// Godspeed You! Black Emperor//

By Mason Guerrero

           At last, the widely acclaimed “post-rock” band Godspeed You! Black Emperor returns to the Bay Area to play five days in a row at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco. Considering the rarity that the band rarely tours in California, this is a treat for all those who have longed to see them perform.

Along with their special tour, the band has announced they have new material and are returning to the studio, their first album since the 2003 powerfully progressive “Yanqui U.X.O.” and their long hiatus. Not much is known about the new album, for the band is infamously mysterious about their business.

The first night, starting April 15th, has been sold out since the day tickets went on sale. Fortunately, the other four days are still selling tickets and go for as cheap as thirty-six dollars, fairly inexpensive for such a powerful band.

// A self-proclaimed fantasy expert’s take on Fantasy Baseball drafting//

By Jason Leskiw

When in comes to fantasy sports, there are a few different types of drafts, but very few people implement a particular strategy in their draft and even more disregard the different scoring setups.  My father, Larry Leskiw, is statistically the best ESPN fantasy baseball player in the history of online fantasy sports.  Both ESPN and the Los Angeles Times have written stories about him, particularly after the 1998 season when he won twice in one year (full-season and mid-season, ESPN), against millions.  He and other annual league-mates have been my mentors growing up and I myself have prevailed into an expert in the fantasy world.  

    To start off, we will talk about checking the scoring setups in your particular leagues.  Analyzing the importance of scoring categories is paramount to a successful season and a well understated topic.  Some baseball leagues place little to no importance on stolen bases, while others place it among the scoring of home runs and WHIP.
      While baseball is ever-changing in its talent, there will always be sluggers, speedsters and guys whom don’t hit for power, yet have the understated ability to knock in runs.  In 2011, Michael Young, of the Texas Rangers, hit only 11 home runs but he recorded 106 RBIs, fifth in the majors.  Curtis Granderson of the Yankees was probably the top scorer in your league, doing it all, going park 41 times, driving home 119 RBIs and stealing 25 bases, one of the most outstanding stat-lines in the long history of the Yankees.

The facts above bring in an important rule:

    While some players can be paramount to a team’s success, often going in the first five picks, there are players that will be clutch in other scoring systems and are often vastly undervalued. 

      Some teams have solid HR hitters in the clean-up spot, with a weak batter in the fifth spot, lending the option to the opposing pitcher to walk the slugger.  This is another important topic.  The Barry Bonds era Giants may very well be the best example of this.  Bonds was walked 232 times in 2004, the most ever in the history of baseball.  He was the team’s only slugger, lending to a drop in his ability to add to his ridiculous home run count.  Other teams, commonly the Yankees, use a power hitter to lead off, which can hamper the production of the team’s sluggers for the same reason.  

    There are other factors that are also hardly ever taken into account when discussing baseball in general.  It is accepted that the HR count for the San Francisco Giants are relatively low in comparison to other MLB teams.  The reason for this can usually be attributed to the fact that AT&T Park has the deepest fences of any ballpark and was made for pitching.  ESPN.com has the variables in hitting and pitching categorized by ballpark and this information could be the difference between fantasy glory and bragging rights or coming last in your league.  Even Barry Zito pitching at home will net you better numbers than most other pitchers in all of baseball.  
    Now snake-style drafts are the norm for most people and are relatively straight-forward but auction drafts can be more tact and skill requiring.  One common tactic in auction drafts is to nominate big-named players that you may not want to drain the bank of the opposition.  It is normally wise to avoid nominating players that you want early on in your draft but  you can always nominate vastly undervalued players later on, when average fiscal availability is low.  

    There are also websites such as Baseball HQ  that allow the user to input specific scoring parameters and arrange projections in a way that mold to your league.   

    This information should vastly improve your chances at a successful draft and a successful first-half, but there’s always waivers, which I will cover throughout the season.

// How Hawks can win over Yuba City college tonight.//

By Jason Leskiw
 

The Las Positas Hawks men’s basketball team will be headed to Yuba City on Wednesday, to play a big game against the second-seed in northern Calif.  Their triumphant win over Sierra on Friday night was just a stop, a fun and exciting one nonetheless.  

Yuba, third seeded in the state, is on an 18 game win-streak and is 29-3 this season.  Most of their wins have been dominant and have only had one loss of more than five points.  The Hawks on the other hand have had some very close wins, but wins they have been.  The Las Positas gym seemed the place to be on Friday, both bleacher sections lowered and the Hawk mascot “Kipanga” waltzing around the court.  If coach Tony Costello’s players can pull out another win come Wednesday, the Hawks will be one game from advancing to the state championships.  

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