Peterson and I worked out: No big deal

I went up to Minnesota to check on my boy.  He's doing pretty well.  We decided to have a little competition while I was up there.  I got a medal for besting him in a bench press competition and in the 40 yard dash. He was a good sport about it though.  His friend was a little confused by the whole situation.  I also beat Percy Harvin, but he said camera flashes give him migraines, so he couldn't pose for the picture.  I also grew a little taller since the last time any of you have seen me, just in case you didn't think this was legit.

 

Compensation Subtelties

I would like to point out one of the finer points of fantasy football.  Of course you know about balance in terms of not loading up on a single position.  But I suggest there is a finer balance than this, and it comes in the form of player compensation (and not the monetary type but one player on a team picking up the slack for another player).  If this seems esoteric for now, let me try to clarify using myself as an example.

Last year the Vikings were a good team, there's no doubt about that.  Adrian Peterson had a career year and so did Brett Favre, Sidney Rice, and Visanthe Shiancoe.  There were plenty of points to go around.  Because of this, and the fact that I had Peterson, it benefited me greatly that I had Rice as well.  The thinking is this, although I limit myself in the ability to put up ridiculous numbers with my top WR and RB on the same team, I also make my team more consistent.  It would have been better for me to have Favre and Peterson instead of Rice and Peterson simply because I could really get points from basically every bit of offense and not just the receptions by Rice and the rushes by Peterson.   I also did the same thing with Derrick Mason and Ray Rice.  The idea: find a high-powered offense and get two players on it (one in the passing game and one in the running game).

Contrast this to Everett's team.  This was also a great team last year, but there were NO players on his roster playing for the same team.  This led to some ridiculous weeks (week 2 for example with 224 points), but also wild swings from one week to the next (week 1 he only scored 72 points).

On the other hand, it is a bad thing to roster more than one RB or WR on the same team other than handcuffs.  If the passing game or running game is shut down, both players suffer.  Moreover, it can be maddening trying to figure out which RB to start (ask Ben or Tyler).

Finally, it is not necessary to roster players from the same team if you can find a favorable matchup schedule which serves the same purpose. This, however, is much more difficult than getting two players on the same team.

Just DO NOT draft more than two players on the same team if you plan on starting all of them.  This can be a disaster. Just see my '08 draft (i.e. worst draft in history) for evidence of this plan backfiring.

The Junta

Junta, a term used throughout Hispanic history has been used to describe a number of different governing organizations. Each Junta is different and defined by its own people, structure, and function in history. Generally, Juntas are the first group of leaders to take hold of a young country or to signify a radical change in policy or culture.

My team name, The Junta, is being used this season not only to describe the attitude of my Fantasy Team but a new era in Upstanding Pirate Gentlemen history. To assume that our history is defined so simply by the work of a few individuals is myopic in understanding our league. Upstanding Pirate Gentlemen will continue for a long time and starting this year everyone will see that our history can never be set in stone and The Junta will begin its reign on the people of the UPG League.

The photo above of a certain Junta represents the dark side of history that these small groups of leaders can represent. Let this photo be a warning to everyone in UPG that my Junta will do what it takes to win and to lead this League of Upstanding Pirate Gentlemen.

The Panty Dropper

Let's face it, it's hard to beat Jason Swinney as a team name.  However, Taylor's feeble mind cannot get past the confusion caused by this.  As such, my new team name is The Panty Dropper in homage to Kenny Powers' jet ski of the same name.

Avatar Depression

For those of you who are unaware, a few months ago, Taylor and Ben had a conversation with Tyler regarding the movie "Avatar." After a discussing a few of the finer details involved with Tyler's experience, Ben and Taylor got on WebMD and quickly diagnosed Tyler with Avatar Depression. His treatment for this affliction has been aggressive, and we're all hoping for the best, but keep him in your thoughts.

Team Names That Didn't Make the Cut

Tibetan Dream Yogi

The Voynich Manuscript

Bilderburg Club

and

The Palaiologos Dynasty

Stabbing Robot

Purple City Byrd Gang

I like HAL's idea of providing some context for our team names.

Predictions

Lets have some fun with some preseason predictions. I like to think of myself as the king of Fanstasy Magazines. The most confusing part of each magazine are all the "expert" predictions. Without giving away too many draft day secrets, I would love to see some individual posts predicting some of the following categories:
Most Productive RB:
Most Overrated RB:
Most Productive WR:
Most Overrated WR:
Most Productive QB:
Most Overrated QB:
Old but Good:
Least Sexy Good Pick:
Most Sexy Bad Pick:
Overvalued:
Undervalued:
Biggest Surprise Players:
Impact Rookie:
Breakout Player:
Biggest Busts:
Sleepers:

I understand that some may not want to give away too much of their draft day secrets...but I think this could be interesting. Put me down for Derrick Ward as most undervalued.

