Boxing Mock Draft Thursday Night!

This Thursday at 8 PM on the FantasyDrafthelp.com Insider on SportsTalkCleveland.com, we move into new and uncharted territory -- boxing. Here's the agenda:

8 PM: Our boxing mock draft, which focuses on the biggest fights of the summer of '06. Your draft board and suggested league guidelines may be found here.

9 PM: We move to fantasy baseball as we scan the week's news and notes and look back at the FantasyDrafthelp.com draft board for 2006. How's that Top 25 looking in retrospect?

9:40 PM: NBA draft coverage resumes with our expert Jason Jones. We'll take a sneak peek at his first mock draft after the lottery situation shook out Tuesday night. Incidentally, I don't quite understand coverage like this. I don't see where the top pick is going to help the team that much. No Lebron, no Yao, no Shaq Daddy, no Big Fundamental in this draft -- and many of the top picks project as power forwards at the NBA level. That's certainly the least of the Raps' needs, especially if developing franchise player Chris Bosh re-signs as expected. So we'll certainly have much to talk about tomorrow night and in the weeks to come. This will, of course, include the 102-page NBA Draft E-Book, which we will have available for free download on SportsTalkCleveland.com at least a week prior to the draft. And it will also include our NBA Draft Show on STC on June 28 at 7 PM. If you heard Jason and I tear it up for 10 1/2 hours on NFL Draft Day, you have a taste of what we have up our sleeve.

Other notes of note:

* "Listed at 36 years old ..." I love the cynicism, and it's entirely justified. He will bounce back in Queens, though.

* Not good if you picked him up after the promotion. Wait and see, though, before you panic. Rash moves are no friend of top fantasy owners.

* I've heard of asbestos abatement. Is there such an industry as crack cocaine abatement?

* Will this guy go higher in fantasy drafts next year because he's now a max player? My guess is no, because he was already highly respected in fantasy circles. But maybe he gets a new respect now as a max player. It's worth monitoring.

* Ooh, a blog to promote your show. How freakin' original! I have to promote this, though, because these guys are my friends and co-workers and there's a lot of good sports talk on there, especially for Cleveland sports fans.

Another rockin' show Thursday

First, choke on this, Tim Legler, king of the Lebron-haters. The Cavs don't play in Summit County anymore, so this can't be the "Miracle of Richfield II," but 30 years later, the magic is back. Although all of the "experts" on ESPN will still be saying "Pistons in 7" when/if Cleveland puts it away at home Friday night.

Now putting the soapbox away ...

Let me remind all of you good folks to tune in for THE FANTASYDRAFTHELP.COM INSIDER on SportsTalkCleveland.com this Thursday night at 8 PM. We've got lots of goodies for you as per usual.

8 PM: We will have greetings from our founder, former co-host and occasional contributor Nathan Noy on the occasion of the show's second anniversary.

8:15 PM: Our niche sports examination continues with a look at the upcoming hockey offseason and how the status of stars like Dominik Hasek and Peter Forsberg will affect the fantasy market.

8:25 PM: We prepare for next Thursday's fantasy boxing mock draft with a first look at the FantasyDrafthelp.com boxing draft board and a preview of the draft.

8:35 PM: Attention turns to baseball as we examine key injuries and the breakout players of 2006.

9:30 PM: We take our second look at the NBA Draft and we will preview our live draft analysis show on June 28.

The best pitcher in baseball vs. the man who could be pushing him for that title in a year or so. The future wins.

All this speculation when we know he will end up in Houston.

Can Nadal do it when it counts in Paris? He did last year. He could be the fantasy steal of the year on that circuit.

Wow, at this rate, Ashley Lelie might turn into a fantasy underachiever this year. Insert chuckling emoticon here.

The full spectrum of fantasy sports Thursday

We pride ourselves on covering the entire spectrum of fantasy sports on The FantasyDrafthelp.com Insider (Thursdays on SportsTalkCleveland.com from 8-10 PM). But this should be the case more than ever this Thursday night on the Insider.

It's our two-year anniversary show, as well as being my birthday, so we're extra fired-up for a big program. Here's what we've got:

8 PM: We take our usual spin around the world of niche fantasy sports, looking back first at our Triple Crown draft from last Thursday and then a look ahead at our first fantasy boxing mock draft on the program, scheduled for May 25.

8:20 PM: We move slightly more into the fantasy mainstream, talking basketball and hockey -- but not more playoff talk. It's our first look at next year already! We start planting the seeds right now about where players should be slotted. Speaking of which, here's a top goalie for 2006-07 if he returns and if he can conquer the "glass groin."

