Day 17 - How to Win at Fantasy Football

Today I am going to inform you on how to win at fantasy football. My qualifications are as follows: I've played in 11 leagues in my life with typically 1-2 played per NFL season. Looking back through my leagues, I've finished as the top regular season scorer 6 times and the winner of the playoffs 5 times (there is no correlation between the two results as I've been the top regular season scorer and been eliminated in the first round of the playoffs in the same season 3 times >.<). This past season I was the top regular season scorer but was eliminated in the semi-finals in a matchup which pitted me against the top single game score of the season.

While I realize each league is different with roster setup, scoring, and drafting, the following bits of wisdom will help you score points no matter what your league structure is:

1. Do not translate personal bias into fantasy bias
Just because you have issues with a particular player does not mean that player won't score you tons of fantasy points. If Brett Favre is the best player available (hint: he's not), then I would begrudgingly play him in fantasy football despite my strong feelings about his me me me attention whoring traitorous ways. This year I drafted Adrian Peterson #1 overall despite him playing his college and professional career for two teams that I hate (Oklahoma in college, Minnesota in the NFL). Even with a number of injuries, he's the #2 running back in our league (through week 16). Desean Jackson is a tool (see examples 1 and 2, there are many many more) but when he was dropped by another team in my league during an injured/low production stretch I scooped him up as a healthy Desean Jackson with a healthy Michael Vick throwing to him puts up a ton of fantasy points.

2. Draft advice
a. Do not draft players who share their position with another stud on the their team
Splitting carries for running backs or targets for wide receivers means a lower potential fantasy value. Adrian Peterson, Chris Johnson, and Maurice Jones-Drew are all "the guy" at running back for their respective teams and pick up the bulk of the running game points. Likewise Dwayne Bowe, Calvin Johnson, and Roddy White are all "the guy" at receiver and as a result had more targets simply by being much better players than the other members of their team. Meanwhile, Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw of the New York Giants (both drafted high in most leagues) would both be fantasy studs if they were the feature back of their team. However, the carry split dropped them from stud to decent fantasy option. There are of course exceptions, notably Jamaal Charles (#4 RB) and Thomas Jones of the Kansas City Chiefs, but this is more due to the disproportionate number of running plays called by the Chiefs (no one in the NFL had more called runs).

b. Do not draft players from teams known for resting players late in the season
I learned my lesson many seasons ago. While all teams give their starters some rest once their playoff positioning is locked up, some teams just flat out stop playing their stars. Do not draft Peyton Manning if you want to win in the post-season. If he scores you boatloads of points in the regular season then the Colts will likely have their playoff position locked up before week 17 and he'll ride the bench the rest of the way screwing you over. Meanwhile, the Patriots and Giants have shown a willingness to play their starters through the end of the season (or at least most of the games) and keep the team hot for the postseason. Drafting players from teams like these and teams that will likely still be playing for something through the end of the season will go a long way towards fantasy playoff success.

3. In-season advice
a. Be active with adds/drops
The top four teams in my league in number of add/drops were also the four teams that made the semi-finals.  I had the most add/drops with 29 and finished #1 in total points scored.  The #2 QB (Michael Vick), #3 RB (Peyton Hillis), #2 WR (Brandon Lloyd), and #4 TE (Marcedes Lewis) were all undrafted in most leagues.  It's been well documented that in-season transactions matter much more than the draft as the draft is only based on preseason biases and doesn't reflect matchups and how the player is performing that season.


b. Play the matchup with your defense
Unless you draft a top tier fantasy defense (one that generates turnovers, sacks, and defensive touchdowns), just play the matchup each week for your defense.  The top fantasy defenses this year were the Steelers, Patriots, Packers, and Bears.  If you didn't have one of these four, your best play was to check the matchups every week and add/drop to the best matchup.  The best matchups this year were whichever defense was playing Arizona, Carolina, or a rookie recently signed quarterback (see Houston Texans defense, dead last against the pass, shutting out the Tennessee Titans and their rookie one game QB Rusty Smith).


4. Have fun and talk shit
Fantasy is much more enjoyable when you give each other shit or win beers from betting that you're going to beat your opponent that week.  Gary, I'm looking forward to that cold one.