White Death

Simo Häyhä was nicknamed White Death by the Soviet Armed Forces during the Winter War of 1939-40 where the Soviet Union attacked Finland. In less than 100 days, White Death racked up 505 confirmed sniper kills in weather that was in between -4 degrees and -40 degrees fahrenheit. The majority of the war took place in a region known as Kolla with the Finnish outnumbered by the Soviets in many of the battles somewhere around 50 to 1. Kolla also happened to be where White Death spent years hunting and developing his skills as an outdoorsman.

White Death dressed in all white camoflauge, packed the snow around his sniper when firing to prevent puffs of snow when he shot, and continually kept snow in his mouth to prevent his exhaled breath from being seen. He would spend months in the forested, mountainous region of Kolla living off the land and sniping Soviet units.

After nicknaming him White Death, the Soviets sent a special task force to kill White Death. White Death killed them all. Then, the Soviets sent a team of countersnipers to kill White Death. White Death killed all of them, as well. Since no Soviet wanted to get anywhere near White Death and his iron-sighted "spitz," a remarkably outdated weapon and scope even in 1939, the Soviets just bombed everywhere they had intel on possible locations of White Death. He wasn't injured.

Aaron Rodgers, Ray Rice, and I are now White Death.

Keeper Cost

Well, well, well.  The rankings are finally out, and, I must say, Yahoo has actually done a pretty decent job this year in my not-so-humble opinion.  Regardless of what I think, we finally have a cost associated with keeping each player.  I will list the round of the pick you will sacrifice for a given player.  If you are fortunate enough, as am I, to have two players in the first round, you will be giving up a 1st and 2nd round pick, if that has somehow been missed on you before.  Without further adieu...

Round 1:
1. Chris Johnson
2. Adrian Peterson
3. Maurice Jones-Drew
4. Ray Rice
5. Michael Turner
6. Frank Gore
7. Andre Johnson
8. Rashard Mendenhall
10. DeAngelo Williams

*Note: there are only 9 players listed for Round 1 because Ryan Matthews is ranked ninth.

Round 2:
11. Steven Jackson
12. Randy Moss
13. Shonn Greene
14. Reggie Wayne
15. Aaron Rodgers
16. Calvin Johnson
17. Drew Brees
18. Larry Fitzgerald
19. Roddy White
20. Peyton Manning

Round 3:
21. Jamaal Charles  (Looking like a pretty decent value as a 3rd round pick...just sayin')
22. Ryan Grant
23. Miles Austin
24. Sidney Rice
25. Pierre Thomas
26. Brandon Marshall
27. Beanie Wells
28. DeSean Jackson
30. Greg Jennings

*Note: there are only 9 players listed for Round 3 because Jahvid Best is ranked 29th.

Round 4:
31. Cedric Benson
32. Tony Romo
33. Marques Colston
34. Matt Schaub
35. LeSean McCoy
36. Steve Smith (Car)
37. Knowshon Moreno
38. Dallas Clark
39. Jonathan Stewart
40. Antonio Gates

Round 5:
41. Philip Rivers
42. Anquan Boldin
43. Steve Smith (NYG)
44. Joseph Addai
45. Tom Brady
46. Vernon Davis
47. Felix Jones
48. Ronnie Brown
49. Chad Ochocinco
50. Jermichael Finley

If you are seriously considering keeping someone beyond the 50th ranked player, you can look that shit up yourself.  And while you are doing that, you might want to reconsider.  Although, here's one John may actually consider...Matt Forte (63).

Naming Names: Season of Anger

It's that time of year again. The Commissioner has sent out the invites. The league is being populated. Soon, team names will be revealed. I think I speak for all of us when I say this is by far the most important and exciting part of the fantasy season. Just like last year, I'm going to offer my two cents on the best and worst names in our league's storied history.

The Best:

3) Blackbeard's Delight: From Seinfeld to Anchorman to Arrested Development, the Captain is a model of consistency in terms of naming names. While I enjoyed his last entry, The Seaward, Blackbeard's Delight remains the Captain's crowing achievement. (Yes, even more impressive than his 3 trips to the playoffs and championship ring.) While so many of us are hit and miss, we can all look forward to yet another clever moniker from the Captain's repository of obscure sitcom references.

