FDH Insider August 27 -- another 3-hour special

This Wednesday night marks the third and final three-hour edition of THE FANTASYDRAFTHELP.COM INSIDER (7-10 PM EDT on SportsTalkNetwork.com) as we await next Wednesday night’s season debut of the FDH hockey show THE GOON SQUAD during the 9 PM EDT hour. But tonight’s fantasy program covers the fantasy landscape as usual while reserving extra time for those fantasy football owners still awaiting their draft or auction.

We start the show by reviewing the outcome of our recent fantasy Olympics draft. We are huge believers at FDH in enjoying fantasy sports not merely when they are applied in the traditional ways to major sports, but also when they are utilized to lend more enjoyment to niche sports. We will then take our first preview of our hockey mock draft, which we will disseminate on the show on September 10.

From there, we delve into two concepts for the end of the fantasy baseball season that could also be applied to fantasy hoops and fantasy hockey because they also have long-form seasons: the fantasy autopsy and the analysis of the year’s ultimate buy-low candidate.

Then, a bit into Hour Two, we turn to fantasy football first by expanding upon last week’s discussion of the auction format. How should you adjust your dollar-spending strategies as the event progresses? From there, we get into another specific sub-type of auction league: keeper-style! There are more lessons to be applied with that format.

Later in Hour Two, we examine a number of mock drafts in addition to our own from this program two weeks ago and we identify overvalued and undervalued players by these measures. Later, in Hour Three, we review this week’s Bill Simmons/Matthew Berry podcast on ESPN.com – so you don’t have to! Seriously, though, as much as we bag on “Roto” when we feel it’s appropriate, he made about an equal number of valid and absolutely ludicrous points, and we’ll sort out his advice for you.

Be sure to join us for the FDH Wednesday night bloc, only on SportsTalkNetwork.com!

FDH Insider August 20 -- another 3-hour special

This Wednesday's edition of THE FANTASYDRAFTHELP.COM INSIDER on SportsTalkNetwork.com (7-10 PM EDT) will be another three-hour edition as the 9 PM EDT hour of THE GOON SQUAD gives way to additional fantasy football coverage during the peak period of interest for that hobby and the deadest period on the calendar for hockey news.

We lead off the show with our third annual college football team draft, which has the recommended league guidelines and the FDH draft board here. This can be a very fun way to enhance your enjoyment of NCAA football, as you can combine your knowledge of the teams with a way to compete with your friends.

Towards the end of Hour One, we will hit our token non-football items of the night: specifically, lessons to be learned and applied for fantasy baseball. Our first item applies to the concept of the "keeper league autopsy." Very few teams conform exactly to a specific prediction in terms of season outcome; most exceed expectations or fail to meet them. What is the process you should use to determine lessons to learn for next year? We'll have a solid example for you. Also, we'll examine the man who ended up presenting a spectacular "buy low" opportunity this past April/May in CC Sabathia.

Midway through Hour Two, we turn back to football and we visit the concepts of the auction and keeper league auctions and/or drafts. What are some specific points to keep in mind for these formats? We'll tell you. Then, toward the end of the hour and through the final hour, we break down our mock draft from last week's show, the results of which can be found here. Additionally, don't forget to download our FREE fantasy football mock draft guide if you haven't already. Skip the glossy newsstand mags with their prices approaching double digits and get the real thing here.

For the most comprehensive fantasy sports program you will find anywhere, with advice and thought processes that are bulletproof, join us for THE INSIDER this Wednesday for our three-hour special only on STN.

2008 College Football Team Draft

On this Thursday night’s edition of THE FANTASYDRAFTHELP.COM INSIDER (special three-hour edition, 7-10 PM EDT on SportsTalkNetwork.com), we will bring you our third annual college football team draft. It’s a fun way to mix traditional fantasy sports with straight college football, as we will each compile a stable of teams that will be competing for us. Here’s our suggested league guidelines, which we will be following for the show.

Take 6 owners and conduct a 7-round standard draft. Points will be assigned at four intervals: when the September 28 Associated Press poll is released, when the October 26 Associated Press poll is released, when the December 7 Associated Press poll is released and when the final BCS poll is released after the national championship game. The September 28 poll accounts for 20% of the total score (with the exception of the bonus points, which are mentioned below), the October 26 poll accounts for 20% of the total score, the December 7 poll accounts for 20% of the total score and the final BCS poll accounts for 40% of the total score.

For the first three polls, scoring is as follows: 1st place (50 points), 2nd place (45 points), 3rd place (43 points), 4th place (42 points), 5th place (41 points), 6th place (38 points), 7th place (37 points), 8th place (36 points), 9th place (35 points), 10th place (34 points), 11th place (30 points), 12th place (29 points), 13th place (28 points), 14th place (27 points), 15th place (26 points), 16th place (22 points), 17th place (21 points), 18th place (20 points), 19th place (19 points), 20th place (18 points), 21st place (13 points), 22nd place (12 points), 23rd place (11 points), 24th place (10 points), 25th place (9 points). Points are doubled in the final poll, since it accounts for twice the point total of each of the three previous ones.

