Fantasy Football Failure: Success!

Okay, so I'm a little behind. The championship game was Week 16 and here we are, the Monday after Week 17. Whatever. Week 17 didn't count in my league, so I don't care if this recap is a bit late. Besides, I won the championship game, so this recap can go up whenever I damn well please!

So, yeah, I won my fantasy football championship over Team Dreher, and won comfortably, 95-63. But it didn't start out comfortable. First, David Garrard put up 21 points in the Thursday night game and Tashard Choice put up 17 in the Saturday night game, and both guys were taking up spots on the bench. Leaving 38 points on the bench usually isn't a sign of good things to come, but it turns out I didn't need it (though my bench put up 68 points, which also would have won the championship). Tyler Thigpen made me feel good about leaving Garrard's 21 points on the bench by putting up 25 himself (and that could've been more if he hadn't thrown 3 picks). I also got big games from Chris Johnson, Vincent Jackson, and Reggie Wayne; thankfully these guys were playing on teams that still had something to play for in Week 16. I was also helped on the other side by Anquan Boldin being inactive (no reason to push him when the Cardinals had nothing to play for) and the Bucs defense scoring a whopping -6 points (man, did they implode down the stretch). In all, its nice when your opponent takes on negative points.

Okay, to fill out this post, I've decided to take a look back at my inital post-draft analysis thoughts from August:

-Barber and Wayne in Rounds 1 and 2. Top of the draft, take the best available. I think these are pretty solid picks. Looking at the guys taken in Rounds 1 and 2, I don't think I could have done much better given where I was picking (at #10 and #19).

Still agree with this assessment. Barber was a stud until he got hurt late in the year. Wayne was solid overall, but he had a long stretch in the middle of the season where he was terrible (and yet, I still managed to win those weeks).

-Palmer and Garrard in Rounds 3 and 8. Homer pick? A little, but it makes it easier on Sundays since I'm going to rooting for him and the Bengals anyway. And I think I have a more than capable backup in David Garrard. I like Garrard. I got him last year at about the same time in the draft and he ended up being my starter most of the season. Hopefully Carson has a great year and I don't have to use Garrard. If not, I think I'm still okay at QB.

Ouch. But in my defense, you can never anticipate a guy suffering a serious injury at the beginning of the year (hello, Tom Brady). And even though he had a slow start to the season, I was right on Garrard- he had a solid year. But even with that, there was no way I could have predicted how my starting QB's would play out. Once it was clear Palmer wasn't an option, I managed with J.T. O'Sullivan for a few weeks, then Garrard once he started playing well, before finally settling on Tyler Thigpen to finish out the year and lead me through the playoffs. Regardless of who's coaching in Kansas City next year, I think Thigpen is the guy for them, and i think that's a good thing for the Chiefs.

-Graham in Round 4. Graham had a quietly solid year last year. Hopefully he can do the same this year.

And he did, for half a season until he got hurt.

-Coles and Bowe in Rounds 5 and 6. Two things I'm hoping for here. One, I hope that Coles gets over his man-crush of Chad Pennington and realizes that Brett Favre, while old, is still better than Pennington ever was. And two, I hope they find someone in Kansas City who can get the ball to Bowe. If those things happen, I think these guys could have pretty good years.

One for two here. Favre started out great, but was soon showing his age and all Pennington did was lead the formerly 1-15 Dolphins to the AFC East title and the playoffs. Oops. Coles was a total bust this year- 1 great game (when I had him on the bench), 3 good games (exluding Week 17, which doesn't count for anything), and the rest of the time he was terrible. As for Bowe, they did find someone to get him the ball (see: Thigpen, Tyler).

-McAllister in Round 7. I was targeting Felix Jones here to have the Barber/Jones backfield combo, and he was available at the start of the round, but was taken 6 picks before I could get him. So since I had my backfield duo broken up, I took McAllister to break up someone else's Saints backfield combo.

McAllister gave me nothing and Jones eventually got hurt, so this was a lost pick either way.

-Crumpler in Round 9. He's best years were when he had Michael Vick at QB. Here's hoping he can put up comparable numbers now that he's with a comparable QB in Vince Young.

Yeah, not so much. I had a rough time with TE this year, juggling guys like Crumpler, Bo Scaife, John Carlson, Kevin Boss, and Zach Miller. Odd that the guy who plays for the Raiders (Miller) would end up being the most consistent (no touchdowns, but 50-70 yards a week; if he could find the end zone just once in a while he'd be a real good option at TE).

-Johnson in Round 10. I think every fantasy football publication has Chris Johnson listed as a potential "sleeper pick" this year. I don't know about that, but Round 10 seemed like a good place to take a chance.

Best pick of my draft. Tenth round, #131 overall, and he's the #10 fantasy running back, even with LenDale White vulturing some of his touchdowns. I'll take it.

-Patriots defense in Round 12. Too soon for a defense? Probably. I was actually looking at taking a shot at DeSean Jackson here (matching him with Johnson as "potential rookie sleepers"), but I thought there might be a run on defenses (because my league can be weird like that) and that I could wait on Jackson until the next round. Wrong and wrong. I could have easily gotten the Pats D (or a comparable one) later on and DeSean Jackson was taken six picks later. Oh well.

Uh, too much time devoted to thinking about defenses. The Pats were decent for the beginning of the year, but I also used the Falcons and the Jets to fill my D/ST slot. DeSean Jackson would've been a good pick, but I have the feeling that he would've spent a lot of time on my bench.

-Jackson, Battle, Bush, and Sweed in Rounds 11, 13, 14, and 15. Just looking to fill out the roster with skill position guys. I think Limas Sweed will end up being a pretty good receiver in the NFL. I thought that Sweed would have been a good second round pick for the Bengals in this year's draft (hell, DeSean Jackson would've been good, too). Instead, they took Jerome Simpson from Coastal Carolina, had every wideout on the roster get hurt, and then resigned Chris Henry. Well done, Mike Brown, well done.

All meaningless picks except for Vincent Jackson in Round 11. I dumped the other guys pretty quickly, but for whatever reason, I held only Jackson. Great choice. He didn't start coming alive until about Week 6, and as I was looking for someone to fill my RB/WR flex slot, he became Philip Rivers's favorite deep threat and he started putting up solid fantasy numbers.

-Tynes in Round 16. Okay, big mistake here. I didn't know that Tynes was coming off of exploratory knee surgery (I don't do much scouting on kickers). So I'm going to drop him and pick up Matt Stover (ie- the Ravens main offensive weapon) on Friday when the waiver wire opens. Actually, I was looking at Rob Bironas here (was solid for me last year, including the 8 field goal game), but he was taken 2 picks before me. Oh well- its just a kicker.

Stover was an okay pick, but in the end, I ended up using a tandem of Jason Elam (finished the year tied for #3 fantasy kicker) and Matt Prater (#14 kicker). And Bironas would've been a good pick- he finished the year at #2 (behind Stephen Gostkowski).

So in the end, I apparently made just enough right moves to sneak into the playoffs and eventually make a run to the championship. And even though I won, I'm still certain the curse of this blog still exists. I mean, the opposite of what I write here usually comes true, so by expecting failure, I somehow managed a reverse jinx on my own fantasy team. Crazy, I know, but you can't argue the facts. Its been a great year, but now I'm sad that football is going to be ending soon. Guess its time to start getting stoked on college basketball!

Adventures In Air Travel

Of all the places to experience a medical emergency, I'd have to think that being on an airplane would rank as one of the worst (second only, perhaps, to being on a boat out at sea). Small, confined space, 30,000 feet in the air.... just not a lot of options as to what can be done. I always wondered what would happen if something did occur on a flight. Don't have to anymore.

On my flight back to Cincinnati from San Francisco, an older gentleman (he looked early/mid-60's) sitting three rows in front of me all of a sudden passed out and slumped over in his chair. I have no idea what happened to him (and never did find out), but his wife informed us that it was a condition he had (I think she mentioned it was related to his esophagus) and that he needed to be laid out on his back and he'd come to. Now, when you're someone my size, you're expected to assist in certain tasks. Reaching objects from high places, carrying heavy objects, frightening small children, etc., it all just comes with the territory. So when his wife said he needed to be picked up from his seat and laid in the aisle, I stood up and volunteered my services.

I don't know if he was breathing when I got him out of his chair (everything was happening pretty quickly), but he was definitely unresponsive. Completely out. And within 30 seconds of getting him on his back and elevating his legs, he came to. He was hurting, but he was awake. Now, a few things struck me about this situation. The first was how calm his wife was throughout it all. At no point did she seem out of control, which was a good thing because if she wasn't calm, I doubt anyone else would have been. This wasn't the first time it had occurred, and she knew exactly what needed to happened (she told us that when it did happen the first time, they thought it was a stroke; probably wasn't so calm then).

The second thing that struck me about this situation was the number of medical professionals present on the flight. I'm sure there are statistics and expected averages on these sorts of things, but our flight had two doctors and (at least) two nurses on board. I don't know if that's a lot, but it seemed like a lot. And to be honest, I'm not entirely certain one of the people helping out was a nurse. She was a cute French girl who seemed to have medical knowledge, but because of the noise on the plane and her accent, it was difficult to tell. Maybe she was just helpful because she was cute- I really don't know. As for the doctors on board, they were Johnny-on-the-spot when all this went down. There wasn't all that much for them to do (they took his vitals and sent the info to the cockpit, which I guess is how they determine whether an emergency stop is warranted), and they seemed to be knowledgeable about the man's condition once informed about it. Once they checked him out and determined he was stable, we had to get him out of the aisle and into some seats. And by "we" and mean "me." He'd spend the rest of the flight laying across a row, which again required me to pick him up and move him. It was much easier the second time around because even though he was pretty weak, he was at least conscience.

