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Fantasy Insider

Making good on a friendly wager

I am not here by choice. The words to follow do not come easily. Losing ain’t fun, especially when you know the fella who beat you for your National Lacrosse League fantasy title is a punk and is lovin’ every minute of it.

So, here goes. Congrats to you, Ted Jenner. You won. I lost. Fair and square. Then again, maybe it wasn’t. From what I understand, I advanced to our title game with the aid of a scoring glitch. In any case, I figured my team … “Steal Your Faceoff” … would be up to task if for no other reason it being a tiny tribute to one of my favorite bands of all time, the Grateful Dead. I figured the vibes honoring the late Jerry Garcia might be enough for me. Alas, it wasn’t, and Jenner and his “Bob McMahon’s Afro” team scored a 25.1-12.9 win in the final game of our league.

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Fantasy Insider

Fantasy Fix: It’s a Celebration!

Welcome to the season’s final installment of the Fantasy Fix column.

Seems like the year just flew by, didn’t it? Now all we have to look forward to is the Ted Jenner victory party (see picture). And just so it’s clear, that little guy there is Paul Tutka. After all, it’s only reasonable to believe that they’re going to party together.

Anyway, to end our little ride, I wanted to switch it up from what I’ve been doing the past 16 weeks. Rather than me telling you which guy that I think will tear it up out on the carpet this week, which one won’t, and me ultimately being wrong on both, I wanted to talk about one of the biggest intangibles in sports, and truly one of the hardest things to quantify - Motivation.

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Fantasy Insider

Fantasy Fix: Playoff Pick’em

Who’s gonna’ win the Champion’s Cup?

More importantly, who’s gonna’ take home the hardware in IL’s inaugural NLL fantasy league? I’ll have my picks for both a little later in the column, but for now, let’s discuss how I got to these conclusions.

I’ve been telling you all (fantasy) season that you’ve got to stock your roster with players on teams that are doing well. Yes, there are Dan Dawson’s (POR) and Blaine Manning’s (TOR) out there, but pretty much everyone else on the league scoring leader list is either on a team contending for the playoffs, or has already sealed up a spot.

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Fantasy Insider

Fantasy Fix: Moving on…Down

It’s been an up-and-down season for the Albuquerque Isotopes, to say the least.

In fact, it was literally from penthouse to outhouse this past week, a shift that would not have The Jefferson’s looking quite so happy.

After defeating the top team in the league - Paul Tutka and his Seinfeldian Eight (The Van Buren Boys) in Week 8 - I dropped Week 9 to the worst team in the league, the winless wonder himself, Brian Shanahan, and now have almost no shot at continuing on into the playoffs.

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Fantasy Insider

Fantasy Fix: We’re going streaking!

Man, don’t I wish that were the truth.

Although I haven’t been able to string together even back-to-back wins since, well, all season, neither have most of the Insiders. Paul Tutka and Ted Jenner remain the outliers in our league, as the only guys able to put together multiple wins in a row.

And as a side note, I did try to find a photo of Will Ferrell from Old School, but couldn’t find a good one. Plus, like Ferrell’s career, I didn’t want the column to turn out like every previous one I’ve written, and I figured this lucky gent looked enough like him for people not to even notice.

The good news, however, is that I really don’t see a way that I can lose this week because I’m playing Brian Shanahan (0-8) with only two weeks remaining.

The bad news, somehow I got jobbed this last week with inaccurate scoring and dropped the week by only 4 points! Here’s to hoping that it gets figured out and I am able to put another ‘W’ in my back pocket. Unfortunately, if that doesn’t happen, I can’t make the playoffs, assuming I win a pair of weeks here to close out the season.

Stay tuned!

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Fantasy Insider

Fantasy Fix: Deadline Bedlam

So I’ve been gearing up for several weeks to break the news to the rest of you fantasy geeks that fellow NLL fantasy Insider’s League player Paul Tutka has traded me San Jose star Jeff Zywicki for almost nothing.

Unfortunately (for me), I haven’t been able to talk him into accepting my unplayable benchwarmers for a Top-5 fantasy starter for the sake of having something to write about. Go figure!

The good thing however is that with the flurry of last second player swaps, the league amiably took care of me once again, giving me plenty of fodder for yet another week.

