Vol. 8  No. 4 -  Sept. 24, 2003 Football Happenings ( or... Toby Gowin, I wish I was Toby Gowin) Super Bowl XXXVIII in

Current Standings at a glance as of 9-23-2003   Name W L T Pct GB 1 Jeff Burns 31 13 2 .705 - 2 Michelle Brown 30 14 2 .682 1 3 John Kardel 28 16 2 .636 3 4 Beth Wong 27 17 2 .614 4 5  Paul Kessler 26 18 2 .591 5

In This Issue:

• Current Standings - Here Today, Gone Tomorrow
• Money, It's a hit - But don't give me that do-goody-good bulls***
• The Song Remains The Same - Lies, Lies, Lies... Yeah!
• Life is just a Fantasy - Can you live this fantasy life?
• Before my life went Dim - Jets / Cowboys Preview
• NFL Happenings - Let's go to my room, baby... I'll show you my Posters
• Extra Points - Baby's got an 8-track mind, and I'm number 9
  

  Denver coach Mike Shanahan caused a stir two weeks ago when he reported mid-game that QB Jake Plummer had been removed from play because of a concussion. Actually, Plummer had injured his throwing shoulder, not his noggin. Shanahan’s defense was he had only two QBs, and if forced to use Plummer again later in the game, Jake would not have been able to throw the football, thereby causing a huge advantage for his opponent and endangering his players to further injury.

 Maybe I’ve been watching hockey too long (where hiding injuries is a long-standing tradition, especially in the playoffs), but I not only agree with Shanahan’s handling of this situation, I question the entire process of reporting injuries in the NFL.

 The NFL has been militant about requiring teams to provide accurate injury reports. Baseball, basketball, hockey don’t have any such official rules; why does the NFL?

 Football probably has the most injuries but, if you espouse common hockey rationale, telling your opponent about your injury might allow him to “focus” on your vulnerable spot, leaving you more susceptible to further, more serious damage. A league that has already lost enough star players to injury might want to consider that. Also, what is the advantage in letting your opposing coach know which cornerback to pick on, or that your starting tailback isn’t going to be playing?

 The only motivation I can see is injury reports have a tremendous impact on setting the betting lines in Las Vegas. While the NFL publicly discourages gambling on its games, this is the surest “wink, wink, nudge, nudge” sign that they welcome the attention with open arms. In fact, the case can be made that accurate injury reporting also limits the need for “inside” information and the potential for more corruption (thank you Dyalan). I’d rail about the duplicitous nature of pro sports, but we’re all sick of that same old song.

Life is just a Fantasy
Can you live this fantasy life?

  For most of us, joining in a once-weekly NFL Pool simply picking the winners/losers of the games is enough participation. It gives us enough reason to watch games involving teams other than our favorites and keeping an eye on that scoreboard. It's a safer form of Gambling, one step short of placing down cash on a specific game who's results are truly uncertain. But for some of us, it's just not enough. For the truly "fanatical", we opt for Fantasy (Rotisserie) Leagues to help fill our need to feel "involved".

 Boobie and I have been picking NFL games since 1977 and participated in Fantasy Baseball on-line since 1993 (I have documentation to prove both). And for the last few years, several FBH-ers have joined together with a few non-FBH-er's in Yahoo's On-line Fantasy Baseball and Football leagues. While Will Wong and Boobie have been the most dominant "owners" in both sports, the rest of us still have hopes of knocking them off their perches. Ralph S., Ron H., John K., Doug M., Alex B., Jeff B., Dane S., and Rob T. all have their own teams, while Roy B. and Kenny D. have combined forces and share a team in each league. All of us focused on the big prize at the end of each season: Bragging Rights.

 For the uninitiated, Fantasy Leagues work like this... To start the season, each Owner participates in a Live on-line draft. You build your team with players at each position (Baseball: all 8 fielders and a batch of Pitchers, Football includes the typical ball-handlers on Offense plus a Team Defense (i.e. Tampa Bay's Defense)) and you have reserves at any position you choose. For each game played by the Pros, you get credit for whatever your players do on the field (Home Runs, Touchdowns, etc.). The scoring gets a bit complicated after that, but that's the basic gist of it. Our Baseball League is a year long free-for-all where every at-bat will count in one's overall score. In Football, we go Head-to-Head each week with one other Owner in the league, meaning that an Owner who scores the most points overall  thru the season may not necessarily be the overall victor of the league. It's all about match-ups. (For example, Dane S. has the 4th highest point total in the 10-team league, but is 1-2 and in 7th place after 3 weeks of play.)

