Tuesday, September 28, 2010

How Did I Do? Week 3 - Accentuating the Positive

I have good news and bad news this week…
                                    
Good news: my main QB Flacco had a great week
Bad news: he was on my bench.

Good news: I scored 83 pts this week (almost 30 pts more than last week!)
Bad news: I still lost.


Yes, I am 0-3. Ouch!  AND, I am still at the bottom of the league chart. Ouch, again!


I may need to change my goals. Instead of focusing on the playoffs, I am going to see if I can…win…a…game.

In order to accomplish this new goal, it is important that I stay positive about my team. Research suggests that “re-framing” is a very effective tool when you feel that the football gods are out to get you you are upset about a situation. Re-framing is basically thinking about a situation in a different way by accentuating the positive. Wait, I am pretty sure that is a song…

So, let’s review my team’s performance and end each section with a silver lining.

My Quarterbacks:
McNabb (my starter) made 13 pts
Flacco (on my bench) made 22 pts

QB Silver lining: You might think that I would be upset that I played the wrong QB. But, I am actually happy that I have two viable QBs. Now, I just have to figure out which one to play each week…


My Wide Receivers:
Moss (starter #1) made 16 pts
Smith (starter #2) made 10 pts
Thomas (starter #3) made 4 pts
Crabtree (on my bench) made 3 pts
Washington (on my bench) 3 pts

WR Silver lining: Yeah! Randy Moss found the end zone twice (yes, it was against the Bills, but I am still happy). Smith did okay. And, I chose the right starters. Sure, I would like my WR to score more points, but…we are focusing on positives right now.


My Running Backs:
Jones-Drew (starter #1) made 8 pts
Tolbert (starter #2) made 6 pts
Stewart (on my bench) made 6 pts
Jackson (on my bench) made 3 pts

RB Silver lining: I am having a hard time finding a silver lining here. Jones-Drew was my first pick in the draft. He is supposed to be my main source of points. Tobert was supposed to make at least 15 points too. SIGH. My RBs are killing me! (See how long it took me to go negative?). Maybe the best thing is to move one here…

My Tight End:
Finley made 11 pts.

Silver lining: Finley made double the points the experts predicted. (Knock wood) I am pretty lucky here.

My Defense:
The Packers defense made 9 pts

Silver lining: The Packers are a good defense (knock wood, again), even if they made too many errors during the GB-CHI game.


Bottom Line: My team is getting better, but I am weak at the RB position. After all the injuries this last weekend, I think many teams are in the same boat.


Oh, and before I forget. There was one more silver lining. I watched the game at my friends’ house and they had a wide screen TV, NFL Red Zone…and cool snacks:


You have to love cookies shaped like footballs! Thanks, gals!

Saturday, September 25, 2010

Is It Sunday Yet? Getting ready for Week 3

I am sitting at the bottom of my league's rankings (I am 12 out of 12!) and I *really* need a win this week.

I must admit that I was in a state of panic after last week's lost and was ready to go to the waiver wires and completely change my team. But, I decided to take a deep breath and have a little faith in My Guys.

By the way, people who play FF often refer to players they drafted on to their team as Their Guys. You will know a FF player in a minute if they point to an actual football player on the TV screen and say "That's my guy" - as if they actually pay the player's salary. My partner has to put up with this behavior every Sunday. I am consistently saying things like: "Why doesn't he throw it to My Guy?" "Is My Guy even playing?" and "Oh man, that went to Her Guy!" Yes, she puts up with a lot.

It is important that I point out here that none of us own any players and, so, we have no control over what they do. Even if we act like we do...

Case it point: The Vincent Jackson saga.

I drafted Vincent Jackson, the WR on the San Diego Chargers. I thought I was being really clever. As some of you know, VJ is a gifted WR who got into hot water with a DUI and with his team's owner AJ Smith. You can read more about it in the San Diego Tribune.

Anyway, VJ has to sit on the bench until Week 7...unless....the Chargers traded him to another team by 4 pm ET last Wednesday. If that happened then VJ could play as early as Week 5. I picked him up thinking that he could be traded to a team like the Vikings. I daydreamed about him catching long passes from Favre and everyone patting me on the back for having picked him up.

But, guess what happened? Yep, AJ did not trade VJ. And VJ is mad...and who knows if he will play..so, I sent him back to FF limbo, the waiver wire.

But, I picked up the San Diego RB Tobert and it looks like he is going to play this week because the main RB Ryan Matthews is out with sprained ankle. I also dropped my third QB Young (who made -2 pts last week. Ouch!) for Broncos WR Desmaryius Thomas who is really tall and caught the ball last week.

Here is my starting lineup this week..

