We Don't Walk Slow – Page 34

28 Sep, 2016

The Power of a Comment

By Tom Stortz|2016-09-28T18:06:24-04:00September 28th, 2016|My Life|0 Comments

I received this comment the other night:

Hey Tom,
I watched Stranger Things based on your review in your blog. I enjoyed it. I thought El’s character was mesmerizing, and liked the entire cast overall. I already liked the idea of parallel universes going into it too, so that was cool. Just thought you might like to get some good feedback on one of your posts from a while back. Thanks for the recommendation

I enjoy receiving comments like this. This blog has been around since April ’09 and I’ve had various intentions over the years. To start, the blog was to my immediate friends. Then I intentionally started creating posts that I thought would do well from a traffic standpoint. Next I made an effort to actively get anyone and everyone reading the blog to comment. Now I don’t give a shit who comments and I’ll write for me. I always welcome comments but I’ve stop pandering to an audience because it’s not worth it. However, when someone recognizes the quality of what I’m posting, that’s the sole purpose of what I’m going for.

Rnningfool Blog Traffic

Do I publish shitty posts? Of course. I recognize that most of you don’t care about my bowling league. I know that you probably don’t care what place I’m in my Fantasy Football league. I don’t expect people to comment on these types of posts. This is why my blog is my blog.

Do you know many people maintain personal websites? I’d guess less than 1% of the population. There’s no money in it. It’s a lot of work. Hardly anyone recognizes the work and there’s not a lot of reason to do it. I’ll continue to post about anything and everything and if once in a blue moon you decide to let me know that you liked what I wrote, that’ll keep me doing it. Thanks.

27 Sep, 2016

ProFootballFocus Intelligence

By Tom Stortz|2016-09-27T23:22:51-04:00September 27th, 2016|Sports|3 Comments

I am well aware predicting sporting outcomes is, well, unpredictable. However, people are getting paid to do so and are charging peons like myself for this information. Let’s take a look and start putting some of the info to results. I’m using my Yahoo points which are .5pts ppr for rankings. These are all article suggestions from ProFootballFocus which is a paid subscription.

Fantasy Players to Avoid in Week 3 – Tyler Loechner

Tyler Loechner

Kirk Cousins – QB9, 19.3 pts
LeSean McCoy – RB3, 25.1 pts
Jeremy Langford – RB48, 6.1 pts
O’Dell Beckham – WR17 – 15.6 pts
AJ Green – WR25 – 11.7 pts
Antonio Gates – DNP
Julius Thomas – TE36- 2.3 pts

I’d give positive credit to any guy outside of the top 20 like Langford, Thomas and Green (very good pick). Cousins and McCoy were way off and OBJ is ranked slightly above even considering he is so expensive.

Grade: B-

Top Contrarian Plays – Scott Barrett

Aaron Rodgers – QB3, 26.4 pts
Dak Prescott – QB6, 23.5 pts
Christine Michael – RB6, 24.1 pts
Chris Thompson – RB65, 2.8 pts
Jeremy Maclin – WR59, 5.5 pts
Quincy Enunwa – WR57, 5.7 pts
Travis Kelce – TE4, 17.9 pts
Tyler Kroft – 0 pts

Great selections in Rodgers, Prescott, Michael, and Kelce. Complete whiffs on the others. I understand they are contrarian, and supposed to be low owned which throws a wrinkle, but half of these selections are not getting 2x the cost of the player which is a not good. 4 top notch picks and 4 complete whiffs.

Grade: B+

Top Streaming Options – Michael Tagliere

Ryan Tannehill – QB10, 18.96 pts
Dak Prescott – QB6, 25.52 pts
Jay Ajayi – RB28, 8.8 pts
Cameron Artis Payne – RB40, 6.3 pts
Philip Dorsett – WR72, 4.2 pts
Markus Wheaton – WR111, .7 pts
Clive Walford – TE23, 2.6 pts

Not bad QB selections with guys off the waiver wire but pretty universal selections. Everyone else was not worth playing this week in a pinch. Obviously expectations need to be tempered but these are swings and misses

