Continuing a theme from last year:
Live game coverage of the week in NFL.
Carolina Panthers, "thanks for playing."
Tampa Bay Buccaneers: "Let's not start sucking on each other's popsicles just yet, boys."
Austin Collie: "I love you man."
There's some problems with teh San Diego special teams. First Kansas City, then Leon Washington. (Ol' Leon almost went the distance TWICE returning kicks). If your defense/special teams has the Bolts on the schedule, give'em a look.
Uh, Mike Tolbert, put your helmet on, boy.
Eli Manning looked lost last night, like he got beat up by his older brother a while ago and lost all confidence in his abilities.
Michael Vick, I don't doubt you anymore. Born to run wild on the football field.
Feeling pretty good about Jeremy Maclin and DeSean Jackson: doesn't look like those guys will miss a beat w/ the QB change.
Hot one in SoCal today. I swear, one of these years they gotta push the calendar back 2 months ot recalibrate the system: every year summer gets longer by a few days, winter comes in February, and everyone complains about it but doesn't do anything. But hey, what do I know?
Following the Mike Vick philosophy, maybe Charlie Batch should stay the QB for the steelers.......looked damn good today.
Thin line between heaven and hell: Vince Young of last week v. Vince Young of this week. Today he manages the game, hands off to Chris Johnson ample, and wins 29-10 against a good Giants team on the road. Last week's 4-INT debacle v. the Steelers will prohibit the Bigger than Giants Titans from fulfilling their playoff potential.
Still being proven right about DeAngelo "I give half of my carries over to Jonathan Stewart" Williams. That was a BIG "Don't Draft" before the season began.
Newsflash: Neither Chad "I can speak Spanish" Ochocinco nor Terrell "I will never own that guy ever again" Owens are the best receivers on their team. That distinction now belongs to the younger man, Jermaine Graham. ( a recurring theme in the NFL).
Whatever you do this season, DO NOT touch any Bills players. At least fantasy-wise. I'm not necessarily physically or anything--- that's up to you. Again, let's not start sucking each other's......
GATES, BABBBBBYYYYY!!!!!!! 20-18, Chargers within 2.
Michael "makes poor decisions" Crabtree may be the biggest bust since David Terrell. That game v. Texas might be his CAREER highlight.... he's definitely not creating any in the NFL.
Yo, can ANYONE stop Leon "not the annoying guy from the old 'Leon' commercials" Washington????? ANOTHER kickoff return for TD. Should be his 3rd of the day. STOP KICKING TO HIIIIIIIIIMMMM!!!!!!!
Whooo weee, Anquan Boldin, 142 and 3 TD's. Were the Browns asleep??? Still got a softstop for Anquan "No regard for human life" Boldin, instrumental part of my first fantasy championship ever, way back in 2003. Still chuggin'.
If you owned the Pittsburgh "Steel Curtain" Steelers D, they probably single-handedly won your weeks for you the last 2 weeks. Enjoy that. Troy "perfect name for a former Trojan" Palomalu = good.
Tony "D.J.'s got us fallin' in love again" Gonzalez is back in my circle of trust.
Have I mentioned how much I love Austin "You can be my" Collie? 12 Rec., 171 yards, 2 TD's????? I know it's not cool to say "Yum" during a meal (direct quote from movie "Jules and Julia"), but YYYYYUUUUUUMMMMMM!!!!!!
Adrian Peterson? My theory is after Brett Favre leaves after this year, he's going to deteriorate. So enjoy, AP owners. Jahvid "Not quite the best yet" Best will be a top 10 back by teh end of the season. Or already is.
Matt "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" Schaub is just that, he'll have an AWESOME game followed by a poor game, and your fantasy team will go the way he goes, unfortunately. If you wanna go 8-8 or 9-7, go for it. O, AND if he's not injured.
How the heck did the St. Louis "on some days, score less points than the baseball Cardinals" Rams score 30 points on the Redskins? That's not right, yo.
I'll pick 2 games against the spread in the remaining games (Dolphins-Jets, Bears-Packers this week):
I've got Miami (this is the "bad game" for Mark Sanchez, Dolphins in turmoil)
and I've got the Bears w/ the points (anticipate a close game, the Bears D is back in pretty good shape and the Packers have yet to convince me of everyone's Super Bowl expectations. So, predictability, I'm picking two home teams, as I'm guilty of doing probably too much. But I think I'm right. Even if I do get them right, though, I won't be sucking my own......just yet.
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Saturday, September 25, 2010
College- Getting in, Settling in, and Fitting In
This time of year, many brand-new college kids have selected their school of choice, packed from home ,and made it into their dorms. For those who went to college, we all know the feeling: We got our keys, we met our roommate(s), our parents went home, the TV and computer are set up, your RA has checked in, and you're ready for school. Now what?
Ah, to be a freshman in college again. I remember that first night of college at University of Illinois, going to freshman orientation festivities, mingling with new people, (frying my butt off cuz it was 90+ degrees outside). It seemed like I'd adopted a new home for the next 4 years (well, for me it turned out to be 3 but for most it's 3) and I couldn't wait to get settled in. So many things to do; I know it's only been a few years since undergrad, but I wanted to take the opportunity to reminisce:
1.) GO TO CLASS!!!! Seriously, some people seem to forgot what they're there for. Obviously, don't stress out if you oversleep or feel sick or something and miss one or two here and there, but seriously, go to class. That's what you're there for; that's what you're paying the big tuition bucks for. Some would argue it's to get the degree at the end; I'd say there's some value in that, but at most it's half; the other half is actual schooling.
2.) Clubs.... Man o man are there clubs in college. At Illinois there was Quad Day at the beginning of every school year where all of the clubs/groups/cults/societies/sororities set up tables in the main quad area to let their presence be known. I just walked around freshman year, but I set up my own table the last 2 for Illinois Fantasy Football. Thoroughly enjoyable experience, and got lots of free stuff. I'm POSITIVE most schools do this; you gotta go if you have ANY interest in ANYTHING whatsoever besides drinking and sleeping.
3.) Athletic events: I don't care if you go to a national powerhouse in football like Florida or a Div. III- school in the middle of nowhere, your school HAS athletic teams, and it's exciting to go. College sports fans are so much more passionate, it's much more intense than a casual L.A. Dodgers game or something (trust me). The pre-game festivities are longer, the tailgates are better, and the fans more passionate. In high school there was very little school pride, but it seems like once people hit college they turn a switch and EVERYBODY's a fan of the school. My theory is that it's cuz students SELECT their college and want to justify their decision to go by pointing at their school's sports teams as a source of pride. Whatever it is, there's nothing like waking up at 8AM on a Saturday morning to screaming roommates and loud music getting ready for a 1:00PM kickoff. CLASSIC way to spend a Saturday morning, I don't care if you're the blandest sports-averting geek in the world or the hipster-est "I don't watch anything as rough as football" dude, you gotta have a full Saturday football experience in the world.
