Soccer By Ives

SBI Fantasy MLS Corner

By CASEY CANNON

Hello and Welcome to the Soccer by Ives Fantasy Corner – now extra strength to ease pain and minimize swelling!  Every week I dig through statistics, news, and rumors to provide the reader with the kind of fantasy advice that only a professional kick boxer can provide.  I am writing this well before the official injury reports come out, so don't be grumpy if I tell you to pick a hurt player.  For information on MLS Fantasy Football go to http://fantasy.mlsnet.com/. 

Here are a couple of quick notes, before the recommendations for the week.  

• Deadline Wednesday!  Hurry, Hurry, Hurry!
  
• More international games this week!  Careful, Careful, Careful!  I don’t provide a list of absences because I have a bad habit of missing some player who has been called up by Borneo. I don’t want to poison the results of the SBI readers, so like injuries, its best to encourage everyone to do their own homework. 
  
• No way.  Chad Marshal did what?  No.  Really?  Dang. I wonder how defenders play him in the next couple games.

European Spotlight: Edin Dzeko

If you were wondering where AC Milan might spend some of the money just secured from the sale of Kaka, look no further than Bosnian striker Edin Dzeko.

Haven't heard of Dzeko (pronounced Jeh-ko)? If you don't follow the German Bundesliga then it might have been easy to miss the dream season he just enjoyed with Bundesliga champions VFL Wolfsburg. Dzeko scored 26 goals, combining with Brazilian striker Grafite to form one of the best forward tandems in Europe. His combination of size, skill and finishing ability has drawn comparisons to Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Just 23, Dzeko was at the top of Arsenal's wish list heading into this summer, but now that Milan has him in its sights with some transfer funds to spend, Dzeko could be lighting up Serie A next season.

Haven't seen Dzeko play. Whether you have or haven't, enjoy some of video Dzeko's goals after the jump:

SBI MLS Fantasy Corner

 

By CASEY CANNON

Hello and Welcome to the Soccer by Ives Fantasy Corner – with extra sarcasm! Every week I dig through statistics, news, and rumors to provide the reader with the kind of fantasy advice that only a the winner of the Brimstone Cup can provide. I am writing this well before the official injury reports come out, so don't be grumpy if I tell you to pick a hurt player. For information on MLS Fantasy Football go to http://fantasy.mlsnet.com/.

A couple quick notes, before the recommendations for the week.

• Odds are that this won’t be published until Friday. Ives will be a bit busy down south and who knows what kind of connection he will have available. If this comes out in time, pick up Kandji from the Red Bulls and consider Rojas and Angel. The spreadsheet says no, but the match ups say yes. As for DC, don’t go out of your way to pick them up. The rest of my comments and recommendations will ignore these two teams.

• Another international weekend. Put in you due diligence when picking players, especially non-US players.

• So McTraitor “earned” a penalty to win the Chivas game. I wonder which teammate taught him to dive like that? (SBI Note- For thoe who haven't caught on, Casey is a Crew fan.)

• Gratz to FC Dallas on winning the Brimstone cup. I interviewed some of the Dallas players, still dripping with champagne, after the game. David Ferreira enthused “I’m glad I could have a big impact on this game. They need me to have as many touches as possible, since I am the best player. I think, in the future, my team will go as far as I can carry the lesser players”

SBI MLS Fantasy Corner (Week 11)

  

                                                           Photo by ISIphotos.com

By CASEY CANNON

Hello and Welcome to the Soccer by Ives Fantasy Corner – now even more fertile! Every week I dig through statistics, news, and rumors to provide the reader with the kind of fantasy advice that only a someone with at least one good knee can provide. I am writing this well before the official injury reports come out, so don't be grumpy if I tell you to pick a hurt player. For information on MLS Fantasy Football go to http://fantasy.mlsnet.com/.

Here are a couple of quick notes before the recommendations for the week.

• Make your changes right NOW! There is a Wednesday game this week.

• Watch for national team shenanigans.

• LA had a man advantage for the entire second half and couldn’t score. Now Landon Donovan goes off for National Team time. MMM smell that clean sheet cookin.

• Sometimes during a name calling spat everyone involved comes away diminished. Good for Kei Kamara keeping his mouth shut this time.

• The top two in the SBI league switched places. “Team angler23” is currently top dog with “Celtic1888” just behind. They sit 3rd and 5th overall. For the week the top SBI player was “Black Hearts” 19th overall.

Now, onto this week's picks:

SBI Fantasy MLS Corner (Week 10)

 

                                                Photo by ISIphotos.com

By CASEY CANNON

Hello and Welcome to the Soccer by Ives Fantasy Corner – now with the latest in nanotech! Every week I dig through statistics, news, and rumors to provide the reader with the kind of fantasy advice that only a man who is retiring from the constant grind of coaching in the U-7 division can provide. I am writing this well before the official injury reports come out, so don't be grumpy if I tell you to pick a hurt player. For information on MLS Fantasy Football go to http://fantasy.mlsnet.com/.

A couple quick notes, before the recommendations for the week.

• In accordance with the UFWA contract (United Fantasy Writers of America) I took a paid week off last week. Hope everyone survived.