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Exercise Journal
Thursday - Dog Walk: +1
Cumulative Total: +10

Day 16 - Web Find: The Daily Patdown

The Daily Patdown is a relevant daily photo upload website that provides you with "Your Daily Dose of Security Threat".  The website is fairly new (created December 1) and features a photo a day from the new TSA patdowns.  The photos range from toddlers to the elderly to Jolly Old Saint Nick.  Feel free to add it to your time waster websites.

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Exercise Journal
Tuesday - C25K: +1
Wednesday - Circuit Training, Dog Walk: +2
Cumulative Total: +9

Day 15 - Song of the Week: Nightwish - Nemo

Nightwish's Nemo is an excellent song from a fantastic symphonic metal band that you have likely never heard of.  Nemo, in the case of this song, is Latin for "nobody".  The character in the song is lost living a life without purpose or meaning and wanting more.  It's quite depressing and at the same time I find it somewhat moving.



I do really enjoy Nightwish even with the sometimes depression-driven lyrics that their songwriter/keyboardist Tuomas churns out.  I should note that if you go out and look for some of their more recent work, you'll find that Nightwish has a new vocalist.  A few years ago the core members of the band replaced the lead singer, Tarja Turunen, due to conflicts with her personal manager/husband.  I'm not as big of a fan of her replacement, Anette Olzon, but she's gets the job done and from all accounts the band is better for it.

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Exercise Journal
Monday - Circuit Training: +1, Dog Walk: +1
Cumulative Total: +6

Day 14 - HIV cure and Element of the Week: Neodymium

An American male living in Berlin has been cured of HIV according to an article published in the journal Blood.  In 2007, he was given a transplant of stem cells and a bone marrow transplant to treat Leukemia that he had developed as a result of the HIV.  The donor happened to be an individual who is part of the 1% of the population that is naturally HIV resistant due to lacking receptors that the HIV virus normally attacks.  The result of the transplant was that he was cured of both ailments.  The initial concern was that the HIV would return and progress once the cancer treatments had been discontinued.  It has now been over 3 years and doctors are convinced that his HIV is gone for good.

The success hasn't come without limitations.  The patient has been left with neurological conditions that include blindness and memory loss.  Also, the treatments are extremely costly as he basically received full standard cancer treatments and the stem cell treatments.  Finally, it required a donor that represents and extremely small part of the population.

All of the limitations aside, this success certainly asks the question: Shouldn't we push to take this technology as far as it can go?

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Element of the Week: Neodymium

Neodymium is the 60th chemical element and a "rare earth metal".  Contrary to its name, this element is hardly rare.  It is found quite commonly among mineral deposits as neodymium (iii) oxide.  Neodymium is most widely used in magnets as magnets made from this element are the most powerful permanent magnets.  Many electronic devices use neodymium magnets due to the abundance of the material and its effectiveness.

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Exercise Journal
Thursday - C25K: +1
Friday - Nope: -3
Saturday - Food coma: -3 (should be -30 due to all of the food consumption)
Sunday - 30 minute dog walk, 30 minute batting cages: +2
Cumulative Total: +4

Day 13 - Santa Roscoe

Been busy with Christmas stuff, hence the lack of posting.  Just popping in so that Santa Roscoe can wish y'all a Merry Christmas.

(More pictures of Santa Roscoe to come)

Day 12 - Web Find: The Oatmeal

One of my favorite websites is Matthew Inman's The Oatmeal.  He primarily illustrates comics on a variety of topics ranging from "how to use a semicolon" (grammar matters, people) to "what it's like to own an apple product" and "six reason to ride a polar bear to work".  He uses over the top expressions and animations to get his point across and be hilariously awesome.

A personal favorites is this one about Captain Higgins, a parasitic flatworm.  Go check it out, read some of his other comics, and maybe even buy some stuff from his store.

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Exercise Journal
Today - Circuit Training: +1
Cumulative Total: +7

Day 11 - Sports: Quidditch for Muggles

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Exercise Journal
Tuesday - C25K: +1
Cumulative Total: +6