Click on Gronk’s big dumb face to enter

How were those holidays on your bank account? Not great, huh? And the Eagles aren’t in the playoffs. That sucks. Even worse, the Cowboys are. It hasn’t been a great week or so overall, but Draft Kings wants to help you out and allow you to get a little revenge on Dallas, too.

They’re running a $100k Play Action League to pump up your interest in this weekend’s playoff games, and entry is only $2. Plus, if you so choose, you can pick all of the Packers you want, hoping they really stick it to Dallas. And they will, right? They better. Contest details are as follows:

– $100,000 prize pool
– First place wins $10,000
– $2 entry fee (FREE with first deposit)
– Top 11,500 win money guaranteed
– Starts on Saturday, January 10th at 4:35 EST
– Salary Cap Style Drafting. $50,000 to select 9 spots
– Roster Format: 1 QB, 2 RB, 3 WR, 1 TE, 1 Flex and 1 Defense
– First time depositors at DraftKings receive a 100% bonus up to $600

You can go ahead and pick your team over here, and as always you can switch your roster around as much as you want until game time. Just keep thinking dark green and gold.​

[Editor’s note: Draft King’s updated app is fantastic and the real-time horse race nature of the in-game screen is highly addictive:

Now, if only I didn’t suck.]

New Year’s and the NFL playoffs are coming up, and that means football. Lots of football. Football games you’ll probably be watching from your couch like the gluttonous sloth that you are. So let’s throw in a little greed, too.

If you plan on betting on any of these games, let me turn your attention to our good friends at Godfather Locks, who have sponsored us for the entire 4th quarter. They may be paying me to tell you this, but facts are facts. They’ve been sending me some of their picks lately to verify. And while there were a few days of scuffling mid-month,  they have been on absolute fire since around the 20th, including a 5* recommendation on the Redskins over the Eagles… which, as you know… yeah. Other facts:

– A $100 player has made $3,400 in the past four days.

– Over the weekend, 9 of 11 college football picks were winners.

– 3-0 on Friday– LA Tech, Rutgers and NC State.

– 18-7-1 in last 25 NFL games. 10-4 in 5* NFL recommendations. A $100 better has made $4,700 last three weeks.

– Silly hot in last nine bowl games. 8-1. 7-1 in 5* games. $100 better has made $4,500 this season.

– 8-4 run in college basketball. 6-2 in 5* plays. $100 bettor has made $1,800 this season.
– $100 NBA bettor has made $3,000 in the NBA this season.

More:

You buy the plan that works and log in to get the plays that you want. Unlike most fraud cappers you hear screaming in radio commercials, they never call you and everything they do is documented on the site and Twitter.

There are a lot of football picks, but it’s hoops where Godfather typically kills it. NBA and college lines are wayyyy more in flux than football lines, so it’s easier to spot holes. Godfather has a three-year track record with repeat customers. And as an advertiser, I can tell you that they are one of the most reliable and pleasurable to deal with. We’ve been working with them for two years, and trust me, if there were any signs of the typical BS you’d expect from handicappers, I would’ve seen it.

The pricing is fair. Most people play the $100 system, but it’s low enough to play to scale. Some of the big boys out there invest in a plan and use it as a part of their overall strategy.

So check them out at GodfatherLocks.com and follow them on Twitter (@GodfatherLocks).

First stop on the bummer train? Not only did the Eagles’ loss to the Redskins embarrass them, but it gave the Redskins an emotional boost. That, at least, according to a Washington Post story titled “Redskins win goes a long way in mending fences.”

Really, like it matters:

What else you got, Roob?

The Eagles have some very good players on both sides of the ball, but they are much farther away from being a championship contender than they thought. You can rationalize away the Seattle and Dallas losses, but not this one. This is a game that a team with playoff aspirations simply can’t lose. You can’t call yourself a good team, an elite team, a contender, and come down to Washington and lose this game to a team that hasn’t won since October. They have a lot of work to do. A lot more than they thought.

Sports Illustrated doesn’t know how no one has benched Bradley Fletcher yet:

Whatever it is about Fletcher that had defensive coordinator Billy Davis matching him up against the opponent’s best receiver happened again in Washington, when Fletcher was lined up against DeSean Jackson, who burned him on the aforementioned deep pass, and more. This wasn’t just a two-week slide, either. Through Week 15, according to Pro Football Focus’ charting stats, Fletcher has allowed 53 catches on 106 targets for 908 yards, nine touchdowns, one interception and an opponent passer rating of 103.8. It’s clear that Fletcher doesn’t have the vertical speed, coverage awareness and turn-and-run ability to mirror the league’s best receivers, but there appears to be a curious level of inflexibility (or basic awareness) regarding this notion

Eliot Shorr-Parks looks back at five plays that could have changed the Eagles season, but somehow fails to say “every pass thrown Bradley Fletcher’s way.”

Who will replace Fletcher next year? Hopefully one of these guys or really anyone else.

