Quick, tell me the top three guys from your fantasy football team last season.
Don’t think. Just tell me, right now.
Can’t do it? Okay, now take five seconds and try again.
Still drawing a blank? Yeah, me too.
I don’t play in a lot of leagues, maybe two or three a year (and this year, it’s only one! Let’s hear it for priorities!). And whenever I think back to the previous year, the one thing that always stands out to me is this: I have no clue what happened the previous year.
Eight months is a long time in between hobbies, and the ole’ memory isn’t what it used to be. Seriously, if I didn’t have it reminded to me who the champ was last year, I wouldn’t have even known. Maybe I’m the only one, but I just forget what happened pretty easily.
So as we get closer to another start to the fantasy football year, let me remind you to do three things that will effectively help you and your sanity.
1, 2, and 3: Enjoy the process, enjoy the game, and enjoy the actual game. Fantasy football is supposed to be fun, but we tend to get really mad at it. I totally get it. We’re super competitive and we’ve got major chips on our shoulders. We don’t like to lose. Ever. In fact, we sometimes hate losing more than we enjoy winning, if that makes sense. But step back and think: one year from now, you’re probably not going to remember much about the season we’re about to have. So ENJOY the process and don’t make it such a chore. When it ceases to be fun, it’s just one more stress you’re adding to your day. Enjoy researching the players prior to the draft. Enjoy the draft and the comraderie established during that two hour stretch where we’re all in the same online room. Enjoy trade talk. Enjoy (good-natured) trash talk. Don’t take it all so serious.
Enjoy the fantasy football game itself and all the nuances that go into it. Fantasy football is not just about you and your team, but it’s about all of the teams that make up the league. One of the greatest fantasy football sins is to just never say a word the entire season (the biggest fantasy football sin is to stop setting your lineup). Be open to just talking. Fantasy football should be something we enjoy doing and where we can forget about the minutia of the every day for a little bit.
And please, for the love of Calvin Johnson, enjoy watching the actual games. My love for football has waned lately, primarily because I stopped watching to have fun with the game and instead was more focused on my fantasy football team. That’s kind of psychotic. No more, I say! Let’s have fun watching these millionaires wreck havoc for our entertainment. Remember, one year from now, this will all be a blur.
We’ve got a few weeks before the draft. Looks like the time has been set for August 30th at 9:00 PM. So we’ve got roughly four weeks to get our minds right for the upcoming season. I anticipate this to be the most interactive, most enjoyable fantasy football league I’ve ever been a part of, in large part due to the effort of the commissioner, so let’s not disappoint him.
No pressure.
Hmmm…. Can you smell it? There’s a life force on this page tonight. Do you feel it! I look around this page and I see… potential. I see the future chairman of a Fortune 500 company. I see a famous rap artist. I see the future president of the United States of America…
Actually I see none of those, BUT I do see a Fantasy Football website that is a bit too dusty for my taste. I apologize fore dropping the ball with this last year guys. I need to take better care of it considering there’s content on here that goes back a whopping 5 years time. Thats a lot of content and a lot of history. OUR history. So yes, I need to do better with it in 2015, which if you’ve been counting is year 7 for this league. This year is going to be like all the others; unique. And I’m looking forward to all of it, but first things first. Lets get all congrats from last year done shall we?
1.
Congrats (once again) to BRANDON CATES!!!! for securing the League Championship title for a third strait year. Enjoy that enormous target on your back this season, as well as being immortalized in the Hall of Champions!
2. All of your player profiles have been updated to include that stats you gained last year.
3. 
Overall last year’s league was a huge success. I felt like everyone gave their all to win and to have fun, which for me is the kind of league I want to have. Thanks to everyone for making that happen
More updates and blogs to come. Stay Tuned!
Well guys I dropped the ball with the webpage this year. Sorry, I just haven’t felt as pressed to keep up with it for some reason. I’m sorry to our new people who didn’t get to experience the week updates this year. I’ll do my best to get back to it next season. But anyway lets look at the regular season winners.
PLAYOFF TEAMS
1. 1st and Awesome –bye week clinched
2. Et tu Brute –bye week clinched
3. Who_is_81
4. Cruz Control
5. That s the way it is
6. Tenacious Lee
REGULAR SEASON CHAMP
Brandon with a 10-3 Record(2nd consecutive year)
TOP SCORERS
1. Kevin: 1867.59 SCORING TITLE( 2nd consecutive year)
2. Austin: 1822.33
3. Rob: 1816.42
HARDEST SCHEDULED(average points against)
1. Joe: 142.71 (This is the hardest schedule in the leagues history… sorry Joe)
2. Kevin: 142.64
3. Jordan: 141.04
EASIEST SCHEDULED(average points against)
1. Austin: 129.86
2. Brandon: 130.03
3. Josh: 130.66
Stay tuned for a team by team season synopsis.
