Studio711.com – Ben Martens

Fantasy Sports

Fantasy Football – Week 4

2015week4 freemanWhew, the Seahawks squeaked out an ugly victory against arguably the worst team in the NFL. But even the Lions were able to run through that porous offensive line. Jimmy Graham is great, but was losing Unger worth it? And then we had “batgate” after the game was over. Apparently the touch in the endzone was illegal. Yes, it would have been better if the rules were properly enforced, but I don’t feel nearly as bad about this one as I did about the Packers one. Nobody seemed to even notice that something incorrect had happened (or maybe I just missed it as I fast forwarded to get to the action.)

We had some close games in our league. Luke and Andy faced off to see who would win their first game. Sorry Luke. Maybe next time? You are the closets to Detroit so I guess it fits. We had a lot of low scores, but looking at the rosters, a large part of it was some surprises about who made the points. There were a lot of points on the benches this week. I’m trying not to mention my streak because I know it will go down in flames.

The power rankings are back! Here’s what my super secret, proprietary formula says:

1. Ben
2. Tim
3. Logan
4. Austin

Now on to the weekly awards.

This Week Season All-Time
Highest Team Score Ben had 139.79 Tim 200.51 (Week 3) Tim 200.51 (2013)
Lowest Team Score Austin had 71.56 Andy 70.73 (Week 2) Luke 47.01 (2011)
Biggest Blowout Ben beat Austin by 68.23 Was Ben beat Dad by 60.90 (Week 1) Luke beat Andy by 113.02 (2010)
Closest Win Andy beat Luke by 5.53 Austin beat Jim by 2.49 (Week 2) Jim beat Ben by 0.12 (2012)
Highest Scoring Player Devonta Freeman had 35.40 for Ben Aaron Rodgers had 44.92 for Tim (Week 3) Peyton Manning had 60.28 for Andy (2013)
Longest Winning Streak Ben has a 4 game winning streak. Was Ben has a 3 game winning streak (Week 3) Micah had an 8 game winning streak (2011)
Longest Losing Streak Luke has a 4 game losing streak. Was Luke and Andy have 3 game losing streaks. (Week 3) Kyle had a 14 game losing streak (2011)
benmartens October 7, 2015 Fantasy Sports

Fantasy Football – Week 3

2015week3_aaronrodgersThe Seahawks finally put a tally mark in the win column against the hapless, injured Bears. Yay. The first half looked pitiful. I don’t see how they can get very far in the playoffs (if they even make it) given their offensive line situation. It’s a mess. And yes, Kam is back. I would have loved it if Pete benched him for the first half, but whatever. Hopefully they’ll dump him at the end of the season and get a couple offensive linemen.

Our league had some really high scores. Jim got his first win, but the big news is that Tim set an all-time record for single week points. And he could have had another 15 points with a perfect roster! I’m now the only undefeated team but I expect to break that streak next week when I have a really tough bye week situation.

Now on to the weekly awards.

This Week Season All-Time
Highest Team Score Tim 200.51 Was Ben 145.30  (Week 1) Was Tim 195.50 (2013)
Lowest Team Score Luke 102.53 Andy 70.73 (Week 2) Luke 47.01 (2011)
Biggest Blowout Tim beat Austin by 48.50 Ben beat Dad by 60.90 (Week 1) Luke beat Andy by 113.02 (2010)
Closest Win Jim beat Luke by 5.18 Austin beat Jim by 2.49 (Week 2) Jim beat Ben by 0.12 (2012)
Highest Scoring Player Aaron Rodgers had 44.92 for Tim Was Ben Roethlistberger had 36.66 for Dad (Week 2) Peyton Manning had 60.28 for Andy (2013)
Longest Winning Streak Ben has a 3 game winning streak Was Ben, Logan, and Austin have 2 game winning streaks (Week 2) Micah had an 8 game winning streak (2011)
Longest Losing Streak Luke and Andy have 3 game losing streaks Was Jim, Luke, and Andy have 2 game losing streaks. (Week 2) Kyle had a 14 game losing streak (2011)

Don’t forget that there is a very early game in London on Sunday so make sure your rosters are set.

Power Rankings return next week!

benmartens September 30, 2015 Commentary, Fantasy Sports

Fantasy Football – Week 2

roethlisberger2015week20-2. It’s a rough start to a Seahawks team that has one of the toughest schedules in the league. (For examples, they face more teams coming off bye weeks than anyone else and have fewer opponents on a multi-game road trip than anyone else.) Was Kam the reason? No. Fine him. Dump him. Or better yet, find some way to make him holdout past the point later in the season when he loses his pension and any benefit he had from being in the players union. Penalties were a big killer in the game. As Cris Collinsworth pointed out 572 times during the game, Aaron Rodgers invented the free play and the Seahawks gave him plenty of opportunities to show it off. We’ll see what happens with the home opener, but though the Seahawks haven’t looked terrible, they’re not hitting the ground running.

