It's My Fantasy

My Ace's Web World team finished first in the Yahoo Fantasy Basketball League: ROUNDBALL, having eked out a victory over Brooklyn USA in the finals; I finished third in the League: Miami Street Hoops playoffs after having been first in the standings all season long. Anything can happen in the playoffs - coaches rest key players, thereby, decimating your team.

There was a similar story in my ESPN leagues. I finished first after a down-to-the-wire tie-break decided final in league "big ballers." Team Wagoner had had me on the ropes and, in fact, took the lead with just a handful of games left on the final day of the season. But, players in the late games came through for me, gave me a tie, which, with tie-break considerations, turned out to be enough.

Of course, with the NBA fantasy season over, I can now give more attention to my fantasy baseball teams, all eight of them - 4 on Yahoo, three on ESPN, and one at MLB.com. Nothing much to report; many of my best players, pitchers and hitters, are off to a slow start. Check back with me in June.

Last season, in response to an invitation issued by someone I've clashed with in various fantasy leagues, I joined Underworld Baseball, a so-called Yahoo Keepers League which I quickly learned meant that each manager got to keep ten players from last year's roster going into the new season. Other spots were filled through a draft. I battled all season, dropping duds and picking up replacements from free agency, and made it to the two-week head-to-head finals. I led after the first week, but injuries and the all-to-familiar resting up players for the play-offs wasted my offense and I wound up coming in second to Texas Express, just by a whisker.

I picked my ten keepers for 2011 and prepared for the draft, even made my first round selection. Then, the draft order was brought to my attention. As a reward for his Championship in 2010, Texas Express was given the first pick in the draft. Second pick went to the team that had finished first in the regular season, before the playoffs started. My team, the team that had finished second by an eyelash in 2010, was given no special consideration. In fact, all that my efforts from the previous season had earned me was the last pick in the first round. I mean everybody, those who finished ahead of me, and those who finished behind me, drafted ahead of me. It just didn't seem right and the more I thought about it, the more I felt like the league commissioner had given me the shaft. So, I dropped out and moved on with my life. Hey, screw me once - shame on you; screw me twice - shame on me.

The only other thing I have going in the fantasy world is one ESPN Fantasy Stock Car team. Let's just say, thus far, I'm not tearing up the competition.

My Fantasies

No Corey Magette, no Kevin Martin, no chance. I “competed” in (I was tempted to say “played” but I haven’t actually had my hands on a basketball in about 20 years.) 3 fantasy basketball leagues, four counting that Yahoo! league (Philly Basketball, ID# 93185) I was thrown out of for calling out a stupid league administrator, and made the finals in one, Yahoo Public 157437, only to have two of my high scorers on the bench suffering from injuries just when I need them most.

Unfortunately, this is nothing new. For one reason or another, teams often fall apart when the playoffs come around. Besides injuries, there’s the resting up for the actual NBA Playoffs phenomenon. If you’re not familiar with the way it works, fantasy playoffs are always scheduled to be over before the actual NBA playoffs begin. That way teams aren’t penalized if their players are on teams that didn’t make the playoffs. For some odd reason, coaches who rest up their players so they’ll be fresh for the playoffs are not worried about your fantasy competition.

To make things worse, my opponent in the finals boasts a team led by LeBron James. Let’s think about this. On one hand, my two high scorers are down, while, on the other, Superman LeBron is storming the backboard like no tomorrow. I’m toast.

Thank goodness, I’ve got distractions. In case you didn’t know, fantasy baseball (real MLB Baseball, too, I’ve heard) starts today. I’m in 4 Yahoo leagues, two ESPN leagues, and one MLB.com league. The drafts have produced mixed results. Still, I think I’ll be competitive. So, PLAY BALL.

Some Listless TV

We caught one episode of The Ex-List and we won’t be lamenting CBS’s decision to cancel it. However, we love the network’s other List show, The Mentalist, starring Simon Baker. Baker, you may remember, also starred as Nick Falin in The Guardian which we enjoyed until the writers in an attempt to spice it up ultimately destroyed it. The show’s plot took too many left turns and eventually crashed into itself. I still wake up in the middle of the night and wonder what happened to Baker’s love interest, Lulu.

Sticking with CBS, Criminal Minds, CSI New York, the original CSI and Cold Case are still among our favorites. CSI Miami, as I’ve mentioned before, has become expendable. I’ll be interested in seeing how Laurence Fishburne fits into CSI when he joins the cast in December. When it comes to my TV shows, I generally don’t like changes.

Since I have no other forum in which to voice my disdain for the commissioner of the Yahoo! Fantasy Basketball League Philly Basketball (ID# 93185) allow me here to proclaim that he’s an asshole. After a trade between the owner of Philly Phorce and I was vetoed, we voiced our outrage and were unceremoniously expelled from the league. It’s not like we were trading Kobe Bryant for Jessica Simpson – the trade involved two lesser players, Quentin Richardson for Linas Kleiza. The commissioner, a third-class wuss, tried to throw the blame on other owners when it was actually him who put the kibosh to our trade. Like many weaklings, they can be quite bold when they think they’re protected by a degree of anonymity. I, however, am busily trying to ID him. He’s got my Italian blood boiling and I’m not about to cool off.