Before I begin, let me take a moment for a self indulgent plug. If you click this link and go sign up, I get free points. Go, do it now! Fred signed up for me and all he did was log in a couple time in the following two or 3 days and that’s all that I needed to get the points. Easy right? So why haven’t you done it yet?
Alright, now that that’s over, I wanted to take a moment to talk about my latest football addiction, Goal Line Blitz. It’s an american fooball mmorpg. The idea is that you sign up (it’s free!) and you get 400 Flex Points. With these flex points, you can create players. QB, RB, and WR cost 300 points each, TE, FB, and Defensive players cost 200 points each, and Offensive linemen, K, and P cost 100 points each.
After using these points, you allocate skill points to create the player in the way you see fit. At the end of the creation process, you get offered a couple contracts by cpu controlled teams so that you can get into the action right off the bat. That’s a great idea, but the problem is, they got too big too fast, and all the teams have been purchased by human players, so until they expand (which they are working on as we speak) you have to keep posting on the forums in order to get a team to give you a shot, which can be kinda boring and drawn out.
I’ve been watching alot of basketball lately, which is weird because I usually don’t leave the channel on a b-ball game unless it’s late in the NBA playoffs or if it’s a 2nd or 3rd round NCAA tourney game. It’s just that ever since the madness that was the NBA trading deadline, I’ve actually been fairly interested in the NBA. I haven’t followed the NBA since Jordan was in his prime, let alone actually looking forward to watching a game. But things seem to be changing in the NBA. The focus is less on the thugs and more on the truly talented individuals, who actually are good people for a change.
Houston just finished a 22-0 run through the middle of the season. That qualifies as the 2nd longest winning streak in NBA history, and they don’t even have an all-star player (they did for the first 14 or so wins, but then Yao went down with an injury and they just kept winning). Their roster is made of guys that play hard for the full 48 minutes every night, and always look for the open man, instead of how to get their shot on Sports Center. Boston finally found the right mix to end the streak, but it says alot for a team to put it together for 22 straight.
So much going on indeed. That’s true for my life and the sports world right now. So without wasting any more of your time, I’ll jump right into it.
Red Sox win the World Series
First things first, I’m not a big baseball fan. But I do like to keep tabs on the season as it starts to wind down and actually mean something, and I check the scores throughout the playoffs. The Red Sox took 86 years to win their last World Series, and only 3 years to win this one.
The little I know about baseball, I have a problem with the playoff schedule MLB uses. They have a bunch of teams that are used to playing either every day, or every other day, and then throw in a ton of off-days during the playoffs. The Rockies were on an unbelievable win streak, 21 of 22 games or something like that, and then they had to wait 8 days to begin play in the World Series. 8 days! They hadn’t had anywhere close to that much time off since the season started. Boston meanwhile came off a series where their bats had just started to heat up, and made quick work of the Rockies in 4 straight games. I’m not saying Colorado would’ve had a shot even if they had been able to keep their momentum, but at least it might have been worth watching. I’m one of those ‘fans’ that didn’t watch a single game because I knew they never had a chance. The post season is simply FAR too long, and MLB has to do something about it. The Rockies are a young team and might get another shot in the next few years at going all the way, but alot of teams never see that second chance, and to take it from them because of a layoff is wrong.
Wow, time flies when you let it (that’s the key Fred, when you let it)… it’s already almost week 7 and I haven’t even posted about week 6 yet! So without further delay, let’s get it on!
Game of the Week
Minnesota 34 - Chicago 31 : This was probably one of the most entertaining games I’ve seen in a very long time. It seemed that Devin Hester and Adrian Petersen were just putting on an “anything you can do I can do better” contest. Every time Hester made a big play, Adrian turned around and outdid him. It was simply a matter of who could score last, and Minnesota was able to do that.
This is disappointing news to me. Randy “The Natural” Couture has resigned from the UFC via a fax from South Africa. For anyone who is now asking who the heck that is… he’s the current (well, was I guess, he’s not anymore) heavyweight champion in the Mixed Martial Arts league called UFC. UFC is the ‘new’ boxing. It sweeping the nation, no change that, it’s swiffer-ing the nation and becoming one of the fastest growing sports in North America. Randy Couture was one of the guys I really loved watching in this league, he’s a very classy guy, he’s one of those guys that is never supposed to win and always does, and he’s got outstanding character to boot. He gave reason for his resignation:
“I’m tired of being taken advantage of, played as the nice guy and basically swimming against the current with the management of the UFC,” he said. “I have a lot of other things going on in my life that I’m doing just fine with. I don’t need the problems. I don’t feel like I get the respect I deserve from the organization, and that’s motivation No. 2 for the letter of resignation that was sent today.”
The other problem with his resignation is that he’s also resigned as commentator, which means we are now stuck listening to Joe Rogan as color commentator. I could write up a whole ‘nother blog about all the things wrong with him (John Madden is notorious for being one of the most annoying color commentators in the sports industry, if you ask me, compared to Rogan, the garbage that comes out of his mouth is nothing but beautiful poetry).
