The road to Las Vegas begins here..

Week 4 power rankings

2011-10-04T17:14:00.000-07:00

Well.. the season is a quarter of the way through. For your reading enjoyment I'm going to break down where your teams are at this point.. of course pretending that you don't have the Ice Pimps to worry about.

1. The Super Chargers

I ripped this team in the early season power rankings.. and I think if he had kept that team he wouldn't have faired all that well by seasons end. But.. he didn't keep that team. He got teams to bite on busts like Peyton Hillis and was able to add Desean Jackson through trades while adding a waiver gem in Eric Decker. His recievers were a weakness and now while not the best in the league they are legit. I don't trust Phillip Rivers as an every week fantasy starter and he needs to find a good flex player.. but at this point this is the best team in the league. The undefeated record can partially be attributed to a weak ass 508 points against.. but you also can't argue his points total which is the tops in the league. Can someone please give this team a challenge?

2. The Pregnant Nuns

This team started off on fire and proved me right on my projections. He stole Kenny Britt in the draft and the dude was dominating.. which made this team scary good. Now Britt is out.. and while this team is still a contender it is now coming back down to Earth. Roddy Whites targets have decreased with the addition to Jones. I'm waiting for Brandon Marshall to go nuts and he's just not. Even then.. these recievers are good enough and with a team that includes Lesean McCoy and Brees.. this team has a better shot than most.

3. The Ass Kickers

This team has had some hard luck in matchups. As I see scrubs going off on the Ice Pimps every week I always look over to the Ass Kickers and he's going through a similar thing.. and while not as bad the Ass Kickers are losing to teams and playing games that matchups wise you would think they would roll. This team is just good. Nothing amazing about it. Recievers are some of the best in the league but I look at this team and while nothing outside of Megatron scares me too much.. there really isn't a starter on this team that you can relax on. Everyone is capable of having a big week and this team should stay consistant throughout the year.

4. Dallas Texans

It's time for me to give this team a little love. Not too much because there is absolutely no depth and if one of your 3 dynamite players don't play well you are in trouble. That being said.. if Forte, Foster, and Brady stay consistant all you need is a little bit of a contribution from the rest of your team.. which they are capable of doing. Green and Burleson are capable but if you could upgrade your recievers the league could be in trouble. As it stands right now I can see you winning a round in the playoffs and having a shot.. but I don't see 3 consistant weeks in a row in this team which is what you need for the playoffs.

5. Tailchasers

This team is exactly as I thought. Capable of being great some weeks and awful some weeks. Vicks going to be injury prone.. recievers can light it up any given week but they aren't consistant. MJD hasn't been unstoppable but it's time for me to admit I made the wrong choice with Hightower over Beanie.. or maybe that's just one monster game against me that's pissing me off. If your team stays healthy you'll be in the playoffs where anything can happen.

6. Carolinacuntpunchers

I didn't like how this team was constructed at the beginning of the season.. and while you don't have the highest ranking in the world right now I'm going to say that this team is a sleeper to make a playoff run. Mcfadden has been awesome.. and IF Chris Johnson finds his game you have the best running back tandem in the league. That to go along with the Steve Smith steal in the draft gives this team a lot of potential. If Mike Williams steps up watch out.

7. Project Mayhem

I have to give this team some props on overcoming the Manning injury. He found himself (so far) a top fantasy QB off the waiver wire in Fitzpatrick.. and stole Fred Jackson in the draft. This team had a chance to make a playoff run but that took a hit with the Andre Johnson injury. I think you've got a shot to be a sleeper.. but I think with this Andre Johnson injury you could just as easily not make the playoffs.

8. Pain Train ARF ARF

This team isn't that good.. but I also don't think it's hopeless. Recievers could improve but they are good enough. If McGahee keeps it up your running backs are average.. Turner sucks for a PPR league like I told you. If Cutler or Sanchez can start putting up big numbers you could have some hope.. but otherwise while you don't really suck your not really good either.. average team that has a shot at the playoffs.. but I think you have some trade chips to improve.

9. Big ol TDs

At the start of the season I thought you drafted well and that you were a contender. Through 4 weeks you have traded yourself out of it. You traded some of your studs for some busts. Stevie Johnson is a nice player and umm.. you have a top tight end? I have a hard time seeing this team in the playoffs.

10. SHOCKERS

This team should change their name to the Aaron Rodgers. That's all you've got.. jesus Alvin. Gambled on Ocho and lost.. I guess when Miles comes back it helps.. but you have Earnest F'ing Graham in your lineup. Darren Sproles while he has been a nice waiver addition and played well.. should not be your best player. This team is done.

11. the champ

Phillip couldn't make the draft so he had a drunk 8 year old cock fighter from cambodia fill in for him. That's the only way I can explain this team.. who I hyped up before the season as the team that was going to be ready this season. Wrong.... WRONG!!

Bastard Bowl fantasy breakdown

2011-08-15T11:07:00.000-07:00

Alright.. this is where I give you my expertise on who I think drafted well.. who didn't.. who will make the playoffs.. and who will take home the prize. Of course I'm going to win the league.. but we are going to pretend that you are all lucky enough to be in a league without the Ice Pimps. I'm also aware that we have defensive players.. but the site is down right now and honestly most defenses should be pretty close to even.. some will be better than others which will matter but I promise you there are studs on the waiver wire to watch for that can make you a great defense.. this will be an offense breakdown only. So.. here we go.

BB West Division:

SHOCKERS

Footballguys.com didn't like your team at all but I think it was a little harsh. You drafted better than previous years in my opinion. In other seasons like with this one you have tended to not pay attention to detail at certain points in the draft.. and while you did that this year it wasn't as bad as in years past. I dont have to tell you that you are set at the QB position because that's obvious. Aaron Rodgers will give you a key advantage over most teams in the league. Footballguys did not like your WRs at all but I disagree a little bit. Miles Austin I believe led the league in receptions last year with a healthy Romo and had 3 monster games in 5 weeks. He didn't do much after that. Him and Romo play great together and he should bounce back this year. The only question is if Dez Bryant puts it all together this year. If he does it could hurt Miles numbers because Dez can be one of the best WRs in the league.. which lessons Miles targets. It just depends on where Romo feels more comfortable. Chad Ochocinco was someone who I was targeting in the round you picked him up. If not released I think he could have a MONSTER season. But.. I'm hearing rumblings he could be released.. which if the case your team is screwed. Pierre Garcon is garbage for a third reciever and you need to find someone else. Malcolm Floyd won't do much with Vincent Jackson back in the mix. Running back is another position that footballguys had pretty weak. I dont think that is necessarily a sure thing. I would not feel comfortable with Gore and Thomas as my starters at all but it is not crazy at all to think they could be very productive. I had Thomas as a sleeper pick before the Bush signing. If he performs he could be a good pick but you never like to have an unknown sleeper as your #2 back.. especially in a ppr league. I'm not a big Gore fan at all because he is an injury waiting to happen. He's starting to get older in running back years and he has had an ACL tear on both knees.. I just dont think he has a long career in him and I would be scared to pick him. If he has a healthy season you could have yourself a good #1 back.. but I wouldn't want him at this point. You got a good TE. This team has potential but you need to be active on the trade market and the waiver wire.

As it stands right now.. I'll give you a 6-7 season and a low playoff seed.

Project Mayhem

Footballguys liked this team and I actually disagree. This team has some potential but I see this team struggling more than not. Peyton Manning is typically a great QB to have. And while he will be better than most this year I don't believe he will be the Peyton Manning that we are used to. Last time he missed training camp getting his knee scoped his numbers fell way off and he struggled to start the season. He is all about timing and being able to manage his offense at a fast pace.. missing training camp this year with his neck injury will hurt him and this thing sounds like more of a big deal than people are leading on. Andre Johnson is a stud in this league but your other recievers are not. Greg Jennings does not catch a lot of balls and is not an ideal PPR receiver. When he catches a ball its typically a huge play but he is not heavily targeted. With 76 catches last year that is not a very good season in terms of receptions. Mike Thomas is a so so third WR and Hines Ward isn't targeted nearly as much anymore with his 59 catch season last year. Neither of your running backs cracked 1000 yards last year. I was very unimpressed with Mathews and he will not be getting the goal line carries. Jackson has had his moments but could just as easily be a bust. Neither one of them are good PPR running backs. Finley could be a nice TE but who knows how his knee will be feeling this year.

Prediction 5-8 and might sneak into the playoffs.

ftw tx haymakerso:

I was SHOCKED when footballguys liked this team. I'm sorry but when Mario Manningham is your first WR pick in the 4th round you are not going to do well in this league or any other league. This team has a top QB in Tom Brady and a great running back duo for a PPR league in Forte and Foster. Your WRs are easily the worst I have ever seen a team draft and this is a PPR league. Green is a good rookie but you never want to put too much faith in a rookie WR.. ESPECIALLY playing in Cincy with a 2nd round rookie starter. Ouch. Mario Manningham?? lol.. enough said. Sidney Rice with Matt Hasselbeck has some potential.. oh wait.. Tarvaris Jackson? Have fun with that. Rice didn't perform with Jackson in Minnesota.. in a dome.. what makes you think they will figure it out in Seattle? Rice is right back to being worthless in the fantasy world. Your team can catch a good team on an average week with Brady, and Foster with Forte chipping in a big game every now and then. However, while I don't think Foster sucks I think he comes back down to Earth a little bit this year. He lost his STUD fullback which a lot of people aren't paying attention to. You need a team to win games consistently.. not three players. This team needs a lot of work.

Prediction 3-10 No chance in hell at the playoffs

Division Winner: SHOCKERS. Can't believe I'm doing this but Alvin drafted a better team than the other two in this division. With a little work and if his defense is significantly better than SHOCKERS, Project Mayhem could challenge.. but I think SHOCKERS are better than the other two.

BB South Division:

Pain Train ARF ARF

With two picks you killed your season. Mark Sanchez in round 4 was a terrible selection. He is not necessarily going to have a terrible season.. Hell he could break out. The bottom line is he hasn't done a thing in his career yet and you could have drafted a good RB in this round while picking up Sanchez in round 20. I would have been intrigued by your team at that point. The way it stands.. while your WRs are good players they are not consistent PPR players. Desean Jackson does not catch a lot of balls.. he just makes them huge when he does. Holmes will get you 80 or so. Dez could be huge.. but there are question marks. I felt I was reaching big when I was targeting him in round 3 and I have extreme bias towards him as an Oklahoma State fan. In reality he is a nice round 4 pick and a major risk for a 2nd pick. Your running backs suck for a PPR league. You left great GREAT PPR running backs on the board in Chris Johnson and Jamaal Charles. In my opinion Charles is a top two pick in this league. You took Turner who while very good in standard leagues had 12 receptions last season which is horrible for a ppr league. You will have lots of 40 yard, no catch, no TD games out of him which will kill you for your number 1 pick. Marshawn Lynch sucks. He made one play last year in the playoffs which is the best run in NFL history. People forget about the rest of his career. He sucks and he is your #2 running back. LT will be a third down situational back this year and he is your flex player. Not good. By the way.. you might want to get a kicker that will make a team.

Prediction: 5-8 and you MIGHT challenge for the last playoff spot if everything happens just right for you.

The Ass Kickers

This team has some potential. I am not a Joe Flacco fan at all but in looking at his numbers last year surprisingly they are actually pretty good. I still wouldn't feel comfortable with him as my starter but if he puts up those numbers again you will be okay. He will have his games where he does nothing for you and it will hurt you.. you just gotta hope its not when you need him. I like your WR picks. Fitzgerald is due for a great season, Calvin Johnson will be very good this year if Stafford stays healthy, and Mike Wallace is a steal for your third receiver. Your running backs suck though for this league. Blount does not catch the ball at all.. and I'm not sold on him running the ball like he did last year. Even if he does, he is not a good PPR back. Felix Jones is a strong sleeper.. I like him as your #2 running back pick. I actually think he will be your top running back at seasons end.. but again.. when I'm saying Felix Jones might be your best running back at seasons end that means you really don't have anything great to compare him with. I like the Ryan Williams pick and if he gets his chance you could be set. However, right now he's not even the starter and he's a rookie.. its a risk.. but could pay off. Having Clark at TE is an advantage and having Stafford as a backup could work out well for you.. I expect you to be starting him over Flacco most weeks.

Prediction: With these WRs your team will be in the middle of the playoff hunt. Your QBs will have some big games along with them and while I don't think your team is consistently in the elite group it does have firepower to win on any given week. I predict a 7-6 record and you will be in the playoffs.

The Pregnant Nuns

I like this team for the most part. You got an elite QB in Brees. You have two very strong PPR WRs in White and Marshall. I'm not comfortable with Kenny Britt mentally but if he doesn't get suspended his ability on the field with Hasselbeck could make for a very good #3 WR to have. Lesean McCoy was a PPR monster last year. I wouldn't want Deangello Williams as one of my running backs but at the same time that doesnt mean he wont go back to what he did two years ago. Cedric Benson is going to have a rough year as teams stack the box against his terrible team.. I would try to replace him. Altogether though you drafted a very good team that has a chance to win the league.

Prediction: 9-4, top three playoff seed.

CarolinaCuntPunchers

You missed the start of the draft and Jamaal Charles got autopicked for you in the 9th spot. You definitely didn't deserve that and if I could draft for no shows you would have gotten Cam Newton instead. Luckily for you that didn't happen and you might have the best RBs in the league. Charles could be the #1 player all year. You have a top ten QB with big play potential. The downside to your team is your WRs are awful. Your number 1 receiver has potential but the bottom line is he caught 65 balls and didnt break 1000 yards last year. Your #2 receiver has AIDS. Your number 3 receiver has Cam Newton as his QB. WR is not the position you want to lack in a PPR league and your team is lacking big time. Shonne Greene could bounce back this year and isnt a bad flex player. Ingram is a very nice sleeper to have and an even better keeper.

Prediction: Charles, Mcfadden, and some big Rothlisberger games will steal some games for you and give you hope. Your WRs will kill you. 5-8 finish and you might sneak into the playoffs.

Division winner: Easy pick here. The Pregnant Nuns won't have to sweat this one out too much. Easily the best drafted team in this division.

