Saturday, February 22, 2014

2014 Supercross | Atlanta Predictions

It's 5:00pm here in Boulder and the races are almost on.  In the interest of time I'm just going to get right into my predictions.

450 SX (+/- handicap)

1. Stewart (-1)
2. Villopoto (+1)
3. Roczen (+1)
4. Barcia (-1)
5. Dungey (+1)
6. Brayton (-1)
7. Tickle (+1)
8. Tomac (+1)
9. Peick (+1)
10. Short (-1)

250 SX (+/- handicap)

1. Baggett (-1)
2. Davalos (+1)
3. Cianciarulo (+1)
4. Bogle (+1)
5. Wharton (-1)
6. Friese (+1)
7. Cunningham (-1)
8. Thompson (-1)
9. Martin, A (+1)
10. Faith (+1)

I'll attach a pic and graphics after the conclusion of the race.  Till then, enjoy...

The Roost'r

Saturday, February 15, 2014

2014 Supercross | Arlington Predictions

Kaitlyn Farrington, Kelly Clark and Hannah Teter nearly pulled off an Olympic medal sweep in the women’s halfpipe competition in Sochi earlier this week.  It was such an exciting night I couldn’t help but wonder why there are no girls racing at any of the Supercross rounds.  I’ve always thought of Supercross as the ballet of motor sports and perhaps a track with a line suitable for the girls could add some color to the sport.  Congratulations to all the women competing in sports typically overshadowed by the guys.

San Diego is in the books and the 250 class moves to the East.  Not a lot of surprises at the finish but no one was happier than James Stewart who found himself on the top box for the first time this season.  It’s kind of amazing it finished that way as I’m sure the whole viewing audience was expecting the SX gods to unleash the kracken on the number seven, and that’s a lot of negative mojo in the air.  Weston Peick continues to impress as well as Chad Reed (sounds like he’ll be nursing some broken bones this week) despite his spill in the final lap.  The only guy I think who still has some questions to answer this season is Justin Barcia who’s well off the pace in the points standing.

Not sure if anyone noticed but Justin Hill was my top rider at A3 on my TRAP and he just so happened to take the checkered flag – maybe I’m on to something.  I’m getting a little ahead of myself but what a ride from the Pro Circuit rider.  He’d been improving week after week so no one should be surprised.  Wilson and Webb suffered another setback but you can never count these guys out.  Shane McElrath seems to score well on my charts and if not for the break I think he could have broken into the top 3.   

So the thunder in the east begins and the second wave of 250 riders makes their debut.  Here we go Arlington, 450 and 250 predictions on tap..

450 SX (+/1 handicap)

1.Villopoto (-1)
2.Stewart (+1)
3.Roczen (+1)
4.Dungey (-1)
5.Tomac (-1)
6.Peick (+1)
7.Barcia (+1)
8.Tickle (+1)
9.Brayton (+1)
10.Short (-1)

250 SX (+/- handicap)

1.Musquin (-1)
2.Wharton (-1)
3.Baggett (+1)
4.Davalos (+1)
5.Friese (+1)
6.Faith (-1)
7.Cunningham (+1)
8.Thompson (-1)
9.Martin, J (+1)

10.Catanzaro (-1)

The Roost'r

Sorted by points
Sorted by points

Saturday, February 8, 2014

2014 Supercross | San Diego Predictions



Photo: racerxonline.com
It was a good day and an absolutely horrible day for the color orange last weekend.  The Denver Broncos couldn’t do with it what Kenny Roczen did but neither would be the same without the mighty orange.  It’ll take a while for Broncos fans to get over this one but the KTM rider is picking up right where he left off; not so for his teammate Ryan Dungey.

