I feel it's time for a fantasy update, as though I've ever given one. I have four fantasy football leagues:
League #1: This is a league with some guys I play Fantasy Baseball with (I demolished them all in a 20-team baseball league. It wasn't pretty). I won my division at 7-4-2, and cruised in my first round match-up thanks to the usual stellar performance by Brian Westbrook, Kurt Warner carving up the Seahwaks secondary, dominance by the Packers defense, and two other really great performances from Jamal Lewis and Brandon Marshall. My semifinal matchup was against the #1 seed, and I eeked out a win with the usual suspects; Kurt Warner leading the way. I'm actually up by 5 with Sidney Rice going tonight, and my opponent is done. Super Bowl bound! It's going to be really sweet beating these guys in both baseball and football.
League #2: A public league with a bunch of strangers. I didn't make the playoffs in this one. Injuries (Rudi Johnson, Travis Henry, Andre Johnson), ineffectiveness (Lee Evans, who I'll never draft again), and questionable draft choices (Why did I take a chance on Rivers?) left me on the outside looking in at 4-8-1. Of course now that I've been eliminated, I've put up 221 puts over the last two weeks, tops in the league.
League #3: This is another league with guys who are aquaintances, at least over the World Wide Web. I clinched a playoff berth on the last Monday night of the regular season (I finished 7-6) with Kyle Boller as my quarterback and Shaun Alexander and Eli Manning relegated to my bench. I've been carried in this one by Braylon Edwards, Clinton Portis, Chester Taylor and savvy defensive choices (I had the Bucs this week). My first-round match-up against the #1 seed has yet to be decided. He was leading me by 6 after the first week, but going into play tonight I have a 21 point lead. I'm running Chester Taylor and Bernard Berrian against Adrian Peterson (Yes, that AP) and the Vikings D, so it is by no means over. Should I advance, Eli Manning is going to have to play quarterback for me in the championship match-up....
League #4: Easily my best draft and my best performance this year. I finished the regular season 13-0, beating a 12-0 team the last week of the year. I decide to draft a QB a round or two earlier than I normally would, and it paid off, as I have Tom Brady, Tony Romo, and Matt Hasselbeck. At WR I have Brandon Marshall, Dwayne Bowe (who was great early), Bobby Engram (who's been solid of late) and Anquan Boldin. My RB corps consists of Brian Westbrook, Fast Willie Parker, and Edgerrin James. And, just to add to my embarassment of riches, I was ably to move up to the #1 waiver position just in time for a frustrated owner to dump BOTH Jacksonville Jaguar running backs. yes, you read that right, I have the top two quarterbacks, 5 top 12 running backs, and Fred Taylor. Needless to say, I'm steamrolling this league.
Looking ahead, I joined a 16-team fantasy baseball league with some really interesting settings that's doing a bit of an old-school pen & paper draft (albeit on a message board). We're still drafting, as it will probably take 6-8 weeks to complete the draft, but I've assembled quite a roster thus far:
C:
1B: Justin Morneau
2B: Chase Utley
SS: Jimmy Rollins
3B: Garrett Atkins
OF: Nick Markakis, Jason Bay, Raul Ibanez
SP: Matt Cain, Rich Hill, Brett Myers
RP: Brad Lidge, Rafael Soriano
It's a dynasty league with a salary cap and full minor league rosters, so while I'm putting a pretty good team together for this year, the minor league draft is where I'll do my real damage.
Monday, December 17, 2007
I'm glad it's done, because I'm done.
The semester is over, and while I could have done better, I'm pretty pleased with the way it went. It was a pretty tough semester, because it's been awhile since I took a full load of real classes. My brain was fried by the end. I definitely coasted home on fumes, but I felt an overwhelming sense of relief when I finished up my chemistry exam this morning. We'll see in a few days if my feelings are validated by my actual grades. I'm looking forward to next semester.
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Bah-humbug
I don't know about anyone else, but I'm just not into Christmas this year. The fact that it was 80 degrees outside earlier this week doesn't help. Being broke doesn't help either, but I don't think that's really it. Some things seem to be going in the right direction, while others seem to be spiraling out of control. Christmas has become a time of year when all of the bad things really come into focus, as opposed to a chance to celebrate the good things. I guess that's my own fault....it's just becoming more and more difficult to find reasons to be happy.....
Thursday, December 13, 2007
w00t There it is...