2) Western Front: Luigi took it to the house with this one. For those of you who think this entry is overrated, consider the following: 1) I am admittedly a sucker for political references; 2) the name was chosen while many of the gentlemen that call this league home were engaged in a heated game of Diplomacy; and 3) the mysterious symbol selected by Luigi garners this entry bonus points. Iron Curtain was a worthy sequel, but Western Front remains Luigi's masterpiece.

1) Lord Armstrangler: Where to begin for the aid of the uninitiated? Well, back in undergrad, the Commish and many of the other gentlemen were drafting players onto our NBA Live squads. For some reason, the Commish selected Darrell Armstrong with his first round pick. If you can't see the humor in this fact, well, I just don't know what to tell you. His team name was actually an anagram of "Darrell Armstrong," and it wasn't even one of those stupid anagrams that end up being just a bunch of gibberish strung together. And to top it off, he used a picture of Darrell "Lord Armstrangler" Armstrong as his symbol - a mug shot no less. Wow. Just wow.

The Worst

3) Woody's Warriors: This one is growing on me a bit. I mean "Woody" is at least a nickname for Woodrow. But again, I don't like it. Too much like Jimmy's Jammers or Taylor's Tigers.

2) Obamistic: I hate this name. Maybe part of it is because Luigi abandoned Western Front for this garbage. Regardless, this could end up being my least favorite name of all time by next season.

1) Bengals are Back: Woodrow, I'm sorry. It's just that, well, it's just that this team name is actually a sentence. For some reason, that just doesn't appeal to me. I don't know what to say.

So there you have it. These rankings reflect my opinions and really aren't worth anything. So there. You might really hate my team names. Or maybe you don't care about team names. And maybe if I cared less about team names my teams would actually make the playoffs. Then again, probably not.

Let's put it to a vote.

I am starting to feel like I don't have a say in anything anymore.  We really don't have enough votes in this league. Is anyone feeling like this?  Let us vote:

Aye if you think we should vote on more things more often.

Also, let's vote to increase the weight of all votes by 150%.

I vote Aye, Aye.  Who's with me?

State of the League

Though it saddens me greatly that we will not be able to have a live draft, I think I speak for the all the Gentlemen in thanking Jason for handling this complicated issue and on top of that, offering to host us on Labor Day weekend. Your value to this league is immeasurable, and you are a prime example of a pirate gentlemen. I hate it that you have somehow been linked to such an unscrupulous lot just because you have had ample success in this league. In addition, I appreciate Scott stepping up to create the ballot needed to secure the must needed changes that will take our league in a promising new direction. Though I did not authorize the ballot, Scott has never done anything to jeopardize the league and his passion for fantasy and good competition are both virtuous. I will allow its results to stand after speaking with the "irrelevant" members of the league that Traitor sees as "just teams to beat".

Thinking about our past, the only certainty in our league has been change. It is a testament to our league's principles, the character of its managers, and the spirit of upstanding pirateness to which we have devoted ourselves that our league continues to thrive. Just so we are clear, the following changes to our league have been made:
1) Traitor and Scott have traded Michael Turner and Ray Rice straight up. I love this gamesmanship and believe this will finally solve the mystery, who was the brains behind that first ever Gentleman's Game Champ.
2) Keepers will now cost managers the pick in the round they are projected to be drafted.
3) Keepers projected value will be based on the yahoo rankings (player listing) when the league is created.
4) Waiver wire will be instituted at the beginning of the first weeks game and end on Tuesday. The order of who has first dibs at players will rotate weekly. It will no longer be a free-for-all on Sunday.
5) Lastly, as of now our draft will be on gchat and is scheduled for Sunday evening, August 29th.

To put to rest all the fear stirred by FOX news Ben who has taken his game to a whole new level, I will be the first to tell you this league will go on forever. We may have our differences, we may lose members along the way, and some may try to stage the occasional coup, but this league will never die. For all to read, here is Traitor Payne's recent gchat with Ben.

