Waving the White Flag

Something weird happened yesterday. I took the day off. I didn't leave my apartment. I watched football all day. Most importantly, I know I lost at least one if the two most important fantasy football games of the week. I have awkward feelings about both of these potential defeats.

Starting with the game that I have a confirmed defeat, my best friend Victor has defeated me in Roughing the Picker. Despite a high output from my team, Victor's team has a nice lead. Plus, I'm out of players and he still has Russell Wilson playing tonight. Kuddos Victor, the student has become the teacher... Or has he? When I started instigating this important matchup, I predicted that should Victor win, which he has, it would be because I told him who to start, which I did. I recall last Thursday in Hawthorne where in a phone conversation I questioned him starting the Cleveland Browns defense. I mentioned how in Coast2Coast Ballers I was starting Green Bay's defense. He was very intrigued. All of a sudden on Sunday, my day off, I see Victor is starting Green Bay's D! I sent him a text kindly reminding him of my prediction. He did acknowledge the prediction but also mentioned he got a last minute tip from ESPN. Regardless and point being, even though I did lose, it's a very satisfying defeat because I told you how to beat me, and you took my advice. Good job Victor. Celebrate. Rub it in all week. You deserve it.

In my other important matchup, I strongly feel like in going to lose against Savel. Right now I'm up by a good 106 points, but he has Seattle's defense and Golden Tate playing tonight.  The way the point structure is set up in Coast2Coast Ballers, Seattle's D can surpass the 106 points by itself, especial against a Sam Bradford-less St. Louis Rams team.

I'm very unsatisfied with this potential defeat. However I must point out two significant factors that relates to the causes of this defeat.

First, Andy Dalton killed me. He threw five touchdowns and scored 41 points. I would've been fine with that IF all of these touchdowns went to A.J. GREEN. Only one toucdown to Green. Not like Matthew Stafford who threw 329 yards to Megatron. Dalton threw 4 touchdowns to Marvin Jones, not to A.J. Green, which would've countered the 41 point outcome from Dalton and increase my chances for victory. Andy Dalton killed me.

Secondly, I noticed something very interesting in which I'm sure Savel, Mr. Hindsman, Tyree and the Commissioner can identify with. Should I lose, it'll be the exact same way I lost to Mr. Hindsman in week one. The league starts one quarterback, but the league also starts two offensive players. Unlike the standard flex position, you can start a quarterback at offensive player. In the league, one of the best ways to maximum your point outcome is to start as many quality quarterbacks as possible. I only started one quarterback against Mr. Hindsman, and I only started one quarterback against Savel. Savel started Drew Brees and Andy Dalton. Should I have started another quarterback at offensive player instead of starting Giovanni Bernard, I probably would've had a better chance. You see why I think In going to lose?

So I may have put my foot in my mouth.  I wave the white flag. I may have lost both games. Victor and Savel have all rights to talk shit. But next time we play, I'll be talking again... #DonStatus

Practice What You Preach Part 1

Yesterday I wrote about how three individuals were talking about how they were going to beat me this week. I kindly responded by declaring I will be victorious and low key taking a couple of jabs at some of the remarks that were made. Well, now it's time for me to back up all that trash talk. Even though I proclaimed I would come out with Ws, the task is easier said than done.

Starting with my team going against Victor in Roughing the Picker, I don't really like the situation at all. I have three key players on byes this week. I need to find players to fill in this week for Matt Forte, Martellus Bennett, and Danny Woodhead. Being that this is a PPR league, all three of these players have been crucial components of my team. The bad news is, since there isn't a waiver wire in this league, finding players from free agency can be difficult as other managers keep a close eye for players who are available. Even on Sunday during games, you can add players on your squad for the upcoming week. It also doesn't help that this years injuries are coming at a rapid rate.

So far, the only player I've picked up from free agency is Chris Ivory to fill in for Forte, but I'm a little skeptical on this pick up. In my opinion, he's only going to be productive if Bilal Powell doesn't get many snaps. As of writing this, I can only assume Powell is healthy and Rex Ryan could have a different games plan than he did last week where Ivory got a majority of the touches and fantasy points. Looking at who else is available in free agency, the most intriguing players available are Powell, Rashard Mendenahall, Mike Tolbert, Andre Ellington, Jason Snelling, and Brandon Bolden. As of right now, I haven't made a final decision on who to start at for Forte, but the wrong decision could be extremely crucial.

The situation is very interesting when it comes to finding someone to fill in for Martellus Bennett. I have Bennett and Gronk as the two tight ends on my squad. The problem is both of them start as Bennett fills the TE spot and Gronk fills in the versatile W/T (wide receiver/tight end) position.Obviously I'm going to put Gronk at TE, but that leaves the W/T position open. On my bench I got Kenbrell Thompkins, Steve Johnson, Geno Smith, and Terrelle Pryor (I've been trying to figure out why I have two quarterbacks on the bench). What concerns me is with Gronk back, Thompkins production, which hasn't really been too consistent, is expected to go down. With Steve Johnson, the quarterback situation is a little too shaky for me to really depend on him. The free agency for wide receiver is below average full of people either I've never heard of or third or fourth option receivers, so I'm going have to make it work with either Thompkins or Johnson.

