Tuesday, December 02, 2008

NFL '08

Okay, I figured I'd write about something happier. I think that might be why I like sports: They're always so positive! I mean, we complain about our teams losing, and get upset when coaches or managers make stupid moves but sports can always put a smile on the face of a fan like me. Even when I was cheering for one of the worst team in the league like some of those sadsack Canucks teams with the hockey stick jerseys and the flying V's. They were awful! But you always hope for a miracle like what happened to them in '82. The Canuck run to the finals in 1982 is probably my fondest sports memory even though they lost 4 straight in the finals.

It's like a kick in the groin for me to say this, but they sort of won it on defence. The Canucks were outscored by every team in their division that year except, (speaking of sadsack teams), the Colorado Rockies, but nobody had a lower goals against total. They had some good defencemen but let's face it, this was back when goalies WERE the most important guys on the team and a great goalie like Richard Brodeur could get you places all by himself. He was unconscious the whole year and unbeatable in the playoffs until he met up with Bossy, Trottier, Potvin, Gillies, Tonelli, Nystrom and the boys who once again proved that a really great offense is what wins Stanley's Cup.

I could STILL probably name most of the Canuck players on that team although they wouldn't be nearly as recognizable as the Islanders they played. In fact I remember doing exactly that in lieu of what I was supposed to be doing in grade 9 chemistry class with my partner in crime, Brian Manning. For our loyalty to the Canucks we got kicked out of class for the umpteenth time by Mr. Brown but it was worth it. That was a really memorable time in hockey for me.

This year in the NFL just might be another memorable time. Not for any one team like last year's almost perfect Patriots, but for the crop of amazing rookies that are bringing heaps of offense to the NFL in 2008. For a guy who likes offense this is a banner year! For a guy who plays in sports pools where rookies are cheap and heavily offensive rookies are like gold, it's even better! When low-cost players are at the TOP of the league in fantasy points it unbelievable! But that's what's happening this year. And I'm cashin' in!

I'm in The Sporting News' football pool every year. I do their hockey and baseball pools too. It's a way for me to keep up with real sports even though I can't really watch them over here in Korea. Over a hundred thousand people entered the football pool this year. 100,458 to be exact. I have a team ranked in the top 8% of that. Like 8 thousanth! That's pretty good!

A team in the pool consists of 2 quarterbacks, 2 running backs, 2 receivers and a team defence. If a person had picked all rookies and kept them the same this season he could be winning his pool! That's just crazy! Here's what that team would look like:

QB #1 - Matt Ryan of the Atlanta Falcons. He's replacing maybe the most overrated QB EVER, the dog-hating bastard Michael Vick, so everybody is glad to see him doing well. But he's doing REALLY well since his team was built for the run and really only has one receiver - Roddy White. They're making each other look good.

QB #2 - Joe Flacco of the Baltimore Ravens. Again his stats are more amazing considering he doesn't have any great receivers. Mason is good, Clayton and Heap are at best nice to have. NONE of them are what I would consider valuable football pool players.

Ryan and Flacco are ranked 14 and 15 respectively in the TSN pool ahead of players like Gerrard, Roethlisberger, Bulger and Frerotte. But when you consider that they are MUCH cheaper to buy than any of the players above them, they are up at the top of fantasy QB's.

RB #1 - Matt Forte of the Chicago Bears. He is the number one running back in the league this year and almost nobody knows it! His combined stats are better than Adrian Peterson, L.T., Brian Westbrook, Clinton Portis, etc. AND HE'S A ROOKIE! Absolutely amazing! I don't think he's the best but he's got more points than anyone and he's got a rookie price.

RB #2 - Chris Johnson of the Tennesse Titans. What Johnson has done this year is just as amazing as Forte because he might not be considered the number one running back on his team. If Tennesse used Johnson instead of LenDale White in the red zone he'd have a lot more TD's and better fantasy numbers than Forte.

* I have to say that Felix Jones of the Dallas Cowboys could probably be better than both of the guys above. He's been injured this year though. Plus he's on a passing team and has one of the premier rushers in the game ahead of him in Marion Barber. If I were a team like Baltimore, Indy, New England, Arizona, Cincinatti, geez, almost ANY other team, I'd be talking to the Cowboys about Felix.

WR #1 - DeSean (Fraction) Jackson of the Philadelphia Eagles. He's the number two receiver in the league this year sandwiched between Cardinals Fitzgerald and Boldin. The difference is THEIR QB has been playing well. As much as I like Donovan McNabb he's been average this year. I wonder what kind of number Jackson could put up when McNabb is playing well. We may still see...

WR #2 - Eddie Royal of the Denver Broncos. He'll go over 1000 yards and he might catch 100 passes. Unheard of for a rookie and unlike Jackson whose on a team with NO other receiver who can catch, (Baskett sucks), Royal is on a team with Brandon Marshall, one of the best. Some would say this is an advantage to his performance since DB's are focussing on Marshall, but if you are talking about good receivers, they'll catch balls in triple coverage IF the quarterback throws to them. Luckily Cutler likes to throw and he spreads a lot of passes around between Marshall and Royal, who are 6th and 9th in the league in receptions respectively.

Since I love receivers and since this year is a revolutionary year for them, I'm gonna pick two more!

WR #3 - Steve Breaston of the Arizona Cardinals. People are always talking about the dynamic duo of receivers in Arizona. It's a dynamic TRIO folks! Breaston has caught 60 balls on a team where he is the third option for the ageless wonder Kurt Warner. All three are in the top ten. For this reason Arizona is my favourite team to watch this year. I think second might be Denver and third would probably be the New Orleans Saints with their ALMOST rookie wide receiver,

WR #4 - Lance Moore. Nobody spreads the ball around his receiving corps like Drew Brees. I'm pretty sure I've seen him complete passes to suited up waterboys and position coaches this year. But if he has a go-to guy this season it's Lance Moore. Even though nobody throws more than Brees, Lance is the only receiver from the Saints in the top 70 in receptions. That's just weird.

My fourth favourite team to watch this year has been the worst team by FAR of last year, the Miami Dolphins. They have two almost rookies in Ted Ginn Jr. and Greg Camarillo that I wish Chad Pennington could throw to more often. You know he wants to. But they have to give Brown and Williams a lot of touches. It's too bad cuz Miami likes their passing. I'm not sure Ginn and Camarillo are Clayton and Duper and for sure Pennington isn't Marino, but I think Miami needs to pass more.

Anyway, these young guys are making it worth the fatigue of staying up all night and watching jerky live streams and/or real time updates from 3 AM to noon Monday morning here in Korea. And it's been SWEET having Mondays off this semester!

Check these guys out! They're fun to watch!