 The best part of these Fantasy Leagues is suddenly having an interest in guys on teams you would otherwise have no interest in what-so-ever. It also clouds the Pennant Races in some minds as owners worry more about individuals than teams. Ask Roy how many games the Cubs are behind the Astros in the NL Central and he has no idea. But ask him if the Cubs 3rd starting Pitcher is pitching today or tomorrow, THAT he knows! The true mark of a Fantasy owner who's in 1st place with 7 games remaining in the season for the first time in all the year's he's been playing Fantasy Sports. Roy and Ken's team is currently grasping to a shaky lead over Will as our baseball season winds down.

 As our football season gets going, Rob "I'm feeling nothing, it feels fine" Tringali is alone at the top there with a 3-0 record after 3 weeks.

 Since, as I stated earlier, the only prize at the end of this 6-month-long rainbow is Bragging Rights, I'll be sure to announce the winner of our Yahoo Baseball League next week and I hope to announce myself as the winner of our Yahoo Football League later this season. Good luck fellahs!

  With visions of the “F-Dallas chocolate football” and tailgating with Rowdy, the Jet mafia and Dale Gribble dancing in my head, I’d be fully remiss if I didn’t have a few words to preface this Sunday’s Jets/Cowboys match-up.

 While the home team has lost the last two games, one in a slight surprise (1999: Ray Lucas rallies the rising Jets over a fading Dallas) and one in no surprise (1993: Super Bowl champ Dallas cruise to a 28-7 lead in perhaps the most male-dominated crowd I’ve ever been in), this season’s contest might be the most meaningful in determining the fates of both teams.

 The Cowboys are coming off of their best win in what seems like 5 years, a thrilling OT week 2 victory over the Giants. A win here would put them at 2-1, really get the season on track, and give Big Bill’s quest to restore a winning attitude to Big D some very positive momentum. The biggest question for the ‘boys is, “which team will show up this Sunday, the team we saw in week 1 or the one in week 2?”

 Despite their 0-3 record, the Jets still consider themselves playoff-worthy. True, they have been one or two plays away from victory in each contest. Pundits blame QB Vinny Testaverde for the Jets failing to get in the end zone, but, last week, the Jets WRs blew two sure TDs, one by drop and one by a misstep on the sideline. A missed FG and a questionable fake FG snuffed out two more scoring opportunities. The defense failed to stop an end around when they had the runner trapped 10 yards behind the line of scrimmage and ended up surrendering points on that drive. The main problem has been the Jets inability to control the running game, especially when the game is on the line, from either side of the ball. They will not be a playoff team if they don’t get that fixed, tout suite.

 Prediction time. Dallas looked better in week 2 than anything the Jets have been able to muster this season, but the Jets still have the better quality football team. I also think Dallas might have used up their Meadowlands magic dust two weeks ago and the Jets are hungrier and more desperate and have more of an axe to grind against Parcells than the Giants did. My guess is the Jets get out to an early lead and hold on to win 20-17.

The human body is just not supposed to bend like this

Even Tiki couldn't fumble away a Giant victory 2 weeks in a row

The cheese melts in the desert heat

Before the game, J. Lewis predicts Chargers will wear league's best throwback uniforms. He's right.

Denver punches out a Referee, then punches out the Raiders

Facemask: legal if you have the ball, illegal if you don't

Herm offers the Ref a hug in exchange for more favorable calls

League's best uniforms vs. League's worst uniforms

[ I didn’t watch the MNF game this week, so my weekly Lisa Guerrero moment comes from Lisa, herself:

"There's that initial reticence for some athletes to take you seriously. Constantly there's a credibility issue; you're judged on how you look. If you look good, people assume you aren't credible. It's a battle you'll always fight if you're on TV and a female." - Lisa Guerrero.

 Note to Lisa, appearing in a lingerie spread in a men’s magazine might also dent the old cred a bit, too.

[ It was good to see a 3-2 score in the first quarter of the Titans/Saints game.

[ Geez, pass interference calls have been pretty touchy this season. I thought it could have just been my perception, but I confirmed that penalties are up about 10% league-wide. Just what we need, more play stoppage.

[ Boo-hoo department: I started off 6-1 this week with the only loss being by ½ point (the Jets). Typically, I have a poor start and rally late, so I felt confident about my prospects. Sadly (for me), I went 2-5 from there, and nearly lost the Giants/Skins. Ah, FBH is a fickle mistress.

[ Happy birthday wishes to Kelly (Sept 27th) and Mom (Sept 25th).

In last week's P on the PP, we asked how you felt about the Bud Light Ads you hear as you make picks. The vote came back with a 23 to 4 Approval! They will remain, and will be changing weekly, if not twice a week (usually Saturdays). For those of you who don't like them, some advice: Once the page loads, simply hit the STOP (X) Button of your browser and this will kill the "commercial". See, I know how to please the masses.