BB North Division:

The Super Chargers

Maaaan. The more I look at this team the worse it looks to me. This is the team that I heard rumblings about being the 2nd best drafter in this league and he definitely did not live up to the hype. He probably has a top 5 QB in Rivers and obviously he has Peterson.. but outside of that.. ouch. Jason Witten is a good TE but everything else is very iffy. You got Crabtree and a rookie WR as your 2nd and 3rd WRs? Ouch. Knowshon Moreno as your flex player? Eh.. could be worse.. but he's not even the best RB on his own team and has done nothing in his career. You need Peyton Hillis to repeat last year to be in contention and I just don't see it. He's white, and he's on the Madden cover.. and the Madden curse somehow happens every year. Your top WR is Wes Welker.. who is a nice #2 WR for a PPR league but you don't want him as your #1. He should improve off of last years 86 catch 850 yard season.. but he doesnt score a lot of tds and is not a big play threat.

Prediction: If Peyton Hillis proves he is a star I could be wrong.. but I just can't get excited about this team. 5-8 record and you contend for the 8th playoff spot.

Eskimo Brother's

While there will be a drastic improvement from past years and you will have a chance to be in the mix to make some noise, you blew your chance at really separating yourself from most teams in this league when you got pissed off at Charles getting autopicked by the no show and impulsively took the next guy on the board in Mendenhall and his 23 catches from last year. You had the best WRs in the league when you had Nicks, Bowe, and Boldin.. but when you had to trade Bowe for Jackson that is no longer the case. If you had just drafted Jackson and still had Bowe your team would be scary good. As it stands you still have a good team. You could have done better than Ryan but you could have done a lot worse. And who knows, he may go nuts this year.. he definitely has the ability. Before your trade you were all over Jacoby Ford but you had him in your flex or on your bench.. and he was a nice accessory in case you were wrong. Now, with your Bowe trade.. you need to be right on him and he needs to perform. Possible.. but I personally don't think its going to happen. Jackson is going to be a stud this year, Mendenhall isn't a bad #2 running back.. and Graham could be a good TE this year.

Prediction: I'll give you a 7-6 record but you will be a better team than the 7-6 Ass Kickers. You will have hope for more and will have a chance at a top 4 playoff seed.

Tailchasers

You have such a weird f'ing team. I don't know if I want to give you a chance or give you last place. There is so much unknown about what your players are going to do and you had such a weird draft. Vick #3 was not a good pick. Vincent Jackson as your #1 WR isnt great because he doesnt catch a lot of balls. Brandon Lloyd has sucked in a fairly long career until last year and I have a very hard time seeing him have another great season.. but he was one of the best WRs in the game last year and its hard to bash the pick based on that. Santana Moss had 93 catches and 1100 yards last year even though I think he will suck this year.. MJD was hurt last year but still had 1300 yards.. BenJarvis Green Ellis doesnt get a lot of catches but isn't a terrible #2 back to have. I look at your team and I think it's going to suck but for some reason your players stats argue with me.

prediction: I'm just going to put you in the middle with a 6-7 record and a playoff spot while not feeling like I'm right at all about that.

the champ

I think you are a playoff team but your team doesnt jump off the page at me. Schaub will have huge games and he will have games where he does nothing. I like your running back duo. You improved a so so WR position with your Jackson for Bowe trade.. but I'm still not a believer in Bowe and I think Jackson could be a monster this season. Colston has big expectations every year and while he does good enough he never really seems to meet his potential. Colston and Bowe are a pretty good WR duo and if Plax can still play you will be good at the position. I think Manning struggles more than usual this year and Collie will be effected by this more than anyone. I can't really see a spot where your team sucks but outside of running back I don't see another position to where you stand out over the better teams in this league. I think you have trade pieces to work with and with good waiver wire management you could be a contender. As it stands right now..

Prediction: 7-6, playoffs.

Division Winner:

The champ will challenge and things will be close.. but I just think Eskimo Brother's has a better team and will win this division with more points.

Playoff Seeds:

1. The Pregnant Nuns (DIVISION WINNER)
2. Eskimo Brothers (DIVISION WINNER)
3. SHOCKERS (DIVISION WINNER)
4. The Ass Kickers
5. the champ
6. tailchasers
7. CarolinaCuntPunchers
8. Project Mayhem

League Winner: I think the Pregnant Nuns easily have the best team in the league out of the 11 teams mentioned.

League outlook: This was definitely the best draft we have ever had. Most of you have potential to jump into contention.. so pay attention, trade, talk trash, and manage your teams well. Lets have a good season!

Frusterating season so far..

2009-10-03T14:26:00.000-07:00

Well.. since my team came out on fire I've gone 0-4. I'm a sore loser I guess you could say.. I dont like talking football when the Cowboys lose and/or my fantasy team loses so thats where my lack of posting has come from. Week 2 was absolutely horrible. I played against Chris Johnson who put up 52 points I believe.. and I had Hasselbeck in my lineup who cracked his rib at the 1 yard line. You can guess how that week turned out for me. That night the Cowboys handed the game to the Giants with me in attendence. Needless to say I wasn't in a good mood that week.

Last week.. well.. my team just couldnt find the end zone. I thought Edwards would play well at home against the Saints.. nope. The only passing TD came on a fake FG to the defensive end (in my money league with friends we have IDP.. and guess who had that defensive end? Yeah.. my opponent). I decided to give Leftwich a shot in my flex spot. He has been putting up real big numbers in losing efforts. Well.. after he throws for 28 yards he gets benched and loses his job. I got .28 points out of my flex spot.. wonderful. I had one thing that I was looking forward to last week.. and I actually had a chance to win my game going into Monday Night. I have said all along Felix Jones is one of the elite running backs in football and could carry a fantasy team which is why I stashed him on every single team I have. Monday Night was the time for him to come through for me. It seemed like almost every single run he almost broke free for a long touchdown. 96 yards on 8 carries.. everyone was screwed because I had him. Then he goes down with a knee injury? Freakin wonderful. I lose again.

Whats wrong with my team? Eh.. I'm honestly happy with the players I have. I think the Barber mishap may actually work out for me now. I'm at the edge of the Mcfadden bandwagon that I've been the driver of since last season. If he doesnt perform this week against a terrible Houston run D he never will. I still think he's great but Im seriously questioning if they will ever be able to get running room with Russell at QB. If he doesnt perform this week I'll just be rolling with AP and Barber.. and I also have Coffee and Taylor to play with if I need to. I like my recievers. I actually am very excited about Braylon Edwards with Anderson at QB. I think he is ready to blow up and if he does my team gets a big boost. I've added Anderson as a QB to my roster.. he has potential. The last time the Browns started 0-2 he came in, blew up, and almost led them to the playoffs. His first game that year I believe was against the Bengals. Deja vu? I want to play him this week but I cant justify playing him over Coffee who gets the Rams this week.

I still think my team can go far. I was 2-4 last year also and then my team blew up.. I like this team better than last years team.. so we'll see how it goes. Hopefully I start getting a few bounces and my luck turns.. because bad matchups and injuries have been my down fall so far.

Sad to see James Davis go down for the year.. I had just spent too many points on him to sign him as he was a big sleeper for me this year. I just replaced him with Bernard Scott who will be the hottest waiver wire pickup if anything was to happen to Cedric Benson.

Are you freakin serious?

2009-09-19T10:59:00.000-07:00

I'm a die hard Cowboys fan.. I have amazing seats for the first ever regular season game at the new Cowboys Stadium.. Sunday Night Football against the Giants.....

AND I HAVE TO PLAY AGAINST TONY ROMO THIS WEEK?! WHY?!

Freakin wonderful.. I get to cheer for the Cowboys while hoping that Romo doesnt throw any TDs. Have some compassion here.. bench him this week. It's the right thing to do..

Distraught..

2009-09-18T11:55:00.000-07:00

First off I'm sorry I havent been able to blog as much as I'd like. I'm currently living out in the country with shaky internet service and if my lap top isnt in an exact spot it won't work.

With the title of this blog you'd think my fantasy team was already busted or I had just suffered a heartbreaking loss in my first week. Both are far from the case. I absolutely love my team that is currently ranked 95th overall and put up 157 points in week 1. Everything that I targeted happened in week 1. I've been saying all offseason that Reggie Wayne would be the number 1 fantasy reciever in football this year. I would have drafted him over Moss, Calvin Johnson, and any of those guys. I said that Hasselbeck would be coming back strong with his new toys on offense. I said Shockey was going to be one of the best TEs in the league this season. Coupled in with those things I have Adrian Peterson primed for one of the best fantasy seasons ever. I have McFadden who looks very promising.

So why am I distraught? Well.. as I posted in my earlier blog.. My draft blunder is currently haunting me. I did not want Marion Barber on any of my fantasy teams this year. I targeted Greg Jennings. I wanted my starters to be McFadden and Peterson with Felix Jones sitting on my bench as a sleeper. I wanted Reggie Wayne and Jennings paired together at my recievers spot. Not that Marion Barber can't play because he can.. but Felix Jones is better. They are going to be splitting carries and Marion Barbers upside on a weekend is what he did in week 1 which is going to be around 70 yards and a TD. I don't want that as my #3 pick. I can't even start Barber because theres no telling what the Cowboys are going to do with their running backs. Had I not accidently drafted Barber instead of Jennings my team would be pretty close to being #1 instead of 95th which is driving me crazy. 157 points would have been 173.

This could go the other way for me though. Maybe Jennings gets hurt. Maybe Felix Jones gets hurt and Barber turns into a very nice #2 or #3 running back to have on my team. Maybe I'll be sitting in Vegas watching Barber score 3 touchdowns in week 16 and laughing about how mad I was about having him on my team. But right now? Can I have Greg Jennings please?

I have two concerns about my team. Braylon Edwards and Baltimores defense. Braylon Edwards didnt look bad at all in preseason and regardless of what people say I've seen some nice things with him and Brady Quinn going back to last year. Minnesota has a great defense and I can handle one bad game from him.. I still think he'll be fine this year. I didn't expect to be talking about Baltimore this year. Come on! Last year I take the Bears defense hoping to have an amazing defense week in and week out. Those idiots were the reason I didnt make it past week 11 with their monster -9 points they got me. The Ravens gave up 24 points to Kansas City!! That was the one lock I was looking forward to in week 1 was an Ed Reed touchdown and a shut down defense. Please tell me that it was just a weird week and that they will be fine!

Outside of that I love my team. It's got a real shot at going far into the Vegas bracket. I just hope that at the end of all this I can laugh about the Barber pick as he pans out to be better than what I actually wanted in Greg Jennings.

The difference between good and great

2009-08-09T15:22:00.000-07:00

A lot of people say that fantasy football is luck. I am one that thinks it has a lot more to do with skill than luck. Luck begins to creep in at the end of the year when you need to have that one good week to win your league or advance. It takes skill to put yourself in that position though. In years past my dad has given me money to play in some bigger leagues. I did the fantasy football draft for his company at Texas Stadium. I've never won a league hes paid for.. but I have been in the playoffs and been one of the better teams in every single one of them. I always tell him.. I can't promise you I'll win it but I promise you I'll have a chance at the end.

I don't remember the last time I drafted a bad team. I don't really pay attention to what people think at the start of the season. I look at the rankings and mock drafts but I form my own opinions. Matt Forte and Piere Thomas are going to break some teams who picked them in the first and second round. If you pick Forte in the top 5 you are just throwing your money away. Thats my opinion anyways.

People are going to look at my team and see Trent Edwards as my starting QB with Hasselbeck backing him up. Automatically my team is going to be terrible in their eyes. Last year the same thing happened. I didn't pick a running back until the 4th round with Thomas Jones. That was my risk that I planned from the start. Well.. he did what I thought he would do.. and my team that people were saying sucked was in 86th place at the end of the year and rising. Had I gone with a better reciever then Braylon Edwards I'm pretty sure I would have been in Vegas last year.

So what turns a good team into a great team? At the end of the season, whoever wins this thing is going to have a team thats a little different. I guarantee it won't be by the book. See.. a team that drafts without their own opinion won't have that added punch in the later rounds.

Adrian Peterson, Marion Barber, Reggie Wayne, Roy Williams and Braylon Edwards are the guys that make me feel like I will be competitive. They will get their numbers. I reached a little on Trent Edwards. I actually took him ahead of Big Ben. Theres a chance I could have waited and had him come back to me.. but I wasnt sure. Edwards is my sleeper QB this year. How can you have Lee Evans and TO and not put up Monster stats? Edwards didnt have a Red Zone target last year.. now he has an amazing one. He's also entering year 3. The Bills love him, and with his new toys he should be great. He's also an accurate passer which means TO will have the chance to turn some short passes into big gains. Trent Edwards has the potential to be great, and thats why I reached. I also took a guy like Hakeem Nicks. There were better recievers on the board as far as projections go.. but who is Eli Mannings big play target this year? I have seen many reports that Nicks has been making big play after big play in camp. I could have taken an 800 yard reciever or something there, but if Nicks is that rookie reciever that comes out of no where to get 1200 yards, I am getting a steal in drafting him in the later rounds. Another player that I drafted that could be great this year is Daunte Culpepper. I took him last so its not like I reached. However, Daunte Culpepper was NEVER a great quarterback. He just had a rocket arm, was big, and he had great recievers. He has all of the tools TO BE GREAT with the right pieces. After Randy Moss left, I knew he was done. He was having a TERRIBLE season before he tore his knee up and he was taking all those people that drafted him in the first round down with him. Well.. IF the Lions give him the starting job, he now has his first big play reciever since Randy Moss in Calvin Johnson. Because of that, they will be hooking up on some bombs and jump balls, and Calvin Johnson will make Daunte an impactful fantasy QB once again. If he gets the start I might have found an every week QB for my team with my last pick.

I've got guys like Felix Jones who is an absolute game breaker. As a Cowboys fan I dont want Barber to get hurt. Heck, I have him as my starter. Fantasy wise though, I would get WAY more out of Jones then I will out of Barber. Felix will take my team a ways into the Vegas bracket if Barber were to get hurt.

I've got Chris Chambers who is BETTER than Vincent Jackson. Jackson had a great year last year when Chambers got hurt. Do you guys forget that Chambers was an absolute stud prior to his injury? He was scoring touchdowns like crazy and hes not exactly old. I think people are sleeping on him a bit too much.

