December 10, 2011
November 30, 2011
Ok, so unbeknownst to most of the league, our dignified league manager and I have been in an intellectual tug-o-war of epic proportions for the past couple weeks over the so-called "Pat's Subjective Performance Rankings" (PSPR). The debate began when I noticed that despite being 3rd overall in Points For (or Points "Forced" as the PSPR peculiarly call them), my team's ranking was 8th or 9th in the PSPR. Also curious was that other teams who had scored far fewer points on the season were ranked significantly higher than their point totals would seem to suggest. This mysterious phenomenon made me look a little deeper at these "estimations of ranking, based on W-L records, had the points [against been distributed] more evenly" and I decided upon closer investigation that the system (Pat doesn't like it when I call it that, but I don't know what else to call it), must in fact be flawed.
I've been having an impossible time convincing Mr. O'Keefe that this is the case and I think there are 3 possible explanations for why he is balking at my suggestion that the system needs revamping. They are as such:
Possibility #1- Pat is too emotionally attached to the PSPR (they are after all named after him) to accept that there may be problems with it.
Option B- Pat realizes that the system is broke, but simply enjoys toying with my ridiculous need to make him see things my way even on something as menial as a made up not even really predictive fantasy football rankings system. (For the record, I'm not REALLY as concerned about proving that I'm right about this as this crazy 5,000 word post may make it seem. I'm doing this in large part because I almost never get to interact (or argue) with my friend Patrick anymore since he's a big shot soon-to-be lawyer now, but I think I can suck him into giving me a little attention by challenging his beloved PSPR.)
Or, Numero III- As crazy as it may sound; Patty-O really is still convinced that the system works.
Possibility #1 is the reason that I initially held off on my critique of the system. After all, who really cares if the system "works" as long as Pat has fun doing it? (Or, similarly, who really cares if anyone actually reads this post, as long as I have fun writing it.) If it's Option B, then...I'm glad you could finally see it my way. :) If, however, Numero III is the reason for Pat's obstinacy, then hopefully the chart below will finally convince him once and for all that there is a glitch in this system.
Here's the data (explanation to follow)-
Ok, so what we have here is a season (through 12 games using our league's actual average point totals) where the top 4 teams have scored the same # of points, the middle 4 teams have scored the same # of points, and the bottom 4 teams have scored the same # of points. Likewise, each grouping of 4 has had the same # of points against only reversed in quantity for PA. This scenario is unlikely, of course, but not an impossibility. In the above scenario, we have 4 teams that are very clearly the 4 best teams in the league. They have outscored the 4 middle teams by 200 points, and the 4 lowest teams by 400 points. They, put simply, have dominated. (Would it seem braggadocious to say that a fair comparison would be Dave's and my teams this year?) However, they have also faced extremely easy competition. The 4 lowest teams have...well...stunk. And on top of stinking up the joint, they have also faced the toughest of competition. The middle teams have been mediocre on offense & defense.
Now, it seems a hard argument to make to say that these 12 teams with their tremendous variance in scoring ability would rank equally in any ranking system (whether subjective or objective), but this is exactly how Patty-O's system would rank them. The teams at the bottom scoring a whopping 400 points (33.3/week) less than those on the top would be ranked #1, just as would the boring middlemen.
I'll ask once and for all, how can this system be just?
Now, it seems a hard argument to make to say that these 12 teams with their tremendous variance in scoring ability would rank equally in any ranking system (whether subjective or objective), but this is exactly how Patty-O's system would rank them. The teams at the bottom scoring a whopping 400 points (33.3/week) less than those on the top would be ranked #1, just as would the boring middlemen.
I'll ask once and for all, how can this system be just?
November 24, 2011
November 12, 2011
Week Nine Statistics
I'll post some updated SPR once I have time to type the inherent and self-evident falsities of Josh's criticism.
Patrick O'Keefe
Intercollegiate Equestrian National Champion, High Horse Event
November 5, 2011
October 29, 2011
October 25, 2011
The Best Rice Deal
Dear League,
Over the last week or so, if you have checked this blog, you noticed a significant debate between some of the more vocal members of our league. I, as a commissioner am always pleased when “debates” occur, because I know people are passionate about the league, and the health of it. While the topics for this debate were not uncommon to what we’ve experienced in the past (inequitable trades), some clear observations were made that I should not leave unaddressed.
Regarding the recent trade between Josh and my dad (Josh Freeman and Jahvid Best for Raymond Rice), I want to make it clear that I did not believe the trade was equitable at the time I approved it, nor did I ever think it was an equitable trade. As you know, I take what some call a "laissez faire approach" to fantasy trading. If you believe your trade can help you win games, I am not going to question it. If your trade is a little more “creative” than most peoples’ tastes, I have always backed off, and stayed out of your business. I respect your ability to manage your team as you see fit, allowing you to reap the rewards and consequences of your barter decisions. I will only veto a trade if it seems apparent that there is collusion involved.
I am going to write frankly about the situation that recently occurred. I don’t wish to relight the flames that have been put out on both sides. I simply want to explain my position, and setup the last part of my post.
Over the past month, serious allegations were made against two of our members regarding the inequity of the Best/Rice deal. The allegations were that Josh took advantage of my dad, targeting a member who was not as privy to fantasy strategy. These allegations were levied in combination with Josh’s extensive history with making deals, which purportedly put him in a position of superiority over the rest of us--while on the flipside, leaving my dad with a lackluster squad.
I view Josh’s team as very powerful, yet not unethically obtained. The addition of Rice substantially increased his competitiveness even more. However, in that the trade itself was not unethical (even if inequitable), adding Ray Rice would still not have given him an unwarranted edge. Even with this, Josh has graciously offered to reverse the Best/Rice deal, and my dad agreed as well. I want to make it clear, I do not think Josh needed to do this or was in any way obligated to do it. But, given the public outcry he offered to do it for the sake of league morale. Ironically, this is a trade should be vetoed if we were to play by the rules that we all have agreed to- that no trade should involve collusion.
I have heard loud and clear the complaints against my dad’s unconventional strategy in this unconventional league. I agree that the Best/Rice deal was inequitable, and that my dad has made similar moves in the past which has put his team in the state it is in now. These transaction have caused his team to be significantly undermanned. I’ve spoken to him regarding this, and I will be a second-level approver going forward for all trades with his team. This was my least preferred course of action. If you are looking to make a deal with my Dad, simply know that when I receive the e-mail to approve/reject the trade, I will be holding it to a much higher level of scrutiny than I normally do. You will not be able to get a Best/Rice-type deal done again.
