Adaptability

Much like reaction time in sports, my edge in life is adaptability, and I believe it’s one of the most important skills in life to have. 適応性 (Tekiosei)

Contrary to what many of us think, we puny humans actually control very little of our lives. We can’t control our height, the traffic, the weather, who our parents our, what other people think, etc. So much of what happens is done to us, and we have to adapt.

It’s often construed as lack of backbone, or being a pushover, but adaptability takes a lot of patience and ability to adjust to other people. Over the course of my life, I’ve met so many different people: people who are much more intelligent than me, people much more athletic to me, people much less fortunate that I am, people have no common sense, people who are technology wizzes, people who cheat on tests, people who don’t wash dishes, people who are angry all the time. It’s impossible to change everyone, and people don’t want to change. We don’t have that power. That’s part of maturity: understanding that other people will be who they are and adjusting oneself to fit with that person as much as possible. Obviously in extreme cases staying away is the best course of action, but that might not work out in cases where you have to work with that person or do business.  (Juu-nin to-iro)= everyone has their own tastes. Deal with it.

Robert’s Keys to adaptability in real life:

1)      Understand people are different than you

2)      Have an open mind – don’t judge too quickly.

3)      Realize you’re not perfect yourself…….everyone, including myself (and probably especially myself) has a lot of quirks, etc…….just because someone else’s quirks are something you don’t appreciate doesn’t mean it’s wrong or that they have to change.

4)      Experience a lot of different things: try a lot of different jobs, experiment with new ideas, take on different tasks……the more new things one tries, the more you get used to adapting and understanding what kind of adaptions need to be made.

5)      Accept that you won’t always get what you want. Compromise. Leniency. Compassion. You can’t have your cake and eat it too.

In a fantasy baseball season, so many changes are going to happen on a daily basis , it is impossible not to make moves if one wants to be successful. Tiny changes in information affect a lot of what we do.

Robert’s Keys to adaptability in fantasy baseball:

1.)    Don’t ever be satisfied with you team. Even if you have the top 21 players in fantasy baseball all on your 21-player roster, you can sell high on one of those players. No one is “untouchable.”

2.)    Think beforehand what you would do before the news breaks, such as if your closer gets supplanted, or someone on your team gets injured……..be prepared for the worst.

3.)     = (Nana Korobi, ya oki)  Fall seven, get up eight (Dwyane Wade commercial). Depends on the league, but don’t give up on head to head leagues……..a few 9-1 or 10-0 victories will get even the worst of teams back in it, and even in rotisserie you never know if you can pick up the next Alfonso Soriano-2^nd half 2013.

Fantasize on,

Robert Yan 

Reacting to Early Morning Tennis Aussie Open

As I sit here watching Li Na in the 2014 Australian Open tennis Women’s Final, I’m reminded that China is actually a world power in the Olympics. It also helps that Na is more experienced, taller, and more powerful than her opponent in this match, Dominika Cibulkova, but that’s another story. World-class athletes have about the same reaction time in sports as each other because they all play all the time and develop reaction time, but for amateur sports players, it’s the great equalizer.

When I play sports, I try to be the best that I can be. I’m not the fastest, strongest, or tallest, but one gift I’ve noticed that I do possess that I think a lot of Chinese have: reaction time.

Reaction time is huge in a lot of sports. In almost every sport I can think of, it factors in. Tennis you have the obvious reacting to serves that can travel almost up to 100mph, but also hitting volleys when at the net and the distance is cut in half. Basketball there’s rebounding, catching passes, reacting to player movements, baseball: pitches moving up to 100mph.

It occurs to me that the sports Asians are most associated with, net sports, almost exclusively rely on reaction: badminton and ping pong come to mind. Those involve a high degree of dexterity and skill, but also they are the ones that one needs to see the ball REALLY fast. Have you ever seen a badminton match? It’s not like 2 people just casually volleying birdies at each other. These birdies move EXTREMELY quickly, so much that I can’t even see it (similar problem as hockey, which is why I really admire hockey goalies).

