Sunday, September 7, 2008

A preview of the pain I'm gonna be bringing...

So here on the eve of the first Sunday of the 2008 NFL season --while the season actually began Thursday night with the Giants defeating the Redskins 16-7, for most fans, I think Sunday is officially the start of the season-- I thought I'd give the 11 other owners in the Humor Bloggers Fantasy Football League a preview of the pain I'm gonna be bringing...

Quarterbacks

Derek Anderson, Aaron Rodgers

Derek Anderson: In my first year of playing fantasy football, I drew the luck of the draw with Tony Romo. This year, whatever is the opposite of the luck of the draw is what I've got, as not only do I get Derek Anderson from Cleveland, but also I end up playing Anderson against Romo in the two's opening game.

Aaron Rodgers: What can I say? He's been in the shadow of Brett Favre for so long. Now he has his chance to shine. Will he? Yeah, sure...or is that eh?

Wide Receivers

Plaxico Burress, TJ Houshmandzadeh, Jerricho Cotchery, Bernard Berrian

Last year I had both Burress and Houshmandzadeh, and was pretty surprised with Burress, especially after the folks in the league which I played slammed him since he was a former Steeler and they thought he deserved to be kicked to the curb. Personally I thought he was a good player and the Steelers had made a mistake. I kept my tongue early in the season, but once he started to roll, I couldn't help but say a little something to turn the knife just a bit-- and then when they won the Super Bowl, who's your daddy now? Huh?

Speaking of who's your daddy, Houshmandzadeh, whom we called last year "Who'sh my daddy", he was solid, if not super impressive, but solid enough to help me to a berth in our league championship game (yeah, I lost, but hey, still I was there).

Cotchery and Berrian: Again, yeah, sure...or is that eh? Both were pretty disappointing from what I saw last year. But with Brett Favre at QB, maybe Cotchery will be getting some throws? Personally, despite all the asshattery that happened in the offseason, I'm pulling for Favre, well, sort of, since we were both born in the same year. (Yeah, I'm almost 40, you got a problem with that? I was a fan of Michael Jordan too.) And tomorrow's "intrigue" with him facing Chad Pennington, whom he is replacing at New York, might be "intriguing" at least for a quarter.

Running Backs

Brian Westbrook, Willie Parker, Larry Johnson, Edgerrin James

I had none of these players last year, although I would have liked to have Westbrook at times, because I used to live in the Philadelphia area, and followed his career when he was at Villanova. Now I have him and he's been touted pretty heavily this year.

As a long-time Steeler fan, I like Parker, but will he got lost in a backfield of too many talented running backs? I think not (or at least, that's what I'll tell you publicly). Johnson and James? I always thought it was Johnson and Johnson, but anyway...As a long-time Penn State fan (I almost hate to admit with all the scandal going on there recently), I always liked Johnson and am pulling for him. James? Major eh.

Tight Ends

Dallas Clark, Benjamin Watson

Clark: Whenever I hear his first name, I can't help but think of Forrest Gump. "There was Dallas, from Phoenix..." Of course, this Dallas is from Livermore, Iowa, which doesn't quite have the same ring. "There was Dallas, from Livermore" - no, I don't think so. Despite that, I've got high hopes for him.

Watson: I think he's starting with an injury. Another major eh.

Kickers

Nate Kaeding, Mike Nugent

Kaeding: Barring any injury, I have no worries here with Kaeding. He's very good and bonus, like Clark, he's from Iowa, not Livermore -- but Coralville, 204 miles from Livermore. Chris Cameron who has the team La Machine said in the preview of his team that he was trying to corner the market on tight ends named Tony. Me? I was working on cornering two players from Iowa. Yeah, sure...and eh?

Nugent: Hey, he has a cool last name, since I always liked Ted Nugent. At least, he's got that going for him...which is nice.

Defenses

Pittsburgh, Arizona

The Steel Curtain ain't what it used to be, but I'm hoping it can dish out a little pain to my opponents. Arizona: toward the end of the year, I saw them picked as a sleeper defense in certain games. I hope they don't fall asleep on me if I play them sometime.

...and, of course, the main thing I didn't mention about that pain I'm gonna be bringing with me, I'm probably gonna be taking it with me too when I leave each week's contest.

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