QB:
McNabb (yes, Flacco is on the bench)
RBs:
Jones-Drew (let hope he lives up to Stud status)
Tolbert (SD loves to run the ball)

WRs:
Moss (and he is play against the Bills, so he should score)
Smith (I really need Eli to find him in the end zone)
Thomas (yes, I am benching Crabtree)

TE:
Finley (he is go-to guy for me)

DEF:
Green Bay

K:
Tynes (they say he is going to do well this week)

Wish me luck!

Thursday, September 23, 2010

FF101: How to Score (in Fantasy Football)

I thought it would be useful to explain how teams earn points. This way you will be able to watch the games and understand the feeling of anticipation when your QB throws a long pass and the feeling of sadness when it is intercepted.

Leagues differ in scoring. But, here is a basic scoring primer for our league:

Quarterbacks earn...
  1 pt for every 25 years he throws the ball successfully
       (i.e., the RB or WR catches it)
  2 pts for a safety
  4 pts for a passing TD
  0 pts for a rushing TD (the pts go to the RB)
 -2 pts for an interception
 -2 pts when they fumble and lose the ball

Runningbacks earn...
  1 pt for every 10 yrds they rush
  2 pts for a safety
  6 pts for every rushing TD
 -2 pts if they fumble and lose the ball

Wide Receivers and Tight Ends earn...
  1 pt for every 10 yrds the ball travels to them when the catch it
  1 pt for every 10 yrds they run with the ball after they catch it
  2 pts for a safety
  4 pts for every receiving TD
 -2 pts if they fumble and lose the ball

Offense can also earn points by..
   Turning a fumble into a TD (6 pts)
   Turning a punt return into a TD (6 pts)

Kickers earn...
   1 pt for every extra point made after a TD
   3 pts for a field goal that is between 0-39 yards
   4 pts for a field goal that is between 40-49 yards
   5 pts for a field goal that is between 50+ yards
  
Defenses earn...
   10 pts if they allow the opposite team to make 0 pts
    8 pts if they allow the opposite team to make 1-6 pts
    6 pts if they allow the opposite team to make 7-13 pts
    4 pts if they allow the opposite team to make 14-20 pts
    2 pts if they allow the opposite team to make 21-27 pts
    0 pts if they allow the opposite team to make 28-34 pts
  -2 pts if they allow the opposite team to make 35+ pts

    1 pt for a sack
    2 pts for an interception
    6 pts for a TD (rushing or catching)
    2 pts for a safety
    2 pts for a blocked kick


How do I keep track of all of this for my team?

I don't.

The computer does and that is why I am always watching my team's scoring box to see if I have any more points...or if my opponent does:


I am pretty sure that I took a fuzzy picture on purpose. I do not want to be reminded how low my numbers were. 


I forgot to tell you that you get 0 pts in my league if the QB throws to a WR or TE and they do not catch the ball. So, no points for this play:


My DEF did earn 2 pts here for sacking the Buffalo Bills QB:
And yes, it did hurt to earn points this way.

In fact, I experienced what psychologists call "cognitive dissonance" - which is the discomfort you feel when you try to hold to conflicting ideas in your head at once. Like: I am happy my DEF earned 2 pts + I am frustrated my favorite team's QB got sacked.

And, I felt it a little bit here when my RB scored against the Bills. But, after last week, I was mostly happy about having one of My Guys score a TD.

(I just had to throw a psy term in there!)


That is a quick blog about scoring in fantasy football. I will post my line up before the games start.

If you were following the NFL news, you know that I need to send Vincent Jackson back to the waiver wire. Darn it! I thought I was being clever...

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

How Did I Do? Week 2 - A Sense of Humor Helps

Do you hear that?....THAT is the sound of my butt hitting the bottom of my league standings chart. I am #12...out of 12 teams. And, 0-2.

Yep. I lost again. Ahhhhhhhhh...

Before you think I am being dramatic. Here is a picture of me taken by my league commissioner when I was on my losing streak last year:

That is me waiting to win again. She posted it on our gal pal webpage - it was all in good fun. (Thanks for the pic, Commish!)

It is important to keep a sense of humor in times of Great Sorrow. I am lucky that my league does not play for money. Actually, my league is fun because that we meet in the chat box on our league’s website during games and joke around. If you are losing, you will see supportive posts to you like: “Oh. That was bad. Sorry.”, “Hang in there!” and “Come on, Eli!” My fellow FF owners keep me from crying while My Guys get sacked or miss catching a ball thrown *right to them*.

I was ready to cry this Sunday. As you all know, Flacco is my starting QB. He did manage to score a touchdown, but also threw 4 interceptions. SI.com reports that Flacco's coach still has faith in him. My faith is a little shaken.

But, let’s start at the beginning…

Every Sunday during NFL football season is like Christmas to me. I wake up wondering how My Guys are going to do.