While most of these trades included numerous picks in the 2008 and 2009 drafts, for our purposes, actual players currently in the league are all we are worried about.

Let’s examine how these deals will impact your fantasy lineups.

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Fantasy Insider

Fantasy Fix: Playoffs!?

Jim Mora would be proud…OK, maybe not.

Already into Week 8 of NLL Fantasy, it’s time to start thinking about how the role of the actual playoffs will begin to impact your roster of reverie.

Initially, in my first column, I took a little bit of heat from some Wingzone bloggers for recommending that fantasy participants draft primarily based on which teams they thought would do well.

Sure, I won’t contest that there are your occasional Dan Dawson (Portland) or Mat Giles (Chicago) out there, but on the whole, your leading scorers (i.e. top fantasy point-getters) are players on teams that will make the playoffs (see: Buffalo’s John Tavares, Athan Iannucci of Philadelphia, etc.).

This means that if you’re in position to make the playoffs in your league - the top two teams from each conference and the next two best records as wild cards - it’s time to really focus on getting guys that are playoff-bound.

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Fantasy Insider

Fantasy Fix: “Sunny Days…”

Who would have thought that the weather outside could impact an indoor lacrosse game, but most notably, your fantasy lacrosse lineup?

This past weekend when the league cancelled the Toronto at Philadelphia game, many fantasy match-ups were impacted at least a little, including mine because I finally gave the Wings’ Jamie Rooney the nod.

Initially, I was granted a big, fat doughnut in the scoring column because the game was postponed. But then, almost out of thin air, the fantasy Gods stepped in and granted me 2.7 points for Rooney’s lack or a performance.

Being completely honest, I’m not too sure how the fantasy experts got to this score. Because for example, why were the Philly netminders awarded a -8.3 on the week?

For the credibility of fantasy lacrosse, I sincerely hope that one of these scoring decisions didn’t win or lose you the week…

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Fantasy Insider

Fantasy Fix: Relocation Roundup

Let me preface this week’s column with the fact that never have I once claimed to be some sort of expert in the National Lacrosse League, all things Canadian, or even how many licks it takes to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop.

For God’s sake, I put a screenshot from a popular 1980s commercial as the lead into my article. I may appear to be a wise old Owl sitting atop his perch, but in reality, am just a poorly drawn kid with a couple of questions.

In fact, I would even argue that this whole ‘Insider’ shtick is a bit misleading. To me, it’s just one guy’s opinion.

But amongst the mega-deal announced yesterday, along with the ceaseless Brett Favre retirement parties in Chicago, something occurred to me - something that I very much feel is worth sharing (Crap! Now I’m going to have to draft Aaron Rodgers!) It’s something that is quite obvious, but all too often, blatantly ignored.

It’s advice that could dramatically change the rest of the season for several fantasy players, and simultaneously, mean almost nothing to those who brush it aside.

Ready? Here goes.

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Fantasy Insider

Fantasy Fix: Regret, and Time Machines

Regret is such a strong word, but after going under .500 for the first time this fantasy season, I’ve got a little.

Mostly that I’ve lost 3, and only won 2, but hey, things could always be worse - I could be in Shanny’s position at (0-5).

But digressing, I still think I’ve got a pretty solid team. However, after the loss to John Jiloty’s little people - his team name is the Gary Colemans - I wish I could just jump in the DeLorean, crank it up to 88, and make some beneficial draft moves.

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Fantasy Fix: The ‘Topes Shall Rise Again!

Like the fruitless claims of the South – at least to this point – I believe that my team shall indeed rise again!

Heck, after getting torched by nearly 10 to a guy that was in last place only two weeks ago (could I really be speaking about anyone else besides Ted Jenner?) the only thing that keeps a smile on my face is the exploits of this here Dancin’ Homer. He worked for the Springfield Isotopes, why can’t he work for me and my team?

Unfortunately, due to scheduling, I won’t get another crack at him in the regular season, but trust me, a postseason whoopin’ is certainly in store.

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Fantasy Insider

Fantasy Fix: Trading Places

Honestly, who doesn’t like a good old school Eddie Murphy reference? I dare you to find the man (the non-gender version) that hasn’t collapsed onto the ground in stitches after watching/listening to Delirious.

