SO LONG 2012 NFL SEASON!

Seahawks at Bears Kickoff
(photo courtesy of Ed Mancia)

Felipe M

With the Super Bowl behind us, we asked our sports’ panel to list three things they will mis about the 2012 NFL Season. 

Johnny J wrote: 

• I will miss the excitement of the game. Waking up on Monday morning just to think about Monday night--Monday Night Football that is. Not just for the 2012 season, but every season!
• I will miss playing Fantasy Football every week. I was projected in 2012 to win the whole thing and with my top three picks hurt in the playoffs, I fell apart. I miss seeing my players get hurt; it was like a routine every week: Rob Gronkowski, LeSean McCoy and Jordy Nelson. I miss seeing them on the sideline a lot.  I'm already thinking about whom I can select with the 10th pick in my fantasy league next season. This sucks...football don't leave me!
• I'm going to miss the excitement about the rookie quarterbacks. This was the best bunch of rookie quarterbacks in awhile. It was just amazing to see them develop so quickly and they all fitted perfectly in their respective teams’ system. Pocket quarterback or mobile quarterback? Either way Andrew Luck, Robert Griffin III, and Russell Wilson were playoff bound.

C. McLain had more, succinct responses: 

Bears at Cowboys where Jon Gruden must have used
the word "gunslinger" a million times in this telecast.
(photo courtesy of Ed Mancia)

• The “C’mon Man” segment seen on Monday Night Countdown.
• Five of the NFL’s finest football analysts’ favorite words: “Hit him in the mouth!”
• And last but not least... Football! Let’s be honest: it’s one of the, if not the, best sport to watch.

Didn't realize that people are that devoted to Monday Night Football. Josh C,on the other hand, is all about TNF: Thursday Night Football:

• I am going to miss the Thursday night games.  Thursday night is the night of our bowling league.  The Thursday games gave us a reason to gather early at the sports’ bar adjacent to the bowling alley.  At least one of us would usually start a player from the Thursday night game in the fantasy league that we are in together.  We then have bragging rights and fuel to be able to shove in the faces of our teammates.  Outside of football, we have the Sacramento Kings (for now) and San Jose Sharks (when the NHL is not undergoing a work-stoppage) games, but they're just not the same.
• I will miss my fantasy teams and having something to look forward to on Sundays.  My fantasy teams were mostly dominant this year and watching the players that I pegged as "sleepers" and seeing if they panned out on Sundays.  Watching my "one-week flier" go off against a predicted, favorable opponent is always an exhilarating experience.
• I'm going to miss highlights of the "Young Running QBs.”  From RGIII, to Russell Wilson, to Colin Kaepernick, these guys were exciting to watch and gave us a reason to tune in not only to the games themselves, but to NFL Red Zone and highlights’ shows to see what spectacular feats they were able to pull off on any given week.  In addition to the rookies, I saw the writing on the wall for quite a few NFL records to be broken this season earlier in the year.  Checking on those records and tracking the progress/pace of a record breaking season was an enjoyable task for me (from Drew Brees, to Calvin Johnson a.k.a. “Megatron,” to Adrian Peterson, etc....).

(Peterson, reportedly, was playing with a sports hernia along with a rehabbed knee.  Ouch! I definitely appreciate his effort this season--Ed). 

What am I going to miss the most about the 2012 NFL season?  Well....

I don't know, without the ability to watch all
the NFL games, this is basically an
over-glorified dinner plate.
(photo courtesy of Felipe M)

• For the first time in my life, I had (free) access to NFL Sunday Ticket as well as NFL Red Zone.  It was everything I have ever dreamed of!  Being able to watch whatever football game you want is a luxury that every hardcore, NFL fan should have access to.  It is definitely beyond celestial.
• Watching Peyton Manning play after being out for the entire 2011 season.  Watching him orchestrate an offense never gets old.
• Joe Flacco finally establishing himself as one of the game's "elite."
• Watching the New York Jets and Dallas Cowboys self-destruct in 2012.  I could watch those two teams continue to muck it up every year.  
• And no Tim Tebow phenomenon?  Imagine that!
• Miami Dolphins on HBO's Hard Knocks to kick off training camp and watching a promising young QB in Ryan Tannehill take over that position (I swear, he reminds me of Ben Roethlisberger when he was a rookie).   
• Watching Russell Wilson after I had picked him up in my fantasy football league, en route to a championship.  
• Eating all the pizza, wings, eggrolls, etc. and drinking all the beer and shots I could handle every Sunday!
• Most importantly, watching the Bears' first 8-9 games of the season.  Everything seemed to be clicking on all cylinders this year, especially that defense.  The signature game came against the Tennessee Titans where they put up 50+ points and forced--like--20 turnovers, mostly by Charles Tillman's "Peanut Punch" maneuver. 
• Tillman also had a great game against Calvin Johnson, making him a non-factor in the Week 7 match-up against the Detroit Lions.  He pretty much guaranteed himself a spot in the Pro Bowl after that game.  