Grade: C-

Top DFS Bargains – Brandon Marianne Lee

Marcus Mariotta – QB29, 4.7 pts
Dak Prescott – QB6, 25.5 pts
Jay Ajayi – RB28, 8.8 pts
Theo Riddick – RB30, 8.3 pts
Charles Sims – RB11, 21.4 pts
Stefon Diggs – WR54, 6 pts
Quincy Enunwa – WR57, 5.7 pts
Mike Wallace – WR60, 5.4 pts
Dennis Pitta – TE18, 7.2 pts
Trey Burton – TE28, 2.9 pts

Bargains are players who are not highly priced in DFS. If an average bargain salary is 5k, you’d expect 10 points from the player and only 2 of the recommendations did that (Riddick maybe have been close). Prescott and Sims were excellent selections but everyone else would be below expectation.

Grade: D+

The Best Plays of Week 3 – Patrick Thorman

Russell Wilson – QB14, 14,0 pts
Ryan Tannehill – QB10, 18.9 pts
Ezekiel Elliot – RB14, 17 pts
CJ Anderson – RB49, 4.6 pts
Mark Ingram – RB12, 20.7 pts
Frank Gore – RB16, 14.8 pts
Jordy Nelson – WR6, 25.1 pts
Sterling Shepard – WR15, 15.8 pts
Stefon Diggs – WR54, 6 pts
Devonte Parker – WR21, 12.6 pts
Jordan Reed – TE16, 7.6 pts
Trey Burton – TE28, 2.9 pts

You are calling the column the top plays of Week 3. This means you can choose from the entire roster of players and he came up with 1 player in the top 10 after selecting 12 players. He managed 7 in the top 20. 4 outside of that. It’s not atrocious but this doesn’t pay the bills.

Grade: C

Optimal DFS Lineup: Trust Dennis Pitta in DK – Tyler Loechner

Andrew Luck – QB17, 13.24 pts
Melvin Gordon – RB15. 15.8 pts
Theo Riddick – RB30, 8.3 pts
Antonio Brown – WR10, 20 pts
Amari Cooper -WR43, 8.2 pts
Tajae Sharpe – WR52, 6.3 pts
Dennis Pitta – TE18, 7.2 pts
Cole Beasley – WR26, 10.8 pts
Miami Defense – D19, 7 pts

This line up would have scored 96.84 points in a .5 PPR. A full point may be 20 or so higher. 120 is the opposite of optimal. I put together 3 lineups that scored over 130 and cashed 0 times. AB is the only good pick of the entire bunch and he’s the most expensive player there is in the league.

Grade: D-

Week 3 Start Sit Advice – Dan Schneier

Best Matchups

Drew Brees – QB4, 25.9 pts
Melvin Gordon – RB15, 15.8 pts
T.Y Hilton – WR4, 27.4 pts

Start Them

Eli Manning – QB15, 14 pts
Eddie Lacy – RB22, 11 pts
Devante Parker – WR21, 12.6 pts

Sit Them

Kirk Cousins – QB9, 19.34 pts
Justin Forsett – RB42, 6.3 pts
DeSean Jackson – WR12, 18.1 pts

An article written 6 days before the games were actually played produced the best information. He was a bit off with the Cousins to DeSean combo but all else was at least serviceable. Sure you’d want a little more from Eli and Lacy in that spot but at least they weren’t doughnuts. Brees, Gordon, and T.Y would pay the bills.

Grade: B

Evan Silva Quotes

I really like Evan Silva’s matchups because he dissects so much information, in such a short time, on a week to week basis, that I give him a TON of credit for making the predictions as well as he does. Considering I’m using him for a lot of my picks in the PigSkin Pick Em and am leading after 3 weeks, I’m hardly complaining but this shows that even Evan misses the mark.