4.) Alternative Spring Break- so far, the colleges I've been at our 2 for 2 for having this sort of program. Instead of sitting on your butt during winter break or spring break (or going off on crazy College Spring Break parties), you go on a volunteer trip to a remote destination (I've been to Alexandria, VA, Eustis, FL, and New Orleans, LA) for a week. Instead of clearing levels with Mario at home, you're clearing woodpiles with Mario the construction worker; Instead of shooting at zombies in abandoned homes on XBox, you're helping paint a home in a neighborhood community called the Box. Instead of drinking all day with twenty-somethings and being utterly unproductive, you go to an after-school program for disadvantaged kids and ask them about their day. Given an option, I would always do the latter things. For at least one week in your year, you put yourself on hold (and ignore your fantasy teams) and go do something for others. I choose to accept that mission.
5.) ultimate frisbee- I wish I had learned this in college. Seems like an AWESOME activity to learn on a nice spring day or end of summer, and get to know people while doing it. Sports = excellent way to bond with new/barely-acquainted peeps.
6) "Game Night" or "Trivia Night" - take advantage of having these while you're still young, once you have a full-time job all the time you won't have any energy saved up at night to do much of anything (so I hear).
7.) Parties: Obviously, much of what I've said doesn't invovle one of the major mystiques of college: the drinking. I don't hate drinking, I don't try to stop people from drinking, I just personally don't need to get drunk all the time to have a great time. Some people do; that's cool. What I find most fun with alcohol is just grabbing some beers at a local sports bar and watch the game, put $1 bets on certain things to happen, or just play drinking games in a dorm with lots of peeps.... beats going out to the bars any day for me. Again, that's for me. However, this is for all people: Don't overdo it. I've seen people who obviously have had one too many, and it's NOT pleasant. You gotta understand that your body has a limit, and you gotta cut yourself off at some point, or else have friends who at least somewhat-understand that. Lots of college freshmen can't control themselves once they're free form their parents and feel that they can do anything; they're invincible. Far from it: being on your own forces you to make your OWN decisions, which makes you most vulnerable to making BAD decisions. One or two minor bad decisions is survivable, have a few too many and you start getting into arrests, academic probations, and social ostracism. You DON'T want to lapse into that.
So, college freshmen: what's the lesson here? Try a lot of new things, broaden your horizons, start living your life, but be responsible to yourself: Don't go overboard and prevent yourself from having the time of your life in college.
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
Ah, to be a freshman in college again. I remember that first night of college at University of Illinois, going to freshman orientation festivities, mingling with new people, (frying my butt off cuz it was 90+ degrees outside). It seemed like I'd adopted a new home for the next 4 years (well, for me it turned out to be 3 but for most it's 3) and I couldn't wait to get settled in. So many things to do; I know it's only been a few years since undergrad, but I wanted to take the opportunity to reminisce:
1.) GO TO CLASS!!!! Seriously, some people seem to forgot what they're there for. Obviously, don't stress out if you oversleep or feel sick or something and miss one or two here and there, but seriously, go to class. That's what you're there for; that's what you're paying the big tuition bucks for. Some would argue it's to get the degree at the end; I'd say there's some value in that, but at most it's half; the other half is actual schooling.
2.) Clubs.... Man o man are there clubs in college. At Illinois there was Quad Day at the beginning of every school year where all of the clubs/groups/cults/societies/sororities set up tables in the main quad area to let their presence be known. I just walked around freshman year, but I set up my own table the last 2 for Illinois Fantasy Football. Thoroughly enjoyable experience, and got lots of free stuff. I'm POSITIVE most schools do this; you gotta go if you have ANY interest in ANYTHING whatsoever besides drinking and sleeping.
3.) Athletic events: I don't care if you go to a national powerhouse in football like Florida or a Div. III- school in the middle of nowhere, your school HAS athletic teams, and it's exciting to go. College sports fans are so much more passionate, it's much more intense than a casual L.A. Dodgers game or something (trust me). The pre-game festivities are longer, the tailgates are better, and the fans more passionate. In high school there was very little school pride, but it seems like once people hit college they turn a switch and EVERYBODY's a fan of the school. My theory is that it's cuz students SELECT their college and want to justify their decision to go by pointing at their school's sports teams as a source of pride. Whatever it is, there's nothing like waking up at 8AM on a Saturday morning to screaming roommates and loud music getting ready for a 1:00PM kickoff. CLASSIC way to spend a Saturday morning, I don't care if you're the blandest sports-averting geek in the world or the hipster-est "I don't watch anything as rough as football" dude, you gotta have a full Saturday football experience in the world.
4.) Alternative Spring Break- so far, the colleges I've been at our 2 for 2 for having this sort of program. Instead of sitting on your butt during winter break or spring break (or going off on crazy College Spring Break parties), you go on a volunteer trip to a remote destination (I've been to Alexandria, VA, Eustis, FL, and New Orleans, LA) for a week. Instead of clearing levels with Mario at home, you're clearing woodpiles with Mario the construction worker; Instead of shooting at zombies in abandoned homes on XBox, you're helping paint a home in a neighborhood community called the Box. Instead of drinking all day with twenty-somethings and being utterly unproductive, you go to an after-school program for disadvantaged kids and ask them about their day. Given an option, I would always do the latter things. For at least one week in your year, you put yourself on hold (and ignore your fantasy teams) and go do something for others. I choose to accept that mission.
5.) ultimate frisbee- I wish I had learned this in college. Seems like an AWESOME activity to learn on a nice spring day or end of summer, and get to know people while doing it. Sports = excellent way to bond with new/barely-acquainted peeps.
6) "Game Night" or "Trivia Night" - take advantage of having these while you're still young, once you have a full-time job all the time you won't have any energy saved up at night to do much of anything (so I hear).
7.) Parties: Obviously, much of what I've said doesn't invovle one of the major mystiques of college: the drinking. I don't hate drinking, I don't try to stop people from drinking, I just personally don't need to get drunk all the time to have a great time. Some people do; that's cool. What I find most fun with alcohol is just grabbing some beers at a local sports bar and watch the game, put $1 bets on certain things to happen, or just play drinking games in a dorm with lots of peeps.... beats going out to the bars any day for me. Again, that's for me. However, this is for all people: Don't overdo it. I've seen people who obviously have had one too many, and it's NOT pleasant. You gotta understand that your body has a limit, and you gotta cut yourself off at some point, or else have friends who at least somewhat-understand that. Lots of college freshmen can't control themselves once they're free form their parents and feel that they can do anything; they're invincible. Far from it: being on your own forces you to make your OWN decisions, which makes you most vulnerable to making BAD decisions. One or two minor bad decisions is survivable, have a few too many and you start getting into arrests, academic probations, and social ostracism. You DON'T want to lapse into that.
So, college freshmen: what's the lesson here? Try a lot of new things, broaden your horizons, start living your life, but be responsible to yourself: Don't go overboard and prevent yourself from having the time of your life in college.
