And Away We Go!

Ok, the 2012 season starts Wedneday, so make sure you have your lineups in order.  The FA and waiver pool are kind thin in both of the leagues I am playing in so it looks like I might get stuck with my drafts.

One of my teams (Granny's Exiles in Survivor Redemption) was autodrafted and looks ok.  The other (Granny's Grinders in NFL Nations) is all my fault!  It will be interesting to see how the teams perform over the course of the season.  It'll also be cool to track what my teams look like at the end of the season as opposed to now (I've already dropped/picked up players).

So good luck with your teams (unless you're against me!) and let's have a fun season! 

Thanks again to Sue, my thoughts and prayers are with you my friend.  And thanks to those of you stepping up to help.  It is appreciated.

Gridiron Granny

So Jonesing for Football!

Hey guys!  It's almost football season!  Yes, I know it's technically not almost football season, but it's closer than it was this time last week...

Thanks to Sue for giving us a place to get together and play Fantasy.  I am glad to be on ESPN for this season, the interface is good.  My only complaint is the logo function, I have never been able to get my own logo up!  But that is so not important.

What is important is the draft.  So I went through and ranked the players for my draft, even did the autodraft rules (this is a very cool new feature with ESPN).  Spent a fair amount of time looking at players, byes, my preferences, etc.  I got this thing NAILED!  Then I started cruising around the league tabs and looked at the keeper page.  Um, I shoulda looked at that first.  Cuz now I have to re-rank my players.  Unless you guys want to trade your keepers to me. 

No big deal, really (she tells herself, shaking her head).  I usually go throught the draft list at least three times before "the day".  What do you do to prepare for the draft?

Ok, What Happened to the NFL???

Ya know, it seems to me that things are just not right in the universe.  Maybe an asteroid passed too close and set things on a bit of a different orbit.  Not much, not even noticeable to most people.  But just enough to totally mess with the NFL season!

Here's what I mean:  The Raiders are on top of the AFC West, with Denver in second.  They have ridiculously unimpressive records.  San Francisco has the No. 1 defense in the NFC (huh?) and an offense well into the lower half (I think it's 12th, but I can't check, cuz I'm at work and it's the IT control-freak sports-porn thing).  And they have the 2nd best record in football.  Not the West, not in the NFC, but in FOOTBALL.  The whole league. 

It's just not right.  The records and stats aren't matching up.  My handicapper husband just shakes his head and mumbles.

And how does Green Bay let Tampa in the game at all?  "The Battle of the Bays" shouldn't have been at all this year. 

My Bears- fan son-in-law is sad that Cutler will be out for the rest of the season.  Since when is anyone sad that Cutler is sitting?  Not that I'm happy he's hurt, I'm not, but he is usually the other teams' best quarterback.  But then, who do they have on the bench???  Hmmmmm. 

I hope the planets jiggle themselves back into proper position, because this is just nuts.  After the Niners clinch, of course...

Low/No Sodium But Still Tasty?

Low/No Sodium But Still Tasty?

Coming Clean...

Ok, I just have to get this off my chest.  A couple of weeks ago, bowing to the crushing pressure of the bye weeks and such a thin waiver wire, I, um, well I picked up Alex Smith and started him on two of my fantasy teams.

There, I said it.  I still don't believe that he is a good quarterback.  But he's come through for me (and my Niners) and I will give credit where it's due.  So here goes:  Thank you Coach Harbaugh for helping a marginal player do well.  And thank you for a record of 8-1!!!!!

Ok, now that I've cleared the air (I feel so much better now) let's talk.  We are well over halfway through the fantasy season and my teams are just awful.  I don't have even close to a .500 record on any of the three teams.  How can this be?

Is it because the Internet Gestapo at my company won't let me research football while I am at work?  These IT guys seem to equate ESPN with perverted dog on cat porn and block all my best attempts to get around their domain approvals.  I've even gone so far as to complain to my company's board of directors.  They all agree with me, but the IT squirrels still prevail.  Gah!!!  And please don't tell them I am blogging from my work laptop, that might just cause a meltdown.

Maybe it's because I don't have a lot of time at home at night to delve into the ins and outs of what the heck is happening in the NFL (which, by the way, stands for No Frikkin Logic)?  I mean, who in the heck is letting the Rams win?  And what happened to Buffalo?