Anyway, Axel Foley aside, there are very few diamonds in the rough remaining in the free agent pool. It’s now time to hit up your neighborhood Trade Center and make some moves - especially if you find yourself crawling into Week 4 of fantasy.

In Week 5 of my column (the Jan. 31st edition), I suggested taking advantage of opponents’ infatuation with a certain player or team, and executing a deal that leaves them in shambles. This is still the case.

But if that doesn’t work for whatever reason - I can’t imagine why - start looking at ways to improve your roster based on the results of some of the other players in your league.

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Fantasy Insider

Fantasy Fix: Setting Your Lineup

Let’s face the facts – fantasy lacrosse is still pretty much in its infancy.

It has grown significantly in quality and participation since its inception in 2006, but yes, it still has plenty of little quirks.

One such annoying flaw is the fact that it locks your selections as much as several days before games for the upcoming fantasy week actually start. I myself have encountered this a couple of times, as well as heard an earful from the other fantasy nerds in our NLL Insiders League.

It is certainly an issue, especially since one doesn’t even know which players will be suiting up game-to-game. A prime example is the now much publicized concussion that, at press time, continues to hamper perennial Calgary all-star Tracey Kelusky.

But brace yourselves my fellow fantasy dorks, the NLL has come to the rescue.

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Fantasy Insider

Fantasy Fix: Dealing with Loss

In case you can’t tell from the title, my team suffered its first loss of the season, as I’m sure plenty of others did as well.

But don’t get all frowny and teary eyed just yet. It’s only Week 3 of fantasy, and there’s plenty that can be done to ensure that this travesty doesn’t happen to you ever again.

First and foremost, if you’re not scavenging the waiver wire each week, you’re not doing yourself any favors. It’s super easy, and hardly anyone else in your league is probably doing it.

If you don’t want to invest a ton of time searching through every teams’ weekly stat totals, all you have to do is click the See Free Agent Scoring Lists button once you click into the Free Agents link on your team page.

From there, all you do is set the players that you’d like to dump in the order that you want to kick them to the curb, and do the same for the players you heart most. After Monday’s Free Agent Draft, “Unsigned” players are available for your drop of hat desires.

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Fantasy Insider

Fantasy Fix: Match-up Management

Great players will almost always produce.

So like betting in Vegas, you should play the odds if you want to give yourself the best chance of ending up in the black, and ahead of your opponent.

But on occasion, you should – gasp – sit a stud or two and take some calculated risks based on match-ups.

Sure, you may end up taking a few wrong turns along the way. But if you follow these few helpful pieces of advice, you’ll win in the long run, and find your way to a fantasy title.

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Fantasy Fix: Bragging Rights

I’ve always been taught to be modest and gracious in winning – to act like you’ve been there before.

But how much fun would that be?

In playing fantasy lacrosse, you’re essentially matching intellectual wits with other people who, given almost the exact same conditions, are saying, ‘I could put together a better roster than you.’

So I say nuts to keeping a tight lip. I’m gonna’ let everyone I defeat on my way to the championship – and probably even those I don’t – know how much cooler, better and smarter I am than them.

And I certainly encourage you to do the same.

Let the boasting begin.

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Fantasy Insider

Fantasy Fix: Playing for Keeps

And they’re off…

We here at NLL Insider had our fantasy draft this past Tuesday, Jan. 3rd.

It was a few things: a battle of wits, a test of courage and an examination of mental strength. Oh yeah, and a bunch of technologically incapable writers attempting to operate a computer program other than Microsoft Word.

Here’s how it all played out.

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Fantasy Insider

Fantasy Fix: Draft Preview

With the season having officially gotten underway this past weekend in Denver, and the thrill of the New Year just setting in as well, it’s time to get down to the real business at hand.

I am of course discussing NLL Fantasy.

Like everyone else, I’m excited that the league is back on and am looking forward to personally witnessing plenty of rivalries, hard hits and non-stop action!

All great, but who’s kidding who? This year I’ll be watching as much of the NLL as possible so that I can assert my fantasy dominance over my fellow IL comrades.

They won’t know what hit ‘em. READ MORE »