Week 9 Fantasy Football Preview

ESPN 10 Team League – “Gregory20”
POS.	Name	Opponent and Time
QB	Jameis Winston, TB	ATL THU 8:25
RB	Charcandrick West, KC	JAX Sun 1:00
RB	Ryan Mathews, PHI	@ NYG Sun 1:00
WR	Emmanuel Sanders, DEN	@ OAK Sun 8:30
WR	Jordy Nelson, GB	IND Sun 4:25
TE	Gary Barnidge, CLE	DAL Sun 1:00
FLEX	Antonio Brown, PIT	@ BAL Sun 1:00
D/ST	Cowboys D/ST	@ CLE Sun 1:00
K	Matt Bryant, ATL	@ TB Thu 8:25

• Added RB Darren Sproles, dropping RB Jamie White - this is in case Ryan Mathews can't go on Sunday
• Added RB Charcandrick West, dropping RB Chris Ivory
• Added Cowboys D/ST, dropping WR Travis Benjamin

ESPN 10 Team League – “Pigskins”
POS.	Name	Opponent and Time
QB	Russell Wilson, SEA	BUF Sun 8:30
RB	Le’Veon Bell, PIT	@ BAL 1:00
RB	DeMarco Murray, TEN	@ SD Sun 4:25
WR	Demaryius Thomas, DEN	@ OAK Sun 8:30
WR	Marvin Jones, DET	@ MIN Sun 1:00
TE	Cameron Brate, TB	ATL Thu 8:25
FLEX	Christine Michael, SEA	BUF Mon 8:30
D/ST	Broncos D/ST	@ OAK Sun 8:30
K	Dan Bailey, DAL	@ CLE Sun 1:00

• Added K Dan Bailey, dropping D Dustin Hopkins

Yahoo 12 Team League – “The League”
POS.	Name	Opponent and Time
QB	Cam Newton, CAR	@ LA Sun 4:05
WR	Allen Hurns, JAX	@ KC Sun 1:00
WR	Jordan Matthews, PHI	@ NYG Sun 1:00
RB	Le’Veon Bell, PIT	@ BAL Sun 1:00
RB	Darren Sproles, PHI	@ NYG Sun 1:00
TE	Greg Olsen, CAR	@ LA Sun 4:05
W/R	Mohamed Sanu, ATL	@ TB Thu 8:25
D/ST	Pittsburgh DEF	@ BAL Sun 1:00
K	Josh Lambo, SD	TEN Sun 4:25

• Added Pittsburgh's D/ST, dropping RB Zach Zenner 

MLB Offseason Preview - Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

LA Angels

American League	West Division
74-88	21 GB of Division Lead
Manager Mike Scioscia	GM Billy Eppler
AAA Affiliate Salt Lake Bees	AA Affiliate Mobile Bay Bears

2016 Rankings

Hitting	AVG – 9th	OPS – 22nd	Runs – 17th	HR – 25th	SB – 17th
Starting Pitching	ERA – 20th	K/9 – 25th	H/9 – 26th
Relief Pitching	ERA – 18th	K/9 – 30th	H/9 – 25th

Top Hitters

POS.	Name	AVG	OBP	Slug	HR	RBIs	WAR	SB
CF	Mike Trout	.315	.441	.550	29	100	10.6	30
SS	Andrelton Simmons	.281	.324	.366	4	44	4.2	10
RF	Kyle Calhoun	.271	.348	.438	18	75	3.4	2

Top Pitchers

POS.	Name	Record	ERA	IP/Saves	K	BB	ERA+	WAR
SP	Matt Shoemaker	9-13	3.88	160.0 IP	143	30	102	2.0
SP	Ricky Nolasco	4-6	3.21	73.0 IP	51	15	124	1.4
RP	Cam Bedrosion	2-0	1.12	40.1 IP	51	14	358	1.3

Trades that Occurred During Season

• Traded SP Hector Santiago and Alan Busenitz to Minnesota for SP Ricky Nolasco and P Alex Meyer

Impending Free Agents

• SP Jered Weaver
• SP C.J. Wilson
• C Geovany Soto
• SP Tim Lincecum
• 1B Brendan Ryan
• RP A.J. Achter
• LF Nick Buss
• RP Andrew Bailey
• SP Kyle Kendrick
• LF Trent Oeltjen
• C Jose Molina

Top Prospects

• The Angels actually have no prospects in the 100 lists of Baseball Prospectus, Baseball America, or MLB...their farm system is horrible

