Welcome everyone to our next installment of the Fantasy JAM pregame show, Pre-JAM here on The Inscriber Digital Magazine. This is one of the first multi-platform columns of its kind, as it mixes the power of the pen and web with the power of the podcast.
Each week my partner, Chad “The Buffalo” Setera and I will write a Pre-JAM column where we will debate 5 topics. After each of us has presented our argument in this column, we will finish the debates on our show FantasyJAM every Thursday night from 7p – 8:30p EST on the Inscriber Digital Radio Network. That way, YOU can be a part of the debate by either calling in live or tweeting the show. That may be the biggest part of the whole thing, your involvement.
The only rules we have is that one of the topics will be Fantasy Sports related. That’s it.
Without further ado, here is this week’s first Pre-JAM Topic:
1) Fantasy Football vs Fantasy Baseball, which one is better?
(Fish) The Buffalo and I may debate A LOT of topics, but none may be easier than the battle between Fantasy Football and Fantasy Baseball.
Let’s see, one is based on luck and the hope that your first round pick doesn’t get hurt, the other is based on skill, longevity and intelligence. It is sort of like the battle between Checkers (Football) and Chess (Baseball). Sure checkers is fun, when I am playing with my 4 year old nephew. But if I want to be challenged, as most intelligent human beings do, let me play some chess.
I mean think about it, in a Football league you play you’re line-up like the Ronco Rotisserie, you set it and forget it. One day of games (for the most part) means your line-up on Tuesday will look just like your line-up on Friday.
Whereas in Baseball, you have to pay attention every single day. It matters who is on the mound against each player, it matters if they are an AL team or NL team. There are so many things to look at and consider in a baseball league.
Give me the game that takes some skill and intelligence, not the one that any moron can handle.
(Chad) As expected, my co-host went the baseball route. And just like the sport, the fantasy world of baseball is not even close to the king. Football whether it be the NFL or College rules. Ratings, money revenue, and fandom… which equates significantly to the fantasy sports world as well.
Fantasy Baseball has been around longer and yet still doesn’t evolve. Fantasy Football has been around for less time and is the reason sites like Roto World, Fan Duel, and the reason other sports have become involved in the fantasy realm.
So the argument is… Baseball takes skill. Ok… so someone that doesn’t know much about baseball wins a league and he has skill. Wrong… Just like football… He has luck. And the last time I checked… Football owners have to be ready to pick up players on the waiver wire on Tuesday mornings for their next games.
Fantasy Football also caters to the world we live in now. We aren’t patient to wait for success. Football gives it to you by 7:30pm most Sundays… Baseball… Maybe July or August. Football lasts only 3 months of regular season and 3 weeks of playoffs… Baseball… 3 months in and you haven’t even hit the first day of summer.
Buy me some peanuts and cracker jacks… blah blah blah. Fry me some wings and give me a cold beer… Fantasy Football is the way to go!
2) Slam Dunk Contest or Home Run Derby
(Fish) This debate may be a little tougher than first look. I mean in the 80’s there was NO CONTEST, the Dunk contest was better than most games even. I mean names like Wilkins, Jordan, and Carter the Dunk Contest was a spectacle.
Well the NBA lost its way for a while, but it looks like they have started to find themselves again with the Dunk Contest. Yes, this year’s Home Run Derby was one of the best and most competitive Derby we have seen in a while and that makes this argument a little closer.
But the Slam Dunk Contest will ALWAYS have one advantage over the Home Run Derby … In the Home Run Derby the only thing you are going to see is Home Runs. There’s no excitement, no build up you know what to expect.
But in the Dunk Contest, you NEVER know what’s going to happen. Is someone going to use chair as a prop? Will someone jump over a car before they dunk it? You see, you never know what may happen which will always keep it fresh and exciting.
(Chad) First of all… Until the 2015 Home Run Derby… Both had reached the end of excitement and both needed to be scratched as an activity I gave two craps about. But, neither wasn’t an option and because of the 2015 Home Run Derby, Major League Baseball finally got something right.
The slam dunk contest is about dunks. Yet, year after year we have some clown covering his face with a blind fold or jumping over a car or doing something we would never see in a game… heck, probably never see… ever. Is that exciting? I would rather see Blake Griffin facial Dwight Howard during a game than these propped up garbage dunks… which by the way the contestants are judged upon. So are they truly the winner or is it an opinion of someone else.
The Home Run Derby added serious drama in 2015. It helped the home town kid- Todd Frazier won, but the fact that MLB knew the process was messed up and did something about it, tells me they understood what it took to get over the hump.
You say it is just a Home Run… but… It is a Home Run and it has to be multiple Home Runs in a 4 minute time frame. Only one time out to rest, even the announcers couldn’t keep up. The drama filled the stadium and the crowd was in it the whole way. Plus… A true winner was crowned, not a judged winner.
The NBA needs to take notes… If they want the Dunk Contest to be the best again, they need to make changes like MLB did with the Home Run Contest.
3) A-Rod vs McCoy; which one is worth the #1 overall pick?
(Fish) So you have the top pick in your draft, but you have to choose between Aaron Rodgers and LeSean McCoy.
Now it is not like you can wrong with either pick. A-Rod is one of the, if not THE best QB in the league, especially for Fantasy purposes. But there is no way he can be the pick.
While McCoy is getting a tad older, if you take Rodgers, by the time it is your pick again, only 2nd tier running backs will be left. And your starter will NOT be a guy you can count on.
Meanwhile if you pick McCoy, you are getting one of the few workhorse backs in the league on a team that plans to run the ball, a lot. Add that to the fact that at the end of round 2 or the start of round 3, there are still some great choices at QB out there.
(Chad) As a Bills fan and one that is excited about the things LeSean McCoy is going to do in Buffalo’s new offense… Picking him over Aaron Rodgers is not something I am willing to do here.
In 2014… Rodgers had an MVP season… He had over 4300 yds passing and 38 TDs. Had he not played Seattle and Buffalo in the season, he could have had over 40 TDs and 4500yds. But stats alone aren’t the reason I am taking Rodgers here.
McCoy is in a new system… Rodgers is not. Rodgers has Eddie Lacy to lighten the load on his receivers that will allow him to spread the ball even more… Eddie Lacy had 3-100yd games in 2014… Rodgers had 7 TD passes in those three games. McCoy’s offense line has been labeled as one of the worst (yet unproven) lines in the NFL.
I want to take McCoy… It makes rooting for my favorite team a lot easier… But this is about winning a fantasy championship and Aaron Rodgers in the last four games of the season play Dallas, @ Oakland, @ Arizona, Minnesota. I will take my chances there.
Well there you have it. Two separate but thought provoking points of view. Do any of these arguments make you feel like raging? Well don’t keep it in, be a part of the show. We invite you to join us EVERY Thursday night on Fantasy JAM on the Inscriber Digital Radio Network, from 7p – 8:30p EST and give us your thoughts by leaving us comments on our Facebook page.