Cuts ‘n Waives: Down to the Wire!

Fan Info, Fantasy Football — By Mia Jackson on December 8, 2010 at 10:47 AM

By Paty Hsieh

Week 13 – Last week of the FF regular season.

Sniff, sniff… Cough, cough… Ahem! You should hear our household with all the very annoying cold symptoms that seem to be making their rounds. First, my 5 year-old, then me, and now my hubby. With the outside weather dipping below freezing it officially starts the sickness season, as I call it. And sure enough right on queue… I have an all day field trip with my son Wednesday, a benefit gala Saturday night, and I have to volunteer at my kids’ swim meet all day Sunday. I don’t have time to be sick!

But first I have to check the waiver wire to see if there are any good pickups for the weeks to come. I love watching TNF (Thursday Night Football) but certainly don’t like having to rush to set my rosters by Thursday.

Waivering on the Wire

Yahoo1: I’m stalking the bad (I mean really bad) NFL teams and choosing their opponent’s DEF for that week. I’m not sure how long I can keep this up but I’m going to ride this as long as I can. After week 12’s disaster by ARI & to show some love for the local team I’ve decided to choose the STL DEF. It’s just too easy for the STL DEF to pick apart ARI QB Derek Anderson. Unfortunately, I’m sure we won’t get another melt down at the post- game presser from DA.

Yahoo2: The failed VJax gamble. After countless weeks, okay it was 7, of playing the waiting game my genius move to tuck VJax (Vincent Jackson) away for a playoff run came to an end as he “strained his calf” on one of the three plays he participated in during his very first game back. Reports have him out at least two weeks and technically could be back to contribute to his real team. But I’m cutting my losses (a waste of a roster spot most of the season) and cutting him from my fantasy team. Mr. Jackson, you’re fired. In his place I’ve taken CAR RB Mike Goodson.

ESPN: No cuts or pickups this week.

Week 14 Roster Adjustments

Twitter Friend say Start Stevie

Yahoo1: Just switched out my DEF for the week. I have a good feeling about STL. Puhaha! (*evil scientist laugh)

Yahoo2: Sit Mike Wallace. Start Miles Austin. Sit DMC and start Stevie Johnson. I actually consulted with the Twitter FF gurus with these moves. I was having second thoughts about the switches though. We’ll see how they pan out.

ESPN: Only change was to sit Reggie Bush and start Devone Bess. I don’t like the fact that with the emergence of Chris Ivory it looks like Reggie Bush will be getting fewer touches.

Week 13 Fantasy Results

Yahoo1: So back in week 12 I was ranting about Cedric Benson (week 12=4.1 pts) and Brandon Jacobs (week 12=8.7 pts). What a difference a week makes! Benson came back with 49 rushing yds., 2 Td’s and 14 rec yds.=18.3 pts. Jacobs ran for 103 yds. and 2 TD’s for a cool 22.3 pts. Looks like they made up for last week’s single digit let down. This week’s goats were Johnny Knox (3.1 pts) and my usually spectacular Brandon Lloyd who only put up 31 rec yds. Aaron Rodgers donning an ugly throw back uniform passed for 298 yds. for 3 TD’s and rushed for 39 yds.=27.82 pts. Wes Welker had 80 yds for 1 TD=14 pts.

I love it when a plan comes together! With only 16% of Yahoo leagues starting the STL DEF I was in limited company. But with a very shaky offense from ARI it turned out to be a great play. The STL DEF only allowed 6 points (2 FG’s from Jay Feeley), 4 sacks, and 2 INT’s= 15 pts. This was the 3^rd best fantasy defensive performance from week 13. Woot!

Won my 9^th match up 118.12-91.06 which brings me to 9-4. This keeps me in 1^st place & locked in a first round bye for week 14. I don’t know what I’ll do not having to tweak my line up for next week. But I guess it’s a good thing.

Yahoo2: Ok, I am NOT going to ask for ff advice from a certain someone. You know how LeBron James said he’s keeping a list of nay-sayers? Well I’m keeping track of those who give me bad advice. This expert is lucky that I still pulled out the win otherwise he would have gotten an earful.