In our league, the winners from last week continued their winning except for Tim. There are still three people tied at the top (Logan, Austin and me.) Luke, Jim and Andy are still looking for their first wins.

Now on to the weekly awards. I’ll put the new season records in bold.

This Week Season All-Time
Highest Team Score Ben 144.81 Ben 145.30  (Week 1) Tim 195.50 (2013)
Lowest Team Score Andy 70.73 Was Dad 84.40  (Week 1) Luke 47.01 (2011)
Biggest Blowout Dad beat Andy by 45.86 Ben beat Dad by 60.90 (Week 1) Luke beat Andy by 113.02 (2010)
Closest Win Austin beat Jim by 2.49 Was Tim beat Luke by 8.33 (Week 1) Jim beat Ben by 0.12 (2012)
Highest Scoring Player Ben Roethlistberger had 36.66 for Dad Was Tom Brady had 35.62 for Ben (Week 1) Peyton Manning had 60.28 for Andy (2013)
Longest Winning Streak Ben, Logan, and Austin have 2 game winning streaks Was Ben, Logan, Austin and Tim have 1 game winning streaks Micah had an 8 game winning streak (2011)
Longest Losing Streak Jim, Luke, and Andy have 2 game losing streaks. Was Jim, Luke, Andy and Dad have 1 game losing streaks. Kyle had a 14 game losing streak (2011)
benmartens September 23, 2015 Fantasy Sports

Fantasy Football – Week 1

brady_2015week1Welcome to another NFL football season! The Seahawks opened with a dramatic loss. Fans around the country cheered in the first quarter when they went for it on 4th and 1 and got a first done with a run. Fans around the country collapsed in sadness when a similar situation occurred in overtime and they couldn’t make it happen again. That Super Bowl play call is going to haunt the team forever.

Last year, the top four in our league were Austin, Jim, Tim and me. This year started off with all of those same teams (except Jim) winning. The road ahead is long and fraught with suspensions so don’t despair yet if the season isn’t start off to your expectations.

Now on to the weekly awards.

This Week Season All-Time
Highest Team Score Ben 145.30 Ben 145.30  (Week 1) Tim 195.50 (2013)
Lowest Team Score Dad 84.40 Dad 84.40  (Week 1) Luke 47.01 (2011)
Biggest Blowout Ben beat Dad by 60.90 Ben beat Dad by 60.90 (Week 1) Luke beat Andy by 113.02 (2010)
Closest Win Tim beat Luke by 8.33 Tim beat Luke by 8.33 (Week 1) Jim beat Ben by 0.12 (2012)
Highest Scoring Player Tom Brady had 35.62 for Ben Tom Brady had 35.62 for Ben (Week 1) Peyton Manning had 60.28 for Andy (2013)
Longest Winning Streak Ben, Logan, Austin and Tim have 1 game winning streaks Ben, Logan, Austin and Tim have 1 game winning streaks Micah had an 8 game winning streak (2011)
Longest Losing Streak Jim, Luke, Andy and Dad have 1 game losing streaks. Jim, Luke, Andy and Dad have 1 game losing streaks. Kyle had a 14 game losing streak (2011)

I got lucky. My sixth round draft pick QB weaseled out of his suspension and had the most points in our league. But how did all of our first round draft picks handle week 1?

  • Adrian Peterson – 6.7 , Jim
  • Eddie Lacy – 16.9, Tim
  • Marshawn Lynch – 14.9, Dad
  • Le’Veon Bell – Suspended two games, Logan
  • Jamaal Charles – 18.8, Ben
  • Dez Bryant – 7.3, Andy (Out 4-6 weeks for broken foot)
  • DeMarco Murray – 16.00, Luke
  • Antonio Brown – 23.89, Austin

Power Rankings for our league will return in week 5. My super accurate, statistically backed algorithm needs 4 weeks of data to get calibrated.

Good luck on another season!

benmartens September 16, 2015 Fantasy Sports

March Madness Wrap Up

Congrats to Jim for pulling out the win with 121 total points! He correctly picked Duke as the winner of it all. Not too shabby. Three people had more correct picks than Jim, but getting those final games right is critical to winning the bracket challenge.

I used Bing predictions to create my bracket. I’ve been impressed with all the things they have picked correctly (elections, football games, etc.) I think the tournament was a bit too many unknowns because all the errors get compounded.

