For starters, I benched Willie Parker (on the road against DEN Sunday night) in favor of Lamont Jordan. Now, the diff is only 6 points between them, but right now it means I'm down by 17 versus 11 with only Reggie Wayne left to play tonight (and my opponent has Anthony Gonzalez, but it looks like Harrison will play).
UPDATE: Wayne goes for 130+ yds (or 13 points) and no TDs (or zero points) and I lose, going from 5-1 to 5-2 and no longer a lock to make the playoffs. Damn it.
What's more, I learned this morning that I've done a pretty piss poor job of scouring the web and bringing the weird stuff to you guys. The Big Lead 'scooped' me on ESPN's Matthew Berry's latest psycho-babble involving a DJ Hackett man-crush and a prediction of doom for all Steelers. I need to make a point to check this out on a weekly basis.
Then there was Bill Simmons' weekly NFL picks column that also doubled as a 'fantasy guide' of sorts. He tried to show how hard it is to have the perfect fantasy season (because, you see, his Pats are going to have a perfect real season, get it?). Let's leave out the fact that his team is stacked, leading me to believe he's in a 6 team league (check out my thoughts on his his pre-season thoughts here) and dissect his thoughts.
Reason #1: Bye Weeks
Okay, yes, you WILL have a week when your #1 RB is off. And another where your #1 QB is off. And one where you'll have to pick up a TE, K or DEF off the waiver wire cuz you should only draft one. But you know what? THAT'S WHAT THE DRAFT IS FOR! A while back I even put a poll up regarding draft strategy and bye weeks, so it's an issue everyone's aware of and should have a strategy for (damn, did I just end TWO phrases with prepositions???). Now, should you get unlucky on draft day, there are trades, as well as waiver wire pick ups. Oh, wait, those are evil too...
Reason #2: The evil waiver wire
While Bill's points are valid, he fails to see things from the 'bad teams' perspetive. FFB is supposed to be fun and, quite frankly, it isn't when your team blows and you have ZERO chance to salvage your season. Sometimes you just get unlucky. This is especially true for money leagues where your dream goes from winning the whole damn thing to maybe, just maybe, getting your entry fee back. What Bill doesn't realize are 1) if a bad team also has a bad owner, chances are he WON'T be submitting claims for those "hot pickups o' the week", meaning the good owners have more of a chance, and 2) there ARE solutions - making waiver claims cost $ is one, while not 'locking down the free agents' at 1 pm on Sundays is another. All the basic Yahoo leagues I'm in keep everything wide open; the only players on waivers are ones who've been dropped recently. The downside of this is people tend to add players as the games are going on. Simmons should have mentioned THIS as well.
Reason #4: Staying Healthy
The simple solution is to have 'team players'. For example rather than drafting Drew Brees, you draft "New Orleans QB".
Reason #6: Screw job trades
Most leagues require the other owners vote on trades. Problem solved.
Reason #7: You need a lot of luck
Hmmm... has Simmons seen my site and my Declaration of Principles? :)
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