“As a road-dog running back in a seemingly sub-par matchup, (DeMarco) Murray is mid-range to low-end RB2 in Nashville and all but off the board in DFS.” RB7

“(Dwayne) Allen is my favorite DFS tight end play of the week” TE19

“(Amari) Cooper showed incredible open-field speed on the play and looks ready to explode. He is probably my favorite DFS play in Week 3.” WR43

“Demaryius is a low-upside WR2/3 at Cincinnati. Sanders is a WR3” WR13 and WR2

“The Lions are moving top corner Darius Slay around the formation this year, which suggests he will spend much of this game chasing Nelson. Although Nelson has hit pay dirt in back-to-back games, he has struggled to separate coming off an ACL tear at age 31. He is a mid-range to low-end WR2 until proven otherwise.” WR6

“Gurley can only be viewed as a low-floor RB2”. RB13

Final Thoughts

Perhaps my expectations are a bit high but it almost feels like the site is either holding their good info or they are aren’t that good. I’m well aware that you couldn’t have put Christine Michael in any of these articles until Sunday morning. Vereen wasn’t a play until then as well. I suppose I feel like the intel should be better. 3 weeks have gone by and there’s nothing here where I’ve said to myself, “I can’t get this info from anywhere else”. Brad Evans from Yahoo! gives out free advice all the time and I can’t imagine he’d be any worse than these guys. Matthew Berry the same way. I’ll keep week 4 posted as another week passes by.

I want to point out that I only found one evidence of anyone even recommending Marvin Jones on the entire site and it was found in a hard to read optimal lineup by Brandon Marianne Lee. I used DK so she would have had 154.4 plus a flex spot instead of the kicker which is solid and that’s assuming the salaries work which I have no clue.

27 Sep, 2016

The Narrowest of Margins

By Tom Stortz|2016-09-27T10:22:04-04:00September 27th, 2016|Sports|0 Comments

Bowling – Everyone loves bowling! Last night our bowling team had by far the best game of our entire careers. We were getting stomped in the first game. I had two 7 pin misses. Sam had a few 9 opens. I don’t remember the Weens or the Wevs tearing it up and one of their members started with a 5 bagger. We were down and out. Or so they thought. Evan strike, spared the 10th. Sam went Turkey. Weens went 29 and they had 2 of their guys go open. Their last bowler didn’t even think he needed to roll would be my guess but he got 20 and the table was set for me being down 57 pins coming off a strike. I Jersey’d the first one. Threw a nice strike on the second and only needing 7 pins to tie and 8 to win, I rolled a strike. 2 pin victory. The other team was stunned. We came back from an 100 pin deficit in the 10th to take the game from the jaws of defeat. We crushed them the next 2 games to go 4-0. Congratulations to Jordan who threw a 264 in league play and a 650+ series. Well done.

Fantasy Football – Goddammit. I lost 2 games by less than 2 points this week. Freeman exploded but didn’t quite get me there and Matt Ryan did just enough to beat me. I truly enjoy winning in Fantasy Football but am well aware there is a lot of luck involved. Fortunately, the luck tends to even itself out as the season goes on. So even if you have a rocky start to these seasons, there’s a long way to go. I’ll be posting about Fantasy Football intelligence, or lack thereof, in the near future. Also Adam if you read this, can you please change your team name?

Trump vs Clinton – I watched the debate and it put me to sleep after I watched about an hour. It’s entertaining but it’s mostly words with little meaning. I think the Trump sniffing and people think he’s doing coke is hysterical. He’s so fascinating to watch though. He’s truly a tough man to pin down. You can throw shit at him and he’s got some retort one way or another. I bet you didn’t pay much in Federal Taxes? That’s called being smart. He really is a weasel but good on him.

26 Sep, 2016

Football Week 3 – Recap

By Tom Stortz|2016-09-26T08:52:18-04:00September 26th, 2016|Sports|0 Comments

For a different type of Sunday I went tailgating at the Linc and then attempted to watch the game at Xfinity. After starting to drink at 12, I made it to 4 and was pretty buzzed and Xfinity was absolutely packed. I opted to go home instead of watching the game there which was a smart decision. Football week 3 though was an absolute mess. If you’ve been following any of my picks, I apologize for the bad intelligence.

Bets

Easily the worst part of the day. 0-4 for a total loss of 14 units. Combine that with an 0-2 CFB, -3.5 units, and we had a rough weekend. Total is now 8-8, +7 units on NFL, and 2-5, -3.5 units on CFB. With the juice I am down 1.5 units after 3 weeks.

I didn’t get to watch the games so I’m going off of the scoreboards. Miami was barely winning so they had 0 chance of blowing out the lowly Browns. The Panthers lost to the Vikings at home which I completely whiffed on. The Jaguars lost on a Justin Tucker FG which didn’t help. The teaser got 4 or 5 games correct but Ryan Fitzpatricks 6 INT’s was sad, sad, sad.