Lastly, I’d like to make my thoughts known on one more issue. When you signed up for this league, no one guaranteed you that you’d be joining an “experts only” league. We put parameters in place to try and make the league as competitive as possible, and the strategy required is very complex (thanks to fantasy baseball). In the past I said “this league is not for the faint of heart.” What I meant is that if you are risk-averse, or not willing to put in the time, you will not flourish. I did not mean it as a blanket guarantee that everyone you interact with will be on the same playing level as you. Indeed, there are no experts in fantasy sports, not me, Josh, David, my dad, Matthew Berry, or anyone. We are all playing the best we know how to, and some are playing better than others. We started this league with none of us quite knowing how it would play out, and some have learned very fast, some not as fast. When it becomes apparent that one player “is not playing the same game”, give him the benefit of the doubt. I’ve revised the approval workflow here to accommodate our league as it stands. We’ll adjust more if necessary, but let’s keep playing and keep it fun. Even if the game, as we made it, is not yet perfect.
Regarding this last point, I am asking for your grace in this. I am extremely thankful to John Freeborn for his post on the last blog, that this is fantasy football, and it needs to be held in that light only, that we should show each other the same respect we ask for ourselves, and grace when it is needed.
Lastly, if anything I've written seems dry, please know it is not. I write this humbly and respectfully, yet frank about my position on the matters. I’m open to any feedback, whether public or private.
Thank you.
Over the last week or so, if you have checked this blog, you noticed a significant debate between some of the more vocal members of our league. I, as a commissioner am always pleased when “debates” occur, because I know people are passionate about the league, and the health of it. While the topics for this debate were not uncommon to what we’ve experienced in the past (inequitable trades), some clear observations were made that I should not leave unaddressed.
Regarding the recent trade between Josh and my dad (Josh Freeman and Jahvid Best for Raymond Rice), I want to make it clear that I did not believe the trade was equitable at the time I approved it, nor did I ever think it was an equitable trade. As you know, I take what some call a "laissez faire approach" to fantasy trading. If you believe your trade can help you win games, I am not going to question it. If your trade is a little more “creative” than most peoples’ tastes, I have always backed off, and stayed out of your business. I respect your ability to manage your team as you see fit, allowing you to reap the rewards and consequences of your barter decisions. I will only veto a trade if it seems apparent that there is collusion involved.
I am going to write frankly about the situation that recently occurred. I don’t wish to relight the flames that have been put out on both sides. I simply want to explain my position, and setup the last part of my post.
Over the past month, serious allegations were made against two of our members regarding the inequity of the Best/Rice deal. The allegations were that Josh took advantage of my dad, targeting a member who was not as privy to fantasy strategy. These allegations were levied in combination with Josh’s extensive history with making deals, which purportedly put him in a position of superiority over the rest of us--while on the flipside, leaving my dad with a lackluster squad.
I view Josh’s team as very powerful, yet not unethically obtained. The addition of Rice substantially increased his competitiveness even more. However, in that the trade itself was not unethical (even if inequitable), adding Ray Rice would still not have given him an unwarranted edge. Even with this, Josh has graciously offered to reverse the Best/Rice deal, and my dad agreed as well. I want to make it clear, I do not think Josh needed to do this or was in any way obligated to do it. But, given the public outcry he offered to do it for the sake of league morale. Ironically, this is a trade should be vetoed if we were to play by the rules that we all have agreed to- that no trade should involve collusion.
I have heard loud and clear the complaints against my dad’s unconventional strategy in this unconventional league. I agree that the Best/Rice deal was inequitable, and that my dad has made similar moves in the past which has put his team in the state it is in now. These transaction have caused his team to be significantly undermanned. I’ve spoken to him regarding this, and I will be a second-level approver going forward for all trades with his team. This was my least preferred course of action. If you are looking to make a deal with my Dad, simply know that when I receive the e-mail to approve/reject the trade, I will be holding it to a much higher level of scrutiny than I normally do. You will not be able to get a Best/Rice-type deal done again.
Lastly, I’d like to make my thoughts known on one more issue. When you signed up for this league, no one guaranteed you that you’d be joining an “experts only” league. We put parameters in place to try and make the league as competitive as possible, and the strategy required is very complex (thanks to fantasy baseball). In the past I said “this league is not for the faint of heart.” What I meant is that if you are risk-averse, or not willing to put in the time, you will not flourish. I did not mean it as a blanket guarantee that everyone you interact with will be on the same playing level as you. Indeed, there are no experts in fantasy sports, not me, Josh, David, my dad, Matthew Berry, or anyone. We are all playing the best we know how to, and some are playing better than others. We started this league with none of us quite knowing how it would play out, and some have learned very fast, some not as fast. When it becomes apparent that one player “is not playing the same game”, give him the benefit of the doubt. I’ve revised the approval workflow here to accommodate our league as it stands. We’ll adjust more if necessary, but let’s keep playing and keep it fun. Even if the game, as we made it, is not yet perfect.
Regarding this last point, I am asking for your grace in this. I am extremely thankful to John Freeborn for his post on the last blog, that this is fantasy football, and it needs to be held in that light only, that we should show each other the same respect we ask for ourselves, and grace when it is needed.
Lastly, if anything I've written seems dry, please know it is not. I write this humbly and respectfully, yet frank about my position on the matters. I’m open to any feedback, whether public or private.
Thank you.
October 15, 2011
October 8, 2011
October 6, 2011
Board Bets
Josh Aulozzi and I have made a couple of "board bets." To make them more official, I'm posting them here.
Sept 29: Matthew Stafford will finish the season with more total points than Tony Romo.
John: Yes. Josh: No.
Sept 29: Ryan Mathews will finish the season as a Top 5 RB.
John: Yes. Josh: No.
Feel free to add your own board bets that you have made with other members of the league. Post them in the comments and I'll copy them into this post.
Sept 29: Matthew Stafford will finish the season with more total points than Tony Romo.
John: Yes. Josh: No.
Sept 29: Ryan Mathews will finish the season as a Top 5 RB.
John: Yes. Josh: No.
Feel free to add your own board bets that you have made with other members of the league. Post them in the comments and I'll copy them into this post.
September 23, 2011
September 20, 2011
September 10, 2011
A little recap
Alright, so I will be doing my world famous "Bold Predictions" again this year, but I probably won't get to them til after week 1. In the meantime though, I thought I'd throw up a quick recap of last year's picks and where I hit and missed worst. (*Thinking that I could make this a "quick recap" turned out to be my first blown prediction of this season.) I'll give a little bit about each team and the accompanying call from last year's predictions.
Hurricane Ditka (Joe- AKA: The Quitter, as Pat calls him)
My prediction- 7-6 making the playoffs.
Actual- 6-7 missing the playoffs.
I'm not gonna spend much time on Joe since he's no longer with us, but basically I'm blaming this missed call on 2 things, Joe's QBs. The first was Romo, who went down with a season ending broken clavicle a quarter of the way into the season, and the 2nd was the Gay Butler who was the 10th QB picked and was supposed to have top 10 potential but ended up being the QB15. That wouldn't be horrible underproduction from a normal #2 QB, but with Romo gone, the 15th best QB ain't gonna cut it. To be honest, I'm impressed that Joe was able to squeak out 6 wins given the circumstances, cause the rest of his team was pretty meh.
Firing Line (TB Sr.)