Taylor: i'm naming myself commissioner today and taking over the league
do i have your support
i already have three others behind me
Ben: who is the third
Taylor: everett
Taylor: we are the power
he's just been the puppet.
all i have to do is say i'm commissioner and i'm commish

Mr. Hal, consider this your official warning and reprimand. First you go behind's Scott's back and rub his name out of the Gentlemen's game trophy. Second, you mock the name of our league with your hurtful words about its managers. But lastly, you discuss mutiny. You want to stage a coup..... You are behaving like a selfish child. You are delirious from your minor success and dangerously power hungry. This is your warning. If you continue to act like a fool you will be placed on suspension from our league. I have already spoken with league elders and have in place alternate 1A should you continue to behave in a way unbecoming of this league. I am the commissioner. No votes, no Big 3, no secret meetings, no gchat discussions will change that. Don't bite the hand that feeds you. This league has brought you success and respect. With that comes responsibility. If you feel that I am not doing my job as commissioner well, man up and let me know. Otherwise, keep your complaints to yourself. I know this league is much bigger than me...do you?

Here comes the email invites. Merry Christmas

James Carl Cuatro and His Votes

Jimmy has entrusted me, his most likable and best white friend to serve as his voice for changes to the league. This text message was in regards to our most recent votes but since Jim doesn't work email so good and I am sure rarely checks our blog, let's take a vote now deciding if Jimmy's vote can be got through me. I think it is a good idea to expedite things and keep this league from falling apart. I'll text him, or take him to hooters so we can talk about the issues, I promise.

Let's Do This Thing

Look, I’m a man. A married man with a child. Compromise is as much a part of my diet as Taco Bell and 80's music (the latter is only figuratively), but that doesn’t make this any easier. There simply are no ideal dates in which we can do a live draft. I’ve spoken with the league elders, and they have advised me that they would rather everyone make a sacrifice and draft on-line instead of trying to hold a live draft and leaving a couple of unfortunate teams to be held hostage by the whims of autodrafting.

Our lives have become so crazy and busy that even scheduling an on-line draft that meets everyone’s demands is tougher than Taylor trying to get straight answers from John. My proposal is that we schedule an on-line draft for 7 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on Sunday, August 29, 2010. The time of day is certainly negotiable, but amazingly, out of the nine of you who voted, this was the only day on which everyone wrote that he would be able to draft in some form.

To soften the obvious disappointment from not drafting together as the family that we are, I’m still more than happy to have any and all of you bunk up with me in Louisville over Labor Day weekend for some sod field football, swimming, and generalized tom foolery. This will be just a few days after the draft, and we can only hope that a marquee player has gotten injured in a subsequent pre-season game, opening the door for unlimited taunting to that player’s unfortunate owner. I believe the UK-UofL football game will also be that evening, so there will be entertainment to carry us through the evening. If all else fails, we can always resort to You Tube videos of Norm McDonald. Please vote in the comments section to let everyone know if an on-line draft on August 29 suits you. If we get a consensus approval, then I’ll release the white smoke.

This is Worth Saving

Guys,

I realize today has been horrible. Somehow everything has started spinning out of control, and it looks like our league of once-merry gentlemen could collapse at any moment. But let me say this, because if I don't I know I will regret it next fall when I'm missing you guys - THIS IS WORTH SAVING. We can't let one terrible day ruin something that has brought us so much joy. It would be really easy to just let this whole thing slip through our fingers. But we should take the path less traveled. I can honestly say it will be worth it. This league is worth more than all of the gold and iron ore in the world. Worth more than all the natural resources and talismans combined.

There are at least 3 issues we have to address if we want to save this league:

1) The Draft

It seems crazy that just 24 hours ago we were all looking forward to a day of touch football and drafting in the Captain's man cave. And now look at us - the draft has been called off, certain individuals are refusing to participate at all, and there is talk of auto-drafting for up to 2 teams.

My solution: We draft in pod formation. I think is the one solution we can all agree on.

2) Special Teams/Kick Returners

Luigi thinks special teams/kick returners should be more expensive this year. By this, I think he means that kick returners should be awarded more points for yards. What say you?

My solution: A good, old-fashioned vote. This may change the keeper situation somewhat, but that's a small price to pay, isn't it?

3) Secret Emails

Luigi dropped a bombshell in the email thread about special teams. (Check your google accounts.) Apparently, the Power 3 have been engaged in communications aimed at undermining the democratic principles of the gentlemen's game. I'm not sure I have a problem with this, but I also do not believe that I understand the full extent of their machinations. Jimmy may have quit upon learning of these actions.

My solution: Compromise - it's the only way.

Gentlemen,

Please sound off in the talkbox. I'm worried about what we're becoming and where we're headed. I hope we're headed somewhere, and I hope all of you hope we're headed somewhere as well. Because I think it will be great. Remember - THIS IS WORTH SAVING.