Sorry for the late update. Won’t happen again. First lets do the top 5 moments from weeks 2 and 3
WEEK 2
5. Joe wins the family bout against the highly ranked team of Josh’s: McCoy bounces back and Peyton Manning and Antonio Gates step up with big numbers.
4. Rob wins a close one against Austin’s fellows: Closest game of the week. Defense decided the winner here
3. Lee bounces back from a minuscule week one: Ever year there’s one player that goes from high score to low score from week to week. Last year it was Kevin. Is Lee this years Kevin?
2. Jamaal “Humpty Dumpty” Charles had a sort of hard fall: After an injury, the first overall pick is left scoring just 2 points. Injury prone to the max
1. Brandon gets 143 points, even after Green, Floyd, and Patterson get less than 8 points: Commanding win! He’s the guy to beat this year
WEEK 3
5. Josh gets first win: After a close bout, I simply didn’t have enough to overtake the preseason favorite.
4. Rob wins third strait without Peterson: Astata is turning into a fine replacement. Rob is taking the early weeks by storm.
3. Kevin’s harsh start: Nothing like having a hard schedule early on. You know your going to have to play the same guys at the end. Kevin has scored well though. He should rise back up as the season goes.
2. Christian wins the highest scorer: Girl power! Although no one got past the 150 mark this week, Christians team did well to overtake Kevins 138 points with some high scoring of her own.
1. Brandon scores 115 points…beats Joe: Few things will make your stomach churn more that a 86 point week, but don’t you dare ride of the Joe-mysters team. You will learn.
MOOOOOOOVING ON…..
Ok now that we have that done we can move on to this weeks recap. Week four is the last week of the sort of “division” types games we play. Simply meaning that the teams we have played in weeks 1-4 will be the teams play 9-13. Teams who come out of the first for games fairly unscathed have an early advantage, and those who didn’t need to get their wins in weeks 5-8 in case their early season troubles continue in the later weeks. I think the Joe, for example, could be known as a guy who takes advantage of the mid-season games to refine his lineup and get important wins. He’s never missed the playoffs, so there’s obviously something to this. The teams who fail to evolve through the mid season will be the teams that miss the Freak Show so make sure you’re not one of them.
As for week 4, this has been the highest scoring week of the season, with 4 out of 10 teams getting over 140. Lots of other stuff happened to. Lets count the top 5 shall we…
WEEK 4
5. Highest scoring week so far: As I said before, lots of points. If you got a win this week give yourself a pat on the back. Your team did good.
4. Rob still Undefeated: An easy schedule has helped Rob keep the #1 Spot, but overall his team has scored well consistently. For now things are going his way and Asiata is turning into this years big time sleeper
3. Charles in charge: OOOOOOOOOH YEAAAAAAH! He’s back ladies and gentlemen! He helped me break Brandons 12 game winning streak(thats including last season) and more importantly he significantly helps my team overall. Missed you Charles
2. The Corum/Rose’ Family Trouble: Josh was my preseason pick to win it all, but a tough schedule has hit him with 3 losses and only 1 win. I still believe in this team, and I think they are about to make a big splash in the coming weeks. As for Joe, his numbers did improve from his 86 last week, but not by much. He needs more consistent scoring if he wants to get his 6th strait playoff birth. Time will tell for both.
1. Austin got it right: If you’ve been in this league long enough, you know how much that Austin loves to be number one on my list. Well here you go dude, its yours. Many of us chuckled when Austin put Cousin in over his 4th overall pick Tom Brady. We chuckled again when Cousins threw 4 ints and only racked up 6 points. Surely the elite Tom Brady will score more than 6 points. Wrong…. try 3. Austin ended up getting over the 150 mark and picked the right QB to start the game. Austin, may this be a lesson to you. Brady does not ever need to go in the first round ever again.
In other news, I’ll be adding a new page on the “Career Leaders” tab up at the top. It will be called “League Point Total.” The great thing about this is that we all are involved in helping get the numbers up. I will add the season total points scored of everyone in the league and list which years we as a league scored the most points. Get siked!