Will this be the day that one of them catches 3+ TDs and everyone pats me on the back for having the foresight to draft him?

I begin to prep. Get chores out of the way. Make breakfast. Then, I turn on the TV and watch the commentary:

Do you notice something? Yep. I do not have a wide screen TV. Maybe if I write a great blog, Santa will buy me one (Hint).


Then, I boot up the computer. The computer is even more important to the FF player than the TV. You can keep track of your scores on your FF league’s website:

Sorry it is hard to read. I’m trying to follow the “Keep It Real” commandment in the blogging world. Plus, I don’t know how to do screen captures.


Next, I check for injuries. Are all My Guys playing?



And then, I move to the NFL.com site and pull up the main game I want to track. Last Sunday it was the Buffalo Bills-GB Packers game:

Wow – that is a bad picture! But, you get the idea. The NFL.com site is SO useful because it will show you the plays with all the details. Here is what it looks like when a player catches the ball and runs all the way down the field:



This is very exciting to the FF manager that has player on their team (this has not happen to me yet) and very upsetting to their opponent (this will happen to me).

I like watching the game online better than watching it on TV because sometimes I do not know if My Guy has the ball or not. (I guess I could learn all of their numbers). And, I can bounce back and forth between games. (Thank you, NFL.com, for this feature!)

Back to the games...

The morning started off well. My GB players were doing well. One of my starting RBs, Jackson, scored. My TE Finley did well. And, my DEF sacked the Bills QB…many times… Okay, it was little painful to watch it because the Bills are My Team. But, at least I was getting points.

And then, it was all downhill from there.

Here are The Stats: 

My QBs:
Flacco BAL (my starter): 2 pts
Young TEN (on my bench): -2 pts
McNabb WAS (on my bench): 21 pts

Question: Who would you start next week?

RBs:
Jones-Drew JAX (starter): 2 pts
B. Jackson GB (starter): 9 pts (and there was much rejoicing!)
Stewart CAR (bench): 4 pts

Question: Do you think I need to start looking around for another RB? Or, do you think Jones-Drew is still the stud everyone says he is? (FYI, “stud” is an official term in FF.)

WRs:
Moss NE (starter): 9 pts (Yes! Randy beat Revis at the goal line!)
Smith NYG (starter): 3 pts (uh-oh)
Crabtree SF (starter): 3 pts (uh-oh again)
Washington TEN (bench): 9 pts
V. Jackson (bench): still has not found a home

Observation: I need Vincent Jackson to be traded and establish excellent rapport with his new QB ASAP. 

TE:
Finley GB: 10 pts (but at the Bills expense)

DEF:
Green Bay: 14 pts (but at the Bills expense…so sad…)

K:
Tynes NYG: 2 pts (Did you see the Manning bowl? Ouch!)

How did the guys I dropped from my team last week do?
Brown IND = 1 TD + yardage
Hester CHI = 1 TD + yardage

I must admit, I was nervous playing my opponent this week because:
1. She kicked butt last year – beating me three times, including the playoffs.
2. She is lawyer – and lawyers are smart and crafty.

I was right to be afraid. Here is the final tally:
The Fighting Irish = 54 pts
My Opponent = 81 pts

How did my opponent win it? One reason is that she had Houston QB Schaub and one of his WRs Jacoby Jones, which means she can get double the points for one TD. I will explain how this happens and other scoring issues in next blog on Thursday:  FF101 – How to Score (in FF, that is)!

And – a big Shout Out to my friend Nikki who was at the Panthers game! Better luck next week!

Friday, September 17, 2010

Is it Sunday yet? Getting ready for Week 2

Okay - Week 1 was a disaster. But after many changes to my line up, I am feeling renewed. (And, my blog has now officially caught up with my progress so far...so you will not get another blog from me for a few days).

After many fast email exchanges with my consultants - my dad and my oldest brother - I made the following changes:

- I dropped RB Ryan (he's gone, there is nothing we can do about it!) and picked up his backup B. Jackson
- I dropped RB Brown and picked up QB Young TEN
- Then, QB McNabb became available. I dropped QB Stafford and took McNabb. Do I need three QBs? No. But I am in panic mode. (I cannot lose 6 times again!)
- I also decided to let go of WR Britt and pick up WR Nate Washington because he seems to have his job now.
- And...when the news came out about WR Vincent Jackson. I could not resist! I dropped Hester for him. We will see how that turns out. I may have another Moss situation on my hands.

As you can see I love the waiver wire and I have to tinker. This may be my undoing...

I am ready for Week 2!