Rank Owner Correct Picks Points
1 JimM 40 121
2 LoganB 44 100
3 TimS 38 88
4 AndyB 44 87
5 JayA 41 85
6 BenM 38 75
7 AndyD 34 60

The NCAA won’t let me embed the One Shining Moment video. So instead, maybe you’d be interested in John Oliver’s excellent monologue about how much money the NCAA makes while players go hungry.

benmartens April 9, 2015 Fantasy Sports

Bracket Update

Here’s an update on our little bracket challenge. AndyB, LoganB, JimM, and TimS are still in the running. The rest of us are down for the count.

Winner Loser Bracket King
Kentucky Michigan St AndyB
Michigan St Kentucky AndyB
Kentucky Duke LoganB
Duke Kentucky JimM
Wisconsin Michigan St TimS
Michigan St Wisconsin TimS
Wisconsin Duke TimS
Duke Wisconsin JimM

 

benmartens March 31, 2015 Fantasy Sports

March Madness

MarchMadness2015After watching a grand total of 0 minutes of college basketball this year, I filled out my bracket and then proceeded to watch 0 minutes of the first weekend of the tournament. I didn’t even realize that some of the games were being played in Seattle until I saw last minute tickets being sold. I’m a super fan! I did watch the recap of Purdue’s loss. Ouch.

So while I can’t speak to any of the actual game play, I do know that I have very little chance of winning our bracket pool. What a surprise. Here are the standings so far. AndyB is on top and also has the highest possible remaining points. That’s the column you really want to look at to get an idea of how things could finish up.

Rank Owner Correct Picks Points Possible Pts
1 AndyB 36 47 171
2 LoganB 35 44 156
3 JimM 32 41 149
3 JayA 33 41 133
5 TimS 31 40 132
6 BenM 31 39 131
7 AndyD 29 36 120

I hope you all are getting more opportunities to watch basketball than I am!

benmartens March 24, 2015 Fantasy Sports

Fantasy Wrap Up

andrewluckbeard_2014wrapupHere’s one more post for our fantasy season looking back at the top performers in our league. Look how many time’s Austin’s name shows up on this list! Our championships are usually dominated by power QBs but this year, he had a team full of top wide receivers, running backs, tight ends and defenses.

Once again I had the top scoring player in the league, but this year it wasn’t Drew Brees. Unfortunately, Andrew Luck failed me in our playoffs. I blame the beard.

Top QBs:
1. Andrew Luck, 431.74 for Ben
2. Aaron Rodgers, 430.14 for Tim
3. Peyton Manning, 390.68 for Andy

Top WRs:
1. Antonio Brown, 333.51 for Tim
2. Demaryius Thomas, 285.40 for Austin
3. Jordy Nelson, 278.90 for Austin

Top RBs:
1. Le’Veon Bell, 329.00 for Austin
2. DeMarco Murray, 322.60 for Luke
3. Matt Forte, 295.60 for Jim

Top TEs:
1. Rob Gronkowski, 225.40 for Austin
2. Antonio Gates, 188.60 for Luke
3. Jimmy Graham, 187.40 for Logan

Top Kickers:
1. Stephan Gostkowski, 170.00 for Logan
2. Cody Parkey, 162.00 for Dad
3. Adam Vinatieri, 153.00 for Jim

Top Defenses:
1. Philadelphia, 229.14 for Ben
2. Buffalo, 207.11 for Austin
3. St. Louis, 198.17 for Ben

Highest scoring free agent: Eli Manning (329.50)

benmartens January 7, 2015 Fantasy Sports

Fantasy Football – Week 16

2014_week16_wilsonThe season is over and Austin reigns supreme! Congratulations! This final week was a lackluster performance from our entire league as we set the lowest total score of the season. Neither Jim or Austin ponied up for the pool so Tim and I battled it out for third place and the money. I use the term “battle” loosely. Tim won the money as I had three players combine for less than one total point. Yay.

The Seahawks had another good defensive game and finally coupled it with a great offensive game. That was refreshing to see. Early in the game the announcers said that Arizona was going to make the Seahawks beat them with the pass since Wilson hasn’t done a lot of that. Well mission accomplished sir. Good job. If the Seahawks can get revenge against the Rams, they’ll have home field advantage throughout the playoffs. That’s a huge turnaround from earlier in the season when I was wondering if they’d even make the playoffs.

Now on to the weekly awards.

