Monday Morning Quarterbacking!!!

I love playing Monday morning QB. I can make myself look like a genius because I already have all the answers to the test! A friend of mine joined a recent Twitter Fantasy Football 12 team league and they finished up their draft last week. You can find the complete draft results here: http://twittermock.blogspot.com/search/label/Summary%20of%20Draft%20Picks. For the record, all the teams seem to be fairly competitive. There were no awful picks (like in one of my leagues a few years back when Jake Delhomme was selected in the first round), but there are some picks I question. I've gone through each team and picked out the picks I like, the picks I hate, and the Barack Obama picks (where you get yourself all excited about a guy, but in the back of your mind, you know he won't live up to expectations and you'll really want to trade him or release him by week 4).

My first, and most important reaction to this draft is that this is the year of the handcuff. It is absolutely imperative that you get your star RBs handcuff. No one in the draft did it, and I think someone will get burned. Of the RBs taken in the first round, all of them, other than Maurice Jones Drew and Matt Forte, have some type of red flag. AD, SJax, LT, Gore and Jacobs have all had injury issues. AD and Turner are both coming off 350+ carries. Quick, tell me the last RB to get that many carries and come back stronger the next year.... Yeah, keep looking. Once you get passed 2004, you get my point. DeAngelo and Chris Johnson both have backfield mates, and I'll get to Thomas Jones later. I'm not saying you don't draft these guys, but I'd suggest reaching for their backups earlier than normal.

Team Carwile

I like Roddy White a lot, but this seems early. He's never had double digit TDs and the team added Tony Gonzalez. While this probably helps his yardage totals, Turner is definitely their #1 choice in the redzone and Gonzo will be #2. Like him...but not with WR like Wayne and Boldin on the board. Addai is the clear Obama pick here. I mentioned him a few weeks ago so I won't bore you. I hate him. I like Chad Johnson to rebound and was planning on targeting him somewhere in the 7th round of drafts this fall. 4th Round seems early especially since even when he put up big numbers he was inconsistent. The McNabb pick is puzzling. It's 4 points for TD passes and the top tier of QBs is gone. McNabb can't be ranked anywhere higher than 8-12 and you can get his numbers much later. I LOVE Anthony Gonzalez where he got him (7th RD). He's going to get 1000 yards and every WR who plays with Peyton and has Reggie on the other side has a shot a double digit TDs. I'm shocked he fell this far. Remember when Laurence Maroney ran for 125 yards and 2 TDs against the Bengals in '06!? It was 2006! For some reason I think he has a respectable season and like the late value. How do you not like a guy who finishes a year on a high note and has a name like Johnny Lee Higgins? Great pick in the 14th round.

Team Spears

This guy clearly knows how to draft a fantasy team, but I think he could have dominated this draft after his first three picks, but had some hiccups. Santonio Holmes was supposed to break out last year but was average at best. He had a good post season and a great superbowl, but other guys have done that before (Deion Branch). He has potential, but I'm not sure he ever is more than a 950 yard, 6-8 TD WR. There's a place for that on fantasy teams and he won't get released by owners, but I'll give him the Obama pick as a guy with more hype than numbers. THE STEAL OF THIS DRAFT WAS TONY G. in the 5th. I love Matt Ryan, D's will key on Turner, White is legit on the outside, and I don't think 12-15 TDs is totally insane to predict. Bernard Berrian is a very strong #3 WR and allowed him to take a shot on Crabtree. Rookie WRs are tough, but with his core of RB/WR at the time of this pick, he can take a shot at the upside. He then embarrassed himself by picking Brett Favre. Seriously? He was terrible in 2008, is a year older, may not even play, and the owner already had Cutler and Hasselbeck. I'll never understand that pick. He somewhat redeemed himself with Michael Bush, who could have a Pierre Thomasesque year. He's talented. Without the injury he may have been a first round pick out of Louisville a few years ago and the leg was not a problem for him last year.