8:30 PM: Our friend, FantasyDrafthelp.com baseball contributor Tim Foust stops by to help us keep breaking down the "Vin Baker" and "Brian Giles" candidates of 2006 (more about that below).

9:20 PM: More "next season" fantasy talk -- this time about football! It's the first look you'll find anywhere at the 2006 fantasy football season and how to rate all the gridiron stars.

9:40 PM: We cap off our show with an early look at the NBA Draft. My co-host Jason Jones and I are in the early stages of preparing what should be a 102-page E-book about the draft and we'll share our early observations.

We always say that we've got the fastest-paced two hours on STC every week, but arguably, this is the case more than ever tomorrow night.

The "Baker" candidates from last week included Marcus Giles and Livan Hernandez. We'll have a lot of "Baker" and "B. Giles" possibilities tomorrow night.

Somebody's horning in on our concept of being the broadest-based fantasy brand out there. I'm not thrilled.

The Mario Williams draft fiasco claims its first victim, as we indicated on Draft Day.

Good move passing on this guy, Hawks.

Grab this guy on waivers right now, kiddies.

See you on Thursday night for the gigantic show.

Odds and ends and Thursday's show

I mentioned during my blogging during the NFL Draft that I was going to be curious to learn more about why Ashton Youboty fell so far. No concrete answer has surfaced, but apparently questions about sporadic breakdowns seen on film. To me, this is a perfect example of the overanalyzing that takes place during the "Silly Season" leading up to the draft, in which the media and NFL decision-makers give undue weight to stupid concerns. As much as I piled on Marv Levy for his first-round reaches, and justifiably so, he got one of the bargains of the draft when Youboty dropped in the third round. It doesn't come close to evening out for him, though. Failing to get value in the first round is not forgivable.

The greatest fantasy basketball player in the world took another step forward tonight, winning a classic for his team.

Everyone's postseason hockey pools are in disarray. That's why the playoffs are a crapshoot, folks.

Before I preview tomorrow night's FantasyDrafthelp.com Insider on SportsTalkCleveland.com (8-10 PM EST), let me take a quick look back at last week. Specifically, the discussion of baseball "buy and sell" included a discussion about "regression to the mean" and "progression to the mean." New FantasyDrafthelp.com baseball analyst Tim Foust referenced the "Vin Baker exception" to the progression rule. We'll amplify that on Thursday's show.

8 PM: Our "fantasy potpourri" moves into an area we've never explored before: fantasy Triple Crown. Our STC and FantasyDrafthelp.com analysts will come together to select horses for the three big races, starting with this Saturday's Kentucky Derby. How will the blistering pace forecast by the experts affect the outcome? Tune in and find out. I should note that we will be joined by STC's foremost horse racing expert, Bob Glassman, host of THE TRUTH HURTS WITH BOB GLASSMAN (Monday nights from 7-8 PM EDT on STC) -- and I plug that show not merely because he has utilized me as an occasional sidekick! Bob is also the genius behind the Lebronmeter, the site dedicated to measuring the chances that Lebron James will re-sign with the Cleveland Cavs this offseason.

8:30 PM: Before we leave the examination of niche fantasy sports, we will further develop our fantasy boxing game, which will be rolled out on May 25. STC boxing experts Jason Jones and Don Peterson, hosts of the weekend show THE SQUARED CIRCLE, will offer their thoughts on this summer's boxing schedule.

8:45 PM: Fantasy baseball talk resumes with a look at more "buy, sell and hold" candidates, along with the "Vin Baker prototypes." These are the players who might otherwise be expected to "progress to the mean," (i.e. bounce back from slow starts to meet at least a marginal standard the rest of the way) but may not necessarily.

9:30 PM: Jason and I will bring the NFL Draft post-analysis, fresh off our 10 1/2 hour marathon coverage on Saturday. Who were the winners and losers? We'll break it down for you.

As usual, check out our show archives here.

Indulge me, please

This is not exactly fantasy sports-related (except for those of us whose playoff fantasy teams just went into the commode), but the Winged Wheel bowed out in 6 games tonight. Steve Yzerman is my all-time favorite athlete, a class act through and through and he may have skated his final game tonight -- although I hope not. He proved this evening that he still is incredibly valuable as an "energy player" and somebody who skates with the heart and grit that so many of his teammates are lacking (I'm looking at you, Pavel). Please don't go, Stevie.