Fantasy Football DIspute No. 2603 -- Free Agent Bid Allowed Despite Imperfect Form

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COURT OF FANTASY FOOTBALL

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -	x	Index No. 2603 Date: December 12, 2008 Dispute: Alleged Rule Violation Judge: Brett Smiley FREE AGENT BID ALLOWED.
LEAGUE MANAGER, on behalf of the LEAGUE Petitioner, - against - IN CASE OF EMERGENCY ("ICE") Respondent.	: : : : : : : : : :
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Petitioner, the LEAGUE MANAGER, on behalf of the LEAGUE, brings this fantasy football dispute in the COURT OF FANTASY FOOTBALL seeking review of a bid submission that, strictly speaking, does not conform with the proper form pursuant to the rules posted by the League Manager. However, for the reasons set forth herein, this Court rules in favor of ICE and upholds the bid. This is a case of first impression so we rely on no precedent in reaching our holding.

ANALYSIS & DISCUSSION

The fantasy football dispute presented here is whether or not the bid was legitimate.

This calls into question the rulebook, as set forth in a league-chat, which provides:

All bids will be made here. A bid may not be edited. If it is edited it will not count.

Free agents will be open for bidding at 3 a.m. on Tuesdays. Bidding will conclude at p.m. on Wednesday.

Each team will have a $100 budget for the first half of the year. Budgets will reset after week 7.

All bids must be made in whole dollars, otherwise they will not count.

If an owner is over his allotted budget at 7 p.m. on Wednesday all of his bids will be disqualified.

At 7:01 p.m. on Wednesday I will post the auction winners and they will be allowed to add their players. At this time, all remaining free agents become fair game.

If an owner picks up a player before 7 p.m. on Wednesday or picks up a player that he has won an auction for, he will be fined $20 free agent dollars and will lose a roster spot for that week.

All teams currently have their full $100 budget.

ALL posts are to be made using this format: (Example) Tom Brady $1

The relevant evidence was reviewed and instructive in reaching our decision.

Through the course of the season the league members established a norm that deviated from the strict rule above (although, the rule did not prove strict)—that bids would be recognized even if they did not conform with the rule—First name, Last name $. The league members earlier in the season challenged a bit of “Moore 45” which was upheld in awarding the bidder Mewelde Moore using $45 from his budget. The Court suspects that numerous other nonconforming bids were made, accepted and not challenged.

And so the bid at issue now is Colts 6. ICE submitted the name of the “player” (Colts) and a dollar value (6). Yes, it was not in the "proper form”, which would have been Colts $ 6 (a sub-issue, the absence of “D/ST” discussed supra).

As noted above, the League Manager indicated to the Court in its letter that more than one bid had previously been recognized that did not follow form. In light of that, it would be wholly unfair to penalize ICE in this instance for making a bid (and ultimately winning) that indeed wasn't in "proper form", but in a form that had previously been accepted. Effectively, this matter has been decided by the League’s own prior ruling.

Curiously, the bid was actually accepted and this challenge to its legitimacy comes after a playoff game was decided by the Colt’s D/ST point total. Indeed, this ruling is based on the doctrines of equitable estoppel, whereby this challenge comes too late as ICE has already relied on the bid acceptance in setting his roster, and acquiescence/ratification whereby the nonconforming bid form had been previously accepted and therefore the League cannot deny it now based on circumstance.

Significantly, part of the argument against the bid suggests that the absence of the "D/ST" after "Colts" is part of the problem. But nothing in the League Manager’s petition or the evidence indicates that a player's position is supposed to be part of the bid. The example was not "Tom Brady QB $1". Rather, it was "Tom Brady $1". And so this Court cannot agree that the presence (or lack of presence) of "D/ST" from the bid has any effect whatsoever.

HOLDING

For reasons set forth herein, this Court rules that the free agent bid should be upheld.

The Chapter After Sunday: A Chat With Broncos Star Karl Mecklenburg

Author's note: I had the opportunity to speak with NFL All-Pro linebacker Karl Mecklenburg recently about his new book and his playing career. Along with some fascinating stories about what it's like at an NFL training camp and an honest discussion of the pressures of being a professional athlete, the Broncos great articulates how a commitment to athletics can positively shape a person in his book, Heart of a Student Athlete. Check out the book here and his website here and read below how to win a free signed copy.

Karl Mecklenburg was never supposed to make it to the NFL. The climb was a steep one for a 235-pound college senior with an injured knee who played on the defensive line. But Mecklenburg didn't care what he was or was not supposed to do. It was a climb he was determined to make. After a twelve year career as a Denver Bronco--a captain--and three trips to the Super Bowl and six appearances in the Pro Bowl, it's safe to say, he made it. Now with the same intangible qualities that made him a football star, he's making an impact again.

Heart of a Student Athlete

Mecklenburg's debut book, Heart of a Student Athlete: All Pro Advice for Competitors and Their Families is the sum of his experiences as a student-athlete, a professional football player, a father, son, husband and a motivational speaker. The underlying premise, that success is overcoming obstacles on the way to your dreams, didn't dawn on him yesterday. It's a mentality that was ingrained in him as a youth and one he has carried with him since.

Mecklenburg grew up in hockey country in Minnesota, the son of educated and accomplished parents. His father became an obstetrician gynecologist and an infertility specialist, and his mother raised the four children and later became president of two pro-life organizations, and eventually was appointed deputy secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services where she served the Reagan administration for six years. Education was a priority for their children. So was opportunity.

At age nine, in the fall of 1969, Mecklenburg got his first chance to strap on football pads. A year earlier he saw his beloved Minnesota Gophers football team play for the first time at Memorial Stadium in Minneapolis.

"My dad had no illusions of me earning a college scholarship, let alone making a profession out of football when he brought me to that first college football game," he writes.

It was an incredible atmosphere, and he was hooked. His first opportunity as a part of the action came as one of eighty-five kids in a "Football Fundamentals" program. The kids played inter-squad scrimmages on a patch of dirt and weeds and after his first taste of the action he told his father with a grin, "I really love to smash guys!" That's the type of comment that would concern a parent of a badly behaved child. But a nine year old who gets a mean streak when he puts on pads? Different story. Controlled aggression is a boon in some professions. But it wasn't quite that easy.

The Intangibles

Mecklenburg's road to the NFL was not paved with roses and candy. One of the first major tests, both of his character and his passion for football, came when he was a new student at a suburban Minneapolis high school. He was playing on the JV football team as a junior and landed in the varsity head coach's doghouse when he missed a game due to a family commitment. The coach assigned him the task of running one hundred hills after practice the following week. A "hill", Mecklenburg explains, referred to a sixty yard long, fifty degree bluff and wetland area that separated the school from the practice fields. Basically, the coach was trying to force him to quit. After twenty painful, draining hills each day after practice, the punishment had the opposite effect: it strengthened Mecklenburg's love for the game of football, his belief in his own abilities, and it fueled a burning desire within him play college football and be damn good at it.

Every young student athlete will face obstacles in some form. There will be challenges, failures, trials and errors but, Mecklenburg says, "What separates those who make it and those who don't is how they handle those problems." That's how Mecklenburg explained the maturation process in a young student athlete.