Team Gram

Very solid team. I've already proclaimed my love for MJD this year and following with Moss and Wayne are tremendous. My thoughts on Aaron Rodgers are the same as Donovan McNabb. It seems a waste of a pick here. I'm going out on a limb and giving the Obama pick to Moreno. I think he has the talent to be a stud, but McDaniels used a lot of backs in NE and they brought in Buckhalter and Lamont Jordan and still have Torain and Hillis. He'll be good, but might not post the numbers some expect. I can't be too upset about a RB with upside in the 5th round though. John Carlson is a great example of how deep the TE pool is again this year. He was solid last year and now they have some healthy WR and hopefully Matt Hasselbeck is ready too. I love Derrick Mason, but feel like I can find his stats on the FA wire at anytime. Picking the Bears D in round 12 makes me feel like someone replaced his cheat sheet with one from 2005...

Team Thorn

I don't want to sound like a broken record, but the QB and TE picks are early. The positions are deep and QBs don't win leagues when passing TDs are 4 points. The Obama pick goes to Antonio Bryant. He had one big year and now has a new coach, new system, new QB, and a new contract. Yuck. I like LenDale White, but have read they are tiring of his attitude in Tennessee and they drafted Javon Ringer (injury issues, but a beast). I also think the D in Tennessee is going to be weaker which will cause them to throw more. This will not help White's value in anyway. He got a solid guy in Le'Ron McClain in the 10th round. He played well last year earning some type of role in the offense, hopefully not at fullback (fantasy irrelevent)... He saw that he had a weak WR corps and picked two young guys and the ageless, yet fantasy useful Isaac Bruce late. Keep an eye on Lance Moore's recovery after blowing out his shoulder a few months ago...

Team FantasySportsMD

Speaking of fantasy injuries. LaDanian Tomlinson @ pick 5! I know he was injured, it's becoming more and more Rivers' team, and Sproles is going to be involved, but he was considered a bust while having 1500+ yards and 12 TDs (both better than Chris Johnson). He's clearly not the same player as he was three years ago, but I could see the same stats as last year and while it's not #1 overall pick material, getting those numbers in the top 5 works every time. This team clearly has the best 3 WR in the fantasy league. Chris Wells is the Obama pick. He's got huge talent, but here's the problem...he got hurt in college and they hit a little harder in the NFL. And the biggest problem, I think they like to throw the ball in the desert right? Hightower isn't a feature back, but he could remain a factor at the goal line. Larry Johnson could easily be this pick too. However, I love the late picks by this team. Ted Ginn is eligible for break out player of the year, McCoy will be a factor no matter what and could be huge if Westbrook isn't ready. I really like Fred Jackson as a player and I think the Bills do too, and Shiancoe is a great pick this late and supports my wait on the TE theory (he finished last year ranked #5 at the position). In the 13th, why not take Plax right? Props goes to this guy for not taking a kicker in a draft occuring in June, they'll be plenty available come early September. The biggest problem here is that if LT goes down, this team goes down with him...

Team Pera

The league commissioner had everyone covered for the first three picks and absolutely spit the bit. His next decent pick came in round 15. The Gates pick is strange. He's a very good player, but that team has three tall (6' 4''+) emerging WR, plus LT and Sproles. It's definitely the Obama pick and had to be made expecting 2005 results. To justify it, he'd have to get 1100 yards and double digit TDs. I just don't see it. Jericho Cotchery is not a number 1 WR and unless the Jets sign Plaxico, which is unlikely, he'll draw a lot of attention. He has never been one of their red zone targets and he'll be playing with a very inexperienced QB. Getting Cedric Benson where he did is okay, if he gets 400 carries, he'll definitely get 1200 yards, plus there isn't much competition in this backfield. Julius Jones was good for that short stretch in 2004 and I'm not sure what McGahee's role will be since Rice and McClain are better.

Team Love

The Obama pick is Chris Johnson. I spoke about this at length a few weeks ago, I love him, got me to a few championships last year and they've talked about getting him the ball more. The problem is that I want to see how he reacts to the first big hit to his legs. He's small and relies on his speed, if he loses it, definitely a problem. Just temper your expectations slightly, don't expect 1400 yards and 15 TDs. Clinton Portis is a warrior and a great player, Hall of Famer in my opinion. But the type of RB that he is leads me to believe there will be a huge dropoff. Will it be this year? I'm not sure, but his big play ability is essentially gone. I love where he got Felix Jones. Jerry has already said he needs the ball more which you have to like. Barber is going to return to his closer role so Felix gets more carries. Only problem is how much Tashard Choice is involved. If Felix gets 10-12 carries/game he'll be very usefull. Earnest Graham is good value in the 10th round. Derrick Ward is good, but he's not young. This is a timeshare with Graham working at the goalline. I'm not sure what the point of taking the Eagles in round 12 was, they lost their leader in Brian Dawkins so who knows what that does to them. Not the lose of the player, but the leader.

