It’s Just One of Those Years

So the luck of the fantasy gods weren’t limited to baseball for me this year. After winning my lone fantasy baseball league in the summer, I carried on the tradition — and the team name: “The Funky Bunch” — into the football season.

I participated in two fantasy football leagues this season — one with a few fellow GCTelegram current and former employees based out of Pittsburg along with a league contrived of teachers in the school district. After slow starts in both leagues, I reached the championship match for both leagues.

PLAYOFFS??? I JUST HOPE WE CAN WIN A GAME!

In the Pittsburg league, I started the season 2-4 and I had a Jim Mora mentality. But then the tides shifted, the momentum swung and the stars aligned. I went on to lose just one of the final 10 games — seven regular season games and three playoff games — with the lone loss being a hard-fought 123-105 loss two weeks before the playoffs.
In the first two games of the playoffs, I had to face the last two teams I had lost to in the regular season. But vengeance would be mine.
In my opening round game, I came away with an eight-point victory thanks to Tony Romo scoring 20, Ricky Williams and kicker Rob Bironas scoring 19 each and The Steve Smith racking up 14 and Maurice Jones-Drew coming away with 13.
Then, in Round 2, facing the only team I had lost to in the last 10 weeks — a team which sported Drew Brees, Larry Fitzgerald, Wes Welker and Thomas Jones and was No. 1 in the league in scoring — I more than doubled the opponents point total for a 134-66 victory. Romo put up 23, Steve Smith 26, MJD 31 and Baltimore defense came up with 18 to win 134-66 to reach the championship game, where I would face off with former GCTelegram web editor Emily Behlmann — who just like me, put up 134 points in the semifinals and eclipsed 100 in the first round thanks to one Chris Johnson.

(AP Photo) Atlanta Falcons receiver Roddy White (84) celebrates with teammate Michael Jenkins after catching a touchdown pass in the first quarter of an NFL football game against the Buffalo Bills on Sunday in Atlanta.

The Tennessee running back set a gut wrenching tone on Christmas with a 28-point outburst for Emily. But fortunately, Ben Roethlisberger’s 12 points ended up being Emily’s only other double-digit contribution. I, on the other hand, received five 10-plus totals — and then some. Roddy White, who I had traded for thanks to having four top 10 running backs, scored 30 points, while Cedric Benson put up 18, Santonio Holmes registering 14, Romo another 13 and Steve Smith with 12. For the first time this year, I was able to rely on my wide receiver corp — which was needed with MJD scoring a meager nine points. Final score: Funky Bunch 120, Emily 63.

The Definition of Parity:

As for my Garden City teacher’s league, parity reigned in the playoffs. After reaching the post season as the No. 7 seed with a 6-7 record along with three others, the league was “plagued” with a swarm of upsets.
In the opening round, all four of the top seeds where upended leaving a semifinal of No. 5 vs. No. 8 and No. 6 vs. No. 7 as I sneaked past No. 2 seed by two points.
Then in the semifinals, I held on for a five-point victory thanks to the Philadelphia defense putting up 15 points — right behind Matt Schaub with 16.38 points to lead my team — and overcame a 27-point outing for Peyton Manning, a 17.87-point outburst from Beanie Wells and 14.8 points from Reggie Wayne.
Also pulling an upset in the semis was the No. 8 seed, scoring 133.86 points on the heels of a 115-point total in Round 1 — all this coming from the lowest scoring team in the league during the regular season.
The No. 8 seed got a big boost from former K-State running back Darren Sproles, who had a season-high 23.33 points, to go with Phillip Rivers’ 18.46 points and Frank Gore’s 16.5 total.
I got 21 points from Randy Moss, along with 18.8 points from newly acquired Jerome Harrison and another 14.34 points from Tony Romo.

(AP Photo) Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson (28) scores on a run past Chicago Bears linebacker Lance Briggs (55) in the second half of an NFL football game in Chicago on Monday.

Heading into the Monday night game, I trailed 96.29-71.44 — a 24.85 deficit — with Minnesota Vikings players Sidney Rice and Adrian Peterson to face the less than spectacular of late, Chicago Bears defense. And thanks to Peterson putting up 22.27 points and Rice 9.73, I claimed a second fantasy football championship. Add these two along with the baseball championship, I went a perfect 3-for-3 in fantasy sports league in 2009 — after having never won a fantasy league prior.

