aka The Trials and Tribulations of The Dangville Ocho Stinkos

This past weekend marks the opening week for the National Football League (NFL).  As some of you may know, I enjoy a bit of “fantasy sports” (as previously mentioned) – specifically baseball.  I’ve been playing fantasy baseball for 8 or 10 years, and just last year made my fantasy football debut in a league at my workplace. I ended up 5-8 on the season and just missed making the playoffs.  This year, I intend to do better. Football, suffice it to say, is much different than baseball.

It’s a twelve-team league with some harden veterans and some relatively newbies (that’d be me). Most of the other people in the league follow football. I do not. I have, however, embraced the statistical revolution known as “sabermetrics” in my baseball travels, and wish to employ some of the knowledge and tools I’ve gained. But, again, football is much different than baseball.

Here is my team as it stands, as drafted:

Joseph Addai       RB, Indiana Colts
Terrell Owens      WR, Dallas Cowboys
Marques Colston    WR, New Orleans Saints
Michael Turner     RB, Atlanta Falcons
Ben Roethlisberger QB, Pittsburgh Steelers
Greg Jennings      WR, Green Bay Packers
Matt Forte         RB, Chicago
Bears              DST
Derrick Mason      WR, Baltimore Ravens
Aaron Rodgers      QB, Green Bay Packers
Marty Booker       WR, Chicago Bears
Vernon Davis       TE, San Francisco 49ers
Kolby Smith        RB, Kansas City Chiefs
Kris Brown         K, Houston Texans

I had the 6th pick in a serpentine draft, and considering that 17 of the top running backs were off the board by the time my 2nd pick came around, I chose to pick up one of the top wide receivers, and then I did it again on my third pick. Hopefully that works out. Colston slipped to me in the 3rd round, the 30th pick or so. He’s ranked as the #7 WR, says me. Roethlisberger was a bit of a stab as my starting QB, but he did well last year and he’s young. I also picked up the wildly unpopular Aaron Rodgers (the guy who replaced Favre in Green Bay) because I love the underdog – not for being hated, but for being undervalued.

The first week just ended (it’s Monday Night, after all) and here’s the results:

The Dangville Ocho Stinkos - 116.35 to 105.8 - Intimidating Mascots

The Good News – Ocho Stinkos for the Win!  Mark it. Powered by an insane game by Michael Turner (who, again, was one of those guys pundits loved to hate during the pre-season, an underdog for sure) and some excellent defense from the Bears (some people were down on ‘em due to a lackluster pre-season), I powered past a good team in the Mascots. Meanwhile, on my bench, rookie Matt Forte (RB, CHI) had a great first-ever game, running for 123 yards and a 50 yard TD, which is good news because…

The Bad News – Joseph Addai (RB, IND) left the 4th quarter of the Pats/Bears game with a “head injury”. That could mean “concussion” which is never a good thing in football, especially considering the NFL’s focus on keeping the concussed out of games.

Next Week: I face off against the Cup Busters, who field RB’s Frank Gore and Maurice Jones-Drew, as well as QB David Garrard. Garrard and Jones-Drew both play for Jacksonville, who’ve had their offensive line decimated by injury. That is good news for me, as the quarterback (Garrard) relies on the offensive line to keep from getting sacked before they can hand the football to the running back (Jones-Drew).

Update 09/10: Oh noes! Marques Colston (WR, New Orleans Saints) is out for 4-6 weeks with a torn ligament in his left thumb and Joseph Addai (RB, Indy) went down with a head injury (concussed?). Colston was half of my one-two wide receiving punch of T.O. and Coldstone Creamery! Nonetheless, I’ve replaced Colston with Greg Jennings (WR, Green Bay Packers) on my lineup – and it looks like Joseph Addai will be OK to play this Sunday. Even with these moves in effect, I am still have the highest projected point total for this week (136) out of all 12 teams.