Fantasy football. Both amazingly fun, and ridiculously frustrating. Week 1 brought out all the usual suspects: Close games, rising stars, flopping top picks, a lot of stat tracker checking. Ultimately, it was a lot of fun, wasn’t it? Be honest, how many times did you look at your phone to get an update on a score? I’m ashamed to estimate my number. Bottom line, we saw it all and then some. Most of the action took place on Sunday and Monday, and as such, no one remembers that the opening game to the fantasy football season was between Seattle and Green Bay last Thursday. Seems like a long time ago, that game.
We all know what happened by now. We’ve exhausted ourselves looking back over the scores. Now we move ahead to Week 2. Winners will try to keep winning, while the losers will try to stop losing. Isn’t science cool?
“What should I watch for in Week 2?”
– As it pertains strictly to our league, I’m interested in seeing what Austin’s team (Who_is_81??) does against the Manziel in distress. Clearly, 81’s team pulled off a huge upset. Anybody who was furious over Austin picking Tom Brady 4th had to be up in arms that he beat out The Bestest Mench. However, people furious that Jordan got the #1 pick in the draft are probably elated that Jamaal Charles didn’t play in Week 1 and Austin got the better of him. But can he keep it going against Week 1’s top rated squad. Furthermore, was the Manziel’s 159 points a sign of things to come or a fluke? We may not know the answer for a few more weeks on that one.
– Does JOE KNOWZ know that Joe knows? It’s a family picnic in this outing as Joe and Josh will try to earn their first win of the season after heartbreaking Week 1 defeats. Get your bleep button ready. Why? No idea. You probably won’t need it.
– 1st and Awesome and The Westsiders battle to see who can separate themselves in the standings to go 2-0. Brandon is almost 40 points better on the projections. Projections mean jack, as we all are well aware of. But that kind of distance on the predictions does make one raise whichever eyebrow they lift during interesting scenarios.
Keep your eyes on the prize, folks, and keep reaching for the stars!
If I were to make a metaphor about week 1 it would go something like this… We are all brought into a dark room, given a large dary, and blindfolded. We are told that somewhere in this dark room is a target that we must hit. We all turn around 3 times, through our darts and boom! Week 1 is over. What a weird and random week that no one could have predicted.
TOP 5 From Week 1
5. CHRISTIANS DEFEAT: Here’s a classic heartbreak of the 2nd highest scoring team loosing to the top scoring team. If Christian had played anyone else in the league she would be 1-0 right now. Rough break, but any week where you get over 150 points is a positive week regardless.
4. KEVINS UPSET: Most of us had picked Josh to be top dog out of the gate, and he did anything but bad. 144 points nothing to scoff at to be sure, but Kevin squeeked by to get the week 1 victory. His boy LeVeon Bell drop 26 points, outscoring Elligton and Bernard, and Andrew Luck posted high QB numbers. Dominating win. There’s still question marks for Kevin, but the reigning high scorer from last season has made a comeback that no one saw coming.
3. LEE’S WR’s: Demarious Thomas, Dez Bryant, and Jordy Nelson gave Lee the best WR core on paper at the start of the season. Unfortunately, Jordy was nearly able to get as much as Thomas and Bryant combined. Considering Jordy Nelson got 13 points, we couldn’t help but cringe a little. Week 1 is always a strange week and Lee fell victim to early jetlag, but no worries. No way this is a weekly issue.
2. AUSTIN WINS: I’m not complain by putting this up here. I’m confident that everyone but Austin thought that he would loose this week, but Austin’s team somehow pulled out the W. Antonio Brown threw down 20 points, lead the charge, and Mark Ingram exceeded expectations getting 17. Does this mean that we were all wrong about Austins team? I don’t think so. He beat me by 6 points. No one on my offence scored a TD. One would expect a more solid victory with those odds but nevertheless he is 1-0 and I’ve been wrong before. Lets not forget that the last time Austin won his first game he went on to go 7-0. A record no one has come close to topping.
1. MCCOY AND CHARLES’ PITIFUL NUMBERS: The first two picks in our draft came into their games this week with high expectations. Few could have predicted the absolute suck fest that was week 1 for these guys. Combined, they didn’t even get over 20 points and their teams suffered. Me and Joe both lost, but had Charles and McCoy got only 1 TD than both of us would have won. It’s mind boggling and I’m sure its not going to last but for now it really sucks that they couldn’t have gotten something. Cheifs, running the number 1 running back 7 time is, for lack of a better word, stupid. No wonder you lost to the Tinsee Winsee Titans. Use your best player!!!! Eagles, why would you set up a 4th down play with Sproles instead of your all pro back. He’s the backbone of your team. Let him have those opportunities. You have CHIP KELLY, I’m sure it would have worked out.