Additional bonuses are awarded for the following accomplishments: 25 points for winning the BCS Title Game, 10 points for earning a spot in the BCS Title Game, 12 points for winning a BCS Bowl Game, 6 points for earning a spot in a BCS Bowl Game, 5 points for winning a non-BCS bowl game, 10 points for having the Heisman Trophy winner on one of your teams.

With the guidelines having now been established, here is the FDH draft board for this event and one that could help any of you who are reading this in your own college football team drafts. The number in parentheses represents the rank that each team earned on our “Experts Draft Board,” which was compiled from an average of several prominent preseason polls. Please note, however, that the pollsters were weighing in on their present perceptions of where these teams rank and our draft board is based on a series of predictions in terms of where these teams will end up at the close of the season. For example, a team like Georgia, who plays the toughest schedule in the country by present means of measure, will be penalized for that on a draft board like this. For that matter, our perception that top teams in what is perennially the nation’s toughest conference, the SEC, will chew each other up even more than usual is factored into the draft board as well.

TOP TIER

1. Ohio State (2)

2. Missouri (7)

3. Georgia (1)

4. West Virginia (6)

5. USC (3)

6. Florida (5)

7. Oklahoma (4)

8. Texas (8)

SECOND TIER

9. LSU (9)

10. Clemson (10)

11. BYU (13)

12. Virginia Tech (17)

13. Illinois (21)

14. Wisconsin (12)

15. Kansas (11)

THIRD TIER

16. Auburn (14)

17. Wake Forest (16)

18. Arizona State (18)

19. Texas Tech (19)

20. Oregon (15)

21. Tennessee (20)

22. South Florida (23)

23. Fresno State (24T)

FOURTH TIER

24. Boise State (26)

25. Cincinnati (27T)

26. Utah (24T)

27. Tulsa (29)

28. Michigan (not in the Top 35)

29. Alabama (not in the Top 35)

30. Pittsburgh (35T)

31. Connecticut (not in the Top 35)

32. Florida State (not in the Top 35)

33. Miami (not in the Top 35)

34. Boston College (22)

35. UCLA (not in the Top 35)

36. TCU (not in the Top 35)

37. Notre Dame (not in the Top 35)

38. Michigan State (not in the Top 35)

39. Purdue (not in the Top 35)

40. Nevada (not in the Top 35)

41. Oklahoma State (not in the Top 35)

42. Penn State (27T)

FDH Insider August 13 - Football Mock Draft!!!

Tonight, the FDH Wednesday night bloc consists only of THE FANTASYDRAFTHELP.COM INSIDER (7 PM EDT on SportsTalkNetwork.com) as we bring you our fifth annual FDH Football Mock Draft. No GOON SQUAD tonight as we focus only on fantasy football and bringing it to you as only we can at FDH.

We are happy to also have participation in tonight's draft from staff at SportsTalkNetwork.com, Sportsology and Gridiron Evaluations. This is our biggest show of the year in terms of traffic and fan interest given the popularity and utility of mock drafts.

Don't forget to download our FREE draft guide, FANTASY FOOTBALL DRAFTOLOGY 2008 and be sure to join us tonight for our HUGE program. If you can't catch us live, go to the STN archives or read our draft results when they are posted over the weekend on the FDH main football page.

FDH Insider/Goon Squad August 6

The FDH Wednesday night on SportsTalkNetwork.com continues to cover a wider swath than any other chunk of broadcasting on terrestrial or Internet media.

On THE FANTASYDRAFTHELP.COM INSIDER (7-9 PM EDT), we deliver a first even for us: a Summer Olympics fantasy medal draft. With the start of the Games mere days away, how can you and your friends watch with an additional rooting interest? Tune in and find out -- and go to our Summer Olympics page on FDH for details. Then, toward the end of Hour One, we go back to a topic raised last week during our fantasy baseball discussion: the topic of "offset twins" as you prepare your rosters going down the stretch and looking ahead to next year. Hour Two is completely devoted to fantasy football as we get ready for our biggest program of the year -- next week's three-hour fantasy football mock draft! We'll preview draft strategy at different points of the early rounds, as well as examining mid and late-round strategies. Additionally, we'll look at how the early news out of NFL training camps has changed some draft assumptions. And we haven't forgotten about you good folks participating in auction formats -- we'll break down auction strategies. Above all else, make sure that you have our free draft guide, FANTASY FOOTBALL DRAFTOLOGY 2008, in your mitts on Draft Day/Auction Day (it's got dollar values, auctioneers!).

On THE GOON SQUAD (9-10 PM EDT), we wrap up our extended team-by-team preview of the 2008-2009 NHL season by going through the only division we have yet to visit, the Atlantic. Then we break out THE FDH LOUNGE team-by-team predictions for the season: point totals for all teams in the league, playoff rankings and playoff outcomes -- our crystal ball tells it all! Our comprehensive look ahead at the upcoming NHL season comes before what will be at least a two-week break for the show as we run up to the 10 PM EDT hour with our fantasy football programming for the next few episodes, so soak up the live puck programming while you can, Wednesday night only on The Sports Talk Network!