Things needing votes

1: Still need votes from Jimmy, Everett, and Steve regarding the trade of Ray Rice for Michael Turner. Or Tyler could close the voting and announce the trade a go as it stands at 4 ayes to 1 nay.

2: It has been proposed to lose the keeper in the round he's projected.  Responses have been favorable, but no official vote has been made.

3: Projection used:  I propose sticking with Yahoo since no one has actually seen the official rankings yet.

4: Waiver wire change.  It has been proposed to change the waiver wire rules so as to make it not first-come-first serve.  Each player would get his player off the wire on Tuesday presumably, and the player would be awarded in order of waiver priority.  Again, responses have seemed favorable as of yet, but no official vote has been made.

Please vote yay or nay on all four issues in the comments. I am instituting a deadline of this Friday.  If votes are not in by then, the majority wins.   
  

Draft Day

The NFL season starts on September 9. We must draft before that day. Our original idea was to have the draft on Labor Day Weekend, which would be September 3 - 5.

Brandon and John have both stated they will be unable to attend the Draft on that weekend. John will be in OKC for a month, and Brandon has to work.

Everett will be in Las Vegas and could only make it on Friday the 3rd. Jim has stated he would be able to make it on Friday night.

I believe the rest of us have open schedules for that weekend.

So, do we have it another weekend in hopes Brandon could definitely make it? Brandon submit any dates you would be in Louisville or could be in Louisville.

Do we find an earlier weekend to draft? John submit any dates you could be in Louisville. Or at least, please let us know when you will be in OKC and cannot make it.

Regardless, we need to find a time the most people can be there, looks like Friday night if we do it Labor Day Weekend, and work out a time where John and Brandon can link up via video chat.

Use the comments.

It's a Passing League

With the game evolving into a speed-based offense, most fantasy football experts are finally starting to see the value at the quarterback position. Many have noticed the shifting of the league from a power-based running game towards a pass-oriented attack, but this might be the first time I'm seeing this trend realized in fantasy projections. A lot of this had to do with the Patriots success in the 2007 season, with virtually no running game at all. They compenstated by developing a passing game designed to pick up three or four yards at a time, employing four or five widouts, and allowing Welker to work underneath the linebackers. Essentially, it accomplished the same effect as a quality running game because it sucked more guys into the box and opened up the deep part of the field for Randy Moss to operate. From my observations, I think a lot of teams are moving towards some variation of this type of offense. Clearly, OC's are not going to abandon the running game completely, but the shift to smaller, quicker RB's is for their ability to catch the ball in the flat, make guys miss, and do damage in more open parts of the field. With that said, in years' past I've always felt like a great quarterback was extremely helpful to any fantasy team; however, this may be the first year where I think having a top-notch QB is essential to fantasy success. Here's my breakdown of the QB spot this year:

Top Tier:
Drew Brees
Aaron Rodgers
(I would sacrifice a first round pick on either guy after Peterson, Johnson, Jones-Drew, Rice, Turner, and A. Johnson were off the board. Brees is guaranteed to give you 4300 plus yards and 30 plus TDs. Rodgers will give you 4100 yards and 25 TDs, plus 200 to 400 rushing yards, and 3 or more rushing TDs. The crazy thing is, I think these are the conservative figures for both QBs. They have a ton of weapons, and both teams have OC's that like to throw the ball. Brees only downside is the Saints may be up big in games, so they run the ball most of the 4th. Rodgers only downside is a weak offensive line, so he risks injury and less time for the deep attack. However, it should be better than last year, and last year he managed to top all fantasy QBs. These guys are worth any pick from 7-10.)

Second Tier:
Manning
Brady
Rivers
Romo
Schaub
(Manning is incredible. His fall out of the top tier is that the Colts have shown to have a more balanced attack under Caldwell. They also win a lot of games and simply run the ball in the 4th. However, the emergence of Garcon and Collie, and the return of Anthony Gonzalez may provide Manning with the best receiving corp he's ever had. That's scary. Everyone expects Brady to have a big year. Last year was his first from returning after knee surgery, and he's got even more weapons around him. If Welker isn't ready to go, Edelman looked completely legit to take over slot duties. Moss continues to be an incredible deep threat who demands a double team. Rivers, Romo, and Schaub: Here's what I love about these guys, they all have great tight ends for check downs, they all have incredible deep threats, and all have a group of running backs who can catch the ball out of the backfield, make guys miss in open space, and take screen passes to the house for 70 yd scores. If you have two RBS, one RB and one WR, and it's the third round, I think each one of these players demand serious consideration, especially if you are satisfied with at least one of your RBs, because there is a serious drop off of talent after the second round with RBS.)