What it boils down to is this. The UFC lost one of their greatest ambassadors for their sport, and it appears from reports that it’s largely due to it’s president Dana White. While I’m sure we will eventually hear more on what happened, in the meantime, “The Natural” will be greatly missed.
Wait, did you hear that noise? That was the sound of the wheels falling off for a couple teams. The Rams might as well mail the rest of the season in. Their whole offensive line is hurt, their RB is out, and now the QB is going to join him. I thought Buffalo would be the best bet to go winless this year, but St. Louis just keeps finding ways to fall further apart.
Yeah, yeah, this is pretty late in the week to just be getting to a review for the past week, but let’s be honest here, Halo 3 has a way of sorta interfering with, what you’d call, life.
I figured I’d take a moment to post a blurb about some the happenings of the week.
‘Idol’ Chatter
Apparently the MTV Video Music Awards took place last Sunday. Because I’m not comatose, I know that Britney Spears performed at these awards and had the ’show of a lifetime’… but in the bad way. I guess those crazy judges over on American Idol feel that they can help out this fallen star and get her career back on track. Simon Cowell was quoted as saying “We have decided we can bring Britney back. We are serious. We plan to buy her underpants, get her bigger shorts to perform in and get her away from her stupid friends.” Maybe I’m the only one that doesn’t care about Britney or any of those other crazy people on American Idol, but would somebody please tell Simon Cowell to buy shirts that fit him before he ever buys underwear or any other type of clothing for someone else.
A dynasty draft. There are few things in this world that I enjoy more. What’s the difference between a re-draft and dynasty draft? Well, lots of things really. You have more decisions to make first of all. For example, do you want to draft a young team and build for the future, or take veterans and gear up to win now? I usually lean towards the former rather then the latter, but I’ve seen plenty of people be very successful with the veteran strategy. How would a dynasty draft board look from my point of view? Take a look and let me know where I screwed up:
Round 1
1. LaDanian Tomlinson. He’s simply the best running back in the business right now. He just destroyed the scoring record so he really doesn’t have anywhere to go but down. The good side of that? He’s almost a lock to be head and shoulders better than anyone else carrying the rock.
2. Stephen Jackson. Gets better every season by leaps and bounds, and in my mind is the only real threat to come anywhere close to LT in scoring. He’s in a potent offense that can still score from anywhere on the field and he’s young.
3. Larry Johnson. This is the only pick I really don’t like. I just have this feeling that LJ is going to bomb this year. He’s got an offensive line that has lost it’s best players over the last few years, and he set the record for most carries ever last year, the last guy to set the record destroyed his knee the following year and never played again… not a good sign.
4. Joseph Addai. His offense has Harrison and Wayne, how can there be enough touchdowns left for Addai to be worth taking this high? He plays behind Peyton Manning, he could light up the scoreboard any given week, and now he’s going to be the main back.
5. Frank Gore. If he stays healthy, he could repeat last year’s success. He kind of came out of nowhere last year and has had knee problems in the past, but he has the potential to stay on track with last year’s production.
6. Laurence Maroney. I think Maroney has the chance to jump as high as the #3 back in the league this year. Same as with Addai, Maroney plays in an offense that could put up huge numbers at any moment, and he’ll be an integral part of that scoring.
7. Willie Parker. This is where the crap shoot starts. At this point, it really depends on what your league settings are. If you get points per reception, I have to go with Reggie Bush in this slot. Brain Westbrook also makes a strong case for this position. In general though, I feel pretty comfortable with a guy like Fast Willie. He plays for a team that puts an emphasis on running the ball, that’s always good news for your starting RB.
8. Reggie Bush. Like I mentioned, he could easily go in the previous slot, but you have to take him before the first round is over. He was simply jaw-dropping amazing in college and before long, he will do the same in the NFL.
9. Brian Westbrook. He plays for the pass-happy Eagles, but Andy Reid started to realize the value of running last year without McNabb. I think he will continue down that road in an effort to keep McNabb healthy, and Westbrook will get the majority of those carries.
10. Ronnie Brown. Cam Cameron will be calling the shots for Brown now. He was mostly responsible for LT’s success in San Diego and I really think that Brown has the tools to be successful given the right offense. This will be a make or break year for him in my opinion.
11. Rudi Johnson. It’s hard to rate Rudi this low, but really, I’ve never figured out what everyone loves about him. He does put up pretty consistent numbers, and is another product of a high powered offense. With Ocho Cinco taking up so much attention outside, Rudi gets a chance to simply run over everyone in the middle.
12. Willis McGahee. I think Willis has had the tools all along. He was always in a really terrible offense in Buffalo, but in Baltimore, I think he has a chance to put up numbers similar to Jamal Lewis a few years ago. Could be much better than #12 before too long.
13. Peyton Manning. You really can’t let Manning go any lower than here. A lot of guys will go with the second RB here, but Peyton is the best QB in the league, and will be for at least another 5 years. In my mind, that’s more valuable than a second RB.