Rashard Mendenhall could be another guy that winds up making a big impact for me this season. Willie Parker is going to get hurt like he always does. The Steelers want Mendenhall to be their guy next year. I am confident that this guy is putting up big fantasy numbers by the end of the year.

I was also on the Darren McFadden bandwagon last year, and prior to hurting his toe he showed that he had the ability to be a gamebreaker. I'm right back on that bandwagon this year. Hey.. If he doesnt live up I have running backs to fill in for him. If he does.. he makes my team very very dangerous.

Im going to be watching Trent Edwards tonight. If he is looking good I'm going to be feeling great about my chances this year.

My 2009 team..

2009-07-31T20:58:00.000-07:00

Well.. I've drafted maybe my only team this year. Im broke and trying to land a teaching/coaching job. I'm actually pretty happy with it drafting out of the 1 spot.

The one mistake that I made was I accidently drafted Marion Barber instead of Greg Jennings in round 3. I clicked the list on the left side instead of the right and I assumed Greg Jennings name was up when it was on Barber. I guess it could have been worse and landed on Pierre Thomas. This confused me though because with picks 2 and 3 I was going to go reciever. I really had my eyes on Mcfadden in the 5th round and I was going to draft Palmer in the 4th. Instead of taking Palmer 4th I felt like I needed a stud reciever. My draft plan was to take Palmer and have Edwards as my backup because I am one that thinks he is in for a huge year. You cant have TO and Lee Evans at WR and not put up good numbers.. you just cant.

Anyways.. so here is my team. If Edwards breaks out this year like I think he will then I feel like I have a beast of a team. I'll write more later.. I'm in San Antonio for Cowboys training camp. I have beer in me and I'm going on 3 hours of sleep.. so anyways.. heres the team! Comments are welcome.. and I know I'm taking a risk with Edwards. Thats what Fantasy is about! I also think Hasselbeck bounces back this year.

QB Trent Edwards BUF
RB Adrian Peterson MIN
RB Marion Barber DAL
WR Reggie Wayne IND
WR Braylon Edwards CLE
WR Roy Williams DAL
TE Jeremy Shockey NO
OP Darren McFadden OAK
K Neil Rackers ARZ
TDSP Baltimore Ravens BAL

Bench Matt Hasselbeck SEA
Bench Felix Jones DAL
Bench Rashard Mendenhall PIT
Bench Chris Chambers SD
Bench Jamal Lewis CLE
Bench Hakeem Nicks NYG
Bench New England Patriots NE
Bench Deion Branch SEA
Bench Matt Prater DEN
Bench Daunte Culpepper DET

Heartbreak..

2008-11-18T14:00:00.000-08:00

Well.. This sucks. Braylon Edwards tried to have a big game for me.. I just needed a touchdown. I think I may have had the most yards with no TDs in the Vegas bracket. I had over 300 yards from my recievers.. 395 yards from Kurt Warner.. and I only get one passing TD out of all that? I was pretty mad at my guys for not having big weeks.. but besides McFadden and the worthless Bears defense.. all of my players played well. They racked up the yards and just didnt score.. Unbelievable. The disheartening thing about all of this is I really felt like I had a team that could win this whole thing. I had some great matchups lined up and I paired up two stud QBs in the late rounds. I always draft great fantasy teams but I struck gold this year.. I just screwed up on McFadden. Next year I will compete.. but I'm not sure I can put together a team with AS MUCH fire power as I did this year. I guess I just have a defeated attitude.. I'll be every bit as optimistic as I was this year when next year comes along.

If I had just played any other defense in the league Id be advancing this week. Good luck to everyone thats left in this. I don't feel too hot about my first and goal chances because that one is going to be nearly impossible to win. I'll set my lineups and see what happens.. but most of my focus is going on my other leagues that I'm winning right now and that I've been blowing off.

This is definitely a brilliant idea. Next year I'll try to buy more then just one team. Thanks to the FFOC for coming up with all of this.. you guys definitely gave me a thrilling 11 weeks and a lot to day dream about.

2008-11-17T14:11:00.000-08:00

Well... yesterday I woke up and went to golden corral for my good luck breakfast. It was immediately thrown off when they didnt have the quiche that I had eaten every weekend and grown to love. I almost made a special request for it.. and I wish I had. But.. all is not lost. I have hope in Braylon Edwards tonight. The star reciever that single handedly carried fantasy teams last season. The guy that said he would score a touchdown for every medal that Michael Phelps won this year.. or was it two touchdowns? Whatever the case.. he has some catching up to do.. and it starts tonight.

As far as my superstitions go.. I have one more thing left in the bag. Last time I posted this.. I won an amazing championship game. So.. with that being said.. Braylon Edwards.. What can you do for me?

Is it over?

2008-11-16T22:25:00.000-08:00

Not if Braylon Edwards has anything to say about it. This is the second time this year my fantasy football fate has come down to Braylon Edwards on Monday Night Football. The first time he tore up the Giants and scored me some major points. I need you one more time Braylon. I'm hearing that they are opening up the playbook more for Brady Quinn and he definitely has the arm for some big things here. The Bills are 16th against the pass this year so I have hope. Some might have called me crazy for benching Santana Moss against my Dallas Cowboys in favor of Braylon Edwards but the move has definitely paid off.. now lets just hope Braylon Edwards gives me what I need. Im currently sitting at 77.64. The cut line is 91.8. Now I dont know what I need but Im going to set the bar at 100. I feel like if I get 100 I should be advancing and thats just one big game from a WR which is very possible. Maybe I only need 95? Braylon Edwards has had many of these games in his career and he loves the spotlight. What better time then Monday Night Football? Its what I drafted him in the second round for.

What a crappy week. This is the worst week I have had in a while. My team has been so consistant. The sad thing is some of my guys racked up a lot of yards and no touchdowns. Warner threw the ball all over the place.. but only one TD. Wayne was catching balls left and right.. but no touchdowns. Same thing with Ward. McFadden didnt help either. I didnt feel good about him THIS week but I definitely do moving forward.. lets hope I get that shot. I definitely wish I had gone with my itch to play Leon Washington.

Chicagos defense is what killed me this week. Worthless morons.. all of them. Bears fans should be ashamed of you and I'm definitely ashamed of you. I'd be feeling better about my chances if I had just not played a defense.

Do I think I'm going to win tomorrow? Eh.. I am half and half. There is the side of me that was ecstatic about Brady Quinn becoming the starter and that feels like this is going to prove my point.. and there is the other side of me that doesnt know because it has yet to happen. We shall see. Some REALLY GOOD teams are getting knocked out this week and that million dollars is wide open. I think it can be mine if I survive this week.. my team is definitely good enough.

All I can do now is hope.

Footballguys.com.. I want a free subscription next year

2008-11-16T01:15:00.000-08:00

So.. Im a subscriber to footballguys.com. Its a great site and its very useful for serious fantasy football players. David Dodds is actually a participant in the FFOC. Well.. I feel like I am owed after the heart attack and the stress that you guys caused me tonight. You set up your Week 11 Saturday Players In the news link.. So.. I go to take a look at it just to make sure nothing crazy happened with any of my players. This is what I see..

*** Saturday Update *** RB Darren McFadden (OAK) is a game-time decision this weekend, but he is reportedly on the doubtful side of questionable. There are reports that the team will shut him down to allow his two turf toes to fully heal.

Im thinking GREAT! I am pissed at Mcfadden for saying he is good to go. Im pissed at the Raiders for saying he was cleared to play. Im pissed at every single report that Ive read that said hes good to go this weekend. Im pissed that I would have started Leon Washington as a last resort but now I cant.

Well guess what? You guys linked your week 10 news to your week 11 link. I didnt realize that until I threw a tantrum and lost 27 years of my life.

My login name is icemavs41. I feel like I should be given a lifetime subscription but one year will do.

IM READY TO GET THIS WEEKEND STARTED! Good luck to everyone with a similar starting lineup as me and I'll throw some support Scotts way for being a fellow blogger. Other then that.. I wish everyone else luck in the 1st and goal bracket AFTER this week and beyond. :)

Feeling good...

2008-11-14T12:17:00.000-08:00

Well.. One game down.. I started Thomas Jones and I'm sitting at 17.9. When you can get 119 total yards and one touchdown out of your running back you have to be happy and I am. Especially after that first half.. That Patriots defense was filling the holes and hitting hard.. I honestly felt like Thomas Jones might only get me 7 points or so after the first half and Im glad he finished strong. I would like to send out a special thank you to the Patriots defense for getting pentalties and putting the ball down on the inch line for him to run it in. I definitely gave up hope on Thomas Jones a little early but Manginis play calling drives me nuts. It even drove me nuts last night. Sure by the end of the game Jones got 30 carries.. but I can not stand it when the Jets go empty back field.. or they set up in the shot gun with Leon Washington. They do it all the time on critical plays.. and they do it a lot when they are near the goal line. It drives me crazy and thats why Thomas Jones got benched last week in favor of Mewelde Moore. I have Leon Washington handcuffed to Thomas Jones.. but honestly if Washington were to get hurt it would probably make Jones a much better fantasy option because he would be on the field more.

I'm feeling good about my chances at advancing this week. I love my WR matchups. I believe Braylon Edwards will come through this week and I think Hines Ward will have a MONSTER game against the weak Chargers defense.

You know what else I love to see? The teams carrying Matt Cassell and Randy Moss hanging around for a few weeks. Cassell can have some great games.. but I have no doubts that he will flop one week and there will be lots of Cassell teams that are eliminated that week. Maybe it will be next week? Randy Moss is a terrible fantasy football reciever. He will be great and he will disappear and kill you when you need him the most. I hope LOTS of teams have him in the Vegas bracket.

Well.. I'm definitely looking forward to the weekend. I'm liking my Darren McFadden news that I'm getting. If he blows up I could be in for a monster week!

I have to roll the dice..

2008-11-11T22:00:00.000-08:00

Fragile Willie Parker is killing me this week. He's going to try to play.. and hes going to hurt himself again. The problem with that is I would LOVE to have Mewelde Moore this week. I dont need him for the entire Vegas bracket.. but I would love to have him just this last week. I drafted Darren McFadden for a reason. I believe he is a gamebreaker. He has shown that ability in the preseason and up until his turf toe situation. He has a very favorable fantasy schedule and I think he could be a major difference maker for me as the season winds down. Im just not sure about this week with it being his first game back. I feel like if he plays he will be 100%. The Raiders havent sat him because he was too hurt to play.. they sat him because they wanted to get rid of the injury all together. But.. any player coming off of injury you dont feel too good about in their first game and I would prefer not to have to start McFadden just yet. I may have no other choice though if Willie Parker is a go. My other options are Felix Jones, Lamont Jordan, or Leon Washington. Lots of question marks there. If I knew Felix Jones was going to be a full go for the Redskins game I would consider him.. but they may just ease him back into game action and that wont help my fantasy team too much.

I actually dont think Mewelde Moore would have that great of a game against the Chargers. Something about the Chargers run defense just scares me. Maybe Moore not starting will be a blessing in disguise and McFadden will break out this week. I can hope right? I've had many good weeks without my running back doing much. Michael Pittman had 20 yards in the game he got hurt.. he was in my starting lineup and I put up a good score fairly easy. I think my team has enough fire power to survive a mediocre running back position on my team for this one week. When Parker gets hurt I'll have another option in the coming weeks but I cant wait until McFadden gets rolling.. thats my game plan.

The exciting thing about my team is I feel its very unique. My second and third round picks were Braylon Edwards and Darren McFadden. I really dont think many teams with them on their rosters are in the Vegas bracket. The cool thing about that is my team has been on fire lately without them performing. Reggie Wayne hadnt really had a big game until this last week. Those are three key guys that I will be starting that I dont feel like a lot of teams in this bracket have. I also havent seen many Kurt Warner Jay Cutler combinations at quarterback. A lot of people were trying to team up Tony Romo and Tom Brady so they could have monster QB games in their lineup. I achieved this in the later rounds and put some good players in between them. That is the making for a million dollar team in my opinion. It also appears that I gave up on Thomas Jones a bit too soon and he is now the focus of the Jets offense. I'm pretty thrilled about that.

One thing I have noticed is that people are saying Braylon Edwards will struggle and the Browns wont go verticle with Brady Quinn. My question to these people.. did you not watch Brady Quinn at Notre Dame? He has a great arm and Notre Dame was constantly airing it out. The Broncos were keying their defense on Edwards and Winslow was open all day. Add to that the fact that Brady Quinn was named the starter on Monday before the Thursday night game. He had gotten hardly any time with the starting unit. Well.. that trend has shifted this week.. he has until the end of the Thursday Night game until the Monday Night game to practice. He will go long this week and Braylon Edwards will have a good game. Bank on it. He will be in my lineup and he will be a difference maker as he wont be in many teams lineups.

The difference between me and a million dollars is Darren McFadden. There have been whispers that he could be a great late season fantasy performer and I believe in it. If that happens I look forward to meeting some of you in Vegas!

Can I get a Johnny Drama.... VICTOOOOOOORY!!!

2008-11-11T00:57:00.000-08:00

Well.. what I expected to happen tonight did. Warner got his 300+ yards and 3 scores.. and Gore got his around 100 yards and stayed out of the endzone. Thats pretty much what I expected but still.. when you are neck and neck nerves will go crazy.

My game was freakin crazy. I had a sizeable lead after Thursday. My problem for Sunday was that I had absolutely no players playing in the morning games. I got to watch my 48 point lead shrink to 8. Crosby missed that 50 yard fg and that really would have had me nervous if he had made it. Well.. the afternoon games started quick. First Mewelde Moore scored. Then Reggie Wayne scores on that miracle bomb. Mewelde Moore comes right back and scores another TD. Hines Ward was racking up yards. Dallas Clark catches the touchdown before halftime. I was just getting comfortable. I had a 32 point lead with Mewelde Moore at the 1 yard line. He gets freakin stuffed! Then all of a sudden Tyler Thigpen and Tony Gonzalez decide that they want to be John Elway and Shannon Sharpe. That last second touchdown hurt. I mean seriously.. I was mocking Thigpen a few weeks ago and mocking this guy for playing him. He almost beat me!!! Instead of going up by 38 with the Moore TD I thought I was going to get.. That Gonzalez TD dropped me to a 22 point lead. At that point I had Warner versus McNabb and Gore. After McNabb I was up 2.78 heading into Monday Night Football..

