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Well kids, this is it. This particular corner of the blogosphere has had a good run, but now that we've begun to "tag" each other with blog quizzes and the like, it's safe to say that we have jumped the shark. I suggest we now all go our separate ways, and devote ourselves to other pastimes.
Even though I consider these quizzes to be as big of a nuisance as anything that enters my inbox with a subject line beginning with "FW: FW:", I got tagged by Grabia, so it's my duty to answer the bell. Without further ado:
1) How many fantasy sports leagues were you in over the past year (leagues started after September 1, 2005 only)? How well did you do, listing both regular season and overall performance (i.e. after playoffs), as well as the number of teams in the league.
• Football: 8th out of 12 overall teams (Yahoo! League); 12th out 12 overall teams (ESPN League); 95th percentile in the public Yahoo! College Football Pick'em rankings.
• Hockey: 2nd Overall (out of 10) in the Regular Season, lost in the semi-finals of the playoffs. Unlike Grabia, I don't put stock in things like consolation games.
• Basketball: 8th out 8 teams
• March Madness: 3rd Overall (10 Teams Total); 70th percentile in the overall yahoo! standings; 76th percentile in the Deadspin Pants Party pool
• Baseball: Currently 6th in Division, 11th in League (6 teams in Division, 12 in League) in the Alberta Baseball Confederacy; Team Sports Matters (Avi, Andy, and myself) is currently 4th out of 12 teams in the Sports Bloggers league; after finishing 5th in the regular season, I won the 2005 playoff championship in my yahoo league. To use an old cliche, the real season starts in the playoffs, so I don't mind counting this as a post-September 1st, 2005 accolade.
2) What was the first jersey/sports clothing item you ever owned?
Hm. The first one I remember getting is an Edmonton Oilers jersey when I was about 4 or 5. It's entirely possible that I had earlier sports clothing than that, but I can't say for sure.
3) Name your top five favorite sports books (fiction or non-fiction).
i. Summer of '49, by David Halberstam
ii. Shoeless Joe, by W.P. Kinsella
iii. Flutie!, by Ian Thomsen
iv. The Boys of Summer, by Roger Kahn
v. The Hockey Sweater, by Roch Carrier
Bonus: Favorite sports movies, by sport
Baseball: Field of Dreams
Football: Rudy (honorable mention: All the Right Moves)
Basketball: Blue Chips
Hockey: Mystery, Alaska and Miracle (tie)
Golf: Caddyshack
Auto Racing: Days of Thunder
4) Name your ten favorite athletes of all time.
i. Steve Young
ii. Joe Montana
iii. Larry Bird
iv. Cal Ripken Jr.
v. Curt Schilling
vi. Tiger Woods
vii. Tom Brady
viii. Shaquille O'Neal
ix. Doug Flutie
x. Grant Fuhr
Honourable Mention (Maximum 5): David Ortiz, Jerry Rice (would have been top 10 were it not for his appearance on 'Dancing With the Stars'), Pedro Martinez, Ted Williams, Joe DiMaggio
5) Name three athletes you secretly like but are ashamed to admit to for fear of ridicule (current or all-time).
i. Barry Bonds, San Francisco Giants
ii. Derek Jeter, New York Yankees
iii. Jake Plummer, Denver Broncos
6) The five people you "tag" are:
• Pradamaster, at Gatorade Dump
• Greg, at SportsBlah
• Loxy, at Hot Oil
• Murphy, at Sports Matters
• Just for fun, Will Leitch, at Deadspin
It has already begun to turn cool and drizzly here in SE Wisconsin. Produce stands dot the highway as the farmers sell off this years surplus. Sunset comes over an hour sooner than it did only two months ago. And, in less than two weeks, the triumphant return of a God called Football is upon us as he rejoins the world after a 7 month hiatus.
With that, comes the return of one of the greatest games of chance/skill ever invented: Fantasy Football.