Merriam-Webster has selected it's Word of the Year for 2007. First of all, I didn't know such a thing went on. The word that was chosen for this honor is w00t. w00t. Yes, those are zeroes. The word first became popular in competitive online gaming forums as part of what is known as l33t ("leet," or "elite") speak—an esoteric computer hacker language in which numbers and symbols are put together to look like letters. Although the double "o" in the word is usually represented by double zeroes, the exclamation is also known to be an acronym for "we owned the other team"—again stemming from the gaming community.
So, umm, when did words begin having numbers in them? Online gamers have their own language? People, you really need to get your kids outside.
Two of the other finalists for the award that I really liked were blamestorm and quixotic.
Blamestorm is officially defined as sitting around in a group, discussing why a deadline was missed or a project failed, and who was responsible. Im sorry, that's just damn funny. I've seen this, and it's hilarious (unless it's affecting my ability to work; then it just pisses me off).
Quixotic is a great word that most people first run across when they're trying to pick a mood on MySpace. Quixotic means foolishly impractical especially in the pursuit of ideals; especially : marked by rash lofty romantic ideas or extravagantly chivalrous action. I get this way at times. Sometimes we forget about goals and get lost in unrealistic fantasy. Sometimes we forget that our head and heart have to work together. We're often caught following our heart while abandoning all sense of logic. We get so caught up in an idea that we often fail to see that the idea is all that's really there. I think romanticism is good quality as long as a certain amount of pragmatism accompanies it. It's okay to chase windmills sometimes, but don't ignore your head it drags you back to reality.
So, umm, when did words begin having numbers in them? Online gamers have their own language? People, you really need to get your kids outside.
Two of the other finalists for the award that I really liked were blamestorm and quixotic.
Blamestorm is officially defined as sitting around in a group, discussing why a deadline was missed or a project failed, and who was responsible. Im sorry, that's just damn funny. I've seen this, and it's hilarious (unless it's affecting my ability to work; then it just pisses me off).
Quixotic is a great word that most people first run across when they're trying to pick a mood on MySpace. Quixotic means foolishly impractical especially in the pursuit of ideals; especially : marked by rash lofty romantic ideas or extravagantly chivalrous action. I get this way at times. Sometimes we forget about goals and get lost in unrealistic fantasy. Sometimes we forget that our head and heart have to work together. We're often caught following our heart while abandoning all sense of logic. We get so caught up in an idea that we often fail to see that the idea is all that's really there. I think romanticism is good quality as long as a certain amount of pragmatism accompanies it. It's okay to chase windmills sometimes, but don't ignore your head it drags you back to reality.
Do You Think Roger Clemens WIll Sign My Copy of the Mitchell Report?
The Mitchell Report was released today. For those of you who live in a vaccuum, an investigation has been ongoing for the last 20 months regarding the use of performance enhancing drugs by Major League Baseball players. The investigation was led by former U.S. Senator (Dem. Maine) George Mitchell.
The first thing that needs to be understood about the report, that some people are already missing, is that exclusion from Mitchell's report does not mean a player is clean. Period. That being said:
This report is an absolute travesty. I can't believe that any good can possibly come from Mitchell's report. Performance-enhancing drugs have been a major problem in Major League Baseball for years, and a problem that owners, GMs, managers and the commissioner have collectively turned a blind eye to until now. Great, we already knew that, but this witch hunt was the wrong approach for solving the problem. The real solution is working harder to eliminate performance-enhancing drugs in baseball. This is something the Commissioner's Office has failed miserably to do, and Mitchell's investigation was a way for Bud Selig to spread the blame. Most of the "facts" included in the report are mere hearsay. This was an investigation into a culture of cheating and lying in baseball, and now we're to believe everyone involved is suddenly telling the truth? Why, because they were "advised" that lying could constitute a criminal offense? Horseshit.
Then we have the issue of potential punishment of the players named. This, too, is ridiculous. In the absence of a positive test, leave them alone. It doesn't make any sense to punish them now. Baseball knew it was going on and looked the other way. We, as fans, suspected is was going on, but did anyone say anything when Sosa, McGwire, and Bonds were hitting 60 and 70 homeruns? No, because it was fun. We loved the way balls were flying out of the stadium. We loved the chase on Maris' record. Then we decided we didn't like Barry Bonds chasing the all-time homerun record because he isn't a likeable person, so we vilified him, and this is what we got for it. Punish them? I think we've all been punished enough. Drop it. Let it go. Let the past be the past, chalk it up to the way the times were, and just get it cleaned up.