My prediction- 5-8 missing playoffs
Actual- 8-5 and finishing #2 overall
Ok, 0 for 2, not a great start here. Let me just say right off the bat, Mr. Barriere deserves the top manager award for last year, cause I have no freaking idea how he took 2nd place with that team. His best running back was Thomas Jones who ranked 27th for RBs, after Miles Austin (who underperformed and was #15 WR) his next best WR was Lance Moore who ranked 27th for WRs, and his #2 QB was McNabb who was the 22nd ranked QB. Really, the only bright spots on the team were Drew Brees and Vernon Davis, and a probably slightly better than average defense.
Big Tony had the 4th lowest point total (meaning 2 non playoff teams outscored him for the season), but had the benefit of the 6th easiest schedule. Using the Pythagorean Expectation (tweaked for football), team Firing Line would have only won 6 games and would have missed the playoffs. That being said I'm only giving about 20% of the credit for TB Sr's season to scheduling/luck, and 80% to good team management. The Bengals should give Mr. B a call cause he seems to have the ability to mold a group of scrubs into a quality squad.
In the end, the logic behind my call for TB Sr's team was pretty solid- crappy RBs, Check, crappy #2 QB, Check, lack of overall depth, Check. But I just couldn't account for the managerial mastery that Big T possesses. I'll have to keep that in mind for this year's calls.
Dirty Dominicans (Juan)
My Prediction- 6-7 missing playoffs
Actual- 4-9 missing playoffs
Looking at Big Tony's and Juan's teams from last year back to back tells you how crazy fantasy can be sometimes. On paper Juan's team looks way better than Tony's. Juan had the elder Manning and then a serviceable #2 QBs in Sanchez- #16, 2 top 25 RBs (neither spectacular, but both better than any of Tony's options), and the #6 and #12 WR, in addition to a deeper bench than TB Sr. I have to chalk Juan's season up to inexperience and just picking the wrong guys to start at the wrong time, in addition to the luck factor which is undeniable in fantasy. Hopefully getting a year of experience under his belt will give Juan the experience needed to have a better go at it this year.
Junkyard Dogs (Jolly)
My Prediction- 8-5 making playoffs
Actual- 7-6 making playoffs
Unlike Big Tony, Jolly took the more traditional route to the playoffs, having stud players. He rode Rivers, Foster, Jennings and Witten, as well as a healthy first 3/4 of the season from Frank Gore, and an above average defense. Jolly was one of 2 playoff teams, along with Big Tony, to be outscored by his opponents on the season, and actually had the most points against of any team in the league. In the end, getting the #1 overall player with his 4th round pick ended up being enough to get Jolly into the playoffs with relative ease.
My record through 4 teams- 2-2 (with Joe being a very close call only ruined by Romo's injury)
Pattymakers (Tim)
My Prediction- 5-8 missing playoffs
Actual- 6-7 just missing playoffs
Well, Tim's team is a bit hard to evaluate because there was 1 or 2 late season trades that changed up the team he had for the first part of the year quite a bit. But from what I can tell the two biggest problem areas for Tim's team were QB2 where he had Chad Henne and RB where Cedric Benson was his best option. My bias towards QB & RB as the two most important positions in this league set up have been expressed plenty, but last year made it clear as ever. John Herrin was the only playoff team that didn't consistently start 2 QBs throughout the year (more on that exception below). It's just a reality of a league where you can start 2 QBs, that you have to have 2 decent QB options to be competitive. That being said, Tim did finish 7th in the league, only missing the playoffs by one win. So it was a close call on this one.
The Mighty Monarchs (Ben)
My Prediction- 4-9 missing playoffs
Actual- 5-8 missing playoffs
Ben's team was the first to run into injury problems last year when Ryan Grant went down a few plays into week 1. Because of that injury and his relative lack of depth at RB, Ben was forced to make a move right away to try to sure up his RB corps. So his team for most of the season was somewhat different from the one he drafted. He ended up with a team of very young mostly unproven talent. Some of that talent broke out, guys like Maclin & Dez Bryant put up solid years, and Matty Ice was a solid #1 QB, but others didn't, most devastatingly, Ryan Matthews & CJ Spiller flopped at the already thin RB position for Ben. Ultimately, it was as I predicted for this team, a lot of young players that would need a bit more time to develop before being consistent fantasy producers. For the second part of my prediction to come true, Ben needs to have a strong bounce back year 2, so...GO BEN!
Kenosha Moose (Tony Jr)
My Prediction- 6-7 missing playoffs
Actual- 7-6 finishing 5th in the playoffs
Another one I missed by 1 game. My biggest preseason concern for Tony's team was WR, but unfortunately for my prediction, Brandon Lloyd (undrafted last year) decided to go crazy and be the #1 WR last year, Danny Amendola was a return stud again and ended up as the #9 WR, and Stevie Johnson (undrafted) broke out and was the #14 WR. So my ? on Colston turned out to be warranted (he was the #22 WR), but WR still turned out to be the strength of TB Jr's team. His QBs also worked out decently, with only Matt Ryan & Josh Freeman finishing as better options that the 2 guys Tony drafted when he took his 2 QBs back-to-back at the 2/3 round turn. Tony had a decent pick up in Mike Tolbert later in the year, but aside from AP his backs were pretty weak overall. In the end, Tony made the playoffs because of a couple great WW pick ups in Lloyd and Stevie Johnson. Just goes to show, it's not all about how you draft.
Bob Loblaws Law Blog (Dave)
My Prediction- 7-6 "narrowly beating out TB Jr for the final playoff spot"
Actual- 3-10 narrowly beating out Juan for the "Worst Team of the Year Award"
Well, Dave (& to come later Pat) is the perfect example of why you should always stick with your gut when predicting things. My gut feeling going into last year was that in a league where you can play 2 QBs, you should play 2 QBs, the reason being that QBs put up higher point totals than any other position, and they do it with more week to week consistency than any other position. So that being the case, I had a strong suspicion that the teams that waited to draft their QB(s) (Pat, David, & John H) would struggle because of it. With the exception of John H (more on that later), that gut feeling turned out to be valid.
Dave's struggles certainly weren't completely due to weak QB options. He had the normal DH bad luck with Stafford going down early and Randy Moss (2nd round pick) disappearing from the earth. But he also had some really good fortune as well. Jamaal Charles (3rd round pick) was the #3 fantasy RB, Matt Forte (5th rd pick) was the #8 RB, and McFatten was maybe the biggest steal of the draft being a 9th round pick that ended the year as the #6 RB. So I'd say Dave got equal, or even better value out of low picks than he lost with under performing high picks. The other bit of bad luck Dave had was in the scheduling. His points against was 2nd highest behind only Jolly, and his Pythagorean Expectation win total would be just over 5 wins. So team Blablablabla was definitely a bit better than their record, but still not close to playoff caliber. In the end, the 2 things that I think doomed this team were lack of QB depth & quality, and horrid WR play. (Danny Woodhead was the highest scoring WR on Dave's final roster. Lucky for Dave, after the years of injury plagued teams, odds are in his favor that one of these years he's bound to have a relatively healthy season. Here's to hoping it's this one.