Mecklenburg was never supposed to run all those hills. But he completed the task, on his own, without the intervention of his parents, and probably much to the surprise of his coach. The experienced proved a valuable one, because his improbable path to the NFL was an obstacle course that took him through a division two school, a false promise, a year of ineligibility, a torn knee ligament and a painful rehabilitation, and a head coach that didn't think highly of an injured player who wouldn't give up his earned scholarship.

But Mecklenburg was not deterred, and his talent was discovered thanks in part to an impressive performance against Northwestern guard Chris Hinton, the Broncos first-round pick in the 1983 NFL draft. The Broncos took Mecklenburg eleven rounds later as the 310th overall pick. Even the Broncos staff had mixed reviews, with one scout reporting that he was too small to play lineman, but might be suitable for linebacker, and another reported that he was too slow for linebacker, but perhaps he could play lineman.

"There will be nay-sayers, but anyone who is successful in a difficult field is not there by accident," Mecklenburg says.

During his NFL career, Mecklenburg's desire was to be the greatest football player ever. A lofty desire, sure, but he will say that you have to set high goals to achieve great things. The results speak for themselves: the Broncos staff converted Mecklenburg to a linebacker and there were games when he played all seven defensive front positions in a single game. He became a Broncos captain, earned All-Pro honors six times and in 2001 became a member of the Broncos Ring of Fame. He is also a member of the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame.

Six Keys to Success

For 25 years, from the first time Mecklenburg suited up as a nine year-old in Football Fundamentals until his retirement from the NFL in 1994, September meant one thing: football season. So when it ended, Mecklenburg experienced that moment that every passionate football player does. It's that feeling when a season ends, and there are no more practices, no more film sessions, whistles, bruises or trainers. And of course, no more football to be played. But this time it wasn't the season that ended-- it was his professional football career. No more NFL-inspired adrenaline rushes.

"I used to have an itinerary every week with a game-plan, what to eat, what to do, what to lift," he recalls. "Then all of a sudden, you wake up and there's no schedule, and that was a challenge. I could move, stay up all night. I was kind of aimless."

That liberating confusion didn't last long. This was a guy that would have gone to medical school if he didn't reach NFL fame. He just needed a new passion and desire. So Mecklenburg embraced his legacy, or his NFL celebrity, or whatever you want to call it. He poured all the things that made him a legend on the field into his next profession and next desire with his speaking business and this book: "to inspire long-term positive change in teams and individuals."

Mecklenburg reflected on a football career that by objective standards never should have been, and drew on all his experiences to devise what he describes as a template for success. This template, comprised of the six keys to success, include: teamwork, courage, honesty and forgiveness, dedication, desire and goal setting. The keys are interrelated and interdependent. Don't be fooled though, he isn't running a 12-step program and he doesn't think his word is bond.

"I've challenged my audience to come up with another key; if they do, and it fits, I'm happy to make it seven," Mecklenburg says.

His equipment these days is a podium rather than pads and spikes, and he doesn't get to smash people, but the element of game-planning, tailoring his message to a specific audience and connecting with his listeners keeps him excited and engaged.

"I perform at a high level for a short period of time," he says, and each time he steps to the front of a group he has the opportunity to fulfill his new desire to inspire long-term positive change.

Mecklenburg discusses a "seesaw" in his book to describe the balance of a team, whether it be a sports team, a family or a business. It's a balance of the team-first "leaders" and me-first "egos". Most people are somewhere in the middle, he explains, and the balance sways depending on the size and influence of each group. With Mecklenburg out there spreading his message, there are sure to be more people on the right side of the balance.

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To Purchase or Win a Signed Copy:

Heart of a Student-Athlete: All Pro Advice For Competitors and Their Families is available through Mecklenburg's web site or through your local Independent Bookstore, Barnes and Noble, Borders, or Walden Books.

To win a free copy, go to the guest book on his site (bottom of the page) and mention SportsJudge and you will be entered to win a signed copy of the book.

You can reach Brett Smiley at basmiley@gmail.com

Lies, Damned Lies, and Disastrous Teams

Author's note: I had the opportunity to speak with NFL All-Pro linebacker Karl Mecklenburg recently about his new book and his playing career which was highlighted by three trips to the Super Bowl with the Broncos and six appearances in the Pro Bowl. Along with some fascinating stories about what it's like at an NFL training camp and an honest discussion of the pressures of being a professional athlete, the Broncos great articulates how a commitment to athletics can positively shape a person in the book, Heart of a Student Athlete. Check out the book here and Mecklenburg's website here. My interview with Karl and full review of the book will be posted here next Friday.

15 and 57. That's the combined record of the last place teams across every division in the NFL through week ten. Peyton Manning and Tom Brady sure are great, but train wrecks and systemic dysfunction is far more interesting.

The jarring 15-57 mark which amounts to a .208 winning percentage is represented collectively by, brace yourself: the Redskins, Lions, Rams, Buccaneers, Bills, Browns, Titans and Raiders. Re-read that and try not to cringe. The Titans, at 3-6, seem to be the red herring of that bunch coming off an NFL best 13-3 record last year. Maybe they're just a victim of a brutal opening schedule, but to quote Bill Parcells: you are what your record says you are. That goes for the Jets and head coach Rex Ryan too, who said after the Jets week eight loss to the Dolphins: "I think our record should be better than what it is right now." Well, I think that I should be the ruler of a chocolate kingdom where there are no bills to pay, videos of kittens playing pianos repeat on loop on giant billboards across the land, and Tyra Banks is not allowed to speak. Model, but not speak.

Ryan's remarks from the same conference included this one too: "Statistically, this game isn't going to look close." He's right (you may recall that Tedd Ginn scored two special teams touchdowns that game). The Jets wrecked the Fins on the stat sheet but unfortunately Ryan is the one coaching the team and the rest of us are yelling at the TV and playing fantasy football. Statistics don't tell the whole story, or even part of the story. After all, the Chiefs aren't even among the eight division doormats that my own silly metric scooped up.

Now brace yourself again: the un-elite eight have been outscored by their opponents by a combined 712 points so far. That's over 100 touchdowns, 200+ field goals or 356 two-point conversations. In other words, $!@$!!!

By comparison, the bottom eight last year, anchored by the 0-16 Lions and the 2-14 Chiefs and Rams, combined for a .281 win percentage. The dregs of the league this year are actually outpacing them. There's also a 37 percent chance that I'll get to the point in the following paragraph.

The bad teams this year, as a whole, just feel worse. They seem utterly hopeless and usually devoid of any spirit. It's so bad in Cleveland that the team's owner, Randy Lerner, actually met with two fans (the leaders of the Browns' Dawg Pound) to discuss their concerns about the state of the team because the fans threatened to stage a protest at the beginning of their Monday Night Football "contest" earlier this week. Lerner's meeting was a nice gesture, I guess, but it's just bizarre. As for the game, it got so bad that the ESPN analysts, who sometimes inject false suspense into their MNF broadcasts--I suppose because they have to--were unabashedly critical of the mostly unwatchable Browns. It was like a terrible movie that becomes watchable only when you stop trying to like it and make fun of it instead. The Browns were shut out 16-0 by the Ravens and collected only 160 yards of total offense.