MILESTONES TO SHOOT FOR
I did this last season and think its good to look at this list again to start this season
-Yet to be achieved
1. 2000 POINT SEASON: Kevin got within 40 points of this last year. He had a real shot to pull it off but fell just short of 2000. Others have come close over the years but in all 5 seasons of this leagues existence it’s never been achieved. Will this be the year that someone pulls off the ever elusive 2K season? Will Kevin’s record stand for another season? All will be answered in time.
2. UNDEFEATED SEASON: The current record for wins in a season is 11, held by Brandon and Joe, so going 12-1 would be a record but I can’t help but think that if someone can get 12 they can go all the way and pull off an undefeated season. Obviously a very difficult task to pull off and requires all your players to remain consistent throughout all 13 games. Good managing and having the right players would be a must to make this reality.
3. 50 CAREER WINS: Me and Joe are currently tied with 44 wins and 25 losses. First to 6 wins this season will get this record. Austin would need to get 11 wins before we got 6 but it’s a possibility.
4. 221 POINT GAME: Of all the records here, this one may stand untouched the longest. Brandon scored 220 points against me last year and won his chance to go to a second strait title game. 220 is a game that requires you to have most of the top scorer that week and considering how rare a 200 point game is, we may be seeing Brandon’s name at the top of this list for a long time.
5. GOING 8-0: Another record that will probably stand for a long time is Austins 7-0 start he had 3 years ago. Considering how unpredictable the early weeks are, its very hard to remain undefeated through the first 3 weeks let alone half the season. Half of us are already out of the running to get this, but we’ll see how the rest do.
-Others to shoot for
1. 200 POINT GAME: Only three 200 point games have been achieved in the leagues history. Requires big games from more than 1 player and a big outing from your defense. Will we have any new additions to the 200 point club this season? We’ll see
2. ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: A new thing that I’ve only done once a while back. Considering we have 4 new players with us, I thought I’d try this thing out again.
3. CHAMPION(Obviously): 5 years, 4 champions. Kyle, Joe, Austin, and Brandon have all been immortalized in the Hall of Champions. Many of us have a least been to championship, myself included, but winning one is not easy and relys a lot on your teams ability to score consistently later in the season. Who will be the 2014 Champ? Time will tell.
Sorry for the late post, but they are finally here. My opinions on how we all drafted. Let me stress the word “Opinions” if I don’t like your team don’t flip out. No one knows who’s going to impress this season, myself included, so if I think you did poorly don’t worry just try and beat me during the season. You’re welcome to try =)
CHRISTIAN
Grade: B-
TEAM THEME SONG:
The first woman in the history our league came out of the draft race with several things to be confident about. Megatron is the best elite wide out to play in a decade and he needs no introduction. Also, Randall Cobb and Murray are going to be very solid as long as they stay healthy. These three players make up the core of this team but other players like Shane Vareen should be fine. I don’t like Jay Cutler due to his knack for getting negative points and Jordan Reed’s season hinges on whether RG3 can pull through this season. Nevertheless, a solid defense will help fill in any rough edges the offence may have. I would be surprised if Christian pulls out 8 wins this season.
JOSH
Grade: A-
TEAM THEME SONG:
Another newcomer for our league and a long time friend of mine, came into this draft with a clear strategy, players with catches. His team kind of reminds me an end-of-season Joe team, which makes sense due to the family ties. Players like Forte, Brandon Marshal, and Danny Woodhead will help push his scores up steadily every week. Teams that get lots of catches just seem to win more. Dree Brees in his QB spots helps a lot too. Lots of passing yards to come from him I’m sure. If there is a weakness here, I’d say it would be in the RB position. Bush will split carries and has always been inconsistent, and Pierre Thomas will continue to try to find running relevance within the Saints pass-heavy style of offence. However, a great defense, paired with lots of PPR options will get him wins and will help come out on the winning side of close games. Dangerous team, even with Welker out.