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
Sunday, September 19, 2010
2010
Final thought on Simmons: I like Simmons because he's not what English professors or scholarly academics would call a "great writer," or "the Robert Frost of our time" or anything like that. Not that I have anything against really poetic, artsy kind of writers. Those people are great in thier own way. What Bill Simmons writes, though, appeals much more to the casual reader, to the sports fan, to today's audiences. That's why he gets such mass appeal; most of America can open up his book (or in this case, web blog) and instantly get his message, and get the little side jokes he plugs in there. He won't win any Pulitzer Prizes nor teach AP English at a high school, but Bill Simmons knows what connects with the audience, and he applies that knowledge practically to perfection. That's what I aspire to do; that's what I will work on doing in this blog. Stay tuned.
Today I address the state of sports in 2010: what's new, what's different, what's changed about sports since 2010. The 2000's, as per the generally accepted name for this decade, is widely regarded as a lost decade for the whole world. Consider what's happened this decade: two recessions, one of them being the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, a horrific terrorist attack in 2001 that led to terrorist-driven wars in the U.S. and other nations, continued use of gasoline-powered cars despite the urgent calls for alternative fuels, no major changes in the way Americans live their lives (in the sense that we still use cell phones, travel to work, go to school, use the computer, etc.). Contrast this to 2000, when we had just gone through a decade full of hope and energy: the advent of the Internet, the technology boom, global financial well-being, the United Nations doing well, it certainly seemed like there was a great deal of momentum going into the new century and that more positive changes would occur. Now at 2010, the future of the world is less rosy and a bit unclear: Will there be a repeat of the Global Financial Crisis leading to double-dip recessions in various financial centers? What's the status of major crises in the world like Jerusalem, Afghanistan, and North Korea? Technology-wise, we now have Facebook, Youtube, smartphones, and awesome music downloading capabilities, which are nice, but not totally vital to human life. They're gadgets, not things that change the basic structure of how Americans use life like the Internet did, or the computer before that. What's on the horizon? It's not entirely clear.
However, in the land of sports, the landscape of 2010 is far more advanced than that of 2000. In 2000, sports wasn't bad: Basketball was discovering new all-stars like Kobe, Shaq and Tim Duncan after the Michael Jordan/ Chicago Bulls era officially ended in 1998; In baseball, the Home Run Chase of 1998 catapulted a new surge of interest in the sport (which later was found to be a fraud). Football was turning into the #1 sport of Americans, capturing a wide audience on Saturday and Sundays and cross-promoting itself through the medium of fantasy football.
In 2010, sports is rapidly evolving. First to mind is the overall viewing experience; the advent of H-D (high-definition) television has made the viewing experience a virtual 3-D movie, almost better quality than actually going to the game itself. One can literally see the sweat glands gleaming off of athletes' foreheads, not to mention the rim-rattling dunks and highlight-reel plays.
ESPN was hot in 2000, it is on fire in 2010. It is now the definitive sports channel in the industry, a virtual monopoly on games and highlights now that NBC, ABC, and CBS have fallen away. ESPN literally covers everything and covers it in viewer-friendly media: Sportscenter is just the beginning. Around the Horn, SportsNation, 30 for 30 series, Pardon the Interruption, Sunday Night Baseball, NBA on Christmas Eve, the X games, College Football, pretty much everything there is.
There's also niche stations that are drawing a lot of buzz. NFL Network has existed for several years and is the only 24-hour network, all-day all-night access for football. Recently, MLB Network just launched with positive results ( I mean, I watch it religiously in the summer, so it must be good). This is, of course, in addition to all the different sports packages available like the DISH network, the NFL package, MLB.com package, etc. where you get ALL the games, a true fan's delight ( I alas, am not).
Plus, the actual athletes in the major sports are defining a new era. We got some dynasties in the making for all sports. In the NBA, the lakers are good and going for another 3-peat; In baseball, the Yankees are good, are defending their championship, and look like they're gonna be good for a long time. The NFL still runs year-to-year on a different winner, but the Steelers, Colts, and Patriots are in it everywhere and comprise somehwat of an oligarchy of consecutive championships in the making, joined soon by possibly the Saints, Chargers, Jets, or Ravens.
The major deal in sports, though, is the advent of a new era of young players. We've got some GREAT young superstars coming out in each league, possibly due to the rise in sports and interest garnered in 1998, when all sports were booming. In the NBA, Durant, Paul, Deron Williams, Derrick Rose, and others are emerging superstars ready to jump onto the big stage, while the cream of the crop of the NBA has gathered in South Beach (LeBron, Wade, and Bosh) to try to work together for a championship. Love'em or hate'em (and o do many people nowadays HATE Lebron), the Miami Heat are gonna make the NBA season interesting, whether in their ultimate fulfillment of a championship or their ultimate failulre to capitalie on their free agent plan.
In the NFL, fantasy football is HUGE. HUGE. There's leagues worth thousands of dollars that people can play in, but mostly it's the friends-and-coworkers pools that make the business. It's so huge that FX made a show premised on people playing fantasy football. Guess who compromise the viewers of that show? Yes, you guessed it, fantasy football fanatics. Plus, the NFL nowadays is a stable of great quarterbacks, either championship-ready ones (Roethlisberger, both Mannings, Brees, Brady), up-and-comers (Schaub and Rivers), battled veterans (Favre and McNabb) or guys who are a bit on the weird side (Vick). The quarterbacks make the league, and viewers eat it up.
Therefore, while the future of the world is unclear and a global apocalypse looms (2012), the fate of sports in general seems like it's in good hands and has great potential to get even better. It's a sports world: we're just living in it.
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
Today I address the state of sports in 2010: what's new, what's different, what's changed about sports since 2010. The 2000's, as per the generally accepted name for this decade, is widely regarded as a lost decade for the whole world. Consider what's happened this decade: two recessions, one of them being the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, a horrific terrorist attack in 2001 that led to terrorist-driven wars in the U.S. and other nations, continued use of gasoline-powered cars despite the urgent calls for alternative fuels, no major changes in the way Americans live their lives (in the sense that we still use cell phones, travel to work, go to school, use the computer, etc.). Contrast this to 2000, when we had just gone through a decade full of hope and energy: the advent of the Internet, the technology boom, global financial well-being, the United Nations doing well, it certainly seemed like there was a great deal of momentum going into the new century and that more positive changes would occur. Now at 2010, the future of the world is less rosy and a bit unclear: Will there be a repeat of the Global Financial Crisis leading to double-dip recessions in various financial centers? What's the status of major crises in the world like Jerusalem, Afghanistan, and North Korea? Technology-wise, we now have Facebook, Youtube, smartphones, and awesome music downloading capabilities, which are nice, but not totally vital to human life. They're gadgets, not things that change the basic structure of how Americans use life like the Internet did, or the computer before that. What's on the horizon? It's not entirely clear.
However, in the land of sports, the landscape of 2010 is far more advanced than that of 2000. In 2000, sports wasn't bad: Basketball was discovering new all-stars like Kobe, Shaq and Tim Duncan after the Michael Jordan/ Chicago Bulls era officially ended in 1998; In baseball, the Home Run Chase of 1998 catapulted a new surge of interest in the sport (which later was found to be a fraud). Football was turning into the #1 sport of Americans, capturing a wide audience on Saturday and Sundays and cross-promoting itself through the medium of fantasy football.
