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?

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?

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?