BRANDON
Grade: B+
TEAM THEME SONG:
The reigning champion returns this year with another strong team that will compete all season. Is this a team that can get him a third consecutive 11 win season….ugh, I’m gonna say probably not, but is it a team that can get him a playoff birth and maybe grab the first round bye? Sure, however some things will need to work out. At the end of the day it comes down two the RB position. Arian Foster, CJ Spiller, and Ben Tate are the main RBs on this team and none of them rushed for over 1000 yards last year and they all ran for combined 7 TDs. To be fair, Foster and Spiller were both hurt, and Tate was splitting carries, but all of these back have yet to either bounce back to previous numbers, or break through into top tier fantasy backs so a lot hinges on at least one of them coming through. The WR core however is very reliable and could very well be the leagues best once all is said and done. RG3 is uncertain, but with Romo as backup there’s less reason for concern. Great defense also. Lots to like and fear if you play this team.
JOE
Grade: C+
TEAM THEME SONG:
Joe will always be the X Factor in our league. Few have been as successful in this as Joe, a success that has been founded on one mediocre team after another. A former champ himself, Joe is looking to rise to his 6th strait playoff birth, OH! and he picked Josh Gordon 6th overall. Ouch. But try not to focus on that to hard. He did snag Peyton Manning and McCoy, players in the elite of their position. I personally think McCoy comes with a certain air of risk but most will disagree so I won’t expand too much on that. Frank Gore and Fitzgerald are old reliable fantasy players that fit well within Joe’s management style. I don’t like Chris Johnson, simply because he tends to get his points in bulk, not consistently, and there’s no way to be sure if he’ll even be a factor this year. An average defense, and lackluster bench should hurt Joe later in the season, but don’t trust that prediction. It’ll just make it all the more confusing for you when he beats your team in the final stretch.
ROB
Grade: C-
TEAM THEME SONG:
Rob’s team was auto picked after his stand in was a no show. Unfortunately this means Rob’s defense isn’t as strong as some, but there are some bright spots here. Adrian Peterson and Monte Ball should be the main scorers for this team. Ball is unproven but he has Payton so we know he’ll at least get catches. Ellington is one of top prospects for a big year but who knows how he’ll really do. Julius Thomas and Victor Cruz should play as well as they always have and as long as Rob manages his defense well through the season he should compete. Ultimately it’s hard to predict how this team will fall.I think we’ll figure it out early on in the season. If things go well within the first month of the season I’d season watch yourself if you have to go up against this team. You just might get Robbed…get it? Like Rob. Its a play on words. I’m kind of a linguist.
BRIAN
GRADE: B-
TEAM THEME SONG:
Lets get the negative out of the way first. Ridley will start the season on Belicheck’s bad side. He lost his starting spot last year after fumbling profusely. Also the defense on this isn’t a bad one but not a dominating one.Good not great bench either. OK, now as for the rest of the team there’s LOTS to love. Julio Jones will dominate, Rodgers will bring the TD’s, and Percy Harvin showed us last night that he can be a top 10 talent when healthy. Eddie Lacy will run inconsistently but he’ll get lots of goal line TDs. So ultimately, Brian has enough to make it to the playoffs this year again. Watch yourself when playing this team. Rodgers will throw a 40 point game at least once and has potential to score that much every game.
AUSTIN
GRADE: D+
TEAM THEME SONG:
I know Austin has always loved the way I’ve ranked him<-Sarcasm , but dude, you took Brady 4th overall. How else am I suppose to rank that. He would have been there 4 rounds later. They’ve done little to help Brady in the offseason also. Lack of targets means similar numbers with the exception of little boost from Grok, a player which you also drafted, which surprises absolutely no one =). Antonio Brown and Alfred Morris should score consistently and Edelman will put up similar numbers as last year. As much as he will hate this statement, I think the best thing that could happen to Austin’s fantasy teams is the retirement of Tom Brady. Which for a Bills fan is second only to the second coming of Jesus.
KEVIN
GRADE: C+
TEAM THEME SONG:
I targeted Luck in every draft I was in this season didn’t get him once. Kevin snagged him in this league and think that’s a big positive. I see him improving upon his numbers from last year. Also Marshaun Lynch aka “The Traitor” rushed for over 100 yards and two TDs last night. Beast mode will serve Kevin well. Le’veon Bell will be the Steelers’ main man in the back field and should at least do well in the red zone. As for receivers, there’s lot of concerns. Emmanuel Sanders looks like the best option at the moment. Thats not exactly encouraging and will really hurt him in the reception game. Defense is not great either. The guy who pulled off the highest scoring season in the history of the league last year may have trouble return to those numbers this season. I good WR waiver could help his season and help him return to a third strait playoff birth.