Wheaties (John H)
My Prediction- 6-7 just missing the playoffs
Actual- 10-3 best regular season and 3rd overall in the playoffs
John's is the 2nd team to wait on QB, holding out til round 7 to take VY and then til round 12 to take Bradford as his #2. Bradford ended the year as the #20 QB, and VY ended the year banned from his team facility and on suicide watch. So how on earth did John have the best record in the league?! Believe it or not, Ryan Fitzpatrick saved John's season (along with decent RB & WR production and some help from the scheduling fairy). I have no idea why Fitzpatrick was not valued higher going into the 2011 season, because he was a top 10 fantasy QB last year if you compensate for the first 2 games of the year when the Bills were giving Trent Edwards his one last shot at glory. His first 4 games as a starter he averaged 20 fantasy points a game and was the #1 fantasy QB during that stretch. Fitzpatrick was the #8 QB last year for fantasy points per game and only missed 3 games (the first 2 due to Edwards starting, and week 17 because of a minor injury). So when you consider that Bradford (#20 QB) would have been the ONLY QB option John had after VY went down, quite literally, picking up Fitzy off the waiver wire was the savior of this team. Of course, he needed help from quality RBs which he had in Chris Johnson, Bradshaw, and McCoy, and decent WR options which he also had.
The other thing he had (probably not even worth reading this John since you'll likely disagree with everything I'm about to write) was a lot of help from the scheduling fairy and the rest of the league in the form of under performance when playing against John. Four of his wins came against teams (Me, Johnny, Dave, & Ben) putting up their 2nd or 3rd worst week of the season when playing John, and a 5th, Juan, put up his 4th worst game. John faced the 2nd weakest competition in the league having the 2nd lowest points against total, and despite being the 4th highest scoring team, his Pythagorean Expectation puts his win total at 8 (still plenty good enough to make the playoffs mind you). Now that being said, I'm not at all saying John didn't do a great job with his team, because he absolutely did. He did have some luck go his way, but even without it, he used an unconventional (for this league) philosophy to put together a team that would have competed for 1st place overall even without the breaks of a good schedule. So, kudos to John H on the season and on proving my prediction to be way off.
Shikaka, later Long Division John (Johnny)
My Prediction- 8-5 good enough for top 4 in the league
Actual- 9-4 2nd place regular season, #1 overall
Well, lucky for Johnny (and my prediction for his team) Yahoo's projections mean absolutely squat (which is why I won't be using them for this year's Bold Predictions). His projected point totals from last year were 10th overall for starters, defense, and overall team total, clearly they were a bit off. Fortunately, I was not swayed by those numbers in predicting Johnny's solid season. Of course, Johnny's solid season didn't really stem from his draft anyway, but rather from the 2 early season waiver wire pickups that both turned out to be Mega Millions level winning lottery tickets. Vick and Peyton Hillis were John's #1 and #3 highest scoring players, and he got both of them off the junk heap. When they were combined with solid draft picks S-Jax, Brady, & Bowe, as well as Calvin Johnson picked up in a trade, that's a solid team right there. There really isn't much more to say about John's team, the #1 & #3 QB in a QB heavy league, a top 5 & top 15 RB, and two top 5 WRs are going to put you at or near the top of your league every time, even if you have crap for the rest of your team (which John didn't). Those 2 waiver pickups were possibly the best John will ever see in his life and he certainly made good use of them last year. Congrats again to Johnny on a season well played.
Eugoogoolizers, later Suck-O-Matic (Patty-O)
My Prediction- 7-6 good enough for the final playoff spot
Actual- 6-7 just missing the final playoff spot
Well, Pat *nearly* avoided his playoff missing fate with what was one of the best picks of the draft last year- taking Josh Freeman (#7 QB last season) in the 21st round. But...he dropped him before the season even started and was left with QBs picked in the 8th (Orton) and 11th (G'tard) rounds as his teams 2 options. Lucky for Pat's playoff hopes, Orton turned out to be a sneakily good fantasy QB, before being benched in weeks 15, 16, & 17 while the Broncos gave Tebow a look. If Orton's numbers from weeks 1-14 are projected out over those last 3 games, he finishes the season as the #7 fantasy QB. Garrard was also surprisingly good, missing only one week yet finishing the year as the #13 QB. So when you consider Orton, Garrard, and Freeman's performances, Pat's strategy of waiting on QB could have been an absolute HOME RUN, and even after throwing Freeman away, it still was a solid 2 run double.
So if waiting on QB actually worked ok for Patty-O, what went wrong? Well, a little bit of bad luck, his Pythagorean Expectation was 7 wins, good enough for the playoffs, but mostly it boiled down to the RB position, and believe it or not, IDPs. Because of the high level of player turnover for IDPs, there are no solid stats to look at other than the season totals we keep, but in those categories Pat finished 10th for tackles, 9th for INTs, and 10th for sacks. And on his year end roster Pat had a total of 2 players with more than 80 fantasy points (Tim, Ben & Juan all had 6 IDPs each with more than 100 fantasy points). So I think it's plenty safe to say that defense was a very much a weak spot for Pat's team.
Looking back at Pat's draft, I'm not sure why I predicted him as a playoff team because aside from waiting on QB, I also hate the strategy of going WR heavy in the early rounds of a draft, and Pat took WRs with 3 of his first 4 picks. As already noted, his waiting on QB ended up not hurting him too bad, but the same can not be said for waiting on RB. His 2nd round Mendenhall pick ended up working out ok, but after that, he didn't draft another legitimate RB (Brandon Jackson as a last round flier ended up being an ok pick only because Grant went down week one). In his defense, there was a bit of uncertainty about guys like Sproles & Leon Washington's value due to the return points change, but in the end, both ended up having very little value.
Ultimately, I would say Pat's in season management skills made up very well for what in hindsight I would consider pretty poor draft strategy for this league. Though the QB picks worked out in the end, it's too much of a gamble in my opinion, and going WR heavy instead of RB heavy early is never a winning strategy if you ask me. But, Pat made due.
An even more important question though...how was his strategy this year, and where is he going to end up in this year's Bold Predictions? Come back sometime soon to find out.
For last year my final tally was 6-6 (my last right call was picking myself to make the playoffs). Had some decent calls, but I'll definitely be looking to improve this year.
Hurricane Ditka (Joe- AKA: The Quitter, as Pat calls him)
My prediction- 7-6 making the playoffs.
Actual- 6-7 missing the playoffs.
I'm not gonna spend much time on Joe since he's no longer with us, but basically I'm blaming this missed call on 2 things, Joe's QBs. The first was Romo, who went down with a season ending broken clavicle a quarter of the way into the season, and the 2nd was the Gay Butler who was the 10th QB picked and was supposed to have top 10 potential but ended up being the QB15. That wouldn't be horrible underproduction from a normal #2 QB, but with Romo gone, the 15th best QB ain't gonna cut it. To be honest, I'm impressed that Joe was able to squeak out 6 wins given the circumstances, cause the rest of his team was pretty meh.