That brings me today. You know how things just arent going right? I mixed up something horrible on my biology test which led to me probably getting 10 questions wrong. I'm going to be pleading with my teacher to let me get those points back because it was a reasonable error. So anyways.. Im in a horrible mood coming home. I rush home to see the game obviously. Well.. Here in Texas we got some severe thunderstorms tonight. The game wouldnt come in for the majority of the first quarter. I was absolutely livid. When I finally got it on I was in a nail biter. Warner got me out in front by a few points and then Gore closed the gap. Remember that 20 yard toss to the right he had? I thought he was gone on that one. I felt my season slipping away and I was beside myself. I was going to score close to 130 and lose. Doubt crept in.. and after that tackle I was winning by .2. After that the rest is history. Warner had a big game, I won 142.10 to 124.7. I actually kind of feel for the .357 Magnums. Last week they were all but done and they made it to the title game by a miracle. Then they put up a very respectable week like they did which probably would have beaten a lot of league winners.

I really wish the Denver game wasnt on Thursday last week. I wanted to play Moore and Jones but Parker wasnt for sure out and I didnt have another option. I almost rolled the dice on Parker being out and if I would have done that and played Jones over Torain I would have broken 160. Oh well.. 142 to start out the Vegas bracket is not bad at all.. Im very curious to see where I am in the standings.

I wonder how many of the top teams got knocked out this week? A LOT of star players struggled and that could be interesting to see.

I am so freakin pumped about my win tonight and I believe my team is poised to make a run at the grand prize. Congrats to all the league winners and I look forward to seeing what I'm up against!

It all comes down to Monday Night Football..

2008-11-10T01:49:00.000-08:00

Well.. I think I am going to lay my claim to most stressful championship game in the FFOC.

Ice Pimps 116.98 (Kurt Warner)
.357 Magnums 114.20 (Frank Gore)

Basically Kurt Warner vs Frank Gore. Now.. If Im betting on this.. I bet on me. If I am the owner of the .357 Magnums I dont feel like I have a chance. People that I talk to about this all tell me the same.. and its what I would tell someone under the same circumstances. There is no way Frank Gore should outscore Kurt Warner on Monday Night football against Arizona. But.. as a nervous owner that thought I had my game locked up.. I can see the possibility and it scares the hell out of me. I have been so excited about this team that I have put together and I honestly believe it can take me to vegas. Its just such a consistant team.. week after week. I have such favorable matchups in the coming weeks if I can keep it alive. Not only that.. but I'm sitting at almost 117 points! Honestly if Warner does what he should tomorrow I should be near the top of the week 10 standings. If he doesnt.. I could be done all together and I would be put out while having a very good week. That thought scares me to death.

I'll get more specific later on.. but to all of my loyal fans out there.. PLEASE send Kurt Warner positive vibes! Its 3:56 AM and I need to go to sleep. I have been a nervous wreck over this championship game all day and just got done with my papers that I had to write.. and I get a huge Biology test tomorrow.. How am I supposed to concentrate on school when I am worried about Kurt Warner tomorrow night? I'd be understanding if I was a teacher..

Ahh Torain.. what a tease

2008-11-07T11:15:00.001-08:00

So as I was watching Ryan Torain run the football last night I thought about how good that million dollars would look in my bank account. I thought about the house I would build or buy.. the Cowboys playoff games Id be taking trips to.. maybe Austraila or something who knows? Seriously.. Ryan Torain was going to get me there. That kid was as advertised and I was pumped that I had him on my team for the stretch run. Then.. he tore his ACL. I saw it happen too. They were even talking about him during the play and I saw his knee get bent awkwardly. While nobody even noticed I saw him not getting up and just kept thinking "oh no.. please get up!". He was on fire. His first 5 carries went for 8 yards. His next 7 went for 60. He ran the ball smoothely and with some power. He was the answer in Denver and he was going to make my fantasy team even better. He did contribute 12.8 points to my league championship which isn't bad considering I didnt know what to expect.

So.. I need a running back for the Vegas run. I have some options to throw out there but I need someone consistant that I can count on. I have some potential that I need to come to life. Darren McFadden being one. I have been waiting for his toe injury to heal all year. This dude is a hell of a running back. I dont doubt that one bit in seeing him play. I hope they hold him out this weekend so he is healthy next week. This is my third round pick and I have been able to afford waiting on him to get healthy. Fargas hasnt looked impressive and they have called McFadden the next Bo Jackson.. Well.. Lets see it Oakland!

Felix Jones is another option that could be huge. As a Cowboys fan I dont want anything to happen to Marion Barber.. but for my fantasy football team? Felix Jones would be a top running back in fantasy football if he got the bulk of the carries and I dont think the Cowboys would really miss a beat. I'm not sure how he is going to be used against Washington but with games against San Fransisco and Seattle coming up Felix could be a nice sleeper play. If they would use him like they used Julius Jones when he was here I just might have myself a player here.

Mewelde Moore. I love this guy. If Willie Parker keeps getting hurt or misses anymore time Im golden. Moore will be replacing Thomas Jones in my lineup this weekend for a favorable matchup against the Colts. I think he has looked better then Parker and he definitely has the potential to carry my team for a while if he gets to play.

I also have Lamont Jordan who could be a major contributor as well if his calf would heal. I just need one of these guys to step up. If it would be McFadden the sky is the limit.

Well.. as far as last nights game goes.. Im sitting right where I want to be. I was hoping for about 16 points a piece from Cutler, Edwards, and Torain. 100 and a TD for Edwards and Torain and a nice game from Cutler. Well.. I got the 16 a piece.. in theory.. as Cutler completely covered up Edwards no show. 450 yards and 3 touchdowns.. all coming in the second half? THANK YOU! I said before the games. 40 and I should be alright.. 50 I'm golden. Well.. Im close enough to 50 where I'm feeling great. If Braylon Edwards had had a good game my team is looking at a Monster week but with my matchups I really should be good to go. Willie Parker being hurt not only gives me Moore but it takes away Parker from the Magnums which was looking like it could have been a good advantage for him.

Interesting side note.. Im hoping my game is over by Monday.. but he has Gore and I have Warner.. the possibility of it coming down to that is a little crazy.

SHOW ME THE MONEY!!!!!!!!

2008-11-06T11:49:00.000-08:00

Well.. with Thursdays game quickly approaching and week 10 upon us.. I feel like my players could use a little motivational boost. So.. Kurt Warner, Jay Cutler, Ryan Torain, Thomas Jones, Reggie Wayne, Braylon Edwards, Hines Ward, Dallas Clark, Chicagos Defense, and John Kasay.. If you are reading this.. please watch this clip closely. Let it pump you up and I hope all of you take it to heart. I know that when I think of the million dollars.. it pumps me up.. and I will be watching this clip every weekend before my new week of games. This clip should really be shown in arenas all over the country. SHOW ME THE MOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNNNEEEEEEEEEY!!!!!

Haha.. I had a dream..

2008-11-06T11:44:00.000-08:00

Well.. I go to sleep every night with ESPN on. I guess I'm a dork and I feel like I'll learn something new while I'm asleep. Well.. it kinda happened last night! I dont know where I was in this dream.. but I was sitting somewhere. In the background TV I hear them talking about Big Ben and all of a sudden they say Willie Parker has a hurt shoulder and isnt practicing. I went nuts in my dream over this and was celebrating. Well.. I woke up and what do you know.. I see on Sportscenter that Willie Parker is in fact hurt and didnt practice yesterday.

Now this could be huge for me in two ways. One.. I play against Willie Parker this week. Two.. I held onto Mewelde Moore because I think he is better then Willie Parker. Im not going to be able to play Moore this week with Torain getting the early start tonight.. but I hope that Parker is out against the Colts. I also hope I get Moore back after this week.. that could be a huge move for my team.

Big things for some key players..

2008-11-05T21:06:00.000-08:00

Well... Two pretty enormous things happened for my team this week. You can twist them into a negative or into a positive. I've been waiting for these things to happen all year and now was the perfect time for them to happen.

First off.. Brady Quinn has finally been named the starter for Cleveland. I have been waiting ALL YEAR for this to happen. I dont have Quinn on my roster anymore but I do have the player that this is going to impact the most. Braylon Edwards. Now I have heard all about the supposed chemistry that Anderson and Braylon Edwards had and about how Braylon Edwards dropping balls has hurt him. This is true in a lot of cases. Analysts are saying this could hurt Braylon Edwards and I couldnt disagree more. This is going to put him back into elite status for the rest of the year. I have been watching Browns games all year because of him.. and one thing I have noticed is Derek Anderson. Ive heard Steve Young and other analysts talking about how he is a good quarterback.. and how elite he looked against the Giants. I disagree. I watched that entire game. He played well.. but I really have never thought the guy looks comfortable. I get nervous when he drops back to throw. He doesnt throw a pretty ball in my opinion. In not throwing a pretty ball I think its tougher to catch. Dont get me wrong.. Braylon Edwards should have caught a lot of those balls.. but Derek Anderson didnt get it to him as smoothly as an elite QB could. I have seen Anderson completely miss him on throws many times. The Redskins game he missed him on a long completion at the end. In the Jaguars game he threw a terrible pass from the 5 that would have been a touchdown if it had been accurately thrown. Against the Giants he underthrew that bomb that Braylon Edwards got tackled on because he had to wait for it. I dont think Derek Anderson sucks. I just dont think hes very good. Hes average. I think his best spot in the league is as a good backup to a great QB. I would love to have Anderson as a backup in Dallas. I dont think he is ever going to be the starting quarterback on a good team. I just dont think hes that good and it hurt Braylon Edwards. Brady Quinn on the other hand has stud written all over him. He has pushed Anderson since he came into the league and has looked great in his playing time. I think he makes better decisions and throws a much prettier and more catchable ball. I have been waiting for this move all season and I cant wait to see what Braylon Edwards does with him. I think tomorrow night is going to be a huge night for Braylon Edwards and Brady Quinn and I couldnt disagree more with those that are saying this hurts Edwards. It makes him a star and it helps my fantasy team out tremendously.

Michael Pittman is out for the year. It sucks for him as he was looking like he could have a great season out of no where for the Broncos. I also had him on my team while in the meantime I picked up Ryan Torain just waiting. Now the dilemma I HAD in this situation was that you never know which Denver running back is going to go off. With Torain coming back I didnt know how the carries would be divided. Michael Pittman and Andre Hall getting put on the IR has opened up the door for Ryan Torain. Everyone has been raving about this kid and now there is no one on the Broncos roster healthy enough to steal carries from him. I believe I just scored a big time running back out of this deal and if I did then wow.. I think that million dollars just got a little more realistic.

I'm nervous but I should win this game. Tomorrow night will be key. I have Cutler, Torain and Braylon Edwards in a game that I believe will be a shootout. That could mean a HUGE week for my team. I may just be at the top of the week 10-15 leaderboard after this weekend if I can win my league championship. I cant wait to get this going!

Unreal week in league 214

2008-11-03T22:43:00.000-08:00

Standings as of this past Sunday morning...

League #214
Name W L T Win% PF PA
Ice Pimps 11 5 0 .688 902.66 752.52
lightsout 2 10 6 0 .625 864.54 805.14
HGH Positive 10 6 0 .625 856.94 765.32
Between her uprights 9 7 0 .563 864.68 821.66
.357 Magnums 9 7 0 .563 822.46 703.78
Paper Soldiers 7 9 0 .438 848.50 950.18
govikes 7 9 0 .438 838.32 951.12
NOVA BOYS 7 9 0 .438 769.00 725.90
pointupward 7 9 0 .438 724.20 839.12
Vegas Quarantine 3 13 0 .188 677.64 854.20

Now as you can see in looking at these standings teams 6-10 are out of contention for the championship game. That means teams 1-5 all mathematically had a shot. Barring something completely nuts scoring wise.. my team could realistically only be knocked out by teams 3 and 4. More then likely just team 3. Ill save the scenarios there as I erased all doubt there with another 2-0 week. This left one spot and 4 teams fighting for it.

You know in sports.. when the magic number for a team is 1? That usually means the other teams dont have a shot. Mathematically they do.. but you would be foolish to get your hopes up. .357 Magnums were that team this week that shouldnt have had their hopes up at all. Their chances were almost 0%. If Vegas had some odds on them it would have been crazy. Well.. Lightsout2 blew it. They had control of the league for much of the season and they closed it this week with a 63 point performance and a loss to Vegas Quarantene. The last place team in the league. This made the path to clinch simple for HGH positive. A win and he was pretty much in. He was matched up against the .357 Magnums who needed to win, score in the top 5, and get help from everyone else to have a shot. He needed teams 2, 3, and 4 to go 0-2 while going 2-0 himself. A tall order right? Well.. Lightsout 2 put up 63. Between her uprights put up 78. They were done. HGH on the other hand put up a respectable 101. Nothing spectacular but usually that would be a good enough score.. especially with top teams like lightsout and between her uprights out of the top 5. Well.. The magnums put up 115.. so they got the head to head win. Now HGH stood in 5th place heading into Monday Night Football. What could go wrong? Well.. the last place bottom dwellers all season.. Vegas Quarantene. Thats what could go wrong. They sat at 61 points. 40 points vaults them into the top 5 and crushes the hopes of HGH. Vegas had Portis, Holmes, Pitt defense, and Cooley. Well the night ended with Vegas getting to 110. The heartbreaking part for HGH was that Portis didnt even have a big night. That crazy holmes TD that was designed to be a run play hurt. Pitts D showed up huge.. and Cooley was solid. HGH who I definitely was worried about is done. They were fielding a team of Eli, Westbrook, Fitz, and Andre Johnson. All guys that could go off at anytime. Especially Westbrook.. you never want to see that guy on the other end of a fantasy matchup. Did I feel I could beat HGH? Absolutely.. I expected it. I was nervous though.. he had some huge weeks this season and he has a team that could blow up at any moment.

That leaves me against the .357 Magnums for a shot at Vegas. This guy sat in 5th place entering week 9. He was no where near anyone in total points and he just needed everyone to go 0-2 while going 2-0. It happened. The .357 took Tyler Thigpens 39 yard recieving touchdown and did the impossible.

