STATS Fantasy Advantage Debuts On SiriusXM

[Greg Ambrosius]

Don't forget about STATS Fantasy Advantage tonight on SiriusXM 210/87. I'm really excited about tonight's show as we'll have Dave Potts, our defending NFBC Main Event champion, on at 8:15 pm ET to talk about last year's win and what he expects to accomplish this season. This should be a fun, fun talk with Dave.

Then we have Stephen Jupinka on at 9:15 pm ET. This NFBC Hall of Famer has the most incredible record in the NFBC, but he's also one of the Top 25 money winners in the NFFC. He's won more than a quarter of a million dollars between our two contests. We'll talk to him tonight and pick his brain to see how he wins and cashes so often. He's amazing. This should be another great, great talk.

We're going to lead off with the Justin Upton trade and how that trade has affected his Draft Day value. Listen in because Sam Lubeck, better known as Sammy the STATS Man is going to provide some cool data on Justin Upton. This is going to be fun and it's information that nobody else is providing on these shows. Can't wait for this one tonight.

We'll also analyze the Balco of the East investigation and how that affects the players involved, especially Alex Rodriguez. We're also going to have a segment on our Draft Champions Leagues and really explain the reasons why this format is the fastest growing segment of our games. I mean, we have 50 -- FIFTY-- full leagues already and it's not even Feb. 1st. This is AMAZING. There are several reasons for the popularity of this format and we'll discuss those reasons tonight.

We have a whole lot more, so tune in to hear your NFBC brothers get their 15 minutes of fame. You could be next. See you tonight.

[Greg Ambrosius]

That is if we can make it to the show tonight!! I'll give you a little insight to our adventure:

Our remote equipment is on back order right now and so we need to go to a local radio station to broadcast tonight's show. Hopefully this will be the only time we'll need to do this as the equipment should be here soon. SiriusXM has been nice enough to arrange studio time in Green Bay for us tonight at the local ESPN station. That all sounded perfect until this major snowstorm blew in last night. We're sitting on 8 inches of snow right now and wondering if this 1 hour drive is going to turn into 3 hours. An Arctic blast comes in tonight, so by the time the show is done we should be coming out of the studio to -10 degree wind chill. Tom and I may have to get cozy on the drive home just to stay warm!!

Anyway, it's not a given we'll make it to the studio, but I'll put it in 4-Wheel Drive and do my best. Lambeau Field, here we come!!

[King of Queens]

Good show so far, guys. Sammy from STATS is a keeper!

[Ando]

Nice work, guys. Sat in the parking lot of the hotel I am staying at to catch part of your show. Dave, Steve, and the STATS Guy were great!

[Tom Kessenich]

Thanks to Dave and Steve for coming on the show last night and sharing their wisdom with the masses. This really is something Greg and I have talked about wanting to do for awhile - making you guys the stars because you're the ones winning big in fantasy every year. Thanks to our bosses at STATS and the great folks at Sirius we finally have the opportunity to make all this a reality. So look forward to more of our top players in all of our events being featured each week on our show.

[Greg Ambrosius]

Last night's SiriusXM show was a lot of fun as we had Dave Potts and Stephen Jupinka on for 12-minute segments. Dave was actually quite animated...for him!! Both were very good guests and I think it gave the audience a taste of the passion of our players and the commitment that they put into it. When Dave said he had 30+ NFBC leagues last year, I think the audience understood what it took for Dave to win the $100,000 grand prize last year. And when Steve talked about not having to win every category on Draft Day and that FAAB is really 50% of the battle, that was fantastic insight. All very good.

We'll reach out to a few more NFBC players for next week's show. I think we want to push the Rotowire Fantasy Baseball Online Championship a little more next week and show folks how they can turn $350 into $50,000. Michael O'Brien is our defending champion there and we may get him on the air with us soon. And of course we have to get the great Lindy Hinkelman on, maybe even this week. So look for all of that soon.

As Tom said, this is a great format to spread the word about everything we're doing here at STATS, but primarily the NFBC and NFFC. We're using our ADPs as content that nobody else really has and it's working well before the season. Tom even started giving out his football rankings last night, months before anyone else is looking at that. So it's all good.