The recommendations Mitchell makes at the end of the report are solid strategies that should have been implemented 15 years ago in an effort to control the use of illegal performance-enhancers in baseball. Instead, we've had this fiasco where we're digging up the past, and for no particularly helpful reason. Have anyone's questions been answered? Do we know who to believe anymore now than we did before the report? All this is going to lead to is a rift between the Players Association and ownership, and further lead to all players being guilty until proven innocent in regard to performance-enhancing drugs. This whole episode has been disgraceful and a huge black eye on a sport I've loved as a player, a coach, a student, a historian, and a fan almost my entire life.
The first thing that needs to be understood about the report, that some people are already missing, is that exclusion from Mitchell's report does not mean a player is clean. Period. That being said:
This report is an absolute travesty. I can't believe that any good can possibly come from Mitchell's report. Performance-enhancing drugs have been a major problem in Major League Baseball for years, and a problem that owners, GMs, managers and the commissioner have collectively turned a blind eye to until now. Great, we already knew that, but this witch hunt was the wrong approach for solving the problem. The real solution is working harder to eliminate performance-enhancing drugs in baseball. This is something the Commissioner's Office has failed miserably to do, and Mitchell's investigation was a way for Bud Selig to spread the blame. Most of the "facts" included in the report are mere hearsay. This was an investigation into a culture of cheating and lying in baseball, and now we're to believe everyone involved is suddenly telling the truth? Why, because they were "advised" that lying could constitute a criminal offense? Horseshit.
Then we have the issue of potential punishment of the players named. This, too, is ridiculous. In the absence of a positive test, leave them alone. It doesn't make any sense to punish them now. Baseball knew it was going on and looked the other way. We, as fans, suspected is was going on, but did anyone say anything when Sosa, McGwire, and Bonds were hitting 60 and 70 homeruns? No, because it was fun. We loved the way balls were flying out of the stadium. We loved the chase on Maris' record. Then we decided we didn't like Barry Bonds chasing the all-time homerun record because he isn't a likeable person, so we vilified him, and this is what we got for it. Punish them? I think we've all been punished enough. Drop it. Let it go. Let the past be the past, chalk it up to the way the times were, and just get it cleaned up.
The recommendations Mitchell makes at the end of the report are solid strategies that should have been implemented 15 years ago in an effort to control the use of illegal performance-enhancers in baseball. Instead, we've had this fiasco where we're digging up the past, and for no particularly helpful reason. Have anyone's questions been answered? Do we know who to believe anymore now than we did before the report? All this is going to lead to is a rift between the Players Association and ownership, and further lead to all players being guilty until proven innocent in regard to performance-enhancing drugs. This whole episode has been disgraceful and a huge black eye on a sport I've loved as a player, a coach, a student, a historian, and a fan almost my entire life.
Monday, December 3, 2007
The last three days the rain was unstoppable
Sometimes, like when I wonder where I'm going to get the money to pay for this house I live in, I wonder why I'm still kidding myself. It's clearly not meant to be, right? Every time I see my schedule and I'm working 2 days, I decide it's time to give up; to take the safe route.
I look at myself sometimes and wonder, at 29, what have I really done? Am I ever going to do anything? Then there are times I feel that I'm still young; I have plenty of time to do this and then organize the chaos that is my life.
Everytime I make school a priority, everything else falls apart, and I go right back to the job I hate the most. I should just do it again and be happy.
Not this time. I'm not backing down. I'm not quitting. I've sacrificed too much: time, money, relationships. It's not just about me, either. Others have sacrificed just as much, and it's not going to end like this. I'm not who I can be yet. I'm not where I want to be yet. I'm not going back.
Fuck you. I can do it.
I look at myself sometimes and wonder, at 29, what have I really done? Am I ever going to do anything? Then there are times I feel that I'm still young; I have plenty of time to do this and then organize the chaos that is my life.
Everytime I make school a priority, everything else falls apart, and I go right back to the job I hate the most. I should just do it again and be happy.
Not this time. I'm not backing down. I'm not quitting. I've sacrificed too much: time, money, relationships. It's not just about me, either. Others have sacrificed just as much, and it's not going to end like this. I'm not who I can be yet. I'm not where I want to be yet. I'm not going back.
Fuck you. I can do it.
Jack Handey
Why don't we ever act on our impulses? Are our instincts so bad that we just don't trust them, or do we not trust them because we just won't listen?