But of course the day belonged to Chad Reed.  For the second time this season Reed has defied the odds.  I was reluctant to hand the ball to Millsaps last year bet he thrived until injuries tripped him up.  This year I won’t make that same mistake.  Reed is the real deal as long as he keeps everyone close.  The field will make coming from behind very difficult, just as Jake Weimer, who by the way had an outstanding ride last weekend.  Will Reed back it up with another great performance?  He’s had some great rides at San Diego so it’ll be hard to bet against him this week.  As for Eli Tomac, perhaps he came back too early; I guess we’ll see how he holds up this week.  It’s probably safe to say that his chances for a title are all but over if he has a bad showing this week.

In the 250 class we saw the Pro Circuit team finally get a win.  Wilson should have taken the checkered flag last weekend and the blame should land squarely with the wrenches.  I gave Anderson the highest score last week but Wilson was not far behind.  I believe Anderson has the edge over most of the field at this point but I can see some newcomers making moves, notably Justin Hill, Cooper Webb and Shane McElrath.  One rider in particular that I think deserves a little recognition is the Frenchman Jean Marrone.  He didn’t have a great finish but his effort during the race was admirable.  Not the best rider out of Paris, that honor would go to Valentin Teillet, but Marrone did the most from his position last weekend.  Dakota Tedder is another rider flying just under the radar with his first top 10 of the season.  Not a particularly great performance but it was enough to place him alongside the best in the world.

My record last weekend was only outdone by the Broncos performance at Super Bowl XLVIII.  I had ZERO calls right, even with the handicap, in the 450 class.  I did better in the 250 class and actually improved my ratios.  The weekend is one I’d just like to forget.  “He who fears being conquered is sure of defeat” so I move on.  San Diego ready for kickoff…

450SX (+/- handicap)

1. Stewart (-1)
2. Villopoto (+1)
3. Reed (+1)
4. Roczen (-1)
5. Brayton (-1)
6. Barcia (+1)
7. Dungey (-1)
8. Peick (-1)
9. Short (-1)
10. Goerke (-1)

250SX (+/- handicap)

1. Anderson (-1)
2. Wilson (-1)
3. Seely (-1)
4. Webb (+1)
5. Hill (-1)
6. Stewart (-1)
7. Nelson (-1)
8. McElrath (-1)
9. Ferris (-1)
10. Canada (-1) 


Saturday, February 1, 2014

2014 Supercross | Anaheim 3 Predictions

Photo: amasupercross.com
So it is "United in Orange" here in Denver and we're ready to see our Broncos go all Cobra Kai on the Seattle Seahawks.  I have not had a chance to review last weeks race so I don't have anything to say about Oakland.  If you want a play-by-play look at last weeks race check out www.racerxonline.com for all the latest.

I've decided to take your suggestions and separate the 2 classes instead of combining them.  Combining them works great for fantasy challenges but this format is much more about analysis than gaming but stay tuned because I have a lot of cool things in the works.

I mentioned in an earlier post that my platform is a work in progress and I've made a small adjustment to the algorithm to address a couple of random issues.  That being said after running my application I gave the top spot in the 450 class to Jake Weimer.  In the 250 class I gave the top spot to Jason Anderson.  See Figure 1 below. 

I had a great week with a number of calls either spot on or within the handicap, not sure if that's sustainable but we'll see.  Anderson had some great luck last week; he'll need more than luck this week.  I grew up a huge Cowboys fan but since moving here to Colorado I have grown to love the Orange and Blue.  Next is the Super Bowl Super Cross picks for A3.

450SX (+/- handicap)

1. Villopoto (-1)
2. Stewart (+1)
3. Brayton (-1)
4. Dungey (-1)
5. Barcia (-1)
6. Weimer (+1)
7. Roczen (-1)
8. Hahn (+1)
9. Tomac (-1)
10. Peick (+1)

250SX (+/- handicap)

1. Anderson (-1)
2. Wilson (+1)
3. Seely (-1)
4. Stewart (-1)
5. Webb (+1)
6. Hill, Justin (+1)
7. Osborne (+1)
8. McElrath (-1)
9. Nelson (+1)
10. Ferris (+1)

Figure 1
The Roost'r