WHO'S THE SMART START? Fantasy Football Week 8 Advice
By Adam Briner, fantasy guru, adamcbriner@yahoo.com
I remember the days when fantasy football was fun. You came into work, poured a cup of coffee, and logged on for 7-8 hours. Your team was set for the week within 15 minutes, sure. But what better way to pass the time when you are supposed to be working?
It was meant to be fun then. It was fun.
This season, though, everything changed. The days of going into work and setting a team in a few minutes are gone. The easy decisions and the relaxation they caused are gone.
Take the QB, as an example. In the days of yore, you drafted your QB and didn’t worry about it again until his bye week. That week you picked up the best available waiver wire player and hoped like hell. Now, though, that is simply impossible.
Unless you have the luck of having Donovan McNabb or Peyton Manning, you’ll have a decision to make. Name another truly playable quarterback. Palmer? Maybe. Warner? Bulger? Bledsoe?
Bledsoe’s team has quarterback issues, because every team has quarterback issues. It’s just that the timely one is Dallas. Bledsoe knows what he is doing, but can’t avoid a tackler with his walker slowing him down. So Parcels is going to play Romo. Fine, except that he’s not very good. You can’t play either on a fantasy team.
No problem, right? You can just start a different guy? Wrong. Everyone else is eit
her bad or on a bad team or inconsistent or incontinent. Are you going to start Matt Leinart? He’s seven years old? Are you going to start Brad Johnson? He’s 107 years old. Hasselback? He’s half dead, just like Brad Johnson.
It doesn’t get any better at the other positions, either. I have not once pooped my pants since the 10th grade. That is, until I read that Ladanian Tomlinson would start splitting carries. I thought I had missed the announcement that Jesus Christ had joined the San Diego Chargers. That, it seemed, would be the only possible explanation. It wasn’t Jesus, though, that he was splitting carries with. It was Michael Turner.
If LT is losing carries to a dude that no one, including Jesus, had ever heard of, no fantasy owner is going to make accurate decisions.
Wide receivers are no better. Tight ends are a problem everywhere. The only easy decision is the kicker but that’s only because there is only one on your roster.
So what is a guy supposed to do? What advice can the fantasy guru give? The best I or anyone else could do is to guess. I’d love to give away the answers. There aren’t any. It took two days for Parcells to decide who to start, and he is an actual coach.
I try to play players that are on the teams that I’m betting on that week. That way I don’t have to root against myself. It’s a sad moment in life when you have to decide between rooting to save your toe or your fantasy record.
Quite frankly, if it’s between losing a toe and an FF game, I’ll root for my fantasy team. Sure, I’ll miss the toe, but this is fantasy football. Plus, the toe will grow back.
Oh, and if you are trying to take the stress out of your fantasy decisions, might I suggest not betting all of your money and valuable body parts (i.e. a toe) on the success of your team. Don’t make the same mistake I did.
I remember the days when fantasy football was fun. You came into work, poured a cup of coffee, and logged on for 7-8 hours. Your team was set for the week within 15 minutes, sure. But what better way to pass the time when you are supposed to be working?
It was meant to be fun then. It was fun.
This season, though, everything changed. The days of going into work and setting a team in a few minutes are gone. The easy decisions and the relaxation they caused are gone.
Take the QB, as an example. In the days of yore, you drafted your QB and didn’t worry about it again until his bye week. That week you picked up the best available waiver wire player and hoped like hell. Now, though, that is simply impossible.Unless you have the luck of having Donovan McNabb or Peyton Manning, you’ll have a decision to make. Name another truly playable quarterback. Palmer? Maybe. Warner? Bulger? Bledsoe?
Bledsoe’s team has quarterback issues, because every team has quarterback issues. It’s just that the timely one is Dallas. Bledsoe knows what he is doing, but can’t avoid a tackler with his walker slowing him down. So Parcels is going to play Romo. Fine, except that he’s not very good. You can’t play either on a fantasy team.
No problem, right? You can just start a different guy? Wrong. Everyone else is eit
her bad or on a bad team or inconsistent or incontinent. Are you going to start Matt Leinart? He’s seven years old? Are you going to start Brad Johnson? He’s 107 years old. Hasselback? He’s half dead, just like Brad Johnson.It doesn’t get any better at the other positions, either. I have not once pooped my pants since the 10th grade. That is, until I read that Ladanian Tomlinson would start splitting carries. I thought I had missed the announcement that Jesus Christ had joined the San Diego Chargers. That, it seemed, would be the only possible explanation. It wasn’t Jesus, though, that he was splitting carries with. It was Michael Turner.
If LT is losing carries to a dude that no one, including Jesus, had ever heard of, no fantasy owner is going to make accurate decisions.
Wide receivers are no better. Tight ends are a problem everywhere. The only easy decision is the kicker but that’s only because there is only one on your roster.
So what is a guy supposed to do? What advice can the fantasy guru give? The best I or anyone else could do is to guess. I’d love to give away the answers. There aren’t any. It took two days for Parcells to decide who to start, and he is an actual coach.
I try to play players that are on the teams that I’m betting on that week. That way I don’t have to root against myself. It’s a sad moment in life when you have to decide between rooting to save your toe or your fantasy record.
Quite frankly, if it’s between losing a toe and an FF game, I’ll root for my fantasy team. Sure, I’ll miss the toe, but this is fantasy football. Plus, the toe will grow back.
Oh, and if you are trying to take the stress out of your fantasy decisions, might I suggest not betting all of your money and valuable body parts (i.e. a toe) on the success of your team. Don’t make the same mistake I did.
posted by Rival Room Editor at
12:09 AM
<< Home