Where The Frak Have You Been?!?

I know, I know…it’s been ages since I’ve posted anything. Some of you may recall that my reticence is a typical occurrence each year just prior to the kickoff of the NFL season. Sadly, this year is no different. For me the month of August is filled with stuffing my head with stats and numbers of a multitude of football players. Deciphering trends and projecting results so that at the end of the year I can almost afford to take The Admiral out for a nice steak dinner.

So it’s not that nothing has mattered enough to me to inspire a post. Quite the contrary. In addition to the upcoming football season there’s a Presidential Election campaign going on and in case you haven’t been paying attention I’ve become emotionally involved. So as I vow to all of you to TRY and keep up to date with the ramblings of my mind more in the future here is are the two distractions keeping me from my almost adoring public.

Something Is Happening In America!!

Today is Thursday August 28, 2008. It marks the 45th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s historic “I have a dream speech”. On this day Senator Barack Obama will accept his party’s nomination to be the next President of the United States. At some point prior to the actual election I promise that I will extol the reasons why I am voting for him as opposed to Senator John McCain. I will do my best to stick to the facts and the policies and how they relate to today’s world. But for now I get to be a little emotional. I am on the verge of tears right now. For a black man to have this opportunity prior to my turning 40 is quite simply amazing. It is something that I would not have believed to be possible. The fact that it is not only possible, but on some levels probable speaks to the very core of the virtues that this nation was founded on.

Let’s be clear though folks. As historic of an occasion as this is it is not enough. The country, the world and the planet itself are in dire straights and we need the leadership that he is offering. Our fervor and passion cannot stop now. It must continue into November at a minimum and I’m quite sure that we will be called on to continue to do our part as citizens to put this country back on track.

I toyed with the idea of putting up the video of President Clinton’s speech from last night because it was a doozy. But since it’s close to 21 minutes long I’ll just offer the link. Instead I’ll repost an old favorite. I can only hope that it is still as moving to you as it is to me.





It’s In The Game

After a solid month of research I’m going to do something a little different this year. I’m going to give some of my competitors (if you’re still reading this) an opportunity to derail me this year. I’m going to offer up the players that I believe are worth drafting this year and building a team around. I’m printing this years draft strategy.

In previous years the strategy has been to take a RB in the first 2 rounds. This followed by a WR in rounds 3 and 4 and lastly a QB in round 5. The remaining rounds are spent grabbing quality back up personnel. I never draft a Kicker prior to the last 3 rounds and I hardly ever bother looking at Defenses prior to that either.

There are at times small deviations to this strategy but it’s held solid for 10 years running. Last year was a little different in that the strategy for the first 5 rounds was RB – WR – WR QB – RB. The results of this plan were stellar and although I didn’t win the two $money$ leagues I was in I did a fair job of dominating them both and was within a Brian Westbrook kneel down on the 1 yard line from winning $600. Yes I’m still bitter.

This year is different. I’ve never really seen anything quite like it and as a result I’ve had to adapt the above strategy to accommodate the changing times. Here now is what I believe to be my winning strategy this year. I’ve decided that the 5 round strategy has to be a little longer this year. This year’s winning strategy is 6 rounds long. Here it is:
WR – WR – RB – QB – RB – QB.

What’s that?!?!?! Have I gone completely off the deep end? Probably. The running back stable is as deep as I can ever remember it being. Including my candidate for this years sleeper Tim Hightower. I also expect a big year from Ricky Williams who is in a contract year. I don’t expect much from a few big name guys. I believe that both LJ (Larry Johnson) and Elmo (Larry Mauroney) will struggle due to offensive line problems. Several other studs are coming off of some pretty nasty injuries. They’re still quality backs but the difference in their productivity won’t be too drastically different from the second and third tier backs that usually get picked up in rounds 6 and 7. In stark contrast the WR outlook is a bit more bleak. I believe that drafting two top tier Wideouts will make all the difference this year. But what will throw most people off is a move that I’ve done three times already and hope to do twice more. In round 4 I intend to draft Matt Hasselback. This is a move that many will look at and scoff. But its nothing to the reaction that I’ll get when I draft Donovan McNabb to back him up in round 6 or 7.

So there it is. This years “winning” strategy. Wish me luck. Orb? Geo? Lar? You blokes out there? Stop it if you can!