Black Thursday

Lots of sad news to report:

Item 1: Chicks league team is now a disappointing 0-2.. 11th of 12 overall. Things are not going well, so shakeups have to be made, which leads me to..

Item 2: Goodbye, Kenny Watson. I expected so much from you! What happened!? Chris Perry was supposed to be injured by now, allowing you to step in and save the Bengals season! Instead we had a pretty uneventful run in which you scored three total fantasy points, so your time with Team Katerade is over. Hopefully some other chick picks you up so you can go get your fantasy luggage stolen by her old running back.

Item 3: I am not at all proud of this, but desperate times... I entered the Battle Zone. The 49ers are up against the Lions this week, so I think he'll get lots of looks from O'CasualDiningRestaurant.

Item 4: Legit QB controversy this week, as I have Rodgers vs. Dallas or Roethlisberger vs. Philly. Right now I am leaning toward Big Ben because I am concerned Rodgers will not excel against an actual defense, but still on the fence. Input much appreciated!

Chicks League: 0-1

A tough start for Team Katerade (thanks for the nickname of the year, Adam Man) in the ESPN Chicks League, as I lost to Tomilee with a final score of 94 - 63. OUCH.


Good starts: Roethlisberger (13 points) and Randy Moss (16 points; hopefully he can keep it up with Cassel)

Solid: Ryan Grant and Selvin Young (9 each),

Piles of garbage: The remainder of my team (Run DMC, Anthony Gonzalez, Chris Cooley, Seattle D). NOT psyched that Darren McFadden left the game in the second half (please don't be too injured, okay? Thanks.)


This was (sadly) not a poor decision-type loss, either.. My bench had a grand total of 26 points, 20 of which came from Aaron Rodgers. Looks like some major reshuffling is in the works for this week..




Picture of Erin Andrews included in this post because she is a chick, and this picture came up when I googled "0-1 record."

Chick's League draft results

Chicks League Draft: A (Shoddy) Running Diary:

9:55pm: After braving some Java-related issues and a couple Jack and Coke's, I enter the draft room. There ended up being 12 teams in the league.. not too shabby, ladies. Since I have drafted in the worst possible spot in every draft this year, why not get assigned the 10th pick? I begin to ponder if I should take FrankGoreMarshawnLynchClintonPortis, or live dangerously and go for Tony Romo or Randy Moss. Hmmmm.

10:00: First pick = LDT.. second pick = Brian Westbrook. FINALLY a league where AP goes where he should (#3 overall). Oh right.. we all listen to the same podcast, so we all have the same rankings.. uh ohhhhh.

10:02: Alex Roman is picking now, right before me. I have a sneaking suspicion she is auto-drafting.. best available is Clinton Portis, and I get ready to become a certified Romo-sexual for the third year in a row..

10:02:30: NOOOOOOOOOOOO! Alex Roman had been quiet in the chat so that she could fly under the radar and steal Tony Romo from me. Sob. Also, I know it is ridiculous to take Tony Romo at number 10 overall, but I wanted to. I am almost sick of drafting at this point, so I just wanted to do crazy things instead of logical things. Also, crazy > logic is allowed in the Chick's League.

10:03: I take Randy Moss. Blah.

10:05: The snake draft.. loves it.. Gore, Portis, P. Manning, and T.O. go.. Back to me.. oh heyyy, Ryan Grant.

10:06: I am in a funk about my team. I hate not having a great RB, but it's impossible to grab with the 10th pick. Oh well.

10:20: The snake draft.. hates it. Very mediocre RB and WR talent left (sorry, Larry Johnson and Willis McGahee). Big Ben it is!

10:22: Darren McFadden (whom I will be referring to as Run DMC for the remainder of the season, fyi) on the turnaround! I have a ridiculous, unhealthy amount of love for this guy.

10:28: Chatting with the other girls in the league as I wait for my next pick.. oddly, most of us started playing fantasy sports when a boyfriend's league needed an extra person.. now we're all full-on dorks. And none of us are still dating the guys who got us into fantasy football. Conclusion: fantasy football kills relationships!! League consensus about tonight's NFL game was that a.) Eli Manning is still Eli Manning, b.) We are worried about Jason Campbell and c.) Can interesting games please start?? Come on, Sunday.