In 2010, sports is rapidly evolving. First to mind is the overall viewing experience; the advent of H-D (high-definition) television has made the viewing experience a virtual 3-D movie, almost better quality than actually going to the game itself. One can literally see the sweat glands gleaming off of athletes' foreheads, not to mention the rim-rattling dunks and highlight-reel plays.
ESPN was hot in 2000, it is on fire in 2010. It is now the definitive sports channel in the industry, a virtual monopoly on games and highlights now that NBC, ABC, and CBS have fallen away. ESPN literally covers everything and covers it in viewer-friendly media: Sportscenter is just the beginning. Around the Horn, SportsNation, 30 for 30 series, Pardon the Interruption, Sunday Night Baseball, NBA on Christmas Eve, the X games, College Football, pretty much everything there is.
There's also niche stations that are drawing a lot of buzz. NFL Network has existed for several years and is the only 24-hour network, all-day all-night access for football. Recently, MLB Network just launched with positive results ( I mean, I watch it religiously in the summer, so it must be good). This is, of course, in addition to all the different sports packages available like the DISH network, the NFL package, MLB.com package, etc. where you get ALL the games, a true fan's delight ( I alas, am not).
Plus, the actual athletes in the major sports are defining a new era. We got some dynasties in the making for all sports. In the NBA, the lakers are good and going for another 3-peat; In baseball, the Yankees are good, are defending their championship, and look like they're gonna be good for a long time. The NFL still runs year-to-year on a different winner, but the Steelers, Colts, and Patriots are in it everywhere and comprise somehwat of an oligarchy of consecutive championships in the making, joined soon by possibly the Saints, Chargers, Jets, or Ravens.
The major deal in sports, though, is the advent of a new era of young players. We've got some GREAT young superstars coming out in each league, possibly due to the rise in sports and interest garnered in 1998, when all sports were booming. In the NBA, Durant, Paul, Deron Williams, Derrick Rose, and others are emerging superstars ready to jump onto the big stage, while the cream of the crop of the NBA has gathered in South Beach (LeBron, Wade, and Bosh) to try to work together for a championship. Love'em or hate'em (and o do many people nowadays HATE Lebron), the Miami Heat are gonna make the NBA season interesting, whether in their ultimate fulfillment of a championship or their ultimate failulre to capitalie on their free agent plan.
In the NFL, fantasy football is HUGE. HUGE. There's leagues worth thousands of dollars that people can play in, but mostly it's the friends-and-coworkers pools that make the business. It's so huge that FX made a show premised on people playing fantasy football. Guess who compromise the viewers of that show? Yes, you guessed it, fantasy football fanatics. Plus, the NFL nowadays is a stable of great quarterbacks, either championship-ready ones (Roethlisberger, both Mannings, Brees, Brady), up-and-comers (Schaub and Rivers), battled veterans (Favre and McNabb) or guys who are a bit on the weird side (Vick). The quarterbacks make the league, and viewers eat it up.
Therefore, while the future of the world is unclear and a global apocalypse looms (2012), the fate of sports in general seems like it's in good hands and has great potential to get even better. It's a sports world: we're just living in it.
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Bill Simmons
Heard a lot of talk about one Bill Simmons on ESPN from my friends, but never got a chance to hit him up. Now that I have, gotta say, he's one of the best writers I've ever read, and I thoroughly enjoyed what he had to offer. Basically, in terms of blogging, he's my hero. If I'm a modern philosopher, he's Confucius. If I'm a regular politician, he's Barack Obama. If I'm Bodie Broadus, he's Avon Barksdale. You know what I mean. His rhythm is fluid, his references hilarious, his analysis right-on, his knowledge of what readers want pristine.
Consider one of Simmons's recommendations for adjusting fantasy football: Make a menage a trois matchup once every few weeks where 3 teams have to battle each other, and only the highest-scoring team wins. Classic idea, surprised it hasn't been implemented yet. Like a triple-threat match in wrestling, or a Hungry Hippos game with 2 of your friends: You can't just worry about one opponent, you gotta make sure neither guy leapfrogs you.
The Use of "SportsDad" and "SportsGal" as fill-in writers/ references to make Sports Guy (Bill Simmons) more familiar and likeable? Genius. I wish I had a "Mrs. Fantasy Sports Guru" or a Fantasy Sports Dad that cared about sports whatsoever.
You ever go to a baseball game in mid-September when the home team's already out of it? Well I did today, to a Rockies-Dodgers game, and I gotta say, it's not very fun. Dodgers were flat, the crowd was flat (as flat as a Los Angeles baseball crowd can be I guess), the announcers were flat, the Dodgers started the Italian meatball server John Ely, everything was going against a fun day if you were a Dodgers fan. 12-2 Rockies. The game did more to make me a Rockies supporter than anything, as they showed a nice, young nucleus that could be a force in the West for a long time. Troy Tulowitzki hit 2 homers to make it 300 home runs in the last month, Melvin Mora hit a grand slam, and Jhoulys Chacin justified my faith in him this fantasy season with a dominating pitching performance. Meanwhile, Matt Kemp is putting the finishing touches on a horrendous season; he's now batting under .250 with just 22 HR's, and he seems to get caught stealing more than he succeeds, ever a good ratio.
Bill Simmons has an article about which month is better, April or October. October has playoff baseball, the start of basketball at the end of the month, 4 full college and pro football weeks, and Halloween parties. I'd tend to agree.
But if you ask me what makes October the best sports month, it's still gotta be the baseball playoffs. You don't have to have watched the regular season to like playoff baseball, even. Last year I got my first taste of playoff baseball with Angels-Red Sox, and I gotta say, it's a different atmosphere. People are into every pitch, the dynamic changes all the time, terrible towels, rally monkeys, 3-run homers, seats filled with fans, I mean even in a notoriously humbug sports city like L.A., people CARED about the playoffs.
A similar intensity exists for football and basketball playoffs, but they have inherent disadvantages. Football playoffs: Only occur on Saturdays and Sundays each week. For all the excitement building up to the game, you only get to burst out and fulfill yourself on 2 days of the week. Baseball is a week-long event, making the matchup basically a part of your life. You wake up Monday morning, there's a game to worry about Monday night. You wake up Tuesday with another game, break on Wednesday for travel day, then it starts again on Thursday. A constant process, making it part of your life. I'll never forget the 2003 League Championship Series, when it was the Cubs-Marlins in the NL and the Yankees-Red Sox in the AL. Both series went seven, both series had lots of emotion, lots of mystique, lots of drama. Loved it. Probably the best 1.5 weeks of my life, never have I been so enthralled in a matchup my whole life. Hopefully this October that feeling will be replicated. Can't wait.
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
Consider one of Simmons's recommendations for adjusting fantasy football: Make a menage a trois matchup once every few weeks where 3 teams have to battle each other, and only the highest-scoring team wins. Classic idea, surprised it hasn't been implemented yet. Like a triple-threat match in wrestling, or a Hungry Hippos game with 2 of your friends: You can't just worry about one opponent, you gotta make sure neither guy leapfrogs you.
The Use of "SportsDad" and "SportsGal" as fill-in writers/ references to make Sports Guy (Bill Simmons) more familiar and likeable? Genius. I wish I had a "Mrs. Fantasy Sports Guru" or a Fantasy Sports Dad that cared about sports whatsoever.