Team MVP

• This is probably the easiest decision for any team that I have reviewed/previewed and will write about.  It's Mike Trout.  Trout is the best hitter in baseball, and it's not even really close, and is on the path towards being an inner circle Hall-of-Famer.  He had a .300/.400/.500 season which is always a sign of a good season and not many players accomplish this during a season.  He managed to drive in 100 runs on a really bad team and helped Albert Pujols drive in a 100 runs in his own right.  He played great defense, creating 6 defensive runs saved at the premium position of center field.  He has a very good chance at winning his second MVP Award, although he should have at least three by now, and if the Angels were even a competent team, he would run away with the award this season.  The sad news is that Trout has been the Angels' best player since he became a full-time player in 2012 and is just now entering the part of his career that is generally thought of as a player's prime, and yet the team is wasting his career.

Success/Failure

• Failure - With as much money as the Angels had on their payroll this season, the only reasonable expectation for the year was making the playoffs, and more likely, winning their division. Instead, they finished next-to-last in the division so they're stuck in a sort of no man's zone where they're not good enough to make the playoffs but not bad enough to get a high draft pick. The Angels had a horrible pitching staff, both in the rotation and in the bullpen, and the former suffered significant injuries to the likes of Garrett Richards, Matt Shoemaker, and Andrew Heaney.  They also had a bad lineup with the exception of Mike Trout, Kole Calhoun, Albert Pujols, Yunel Escobar, and Andrelton Simmons.  They probably should have considered selling off some of their assets at the trade deadline since it was obvious that they weren't going to make the playoffs and may not have the core to be successful next season either.

Offseason Outlook

• The Angels need to seriously start considering a re-build instead of the plan that they have been going with in recent seasons.  If they were to go all-in on a re-build and trade all of their marketable pieces, this would help to reset their franchise.  This would include trading, and I'm afraid to write this, Mike Trout.  Trading Trout would completely restart their farm system from the worst ranked farm system in the league that it currently is.  A return for him would be the biggest trade in baseball history and would yield the Angels players for their MLB team, plus numerous top-50 prospects.  I think I will write a post soon about which teams could even create a strong enough of a package in order to make this trade even possible.  A quick glance over teams' farm systems and young players shows a relatively small number of teams that could even come close to making this trade a reality.  The Angels owner Arte Moreno and GM Billy Eppler have shown resistance to even discussing the possibility of trading Trout so this probably won't even come close to surfacing, but it is fun to talk about.  Coming off the 2016 season, starting pitchers Jered Weaver and C.J. Wilson's contracts are both coming off the books which will give the team $40.7 million in space for next year.  There are numerous free agents available for the Angels to pursue this offseason if they want to chase talent and just re-tool their major league team.  Mark Trumbo and Edwin Encarnacion are both available and the Angels have room for both players.  Trumbo and Encarnacion are both coming off 100 plus RBI seasons which would go a long way to increasing their offense, but they will both come with a high price tag.  On the pitching market starters Rich Hill and Hisashi Iwakuma are available, as well as Aroldis Chapman, Mark Melancon, and Kenley Jansen as big-name relievers.  It will all depend on how deep Arte Moreno's pockets will be this offseason as to how good of a team they field in 2017.  I also think that they need to consider firing manager Mike Scioscia, who has been the manager of the Angels since the 2000 season and has struggled to adapt to the analytics age of baseball that is currently taking place.

*All stats and information come from baseball-reference.com, fangraphs.com, espn.com, rosterresource.com, baseballamerica.com, and spotrac.com

Sports in Albania

To understand the role of sports in Albanian culture one must first have knowledge of the history of the country itself.  Albania first gained independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1912 and was first recognized as an independent state in July 1913 by the Conference of London.  The original principality remained in effect from 1914-25 and was succeeded by the first Albanian Republic, which lasted until 1928.  The republic was replaced in 1928 by a monarchy, a government that was propped up by the fascists in Italy until Italy surprisingly invaded Albania in 1939 at the start of World War II. The country was occupied by the Italians, and eventually Nazi Germany, throughout the war.  Towards the end of the war, as the Nazi government was weakened, communist partisans in Albania fought back and eventually liberated the country from German occupation on November 29, 1944.  After the Nazis left Albania, the country became a Communist state, a system under which the nation prospered initially.  Literacy rate among its citizens reached 100%, the country experienced rapid economic growth, and there was unmatched progress in the education and healthcare sectors.  Albania's national income was also 29% higher than the world's average and 56% higher than the European average and the government imposed no taxes on individuals but assessed high taxes on co-ops and businesses. Eventually, in 1991-92, the People's Republic of Albania, the communist government, dissolved in similar fashion to the dissolution of the Soviet Union, and the Republic of Albania was established. The result was disastrous and much of the wealth that had accumulated between the 1950s and 1980s was lost when the government invested the money in Ponzi banking schemes.  The country was also impacted by the Kosovo War in the late 1990s when Albanians who had been living in Kosovo sought refuge in their native Albania.