Bradley Fletcher, when talking about the Eagles’ horrible turnover rate, called them a “great bad team,” which might be the most fitting description we’ve heard all year.

Here is what the Eagles’ 2015 schedule will look like, because that’s what we’re all doing now.

The Eagles are just the third team since 1990 to miss the playoffs after a 9-3 start or better.

Anthony Gargano is not on the air today and it doesn’t sound like it’s because of a previously scheduled day off or vacation. G Cobb and Brian Haddad are hosting the Afternoon show (with a delightful placed ad read from Gargano as a lead-in) and made no mention of Anthony’s (or Rob Ellis’) absence. The show’s usual theme music wasn’t played.

As I mentioned the other day, Gargano’s contract is up in… carry the 2… subtract 94.1… exactly 12 days, and as of yet no deal on an extension has been reached. The thought is that WIP Operations Manager Andy Bloom eventually plans to put his guy, Josh Innes, on in the afternoons. I’m told WIP offered Gargano a one-year extension, perhaps to give Innes more time to be groomed for that role and thus his battle with stated foe Mike Missanelli. Gargano, not surprisingly, didn’t appreciate the offer. Ensuing negotiations have been contentious. I’m also hearing that there have been discussions between Gargano and 97.5 The Fanatic Program Director Matt Nahigian about Cuz hosting a show that leads into Missanelli’s. It would cost Greater Media (97.5) some dough, but I wouldn’t completely rule it out.

This isn’t an unprecedented move, of course. Last year around this time, Glen Macnow recused himself from his show with Gargano while details of his new contract were being hammered out. And this summer, Tony Bruno did the same when 97.5 offered him what he says was a six-month deal. Macnow is still on WIP and other CBS Philly properties, but has been replaced by Rob Ellis on the Afternoon show. Bruno, as you know, is podcasting. Cue the music:

UPDATE: Since posting the story multiple folks have told me that Gargano is done at WIP. Something like this isn’t going to be confirmed by the station too eagerly, but barring a drastic change here, it sounds like Gargano is out.

UPDATE 2: Sources say Gargano is out at WIP and that the final decision to cut ties, following a contentious negotiation, may have come from CBS corporate suits in New York.

UPDATE 3: There are, of course, two sides to every story, and other sources say the decision was Gargano’s, and that blaming CBS in NY is a convenient way for WIP to sidestep blame. These are, after all, RADIO WARS.

…

More: [A further update] [The ratings]

The NFL regular season is starting to wind down, and while Draft Kings runs games for every major sport (and some collegiate ones), something about “fantasy” and “football” just goes hand in hand. The Millionaire Maker leagues for the season are over, but that doesn’t mean you can’t still walk away with some real money.

This week, Draft Kings is offering up a chance to win your share of $400,000 — with a top prize of $50,000 — for a deposit of only $5. The $400,000 Flea Flicker Championship works just like all of the other football leagues:

– Starts on Sunday, December 21st at 1:00 EST
– Salary Cap Style Drafting. $50,000 to select 9 spots. 8 players and 1 defense
– Roster Format: 1 QB, 2 RB, 3 WR, 1 TE, 1 Flex and 1 Defense
– First time depositors at DraftKings receive a 100% bonus up to $600

The only difference is that $400,000 prize pool, $350,000 of which will be spread out to those who finish from second place to 18,995th place. Those are some pretty solid chances. Go ahead and pick your team now.

I know. These Draft Kings posts may be getting to some of you. There’s a portion of the readership here who will just never be into the Daily Fantasy thing, and that’s fine. But some of you may be thinking “I’m not dropping $27 on a crapshoot to win a million bucks,” or “I’m not throwing down ten (or twenty) dollars to try to win ninety dollars in your private league (or a couple grand in a huge public league).” I get it. Kyle doesn’t (because he’s addicted to it). But I can see where you’re coming from. Draft Kings will never win some of you over, and that’s okay.

But for those who are open to it and just haven’t given it a shot yet — or, like me, are finally out of their season-long fantasy league — we’ve got a great icebreaker league for you. For the rules, most of it is the usual stuff: Your roster is 1 QB, 2 RB, 3 WR, 1 TE, 1 Flex and 1 Defense. You draft salary-cap style. The league starts with the 1 p.m. games on Sunday. But here’s where the low-risk, high-reward stuff comes in to play.

– $25,000 prize pool.
– First place wins $2,000
– $0.25 entry fee
– Top 23,665 are paid.​
– First time depositors at DraftKings receive a 100% bonus up to $600

Twenty-five cents. I think I dropped three times that amount in the tip cup with my coffee this morning. It’s nothing. And while the league accepts over 117,000 spots, a little over the top 20% will walk away with money. If you come in 23,665th place, you double your money. If you crack the top 95, you can pull in at least $10 on your $.25 investment. And if you snag first place, that quarter turns into $2,000. It’s about as low-risk as you can get, and really, I just hope one of the readers here pulls in some money. Not Kyle, but definitely one of you. You can pick your team and enter the league right here.