You ever go to a baseball game in mid-September when the home team's already out of it? Well I did today, to a Rockies-Dodgers game, and I gotta say, it's not very fun. Dodgers were flat, the crowd was flat (as flat as a Los Angeles baseball crowd can be I guess), the announcers were flat, the Dodgers started the Italian meatball server John Ely, everything was going against a fun day if you were a Dodgers fan. 12-2 Rockies. The game did more to make me a Rockies supporter than anything, as they showed a nice, young nucleus that could be a force in the West for a long time. Troy Tulowitzki hit 2 homers to make it 300 home runs in the last month, Melvin Mora hit a grand slam, and Jhoulys Chacin justified my faith in him this fantasy season with a dominating pitching performance. Meanwhile, Matt Kemp is putting the finishing touches on a horrendous season; he's now batting under .250 with just 22 HR's, and he seems to get caught stealing more than he succeeds, ever a good ratio.
Bill Simmons has an article about which month is better, April or October. October has playoff baseball, the start of basketball at the end of the month, 4 full college and pro football weeks, and Halloween parties. I'd tend to agree.
But if you ask me what makes October the best sports month, it's still gotta be the baseball playoffs. You don't have to have watched the regular season to like playoff baseball, even. Last year I got my first taste of playoff baseball with Angels-Red Sox, and I gotta say, it's a different atmosphere. People are into every pitch, the dynamic changes all the time, terrible towels, rally monkeys, 3-run homers, seats filled with fans, I mean even in a notoriously humbug sports city like L.A., people CARED about the playoffs.
A similar intensity exists for football and basketball playoffs, but they have inherent disadvantages. Football playoffs: Only occur on Saturdays and Sundays each week. For all the excitement building up to the game, you only get to burst out and fulfill yourself on 2 days of the week. Baseball is a week-long event, making the matchup basically a part of your life. You wake up Monday morning, there's a game to worry about Monday night. You wake up Tuesday with another game, break on Wednesday for travel day, then it starts again on Thursday. A constant process, making it part of your life. I'll never forget the 2003 League Championship Series, when it was the Cubs-Marlins in the NL and the Yankees-Red Sox in the AL. Both series went seven, both series had lots of emotion, lots of mystique, lots of drama. Loved it. Probably the best 1.5 weeks of my life, never have I been so enthralled in a matchup my whole life. Hopefully this October that feeling will be replicated. Can't wait.
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Vegas, baby, Vegas!
I'm done with Vegas for awhile. I've gone three times in the last year and a half, and I'm really not that in love with it anymore. The bloom is gone, it's not just in my best interest. Here's a brief synopsis of what went on this weekend:
1.) At 5:00PM Friday afternoon, I got off my internship, tired from a long day of work and even longer week. Pick up everyone needed to go to Vegas, get something to eat at In N Out Burger, engage in 5-hour drive the Vegas.
2.) Arrive at Hotel.
3.) Drink.....Heavily.
4.) Go out on the Strip
5.) Gamble....Have some hope when win a bit at blackjack, but just give it right back soon after.
6.) Sleep at 5AM
7.) Wake up at 10AM, go to Wynn Buffett.
8.) Hang out by pool.
9.) Gamble more
10.) Watch sports game on multiple screens
11.) Go to club
12.) Sleep
13.) Go home.
This is usually the formula for Vegas,and for many it works well, and every time I've gone it's been some variation of that entertainment, but I'm not a big fan of it anymore. Here's some problems:
1.) Distance: It's a 500-mile both ways, so you waster about 5 hours each way, 10 hours out of your day. That's 10 hours I could've spent doing other things during a stress-free weekend, yo.
2.) Prohibitive cost: This is probably the biggie considering I don't have a full-time job lined up yet. It's $35 for the buffett, $40 a night for the rooms, gas money, drink money (everything's REALLY expensive in Vegas), and of course gambling losses.
3.) Noise, Drunkenness, and Extravagance: The 3 tenements of Vegas aren't the tenements I hold dear to my heart. Not my cup of tea. You go once to Vegas, experience everything that happens there, and then you're good for the whole experience.
Sorry for the negativeness. It might have to do with the fact that I lost this weekend in fantasy baseball and have been knocked out of my fantasy baseball playoffs. Sucks. The fantasy baseball gods did not respond to my requests!!!
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
Sure, I like bonding with friends and getting together as a group. But I'm just saying, there's more enjoyable and (much) less expensive ways to do so. Vegas, I'll call you, don't call me.
1.) At 5:00PM Friday afternoon, I got off my internship, tired from a long day of work and even longer week. Pick up everyone needed to go to Vegas, get something to eat at In N Out Burger, engage in 5-hour drive the Vegas.
2.) Arrive at Hotel.
3.) Drink.....Heavily.
4.) Go out on the Strip
5.) Gamble....Have some hope when win a bit at blackjack, but just give it right back soon after.
6.) Sleep at 5AM
7.) Wake up at 10AM, go to Wynn Buffett.
8.) Hang out by pool.
9.) Gamble more
10.) Watch sports game on multiple screens
11.) Go to club
12.) Sleep
13.) Go home.
This is usually the formula for Vegas,and for many it works well, and every time I've gone it's been some variation of that entertainment, but I'm not a big fan of it anymore. Here's some problems:
1.) Distance: It's a 500-mile both ways, so you waster about 5 hours each way, 10 hours out of your day. That's 10 hours I could've spent doing other things during a stress-free weekend, yo.
2.) Prohibitive cost: This is probably the biggie considering I don't have a full-time job lined up yet. It's $35 for the buffett, $40 a night for the rooms, gas money, drink money (everything's REALLY expensive in Vegas), and of course gambling losses.
3.) Noise, Drunkenness, and Extravagance: The 3 tenements of Vegas aren't the tenements I hold dear to my heart. Not my cup of tea. You go once to Vegas, experience everything that happens there, and then you're good for the whole experience.
Sorry for the negativeness. It might have to do with the fact that I lost this weekend in fantasy baseball and have been knocked out of my fantasy baseball playoffs. Sucks. The fantasy baseball gods did not respond to my requests!!!
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
Sure, I like bonding with friends and getting together as a group. But I'm just saying, there's more enjoyable and (much) less expensive ways to do so. Vegas, I'll call you, don't call me.
Letter to the Fantasy Baseball Gods
Dear Gods,
It's me again, Robert Yan, the poor soul who's called in to you so many times to fix whatever's wrong with Matt Kemp, to unleash your powers of healing on Jimmy Rollins, and to get A.J. Burneet to miraculously understand how to throw strikes.
Some of my prayers have been answered, others have not been, whatever the case may be, I as you to look upon my humble self and deliver a weekend's worth (Fri., Sat., Sun.) of good luck. As the week has gone, you've blessed my opponent with five stolen bases single-handedly by Shane Victorino, 6 saves in 3 days, and a 1.69 ERA and 0.82 WHIP. Cleary unbeatable in those 4 categories, so that forces me to capture 5.5 of the remaining 6 categories to win. I'm one down in runs, tied in HR's, down 1 in Wins and up in the rest.