Firing Line (TB Sr.)
My prediction- 5-8 missing playoffs
Actual- 8-5 and finishing #2 overall
Ok, 0 for 2, not a great start here. Let me just say right off the bat, Mr. Barriere deserves the top manager award for last year, cause I have no freaking idea how he took 2nd place with that team. His best running back was Thomas Jones who ranked 27th for RBs, after Miles Austin (who underperformed and was #15 WR) his next best WR was Lance Moore who ranked 27th for WRs, and his #2 QB was McNabb who was the 22nd ranked QB. Really, the only bright spots on the team were Drew Brees and Vernon Davis, and a probably slightly better than average defense.
Big Tony had the 4th lowest point total (meaning 2 non playoff teams outscored him for the season), but had the benefit of the 6th easiest schedule. Using the Pythagorean Expectation (tweaked for football), team Firing Line would have only won 6 games and would have missed the playoffs. That being said I'm only giving about 20% of the credit for TB Sr's season to scheduling/luck, and 80% to good team management. The Bengals should give Mr. B a call cause he seems to have the ability to mold a group of scrubs into a quality squad.
In the end, the logic behind my call for TB Sr's team was pretty solid- crappy RBs, Check, crappy #2 QB, Check, lack of overall depth, Check. But I just couldn't account for the managerial mastery that Big T possesses. I'll have to keep that in mind for this year's calls.
Dirty Dominicans (Juan)
My Prediction- 6-7 missing playoffs
Actual- 4-9 missing playoffs
Looking at Big Tony's and Juan's teams from last year back to back tells you how crazy fantasy can be sometimes. On paper Juan's team looks way better than Tony's. Juan had the elder Manning and then a serviceable #2 QBs in Sanchez- #16, 2 top 25 RBs (neither spectacular, but both better than any of Tony's options), and the #6 and #12 WR, in addition to a deeper bench than TB Sr. I have to chalk Juan's season up to inexperience and just picking the wrong guys to start at the wrong time, in addition to the luck factor which is undeniable in fantasy. Hopefully getting a year of experience under his belt will give Juan the experience needed to have a better go at it this year.
Junkyard Dogs (Jolly)
My Prediction- 8-5 making playoffs
Actual- 7-6 making playoffs
Unlike Big Tony, Jolly took the more traditional route to the playoffs, having stud players. He rode Rivers, Foster, Jennings and Witten, as well as a healthy first 3/4 of the season from Frank Gore, and an above average defense. Jolly was one of 2 playoff teams, along with Big Tony, to be outscored by his opponents on the season, and actually had the most points against of any team in the league. In the end, getting the #1 overall player with his 4th round pick ended up being enough to get Jolly into the playoffs with relative ease.
My record through 4 teams- 2-2 (with Joe being a very close call only ruined by Romo's injury)
Pattymakers (Tim)
My Prediction- 5-8 missing playoffs
Actual- 6-7 just missing playoffs
Well, Tim's team is a bit hard to evaluate because there was 1 or 2 late season trades that changed up the team he had for the first part of the year quite a bit. But from what I can tell the two biggest problem areas for Tim's team were QB2 where he had Chad Henne and RB where Cedric Benson was his best option. My bias towards QB & RB as the two most important positions in this league set up have been expressed plenty, but last year made it clear as ever. John Herrin was the only playoff team that didn't consistently start 2 QBs throughout the year (more on that exception below). It's just a reality of a league where you can start 2 QBs, that you have to have 2 decent QB options to be competitive. That being said, Tim did finish 7th in the league, only missing the playoffs by one win. So it was a close call on this one.
The Mighty Monarchs (Ben)
My Prediction- 4-9 missing playoffs
Actual- 5-8 missing playoffs
Ben's team was the first to run into injury problems last year when Ryan Grant went down a few plays into week 1. Because of that injury and his relative lack of depth at RB, Ben was forced to make a move right away to try to sure up his RB corps. So his team for most of the season was somewhat different from the one he drafted. He ended up with a team of very young mostly unproven talent. Some of that talent broke out, guys like Maclin & Dez Bryant put up solid years, and Matty Ice was a solid #1 QB, but others didn't, most devastatingly, Ryan Matthews & CJ Spiller flopped at the already thin RB position for Ben. Ultimately, it was as I predicted for this team, a lot of young players that would need a bit more time to develop before being consistent fantasy producers. For the second part of my prediction to come true, Ben needs to have a strong bounce back year 2, so...GO BEN!
Kenosha Moose (Tony Jr)
My Prediction- 6-7 missing playoffs
Actual- 7-6 finishing 5th in the playoffs
Another one I missed by 1 game. My biggest preseason concern for Tony's team was WR, but unfortunately for my prediction, Brandon Lloyd (undrafted last year) decided to go crazy and be the #1 WR last year, Danny Amendola was a return stud again and ended up as the #9 WR, and Stevie Johnson (undrafted) broke out and was the #14 WR. So my ? on Colston turned out to be warranted (he was the #22 WR), but WR still turned out to be the strength of TB Jr's team. His QBs also worked out decently, with only Matt Ryan & Josh Freeman finishing as better options that the 2 guys Tony drafted when he took his 2 QBs back-to-back at the 2/3 round turn. Tony had a decent pick up in Mike Tolbert later in the year, but aside from AP his backs were pretty weak overall. In the end, Tony made the playoffs because of a couple great WW pick ups in Lloyd and Stevie Johnson. Just goes to show, it's not all about how you draft.
Bob Loblaws Law Blog (Dave)
My Prediction- 7-6 "narrowly beating out TB Jr for the final playoff spot"
Actual- 3-10 narrowly beating out Juan for the "Worst Team of the Year Award"
Well, Dave (& to come later Pat) is the perfect example of why you should always stick with your gut when predicting things. My gut feeling going into last year was that in a league where you can play 2 QBs, you should play 2 QBs, the reason being that QBs put up higher point totals than any other position, and they do it with more week to week consistency than any other position. So that being the case, I had a strong suspicion that the teams that waited to draft their QB(s) (Pat, David, & John H) would struggle because of it. With the exception of John H (more on that later), that gut feeling turned out to be valid.
Dave's struggles certainly weren't completely due to weak QB options. He had the normal DH bad luck with Stafford going down early and Randy Moss (2nd round pick) disappearing from the earth. But he also had some really good fortune as well. Jamaal Charles (3rd round pick) was the #3 fantasy RB, Matt Forte (5th rd pick) was the #8 RB, and McFatten was maybe the biggest steal of the draft being a 9th round pick that ended the year as the #6 RB. So I'd say Dave got equal, or even better value out of low picks than he lost with under performing high picks. The other bit of bad luck Dave had was in the scheduling. His points against was 2nd highest behind only Jolly, and his Pythagorean Expectation win total would be just over 5 wins. So team Blablablabla was definitely a bit better than their record, but still not close to playoff caliber. In the end, the 2 things that I think doomed this team were lack of QB depth & quality, and horrid WR play. (Danny Woodhead was the highest scoring WR on Dave's final roster. Lucky for Dave, after the years of injury plagued teams, odds are in his favor that one of these years he's bound to have a relatively healthy season. Here's to hoping it's this one.