DraftKings

I was in 3 leagues and each team put up around 130 which isn’t bad by any means but none cashed. This week was a loss of 49 dollars. Fortunately the golf won me 11 which has me at -38 for the week and -80 for the season.

Fantasy Football

Only need 31.

Wild Turkeys – If Matt Ryan and Brandin Cooks go for 21 points, I will lose. The probability of this in a dome game is high. I need an injury. I played Ryan Mathews over Willie Snead and am shaking my head.

Big Johnson’s – Easy win with my opponent laying a dud.

Jameis Has Crabs – I need Devontae Freeman to go for 30 which is unlikely with his timeshare.

Eliminator & PigSkin Pickem

Dolphins actually won which pushes me through the Eliminator for another week. I went 9-6 in the PigSkin Pick em which has me in 1st by 2 points. I was 8-7 in the Softerware straight up which has me tied for 3rd.

24 Sep, 2016

The Stripper That Never Was

By Tom Stortz|2016-10-28T15:31:30-04:00September 24th, 2016|My Life|0 Comments

I went to Deliah’s for about 30 minutes. I met a stripper who was an alcoholic and got into a fight after drinking too much tequila. Of course I bought her a shot of tequila and she whispered sweet nothings into my ear. I was too smart for that and went to the stage only to give a 10 out of 10 an amazing 5 dollars that I mistaken for a 1.

I went home to recover but the damage was done. I went to the bowling alley to see if they had any open lanes but they did not.

24 Sep, 2016

Football Week 3

By Tom Stortz|2016-09-24T09:32:35-04:00September 24th, 2016|Sports|0 Comments

Please play great this week. Please play great this week. Please play great this week.

It’s 8:25am on a Saturday and my mind is working at 100% which is unusual. Last week wasn’t my finest but I expect better results. Onward.

Bets

Since the last post, I was up 23 units (7-3) on NFL and 0 sum on college (2-3). In the meantime I won a 2 unit Eagles ML and lost a 4 unit bet on the Texans. I’m now 8-4, +21 units (+15.7 with the juice). Maybe a small college play for the action but nothing worth talking about.

Typical bro. Your not ready for the NFL.

Dolphins -10, 4 units – This game will make or break me for this week and I’m fully behind the intuition. Cody Kessler is the Browns QB. The Dolphins D-Line is huge with Mario Williams and Ndamukong Suh. In each of the first two weeks, the Dolphins have injured the opposing quarterback, with Suh stepping on Russell Wilson’s ankle to cause a sprain and linebacker Kiko Alonso driving New England’s Jimmy Garropolo to the turf and knocking him out of Thursday night’s game with a shoulder injury. Plus this “most NFL draft gurus graded Kessler as an undrafted free agent and were shocked when the Browns selected him 93rd overall.” I’ll be riding Tannehill to the grave in DFS and in season long leagues. Liking Landry and Parker as well. Here comes a blow out.

Obligatory Lindsey Duke, no more Black Bortles distraction, pic. Hey it worked in week 1.

Jaguars +1, 4 units – I’m going to come flat out and say I jumped the gun on this. Everyone knows that the lines are the most incorrect when they first come out and that’s where the easiest money is to be made. I saw a home dog in the Jags and took it, why? On Sunday I was watching the direct TV package, and not RedZone, and watched the entire Ravens game. They were down 20-0 before McCown got hurt. They looked lost and I believe the Jags are ready to be found. They played the Pack tough at home (who appears to suck worse than expected) and got their pooters packed by the Chargers away. My only minor concern is I didn’t read the match-ups by Evan Silva before making this bet and he’s the other way which obviously worries me. He was right about the Pats game and I’ll make it my mission to not bet a game without reading his write up.

You can hear that cash register ringing.

