Evans World 2011–Week 8

It’s a sad morning in the house of the Commish this week.  Sure, I knew going into this last Sunday’s games it was going to be rough … well, really masochistic.  I was hoping for a strong enough appearance against Berk to cushion the blow of my destined last place finish.  Alas, this and other things were not meant to be.  Fortunately, there was enough good news for your ol’ Commish this past week that I can look ahead with a smile on my face and my middle finger raised to you hosers.

WHY I DID WHAT I DID
I know last week I berated Rob for not starting a full lineup.  Then of course I went in this week and left two positions open.  Is this hypocrisy?  I’ll let you judge on your own and history can make the final determination, but let me explain my reasoning for doing this.  First, and most importantly, I didn’t forget to change my lineup.  For those of you who got my trade requests this week (and you know who you are for not answering), as well as the numerous trips to the waiver wire, I did all I could to put up a full team this week.  I knew Berk, the highest scoring team in the league at that point, was going to walk all over me.  But, being the good FF owner I am, I decided not to just hand it to him and tried all I could to put up a full team.  At the start of my week, 50% of my team was on bye or injury, that included almost 75% of my starting lineup from Week 7.  I had a lot of holes to fill, and I’ll admit many of them were due to my poor drafting and planning to have so many players on bye in Week 8.  I scrounged the best players I could find and prayed that Johnson, Blunt and Ingram would return to the lineup.  By Friday it was clear they were all out of the contest, as it were.  So, the meager scraps I could find (Ivory, Helu) made the cut and sucked the big one for me.  After the Sunday games my hopes rested on Philip Rivers to save me from a record low score.  Shouldn’t be a problem for one of the highest scoring FF QB last season.  Yeah, 3 turnovers later and here I am (douche).  I’m not ashamed of my efforts to put up a team this week, and I can hold my head up a little bit after scoring the second lowest total score for a week in EW history.  But, I’ll admit, it stings a lot.  This week is a new week, and last week is but a thing in the past.  Perhaps you can learn something from my story.  Perhaps you’ll just laugh in amusement at the fall of so mighty an FF owner as me.  Regardless, I give my thanks to both Kevin and Berk who (for some strange reason) voted for me to win my matchup this week … underdogs are only guaranteed wins in old 80’s movies.

UH …. IS IT HIS YEAR?
Perhaps the most impressive performance this past week … a week filled with lower point totals than we’ve experienced all year … was Mike’s amazing total after the Sunday games.  Mike’s team has managed to erase the 3-game losing streak and come back with a vengeance thanks to his timely pickups and excellent judgment in selecting his starting lineup each week.  He thrashed Jason (still glad he invited you to join, Jason?) on a week when he would have defeated every other team in the league.  Calvin Johnson is the FF stud of the year so far, and tying him with Matthew Stafford was a questionable choice on draft day turned into a brilliant strategy by Week 4.  The surprising (at least to me) performance of Cam Newton and the resurgence of Ahmad Bradshaw will keep Mike in the running from this point on.  Look out folks, it’s too early to call it, but he just might go all the way (that’s what she said).

THAT WAS TOO CLOSE
Lots of close matchups this week!  Those are always fun to watch.  Just imagining you guys sitting at home in front of your computers or your TV’s and screaming at your players to do better so that Tom doesn’t win (and shouldn’t we all root against him?).  Tony just managed a close win over Gary who seemed to have the upper hand early thanks to starting MJD and Rothesburger.  Nathan and Kevin were close until the Lions defense decided to outscore my entire team (well, close anyway).  Ritchie managed to edge out Tom (nicely done) thanks to Reggie Bush (?!).  And Rob just beat NewT thanks to a Eagles-Cowboys game that was so one-sided.  With 5 games left in the regular season it’s still safe to say that everyone (except me) still has a legitimate shot at a playoff spot.  That’s FF I can get behind!