My starters:
QB: Flacco (I don't trust McNabb yet)

RBs:
Jones-Drew (one of my studs!)
B. Jackson (he is playing the Bills and even I am a realist)

WRs:
Moss (yes, I know about Revis Island)
Smith (he is still the go-to guy)
Crabtree (I'm giving him one more chance)

TE: Finley (again, they are playing the Bills)
DEF: Green Bay (I have a lot of GB on my team)
K: Tynes (he should do okay)

Wish me luck!

How Did I Do? Week 1 - So much hope...

In my last post I described the draft process and my overall feeling of confidence in my choices.

There are two things I learned last year when I played FF:
1. You have no control over what happens.
2. Anything can happen.

It is one of the reasons why I *love* fantasy football. I am a total control freak and FF teaches me a lot about giving up control.

Back to my team's performance during Week 1:

My QBs:
- Flacco (BAL) - Played the Jets and was sacked on the first play. He made 5 pts for me. Most QBs make at least 10 pts - the great ones make 20+ pts. Oh well - everyone predicted it.
- Stafford (DET) - Suffered a shoulder injury and will be out for at least a few weeks. He made 1 pt. I am glad I played Flacco. But, so much for my QB committee (see previous post)

My RBs:
- Jones-Drew (JAX) - Did fine, but no TD.
- Ryan (GB) - Major injury, is out for the entire season. (Ahhh! He is one of my starters!)
- Stewart (CAR) - Saw little playing time
- Brown (IND) - Saw little playing time

My WRs:
- Moss (NE) - Rarely saw the ball. Watched the other WR on the team score multiple TDs.
- Smith (NYG) - Rarely saw the ball. Watched the other WR on the team score multiple TDs.
- Crabtee (SF) - Rarely saw the ball. Is in the doghouse with his coach and teammates
- Britt (TEN) - Rarely saw the ball. Is in the doghouse with his coach.
- Hester (CHI) - Saw the ball once. I was not even sure he was playing at one point.

TE:  Finley (GB) - His QB was intercepted trying to throw him the play the first play, rarely saw the ball after that.
DEF: Green Bay - Did well. Go DEF!
K: Tynes (NYG) - Did okay, spent most of the game kicking 1 pointers - but I will take it.

Are you noticing any trends? Potential problems? Man, it was bad. NONE of my players scored a TD. I lost to my opponent by 50+ points. In all fairness she is the reining champion and has Peyton Manning as her QB. But, it still hurt to watch my great team fall apart on Week 1.

And, then my No. 1 WR Moss gets on camera and complains about how no one appreciates him. Why did I draft this PIA?  Oh yeah, he is unbelievably talented.

Now, some of this will work it self out. But - I have to take care of these injuries ASAP.

Time to go to the Waiver Wire. That is where the un-owned, free agents live until you are in a tight spot or one of them does unexpectedly well in the game and you now want them.  I scoured the wire last year after every game. I ended up with a team that looked like the Island of Misfit Toys - but I did get into the playoffs.

FF 101: Drafting my team "The Fighting Irish"

My first post. Let me give a little background about my league, in case you are new to FF...

There are many formats. I play in a re-draft league, which means I pick a new team every year. Which I wish was not true because I had great players by the end of last year (Rodgers, Rice, Charles, Austin, etc.). But, it also meant that I could study up on draft strategy and create the Greatest Team in the History of FF. Yeah, right.

My league has 12 teams and we all pick 14 players. That's a lot of players. In my league, everyone needs at least: 1 quarterback (QB), 2 runningbacks (RB), 3 wide receivers (WR), 1 tight end (TE), 1 defense (DEF - yes, we draft an entire defense), and 1 kicker (K). We have to pick people to start in those 9 positions every week (i.e., you Start'Em). Then, you draft 5 more people who can serve as your back-ups and they may spend some time on the bench (i.e., you Sit'Em).

There are many drafting philosophies. Mine last year was to pick two people from my favorite team the Bills (which was not a good idea) and then let the computer pick the rest (which had mixed results because I ended up with many WAS players and their team imploded). I lost my first 6 games (OUCH!)

This year, I spent considerable time reading FF websites and participating in mock drafts. I was ready! I had a list of great players (i.e., Studs) and good players or those I thought could become great (i.e., Sleepers).

I did decide to pass on the top QBs (e.g., Rodgers, Brady), but picked up two mid-level QBs and planned to play them as a committee (which means you decide week to week which one to play, taking advantage of their match ups).

I drafted the following guys:

QBs: Flacco (BAL)/Stafford (DET)
RBs: Jones-Drew (JAX)/Ryan (GB)/Stewart (CAR)/Brown (IND)
WRs: Moss (NE)/Smith (NYG)/Crabtee (SF)/Britt (TEN)/Hester (CHI)
TE: Finley (GB)
DEF: Green Bay
K: Tynes (NYG)

I am posting this after Week 1. And so, if you know these players, know what happened to me.

I went down in flames.

So much for all the prep work...see next post...