As part of Microsoft's TV On Your PC campaign, the Sports Channel for Windows Media Center has launched just in time for March Madness.  I have the privilege of previewing it and can say it will further move one away from a depedence on the scheduling of any one network to the convenience of a la carte viewing of DVRs, internet video, etc.

Even though I am out-of-state, I live just a quarter mile from the Connecticut television market.  Like a tax payer whose bonus...um, severance, teaches them a hard lesson in marginal tax rates, the quarter mile makes me unhappy when it comes to following the UCONN Huskies.  Without TV On Your PC, I am stuck to the scheduling of the network and to the hopes I can catch highlights.

No longer. This out-of-state UCONN fan looks forward to following the Huskies' March to Detroit at my convenience.  One of the best features of TV On Your PC is the ability to pick and choose those segments from CBS Sports, Fox Sports and MSNBC Sports that you want to see.  Whether it is a season preview of the Minnesota Twins, a game preview of UCONN-Pittsburgh of FOXSports' Mike Harmon providing his Top Five Rookies, the freedom to view them is based solely on your preference.

However, this is soon to be eclipsed by the at-a-click convenience coverage of March Madness.  Here is what I am looking forward to:

With the Sports Channel’s “College Hoops” feature stream coverage and highlights of the men’s College Basketball games in March and April with Windows Media Center. Providing other options in addition to/other than viewing the game live, viewers can watch:

Watch complete games in condensed form shortly after the games are completed (condensed form means you get all the game action without timeouts, half time, ball retrieval, etc.)

• Watch the marquee games in the first two rounds, then all the games after that through to the championship game
• Game Highlights (1-2 min)
• Highlights from every tournament game (63 games total)
• Post Game Interviews (1-2 min)
• Post game interviews as available
• Buzzer Beaters (2-10 min)
• Last few minutes plus of select games with great finishes

This happened over a month ago, but I think it’s important enough to be worth a post.  In early June, the US Supreme Court rejected an appeal of a Missouri case which pitted Major League Baseball against the fantasy sports industry.

Here’s the case in a nutshell: A few years ago Major League Baseball decided that they would centralize the sale of “licenses” to companies that ran fantasy sports leagues.  To put it simply, they saw how valuable fantasy sports was as they wanted some of that money.  They charged anybody who ran a fantasy league a huge licensising fee (up to $2 million) for the rights to use the player names and stats of the league.  Player images (as used on baseball cards and video games) had always been licensed,  but never before had a sports league claimed that player names and stats were also their private property. 

CDM Fantasy Sports, a medium-sized company out of St. Louis, fought back when Major League Baseball refused to give them a license.  They sued under the claim that player names and statistics were public news items and nobody had the right to claim ownership of  them.  It had to go all the way to the Supreme Court, but they won their case.

This has a personal side for me, as I started out my internet career (such as it is) as a writer for a website called LeaderboardSports.com.  We were a small company that ran its own fantasy baseball game online, but when the MLB instituted their licensing fees we couldn’t come up with the money and the company went under.  So let me say, as a personal opinion that is not endorsed by this blog: MLB can kiss my butt on this one. Ha-ha!

Also, let’s give a hand for CDM Fantasy Sports, who are best known for running those  “salary cap” games you find in the pages of Sporting News and in lots of fantasy magazines.  I never got into those games, but I know people who swear by them.  It was CDM who decided to fight the good fight for the little guy while the “powers” of the industry – CBS, ESPN, Yahoo, etc – decided just to roll over and take being extorted.  Shame on you.

On a practical note, this should have big implications for the fantasy sports industry.  It allows anybody with the right skills and servers to start their own fantasy games, which can only be good news for fantasy players.  It’s hard to imagine any company overthrowing Sportsline or Yahoo as leaders in the industry, but at one point it was hard to imagine that anybody would ever use a web browser other than Internet Explorer.  Currently 40% of Fake Teams readers use something other than IE, so there you go.  It will be interesting to see what kind of fantasy games will sprout up over the next few years.

Good news for the industry and good news for fantasy players everywhere.

I recently purchased the Amazon Kindle and thought I'd share my opinion of it.  It is simply excellent for anyone who does a lot of reading whether that is newspapers or books.  There are even blogs available including the SBNation ones.