Team Family Fantasy

Yes, Tom Brady's wife is really hot, but he doesn't get any fantasy points for that, and unless you expect him to throw for 50+ TDs again, this was too early. I don't and he gets the Obama pick. Dallas Clark in the 5th. It's early, but I LOVE Clark. Please...stay healthy! Looks like Colts plan to split him out more this year which is great news. I contemplated saying that Mendenhall was the steal of the draft, but he's still unproven. Fast Willie Parker is slowing down a bit and Mendenhall will be active at least on the goal line. As for the Titans' D in round 12, please check out the players they lost in free agency. They will be okay, but no reason to take them here.

Team West

I have always questioned the strategy of taking a non-RB in the first round (ask the Tom Brady owners in 2008 how that worked out). If that players goes down or is a bust, your season is shot. This guy did it and got two very good RBs the next two picks so I think it works out in this case. Barber will not put up the yardage totals, but I think he gets back to scoring TDs in bunches this year. Grant will rebound and be a very good RB2. He had a hamstring injury which is death to RBs value, but finished the year much better. He'll get a full camp this year and will produce as long as he is healthy. I'll give this team's Obama pick to Lee Evans. He won me a championship in 2004, but I don't see how adding TO gets him better stats? Greg Olsen could break out with Cutler and I think Tim Hightower stays relevant. Wells will get hurt and Edge and Arrington are gone. He's not a feature back, but will be involved. Tashard Choice showed he's a good player, but good enough to limit Felix and Barber? I don't know, but I'd definitely spend a 13th round pick to find out. Josh Morgan could battle Ginn for breakout player of the year...

Team Gheewala

He took the best player available with his first two picks and I can't fault that. Here's a snipet of the scouting report on Steve Slaton "He's not overly strong or fast", okay no need to go on. I like him, he'll be lead back on this team, but I think Texas looks to lighten his load a bit by working someone else in. They couldn't find anyone to do this last year so there's a chance the same thing happens, but I think they will and that means he's my Obama pick. Somewhat like Chris Johnson, he'll be good, but expecting him to be a stud might be going a little too far. I like the DeSean Jackson and Donnie Avery picks, but were decent last year and could be starters for fantasy teams if they get a little more consistent. Also, taking Shonn Green this late could be huge. They've already said they want him to be a closer, but there are still questions as to whether they trade Thomas Jones. We know Leon Washington can't handle a feature role, so if Jones in traded, expect Green to become fantasy relevant immediately.

Team Hecker

I feel the same way about Peyton Manning that I do about Tom Brady, I'm just not sure he has a hot wife... I thought long and hard about this one, but I'm giving the Obama pick to the Giant's D. I HATE that he took a defense in the 8th round, makes me a little sick actually. I think they'll be okay, but they will feel the lose of Steve Spagnuolo, and in no way be able to put up numbers to justify this pick. I like Johnathon Stewart to be healthy and more involved this year but I would have gone more RB heavy than this guy did. The Falcons have now gone through three offseasons saying they are going to get Norwood more involved, he's a good player, but at this point, believe it when you see it. Brian Robiskie could have a solid season in Cleveland, especially if Braylon Edwards continues to cover his hands with Smuckers before each game.

Team Bledsoe

This team is without question loaded with boom or bust players. Thomas Jones could stay as the Jets feature back or he could be traded. If he is traded, there isn't a team out there that's going to hand him their feature role is there? Seattle? Cincinatti? I guess it's possible, but unlikely. Terrell Owens' age doesn't bother me, but the fact that he's going from the Romo to Edwards does and the weather is not going to be as nice in Buffallo as it was in Dallas. Kevin Smith finished strong, but does it bother anyone else that the Lions staff wanted to play Rudi Johnson over him at one point last year? Okay, it's a new staff and the resume of the old staff is well.... I don't know the reasoning, and it could be nothing, but I'm holding off giving him unquestioned #2 RB status. Steelers D in round 6... Do you know how good they have to be to justify this? MUCH better than last year. Not going to happen. Torry Holt should be revived somewhat after last year's debacle. I think he'll be a solid #3 in this league, but he didn't do well without Isaac Bruce next to him (there is no #2 standing out in Jax right now) and he's leaving the turf in St. Louis. You know my thoughts on Addai right? Donald Brown is the next big thing in Indy. Unfortunately, my personal feeling is if anyone takes two kickers in a draft, they should be immediately fined by the commissioner.