Wheaties (John H)
My Prediction- 6-7 just missing the playoffs
Actual- 10-3 best regular season and 3rd overall in the playoffs
John's is the 2nd team to wait on QB, holding out til round 7 to take VY and then til round 12 to take Bradford as his #2. Bradford ended the year as the #20 QB, and VY ended the year banned from his team facility and on suicide watch. So how on earth did John have the best record in the league?! Believe it or not, Ryan Fitzpatrick saved John's season (along with decent RB & WR production and some help from the scheduling fairy). I have no idea why Fitzpatrick was not valued higher going into the 2011 season, because he was a top 10 fantasy QB last year if you compensate for the first 2 games of the year when the Bills were giving Trent Edwards his one last shot at glory. His first 4 games as a starter he averaged 20 fantasy points a game and was the #1 fantasy QB during that stretch. Fitzpatrick was the #8 QB last year for fantasy points per game and only missed 3 games (the first 2 due to Edwards starting, and week 17 because of a minor injury). So when you consider that Bradford (#20 QB) would have been the ONLY QB option John had after VY went down, quite literally, picking up Fitzy off the waiver wire was the savior of this team. Of course, he needed help from quality RBs which he had in Chris Johnson, Bradshaw, and McCoy, and decent WR options which he also had.
The other thing he had (probably not even worth reading this John since you'll likely disagree with everything I'm about to write) was a lot of help from the scheduling fairy and the rest of the league in the form of under performance when playing against John. Four of his wins came against teams (Me, Johnny, Dave, & Ben) putting up their 2nd or 3rd worst week of the season when playing John, and a 5th, Juan, put up his 4th worst game. John faced the 2nd weakest competition in the league having the 2nd lowest points against total, and despite being the 4th highest scoring team, his Pythagorean Expectation puts his win total at 8 (still plenty good enough to make the playoffs mind you). Now that being said, I'm not at all saying John didn't do a great job with his team, because he absolutely did. He did have some luck go his way, but even without it, he used an unconventional (for this league) philosophy to put together a team that would have competed for 1st place overall even without the breaks of a good schedule. So, kudos to John H on the season and on proving my prediction to be way off.
Shikaka, later Long Division John (Johnny)
My Prediction- 8-5 good enough for top 4 in the league
Actual- 9-4 2nd place regular season, #1 overall
Well, lucky for Johnny (and my prediction for his team) Yahoo's projections mean absolutely squat (which is why I won't be using them for this year's Bold Predictions). His projected point totals from last year were 10th overall for starters, defense, and overall team total, clearly they were a bit off. Fortunately, I was not swayed by those numbers in predicting Johnny's solid season. Of course, Johnny's solid season didn't really stem from his draft anyway, but rather from the 2 early season waiver wire pickups that both turned out to be Mega Millions level winning lottery tickets. Vick and Peyton Hillis were John's #1 and #3 highest scoring players, and he got both of them off the junk heap. When they were combined with solid draft picks S-Jax, Brady, & Bowe, as well as Calvin Johnson picked up in a trade, that's a solid team right there. There really isn't much more to say about John's team, the #1 & #3 QB in a QB heavy league, a top 5 & top 15 RB, and two top 5 WRs are going to put you at or near the top of your league every time, even if you have crap for the rest of your team (which John didn't). Those 2 waiver pickups were possibly the best John will ever see in his life and he certainly made good use of them last year. Congrats again to Johnny on a season well played.
Eugoogoolizers, later Suck-O-Matic (Patty-O)
My Prediction- 7-6 good enough for the final playoff spot
Actual- 6-7 just missing the final playoff spot
Well, Pat *nearly* avoided his playoff missing fate with what was one of the best picks of the draft last year- taking Josh Freeman (#7 QB last season) in the 21st round. But...he dropped him before the season even started and was left with QBs picked in the 8th (Orton) and 11th (G'tard) rounds as his teams 2 options. Lucky for Pat's playoff hopes, Orton turned out to be a sneakily good fantasy QB, before being benched in weeks 15, 16, & 17 while the Broncos gave Tebow a look. If Orton's numbers from weeks 1-14 are projected out over those last 3 games, he finishes the season as the #7 fantasy QB. Garrard was also surprisingly good, missing only one week yet finishing the year as the #13 QB. So when you consider Orton, Garrard, and Freeman's performances, Pat's strategy of waiting on QB could have been an absolute HOME RUN, and even after throwing Freeman away, it still was a solid 2 run double.
So if waiting on QB actually worked ok for Patty-O, what went wrong? Well, a little bit of bad luck, his Pythagorean Expectation was 7 wins, good enough for the playoffs, but mostly it boiled down to the RB position, and believe it or not, IDPs. Because of the high level of player turnover for IDPs, there are no solid stats to look at other than the season totals we keep, but in those categories Pat finished 10th for tackles, 9th for INTs, and 10th for sacks. And on his year end roster Pat had a total of 2 players with more than 80 fantasy points (Tim, Ben & Juan all had 6 IDPs each with more than 100 fantasy points). So I think it's plenty safe to say that defense was a very much a weak spot for Pat's team.
Looking back at Pat's draft, I'm not sure why I predicted him as a playoff team because aside from waiting on QB, I also hate the strategy of going WR heavy in the early rounds of a draft, and Pat took WRs with 3 of his first 4 picks. As already noted, his waiting on QB ended up not hurting him too bad, but the same can not be said for waiting on RB. His 2nd round Mendenhall pick ended up working out ok, but after that, he didn't draft another legitimate RB (Brandon Jackson as a last round flier ended up being an ok pick only because Grant went down week one). In his defense, there was a bit of uncertainty about guys like Sproles & Leon Washington's value due to the return points change, but in the end, both ended up having very little value.
Ultimately, I would say Pat's in season management skills made up very well for what in hindsight I would consider pretty poor draft strategy for this league. Though the QB picks worked out in the end, it's too much of a gamble in my opinion, and going WR heavy instead of RB heavy early is never a winning strategy if you ask me. But, Pat made due.
An even more important question though...how was his strategy this year, and where is he going to end up in this year's Bold Predictions? Come back sometime soon to find out.
For last year my final tally was 6-6 (my last right call was picking myself to make the playoffs). Had some decent calls, but I'll definitely be looking to improve this year.
Vote Results - Tackles and Interceptions
All,
The results for the two votes we recently took are below:
QB Interception -1pts. to -2pts
Out of all votes received, those voting "yes" outnumbered those voting "no" by only one vote, thus there is not sufficient support to make this change. We will continue keeping interceptions at -1pts.
Counting Assisted Tackles into Total Tackles
There was unanimous support for this change in all votes, thus it will be implemented from now on going forward.
The results for the two votes we recently took are below:
QB Interception -1pts. to -2pts
Out of all votes received, those voting "yes" outnumbered those voting "no" by only one vote, thus there is not sufficient support to make this change. We will continue keeping interceptions at -1pts.