10:32: Rule number one of drafting: Do not take any RB/WR from Denver. Mike Shanahan hates your fantasy team. Whoops.... hi there, Selvin Young.

10:34: I am the millionth person to use this joke, but whatever: Ricky Williams... smoke em if you got em.

10:35: Back to the chat, which is now clearly a discussion among twelve chicks. A short journey into our world: Is Tony Romo attractive, or do we just think so because he's famous/rich? (He's legitimately cute, in a boyish way, but he shouldn't date Jessica Simpson anymore) Is Tom Brady a jerk for dating Giselle right after dumping baby mama Bridget Moynahan? (Whatever, Tom Brady can do whatever he wants) Is it okay that we sometimes draft a guy because he's attractive? (Yes, since no one unattractive is good at anything anyways).

10:44: On the heels of the 'drafting attractive guys' discussion, I reluctantly take Chris Cooley, with the disclaimer that this pick is NOT based on his looks. Or, judging from the game earlier tonight, anything else.

10:46: KENNY WATSON! Oh, Kenny.. let's run away together and I'll whisper sweet nothings about how much I believe you will be end up being the best running back in Cincinnati this year. Eff you, Chris Perry bandwagon.

10:47: It's all downhill after you take Kenny Watson in the 8th round and the chat has returned to the subject of 'How hot is Tony Romo,' so here is the rest of my team, round by round:

9th round: Anthony Gonzalez
10th round: Reggie Brown
11th round: Seattle Defense
12th round: Aaron Rodgers
13th round: Bobby Engram (yeah, I know he's out for 6-8 weeks.. it's the 13th round, chill)
14th round: Justin Gage
15th round: Kevin Boss (promptly dropped for a kicker.. I forget who.)


This week I am playing Tomilee, who has a pretty solid team, featuring P. Manning, Portis, Bush, Hines Ward, and Greg Jennings.

I hope I don't lose to a girl.

ESPN All Chick Fantasy Football League

As is likely clear from the lack of recent posts from me, I have been quite busy, mainly due to my job which involves consulting on political campaigns. I still can't believe I get paid to tell candidates what to do, but it does get quite busy in these months. Sorry, blog. However, I will still always find time for fantasy football. One of my five teams (sorry, job) this year is a fun little thing that I will try to keep y'all updated on as the season progresses: The ESPN Fantasy Focus All Chick League.

For anyone who doesn't know (and probably the only five people that read this have heard me talk about this multiple times, but whatever), there is a fabulous ESPN podcast hosted by Matthew Berry and Nate Ravitz, called Fantasy Focus: Football (there's also a baseball version which is quite good as well). Covering daily fantasy football news, opinions and analysis, combined with lots of talk about Beverly Hills 90210, it is an all-around enjoyable podcast. Even better, they read my emails about fantasy football on the air. Sweet!

Every season, they run a "Man's League" where listeners can apply to play in a fantasy league against their producer, whom they despise. This year, entry to the Man's league was dependent on a $25 donation to The Jimmy V. Foundation, an explanation as to why you were qualified for the Man's League, and a Beverly Hills 90210 themed team name. Now, I was DYING to play in this league, but have never seen a single episode of 90210.* I decided that I would apply anyways, so I made my donation to Jimmy V. (I hate cancer) and explained that I would love to play, but knew nothing about 90210, except that Tori Spelling probably sucked.

Now, you cannot just skirt the authority of a podcast and apply for things all willy-nilly, so I did not get into the Man's league.. however, I was selected for the newly created "All Chicks League," which will feature Stephania Bell and Alex Roman representing ESPN and nine other chicks. I am honored to have had my application selected from amidst the literally tens of others chicks who both play fantasy football AND listen to a podcast about it, so hooray! Thanks, ESPN!

The draft for the league is tonight at 10pm.. everyone cross your fingers I can get Tatum Bell and his fast hands.



*I suppose this makes me more of a man than anyone who could create a 90210 themed nickname, but alas.