More NFL is available here. 

SUPER BOWL PARTY SCENARIOS

Super Bowl Party!
(photo courtesy of Ed Mancia)

Donny R

Felipe M

Dan Bernstein’s wrote an advice column on watching the Super Bowl, where he essentially warns you to not attend any party whatsoever as people tend to ruin the experience of the NFL Championship Game.  Donny Rodriguez and Felipe M, on the other hand, warns readers to know beforehand what exactly to expect at these Super Bowl parties and what you can do to make best of the following situations.  

Scenario #1:  You know someone at the party you will be attending, usually a girl, will make a point to say, “I only watch the Super Bowl for the commercials.”  Your friend’s fiancée will reply, “I know!  Me too!”  And they will go on and on swapping stories about the commercials from past years and how they went online and already had a sneak peek at some of the more, marquee advertisements.  And as they discover that they both have so much in common in terms of their knowledge of Super Bowl commercials, their chatter volume will grow louder and higher to almost unbearable shrieking levels and constant responses of “Oh my God, right?  Like, me too!” 

Best Possible Move: You and your buddy will both despondently glance at each other and take a swig of your brew of choice.  If you’re hoping that more people who want to talk football come and rescue you, you will be disappointed as women usually dominate these parties.  If anything, more women who have not watched a single game all season long will join in the Super Bowl commercial conversation, which ultimately leads to Halftime Show performances where about 5 minutes will be devoted to Beyonce and the rest of the night, they will be singing the praises of Brittney Spears and Madonna’s legendary performances at this event.  Hope this party has plenty of your favorite beer.  I feel sorry if you’re stuck drinking Light beers.

Let me guess?  They have nothing, but Lite Beer
at this party, huh?
(photo courtesy of Gabe Ponce)

Scenario #2: Guess what?  The group of people who have talked up a storm about the commercials and Halftime Shows are also waiting on the Puppy Bowl. If you arrived early because you did not want to miss the pregame narratives on how Ray Lewis benefitted from ‘deer antler' spray pills (oxymoron?) to grow into a beautiful mammal, you’re out of luck because these people want to watch a different kind of animal—puppies!  So guess what you’ll be watching instead of #52’s great fight from morphing into a woodland creature? 

Best Possible Move: Just watch the Puppy Bowl and continue to drink your light beer.  16 of those will get you drunk enough to loosen you up and somewhat enjoy the casual fans’ dominating presence.  Just don’t get too drunk that you actually forget to tell someone to flip it to the damn game.  Besides, can you really endure 1-2 hours of “deer antler” references?

Scenario #3: As you start watching some of these new commercials, in your drunken stupor, no less, you are probably mildly exacerbated and indignant.  You’re feeling that you are marching towards a belligerent state.  You can’t get there quick enough because, again, you’re drinking nothing, but light beers.  You’ll probably start thinking to yourself:

“these advertisers lack so much creativity.  They’re literally just parrots, echoing what we all say and think is funny or cool.  ‘Oh wow, here’s a commercial with someone getting tackled;  oooohhhh, here’s one where an animal is talking; here’s one where a former celebrity attempts to resuscitate his/her career; Nuh-huh, this one stars a black guy you’ve never seen in real life outside of Wicker Park.  Sort of like this guy’”:

Best Possible Move: Just remind yourself that if you wanted to help in producing these commercials, you would have majored in Business/Marketing/Advertising instead of earning your phony, Liberal Arts degree from Gudger College.  Just remind yourself to breathe and keep drinking your light beer.  After 1 hour of pregame ceremonies and a 6 minute rendition of the National Anthem, they will eventually begin the coin toss.  Look at the bright side: you’re only an hour away from a 50/50 chance of winning a prop bet. 

Hello, Donny?  Some of us are still living
that fantasy football season.
(photo courtesy of Felipe M.)

Scenario #4: You finally made it to your 12^th lite beer (a whole case?  Congratulations!) and you finally got a good buzz going.  Unfortunately, the game is a snooze-fest as both teams are playing ridiculously conservative and both quarterbacks are proving to be more inaccurate than an unclean AK-47.  Heck, even that girl who was irritating you with all her talk of commercials is starting to look kind of cute.  And she even seems sort of cool too.  So what if she doesn't care about the Super Bowl?  Your fantasy football season has been over for six weeks and you could care less which slot receiver caught the ball (Was it Anquan Crabtree or Jacoby Ginn Jr.?).  You have no rooting interest and you have no shot at winning any squares.  Maybe, just maybe, you too don’t care about the game, just like the girl whose only interest is the glitzy commercials.  