This league should be fun. Lots of competitive teams and what appears to be "proactive" owners. I'll rank the teams from 1-12 soon and post that. Also, for the record, I researched Peyton Manning's wife, her name is Ashley, and she's pretty hot...

Fantasy Football is here!

Yeah, that's right. I feel a little bit like I'm cheating on fantasy baseball, but I've always said that fantasy football was my true love. My buddy is currently involved in a "Twitter Draft," and I've been following along pretty closely. The link to the draft is here: http://twittermock.blogspot.com/ . I'm going to do a full recap next week, but here are some of my initial reactions from the first few rounds:

- I have to laugh that three QBs were taken so early. Drew Brees went with the 1st pick in Round 2, Manning immediately followed, and Brady was the 17th overall pick. The guys who made these picks clearly did not see that passing TDs were only worth 4 points. I never like taking a QB before the 3rd round (at the earliest and that's if a stud falls) and like it even less when you don't get 6 points for a TD. If you take a QB this early and he gets hurt, you don't recover.

- If you take a QB and 2 RBs with your first three picks, in a league where you play 3 WR, your third WR is going to be a major crap shoot. One guy hasn't picked his 3rd yet and his first two are Hines Ward and Devin Hester. Yuck.

-I had Chris Johnson on every team last year. He was a steal in the 8-10th rounds and won me a couple of championships/championship game berths. For some reason, I am a little gun shy at making him a first round pick. The numbers stand for themselves and I really have nothing to go on other than I want to see how he reacts when he finally takes a big hit to the legs. He will be good, but will he be 1600 total yards and 13 TD good? I'm guessing no.

-LaDainian Tomlinson was considered a bust last year. He had over 1600 yards and 14 TDs. He was injured all year and will be healthy this fall. If you get him anywhere after Turner, MJD, and AP giggle as you make the pick. He might not return to his 2006 form, but I'll bet he outscores Turner or AP, or possibly even both.

-MJD is officially my favorite player for 2009.

- Brian Westbrook fell to the middle of the second round. People just won't learn. His rushing numbers might be down a little bit, but he scores touchdowns and always have the receiving yards. No way he should fall out of the top 12 in any draft. I mean I am the biggest Jets fan in the world and there is no way I could take Thomas Jones when backs like Westbrook, Slaton, Barber, and Portis were still available.

- There are 15 RBs I like, another 5 I almost like, and then the next 20 can all be ranked anyway you want. Donald Brown and/or Felix Jones can definitely outscore Darren McFadden and/or Derrick Ward.

- Wes Welker as a #3 WR is outstanding.

- I really want Reggie Bush to be good, but three knee surgeries can't improve your skills...

- Is Kevin Smith actually Kevin Jones from 4 years ago? I'm scared. Same team, same number, same "Americanish" name, good rookie season with a strong finish, lots of hype in the sophomore year draft. Let's hope the sophomore year and rest of the career parallels aren't there.

- I get annoyed when people make a stupid pick and then get lucky when someone falls to them later to fill the whole they created on their own. IE Chad Johnson is not a #2 WR, but Anthony Gonzalez is (Same guy picked him three rounds later), and Chad fits as a #3.

I could talk about this all night, but will wait until next week to go over each team and their strengths and weaknesses, good picks and bad picks. I'm excited. It's June 1st and real drafts are just about 2 months away. On the baseball end, go pick up Phil Hughes. He's close. He's getting K's and is giving up one big inning a game. He'll eliminate that soon and be very strong. Plus, I just dropped him and you know about the curse...

Pet Peeves and Manny

I have two new pet peeves. The first is when people post a new facebook status that in some way describes how busy they are. If you are so busy, why are you spending time on facebook? It doesn't make any sense! The second is when a team brings in their closer in a non save situation to 'get work' and he gets lit up for 4 runs in an 8 run game. How is it possible that this consistently happens? I read in a yahoosports article that they would like it to be possible to pull closers in non save situations rather than having the stats count. I'm on board. As someone who follows baseball closely, had a pretty good playing career, and is a current high school coach, it's amazing to me that a closers mentality is so different when it comes to these situations. I believe the politically incorrect term is 'mental midget'.

