season, it ultimately will not decide your position in the rankings. With a fantasy football season of 13 weeks, losing one week won't rule you out of the playoffs. However, settling for lower quality players in order to ensure you have players to field each week could result in lower numbers every week, making a much bigger impact on your overall record.

As such, when drafting players, especially starters for your fantasy football team, focus more on quality than bye weeks. The bye weeks might help you win a game, but the quality of the players will help you win the season.

Martin Fister is an active product blogger, writing for web sites including Polo Dress and Calvin Klein Bedding. In his spare time, Martin also pursues his interests in the music industry as a journalist.

College Football Week 2 - Ohio State and Notre Dame Both Lose Big Time Games, So What Else is New?

(Editor's Note: All of the team rankings are based on the Top 25 Coaches' Poll, and the Sagarin Ratings, Jeff Sagarin's factual, mathematical ratings among competition between all 245 Division 1 teams.)

Only 7 teams remained on top and on track at 2-0 during the second week of the college football season-Florida, USC, Alabama, California, Boise State, Brigham Young and Kansas.

No. 1 Florida crushed Troy 56-6 behind Tim Tebow's career-high 4 touchdown passes and a rushing touchdown.

No. 3 Southern Cal saved the best to last against No. 7 Ohio State to win, 18-15, on the road as freshman quarterback Matt Barkley led the Trojans on a 14-play, 95-yard drive to score with 1:05 remaining. The Buckeyes of Ohio State have now lost 7 straight games against top 5 teams, including two national title games and last season's 35-3 drubbing by USC in Los Angeles.

No. 4 Alabama took down Florida International 40-14 as QB Greg McElroy completed a school-record 14 straight passes. Remember that Alabama was the same school that Joe "Willie" Namath led to a National Championship in 1964, and Kenny "The Snake" Stabler led to another National Championship in 1965. Both Namath and Stabler played for the Crimson Tide's legendary coach Paul "Bear" Bryant.

No. 10 California routed Eastern Washington, 59-7, behind Jahvid Best's 144 yards rushing and 2 touchdowns, one rushing and another on a 22-yard reception.

No. 11 Boise State shut out Miami of Ohio, 48-0, as QB Kellen Moore went 16-for-26 for 307 yards and 4 touchdown passes.

No. 12 Brigham Young, following up on its 14-13 upset of Oklahoma a week earlier, kicked Tulane sideways on the road, 54-3, as QB Max Hall threw for 309 yards and 2 TDs and Bryan Kaiya scored twice.

No. 25 Kansas whipped UTEP, 34-7, on the road behind Jack Sharp's 104 yards rushing and 3 touchdowns.

There were 4 genuine upsets as Notre Dame, Oklahoma State, Tennessee and Michigan State all hit the turf hard.

No. 20 Notre Dame allowed Tate Focier to throw a 5-yard TD pass to Greg Matthews with 11 seconds to go to give unranked Michigan a 38-34 victory in the Big House at Ann Arbor. Focier, a freshman, went 23-for-33 for 240 yards, 2 TDs, one interception, and ran for 70 yards and a score. Notre Dame's star QB Jimmy Clausen, now a junior, went 25-for-42 for 336 yards and 3 TDs, but did miss some throws that proved costly.

You can argue about who was the better QB on this day, however, nothing counts but the final score, and Notre Dame again came up a loser in a big game.

After taking down Georgia last week, No. 6 Oklahoma State, a 15-point favorite, let it all slip away while losing to Houston 45-35 at home. The Cowboys need to learn how to ride again; they seem to always have more offense than defense.

UCLA quietly went to 2-0 by upsetting Tennessee on the road 19-15. The Volunteers, a 10-point favorite, are not making much of an impression in the SEC anymore.

The Michigan State Spartans, favored by 14.5, let Central Michigan totally embarrass them with a last-second 29-27 defeat on their home turf. The Spartans had an excellent schedule this year that offered them a chance to run the table (go undefeated) since they drew both Michigan and Penn State at home and did not have to play Ohio State.

Instead, Michigan State was out-coached, out-played and deserved to lose.

Five teams went 2-0 and scored good wins to cement their position as up and comers to watch:

No.18 Nebraska, favored by 21, beat Arkansas State 38-9. No. 23 Cincinnati beat 1-AA SE Missouri State 70-3. Unranked Pittsburgh, favored by 10.5, beat a good Buffalo team 54-27 on the road. Unranked Iowa beat in-state rival Iowa State 35-3 on the road.

Unranked and unbeaten Southern Methodist upset UAB 35-33, and they did it on the road. Now don't laugh at SMU, give the Mustangs and coach June Jones some credit; after all, if you are a fan of Virginia Tech, Oklahoma, Rutgers or Georgia, your team is not 2-0, you are 1-1.

Another unranked team that went 0-12 last year finally won its first game in 16 tries as new head coach Steve Sarkisian and new defensive coordinator Nick Holt put together an impressive 42-23 victory over Idaho. Yes, Idaho is no big deal, but Washington is going to start winning and beating better teams than Idaho. You read it here first.

Here are 19 teams who have gone 2-0 to start the season, but their victories have been no big deal considering the competition they have been playing:

No. 2 Texas, favored by 32.5, beat Wyoming on the road 41-10, but could not cover the spread.

No. 5 Penn State, favored by 28.5, beat Syracuse 28-7, but could not cover the spread.

No. 9 LSU, favored by 14.5, beat Vanderbilt, 23-9, but could not cover the spread.