LEE
GRADE: C+
TEAM THEME SONG:
First off, if you haven’t seen the profile pic I made for Lee you should check it out. I’m very proud of it. As for his team, him and Brandon have the best WR cores in the league. Dez Bryant, Demaryious Thomas, and Jordy Nelson will all be getting points for Lee. Add in the heavy passer Matthew Stafford and you have a lot of point potential. His RB’s are a shady. Zac Stacy might be a little more relevant since Bradford went to the IR but dominant? I don’t know. Geirhart is a bruiser back. If he runs like Alstot or Hillis we can say he’ll be good around the goal line and have a short window of relevance. Not a lot to feel confident about. The auto-picked draft gave him a terrible defense, but he’s rebuilt it well off waivers and to me he looks like a playoff team. He may just beat the defending champ in week one. Could happen.
JORDAN
GRADE: B+
TEAM THEME SONG:
I feel very good about the draft I had. Charles, Jefferies, and a strong defense help make me an early threat. Some waiver moves will need to be help to help with my bench, and there’s some uncertainty with Giovanni Bernard but I don’t think there’s anything that screams pure bust. Everything will at least get something all season as long as they stay healthy. Consistency wins championships and I think I’ve gone without one for long enough. Receptions, Rushing yards, and TD potential are going to be very high week in and out. Teams playing me better cross their fingers.
Once the fantasy football draft ends, there’s the inevitable lull that takes place, what with all of the pre-season games going on and lack of significant news. But just like the build up to the draft brings a lot of energy, so does the week leading up to the first round of games. We know it’s about to get real…fast.
Personally, my #1 goal in playing fantasy football is to have fun. It’s not to win, even in a pay league, and even though I do love to win. But you can win and have a miserable time and when that happens, what’s the point? On the flip side, you can lose and still have a great time and you’ll end up being better off than someone higher above you in the standings because you figured out how to simply enjoy the game.
Now, those are not exclusive, set-in-stone stances. You CAN win and have fun at the same time, and that’s what I’m here to help you do today. Here are a few tips to help you have the most fun during your fantasy football season.
*Set your lineup, but don’t obsess over it.
Ultra-competitive people have a tendency to stub their toe when they continually obsess over things. Everyone needs a break from time to time in order to be most effective, and really, fantasy football is no different. My recommendation is to set your lineup on Thursday (remember, there are Thursday night regular season games every week!) or Friday after you’ve checked the injury reports. Don’t take more than a minute or two deciding on who to start. Most starting spots will be no-brainers. You’re going to start a guy like Drew Brees over E.J. Manuel every single time, so move on. When it comes down to more difficult choices, think it over, look at the matchups, look at how the players have been doing lately, and just go with your gut. Don’t over think it. Make the choice and move on.
When Sunday morning hits, take two minutes to check your lineup and make sure everything looks good with injuries, and exit out. Don’t consume yourself with worry. Just do it and let it ride. It’s now time to enjoy your day.
*Talk a little bit. Get your thoughts out.
Things are better when we talk. But there is an art to it. Keep in mind the people that you’re around and be mindful when you say things and how you say them. A good rule of thumb that I’ve learned is that it’s more fun to trash talk light heartedly rather than being a grouch about it. If you’re a jerk, it’s going to put a damper on the communication in the league and people aren’t going to want to say anything. Keep it fun and light and you’re more likely to keep the lanes of communication wide open. Reminder: Sarcasm is a really terrible way to trash talk, especially over the internet, since we can’t determine tone over the web. Sarcasm is such an interpersonal thing that it very rarely translates to other people. This is something I constantly have to watch for myself.
So what do you say? Well for starters, talk about your own team. Let people know what you think of the games going on. Pat yourself on the back for a job well done. Make sure everyone knows that you’re the best team in the league, even if you’ve lost eight in a row. Whatever comes to your mind. Just don’t take yourself so seriously that you don’t say anything in fear of being perfect. Perfection this side of heaven is over rated. Just be you.
*Get the Fantasy Football app
Fantasy football has changed so much over the years. I remember running into the other room constantly, checking the scores and making sure I was winning. Now, pull out a phone and it’s all right there. Some apps even have notification updates, but I’ve yet to use them so I don’t know how in depth they are.
You’ll definitely want the app, but do me a favor and don’t constantly check it. Catching a glance every few hours is okay, but if you’re eyes are glued to it, you’re doing it wrong. Games can change on a dime. I’ve seen it so many times where a team will be in such a big lead in the early session games, only to see it slip away during the evening games. The score won’t change because you’re always checking. Instead, enjoy watching the games and spending time with your family. Seriously.