Nearby, Bills fans don't know whether to travel to the team's "home" game in Toronto against the Jets in December for fear that it might support the notion that Toronto is a better home for the Bills. Owner Ralph Wilson Jr. just fired head coach Dick Jauron who led the Bills to three consecutive 7-9 finishes and a 3-6 mark so far this year. And earlier this year, Bills management all but conceded that they brought in Terrell Owens to get some publicity and sell tickets. Isn't the point to win games?

So here's the one statistic that the geeks don't tabulate and couldn't accurately measure if they tried: just how much it must stink to be a fan of one of these awful teams right now. Many of them have been perennial losers for a while now (the Lions). Some are not accustomed to this type of thing. Whatever the case, these fans don't need algorithms or charts telling them that their teams stink. For the most part, they already know.

With that in mind, I'm throwing statistics out the window from for the remainder of this article. And that takes us back to some quotes--eight in total, one for each team, taken from a sports film--to capture a bit of humor in each of the respective disaster seasons. The fans have got to laugh because if they don't laugh, they're going to cry, or punch holes in the wall, and the value of homes in Detroit has fallen enough already.

Your NFC representatives:

Washington: Remember Danny - two wrongs don't make a right but three rights make a left. (Caddyshack)

Billionaire owner Daniel Snyder has thrown money at every apparent problem. I applaud his willingness to spend the money to bring in talent. But it hasn't worked, because it just doesn't work that way. Snyder may as well light his money on fire at this point. At least he has plenty of it. The reclusive Snyder actually came out and expressed remorse about the state of the dysfunction this year during the bye week, while a famous Redskin, John Riggins, has put out Youtube videos blasting Snyder and lame duck head coach Jim Zorn. Weird, right? Although to the Redskins credit, they did beat the Broncos last week.

Detroit: The most important thing to remember is: to protect your quarterback - ME! (The Longest Yard)

Rest assured, the Lions offensive linemen already know this. If they can keep him upright, Matthew Stafford will continue to get valuable experience. Hopefully better things are ahead. If not, at least Stafford got a contract with a lot of guaranteed money.

Tampa Bay: Have you ever gotten the feeling that you aren’t completely embarrassed yet, but you glimpse tomorrow’s embarrassment? (Jerry Maguire)

Try to find two more wins on the Bucs remaining schedule: New Orleans; at Atlanta; at Carolina; New York (Jets); at Seattle; at New Orleans; Atlanta. But let's face it, who doesn't like creamscicle colored uniforms?

St. Louis: We're in hell right now gentlemen. Believe me. And we can stay here, get the (bleep) kicked out of us, or we can fight our way back into the light. We can climb outta hell... one inch at a time. (Any Given Sunday)

That line really isn't that "funny", but how could I not include it? These Rams at least have some fight in them and gave the undefeated Saints a scare last week. Down five with 2:21 remaining, the Rams drove from their own 20 to the Saints 31 and had a shot at the end zone for a stunning 29-28 upset with time expiring.

And the representatives of the AFC:

Buffalo: You don't think as a team, you don't play as a team, you don't even LOSE as a team! (Angels in the Outfield)

Needless to say, Coach Jauron had lost the ear of the team. Maybe it's time to bring back J.P. Losman, currently the starting QB for the UFL's Las Vegas Locomotives.

Cleveland: Good crowd out there tonight, boys, let's really try to win this one. (Slap Shot)

ESPN and the NFL need some sort of flex-scheduling for Monday Night Football to prevent another game featuring a 1-8 squad. But I'm not going to beat this one to death (if I haven't already). Tempting, but I won't. It's just a perfect storm of disaster. Somewhere in Cleveland there's a college senior writing a thesis about this Browns season. This was probably the only team in the league that didn't want to play on national television.

Tennessee: In case you haven't noticed — and, judging by the attendance, you haven't — the Indians have managed to win a few here and there and are threatening to climb out of the cellar. (Major League)

However even if the Titans win out and finish 10-6, it might not be good enough to secure a playoff spot. Probably won't happen though. In any event, as long as 86 year-old owner Bud Adams continues to wave double-barreled middle fingers from a box towards opposing teams' fans, the price of admission is worth every penny.

Oakland: This quitting thing, it's a hard habit to break once you start. (Bad News Bears)

That about sums up the 2009 Raiders. Although, the JaMarcus Russell experiment appears to be over. Somewhere, John Madden, Mike Shanahan and John Gruden are shaking their heads. Stay tuned!

Check back in here every Friday around lunchtime where Brett Smiley will fill you in on everything in the world of sports and fantasy sports from the bizarre to the practical to the relatively unimportant.

Three is the Magic Number

It's true-- three is the magic number. Just ask the members of Schoolhouse Rock, the three blind mice, three musketeers, three bears and the three little pigs. Granted, I just cited as authority a band that probably spent their prime jacked up on LSD, as well as famous children's book trios, but you get the point. Threes work.

It's about the midpoint of the NFL season as week nine approaches, so let's take a tour of some of the story lines and other bits using threes as a guide:

Biggest Fantasy Disappointments not named Matt Forte:

1. LaDainian Tomlinson- It was a great run, but now Darren Sproles is the more dangerous runner for the Chargers. Tomlinson was obviously on the decline heading into this season, yet "experts" still put him at around six to 10 on the preseason ranks. This is why you have to trust your gut at the fantasy draft and avoid a "consensus" pick if you just don't trust the player. You need to secure a sure thing with your first pick, not a guy on an obvious decline.

2. Greg Jennings- Last year's stat line of 80 catches for 1292 yards and nine touchdowns is a distant memory right now as he's posted only 29 catches for 437 yards and two scores so far. So what gives? The Packers offensive line gives up a lot of sacks. Aaron Rodgers has been sacked 31 times through seven games so far. Some blame Rodgers for holding on to the ball too long or not throwing it away, while others point to an inexperienced or injured offensive line. In any event, Jennings hasn't had the same time to get open on deeper routes this year. He accumulated a lot of his yardage last year on big plays, so this drop in production is a predictable result given the circumstances. Jennings has also been hampered by wrist and hip injuries and has faced some double coverage. If the Packers offensive line play improves, so should Jennings numbers.

3. Brandon Jacobs- It seemed early on this season like Jacobs wasn't hitting holes with the same speed, or with his same trademark aggression, or that he was slowing down at the line of scrimmage and getting wrapped up before he could accelerate and plow people over. Maybe his knees hurt. Maybe the holes just haven't been there. All we can do is speculate but the results speak for themselves, and they've been decent but not great: 550 yards on 140 carries and two touchdowns (3.9 yards per carry). Jacobs was a first or second round pick in most leagues, so the output so far is a pretty big disappointment.

Biggest Fantasy Pleasant Surprises not named Miles Austin:

1. Ray Rice-- Wow! Wow! Baltimore's "three headed monster" backfield has turned into a one-man wrecking machine called Ray Rice. Willis McGahee, the goal line vulture, has become an afterthought. If you drafted and kept Rice, your team is probably at .500 or better at this
point. If it's not, you stink at fantasy football.

