Last Place Wisdom - Week 8 - NERDS, NERDS, NERDS!
I've been friends with Dawson for 25 years and with Mike for 18. I'm sure I'm not alone in saying that from time to time people confuse us for one another. Depending on where we're living at the time, and the level of facial here we have, it's not uncommon in my experience to have people calling us by the wrong names and in general not knowing which of us are which. I think part of this is due to us being, to be completely honest, the most stereotypical of nerds. Whether it's looking at Star Trek cards in the library while wearing Star Wars t-shirts, or discussing the newest computer games for an upcoming LAN party, it's really tough to be too much nerdier. This was before being a nerd was the cool thing to be as well, to really establish our nerd credibility.
So Mike's comments this week that "Nerds Win Championships" got me thinking, is he right? As far as my struggles go, I am likely doing a little less fantasy research and statistical analysis that in year past, due to me not sitting in front of a computer in an office all day. My different preparation this year led me to put together a flawed team; too many total unknowns and not enough consistently reliable players at the top of my draft board led to me missing on Devante Adams, Melvin Gordon and Joseph Randle. The moment guys like Lacy, Miller or Brown start to struggle, I didn't have the depth to make it up. I should've considered players like Brandon Marshall or Chris Ivory, two guys I've liked for a while and who are much more trustworthy than the guys I decided to draft instead.
On the flipside, Mike has had more time than ever to put into fantasy football, and his waiver wire pickups and shrewd trades have him poised to end his playoff drought. Consistent vets like Maclin, CJ?K, Ivory and Fitzgerald have provided a solid core and have allowed his young guys like Montcrief and Hurns to not have to carry his team.
If we consider Dawson however, we can see that he is absolutely dominating the league at this point, yet with a demanding job and a small child I doubt that Dawson has a lot of time for fantasy nerding out. With that in mind, maybe fantasy success has nothing to do with being a nerd about it and is more about getting lucky in your draft and on the waiver wire than it is with being nerdy.
But when it comes to actually looking at Championship's, maybe there's something to the theory. The last 4 championships have been won by Dawson, Myself, John and Mike. John might not be as stereotypically a nerd as the rest of us, but going off his collection of movies, comic books and interests, he's quite frankly as big of a nerd as anyone. In fact, the only league champion who it's tough to describe as a nerd in any way probably has to be Curtis. Maybe that's the key, if you want to win the championship you better fire up an RPG, throw on some Star Trek and bust out a shirt with a Stormtrooper on the front.
Well That Surprised Me
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| A typical afternoon in Mike Powell's Basement |
So Mike's comments this week that "Nerds Win Championships" got me thinking, is he right? As far as my struggles go, I am likely doing a little less fantasy research and statistical analysis that in year past, due to me not sitting in front of a computer in an office all day. My different preparation this year led me to put together a flawed team; too many total unknowns and not enough consistently reliable players at the top of my draft board led to me missing on Devante Adams, Melvin Gordon and Joseph Randle. The moment guys like Lacy, Miller or Brown start to struggle, I didn't have the depth to make it up. I should've considered players like Brandon Marshall or Chris Ivory, two guys I've liked for a while and who are much more trustworthy than the guys I decided to draft instead.
On the flipside, Mike has had more time than ever to put into fantasy football, and his waiver wire pickups and shrewd trades have him poised to end his playoff drought. Consistent vets like Maclin, CJ?K, Ivory and Fitzgerald have provided a solid core and have allowed his young guys like Montcrief and Hurns to not have to carry his team.
If we consider Dawson however, we can see that he is absolutely dominating the league at this point, yet with a demanding job and a small child I doubt that Dawson has a lot of time for fantasy nerding out. With that in mind, maybe fantasy success has nothing to do with being a nerd about it and is more about getting lucky in your draft and on the waiver wire than it is with being nerdy.
But when it comes to actually looking at Championship's, maybe there's something to the theory. The last 4 championships have been won by Dawson, Myself, John and Mike. John might not be as stereotypically a nerd as the rest of us, but going off his collection of movies, comic books and interests, he's quite frankly as big of a nerd as anyone. In fact, the only league champion who it's tough to describe as a nerd in any way probably has to be Curtis. Maybe that's the key, if you want to win the championship you better fire up an RPG, throw on some Star Trek and bust out a shirt with a Stormtrooper on the front.
Well That Surprised Me
- Dawson is averaging 133 points per week. That's just insane. Last year John averaged 128 points per week, but that was with starting 2 QBs each week.
- Chris Johnson is the 11th best RB this year. I thought he was done and that Arizona was being stupid not to rely more on Ellington and David Johnson, but it appears I was wrong.
- I thought Clarke was done after making all his trades with next year in mind, but at this point he's looking as competitive as anyone, especially if he is able to get a QB. I was extremely surprised to see Clarke pick up Stefon Diggs, to be honest I had no idea who he was (I missed listening to any of my usual Fantasy podcasts the week he broke out), and now I'm upset that I missed out on a guy who looks so good.
- I'm feeling better about my team this week, but I think it's just a setup to break my heart in a more painful way. Unfortunately I still have a couple of tough bye weeks left to get through (Hopkins and Megatron out in the same week, Brown and Barnidge out), and those tough games might do me in in the long run.
- There's going to be a player that nobody expected that will come out of nowhere to have an insane second half and carry a team deep into the playoffs. Last year players like CJ Anderson and ODB had barely played at this part in the season and they went on to dominate. I don't know who it's going to be, but someone that we're not expecting is going to go off soon.
I think being "nerdy" about fantasy football has some merit and probably correlates positively to success overall. However, luck will continue to play a significant role, too.
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