Third Tier:
Cutler
Favre
Kolb
(Everyone knows what you get with Cutler: a great game then a poor game. But people forget that Cutler has been a great addition to fantasy teams in the past. He has a new OC (Martz) who likes to throw the ball, and WR who many are predicting to break onto the scene this year (Aromashadu), a great slot receiver in Hester, a speedster who can get behind defenses (Knox), as well as two RBs who are incredible at catching the ball out of the backfield (Forte, Taylor). I think Cutler could be a top three QB this year. I think he deserves consideration in the fourth or fifth round. If Favre returns, which everyone expects him too, he comes back to one of the best offenses in the league, with a great defense who gives him the ball back. He should average around 22 fantasy points a game next year. Kolb is the youngster, but proved to be a top level quarterback in his limited action last year. I like that he has had time to sit and learn the offense, and like the other two guys have plenty of talent around him. With this group you will get some interceptions, but in our league that really doesn't hurt you. I made a living with Warner two years ago, and he fumbled the ball twice a game. But he also threw for 350 yards and three scores.)

Here is the unique thing about this season: I think after these ten there is a serious dropoff. In years past I've seen the serious dropoff after the first tier, which was Brees, Manning, Brady, Rodgers, Rivers. This year, I see ten really good QBs for a ten-team league. In some ways that makes the position seem less important, but I think it becomes really important if you are one of the guys who misses out on one of these ten players. If the bottom of tier two and tier three wait around too late, guys will double up for insurance and potential trade material. It will be essential for each team to insure a top ten QB due to the dropoff, and the taking up of roster space trying to find good matchups for upcoming weeks. More so than any other year, it just makes sense this year to spend the early draft pick on a guy that is going to guarantee you 20 fantasy points a game. These top ten do that.

Why don't the rest?

Ryan and Flacco (Ryan's completion percentage dropped really low last year, Eli-Manning low. That's always a dangerous sign for the progression of a QB. He's not making the right decisions on the field. I think Ryan is a great QB for the Falcolns, he just isn't relevant for fantasy purposes. In addition, the Falcolns will rely heavily on an in-shape Turner and failed to make any upgrades in their receiving corp. Flacco fell apart towards the end of the season, and it will clearly take he and Boldin several weeks to find any sort of rythm. I think Flacco has what it takes to become a relevant fantasy QB, just not this year.)

Manning, McNabb, Palmer (Manning actually had his best year last year, but the injury to Hixon, and reliance on deep threats Nicks and Manningham are still unproven. The Giants offensive line has really deteriorated in the last two years, and Manning will need early checkdowns to get rid of the ball, which he doesn't have. McNabb and Palmer are clearly on the downside of their careers; McNabb due to age, Palmer due to injuries. The problem is MNabb has fewer weapons this year than at any point in his career and doesn't have a formidible running back to find in the passing game. People, not named Brandon, forget Westbrook turned 3yd screens into 35 yd gains, a lot. Palmer adds Bryant and a highly-praised rookie TE, but still lacks a talented slot receiver or running back who catches out of the backfield. Rooke TE's have never faired too well, and I don't expect much to change from last season. Palmer and Ochocinco will hook up enough and Benson will get his 1,000 yds and 8 TDs to keep the Bengals in the playoff race, but there is little on this offense of fantasy significance.)

Bringing trade proposals to the blog.

Just so we can have it on the official record let me make all aware of the trade proposals that have currently been made.

Proposal #1: Jamal Charles and a last rd pick for a 6th round pick. Per Scott

Proposal #2: DeAngelo Williams and a last rd pick for a 5th round pick. Per Taylor

Proposal #3: Steve Slaton and a last rd pick for a 14th rd pick. Per Tyler

If Kickers are the House-elves of Fantasy Football, then consider me Hermione Granger.

"After the death of Abul Fazl the emperor became stern. It fell to him to define how his people should live and for too long he had been derelict in carrying out that duty. He banned the sale of liquor to the common people unless it was prescribed by a doctor. He moved against the great prostitute swarms buzzing around the capital like locusts and had them all taken to an encampment called Deviltown some distance away and ordered that any man going to the devil should be obliged to write down his name and home address before entering that zone. He discouraged the eating of cow meat, onions, and garlic, but recommended that people eat tiger to gain courage from its flesh. He declared that religious observance was to be free of persecution irrespective of the religion being observed, temples could be built and lingams washed, but he was less tolerant of beards, because beards drew their nourishment from the testicles, which was why eunuchs didn't have them. He forbade child marriages and disapproved of widow-burning and slavery. He told people not to bathe after having sex. And he summoned the foreigner to the Anup Talao, whose waters had grown choppy and uncalm even though there was no breeze, an augury which meant that things that should have been at peace had become disturbed."