Finally, the last thing that struck me about this situation was the lady sitting across the aisle from me. She was MILF-ish woman traveling with her two kids (both aged between 8 and 13, I'm guessing) who looked like she was trying to look younger than someone who had two kids aged between 8 and 13. In fact, she looked a lot like Mrs. Ari from Entourage. During the whole situation, it seemed like she was trying to control the scene; she was badgering the flight attendants about the first aid and other medical equipement they had on board (even though none of it was needed) and seemed overly involved in that man's treatment (which amounted to little more than getting water and resting on his back). And she wasn't even one of the medical professionals I mentioned earlier; she was just married to a doctor (who wasn't on this flight). How do I know this? Because she told everyone. And she did so in a tone that seemed to imply that since she was married to a doctor, she had sufficent medical knowledge to help this man. She also mentioned that this was the third straight flight she had been on in which there had been some sort of medical situation (the last flight, she said, a lady had a heart attack and her husband saved her by performing a heart transplant right there on the plane... or something like that; she was talking and no one was really listening to her, she might have exaggerated a bit). I hope never to catch a flight with her on board again, not because of her streak of inflight medical emergencies, but because she was annoying as hell.

I have to say, even though it was a relatively minor situation, there were some tense moments. I guess it just comes with something, anything, going wrong while in the air. And it wasn't without benefit, at least for me. The smoked turkey sandwich and packet of M&M's I bought during the flight ended up being free simply because I helped out. So overall, not a bad deal. My involvement in said situation also lead to a rather odd encounter later, while waiting for my connecting flight.

While I was waiting at the gate in Cincinnati for my connecting flight to Dayton (see previous post for more on that nonsense), which was delayed for an hour because, HELLO!, they didn't have a pilot, I was approached by a girl who had been on the same San Francisco-Cincinnati flight as me and was also waiting to go to Dayton.

Girl: Hey, you were on the flight from San Francisco, right? You helped the guy who passed out?
Me: Uh, yeah, that was me.
Girl: That was crazy. I've never been on a flight were anything like that had happened before. I was kind of hoping for an emergency landing or something.
Me: Man, that would've been nuts. And it would've been okay because since we're still waiting for our damn flight, we wouldn't have missed it.
[more random talk about what happened on the plane and how ludicrous it is to fly from Cincinnati to Dayton]
Girl: Wait, so where do you live?
Me: I live in West Chester, which is just about right in the middle between Cincinnati and Dayton.
Girl: Is that where the Touchdown Jesus is?
Me: [immediately thinks of Notre Dame] Uh, what? [thinks] OH!! You mean the Giant Jesus statue at the Solid Rock Church! Yeah, that's like 20 minutes from where I live.
Girl: Oh, cool. I live in Oakland and I'm here to see the Jesus statue.
Me: [pause] Wait, you flew here just to see the Giant Jesus?
Girl: Oh, no, I've got some friends who live in Dayton, but I'm mainly here to see the statue.
Me: Oh, well then. You, uh, have fun doing that then. The statue's pretty awesome. It'll probably change you're life, just not in that kind of way.

People fly to St. Louis just to see the Arch. Same with Mt. Rushmore in South Dakota. Old Faithful. The Grand Canyon. The Statue of Liberty. These are things in our country that are worth taking time out to go and see. I'm not certain I'm ready to include Big Butter Jesus on that list.

Cincinnati's Airport Is In Dayton

In a few hours, I will be driving up to Dayton so I can catch a flight back down to Cincinnati before heading on to San Francisco. I know that sounds ludicrous, but with how expensive it is to fly directly out of Cincinnati (which has the highest average ticket prices of any airport in the country), it saves me about $300 in airfare. That makes it worth it, especially when you consider that I live about as far from the Dayton airport (just north of the city) as I do from the Cincinnati airport (which is in Northern Kentucky).

But my question is this- who flies from Dayton to Cincinnati for a reason other than to catch another flight going somewhere else? Is anyone really flying just to cover the 50-some miles that separate the two cities? I'm guessing no. So the only people making this flight are people like me- people who want the destinations (and direct flights) out of Cincinnati but who don't want to pay the price to fly out of Cincinnati. Everyone making the 40 minute flight (seriously, a 40 minute flight?) from DAY to CVG is doing so simply to save money because CVG is so damn expensive. And everyone knows this. The people in Dayton know this; I'm sure they welcome the increased business. The people in Cincinnati know this; but they just seem to be standing around with their heads up their assess, watching all the local travellers abandon them for other nearby airports and not doing anything about it.

I wonder how things would have been different if instead of building the Cincinnati airport in Covington, KY, they built it in Monroe or Middletown, OH, or somewhere else in between Cincinnati and Dayton. Instead of having the Greater Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Airport, we'd have the Cincinnati-Dayton Airport. That could have paved the way to eventually linking the two cities metropolitan areas (kind of like Dallas-Fort Worth, only smaller), which is something that is bandied about everytime people look at how fast Dayton and the areas north of Cincinnati (like West Chester) are growing.

But that didn't happen, which means I'll be stuck making the tedious flight from Dayton to Cincinnati every time I'm looking to fly somewhere. Hopefully CVG does something to lower its airfare, but I'm not holding my breath. To Dayton!

Fantasy Football Failure: Week 16

Well, well, well, look who made it to his fantasy championship game. Thanks to solid days from Tyler Thigpen, Kevin Faulk, all my wideouts, and an improbable late fumble return for a touchdown by the Jets defense (thank you, J.P. Losman!), I prevailed over the #1 seed Down The Drain 101-85 to advance to this week's championship game.

For the championship, I face off against the #2 seed Team Dreher, who I beat 99-82 way back in Week 2. That week, I survived a massive week from Anquan Boldin (32 fantasy points!) with big days from Marion Barber and Earnest Graham (and solid days from Chris Johnson and Reggie Wayne). I'll probably need another week like that (or like last week) to beat Dreher for a second time.

QB: Tyler Thigpen vs. Chad Pennington
RB: Chris Johnson vs. Marshawn Lynch
RB: Kevin Faulk vs. Thomas Jones
RB/WR: Vincent Jackson vs. Warrick Dunn
WR: Reggie Wayne vs. Anquan Boldin
WR: Dwyane Bowe vs. Devin Hester
TE: Zach Miller vs. Dallas Clark
D/ST: Jets vs. Buccaneers
K: Jason Elam vs. Nate Kaeding

QB: David Garrard's been great that past few weeks, but I've riden Tyler Thigpen this far, so I've got to stay with him. Miami's not that great against the pass, so I expect Thipgen to get his usual 15-18 fantasy points. And speaking of Miami, Chad Pennington could have a decent day as well, seeing that Kansas City is even worse than Miami against the pass. But I expect the 'Fins to run the ball against KC with Brown and Williams, and the Chiefs to counter through the air with Bowe and Gonzalez, so I like Thigpen in this matchup.

RB: First off, eventhough he's got a g]touch matchup against Pittsburgh, I can't not start Chris Johnson. He's been too good all year to sit him down now. He stays in, and while I don't expect a whole lot of yards, I think he will manage to find the endzone. Kevin Faulk also stays in because I'm still not sure about the Marion Barber/Tashard Choice situation. Faulk's been solid 3 of the past 4 weeks, combining rushing and passing yards to score in the double digits. Arizona doesn't play much defense, so Faulk's got some value as a receiver. As for the Cowboys, I just don't know right now. Barber was active last week, but didn't do anything, and Choice came in and had his second straight huge game. That's two great games against two great defenses (the Steelers and the Giants). Does he keep it going against another great D, Baltimore? Regardless, I won't have Barber in there, but does Choice merit a start over Faulk? I don't know, and the Cowboys play Saturday night, so I've got less time to think about it. As for Dreher's RB's, Marshawn Lynch and Thomas Jones should have their usual solid games. I'm less worried about Warrick Dunn, but Lynch and Jones are a strong backfield that will be tough to keep pace with. I'll need some big games from my guys.

WR/TE: So Reggie Wayne didn't find the endzone last week (and he came so close), but he did break a 100 yards receiving, so I won't bench him. Yet. I am tempted to take a flyer on Laveraneus Coles this week because Seattle is dead last against the pass, but I just can't do it. The Colts need a win tonight to secure a spot in the playoffs, and Marvin Harrison is out, so I expect a lot of balls to go Reggie Wayne's way. Of course, those balls could also go to Dallas Clark, which would be bad, but I'm hoping that doesn't happen. As I said earlier, I'm sticking with Thigpen, which means I'm sticking with Dwayne Bowe; just find the endzone once and I'll be happy. Vincent Jackson's been a nice surprise the past 2 weeks, and its clear that Philip Rivers is looking for him with the deep ball. Eighty yards and a TD isn't out of the question. On the other side, Devin Hester doesn't scare me, but Anquan Boldin does. Sure, he's been down the past 3 weeks (4, 6, and 1 fantasy points), but despite that, he's still the #4 overall fantasy wideout. I've already mentioned Clarks potential for another good game with Harrison out tonight. Hopefully, its not too good so Zach Miller's 6 catches for 70 yards will be able to keep pace (man, I'd love for Miller to find the endzone this week....).

DEF/K: The Jets D had no business scoring 16 fantasy points last week. Thankfully, the Bills are terrible and decided to move J.P. Losman out of the pocket to throw with less than 2 minutes on the clock instead of handing the ball off to Marshawn Lynch, who'd gone for over 120 yards at that point. A sack, a fumble recovery, and a touchdown; that's a 9 points defensive fantasy play. Hopefully this week Seneca Wallace remembers that he's Seneca Wallace and not Peyton Manning and throws a few picks (perhaps even one for a TD). Aside from the debacle against Carolina two weeks ago, the Bucs D is always solid. And I don't expect either kicker to score much more than 7-8 points.

So what are my chances to win the championship? I'd say that right now, I'm the underdog, with a 35%-40% chance of pulling the upset. I've got a solid team, but I think Dreher's team's a little bit better. I think it comes down to the running backs, I need big days from them. Chris Johnson against the Steelers and either Faulk or Choice at the other RB slot. If those guys score big (or at least if they just find the endzone), I think I can pull out the championship.

Demented Santa Claus

To help get you into the Holiday Spirit:



The White Death has once again descended upon the Queen City. Panic is sure to ensue.

Fantasy Football Failure: Week 15

And he lives to fight another day.

Despite the best efforts of Vincent Jackson (20 points sitting on my bench) and Laveranues Coles (second straight 0 point week), I managed to prevail over Eh!Steve 68-58, returning the favor from last year when he knocked me out of the playoffs (it also helped that Eh!Steve left Jonathan Stewart and his 23 fantasy points on the bench). So onward to the semi-finals, where I matchup against the #1 seed Down The Drain, a team I lost to 74-82 back in Week 4 (where I left 63 points among 3 players on my bench- good times!). Loizeaux's team's pretty solid, so this should be a tough week.