14. Clinton Portis. Depending on who you talk to, Portis is still the guy in Washington. I think Betts will take alot of carries and value away from Portis, but Portis has the tools to be a top RB and has to be taken in this spot.
15. Travis Henry. At this moment, Henry is the starting RB in Denver, because of that he is valuable. He’s always been solid, and kind of resurrected his career last year. If he can hold down the starting job, he’ll be a top notch guy for awhile.
16. Shaun Alexander. My oh my how the Madden curse can change the outlook of a person’s career. Last year, everyone was saying Alexander was the new greatest RB in the NFL. I was staying a mile away from him in all of my drafts. Now, after an injury riddled season, he’s viewed as being on the decline. I think he still has a chance to be a great back for another few years and is definitely worth a pick in this slot.
17. Drew Brees. There’s the next level of RBs available, or one of the last top QBs on the board. Brees has been right on Peyton’s heels the last couple years, and has loads of young talent to throw to in New Orleans. He could put up huge numbers again this year.
18. Tom Brady. Last year, Brady had a great year and had absolute crap to throw to. Now he’s got 3 guys that are infinitely better than anything he had last year. Brady could explode this year.
19. Steve Smith. The little engine that could. Smith never ceases to amaze me. He simply uses whoever tries to cover him week in and week out. About the only thing that’s even slowed him down the last couple years was injuries. Don’t let him slip to the 3rd round.
20. Reggie Wayne. I’m going to have a lot of people disagree with me here, but from what I saw last year, Wayne became more and more a favorite target of Peyton’s. I think the Denver game was one of the best examples of that. When Indy needed points, Wayne was the one getting them. Marvin Harrison will continue to be the #1 guy in Indy, but Wayne will be taking that mantle in short order.
That will take you through at least the middle of the second round depending on how many teams you have in your league. I have a couple other things to get to so I didn’t want to go on too much about it. A place I love to go for information on dynasty football is http://dynastyleaguefootball.com/ . They’ve got lots of great information and a lot of really talented (and opinionated) people over there. And now for a couple predictions.
Most Improved Player:
DeAngelo Williams. I think this guy will be great, and after spending most of last year being injured, he should really take over the starting job in Carolina.
Best Starting QB that is currently a backup:
David Carr. I give him till week 7 or 8 and he could be starting. With Smith on the outside, he could come up big at the end of the year.
Team to make the biggest splash:
San Francisco 49ers. They greatly improved their defense last year. Their offense is young and really starting to gel. They will make a lot of noise this year.
Super Bowl winner:
I hate to say it. I really wish it wasn’t true, but I don’t know who will be able to beat the New England Patriots this year. They have a great defense and added one of the best 3-4 linebackers in the league and they GREATLY improved their offense. I just can’t see them losing with all that talent and experience.
Good luck in week 1, I can’t wait to tell you about it next week!
Do you smell that? Take a whiff. Yeah, there it is… football season is here. This is my favorite time of year, baseball is getting to the point when it actually means something, and football is getting geared up for action. It’s every sports fan’s dream come true. Where do I fit into all this? This is my little corner of the web where I hope to express a useful opinion or two, and I hope that I can get one or two of you to get in as well. Let’s start with your fantasy draft.
If you are a football fan at all, you’ve probably been in a league or two, if not considerably more; and you’ve probably already drafted your leagues. But if your one of those last second drafters, where should you turn this year? That is a question that holds many answers and your best bet is to analyze what kind of league you will be competing in. Will it be a re-draft or keeper league, if it’s keeper, how many do you keep? Will you be using PPR? Do you know what PPR means? Is the room spinning yet? Let’s take it a step at a time.
We’ll look at a standard re-draft league. This is a league that will have a full draft every year rather than allowing teams to keep a certain amount of players. This is a league that will fit the casual fan because you don’t have to spend time watching all that high school football scouting out the next LT, like you would in a dynasty. In a redraft league, you can get away with drafting a guy like Brett Favre ( or Fav-reh for all you Something About Mary fans out there) simply because he can put up alot of points and you don’t have to worry about next year. Here’s a quick rundown of my top 10 players at QB, RB, and WR for a re-draft league:
QB
1. Peyton Manning
2. Drew Brees
3. Tom Brady
4. Carson Palmer
5. Donovan McNabb
6. Marc Bulger
7. Matt Hasselbeck
8. Philip Rivers
9. Jon Kitna
10. Tony Romo
RB
1. LaDanian Tomlinson
2. Stephen Jackson
3. Larry Johnson
4. Joseph Addai
5. Frank Gore
6. Laurence Maroney
7. Willie Parker
8. Travis Henry
9. Brian Westbrook
10. Rudi Johnson
WR
1. Reggie Wayne
2. Chad Johnson
3. Marvin Harrison
4. Steve Smith
5. Torry Holt
6. Terrell Owens
7. Lee Evans
8. Roy Williams
9. T.J. Houshmandzadeh
10. Larry Fitzgerald
Next time we’ll look at my draft board for the first couple rounds in a dynasty league and get some last second predictions for the NFL season.
