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The trade deadline in my keeper football league has came and went, so there have been a few trades over the last few days (this trade season has been extremely stagnant) as owners scramble to upgrade or shore up their rosters as we head into the last 6 weeks of the regular season. As mentioned in my prior post, I am right in the thick of things, but a league owner brought up some interesting points: How owners “playing for next year (or beyond)” and “giving up too early” can really affect the contenders. He believes it’s way too early to pack things up if you have a mediocre record and that by “selling” all of your tangible assets and “building for the future” in deals that are one-sided or deemed that way, other owners will suffer as a result of the have’s getting richer. Read the rest of this entry »

It’s been a while, Happy Halloween Everyone!!! I have been super busy, working a lot, the school year being in full swing now, and working on my book, so haven’t been writing as much as I would like. I am 4-3 in my keeper football league, after a bonehead maneuver (more on that later) and 5-2 in my one year league, so things are going pretty well with two first place teams. Especially my keeper league team, while lacking depth compared to my trademark deep rosters, the starting lineup is as formidable as any in the league. I have great wideouts and two superstar running backs and just picked up Owen Daniels in a trade for a pick next year. My quarterback rotation (Matty Ice and “Ben”) are playing about as well as I can hope for, with Roethliesberger being a top 5 quarterback coming into week 8. In my one year league, I don’t have a player having a spectacular season, but Welker, Ronnie Brown, Rodgers, are my “stars” but I am getting production across the board with Sims-Walker, Witten, and the thus far very disappointing Brandon Jacobs. I play the 6-1 team this week, so that can go a long way towards determining seeding in the league!

Moving right along, Read the rest of this entry »

This is the Romo we are going to see most of the year. With that deep rushing attack the Cowboys are going to feature the run more, so Romo won’t be a top 5 QB and the great games (like vs TB) will be the outlier, not the norm. I dropped him with great trepidation in my keeper league just because he has been stupendous the last two seasons or so. In hindsight keeping Brandon Marshall with all that baggage seems like a horrible idea, but I think Marshall can still break out and Matty Ice I am confident will put up similar #’s to Romo.

After an anemic week 1 showing, my fantasy football team came alive in week 2, highlighted by a mind-blowing effort by Chris “Flash” Johnson, which I am sure you know about if you follow football, fantasy or otherwise. I read on CBS Fantasy Sports he’s the “sit of the week” but no way that’s going to happen. I know Gang Green’s defense is formidable, but CJ is unsittable at least in my eyes.

If passing is up, my wideouts haven’t gotten the memo. Santana Moss has been downright atrocious, as has Baby TO. However, being 1 and 1 isn’t so bad. Fantasy football usually features division games in the first weeks, so this week I take on the undefeated team in my division. He has great running backs, completely rebuilt from scratch, which I give him props for. Aaron Rodgers has yet to have a big game, which frightens me that he may be due. Without further ado…

I am starting Matty Ice, Steven Jax, Chris Johnson, Larry Fitzgerald, Santana Moss, and Wes Welker, and Willis McGahee at Flex. I am sitting Marshall unless on a bye or until he starts producing.

I am facing Rodgers, DeAngelo, Ray Rice, and Fred Jackson at RB/FLEX. His underwhelming receiving corps include: Devin Hester, Kevin Walter and Chris Chambers. We both have good defenses, so it should be a fun matchup!!!

Well, the lesson here is you can’t take anything for granted. Stat King was absolutely taking it to his opponent last week as mentioned, but things got very interesting when fantasy stalwarts like Kevin Millwood and Joe Saunders made unexpected solid contributions, but King Felix’s gem may have swung the pendulum back towards Stat King for good…

Next, kudos to Justin Verlander, who was dominant after a small hiccup in the middle of the game.Meanwhile, I am nursing a small lead, Jeff Baker really dealt me and the playoff hopes of the Rockies a devastating blow last night…but such is life. Have to have amnesia and take care of business. I am up against Cliff Lee and Big Z Carlos Zambrano, a tough task indeed, but to be the best you have to beat the best. I really want a repeat championship, because this year’s competition is deeper than the Grand Canyon, so the champion really, really earned it. With that being said, I am happier for Stat King if he holds on….