Best Possible Move: Hello?  There’s only one move to pull here.  During—err, scratch that—before halftime, you might want to start calling her out about her “unnatural obsession” with these ads.  While you’re at it, give her the business about the Puppy Bowl and the upcoming Beyonce, lip-synching extravaganza that should start in about—hmmm, let’s see, they’re in the 2 minute warning—1 hour or so.  Why pick on her like an elementary schoolchild?  Nonsense!  This is the 21^st century, guy!  If there’s a better way to flirt with someone of the opposite sex, I would love to hear all about it…

Scenario #5: I guess at this point, we should probably mention something about the game.  You’re probably nearing your 20^th lite beer of the evening, but with all the food available to you, the beer is having no effect on you.  It’s like your drinking water at this point.  That means you should be coherent enough to pay attention to the game.  You’ll see the following events occur in this game:

• Ray Rice has just as many receiving yards as rushing yards.
• Randy Moss proves he’s the “best Wide Receiver in the game” by making two catches on three targets for 24 yards.
• The 4^th quarter comes down to the final drive, but you are apathetic at this juncture of the game.

Why?  Well, the Super Bowl, unless your hometown team is participating, is just a time to get together with those you hold dear and watch football for the last time until September.  It’s like Christmas or Thanksgiving, but without the awkwardness that only certain family members bring: because you can actually be more selective in terms of whom you want to see at the Super Bowl party.  You’re not forced to tolerate anyone at these festivities.  Ok, you do have to tolerate the game and the players who constantly point to the sky as if divine intervention stepped in and helped them win the football game.  Just one more drive is holding you back from putting this God-forsaken season in the books and getting out of this party so you can drive home and go to sleep because you have to get ready for work on Monday.

Best Possible Move: Again, remember to breathe, and as the game dwindles down, start game-planning how you’re going to plan your goodbyes.  Try to time your exit to sync up with that one girl who likes the commercials.  You probably have a good shot at getting her phone number.  Who knows, you might go to a sports bar next Friday where both of you are sipping your drinks rather bunglingly for an hour as both of you stare at the establishment’s flat screen.  And in between conversations, both of you will watch the commercials and you will think to yourself, “I’m really glad I went to that Super Bowl party.”

Check out Donny Rodriguez's Chicago Bulls Mid-Season Review.

More NFL content is always available, here. 

Braggin' Rights 2012: Felipe Wins a Fantasy Football Title

I am the Champion!
I AM THE CHAMPION!
(photo courtesy of Felipe M)

Felipe M

The following is a recap of my 2012 Championship-winning fantasy football team, Baraka Obama from a universal point of view.  The hope is that fantasy football owners would be able to relate. 

Despite the fact that I missed my league's draft this year, I was pretty confident of my team's chances when I saw what the draft-bot did in my absence.  However,what looked to be a stacked team after the draft, was turning into a frustrating, 4-3 bunch after a Week 7 (midway point of the 13 game regular season) collapse at the hands of a lesser team (vs. Domination) who happened to have the Bears' defense complete the comeback victory on a Monday Night game vs. the Lions when they were running on all cylinders. 

Struggling with mediocre Quarterbacks, an overworked running corps, underachieving WRs, and a revolving door at Defense, the team entered the 2nd half of the season with virtually no shot at the Division title (team MacAttack was running away with that honor and looked to be the season-long favorite to win-it-all) and their playoff hopes dwindling.  What happened in the next 6 weeks of the regular season finished off one of the wildest regular seasons anyone could ever imagine. 

I will now divide my team into their respective positions and split the season into three parts in terms of roster during those portions of the season.  Let's look at the QBs to kick things off:

QUARTERBACKS (DRAFT, WEEK 7, FINAL ROSTER)

1. Phil Rivers>>>Phil Rivers>>>> Russell Wilson
2. Sam Bradford>>> Brandon Weeden >>>>Sam Bradford
3. N/A>>> N/A>>> Phil Rivers

In 2009, I had won a championship with Phil Rivers so when I saw that he was on my team, I was pretty satisfied that the draft-bot was smart enough to select him in the 7th round after it had filled out my RB and WRs slots first.  I knew that Rivers' arrow was going down, but was hoping that veteran guile would make up for a lack of weapons in San Diego.  After 7 games, I quickly found out that the 2009 Rivers would not be available this season and instead I got stuck with an inconsistent QB who seemed to throw more INTs than TDs and was looking to run for his life more often than looking for open receivers. 