70%. I'm sticking with that number as what I think the percentage of baseball players using steroids at it's peak was. I've heard 50%, and up to 80%, but the one I've heard most is 70. I bring this up because another legend has fallen in the past 10 days. Manny Ramirez is a performance enhancing drug user. He joins ARod, Bonds, McGuire, and Clemens as the face of the steroid era. I have what I consider a unique view on PED's. I don't care. I really don't. What I don't think is discussed enough is how this was part of the culture of baseball. The key word is culture. When you live and work in a certain environment and something like PEDs are so prevalent it takes a strong person to avoid them. In the case of baseball, only about 30% did.

I've heard arguments calling for asterisks, calling players cheaters, people calling for the other 103 names to be released from 2003, and fans calling out teams and organizations for being steroid hot beds and I think it's a joke. When the number is 70%, every organization had someone doing it, and no one would surprise me if they turned out to be a user. When the number is 70%, what kind of closure would come from labeling 103 players from one season as users? When the number is 70%, who gets the asterisk? Do we put it on any and all records in the 'era'? Lastly, when the number is 70% don't be stupid as a fan, and call out others because you never know who was using on your own team. So all you Red Sox fans who called out the Yankees and said the 4 World Series rings were invalidated, your count is now 90. As in 90 years since your last championship.

For the record, I don't think anything should dampen the "steroid era." It was what it was, lets clean it up, and move on. The blame should not rest on the shoulders of a few, but on baseball as a whole.

Three change in my fantasy baseball league. I dropped Daniel Murphy and picked up Willie Taveras. Dropped Carlos Marmol and Yadier Molina with Ervin Santana and John Lackey (those two pitches looked great) coming off the DL. Grab Murphy as a power binge is about to come and Marmol should be the closer within two weeks. I'm now 4-1-1 and almost lost this week due to two closers 'getting work' and giving up more runs than outs they got.

Arod

You put something like that in the title section of a blog and you are bound to draw a crowd. Especially today. Selena Roberts has written and released a book about the life of Alex Rodriguez and already has huge credibility because of her SI background and the fact that he admitted performance enhancing drug use. I had a lot to say to my nemesis today regarding this subject and was going to base my whole post on it, but I had second thoughts. I really don't want to read the book and give Roberts any money because I don't like the idea of the book. But alas, I have to read it. I want to defend Alex because I think he gets a bad wrap on a lot of things. And I also want to read this book so I don't react just to the leaks. What initially bothered me was that with every leak the word 'might' was attached, i.e "Arod might have used steroids in high school." In my opinion, if you're going to write a tell all about someone, it should be facts, not full of grey area. More when I read it, but I'll leave you with one thought on it, have you ever seen Arod give less than 100% effort on the baseball field? Why does Manny Ramirez get a free pass from fans on what he did to the Red Sox last summer and Alex gets crucified for his faults? Is taking steroids worse than quitting on your team? That's a topic for another day.

With regards to Fantasy Baseball and ARod, I am buying. I've stated before that I used my fourth round pick on him. I felt if my team could stay around .500 and get him back, I could be a real force. Right now I am 2-1-1. I have been lacking in some of the offensive categories and hope we see a few A-Bombs as early as this weekend. I think the Yankees and Alex will do the right thing and make sure he is ready to go without restrictions when he returns so it would not surprise me to see that 5/8 time frame pushed back a few days.

One of the things I love about fantasy sports is how I get to learn about players I never would have known about. I've discussed my love for Torry Holt and my hatred for Joseph Addai, two players I never would have thought about without fantasy sports. Two players on my team this year that I'm really starting to like are Zack Greinke and Joey Votto. It's a pretty funny story on how I drafted them. It was my pick and I wanted to take Adam Wainwright and Bobby Jenks. I had them lined up and was ready to pull the trigger, but my draft clock was off by a few seconds and it auto picked for me. I was at the end of the snake draft, so it immediately made the next pick for me. This shows you how much I know about fantasy baseball. I was pretty pissed off when it happened but if the vote was taken today for MVP and Cy Young award, Greinke would be lock and Votto would get strong consideration. You always love the guys who perform beyond expectation, even when it's only a month into the season.