Shall we compare how the “experts” did for me this week? Out of 4 players to choose from this expert said 1) Stevie Johnson 2) Mike Goodson then DMC and LeGarrett Blount. So I benched DMC (Darren McFadden) & started StevieJ. Results?

Stevie Johnson = 36 yds receiving for 3.6 pts

Mike Goodson = 19 yds rushing, 1 TD for 7.9 pts

DMC = 97 yds. rushing, 1 TD, 30 rec yds., 1 lost fumble=16.7 pts.

LeGarrett Blount = 103 rushing yds, 1 TD= 16.3 pts.

STL RB Steven Jackson had a great day against ARI rushing for 102 yds., 1 TD and 13 rec yds.= 17.5 pts. IND TE Jacob Tamme scored 4.7 pts. Ray Rice rushed for 85 yds and 47 yds receiving=13.2 pts.

My Yahoo2 player of the week again is Michael Vick (29.88 pts): 303 passing yds, 2 TD, 1 INT & 48 yds. rushing for 1 TD. With Greg Jennings at a very close 2^nd with 122 rec yds. and 2 TD’s=24.2 pts.

I won this match 105.18-93.7. This brings my team to 7-6 and brings me to 2^nd place out of 8 teams.

ESPN: The Good=Tom Brady (29 pts). The decent: the BROWNS DEF? They held ARI to 10 pts., 1 sack, 3 INT’s, and 1 blocked kick=13 pts. The rest of the team was dismal. The usually consistent Peyton Hillis and Ray Rice combined for a total of 11 pts!!!! It was an utterly painful loss this week in the ESPN league. I lost big time this week: 122-83. Record is 8-5 and still maintaining 2^nd in the division and 3^rd overall!

Overall week 13: 2-1. 9-4, 7-6, and 8-5: overall 24-15.

Playoffs start in my Yahoo leagues in week 14. In the 12 team Yahoo1 league only the top 8 go on to the championship rounds. Top 2 seeds earn a bye week and wait for the winners of week 14. In the 8 team Yahoo2 league everyone advanced. (I know it was kind of anti-climatic.) The 1 seed plays the 8^th, 2^nd plays the 7^th, etc.

In the ESPN league, even though there are the full 12 team only the top 4 advance to the championship rounds. The other 8 play consolation matches to finish out the ff season. It’s a far more competitive league that way. Due to the smaller number of teams this league’s regular season is extended into week 14.

How great was SNF??? One of the best games I’ve watched all season long. Steelers visiting the Ravens and it did not disappoint. Hard hitting by the Ravens resulting in a broken nose & concussion, big plays on both sides of the line, and a come from behind win from the Steelers! And in another world/night, the Patriots showed us they were who the Jets couldn’t say they were during the week – The better team. NE rocks NYJ all the way back to the New Meadowlands.

p.s. RIP Dandy Don

NOTES!

Today I had the privilege of accompanying my 5^th grade son and his classmates on an all day field trip to the Junior Achievement’s Biz Town.

“The Donald O. Schnuck JA BizTown is a mini-city in which kids discover how the “real world” works. Each day, about 100 fifth or sixth graders become JA BizTown “citizens” where they work in one of 17 businesses, make financial decisions, pay taxes, and donate to charity. After four weeks of classroom lessons, students come to JA BizTown for the learning experience of their lives! Each citizen has a job for the day, gets paid twice, manages a checking account, shops, gets health check-ups, may be interviewed on TV and much more. The time spent at JA BizTown may be only one day, but the impact that this experiential learning provides will last a lifetime!

What an amazing life experience it was for those 10 and 11 year-old kids. Weeks prior to today each student applied for and were given a “job.” The kids researched their jobs and prepared to “run each business” as CEO’s, managers, and as various employees. In J’s case, his job was to be the news reporter for the local TV station. His job description included interviewing people, writing reports, and broadcasting the news. He took it a step further and got dressed up in a shirt, tie, and a suit to play the part properly. He looked SO handsome! Then again, I’m biased.