Spencer Watson

Spencer Watson

Ecstasy and Agony

Posted October 3, 2007

My apologies, Dear Reader, for another belated update. We're really getting off on the right foot, aren't we? I resolve to be a little more timely in updates from now on. Meanwhile, I also resolve to not make resolutions I can't keep. We'll see if I can manage to honor both.

Speaking of shortcomings, let's talk Fantasy Football.

As predicted in Week 2, an insurmountable lead held up and I cruised to a 2-0 record over the reigning champ. A hearty win for a rookie club in need of a strong start.

There was no time to celebrate, though. Week 3 pitted me against another league vet, albeit another winless one, and the matchups looked bad. I'd used Brett Favre in relief in Week 2, and though he was poised to pass Dan Marino for the all-time career touchdown record, I did not foresee the hot streak he's on now. I mean, the Packers are 4-0? (As a side note, so are the Cowboys, and OJ Simpson is in legal trouble, too. I feel like I'm in junior high school again).

Anyway, I put Bulger back in and stuck with LJ despite an abysmal start to the season. I also benched Hines Ward in favor of Santana Moss in a lucrative matchup.

Game Day brought an early lead with most of my players going at noon or 3, but my opponent started slowly chipping away as his players began to take the field. Ward turned out to be a good sitter; he got hurt and left with only 1 point. Moss was okay in relief, but out-performed by Raider Ronald Curry on my bench.

The worst was St. Louis Rams QB Marc Bulger, who threw for 116 yards, no TDs, and a disastrous three picks. That was good for -2 net fantasy points. That's right, he actually lost my team points. I could have put myself in my lineup and done better with only 0 points. Heck, I could have put a houseplant in the lineup and been better off.

But the real tragedy was that Favre, on my bench, had a ridiculous day and racked up 32 fantasy points. At least I found my new starter.

Still, hope was not lost. When Sunday was all said and done, I had a slim 96-83 lead in the lowest scoring match of the week. The bad news: my opponent's top wide out, Marques Colston of the New Orleans Saints, was still due to play on Monday.

Hollywood might want to take note of the following script: Colston had 9 points by halftime and looked poised to take me down. But in a collapse only rivaled by baseball's New York Mets later in the week, he managed only one point in the rest of the game. I won, leaving me tied for the best record (3-0) and back 90 points of the league lead.

Unfortunately, the euphoria would be short lived.

I knew Week 4 would probably be my toughest match yet. Though against a 2-1 team, it was a team that has consistently put up big numbers so far this year. I put hours into studying matchups, tinkered with my lineup, read more, and tinkered more.

I eyed starting rising KC receiver Dwayne Bowe, who I'd picked up as a possible sleeper the week before, and traded an anemic Bulger away for Carolina's Jake Delhomme (who ended up not playing and may now be out for the season... sigh). I favored Indy's tight end Dallas Clark over my starter, the Falcon's Alge Crumpler, but in the end I got cold feet, doubted my savvy, and started Crumpler along with Curry, based on his showing in weeks 1 and 3. Clark and Bowe sat the bench -- and that proved my undoing.

By halftime of the double header games Sunday, I knew it was going to be my first L of the season. A quickly disappearing lead was coupled with low scores from both my receivers, Curry and the supposedly incomparable Steve Smith (2 points in Week 3 -- against the FALCONS?! -- and 8 this week?). Also LaMont Jordan, my best RB so far and the player on my roster with the best matchup of the week, left the game injured. His backup still managed 100 yards... in the fourth quarter alone. I cried a little when I thought about what Jordan could have done.

In the end, the bad guys were up 7 or so going into Monday and all I had left to play was the Patriots kicker -- who actually could make up that difference thanks to a potent offense. However, my opponent still had two huge producers in the wings -- Cincinnati QB Carson Palmer and WR T.J. Whosyourmomma. Together they put up nearly 40, including one TD pass from Palmer to Housh that by itself was worth 13 points. I got thumped 157-113. No player on my team except Favre had a TD.

The pain doesn't end there, though. Had I stuck with my gut, I could have topped 160 thanks to career days for Clark and Bowe, and thus pulled off another narrow victory. Since the other undefeated went down this week, that would have put me in sole possession of first place for the league as the last team without a loss.

Instead I'll be in discontented third, 123 points back, and likely too busy studying to post again soon, leading to only more disappointment.