QB: Tyler Thigpen vs. Kerry Collins
RB: Chris Johnson vs. Adrian Peterson
RB: Kevin Faulk vs. Ronnie Brown
RB/WR: Vincent Jackson vs. Maurice Jones-Drew
WR: Reggie Wayne vs. Greg Jennings
WR: Dwayne Bowe vs. Steve Smith
TE: Zach Miller vs. Greg Olsen
D/ST: Jets vs. Colts
K: Jason Elam vs. Neil Rackers

QB: Desipte Tennessee's 12-1 record, Collins hasn't exactly been lighting up the fantasy scoreboard. Sure, he's had a few weeks with some good numbers, but he's an 8 to 10 fantasy points guy. Tennessee's a running team (hello Chris Johnson!), so I think Thigpen can outscore Collins here. San Diego has a miserable pass defense, so think Thigpen will have good day (he just needs to find Dwayne Bowe).

RB: I've got issues here. Adrian Peterson (arguably the best running back in the league), Ronnie Brown (not scoring 5 TD each week, but solid none the less), and MJD (the top receiving RB in the league) is a hell of a lineup. I'm going to need another huge week from Chris Johnson (and when I don't I need that?) to keep pace. And as for Kevin Faulk... well, what I need is for Marion Barber to play and play pissed because Jerry Jones had the stones to call out his toughness (that's Marion Barber, of the "Marion the Barbarian" nickname). If he can't go, I picked up Tashard Choice, who had a fine week (15 points) starting in place of Barber going against the tough Steelers defense. Barber's a game time decision. Problem is, game time is 8:15, so I'm going to limited in my moves. Luckly, the Pats play at 4:15, so I'll have a little more time to decide to replace Faulk or not.

WR/TE: Where have you gone, Reggie Wayne? One double-digit fantasy point week in the past eight? You have Detroit this week. Detroit, of the 0-13 record. At least 70 yards and a TD or I'm never owning Reggie Wayne again. I've already mentioned Kansas City's passing game against San Diego's bad pass defense; Dwayne Bowe, time to step up big. Thigpen really only looks for two guys- Bowe and Tony Gonzalez; hopefully he looks for Bowe in the red zone. Despite his widely inconsistent year, I've got Vincent Jackson in there over Coles because, frankly, Coles sucks. Since his 4 TD game back in Week 4 (when I had him on the bench), he's scored only twice more, so no more Coles for the rest of the year. Greg Jennings is a solid receiver, and it looks like Aaron Rodgers is looking to him more than Donald Driver. And Steve Smith is Steve Smith- he's going to get a ton of yards regardless if he finds the end zone or not. As for the TE's, while Zach Miller has only found the end zone once this year (hey, he plays for Oakland), he has been getting good yardage lately (50-60 yards), and I expect that to continue (though a TD would be nice as well). As for the other side, Olsen did manage to find the end zone last week, but that was coming off of back to back 0 point weeks, which is more of what I expect him to put up.

DEF/K: Just no negative points, that all I'm asking for now from my DEF. The Jets have seemingly decided that they don't want to be an elite team anymore, but they've got Buffalo at home this week, so its time to get healthy. It looks like J.P. Losman should get his second straight start for the Bills, which means plenty of opportunites for interceptions for the Jets secondary. And I'll need it since Loizeaux's got the Colts DEF against the hapless Lions. As for the kickers, while Jason Elam's been solid the past few weeks, Neil Rackers has been on fire. He's been in double digits 5 of the past 6 weeks, which is crazy for a kicker. Man, I'd hate to lose because my opponent's kicker went off on a career day. That would just suck.

So where do I think I stand? Honestly, I think it comes down to my RB's. I don't have a lot of faith in Kevin Faulk or Tashard Choice, so I really, really need Marion Barber to play and have monster game. Loizeaux's finished the year at #1 for a reason, so it'll be tough to beat him. Got a shot, but not feeling all the confident.

BCS Crap

"Did the BCS get it right this year?"

This question's been asked all week. People want to know if the best two teams are playing for the national title (and you know you've got a good system when you have to hope it all works out in the end). I find this questions funny because the BCS doesn't guarantee that the two best teams will be playing for the national title; the BCS only guarantees that top 2 teams in the final BCS standing will play for the national title, and it is assumed that, since they finished #1 and #2 in the BCS, they are the best 2 teams in the country.

So are Florida and Oklahoma the two best teams in the country? Who knows. Now, will it be a great game? It should be. But so would a lot of matchups between the BCS top 8 teams. But since if the system we've got, we've got to live with it. Some bold (or not so bold) predictions for the 5 BCS bowls games:

-BCS National Title Game: Florida vs. Oklahoma
Again, regardless of whether these are the "best 2 teams in the country," this should be a hell of a game. Tim Tebow had quipped earlier in the year (re: his Heisman vote and the numbers Sam Bradford, Colt McCoy, and Graham Harrell were putting up) that he'd like to see what he could do against those Big 12 defenses. Well, he's going to get his chance. Florida's been on a tear since losing to Old Miss, and I don't think that stops against Oklahoma (who, granted, have been on a tear of their own). I think the difference is that Oklahoma had score the "style points" with voters, so they've been running up lately (60+ points in 4 straight games), and Sports Gods don't like that. Plus, Bob Stoops is winless in his last four BCS bowl games, including 2 title games. It'll be a highly entertaining game, fairly close with lots of scoring, but Stoops's losing streak continues and Florida wins the BCS title.

-Fiesta Bowl: Ohio State vs. Texas
Are you shitting me- Ohio State? Again? Have we learning nothing the past few years? Ohio State doesn't show up in big games (unless they get a bullshit pass interference call in the end zone at the end of the game). What about Boise State? All they've done in the past is win possibly the greatest bowl game ever, and they did it playing a Big 12 team in the Fiesta Bowl. They're undefeated and ranked higher than OSU in the precious BCS standings- so why are the Broncos worthy? And what about Texas Tech? They got screwed by the "limit 2 teams per conference" rule, but who wouldn't want to see a Texas-Texas Tech rematch? That was only the best game of the year. No, instead we're left with the Buckeyes. The team that was run out of the stadium by LSU last year and by Florida the year before that. History repeats itself again this year. Texas is pissed, and they'll take it out against OSU. Colt McCoy, coming off his Heisman win (more on this later) will have a huge day and Terrelle Pryor will struggle (couple fumbles, couple interceptions). Texas big in this one, at least 3 touchdowns, and Ohio State is embarrassed once again on the national stage.

-Sugar Bowl: Utah vs. Alabama
Look, I know everyone is going to point to Hawaii in last year's Sugar Bowl against Georgia; they pulled an Ohio State and got blown out. But Utah already has history in the BCS- they beat Pitt in the 2005 Fiesta Bowl (first non-BCS school to crash the part). That being said, do I think the Utes move to 2-0 in BCS bowl games? No, I think Alabama wins this one, but it won't be a blowout like some people are predicting. Now, I'd love to see Utah win and end the year undefeated and show that they can play (and beat) BCS conference teams, but I don't think its going to happen. Saban the Weasel will have the Tide ready to go and Sugar Bowl's proximity to Alabama will give them a home field advantage.

-Orange Bowl: Cincinnati vs. Virginia Tech
Ugh. This is why the automatic bids for conference champions needs to end. The Hokies are 9-4, and they're playing a BCS game over undefeated Boise State and one-loss Texas Tech. Just stupid. And nothing against UC, but they're not BCS bowl caliber yet. Don't get me wrong, I think Brian Kelly is going an incredible job and its a good thing for Cincinnati to have some college football success, but they're not ready. They still have a hard time filling 35,000 seat Nippert Stadium, and they expect to sell out their allotment of Orange Bowl tickets? I hope for their sake they do, lest they have to eat the cost like West Virginia had to last year, and because I know Tech will sell out their tickets (because, really, Tech fans have nothing better to do than travel to football games). I really hope Cincinnati wins this game. One, because I alway root against the Hokies, and two, it would so great for UC to win a BCS bowl game in the same year Ohio State loses one (3 touchdown, I'm telling you). So I'm picking the Bearcats based on nothing more than I can never, ever, pick Virginia Tech.

-Rose Bowl: Penn State vs. USC
After the title game, I think this'll be the second best BCS bowl game. My dad (Penn State alum), wanted this matchup once Penn State was knocked out of the national title picture. I told him he was crazy and that he should be careful what he wishes for because it might come true. And sure enough, it did. Penn State looked unstoppable earlier in the year, then they hit a wall late in the year (close win against Ohio State, loss to Iowa), only to appear to have righted the ship in the final two weeks. USC has the ridiculous defense (averaging less than 8 points a game), but much of that was against the comicly pathetic PAC-10. Penn State's offense will the best one USC's faced all year, and I think they'll be able to crack double digits on the scoreboard. The game is close, possibly right down to the wire, and I'm taking Penn State and JoePa for the win.

And finally, Mr. Irrelavent... er, the Heisman Trophy. Like I said early, I think Colt McCoy will win (note: I don't think he's the best player in the country, I just think he'll win the Heisman). Between him, Tebow, Bradford, and Harrell (the obvious finalist that will be in New York for the ceremony; I can't see anyone else being invited), I think he's show enough to win. While the Heisman has become a meaningless trophy of late, 2 Heismans is still rarified air, and I don't think they bestow that honor on Tebow (yet- if he comes back for his senior year and does it all again, maybe he wins it next year). And McCoy's already beaten out Bradford and Harrell as the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year (though, curiously enough, he was voted Second Team All Big 12 behind Bradford, and the same writers voted for both awards). In the end, it really doesn't matter because the Heisman has become a joke of a trophy. Winning it almost guarantees failure in the NFL.

Fantasy Football Failure: Week 14

[Note: I forgot about the Thursday night game, so this post is going up a bit late.]

Nothing like backing into the playoffs. The week started off great with Chris Johnson putting up 24 fantasy points on Thanksgiving Day, but 0's from Laveranues Coles and Vincent Jackson and a whopping -2 from the Jets D lead me to a 57-78 loss to Smouther's Galveston Storm team (it also didn't help that the rest of my team sucked it up as well). But eventhough I've dropped the last two weeks, I still finished in a 4-way tie for second at 9-4, but I'm seeded 5th in the playoffs thanks to my rather low total points scored number.