One can also download samples from any available book for free.  I found myself downloading samples much more frequently that I would have thought prior to purchasing the Kindle.  For those I liked, I leave them on the device to remind me later to purchase them.  That is much easier than trying to remember them amidst the hectic day-to-day living of raising three kids, and it is a lot cheaper than buying three of four books on a trip to the bookstore only to find I don't like one or two.

The Kindle uses Sprint's wireless network which I have found to be very good in the NYC tri-state area.  My current cell service with T-Mobile uses the EDGE network, and that absolutely sucks.  By comparison, Sprint's network may as well be Wi-fi (which my T-mobile phone does have.)  For coverage of the Kindle, click here.

I subscribe the the New York Times via the Kindle for $13.99 per month.  That seems like a lot until you realize how much home deliver of the Times costs.  For Sunday-only delivery, the NYT runs $18 per month.  For seven-day, it is $40.40 per month.  For simplicity's sake, that is a $26 per month savings.

One issue with the Kindle is the cost.  It is currently offered at $369.  This includes the wireless web service I mentioned.  It is a lot to pay up front, but thinking about it over longer time periods makes that less of an issue.

Using just the NYT example, the monthly savings of $26 per month over twelve months is $326 by itself.  Most of the books, at least all that I was interested in, are heavily discounted from Amazon's prices. The typical new release is $9.99.  That is half to a third of the hard cover price.  Multiply that savings over a year, and it is easy to justify the cost of the Kindle.

Plus:

Easier to turn pages.  Can hold in one hand and click.  I found this to be of particular help when I am eating breakfast/lunch and have no need to put my utensil down to turn the page. 

Can reach the fantasy sports sites the my employer blocks via the wireless web browser included.

Can carry a newspaper, numerous novels and samples of many books along with updates from any number of SBNation blogs.  Any of which come with a 14-day free trial period.  All of this is contained in a the same space as your typical trade paperback.

You are free to read anything you like in "private" because no one can see what is on the cover.  So Democrats in Utah and Republicans in NYC have been freed from nasty looks of their more "enlightened" neighbors.

Minus: 

None that outweight the pluses, but I will go new Englander on you and complain anyways.  When carrying it, you have to put it into sleep mode because the next/prev buttons on on the side where your would cradle it in your hand to carry.

The selection of newspapers are limited to the very biggest i.e New York Times and Wall Street Journal. The magazines do not include sports magazines yet.  Those magazines avaialble would fall towards the left on the [political spectrum.  Absolutely nothing solidly on the right.  National Review would be a good place to start.

You can order directly it from Amazon.com easy enough.  I ask that you click on the Kindle ad in the Sponsors box on the left to help Fake Teams earn referral fees.  It costs you nothing, and you save nothing by going to Amazon through another portal.  Using Fake Teams just helps us by putting some resources in our pockets so that we can continue to make the fantasy guides purchases that help inform our content.

Does the Bible say to teach a man to hit a curve and he'll eat forever?  Does It say to teach a man to run a 4.2 40-yard dash to do the same?  No.  It advises to teach a man to fish, and he will eat forever.

The same could apply to FLW Fantasy Fishing which begins on with the start of the Wal-Mart FLW Tour schedule on February 28, 2008.  If you are the overall winner, one million dollars is your reward and that can buy a lot of food!

I had the good fortune to attend the rollout of the game and had to the opportunity to talk with the first angler to win $1 million in a tournament, Scott Suggs.  A more down-to-Earth superstar I have never met.

Despite the excitement you see when he's in his element, Scott was reserved and approachable.  Over breakfast, he mentioned the opportunity to reach more and more people that FLW Fantasy Fishing will give its participants, and he is excited about doing whatever he can to promote the sports his loves so much.  When he asked what other sport allowed its fans to so simply emulate its heroes as fishing, I could only think about the difficulties of hitting curveballs and trying to get that 40 time under six.

Following my team of anglers, of which Scott Suggs with surely be on, is a great way to introduce my sons to one of the oldest professions in man's history.  The game also offers up early sign-on rewards.  For those who enter on the follwing dates will be eligible for millions more if they pick the Top 7 anglers in order.