Championship Rosters

Pittsburg League:
Tony Romo 13
Roddy White 30
Steve Smtih 12
Santonio Holmes 14
Cedric Benson 18
MJD 18
Visanthe Shiancoe 10
Rob Bironas 6
Baltimore D 8

Garden City League:
Tony Romo 14.34
Randy Moss 21
Sidney Rice 9.73
Adrian Peterson 22.27
Brandon Jacobs 0.10
Vernon Davis 7.2
Jerome Harrison 18.8
Stephen Gostkowski 5
Philadelphia D 5

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Drafting Benson and Ricky… BRILLIANT!!!!

What a difference 10 weeks makes. After scoring 113 points (IN A LOSS) to open the fantasy football season, my team then dropped a dud with a 68-point outing — resulting in a 24-point trouncing.
Swapping wins for losses over the next four weeks, I found myself at a dreadful 2-4 and barely hanging on. But then something amazing happened. My studs, actually played like studs!
In Weeks 7 and 8, I scored weekly league highs of 120 (thanks to Tony Romo’s 36, Cedric Benson’s 29 and Devin Hester’s 19) and 121 (Romo reaching 25, Maurice Jones-Drew dropping 34 and getting 12 points each from Carolina’s Steve Smith and Joseph Addai).

Cincinnati Bengals running back Cedric Benson (32) heads upfield against Baltimore Ravens linebacker Jarret Johnson (95) in the first half of a game in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Ed Reinke)

Then last week I faced my toughest battle going against Telegram employee Laurie Sisk, who going into the week was tied for the best record at 8-1 and on an eight-game win streak. But I escaped thanks to MJD putting up 25, Smith another 15 and kicker Rob Bironas getting me 13. My four-point victory to give me four consecutive wins, could have easily been more had I not benched Baltimore’s defense, which scored 24 points on Monday night.

Where did it all go right?

The large reason for my sudden surge can be routed back to draft day. With my first pick, I was blessed with Maurice Jones-Drew at pick No. 5 — thanks to somebody drafting Steve Slaton ahead of MJD. After going the way of Smith in Round 2, which was looking like a bust until lately, I then went with Tony Romo. It’s almost sad to say that I “settled” for Romo as my QB in Round 3 — especially since he is the eighth-leading quarterback with 175 points heading into this week.
Following Romo was Indy running back Joseph Addai, slotted as my second running back. But guess what, I no longer have Addai on my roster.
Why? You might ask. Because I didn’t need him.
I know, how do you “not need” a top-15 running back. Well, when you already have four of them, one is disposable. I drafted Cedric Benson in the seventh round — looks like the steal of the draft, except for one thing. With my 11th round pick, I chose Ricky Williams. At the time, looked decent. Right now, looks GENIUS!

Gamble of a (fantasy) lifetime

After trading Addai for a solid No. 1 receiver (Atlanta’s Roddy White), things could have gone south with the injury of Cedric Benson. But with the Thursday game, I decided to somewhat gamble and put Williams in over Benson this week — unsure if Benson would be a go or no-go.

Miami Dolphins' Ricky Williams (34) stretches the ball over the goal line Thursday for a touchdown as Carolina Panthers' Jon Beason (52) falls in the first half in Charlotte, N.C. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton)

Williams goes on to score me 35 points this week — and paired with Smith’s 14 points, gave me a 45-point lead heading into Sunday. At the moment, I still have that 40-plus point lead with my opponent still having Vince Young to play on Monday night, and I have kicker Rob Bironas. This week, I also must give some pub to tight end Visanthe Shiancoe of Minnesota for scoring 13 points, including his seventh touchdown of the season.
So as a recap, here is what my roster looks like:
QB: Tony Romo
WR: Roddy White
WR: Steve Smith
WR: Santonio Holmes, Mike Wallace or Devin Hester
RB: Maurice Jones-Drew
RB: Ricky Williams or Cedric Benson (Justin Forsett)
TE: Visanthe Shiancoe
K: Rob Bironas
DEF: Baltimore

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