2. Cedric Benson-- I guess all he needed was a change of scenery. If you're still doubting him at this point, you're just being stubborn.

3. Dallas Clark-- Clark is certainly not an unknown, but he's on pace to shatter his career-highs in catches and yards set last year with 77 and 848. Clark already has 46 and 584 this year along with three touchdowns through seven games. If you drafted Clark, you expected good things, but even with the departure of Marvin Harrison from Indy I don't think Clark owners expected this type of production from him.

Truly Bizarre Things:

1. Braylon Edwards v. LeBron's friend-- Less than a week after punching one LeBron's friends outside of a Cleveland night club (for which Edwards faces misdemeanor assault charges), he was shipped to the Jets, Cleveland head coach Eric Mangini's former club. Yes, this happened.

2. Chiefs fans v. Larry Johnson-- LJ's latest misstep, where he called out and insulted head coach Todd Haley from his Twitter account, further jaded KC's fans so much that they actually started a petition urging general manager Scott Pioli to deactivate Johnson to prevent him from passing Priest Holmes to become the Chief's all-time leading rusher. Seriously.

3. The Redskins v. Common Sense -- The logically-challenged Redskins brought in the accomplished Sherman Lewis as an offensive "consultant" in week five. At the time, Lewis had been out of football for five years and was spending his free time calling bingo games at a senior center in Michigan. Then, the Redskins brass "urged" head coach Jim Zorn to give up his play calling duties (mind you, they brought in Zorn initially as an offensive coordinator before promoting him to head coach for lack of a better candidate). And then, the Redskins decided to hand the reins to Lewis only two weeks after he joined the team. Sometimes the truth is stranger than fiction.

Interesting trends:

1. Rise of the quarterbacks-- Adam Shefter pointed out an interesting figure today, that 10 quarterbacks are currently on pace to have 4,000+ yard season. That's a lot (how's that for analysis?).

2. Fall of the feature running back-- The secret is out: it's usually more productive to distribute the workload among a committee of capable running backs to keep them all fresh and minimize the hits they take from increasingly bigger, faster and stronger defenders. Unless a team has an absolute horse (i.e., Adrian Peterson and Steven Jackson), or simply lacks another good option, the decisive trend is towards committee backfields.

3. Dominance of the the dome teams-- The two remaining unbeaten teams-- the Colts and Saints-- both play in domes. So do the 7-1 Vikings. I don't think the NFL has ever had both conference championships played in domes. My research assistant lacks opposable thumbs and summarily answered no when I asked him, so tell me if I'm wrong on that. Good luck to the teams that have to travel to Indy or New Orleans in January. Oh, and here's an outrageous stat that can't get enough attention for its sheer absurdity: the Saints defense has six touchdowns this season, and the Browns offense has five. Chew on that for a minute. If I'm a Browns fan, that would make me: 1) angry; 2) sad; and 3) vomit. In that order.

Annoying or Overused Phrases:

1. "Wildcat"-- This one might not die for a while. Sorry, folks.

2. "Game manager"-- Every time I hear this phrase I imagine the quarterback wearing a name tag from a suburban grocery store.

3. "Short rest"-- Here's a baseball phrase that I had to include. The debate over the Yankees use of three starting pitchers on "short rest" in the World Series got oppressively annoying. As much as I love constant access to sports on TV, radio and online, it comes at a price-- phrases like "short rest" get relentlessly beaten to death.

The three brilliant teams that fired their offensive coordinators just before the season, and how they have fared:

1. Bills-- 3-5, 123 points scored (ranked 24).

2. Kansas City-- 1-6, 105 points scored (ranked 27).

3. Tampa Bay-- 0-7, 96 points scored (T-28).

Better luck next year.

Activist groups do battle with the NFL:

1. PETA-- Obviously, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals was not pleased with the Eagles and the NFL's acceptance of Mr. Michael Vick.

2. NOW-- The National Organization for Women is adamant that Oakland Raiders head coach Tom Cable should be suspended while the team investigates allegations that Cable abused his former girlfriend and ex-wife.

3. NAACP-- The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People had a serious problem with Rush Limbaugh's prospective (partial) ownership of the St. Louis Rams.

I'm not going to throw my hat into these debates; I'll just be vague and say that it's quite a storm of negative attention for the NFL this season from activist groups. I wonder what NO MA'AM would have to say. "Order! Order, gentlemen!"


Overrated:

1. Power Rankings-- Yeah, it's an "interesting" debate, but this isn't college football.

2. Dallas Cowboys-- This goes hand-in-hand with the power rankings. It's ridiculous how willing many analysts are to jump on and off bandwagons. People were pretty low on the Cowboys after they lost to Denver and barely nudged past Kansas City. Then Dallas beat Atlanta at home, and then the injured and struggling Seahawks at home, and now the media is back in love with the December-challenged 'Boys.

3. Mark Sanchez-- Well his stock plummeted pretty fast, didn't it? That's why you don't nickname your rookie quarterback "Sanchise" after week one.

Underrated:

1. "The League"-- I'm very happy to plug this show, on Thursdays at 10:30 on FX. It's centered on friends from a fantasy football league. The show does a good job of capturing the dynamic of most leagues with characters such as the idiot, the instigator, the punching bag, etc. Tune in.

2. Baltimore-- The bandwagon emptied pretty quickly, but this squad is talented and coming off a nice win against then-undefeated Denver. Watch out.

3. This Blind Melon cover song as featured by the film Slackers which is likewise underrated.

Check back in here every Friday around lunchtime where Brett Smiley will fill you in on everything in the world of sports and fantasy sports from the bizarre to the practical to the relatively unimportant.

The Good, The Bad, And Vampires

Halloween is a schizophrenic holiday. There's no other holiday with such a range of meanings for different age groups and sexes. Here's how I see it, and I apologize in advance:

Infants through two-year-olds: They're completely at the whim of their parents. Whether they like it or not, these kids get dressed up in whatever goofy or "cute" costume their parents choose. When I was two, my mother dressed me in a teddy bear costume she took from an actual teddy bear. I looked ridiculous. At that age, the only recourse was to cry or vomit. I did both.

Three through eight: Kids go trick-or-treating with their parents by this time. Children dress up, in costumes of their own choosing I suppose, and go door to door in the neighborhood filling various receptacles with candy. For kids, this is one of the top five days of the year along with Christmas, birthdays, the last day of the school year and the day the Swanson ice cream truck hits a pothole on your street and scatters about fifteen cartons of ice cream everywhere. OK, that only happened once, but it was probably the most exciting day of my life.

Nine through twelve: The youth of America start to go out with groups of friends and neighbors around this age. It's a pretty exciting day for these kids. Curfews run a bit later and the piles of candy grow. I used to fill a pillow case and eat chocolate until I got sick and nearly vomited. This is the golden age of Halloween.

Thirteen: This is the most puzzling and problematic age of them all-- the beginning of the teenage years. Many of the teens in this crop are too cool for costumes. When I was thirteen I began to prepare for Halloween about three weeks in advance; I would tag along with my father when he filled the gas tank and I bought a dozens of eggs at the mart in the gas station to stash with my arsenal of toilet paper and shaving cream. Needless to say, my neighbors did not enjoy Halloween as much as I did.

