by Kevin Burton
So despondent was I last week, that I jumped off a ledge. How fortunate for me, it was only a virtual ledge.
And to be more specific, it was a fantasy ledge.
I drafted eight fantasy football teams this year – two more than ever before – and only once (maaaaaaay-be twice) did I walk away from a draft satisfied.
I have my pre-draft pacing, and then there is my post-draft pacing, which comes with weeping and gnashing of teeth. Only one voice was there to soothe.
“It seems like you say this every year,” my wife Jeannette said after hearing me moan about my poor drafts.
Maybe so. That sounds like me. But that didn’t ease my pain.
When I talked to my brother Steve about my drafts, I hoped out loud that they were “merely mediocre and not disastrous.”
Fantasy week one ended Monday night with my teams going 5-3. Then yesterday came the first full day of waivers.
Waivers is the process of bidding for new players and getting rid of ones you don’t want anymore, or perhaps some who got injured in week one.
In other words, it’s a time for a manager who has flubbed his drafts, to make corrections.
As I looked up and down the rosters of all eight teams in an initial review, I found only one pick that obviously needed to be changed – and that was a defense.
So how bad could my drafts have been really? Jeannette’s voice of reason came floating back to me.
Deep breath anyone?
One of the other things I told my brother is that when my fantasy teams succeed it’s because of my fanatical, obsessive attention to the waiver wire.
And though yesterday was the first full day of waivers, it was not my first day searching for available players.
First, somebody dropped Baltimore wide receiver Zay Flowers after drafting him, before he even played a game. That was such a bad move that I figured one of the other managers would get there before I did.
Not so. I got Flowers and only had to give up Cooper Kupp. Crazy good transaction, a current star for a star of the past, just for paying attention.
Even better, I was on a sports news page and noticed that Cleveland running back Quinshon Judkins had signed a contract. Judkins is a major talent who was in limbo because of criminal domestic battery charges he was facing. Those charges were dropped, and he signed.
I grabbed Judkins for one of my teams. Then I got a text that Yahoo Fantasy had changed his status and that now Judkins could be claimed and stashed on injured reserve!
That launched a frenzy of activity. I grabbed Judkins for five more teams. Six shares of a fourth-round value for nothing, again, just for paying attention.,
That why I felt so sanguine during waivers yesterday.
Judkins won’t play right away because he missed a lot of practice time. Also the league will almost certainly suspend him for “conduct unbecoming.”
But running back help is on the way for most of my teams. I could also trade him to sure up other positions.
I (mis)spent much of the spring and summer engaging in mock fantasy football drafts. Practice makes perfect, right?
After my actual drafts I thought practice made overconfidence. Now I’m saying, time will tell.
Meanwhile, if you think I’m addicted to fantasy football, and you want to argue the point, I’m just not going to engage. I can’t hear you. Get off me! Leave me alone!
(Covers ears) la, la, la, la, la, la……..)
One thing is for sure though, I am cut off.
It seems there is a limit to how many free teams you can have in Yahoo fantasy football and I reached that limit. Eight teams.
For $35 you can buy Yahoo Fantasy Plus and God knows how many teams you can have then. I didn’t check.
So nice that Yahoo has the equivalent of a conscientious bartender, cutting people off for their own good.
Oh no,….aaaaaarrgh. Uggghh! Just noticed only two of my eight team are favored to win in week two. I just don’t know if I can take this.
If you need me, I’ll be out on the ledge.
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