How to improve one’s reaction time: practice, practice practice. (We talking about practice?)  Seeing balls over and over again so that eventually they seem to slow down. I think this also has to do with one’s eye and mind adjusting to the speed of the balls. On the flip side, if one stops playing the sports, I feel like when they come back the balls look like they’re going going faster than they ‘ve ever gone.  One can also “cheat” and look for balls coming out of a pitcher or a thrower (in dodgeball’s) hand and anticipate the throw so that when it does come, you’re already ready for it, and your hands have already started. (Not sure how applicable that it is to baseball, probably lead s to a lot of swinging strikes).

Also, get plenty of sleep. I find that ample sleep and good performance in sports have a direct correlation for me. Final aspect: don’t be scared of the ball. Applicable to newbies who don’t like balls coming straight at their face and haven’t trained how to protect themselves from it. Flinching at a ball coming right at you cuts down your ability to react SIGNIFICANTLY.

So next time you’re going into your fantasy draft and looking for values (that’s probably an exaggeration, there’s no baseball geometric that measures reaction time, for instance) or at least starting a sport and looking for an edge, develop one of the only skills you have control over: reaction time. Japanese = 反応時間 (hanno jikan) 

Fantasize and React on, 

Robert Yan  

Laughing at least Twice a day

Recently I’ve found myself not laughing as much as I need to…….at least twice a day. Facebook is usually good for a snicker or two, textsfromlastnight.com, etc…. whatever it takes, do it. It makes me feel healthier and more alive, as well as works as form of de-stressing that doesn’t require recreational drug usage. I need more geragera laughter (Japanese for guffawing and laughing out loud) rather than just nikoniko (barely smiling) or kusukusu (chuckling to oneself).

Here’s no laughing matter: this week at the same location as last week, I learned that the Los Angeles Police Department captured at least another victim for dodgeball. Same exact ticket, same exact towing company. $350 or so. Unbelievable. Clearly the sign is not obvious enough, and it’s fast becoming an uncontrollable situation. Oogesa j’anai! (Not an exaggeration in Japanese) For me, I should have warned the dodgeball community by posting my exact situation on facebook and as many places as I could to stop the madness. I admit, I am definitely guilty of bystander bias (someone else will do it) and I gotta be more proactive about this stuff!

Another tidbit from my internet dating memoirs: it is always a little nervewracking (hara ga dokidoki) when meeting someone for the first time in person, someone who you only know through online. It’s somewhat similar to going into a job interview, it’s a bit overwhelming waiting in the reception area. On my second online date ever, I sat in the restaurant waiting area for a solid half hour before my date showed up…….a long time to think. How’s my hair look, what do I know about this person, what am I doing here, what should I say, did I take a breath mint this morning? What if she doesn’t like me? No matter how relaxed you can try to make yourself, it’s never easy (for me at least) to approach someone with the end goal really of deciding if they’re a romantic fit or not (this decision doesn’t need to be made on the first date, obviously, but these steps are all leading up to it). I imagine for the girl too there’s some hesitation but also more concern like “is this guy a stalker,” “is this safe,” “when should I get my friend to call midway through in case this doesn’t work out?” etc. It’d be one thing if it was just meeting friends for drinks or even on a job interview, where it could decide whether you get a job or not. The stakes are also so different. Dating is like possibly meeting the most important person in your life, OR meeting someone one time and never talking to them again. That’s a lot of pressure!

Anyway, going on another internet-based date tomorrow night. No pressure. Ganbarimasu!

Early Buy-low candidates for  fantasy baseball season:

Josh Hamilton (pressure’s off after a down year last year), Ian Kinsler (going to Detroit), Justin Upton, Giancarlo Stanton, Michael Bourn. Notice these are mostly talented players still young who have superstar potential (or at least the ability to dominate a fantasy category like Bourn) that had down years last year. I’m willing to bet you can get them at a bargain due to last year’s failures, I bet.

Players I’m loving for the current fantasy basketball season:

Kendall Marshall might STILL be available on your waiver wire even though he’s averaging like 2 three’s a game and 11 assists the last 5 games! The Lakers might not get ANY of their point guards back!

Anderson Varejao/Carlito: Stay healthy! A 13-rebound per threat with 1 stl and 1 blk, no turnovers. JJ Hickson is also becoming a rebounding machine in Denver. And Lance Stephenson might just be the most pleasant surprise all season, basically just taking over SG in Indiana and running with it. FIVE assists per game? Not surprising I guess given the lack of PG’s on that team. 