Fourteen through eighteen: Here we go again with costumes for those who took a year off. High school kids go to Halloween parties and maybe have a beer, or several, or whatever they can get their hands on. Many girls start to wear revealing costumes. The rest are overweight or feminists. A lot of the guys are still destructive if they're not handing out candy to the kids or getting drunk at parties.

Over eighteen through early twenties: More costume parties and ridiculous costumes. This is when guys and gals start breaking away from the traditional costumes and start getting creative. Some girls go truly revealing (lingerie) and wise guys opt for more offensive outfits (e.g., Duke lacrosse players circa 2006). Here's an idea: go to a Halloween party dressed as one of your friends and follow him or her around.

Mid to late twenties: Halloween parties continue and in some circles the costumes tone down a bit. In others they don't. Some couples chill out and rent a scary movie.


Thirties through fifties: Thirty year-olds probably wouldn't appreciate my grouping them together with the middle-aged folks but for purposes of Halloween it works. This group attends parties, hands out candy or ignores the holiday altogether. Notably, this is about the time that couples attend parties in his and her costumes: Fred and Wilma Flintstone, Raggedy Ann and Andy, Monica Lewinsky and Bill Clinton. You don't have to be a couple to be offensive, though. Here's one: get some silver hair spray, dress like Steve Phillips and hang around the least attractive girl at the party. Or go as Brett Favre and stand at the door all night deciding if you want to go in, or just wear a white coat and a stethoscope and tell people that you're Michael Jackson's personal doctor. The possibilities are endless.

Sixty plus: Frankly, I don't know what senior citizens do on Halloween. I guess they hand out candy or enter their cats into pet costume contests. Sounds about right.

So that's my take on Halloween. And in the spirit of the ever-changing holiday, here are quick hits on the NFL, fantasy football and miscellany:

Ghost: Larry Johnson has been exiled from Kansas City while the team's attorneys are busy scouring his contract to find a way out of some guaranteed money. Who would have thought--even last year--that a player would get suspended for making gay slurs on a social media platform? Crazy. For the LJ fantasy owners out there that had a difficult time pulling him from the lineup...it's time.


Vampires: I need someone to explain to me why vampires are so popular now. My girlfriend ordered HBO solely to watch True Blood and she's read the entire Twilight series, another vampire-themed story (they're films now too). From the 15 minutes or so I caught from the show, and the last page of each Twilight book, I've gathered this much: when vampires get aroused their fangs come out; vampires are social outcasts; and there's a guy named Edward in the Twilight books who has all sorts of superhuman qualities that would probably make him a good football player. Check this out, from Wikipedia, the factual authority on everything: "Edward, like all vampires in the Twilight series, possesses superhuman strength, speed, endurance, and agility, and is described as being inhumanly beautiful." Sounds like a first-round pick to me.


Bones: As if it wasn't bad enough in Washington, one of the Redskins most talented and likable players, Chris Cooley, broke his ankle in Monday's game against the Eagles. The Redskins have gone from a punch line to downright sad. It's not even funny to make fun of them anymore.


Scary: JaMarcus Russell's passer rating-- 47.2. Possibly worse: his attitude. After last week's drubbing by the Jets, Russell said: "I don't think it's me personally, I really don't. It's a bad combination of one guy doesn't do something right one time. Personally, I don't think so." No one is asking him to be a martyr, but he has to accept some blame for that loss, even if he doesn't mean it. He's got one foot on the Ryan Leaf Express... out of the NFL.

Scarier: Derek Anderson's passer rating-- actually worse than Russell's at 40.6. He's completed 43.8 percent of his passes for two touchdowns and seven interceptions. Someone please explain to me why Brady Quinn is not getting another chance. Anyone? I understand that Mangini doesn't want to start a QB carousel, but seriously, it can't get any worse than Anderson this season. Oh yeah, Cleveland doesn't want Quinn to reach incentives in his contract.

Cats: How about that Wildcat offense? It seems like the fad is waning. Either a team has the personnel to run it effectively, or it doesn't. Miami does. Philadelphia apparently does not. Maybe they should run the wild-dog. Sorry, I had to.

Surprise: The Broncos at 6-0, obviously, but how about Alex Smith? I didn't think Smith would start another game in a Niners uniform, but he found a way back after a string of bad performances by teammate Shaun Hill. Smith might even be a viable fantasy option. Just look at his line from the second half of last week's game against Houston: 15-22 passing for 206 yards and three touchdowns, and one interception. Vernon Davis caught all three of those touchdowns and Michael Crabtree may have his head screwed on after filtering out the bad advice from his eclectic group of "advisers", which includes MC Hammer and Deion Sanders (seriously). I think Crabtee just wanted to play football all along but got set back by his peers' greed and/or egos.

Trick: This is hysterical. I'd like to meet the coach that had the guts to call that.

Treat: This Sunday the Giants and Eagles will face off at 1:00 p.m. at the Link, and the Yankees and Phillies will play game four of the World Series at 8:20 p.m. I predict that two teams will win and a lot of "sick days" on Monday.

Scariest: Right here. Terrifying. That freak used to give me nightmares as a toddler. What's scarier than a knife-wielding doll that comes to life and terrorizes people? Nothing. The answer is nothing.

Check back in here every Friday around lunchtime where Brett Smiley will fill you in on everything in the world of sports and fantasy sports from the bizarre to the practical to the relatively unimportant.

The Ballad Of The High School Athlete

From what I've gathered, it's basically the same everywhere, but different. And for those of us lucky enough to have participated, high school athletics was an education in itself.

The Baltimore Ravens 2009 first-round draft choice, Michael Oher, made the move from right tackle to left tackle in last week's contest between the Ravens and the Bengals. He lined up against Bengals defensive end Antawn Odom, who led the NFL with eight sacks going into the game. Odom finished the game with eight sacks and added only two tackles. Of course, Michael Oher the person is one of the main subjects of Michael Lewis's 2006 novel: The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game.

Oher's move to left tackle is significant for two main reasons. First, the left tackle has become the marquee player on the offensive line and one of the most important pieces of every NFL franchise for that matter (the evolution of which Lewis beautifully explored in his book); and second, because the move to the left side, the "blind side", probably a permanent move for Oher, marks the full realization of a lot of people's vision of Oher's potential as a professional athlete and maybe less so, his own.

Things My Dog Has Taught Me About Fantasy Football

Chief loves to collect things. That's my one-year old, 63-pound English Bulldog. He's an expert at hoarding socks and tennis balls. But even a canine with his abilities has limitations: he can only carry so many things at once.

I was getting dressed the other day when I discovered that my mound of unpaired socks had curiously dwindled down to a group of crew socks with holes and a couple unwashed gym socks that migrated from the "must wash" pile to the "possibly wearable" mound. I'm not very good at laundry. I do have some standards, though, and so I rushed to find an acceptable pair. I went to the living room and found Chief laying on the ground among a pile of his bones, tennis balls and my socks. I knew we were in for a duel. As soon as I reached down for one of my favorite low-cuts, he snatched it with his mouth and made a break for the bedroom. Yeah, it's frustrating but I would be lying if I said I didn't admire his spirit of competition. Of course I could have bribed him with a Milk Bone but he had taken something of mine so I was determined to take something of his. I grabbed one of his tennis balls and followed him into the bedroom where he was perched on the bed. We stared each other down.