General History of Sports in Albania

• In 1996, tennis was recognized by the government as the national sport of Albania, although football (soccer) is the most popular sport today.  
• Traditionally, Albanian sports were mostly pastoral and included archery, horse racing, and wrestling.  
• Modern Albania participates in the sports of basketball, volleyball, swimming, gymnastics, and weightlifting in addition to football and tennis.  
• Albania first participated in the Olympics in 1972 at the Summer Games in Munich, Germany. 
• They didn't attend any of the next four Summer Games, twice due to boycotts, and returned for the 1992 Summer Games in Barcelona.  
• They first attended the Winter Games in 2006 in Turin, Italy.  
• The nation has yet to win an Olympic medal.

Football (Soccer)

• Most popular sport in Albania, both in terms of participation numbers and in viewership/attendance

• Sport was first played in Albania at the beginning of the 20th century
• First match was between Christian mission students in the city of Shkoder
• First Albanian football club was founded in 1919, KS Vilaznia Shkoder 
• Second club came in 1920, SK Tirana
• The Football Association of Albania was established in 1930
• Became a member of FIFA in 1932 and joined UEFA in 1954 as a founding member

International Competitions

• Men's Team

Albanian Men's National Team

• The Albanian Men's National Football Team played its first international match in 1946 against Yugoslavia
• In 1954,  the team competed in a Euro Cup competition for the first time
• In 1966, they participated in a World Cup qualifier for the first time, in England
• They have yet to qualify for a World Cup
• Currently ranked 47th in the world by FIFA
• Women's Team

Albanian Women's National Team

• National Women's Team was formed in 2011 and made their debut in a friendly against the Macedonian Women's National Team on May 5th
• Albania won the match by a score of 1-0 for the team's first win
• They participated in the qualifier for the 2015 Women's World Cup in 2013, finishing last their group having won just a single match
• They also competed in the qualifier for Euro 2017, again finishing last in their group, this time not winning a single match

Albanian Superliga

Domestic Competitions

• The professional football league in Albania is split into four divisions

1. Albanian Superliga was formed in 1930 and is the highest level of football - 10 clubs
2. First Division - 20 clubs
3. Second Division - Divided geographically into two parts, A & B, 11 clubs each
• Most successful club: KF Tirana - 24 championships
• Winners are able to compete in the UEFA Champions League by getting a bid into the qualifying stage
• Albanian Football Cup
• Serves as the main knockout competition for Albanian football
• Started in 1939
• Most successful club: KF Partizani Tirana - 15 times
• Albanian Supercup
• Started in 1989
• Ends in a single match between the winners of the Superliga and the Albanian Cup
• Most successful Club: KF Tirana - 9 times
• Stadiums

Loro Borici Stadium

• 
  Albania has many football stadiums, several with capacities greater than 10,000
• The Albanian national teams currently play either at Loro Borici Stadium in Shkoder or Elbasan Arena in Elbasan
• The country also has six indoor arenas that can be converted to hold football matches, including Asllan Rusi Sports Arena in Tirana which also holds basketball games and volleyball matches

Tennis

• Tennis was originally played in Albania after students brought the sport back from France and Italy in the 1930s
• The first tennis courts were built in Tirana and several other major Albanian cities
• In 1955, the Communist government implemented a ban on tennis, labeling it as a bourgeois sport and it was only allowed to be played by state employees
• Because of this, the courts were maintained in playing shape during this era
• The Albanian Tennis Federation was established in 1985
• Following the collapse of the Communist government in 1991, it became difficult maintaining the courts, although the Federation has done everything possible to repair them and keep them in playing shape
• In 1996, the Federation became a member of the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and the European Tennis Federation (ETF)
• During the 1990s, Albania played host to several Italian tennis coaches who visited the country and helped educate the Albanian coaches
• In 1999, an Under-12 national championship was held in Albania for the first time

International Competitions

• Albania has competed in the Davis Cup since 2010 and has only won a single match from 2010-2012, the last year I could find information on

Junior Tennis

• In the 1990s, with help from the ITF and ETF, junior tennis began growing
• All good Albanian junior players began receiving a racquet, strings, and tennis balls for free as donations from world organizations