Panthers -7, 4 units – People may forget that the Panthers started the season last year 14-0 before succumbing to the Atlanta Falcons. This year. they are leading the league in points, 3rd in total yards, and have the best rushing attack in the NFL while sporting a 1-1 record. Their loss is to the Broncos who not only won the Superbowl last year but have a defense that is incredible lead by Von Miller. The Panthers are home amidst the Charlotte riots which should inspire strong play. They play against a Vikings team coming off a strong performance against the Pack at home. The Vikings recently lost All Day until November and have found a gem in Stefon Diggs. Fortunately for me, once you stop Diggs, you stop the entire offense. Even though the Vikings have a strong D, this is a Panthers mop up game at home. Also don’t expect much from Greg Olsen because BML in Charlotte.

5 Team Teaser – Redskins +10, Lions +13.5, Dolphins -4, Broncos +9, Jets +9. 2 units – I haven’t released a teaser yet but I liked a lot of the games on the card this week. Adding points to already big numbers is usually how I like to play my teasers. You go for games that hopefully won’t be blowouts. Quick thoughts on each pick. The OBJ-Norman rivalry will obviously be awesome and Kirk Cousins has been sucking but even though I don’t expect the Skins to win away, it’ll be close. The Packers are seemingly overrated and although they will play better home, the Lions should hang in there. Read above on the Dolphins. The Bronco’s D is too tough to be laying 9 to. The Jets are sort of a weird team but they have a lot of weapons and 9 will be too many.

Draftkings

I’m -$42 on the season which is hardly bad, but certainly not good. I deposited $100 to start the season so I’m more cash strapped this week as I only enter 4 tournaments before, hopefully, not another re-deposit. I am well aware this isn’t positive EV but I enjoy the Sundays so much more that for $20 a week, I’m not worried about it.

No reason to think it won’t happen again.

I’m sure you can consider it point chasing but guys like Diggs, Travis Benjamin, and DeVantae Paker are finding my lineups due to price. I’m a big fan of Amari Cooper this week and DeAngelo, AB, and DJ are no brainers. Tajae Sharpe as a #1 WR at that price is also a guy I’m playing. With regards to other RB’s, Sims, Riddick, Gordon, should all be bell cows. I also might sprinkle some Christine Michael for some exposure. Trey Burton being a minimum is also in play if Zach Ertz doesn’t suit up. Bucs and Dolphins D are the way to go this week.

Fantasy Football

Wild Turkeys – Sitting at 1-1 and already behind 0-22.5, I’m not playing from a great spot. Add to that I have to play against Amari Cooper and AB, both of whom I’ll be using in DFS, this isn’t looking great. I’m hoping for a bounce back from Eli and Hoyer to be able to get Jeffery the ball. McCoy is predicted to have a rough go but there’s not much I can do. I also have the problem with Olsen because BML. David Johnson will have to be my savior. I’m also counting on the Dolphins for some nice points.

Big Johnson’s – Also 1-1, I’ll be rolling the dice with a Tannehill-Landry stack. David Johnson, Devonta Freeman, and Theo Riddick are strong RB starts. Snead and Jordan Reed round out a nice team. I’ll decide between Maclin and Riddick at game time. Same Miami D play. I got a boost from my opponent playing Will Fuller and once again have to fade AB.

Jameis Has Crabs – A bozo dropped Eli in this league so I scooped him. Tough choice between him and Tannehill this week. RB’s in McCoy, Freeman, and Forte aren’t wonderful but easy choices. Jordan Matthews and Crabtree are serviceable and hopefully Reed goes off. I can consider Tajae or Sterling for that Crabtree spot as well. I’m playing a good team with Cam, DeMarco, Riddick, Doug Baldwin, and of course, AB. How the fuck does that happen?

Eliminator

I HATE HATE HATE putting all my eggs in one basket on this Dolphins game but I’ll eat my words hard if the Browns can beat the Dolphins at home. The Saints are my other pick but it’s hard for me to justify liking that one over the Fins.

Nice sweat in the golf as well. 306 out of 29,411.

23 Sep, 2016

The Worst Football Game I’ve Ever Watched

By Tom Stortz|2016-09-23T19:40:52-04:00September 23rd, 2016|Sports|1 Comment

I don’t mind losing. I lose all the time and have learned to deal with losses. Last night was one of the worst games I’ve ever witnessed in my entire life and being on the wrong side of it leaves me mystified. To be that wrong makes you question your entire football betting existence. Why was it so bad?