*Be active on the waiver wire
Making moves throughout the year is such an important element of having a successful fantasy football season. Depending on your league’s settings, players may be available for pickup on Tuesday or Wednesday. Check the settings to make sure. If you’re paying attention to the games on Thursday, Sunday, and Monday, you’ll know who the targets are to go after. You really shouldn’t have to do excessive research, other than seeing how a particular performance changes the depth chart, and of course, you’ll have to weigh whether or not an outstanding game was a fluke or not. Because of the waiver wire priority, you can put in a request to pick up a player, and once the waiver wire opens up, the system will follow through and either accept your request, or deny it if someone else who had a higher waiver priority tried to add that same player.
Again, this doesn’t take but a couple minutes of your time, and it’s not rocket science, so don’t make it harder than it has to be.
*Look to make a trade
Trades are such an overlooked aspect of fantasy football. But a great trade that makes sense for both teams can be the difference in making or missing the playoffs. Don’t be afraid of negotiating. Going back and forth is part of the process and the fun. If you’ve been given a ridiculous offer, don’t dismiss working with your fellow peer. That’s the point of the counter-offer.
*Never, ever quit
This has been a plague of fantasy football for a long time. Owners that are struggling to find wins have a nasty tendency to just stop looking at a league. They completely remove themselves. The problem with that is it completely hurts the integrity of the league. The reality is, there has to be a team in last place. If it’s you, figure out why, and find unique ways to give yourself the best shot to win, and look for opportunities to increase the fun factor.
*Above all…
Enjoy the process! Fantasy football is one of the best ways to keep in touch with people you know, and it completely pulls you into football games you otherwise would have no interest in. If you find you’re not having much fun, take a few days off from the grind, and come back to it later with a fresh perspective.
Look forward to the fantasy football season and the kickoff to the NFL season. Let this be the most fun you’ve ever had trying to accumulate points based off the performance of another human being.
When will we learn that it pays to practice? We’ve all heard the expression, “Practice makes pancakes.” Well practice also makes perfect, and if you decide you’re too good, or “busy” to try your hand at the age old experiment of trying something out before the official situation comes to pass (“We talkin’ bout practice!), you’ll likey get what you deserve: burnt pancakes.
Reflecting is the art by which we look at ourselves in the mirror and say in a grimising voice, “I really shouldn’t have shaved my eyebrows.” Well, not only is there a reflection in the mirror, but you’re inwardly realizing some humble truths about yourself. It’s a double meaning. And those are great.
This past week was the fantasy draft for the League of Jesus Freaks, and I couldn’t have been more excited to take part in it, especially after it began and I saw what type of team I was going to have. The truth is, it’s painfully apparent who does their research and who puts in the time and energy–let’s be real, all it takes is a few minute–to craft a finely tuned fantasy football killing machine.
There was a lot of trash talk leading up to the draft after Commissioner Jordan stirred up some controversy by picking names “randomly” from a set of ping pong balls and ending up with the #1 overall pick. A few murmurs here and there left the league reeling, leaving many wondering if the league was even going to be able to function with all the turmoil. Not only that, but in a last dash effort to draw attention away from that, the draft time was changed due to some kind of musical back to school event. Nevermind that school had already been going on for almost two weeks, and you can see why many people were left scratching their heads at all of the chaos.
Before the draft even began, one man had a target on his back, and that was none other than Joseph Blaine Rose. Initially, there was a discussion about people getting together and creating some lifelong memories. Live and in-person, friendships were going to be made, food would have been eaten, and high-fives given as that special bond of male (+1 female participant) friendship was created and sustained.
Alas, when office morale as at an all-time high, one person decided to squash that idea, and I’ll give you two guesses as to who it was, but you’ll only need one. Because I’ve already told you who it was in the previous paragraph. Suddenly, Joe began to throw around going on a “vacation” and not “being social” and having too much “body odor” (last part added by me, COMPLETELY MADE UP! NOT TRUE! JUST ADDING SUBSTANCE TO THE POST!). In a unified attempt to make Joe feel appreciated, we agreed to change the time and date of the draft so he could attend. It wasn’t until the wee hours of the evening that we finally got our answer that Joe would forsake having his team autopicked and would draft live. It was like pulling teeth. By this time, a get together was all but a dead idea. What might have been. What might. Have been.