Not an impossible task to rally back from, but definitely a daunting one. Everything needs to go right, and that's where you come in, Gods. Specific requests: Let Eric Young, Jr. be infused with the experience and wisdom of his father, EY and run wild on the bases for the Rocks, let Corey Hart and Pat the Bat Burrell be given lightening in their bats so that their mighty hacks will result in prodigious HR's, let Evan Longoria, Matt Holliday, and Adrian Gonzalez produce like the fantasy studs they're supposed to be, where their names will forever be remembered as part of legendary lore. You don't need to do anything with Matt Kemp, I've given up on him.
Let Jhoulys Chacin establish himself firmly as the fireballing young horse of the Rockies rotation, let Ervin Santana continue the trend of dominance against Mariner bats, let Nick Blackburn (if I decide to add him) get incredible sinking action on his sinkerball, let Max Scherzer live up to the Mighty Max moniker he's earned all season.
If all of these things do happen, I will be in good shape to the next round of the playoffs, in which I will be so badly situated with my lineup and rotation that I'll quickly fall behind and have to pray to you once again for assistance, but for now, please address these issues as you see fit, and I will be your loyal and trusty follower forever.
Very Truly Yours,
Robert "Da Man" Yan
P.S. Let the Fantasy Football gods know that Robert called and will need their help soon. Thanks!
It's me again, Robert Yan, the poor soul who's called in to you so many times to fix whatever's wrong with Matt Kemp, to unleash your powers of healing on Jimmy Rollins, and to get A.J. Burneet to miraculously understand how to throw strikes.
Some of my prayers have been answered, others have not been, whatever the case may be, I as you to look upon my humble self and deliver a weekend's worth (Fri., Sat., Sun.) of good luck. As the week has gone, you've blessed my opponent with five stolen bases single-handedly by Shane Victorino, 6 saves in 3 days, and a 1.69 ERA and 0.82 WHIP. Cleary unbeatable in those 4 categories, so that forces me to capture 5.5 of the remaining 6 categories to win. I'm one down in runs, tied in HR's, down 1 in Wins and up in the rest.
Not an impossible task to rally back from, but definitely a daunting one. Everything needs to go right, and that's where you come in, Gods. Specific requests: Let Eric Young, Jr. be infused with the experience and wisdom of his father, EY and run wild on the bases for the Rocks, let Corey Hart and Pat the Bat Burrell be given lightening in their bats so that their mighty hacks will result in prodigious HR's, let Evan Longoria, Matt Holliday, and Adrian Gonzalez produce like the fantasy studs they're supposed to be, where their names will forever be remembered as part of legendary lore. You don't need to do anything with Matt Kemp, I've given up on him.
Let Jhoulys Chacin establish himself firmly as the fireballing young horse of the Rockies rotation, let Ervin Santana continue the trend of dominance against Mariner bats, let Nick Blackburn (if I decide to add him) get incredible sinking action on his sinkerball, let Max Scherzer live up to the Mighty Max moniker he's earned all season.
If all of these things do happen, I will be in good shape to the next round of the playoffs, in which I will be so badly situated with my lineup and rotation that I'll quickly fall behind and have to pray to you once again for assistance, but for now, please address these issues as you see fit, and I will be your loyal and trusty follower forever.
Very Truly Yours,
Robert "Da Man" Yan
P.S. Let the Fantasy Football gods know that Robert called and will need their help soon. Thanks!
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Labor Day Madness
Anyone hoping to go to a Big Brother live show, make sure to go EARLY. Didn't figure they'd be using line format, was wrong, got "turned away," as they called it. Ehhhhhhhh.
Not a big flippy-cup guy, but the Survivor format of that game is very intriguing. Equal teams on both sides drinking that many cups, but once one side loses a round it has to eat one of its own, a.k.a. vote out one of their members. Politics, competition, and social gameplay come into play. (Actually, it's more like yelling, beer drinking, and general mayhem). But it's real fun; glad I learned it.
The Wire, Season 3, Episode 11..........Heard it was the best episode of the series. Gonna find out soon.
Fantasy Playoffs are upon us. (Or, at least, my team.) Evan Longoria, Matt Holliday, Adrian Gonzalez, do your regular thing. Jimmy Rollins and Matt Kemp, you've disappointed me all year; time you gave something back. Max Scherzer, be the ace that you are.
Miraculous baseball season if you like pitching. None of the starters I currently roster were on my Opening Day Roster, yet they're all viable (these are not household names): Jhoulys Chacin, Vicente Padilla, Gio Gonzalez, Jeremy Guthrie, Jason Hammel, Jordan Zimmermann. No, I would not know who those people were if I didn't play fantasy baseball. Just the nature of the beast: Pitchers are a dime a dozen this year.
Stock market watch: My synopsis is, "What in the World is going on?" Another loss of 107 points to 10,340 today. The general consensus is that it's a bear market, and there definitely seem to be more down days than up. Made a bit of dough with Amazon stock recently, but there are NOT many stocks you can go long on and expect to make money consistently with. It's a tough situation, and no matter what Ben Bernanke does , the labor reports and disappointing economic reports, along with rumblings of a double-dip, are scaring investors away. Is it a buy-low opportunity? Could be, but it doesn't seem as clear-cut as back in 2009 ( of course hindsight's 20-20).
I think the biggest factor is still jobs. Consumer reports, labor reports, are gonna be key. It's really scary thinking about how many jobs the economy needs to generate just to get back to pre-recession levels, much less get to a rate that it neds to get to in order to sustain population growth patterns. You can't really blame why employers are not hiring; they look at industry data and see these things happening, they can't afford to bring on more workers because they can't afford to estimate their revenue stream. It's unfortunately a negative domino effect where some see others cut costs and consequently cut costs themselves, most often at the expense of the everyday worker. We gotta snap out of this somehow, fellas!!
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
Not a big flippy-cup guy, but the Survivor format of that game is very intriguing. Equal teams on both sides drinking that many cups, but once one side loses a round it has to eat one of its own, a.k.a. vote out one of their members. Politics, competition, and social gameplay come into play. (Actually, it's more like yelling, beer drinking, and general mayhem). But it's real fun; glad I learned it.
The Wire, Season 3, Episode 11..........Heard it was the best episode of the series. Gonna find out soon.
Fantasy Playoffs are upon us. (Or, at least, my team.) Evan Longoria, Matt Holliday, Adrian Gonzalez, do your regular thing. Jimmy Rollins and Matt Kemp, you've disappointed me all year; time you gave something back. Max Scherzer, be the ace that you are.
Miraculous baseball season if you like pitching. None of the starters I currently roster were on my Opening Day Roster, yet they're all viable (these are not household names): Jhoulys Chacin, Vicente Padilla, Gio Gonzalez, Jeremy Guthrie, Jason Hammel, Jordan Zimmermann. No, I would not know who those people were if I didn't play fantasy baseball. Just the nature of the beast: Pitchers are a dime a dozen this year.
