New Year's Day

What up my loyal readership-

Happy 2009, and a moment of silence for the just-passed 2008: It wasn't a great year, but for me a lot of stuff went on. It was a year of 4-dollar gas, political scandals involving governors/ senators w/ their pants down (some literally), the Olympic Games, "giant" upsets in sports, a presidential Democratic primary/ election that will go down as one of the most important in history, and so much more.

But I wanted to talk about my recent trip first. Nice little vacation, me and the fam went down to Arizona to spend a little time away from home, hit up University of Arizona in Tucson, nice place, actually designed a lot like University of Illinois, I dunno what it is about state universities but it was like the same restaurants, same bus system, same quad structure. Eerie.

I saw Joshua Tree on Entourage, but didn't know what it is. Now i know, and it's pretty cool. The only beef I have w/ it is it takes forever to get from the Hwy to the actual scenic places w/in the park, but maybe I was just really anxious or something that day ( It happens).

Also went through snow, which was significant cuz had been the first winter I've ever had in America w/o any snow, and living in Los Angeles, that distinction will probably be achieved at some point (perhaps in winter 2009/10), but this winter was not to be, as even in Arizona there was snow ( near Flagstaff)


Fantasy resolutions
1.) Never again draft slow-moving, over-the-hill running backs- Drafting Shaun Alexander in 2004? Excellent decision. Drafting Shaun Alexander in 2005 and 2006? Very, very poor decisions. I'm still suffering from those, as I second-guess all those draft picks. Priest Holmes, Edgerrin James, Eddie George, all (very old and ailing) ghosts from muy fantasy past. Ick.

2.) Stick to my strategy of drafting hitters in the early rounds.
That's worked out beautifully in the last few years, as I realized if i drafted starters they woulda been guys like Carlos Zambrano, Mike Mussina, Jake Peavy (the year he was injured) whereas the Cy Young candidates the last few years have come from like the 9th round (Josh Beckett, Tim Lincecum come to mind).

3.) Never draft players who are detrimental in 2+ roto categories.
One category is doable because a lotta guys like Wade (4 TO's per) have those deficiences, and they're still good because it's a 8:1 good vs. bad ratio. But when it gets dicey, you only get like 7 good v. 2 bad, you help w/ only 5 cats, the math just doesn't work out. Plus, you have to punt in one category if it's really bad. Baron Davis = main prototype, Tracy McGrady, Ron Artest, guys come to mind. You're done with these guys, it's over, officially broken up, put a restraining order on 'em, don't need'em in fantasy hoops.

4.) Always go into a fantasy season prepared to go through the whole season. A couple times I've just completely thrown in the towel on a season, counted myself out, fell into last place and felt my players all betrayed me (which, I swear, does happen from time to time, I draft these players who just hate me, like "He hate me" jerseys and don't perform). Anyway, in essentially quitting these leagues I sell myself short because overall, I consider myself to be a very good fantasy manager in all sports, and if I dedicate myself to a season, I always get good results, no matter how far I'm down. The bad breaks usually balance out, and if I quit before the good breaks show up, I'm not giving myself enough opportunity. Plus, the Yahoo! profile takes a hit when I have an 8 of 12 finish.

5.) Spend a lil less time on fantasy sports. Don't obsess over it. It's not a life-or-death thing. If Matt Cain gets lit up for 9 ER in 3.1 innings w/ 6 walks, don't blow a fuse. It'll be ok. Spend more time w/ the family. Spend more time w/ the law school books. Don't give up on a day just cuz Rasheed Wallace shot 1 for 11 w/ 4 TO's. Life goes on. And you're still a great fantasy player.

Fantasize on,
Robert Yan