Which brings me to my third, and most likely excuse possible explanation:  Is it because the league is just not behaving the way it is supposed to?  I mean, seriously. Miami has a better record than Indy.  (I miss you Peyton.  I REALLY miss you...).  The entire NFC West won this week.  How does that happen?  I am a long time Niners fan but those of you who've read my posts know I am pretty objective about my team.  San Francisco has a better record than New England (doing a happy schadenfreude dance here).  Actually the only team in the NFL (again, refer to the definition above) that has a better record than SF is Green Bay.  Boo-yah!!!

What it comes down to is having the time to really take care of my teams.  And I don't. But I will still play because I truly enjoy it, and enjoy all of you.  So when your teams are matched up against mine (for this season at least) you can pull the infield in and pretty much notch a win.  Cuz my teams STINK!!!

How are your teams doing?  And why do you think your teams are doing how they are?  What are your excuses reasons?

I want to give a huge thank you to Sue, who makes sure we all have a place to play Fantasy Football and cool people to play with.  I know it's frustrating trying to herd all us cats sometimes, but you do a great job Sue, and I truly appreciate your time and effort!

Oh, The Bye Weeks...

So, the bye weeks are here.  Yay (this is dripping with sarcasm).  I am not so cool as Rusty, who can take bye weeks into account during the draft.  I am lucky if I can pick players who aren't in jail or out for the season...

Which brings me to Peyton Manning.  Actually, it brings me to Curtis Painter, but bear with me for a second.  I miss Peyton.  The Peyton of old, always the smartest man on the field.  Always able to pull a victory from the jaws of defeat.  Now that he's on the bench for a season, it's a toss-up if he'll be able to come back to form.  I hope so.

But in the interim there is Curtis Painter.  For such a young guy (he's younger than my sons!) he is showing some real big-boy poise in the pocket, and has made some pinpoint passes.  And what an arm!!!  Not sure if he has what it takes to be a stellar QB, but he's better now than Collins ever was.  But Indy is 0-6.  Just typing that is causing my physical pain...I am near tears.

And, just in case you were wondering why I hadn't brought it up...THE SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS ARE 5-1.  Really.  I know, it reads like a typo or the delusion of an old granny that can't face the harsh reality that her team sucks. That still doesn't mean that Alex Smith can play football, but I think Harbaugh is able to get a bit out of the dry well that is Smith's talent.  Feel free to prove me wrong Alex.  Please...

And who else is shocked (shocked, I tell you!) that 6 weeks are gone already?  I am kinda bummed.  Actually I am really bummed, because I haven't been able to catch as many games as I'd like.  But the heart of the season is coming up and hopefully my pitiful fantasy teams can hang in there so I don't drag down the stretch in last place.

The bye weeks are killers.  Are you haunting the waiver wire and FA lists, picking up dreck to fill a slot too?  No, you're picking up the decent players on waivers before I can get to them! 

What are the bye weeks doing to you?

I Must Be Dreaming

Niners Win!!!  Niners are 3-1!!!  49ers beat Eagles!!! 

Humor me, it's been a long time since I could actually type that out loud.  I am pretty happy.  But two caveats:

1.  Just because he didn't put up any picks today and made two touchdown passes, Alex Smith is not a good quarterback and had no business starting in the NFL, unless it's for the Cowboys (sorry Jimmy), Rams, Cardinals or Seahawks (sorry Joe).

2.  I don't buy that the Eagles are for real this year.  Vick is behaving himself and saying the right words (for now) but lets see what happens when the Eagles fans turn on him.  And you know they will.  This isn't even about the dog murder.  This is about his temper.  And we all know he has one (cuz he tortured dogs to death.  No, I'm not over it.  That's a special kind of broken).  You remember him flipping his own fans the bird in Atlanta.    And their defense can't be any good if the Niners offense can score on them.

So I will take the win, and be pretty estatic about it.  I'm just not counting on much more.  I have to wake up sometime!

And who else just loves that Detroit is 4-0?  I am always pulling for the underdog (I learned this by being a Dodgers fan for over 40 years, and a Niners fan for 35) and Detroit is the feel good story of the season.  Go Lions!  I thank you for beating the Cowgirls today. 

And I don't care who says what.  Tony Romo is not an elite quarterback.  Not in Fantasy, not in Real Life.  He's good, but he's not great.  And I'm not convinced that he has what it takes to be great. 

