The fantasy football drafts are ovah!In the past I've posted not only my lineups, but those of Nancy, Joe, Tony & Robert. Not this year, kids! Mostly because... well, let's face it, no one but me really cares. Don't you fret, though! When I post the weekly updates you'll be able to track all of our color-coded progress same as ever! I may even trot out new colors!
The drafts were cool 'cause they really ran the gamut. I had an automated draft that I planned rigorously for... and one that I, well, didn't. I had three live drafts, in each of which I tried a different strategy, while trying not to duplicate too many players (which is tough when you're drafting for five teams, tellyouwhat).
In no particular order, I present to you your fightin' The Powerful Mach 5!, Sith Lords of the Gridiron, Catchers In The Rye, Blue Blazer Regulars and Live Free; Rhyme Hard!
Die Hard Fantasy Football 2007 - NFL.COM (Live Draft)
The Powerful Mach 5!
Tom Brady, QB
Jon Kitna, QB
Thomas Jones, RB
Julias Jones, RB
Willie Parker, RB
Andre Johnson, WR
Matt Jones, WR
Joey Galloway, WR
Bernard Berrian, WR
Bo Scaife, TE
Antonio Gates, TE
Neil Rackers, K
D Steelers, DST
D Vikings, DST
This was my first live NFL.COM draft, and I guess it went okay. I picked third to last in the first round, so no marquee running back for me, but I snapped up Tom Brady and Antonio Gates. Oh, and I'm happy with my defenses (I seem to have more faith in the Vikings "D" this year than anyone, but we'll show you!). The most amazing thing about this draft? The guy who picked first got, naturally, Ladanian Tomlinson. No brainer. While he waited for his next pick he was chatting away with the rest of us, so imagine our surprise when for his second pick he snapped up... Michael Vick! The chat room software couldn't keep up with the deluge of "WTF?" and "Dude! Do you have a TV?" posts.
Why'd I coose this league fulla' strangers? I liked the name, and their team names were almost as whimsical as mine, so it doesn't appear to be a league of extraordinary lunkheads.
No. 1 Seahawks - NFL.COM (Auto Draft)
Sith Lords of the Gridiron
Eli Manning, QB
Marc Bulger, QB
Thomas Jones, RB
Jerious Norwood, RB
Laurence Maroney, RB
Lamont Jordan, RB
Mark Clayton, WR
Plaxico Burress, WR
Terrell Owens, WR
Isaac Bruce, WR
Jeremy Shockey, TE
Neil Rackers, K
D Bengals, DST
D Eagles, DST
Nancy warned me that 5 leagues may be a league (or two) too many... judging from the fact I completely overlooked this draft, I'm almost willing to agree. Almost. I didn't rank my players, or jockey for position... I pretty much ignored it entirely. Funny thing is, it's a pretty solid lineup! I've decided that this is my "Control Group." That sounds way better than admitting I was asleep at the wheel.
Why this league? "SEAHAWKS #1!" It's fate!
Life Is A Game, Boy - NFL.COM (Commissioner, Auto Draft)
Catchers In The Rye
Philip Rivers, QB
Rudi Johnson, RB
DeShaun Foster, RB
Cedric Benson, RB
Brandon Jackson, RB
Larry Fitzgerald, WR
Kevin Curtis, WR
Marty Booker, WR
Jacoby Jones, WR
Calvin Johnson, WR
Vernon Davis, TE
Josh Scobee, K
D Packers, DST
D Cowboys, DST
I "run" this NFL.COM league... which mostly means I opened it, and invited pals. I spent a lot of time ranking the players for this draft, and went back and forth for days on which positions to draft when. RB, RB, QB? RB, QB, RB? RB, QB, RB, WR? Seriously... days. In the end, no, I'm not sure this is any better a lineup than the one in the league I forgot about... but for now, I'd like to think so.
As Commissioner I can't do anything anyone else can't do, but I plan on making use of our message board to keep people engaged, or at least entertained.
I decided that my league would be Catcher in the Rye themed... which pretty much just means the league name, and my team's name are Catcher in the Rye themed... but that's good enough for me. I may spend all season posting pithy Catcher in the Rye quotes. No one'll get it, but what else is new?
Pigskin Pajama Party - Yahoo! (Commissioner, Live Draft)
Blue Blazer Regulars
QB Donovan McNabb
WR Marques Colston
RB Shaun Alexander
TE Tony Gonzalez
W/T Devin Hester
W/R Reggie Brown
W/R Marion Barber III
K Jason Elam
D Champ Bailey
D A.J. Hawk
DB Troy Polamalu
DB Dre' Bly
DL Lofa Tatupu
DL Antonio Pierce
I'm the Commissioner of this league as well, which actually means something in Yahoo! fantasy football. I determined the scoring scheme, and what positions we'd be drafting. I coulda' determined the draft picks, but I left it up to chance... and wound up picking pretty early. I had the choice between Larry Johnson and Shaun Alexander, and in the end I went with Shaun because a) I'm not convinced LJ will repeat his numbers from last year and b) Come on! Shaun's a Seahawk! And as a Seahawk, very underrated, and my personal favorite.
I'm not posting my backups... just take my word for it: they're either pretty damn solid, or very promising as sleepers.
Being Commissioner here is rad 'cause the league's a little chattier, and I can post all sorts of "NOTE(s) FROM THE COMMISSIONER" that range from helpful fantasy hints to cooking tips. No, really.
I called my league "Pigskin Pajama Party" because 99% of the other leagues had really serious names like "I'll piss down your throat after I kick your ass!" and "Not for Retards!" I'm not kidding. People? They take fantasy football pretty seriously. My league, though, it's all about sleepovers, and ghost stories! And popcorn balls!
Al Bundy Football League - Yahoo! (Live Draft)
Live Free; Rhyme Hard
QB Carson Palmer
WR Deion Branch
RB LaDainian Tomlinson
TE Owen Daniels
W/R Ahman Green
W/R Braylon Edwards
K Jeff Reed
D Keith Bulluck
D Bart Scott
DB Gibril Wilson
DB Adrian Wilson
DL Derrick Brooks
DL A.J. Hawk
Finally, the annual bookstore league. Another live draft, and my first EVER #1 pick! Woot! Ladanian Tomlinson, won't you please stand up? I'm pretty happy with this lineup, tell you what. I didn't bother to post the backups, but they're all of pretty stern stuff... including LT's backup, Michael Turner who'd be starting on any other team, and should figure more into the offense this year regardless.
Last year I managed to piss off the entire league by posting football haiku every week. I'm pretty much out of haiku ideas, so maybe this year I'll post a short story in weekly chapters. I'll be the Dickens of the fantasy football world!
Ahhh, fantasy football... it's the best of times, and it's the worst of times.
No comments:
Post a Comment