I knew he wanted that tennis ball more than the sock. Tennis balls are King in our household. I held it out before him and offered it up. Not wanting to show weakness, he bit down on the sock and stared at me. He judged my face, then he looked at the ball, looked back at me, at the ball, the sock, the ball, the sock, and back at the ball; he clearly wanted the ball. And in a few short seconds he made up his mind, dropped the sock and pounced on the ball, nearly taking my hand off with it. I snatched the sock once he let it go. Not even a puppy can have it all.

So here's the rub: everything in life, puppy-dueling and yes, fantasy football, is a trade-off.

At this point in the season you have a good idea where you stand. Your team might stink and it might be dominating, but in both cases, it can certainly get better. So Chief's dilemma got me thinking about what lessons could I glean from his daily plight to help make a team better via trade. Here's what I came up with:

1. Identify what you want and go get it: I didn't feed Chief a lick of "human" food until he was about nine months old. But that never stopped him from begging and scavenging for any scrap he could find. He has often succeeded in his relentless pursuit for anything edible, or anything inedible that might be edible.

Last week I was standing at the kitchen counter eating chips and accidentally dropped one onto the floor. Chief came sprinting in hot pursuit but discovered that the chip had landed behind a stool that I placed in the corner to block him from getting into the pantry to ravage cereal boxes (he learned how to open the pantry by smashing his head into door until it pops open). Rather than remove the chip and throw it away or eat it myself (just being honest), I decided to leave it there and see if he could get it. He bounced back and forth to either side of the stool and even tried to go through it to no avail. Eventually, he threw his body weight into a leg of the stool and nudged it out of the way enough to lunge back and get the chip: mission accomplished.

Owners covet certain players the same the way that Chief covets food. Some are attainable, others not so much, but there's a creative solution for just about anything. In either case, you have to start by making an offer or starting a conversation. In my experience the better practice is to initiate trade talk privately with separate owners rather than posting on the message board that a player is on the block. If you opt for the latter, I think that other owners tend to take it as a sign of desperation or a willingness to make any deal just to get a deal done. After all, that owner has openly declared his desire to trade a certain player. So start by making separate offers or sending emails. If need be, make a posting. You can--and should--use offers received to play them off one another.

2. Use all available resources: For Chief, this means using all his skills and abilities to conquer the ultimate prize. He's short and stocky but deceivingly athletic. His belly looks like a barrel but he's surprisingly quick, though he lacks the endurance to run for any great distance. He understands angles and he's a master of his surroundings. He's kind of the Dwight Freeney of bulldogs. In his quest for food and socks, he has jumped over tables, climbed onto snack trays, crawled through coffee tables and sacrificed his body in every conceivable way to achieve the ultimate goal.

For you, this means using all your players, including your bench players, to improve the starting lineup. Bye weeks are in full force and indeed depth is worth something, but the bottom line is the bottom line: your starters have to put up a lot of points. It's already week five. It's nice to have legitimate starters on the bench that you can plug in when need be, but don't hoard players at the expense of an inferior starting lineup. Of course if you have a known injury risk starting, e.g., Matt Schaub, it's not a bad idea to keep a good backup. But if you have a glut of talent at any position and an obvious weakness elsewhere, it's time to make a trade.

3. Know your opponents (to get what you want): Chief knows that my girlfriend and I are suckers for his pathetic look when he wants a bite of our food. At this point he's broken our resolve to keep him on a diet of exclusively dog food, so it's a losing battle. He doesn't always succeed, though; I've threatened to get Michael Vick on him if he will not give me space.

It's important to know your potential trade partners. Even if you don't know them personally, the draft results, standings and obviously previous trades is useful information. There's usually a homer in every league that will find a way to collect a number of players from his favorite team. And there's usually someone in the league that has a habit of making an impetuous trade after a big loss. A great trade target is the "hard luck loser", the team low in standings with a ton of points. Tell them that they ought to "shake things up". You might be surprised but the power of suggestion actually works sometimes. Just don't be a jerk about it.

4. Be persistent: Bulldogs are notoriously stubborn. Chief is very stubborn. Call it stubbornness or persistence, the pooch simply does not give up. Case in point: I was laying down recently with a book and he approached me with a tennis ball in his mouth and shoved it in my lap. "Not now Chief," I said. He snarled, shook the ball and shoved it back in my lap. I laughed. "Chief, I'm reading." Dogs aren't exactly receptive to reasoning. He did it again. "Not now!" Then he growled, snarled and hopped up, shoved the ball into my chest and knocked the book out of my hands in the process. I caved. We played fetch for 20 minutes.

Even if someone in your league says they don't want to trade, just keep throwing offers in their face. Eventually something might intrigue them, or maybe they will counteroffer. Here's a classic line that worked for me once: "I would be really disappointed if we couldn't get something done here." The owner opened up and sent a counter that worked for me and deal was done. I think that everyone, however risk-adverse, gets caught up in the excitement of making a team-altering trade. Take advantage of that dynamic and keep someone engaged until you can finalize a deal.

5. When in doubt, sleep on it: One of Chief's greatest skills is his ability to fall asleep anywhere at a moment's notice. Don't settle for the first offer or just a decent offer. Shop players around before accepting something. And when in doubt, sleep on it.

There's enough of a sample now this season that you can identify the players that may be overachieving, or underachieving. Target the underachievers (Matt Forte) and trade the overachievers (Pierre Garcon?).

So what would the Dog Whisperer say about the way I have raised Chief? I'm not sure I want to know. But he's my dog and your team is your team, so just do the best you can.

Check back in here every Friday around lunchtime where Brett Smiley will fill you in on everything in the world of sports and fantasy sports from the bizarre to the practical to the relatively unimportant.

Fantasy Football Stock Watch Through The Eyes of My Refrigerator

Grocery shopping is kind of like drafting a fantasy football team: some people make lists, others show up unprepared, and an adventurous few go shopping drunk and make bad decisions (college students). Of course many of us come fully prepared and make terrible choices. The true test always comes when the bags are emptied and the items lay bare in the refrigerator and cabinets.

It's week four now, and about time to take inventory of the fantasy football fridge:

1. Any Fancy Bottled Water- Nice packaging, but you could have gotten a rack of Poland Spring for $4.99 at most major suburban supermarkets. Your fancy bottled water is Lee Evans. He entered this season as the 24th ranked wide-receiver according Yahoo! and 21st by ESPN. That's WR #2 range. Hmm. Why again? Evans didn't have a touchdown last season after week 7 and in five of the final eight games he played he had fewer than 41 yards receiving. The year before he surpassed four catches in only four games and had only two 100 yard receiving games.

T.O. was baited but didn't throw Buffalo's quarterbacks coach and playcaller Alex Van Pelt under the bus last Sunday when asked if he and Lee Evans were being "wasted" because Buffalo hasn't attempted many deep balls. I'm preaching to the choir at this point because Lee Evans owners are surely disgruntled with Evans' 8 catches for 88 yards so far (and one TD). If you have him, I urge you to trade him after he has a decent outing. I still can't figure out why anyone would pay $3 for a bottle of Fiji water when it's just a squarish container with some pretty colors on it. But what do I know.