First off, I want to tip my hat to Stat King…who’s on a truly scintillating run on his way to his first championship in one of my leagues!!! I know it’s not over till it’s over, but barring a fantasy baseball miracle, it’s in the bag. If his opponents get shutouts or no-hitters to beat him, so be it, but that’s the type of events that it’s gonna take to beat him. Let’s just say I would love my chances if I were in his shoes!!!

Back to business, I got lucky when the Phillies-Braves game was delayed, so even though Cliff Lee was in line for the win, he wasn’t able to finish the requisite 5 IP for the “W”. Hey, I will take it…Wainwright vs Zambrano for him, so I have to just weather the storm there…scoreless through 4 IP.

I had a rock solid day yesterday besides that Tigers meltdown, Verlander was rolling until some bad breaks in the 8th inning and to add insult to injury, no Nathan save opportunity…This week should be fun..here’s hoping I come out on top!!!

Verlander at 4:10…need him to rebound, or at least lose a close low-scoring, high strikeout game, so Nathan can get the save ; ) He’s my last big start this week, so I have to build a decent lead to withstand the 5 start onslaught Randy has in store for me tomorrow.

Well, that was a lot closer than I like, I can exhale now after I squeaked by Andy, it was a lot closer than the score would indicate. He lost his two best players, Jose Reyes and Jake Peavy for most of the season and in spite of that, he won his division. Whether he was a product of a horrid division or not is a subject up for debate, what’s not up for argument is his perseverance through a trying season that would have torpedoed a less determined or driven owner.

In the other game, the seeding held up too. So Randy and I are playing for all the marbles once again. He’s got some very nice matchups, his best guys will go three times during this fortnight. Verlander was very disappointing tonight after a promising start, so I am a little behind already…stay tuned…

My twitter was acting up the Sunday during the draft, so I couldn’t tweet the draft like I wanted to, so here is the synopsis. Andy traded DeAngelo Williams to move up with Levon for Antonio Gates and the 3rd pick in the re-draft overall, which equates to a 5th rd pick. But Stat King is the monkey wrench that ruined A.P.’s plans since he traded Slaton for Westbrook to swap picks from 8th to 1st overall, to draft Tony Romo.

Choosing between 2 out of Romo, Welker, or Marshall as my final keepers (the others being Fitzgerald, Steven Jackson, and Chris Johnson) was downright agonizing. I chose to drop Romo not because I think he’s bad or in for a bad year, I just think with the slight dropoff in production without T.O. and the surplus of quality QB’s available makes the receivers more valuable. I have questioned myself recently because of Marshall’s erratic (to put it mildly) behavior, however, the show must go on. Let’s see what happens as the season unfolds.

Round 1
Pick Team Player Elapsed Time Pts
1 SwampThings Romo, Tony QB DAL
2 JoeEww23 Jackson, Vincent WR SD
3 Valiant Vultures Jackson, DeSean WR PHI
4 Dream Killers McNabb, Donovan QB PHI
5 Shoulder Pad Moreno, Knowshon RB DEN
6 JoeEww23 Jones, Thomas RB NYJ
7 Hostages Bush, Reggie RB NO
8 Under Cons Gonzalez, Tony TE ATL
9 Straight Cash Holmes, Santonio WR PIT
10 Kirkland’s Kids Rice, Ray RB BAL
11 The Turner Burn Wells, Beanie RB ARI
12 Pushin Limits Ward, Derrick RB TB

Andy (Valiant Vultures) was running back heavy, so he was taking a QB or WR. He really wanted Romo or Vince Jackson, so needless to say he was totally mystified when those guys went before him and in my opinion reached for DeSean. I would have went with Tony Gonzalez or Santonio there. I was hoping to get lucky with Bush or McNabb, and was all set to take Schaub with my 12th pick but was excited to get Derrick “Wind” Ward. The Bucs didn’t pay him that money to ride the pine, so I think a repeat of last year’s effort with more consistency is in store.