Tennis Clubs

• The biggest tennis club is in Tirana, the Tirana Tennis Club
• It has a concrete surface that is painted red and blue
• All main Albanian Tennis Federation events take place at this club
• In Northern Albania, in the city of Shkodra, there is a sports club called Zmijani Sport, which has three concrete courts

Current ITF World Rankings

• Senior Rankings
• Men: Elvis Eilali - 806th 
• Junior Rankings
• Boys: Alexandros Dido - 1991st

Volleyball

• The Albanian Volleyball Federation was founded in 1945
• In 1949, the Federation became a member of the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) and of the European Volleyball Confederation (CEV)
• Between 1946 and 2014, 69 national championships took place, for both men and women

International Competitions

• Men
• European Championships
• 1955 - 10th place
• 1958 - 11th place
• 1967 - 13th place
• 2008 - eliminated during qualifiers
• Currently ranked 118th by FIVB
• Women

• European Championships
• 1991 - 9th place
• Currently ranked 79th by FIVB

Domestic Competitions

• Albanian Volleyball League
• Men's league
• Top-tier competition
• Currently there are 9 clubs
• Founded in 1946
• One of the oldest and longest-running volleyball leagues in the Balkans
• Reached its peak during the Communist era in the 1970s and 1980s but has struggled with funding since the collapse of the Communist government
• Private investment of some of the clubs has helped keep them running
• Most successful club: Dinamo Tirana - 25 titles
• Most recent champion: Studenti - has won 15 titles
• Albanian Volleyball League (Women's)
• Established at the same time as the men's league
• 12 professional clubs with many amateur clubs trying to advance into the professional league
• 2 divisions
• Albanian Volleyball League (AVL) - 6 clubs - top division
• B2 League - 6 clubs - second division
• Each club plays a total of 20 matches each season
• After the regular season, the top four clubs from the top division qualify for the playoffs
• The finals are a best of five series
• The bottom AVL club automatically gets relegated to the B2 League while the winner of the B2 Leagues advances to the AVL
• The 5th placed AVL club plays the 2nd placed B2 League club and the winner of this advances to the AVL and the loser goes to the B2
• Most successful clubs: KV Tirana and KS Dinamo - both with 20 championships
• Most recent champion: UMB Volej

Swimming

• Swimming competitively in Albania dates back centuries to the city of Durres which is on the Adriatic coast
• The Albanian Swimming Federation was founded in the late 1950s
• The first person to represent Albania in swimming at the Summer Olympics was Frank Leskaj
• Leskaj is an American-born Albanian (all four grandparents were born in Albania)
• He participated in the 1992 Summer Games in Barcelona
• Competed in the 50 m and 100 m freestyle races and the 100 m breaststroke
• He finished last in all of his heats
• Swimming didn't take off until the 2000s when it began to flourish
• The country wasn't represented at the Olympics again until 2004 in Athents when Kreshnik Gjata qualified
• Competed in the 50 m men's freestyle race
• Failed to advance to the semifinals
• Sidni Hoxha

• He qualified for the 2008 Beijing Olympics in the 50 m freestyle at the age of 16.  He finished second in his heat but did not advance to the semifinals
• Also swam at the 2012 and 2016 Summer Olympics but has yet to medal
• He competes collegiately for Old Dominion University where he holds the school record in the 200 yd freestyle 
• Holds more than of the national records for Albania
• 2016 Olympics
• Sidni Hoxha: competed in the men's 50 m freestyle race - finished 41st
• Nikol Merizaj: competed in the women's 100 m freestyle race - finished 43rd
• There are more than a dozen member swimming clubs
• Swimming continues to gain attention and grow in terms of participation with the presence of Albanian swimmers at the international level

Struggles Facing Sports in Albania

• The struggles in Albania are relatively minor compared to those in Afghanistan
• Instead of there being a terrorism element, the most devastating issue in Albania is the lack of funding.  Since the establishment of the Communist government in Albania, there has been a serious struggle for financial backing to keep sports leagues and teams operational.  Many sports weren't even allowed be played under the Communist regime so any chances for those sports to grow were wiped out.
• Even though the Communist government collapsed over two decades ago, there are still issues with creating awareness for various sports.  
• Sports seem to have a bright future in Albania, however, as the men's national football team has gained a large following and has been relatively successful, and individual sports including swimming and weightlifting have found success at the international levels.

References

http://www.mapsofworld.com/country-profile/albania.html

http://tentirana.tripod.com/english/history.htm

http://fshv.org.al/fshv/rreth-nesh/