Fantasize on, 

Robert Yan 

September 22, 2013: A Day that will Live in Infamy

In a movie the opening credits the scene would unfold with me staring at my laptop game tracker and spontaneously checking back to my Iphone, a panicked look in my eye and all my fingernails bitten down to the stubs from a day’s (and week’s) worth of stress. Voice over: “And that’s how I ended up at the Westin Hotel Starbucks on the Las Vegas Strip, rooting for the Miami Marlins against the Washington Nationals in the 2^nd of a meaningless day-night doubleheader in late September.” 

In 2013 I made the finals of my 14-league, USC Law fantasy baseball league, THE most intense and smack talk-generating fantasy league I have ever participated in, bar none, and also the most stressful. After epically failing my way to a 13-games-below .500 record by the beginning of July, I made some improvements to the roster (bringing in Clayton Kershaw and Adam Wainwright, who happened to be the 2 best pitchers in 2013) and utilized some luck (breakouts from Matt Carpenter, Daniel Murphy, and a torrid 2^nd half surge from Alfonso Soriano) to clinch my division and get a first-round bye, only to find myself in a neck-and-neck battle in the semifinals. After waiver-wire add Andrew Cashner (My “Brucey Sharks” acquisition of the year) pitched a one-hitter on Monday, I forgot to insert all-time saves leader Mariano Rivera into my lineup, missing a crucial save in the process that I would regret by Sunday. Unfortunately months ago I had planned a trip to Bryce Canyon with some non-baseball friends (never again during September) and had  limited access to baseball throughout the weekend. Still, going into Sunday, 8 of 10 stat categories were in play and a million pitchers to go, including Bronson Arroyo, Yusmiero Petit, Andy Pettitte (in the same game), Alexi Ogando and Andrew Cashner again, but me down in almost all the offensive categories, including one in home runs.

The following was my adrenaline-induced typing from Sept. 22, 2013.

Never go on vacation while your (premier, most cared-about) fantasy baseball league is having its fantasy playoffs. Couldn’t concentrate on anything my friends were saying, stressed out all weekend. Fingers shaking. Honestly, the fear of falling and dying when I was rappelling is NOTHING compared to the sensation of failing in the Gabby Ryan League playoffs. EVERY single player has been crucial, every play make-or break. For example, I dropped Daniel Murphy ( a guy I had kept all season and who had rewarded my faith) instead of Jose Altuve on Friday due to Murphy drawing 2 tough lefties in Hamels and Cliff Lee for the weekend, but Murphy immediately homers off Hamels and makes me look like a fool. So it goes.
 

Wake up on Sunday morning deep in the mountains of Zion, near Zion National Park.

Thank god for the MLB at-bat app. I can’t be near a TV or a computer in the morning while the morning games play out, but at least I have my Iphone.

10:15AM PT. Bronson Arroyo (my guy) gets staked to a 7-0 early. YES! I basically need to win at least 4 pitching categories and hope I somehow get steal one of the offensive categories. Yes, that’s right, as of Sunday morning I’m probably losing

Still berating myself for not start Mariano Rivera (would have clinched saves) early in the week on a lineup snapfu, which would wind up costing me years off of my life/the win (not sure which one at time of publication, not sure which one I’d prefer at this point.

10:30AM PT:

BOOM! Carlos Santana with a huge home run to pull me to a tie in home runs. Still need some power from the bats!

10:45AM PT:

Alexei Ogando sailing along smoothly against Kansas City. A weekend add to my roster, this will be the one and only time this season Ogando will play for my team and he is absolutely cruising. GIVE HIM SOME OFFENSE! A 0-0 lead in a pitcher’s duel with Big Game Big Shields. O and strike some guys out!

10:50AM PT:

BOOM! Big Papi hits a solo home run in Baltimore, giving me the lead in Home Runs!!!!!! Can’t stop now, though, as my opponent still has Chris Davis with a league-leading 50 homers.

11:00AM PT. Yusmiero Petit and Andy Pettite going head to head in real life despite both being on my team. Pettite takes a no-hitter into the 6^th and a 1-0 lead before giving up a home run to someone on the computer box score named E Adrianza. It’s looking good for ERA and WHIP, but I need W’s and saves to win the category!!! SOMEBODY!!!!