He fields a respectable team with Mcnabb, Parker, Lynch, Gore, Calvin Johnson, Coles, Matt Jones, and Torry Holt. However.. I'd be lying if I said I wasnt confident about my chances. Am I nervous? Absolutely. Anything can happen in fantasy football on any given sunday.. but I have no doubt in my mind that I have the better team. I just hope that holds true for week 10.

I'll be blogging more tomorrow or Weds. Im ecstatic about some news in the NFL that has to do with some of my players and drastically improving my chances at winning this whole thing. Those thoughts arent for this blog. Tonights thoughts are about the crazy championship game possibilities that I just witnessed for the final regular season game of league 214.

Congrats to everyone thats playing for your respective leagues championship this week!

Thigpen!!

2008-11-02T12:24:00.000-08:00

Ha.. The one person that thought Thigpen was a good play against Tampa this week played him.. and that would be the .357 Magnums. I retract my previous blog statement in which I questioned that decision. I just had to blog about that.

Things started off slow for me but I'm looking real good all of a sudden. Not only that but my competition is tanking. The .357 Magnumbs had the worst chance out of the teams that could make the championship. They needed to go 2-0 while second third and 4th place went 0-2. Well.. that is easily possible with the way things are looking. It looks like another crazy week in league 214 is about to take place but it looks like I'm going to clinch if things keep going the way they are.

Nerves..

2008-11-02T09:10:00.000-08:00

Well this is it for me. I had suite tickets to the nascar race today but I've decided not to go because I know I would be driving myself crazy wondering how my fantasy team is doing. I'm sitting here looking at teams that I would like to win that would clinch me and Im seeing some very questionable roster decisions. One guy that still has an outside shot at the championship game has Tyler Thigpen in against Tampa.. WHY?

Ahh.. screw it. I just need 1 win to basically clinch this. Im in a position where I dont need to rely on anyone else and thats exactly where I want to be. I have some favorable quarterback matchups with Cutler and Warner. I like Michael Pittman this week. I always love my recievers. I have the Bears against the Lions. I got this! The team Im playing is a good team and while they arent in the championship mix they easily could have been.

Well.. in the words of myself when I woke up this morning.. Screw Nascar.. its football season! Hopefully the fantasy football gods look down at me with a smile on their faces!

Did I say second place? WRONG!

2008-10-28T18:29:00.000-07:00

Forget all that talk about how I was aiming for 2nd place so I could be in the championship. Guess who is sitting in sole possession of FIRST place in league 214? If they were ever going to make a movie out of a fantasy football team my FFOC team would be it. I was literally done. At 3-5 at the end of week 4 nobody would have thought I'd be in the championship game much less in first place and leading the league in points by 40. I had a very average amount of points and the second place team was 6-2. First place was 8-0 if Im not mistaken. I said to myself then that if I was going to have a shot at the million I really couldn't lose another game. Well.. since that day I am 8-0. I have scored no fewer then 116 points and dropped 143 on my main competition in the highest scoring game in the league this week. I've had the relaxing weeks and I've had the Monday Night games where a last minute Braylon Edwards two point conversion clinched it fo me. My team has just simply been on a roll. The scary thing is I dropped 143 with Reggie Wayne netting 29 yards. Seriously.. If you had told me Reggie Wayne was only going to get me 29 yards I wouldnt have liked my chances to get the 7 points I needed. Then BAM.. Dallas Clark put an end to all suspense almost immediately.

I haven't clinched a spot in the championship yet.. but I can finally afford a loss. A spot in the top 5 in points virtually guarantees me a spot in the finals barring a disaster. The biggest question this week is who am I going to be playing? 4 teams have a shot. Only two could overcome me if my team just completely lays an egg. One of those teams is without Brees Bush and Steve Smith this week.. OUCH. This is the guy that started off 8-0. I almost feel bad for him but then again I dont. He started Marvin Harrison in place of Anquan Boldin this week. He also left Steven Jackson in his lineup. He started Warrick Dunn along side him who was very questionable and he left a Ricky Williams TD on the bench. Last week he benched Steven Jackson against the Cowboys for Ryan Grant. This guy really had a good team too and by mismanaging it the last 2 weeks he went from a lock to probably not playing in the championship all together. For the money we all spent on our teams and the chance at a million youd think he'd be watching it a little closer.

Well ladies and gentleman.. I can't wait until week 10. I am the most nervous about that game. I feel like if I win that I can at the very least hang around the Vegas Bracket for a few weeks. I can't say that Im a lock to go to Vegas because thats crazy talk.. but I am definitely a believer and I think I can make a run.

Congrats to those that are locked into the championship game and good luck to all of those that are still fighting for it. Everyone except the teams in my league that scare me more then others :)

Big game.. and both teams show up!

2008-10-27T12:05:00.000-07:00

Well.. this week I didn't have the luxury of having my NFL Sunday ticket for the majority of Sundays games as I was at the Cowboys game. You can bet between every punt and every timeout I was up and looking at the TVs. You can also bet I was blowing up my friends phones to login and look at my teams score. This weeks game was enormous as it matched up my second place team against the 3rd place team. Well.. it lived up to its billing and we are the two highest scoring teams in the league this week. If I could win this week I get to put one step in the door for that championship game.

You rarely should lose a head to head matchup when you put up 126 points. What would make it even tougher is scoring 126 points with your season on the line and losing. Thats exactly what my opponenet is looking at. As of Monday afternoon he is the highest scoring team in league 214. He is 1 game behind me for second place and absolutely has to knock me off. His team showed up. I guess I should thank Brad Johnson for being terrible because if Romo was playing Im sure TO would have done better than his 33 yards that he put up. But hey.. The cowboys won so this definitely works in my favor. My opponenet is looking at my score probably right now and thinking you gotta be kidding me. 119-126. If he beats me I'll still be ahead of him due to points but that definitely makes the race very very interesting. A win puts me 2 games up and I have the tie breaker. What do I need for a win? A little over 7 points from Reggie Wayne AND Dallas Clark. A little over 70 combined yards or a touchdown and a little over 10 yards. Obviously there is a little nerves on my part until it actually happens.. but then I think about what I'm thinking through the eyes of my opponent and I'm a little reassured. I'm thinking my seasons over if Im only up 7 with Reggie Wayne and Dallas Clark still playing against me.

Mewelde Moore came through again for me this week. I got so lucky with Willie Parker being downgraded on Friday. I was going to start Darren McFadden just because I had no one else. Pittman was on his bye week. Well.. I didn't want to start McFadden against Baltimore and the second that Moore was going to start I put him in. If Parker had been scratched last minute on Sunday then I would have had McFadden in.. and I wouldnt have been home to see that he was scratched at the last minute. Talk about relief! Im glad he sat out and didnt have to take the pounding from Baltimore. I need him in Vegas!

I started Santana Moss over Hines Ward. This was a decision I went back and forth on for the weekend. Hines Ward is usually pretty consistant while Santana Moss is pretty hit or miss. I took the chance on Moss and man did that pay off. Not only that but his punt return scored a TD for my defense also! I'm glad I got it right because Ward did nothing this week.

I really wish Derek Anderson could throw an accurate ball to Braylon Edwards. I dont understand why the Browns dont play Brady Quinn. Its not like they have a hall of famer in Anderson. Quinn is the future and that team is never going to be anything above decent with Anderson at QB. They have the tools to be an awesome team and they are wasting time on Anderson. They are also holding back my star WR and its really aggrivating me!

Other then that.. Favre and Warner had good numbers. I finally had a good scoring week from the kicker position. Washingtons D let me down as I thought they could shut down Detroit but the Punt return gave them respectable numbers. Thomas Jones disappointed me in what was supposed to be a huge week for him. Im glad he at least scored a TD to get a respectable score.

It all comes down to Reggie Wayne and Dallas Clark tonight. Get me over 7 points and I take a major step in reaching fantasy football glory come December. These are the kind of games that feel the best in Fantasy Football. It always sucks to score a ton of points and play the lowest scoring team. This week I'm going to need every single point that I get.. and hopefully I knock out the second highest scoring team that is fighting for their season.

Is it Monday night yet?

Just call me Butter baby cuz I'm on a roll!

2008-10-20T22:09:00.000-07:00

This week was unreal. There is no other way to describe it.. I'm still in shock.

My two quarterbacks? They sucked. 300 yards and one TD between 2 QBs that were supposed to be great plays this week. That usually won't cut it. My WRs? Well.. Reggie Wayne had 25 yards and collectively I think they had 130 yards and 1 touchdown. My defense? Gives up 41 points to the Vikings. It should have been a rough week right?

Well.. as Charlie Murphy would say.. WRONG! Chicago gave up 41 points but scored two touchdowns, got 4 picks, and a hand full of sacks. Thats unheard of! I should have been in the negative category big time! My running backs were great. I knew Mewelde Moore was a great play this week.. but I didnt know he was going to be three touchdowns good. Thomas Jones has shown me the last two weeks that maybe I wasnt wrong on him after all with his 158 yard rushing performance. I am freakin ecstatic. I dropped 122 points on the league this week which was the highest score and my main guys that I depend on decided to take the week off! I am THRILLED with that because you know what that means? Its the law of averages. My guys that sucked this week are due to bounce back next week. I fully expect a nice fantasy week next week.

What makes this week even better? This is even crazier then my big week. EVERY SINGLE TEAM THAT IM COMPETING WITH FINISHED OUT OF THE TOP 5!!! I was the only one that got the 2-0 week. I knocked out the previous 2nd place team and he finished out of the top 5. Then there was the NOVA BOYS who I was literally neck and neck with. We had the same record and we were seperated by .6 points. I outscored him by 70 this week. I outscored the number one overall team by 52 points giving me a chance to catch him as I'm only one game out now. The other team that I was tied with? He missed the top 5 mark by 1.5 points.. and he had Moss going tonight. We play this upcoming week. I thought we would be tied but now I am a game up on him with a 26 point lead in the points category. What I thought would be a must win week isn't. Don't get me wrong I want to close it out and lock up my spot in the championship game.. but its nice having the luxury of being able to afford a loss as the season comes to a close.. its not nearly as stressful.

Vegas Quarantine was 0-12.. and they stole a win from the team I needed them to.. and got a 2-0 week. Un-Freakin-Real.

I am doing far too much day dreaming about what I'm going to do with that million dollar prize. I'm definitely a believer. Winning my league is the big one.. at that point I have a 1 in 660 chance with a team that I believe hasnt even come near its potential. Not only that.. but I believe I would have a 1 in 40 shot at going to Vegas for the finals. Not bad odds at all when dealing with prizes that extravagant. Starting out it was 1 in 6660.. but its amazing what winning your league does to your chances. It makes it very doable and the thought gets me pretty excited.

In March of this year I won the Coke Zero dream job. I had an all expenses paid 3 week trip to San Antonio to blog on march madness. I was on ESPN, I was in the USA Today. I went to the final four with Sean Elliott. It was really a dream come true. 2008 has just been my year. I have had so many memories. If I can cap it off winning the ultimate fantasy football glory it would obviously be an unbelievable experience and a year I'll never forget. If I can keep rolling into the next two weeks like I have been that dream is going to become a very very real possibility.

I feel the momentum shifting in my favor..

2008-10-17T01:33:00.000-07:00

My FFOC season has already been a bit of a roller coaster ride. I got hammered in week one by a ridiculous Michael Turner game. Justin Fargas injures himself and opens up the door for my guy Darren McFadden only for McFadden to take advantage for a half and hurt his toe for 5 weeks. Brett Favre throws 6 touchdown passes while riding my bench. I go down to a record of 3-5 only to come back with a 4-0 streak to put my team in prime position for the championship game. This weeks game is huge. I believe if I win this game I will be in the drivers seat for second place.

I've actually been quite giddy the last couple of days. I genuinly feel like I can win a million dollars in this. My team has been very consistant in scoring. Nothing huge but they have hung right in there. The encouraging sign in that is Braylon Edwards is just getting started after dealing with injuries. I had to rely on Darren McFadden during this time as well because I had no other options.

That's changed. Darren McFadden is still my guy and believe me.. when I'm in the Vegas bracket he will be in my lineup. The first game he blows up he will probably be on my bench though. Why? Well.. I think I have my ESPN Fantasy hall of fame backs that I have been searching for all year...

Mewelde Moore is one of them. The former Tulane star is now Willie Parkers primary backup. The kid can play. Anyone watching him in Minnesota when he got to start knows he is a very good football player. It looks like this Willie Parker injury is gonna linger. Advantage me. Mewelde Moore will be starting this weekend for my team and he plays the Bengals. I expect big things this week and it gives me a chance to wait and see on McFadden because even if McFadden goes off I dont think Moore will be too far behind.

Michael Pittman/Ryan Torain. Michael Pittman is going to be the guy in Denver I think. Just in case hes not I picked up Torain. As I have said before Pittman is the kind of running back that Denver loves and I think he is going to be rock solid for the rest of the season. Reuben Droughns was a fantasy savior when he was in Denver. Where is he now? I knew he wasnt very good.. he was just a hard running Denver running back. Michael Pittman has way more potential in Denver then Droughns did and I'm ecstatic about having him on my roster. I probably wont play him this week as Thomas Jones gets Oakland.. but I dont doubt at all that Pittman is going to be a major contributer for me.

The fantasy gods are smiling on me this week. This game is absolutely huge for me as myself and HGH Positive square off. The problem for him? Brian Westbrook, Larry Fitzgerald, and Correll Buckhalter are all on bye weeks. This game in my opinion is going to decide second place. Don't get me wrong.. I still will have some work to do if I get the win.. but a win here puts me in the drivers seat.

Braylon Edwards and a healthy McFadden make me a million dollar contender. Even if McFadden doesnt blow up I think I have good enough backs to pick the right matchups. If McFadden starts getting healthy and blowing up I really dont have much of a weakness. My QBs are real good. Edwards Wayne and Ward with Santana Moss as the backup are great for WRs. If I can win this league I am going to be excited as can be about my chances.

Oh.. want some free fantasy football advice for those of you that need an edge in week 8? Pick up Washingtons D.. they play Detroit. I'm already prepared with Chicagos D having a bye week.. and Washingtons D is going to give me an advantage in my game. Good luck to those of you fighting for a shot at Vegas!

How sweet it is!!

