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Fantasy football, like golf, can be a source of great joy, and quickly, ridiculous frustration.
I need a mulligan for this weekend.
My Sunday started with the end of baseball season, where my National League team finished the year insanely close to first - one collective RBI from my hitters and seven strikeouts from my pitching staff and I have bragging rights all winter. Instead, Odalis Perez and his injured fingernail have me oh-so-close but second.
A single week of football might be as frustrating. The worst fantasy losses are close ones in which a single decision - whom to start, whom to bench - turns a victory into a loss. It's one thing to misjudge talent, but misgauging an injury has an owner feeling further removed from his team's fate.
At 4 p.m. Sunday, I was well on my way to a fantasy victory - three touchdowns from Tennessee's Steve McNair, three more from Minnesota's Randy Moss, two from Cincinnati's Chad Johnson. That alone would win most weeks, but the combination of a poor choice at running back and the bad luck of going up against the Colts' Peyton Manning and his six touchdowns doomed me.
I fought Sunday morning over whether to start Colts star Edgerrin James, who had been listed as probable but was reported as a game-day decision. Of my backups, Detroit's Olandis Gary wasn't worth the risk and Tampa Bay's Mike Alstott had the week off. That left a choice between Edgerrin or a healthy Anthony Thomas, who had mustered 72 total yards and zero TDs in his first two games.
I chose James, figuring a 50-50 shot at his numbers was better than Thomas' mediocrity. So Sunday night, I check ESPN to see the Colts have scored 55 - not only has James not played, but Manning has more passing touchdowns than any quarterback in a decade.
So I lose 83-78, and of course Thomas rushed for 110 yards and a touchdown Monday, so starting him would have meant an 89-78 win. I find myself third in total scoring in a 12-team league, yet tied for eighth in the standings with a woeful 1-3 record.
A wonderful thing about the Internet and fantasy football - somebody always has a worse week than you. ESPN.com's Brandon Funston wrote Monday about a poor fantasy owner in an ESPN league who made every possible wrong decision. He had Thomas, Stephen Davis, Troy Hambrick and (inexplicably) Marvin Harrison on his bench, opting to start Travis Henry (who sat out Sunday) and Reggie Wayne, who came nowhere near his two-touchdown performance of Sept.21. So this guy's bench outscored his starters 134-57. Instead of winning by 30, he lost by 40.
I feel better already.
DOUBLE DIPPING: As a rule, I don't like the practice of starting a star quarterback and his top receiver, which nets you either a huge week or a doubly bad showing from one game. It is putting more eggs in one basket, but if you like the basket, the risk can pay off.
Funston points out this week that, amazingly, 63 owners who started Manning and Harrison still found a way to lose. And owners who started Washington's Patrick Ramsey and Laveranues Coles, the top fantasy scoring combo entering the week, won just 23 percent of the time as both had poor showings.
Out of thousands of fantasy owners, 26 had the foresight to start Minnesota spot starter Gus Frerotte and Moss, and those lucky few went 24-2 this week.
TIP SHEET: Even after this week's win, it's hard to be happy with the production from any Eagles players. Backs Correll Buckhalter and Duce Staley have combined for 60 rushing yards and two TDs, and top receiver Todd Pinkston still is scoreless. Second-year pro Brian Westbrook, who could emerge as the top running option in Philly, is a sleeper worth adding as a backup. ... Congrats to anyone smart enough to draft Atlanta tight end Alge Crumpler, who has been the best at his position so far with 255 yards and two touchdowns. His numbers will only improve once a healthy Michael Vick returns. ... Jacksonville gets Jimmy Smith back from a four-game drug suspension this week, and look for him to fare well, if only because the rest of the Jaguars receivers are so lackluster. Jacksonville has produced big games from retreads such as Jermaine Lewis, Matthew Hatchette and Troy Edwards, who had a 111-yard game Sunday after being picked up on waivers. Byron Leftwich will be thrilled to have a real receiver to throw to, so look for solid numbers from Smith.
- Have a fantasy question or a lineup dilemma? Send an e-mail to staff writer Greg Auman at auman@sptimes.com