• Josh Wolff has entered into the Eddie “Flash in the Pan” Johnson competition. Currently Davey Arnaud is in the lead.

• MLS Direct Kick is so good. Its hard to understand how good it is until switching cable providers rips it away.

SBI MLS Fantasy Corner

                                                                                Photo by ISIphotos.com

By CASEY CANNON

Hello and Welcome to the Soccer by Ives Fantasy Corner – now with free shipping and handling!  Every week I dig through statistics, news, and rumors to provide the reader with the kind of fantasy advice that only a man who is going to produce his own pickles can provide.  I am writing this well before the official injury reports come out, so don't be grumpy if I tell you to pick a hurt player.  For information on MLS Fantasy Football go to http://fantasy.mlsnet.com/. 

Here are a couple of quick notes before the recommendations for the week.

• The deadline is Wednesday (TODAY)!  Go make rough draft picks right now!!

• If LeBron James played soccer, would he be the greatest forward ever?

• The Fire managed to earn a draw against another 10-man team.  I wonder what Blanco gave the ref this time.

• To the Crew Defenders and Staff: Watching the Chicago game tape, we see an unmarked Brain McBride score on header when the ball goes down the left side of the field.  Against Toronto we see Barrett score the tying goal unmarked after the ball comes in from the left side of the field. Please develop a plan to handle this devastating “left side of the field” strategy teams are implementing against you.

• After Donovan hit that PK, did one of the other Galaxy players ask LD to give someone else a chance?

• Speaking of the Galaxy, shocking news.  LA has the 6th-ranked defense in the league. Better than Chicago and New England.  Adjust mindsets accordingly.

• Continued congratulations to “Celtic1888” 1st in the SBI league and 2nd overall. 100 points behind and 2nd in the SBI league is “champ chelsea” . Team “dcunited1996” won the week for SBI.

• For those of you wondering, my team is “Duncan Can Score” now sitting 41st overall.

Now, onto this week's picks:

SBI MLS Fantasy Corner (Week 7)

 

By CASEY CANNON

Hello and Welcome to the Soccer by Ives Fantasy Corner – now with more frequent flyer miles!  Every week I dig through statistics, news, and rumors to provide the reader with the kind of fantasy advice that only the best referee in the United States can provide.  I am writing this well before the official injury reports come out, so don't be grumpy if I tell you to pick a hurt player.  For information on MLS Fantasy Football go to http://fantasy.mlsnet.com/. 

A couple of quick notes, before the recommendations for the week.

• League assist leader Gerson Mayen isn’t a fulltime starter for the Goats.  He played 54 minutes during his two games last week.  Look for “Free Mayen” posters at the next Chivas home game.

• New Yorkers like to do things better than the folks in the Midwest.  So when Columbus set the bar for choking away a late lead against Chicago, well the Red Bulls were compelled to top it.   The blown lead is worse for New York, if only because it looked like the Red Bulls had gotten their game together.

• Seattle in the Open Cup?  Lets hope they play at Qwest field and draw 30,000 fans for an open cup game.

• Real Salt Lack whipped Columbus a couple weeks ago, and eviscerated New England last weekend.  That there is home field advantage.

• Last week, Maple Leaf fans saw their fantasy team shoot up the charts. Congrats to “Celtic1888” and “Team angler23” number one and two respectively in the SBI league, 4th and 18th overall. “Team Paul_y09” won week six for SBI with a RSL heavy team, placing 18th.

Now, onto this week's SBI Fantasy picks:

SBI MLS Fantasy Corner (Week 6)

 

                                                Photo by ISIphotos.com

 

By CASEY CANNON

Hello and Welcome to the Soccer by Ives Fantasy Corner – now inspecting sewers near you! Every week I dig through statistics, news, and rumors to provide the reader with the kind of fantasy advice that only a guy not named Ives can provide. I am writing this well before the official injury reports come out, so don't be grumpy if I tell you to pick a hurt player. For information on MLS Fantasy Football go to http://fantasy.mlsnet.com/.

A couple of quick notes, before the recommendations for the week.

Houston, FC Dallas and New York all won last week. Let’s see, that means that LA and Columbus are the two worst teams in the league. Can someone from Columbus please provide an acceptable excuse for this meltdown? Injuries are not an acceptable excuse. Brian Carroll, Eddie Gaven, Wil Hesmer, Danny O’Rourke, and Guillermo Barros Schelotto have started every game, yet Schelotto the only one who has shown up to play.

The LA Galaxy doesn’t need to provide any excuses; everyone has accepted that team for what it is.

Take a moment to look at the schedule, this week there are four teams with two games, next week each team except the Wizards play one game. Then two weeks ahead KC, LA, RSL and DC all play two games. Managing the bench and trades to maximize this week and two weeks from now will separate the top flight players. With that in mind, here is some more advice on how to approach the week.

SBI MLS Fantasy Corner (Week 5)

  

                                                                Photo by ISIphotos.com

By CASEY CANNON

Hello and Welcome to the Soccer by Ives Fantasy Corner – now truncated for easy reading! Every week I dig through statistics, news, and rumors to provide the reader with the kind of fantasy advice that only a tax auditor can provide. I am writing this well before the official injury reports come out, so don't be grumpy if I tell you to pick a hurt player. For information on MLS Fantasy Football go to http://fantasy.mlsnet.com/.