-Rushdie, The Enchantress of Florence

Draft

We need to maximize physical attendance at the draft. I like hearing Taylor and Scott's enthusiasm. I will also be ready for the draft whenever the need arises. I am more than happy to host the draft, and believe that it's worth at least a full weekend of celebration, so people can stay at my place as long as they desire. If you guys prefer a different locale, I'm certainly not trying to "hog" the draft site, and will be happy to travel.

A few things to keep in mind:
Check your schedule for upcoming weddings. Last year Everett outdrafted all of us then attended two weddings. None of the rest of us should expect to be able to pull off such a feat.

Some have suggested that if a Saturday draft doesn't work, a Friday evening draft may be an option.

If I'm not mistaken, John already asked off work for the Saturday of Labor Day weekend, and he typically works on Saturdays. So if we aren't going to draft on that Saturday, we need to figure out when we will pronto out of respect for Oldman's commitment.

Feel free to post your most preferred draft whens and wheres in the comments.

Trade One of the Season

Scott and I have agreed in principle to swap Ray Rice and Michael Turner. Vote in the comments to approve the trade.

Scheduling

Sorry to bombard all of you with more issues to discuss, however I feel that this is another important matter that has been overlooked in the past. Every year the schedule for our league is created based on the order people join. The past few years I have created the league and Brandon is the first to join, thus setting a week one match up between myself and Brandon (I have never won any of these games by the way). I suggest that this year after the draft is complete but before we play sod field football, we put each team in a hat to draw for week our week one matchups. I am pretty sure the schedule can be changed by the commissioner up to the beginning of the first week. I guess after the week one matchups, Yahoo will determine the rest of our schedule. Thoughts? Also, if you have not read previous posts, please do so.

Keeper Issue Raised

Scott has raised an interesting point and offered to initiate a change to our keeper format, thus giving many of us little guys with weak keepers a glimmer of hope. For those of you not caught up in the hype just yet, here is what you have missed. Scott has graciously offered to change our keeper format to make it so that your keeper costs you the pick in the round he is projected rather than the next round. I of course, am very much for this change. Taylor has expressed his support as well. Now we need some feedback from others. Let us know what you think of this proposed change. I am assuming that by keeping two players in the same projected round, you would give up your next round pick as well. In some cases, like Scott with Rice and Peterson, this is great value. He is getting Rice at essentially the 20th pick. However, it also makes managers really look at where they pick in each round and determine the value of possible keepers.

The other issue that I didn't raise last night but should be discussed. Last year we based our keepers projected value on the Yahoo player listing. That player listing is not available until I create the league and if I'm not mistaking, once the league was created last year those player rankings/values never changed. Would we be better served to find a player ranking system that is updated regularly and that all can view prior to the creation of our Yahoo league. More to chew on.

Foooooooooooooooooooooooooooooox!

I guarantee you gentlemen that no other fantasy player across the nation felt the sting of the Carolina Panthers troubles last year more than yours truly. After tricking Tyler into trading me DeAngelo Williams for my recognition that he has balls, no one wanted DeAngelo to top the RB's more than me. Despite an ankle injury that kept him out of a few games and limited his carries in several others, when DeAngelo was healthy and given the ball he produced as well as anyone last year not named Chris Johnson. I did the smart thing and snagged Jonathan Stewart, or as I call him JStew, as the handcuff. But I quickly discovered JStew is more than a handcuff. On four or five Sundays it was completely legit to play both Williams and Stewart and they would split 40 fantasy points between them. However, both finished outside of the top ten in fantasy points, and were unable to give me my second. I ask why?

Most importantly, Jake Delhomme was absolutely awful every second he was under center. He threw an insane amount of interceptions and it really limited the carries for both backs because the offense just couldn't stay on the field.

Secondly, John Fox seemed much less committed to the run than he was in 2008. It almost seemed like because Delhomme was throwing so many picks, he wanted to allow Delhomme to throw more to gain some confidence. In other words, he treated Delhomme like a future franchise rookie QB. That made no sense.