I miss Peyton Manning.  And always will.

Al Michaels seems a bit bitter about the rules and how they have been interpreted this season.  C'mon Al.  Zebras are people too. 

Mark Sanchez is having a bad day.  A seriously bad day.  I think it has more to do with the Ravens defense (which is totally kicking butt for my fantasy team tonight!) than the lack of Mangold in the O-line.

Houston is playing good football!  They are for real for sure!  Owen Daniels is my highest producing TE.  Dallas Clark is still my fav, but the numbers just aren't there, yet. 

Once the Colts settle down with a QB for the season I think the offense will start producing.  Says the lady with most of the Indy WR and RB on her teams and would trade just about anyone for Dallas Clark...

Except Wes Welker.  He's the only Patriot I can even stomach, and I love him a lot.  I will trade anyone on my rosters for Wes.  He is a fantasy hero and just tore off some major yards today!

How are your teams (Fantasy and Fav) doing???

This isn't a Fantasy, it's a Nightmare!!!

I was SO stoked about my fantasy teams.. Peyton on 2 teams, Romo on 1 (even though I am not convinced he is a real live elite QB), all kinds of good players, kickers and DST.  Then came THE NEWS...

Peyton Manning is out for probably the entire season.  In a fit of panic I picked up Kerry Collins (I know, he sucks) because the rest of the Indy offense was whole, so how bad could it be?  Right? 

Oh man, it just got worse and worse.  I felt kinda sick to my stomach as I watched Houston just beat the Colts to a pulp. 

That's pretty much indicative of how the first two weeks have gone for me.  Players who are supposed to produce don't.  Unless they are on my opponents' roster.

And the Niners are just giving me fits!  I was estatic that Harbaugh is our coach, but then he says, out loud, in public, that Alex Smith is the starting QB.  I'm guessing no one gave him the memo:  ALEX SMITH CAN'T PLAY FOOTBALL.  CUT YOUR CONSIDERABLE LOSSES AND KICK HIM TO THE NEAREST CURB!!!

No one listens to me.  But I am a wife and a mom so I am used to it (lol).  I would think that over 35 years of faithful fandom would get me at least an hour with the coaching staff to tell them how to run the team...

And I just SO can't stand Tony Romo.  Stay on the bench if you're hurt you wannabe.  Kitna was losing doing just fine!  Field goal in OT, I HATE THE COWGIRLS!!!!

And is it just me or is anyone else sick of Tom Terrific already?  How many of these color analysts are gonna drool all over Brady?  It's starting to feel like Madden with Favre.  Yeah, he's an awesome (arrogant creep) QB, probably the best in the game (sorry Peyton), but the pedestal he's on is pretty high.  Enough already!

So enough rantings by this old granny.  Let's see what week three does to me brings!

How's it going for you???

I am SO Ready for Some FOOTBALL!!!

Wow, after a long off-season (don't they seem to be getting longer?) and the drama of the lockout  my first Fantasty Draft is tonight.  I'm playing in only three leagues this year, all with mostly the same great group of people, and I'm looking forward to a lot of fun!

I was sooo happy when Harbaugh was named the 49er's head coach.  Not to dis Singletary, (my respect for him as a Christian man and a total beast of a middle linebacker is well documented) but he was way too invested in Alex Smith.  So this afternoon I read an article quoting Harbaugh as saying that the starting QB job is Smith's to lose.  WHAT???????

Note to the 49er coaching staff, front office and ownership:  ALEX SMITH CAN'T PLAY FOOTBALL.  Cut your considerable losses and move on, hopefully to a good QB.  Heck, talk to Kurt Warner.  He may be long in the tooth, but at least he's a quarterback!

So I sit here, waiting for the draft to start, excited and happy and anticipating all the highs and lows football brings.  But, having been a Niners fan for 35 years, I am anticipating some serious lows...

What are you most excited about???

I'm Baaack!!!

It has been WAY too long since I've posted here.  Life has been so very busy and lots of things happening.  So what brings me back?  WORLD CUP!!!

Yes, World Cup, the most exciting sporting event in the world!  Now, all my fantasy football buds are probably gasping for air and contemplating my fantasy demise, but wait!  You KNOW how much I love FOOTBALL, but a big piece of my heart belongs to FUSSBOL (German for soccer). 