RANDOM THOUGHTS

• This was an odd week for FF with powerhouses like the Packers, Falcons, Jets and Matt Forte on bye.  It should surprise me more that both Tom and my entire benches were on Bye this past week.  Wow.
• Lots of activity on the waiver wire and not a single trade this week.  Are you guys not interested in trying trades this year?  Maybe it goes back to what I just said above … you’re all so close to a playoff spot with your current rosters, you don’t want to mix up the lineup that you’ve got.  I might go along with that.  It’s just so damn boring.  Don’t you think that your #2 or #3 RB might be tradable for a WR that puts you over the top each week … like, say Andre Johnson?  Call me.
• After weeks of biding their time and hoping for the best, Tom dropped Peyton Manning and Berk dropped Tim Tebow.  I applaud those moves.  It’s frustrating enough that Tebow has scored more FF points than Rivers this season, but I think the Cult of Tebow got a huge wakeup call this weekend.  It made me happy.  Now, let’s talk about something more interesting like the Packers repeating this year.
• It’s a good day to be a Vikings fan.  They have found their QB of the future in Ponder.  It’s hard to be a fan of a Florida State QB (I will never like Bowden or his players), and it’s too soon to say how Ponder will develop as an FF QB, but the Vikings have the right person in place now.  Time to develop him.  You know what wouldn’t surprise me?  Favre coming back and serving as QB coach to him.  Who knows.  Either way, thank you McNabb for so many years of QB and FF.  Enjoy your retirement.
• I think it’s a sign of the caliber of players that come from Nebraska that Suh is going to the NFL to defend himself against the accusations that he’s becoming a dirty player.  I, for one, think it’s crap and an undeserved reputation.  My basis for comparison on defense has been and probably always will be Ray Lewis.  Lewis is the ultimate defensive player in NFL history, walking the walk, talking the talk and inspiring and leading his team to greatness with his performance on the field.  Suh can be that and perhaps more.  I applaud him for taking the initiative and going straight to the source to address the concerns and either prove he was right or obtain what he needs to correct his mistakes.  That’s class, my friends, and that is from one of the greatest players to come out of Memorial Stadium.
• Speaking of classy moves, if you didn’t see the story on ESPN about Matt Cassel visiting the Joplin High School team after this year’s tornado, you missed out.  I never knew much about Cassel, but now he’s welcome at my dinner table any time.  He has done so much for that community and tried to bring encouragement and hope to those kids who got to play a game in Arrowhead Stadium.  They focused on one kid who’d lost both his parents in the tornado and was severely injured.  Even though he was on IR this year, Cassel talked to him about how much it sucks not to put on pads for a game.  Another classy player in a league filled with prima-donnas and selfish douche bags.
• Wow, what happened to the Saints this week?  I thought for sure they’d come out and bitch slap the Rams up and down the field, guaranteeing Kevin a win over Nathan.  I worry about their chances of making the playoffs after that game.  Don’t change your lineup just yet, Kevin. 
• There is definitely one thing I will never understand … who are the Kardashians and why should I ever care about them, their marriages or their lives?  Bleh.
• I also don’t understand the Occupy Wall Street movement.  What’s the point in protesting if you don’t have a plan or a goal to improve things?  If you’re so upset about not having jobs or money to pay your taxes and bills, why are you spending all your waking hours standing on the street instead of looking for a job or improving your position?  (Kudos to Kevin and Tom who are doing it right.)  Now, if they got organized, developed ideas on how to improve things and did more than just bitch about how hard-working people are doing better than they are, maybe I’ll start listening.  Standing down from my soapbox.

WEEKLY AWARDS

• MVP – Kevin said it himself, the Lions DEF killed his matchup this week.  And what a performance it was! I’m not overjoyed because it was at the expense of Tebow (but it does feel nice).  I’m more impressed how a team as bad as the Lions have been for so long have turned around so much.  They believe in themselves, and you can see it on the field no matter what the score is.  A 29-point week from any FF position never hurts … unless you’re Kevin that is.
• Honorable Mention – With so many low scoring players this week, it was hard to choose.  So, I’m giving it to Steven Jackson who now only helped Mike win this week, but as I found out from Peter King has done a lot this past week to psyche up his 0-6 team to destroy the Saints.  And they did.  And Jackson led by example.  That gets you an award in my book.  Kudos to Mike for sticking with him.
• Best Owner Choice – Here’s another nod to Mike for choosing Newton over Stafford correctly this week.  Also a nod to NewT for starting Scott Chandler at TE who’s been quiet the past few weeks.  But the award goes to Tony for starting Antonio Brown on just the right week when he decided to have a huge game.  Hard to do when Rothesberger is throwing to 9 different receivers on the team!  Great pick.
• Unfortunate Bench – Seems to be a lot of these each week.  Hindsight always being what it is, I suppose.  I know Kevin is beating himself up a bit for not starting Fitzpatrick or Harvin, and but for 1 TD his DEF choice was still solid.  Jason still would have lost if he’d started Greg Olsen, and Rob still won with Manningham on the bench.  Yeah, okay, we’ll give it to Kevin for not starting the Saints DEF against an 0-6 team, but we won’t rub it in much.
• Lawrence Philips Award – No easy examples this week, but one thing kept coming to mind as I thought about it this weekend.  This week the LPA award goes to those players who screwed up in the final moments of their game to cost them the win.  Olindo Mare.  Carey Spear (Vanderbilt K).  Curtis McNeal (USC RB who fumbled in 3OT).  It always hurts to be the one who lost the game for the whole team.  I’m sure every K who’s played the game has felt that way at one time.  I’m sure the coaches say nice things to them to ease the blow and the burden … but I for one would hate to be the guy that 60+ other players look at and yell with their eyes “We lost because of you.”  Ouch.

What is my good news, you ask, to cushion the blow of such a hard week?  I’m happy to announce for the first time on this blog that I am now a happily married man and expecting my first child in May 2012!  I got to see the first ultrasound of my little gummy bear child yesterday, and I can’t stop looking at it.  As I look at my score and then back to the picture, my priorities are corrected and the pain eases.  Never fear … In Week 9 I’ll be back to put Kevin in his place!  Have a great week everyone!