12PM PT. In the car heading towards Vegas. I belatedly realize there is no car charger in the car and I will have to last the whole trip to Vegas with 25% battery life on my Iphone and constant checking of the MLB at-bat app. There is no baseball playing on the radio because it’s Sunday AND THE NFL IS IN SEASON!!!! WHY!!! WHO CARES ABOUT FOOTBALL RIGHT NOW!!!! IT’S THE END OF THE BASEBALL REGULAR SEASON!!!!! It’s official: Petit and Pettite leave their games with the score tied 1-1, Mariano Rivera (whom I need a W or SV from) comes in in the 8^th and retires the side but the Yanks can’t squeeze a run home, with the most devastating occurrence being Soriano (my guy) striking out with the bases loaded and one out while Rivera is the pitcher of record. Curses in brain (can’t articulate too loudly due to gentile company being around)

1PM PT.

Alexei Ogando’s final line: 7 IP, 2 H, 1BB, 5K’s. No W. Fortunately, Bronson Arroyo (despite being roughed up by the Pirates offense for 4 ER’s, more than Ogando, Pettite, and Petit combined on the day) gets the only W of the day for me, lending credence to the worthlessness of the wins stat category. And the bats brought the lumber today, as Chris lumberjack Carter hits a homer in Cleveland to give me an insurmountable lead in home runs.

2PM PT. Eating lunch with friends outside of Vegas. Just absolutely rude at this point, dashing into the sandwich place we stop at like a cocaine fiend trying to get his next fix, but instead of hard drugs I’m looking for a place to plug in my phone which is dying. Unfortunately for some reason Latroy Hawkins (other team) has somebody become a shutdown closer for this week and closes it out for the Mets, and Craig Kimbrel (other team) closes out a win for Julio Teheran (other team), a double whammy as it puts the other team in the lead with Saves (WHERE IS MY RIVERA SAVE FROM EARLIER IN THE WEEK!!!) and within 1 in wins.  All my opponent needs is a win from Patrick Corbin (currently leading 7-1 in the 3^rd inning) or a Stephen Strasburg (one of the best pitchers in the world) to win. I need a miracle.

Andrew Cashner, my last hope for a cushion win and a fantasy savior the last month of the fantasy season, just deals 7 innings of 1-unearned run ball. Unfortunately the San Diego Padres offense is worse than your average Little League t-ball team, whiffing incessantly against Zack Greinke and the Los Angeles offense, apparently not even opening their eyes while swinging because they know how it’s going to turn out.

I am despondent. In the car, I don’t say a word to my friends. My friends at this point have sensed tension and don’t say anything to me neither. My “friend” from home who’s also in the league texts me “you’re in a world of hurt,” like saying that the sky was blue or that Vegas is a waste of money.

As I’m pouting and fighting the urge to cry, I notice some activity in the Colorado-Arizona game. Apparently the 20-games-below .500 rockies are mounting a comeback. Patrick Corbin inexplicably can’t get out of the 5^th inning at Coors despite an insurmountable lead! I NEEDED THAT!!!!!! I am literally bouncing around. Michael Cuddyer, Todd Helton, the Coors altitude, you guys are AWESOME! I still have a chance! All I need is………Stephen Strasburg not to get a W. O damn it.

5PM PT. Dropped off friends in Vegas airport, waiting for the bus in 2 hours which will arrive at Bally’s Hotel. Guys playing slots, etc.

Stephen Strasburg takes the hill on Sunday night as my last obstacle. Good news: He’s been scratched various times in the last week or so and probably won’t last too long into this game (he needs 11 K’s to tie K’s for my opponent). The bad news: He’s facing the Marlins at home. The opposing pitcher: a 23-year-old lefthander named Brian Flynn. He has a 9.64 ERA coming into the game. Yea there’s a lot of bad news. Optimistically, it’s a coin flip. Realistically, it’s Stephen Strasburg at home against one of the worst offensives in America and a random September call-up in the second of a doubleheader in which the Nationals lost the first game, meaning they’re due to win the 2^nd one. Not good.

Meanwhile, St. Louis and Milwaukee get started on ESPN Sunday Night baseball.  A stolen base from Carlos Beltran, mostly dormant during these playoffs, could really help by stealing a base (I’m down 1). Not counting on it.  Carlos “Brutal” Beltran this weekend.