Third, the Panthers were often playing from behind and were unable to stay with the run in the fourth quarter when the defenses are worn out.

It is quite a shame the Panthers have been unable to surround Williams and JStew with more offensive talent, because both of these guys are absolute studs. In terms of talent alone, I think both are legitimate top five backs in this league. Will they have more productive years in 2010?

Here's the good news: yes. The Panthers have let Delhomme go to Cleveland and are placing the offense in the hands of Matt Moore, who wasn't Kolbesque in his starts last year, but proved to be a formidable leader. Clausen is clearly the QB of the future, but Moore is the leader for at least this year. With Moore at the helm, I expect Fox to rely heavily on Williams and JStew for the first eight to ten weeks. I suspect there are several games in which both players get 20+ carries. Both guys are too talented to use otherwise. Let's remember despite the Panthers struggles, both had solid ypc numbers. For fantasy purposes, if you own Deangelo, Stewart is a must have. If both are healthy, both can start for your team against weaker run d's and poorer teams.

Predictions:

Williams - 1300 yds, 12 TDs
Stewart - 1,050 yds, 8 TDs

Mathematics of Talent this year

As we in the "Triumvirate" (when collectively referring to Jason, Taylor, and Scott from now on, this address would be preferred) were discussing, the running back talent is sketchy relative to wide receivers this year.  We believe there are clear tiers for the running backs and there is a much more vague delineation between wide receivers.  In addition, due to the presence of RB committees, the production falls off rather sharply.  Finally, as we all know, you are less likely to be able to predict the performance of players which are chosen later in the draft, or not at all.  Barring very severe outliers such as Chris Johnson/Steve Slaton in '08 and Miles Austin in '09, I try to illustrate these points mathematically in the figure below.  You can see the RB ideal curve for this years draft has a discontinuous character more in line with a series of step functions convolved with a line.  For the WR ideal curve however, the function is more continuous and is represented by a classical sigmoid (modified logistic function) convolved with a line.  To make the prediction more realistic, I have included noise on top of these data.  The noise itself is also a monotonically increasing function of "Draft Order for Respective Position", although the RB data are noisier as is often the case.   Cheerio.  And please read the previous post by our esteemed commissioner.

The Progression of a Gentlemen's Game

Most upstanding pirate gentlemen, I am writing to welcome all of you back for the official beginning of the Gentlemen's Game pre-season. It's time to begin open door discussions of league rules, trades, and other important fantasy reforms. I know there has been much fantasy chatter behind closed doors, particularly among the now infamous "Big Three". Jason, Taylor, and Scott have been busy hatching plots to make the rich even richer while myself and Oldman have been unionizing the rest of the league in order to promote progressive reforms that would have a leveling affect on the league and keep things interesting. The main objective of this post is to ask that we begin to take our discussions league wide (bring it to the blog). I have caused a stir with some by proclaiming that I will no longer be operating this league as a democracy. Though I would prefer to bring an iron fisted approach to the leadership of our league and promote only those changes that would benefit myself, I could not, in good conscience, operate this prestigious league in such a way. As in years past, we must bring any and all ideas and concerns to an open forum for debate and vote. In addition, I really think we need to start the hype machine for this season. To do this, lets get the blog hopping with posts. Last year I felt like Taylor's weekly wrap up of the weekend's games was an excellent addition to the hype. Scott has done solid work as well, giving his perspective on players and teams to watch. Jason, we need access to more of your wit and brilliance. Ben, we need you to begin stirring the pot as only you can...end some friendships and create draft day tension my friend. John, all of your old nonsensical comments are welcomed. Brandon, more hyperlinks please. I think you all get the point.

Now for some issues that need to be discussed openly before the season:

1) I suggest a change in the waiver/free agent system this year. I speak not only for myself, but I believe many others in saying that it is becoming increasingly difficult to spend Sunday afternoons watching football and checking stats in order to jump on the next best free agent. I would prefer to have a 3 day waiver period where managers can put in bids for free agents. The order of waiver preference would rotate on a weekly basis.

2) We need to discuss people's availability for the draft. Last year we did it on Labor Day weekend. I know Brandon is out for that weekend, but I need to hear from the rest of you.

3) Scoring and Playoffs. Do we have any suggestions for changes to the scoring format or playoffs.

4) Off Season Trades. Remember, these must be brought to the league managers for a vote. There must be a at least 6 votes for the trade for it to go through.

5) Any other miscellaneous items that I have missed, please bring those up as well.

I look forward to starting the hype machine. Let the pre-season begin.