Miceli Release Curse update: Dropped Mike Aviles for Asdrubal Cabrera, Jeremy Hermida for Justin Upton, and traded Fernando Rodney for Edinson Volquez. On a similar note, I had Carl Crawford on my team last year. I started to hate him because it was the first time he'd had an off year. Couldn't keep his legs healthy and destroyed me in steals. He's on pace for over 100 steals this year. It's okay to hate him right? That's the part of the fantasy fun.

Hope to get to Arod next week, but probably wait until the book is on sale though, give Selena less than full price for it. Until then, nice shoes! Oh that's funny...

Draft Reaction

There is no way for me to breakdown the draft the way Mel Kiper, Todd McShay and the others do. With the things that they come up with, they must spend 80 hours a week discussing players and watching film. I can't, I'm only part time. What I can do is to look and see if anything stands out to be positive or negative in the fantasy world. The first thing I'll say is don't bother with rookie QB's. There have been enough busts in the first five picks, and plenty of hall of famers in the late rounds to prove this is not an exact science. What I do know is that I don't care whether it's Matthew Stafford, Dan Orlovsky (Huskies!), John Kitna, or Joey Harrington, I don't worry about Calvin Johnson. Just throw it up and let him go get it.

Also in the top 10 picks were two offensive tackles. The Rams and Jags both upgraded this position and with that, also increased the stock of Steven Jackson and Maurice Jones Drew. Jackson has proven, if healthy, he can be the top back in fantasy football. That offensive line was in disarray last year and he still was solid when he was on the field. I'd go ahead and call Jackson a steal if you can get him in the bottom five picks of the 1st round. Jones Drew is the most intriguing back going into 2009 in my opinion. The Jax offensive line was very good two years ago and then decimated by injuries last year. Even with back ups on the line and Freddy T hanging around, he was still very good. With what he does rushing, receiving and near the goal line, I would not call you crazy for taking him first in standard drafts, that's right, even ahead of Peterson and Turner.

The Broncos took a running back, Knowshon Moreno, with their first pick and it might finally settle the confusion that has been their backfield since Clinton Portis left five year ago. If Kyle Orton can get the ball to Brandon Marshall and keep defenses honest, Moreno could be RB2 or RB1 material. Lets face it, the Raiders, Chiefs, and Chargers have to prove something about stopping the run before being taken seriously. Being an Adrian Peterson keeper league owner, I love the Percy Harvin pick. With Visanthe Shiancoe, Bernard Berrian, and Sidney Rice the Vikings have to be somewhat respected on offense. If they can find a QB...

The last intriguing first round pick with fantasy impact potential is Donald Brown. The Colts have finally agreed with what I have been saying for two years: Joseph Addai is not a feature back. From what I have seen from him, he's just not tough. He takes a medium to big hit and Addai owners hold their breath as they know his status will hover around "Questionable" throughout the next week. He sits on the field with that look on his face like someone was just holding him underwater. I see Brown being the feature with Addai playing on third downs and at the goal line. It won't be long before Brown takes over there as well.

Couple of updates on the Miceli Release Curse. Last week I dropped AJ Pierzynski, Randy Winn and Joe Saunders. Go sign em up!

Superstitions

Are you superstitious? Are superstitions possible? I don't know the answer, but I'll tell you what, strange things happen sometimes and if you believe that the spot you are sitting in can change the outcome of a sporting event, maybe you're right. I coach high school baseball and had a game this past Saturday. We were down 5-0 going into our last at bat and another one of the assistants looked at me and said, "Are you superstitious? I'm not, but maybe I'll stand out there for a while (referring to the 1B coaches box) and see what happens." I responded "I'm not either, but what the heck, shake it up, go ahead." We still lost, but the final score was 5-4 and the game ended with the bases loaded.