No. 17 Utah, favored by 14, beat San Jose State 24-14, but could cover the spread.

No. 19 North Carolina, favored by 4.5, needed 12 last quarter points to barely beat Connecticut 12-10, but could not cover the spread.

No. 24 Oregon State, favored by 7, beat UNLV 23-21, but could not cover the spread.

So seriously, why are Texas, Penn State, LSU, Utah, North Carolina and Oregon State rated so high? Answer: Do not ask anyone who bet on them to not only win, but cover the spread.

Here are the other 13 teams that are 2-0 in no particular order because frankly, it is too soon to tell if they are really good at all:

Missouri over Bowling Green 27-20, Tulsa over New Mexico 44-10, Hawaii over Washington State 38-20, Auburn over Mississippi State 49-24, South Florida over Western Kentucky 35-13, West Virginia over East Carolina 35-20, Texas Tech over Rice 55-10, Boston College over Kent State 34-7, Minnesota over Air Force 20-13, Southern Mississippi over the University of Central Florida (UCF) 26-19, and Northwestern over Eastern Michigan 27-24.

Also Arizona over 1-AA Northern Arizona 34-17, and Colorado State needed a 4th quarter touchdown to beat 1-AA Weber State 24-23.

Here are 5 teams that won their first game, but really need to play a good team and win to think they are doing anything worth talking about:

No. 14 Oklahoma beat 1-AA Idaho State 64-0, No. 16 TCU beat Virginia 30-14, No. 21 Georgia barely beat South Carolina 41-37, Virginia Tech beat Marshall 52-10, and Rutgers beat 1-AA Howard 45-7.

Every week in college football there are games and victories that cause you to do a double take when you read the score and check out the teams. Here are 3 from this week:

Toledo beat Colorado 54-38 at home, dropping the Buffaloes to 0-2. This caused me to wonder if there have been sinkholes developing in the State of Colorado. Much more and the Buffaloes will fall off the radar screen. Maryland needed an overtime to barely beat 1-AA James Madison 38-35. Louisiana Lafayette upset Kansas State 17-15.

Put a wrap on it Benny, and throw it in the archives; it 's time to get ready for college football's third week of competition.

Copyright © 2009 Ed Bagley

Read more of my football coverage, including:

"College Football Wrap-Up - Week 1 - Brigham Young, Bosie State, Alabama and Oklahoma State Are Huge Week 1 Winners"
"Steve Sarkisian Puts the Washington Husky Football Program Back on Track to Succeed"
"Look for Steve Sarkisian to Turn Around Washington's Woeful Football Program"
"Not Being Selected Among the Top 25 in the Preseason Coaches' Poll Is the Kiss of Death - You Have No BCS Title Shot"
"College Football - Last Season's Final Statistics Show How the Nation's Top Five Teams Can Be Beat"
Find Out Which Division 1 School Had the Worst Football Team in 2008.
Find Out Which Division 1 School Had the Worst Coaching Staff in 2008.

http://www.edbagleyblog.com
http://www.edbagleyblog.com/Sports.html

Youth Football Drills - Make The Fundamentals Fun!

Make Practice Fun!

Youth football drills will improve the skills of your football team. If you are the coach of a young team of eager football players, the following youth football skills will help you move the team forward into both comprehension of the stances of the on field playing game and the repetitive skills it takes to be a dedicated professional player. Youth football drills should be informative and fun, so you can keep the team players interested while they learn.

Youth Football Drills All Begin With Ready Stance:

The Ready Stance drill teaches one of the proper “ready” football stances. Line up your team into lines and shout “ready”… “stance”. Walk up and down the lines as the players crouch into their stances. Correct any players that are not in the correct position. This is one of the most important, basic football skills needed.

Quick Hit Drill:

The Quick Hit drill helps team members, such as the blocking backs and linemen, in quickly moving from the Ready Stance into a blocking position. Youth football drills, such as this one, are basic to the game. The players will make a circle and stand in their Ready Stance. On your command, the players will pop into a pass protection position, take a quick step with the outside foot, and assume the squat position ready to strike a blow. Repeat these youth football drills as needed.

Youth Football Drills With Receiver Concentration:

Youth football drills, such as this one, should ensure the receiver can get the ball, hone in on the ball, and pat attention watching the ball throughout its flight until it lands clutched in his hands. Getting hit is not a factor in this drill. Take three players holding hand shields and line them up ten yards deep, three yards apart from one another in a triangle formation. Your receiver will run a pattern specified by you, which will land him in the middle of the triangle. Once the receiver enters the triangle, your quarterback will throw a high pass that will make the receiver jump to make the catch. As the receiver touches the ball with his hands, the three players in the triangle will jam the receiver with their respective shields.

Youth Football Drills Teach Good Balance:

Good balance is important to all sports, but especially to all youth football drills. For a Good balance drill, have your team players line up across from one another on the field. Have each player grab the shoulder pads of the player situated directly in opposite from them. Each player should take turns trying to knock his “opponent” off balance. He will do this by pulling, pushing, and tipping his opponent from side to side. The opponent will get down into a low base, and move his feet around to maintain balance.

There are many youth drills for football players. Each one is meant to help youth teams learn fundamentals of the game, as well as learn the importance of playing as a team unit. By improving your team in practice, you will be giving them opportunity to overcome any obstacles on the field.

By Margarette Tustle. Read more resources on drills [http://www.ddrill.com/] at a target="_new" href="http://www.ddrill.com/">ddrill.com