2008-10-13T22:09:00.001-07:00

Tonight was fantasy football at its finest. Every Sunday any serious fantasy football player goes through that stretch of heart stopping excitement. You have your stat tracker running and you are flipping from game to game on your NFL Sunday Ticket watching your players and cheering against others. Everyone does that right? Or maybe its just me? Ha. Well.. usually about halfway through the afternoon games.. or maybe at the end of them that excitement runs out. You are either clinging to an unrealistic hope or you have your game locked up and your not worried about the miracle that could happen. That was not the case for me this weekend as I previously posted. Tonight it came down to a hand full of players and three teams chasing 2 spots. All three of us were neck and neck for the second place finish.

It all started quickly for me. I posted the scores and I was obviously the one that the odds were against. Braylon Edwards caught me right back up and I jumped ahead of the Nova Boys after that bomb that he almost scored on. Trust me.. I was thinking about that touchdown all night. I was right there until Plaxico scored and put me back down by 6. Well.. a funny thing started to happen. The Browns kept scoring. I kept seeing the Paper Soldiers LOSING points. It was the Patriots against the Dolphins all over again and I was loving it. I went nuts when Braylon Edwards scored the touchdown putting me up by 6 points over Paper Soldiers and giving me a 1 point lead over Nova Boys.

Well.. picture this. You saw the drive the Giants made after that. Brandon Jacobs picked up some pretty nice yards on that drive. Plaxico got some decent yards. The Giants got down to the 6 yard line. The score looked something like this.

NOVA BOYS 115 (Plaxico)
Ice Pimps 113.7 (Braylon Edwards)
Paper Soldiers 109 (Brandon Jacobs and Giants D)

So imagine what Im thinking. Brandon Jacobs scores and my season is over. This is the time where I need to put myself in position to get in that championship game. These 1-1 weeks arent going to cut it.. especially with a good scoring week like this. The Giants were running the ball at will and I was praying that Eli would throw it. He does.. and BAM! INTERCEPTION! PICK 6! That knocked 4 points off of the Giants D.. and then Braylon Edwards followed it up with the 2 point conversion which actually bumped me ahead of the 3rd place team and gave me nothing to worry about for the rest of the game.

When I'm in Vegas I will definitely be looking back at week 6 and thinking how different it could have been if Brandon Jacobs would have run that in.

THANK YOU BRAYLON EDWARDS AND THANK YOU CLEVELAND BROWNS! I believe I have the Braylon Edwards back that I envisioned when I drafted him in the second round.. and man if thats the case.. watch out league 214 and watch out FFOC. Ice Pimps are eying that million dollar prize and Braylon Edwards has been a major piece that I havent gotten anything out of yet. If he blows up the sky is the limit!!

This has been a GREAT Fantasy week!

Its amazing how fast things can go from relaxed to crazy!

2008-10-12T01:39:00.000-07:00

First off.. I want to address something. I'm a die hard Cowboys fan as I've stated. I'm obviously not in the best of spirits when they lose. So the question that needs to be asked is this. What kind of genius do you have to be to know what kind of mood I'm in? I'm annoyed! The numerous texts that I get after a Cowboys loss make me 10 times madder then the actual game! The common question is "Are you doing ok?". There are three possible answers. I'm happy. I'm annoyed. I'm hanging myself while I reply to you. I'm going to go with the last one from now on. Anyone that wants to write me a dumb question like that is going to get an equally dumb response. "I tied myself to an anchor and I'm on the bottom of the ocean. Damn the Cowboys! They did this to me!". Ok.. I just had to get that off my chest.

Now onto fantasy football. Today started out with a bang. Thomas Jones and Reggie Wayne were involved in my first batch of games. Good stuff. Brett Favre wound up not having the big passing day that I expected but Thomas Jones evened it out. I wish I had left Kurt Warner in for Favre like I had intended but eh.. Favre vs the Bengals.. I think a lot of people would have made that play. I also made a gut decision in the early hours of the morning and I replaced Felix Jones with Michael Pittman. That's a call that I'm proud to say paid off. I think that I found me a running back. He fits the style of running back that Denver loves and I think he is about to do real good things now that he has gotten his chance. What happened to Santana Moss today? I think he missed the memo that he was playing the Rams. A normal game for a star reciever against the Rams and I'd be sitting pretty. Way to no show.

Well.. Like I said. The day started off with a bang. I'm going to go ahead and say for the majority of the day I was in first place overall. Then all of a sudden the points stopped coming in bunches like they had been. I lost some points at the end of the Bears game on their defense. Cutler slowed down after a fast start. Scobee was kicking extra points instead of fgs. It was fine though. All that mattered to me was that I stay in the top 5 in scoring. I was settled in on 4th place and I was content on that. Then I saw a team that looked like they were likely to pass me. 5th place looked to be in my future and that was fine by me. My Dallas Cowboys were down by 10 points and I had a 20 point lead on the 6th place team. Then Marion Barber catches a screen pass and takes it 70 yards! Can you imagine my emotions? WOO GO COWBOYS! (%*)#*%(#)% THERE GOES MY COMFORTABLE LEAD IN FANTASY FOOTBALL! 1 minute later the same team had the Eagles defense. They get a pick 6 for a touchdown and he takes the lead on me. Are you kidding me? This all happened at the end of games! Now I've got some work to do.

That work lies in the hands of Braylon Edwards. Three teams are competing for 2 spots. It may be 4 teams by the end of tomorrow night. The 3rd place team is sitting at 115 points. If any of us top that we are locked in for a top 5 finish. I'm going to go ahead and say 110 gives me a shot.. 116 guarantees it. The scores are shaping up like this..

lightsout2: 146.42
HGH Positive: 118.44
govikes: 115.26
NOVA BOYS: 103.34 (Plaxico Burress playing Monday Night)
Paper Soldiers: 98.40 (Giants D and Brandon Jacobs playing Monday Night)
Ice Pimps: 92.34 (Braylon Edwards playing Monday Night)

I can play out every scenerio in my head and get a headache. I'm going to keep it simple. If Braylon Edwards has a big game I will win. All I need is 23 points from him. That's not asking too much from the guy that I drafted with my first pick in the second round. I have had a feeling about him all week long. I almost benched Andre Johnson for him in another league but didn't. I have just had a gut feeling that this is the week Braylon Edwards makes all of his fantasy owners proud. Braylon Edwards loves attention. Hes one of the most talented recievers in the league. He was hurt and was questionable to start the season because of that foot injury. His timing was off and he got roughed up for a few weeks. The bye week couldnt have come at a better time. Hes had the chance to relax and get some practice reps in. If he doesnt come to play on Monday Night then I might as well just bench him because he won't do it for me all year. The Browns are going to be hyped up for this game. The dog pound is going to be hyped up and is going to carry them. Tomorrow night Braylon Edwards does what I drafted him to do.. and gets me a win. A 2-0 week this week puts me in third place.. just 1 game out. I get to play the second place team. All my big bye weeks are gone. I can win this.. I just need Braylon Edwards to be the superstar that I know he is. What better time to do it then Monday Night Football?

VICTOOOOOOORY!

2008-10-08T02:25:00.000-07:00

The week after a succesful weekend of fantasy football is so much more relaxing then a weekend of disaster. When you lose you are frantically trying to fix the problem and get a win. When you win you feel invincible and like your team can't be stopped. I had a very succesful weekend not only in the FFOC but in all of my leagues. Not only that.. but the Cowboys won. They didnt look great in doing it but I also dont think the Bengals are as bad as their 0-5 record indicates.

This was a wild week in league 214 though. I scored 117 points. My guys did nothing spectacular. There was no 6 touchdown game from Brett Favre. There was no 3 touchdown game by a reciever. None of my recievers or running backs broke 100 yards. It was just a consistantly good average for all of my players that carried me. Maroney and Santana Moss did absolutely nothing for me but everyone else had good games. You would think at 117 points I would be at the very top of the league in scoring for the week. Sure its not outragious or anything but its safe to say I would be in the top two during most weeks. Not this week. I was FIFTH! 117 points as the 5th highest point total? That is insane! It would have been a long and sad week if I would have had to settle for a 1-1 split with a 117 point week. Oh well.. I made the cut off and thats all that matters. I now sit at 5-5 and I'm right back in the middle of this chase. I'm 2 games out of second and I still have a matchup to go with that team. Its funny how this turned out though. To start the season I had week 5 as the week that I was screwed. No Braylon Edwards, Thomas Jones, or Darren McFadden. If I would have known I was starting Kyle Orton this week I definitely would have thought I was screwed. The only down side to to this week? I beat the lowest scoring team in the league which sucks when you have a good week.. it almost feels wasted. My 133 point week was also wasted on the lowest scoring team in the league. I want to beat a contender with one of those scores.

Well.. for the most part I dont have to worry about byes anymore. I feel like I can play any two of my quarterbacks and be fine. I need Reggie Wayne in my lineup every week and I've got him. I still believe Braylon Edwards is going to be a player. Hes simply too good to stay down for this long and I think the bye week will help. The keys to my team lie with Darren McFadden and Braylon Edwards. If those two come around like I think they can my team is going to be very very tough to beat. I can take sitting at 5-5 after going through McFaddens toe injury and Edwards slow start through the bye week.

I would like to apologize for wasting a blog on Laurence Maroney. I didn't see the game since I was at Texas Stadium but I heard he didn't look good at all. When Kevin Faulk is taking your goalline carries something is seriously wrong. I have seen that guy play so well in the past and I don't understand whats wrong with him. Man.. If I could just have that pick back and take Michael Turner.. AH!

How bout Felix Jones? I'm tellin you.. If Barber gets hurt.. go ahead and book me for Las Vegas because Felix will carry me there. I love Marion Barber.. but Felix Jones is the most talented running back on the Dallas Cowboys. Believe me thats no knock on Barber.. but Felix Jones is just that good!

I already cant wait for the weekend!! I finally get to sit at home for two sundays and follow ALL of the games on my Sunday ticket while the Cowboys are on the road. I'll be back later to post my thoughts on the weekends games and my matchups.

It's time Mr. Maroney..

2008-10-04T23:38:00.000-07:00

I have been on the Laurence Maroney bandwagon since his rookie season. This guy is an unreal talent. He has an amazing combination of speed and pure power. Watching him operate his rookie year was a joy. Especially since I picked him up off the waiver wire. That season most of my fantasy teams experienced great things. I give him a big part of the credit. After his rookie season when Corey Dillon was gone I was ecstatic about his potential. He was going to be THE guy in the backfield for the Pats. I hate the Pats. I hate their coaching and I hate everyone on their team.. except Laurence Maroney.

Thankfully last year I didnt pick him. Not that I didn't want to.. but I picked mid first round in most of my drafts. Maroney would get picked before I got to pick again. Those teams got burned. I was tempted to draft him ahead of first round prospects though just because of my hype on him.. thank god I ignored that urge.

What does Bill Belicheat have against this guy? He hasn't been feeding him the rock and he has been running the likes of Sammy Morris? Who? This guy wouldn't even make the Cowboys roster. You've got a top talent like Maroney and your not using him? The video cameras are off and Tom Brady is out.. show that you are a legit head coach and run your star back! I am a die hard Cowboys fan and I love Marion Barber.. but I would trade Barber for Maroney in a heart beat. I believe he is that good.

Well.. this week I need you Maroney. I need that big game that I've been waiting for. I don't need you to step up in the playoffs when it doesnt count for fantasy teams anymore. I need you now. I need you to light up the San Francisco 49ers. The Patriots need you to light up the San Francisco 49ers. And you know what? I believe you will. My bye weeks are here at the perfect time because I have you to fill in. Not only that.. but I think my hype on Thomas Jones is unfounded. I think he has lost a step and eventually the team that has Leon Washington is going to benefit. I need you and Darren McFadden to carry me and I believe you can. I just need you to do it now before I'm out of contention.

I love my Dallas Cowboys and I absolutely love going to games.. but I hate not being able to watch my Sunday ticket and track my fantasy football. Hopefully I come home to a top 5 score and a winning week. I'll be watching Felix Jones break a 60 yard run.

I feel great about this week and I can't wait to wake up in the morning! GO COWBOYS!

Someone sprinkled some crack in my pancakes today..

2008-10-04T01:49:00.000-07:00

Confused about my blog title? I'm starting Kyle Orton this weekend... enough said. I'm starting Kyle Orton ahead of Kurt Warner. Hell.. I'm starting Kyle Orton over (insert anyone on my bench this week).

Why am I doing this? He's playing Detroit. Detroit is one of the worst put together teams I have seen in a very long time. I just have a feeling Kyle Orton will be throwing for 3 touchdowns this weekend.

Anyone remember Mewelde Moore 2 seasons ago? He was a really good player for the Vikings when their running backs went down. He has kind of disappeared sense then.. but I have a feeling he could do some big things for Pittsburgh. Maybe he will be my ESPN hall of fame fantasy back. However.. I'm benching him this week for Felix Jones against Cincy. If Felix doesnt do anything this week he wont be seeing my starting lineup ever again unless Barber gets hurt.. but I have a feeling Felix could be in for a big week.

I'm also a little excited about Laurence Maroney. I love Maroney and I dont understand why Belicheck plays him like he does. I think he has the potential to be a top 5 back in the league. I also think he could blow up this weekend.

My opponent this week is in 3rd place but I feel very confident. He's playing both Denver recievers and I have Cutler. Marshall is a stud but I really dont expect Royal to do much against Tampa. He is starting Adrian Peterson and Grammama (Larry Johnson) against me. AP scares me.. he will have a huge game against New Orleans. The starting QB that I have to worry about is Gus Frerotte. I was thrilled to see that.

I have Reggie Wayne against Houston this week.. and I think it could be an enormous game for him. I'm most excited about that and my Chicago D playing against Detroit. I should get a 2-0 week and jump right back into contention. We shall see!

What a disastorous weekend!

