Inside the war room

That’s right, the war room…otherwise known as my living room (except for the one leauge where I am the commissioner which is an in person auction…and the last one that I did at the college).  Shot gets REAL (spell check?)  You have no clue what its like if you’re not in the moment.  Butterflies in your stomach, beads of sweat dripping down (I don’t have AC in my house, plus that room at the college…are you freakin kidding me?!?  25-30 dudes in a small room with no AC and its +26 out?!  Sweat everywhere), it is as intense as something nowhere near serious gets.

Now, I fully understand everyone’s favorite topic is THEIR fantasy football team, and nobody likes hearing about someone else’s fantasy football team.  I get that, I’m a guy who prides himself on reading people and I try not to be annoying, or in your face, or bore anyone.  Totally get that….

But then on the other hand, this is my website….AND YOU WILL READ EVERY DAMN WORD I HAVE TO SAY!!!  And no, I didn’t just rip off the movie “The Wedding Singer”.  Let me now take you back (its like I’m taking you on a trip…free of charge….you’re welcome) to the first draft I did this year.  August 15th the “Travis Henry’s Kids” league held their auction.  Big leauge, and the first time participating for “The Zit Remedy”.  I knew all eyes would be on me, afterall this site has over 6 readers a week!  Clearly, people know who I am.  But I’m not proud of what happened that night.

I started out strong, snagging Bills RB C.J. Spiller in the 1st round, 9th overall.  Solid start.  I followed that up with a selection of TE Jimmy Graham in round 2.  Early for a TE, but Graham was far and away the top TE available in drafts this season.  So I felt good.  But then….disaster struck.  3rd round, I let an old flame talk me into a 1 night stand I knew I would regret…yet I decided to get in that bed anyway.  Darren McFadden.

I selected him with the top pick in my keeper league in 08, he busted until I traded him during the 09 season.  I took him last year in a draft that I in fact won, but it had little to do with “Run DMC”.  Well that slut reared its ugly head in this draft in round 3.  I saw him there, and I just couldn’t look past all the times he let me down, all the headaches he caused, he just looked so damn sexy!  I had to do it, just one more time.  Ugh!  Here we are weeks later and I have a feeling of emptiness….on my roster because one RB spot is occupied by a guy who sucks (on the field I should point out, not elsewhere).

The next draft was the big one for me.  I am the commissioner of this draft.  It is an IDP league, it is a keeper league, we select players through an auction with a 25 dollar cap, not a draft.  It is known as the “Kelly Kapowski Fantasy League”.  I guess so.  Now, yesterday I spoke about the Zach Sudfeld mistake, but for the most part I felt good about this one.  I wanted Adrian Peterson, Alex Smith, Zach Sudfeld, Robert Quinn and Chandler Jones.  Got them all, added them to my team that I spent 2 years rebuilding (no joke, spent 240 dollars doing it…wish this was part of the joke).

I won that money back last year with my rebuilt team and then some showing true grit and determination in finishing 1st place overall in the regular season.  However, the team known as “Mav & Goose” is getting a Peyton Manning type playoff reputation.  Save the worst for last.  Total choke job by my guys in the first week of the playoffs and my championship ring total remains at 1 (and yes, I bought myself a ring because I’m sweet, obviously).

Next on the docket was “Lloyd Fantasy League”.  Let me tell you something commissioner Thomas Miller….that is an oxymoron.  There is no such thing as a “Lloyd fantasy”.  You should know this, clean up your act!  Anyway, “Bayside High” walked into this draft as the defending champ.  And we got to have 2 keepers so I made sure Adrian Peterson and Megatron would still be hanging out at the Max this season.  Felt real good about this draft, and now the pressure is on Bayside to repeat as league champs but as we all know the hardest thing to do in sports is to repeat.

Finally, last week was a tough one.  The 20 team, Lakeland College draft.  Splitting the team with Tyrell Ochwar wasn’t easy.  A lot of internal debating, it really was a Jerry Jones/Jimmy Johnson type of working relationship.  Making matters worse, we didn’t pick until 18th overall.  Making matters even worse than that….did I mention how freakin hot it was in there?!  A GD sweat box!  Terrible!  Explanation point!

But we made it work.  At 18, we went with the old reliable vet Maurice Jones Drew, or as his friends call him MJD.  We really made chicken salad out of chicken shot (damn spell check).  In a 20 team league, attention to detail is important.  Things got dicey when I had to bail with 5 rounds left in the draft.  T.O. wasn’t in good shape as the 6th and 7th beer went by the wayside he was running on fumes.  But he managed to hold it together and we walked away as satisfied as owners can be with such a bad break.  It will be up to the players on the field, but we feel with good ownership there should be a trickle down effect that shows up on the field.

So maybe now you understand?  If you don’t play, you don’t understand the type of pressure that come with owning and running fantasy football teams.  They may call it “fantasy”, but as I said earlier….shot gets REAL (damn I hate spell check).

Follow me on twitter where I will tell you everything that goes on with my fantasy teams because I know you want to hear about them @TJ_Soups