The draft itself was a blurry tailspin of awesomeness. Jordan, taking his sweet time on his pick, decided to fall in line with all the other robots and pick Jamaal Charles, the beast in the midwest east. There had been grumblings that things would get crazy during the second pick, but JOE KNOWZ went with LeSean McCoy, and nobody here thinks he’s crazy for that. I would have taken him first. Adrian Peterson went to Rob’s Team, and then the draft fell apart and all legitimacy questioned when Who_is_81?? decided to do the unthinkable and draft Tom Brady. Nevermind that a quick search reveals that Mr. Brady’s average draft position is 64–which would have been round six in our league–Austin decided it was in his team’s best interest not to miss out on this once in a lifetime opportunity of drafting a 37 year UGGS spokesman. Good luck with that.
After that nonsense, the first round went off as to be expected. Josh picked up Matt Forte at the 6th spot thanks to Austin. Calvin Johnson, Marshawn Lynch, Jimmy Graham, and Demaryius Thomas rounded out picks 7-10. Easy peasy.
It seemed that all was going to go according to any sane, logical draft, but sometimes life throws you a freebie in which you can gaze upon in wonder, and once again, the man of the hour, our own Joseph Sinclair Rose woke us up when he took Josh Gordon in the third round.
Josh Gordon, who, when you look at a piece of paper revealing his statistics, should absolutely garner first or second and definitely third round consideration. But it’s all about the details, and unless you’ve been living under a vacation rock for the past few months, you would know that Josh Gordon is currently awaiting suspension by the NFL. We discussed what he decided to smoke in the draft lobby, so if you want a more detailed overview, just look up his name, and you’ll find out. The line at the bottom is this: Josh Gordon could very well get suspended for the entire season. Furthermore, if Josh Gordon is being drafted, it’s around the 10th round. You know, when people already have their teams lined up pretty well and they can simply take a chance on a guy like Gordon who probably won’t play.
It truly was an amazing moment that I don’t think was appreciated enough in this draft. As picks were being churned out left and right, I really wish we had a pause button so we could truly appreciate the moment. Never fear, Joe let us know that this was all apart of his master plan. Congrats, you’ve secured next to last place, Joe. You win. We give up. But if we give up, does that mean you’re in first place? Is this your true plan, Joe? Are you some kind of mad genius? Inquiring minds want to know.
From that point, it just became about needs and personal preference. Eight out of the ten owners were able to make it to the draft night spectacular, while the other two had work commitments or just didn’t care. Now, if you didn’t care, I could understand not making it. But work? There’s just no excuse. Wait a second. No, that doesn’t sound right. Flip it. If you had to work, I can understand. If you didn’t care? There’s just no excuse. There, that’s what I meant.
Once the draft ended, the talk bled over in to the Facebook Messenger chat, and it wasn’t until 12:20ish that the last message of the night was sent. Clearly that message has been sent loud and clear: we’re all very excited about this league, and we want to talk about it. We’re social butterflies just looking to spread our wings and avoid windshield wipers.
Future installments of this article will recap interesting events of our league matches, and looking ahead to the next week’s matchups. That, or I’ll come up with a completely different article and will write whatever spills out of my brain. Or, and I’m leaning this way, I’ll find a better way to spend my time and will never do this again.
Set your lineups in love and peace,
Josh
Hey guys. Our draft will be this Saturday August 16th, at 10pm. You will need to be logged into the league and have the draft window loaded before then. I’d recommend getting on around 15 minutes early. ALSO, THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT!!! For the entire time that I have played with individual defensive players, Yahoo has never bothered to properly rank them, so I would recommended that you would not use their rankings to pick your defense unless you want to be terrible (which you don’t). Look at the scoring settings set for our league and look at the stats that have value and pick your player based on that.
Tips for the draft.
1. Draft good players, not your favorites
2. BE THERE! Hand picked teams are always better than auto-picked ones
3. Study up by doing a few Mock Drafts before draft time Saturday
4. Have fun! Remember it’s just a game. We don’t ridicule here. We just enjoy the game and playing it with others
AAAAAAAND.. thats it! I’ll see you all online for the draft
PS. Christian, Lee, and Rob now have their own personal profile pages. Be sure to check out their custom photo’s hand made and edited by a world class watercolors artist!
PPS. There are no watercolors or Italian artists. Just Microsoft paint and me. =)
FAITH BAPTIST FANTASY FOOTBALL 