5:30PM PT

At this point I am locked on my computer literally checking every pitch location to make sure no one’s scored off Mr. Flynn. My mom texts me when I’m going to be home, not that I register what that means at the time. Flynn somehow makes it through 5 innings giving up just 2 runs despite a mammoth warning-track fly ball by Bryce Harper and some rocket shots off the bats of Nationals hitters.

6PM PT Strasburg struggles through the 4^th and has made 71 pitches through innings.  How many pitches is he allotted? DOES HE HAVE A PITCH COUNT? IS HIS ARM/SHOULDER SORE??

6:30PM PT. As I’m waiting for my bus to catch a ride home, I see Strasburg gets pinch-hit for in the bottom of the 6^th with the Marlins up 3-2. YES!!!!! JUST GET OUT OF THIS inning.

6:37PM PT. I remember when I found out I didn’t do so hot on my first law school exam. A pit in the bottom of my stomach, doubting the world. That did not compare to the feeling I got upon reading: “Denard Span singles to left field, (random Nationals player) and (another Random National player) scores. 4-3 Nationals. Strasburg the pitcher of record despite being out of the game. Nationals bullpen one of the best in the world. It’s over.

6:45PM PT. Preparing for next season. Devastated.

6:49PM PT. Logan Morrison gets on 2^nd for the Marlins with 2 out. Giancarlo Stanton up against right-handed specialist Tyler Clipperd. Stanton has made a habit of hitting flyouts and strikeouts in this spot all season.

6:51PM PT. I get a text from my friend (also in the league) before it happens. GIANCARLO STANTON!!!!!hits a double down the right field line. 4-4 game. Strasburg no win. Opponent has no more guys. Matchup over. 5-5. Euphoria.

6:53PM PT. Halfway down the street jumping around.

6:55PM PT. Call my friends, family, and rivals to share the news. WE’RE HAVING A BABY! HE’s CALLED THE FANTASY BASEBALL LEAGUE Finals.

1AM PT. Get home to Los Angeles; start preparing for the finals.

Sept. 30, 2013: I lose in the finals, putting an end to an extraordinary season with one very special day in there when I started in Zion National Park with a low chance of success and ended back in Los Angeles with victory and a life-long memory, just another day in the life of the fantasy baseball playoffs. 

Fantasize on, 

Robert Yan 

The $350 Dodgeball Game, or "I hate LA"

Today highlighted one of the reasons I might move out of LA.

In LA, one has to drive everywhere. Traffic is bad everywhere around LA, including the Unholy triangle of the 101, 405, and the 10. That’s been well Documented. Not only is traffic bad, but the bigger problem, in my opinion, is parking. That car’s gotta go somewhere.

At some point, the Los Angeles Police Department and the cities of Hollywood, Los Angeles, and Beverly Hills decided to coordinate their efforts in collecting as much money as possible, setting up random areas where there is no parking and tow-away zones to get the most bang out of their buck. O, and towing companies are part of the Los Angeles transportation cartel.

Today, I went to the Hollywood YMC to attend open gym dodgeball. I had parked there last Thursday, no problem, plenty of parking. This week, however, there were a lot of cars there, to the point of no meter parking spots. Not a big deal, this is LA, gotta find a way. I found a strip of meters that were just ending (Los Angeles parking ends at 8PM, so meters are fair game). So I decided to park. I even read the signs. But apparently I missed one sign that stated that there was no parking on nights from Wednesday to Saturday. An hour later, I get back to my car, and my car is gone. The worst feeling in the world, in my opinion. Saiaku. 最悪 = the worst.

Now, obviously I am to blame for not reading the sign, but trust me, there were a lot of signs in that area, coupled with the fact that block had lots of meters that looked exactly the same that WEREN’t in the tow zone. A reasonable person who’s had a long day and travels a lot might be allowed to make a mistake. $60? $70? That’s an expensive lesson, but I can live with that. But the towing impounding process is the $70 PLUS $280 for the towing company. $350. That’s a lot of money for ANYBODY, I don’t care who it is, but especially people who take cars into Hollywood (not rich people who use limousines, private drivers, etc.) It’s not that I shouldn’t be punished for the infraction, it’s the severity of the punishment and the excessive payment: I mean what did the towing company have to do? Get a call to tow someone, have the driver go get it, and then release it to me about an hour later? That’s a pretty easy way to make $280 in an hour, and can anyone explain why towing companies are always like a mile or two away from the actualy parking location? I mean there were towing companies right next to the meters. Why do I have to go halfway across town to get my car? Another subsidy to the taxi companies? Tondemonai. とんでもない= totally unreasonable.

