In 2006, I won the fantasy football pool. Still trying so hard to win the baseball pool, but that’s a different story. It’s clear to me that I’m a little better judge of football talent as it pertains to fantasy. Correction, I think I’m better in a dynasty environment were I can pluck out the talent early and balance it accordingly. I can’t wait until the baseball pool evolves into dynasty.
Oh yes, fantasy – a geek’s closest shot at managing a sport’s franchise. But hey, it’s fun, competitive and rewarding when one is successful.
Anyway, since 2006 I’ve had to retool my team by phasing out or trading off older talent that still has value and in return receiving young talent with upside that still has some current day value. It’s a hard task to not sacrifice too much of today to insure your team will be competitive down the road. I see too many owners in my league constantly tooling for the future at the expense of never having that team that will win in the now. After all, winning today is what really matters. What’s the point of always having that potential team that never achieves victory?
In 2007 I came OH so close to defending my title. A matter of mismanagement more than anything else. But the mismanagement comes from the fact that I had to make so many right decisions to squeak out the tight wins. My team simply wasn’t strong. A question of having too much young talent and not quite enough consistency to win.
This year is different. I have a great balance of youth and experience. And it is paying off. I am 1st overall at the halfway point. I know how precarious that can be, but for a single point in time I can say I’ve gone to places never before. Even though I won in 2006 and was close in 2007, I was never in the top 5 or 6 in the standings throughout the season. An underdog as you will. This year I am top dog and I got there last weekend by achieving something I’ve never done: top the century mark in points. Good thing too considering my opponent posted a healthy 73.5 which would win 95% of the time:
Now, always thinking about the future, I have a subtle weakness that I want to resolve: I have 2 WRs on the same team: Holmes and Ward. It is a weekly agonizing task to figure out which of the 2 to play on any given week. It is virtually impossible to determine who is going to perform better than the other as they are fairly equal.
It makes sense to peddle Ward on the market to a team contending for the championship this year. He is 10 years into his career and won’t really be part of anybody’s rebuilding effort. Therefore I would only get the most value out of somebody who appreciates his worth to help them TODAY. I have found one such candidate who not only is contending this year but is a HUGE Steelers fan. In return he has offered me Anthony Gonzalez (2nd year WR out of INDY) and a 2nd round draft pick. In my dynasty rankings I have Ward and Gonzalez virtually the same in value at this point in time. So on the surface the trade seems pretty good. Gonzo is a #3 reciever right now but if/when Harrisson goes bye-bye that will change since Manning believes in this young talent. This would certainly help my rebuilding at the minor expense of weakening my current WR strength. But the problem is that as a Steelers fan, he should be willing to give up more for the #1 WR and heart and soul of that team. A 2nd round pick is not that lucrative especially if he wins this season and ranks last in the draft order.
What I’m trying to get in addition into the deal is Brady Quinn for Vince Young. I have the volatile Young who just doesn’t project well. Quinn is a prototypical fantasy-type passing QB that is on the verge of coming out once the Derek Anderson experiment is over in Cleveland. I need to get this player from him now before he starts and the owner realizes his potential. I want to take that risk on. Unfortunately the owner is not interested in this part of the deal. But if he gets desperate enough I think I can work it. This weekend he is in tough and will likely lose. I will likely win especially if I can keep Ward for this weekend’s matchup. So my plan is to respond after the weekend and hit him up when is in a somewhat more desperate situation. Quinn is the man that will make this deal slightly more favourable in my direction albeit with some risk attached. But that is what needs to be done to be successful.
Here’s hoping.