I remember in the 2003 ALCS I had watched the whole game and when Derek Jeter came up to bat in the 8th inning, for some reason I changed channels. I don't remember why or what I changed it to, but when I clicked back over a few seconds later, Jeter had doubled. Bernie Williams came up, change channels! Changed back, single! I've found the keys to the universe! If I don't watch, the Yankees are going to win! I watched the Little-Martinez exchange and Matsui dig in. Changed the channel. Clicked back, double. You know the rest of the story and I never watched any of it. I never watched a pitch after Jeter's double and when Aaron Boone homered in the 11th, I was watching a Seinfeld episode. Was it possible that me not watching changed the outcome of the 2003 ALCS? Not possible right? I don't think so, but that night I did, and I bet everyone at some point has switched seats, watched on a different tv, wore leopard print underwear (Jason Giambi), or something else ridiculous and thought it might have an effect on the outcome or their teams games.

I bring this up because if you read my blog last week I mentioned that I have a curse when dropping players. If anyone out there read it, believed it, and picked up Wandy Rodriguez, you are smiling today. For the record, he threw 7 innings, 2 hits, 10 Ks, 0 Rs, W. That's a great start. What is truly funny is that part of me actually believes I have an effect on this. It will be fun to keep track from now on and see if anyone else starts to believe. Unfortunately for you, no add/drops from me this week.

The NFL schedule was released last week. I don't think it's fair to really say a lot on it until after free agency and the draft are complete because so much can change. Two things I saw this week that made me think a little bit about the upcoming football season. Lance Moore had shoulder surgery to repair a torn labrum. I'm not willing to dump him, but this is the same, or at least similar to the injury Chad Johnson had last year. Also have to account for CJ having ankle and QB issues, but it's something to think about when ranking Moore. The other thing was that Torry Holt is on the verge of signing with Jacksonville. Holt was the first player I 'fell in love with' because of fantasy football. He's probably been one of the most underrated players in football over the last ten years and should be, without a doubt, a first ballot hall of famer. He has a knee injury that is not going to get better, but I think if he's in the right place, could be a very solid fantasy player again. I'll wait until he officially signs and the Jags (or whoever he plays for) free agency and draft moves are done.

One more thing, how many home runs would Josh Hamilton have hit in last summers home run derby if it were played in this Yankee stadium? I would guess at least 50.

Voight

I know this is off the sports subject, but how easy is it to hate John Voight? I know he is an actor and playing a role, but seriously, has Angelina got this guy pegged or what? Jonas Hodges and Bud Kilmer have got to be two of the most hated characters in history, and if I ever met the man, my first reaction would definitely be one of distaste. I guess that means he's good at what he does...

A few weeks ago I posted the results of our first annual injury draft. My nemesis and I both picked players we felt would eventually end up on the DL and developed a scoring system for it. At the end of the draft I decided to get cute and said, lets both pick players on each other's favorite team just for the heck of it. I took his man crush, Nick Markakis, and he took Mark Texeira... I hate him. It's no longer funny. He used to be my friend, but I've had enough. There is no rivalry between a hammer and a nail and with him, I have become the nail. It started out funny, but I no longer find humor in it. I will say one thing about him though, his wife is pretty cool.

I said when I started writing that I have a bit of a jinx when it comes to dropping the wrong players for fantasy purposes. When I drop someone, they explode! Beyond explode. They put up hall of fame numbers. Two examples: Last year I dropped John Lester in baseball and DeAngelo Williams in football. Yes, the DeAngelo Williams who scored 20 touchdowns. Same guy. In an attempt to help you, I'll post the players I drop throughout the year so you can win your league by picking them up. First this year is Wandy Rodriguez, SP Houston. Go get him. Don't wait. Go now.

I got an 8-2 win in my first week for baseball. Going into Sunday I had a 6-3-1 lead with really only 4 categories undecided. I had a small lead in K's and WHIP, my opponent in ERA and we were tied in steals. He had Santana and Becket going, I had Haren and Harang. I went back and forth on whether to pull my two starters, but finally I decided to throw them out there and hope for the best. I figured I was dead in ERA and WHIP and was hoping to pull out a victory by edging ahead in K's. Santana threw a gem but lost, Beckett got roughed up a bit, Haren was very good and Harang was outstanding. I am always one, when the choice is to pull or play starting pitchers, I throw them out there. I think it's because I feel I can take it a little easier if they are in and play bad than if they are out and play well.

Injury to monitor this week: Shoulder tightness for Brandon Webb. I am always very afraid of pitchers with shoulder problems, especially this early in the season. I'll be surprised if he fully recovers this year.