A Fantasy Sports Dream Comes True in a Crazy Fantasy Football Season

For many years now I have been a participant in fantasy football and fantasy baseball leagues. I have even taken part in the odd fantasy basketball league. However fantasy football and fantasy baseball are the only leagues that I take part in on a regular basis. For the most part my teams have been pretty solid, especially in fantasy baseball where I have won the regular season by a wide margin on multiple occasions. This regular season success has not translated into postseason victory though. In fact, I have had the number one seed three times and have failed to make it past the semi-finals all three times. In fantasy football my teams have been fairly successful as well. Last year I even made it to the championship, but ended up losing by a mere seven points. Overall I have been a perennial contender, but being a contender doesn't mean much if you have as many championship rings as Dan Marino. That all changed last night though, as I capped off a 121-85 victory in the championship of my fantasy football league. I would like to take the time now to look back at an improbable run to my first fantasy sports title.

I have to say that I did not prepare too hard for this year's fantasy football draft. This is because my mind was fully focused on fantasy baseball as my team was having another regular season to remember; unfortunately, another postseason to forget would ensue. When the night was all said and done I felt like I had indeed fielded the best team though. One decision in particular would prove particularly important, namely trading a couple of my draft picks so I could move up and get Jamaal Charles. However the season did not start out very well. I lost my first game. Then I lost my second game, and unfortunately I would lose my third game too. What made these losses even tougher is that I was projected to win in all three of these matchups. At this point I decided to pack my season in (or did I?), and I changed my team name to "I am packing it in." to let everyone else in the league know. This is when my team finally decided to show up, as they put up 152 points in a victory. However my team suffered a backbreaking defeat in the form of a tie the next week. My team was primed for victory that week. I had a solid 109-107 lead. Then the unthinkable happened; Tony Romo threw an interception in the closing minute of his game to drop me into a tie. A loss in the following week would lead me to pack it in for good and let everyone know that before when I said that I was "packing it in" it was just a mental ploy to get them to take it easy when playing me. So I changed my team name to "Really packing it in" to let everyone know that indeed my season was over. Even though this was just a mental ploy again, I was having doubts myself about my team's ability to turn things around and make the playoffs because it is definitely tough to come back from a 1-4-1 record. My team pulled out solid victories in the next two weeks though, which lead me to believe that my team could complete an improbable comeback. Then I suffered a tough one point loss. On the bright side, my team now had the overall points lead in my league, and I let everyone know by changing my team name to "OverallPoints Leader". At this point things were looking pretty bleak, but wins in the next two weeks would ensue. However another loss would follow. My record was now 5-6-1, but somehow I still had a chance to make the playoffs. In the following week I helped my chances of making the playoffs by pulling out a solid 118-116 victory. At this point I now controlled my own destiny as a win in the final week would secure a playoff spot. This is when my team decided to have its worst week of the year. When the final week of the regular season was over I had lost 56-121, but somehow I was in the playoffs thanks to a couple of key loses by other teams vying for the last playoff spot even though I finished the regular season with a 6-7-1 record. At this point I was just glad to be in the playoffs. I now turned my attention to bringing home my first fantasy football title. My team had struggled in the final week and I knew that I needed to make some personnel changes for the playoffs. I put Josh Freeman in as my starting quarterback, I dropped Ryan Longwell and picked up David Buehler, and I put Jamaal Charles back into the starting lineup. All three of these decisions ended up being very instrumental in my winning the championship. In the semi-finals I knew I would have a tough task as my opponent had Michael Vick on his team. Vick ended up having a huge week. He scored 47 fantasy points, but somehow I was able to pull out a 108-105 victory thanks to my key personnel decisions. My top three scorers that week were Freeman with 20 points, Charles with 20 points, and Buehler with 18 points. Just a week before all three were either on my bench or on the free agent market. So for the second year in a row I was in the fantasy football championship. My team suffered a devastating loss though as I found out that Maurice Jones-Drew would not be able to play that week due to an injury. I picked up his backup Rashad Jennings and hoped for the best. Mike Wallace scored 16 points in the Thursday night game to get my team off to a hot start, and then David Buehler added 12 points on Saturday night to set my team up well going into Sunday. This is when my decision to trade up to get Jamaal Charles during the draft, and my personnel adjustments before the playoffs started really paying dividends. Both Charles and Josh Freeman had huge weeks. Charles put up a solid 23 fantasy points and Freeman chipped in with 42 points of his own thanks to five touchdown passes. I now had a solid lead going into Monday night, and interestingly enough Tuesday night as well. In the end, I would indeed hang on for a 121-85 win, and claim my first fantasy football title and fantasy sports title in general. It certainly was a crazy fantasy football season and it sure did not look like this was going to be my year, but somehow my team pulled it out. There is no doubt that I would have liked to have had a better regular season, but as I have learned in fantasy baseball, the regular season does not mean that much anyways. In the end, all that matters is that you are slipping on the championship ring at the end of the season.

