Fantasy Landscape 2011

As we transition into 2012, I wanted a big post on what transpired in
2011, kind of like what Bill Simmons does (man, the more I read him
the more I appreciate his work, that guy knows what he's doing).
Although years in fantasy sports are difficult to describe because
each of us had a different "team" we followed (unlike, say, following
the Boston Red Sox) that we built a relationship with ( albeit a timed
relationship that we knew would end and we'd never hear from them
again), so it's tough to define events in fantasy because only a tenth
or so of us can say "Cam Newton led me to my fantasy championship" or
"Robbie Cano killed me again this year!" So I have to stick with
rehashing individual player performances or fantasy trends


This was certainly a year that reinforced the notion that fantasy
sports, like many other industries and professions, belongs to the
young. Back in the "good ol' days," I remember old veterans like Greg
Maddux, Michael Jordan, Jerry Rice, Marvin Harrison, putting up
prodigious numbers even at an advanced age, coining the phrase "aging
like a fine wine, the older the better." That, to put it mildly, is no
longer the case. Whether it's because athletes train harder in high
school or college and are pro-ready right out of school, or older
athletes burn out more quickly, there's more violent contact in sports
that creates wear and tear on the body that breaks down older players,
but young players are DOMINATING the scene here in the early 2010's-
and it looks like it's gonna continue.
For example, it's been 5 months since the end of the fantasy baseball
season, but I can still remember rookie breakouts out of nowhere:
Alexi Ogando's first half, Brandon Beachy, Danny Espinoza, Desmond
Jennings, Michel Pineda, Eric Hosmer, etc., etc. In many cases, these
guys started in Triple-A were just called up to the big leagues, and
started producing for fantasy teams like their 2nd-or-third-best guys.
Meanwhile, guys like Derek Jeter, 2009 MVP, hits like .240 before the
Al-Star Break. All singles. Kevin Youkilis. Injuries. Hanley Ramirez
(a veteran by all accounts: injuries). Established guys one and all
struggling, furthering bolstering the case of why you should reach for
the "possible breakout."

Also why you should scour the waiver wire all the time, 100% the time.
There is no telling who is on the wire. And young guys can win you
championships. There's a guy on the waiver wire in fantasy basketbal
that I'm calling right now will help some teams win fantasy
championships: Marshon Brooks, New Jersey Nets. No one's heard of him;
he's good. He's this year's Steph Curry/Ty Lawson. Rookies ready to
pounce. I'll forever remember my waiver wire addition of Victor Cruz
in Week 3 of the 2011 NFL season: watch Cruz burn Nnadmi Asmugha twice
against the Eagles for long TD's; pick him up off the free agent list
immediately after. Watch as he burns secondaries al season enroute to
a destructive 1400 yards despite not playing in the first 2 weeks,
just behind Megatron and Wes Welker. The thing with Cruz is, he's the
knockout fighter on your squad: At any given time he could land a
70-yard TD catch or two and what was once a 15-point deficit could be
a 3-point lead for you fantasy team. He had a 99-yard TD catch that
turned the momentum for more than my fantasy team on Week 16
Championship day. My o my.

2011 was also a great year for up-and-comers turning into elite
players, setting reminders for fantasy managers why they should draft
26-and-27-year-olds entering their prime. After a dreadful 2010
season, Matt Kemp basically "just hit" and won the NL MVP and basicaly
torn my heart out because I owned him in '10. Fast, strong, makes
contact, plays field. And not put randomly into the 7th-hole by Joe
Torre anymore. Yea.

Ryan Braun.....broke out, if repeating what he's been doing for the
last few years could be considered breaking out. Although, his season
was a bit tainted by revelations that he tested positive for a growth
hormone after the season; my fantasy baseball leaguemates are already
questioning the legitimacy of last year's championship Braun-led
squad.

Calvin Johnson just became a certified beast this year, exploding like
a firework (thanks, Katy Perry for that analogy) Basicaly, good WR's
had good QB's throwing to them this year (Nelson, Welker, Cruz, Roddy
White) and Calvin had the best for what he needs, a deep-threat like
Stafford. A cross between Welker's bludgeoning "I'm gonna catch 13
balls for 10 yards each but I'll still get 130 yards" and Cruz's "I
will go 70 yards right past you cuz I'm fast," Johnson could do both:
break tackles and sprint past people. Doubleteams always required,
triple-teams sometimes necessary. Optimus Prime should be glad Calvin
isn't actually Megatron, cuz I'm pretty sure the Decepticons would
have won that war.


Mike Napoli highlighted for me what was a "If you drop somebody who
still has value, you will be punished season." After batting .196
going into June and hitting the DL, I dropped Napoli to clear up
roster space, intending to pick him up later before he came off the
DL. Predictably, another league member had the same idea, picked up
Napoli and his big stick swinging in the bandbox known as Arlington,
and the rest was a 30HR, .330 avg that probably would have helped me
into the playoffs.... if I hadn't have traded Brian McCann
prematurely, dropped Tommy Hanson prematurely, etc. etc. In football,
Peyton Hillis punished me for dropping him too eary, as well as
Maurice Morris. An active manager can live with mistakes if he picks
up more good guys than he drops, but you will always get a "what could
have been" feeling that I will forever call "The Napoli."

Fantasy basketball have crapshoots at the end of the season. It's
called the "Week 16 Bench Curse" in football and widely publicized,
but fantasy basketball might be more extreme because the playoffs are
1-8 in each division and the playoffs are pretty much half the season
for some times that coaches need to rest their players for. Thus the
odd result this year in my fantasy basketball final of starting guys
with names of Allen (Tony, not Ray), Bynum (Will, not Andrew), Johnson
(James, not any of the good ones), Barea, Gortat, Dudley, Sessions,
etc. Basically, young players on bad teams playing out the string, not
your fantasy powerhouses like Josh Smith, Kevin Love, or Jason Kidd.
It's actually probably where the fantasy men are separated from the
fantasy boys: You know you're a fantasy basketball addict and thus
qualified to win a hoops championship when you can name what college,
position, jersey number, and upcoming 5-game schedule that Ramon
Sessions has.


May the lessons of fantasy years past give me strength, and may 2012
bring greater tidings (and luck) to all of us.

Fantasize on,

Robert Yan