Round 1 of the playoffs pits me against Team Rekant (Eh!Steve's team) in a rematch of Week 5 (in which I prevailed 71-54). And I've already got one player locked in (who's playing tonight).

QB: Tyler Thigpen vs. Drew Brees
RB: Chris Johnson vs. Clinton Portis
RB: Kevin Faulk vs. Fred Taylor
RB/WR: Laveranues Coles vs. Kevin Smith
WR: Reggie Wayne vs. Braylon Edwards
WR: Dwayne Bowe vs. Davone Bess
TE: Zach Miller vs. Bo Scaife
D/ST: Jets vs. Packers
K: Jason Elam vs. John Kasay

QB: This is pretty simply- Tyler Thigpen is a servicable (at best) NFL quarterback and Drew Brees is on pace to break Dan Marino's single season passing yards record. Thigpen had been on a roll, with 17+ fantasy points in each of the past 5 weeks, but he dropped an 8 point stinker last week. Interestingly enough, the Chiefs won last week when Thigpen played poorly and they had lost the previous 5 weeks when we played well. So here's hoping the Chiefs lose this week and Thigpen can at least hit double digits, because I'm sure Brees will put up good numbers.

RB: Marion Barber is currently listed as "questionable" which is why he's on the bench right now. He's playing the Steelers, which is a touch matchup to begin with, but the report right now is that he'll be a game time decision. If it looks like he's going to play, there's no way I can keep him on the bench, even against Pittsburgh. I'd probably put him in the flex spot and leave Kevin Faulk in there, simply because the Pats are playing the Seahawks. And Chris Johnson should have another great week playing Cleveland. Portis is a stud back, but he's also listed as "questionable." Hopefully, he can't go. Taylor's been surpassed by MJD, so I'm not real worried about him, and Kevin Smith's problem is that he plays for Detroit. I need points from my RB's.

WR/TE: As I write this, Vincent Jackson already has 18 points, and he's on my bench. Great start. And my TE, Zach Miller, has 2 points right now, and all I can hope for is that he finds the end zone tonight. All my receivers (starting and on the bench) totalled a massive 6 points last week- if that happens again, my season's over. My best hope is that Wayne goes off big against my hometown Bengals this week. I expect nothing out of Braylon Edwards because the Browns are on their 8th or 9th quarterback this week. Davone Bess scares me a bit, and hopefully Coles and Bowe will return to form and score some points (any points).

DEF/K: I have no idea what happened to the Jets last week. They've got San Francisco this week, so maybe they'll remember that they're supposed one of the top teams in the AFC and not suck. They should at least be able to match the Pack this week, who have Houston. Elam's had 3 straight weeks of 9 fantasy points, so I need that to continue (which is sad that I need a kicker to produce).

So I've already got 18 points in the bench, which isn't a good sign for the week. I'm not feeling all that confident about moving on in the playoffs, and if I don't, it'll be the second straight year in which Eh!Steve has ended my season. If my WR's show up even a little, I think I've got a chance to win. If not, season's over.

College Football Questions

As we head toward the final weekend of college football before the bowl season, some questions are on my mind:

-How is Charlie Weis still the coach at Notre Dame? Oh, that's right, he's not black. Weis has a worse winning percentage than both of his predecessors, Ty Willingham and Bob Davie and just coached Notre Dame its worst two-year span in history. The previous worst two-year span? Willingham's last two years. It got Willingham fired, but not Weis. No, Weis gets to keep his job because he got a 10-year contract in his first year at ND, winning with players he didn't recruit. Anyone else wish they could be the worst performer in their employer's history and still keep their job?

-Is there anyone out there that still thinks the BCS isn't a complete waste of time? College football doesn't need a playoff because "every week's a playoff"? Right, tell that to Texas. Texas beat Oklahoma back in October. If every week were actually a playoff, Oklahoma would have been eliminated. But since that argument's a load of shit, Oklahoma is above Texas in the BCS rankings. And thanks to the Big 12's ridiculous tie-breaker rules (albeit the 5th tie-breaker, but ridiculous none the less), Oklahoma gets to play in the Big 12 championship game over Texas because of its higher BCS position. And when last I checked, Texas had still beaten Oklahoma head-to-head. And what's even more ridiculous is that if Missouri were to somehow beat Oklahoma in said Big 12 championship game, Texas would end up in the BCS title game. One week, the BCS didn't think the Longhorns were good enough to play in their own conference championship game and in the next, they could be good enough to play for the BCS title. What a joke.

-Is there a funnier picture out there of a head coach than Kansas's Mark Mangino and Obie from last year's Orange Bowl? I think not.

-Speaking of head coaches, anyone still think Joe Paterno's going to retire at the end of the year? He's back coaching one week after hip replacement surgery. If that doesn't say, "I'm coaching until the day I die," I don't know what does.

-Would you be willing to forfeit two timeouts (one per half) just to wear your home jerseys on the road in a rivalry game? Pete Carroll would. And if UCLA is cool with it (and it appears Rick Neuheisel is), it doesn't bother me. What does bother me is this: As for losing a timeout? "I don't care about it right now," Carroll said. "I think it's the fun thing to do, and I think the fans will appreciate it over time. Seriously Coach, at least act like the lost timeouts are a big deal. Everyone knows you're supremely cocky, but dismissing the timeouts and focusing on a "fun thing to do" is a real slap in the face to UCLA. That said, I'm taking the Trojans (-33) over the Bruins in the pick'em league this week, timeouts or not.

-If you were Brian Kelly, why wouldn't you stay at UC? The only reason to leave would be for a Brinks truck full of money, which, at his current pace, some school will be throwing at hiim every year. Now, there's nothing wrong with taking the money and running, as long as you're comfortable joining the Weasel Club, like Nick Saban and Bobby Petrino. But if he's not a complete selfish bastard, Brian Kelly's in the perfect situation: he's in a high school football hotbed that isn't heavily recruited by the other big schools in the region; Cincinnati isn't all "rah-rah-we-love-Ohio-State-simply-because-we-live-in-Ohio" so he's not tasked with changing allegiances, just forming them; and the Big East is winnable, and as long as the BCS continues its stupid automatic bids for the 6 "major" conferences, he's got a shot at the Orange Bowl every year. And if he were to sting together an undefeated season, he might have a shot at the BCS title (remember, West Virginia was in line to play for the BCS title last year until they choked against Pitt). It may sound crazy, but if Boise State or Utah had their seasons in one of the BCS conferences, they'd have a shot at the title game. UC could be a Boise State or a Utah, but in a BCS conference, and I mean that in good way.

-So how would I fix the BCS? The same way most people would- by having a playoff. Want to keep the BCS rankings? Fine, treat them like the RPI in college basketball. I say 8 team playoff, must be in BCS top 12 to be elligable, no limit on teams from one conference (if 3 of the best teams are from the Big 12 South, so be it, that's the way it is), and no automatic bids for any conference champions. Top 2 teams not selected for the playoff meet in "consolation bowl game" played at one of the current BCS bowl sites (see later). [Note: Yes, arguments will still ensure, and that's not a bad thing. Argument and debate is a fundamental part of sports, especially college football. However, I'd rather those arguments be about which team deserves the last spot in a playoff system for a chance at the national title than be about which team deserves a spot in the title game itself. The model is right there in college basketball; everyone argues about who's the "last 4 in, last 4 out", but no one argues about who ends up playing for the national title, be it a #1 seed or a #8 seed, because its decided on the court.] First round of the playoffs are home games for the higher seeds. Current BCS bowls (Orange, Sugar, Fiesta, Rose), are used for Championship game, semi-finals, and consolation game in rotating fashion (title game one year, consolation game the next, then semi-final, semi-final, back to title game, etc.). Also, keep all of the other bowl games. Opponents say that a playoff would render the bowl games meaningless; tell me, what do the bowl games mean now? Exactly. So keep the bowls and the extra weeks of practice for eligible teams, add a playoff to determine an actual NCAA National Champion, and everyone goes home happy.

Fantasy Football Failure: Week 13

Stupid Randy Moss.

Randy Moss is an elite receiver, everyone knows this. I don't care who's throwing to him (unless its an Oakland QB), if he's a part of the offense, there's always a chance for him to have a big day. But 125 yards and 3 touchdowns? You never expect a day THAT big. You never expect it and you can't count on it, you just have to accept it and move on.

Moss's stupid 30 fantasy point week helped Belgiumland Waffles pull the upset and end my winning streak at 7. So I go from sole possession of 1st place to a 3-way tie for 1st at 9-3 (with me in 3rd based on points scored). And it doesn't get any easier this week going up against Smouther's Galveston Storm team, who's 8-4and second in the league in points scored.

QB: Tyler Thigpen vs. Jay Cutler
RB: Marion Barber vs. Joseph Addai
RB: Chris Johnson vs. Michael Turner
RB/WR: Laveraneus Coles vs. Andre Johnson
WR: Reggie Wayne vs. Lee Evans
WR: Dwayne Bowe vs. Kevin Walter
TE: Kevin Boss vs. Dustin Keller
D/ST: Jets vs. Raiders
K: Jason Elam vs. Matt Bryant

QB: Despite the Chiefs not getting any wins when he starts, Tyler Thigpen continues to put up good fantasy numbers. And if he'd stop throwing the late game interception (after the game's outcome has been decided), he'd have even better numbers. He's playing Oakland which should hopefully boost his numbers this week. Although, Oakland just shut down Devner and gave Jay Cutler his lowest point total of the year. Devner's offense is completely 1-dimensional, so while that means defenses can just pin their ears back and play the pass, it also means that Cutler's throwing the ball 40+ times a game and has lots of chances to score points.

RB: Chris Johnson's been terrible lately, but both him and Marion Barber have favorable matchups this week (Johnson vs. Detroit and Barber vs. Seattle). If you can't get healthy against the winless Lions on Thanksgiving day, coming off your first lose of the year, you've got issues. Barber's also going on Thanksgiving, so I'm expecting big games from these guys to set the tone for the rest of the weekend. Both Addai and Turner are more than solid backs, with Turner coming off a 4 touchdown game (take that, Randy Moss!). That's not happening again this week, though he and Addai will surely both find the endzone. I'm hoping the more favorable matchups will give my guys the edge here.