Justin Blackmon Wins the 2010 jasathletics.blogspot.com College Football MVP Award

Justin Blackmon is indeed the 2010 jasathletics College Football MVP. I would like to take the time to make one correction. I know I have been calling the award the player of the year award, but I was looking back and last year I called it the College Football MVP award. So that is what we will go with. This is the second year in a row that the jasathletics MVP has come from the Big 12 conference. All of this year's finalists are great football players, but in the end I have to say that I was seduced by Blackmon's big numbers. He finished the regular season with 102 receptions for 1,665 yards receiving and 18 touchdowns. In addition, Blackmon averaged 151.4 receiving yards per game and 16.3 yards per catch. I find the 151.4 receiving yards per game to be particularly astounding. As I mentioned in my last article, I had not even heard of Justin Blackmon until a couple of weeks ago, but once I saw his numbers I knew he had a great chance to win this year's MVP award. And, in the end, I felt that he is the most deserving candidate. Also, my decision was made a little easier when Blackmon won in the poll. So I know that I am not alone. I would like to thank everyone that voted in my poll. It has been awhile since I have put a poll on my blog; mainly because last time I put one on nobody voted on it. I guess I did advertise this poll pretty well though, which, in all likelihood, helped increase the number of votes. In conclusion, I would like to congratulate Justin Blackmon for winning this year's jasathletics College Football MVP award. Blackmon is only a sophomore this year, so I expect to see him make a run at winning back to back MVP awards next year.

jasathletics Has Selected its 5 Finalists for its 2010 College Football Player of the Year Award

First of all I should note that Cameron Newton is not one of the finalists. Now you may be wondering why he is not one of the finalists, especially since he was cleared by the NCAA. Let's just say that jasathletics has higher standards than the NCAA. On the other hand, jasathletics believes that it has selected five very deserving candidates for this year's player of the year award. The finalists are Kellen Moore of Boise State, Titus Young of Boise State, Justin Blackmon of Oklahoma State, LaMichael James of Oregon, and Andrew Luck of Stanford. Each of these men have had great seasons for very solid teams. Kellen Moore finished the regular season with 3,506 yards passing, 33 TD passes, 1 rushing TD, 1 receiving TD, and 5 interceptions. In addition, he had a 71% completion percentage this year. On the receiving end of 9 of Kellen Moore's passing touchdowns was Titus Young. Young also had 1 rushing TD and compliled 1,151 yards receiving. Two weeks ago I had never even heard of Justin Blackmon, but now that I have he is a serious contender for the jasathletics College Football Player of the Year award. Blackmon put up huge numbers in his sophomore campaign at Oklahoma State. He had 102 receptions for 1,665 yards receiving and 18 TD. Blackmon average 151.4 receiving yards per game and 16.3 yards per catch. He had one rushing touchdown this year as well. More widely known are the big numbers that LaMichael James had this year. James finished the year with 1,682 yards rushing, 21 touchdowns on the ground, and 1 receiving touchdown. He average 152.9 yards rushing and 6.0 yards per carry. Finally, Andrew Luck finished the regular season with 3,051 yards passing, 28 TD passes, 7 interceptions, and a completion percentage of 70.2%. Luck also had 438 yards and 3 touchdowns on the ground. Overall I feel that this is a solid group of finalists. We invite you to vote for who you think should win the 2010 jasathletics.blogspot.com College Football Player of the Year award. Officially your vote will not have any effect on who wins the award. Keep in mind though that the results of the poll could influence the voting commitee. So vote early and often. The winner of the award will be announced sometime next weekend.

Jim Thome - A True Ambassador for the Game of Baseball

Coming into the 2010 baseball season I have to say that I was not much of a Jim Thome fan. This can mostly be attributed to him playing on division rivals of the Minnesota Twins for many years, and to him hitting countless big home runs against the Twins (most notably in game 163 in 2008). In 2010 that all changed though when he decided to sign with the Twins. Right after he signed I knew he would be an asset, but I never expected him to help out the Twins as much as he did.