2008-09-30T13:47:00.000-07:00

Football is like having a 4 month roller coaster relationship with that beautiful sometimes fun, yet psychotic woman that your friends tell you to get away from as fast as you can. You are going to have your good times and you are going to feel like you are on top of the world on some weekends.. yet you are going to be stressed out and be worrying about whats going to blow up in your face next. Theres that night where everything is perfect.. you are eating a romantic dinner and cuddling on the couch.. and then the next morning she sees a comment from a cute friend on your Myspace page and pepper sprays you while throwing all of your belongings into the fireplace. Thats basically how I felt this weekend. I woke up feeling like things were perfect. I was playing the number 1 team in the league and I actually liked my matchups and my chances. Shortly after I woke up the roller coaster relationship that I have with football decided that this was the day I was going to get screwed with. The roller coaster slowly crept towards that high point.. where you just sit there and look down feeling better than the world. Well.. it dropped me straight down at speeds that could shatter the sound barrier. It sent me upside down.. shook me from side to side.. left my back with whip lash and left me with a migraine. That crazy hooker pepper sprayed me.. left me laying on the ground all disoriented trying to comprehend what the hell was going on. Seriously... My football days are usually long and exciting. This one? Disaster hit me in the face left and right until finally at about midnight I curled up in a ball in the corner of my room.. rocking back and forth.. begging for it to just please stop.

Well.. first off I went to the Cowboys game like I always do. We are playing the Redskins which is ALWAYS a fun game to be at. Well.. EVERYONE wants to go to games with me.. but its amazing when Sunday comes how many of them just cant go. I always tell people that I'll try but theres not enough games to get everyone in... then on Sundays Im blowing up my phone book. Well.. that was the case this weekend. People didn't want to spend money.. people were sick.. someone got a puppy that they didnt want to leave at home. Well.. I was left with basically one option. I had a girl that I was going to take to the Bengals game next weekend. Yeah.. the Bengals. Not the division rivalry game that I wanted to be obnoxious at. The Bengals where the Cowboys would win by 42 points and I wouldnt mind being social. Well.. I invited her at 1:30 in the morning. This girl was fun if we had been at a bar or just done anything else. I didn't feel like being social. I felt like being obnoxious.. yelling obscenities at Redskins fans that were mouthing off.. and just watching the Cowboys win a game that they SHOULD have won. Nope.. I couldnt do any of that. Walking into the stadium we passed MANY obnoxious Redskins fans that were just talking and talking. I'm pretty sure it looked like I had tourettes because I was twitching and wanting to say something SO bad. You cant do that with a girl that doesnt like football that much and is hanging out with you for the first time. She's a big Bengals fan.. but she thought Carson Palmers last name was Palmeiro.

Well we get up to the suite.. and I'm all for socializing before the game starts. Once the game starts? Leave me alone!! I guess Im just extremely irritable when I'm in my football mode. There was her trying to karaoke everything in my right ear that they played in the stadium. Then she would ask me why I couldnt hear the song. Because you are yelling it in my ear? Then there was her trying to talk to me about how short her hair was and how she didnt like it in the midst of a 30 yard Clinton Portis run. I already wanted to give a Chuck Norris round house kick to the Redskins fan in front of me.. and I have to listen to haircut drama in the middle of these feelings? Then she broke a cardinal sin. Giving me hell about the Cowboys losing!!! TO THE REDSKINS!? I've lost friends over that.. I'm not a happy person in the aftermath. I can take it a few days later.. but anybody that knows me knows to just leave me alone when it happens. Like I said.. fun girl to take out when you are actually wanting to pay attention to them.. but not to a rivalry football game. I did my best to keep smiling and try to bottle up how annoyed I was. One of the worst feelings in the world. To top it off.. I got to keep looking up at the TV screen and see that I benched Brett Favre when he threw for 6 touchdowns. Fantastic.

No explanations needed for my feelings on the Cowboys game. That was the worst called game I have seen since the Dave Campo years. I think Barber had 8 carries? 8?! Right before I left for the game I got brave. I put in Felix Jones for McFadden with his toe injury. Now.. the move only cost me a few points since McFaddens injury lingered.. but HOW IN THE WORLD DO YOU NOT GIVE FELIX JONES ONE TOUCH?!!?!?!!? That dude is money for 10 yards everytime he touches the ball.. and he is a threat to take it the distance everytime. Don't you think that might have helped the Cowboys cause Wade Phillips? I felt like I was watching Mike Martz.

If you couldnt tell.. I went 0-2 this week. How quickly things can change. Last week going into the Monday night game I was ready to be sitting in second place. Now.. I'm fighting for my life at 3-5 and 3 games out. It's not over.. and I definitely have some fire power. I need McFaddens toe to heal NOW. I need that ESPN Fantasy football hall of fame back to fall in my lap. I need Maroney to return and be the running back that I know he is. I'm almost ready to concede being wrong on Thomas Jones.. which REALLY hurts. I still have the best recievers in my league. I also have the best quarterbacks. If my running backs would chip in my team would be pretty dominant.

Well.. I feel like the averages of Fantasy Football should be on my side this weekend. I'm due for a big week. Thomas Jones and Mcfadden are on byes but I think Maroney is good to go and I bet Felix Jones has a big game against the horrible Bengals. One 2-0 week and Im right back in the middle of the run for 2nd place and a shot at Vegas.

When I say good luck to everyone I really don't mean it. I want my team to win and I want everyone else to struggle. You know what though? I wouldnt wish on ANYONE what I went through this weekend.. as a Dallas Cowboys fan and as a fantasy football addict. The crazy woman that is football shattered my heart like a window at a Celine Dion concert and I'm going to be picking up the pieces until I redeem myself this weekend.

The weekend is here!

2008-09-26T15:09:00.000-07:00

It's 5 PM on a Friday night in Fort Worth, TX. What's on the mind of this 23 year old bachelor? ..... Week 4 of the NFL Season! Why would I be thinking about anything else? Well okay.. maybe I love my football a little too much.. but I wouldn't trade the feeling I have on Sunday mornings for anything in the world! I promise I really do have a social life.. but from September until the end of December or whenever the Cowboys are done that social life gets put on the back burner.

Whats on my mind today? Well.. The big toe on my prized rookie running back Darren McFadden is weighing pretty heavily. This flat out sucks. I dont know how to explain it any other way. The fantasy football gods smiled down upon me as Justin Fargas clutched his groin. They gave me a small taste of what McFadden can do. A lot of what he did was with the toe injury too! But now? Its still lingering. Most of this week I heard it was better. I heard that it didnt effect him in the game. Now on Friday right as I'm getting excited about the weekend hes only at 3/4 speed? CMON! The worst part about this is I dont know when Fargas is going to be back. In the time that Fargas is injured is the time that McFadden was supposed to shine and send Fargas to the bench as Adrian Peterson did to Chester Taylor last season. I dont know if McFadden is going to be able to be THAT good by the time Fargas gets back. Not happy at all about that. To make matters worse McFadden is my one starting spot that I am unsure about this weekend. Do I ride it out? He didnt look bad last weekend with the injection. I have Felix Jones.. who I dont want to play at all.. but everytime I bench him he makes a huge play. As a Cowboys fan I dont want anything to happen to Marion Barber. As a fantasy football player who has Felix Jones.. that kind of injury could put me in the money QUICK.

Well.. I keep looking at my roster matchup with lightsout2. I can't wait. Reggie Wayne will be on his bye week which hurts a little but I have every bit of the confidence in my recievers. Braylon Edwards is going to be the Braylon Edwards of last season this weekend. I have absolutely no doubt about that. My quarterbacks will be rock solid as usual. My bears D should do well against a banged up Philly team. Thomas Jones will be good against the Cardinals.

Well.. I'm only uneasy about one matchup for me this week. My guys should put up nice numbers and I think I should pull out the victory. If McFadden can play well I think my team is going to blow up this week. If he doesnt? I will still post good points and have a shot at a 2-0 week.

The only downfall to my fantasy football weekend is that I wont be able to watch much of it. I don't remember the last Cowboys game that I missed and that will continue this weekend as I will be at the game. I will definitely be trying to get my stats on my phone though.. and my friends probably won't be left alone.

This could be a huge weekend!

So freakin close!

2008-09-23T16:51:00.000-07:00

Well.. after week 3 I could take either the half glass full or empty approach. I knew I was a lock to get a win. I just didn't get the win that I was confident about. I upset the .357 Magnums which I had my doubts about.. because they had some great matchups. Well.. The dolphins blew up his starting defense and his recievers did nothing. I won a low scoring game 86-76. As I've said before.. its crazy how the smallest things can make such a big difference. If I get those Wayne and McFadden TDs I think I break the top 5. The heartbreaking thing about Monday was when the Jets went no huddle, 5 WR, No running back for basically the entire second half. It was almost comical even when they were going for two they refused to put in a running back. They had what.. 4 penalties on that one two point conversion putting the ball basically on the goal line.. and they still refuse to run? Insane.

I think I'm going to take the half glass full approach. I'm let down that I didnt take second place over with a 2-0 week. I should be grateful to the fantasy football gods that they gave me a break on my opponent in a low scoring week. Not only that.. but a good opponenet who was in first place. I probably wont have to see this team again. I was kind of thinking I'd be 1-1 this week.. but I thought that my team would lose to the highest scoring team of the week while still sitting in the top 5.

Well.. I get the new first place team this week. The 6-0 Lightsout2. I actually feel good about it. I dont have Reggie Wayne which hurts but I feel good about my WRs. I especially feel good about Braylon Edwards. He gets the Bengals this week and he probably gets Brady Quinn. Im thinking hes going to make up for the first 3 weeks and propel my team into the top two where it belongs. The league is crazy. One 6-0 team. Three 4-2 teams and three 3-3 teams. Its honestly anybodies game.

A special shout out to the guy on the message boards that suggested getting Brady Quinn last week. It was a great call and I owe this guy a beer. I got Brady Quinn for nothing.. as opposed to the 40 or so dollars hes probably going to be bid on this week. But for future references.. Rule #1 in Fantasy Football is you never ask for advice on a message board. If anybody in your league saw that you may have cost yourself Brady Quinn. But.. Thanks. You made me take a closer look at the Browns situation and I realized that Derek Anderson would struggle against the Ravens no matter how prepared he was. 0-3=Brady Quinn.

I bet Reshard Mendenhall owners are downright Giddy right now...

Strange Day..

2008-09-21T22:54:00.000-07:00

Well.. today was odd to say the least. I thought that the .357 Magnums had very favorable matchups and I had some dilemmas with my lineup. I kind of had the mindset that I hoped I would make it in the top 5 so I could escape the week with a split and remain in contention. A funny thing happened. I'm going to win my head to head matchup! I have a 4 point lead with Thomas Jones still left to play. I have the New England Patriots D and their beautiful -7 stat line to thank for that. Also.. shortly after my blog earlier I heard that Braylon Edwards was going to play. I almost put him in for Santana Moss. I decided not to and I broke a major fantasy rule. You NEVER bench your star based on matchups. I had already hyped myself up on Santana Moss though and I decided to stick with it. GOOD DECISION! Braylon Edwards will be breaking out of his slump next week and he will be in my lineup.

So you would assume that since I am going to beat the previous number one team in the league that I am going to have a 2-0 week right? Not so fast. The league is so bunched up right now its ridiculous. The third highest score is at 106 right now. The 4 and 5 spots are basically up for grabs and there are a lot of players out there tomorrow night. Im sitting at 80. I was trying to figure up what I needed to get in the top 5.. but two advils and one really bad headache later I decided to just go ahead and say that its going to take 100 points to break into the top 5. I predicted Thomas Jones would be a 1300 yard back this year. Based on that a 140 yard one touchdown game or something like that isnt out of the question at all. Especially with how teams have been running on the Chargers so far.

It's crazy how just a few yards can effect your fantasy score so much. Sometimes its not even yards but inches. I blogged about McFadden getting robbed earlier. Anyone watching the Colts game saw Reggie Wayne miss a touchdown by 2 yards at the end of the game. I thought for sure he was going to score. Give me that 2 yards and 1 inch and I am sitting very pretty for the week. Forget Wayne.. Give me the touchdown that McFadden should have gotten and I'm feeling much better about my chances of reaching 100.

I wish I had a little more depth at running back but other than that I am thrilled at how I have built my team. I struck gold on my quarterbacks in later rounds. Today Warner and Cutler had average games by their standards and they still got me such solid points. It's comforting to know that I can start those two every single week and that I have some bigtime playmakers at the skill positions. Barring injury every single one of the players that I start are capable of exploding and thats the recipe for big things in this league. Braylon Edwards will soon be making up for his start to the season.. and I can't wait to see how that unfolds.

The difference between an acceptable week and a gigantic week for me all lies in the legs of Thomas Jones. If he comes to play tomorrow I think I jump into the top two in the standings.. with a showdown looming next week with the new number one.

LETS GO THOMAS JONES!!

McFadden scores!!

2008-09-21T12:04:00.000-07:00

Well.. not technically. McFadden just obviously scored a TD for me.. making his toe injury okay. Thats what I thought anyways. As I was doing my best Chad Ocho Cinco river dance impression.. the referees marked it short. 392 pound Jamarcus Russell steals my TD. *^&*^&*^%!!! *&^&(^(^$!!!!!!!!! ********!!!!!!!!!!!!

Pregame Jitters

2008-09-21T09:23:00.000-07:00

It's Sunday morning.. Is there really a better day to roll out of bed? It doesnt matter how tired I am.. Ive got a good 12 hours of football to watch and go crazy about (2 hours to watch Sportscenter twice of course!).

I'm usually real confident about my teams. Today is a little different. I'm playing the #1 team in the league according to the standings. The .357 Magnums. I firmly believe that I have the better team then this guy and most weeks I would be ecstatic about knocking this team down a notch. However.. Not this week. I've already got some dilemmas.

Darren McFaddens toe scares me to death. This is the guy that I was ready to have as my meal ticket after last week. I was wondering why he didnt finish the game. Well.. with my WR first draft strategy I have put myself in trouble for this week. A lot of teams draft RBs early.. grab a decent reciever or two.. then they get their sleeper running backs later and if they pan out they trade their #1 picks. There is no trades in this league so that wasnt gonna work. Well.. I am confident in my running backs and I expect great things. However.. I have NO depth behind them. I expected big things from Laurence Maroney and I felt great about him as a backup. I should have known not to draft a Patriot. Laurence Maroney is one of the most talented backs in the league.. yet Bill Bellicheat insists on running Sammy Morris all the time? Not only that.. but now that Maroney is injured he is going to be questionable and a gametime decision for the next 9 weeks. Great. Other than Maroney I loaded up on running backs that could definitely be in the ESPN Fantasy Hall of Fame this season. God forbit.. but if Marion Barber gets hurt Felix Jones is going to be a beast. I LOVE Ray Rice.. and if he can overtake McGahee he probably will do great things this year. Ray Rice is actually apparently starting today but I've read that they are going to run 3 running backs today. I'll take McFadden and his toe with his potential over a Running back by committee nightmare. I definitely considered the move though.