Now if we could just settle into our own studio here, we'd be fine. Last week we weren't sure we were going to be on the air until 1 minute before the start time in Las Vegas and yet everything worked fine. Our equipment is still on back order, so last night we had to drive to Green Bay through a blizzard to do the broadcast from an ESPN Radio station. Unfortunately, this looked more like a station in Mayberry RFD and we didn't even have headsets to hear the producer in New York. Tom couldn't hear the guests, which is why he talked over Steve one time!! Sorry about that Steve (it was about free drinks anyway!!). We struggled to both be on computers and we actually had our backs to each other. It was a crazy setup, but somehow we worked through it. With any luck, this week will be a much easier deal and we'll be good to go for just 2 hours of sports talk.

Thanks again everyone. SiriusXM likes the format and I think we have a good show and a lot of unique data for all listeners. Sammy the STATS Man added some nice data at the start of the show and we'll get him more involved in future shows. It's all good and the best is yet to come. Check us out online if you didn't hear the show last night and we'll see you each Wednesday night on SiriusXM Fantasy Channel.

[Quahogs]

You know when I was patched in this popped in my head for some reason ??? I just couldn't shake it

Of course Tom talked over anything involving free drinks ! Let's show him how it's done in Vegas Greg - full buckets of cold beer at every draft, tickets be damned !

Thanks for having me it was fun. Need more than 12 minutes to reach full blather mode though

[76erfan]

Full buckets of beer to NY. Let's start the campaign!!!!!!!

Nice job last night Jupinka and to Tom and Greg braving the elements to stay on schedule. Better weather is ahead!

[Greg Ambrosius]

Here are some of the STATS Facts that Sam Lubeck -- Sammy the STATS Man -- gave last night about Justin Upton and Martin Prado:

Justin and B.J. Upton playing together:

9th time brothers have played together on Braves, including:
Hank/Tommie Aaron
Joe/Phil Niekro
Frank/Joe Torre

Justin Upton
Hit .337 against NL East last season (.267 against rest of MLB)
Hit .400 at Turner Field since 2009 (3rd highest among players with min 40 AB)
Saw HR total go down from 31 in 2011 to 17 in 2012, but had season highs of six HR and 23 runs in September

Since 2009, only seven players have at least 80 home runs and 75 steals. Two are the Upton brothers.

Players with 80+ HR & 75+ SB, Since 2009

HR SB
Ryan Braun 131 97
Matt Kemp 116 102
Carlos Gonzalez 95 82
Justin Upton 91 77
Ian Kinsler 91 97
Andrew McCutchen 82 98
B.J. Upton 80 151

Upton is also one of just four players who have scored at least 105 runs in each of the last two seasons.

Active Streaks - Consecutive Seasons with 105+ Runs

Miguel Cabrera 3
Ian Kinsler 2
Ryan Braun 2
Justin Upton 2

Martin Prado
Versatility - Played all four infield positions and OF last season.
Left side of Arizona infield hit just .251 last season. No player started more than 61 games at SS or 3B.
Prado has hit above .300 in three of last four seasons.
Hit .357 vs. D'Backs last three seasons, but just .270 at Chase Field.

[Greg Ambrosius]

If fantasy players on SiriusXM Fantasy Channel don't know about the NFBC by now, they never will. This week alone I was on Monday morning with Jeff Erickson and Chris Liss for 20 minutes, Tom was on with Dr. Roto on Wednesday, I was on with Kyle and Ray on Wednesday night before our 2-hour STATS Fantasy Advantage, and this morning I was on again with Dr. Roto. Our ADPs are being cited by all of the hosts and several of the hosts are even playing in our contests, led by Jeff and Chris, Dr. Roto, Glenn Colton, Jeff Mans and more.

We really believe this channel is a great reach to the die-hard fantasy player and we couldn't be more pleased to be all over it. Our STATS Fantasy Advantage show is going to be a great recruiter of new players for the NFBC, NFFC and NFBKC, but just being a part of every show and having our ADPs mentioned so prominently is great exposure for our contests.