For the first half of the season Jim got starts at DH here and there, and he hit a few home runs. He just wasn't able to get into a solid hitting groove, and his batting average at the time reflected that. Then Justin Morneau went down, and Jim was vaulted into the regular starting lineup. This is when I, as well as everyone else, found out that signing Jim Thome was indeed the right decision. Over the next few months Jim hit numerous big home runs. Most notable of these were his walk off against the White Sox, his shot off the flagpole that would have left the stadium if it was not inhibited, his home run to pass Harmon Killebrew on the all time home runs list, and his home run to break a 0-0 tie in extra innings in Cleveland. What makes Jim Thome's season even more impressive is that he hit his 25 home runs in only 276 at bats, and he hit a lot of them at Target Field, which was the toughest ballpark to hit home runs in last year (Except for the Toronto Blue Jays). In addition, Jim hit his home runs to all fields, and many of them were well over the fence. Just think if he had played the bulk of his games at Yankee "It looks like he popped this one up to the second baseman, wait a second, it's ten rows back!" Stadium. If he had played the majority of his games there this season he probably would have hit 40+ home runs (That might be a bold statement, but sometimes a bold statement needs to be made).

Now he may have had a tough postseason, but I think I speak for just about everybody in Twins Territory when I say that I would like to see Jim Thome in a Twins uniform again next season. Of course one reason I would like to see Jim back next year is because he is still a great hitter, but the main reason why I would like to see him back in a Twins uniform is that he is a true ambassador for the game of baseball. I feel that this is the case because he plays the game the right way, he is a great person to have in the clubhouse, he conducts himself with integrity on and off the field, and his home run total of 589 doesn't need any punctuation next to it.

Overall it would be great to see Jim Thome, who is indeed a true ambassador for the game of baseball, make one more bid for a world series title with the Minnesota Twins. And one more thing, it would be pretty sweet to see Jimmy hit number 600 in a Twins uniform.

"Slim" Delmon

When the Minnesota Twins first acquired Delmon Young I have to say that I was not much of a fan of him. This is mainly because I knew him as "Throwing bats at umpires" Delmon, which I have to say is not a very good Delmon at all. His stock fell even more for me when I became acquainted with "Slightly overweight, .262 batting, 12 home run hitting, 60 run batting in, what in the world, Jason Bartlett and Matt Garza are key pieces on a Tampa Bay Rays team that is going to the World Series?" Delmon. Now that was not a good Delmon either. Overall he just looked like another mediocre at best outfielder that was going to split time in left field.

Then something changed. As I was watching the Twins first game this year I noticed something different in left field for the Twins. Could another Delmon have emerged in the Delmon Young saga? No, I must just be watching the game from a different angle. But then I saw him track down a fly ball, and I realized that a new Delmon had emerged, namely "Slim" Delmon. "Slim" Delmon went on to hit a home run later in the game as well. After the game I was impressed with this new Delmon, but I was left to wonder if this new Delmon could keep it up for a whole season. To make this decision I knew I was going to have to see at least a months worth of games.

After about a month and a half or so it looked like we were going to end up with a "Slim, but still mediocre at best" Delmon. Then he started to hit and before a person knew it he had moved into second on the team in RBIs and his batting average had climbed to .300. "Slim" Delmon didn't stop there though he has kept driving in runs, and last night he finally took the team lead with 50 runs batted in. Now it would be nice to see him hit a few more home runs, but a few of his big flies have left me with hope. Particularly his upper deck shot at Target Field. With "Slim" Delmon on the rise and only 24 years old I think that Twins fans have a lot to look forward to in the near future.

I think that it is safe to say that I am now somewhat of a fan of Delmon Young and that "Slim" Delmon is indeed a good Delmon. I can't help but wonder if another Delmon could be on the way soon though, namely "All-Star" Delmon.

Phil Mickelson - A True Champion

Coming into the Masters this year all anyone heard about was Tiger Woods, and how this was going to be his first tournament since everyone found out who Tiger Woods really is. There was little mention of anyone else, especially Phil Mickelson, who entered the week as a two-time Masters champion. In fact, on PGATour.com he wasn't even listed as one of the top ten favorites heading into the tournament. This week was going to be all about Tiger. Everyone was talking about how impressive it would be if Tiger won, especially once he got into contention. My only question is: what would have been impressive about Tiger Woods winning the Masters last week? Nothing. It was his own fault that he had to take five months off from competitive golf. You know what is impressive though, a man winning the Masters less than a year after both his mom and wife were diagnosed with breast cancer, a man winning the Masters who has spent most of his year showing up on Wednesday or Tuesday night of a tournament week so he could spend more time with his wife and children, and a man winning the Masters that last time he stood on the 18th tee on Sunday with a lead in a major saw it all slip away. Now that is impressive. These things and so many more made Phil Mickelson's win at this year's Masters very special.

