Fantasy Update #9: More Good Than Bad

NFL: Winning ways continue -- I went 4-2 last weekend, second good weekend in a row. It's been a brutal season so far. My one team with a winning record is just 4-3-1. I have two teams at .500, and three with losing records. Need a strong second half for sure.

College Football: Razorback running backs led the way back to the win column. At 8-1 I have the best record in the league, with one game left before the playoffs. My team is a point machine. Admittedly, this week I only needed one point -- my opponent had an illegal roster (too many players) and was disqualified. A win is a win.

NBA: The season started last night. First week of competition is underway. My Hawgballers team is led by Kevin Garnett of my beloved Celtics. My HawgAttack team is led by Kobe Bryant of the despised Lakers. Hey, the man is a scoring machine -- a win is a win.

Fantasy Update #8: At Last!

NFL: At last! The kind of week I'm used to -- won 5, lost 1. Yeah, baby! I would've had an undefeated weekend if Cowboys QB Tony Romo had put up his usual numbers, but he didn't and I lost that game by 11 points. My last winless team won big, so I have no winless teams now. One of my teams has a five game winning streak to climb out of the pit and is now 4-3. Another team is 3-3-1. The others have losing records, but at least things are looking up. I made some really good decisions on who to play and who not to play. I see other owners in my leagues losing interest and neglecting their line-ups, which is to my advantage, but less fun. Some doofuses left players with a bye week on their active rosters. Sheesh. ... Okay, I did it once by mistake myself. Once. One of these guys had four non-players on his roster!

College Football: After slipping up last week, the Razorback running backs and I got back on track and won big. I made good roster decisions. My opponent put all his eggs in the Oklahoma basket and wiped out as the mighty Sooners underperformed at Iowa State. I'm 7-1, headed for a showdown with the number one team in the other division, also 7-1. I beat him earlier in the season. Only two weeks left until the playoffs.

NBA: The National Basketball Association is in pre-season play now, with the regular season starting soon. I will field two teams. Had my first draft last week and got some great players. Will draft my second team tonight. The basketball season will increase my fantasy sports action, with games almost every night.

MLB: Fantasy season over. Bombed in one league, won one playoff round in second, won the CHAMPIONSHIP in the third.

Fantasy Update #6: Speed of the Game

Naturally, in real life each sport has its own pace and rhythm. The seasons differ dramatically from one another. The most obvious difference, of course, is in number of games. Major League Baseball plays 162 regular season games; the National Basketball League, 82; and the National Football League just 16. Baseball plays almost every day, basketball 2 to 4 games a week, football just one game a week.

In every sport fans, writers, coaches, and players talk about "the speed of the game." This is usually in the context of a particular contest, or in contrast to other sports or other levels of competition. Players moving from high school to college, or college to the pros, have to adjust to "the speed of the game."

With the end of the fantasy baseball season and the onset of the football season, and with basketball not yet begun, I made an interesting discovery. I'm sure it's one which millions of other fantasy sports enthusiasts already know, but is new to me, since this was my first year playing fantasy baseball. (Did I mention that I fielded a championship team in my rookie season?) The discovery was the sudden shift in gears going from baseball to football -- I miss the action.

The speed of my total fantasy game has changed, slowed way down. Two of my three baseball teams allowed me to make any number of roster and lineup changes every day. The action was every day. Now, with football only for a while, I can check and change rosters and lineups every day, but I have to wait for the weekend for the action, the competition -- it's just Sunday games and Monday Night Football. I am a very hands-on owner. I like football much better than baseball, but I miss the daily action.

I'm having to adjust to the speed of the game.

Fantasy Update #5

MLB: Fantasy season over. Bombed in one league, won one playoff round in second, won championship in third.

NFL: I finally had a break-even weekend -- won 3, lost 3. Hopefully, a turning point. I'm tweaking my rosters like crazy.

College Football: I'm on cruise control thanks to the Razorback running backs. Louisville QB actually out-pointed them last week, but they are the key. Still UNDEFEATED, 6-0, the best team in the league by far. Woooo, pig, soooieee!

Fantasy Update #4 - Highs and Lows

MLB: I trailed in my championship round most of the two weeks. I was ahead in the batting categories and my opponent led the pitching categories ... then it reversed and I was ahead in pitching, and he in hitting ... but I still trailed ... until the last couple of days when I pulled ahead 6-4, and ended up winning 5-4. The difference? Stolen bases. I had 5, he had 3, and that was the winning margin. My first year of Fantasy Baseball, I made the semi-finals in one league and won the other. I am the CHAMPION!

