This week, we break down the finer points of deciding who to start and who to leave on the bench, including how to evaluate matchups; the myth of a good defense; lies, more lies, and injury reports; and the Golden Rule. Plus: We address a listener question regarding late lineups, and four listeners write in with their fantasy football service reviews!

Links:
The Poddog Show
FFToday.com
MyFantasyLeague.com
Yahoo Fantasy Football
CBS Sportsline

To enter our contest to win a $10 iTunes gift card or a copy of Committed: Confessions of a Fantasy Football Junkie, just send us a review of the site your league uses! You can call our voice mail line (206-3-EXTRA-3), or e-mail us a written review or an MP3 file to ExtraPointsPodcast@gmail.com. Good Luck!

More bad news for Steelers fans: The Associated Press reports that Santonio Holmes, first-round draft pick WR for the Pittsburgh Steelers, was arrested for a second time since being drafted, this time for domestic violence.  He was first arrested over Memorial Day weekend for disorderly conduct.  Since two convictions usually results in a league suspension, this news could have fantasy impact and potentially affect Holmes' draft value; we'll keep you up to date as the situation unfolds.

Some big news this week puts our summer tutorials on hold, but we'll return to our Fantasy Football 101 series next week. This week, we talk about Ben Roethlisberger's motorcycle accident as well as McNair's move to Baltimore, and all of the related fantasy impact that results. Plus, we have three reviews of listener-submitted fantasy football services!

Links:
MyFantasyLeague.com
Yahoo Fantasy Football
CBS Sportsline

To enter our contest to win a $10 iTunes gift card or a copy of Committed: Confessions of a Fantasy Football Junkie, just send us a review of the site your league uses! You can call our voice mail line (206-3-EXTRA-3), or e-mail us a written review or an MP3 file to ExtraPointsPodcast@gmail.com. Good Luck!

After talking about the Roethlisberger situation when Steve and I recorded the show last night, I really needed a light and humorous sports story. So even though this is about baseball, it does have a connection to fantasy sports...

Have you ever watched a game in any sport and said, "Man, why did the manager/coach do that!?!" (If you're a Red Sox fan, you've done this quite often). "I could manage this team better than _____!" Well, now you can have your chance: an independent baseball team in Illinois is turning over key managerial decisions to fans for the second half of its season. By voting online, fans accross the country can help determine batting lineups, fielding positions, the pitching roster, and possibly even make trade decisions!

This is great. Check out the article to learn more.  --Scott

It appears Big Ben had a Big Close Call. Despite being thrown from his motorcycle and landing head first on the pavement without head protection, Roethlisberger's worst injury following the crash seems to be a broken jaw, which should heal in time for training camp. Other injuries included a chipped tooth, broken jaw, head lacerations, and minor knee damage. Early reports seem to indicate that he should be fully healed by the end of July, at which point we hope that he starts to ride his motorcycle with a helmet.

Ben Roethlisberger, the Super Bowl winning QB for the Pittsburgh steelers, was injured in a motorcycle accident Monday morning.  Early reports state that he is conscious and that the injuries are not life-threatening, but also that Big Ben was not wearing a helmet at the time of the crash.  There is no word yet as to the severity of the injuries, but we will keep you posted as the story develops.

The fantasy football magazines should be hitting the shelves any day now, but are they worth the cover price? We discuss the pros and cons of using magazines to prepare for your fantasy draft, provide alternate resources for gathering information on potential draftees, and provide rules of engagement for approaching printed fantasy resources the right way. Plus, we read our first listener fantasy site review!

Links:
Fantasy Football Today - Player Rankings and Projections
Rotoworld - Player News
ANTSports - Free Average Draft Position Tool
Fanball - Our Listener Reviewed Fantasy Site

To enter our contest to win a $10 iTunes gift card or a copy of Committed: Confessions of a Fantasy Football Junkie, just send us a review of the site your league uses! You can call our voice mail line (206-3-EXTRA-3), or e-mail us a written review or an MP3 file to ExtraPointsPodcast@gmail.com. Good Luck!

Just when we thought we wouldn't be hearing any relevant NFL news for a while, something pretty major comes out: pending a physical, Steve McNair will be traded from Tennessee to Baltimore in exchange for a fourth--or potentially third--round 2007 draft pick (is this what it's come to? McNair, a former MVP and one of the top QBs in the league, is now only worth ONE third or fourth round draft pick? Ouch).

I guess the tiff over (not) allowing him to use the Titans' practice facility, which was reported on Extra Points, turned out to be a sign of things to come.

Steve (my cohost, not McNair) and I recorded this week's show before the news broke, but definitely stay tuned next week when we'll discuss the deal's impact on the Titans and the Ravens. Does the trade change McNair's fantasy draft status? Should it? Tune in for our perspective!

--Scott

It's the first in our series of summer Fantasy Football tutorials: How to choose a league!

On this episode, we discuss whether you should go to Yahoo or not, what things to look for when switching league software, and Steve reviews his experiences with RealTime Sports.

To get into our contest to win a $10 iTunes gift card or a copy of Committed: Confessions of a Fantasy Football Junkie, just send us a review of the site your league uses! You can call our voice mail line (206-3-EXTRA-3), or e-mail us a written review or an MP3 file to EXtraPointsPodcast@gmail.com. Good Luck!