Counting Assisted Tackles into Total Tackles
There was unanimous support for this change in all votes, thus it will be implemented from now on going forward.
August 23, 2011
Draft Information and Order
All,
The draft will be at my place on Saturday @ 2pm. Address and directions below, but please call me if you have any issues and feel free to save my number, it won't offend me: 262/705-8433.
Shady Lawn Apartments (big brick building)
920 - 61st Street #3W
Kenosha, WI 53143
-From Green Bay Road turn east onto 60th Street (HWY K)
-You can travel east all the way to Sheridan Road, and take a right onto Sheridan. (close your windows and lock your doors at about 35th Avenue and keep your head looking straight)
-You'll right away see a parking lot on the right. There are two large buildings that kinda share a parking lot. Park in the southern-most side and walk around to the west entrance to the building.
-Enter "1970" as the door code, then enter and ring our doorbell.
Also, I've pasted the rules we made last year regarding this year's draft order in italics. Please let me know if you have any questions. (see original post here)
Pursuant to the Loser's Consolation discussion, the 2011 draft will be as follows with the first four rounds non-serpentine, and the 5th round beginning the serpentine (meaning John Freeborn will still have the last pick in the 5th round, but the first in the 6th).
1. Timothy O'Keefe
2. Patrick O'Keefe
3. Juan Fiallo
4. [Ray Gruhn]
5. David Hamilton
6. Benjamin Saunders
7. Joshua Aulozzi
8. Anthony Barriere Jr.
9. Kyle Jolly
10. John Herrin
11. Anthony Barriere Sr.
12. John Freeborn
Looking forward to Saturday!
The draft will be at my place on Saturday @ 2pm. Address and directions below, but please call me if you have any issues and feel free to save my number, it won't offend me: 262/705-8433.
Shady Lawn Apartments (big brick building)
920 - 61st Street #3W
Kenosha, WI 53143
-From Green Bay Road turn east onto 60th Street (HWY K)
-You can travel east all the way to Sheridan Road, and take a right onto Sheridan. (close your windows and lock your doors at about 35th Avenue and keep your head looking straight)
-You'll right away see a parking lot on the right. There are two large buildings that kinda share a parking lot. Park in the southern-most side and walk around to the west entrance to the building.
-Enter "1970" as the door code, then enter and ring our doorbell.
Also, I've pasted the rules we made last year regarding this year's draft order in italics. Please let me know if you have any questions. (see original post here)
Pursuant to the Loser's Consolation discussion, the 2011 draft will be as follows with the first four rounds non-serpentine, and the 5th round beginning the serpentine (meaning John Freeborn will still have the last pick in the 5th round, but the first in the 6th).
1. Timothy O'Keefe
2. Patrick O'Keefe
3. Juan Fiallo
4. [Ray Gruhn]
5. David Hamilton
6. Benjamin Saunders
7. Joshua Aulozzi
8. Anthony Barriere Jr.
9. Kyle Jolly
10. John Herrin
11. Anthony Barriere Sr.
12. John Freeborn
Looking forward to Saturday!
The Dreaded "Torn ACL"
Need a little help from the commissioners in clarifying the rules regarding the "keepers". Within 24 hours of naming Terrell Thomas as my defensive keeper he blew out his knee and is gone for the season. Am I required to "keep" him or can I replace him with another of my defenders from last year prior to the upcoming draft???
August 22, 2011
Final Keepers from 2010
All,
You've been waiting patiently. Thanks for getting all your keepers in, we're ready to go, each team's keepers are listed below. Let me know if you have any questions. Draft is this Saturday @ 2pm! Information will be e-mailed shortly...
Patrick O'Keefe
Darren McFadden
Tony Romo
Andre Johnson
Michael Turner
John Abraham
Ben Saunders
Matthew Ryan
LeGarrette Blount
Marshawn Lynch
Dez Bryant
Jerod Mayo
Josh Aulozzi
Roddy White
Maurice Jones-Drew
Josh Freeman
Aaron Rodgers
Paul Posluszny
Timothy O'Keefe
Joe Flacco
DeSean Jackson
Ray Rice
Matt Cassel
Clay Matthews
John Freeborn
Philip Rivers
Calvin Johnson
Tom Brady
Arian Foster
Justin Tuck
Kyle Jolly
Michael Vick
Peyton Hillis
Greg Jennings
Frank Gore
Julius Peppers
Juan Francisco Fiallo
Peyton Manning
Hakeem Nicks
Mark Sanchez
Percy Harvin
E.J. Henderson
John Herrin
Sam Bradford
LeSean McCoy
Chris Johnson
Reggie Wayne
Patrick Willis
David Hamilton
Ben Roethlisberger
Jamaal Charles
Rashard Mendenhall
Matthew Stafford
Brian Cushing
Tony Barriere Sr.
Drew Brees
Miles Austin
Larry Fitzgerald
DeAngelo Williams
Terrel Thomas
Tony Barriere Jr.
Eli Manning
Brandon Lloyd
Stevie Johnson
Adrian Peterson
Ray Lewis
Ray Gruhn
Jay Cutler
Mike Wallace
Matt Schaub
Beanie Wells
D.J. Williams
You've been waiting patiently. Thanks for getting all your keepers in, we're ready to go, each team's keepers are listed below. Let me know if you have any questions. Draft is this Saturday @ 2pm! Information will be e-mailed shortly...
Patrick O'Keefe
Darren McFadden
Tony Romo
Andre Johnson
Michael Turner
John Abraham
Ben Saunders
Matthew Ryan
LeGarrette Blount
Marshawn Lynch
Dez Bryant
Jerod Mayo
Josh Aulozzi
Roddy White
Maurice Jones-Drew
Josh Freeman
Aaron Rodgers
Paul Posluszny
Timothy O'Keefe
Joe Flacco
DeSean Jackson
Ray Rice
Matt Cassel
Clay Matthews
John Freeborn
Philip Rivers
Calvin Johnson
Tom Brady
Arian Foster
Justin Tuck
Kyle Jolly
Michael Vick
Peyton Hillis
Greg Jennings
Frank Gore
Julius Peppers
Juan Francisco Fiallo
Peyton Manning
Hakeem Nicks
Mark Sanchez
Percy Harvin
E.J. Henderson
John Herrin
Sam Bradford
LeSean McCoy
Chris Johnson
Reggie Wayne
Patrick Willis
David Hamilton
Ben Roethlisberger
Jamaal Charles
Rashard Mendenhall
Matthew Stafford
Brian Cushing
Tony Barriere Sr.
Drew Brees
Miles Austin
Larry Fitzgerald
DeAngelo Williams
Terrel Thomas
Tony Barriere Jr.
Eli Manning
Brandon Lloyd
Stevie Johnson
Adrian Peterson
Ray Lewis
Ray Gruhn
Jay Cutler
Mike Wallace
Matt Schaub
Beanie Wells
D.J. Williams
August 20, 2011
Even More Last Minute Trade
Kyle Jolly and I have agreed to a trade.