Another guy that is breaking my heart is Braylon Edwards. If Braylon Edwards was being Braylon Edwards I would be 4-0 right now. This is my second overall pick! He hasnt even broken 5 points for me yet! This week I have to bench him! He is a 3:15 game and hes a gametime decision. If he doesnt play I'm screwed because all of my recievers play early. So.. I am putting Santana Moss in against Arizona which actually may work out better. Still though.. I will never feel right about benching a Braylon Edwards for a Santana Moss. Hopefully this is a great Santana Moss week instead of a no show.

I don't admit this very often.. but the .357 Magnums scare me this week and this week only. Why? Well.. Michael Turner destroyed me in week 1. Who did he play? Detroit. I never want to see that defense as a matchup for my opponent again. Well as I'm looking at the schedule my heart shattered like a window at a Celine Dion concert. Frank Gore vs Detroit. Ouch. I am confident that I am better then this team. This week? Well.. :(

We'll see. This week is huge for me and if my team can come through for me I will be in the drivers seat for a top two spot in my league. COME ON DETROIT! You didn't make the NFL for nothing did you? Or did they put some of those WRs they have drafted over the last 20 years at linebacker? Eh..

Good luck to everyone! Hopefully I'm celebrating victory later!

Looking back on Weeks 1 and 2..

2008-09-19T23:05:00.000-07:00

I could blog on and on about whats happened leading up to this week. I don't want to. It's already happened. I want to start blogging fresh with my present day emotions. So.. This will be my last blog on what has already happened.

Week 1 was awful for me. I made some bad decisions with my roster that cost me a win and I played the team that just had one of those weeks.

Lets start off with my opponent. I only need to mention two names and you are going to know exactly what happened to me. Michael Turner, Marion Barber. Michael Turner runs for 220 yards and two touchdowns. Are you kidding me? Was that a high school varsity defense that Detroit ran onto the field? Don't get me wrong.. I am a huge Turner fan and I think he would be consistantly good on a good team. On the Falcons? With no WR and a rookie QB? He had no business destroying my fantasy team that day.

There is nothing worse then having to cheer against a player from your favorite team. I love Marion Barber. The most gut wrenching thing in the world in fantasy football is playing against a running back.. and watching his team throw the ball down to the one. I have Tony Romo as my QB in other leagues so obviously Im cheering for him to do well. First drive he throws it to Witten.. down at the one. Barber runs it in. The next Barber TD was real heartbreaking though. Romo throws a TD pass to TO.. only to have it marked down at the inch line. It was a touchdown.. the broadcasters even said. But.. when you have Marion Barber.. why waste a challenge right? Thats what the Cowboys thought. Touchdown.

What were my roster screw ups? I had two. I like Santana Moss and Hines Ward this season. I was actually down on the Giants defense without Osi and Strahan. So.. I benched Ward for Moss. Hines Ward is very consistant while Santana Moss is very hot or cold. I should have gone with consistancy as Ward lit it up. Nope.. I played Moss and missed out on Wards two touchdowns.

My next mistake was benching Jay Cutler. My number 1 QB pick that Im expecting huge things from. Why did I do that? Because of the absense of Brandon Marshall. If you take any teams stud reciever out of the equation.. the QB usually wont light it up. I love Tony Romo.. but I wouldnt dare play him without TO. Well.. Jay Cutler proved me wrong as he completely lit up the Raiders.

Obviously with my roster decisions coupled in with the fact that my opponent had Barber and Turner.. he had a pretty sizeable lead on me. A little help from Braylon "Butterfingers" Edwards might have helped my cause. There was hope for me as Monday night football came about. I may have lost my game.. but I only needed 10 points from McFadden to fall into the top 5 of scoring. Wouldnt you know.. he leaves the game with a shoulder stinger in the 4th quarter.. 4 points short of that goal. The Raiders made it deep into the Red Zone on that possesion. I should have been
1-1. That right there is the definition of a heartbreaking week and it was definitely not the way I wanted to start my quest for a million dollars. Hopefully I got that week out of the way and have great things to come.

Well.. for week 2 thats exactly what happened. My only regret about week 2 is I got to play the worst team in the league. This guy made his team around Tom Brady and Tony Romo. Needless to say.. hes done. My team exploded. Butterfingers continued to play horrible for me. Thomas Jones struggled a bit against a real good Pats defense. Other then that.. my team exploded. I got good games out of Reggie Wayne and Hines Ward. Kurt Warner and Jay Cutler had monster games for me. Chicagos defense scored me yet another touchdown. Everything was looking good.. but there was definitely one highlight of the week for me..

In real life.. you never wish injury on a player. Never. I hate the Eagles.. but I dont want McNabb getting hurt. Its just bad karma. In fantasy football its completely different. Injury means opportunity. Injury means there is a potential stud on the waiver wire. Or.. In my case injury means that your sleeper is about to wake up. As the only US citizen outside of California and Kansas City watching the Raiders Chiefs game.. I suddenly jumped up and started dancing around like Prince. Justin Fargas ran out for a pass and just collapsed on the field holding his groin. I dont like Justin Fargas. Every year in Oakland I had him as a sleeper.. and every year he got hurt. Last year when I started him he did nothing.. and when I benched him he went off. Its like hes playing head games with me. Well.. When the Raiders spend the #4 pick on McFadden and start comparing him to Bo Jackson I figured he would get a lot of carries. Not with Justin Fargas hogging the ball he wasnt. I was so annoyed for the first game and a half of the season.. but man.. when Justin Fargas went down I knew what was about to happen. All of a sudden.. BAM! 50 yard run! 20 yard touchdown! 20 yard run! 20 yard run! My heart was racing like I had had 27 Red Bulls and I was all jacked up on Mountain Dew! Had he not injured his toe in that game He would have probably added me another touchdown and rushed for over 200 yards. From what I saw in that game.. he justified me picking him where I did and he definitely showed me that he can put me over the top in my quest for a million dollars. Lets just hope that toe is okay.

I ended week 2 with the highest point total in the league. Of course it was wasted on the worst team in the league.. but hey.. 2-2 isnt a horrible place to be sitting through week 2. I definitely have a chance to make some noise in week 3.. as I am playing against the .357 magnums.. the 4-0 number one team in the league. I feel like my 134 point total in week 2 is nothing compared to what my team is capable of.. and I hope that it shows it in week 3.

On that note.. let the games begin! As Mark McGuire once said.. "I'm not here to talk about the past". As of right now I will be blogging about the present and the bright future that is a trip to Las Vegas for the Ice Pimps!

Draft strategy

2008-09-18T20:51:00.000-07:00

Everyone has a different strategy on what they want to do in the upcoming fantasy football season. Every season that plan changes. Coming into the 2008 Football season I had a plan that actually had me pretty excited. If I was right my team was going to do big things.

First off I looked at the rules and the number of players we were allowed to start. The option of playing another QB in the Flex spot definitely intrigued me. Brady and Romo immediately were my first thoughts. The more I thought about it the less I liked it. The rest of my team would be horrible if I drafted those two first unless I was right on A LOT of sleepers. The odds dont favor that. So.. I decided against the two early QBs strategy.

A common used strategy in fantasy football is to go running backs first. I try not to do that unless there are running backs that I absolutely love in my draft position. There are first round busts every single year. Its funny how people draft a guy because thats where their average mock draft position is. Screw mock drafts. I look at them to get a feel of where the guys that I WANT are getting picked and when I may need to pick them. I never use them to draft a guy just because hes there. Magazines and mock drafts can give you an idea but you have to have a mind of your own to be a truly great fantasy football player.

What did my mind tell me to do this year? Well.. in the first round LT, Peterson, and Westbrook are must picks. You would be foolish to pass on those guys. Personally, I was hoping I would have a later pick. In most leagues.. the teams that score the stud running back in the later rounds as opposed to the first and second rounds are the ones that win the leagues. Willie Parker owners probably faired quite well 2 seasons ago. Adrian Peterson owners did very well for themselves last year. I also usually try to pick up a stud QB in the later rounds. Some years Im right.. and some years I'm wrong. Entering this draft I had one mindset. One million dollars is on the line. I didnt want a normal team. I wanted a team with some star power but yet a very unique team that a lot of people wouldnt have. I wanted to win this.

In getting ready for my draft I realized one very important thing. My beloved Cowboys have a bye week in week 10. A team relying on Cowboys isn't going to win a million dollars. That kind of sucked but it also forced me to just draft other players that I wasnt bias about. Romo and TO are still the best QB and WR in football :)

Entering my draft I targeted Randy Moss, Reggie Wayne, Braylon Edwards, Andre Johnson and I wanted to steal Brandon Marshall in a later round. I was obviously going to have to draft those guys early if I wanted them which was the plan. Randy Moss got picked right before me at the 10th pick, so I went Reggie Wayne and Braylon Edwards back to back. There wasnt a running back sitting there that I loved.

With two WRs with my first two picks I had to have a running back plan in place and I did. I targeted Thomas Jones and Darren McFadden from the start. I expect Thomas Jones to be a 1300 yard back and while I dont expect McFadden to be quite Adrian Peterson I expect him to have a big season. Both landed right in my lap but barely as the draft rankings had them projected to actually get picked a little before me. With a million dollars on the line I had to go with my gut. If I am right on these two my recievers are already great. That could have the makings for an explosive team.

Now onto my quarterback selection process. My WR and RB plan fell into place as I had hoped and now I needed to pick the right QBs to piece it together. I loved Jay Cutler from the start. He was there in round 5 and I picked him. A few rounds later I went with Brett Favre on the chances that he would be close to the same guy he was last season. Not a huge risk in round 8. Then a funny thing happened during my draft. I get an update saying Kurt Warner has been named the Cardinals starting QB. Round 12 rolls around and hes there. I take him. Leinart was picked a few picks later which brought a smile to my face. Kurt Warner is going to be a major factor in my Las Vegas run.

Here is my complete draft. I will update on what happened in weeks 1 and 2 in my next blog.

Ice Pimps

Round 1: Reggie Wayne
Round 2: Braylon Edwards
Round 3: Thomas Jones
Round 4: Darren McFadden
Round 5: Jay Cutler
Round 6: Laurence Maroney
Round 7: Santana Moss
Round 8: Brett Favre
Round 9: Dallas Clark
Round 10: Hines Ward
Round 11: Chicago Bears
Round 12: Kurt Warner
Round 13: Ray Rice
Round 14: Felix Jones
Round 15: Phil Dawson
Round 16: Green Bay Packers
Round 17: Ryan Torain
Round 18: Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Round 19: Muhsin Muhammad
Round 20: Greg Olsen

Eyes on a dream

2008-09-17T20:12:00.001-07:00

Football season is without a doubt my favorite time of the year. It is four fun filled months loaded with weeks of anticipation. I am constantly counting down the days until Sunday. As a die hard Dallas Cowboys fan this football season likely will be very good to me. I was spoiled as a kid. I saw my team win three Superbowls. I got to see one of the greatest dynasties in the history of football. The last ten years? Not so much. I have endured the Quincy Carter years. I remember when the Cowboys signed Ryan Leaf and how excited I was over that. It’s funny now but you know your team is struggling when you turn to Ryan Leaf for optimism. Its no coincidence that I fell in love with fantasy football the year Troy Aikman was forced to retire. It has gotten me through some rough times as a Cowboys fan and has brought me every bit of the joy and excitement that I hope for in watching the Cowboys play.

Today I have an equal passion for both. Fantasy football brings in an element that being just a fan can’t. I wear my Cowboys colors around proudly… but I haven’t accomplished anything for the team. I’ve got a bum knee and I’m not very fast. Outside of being one of 60,000 obnoxious loud fans at a game, I have nothing to brag about in their success.

I consider myself a very knowledgeable fan. I watch people like Skip Bayless and "Screamin" A Smith spit out all kinds of garbage on TV. I honestly believe I know more than them and others like them. I have no problems showing it and bragging about it afterwards. That’s the beauty of Fantasy Football. It gives me and millions of other football fans a chance to show off our knowledge of the game. When we are right you can bet we are going to let everyone know about it.

Some people say a game like fantasy football is luck. I can’t argue that there is a degree of luck to it like there is any other game. The luck factor comes with injuries and the fact that on any given week you can lose. This can come back and get you in the fantasy football playoffs and it undoubtedly will get you a time or two during the season. Nobody can guarantee winning their respective league. Your star player can have one bad game in your championship game and you are done. However… You absolutely can guarantee having a competitive team that will give you something to cheer for in the end. If you know your football and you are right in the strategy you develop and the players you select your team will be competitive. The skill comes in making the team that CAN win. The luck comes in the end. The team with the better draft strategy usually has more luck on their side in the end.

I heard about the FFOC on Jim Rome is Burning. This league was huge. A million dollar prize and tons of publicity to go to the winner? I would be lying if I said the publicity would be better than the money. I am a 23 year old college student living in Fort Worth, Texas. I had to put every bit of my extra money together to pay for just ONE team. Not ten like a lot of people can afford. The money would be unbelievable. However… the publicity is close. I love attention. Especially when it comes to sports. I saw an opportunity to lay my claim as the best fantasy football player in the country and to possibly gain the spotlight and voice my opinions for everyone to hear. That kind of stuff definitely gets my juices flowing.

As I said… you can’t guarantee victory in fantasy football. You can only pick the right players that will give you a chance in the end. I fully anticipate being a part of the Las Vegas bracket. At that point things could get very interesting and I could have some good stuff to write in here.

I feel as if I am the best in the league. The fact that others can challenge my claim is what makes fantasy football so great. I plan on bringing my one team on a roller coaster ride to Vegas and I plan on sharing all of my ups and downs for everyone to see.

Good luck to all!

Before I get started

2008-09-17T20:12:00.000-07:00

Since we are getting this rolling in the middle of week 3 there is obviously a lot that I havent gotten to write about. I would like to give some insight on my thoughts going into the draft and my thoughts on what has already happened. Obviously those blogs are going to be put together all at once so bare with me. The transition between blogs will be much smoother once I have gotten those out of the way.

Note: While the FFOC is behind me in writing this blog, all opinions and material in this blog are those of my own. Therefore all complaints should be directed towards me and me alone.