The problem I have with finding someone to fill in for Danny Woodhead is pretty much all of the above I explained with replacing Forte and Bennett. I have Woodhead at the W/R (wide receiver/running back position. I only have three running backs, well four if you include Ivory. So I can either pick up one of the running backs I mentioned earlier from free agency, or again, I can decide between Thompkins and Johnson. Right now, I like Johnson, but I'm going to have to further investigate before Sunday to see exactly what the final lineup is going to look like.

Most likely, it's going to be a game time decision when it comes to who's going to start. Tomorrow I'm going to figure out how I'm going to back up all this shit I talked in Coast2Coast Ballers.

Are you questioning my Phantasy Steez?

I know I've started of this way before, but I'm a very busy man. In fact, I'm busier than I think I am. Between work, that girl from high school, that dude in Oklahoma, the Carson House, looking for property, trying to finish school, taking care of the Don's business, and other random fuckery, sometimes I can hardly think. I'll be the first to admit, I've gotten lucky the last couple of weeks with my fantasy teams as I have barely managed them. In fact, my boy Victor had to remind me to put Gronk in this past Sunday. In the middle of that, some haters out there are trying to question my Phantasy Steez.

It's hard being in a league with your best friend because eventually you have to play them. That week is this week as I play Victor in Roughing the Picker. Because in this league we don't have a waiver wire and have to wait to pick up players, I was trying to get my lineup set for next week when I noticed that I play Victor this week. Victor is in first place in this league going 6-1. I'm in third place going 4-3. I sent him a text saying "ummm... you know you're going to lose this week, right?" That's where it all started. He went on about how he's had his lineup set since last Saturday. Then he kindly reminded me that if he hadn't reminded me to put in Gronk, I probably would've lost. Even while writing this post, he's texting me bragging about how he's projected to win. I take this as him questioning my Phantasy Steez because if anyone knows how hectic my real life is, it should be Victor right? But he insists that I'm falling off because my personal life distracts me from my fantasy squads. Truth be told, my real life is more interesting than my fantasy football teams. I'm not worried about making stupid trades with Donkey Punch when my squad is already legit, like yours is. Side note, I really think he's trying to punk you out of your best players for popular named players. Back on topic and keeping it real, the only reason why your squad is in first place is because Peyton Rocket Laser Arm Manning is holding your squad together. Truth be told Victor, you're my best friend and we go back to when the Don was just Spooky, but I'm going to win and if you so happen to win, it'll be because I told you who to start. #DonStatus.

But Victor is the least of my worries right now.

My house is reminiscent of the stone ages. I don't have cable and I don't have internet. Crazy right? I know, but that's what it is right now. So when it comes to managing my teams, it's mostly done on my phone. Usually, I only pay attention to my teams to make sure my lineups are straight. Yesterday, I just so happen to check it out while I was at work from my computer in the warehouse and I was amused by a post from Mr. Hindsman basically disrespecting my Phantasy Steez, while low key jabbing at others. Today I jump on and there's a message from Savel directly calling me out, disrespecting my state and claiming by the end of next week I'm going to be 6-2. To make matters worse, Mr. Hindsman bandwagons the post daring me to blog about it... which pretty much prompted this post. You see, the rivalry between me and these two cowards go back some years, and now that I'm in first place, or second if you ask Mr. Hindsman, all they can do is hate.

First of all Savel, seems to me as if the only thing you're the best in the world at is popping off at the mouth. You're lineup is garbage and your three victories have come against bums. Sad part about that is two of your defeats to bums has come by 2 points or less. Okay, you have some key Saints players on you team that can do damage, but don't think with players like Golden Tate, Reuben Randle, BenJarvis Green-Ellis, and Kyle Rudolph that you're going to beat me and I'm going to be 6-2. Oh, and by the way, Westside is the Best side! Bow down when you come to my town!

And as for you Mr. Hindsman, I really don't know why you talking. True, we met up week one and you came out victorious. I even gave you props for your victory in a blog post afterwards, yet you still out there hating. You better be lucky our commissioner, who I've already beaten twice, only scheduled us to play once. Must be because he's in grad school why he failed to match us up more than once. But regardless, I understand that the rest of the guys in our league are bums and you had to spice it up by hating on me. Its okay, I understand. I also understand that you are the number one fan of my blog, so you gave me the brilliant idea of bringing our shit talking to Phantasy Steez. Thanks Mr. Hindsman, because I was going to blog about something completely different. I'll see you in the Championship Mr. Hindsman.

Practice?

I'm a sports connoisseur. I get down with a lot of sports. Basketball, football, baseball, soccer... Don't really get down with hockey, but I love sports. One of the things I like about sports is sports journalism. I especially like post game interviews. After the joy and agony of the game, post game interviews can become very interesting and entertaining.

One of my favorite post game interviews is Allen Iverson back in 2002. A reporter asked him about a comment his coach made about his participation in practice.  Iverson simply responded ” practice?” He ranted on voicing his frustration of the question emphasizing that at a post game interview the question wasn't about the game that was just played, the question was about PRACTICE. This post game interview went on to become one if the most memorable post game interviews in American sports history.