Round 2
Pick Team Player Elapsed Time Pts
1 Under Construction Evans, Lee WR BUF
2 Natti Boys Brown, Donald RB IND
3 Kirkland’s Kids Jackson, Fred RB BUF
4 Dream Killers Cotchery, Jerricho WR NYJ
5 Shoulder Pad Sinba Royal, Eddie WR DEN
6 JoeEww23 McCoy, LeSean RB PHI
7 Hostages Bryant, Antonio WR TB
8 SwampThings Hightower, Tim RB ARI
9 Straight Cash Homi Jones, Felix RB DAL
10 Valiant Vultures Schaub, Matt QB HOU
11 The Turner Burner Sproles, Darren RB SD
12 Pushin Limits Graham, Earnest RB

My game plan was to get Schaub here, but one good turn deserves another, as A.P. snaked me two picks before. I totally reached for Earnest Graham but at least it gives me peace of mind in case Ward flops. Tampa should be a run-based team without Gruden so I am liking my production from my RB3 Ward and Graham is at worst a solid backup. Some real reaches this round: I really didn’t like the picks of Donald Brown, Shady McCoy or Felix Jones. I would have taken the cadre of borderline WR2′S and SOLID WR3’s still available. Love Stat King getting Hightower here and Valiant with Schaub, as previously stated.

Round 3
Pick Team Player Elapsed Time Pts
1 Under Constru Walter, Kevin WR HOU
2 Natti Boys* Ryans, DeMeco LB HOU
3 Kirkland’s Kids Hester, Devin WR CHI
4 Dream Killers Tuck, Justin DL NYG
5 Shoulder Pad Olsen, Greg TE CHI
6 Natti Boys Ward, Hines WR PIT
7 Hostages Driver, Donald WR GB
8 SwampThings Harvin, Percy WR MIN
9 Straight Cash Harrison, James LB PIT
10 Valiant Vultures Henry, Chris WR CIN
11 The Turner Burners Cooley, Chris TE WAS
12 Pushin Limits Moss, Santana WR WAS

I absolutely detest Santana as a football player, fantasy or otherwise. I never liked him since he alligator-armed an errant Chad Pennington throw over the middle a few years with a roving Rodney Harrison poised to deliver a bone-jarring hit. However, I would be remiss to not select him here as my 4th wideout when worse WR’s went before him such as Chris Henry or for Crying Out Loud, Devin Hester. He is capable of 1,100 and 8 TD’S, so here’s hoping he delivers.

Round 4
Pick Team Player Elapsed Time Pts
1 Pushin Limits Ryan, Matt QB ATL
2 The Turner Burne Coles, Laveranues WR CIN
3 Valiant Vultures Berrian, Bernard WR MIN
4 Straight Cash Keller, Dustin TE NYJ
5 SwampThings Daniels, Owen TE HOU
6 Hostages Shockey, Jeremy TE NO
7 JoeEww23 Breaston, Steve WR ARI
8 Shoulder Pad Moore, Lance WR NO
9 Dream Killers Miller, Zach TE OAK
10 Kirkland’s Kids Morgan, Josh WR SF
11 Natti Boys Cole, Trent DL PHI
12 Under Construc Smith, Steve WR NYG

This is the first round of the “snake” so I snatch “Matty Ice” as my starting quarterback. If Ryan progresses as much as the pundits proclaim, he will replace Marshall and all of his package as my keeper for next year. The remaining viable wideouts are gone here. I think Moore and Breaston are going to regress noticeably, so caveat emptor on both those players. Bernard Berrian could finally have his first 1,000 yard season, this was a good value for him.

The draft became real shallow after this round, so here is my team:

My current roster:
QB Matt Ryan, Roethliesberger
RB Chris Johnson, Steven Jackson, Derrick Ward, Earnest Graham, Julius Jones, LeRon McClain, McGahee, Choice
WR Welker, Marshall, Fitzgerald, Santana Moss, Brian Hartline
TE Boss, Scheffler
K Kaeding
DL Dockett, Kerney, Haynesworth
LB Ruud, Bradie James, Hawk
DB Adrian Wilson, Gibril Wilson, Bernard Pollard

All in all, I am ecstatic. I love my chances of repeating and will keep posted on any moves I make!!!

Michael Vick rumors and eventual destination in Philadelphia has been discussed ad nauseum, so I am definitely not going to talk about him or his fantasy implications. However, it did get me to thinking how far any fantasy owner would go to win his/her league. The Eagles obviously made a controversial choice to sign such a polarizing figure in Vick and it certainly is a huge moral dilemma for some people attached to the organization whether to root for Vick or not. On the heels of the Phillies winning their first championship in 28 years, the Eagles are absolutely yearning for their first Super Bowl victory after so many recent close calls.

My fantasy parallel would be your willingness to “sell your soul” to win a league championship by owning a player you and/or your league strongly dislike. Read the rest of this entry »