NFL: I went 2-4 again ... but my two winning teams were previously winless. After four weeks, I have one 2-win team, three 1-win teams, and two 0-4 teams. Pitiful.

College Football: Thank heavens for Darren McFadden and Felix Jones ... and Brandon Barnett. The Hogs barbequed North Texas and had over 400 yards rushing. I'm making good roster decisions. Still undefeated, 5-0, #1 in my league.

Fantasy (Nightmare) Update #3

MLB: The championship round lasts 2 weeks. We compete in 10 categories. I've trailed by 1 or 2 from the start. I edged ahead 4-3 last night, but so far tonight my hitters are 0 for 9, and now i trail 4-3. Need a strong finish over the next 4 days to win my first baseball championship.

NFL: Oh, man. I don't think I've ever had such a weekend. No wins, 1 tie, 5 losses. 0-1-5. How ugly is that? Drew Brees, who got me 1 point in week one, got me MINUS 1 point in week three. MINUS ONE! My unique rosters idea isn't going so well... so far.

College Football: Thank heavens for Darren McFadden and Felix Jones. Even though the Hogs took it on the chin from Kentucky -- Kentucky! -- the Dynamic Duo led my team to victory. Still undefeated, 4-0.

Fantasy Update #2

A mixed week in my fantasy leagues.

MLB: My CBS Sports team led most of the week, then my hitters stopped hitting when the weekend arrived and my opponent pulled away, so I lost in the semi-finals. My 6th-seeded Yahoo team faced the 2nd seed in the semi-finals and we tied 5-5 -- but I won on the tie-breaker, with a better ERA. I'm in the championship round this week against the 4th seeded team, which upset the top seed.

NFL: I went 1-5 for the weekend! A couple of close games, a couple of blow-outs. So I have one team that is 2-0, one that is 1-1, and 4 that are 0-2. I've deliberately challenged -- and handicapped -- myself by requiring that I have completely unique rosters on all 6 teams, denying myself the ability to have any great player on more than one team. So far, it's tough sledding. At least I got 15 points from Drew Brees this week instead of one -- but I still lost that game by 7. I need some plop plop fizz fizz!

College Football: Won again, thanks to Darren McFadden and Felix Jones. Although the Hogs lost at Alabama, we still ran wild and piled up the RB stats. I'm 3-0.

Fantasy Update #1

MLB: My 6-seed team won against the 3-seed in one of my baseball leagues to advance to the 2nd round of the playoffs, where I face the 2-seed now. This is the first week of the playoffs in my other league, and I have a slim lead after one day's play.

NFL: I won 2 and lost 4 in the first week of play. Tony Romo was The Man. Drew Brees got 1 point. ONE point. The losses weren't close. I have work to do.

College Football: I'm 2-0. I have a pretty awesome team, led by the Arkansas Razorback running backs, the Louisville Cardinals quarterback, and the LSU defense.

Think of how much time I would save if there were no such thing as sports.... Ha Ha!

Fantasy Island

The Playoffs!
The Playoffs!

I confess, I'm a fantasy sports fan. I wouldn't call myself a fantasy nut, but I've definitely made a commitment. If you sign up to play you owe it to the other guys (and gals) in your league(s) to pay attention and stay active. I hate it when people don't even show up for the draft, and/or lose interest and quit actively participating. The fun is staying committed, even if you have a bad season.

I started with Fantasy Football two seasons ago after few years of resistance. Last year I added basketball, and this year I did fantasy baseball for the first time. I've had my share of stinkers, but overall I've done pretty well, I think. Last year, I won two of my six NFL leagues, and this year I've made the playoffs in both my MLB head-to-head leagues. (I'm 11th in a 12-team league in my cumulative points league. Beats being 12th.)

For NFL fantasy football I recommend CBS Sportsline and NFL. com over the others. I did baseball on Yahoo Sports this year, and liked it a lot.

I'll have six NFL fantasy teams again this year -- 2 each with CBS, NFL, and Fox Sports. The season starts tomorrow night with the Colts and Bears. Wish me luck. Dunt Dunt Dunt Dah!