2. Eggs- the connection here is versatility. Eggs can do anything. You can make them sunny side up or scrambled, throw them at someone, put them on an english muffin, and use them to bake a cake. Apparently, Desean Jackson can do everything too. He returns punts, catches the deep ball and has been used as a rusher too. He was probably drafted in most leagues as a number two or three WR, but he's taking 12 catches and 259 yards and two receiving touchdowns, one punt return touchdown and 48 rushing yards into his bye week. Is he overperforming? Maybe. But he should continue to get plenty of targets; Philadelphia doesn't exactly have a complement of seasoned wide receivers with Jason Avant as the only other wide receiver with 10+ catches so far (tight end Brent Celek has 22). I wouldn't sell unless you're getting some solid groceries back.


3. One Pound of Deli Turkey- It always goes bad in the end, doesn't it? The first sandwich is awesome, the second sandwich is awesome, and inevitably it starts to smell a little off but you eat it anyways (read: I eat it anyways). But once once you get down to the tattered slices at the end, it's flat out inedible. The metaphor here is more for his career as a whole, or perhaps his playoff swoons. I'm talking about arguably the most prolific fantasy performer of all time: LaDainian Tomlinson.

Could this be it? He's a classy guy with an occasional sensitive streak and a resume robust with touchdowns. But so far this season, back-up or time-sharer Darren Sproles has undeniably been the more productive back. Tomlinson used to pile up yards by beating defenders to the corner and sprinting up the sideline, but now he's already sat out one week with an injured ankle, so it's fair to question if he will still have the same speed and ability to cut. I suggested to LDT owners after week 2 to get Sproles as a handcuff, but if Sproles is the one performing now, he's not really a handcuff anymore (note that Sproles has accumulated most of his points in the receiving game). Maybe attempt the "reverse-handcuff" (or the double-secret handcuff?) and trade Tomlinson to the Sproles owner to rid yourself of the injury concern. You might just have to hope for the best at this point. But those first two sandwiches were great, weren't they?

4. Pears- Simply put, pears are delicious. A good pear will satisfy almost every time. Yes, almost every time. Because there's one major caveat when shopping for produce and in particular for a pear: they're often dented. That's Brian Westbrook. He's been a fixture on injury report throughout his career and will sit at least a couple times every year. But the results speak for themselves. Like Tomlinson, Westbrook sat out last week with an ankle injury. And, like Tomlinson, his backup LeSean McCoy filled in handily with 20 carries for 84 yards and a touchdown, and might have earned himself 10+ touches in a timeshare going forward. If I owned Westbrook, I would try to get McCoy in a 2 for 2 deal. I guess this would make McCoy a baby pear. Those are real things, I think (just checked-- they are).

5. Beef Jerkey- Beef jerkey is really expensive. I'm not talking about delicious, individually wrapped Slim Jims, but the bags of beef jerkey that will run you about seven dollars a bag. Is dried beef really that expensive to make? Maybe. But in any event, it's too expensive. Your fantasy football equivalent? Mr. Reggie Bush. Bush was drafted very high in most fantasy drafts his rookie season in 2006 and to a lesser extent in the two years that followed. Based on the drafts I participated in this year, people wised up and stopped picking him so high. He's more of a slot-receiver than a running back, as the Saints have used another back to run the ball beginning with Deuce McAllister and now Pierre Thomas or Mike Bell. Nonetheless, Bush is a decent flex play, just know that he's not more than that right now.

6. Macaroni and Cheese - Impossible to screw up and delicious every time. Unless it's 2 a.m. and you try to make it homemade with boiled, shredded Mexican-blend cheese and standard linguini. I've tried and it was disgusting. But I digress. Adrian Peterson is macaroni and cheese. Flat out awesome. Every. Single. Time. His nickname "Purple Jesus" even rhymes with it, sort of. Macaroni and cheesus? Moving on.

7. Peanut Butter - Relatively inexpensive, solid, and you know what you're going to get every time. That's Hines Ward. He was ranked 23 among wide receivers by ESPN before the season and 21 according to Yahoo. So far Ward has delivered again with 18 catches and 242 yards to date. He's a great possession receiver that doesn't have that many blockbuster games, but he rarely drops an egg. He's only missed six games in a 12 year career too. I think he's underrated every year in part because of the false notion perpetuated by TV analysts that "Steelers football" is a running attack. Well, they pass too now! So if you got him, enjoy, and if you don't, go get him if you need a consistent possession guy.

8. Spoiled Lettuce - I don't know why they make a "crisper" bin in most fridges. Do things really stay fresher there? If so, how does it work? These aren't rhetorical questions, I really have no idea because in my fridge the crisper is where lettuce goes to die. Yet every time I go shopping, I pick up a bag or a head of lettuce and eventually deliver it to its resting place. The football lettuce that rots and stinks this year is Jamal Lewis. Ranked in the preseason as the 31st and 32nd overall running back by Yahoo an ESPN, he did rush for over 1000 yards last year. But this is this year and the Browns are a developing a new brand of pathetic. I've got Lewis on one team and every time I look at him on my roster, like the spoiled lettuce, I wonder what the heck I was thinking when I took him. Good luck selling.



9. Ramen Noodles- College students aside, I don't know anyone who really sets out to buy Ramen Noodles. I think they just appear in the back of everyone's pantries. But when all hope is lost and there's nothing else left, there's Ramen Noodles. The 2009 Bengal's version of Cedric Benson is Ramen Noodles. Long labeled a bust and cast away from the Bears, he's got 293 yards rushing already, in Cincinnati of all places! And it's hard to call it a fluke when he accumulated those yards against three above-average defenses (Pittsburgh, Green Bay and Denver). If there's an opportunity to buy, I would buy.


I've about exhausted my word limit, so I will return next week with a couple of roster decisions from my own teams and spend less time discussing the contents of my fridge. Good luck this week. OK, one more:

10. Spoiled Milk- Bitter, and everyone wants him out of there. Eric Mangini?

Check back in here every Friday around lunchtime where Brett Smiley will fill you in on everything in the world of sports and fantasy sports from the bizarre to the practical to the relatively unimportant.

Brian Billick's Book, Fantasy Innovations and More Lessons Learned

I don't read a ton of books, but when I pick one up, I usually plow through it. I just raced through Brian Billick's More Than A Game, an excellent look at everything NFL through the eyes of a head coach turned analyst. And no, I am not getting royalties for peddling the thing. But not to be confused with a literary op-ed, I'll tell you why the book mention is relevant here: Billick discusses the way the NFL has changed over the years, from personnel decisions to offensive and defensive schemes to the business of football. And changes in the NFL warp the landscape for fantasy football owners alike.