Even worse was the backup QB position which it seemed that I was constantly holding open auditions for that slot. Even worse, it also seemed that every QB I wanted to insert for backup was getting hurt the following week: Alex Smith and Jake Locker were the other QBs that made a cameo on my team only to be cut the following week due to injuries.

It wasn't until December 5th that I received a gift when Russell Wilson was scooped up by me after another team cut him.  During that time, I was looking to make a trade for a QB, getting offered Matt Ryan, Andy Dalton, and Mike Vick. However, as I shall explain later, my running backs were the heart and soul of my 2012 team and decided that I couldn't afford to trade any of them for QBs with tough upcoming schedules and inconsistent play. 

Wilson's arrow looked to be going up so I went ahead and rolled the dice with him and inserted him into my playoff lineup.  The move would obviously payoff as Wilson made plays with both his arm and his legs: in three games started at QB, Wilson passed for 6 TDs and ran in another 3 TDs while only committing 2 turnovers.  Conversely, Rivers passed for 18 TDs, but was accounted for 20 total turnovers in 12 starts for the club.  I mockingly referred to Wilson as the second coming of Seneca Wallace (the former Iowa St. product who also played for the Seahawks back in 2009) throughout the year, but Wilson came up big in the clutch and without a doubt, was the X-factor my team needed to win the championship.  

RUNNING BACKS (DRAFT, WEEK 7, FINAL ROSTER)

1. Ray Rice>>> Ray Rice>>>Ray Rice
2. Trent Richardson>>>Trent Richardson>>>Trent Richardson
3. Adrian Peterson>>>Adrian Peterson>>>Adrian Peterson
4. Steven Ridley>>>Steven Ridley>>>Steven Ridley
5. David Wilson>>>N/A>>>N/A

As I mentioned before, the heart and soul of this team were my running backs.  Despite the fact that I did not attend the draft, no owner was willing to take a chance on Adrian Peterson as he lasted into the 3rd round. Had I attended, I would have snatched him up in the 2nd round.  Combined with Ray Rice, I had a dream backfield.  What I did not expect was Trent Richardson making the squad as my #2 running back. I was not too high on Richardson (especially when legend Jim Brown publicly criticized the Browns for selecting what amounts to be an "ordinary" player), but I was still excited about Richardson because of the opportunity he would get in Cleveland as the feature back.

Already possessed with a "Trio" of featured backs, the draft-bot selected Steven Ridley and David Wilson whose role on their respective teams were up in the air.  I immediately cut Wilson and held on to Ridley hoping that he can step in admirably during bye weeks, but his job was always in jeopardy. Nevertheless, Ridley survived the entire year on my squad, playing in four games and rushing for 348 yards and rushing for 3 TDs.

The "Trio" would finish the season accumulating 1,547 total yards  and averaged approximately 9 TDs among the three of them. In 41 games played, the "Trio" went on to average 113.2 total yards per game.  Adrian Peterson, without a doubt, is the MVP of the year, Ray Rice proved once again why he is still a dual threat, and Trent Richardson did indeed leave a mark in Cleveland and proved to be anything, but "ordinary."

WIDE RECEIVERS (DRAFT, WEEK 7, FINAL ROSTER)

1. Steve Smith>>>Steve Smith>>>Steve Smith
2. Demaryius Thomas>>>Demaryius Thomas>>>Demaryius Thomas
3. Percy Harvin>>>Percy Harvin>>>Mike Williams
4. Robert Meachem>>>Mike Williams>>>Josh Gordon
5. Mike Williams>>>Josh Gordon>>>Chris Givens
6. Davone Bess>>>Chris Givens>>>N/A

Steve Smith being selected as my #1 WR was not what I was hoping for, but I expected him to have a bounce back year in Carolina. I was very excited about Demaryius Thomas and Percy Harvin, but questions still remained if they could emerge as #1's themselves.  Mike Williams, despite the presence of Vincent Jackson in Tampa, was a pleasant surprise and eventually emerged as the team's 2nd best WR.  

Nevertheless, as much as my young corps had upside, it was even more frustrating to see them produce pedestrian numbers sometimes.  It could be because all the other teams had elite WRs or because my running game was carrying the squad, but in the end, my receiving corps did a solid job contributing to this Championship squad. 

Thomas was clearly the best WR accumulating 1,312 yards with 9 TDs, but it was frustrating to see Eric Decker steal his touches.  Nevertheless, Thomas did indeed emerge as the #1 receiver I was looking for.