Stock market watch: My synopsis is, "What in the World is going on?" Another loss of 107 points to 10,340 today. The general consensus is that it's a bear market, and there definitely seem to be more down days than up. Made a bit of dough with Amazon stock recently, but there are NOT many stocks you can go long on and expect to make money consistently with. It's a tough situation, and no matter what Ben Bernanke does , the labor reports and disappointing economic reports, along with rumblings of a double-dip, are scaring investors away. Is it a buy-low opportunity? Could be, but it doesn't seem as clear-cut as back in 2009 ( of course hindsight's 20-20).
I think the biggest factor is still jobs. Consumer reports, labor reports, are gonna be key. It's really scary thinking about how many jobs the economy needs to generate just to get back to pre-recession levels, much less get to a rate that it neds to get to in order to sustain population growth patterns. You can't really blame why employers are not hiring; they look at industry data and see these things happening, they can't afford to bring on more workers because they can't afford to estimate their revenue stream. It's unfortunately a negative domino effect where some see others cut costs and consequently cut costs themselves, most often at the expense of the everyday worker. We gotta snap out of this somehow, fellas!!
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Around the World for Free
Title Post inspired by the show "Around the World for Free" 2, now in its second season, hosted by Jeff Schroeder, formerly of Big Brother and Amazing Race.
Like this show. Not in love with it, not the best show ever made, but nice little getaway from your everyday. The premise of the show: Jeff has 100 days to go to different parts of the world from America going west and then back again, WITHOUT the use of any money whatsoever. Sound impossible? Well, Jeff has the awesome powers of the World Wide Web and thousands of CBS.com users worldwide helping him on his way, so anywhere he goes, there's a friendly face there to greet him and pay for his transportation, lodgings, etc. The best part about the show is it's a web-isode, so only like 7 minutes or so each day, almost like a travel video blog, so you know pretty much exactly where Jeff is at any given time. Almost like you're traveling with him (which I'm sure is what CBS is trying to appeal to). It's the Amazing Race minus the drama, relationship fractures, and petty squabbles over place in line, and O yea, Jeff actually gets to decide where he goes and stop to smell the roses once in a while. Neat idea, Good show, better than I love Money 3, for sure.
Btw, speaking of bad reality TV shows, I heard Jersey Shore 2 got started. Is ANYBODY watching that show? Now that's a situation.
So it got me thinking, What would I do for free? Here's a rundown of things I would and would NOT do for free:
1.) Go to law school: Yup, if I had to do it all over again, would still do it.......probably would do it for a lowtuition value too, NOT the $46k that's dumped on us every year. Ouch, hurts me just thinking about it. Moving on, shall we?
2.) Play baseball in the major leagues: Probably NOT. I'd need to get paid. I'd hire Scott Boras. I'd be on the phone with Kenny Williams or whatever general manager constantly, trying to negotiate a contract. It'd be a living a dream to play baseball for a year, but can't get paid nothing.
3.) 50 jobs in 50 states: probably would do this ( like the guy I blogged about a year ago), if it's only for a year. Couldn't handle the lack of job security and moving around all the time, but it'd be a great experience.....for one year.
4.) Big Brother.........yes, I'd probably still go on Big Brother if I knew there was no money for me in the end. It's all in the game, brother.
5.) Volunteer internship: probably not. At this point in my career, I've done enough unpaid internships, or externships-for-credit, that I want to start getting paid. No more selling my labor for nothing, it's time for my degrees to start working for me, not the other way around.
6.) Write fantasy blogs for fantasy enthusiasts everywhere: Duh, I do this all the time anyway. Happy to be of service.
7.) Around the World for Free: definitely would do it for free, in a heartbeat. I've been to like 6 countries total other than the U.S.; could definitely use a trip around the world.
So yea, I think ultimately doing something for free shows your dedication and passion for some endeavor, and also if you're young enough and can afford to do so (without the burdens of a family, child support, etc.). I still can, but just gotta find the right opportunity to do it.
*************** *******
Therein ends the "everyday" portion of the blog. The following is only for hardcore fantasy football gamers who really need some sure-to-succeed picks for this year's football season. (by "sure-to-succeed" I mean "at approximately 60% accuracy")
1. Philip Rivers is still Philip Rivers. Don't listen to all the doubters, the naysayers, the people who say he's nothing without Vincent Jackson, the running game will take over, blah, blah, blah. Vincent Jackson did not make Philip Rivers, Rivers become elite himself. He will prove himself this year as one of the top 4 QB's in the game this year. I have never been so convicted about a player in the face of all the NFL scouts; this guy played like a superstar last year and will do so again. Enjoy the ride.
2. DeAngelo Williams: Again, remind me why this guy is a first-round pick in most leagues? I was down on him last year, he indeed underperformed, and now he's back up the charts? Seems as though he might be pushed into a time-share with Jonathan Stewart, and it's not like the Panthers are a juggernaut offense. They'll probably be down more times than not, and their QB doesn't exactly discourage teams from sending 8-9 in the box. Like D'Angelo Barksdale of the Wire, this DeAngelo will crash and burn. (spoiler alert for The Wire fans).
3. Ray Rice: Time. To. Go. Insane.
4. Jermichael Finley: should be the #1 TE off the board. All reports are he's Aaron Rodgers's favorite target? That's like digging in your backyard and oil spilling out like a fountain. Buy now
5. Calvin Johnson: hard to see how Megatron doesn't turn into a stud WR this year: In his 3rd year, on a team that will throw a lot, decent QB with a good arm. Wish I had him.
6. Chad OchoCinco + Terrell Owens: This cannot be good.
7. Dwayne Bowe + Michael Crabtree: could be the 2 most talented players in the league. Sky's the ceiling; at least one of these guys will "arrive" and be the talk of the town soon.
8. Older and slower: Randy Moss and Steve Smith. In a young man's league, guys who were good in 2004 won't cut it anymore. Prepare to be disappointed.
There it is. Until next time,
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
Like this show. Not in love with it, not the best show ever made, but nice little getaway from your everyday. The premise of the show: Jeff has 100 days to go to different parts of the world from America going west and then back again, WITHOUT the use of any money whatsoever. Sound impossible? Well, Jeff has the awesome powers of the World Wide Web and thousands of CBS.com users worldwide helping him on his way, so anywhere he goes, there's a friendly face there to greet him and pay for his transportation, lodgings, etc. The best part about the show is it's a web-isode, so only like 7 minutes or so each day, almost like a travel video blog, so you know pretty much exactly where Jeff is at any given time. Almost like you're traveling with him (which I'm sure is what CBS is trying to appeal to). It's the Amazing Race minus the drama, relationship fractures, and petty squabbles over place in line, and O yea, Jeff actually gets to decide where he goes and stop to smell the roses once in a while. Neat idea, Good show, better than I love Money 3, for sure.
Btw, speaking of bad reality TV shows, I heard Jersey Shore 2 got started. Is ANYBODY watching that show? Now that's a situation.
So it got me thinking, What would I do for free? Here's a rundown of things I would and would NOT do for free:
1.) Go to law school: Yup, if I had to do it all over again, would still do it.......probably would do it for a lowtuition value too, NOT the $46k that's dumped on us every year. Ouch, hurts me just thinking about it. Moving on, shall we?