Is it wrong to act on a hunch or even the slightest feeling? Isn't it better to know you were wrong this time then to never know anything? What if you have something in front of you that's never been there before, and you don't know it because you didn't find out?
Why do we do what others think we should do instead of what we feel is right?
It's still okay to make mistakes, right?
What if one of you realized you were mistaken, but the other was right all along? Who ends up suffering?
Is a solution always the answer?
What's wrong with taking a chance once in awhile?
Don't you sometimes just want to go for it, or sometimes wish you had?
Randoooooom! I was in the car just now, on my home from the bank, thinking about nothing in particular, when "Babylon" by David Gray came on the radio. I like the song, so I began singing it. When I got to the chorus, a bunch of really random (or are they?) thoughts just ran into my head, so I came home and wrote them all down exactly the way I thought them. I never do that. I usually ignore these random thoughts and feelings. Maybe that's what's wrong with me. This was fun. Everyone one of those has a specific meaning to me, but I'll leave you all to speculate....
Friday night I'm going nowhere
All the lights are changing green to red
Turning over TV stations
Situations running through my head
Well looking back through time
You know it's clear that I've been blind
I've been a fool
To ever open up my heart
To all that jealousy, that bitterness, that ridicule
Saturday I'm running wild
And all the lights are changing red to green
Moving through the crowd I'm pushing
Chemicals all rushing through my bloodstream
Only wish that you were here
You know I'm seeing it so clear
I've been afraid
To tell you how I really feel
Admit to some of those bad mistakes I've made
If you want it
Come and get it
Crying out loud
The love that I was
Giving you was
Never in doubt
Let go your heart
Let go your head
And feel it now
Babylon, Babylon
Sunday all the lights of London
Shining , Sky is fading red to blue
I'm kicking through the Autumn leaves
And wondering where it is you might be going to
Turning back for home
You know I'm feeling so alone
I can't believe
Climbing on the stair
I turn around to see you smiling there
In front of me
If you want it
Come and get it
Crying out loud
The love that I was
Giving you was
Never in doubt
And feel it now
Let go your heart
Let go your head
And feel it now
Let go your heart
Let go your head
And feel it now
Let go your heart
Let go your head
And feel it now
Let go your heart
Let go your head
And feel it now
Is it wrong to act on a hunch or even the slightest feeling? Isn't it better to know you were wrong this time then to never know anything? What if you have something in front of you that's never been there before, and you don't know it because you didn't find out?
Why do we do what others think we should do instead of what we feel is right?
It's still okay to make mistakes, right?
What if one of you realized you were mistaken, but the other was right all along? Who ends up suffering?
Is a solution always the answer?
What's wrong with taking a chance once in awhile?
Don't you sometimes just want to go for it, or sometimes wish you had?
Randoooooom! I was in the car just now, on my home from the bank, thinking about nothing in particular, when "Babylon" by David Gray came on the radio. I like the song, so I began singing it. When I got to the chorus, a bunch of really random (or are they?) thoughts just ran into my head, so I came home and wrote them all down exactly the way I thought them. I never do that. I usually ignore these random thoughts and feelings. Maybe that's what's wrong with me. This was fun. Everyone one of those has a specific meaning to me, but I'll leave you all to speculate....
Friday night I'm going nowhere
All the lights are changing green to red
Turning over TV stations
Situations running through my head
Well looking back through time
You know it's clear that I've been blind
I've been a fool
To ever open up my heart
To all that jealousy, that bitterness, that ridicule
Saturday I'm running wild
And all the lights are changing red to green
Moving through the crowd I'm pushing
Chemicals all rushing through my bloodstream
Only wish that you were here
You know I'm seeing it so clear
I've been afraid
To tell you how I really feel
Admit to some of those bad mistakes I've made
If you want it
Come and get it
Crying out loud
The love that I was
Giving you was
Never in doubt
Let go your heart
Let go your head
And feel it now
Babylon, Babylon
Sunday all the lights of London
Shining , Sky is fading red to blue
I'm kicking through the Autumn leaves
And wondering where it is you might be going to
Turning back for home
You know I'm feeling so alone
I can't believe
Climbing on the stair
I turn around to see you smiling there
In front of me
If you want it
Come and get it
Crying out loud
The love that I was
Giving you was
Never in doubt
And feel it now
Let go your heart
Let go your head
And feel it now
Let go your heart
Let go your head
And feel it now
Let go your heart
Let go your head
And feel it now
Let go your heart
Let go your head
And feel it now
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