Any guy in his mid to late 20's who has been playing fantasy football for a while will tell you how it began: the least irresponsible and/or most trustworthy guy among a group of high school friends would collect everyone's roster written on loose-leaf paper on Friday afternoons. Then, on Monday morning he would come in with the sports section from the newspaper and tally the stats and everyone would rush to him to get the score of their game and see how everyone else fared. And that's all we knew. There were no message boards, no online player rankings and certainly no references to fantasy football by network TV analysts in the booth. We were just a bunch of guys in a crowded high-school hallway trying to see who would win $150 worth of beer money that we would spend on our friends anyway.

But as the NFL climate changed and companies figured out how to greater exploit this football obsession, everything changed for that group of guys in high school. Actually it's not just for the football-crazed guys anymore. And for a privileged few it's about a whole lot more than beer money. People that never had more than a passing interest in the NFL are now engaged thanks to fantasy football. Better yet, they're hooked, and the top-five fantasy innovations discussed below made it all possible (some of these might be better described as reasons rather than innovations, but you get the point).

5. Flex Spot, Individual Defensive Players and Defenses: although the least impactful innovation of the bunch, this cracked the list because it's important to recognize the way the game itself has been altered by some creative thinking. The addition of the flex spot has made the already football savvy fans have to consider the value of wide receivers, running backs and tight-ends compared against one another, not just against those at their own position. A subtle change but the added context gives a whole new dimension to the game.

Likewise, the addition of individual defensive players (IDPs) and Defenses (as well as special teams) has had a similar effect of boosting people's football IQ. Defenses and individual defenders that were formerly enemies of fantasy riches became part of the equation, and people in fantasy leagues using these set-ups can probably tell you now whether most teams play a 3-4 or 4-3 base defense.

4. Fantasy "Experts" and Rankings: Back in the day, all anyone had was a magazine in black and white print published sometime in June or July. And everyone usually had one or two of the same magazines. So really, no one was any wiser than the other. Now there's a whole industry of fantasy dorks who actually make a living giving constant analysis and updated week-to-week rankings online. There's mock drafts, colored charts and substantial analysis in dozens of different magazines too. All of the content has made their followers wiser (usually) and more engaged, and the range of content means that everyone doesn't go into a draft trying to get the same "sleeper."

3. Mainstream Acceptance: Money talks, and fantasy sports is now a billion dollar industry. There's even fantasy segments and coverage by the networks and cable shows. Basically, it's everywhere, and fantasy football has become a part of the mainstream, not just a hobby for guys obsessed with numbers. A lot of workplaces even have fantasy leagues. I'm sure there's even a handful of guys out there who are employed in part because they help an aloof boss win a high-stakes fantasy league. The point is, now that it's an "accepted" thing, it's a topic of conversation and more people play the game.

2. Unprecedented Access to Information: We're all getting smarter. In the box-score days, fans had no idea how many times a guy was "targeted" or thrown to. The box score didn't tell the whole story-- just receptions and yards. Now with all the access to online content and NFL blogs for example, people can follow position battles, depth charts, game breakdowns, track statistics and trends with more precision, read scouting reports, follow the status of injured players and beyond. It all makes for a more educated fan, and in turn, more scrutinized decisions with fantasy teams. It also gives girlfriends and wives of fantasy addicts a new gripe for therapy sessions.

1. Online Games and Live Scoring: Hands down the biggest advance in fantasy sports. The creation of a platform for rosters, scoring, trading, message boards and beyond has unified leagues and made more leagues possible. It's allowed guys to seamlessly make sister jokes and propose ridiculous trades. Live-scoring is just an extension of the innovation that allows fantasy players to follow their teams up to the minute. And now the industry has become so profitable that live scoring is free because they all want our traffic. For example, Yahoo! used to charge $10 for their live scoring feature, but it's free this year, presumably to keep people from migrating to ESPN which has never charged a fee for the service (or at least not for a while).

So there it is. What's next? Who knows. If Billick is right, maybe 3-D telecasts. If that happens, I'm sure there will be a legion of fantasy owners who take the opportunity to berate an under-performing LenDale White up close and personal.

Here is a couple of dilemmas that I toiled over this past week:

Decision #1: I had to choose my third wide-receiver between Devin Hester and Derrick Mason. Hester would face Pittsburgh last week and Mason and the Ravens were at San Diego. Pittsburgh lost Polamalu for a few weeks but that defense and the zone blitz is still a nightmare for any offense. Still, Hester can catch a bunch of short passes or screens to pile up receptions and possibly break one. But, Mason is still a decent starting WR for Baltimore and the Ravens have opened up the offense with Flacco this year. I played it conservative and took Mason.

The Aftermath: Didn't matter. They both had crappy games. Mason finished with three catches for 31 yards and Hester had four for 21 yards. Actually, it did matter, because in the 1/2 point-per-reception format Mason gave me an extra half point which allowed me to lose to my opponent by 0.07 as opposed to 0.57.

Verdict: All things being mostly equal, I decided to go with the guy playing the softer defense, but it just didn't matter in the end. Did I mention that I hate fantasy football?

Decision #2: I won't bore you with re-treads of the same decisions week to week, but in the early going when a team is still evaluating it's own division of labor in running back timeshares, this particular dilemma is worth revisiting. That said, I had to pick two of these five running backs (yes, two of these five): Mike Bell, Pierre Thomas, LenDale White, Jonathan Stewart and Ahmad Bradshaw (note that last week Pierre Thomas was listed as questionable but the early Sunday report indicated that he would suit up and see some action).

Also note that my running back stable on this team stinks. For all the virtues of the WR-WR draft strategy, I don't know if it's worth it if you end up having to scrape together a backfield. It's like choosing between caning and waterboarding every week-- yeah, you have options but you're screwed either way. It's probably not fair to compare those players to torture methods... I'll stop whining now. Stewart has been decent although banged up and Thomas is just getting healthy, so hopefully they can form a decent combo. But I chose White and Bradshaw last week.

The Aftermath: Besides Thomas who saw only limited action, I chose the two least productive of the bunch. I thought Bradshaw was poised for a big game against Dallas who got ripped for a ton of rushing yards the previous week by Tampa, and I thought LenDale White would get more than 6 carries against Houston (for 25 yards). Incorrect. Dallas largely contained the Giants rushing attack (but got ripped in the air), and Bradshaw finished with 9 rushes for 37. Elsewhere, Chris Johnson had a historic game and White basically was there to allow Johnson to catch his breath after touchdown runs of 57 and 91 yards and a 69 yard touchdown catch and run. I think he should start drinking Tequila again.

With Thomas returning from injury and the Saints backfield up in the air, against a good Philly defense (well, maybe not, they did give up 48 points), I wanted to avoid Bell. Of course Bell had 86 yards rushing and a touchdown. As for Stewart, he had 9 rushes for 65 yards and 3 catches for 14. On the road against a division foe (Atlanta), still banged up and in a supporting role to DeAngelo Williams, I didn't expect that much.

Verdict: I don't know anything anymore. Who knew that White would play such a small role? Injuries always throw a wrench into the equation, too. But things are starting to take shape and trends are developing, so I certainly won't be starting White anytime soon. I think the main lesson here is to make sure you have at least one no-brainer starter every week. That, and if you completely whiff on both of your running backs, make sure you have an adequate supply of beer in the fridge.

Good luck in week 3, and don't forget to stock your fridge.