Now for the golf. Phil started out the 2010 Masters with two solid rounds of 67 and 71 to put him two shots back heading into the weekend. Then on Saturday Phil vaulted up the leaderboard by going eagle, eagle, birdie on the 13th, 14th, and 15th holes, with the eagle on 14 coming via a hole-out from 140 yards. When it was all said and done on Saturday Mickelson was one shot back of Lee Westwood at 11 under par.

The final round started with Phil making par on the first seven holes, which wasn't all bad because Westwood had not made any sort of a move either, but K. J. Choi and Fred Couples were moving steadily up the leaderboard. Then Phil made a birdie on the par five eighth and it looked as if his round was about to come alive. Unfortunately his driver would become wayward as he hit his tee shot deep into the trees on the ninth and had to punch out, but his shot game would save him as he got up and down. The up and down coupled with a Westwood three putt bogey put Phil in the lead to start the back nine. Now it looked like Phil was going to take a firm hold on the tournament, but once again he hit a wayward tee ball deep into the trees. Not only that, K. J. Choi made a birdie ahead of him to tie the lead. Once again though Phil was able to come up big as he was able to hit his second shot up by the green and get up and down with a brilliant chip. Unfortunately another wayward tee ball would ensue. This time Phil got a little lucky though as he was able to hit the green in regulation. Two putts later Phil sealed his third straight working man's par and headed to the 12th tied for the lead with K. J. Choi at 12 under par. Now is when the final stretch run began. Phil hit a solid 9-iron to about 20 feet. Then he canned the putt for birdie and gave a fist pump as the crowd roared. Now it looked as if he was going to really take hold of the tournament. Once again though he would hit a wayward drive into the trees on the par five 13th. After Choi bogeyed ahead of him Phil had a two shot lead and a decision to make. Well actually Phil didn't have a decision to make, as we found out in his press conference after the tournament he was always planning on going for it. Pretty much everyone else thought he had a decision to make though, and not only that, we all thought that his decision would be to lay up. But this is Phil Mickelson, so he pulled out his 6-iron and put a crisp strike on the ball. As the ball was in the air I am sure that golf writers all across the world were prepared to write about how Phil Mickelson had blown the 2010 Masters by hitting it into the creek on 13. Guess what though? He didn't hit it in the creek. In fact, he hit it to about six feet and had a chance to take complete control of the tournament with an eagle. Now he didn't make the eagle putt, but he made his birdie and now had a two shot lead over Lee Westwood, who also made birdie. Both Mickelson and Westwood made pars on the 14th, so Phil came to the 15th, which is the last real risk reward hole, with a two shot lead. At this point one couldn't help but notice that Anthony Kim had surged up the leaderboard to 12 under par. He would run out of holes though and finish at that number. Back to the final group now. Phil finally hit a solid drive at the 15th as did Lee Westwood. Phil then proceeded to hit a solid second shot onto the green and two putted for birdie. After Lee Westwood missed his birdie putt Phil had a three shot lead with three to play. On the par three 16th both men hit solid tee shots to about 20 feet and took pars. So Phil would retain his three shot lead going to the 17th. Phil's tee ball on 17 was solid, but after an average approach, a lag put that went six feet by, and a birdie by Westwood, Phil was now faced with a tough putt to save par and take a two shot lead to the 18th. Once again golf writers all around the world were poised to write about the demise of Phil Mickelson. But guess what? He came up clutch again. So now Phil stood on the final tee on Sunday with a lead in a major championship. Now once again golf writers all around the world were poised to write about a Phil Mickelson collapse, as, unfortunately, we all know what happened last time Phil was in this position. Guess what though? He hit a solid 3-wood that just went into the rough. Then he hit a solid 7-iron to 12 feet. After Westwood missed his birdie and cleaned up his par, Phil only needed three putts to win. Phil made the birdie putt though to finish in style. Phil went 67-67 on the weekend to finish at 16 under par and win his third Masters and fourth major championship by three shots over Lee Westwood. Right after the final putt went in Phil embraced his caddy and great friend Jim "Bones" Mackay in a hug, and then he embraced his wife in a hug behind the green as a tear rolled down his face. It was a beautiful moment, and at this point everyone knew that the right man had won.

It was a great sight to see Phil slip on the green jacket for a third time at the awards ceremony. Also, it was great to hear Phil thank so many people, especially his great friend "Bones", who has been with the Mickelson family through all of their troubles. Phil did get choked up towards the end of his speech, but that was great to see as it shows just how much he cares for his wife and family. And one thing I know for sure, Phil would give up all four of his major championship victories to see his wife and mom at full health again.