Take a look at the list of names in the NFBC Draft Champions Leagues recently. You can see a lot of new customers joining the contest, which is good for everyone. The magazines were our primary source of reaching new customers in the past, but this venture has definitely replaced that market...and with more success.

Enjoy and we'll see you next week on the SiriusXM Fantasy Channel. Tom will be on with Jeff and Chris on Monday at noon ET and then look for our STATS Fantasy Advantage show from 8-10 pm ET on Wednesday. We'll have two more great NFBC guests to announce soon. Thanks all.

[rkulaski]

Is it possible to download or listen to a sample of either of the first 2 shows? I'm assuming Sirius radio subscribers only.

Nice job, Greg and Tom and STATS. Truly a great way to reach out to the fantasy baseball world. And I think it's great involving the NFBC players on each show.

[Gekko]

Take a look at the list of names in the NFBC Draft Champions Leagues recently. You can see a lot of new customers joining the contest, which is good for everyone.

not necessarily a good thing as far as getting leagues done in a timely fashion.

in the two most recent 8 hour drafts, i've heard multiple owners (that i don't recognize) say "I have 8 hours to make my pick". one of the drafts started yesterday...we are still in the first round.

if a league doesn't have a decent pace to it, i (and other owners) wont even stick around to chat baseball with anyone. zero camaraderie in "slow" leagues.

[Greg Ambrosius]

Is it possible to download or listen to a sample of either of the first 2 shows? I'm assuming Sirius radio subscribers only.

Nice job, Greg and Tom and STATS. Truly a great way to reach out to the fantasy baseball world. And I think it's great involving the NFBC players on each show.

Unfortunately, no on the download. They want you to SUBSCRIBE to this service!! It's a money thing, you know.

[Greg Ambrosius]

Take a look at the list of names in the NFBC Draft Champions Leagues recently. You can see a lot of new customers joining the contest, which is good for everyone.

not necessarily a good thing as far as getting leagues done in a timely fashion.

in the two most recent 8 hour drafts, i've heard multiple owners (that i don't recognize) say "I have 8 hours to make my pick". one of the drafts started yesterday...we are still in the first round.

if a league doesn't have a decent pace to it, i (and other owners) wont even stick around to chat baseball with anyone. zero camaraderie in "slow" leagues.

Wow, that's interesting and I guess a different take on welcoming new customers. Thankfully you've helped invent the 4-hour DC and the DC Express. I'd stick to those going forward. Hopefully there is some camaraderie in these DC leagues -- there sure looks like a lot of talk in all of the leagues I look at -- but the slower they are yes the less talk there is.

I do agree that everyone getting into these leagues should pick at a reasonable rate. It's okay to take extra time to discuss possible picks, but you can certainly do that with a partner several picks before yours. I don't get this where folks are on the clock and THEN they decide to mull over options. By that point it should be between two players and after a few minutes you make a decision. Especially in the evenings when so many owners are in the draft room and ready to move this along, other owners should really be polite enough to make a pick in a timely fashion if they are around. Easy enough.

Most of these 8-hour drafts are getting done in around 20 days. A few might take a day or two longer, but most are in that ballpark. That's 2.5 rounds per day, which isn't bad. Let's keep it going at that pace and we'll be fine.

[Gekko]

4 hour leagues and single night leagues kick ass greg

[Greg Ambrosius]

Okay, this is our last time switch for STATS Fantasy Advantage and this is now final:

STATS Fantasy Advantage will appear from 7-9 pm ET every Wednesday going forward. This is a GREAT time slot and we're happy to be locked into it. SiriusXM will follow our show with the new "Off The Wuhl" show featuring Robert Wuhl. You'll remember him as Arli$$ on HBO. Robert is a big fantasy baseball fan and he's been playing since 1988. In fact, his old league still uses a $100 bidding budget for auctions rather than the more standard $260.

On Wednesday we'll have NFBC Hall of Famer Lindy Hinkelman at 7:15 pm ET and NFBC Online Championship winner Michael O'Brien at 8:15 pm ET. Should be another fun night of fantasy baseball talk with yours truly and Tom. Now let's just hope that we don't get 9 inches of snow again. See ya there.