As you might imagine this is not my first trip to the rodeo, or first trip to the impound lot. I’ve been towed TWICE in a calendar year now, with 2 different cars. This would not happen in a city where I just take the subway. I was never towed in Chicago, although to be fair small sample size. I really think L.A. County purposely puts these spots up to collect money from people. They KNOW people are going to stumble across.

Another racket: Do not park on the city streets overnight in San Gabriel. ANYWHERE in San Gabriel. Even though there are no signs. I looked everywhere for a sign last week parking overnight in San Gabriel; there were none. When I got back, there was a nice old ticket there. If I am a person coming from another city to visit San Gabriel for the first time, how am I supposed to know that rule? Totally unreasonable.

Sigh. Quick note on the NFL games this weekend: I think the betting trends have swung a little too much to the underdogs. In Seattle and Denver you got absolutely the 2 best teams in the league this year who have had 2 weeks to rest themselves and prepare for teams they’ve already beaten this season, waiting AT HOME in awesome home environments. I would say take Seattle and Denver point spread (Seattle only -7.5 at home) and hope New England is the big favorite that gets upset this week. Many are saying that SF and Carolina is a toss-up game (currently San Fran -1 favorite), but just from watching Carolina they are better than 4 points worse than the Niners (with 3 points for home field).

Fantasize on, 

Robert Yan  

Fantasy Basketball: The Devil's Playground

Japanese word of the day: 紛らわしい (magirawashii) = confusing. Fantasy basketball stat categories are confusing. In a standard 9-category league, you have all these categories that are different from each other: some are positive stats, some are negative stats, some are counting stats, some are percentage stats. It’s like counting apples to oranges.

Fantasy football has the easiest point system to understand. If someone (or a group of someones) does something, he gets a certain amount of points. Easily quantifiable. The only thing that matters are the points; there’s one category. Fantasy hockey I am totally lost; I still am befuddled as to what Goals-against-average is and why Penalty minutes count as a fantasy category. Fantasy baseball is a little harder to grasp because there are counting and percentage categories. However, ERA and WHIP are not terribly difficult to grasp and usually go hand in hand with each other, while batting average is pretty much tied to number of hits. Good hitters get hits, good pitchers have good ERA and WHIPs, etc. Basketball is a completely different ballgame and very magirawashii. A good player can be really good in 8 categories but be HORRIBLE on turnovers…..it’s difficult to account for how badly those turnovers hurt you. Can you just punt that category? FG & and FT% are like ERA and WHIP but more complex because one player can have a WAY larger impact on that category than another. Kevin Durant, for example, shoots like 10 free throws a game, while Shawn Marion shoots 1.3. Baseball pitchers generally throw similar amount of innings, nothing like a 10-to-1 ratio.

So it’s hard to gauge a player’s value. Yahoo! Fantasy sports I think has done a good job of creating the formula for assessing player value by taking all the aforementioned factors into account (that’d be interesting to see how their statisticans crunched the numbers, especially given that some players have injuries. It’s gotta cause some headaches). The undisputed No. 1 player and who has been for 3 years now is Kevin Durant. He usually leads the league in scoring, contributes 1.5 stls, 1.0 blks, 5 assists, 8.3 rebounds, 2.0 three’s, and perhaps his biggest contribution, 88% free throws but takes 10 a game. Depending on what kind of team you have, he can take half of a fantasy team’s free throws and basically win you that category himself. Huge. But he does have one fatal flaw: 3.1 turnovers. That’s a concern that someone who doesn’t turn it over as much might exploit to become a fantasy No. 1. After Durant it becomes so much harder to see who’s better than who, and it really takes a lot of experience to understand player values, which is why I feel that fantasy basketball is actually the most exciting strategical, number-crunching game of all the fantasy sports: you have to gauge which categories to go for, which players to get to fill those categories, etc. Fun stuff.