  • Highest Team Score
    • This Week: Luke had 138.38
    • Season: In week 14, Austin had 187.41
    • All-Time: In 2013, Tim had 195.50
  • Lowest Team Score
    • This Week: Ben had 59.40
    • Season: In Week 3, Luke had 55.04
    • All-Time: In 2011, Luke had 47.01
  • Biggest Blowout
    • This Week: Tim beat me by 44.50
    • Season: In week 8, Austin beat Dad by 103.48
    • All-Time: In 2010, Luke beat Andy by 113.02
  • Closest Win
    • This Week:  Andy beat Dad by 7.68
    • Season: In Week 2, Austin beat Ben by 1.7
    • All-Time: In 2012, Jim beat Ben by 0.12
  • Highest Scoring Player
    • This Week: Russell Wilson had 40.36 for Andy.
    • Season: In Week 8, Ben Roethlisberger had 56.78 for Dad
    • All-Time: In 2013, Peyton Manning scored 60.28 for Andy
  • Longest Winning Streaks:
    • Active:  Austin has a 6 game winning streak
    • Season: Ben and Austin had a 6 game winning streaks
    • All-Time: In 2011, Micah had an 8 game winning streak
  • Longest Losing Streaks:
    • Season: Andy had a 5 game losing streak
    • All-Time: In 2011, Kyle had a 14 game losing streak

And a couple final statistical notes about the year:

  • Austin had a stellar season but he still didn’t have as many points per game as Andy had last year (135.61 to 132.91.) But poor Andy has not been able to back up that year. This year he had the lowest average in our league (101.42.) The record low was Kyle in 2011 with 98.26.
  • Not only did Austin generate the most points, but he had the most points from players that he drafted! I’ve always felt that with only 8 players in our league, the draft doesn’t matter much because you can change things around easily. Maybe that’s not true! However, this year I broke the league record for most points from post-draft acquisitions. It didn’t end up being a successful strategy though.

Thanks for a great year everyone! We had no problem with deadbeats which is awesome and it was competitive down the very end! Looking forward to seeing you all back next year.

Final standings:

  1. Austin
  2. Jim
  3. Tim
  4. Ben
  5. Luke
  6. Logan
  7. Andy
  8. Dad
benmartens December 24, 2014 Fantasy Sports

Fantasy Football – Week 15

The Seahawks squared off this week against the Santa Clara 49ers who were coming off their incredibly embarrassing defeat by the Raiders. You knew the 49ers were going to be angry and they looked really good for the first half. I thought the Seahawks might be in trouble. Both Gore and Hyde were running through a Seattle defense that looked like Swiss cheese. Luckily for the Seahawks, they both got injured. Six sacks of Kaepernick didn’t hurt either (though Wilson was also sacked five times.) Couple the Seahawks win with a Packers loss and we might be watching playoff games from Century Link.

In our league, my easy prediction from last week held true. Austin annihilated me as my championship hopes drifted away like a fart in the wind. Jim also topped Tim so Austin and Jim will square off for the top spot. This would be Jim’s second victory (2007) or Austin’s first. Tim and I are the only two left in the money pool so we’ll battle it out for third place and the money. The power rankings say that Austin and I will win. My money is definitely on Austin but the other game is a tossup.

  1. Austin (–)
  2. Jim ( 1)
  3. Ben ( 1)
  4. Tim (–)

Now on to the weekly awards.

  • Highest Team Score
    • This Week: Austin had 175.38
    • Season: In week 14, Austin had 187.41
    • All-Time: In 2013, Tim had 195.50
  • Lowest Team Score
    • This Week: Dad had 64.19
    • Season: In Week 3, Luke had 55.04
    • All-Time: In 2011, Luke had 47.01
  • Biggest Blowout
    • This Week: Austin beat Ben by 90.43
    • Season: In week 8, Austin beat Dad by 103.48
    • All-Time: In 2010, Luke beat Andy by 113.02
  • Closest Win
    • This Week:  Logan beat Andy by 25.68
    • Season: In Week 2, Austin beat Ben by 1.7
    • All-Time: In 2012, Jim beat Ben by 0.12
  • Highest Scoring Player
    • This Week: Odell Beckham Jr. had 36.84 for Austin
    • Season: In Week 8, Ben Roethlisberger had 56.78 for Dad
    • All-Time: In 2013, Peyton Manning scored 60.28 for Andy
  • Longest Winning Streaks:
    • Active:  Austin has a 5 game winning streak
    • Season: Ben had a 6 game winning streak
    • All-Time: In 2011, Micah had an 8 game winning streak
  • Longest Losing Streaks:
    • Active: Andy has a 5 game losing streak
    • Season: Andy has a 5 game losing streak
    • All-Time: In 2011, Kyle had a 14 game losing streak
benmartens December 17, 2014 Fantasy Sports