The Texans didn’t cross midfield until the 3rd quarter
The Texans fumbled on kickoff returns twice
Jacoby Brisset didn’t even have to play. He could have kneeled every down and the Pats would have won

Just have long hair and you’ll be one of the best RB’s in the league.

The thinking behind the game was that it’s a rookie QB, the Texans D-line is sick and would put pressure all game long, it felt like the Patriots weren’t in a dominate position without Gronk (did play but ineffective still) and Brady.

What happened? 0 pressure. Jacoby didn’t have to pass and when he did he completed short passes that went for big gains. The offense of the Texans was nauseating. 3rd and 3. What should we do? Let’s run Lamar Miller into the line. I will never take the Texans again this entire year after watching that game. Blacklisted.

I don’t even mind losing my own money but I told Jeff, “don’t overthink it”, take the Texans. He lost money too and that hurts worse. Add to it that I’m playing against Blount and the asshole scores a 30+ yard TD in the 4th which was meaningless to the game. For christ sake, be worse.

22 Sep, 2016

Barstool Sports is Phony

By Tom Stortz|2016-09-22T14:30:13-04:00September 22nd, 2016|My Brain|0 Comments

What It Has Become

Erika Nardini

I’ve been a Stoolie for at least 5 years and this new acquisition by the Chernin Group is taking a turn for the worse. The Pres sold Barstool for a figure in the range of $15 million a few months ago and gave up control of the company. They hired a female CEO named Erika Nardini (who used to work for AOL) and the site has radically changed. What we are now seeing:

A desperate plea to sign up for their newsletter
More and more podcasts that no one wants to listen to
More bigger named sponsored (Kohls, Spotify, Covergirl, Coca Cola) all over the site
Content that is not worth reading because it’s pilfered from Reddit or just plain stupid

It seems exactly like Deadspin, BuzzFeed, and the other crap that developed once they sold out.

What It Was

The reason Stoolies liked Barstool was because they could identify with its unorganized approach. The office was a shit hole. The employees were all degenerates. The content was silly. The Pres was a hero.

Now they have a bunch of corporate assholes running the company and the zany bloggers are now employees. Not even good employees. Before it was funny that they were uneducated and wrote about worthless information. Now they are expected to be journalists and they flat out aren’t. When Smitty was in Philly I was amused as his local antics. Now that he’s in New York, he’s just another blogger and one that I frankly care little about.

Barstool was real. Even though the Pres was completely shtick, it was real shtick. Now it’s like, “what can we come up with that will produce a lot of eyeballs.” It’s forced and not worth paying attention to.

What I Hope Happens

I hope they start to lose a lot of money, go bankrupt, and go back to what it was. It wasn’t lavish but this new formula doesn’t work. It’s a phony act that looks to appease million dollar corporations and bring on new eyeballs of people who won’t be “stoolies”. RIP Barstool.

For the record, the Pres bought a 2 million dollar mansion in Nantucket that looks like this.

22 Sep, 2016

It’s Ok To Laugh

By Tom Stortz|2016-10-28T15:31:41-04:00September 22nd, 2016|My Life|0 Comments

My new thesaurus is terrible.
It’s also terrible.

Sam and I went back home to bowl in the league on Monday and we ended up going 2-2 to bowlers who didn’t even care if they played let alone won. Very frustrating. Wevs carried the team and everyone else was a bit below average.

It’s also my final day at the beach as work keeps piling up and I’m heading back to not get overloaded for Monday. Combine that with an Eagles-Steelers tailgate and Monday may not be so productive. I’ll be on the Texans -1 for 4 units tonight against Rob Kelley’s wishes I’m sure.

Golf went well yesterday as I made a slight adjustment to my swing and was hitting the ball with good contact time and time again. I finished with a 90 but could have been shots better if it wasn’t for a few unlucky breaks.

The 10 seconds where this video is pointed are hilarious.

21 Sep, 2016

Doing Nothing

By Tom Stortz|2016-10-29T12:07:09-04:00September 21st, 2016|My Life|0 Comments

I’ve been waking up and doing what your supposed to do on vacation, nothing. Today I spent an hour doing the crossword puzzles. 30 minutes on the 3 star Sudoku which I cleared today. An hour researching fantasy football. Now I’m writing this blog post and will go for a run for an hour before playing golf. I could get used to this.

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