On the other hand, Harvin once again solidified his reputation as being a fragile player as he only played in 8 games for my team (675 total yards and scored 4 total TDs in that span). Smith and Williams finished with 930+ receiving yards each. 

Givens and Gordon are interesting because it seemed like they were able to survive on my squad for most of the season as role players.  Givens played 3 games, gained 263 yards and scored 2 TDs. Gordon played 7 games and gained 394 yards and also caught 2 TD passes.

TIGHT ENDS (DRAFT, WEEK 7, FINAL ROSTER)

1. Brandon Pettigrew>>>Brandon Pettigrew>>>Greg Olsen
2. Coby Fleener>>>N/A>>>N/A

Brandon Pettigrew was a disappointment, but with a famine of TEs available in free agency, I was stuck with him for the majority of the year (491 yards; 2 TDs in 10 games played).  It wasn't until someone cut Greg Olsen and was welcomed with open arms on November 14th did I finally feel good about the position.  Even though both players ended the year with similar numbers on my team, the fact that Olsen was more likely to get more targets and had the ability to make big plays was the peace of mind I was looking for.  Pettigrew also was credited for losing two fumbles, so at least Olsen would be able to secure the ball and not lose any more points for my team. A Pettigrew injury sealed his fate and was cut from the team, making Olsen the sole TE on the club.  

KICKERS (DRAFT, WEEK 7, FINAL ROSTER)

1.  John Kasay>>>Phil Dawson>>>Shayne Graham
2. Garrett Hartley>>>Justin Tucker>>>Matt Bryant

All that matters is that Shayne Graham scored 19 points in the Championship Game.

INDIVIDUAL DEFENSIVE PLAYERS (DRAFT, WEEK 7, FINAL ROSTER)

1. Patrick Peterson>>>Lance Briggs>>>Paul Posluszny
2. Ray Lewis>>>Patrick Willis>>>Jerod Mayo

Nothing is more frustrating than having to insert a defensive player into your starting lineup. Jerod Mayo played the most games at that spot this season, but when it was time for the playoffs, I went with tackles machine, Paul Posluszny.

DEFENSE/SPECIAL TEAMS (DRAFT, WEEK 7, FINAL ROSTER)

1. Seattle>>>Minnesota>>>Carolina
2. Dallas>>>Kansas City>>Cincinnati 
3. Denver>>>San Diego>>>Washington
4. N/A>>>Tampa>>>N/A

In retrospect, I should have stuck with the Seahawks, but I wasn't very confident in that defense. They would emerge as one of the most physical and unforgiving defenses in the league, but that's neither here nor there.  The Vikings carried me mostly around the midway point of the season, but cut them when the matchups got too hot for them. Despite the carousel at the position, the Bengals emerged as a solid group and carried me throughout the 2nd half until I switched out in the Championship game and went with the Panthers' defense, which proved to be unnecessary because the Bengals took care of Pittsburgh during Championship week. 

RESULTS

My team was able to surge into the 2nd half with a 5-1 record and finished the season with the most Points For in the league with 1,794.24. Was also awarded a bye week despite finishing in 2nd place in the division to MacAttack, who also got the bye week, finishing the year with the best record. MacAttack also proved to be the biggest challenge on my quest to the title, led by:

• Tom Brady
• Dez Bryant
• We Welker
• Doug Martin
• Eric Decker (grrrr!)
• David Wilson (so like that team to pick up my trash!)
• C.J. Spiller

After taking care of DaRocks (183.50-128.86) in the Divisional Round of the playoffs, I was game-planning for my next opponent, which seemed to be the pesky MacAttack.  However, MacAttack would be upset in the Divisional Round to VictorysAddiction2ME. MacAttack had Chris Johnson, Alfred Morris and Dennis Pitta on the bench who had big games during the Divisional Round. Had they gone with any of those players, MacAttack would have won and would've had a good chance at winning the Championship Game.  Instead, the best team in terms of Win-Loss record gave one of their worst performances of the year at the wrong time and VA2M did enough to win and punch their ticket into the Championship Game.

In the Final, VA2M got off to a quick start and even was able to pad his lead early on in the second half of the game.  However, big performances by Thomas, Rice, and Wilson sealed the game for my squad, with the final score 150.24-105.80.  MacAttack would go on to win the 3rd place game, 162.68-137.60, trying to take out his frustration on DaRocks.  Of course, had my team and MacAttack played in the final with our rosters intact, I would be writing about a different story, but as it goes, I patiently await my trophy which was earned because of patience, perseverance, and plain-ole-luck.

To paraphrase Steve Young, "No one can ever take this away from me. NO ONE!"

To read about another fantasy sport--basketball--click here.

Feel free to share your 2012 fantasy football results on the comments section of this article.