1. 12/21/2007 through 12/28/2007 - $5 million
   
2. 12/29/2007 through 01/05/2007 - $4 million
   
3. 01/06/2007 through 01/14/2007 - $3 million
   
4. 01/15/2007 through 02/27/2007 - $1 million

The fee to enter is free.  Why not sign-up?  Just because you weren't given Scott Suggs' email address for fantasy tips like I was.  (ed:  Did he say he'd give you fantasy tips?  EH:  Um....not exactly, but I still can email him.)  Even without Scott's direct line, you can still read some his tips at his website in the  FLW Live Reel Chat.

And "yes", I do hope to fill a Fake Teams Fantasy Fishing League.

Update [2007-7-8 13:42:27 by Eric Hz]: There have been a couple of rosters changes thanks to promotions. Off the US roster is CF Jacoby Ellsbury and SP Matt Garza. They were replaced by Twins' OF Matt Tolbert and Mets' SP Kevin Mulvey. Tolbert's slash stats are 313/374/452 with just 29 strikeouts in 230 ABs. Mulvey has a 3.40 ERA in AA, his first full-season since being drafted in 2006. He sports a nice 1.66 GB/FB ratio.

On the World roster, the Mets 18-year-old AA phenom, Fernando martinez, is out with an injury. In his stead is Astros' OF James Von Ostrand. In his first full-season since being drafted in 2006, he has an .820 OPS with 36 Ks in 237 ABs.

Update [2007-7-8 14:31:41 by Eric Hz]: Thanks to an injury to the Tigers' Cameron Maybin, Jacoby Ellsbury has been re-added to the US Roster.

The rosters for the 2007 XM Satellite All-Star Futures Game were announced on June 21st. The game is fast becoming, if it already isn't, the marquee event of the All-Star Game festivities. The rosters are selected in a collaborative effort between MLB, the 30 major league clubs and Baseball America and MLB.com, and the game will be broadcast on ESPN2 at 4PM on All-Star Sunday. it will also be carried on Channel 176 on XM Radio.

Because of this collaborative effort, one only sees those players considered to be future stars in the game. There are no AAAA players. Because of this, these rosters offer fantasy players a glimpse into which players will be receiving extensive coverage once the off-season begins and prospect lists begin compilation.

What I am providing is an easy one-stop place to see both rosters and a notable statistic for each player so far. In the links provided to MiLB's Futures Game coverage and to that of Baseball America's US Roster and World Roster, there is more detailed information available. For MiLB.com, there is a direct link to each player's up-to-date 2007 stats page, and, in BA's, there is also a brief scouting report for each player. I suggest both for those interested in a fuller picture of the players involved.

