Wow, more than a week went by since my last post? Un-believable. Time flies in law school, but the clock ticking just means it's a little closer to the "dark times"- weeks of studying with short breaks, lots of hand-wringing, freakin' out, unproductive study sessions, cursing yourself for being stupid, reviewing things you should have learned the first time, desperately emailing professors, and carefully watching your classmates lest they get some sort of upper hand on you. O yes, dark times.
But you know what else is coming? Fantasy baseball, my most dedicated (and up to date, most successful) creed out of the main line fantasies. I have lots of fond memories about my vast array of fantasy teams and the heroes that emerged on those teams, including my very first championship win on the back of Johann Santana's untouchable 2nd half of 2004 ( I picked him up midseason when he had a 5.65 ERA), Grady Sizemore's rise to stardom in 2005, Ryan Howard's power surge in 2nd halves of recent years, and correct call of drafting A-Rod w/ the first pick in 2007. Whoo- wee.
I just participated in a Yahoo! winners league online draft, and here's some of my observations:
1. I still got it. I stuck with a strategy, held fast to it, got the players I wanted, limited mistakes, didn't miss any positions. And a bag of chips.
2. A-Rod went 6th overall in our draft ( dunno if everyone heard, A-rod's out 6-9 weeks and will be back sometime in may). This is a little high for me, as the risk of him missing additional time plus the april that you will go sans your #1 pick pushes him down to a 2nd-round pick, but given that i woulda picked him 1st overall if healthy, i think 6 is not blatantly wrong, especially since miggy cabrera and david wright were off the board already (definitely woulda picked either one of those healthy 3-baggers)
3. Quality pitching to be had in late rounds:
Joba Chamberlain: draftd 130th.
Ricky Nolasco: drafted 136th. (This is the best pitcher in MLB that no one has seen play)
Carlos Zambrano drafted 128th. C'mon, give Z a lil more credit
Daisuke drafted 124th: difficult to understand why a guy who won 18 games w/ a 2.90 ERA last season was pushed back from last year's draft standing, but apparently people don't like his nibbling, his high WHIP and (could it be?) that he's a Red Sock?
I personally would scoop up any one of these guys, not all though, because there's even better value at pitchin in later rounds.
4. David Ortiz fell to pick 70. Yes, SEVENTY. Wow, the mighty has follow. I guess it's his losing 1B eligibility to the fact he's getting older to the fact his #'s went way down last year, he's not getting much love. I would pounce on him at around 50, he STILL hit 29 Hr's in 484 AB's last year. C'mon now.
5. Chris Davis and Alexi Ramirez went 59-60 in our draft. Too high, IMO. Too much gamble, not enough proven numbers, I stay away. Classic case of guys getting too swept up in the hype and rolling the dice in round 5. I say round 5, don't draft unknowns like these guys yet. Not when Ortiz, Figgins, abreu, oswalt, ordonez, a.k.a. perennial anchors of fantasy baseball teams, were still available and available much later than they usually are...........if you want a healthy gamble, take them, not a guy you've never heard of. if Bernard Madoff has taught me anything, it's not to listen to weird dudes who promise me investments much in excess of what one can reasonably accept. In other words: Sounds like a Ponzi Scheme to me.
More fantasy baseball on the way. However, I will be on a law school sprin break trip in the next week, so I need to get some fantasy basketball content in to establish some cred:
1. Bobby "I used to be awesome in sacramento and now I'm just mediocre in sacramento" Jackson is lighting it up at PG, and he's particularly useful if (like me) you need thefts like a bakery needs flour, and he does that consistently, only in one of those 9 games did he only get ONE steal, in all 8 others he got 2 or more. Throws in ample assts and 3's to make him not just an older trevor ariza.
2. Thabo "something is wrong with his name but I can't just put my finger on it" Sefolosha is free from under the leash that is the Chicago Bulls Organization and is allowed some run now in OKC, and he should be allowed some run on your fantasy basketball squad. Also defensive specialist, but that 8-8 FT yesterday really helped me too.
3. Sebastian "I will handle the rock anyway you want me to" Telfair: same deal as Jackson, except more pts, more 3's instead of the steals. IF that's what you're looking for.
4. If you have a roster spot for Ronny "I beat heart surgery, what have you done?" Turiaf, keep him around cuz no telling one Biedrins goes down or just gets plain benched. Ronny does great things when he's introduced in starting 5.
5. Nenad "I studied abroad in Europe for a year and learned the game of basketball" Kristic. Like Sefolosha, contingent on Kevin Durant's imminent return. Unlike Thabo, grabs plenty of boards, doesn't play same position as the "durantula" = sustained production = good for you cuz ur listening to my advice and picking him up.
6. Matt "name a tattoo he doesn't have yet" Barnes: Phoenix starting to lose grip on any chance of playoffs, starting to unravel, look for Grant Hill, Steve Nash, Shaq all to sit = Matt can just gobble up all the minutes.
Alright, that's it, it's over, it's all over.........
O yea, college hoops.........you know March Madness has begun when Syracuse scores a dramatic, 6OT victory over UConn. Go Illini!
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
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