Just a couple quick notes, before the recommendations for the week.

For those who didn’t watch the LA Chivas Super-classico / Derby Match on ESPN, here is a brief description. In the super-classico I hope no one took either Bruce Arena or Preki – it was a Derby Match! In a Super-classico the passions run higher and because it’s a derby match the cards often flow. In this case of the super-classico derby match both coaches earned negative points in the derby match, because of all the cards the over excited players earned while playing in the exciting super-classico derby match. Super derby match- classico derby match!

Gratz to Celtic1888 and Scarvice number one and two in the SBI league and in the overall competition. Cruz Azul won week 4 for SBI, finishing 6th overall.

Now, onto the picks:

SBI MLS Fantasy Corner (Week Four)

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By CASEY CANNON

Hello and Welcome to the SBI Fantasy Corner – now with more vivid hallucinations!  Every week I dig through statistics, news, and rumors to provide the reader with the kind of fantasy advice that only a highly paid banking consultant can provide.  I am writing this well before the official injury reports come out, so don't be grumpy if I tell you to pick a hurt player.  For information on MLS Fantasy Football go to http://fantasy.mlsnet.com/. 

Instead of a play-by-play review of last week, lets just hit some interesting notes before getting to this weekend's picks:

SBI MLS Fantasy Corner (Week 3)

 

Now that World Cup qualifying is over, it is time to focus on Major League Soccer, and for many of you, it is time to focus on Fantasy MLS.

Yes, we know, the deadline to make moves involving Columbus Crew and Real Salt Lake players has passed, but we know many of you forgot that deadline just like we did, so with that in mind, SBI fantasy MLS correspondent Casey Cannon gives us his fantasy picks for the week.

Here is the SBI MLS Fantasy Corner:

SBI MLS Fantasy Corner (Week 2)

By CASEY CANNON

Hello and Welcome to the Soccer by Ives Fantasy Corner – now with more humility!  Every week I dig through statistics, news, and rumors to provide the reader with the kind of fantasy advice that only the greatest human being alive can provide.  I am writing this well before the official injury reports come out, so don't be grumpy if I tell you to pick a hurt player.  For information on MLS Fantasy Football go to http://fantasy.mlsnet.com.

First I would like to thank all of those that nominated me for the Fantasy Soccer Writers of America – exemplary achievement award.  Obviously I don’t write with awards in mind, but looking back, I am very proud.  It takes real effort and concentration to achieve the trinity of soccer writing.   For those who missed last week, I managed to mention Soccer, MLS, and even the LA Galaxy without saying a single word about That Guy.   I hope everyone enjoyed reading a soccer article without being reminded that some English dude, may or may not choose to play in the States this summer.

With that said, let’s see how my predictions for the week came out.

Busy qualifying weekend for MLS players

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Open tryouts won't be necessary at BMO Field this week with Toronto FC only missing two players to World Cup qualifiers this time around. But it will indeed be a busy weekend for several of the league's players who will represent their countries at World Cup qualifiers.

Here is a quick look around the league at who will be on international duty. This information will be helpful if you are, like me, an MLS fantasy league player.

SBI MLS Fantasy Corner: Week One

 

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With the 2009 MLS Season about to kick off, it is time to get ready for the start of the MLS Fantasy Season.

In case you missed it, we invited SBI Readers to join the SBI Fantasy MLS League. There is still time to join the league, but for most of you, joining the league has already been taken care of. Now it is time for some strategy.

SBI Fantasy MLS expert Casey Cannon is back this year to bring us more fantasy MLS tips. Here is his report on Week One.

Join the 2009 SBI Fantasy MLS League

   

                                                                             Photo by ISIphotos.com

It is that time of year again. With the 2009 MLS season set to kick off in a week, it is time for you to sign up and join the Fantasy MLS Challenge.

For the third straight year, SBI will be sponsoring an MLS Fantasy League for SBI Mafia members to test their MLS knowledge against each other (and against me). All you have to do is sign up in the next week and pick your squad based on the salaries provided. To join the SBI League just search for the Public League (Soccer By Ives) and join.

SBI will be working on legitimate prizes this year for the Top three finishers this season so stay tuned for more information on that front. For now, sign up, build your team and get ready to show how your team stacks up against the rest of the SBI Mafia.

If you plan on joining the league, and if you have taken part in year's past, please share your thoughts and experiences below.

SBI MLS Fantasy Corner: The Final Week

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It is the weekend you've been waiting for since March, the final week of the MLS regular season and the final chance to score the points needed to move up your Fantasy MLS standings.

Tonight's New York Red Bulls-Chicago Fire match kicks off an exciting and unpredictable weekend of MLS action as some teams fight for their playoff lives, while others simply play out the string.

If you are ready to put together your final fantasy lineup of the season then you should check out SBI fantasy MLS correspondent Casey Cannon's final report of the season. Casey offers up some good year-end picks that could help you find the points needed to make that last-minute climb up the standings.