Think of it, every four years the whole world comes together and celebrates The Beautiful Game (and it is beautiful) for an entire month.  The best in the world compete for their home countries.  It doesn't get better than that.

The tournament kicked off yesterday at Soccer City in Johannesburg, South Africa, with the South African side called Bafala Bafala (you have to love that name) taking on the favored 'El Tri", the Mexican National side.  It was a pretty good second half for the home boys, with Tshabalala (another great name) scoring the first goal of the tournament - a little moment of magic!  The game ended in a tie and, while the host country is probably estatic the Mexican side have to be unhappy.

Today the big game was the US vs England, a hugely anticipated match.  England scored in the fourth minute on a very nice play that highlighted the weaknesses in our defensive line and really pissed off Tim Howard, our keeper.  The first half did show that we belong with the best, because we dominated the time of possession and held the ball well. 

Very near the end of the half Dempsey took a shot on goal and Green, the English keeper, should have put his body in front of the ball, because it deflected off his hands and rolled across the goal line, scoring one for us.  I was estatic, of course, but still feel pretty bad for Green, because he has to live with that mistake for the rest of his life.  They take their soccer way too serious in England and his life will most likely be negatively impacted unless he can come up with a heroic moment or two later in the tournament. 

The second half was exciting with several quality opportunities on both sides but no more scoring.  So we played the anticipated winner of our group to a draw and got a point out of it.  Not a bad result.  Now we just have to beat Slovenia and Algeria to advance from group play.

I love soccer and am SO excited about World Cup! 

Long Live Drew Brees!

It was a thing of beauty to see Drew Brees lead the Saints to such a decisive victory over the hated (yes, hated) Patriots!  The perfect passer rating was just icing on the cake.  I enjoyed that game more than any game I've seen lately ('cause we don't get the Niner games here, and they lose when I watch anyway, so...).

And what's up with Brady sitting out the last 5 minutes?  Takin his ball and goin' home?  Looked like a temper tantrum move to me...quitter...

Sports reporters tend to make me a little nuts in post game press conferences.  The stupidest questions, over and over...let me do that job, I'll get it right!  I'll ask the questions everyone wants to ask but doesn't have the hoo-hoo's to do it!  Like, "hey Coach Bellicek, do you have a pulse?" or "so, Coach Singletary, have you actually killed and eaten any of your players this year?"

I do have to give Brady kudos for hanging in the pocket as long as he does.  A year of rehab on a new knee can't be pleasant, and probably involved a lot of pain...

And hats off to the baby 3rd stringer for the Steelers!  He did a heck of a job.  Too bad about that pick in OT but still, he ran on the Ravens defense.  Good for him!

Don't Believe Everything Your Read in the Press

I've always relied on what the fantasy 'analysts' have to say.  I mean, they're the experts, right?  Right?


So when Arizona played the Bears I read what the 'experts' had to say.  Not a good matchup for Warner.  Bears DST should just romp.  Matt Ryan would just set the world on fire.  Uh-huh.


So I paid attention to these guys who knew more than me.  Sat Warner.  Played Ryan and the Bears D. 


Warner scored 40 fantasy points (maybe 50, I quit looking when the dizziness set in).  Ryan crashed and burned.  As did the Bears D.

So when the 'experts' tell you what is and is not a good matchup, I'm just gonna look back at my experience and go with my gut.

So what have the analysts done to you?

Different Fantasy Formats

Thanks to Susan, I've had the opportunity to play in five different leagues in three formats.  Here are my thoughts on the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (so we need some Sergio Leone spaghetti western music here):

The good:  As usual, NFL.com and ESPN rocked with their ease of use, excellent interfaces and quick availability of info. 

The bad:  Five teams is too many.  For me at least.  WAY too many!  I couldn't keep track of who I had started and who was sitting and it drove me nuts (ok, I'm already nuts) while I was watching the games. 

The ugly (other than my w/l stats!):  The Yahoo format.  I just didn't like it.  Now, that may very well be because it wasn't familiar to me, but I didn't enjoy it at all.  The look, feel and ease of use just didn't do it for me, to the point I just left it and didn't really pay much attention.  Of course, this may also be because I 1) didn't have time for all the leagues and 2) seem kinda sucessful with that team!

So what do you think?

Bye Week Hell Part Deux

Ok, you've read my rant on bye weeks.  Now that they are over (thank you!!!) I'll whine just a little bit more about how frikkin AWFUL the past few weeks have been for my teams!