Here’s some fantasy players you wouldn’t expect to have great values and some observations to be gleaned from that:

1.) Anthony Davis, aka the Brow has emerged after a lot of (justified) preseason hype as the No. 2 fantasy player in fantasyland and could possibly at one time be No. 1 because of his AMAZING 3.2 blocks. Blocks are scarce anyway, but to own that category like that and only turn it over 1.5 times might make him one day better than Durant.

2.) LeBron James, the undisputed best player in the world today, is actually sixth in fantasy, kind of a down year for him. Never a great FT shooter, his 75% actually hurts most teams in that category, as does the 3.4 TO’s and a disappointing 0.3 blocks (down from previous seasons).

3.) Most surprising Top 10 player: Damian Lillard. You don’t usually see shoot-first point guards who don’t put up defensive numbers (0.8 stl’s) get into the Top 10, but his astounding 3.3 three’s a game lead the league and the 89.8% FT puts a Durant-like over that category.

4.) Al Horford is one of the most consistent fantasy players and a guaranteed Top-20 option every year because he’s solid in every category ( except 3’s of course, he doesn’t take those), especially %’s which are huge.  *** In the early rounds of every fantasy draft I look for guys who have solid %’s because specialists in all the counting categories can be had later on; there are just no “FT% specialists” or “FG% specialists” out there, so you need to establish a solid core in the first few rounds. Unfortunately Horford and Brook Lopez are both out for the season, zannen nagara (regrettable) for the fantasy community all around.

5.) Ryan Anderson is a “no-strings-attached” player………..No bad stats, all good stats, so you’re basically on a free roll. These guys aren’t sexy (applies to Ryan Anderson’s physical appearance as well) but the no-negative stats definitely has underappreciated value. Especially the 0.9 turnovers. Serge I-blocka falls into this category as well and dominates a scarce category.

6.) Josh Smith is the opposite of Ryan Anderson. A very sexy nightly 5x5 threat (5 points, 5 rebs, 5 assists, 5 stls, 5 blocks), he hurts in all 3 negative categories ( .400 FG, .608FT, 2.5 TO’s) Ranked 98^th by Yahoo! Sports, drafted way too high by me this year with like the 26^th pick in the draft. I don’t think I’ll ever draft Josh Smith again.

7.) Point guards are often guilty of the same “negative stats curse” as J-Smoove, the key deterrents being TO’s (inherently a lot) and FG% because they’re usually chuckers, or in the case of Ricky Rubio, just can’t shoot (miserable 34.8% FG).

8.) Btw, for a standard ESPN league team (10 starters, 4 bench players, 12 teams), the “average” stats a team should have is about 45% FG, 78% FT. Good to know when picking up guys to see if you’re hurting or helping you.

9.) Incredible bargains at the 76er mart: Spencer Hawes is No. 21 on Yahoo’s player rater, Thaddeus Young No. 18, Michael Carter-Willaims at 31. Only the Heat have 3 guys in the Top 30 fantasy as well named Lebron, Wade, and Bosh. Actually, check that, the true fantasy powerhouse team are the Blazers, with LaMarcus Aldridge, Lillard, Nicholas Batum, and Wesley Mathews all currently in the Top 30 (I say currently because I can’t picture Mathews staying there all year).

10.) Does anyone know who leads the league in rebounding this year? It’s not Kevin Love, it’s not Dwight Howard, it’s not Demarcus Cousins, it’s DEANDRE (frickin’) Jordan. He has Blake Griffin on his team too! Wow shocked. He’s also 40% FT and shoots 4 of them a game (kind of high). 

Fantasize on, 

Robert Yan 

2014- A Big Year

No, I am not doing a Big Year that bird-watchers know and love (try to identify as many bird species as possible, as chronicled in the movie “The Big Year” –not a bad movie to check out, btw) I’m merely pontificating that 2014 is a big transition year for me.  It’s a year that’s not very definite and has lots of ways it can go. Almost every facet of my life (romantic, career, residence, free time, fantasy teams, I’ll cover each separately) is affected and is in flux in what will probably be the most dynamic year of my life to date. In the sense that I’m not sure where it will go but there’s a lot of potential.