2.) Play baseball in the major leagues: Probably NOT. I'd need to get paid. I'd hire Scott Boras. I'd be on the phone with Kenny Williams or whatever general manager constantly, trying to negotiate a contract. It'd be a living a dream to play baseball for a year, but can't get paid nothing.
3.) 50 jobs in 50 states: probably would do this ( like the guy I blogged about a year ago), if it's only for a year. Couldn't handle the lack of job security and moving around all the time, but it'd be a great experience.....for one year.
4.) Big Brother.........yes, I'd probably still go on Big Brother if I knew there was no money for me in the end. It's all in the game, brother.
5.) Volunteer internship: probably not. At this point in my career, I've done enough unpaid internships, or externships-for-credit, that I want to start getting paid. No more selling my labor for nothing, it's time for my degrees to start working for me, not the other way around.
6.) Write fantasy blogs for fantasy enthusiasts everywhere: Duh, I do this all the time anyway. Happy to be of service.
7.) Around the World for Free: definitely would do it for free, in a heartbeat. I've been to like 6 countries total other than the U.S.; could definitely use a trip around the world.
So yea, I think ultimately doing something for free shows your dedication and passion for some endeavor, and also if you're young enough and can afford to do so (without the burdens of a family, child support, etc.). I still can, but just gotta find the right opportunity to do it.
*************** *******
Therein ends the "everyday" portion of the blog. The following is only for hardcore fantasy football gamers who really need some sure-to-succeed picks for this year's football season. (by "sure-to-succeed" I mean "at approximately 60% accuracy")
1. Philip Rivers is still Philip Rivers. Don't listen to all the doubters, the naysayers, the people who say he's nothing without Vincent Jackson, the running game will take over, blah, blah, blah. Vincent Jackson did not make Philip Rivers, Rivers become elite himself. He will prove himself this year as one of the top 4 QB's in the game this year. I have never been so convicted about a player in the face of all the NFL scouts; this guy played like a superstar last year and will do so again. Enjoy the ride.
2. DeAngelo Williams: Again, remind me why this guy is a first-round pick in most leagues? I was down on him last year, he indeed underperformed, and now he's back up the charts? Seems as though he might be pushed into a time-share with Jonathan Stewart, and it's not like the Panthers are a juggernaut offense. They'll probably be down more times than not, and their QB doesn't exactly discourage teams from sending 8-9 in the box. Like D'Angelo Barksdale of the Wire, this DeAngelo will crash and burn. (spoiler alert for The Wire fans).
3. Ray Rice: Time. To. Go. Insane.
4. Jermichael Finley: should be the #1 TE off the board. All reports are he's Aaron Rodgers's favorite target? That's like digging in your backyard and oil spilling out like a fountain. Buy now
5. Calvin Johnson: hard to see how Megatron doesn't turn into a stud WR this year: In his 3rd year, on a team that will throw a lot, decent QB with a good arm. Wish I had him.
6. Chad OchoCinco + Terrell Owens: This cannot be good.
7. Dwayne Bowe + Michael Crabtree: could be the 2 most talented players in the league. Sky's the ceiling; at least one of these guys will "arrive" and be the talk of the town soon.
8. Older and slower: Randy Moss and Steve Smith. In a young man's league, guys who were good in 2004 won't cut it anymore. Prepare to be disappointed.
There it is. Until next time,
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
Saturday, September 4, 2010
To auction or not to auction, that is the question.....
Ever since its inception, fantasy football drafting has been decided by a "serpentine" draft, a.k.a. "snake, a.k.a. "wrap-around, among other monikers. However, in recent years, a different sort of draft has captured the imagination of fantasy football owners everywhere, a revolutionary system that has caught on like wildfire.
The Guru (referring to myself in the 3rd person again) recently participated in his first auction Fantasy Football draft after giving in to the phenomena. My conerns going in were three-fold: 1.) too lengthy, 2.) what if people weren't at the auction? and 3.) would I be able to adapt?
Concern #2 was avoided fortunately because, for the first time in the history of mankind, all managers in our league were present at the draft! Imagine that! It would seem difficult if not impossible to do well at an auction draft, even with an automated system just because other managers could capitalize on your weakness much more easily (a.k.a. bidding up, collusion, etc.). This, I believe, is still an area in need of work for auctioneers.
However, everything else worked great: $200 for each manager, 30 secs to nominate, 30 secs to bed, and BAM! Let the free-market system work to its finest. In the 2.5 hours we spent drafting, I can't remember taking any time off to go the bathroom or tune out for a second, even for players I didn't want. I watched amazingly as Chris Johnson's price climbed steadily higher to a whopping $70, Michael Turner uncomprehensibly still fielded $50, Calvin Johnson go for a low-low $32, and even got a couple bids in myself with Ryan Mathews at $38 and Phillip Rivers for (what I perceive to be) a paltry $24. The common axiom is that the winner of an auction inevitably overpaid, but still, the exhilaration of winning a bid on a player was truly breathtaking. I like all the inherent advantages of the draft:
1. Get crack at every player
2. Much more active for the managers
3. Goes fast ( 30 seconds for each nominated player)
4. New, fresh system
5. Builds money management skills
6. Lots of chess-playing, strategy invovled (bid up a player that another manager really wants, nominate players you DON'T want to let others overspend and deplete their budget, etc.)
Conclusion: So far, the auction draft has the Guru's stamp of approval.
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
The Guru (referring to myself in the 3rd person again) recently participated in his first auction Fantasy Football draft after giving in to the phenomena. My conerns going in were three-fold: 1.) too lengthy, 2.) what if people weren't at the auction? and 3.) would I be able to adapt?
Concern #2 was avoided fortunately because, for the first time in the history of mankind, all managers in our league were present at the draft! Imagine that! It would seem difficult if not impossible to do well at an auction draft, even with an automated system just because other managers could capitalize on your weakness much more easily (a.k.a. bidding up, collusion, etc.). This, I believe, is still an area in need of work for auctioneers.
However, everything else worked great: $200 for each manager, 30 secs to nominate, 30 secs to bed, and BAM! Let the free-market system work to its finest. In the 2.5 hours we spent drafting, I can't remember taking any time off to go the bathroom or tune out for a second, even for players I didn't want. I watched amazingly as Chris Johnson's price climbed steadily higher to a whopping $70, Michael Turner uncomprehensibly still fielded $50, Calvin Johnson go for a low-low $32, and even got a couple bids in myself with Ryan Mathews at $38 and Phillip Rivers for (what I perceive to be) a paltry $24. The common axiom is that the winner of an auction inevitably overpaid, but still, the exhilaration of winning a bid on a player was truly breathtaking. I like all the inherent advantages of the draft:
1. Get crack at every player
2. Much more active for the managers
3. Goes fast ( 30 seconds for each nominated player)
4. New, fresh system
5. Builds money management skills
6. Lots of chess-playing, strategy invovled (bid up a player that another manager really wants, nominate players you DON'T want to let others overspend and deplete their budget, etc.)
Conclusion: So far, the auction draft has the Guru's stamp of approval.
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
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