Running back - settling for all of y 'alls castoffs on Friday mornings when I finally have a chance to take a look at my teams (Monday and Friday mornings are usually just killed with back to back to back teleconferences).  Running backs have been the bane of my existence on the byes.

Quarter Backs - Now, I paid attention to bye weeks when I picked my QB's!  And there I was, actually starting ALEX SMITH (just sit with that a minute).  Again, it just sucked.

Needless to say, my win-loss records took a serious hit!  How did yours do?

Bye Week Hell

Ok, I am SOOO done with the bye weeks!  Between having to sit my studs and starting my duds and then having to find NEW duds on the waivers, it just sucks!

Last year Rusty told me he drafts with the bye weeks in mind and I learned from that and tried to include that info as best as I could.  But...

Can't wait for them to be over, can't wait to get the season 'back to normal', or as normal as a football season is gonna be.  Remember kids, NFL stands for No Frickin Logic!!!

I'm Baaaack!

Wow, what a ride!  Between my husband getting sick and then the swine flu (complete with little corkscrew tail!) landing in the middle of my chest I haven't even come up for air in weeks!  Add studying for my professional registration (exam is this afternoon, wish me luck!) on top of it all and it equals an absent Granny!

Life is good, though, and Jim and I are both mending nicely.  Still have that cough, and Jim's flu turned into bronchitis (everything goes right to his chest) and mine is brewing into a nice little sinus infection (everything gives me a sinus infection!). 

The hardest part of all of these cooties is not seeing my babies.  I hadn't seen any of my babies in over 3 weeks, which is absolutely the longest I've gone without cuddling a grandkid, any grandkid, since 5 minutes after Jay was born 3 years ago!

Jay turned 3 on the 13th and, of course, I called him and sang Happy Birthday to him.  He just giggled.  Then one day last week I called him and he said 'Hi G-ma, whatcha doin?' I told him I was watching baseball, and he says 'me too, but I'm eating peanut butter!'  Then he hands the phone to my daughter in law and yells 'bye G-ma!  I love you!!!!'  Needless to say, I cried.

Sabrina wanted to bring the boys over yesterday, but with my last big push of studying and her youngest, Connor, being sick, we kinda postponed that.  Maybe everyone can come over this weekend!!!  That would be great!!!

Rest assured all you fantasy football freaks (that's you Mike), Granny will be back in top form for next weeks' games! 

Oh, and Susan, Mike didn't find me.  He tricked you to get the reward.  See how he is???  Must be all that Purple Haze...

3-0 in Divison BABY!!!

Ok, so, no big deal, but the Niners are 3-0 against the NFC West Divison rivals.  BOO-YAH!!!  Do you know how many years (decades?) it's been since I could say that?  Huh? 

And the Dodgers start their post-season run against the dreaded Cardinals tomorrow.  Yeah, I'm not happy about it either.  The Cards always seem to have the Dodgers' number.  And Manny is being Manny again, and looks like a scared little girl at the plate.  Get a big-boy haircut you wuss and do the job you're getting paid for!!! (um, no I am not a Manny fan, never have been, and was upset when the Dodgers actually paid real dollars for his sorry, drug taking, fussy me-first, prima donna, gonna play only when I feel like it a**).  I don't care for show-boats.

Hence my absolute glee at T.O. tanking against Miami.  You know Tuna had it personal for Owens.  Regardless of all of the grown-up conversations everyone has about it,  Jones picked T.O. over Parcells and forced the coaching great's departure from the Biggest Whorehouse in Texas. (um, not a Cowgirls fan, either).

And what the heck is up with Brett last night?  I'm surprised he didn't burst into flames showing up in purple against the Pack.  I bet he would have if the game had been at Lambeau!  Brett is going to hell for sure, now!

The Twinkies (um, sorry I should show some respect now...) are going to take the Yankees out in the first round of post season play.  Go Minnesota (see, it's just Brett, not Twin Cities sports in general...)!!! 

As for Fantasy I won 4 out of 5 this week (whew!  thought I was gonna be 2-5 for sure!).  I am having a ball, just wish I had enough time to get into the smack talk!  Well, things will lighten up a bit after the end of October (yeah right, I don't know who I'm kidding.  It's just gonna be a different kind of madness in Nov!). Again all my thanks and appreciation to Susan for making it happen!