Unfortunately, I had to give a slightly modified version of this speech last night. It all started yesterday afternoon right before quitting time. I received an email from Yahoo sports. I thought it was concerning this league I'm in where this guy is trying to trade me Seattle defense and Rob Gronkowski for DeSean Jackson. Instead it was about a trade that went on in one of my main leagues, Roughing the Picker.  The trade consisted of Danny Amendola, T.J. Yates, and Brandon Myers for Matt Ryan. Weird but if that's what they want then I'm with it.

How did T.J. Yates get involved in a trade?

When I got off of work I sent a text to my boy Victor to talk about the trade. He let's me know that he was texting with the other members of the league and the trade was a ”joke” and the two members who agreed to the trade wanted us other members to vote against the trade because it was supposed to be just a "joke". Are you serious? So you mean that the trade is not real and this dudes are joking, or the way I see it, practicing? It's the middle of the season, and these dudes are practicing. This ain't practice. Practice? This ain't practice. We ain't talking about preseason or a mock league. We talking about a real league in the middle of the season, and these dudes are practicing. This ain't practice. Practice?

Now I understand that it's a game and this is Phantasy Steez, but it's the principle of the overall situation that has my gears grinding. In this league, we had a live in person draft. We went over all the rules together and there is a rule about members being in cahoots with other members to create "super teams". Victor and I were used as an example of this rule because we're friends it would look suspicious if we made a trade proposal. Most owners would probably think we're working together to create this "super team" if there's a such thing in fantasy football. So if Victor and I are trying to make a legitimate trade, it could lead up to our teams getting locked or denied access, but these guys are practicing... practice. We ain't talking about a legitimate trade negotiation, we talking about practice.

Trust me, I understand that it's a game and it's supposed to be fun.To me however, considering the circumstances and situations, we ain't talking about Phantasy Steez, the thing we all love and prepare for and get together for every year and commune and strategize over during the football season. We talking about practice. I think the trade should go through, since some think this is practice. However, the other managers have already decided to vote against the trade because it's just a joke, and majority vote rules, so these guys are going to get away with practice.Victor, I'm sorry that you had to here the Don's version of the practice speech. The other managers probably won't know about it unless the read my blog, which I doubt. But nooga, I'm just saying. We ain't talking about Phantasy Steez... WE TALKING ABOUT PRACTICE! This ain't practice.

Sign and Trade

During the NBA offseason, sometimes teams and players come to an agreement called a sign and trade. In this scenario, an unrestricted free agent will sign with his current team. The team then trades that player just signed to another team. Its a way to make sure you get something for the player leaving your team. I've managed to do this on that Phantasy Steez.

It all started last week which was the first week of byes. I have Aaron Rodgers on about three teams. One team in particular, Rodgers is my starting quarterback and I have Sam Bradford on the bench. I didn't want to start Bradford, and it's a good thing I didn't because Bradford did not do well last week against San Francisco scoring 8 points. Terelle Pryor is also on my bench, I wasn't sure if he was going to play, which he didn't. So I I was perusing around the free agency and for some weird reason Philip Rivers was available. This was shocking to me because all of the fantasy "experts" were talking highly about starting Rivers all week. So I picked him up and to great effect as Rivers had a great fantasy game scoring 27 points for me.

Fast forward to this week. Aaron Rodgers is back so naturally I want him to start. Now I'm looking at my bench and I have Rivers, Pryor and Bradford on my bench. That's way too many quarterbacks. Looking back at free agency, there really isn't anyone worthy of picking up for one of these quarterbacks, so I decided to see about making a trade. I could make an offer for any of these quarterbacks,  but I think I could get the most in return for Rivers. Plus, in case anything should happen to Rodgers, I do still have Pryor and Bradford, and even though they may not be as "elite" as River, I think they can still be product enough to get points.

I made a trade offer based on what I felt I needed on the team and the value of Rivers versus that position, which for some reason I decided I needed a running back. I have Reggie Bush and Ray Rice who are both coming off of injuries. Bush in particular could get hurt again before the end of the season. I also have Bernard Pierce who was just on my team to fill in for Ray Rice. I felt like I needed a more dependable running back. After looking at different running back rankings, I felt I could get away with trading away Rivers for DeMarco Murray. True, Murray has been injured in the past, but this season he looks great and I still think a lot of people are sleeping on him.

It only took a couple of hours before the owner of All i do is WIN accepted the trade offer. He probably thought I was high or something when I sent him the trade offer. Actually I wasn't, I was at work, but if this is what he was thinking, it's exactly what I wanted him to think. Truth of the matter is, I signed a back up quarterback to fill in for Rodgers, signed Rivers, then traded Rivers to a team that has Tom Brady and E.J. Manuel for Murray, who I feel was this guy's best running back. He also has Darren Sproles, Chris Johnson and DeAngelo Williams. I get an insurance policy in case on of my backs get injured. He gets a quarterback who is most likely going to be useless until Brady goes on a bye. In my opinion, coming from a phantasy point of view, I think I win...