Where have I been

Well it has been quite some time since the last time I was here. Good thing no one reads this or I may have some explaining to do. My world has changed. Not only did I have another kid but this year I have decided to expand my fantasy repertoire and get in to fantasy NASCAR and get back in to baseball. Fantasy and real life. Lets start from the beginning though.

I was in three football leagues last year as I am trying to cut back and the 8 I was in the previous year were just too much. I end up rooting for and against the same players. I won two of the three leagues I was in, which included my high stakes and my own league. The third league was a strange. i set out to build a team of players I thought would be busts, just to see what happened. Unfortunately I ran into one guy who seemed to unintentionally be employing the same strategy so i couldn't finalize the roster. At the mid point of the season I decided to make a run at the playoffs and with a big push, I made the final four, yes only 4 playoff teams, only to play a team that had most of the players I needed to do well in another league. Needless to say I happily accepted defeat. Next year promises to be a good year. I love keeper leagues that don't deplete the first round talent. I was loving having Michael Turner as a 10th rd pick until h signed with the Falcons. Nice to get a #1 guy in round ten but that team is a train wreck. The other keeper will involve many sleepless nights but my gut is telling me that Andre Johnson will be long gone by round 5 so that seems like the smart choice.

So on to new adventures. When I lost a buddy last year I also lost my insight into NASCAR. This year I decided that I will prove that his ramblings over a cigarette will be enough to lead me to a fantasy championship in my rookie year. As long as i can get past my man crush on Carl Edwards I think I have a good shot. The team has started 5-2 and I'm just starting to find my groove. I committed the ultimate fantasy sin in one of my two losses when I forgot to get my drivers in before the deadline. FOR SHAME...FOR SHAME!

The baseball season is just beginning and like all fans, I think this is my year. It is the first time I have played in 5 years. When the scoring started to get complicated, I jumped ship for the safe havens of football. Now I am back and I have two teams. Both teams got my guys. I wanted to get either Cabrera or Reyes on my teams and I got one for each squad. I like Verlander as the Cy Young winner and I was able to land him on both squads. Both teams also landed Josh Hamilton. Thank God my drafts occurred just before the ultra hype of his monstrous spring. Regardless, players will under perform and others will boggle the mind. Here's hoping my guys put together a long, healthy summer so I can rightfully spew tons of shit at my competitors. Oh, by the way, it's opening day here in Minnesota and we are getting dumped on. Supposed to get 5-7 inches of snow. Great!

Go Patriots, Go Twinkies, Go 99!

Where have you been

So the fantasy season is nearing its midway point and I have been MIA. Let me get you up to speed. I am in three leagues only this year and the 8 I was in last year was just too much. This year was also my first foray into the PPR format. Where have you been all my life. A scoring system that values WRs as much as RBs? Is this bizarro world? Love it.

So how is your first round pick doing? SJax has an injured vag, Larry Johnson forgot how to run until Priest Holmes got healthy, Shaun Alexander is making my Frank Gore selection look dynamite. And those of you who took Maroney or Jones Drew at the end of round one, sorry bud. Even Willie Parker has forgotten to cross the stripe and LT was mortal the first 4 games. Oh but you drafted Addai, yeah he's been a stud. But he is also as fragile as a Faberge egg. He will kill someone in their fantasy playoffs. So what RB has exceeded expectations? Well I was fortunate enough to get Ronnie Brown in the 3rd round. After Cam Cameron gave Mike Mularkey his playbook back Brown was a monster. Far and a way the best back in the league. he was even killing the Pats before Miss Cleo threw a bad pick and ended Ronnie's season in the aftermath. I guess i van be thankful that the fantasy gods convinced me to trade Brown for Westbrook that week. And for those of you paying attention, I know I said Westbrook is on my do not draft list, bit this is my first PPR league and I guess Westbrook made my will trade for list.



I digress. I love my Patriots but even I am starting to feel bad in the second half as I watch them destroy and humiliate grown men. If you had Brady as your top rated QB stand and take a bow. Lets think back, "Of the top three QB's, I think Brady is the best. So why do I have him at #3? Well because the Patriots have too good of defense." I made this statement way before the season but also before the spy scandal. If I would have known then that Belichek had every intention of slaughtering teams it wouldn't have mattered about how few points the defense held them to.

Anyways, I don't want to talk about 20 different things in one blog since I have been away so long so i will just end it here and make more frequent posts while bored to tears at work.

GO PATRIOTS!!!