The End of 2013 will always be remembered as the 3 months I spent A LOT of time studying Japanese, and I mean a LOT- to the point of being an “inja” 隠者(hermit in Japanese) from October to December, with a week in China thrown in there and 3 weekends out of 4 in Vegas in December (I know, weird month)

1.)    Romantic

I’ve always thought that this would be the age- 26, turning 27 where I would start to settle down. (Actually when I was in a Spelling Bee craze I wanted to have a kid ASAP to train that kid into a spelling bee champ- but anyway) I don’t know if others share the same goal but 30 has always been my deadline to get married. I think my parents have that goal as well, but more importantly it’s a goal for me. It’s a big life timeline, as much as age and things are all relative and whatnot, on a personal level it’s still a very big number for me, like 3000 hits in baseball or 500 HRs or whatnot, as much as athletes say they don’t focus on personal stats, there is no doubt they think about it. I think about it. In 3 years I will be very close to turning 30, and what will I be doing then? Who will I be with? What will I be doing? The next 3 years are SO SO crucial in determining that. (I almost wish I hadn’t wasted 3 years in law school, lol). Mottainai! (What a waste!)

2.)    Career

So I’m not sure what I had in mind when I graduated from high school or even started college as a finance major for what I’d be doing at this point, but it almost certainly wasn’t to be a contract attorney. 2013 was my most lucrative year but also probably the one where I established what my career will be- that is, probably not in the traditional law firm setting. Being able to speak/understand 3 languages now, Chinese, English and (limited but growing all the time) Japanese gives me some flexibility as to what I do for work. It’s both a blessing and a curse in that I have much more control over my schedule and how much I work but also I’m at the mercy of the market and bereft of the guarantees of lifetime employment or career benefits (although my argument would be that even in Japan lifetime employment is becoming less pervasive, a global trend where people can provide services individually a lot easier and independent contractors are more common)

3.)    Residence:

Closely related to that is of course where I will live. Living in Los Angeles has been a blast and I’ve met a lot of new people, but it’s always been a fantasy of mine to live in Chicago for a summer in downtown. I’ve also had fantasies of living in various cities of the world, like Tokyo or Beijing or Hong Kong for a short period. Seattle for some reason sticks out as a desirable location. Last year when I lived in Philadelphia for 2 months it was enjoyable and definitely sticks out in my memory; I was totally on my own and exposed to new things, like taking trains everywhere and East Coast attitude. I yearn for that again, but I wouldn’t want to do it at the expense of losing work opportunities/losing friends. It’s a tough dilemma, and it has to be balanced with what kind of lease I sign for apartments. I am by definition a short-term lease guy, but most complexes naturally want as long of a commitment as possible. Ultimately, though, I wonder if I will ever get a chance to live in different areas of the world once I turn 30, especially if I satisfy No. 1 and start a family….then it’s not just me anymore. Sigh. Life and decisions.

4.)    Free time activities:

Dodgeball, violin, running (I’ve had about 4 years of great running around the L.A. area)

5.)    Fantasy Sports

Even in 2013 I wrote about how I found myself having less time for fantasy sports, especially in the baseball season. During late 2013 it was even more so: I wasn’t on rotoworld.com that often anymore, the fantasy football page was not the first page I checked every morning any more, I would go whole days without thinking about which players I would check. Is the process of “becoming an adult” starting? Or is it just a lull? Will I ever be back to the 2010-levels of fantasy awareness and do I want to be? A huge swing year that will probably be dictated by how well I do especially in my USC Law fantasy baseball league- If I win the championship, I might just retire (one of the few remaining fantasy goals I’ve yet to achieve).

6.)    Finally, through my experience with Match.com (horror/survival stories to come in subsequent post) and dating in general I’ve come to realize how important my family is to me… they are a constant in my life that I can cling and hold on to, sometimes a little too much. I’ve become a little too reluctant on my parents to support me since I’ve lived in Los Angeles, and I wonder if that’s holding me back from pursuing my romantic ideals. It’s not a causation, but there’s definitely a correlation. I understand that I get great joy from my parents and I’m welcome and my parents actually look forward to me coming home, but in the back of mind I know that at some point the best thing for me is to be set free (cue Disney revelation music).

That is what my 2014 will probably turn around: Learning to set myself free.

I hope you’ve enjoyed the annual tradition of Robert Yan babbling introspectively about his own life: back to actionable fantasy advice/life observations/ readable material next post. Happy 2014!

Fantasize on,

Robert Yan