This third Masters victory and fourth major victory for Phil no doubt secures his place as the premiere champion from this era. Now you may be wondering how I could put Phil ahead of Tiger when it comes to winning golf tournaments. Notice my wording though. I said champion, not tournament winner. Tiger is by far the greatest tournament winner of this era, but being a great tournament winner is something totally different from being a true champion. A true champion plays with class and integrity. A true champion plays with respect for the fans and his fellow competitors. A true champion is graceful in winning and defeat. A true champion respects the rules and heritage of golf. A true champion plays with humility. And above all, a true champion knows that winning tournaments is nice, but there are so many more important things. A tournament winner only wins tournaments and does little else. Phil Mickelson embodies all the attributes of a true champion, and so many more. That is why he is the premiere champion from this era.

Congratulations on a great win Phil. I expect that we will see you at the top of a leaderboard again very soon, and whether or not you go on to win that tournament, one thing is for sure; you will be playing like a true champion.

Braum’s is Indeed the Premiere Fast Food Restaurant of Oklahoma

Earlier this month while driving through Oklahoma on my way to Texas with some friends I laid my eyes on a fast food eatery called Braum’s for the first time ever. The first one I noticed was a little past the Kansas border when we stopped to fill up our gas tank and get some food. Immediately I was intrigued by the sign, which had an ice cream cone on it, and by the thought of eating at a fast food restaurant that I had never eaten at before. Also, the sign prompted me to wonder if Braum’s is the Culver’s of the south. Unfortunately Braum’s would elude me on that particular day because my friends wanted to eat at McDonald’s.

As we drove further and further into Oklahoma my desire to eat at Braum’s only grew because about every couple of miles there was a billboard for Braum’s and it seemed like every town of any substance in Oklahoma contained one. Once we hit the Texas border though and there were no more Braum’s I was left to hope that maybe we could eat at one on the way back. I knew that it would be a long shot though because certain people were staunchly against this idea.

While in Texas I had some good barbeque and fajitas; nevertheless Braum’s was on my mind. As we started to go north again my hope that Braum’s and I would officially cross paths gained momentum. As we drove though Oklahoma I was not sure if this dream would become a reality though. Then when we were dangerously close to crossing the Kansas border we decided that we should stop and eat. At this point I was at the helm and my eyes quickly scanned the sign to see if there was a Braum’s at the next exit, and there was one. My friends wanted to eat at Subway, but I was the judge and the jury and the verdict was indeed guilty. I was very excited as I pulled into the parking lot and walked into Braum’s for the first time. Right away I could tell that this was no ordinary fast food restaurant because it contained a small grocery store inside. I feel that it is a good idea to be able to pick up some groceries and a meal at the same time though. After noticing this I walked up to the counter and ordered a burger and fries meal. As I sat down and ate the burger I realized that I was glad that I had chosen to come to Braum’s because it was definitely a solid burger. After I finished my meal I also had an ice cream cone because a person can’t go to Braum’s and not have ice cream. I had a small cookie dough ice cream cone, and it was solid as well. In the end, I left Braum’s feeling very satisfied.

Overall I have to say that Braum’s is an above average fast food restaurant. I still have to say that Culver’s is better, but I have definitely eaten at worse places than Braum’s. Hopefully we will cross paths again. I do not think I will be in Oklahoma anytime soon though, so it might be quite some time before I eat at Braum’s again. In the end, I have to say that a person cannot go to Oklahoma and not eat at Braum’s.

Alabama Wins the 2009-2010 jasathletics College Football National Championship

For the first time ever the BCS national champion is also the jasathletics.blogspot.com College Football National Champion, as Alabama claimed the title by beating Texas last week. Alabama took a big lead into the locker room at the half, and held off a rally by Texas to hold on for a 37 to 21 victory. Boise State made a valiant effort to win its second jasathletics title, but in the end they were barely beat out by Alabama via a tie breaker. The jasathletics title is awarded to the team that has the best record and a BCS bowl win. Since both Alabama and Boise State finished the year undefeated, jasathletics had to use the tie breaker for the first time ever, and the tie breaker goes to the BCS national champion. Boise State had a great season and I expect them to come back strong next season with the frontrunner for next year's Heisman Trophy and jasathletics.blogspot.com College Football MVP Kellen Moore at the helm. They should be number one in the jasathletics preseason poll next August. In the end though jasathletics would like to congratulate Alabama for winning its first ever jasathletics College Football National Championship.