I love to say I told you so

As the fantasy draft season approached I was preaching that I was targeting a spot at the end of round 1. I was not enamoured with the big three and I had my wagon hitched to the backs that would be available at the end of the round but more importantly, I wanted a stud WR. In fact, I moved up in the third round to ensure I could get 2 WR in my top ten. As the season has started we are reminded that defensive backs in the NFL are terrible. WR are going bonkers exploiting the likes of the Saints, Bengals, Lions, Giants, Cowboys (except when Grossman is your QB) and whomever is playing the Patriots. I play in a PPR league so my infatuation with WRs has been well founded. When I was able to get Steve Smith and Chad Johnson I almost crapped my pants. We all know Smith is prone to the occasional disappearance but nobody has more big games (except a happy Randy Moss) that the speedy little elf. As far as Johnson, we all new that Marvin Lewis is yet to find a defense that can stop anyone, so we all new that the Bengals would be in shootouts all year. With R. Kelly...I mean Chris Henry out for at least the first 8 games there wasn't going to be anyone around to vulture the TDs from Johnson and Housh. So far my plan has worked swimmingly. Now I too have been slightly bit by the underachieving RB. Getting Frank Gore at #7 was like seeing your office crush bend over to reveal a sassy little thong. Although he has delivered the TDs that he was unable to get last year, the yards, and especially the receptions, have disappeared. Now I know Alex Smith is going to be a bust the likes of Cade McNown and Akili Smith, but he was terrible last year and Gore still gauged run defenses. Now it's a little too early in the year to crown yourself champion or start building for next year, but if you are 0-3, don't be afraid to shake up your squad. I know you convinced yourself after the draft that you had built the greatest team on paper, but face it, your teams not that good. Bite the bullet and make some deals. I was an abysmal 0-2 last year so I traded my only untradeable player and my best WR to start fresh. I rolled of 7 straight victories after the first deal, so I speak from experience. On the flip side, if you're 3-0, don't get too comfy. You are one injury a way from going into the tank, use the next few weeks to fleece the have-nots and build some superior depth on your squad. my goal is to have one more good player than I need at every position. When Portis got hurt last year it was nice to have Marion Barber waiting on my bench. So get to it men and good luck with the rest of your season. Go Patriots!

My Brady Quinn list

For all those that watched the draft you can surmise what the Brady Quinn theory is. A guy with perceived talent plummets down the draft board because almost all teams have an uneasy feeling about him and can't bring themselves to pull the trigger.

This year will be my first venture into a points per reception format. I am still a little uneasy about the prospects. I was able to pull myself away from the riveting Dolphins/Chiefs preseason game long enough to crunch some numbers. What I found was both shocking and disturbing. I know every year is a different but looking over the 2006 totals in a PPR format I was surprised to see that Brian Westbrook was the #4 RB in total scoring. Are you kidding? I get that some people are enamored with his all around game but he is one of those guys on my list. You know what I'm talking about. Every fantasy rube has a small list of players that for whatever reason they just refuse to draft. Forever now to be know as my Brady Quinn list. For some it's players from a rival team and for others it's just a gut feeling. I bear no ill will towards the Eagles but for some reason or another the top two people on my "will not draft" list are Westbrook and McNabb. I cannot explain this phenomenon other than to say if you are in my league and are hoping that one of those two will fall to you I assure you I will not be sniping you and dashing your hopes and dreams. So I really started thinking and discovered that I have a few more players that although have huge fantasy potential, I could never have them on my team. I did a mock draft and found that even at pick #7 I would pass on Gore and Westbrook. I know it sounds crazy and all the people that have Gore kool-aid packets think I'm an idiot but this guy is one cut away from ACL tear #3! It would be like me wasting a high first round pick on Terry Allen or Robert Edwards (remember him?...damn pro bowl). And then their is that Cowboys receiver who doesn't deserve to be named. I understand he led the league in TD receptions last year but I wouldn't take him unless he was sitting on the board in round 6. This is my personal opinion but I would much rather have guys I want to cheer for as I am watching the ticket on Sundays. Which brings me to Donald Driver. I just cannot cheer for the Packers to do anything so it's very counterproductive for me to be rooting against my own player.

This may be the most pointless posting yet but hey, I've got the time. But think about it, you know in your heart of hearts that you have a small list of players that regardless of the round, you just can't bring yourself to pull the trigger. Such is my fate as I play the guy with Driver and he goes for 100 and 3 scores against the Vikings. Oh well, at least now I have an excuse for losing. Go Patriots! RIP Scott.