WR/TE: I just need Brett Favre to find Laveraneous Coles in the red zone, that's it. Its clear that he's not getting as many of balls his way as the Jets move down the field; those yards are going to Cotchery and Keller (more on him later) and Thomas Jones on the ground. And that's fine, as long as he gets the TD at the end. The Browns are terrible, so I expect Peyton Manning will have a big day, which usually means that Reggie Wayne will also have a big day. And as for Dwayne Bowe, I'm a little worried about him. While Oakland sucks, they've got this cat in their secondary, Nnamdi Asomugha, that's the very definition of "shut down corner." Teams don't even throw to his side of the field, and there's no doubt that he'll be on Bowe all game. This doesn't bode well for me, but I can't bench Bowe; he's too good of a player, and there's still a chance he gets an opening in the red zone and vultures a TD. Smother's relying on the Texans combo of Johnson and Walter, which isn't that bad of a play. Their problem is that they've got Sage Rosenfels throwing them the ball, which isn't doing them any favors. Same goes for Lee Evans; he's only doing as well as Trent Edwards is doing, which usually isn't very good. But Dustin Keller scares me a bit. I've gone back to Kevin Boss in the hopes of vulturing some TD's, but Favre is looking for Keller every time he drops back. While he hasn't been getting the TD's, he is getting the yards, which, for at TE in fantasy, can sometimes be just as good.

DEF/K: Not much to say here other than my D is playing his QB, and his D is playing my QB. Funny how that works out. And Elam should get more chances to score than Bryant this week. And if not, they're still just kickers.

So, this could be another loss. I've got the edge at RB, but he's got me at QB, WR (only slightly), and TE. This is the final week of the regular season and I'm going to make the playoffs (top 6 advance), but I don't want to limp into the post season. Going from 1st to 6th in two weeks wouldn't be good. But Smouther's got a strong team and getting a win will be tough. I think I take the close loss and drop and finish the regular season 9-4. Sucks, but as the Patsys (and my own fantasy team) taught us last year, the regular season means nothing. Its all the post season. Bring it on.

Pardoning Turkeys

In honor of the upcoming holiday:



"Aren't I gonna get a reputation for being soft on turkeys?"

Fantasy Football Failure: Week 12

How do I keep winning? I have 2 guys that put up zeros last week, and I still manage to eke out the win 89-83 over Tina's Eli's Coming team. Marion Barber returned to being Marion Barber, and Chris Johnson, while he didn't find the end zone, still put up some decent yardage. And Thigpen-Bowe hookup I needed? Happened twice. Love it, hope it keeps on happening.

So I'm now at 9-2, riding a 7 game win streak, and alone in first place (thank you Smouther, for beating Loizeaux). This week I'm up against the league's foreign correspondent, Rob, a.ka. Belgiumland Waffles.

QB: Tyler Thigpen vs. Jason Campbell
RB: Marion Barber vs. Larry Johnson
RB: Chris Johnson vs. Tim Hightower
RB/WR: Laveranues Coles vs. Donnie Avery
WR: Reggie Wayne vs. Randy Moss
WR: Dwyane Bowe vs. Brandon Marshall
TE: Zach Miller vs. Antonio Gates
D/ST: Jets vs. Patriots
K: Matt Prater vs. Rob Bironas

QB: Thigpen's scored 19+ fantasy points each of the past 4 weeks; if he continues that streak, I'll be happy. He seems to have something going on with Dwyane Bowe, so while the Chiefs aren't winning many games (though I like them this week against Buffalo), they're still putting up good fantasy numbers. Campbell's been okay this year, but he's playing Seattle, so there's the chance he puts up big numbers. But I have faith in Tyler Thigpen.

RB: San Francisco's terrible, so Marion Barber should be poised for another big game. Chris Johnson's up against the Jets D, which isn't the easist team to run on, but I'm hoping he get at least one touchdown, either running or receiving. Larry Johnson's done nothing this year, but he's also probably good for at least one TD against Buffalo (just as long as it comes a Thigpen pass). And I don't expect anything out of Tim Hightower. He was flash in the a pan and unless he scores a long run, he's not getting the goalline carries (those are going to J.J. Arrington, who's currently residing on my bench and could end up in the flex slot).

WR/TE: San Diego has no pass defense, so, like Marion Barber, I expect a big game from Reggie Wayne. It looks like he and Peyton Manning are back on track, so that means lots of yards and lots of scores. I've already mentioned Dwyane Bowe; I'm loving him and Thigpen, and that should continue at home against the Bills. And I've got Coles in the flex slot because, well... I don't know why. Since he's huge 3 TD game back in Week 4 (when I had him on the bench), he's only scored 1 more TD (back in Week 8). There's always that chance that Favre will find him in the end zone, but that just hasn't been happening; Favre's been throwing too many picks and the Jets offense is going through Thomas Jones and the running game. So I'm pretty certain I'll be benching Coles in favor of J.J. Arrington (as mentioned above), but that'll be a gameday decision. Randy Moss and Brandon Marshall will most certainly put up numbers comperable to Wayne and Bowe, so that's a wash. But I expect nothing from Donnie Avery simply because he plays for the Rams. He had a couple good games earlier in the year, but not much since, so no worries. I've come to accept that whoever I start at TE will garner me 0 points, so anything positive I take as a win. And besides, whoever I throw out there won't be able to match Antonio Gates anyway, so its pretty much just a coin flip.

DEF/K: I need the Jets to intercept Kerry Collins mulitple times and record a dozen sacks, but let Chris Johson get two scores; that would be ideal. And Rob doens't have a DEF in play right now, but he just dropped the Browns D for the Pats, so I imagine he'll make the change before kickoff Sunday. I've got Prater back at K because the Broncos are playing the Raiders, so there should be ample scoring opportunities, both PAT's and field goals. And Bironas should get a lot of work because the reality is, Jets-Titans will most likely be a defensive battle with few touchdowns and a lot more field goal tries.

In summary, I think I get the win over Beglium (yes, the entire country), run the win streak to 8 games, and remain in first place. I have to admit, this season is playing out very similar to last season, and that's not a good thing for me. Last year, I finished with the best record (12-2) and the most points scored, but I got bounced in the playoffs when none of my guys player a whole lot in the final weeks of the season. So I'm hoping for a slightly different result this year.

White Death

Flurries dusted the Greater Cincinnati area this morning, so in honor of Jim Borgman:

I get the feeling that its going to be a long winter around here.

Letter To The Commissioner

Dear Commissioner Roger Goodell-

You need to change the NFL's overtime rules now. In fact, you needed to change them when you first took over the Paul Tagliabue. But that ship's sailed. So you need to deal with it now.

Bengals 13 Eagles 13 is unacceptable. Ties should not be an option in the NFL. Don't tell me that its only the first one since 2002; its not about how often it happens, its about the fact that it should never happen. So much in the league relies a team's record, from playoff standings to draft order- why add unnecessary confusion into the mix with the possibility of ties? What's gained by not having a definite winner?

Basketball doesn't have ties. Baseball doesn't have ties (well, except for the All-Star game, until that worked out so well for you friend Bud he was forced to change it- you want that kind of backlash?). Hockey had ties until they finally realized that not having a winner was a bad thing and changed it. Are you saying that Gary Bettman, a.k.a. the worst commissioner in sports, has more sense than you do? There aren't ties in either high school football or college football. There aren't even ties in Canadian football. CANDADIAN FOOTBALL!! Even the Canucks know that football shouldn't end with both teams having the same score.

So what's the hold up, Roger? Why hasn't the NFL adopted a form of the high school/college overtime system? Will it hurt your revenue numbers (since everything in the league is run by the almighty dollar)? Does the idea of giving each team a fair shot at the endzone to determine a definative winner bother you in some way? Seriously, what's your damage?

Here's your solution: take the college overtime rules and make two changes- one, move the starting line back from the 25 to the 35 yard line, and two, make offenses go for the 2-point conversion starting with the second overtime instead of the third. Problem solved.

Commissioner, get your head out of your ass, convince the owners this is the right move, and make it happen.

Respectfully (for the most part),
GiantAsianMan

Now I'm THAT Guy

I know who I am; I'm "the big Asian guy." I accepted this a long time ago because there was nothing I could do about it. When people meet me, that's typically what they remember, especially people like friends of a friend, people I may run into only once or twice a year. When I see them again, they remember me because I'm "the big Asian guy," and that's it. But last night, I was remembered for something else.

Last night at a friend's house, I ran into one of these friends of a friend who I've only met a couple of times. It had been a while, but I remembered meeting her. When my friend asked if we'd meet before, this friend of a friend answered:

"Yeah, I think we met at New Year's last year. We had a conversation about pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis."

That's right, pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis. If I'm not going to be remembered as just "the big Asian guy," I want to be remembered as "the guy who talked to you about pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis." Done and done.

Fantasy Football Failure: Week 11

Another sad week for my RB's- Chris Johnson and Kevin Faulk combined for a grand total of 1 point. Thankfully, the Jets D played St. Louis and scored 25 points to pick up the slack. Ralph had two guys put up 0 points and I still only won the week 83-70, which was considerably closer than I had imagined. Willis McGahee went from "questionable" to having a monster game, which was unexpected. But David Garrard had a decent game (18 points) and so did Reggie Wayne, again (17 points), which was good to see.

Down The Drain won big last week, so we're still tied for first at 8-2, but the "points scored" gap has increased to 839-783 (note: I'm 7th in "points scored" but I have the fewest "points against" at 600). Week 11 brings a serious challenge in Tina's 6-4 Eli's Coming team.

QB: Tyler Thigpen vs. Kurt Warner
RB: Marion Barber vs. Brandon Jacobs
RB: Chris Johnson vs. Matt Forte
RB/WR: Earnest Graham vs. Anthony Gonzales
WR: Reggie Wayne vs. Kevin Curtis
WR: Dwayne Bowe vs. Marvin Harrison
TE: Kevin Boss vs. Jason Witten
D/ST: Jets vs. Eagles
K: Jason Elam vs. John Carney

QB: I've made another change at QB; I'm going with Tyler Thigpen. Yes, Tyler Thigpen. Look, I love David Garrard, but I think Thigpen's the better play this week. Garrard is up against undefeated Tennessee and Thigpen, who's had 20+ fantasy points the past 3 weeks, is up against underachieving New Orleans. I think Thigpen gives me the best chance for point, which I'm going to need against MVP candidate Kurt Warner. Warner's having a John Travoltta in Pulp Fiction type comeback right now, and its mind boggling. He's at Seattle, which shouldn't be too hard for him to put up big numbers. I hope I can keep it close here.