Kyle gets:
Michael Vick
Peyton Hillis
John gets:
Philip Rivers
Arian Foster
Kyle gets:
Michael Vick
Peyton Hillis
John gets:
Philip Rivers
Arian Foster
Last Minute Trade
All,
I have another trade.
Tony Sr. gets
Pat's 6th Round Pick
Larry Fitzgerald
Pat Gets
Tony's 3rd Round Pick
Before anyone accuses me, even jokingly, of extending the trade parameters for my benefit, this trade was offered to me at 11:19pm on 8/17, and I posted the extension at 7:41pm on 8/17! So booyah John!
I have another trade.
Tony Sr. gets
Pat's 6th Round Pick
Larry Fitzgerald
Pat Gets
Tony's 3rd Round Pick
Before anyone accuses me, even jokingly, of extending the trade parameters for my benefit, this trade was offered to me at 11:19pm on 8/17, and I posted the extension at 7:41pm on 8/17! So booyah John!
August 17, 2011
Trade Deadline
All,
John Freeborn brought up a good point... the trade deadline will be end of day Saturday, and Josh, David and I will approve or reject any last-minute trades. As a reminder, keepers are due by end of day Sunday!
Let me know if any questions... 262/705-8433 or iampatokeefe@gmail.com
John Freeborn brought up a good point... the trade deadline will be end of day Saturday, and Josh, David and I will approve or reject any last-minute trades. As a reminder, keepers are due by end of day Sunday!
Let me know if any questions... 262/705-8433 or iampatokeefe@gmail.com
August 1, 2011
"Ideas for 2011"
When are we going to vote on the new ideas for 2011 to see if they get a 100% league approval?
July 27, 2011
T-T-T-Trades
Alright, so I'm interested in making some trades! I wouldn't say that Vick or Brady are off-limits but it'd have to be a really good offer. But I'm willing to trade the following players, in any combination, for either a RB1, draft picks, or some combination of picks and players:
Vincent Jackson
Dwayne Bowe
Calvin Johnson
Santonio Holmes
Kevin Kolb (soon to be traded and throwing to Larry Fitzgerald)
Steven Jackson
Peyton Hillis
Jonathan Stewart
More than anything I would like to acquire a high quality Running Back; but again, I'm also willing to trade players for draft picks.
Either comment here, tweet me @johnfreeborn, email me at jfreeborn1@gmail.com, or text/call me at 262.358.2026.
Vincent Jackson
Dwayne Bowe
Calvin Johnson
Santonio Holmes
Kevin Kolb (soon to be traded and throwing to Larry Fitzgerald)
Steven Jackson
Peyton Hillis
Jonathan Stewart
More than anything I would like to acquire a high quality Running Back; but again, I'm also willing to trade players for draft picks.
Either comment here, tweet me @johnfreeborn, email me at jfreeborn1@gmail.com, or text/call me at 262.358.2026.
July 2, 2011
Offseason Trade #1
I Kick Yo Butt Again and I have agreed to a trade.
Josh gets:
Maurice Jones-Drew
Pat's 2nd Round Pick
Pat's 4th Round Pick
Pat gets:
Tony Romo
Michael Turner
Josh's 3rd Round Pick
Josh's 6th Round Pick
Josh gets:
Maurice Jones-Drew
Pat's 2nd Round Pick
Pat's 4th Round Pick
Pat gets:
Tony Romo
Michael Turner
Josh's 3rd Round Pick
Josh's 6th Round Pick
June 29, 2011
Draft and Keeper Deadline
Gentlemen (and lady),
Looking at doing the draft at 2pm on Saturday, August 27. Let me know if you have issues at this point. If you work on Saturdays, please try to get off somehow, schedules will need to get adjusted here and there, as we're all busy.
If this works for everyone, the deadline to claim your keepers will be Sunday, August 21 at 11:59pm CST. You can claim who you want by then by just e-mailing me.
Response to this post and let me know if it works.
Thanks!
P.S. Yes I said "and lady", because we have the pleasure of having Tony Jr.'s wife Kendal in as a proxy manager for Tony while he is away getting his butt kicked in boot camp! Kendal, from what I hear, brags an extremely successful track record in my wife's fantasy football league, and I know she'll do a great job managing Tony's team!
Looking at doing the draft at 2pm on Saturday, August 27. Let me know if you have issues at this point. If you work on Saturdays, please try to get off somehow, schedules will need to get adjusted here and there, as we're all busy.
If this works for everyone, the deadline to claim your keepers will be Sunday, August 21 at 11:59pm CST. You can claim who you want by then by just e-mailing me.
Response to this post and let me know if it works.
Thanks!
P.S. Yes I said "and lady", because we have the pleasure of having Tony Jr.'s wife Kendal in as a proxy manager for Tony while he is away getting his butt kicked in boot camp! Kendal, from what I hear, brags an extremely successful track record in my wife's fantasy football league, and I know she'll do a great job managing Tony's team!
June 14, 2011
John Wayne
Hello Everyone,
I can't think of any way to soften or ease into this, so I'm just going to post what's been on my mind lately.
The lockout sucks.
Obviously, I think everyone agrees. Where things get sticky, is what that means for this league. It has gotten to the point where now some teams are at serious disadvantages to other teams. In terms of the NFL, you have new coaching staffs in Carolina, Tennessee, Denver, Oakland, San Francisco, Minnesota, and Cleveland, and new offensive coordinators in St. Louis and Cincinnati, and those are just the ones I can think of off the top of my head. None of those regimes have been able to get playbooks to their players, sign players, and start implementing their systems. All of those players are now at a disadvantage.
Further, there has not been free agency yet. That means players like, say, Terrell Owens, DeAngelo Williams, or possibly Donovan McNabb, have no idea where they will be when the season starts (if it starts), and will not have the time necessary to learn the playbook well enough to be as effective as a player in a more stable situation such as a Michael Turner.
All of this makes it difficult to imagine having a level playing field in the NFL, let alone in our league this next season. Can the season still be salvaged? For the NFL, sure, but I'm beginning to think some "irreparable harm" has been done in our Fantasy Football League.
It's one thing to point out a problem; anyone can do that. But to recommend a solution? That is much more difficult.
I think we scrap the keeper league for a year. Play Fantasy Football on a one-year term this year, redraft and all, and then maybe start a new keeper league in 2012 (this is all supposing a deal gets done for games to be played this season).
I'm open to other ideas, comments or suggestions, but I think this needs to be seriously discussed, and sooner rather than later.
Yours truly,
John Herrin "Urine Trouble"
P.S. :And before any of you start calling me a whiner just because I lost, I did take 3rd in the league last year, and I'm a VERY close second in points overall. I stand to lost a lot by losing fantasy football this year. I just want to play on a fun, level playing field.
January 15, 2011
2010 Rosters
Here are the rosters from 2010. These are the rosters we determine keepers off of, and any offseason trades. Any player not on this master list is eligible for draft for the 2011 season.
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