Basically you have a team which you fill with players you pick during the draft. Each week you play another team in the league and get points based on the performance of the players on your team. If your total points are higher than your opponent's you win that week. You have to start 8 players per week, one Quarterback, two Running Backs, two Wide Receivers, one Tight End, one Kicker, and one Defense. We have a 10 team league, the 4 teams with the best record after week 14 make the playoffs, and are seeded 1 through 4, based on their respective records. Week 15 has 1 vs 4 and 2 vs 3, the winners of those two matches face off in the championship in week 16, and the losers face off in the consolation match. It costs $80 to get in and payouts go $400, 200, 120, 80 - fairly small stakes compared to what some people do but we like to keep it friendly.
This will be my 3rd year in the league. Year 1 I went 8-6 and missed the playoffs. Last year I went 11-3 in the regular season and won both playoff games to become the champion, and I plan to defend the title this year.
So we had the draft on Sunday and I wound up with the 5th pick. I like this a lot because you don't have to wait a real long time between picks. Having the first pick actually kind of sucks. Despite the fact that you get the best player, 18 other players are gone before you get to pick again. So anyways this is what the starting lineup looks like as of today.
QB - Carson palmer-Cincinnati Bengals
I can't believe I have to cheer for the fucking Bengals this year, but Palmer is a hell of a QB and I couldn't pass on him after he fell to me in the 4th round.
RB - Edgerrin James-Arizona Cardinals
This was my first pick although Tiki Barber was still available at the time. Tiki had more yards and receptions than Edge last year, but he had fewer touchdowns. Also, Edge was on the Colts last year under the pass happy Peyton Manning. I think he'll get more carries this year in Arizona and more catches too as Warner is not nearly as bomb happy as Manning.
RB - Willie Parker-Pittsburgh Steelers
This was a bit of a gamble, especially for a second pick. Reason being is that he split carries with Jerome Bettis last year and was robbed of several touchdowns as the Steelers gave nearly all the goalline carries to Bettis. But, Bettis is 34, very old for a running back. And its been said by the Steelers coaching staff that Parker will be handing most of the short yardage work this year.
WR - Torry Holt-St. Louis Rams
Took him with my third pick. Perennial stud receiver. Should catch over 100 balls this year easily.
WR - Donald Driver-Green Bay Packers
The Packers #1 receiver last year should be good again this year, provided Favre can manage to throw the ball to the correct team.
WR - Troy Williamson-Minnesota Vikings
Another slight gamble but with Koren Robinson going to jail, should be the go-to guy. I put him with the starters because he will be switching off with Driver, based on performance and opponents.
TE - Jason Witten-Dallas Cowboys
Tight Ends aren't really all that valuable unless they are treated as another receiver by their team such as Antonio Gates or Jeremy Shockey. But Witten is a solid performer who averaged 4 catches and 47 yards per game last year, along with 6 touchdowns. This comes out to around 10 fantasy points per game, plenty solid for a tight end.
K - Niel Rackers-Arizona Cardinals
Kickers are kind of overlooked in fantasy in my opinion. I had this guy last year and he made the difference between a win and a loss more than once. Averaged 10 FP/G and only missed 2 out of 42 field goals, including going 6/7 from beyond 50 yards. Was perfect on extra points. I consider Rackers to be kind of a good luck charm for me. Plus, I am a Cardinals fan (yeah you read that right, Cardinals, not Packers. Blasphemy, I know)
DEF - Tampa Bay Buccaneers
As far as defenses go, there are the Bears, and then everyone else. Tampa is a solid squad though with stars like Ronde Barber, who had 5 picks last year and Simeon Rice, who ended up with 14 sacks.
BACKUPS
Won't go into too much detail on these but there are some things/players are important to note.
Jake Plummer - QB Denver
A solid player but kind of average production wise. His biggest weakness is being inconsistent from week to week.
Jamal Lewis - RB Baltimore
One of the best a few years ago, now just average. Might be sharing time with Mike Anderson.
DeAngelo Williams - RB Carolina
Carolina's first round draft pick has looked really good in preseason this year. If Foster gets injured, Williams could be a star. If not, well, then he will be on the bench. I got him in the 12th round so its not a big deal either way.
Well, there you go. Is anyone even still reading this? Not that it matters. I killed like 2 hours of office time typing this up.
Denver Broncos Schedule
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