RB: My RB's have been pretty disappointing lately. What I need is for Tony freakin'-Romo to come back and start throwing the ball downfield to establish that yes, the Cowboys having a passing game once more. If this happens, the field should open up for Marion Barber to be Marion Barber again. Also, I don't think the Titan's running game will be shut down again like it was last week, so Chris Johnson should be okay. Earnest Graham is currently "questionable" with a knee injury, so if it turns out he can't go, I'll have Vincent Jackson in at the flex position. Its pretty rare for me to be the underdog at RB, but I am to Tina. Barber and Johnson are currently the #8 and #9 fantasy RB's; Matt Forte and Brandon Jacobs are #3 and #7. Tina's guys have been more consistant than mine, so I don't expect either Forte or Jacobs to have an off week.

WR/TE: First off, welcome back Reggie Wayne. Three straight crappy weeks and I thought about benching Wayne; good think I didn't. I'm going with Dwayne Bowe over Laveranues Coles this week because a)I'm already riding the Tyler Thigpen bandwagon and b)tonight's Jets-Pats game is forcasted to be a rainly slop-fest. Besides, Coles has had only one good week in the past 5, so I'm feeling okay sitting him. And as long as Peyton Manning throws to Wayne and not to Anthony Gonzalez or Marvin Harrison, I should be okay here. Harrison is struggling big time right now, but he's still Marvin Harrison, so he could break out at any point, and Gonzalez is still the 4th option in that offense (behind Wayne, Dallas Clark, and Harrison), so I don't expect much from these guys. The Eagles have the Bengals this week, so I expect Kevin Curtis (along with the rest of the Eagles) to find the end zone at least once each. At TE, I picked up Kevin Boss because he's got a TD in 3 straight games, so hopefully Eli Manning wil continue to look his way in the red zone. Tina's got Jason Witten, who should be back to his usual self after a bye week and the return of Romo.

DEF/K: Like I mentioned above, the weather for tonight's Jets-Pats game is expected to be nasty. Nasty weather usually favors the defense (unless you're playing Gale Sayers), so I'm hoping for some decent points from the Jets D (though I surely don't expect another 25 point performance). Again, the Eagles are at Cincinnati, so they're sure to put up some fantasy points. And all I'll say about kickers is that Jason Elam (who scored a solid 10 points last week) is currently "questionable", so if he can't go, I'll drop Matt Prater (who's fallen off lately as the Broncos offense has faded).

On paper, I think I'm behind in this matchup and unlike the past three weeks, I wouldn't be surprised if my win streak (up to 6 right now) comes to an end. I think it'll come down to the RB's; if my guys (all of them, not just one) show and play to the level they're supposed to, I'll be in a good position to get the win (a few TD's from Thigpen to Bowe wouldn't hurt either). But we'll see, this week should be close.

Okay, This Has To Stop

Seriously, its just getting ridiculous.

Barack Obama was the inspiration for the character of Matt Santos (played by Jimmy Smits) during the final seasons of The West Wing- we get it. And throughout the campaign, there were several other similarities to the show, from the difficult nomination process to the Republican opponent. Its a neat story and for uber-fans of The West Wing like me, its kind of cool to follow. But now its just going too far.

Turns out, Barack Obama's newly named Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel, was the inspiration for The West Wing character of Josh Lyman (played by Bradely Whitford). Given that most, if not all, of the main characters from The West Wing were based on members of President Clinton's staff, this isn't all that surprising. For the non-West Wing fans, Josh Lyman was the Deputy Chief of Staff for President Bartlet (Martin Sheen) who eventually left the White House to convince then-unknown Congressman Matt Santos to run for President. Josh ended up running the Santos campagin, and after they won the election, Santos named Josh, yup, you guessed it, Chief of Staff.

No joke- Joe Biden, call your cardiologist, get checked out.

Again, this just has to stop.

Being Aware Of History As It Happens

A comic by Jim Borgman from back in the summer:

Politics really isn't my forte, so I tend to say out of the conversation. I know what I believe in and I don't really care about your opinion, not because I believe that you are wrong but because I believe differing opinions is the basis upon which this country was founded. The two-party system (or, at least the non-single party) ensures that the minority opinion is always heard, regardless of which party happens to be in the minority (and if that sounds like something out of The West Wing, it is). Now, I get the concept of "unity" and all that, but there's a difference between "falling in line" and "working together." "Working together" is what politicians need to do- accept that they differ in ideology but still work toward a common goal. Now, we all know that rarely happens in Washington, but ideally, that's how it would work. However, I never understood the concept of "falling in line" behind a candidate you don't support. I don't believe you need to support your president just because he (or she, someday) is the President. As a democrat, I never supported President Bush, so why should John McCain's supporters back Barack Obama? Why shouldn't they hold onto their beliefs and stand firm on their issues? They're entitled to their opinions (this is America afterall), and they should stand by them (although, it was a little classless for them to boo Obama during McCain's concession speech, not because they shouldn't boo if they believe it, but because it just makes your candidate look bad). However we may disagree, the minority opinion is important in America (though I'd be lying if I didn't say it feel good to finally be in the majority).

Anyway, I don't want this post to be about politics; I want it to be about the event. For him or against him, its obvious to everyone that the election of Barack Obama as President of the United States of America is historic. Regardless of what happens while he's in office, the event of his election is what will be remembered. And what I mean by that is, Jackie Robinson was an incredible baseball player, but his numbers on the field get shadowed (as they should) by his status as the first African-American player in professional baseball. Him being the Majors is far more important and more widely remembered than any of his stats.

Its rare to live through history and be aware of it as its happening. Many people feel that Tuesday's election will become a "where were you" moment in history, and I tend to agree. Usually, events of such magnitude are tragic, like Pearl Harbor, the assassination of Predident Kennedy, or September 11th, but thankfully that't not always the case. I remember talking to my dad about the Apollo 11 moon landing when I was younger; he was working at a motel in State College, PA that night and he remembers letting himself into an empty room and watching the telecast. I think at the time he told me this story he even remembered what room he was in. Moments like that are too few and far between. But I guess if they happened everyday, they wouldn't be worth remembering.

I'm glad Barack Obama will be the next President of the United States. I'm glad I went down to Nippert Stadium on November 2 to see him speak in person. I'm glad that when I'm older, I'll be able to say that I was alive when America elected a racial minority to the highest office in the land. It makes me proud, both as a minority and as an American. Great day to be alive.

One final note- as a rabid fan of The West Wing, I find the parallels between this campagin season and that of the shows final years simply mind boggling. I'm sure there are websites out there that have driven the comparisons to death, but I am still amused at how life can imitate art, which was imitating life to begin with. Here's hoping that life doesn't imiate art too much and that Joe Biden doesn't suffer a massive heart attack between now and Inaguration Day. Though if John McCain is named Secretary of State, I might start to get concerned.

Fantasy Football Failure: Week 10

In my Week 9 match up, you're name had to be "C. Johnson" if you wanted to score any points. On my team, I had Chris Johnson, who went for 89 yards rushing with a touchdown and 72 yards receiving (21 points). Rebec had Chad Johnson, who only had 39 yards receiving, but had 2 touchdowns (15 points). No one else on either of our teams made it into double digits. Thankfully, my team still did consderable better than her's did; aside from Chad, her other 6 skill position players totaled 5 points, meaning Chris Johnson alone beat 7 of her players. After that, its not too hard to pull out the win. Final score for the week, 61-34.

I got the win and stayed in a tie for first place (with Down The Drain, at 7-2), but my relatively low-scoring week put me behind in total points scored, 723-700. Week 10 sees me up against Ralph's team (man, when was the last time we call him "Ralph"? 2000?), Beall Blockers. It appears that Ralph is another guy in our league that hasn't been paying much (if any) attention to his team.

QB: David Garrard vs. Derek Anderson
RB: Chris Johnson vs. Steven Jackson
RB: Kevin Faulk vs. Willis McGahee
RB/WR: Dwayne Bowe vs. LenDale White
WR: Reggie Wayne vs. Plaxico Burress
WR: Laveranues Coles vs. Hines Ward
TE: Zack Miller vs. Jeremey Shockey
D/ST: Jets vs. Titans
K: Jason Elam vs. Phil Dawson

QB: Sign #1 that Ralph may not be paying attention to his fantasy team- Derek Anderson is no longer a starting quarterback in the NFL. The Brady Quinn Era begins tonight in the Armpit of Ohio (otherwise known as Cleveland), so unless Quinn pull a Greg Oden and gets hurt in his first start, Anderson should register all of zero points. Eventhough there's no competition at this posision this wee, I still hope David Garrard can do better this week against the winles Lions than he did last week against the then-winless Bengals (we got a win, go us) because I need the point to overtake Loizeaux's Down The Drain team.

RB: Both Steven Jackson and Willis McGahee are listed as "questionable" this week, so who knows what to expect from them. Neither guy played last week, and while it looks like McGahee is good to go, there's no way he a)get the start over or b)gets more touches than Ray Rice. Jackson said he was ready last week and ended up being out at the last minute, so he's probably a game time again this week. So I don't know what to expect fantasy wise from these guys, but I'd bet it isn't much. On the other hand, I know exactly what to expect from LenDale White- he'll be stealing Chris Johnson's touchdowns. White has filled the void left by Mike Allstott's retirement as the league's top "touchdown vulture." Chris Johnson gets the yards, White gets the goalline carries. At least Johnson also gets a fair share of receiveing yards, so there's more opportunity for him to find the end zone.

WR/TE: Burress and Ward, I bet both go for 50 to 60 yards and a touchdown on Sunday. Not spectacular, not terrible. In fact, I think those will be the number for my receivers as well, Bowe, Wayne, and Coles. I'm actually up in the are about my receivers, especially Reggie Wayne, which is kind of shocking. He should be the best, most consistent of my receivers, but the Colts (and Peyton Manning) are struggling, and Wayne's numbers have suffered. I've got Vincent Jackson on the bench (who pretty much goes for 50 yards every week, and has a 50/50 chance of scoring a touchdown as well), so I may end up subing out Wayne for Jackson. I'll make the final decision Sunday morning. As for TE's, Shcckey's still working his way back from injury and Miller, in the Raiders pathetic office, will probably once again score 0 points.