2007 U.S. Team					2007 World Team
Position	Name	Organization	Birthdate	Note	Position	Name	Organization	Birthdate	Note
P	Collin Balester	Washington	6/6/1986	K:BB 3.53	P	Pedro Beato	Baltimore	10/27/1986	ERA 3.43
P	Clay Buchholz	Boston	8/14/1984	K/9 12.2	P	Carlos Carrasco	Philadelphia	3/21/1987	74.2IP/53H
P	Joba Chamberlain	New York (AL)	9/23/1985	K/9 12.0	P	Fautino de los Santos	Chicago (AL)	2/15/1986	.161 BAA
P	Matt Garza	Minnesota	11/26/1983	K/9 9.2	P	Emiliano Fruto	Washington	6/6/1984	.199 BAA
P	Luke Hochevar	Kansas City	9/15/1983	K/9 9.0	P	Deolis Guerra	New York (NL)	4/17/1989	0.96 WHIP
P	Clayton Kershaw	Los Angeles (NL)	3/19/1988	K/9 11.2	P	Serguey Linares	Pittsburgh	2/1/1983	2.14 GB/FB
P	Chuck Lofgren	Cleveland	1/29/1986	K/9 10.2	P	Franklin Morales	Colorado	1/24/1986	3.25 ERA
P	Michael Madsen	Oakland	11/29/1982	K/9 9.0	P	Henry Sosa	San Francisco	7/28/1985	.150 BAA
P	Jeff Niemann	Tampa Bay	2/28/1983	K/9 9.1	P	Rich Thompson	Los Angeles (AL)	7/1/1984	K/9 9.8
P	Garrett Olson	Baltimore	10/18/1983	K:BB 3.3	P	Rick Vanden Hurk	Florida	5/22/1985	K/9 11.0
C	Bryan Anderson	St. Louis	12/16/1986	OPS .844	C	Robinzon Diaz	Toronto	9/19/1983	94.6% CR
C	J.R. Towles	Houston	2/11/1984	AA OBP .402	C	Max Ramirez	Cleveland	10/11/1984	OPS .948
IF	Brian Bocock	San Francisco	3/9/1985	29 SB	IF	Elvis Andrus	Atlanta	8/26/1988	19 SB
IF	Adrian Cardenas	Philadelphia	10/10/1987	7 HR in SAL	IF	German Duran	Texas	8/3/1984	SLG .570
IF	Chris Coghlan	Florida	6/18/1985	OPS .970	if	Alcides Escobar	Milwaukee	12/16/1986	20 SB
IF	Brent Lillibridge	Atlanta	9/18/1983	22 SB	IF	Chin-Lung Hu	Los Angeles (NL)	2/2/1984	SLG .515
IF	Evan Longoria	Tampa Bay	10/7/1985	OPS .926	IF	Freddy Sandoval	Los Angeles (AL)	8/16/1982	OPS .827
IF	Steve Pearce	Pittsburgh	4/13/1983	OPS 1.056	IF	Geovany Soto	Chicago (NL)	1/20/2007	OPS .941
IF	Ian Stewart	Colorado	4/5/1985	OPS .821	IF	Craig Stansberry	San Diego	3/8/1982	OPS .870
IF	Johnny Whittleman	Texas	2/11/1987	OPS .983	IF	Joey Votto	Canada	9/10/1983	OBP .419
OF	Jay Bruce	Cincinnati	4/3/1987	43 XBH	OF	Wladimir Balentien	Seattle	7/2/1984	OPS .970
OF	Jacoby Ellsbury	Boston	9/11/1983	27 SB	OF	Carlos Gonzalez	Arizona	10/17/1985	29 XBH
OF	Cameron Maybin	Detroit	4/4/1987	OPS .861	OF	Gorkys Hernandez	Detroit	9/7/1985	28 SB
OF	Colby Rasmus	St. Louis	8/11/1986	36 XBH	OF	Fernando Martinez	New York (NL)	10/10/1988	18YR-Old in AA
OF	Justin Upton	Arizona	8/25/1987	OPS .969	OF	Michael Saunders	Seattle	11/19/1986	OBP .404

Baseball America's "Prospect Hot Sheet" is out, and it is headed by Brewers RHP Yovani Gallardo.  There is little surprise there as he has dominated the hitter-friendly PCL in ways that make me recall Matt Cain circa 2005. If Gallardo follows the same path, fantasy players will be looking at one of next year's draft sleepers.

A little further down the list is Red Sox Low A 1B Lars Anderson.  His slash stats are noteworthy enough (324/411/500), but it is the number of ABs that struck me.  At 176, there are enough to begin adjusting the pre-season ranks to incorporate the good and bad from 2007.   Including Buchholz, Bowden, Ellsbury et al, The Red Sox have several players performing at levels that will make them one of the more talked-about organizations next off-season.

In AL-only leagues, keep an eye on Fallen Prospect Brandon Moss.  He's only 23 and his slash stats at AAA (293/391/540) are a good improvement over his 2006 AA ones (285/357/439).  If he were a Yankee, he'd already have 15+ starts in outfield because the Yankees would have had the option of placing Johnny Damon and/or Bobby Abreu on the DL instead of having them struggle through injuries due to a complete absence of AAA outfielders.

Just wanted to make a little announcement -- feel free to post any fantasy questions in a diary on the sidebar. I'll try to weigh in on anything that appears that, whether you're looking for a second opinion on a trade, waiver pickup, or even just a "how does my roster look?"

From now on, I'm going to make a point of picking some of the more interesting questions and putting them here in the middle section, which will hopefully draw more attention to it and elicit some more opinions. Sound good? Let's see what you got.

Fantasy hoops and hockey are in full force, and baseball is just around the corner. For some fantasy junkies, however, that's just not enough to get by, prompting the creation of the Fantasy Olympics.

Check out the Rules:

I would have totally gone for a thing like this had I thought about it before the Games started. I don't know squat about most of the sports, but it would have been a nice incentive to learn something and pay attention.

[via Deadspin]