DEF/K: I've made changes here, not that it matter much. I picked up the Jets D, hoping they can score some points against the still-kind-of-hapless Rams, but I'm up against the Titans D, which is the second highest scoring fantasy D in the league (and probably the best "actual" D). I've also decided to go back to Elam as my kicker because it looks like the Falcons offense is giving him more opportunities than the Denver offense was giving Matt Prater.

With Derek Anderson's zero points tonight to start off the football weekend, my hope is that Ralph also gets nothing (or next to nothing) from Steven Jackson, McGahee, and Shockey, thus leaving only 5 player that I have to worry about beating. Because of that, I am cautiously optimisitic about a sixth straight win and staying in first place.

Election Day

A classic scene from The West Wing for Election Day:



I voted first thing this morning, before I went into work. I was hoping to avoid the long lines and mass chaos that's sure to ensue as we get later in day, and I think I did. I showed up at my polling place at 6:40 (polls opened at 6:30), and there were a fair number of people there, but not an outrageous number. I was inside by 6:50, voting just after 7:10, and out the door by 7:15. Thirty-five minutes, not that bad in my book. The only issue I had was with the parking. I voted at an elementary school, as I'm sure many people do, and there just isn't enough parking associated with an elementary school to handle election day traffic. People get pretty dumb when they are forced to start making up their own parking spaces; I'm surprised there weren't any accidents while I was there.

Anyway, go vote.

The Dream Is Over

Bengals 21, Jaguars 19

Hope now rests with Detroit to accomplish the first 0-16 season in NFL history.

As for Cincinnati, the march to 8-8 starts here!


(Right.)

Why The Bengals Will Always Fail.

Paul Daugherty lays it our perfectly.

Fans measure success by wins and losses. Mike Brown, according to Doc, measures success by profits, absolute control, and keeping the team in the family. On that criteria, he's been a success, and there's nothing in Mike Brown's history to dispute that claim. Who cares about winning when you're making money in spite of it?

For a little while there, when Marvin Lewis first got the job, that looked like things might have been changing. Shame on us. The Bengals will never be a successful franchise (and I mean actually successful, not "Mike Brown" successful) as long as the Brown family is in charge. And since he'll never sell the team, we'll never have a winner.

Fantasy Football Failure: Week 9

I should know better by now. Really. I mean, with the track record of this blog, why would I ever assume anything is a given? Take Week 8- I was up against Team Williams and his mere 4 starting players. Sure, those players were LT, Isaac Bruce, Larry Fitzgerald, and the Raven's D, but that's only 4 guys; how can I not beat 4 guys? Well, I almost found out.

Chaz's 4-man team put up 49 points, which, while fairly impressive for only 4 players, should be easily beatable with a full team. Or so you'd think. At days end Sunday, with 2 players going on Monday night, I was down 42-49. I needed Reggie Wayne and Chris Johnson to combine for at least 8 points in order to win the week. Easy, right? No so much. Reggie Wayne didn't get me jack, and until Chris Johnson's TD at the end of the game, he was barely at 6 or 7 fantasy points. But in the end, I managed to eke out a 58-49 win, and, with my boy E taking out Down The Drain, I'm tied for first at 6-2 (first based on total points scored, where I lead Down The Drain 639 to 638).

Riding a 4 game winning streak, I now face off against Team Louie, the only girl in our league. And despite what you may think about chicks playing fantasy football, Rebec's got a decent team. And luckly for me, a number of her better players are on a bye this week.

QB: David Garrard vs. Matt Schaub
RB: Marion Barber vs. Kevin Jones
RB: Earnest Graham vs. Dominic Rhodes
RB/WR: Chris Johnson vs. Hank Baskett
WR: Reggie Wayne vs. Chad Johnson
WR: Laveranues Coles vs. Santana Moss
TE: Zach Miller vs. Heath Miller
D/ST: Patriots vs. Cowboys
K: Matt Prater vs. Jeff Reed

QB: Now that Mike Singletary's running the show in San Francisco, it means that J.T. O'Sullivan's going to be seeing a lot of the bench (and the 49er's are on the bye this week). Thankfully, David Garrard is finally starting to play like David Garrard. And going up against my hapless Bengals this week, I expet a big game out of him. On the flip side, Matt Schaub has been on fire recently. Sure, he padded his stats by playing the aforementioned hapless Bengals last week, but big numbers are big numbers. With Andre Johnson showing that he's one of the top 5 recievers in the league (possibly higher than that), I also expect Schaub to score big this week. My hope is that Garrard can sneak in a rushing TD or two and give himself an edge that way (though you never underestimate Matt "The White Michael Vick" Schaub near the goalline; man, I wish I still had that button).

RB: I don't expect too much out of Barber this week going against the Giants, but with Brad Johnson's total fail at QB right now, the Cowboys don't have many options. Barber should at least get a TD somewhere in there. Same goes for Chris Johnson. LenDale White still gets the goalline carries, but Johnson gets the yards and will also get a TD at some point during the game. I am hoping for a big game from Earnest Graham simply because he's playing Kansas City, and opportunities like that don't come along often. Rebec's got Kevin Jones and Dominic Rhodes in because Frank Gore and DeAngelo Williams are both on byes. While I expect Rhodes to be okay (even if Joseph Addai is back in there), I expect nothing from Kevin Jones. So I feel pretty good in the RB department.

WR/TE: Reggie Wayne's been sucking it up recently, so he might get benched on Sunday in favor of Dwayne Bowe. He's listes as "questionable" right now anyway, but I suspect he'll find a way to play against the Patriots. Coles is listed a "probable", but I'm sure he'll play. If Favre can find a way to throw the ball to guys in Jets jerseys as opposed to the other team's, Coles should have an okay day. Santana Moss should have an okay day, too, but I don't expect Chad Johnson/Ocho Cinco to do anything because Ryan Fitzpatrick has been as much of a fail as Brad Johnson's been.
The battle of the Miller TE's should be a push, though I'd give Heath the edge because he's playing with a better QB on a better team.

DEF/K: The Pats are playing at Indy and the Cowboys are playing at the Giants; there shouldn't be a lot of points scored in the defensive side of the ball. And kickers are kickers, so, whatever. As long as I don't get negative points here, I'll be happy.

I feel pretty good about a geting fifth straight win this week. Down The Drain is looking pretty good this week too, so I need to keep pace. Onward to 7-2!

New Favorite Work Timekiller

MTV Music

MTV"s entire music video archive. All of it. Every video. Ever.

My new favorite spot in the internet.

(Thanks to my brother, BrotherofGiantAsianMan, for the head's up on this one).

The Perfect Season

0-16. The dream nightmare season. In this day and age of professional football, is it even possible?

Before last year, no one thought it was possible for a team to go either 16-0 or 0-16. Undefeated wasn't possible because it was thought to be too difficult to maintain that level of focus and intensity all the way through the year (especially in the last weeks of the season, when you've already won the division and secured the top spot in the playoffs). And winless wasn't possible because even a blind squirrel finds a nut now and then.

Then came 2007, when the Patriots pulled off 16-0 and Miami went 1-15 (and it took an overtime win versus Baltimore in Week 15 to get the "1"). So its now at least possible, however unlikely, to run the table and have an undefeated regular season. But the winless 0-16 season still remains unreached. I mean, if a team as bad as the 2007 Dolphins can't go winless, who can? And that got me thinking- what kind of team does it take to not win a game all season?

Gut reaction would tell you that the team with the best chance to go winless is the team with the least amount of talent. I think that applies in most cases (like Little League baseball or church league basketball, or even college football), but I do not think it applies to the NFL. No, teams with little to no great talent still find a way to win at least one game (see: 2007 Miami Dolphins). Those teams can get a win because a)they continue to play hard throughout the season (to compensate for their lack of great talent) despite being winless and b)their opponents can phone it in against them, especially late in the year. We saw this for year in Cincinnati; it was called the 90's (and then some). Some of those teams were absolutely miserable (first team to lose 100 games in the decade!), and yet, they always found a way to win at least TWO games in a year.

So having the worst team isn't the answer. Year after year, the worst teams in the NFL still manage to find a win somewhere along the line. So what is the answer to the winless-season riddle? Its a team with Pro Bowl talent that's given up for the year and quit on its coach. Its a team like the 2008 Cincinnati Bengals.

They have high-talent players (like Chad and T.J.), but they lost all hope when Carson got injured. With no capable backful, they just don't seem to care anymore. There's nothing Marvin Lewis can to do because they players clearly aren't listening to him anymore. They're frustated because they think they should be better, but instead of trying harder, they just pack it in and head for the locker room to bitch and complain. And that's the receipe for a winless season. Now, do I actully think they'll go 0-16? Not really, but I think they have the better shot at it than any other team before them. The game I'm looking forward to? Week 17, Paul Brown Stadium, when Cincinnati (who should be 0-15 at that point) collides with Kansas City (who should be 1-14). What a great game that'll be. I bet I could find some really cheap tickets to that one.

Who Dey? Everyone.

[Edit @ 12:15- Paul Daugherty wrote about this in his column today. He make the argument that an 0-16 season would be worth it if it pushes the organization into functioning like a modern-day NFL franchise going forward. While I completely agree with Doc, that's a big "if," especially in this town. Because if there's one man that could ignore the NFL's first 0-16 season and keep the status quo, its Mike Brown.]

Are You Kidding Me?

Virginia 24, Georgia Tech 17

Four straight wins, first place in the ACC Coastal Division. Unbelievable.

Fantasy Football Failure: Week 8

I have to admit, I like the direction my fantasy team is going right now. After Week 6's 100-59 blowout of Paulson's team, I took out E's team last week 97-59. It was the same song, different verse. Most of my guys found the end zone and most of E's guys didn't. He got huge games from Calvin Johnson (23 points) and the Giants D (15), but I matched those numbers with Chris Johnson (22) and the Patriots D (17). The thing is, I also had Marion Barber (15), Earnest Graham (12), and Vincent Jackson (13) and E had nothing (including two guys that scored 0 points).

So after back-to-back strong weeks, I'm 5-2 and along in second place (still trailing Down The Drain at 6-1), looking to go to 6-2 after a win this week. Am I a little over confident (so much so that I don't even feel there's a need to post any analysis? Sure, but but if I can't get a win this week, I really should just quit. Here's why- I'm playing Team Williams, who's manager, Chaz, doesn't appear to have done anything with his team since the draft. Need proof? Here's Chaz's starting lineup that's he's played the last 4 weeks:

QB: [empty]
RB: LaDainian Tomlinson
RB: Selvin Young
RB/WR: Isaac Bruce
WR: Larry Fitzgerald
WR: Donald Driver
TE: Tony Scheffler
D/ST: Ravens
K: Mason Crosley

Now, he's recievers aren't that bad, and while LT may be struggling a bit this year, he's still LT and could go off for 20+ fantasy points any given week, so he don't have the worst team in the world. But no QB for 4 (going on 5) straight weeks? That's a problem. Also a problem? Four of his guys (Young, Driver, Scheffler, and Crosley) are on byes this week. So to get the win, I only have to bet LT, Isaac Bruce, Larry Fitzgerald, and the Ravens D. I think I can get that done. I'm not worried (though history tells me I probably should be), and I'll be 6-2. Now I just need E's team to step up and beat Down The Drain this week for me so I can move into a tie for first. You're family, E; you need to come through.

Don't Call It A Comeback

We have a new "distance" champion.

It started with Puddin' (you know, back when he actually posted on his blog), setting the bar at 7,892 miles away.

Six days later, I clocked in with a mark of 8,012 miles.

Then four days after that, PreView claimed the title with a distance of 9,106 miles. And that's where the line stood (at least as far as I know) until today.

Today, someone from Purwakarta, Jawa Barat, Indonesia, searched "fantasy football" and landed on my blog (they left a comment on my Fantasy Football Failure: Week 7 post). That's a new mark of 10,052 miles from Cincinnati. Can't imagine American football (or fantasy football, for that matter) is real big over there, but hey, you never know.

Fantasy Football Failure: Week 7

As has been made evident by this blog, I'm terrible at predicting the outcome of my fantasy football league. I thought last week's match up against Sons of Paul would be a close one because my guys hadn't been playing well recently and a lot of his guys were in favorable match ups. As it turned out, I won in a blowout 100-59 (my three top scorers Marion Barber, Reggie Wayne, and Vincent Jackson put up 58 on their own). Simply put, my guys found the end zone and Paulson's guys didn't (well, Marvin Harrison did, but Paulson had him on the bench... not that those 20 points would have helped him anyway).

So I'm now 4-2 and in a 5-way tie for second (4th overall by points scored). But previously undefeated Down The Drain lost, so I'm only 1 game back in the standings. This week, I'm playing my buddy E's team, Kwijybo's Killer Clowns (2-4).

QB: J.T. O'Sullivan vs. Brett Favre
RB: Marion Barber vs. Jamal Lewis
RB: Earnest Graham vs. T.J. Duckett
RB/WR: Chris Johnson vs. Brandon Stokely
WR: Reggie Wayne vs. Calvin Johnson
WR: Vincent Jackson vs. DeSean Jackson
TE: Zach Miller vs. Chris Cooley
D/ST: Patriots vs. Giants
K: Matt Prater vs. Nick Folk

QB: With Garrard on a bye and Palmer injured (he's got a roster spot why?), it's back to Mr. Regional-Family-Style-Sit-Down-Restaurant-Chain to QB my team. Not that it matters too much, since E's got Favre and Favre's playing the Raiders. I expect big numbers from Favre (which makes me think I should put Coles back into my lineup...). With O'Sullivan playing the Giants (E's D/ST), I just need him to not throw interceptions so he doesn't simultaneously take points from me and give points to E.

RB: With Romo out and Brad Johnson it, I tend to think that the Cowboys will run the ball a bit more. And with Felix Jones out, that means plenty of carries for Marion Barber. His rushing numbers have been down recently (last week's huge play was a 70-yard TD pass), but I expect that to improve. Chris Johnson is coming off a bye vs. hapless Kansas City, so I expect a good game from him. And while Earnest Graham is still splitting carries (and now potentially playing a little fullback), he got a goalline carry and a TD last week. And if that's all I get out of him, I'll take it. E's got Jamal Lewis (who's decent) and T.J. Duckett (who's had 1 good game) at RB, so I feel confident I can overcome whatever point difference I have at QB with my RB's.

WR/TE: As I stated before, Reggie Wayne and Vincent Jackson had monster games last week. I expect that out of Wayne; not so much with Jackson. His getting a fair amount of looks from Rivers, and piled up way more yards than I had expected him to. I just want Rivers to look his way in the red zone. E's got DeSean Jackson in his lineup right now, but he's on a bye, so I expect E to make the appropriate roster move (he'll probably move Stokely to the WR spot and put RB Fred Jackson in the flex spot; which still doesn't worry me at the RB position). Stokely's a solid WR choice, but the guy can't even recall how may concussions he's had, which can't be a good thing- he might not even play this week. Calvin Johnson's also coming off a concussion (man, E, what's with your WR's?), but its looking like he's going to play. And his problem isn't his head; its his QB. He can't have a lot of confidence in Dan Orlovsky after watching him run out of bounds for a safety in last week's game. I should be up at WR, which is good because E's got one of the few playmaker TE's in Chris Cooley. Cooley's had a bit of a slow start, but he can bust loose at any time, especially with Clinton Portis running the ball better now.

DEF/K: The Pats are playing Denver and the Giants are playing the 49ers. I expect better numbers from the Giants here. Best case scenario? The Rams give up a lot of TD's to the Cowboys (specifically Barber) and Nick Folk is stuck kicking extra points all day and the Pats D stuffs the Denver offense and the Broncos have to rely on Matt Prater field goals for points. But that's probably not going to happen.

I'm seeing a fairly easy win this week. I'm on a little roll right now and E's back on his heels a bit. If I get the same type of performances I got last week, I should be fine.

Essential Videos 7 - White Wilderness

Its been a while since I've added to my list of "Essential Videos." But thanks to my friend, Hollywood Jeff, I was reminded of the following clip:



Greatest film clip, EVER, don't care that it was faked. I first saw this clip in high school, during biology my junior year (the only redeeming moment of that God-forsaken class). The following year, in my physics class, when we were asked what film loop we wanted to watch on our last day of classes, the answer was almost unanimous- the lemming video from biology the year before (and it beat out the Tacoma Narrows Bridge collapse, which could also make an appearance in my "Essential Videos" list).

How To Save Your Job In Two Weeks

Or, The Story of Al Groh & the 2008 Virginia Cavaliers.

Unbelievable. Two weeks ago, Al Groh was a goner. He was done, no doubt about it. It was unlikely that he'd be fired mid-season (I don't think that's how UVA rolls), but the team was terrible with no signs of getting any better, so it seemed inevitable that he'd be out at the end of the year. But now, after drubbing Mason-Dixon rival Maryland 31-0 and beating early-season darling East Carolina 35-20, I can guarantee you that Al Groh will the head coach of the Virginia Cavaliers in 2009 (if he manages to upset a Brandon Tate-less UNC team next week, he might get an extension).

Now, I think he still has to go, but I'm positive that he won't. We saw it for years with Pete Gillen and men's basketball team. It was the same thing every year: ace through a cupcake-laden non-conference schedule, start conference play undefeated, lose first 5 ACC games, put Gillen goes on hot seat, upset a highly-ranked Duke or Carolina team at home in February, play better in 2nd half of ACC schedule, remove Gillen off hot seat, finish around .500 for year and in conference, lose in NIT First Round, start again next year. Same song, different verse with Groh.

The team's playing better under redshirt sophomore quarterback Marc Verica (not that it could've played much worse), and with so many young players around him, you've to (delusional) people are saying, "Well, we'll take our lumps this year, but NEXT year, this team could be great!" Regardless of how UVA finishes out the year (more on that in a bit), these two wins have given Al Groh a reprieve and a chance next year to continue the UVA tradition of finishing slightly above mediocre, going to a third-tier bowl game, and acting like we're a big-time football program. Go Hoos!

Some more thoughts on college football:

-Virginia will finish the year 6-6. I know, that sounds like a lot, especially since two weeks ago I pronounced them dead and predicted a 1-11 season. Listen, I don't like Al Groh, but I do like to see my alma mater win some games. And with the way they've been playing lately (either because or in spite of Groh), I think Georgia Tech, Miami, and Clemson are winnable games. Though in reality, Virginia will probably lose one of those games (like at Georgia Tech, since we can't win games in Atlanta) and beat someone they shouldn't (like Carolina this weekend- again, the Heels have lost their best playmaker for the rest of the season and its UVA's third straight home game; guess Groh can expect that extension coming his way).

-This week's rankings should be the first rankings of the year. I know, I've bitched about this before, but its worth repeating. Halfway through the year, you have a measure of how good a team actually is, as opposed to in the preseason or Week 1. Alabama (#2) and Penn State (#3) stated the year in the 20's and Oklahoma State (#7) wasn't even ranked. Three of the preseason Top 10, West Virginia (#8), Clemson (#9), and Auburn (#10), aren't even ranked anymore. These teams are labeled as "busts" because they didn't "live up" to they're preseason ranking, and I think that's unfair. Its obvious these teams aren't any good, but they're being compared to a version of themselves that never existed (ie- the preseason ranking of them that was based on nothing but conjecture).

The rankings mean nothing and are only used to hype television matchups and upsets, as if college football needs it. Given the recent histories of Oregon State and USC, Oregon State's 27-21 victory over USC is a huge upset, regardless of the fact that USC was ranked #1 at the time. Florida State vs. Miami was always a "big game" because both the teams were usually always ranked. But that wasn't the case this year, and a lot of people dismissed the game because of that. Oops. 41-39 Florida State in a rain-drenched classic.

-College football has surpassed pro football on my list of favorite sports. I've come to realize that I watch the NFL solely for fantasy purposes. Sure, I'll watch the Bengals lose, but I just can't get into the random NFL game anymore; I just want to know how my fantasy team is doing. But college football? I can watch any game, any time. Random C-USA Thursday night game? I'm in. Friday night Big East game? There. Monday Night Football, Giants vs. Browns? Eh, I'm watching Chuck, How I Met Your Mother, and Heroes. Saturdays are spent on the couch watching football all day. Sundays are spent doing chores, running errands, and checking up on how bad the Bengals are losing.