It's all part of my football fantasy

The most wonderful time of the year. For some, it's Christmas. Others enjoy a return to school. A third group beams at the prospect of some other thing. But for the average American male, there is that special heart place reserved for The Sport That I Used To Call 'Football' But Now Cannot Because I Started Watching REAL Football And I Cannot Live With Two Footballs. I'm not sure what to call it now- Throwball? Run/tackleball? Kick/throw/runball? I don't know. Complexball? As the season progress, I hope to have answers.

As the real season starts, the REAL real season starts- Fantasy season. That's right. All of those games that we watch on TV serve merely to feed our obsession, our need that is Fantasy sports. So many of us will never ever sniff glory in any area of our lives- but Fantasy sports gives us a chance to succeed, to out-do our competitors, and we get to do this through millionaire youngsters who play sports for a living. I suppose objectively it's a sick, sick fantasy realm. And I LOVE IT.

We did our draft today. And like any good blogger worth his weight in hot air, I'm going to bring you a detailed synopsis of that draft. Luckily, you don't have anything that is much more exciting than this. And if you do...you'll be back. My blog is like a drug. Or a train wreck. Maybe it's like a drug train wreck, and the combination of it being a train wreck and all the narcotics and hallucinogens in the air serve to grab your attention and get you hooked for life. Maybe I just need more rest.

First of all, this is a list of the players I drafted last year, and a brief note on why they will/won't be a Snow Flurry in 2010. One thing that really popped out at me is that I'm fiercely loyal. If you succeed for me, I will go to the ends of the Earth (or at least, the later rounds of a fantasy draft) for you. If you let me down- you are dead to me (unless you come at a significant bargain).

Keepers:
Donovan McNabb- if he hadn't been traded to the Redskins, I would have kept him. As it is, I couldn't justify keeping a QB in his 30's starting over with a new team that isn't all that.
Michael Turner- Full time feature backs don't just grow on trees, so I definitely kept this guy.
1- Randy Moss, WR- Picked first in our draft, never had a shot at him.
2- Laurence Maroney, RB- Let me down last year. No way.
3- Ryan Grant, RB- Redraft.
4- Ted Ginn Jr., WR- Sorry man- his name might as well not even been on the list.
5- Ben Roethlisberger, QB- This is why video games are so much better than real life. In a video game, if I had Donovan McNabb and Ben Roethlisberger at QB, I would be all set for like 15 years. Unfortunately, in real life McNabb gets traded and Big Ben decides that bumping uglies is his off-season hobby. As a result, he is suspended for the first 4 games of the season- which is like a third of the fantasy season. Plus...the Snow Flurries are a class act. We don't mess around with bad character guys.
6- Terrell Owens, WR- I like taking risks...but not this much. Sorry T.O.
7- Chad Ochocinco, WR- I really thought about picking him- in the end, I took some risks on some young guys and just couldn't find a spot in the draft where I felt like I couldn't get better value than #85. I'm probably not as loyal as I like to think.
8- Ronnie Brown, RB- I picked Brown because I'm more loyal than I give myself credit for.
9- Colts D- Didn't even come on the radar.
10- Titans D- Didn't even come on the radar of things that don't come on the radar.
11- Owen Daniels, TE- Owen got picked before I could snag him- I definitely thought about it though. Of course, I couldn't justify spending a pick on a TE with an injury history.
12- Kerry Collins, QB- Now that our league is back to 1 QB starting, there is no reason to search for back-ups like Kerry.
13- Chris Cooley, TE- Chris, thanks for the memories. But not this year.
14- Michael Crabtree, WR- Hey, he's a young kid- why not give him a second chance?
15- Adam Vinateri, K- Is he even playing this year?
16- Michael Jenkins, WR- Nope.
17- Justin Fargas, RB- Nope.

So now that I've thoroughly confused you, and possibly bored you...let's get onto the main event- my 2010 draft!!!
(Note- each tidbit of info on my 2010 draft class comes with their 2009 stats, which like any good, self-respecting fantasy owner would not do, weren't looked up until after my draft).
Keepers-
RB Michael Turner- 871 yards rushing, 10 TD
He got hurt last season, but there aren't many teams nowadays that have a bell-cow back- and Turner is one of those guys. Plus, all of the other bell-cow guys were already on rosters as keepers.
QB Tony Romo-4,483 yards passing, 26 TD passes
The Lord giveth- after the season, every team got a chance to pick their two keepers, and all other players went into the pool. I decided to keep only Turner (dropping Austin, Calvin Johnson, McNabb, and Big Ben, among others). I decided against keeping McNabb and Big Ben for reasons outlined above. I forgot that I had Calvin Johnson (which isn't the worst thing, actually). And I'm honestly not 100% convinced that Austin wasn't a flash in the pan. I hope I'm wrong...but if I'm not then at least I got the QB that will help keep him there- and in this sport, it's better to have a great QB than a great WR.

1- RB Ryan Grant- 1,253 yards rushing, 11 TD, 197 yards receiving, 0 TD
Green Bay looks like they might have the best offense in the history of ever. Maybe not that good...but they'll be explosive. Why not get the guy that figures to carry the bulk of their rushing load?
2- WR Steve Smith (NYG)- 1,220 yards receiving, 7 TD
Even though Smith was much better the 1st half of last season, I honestly believe that a full season of him and a healthy Eli will lead to an excellent season. It better- I can't really afford to whiff with my #2 pick for 2 years in a row.
3- TE JerMichael Finley- 676 yards receiving, 5 TD
This guy was banged up at times last year. When he was healthy? He was unstoppable. I'm really excited about what this Finley is going to bring to the Snow Flurries this year.
4- WR Michael Crabtree- 625 yards receiving, 2 TD
I think that this guy is going to be a stud. He's not the rookie hold-out anymore.
5- WR Dwayne Bowe- 589 yards receiving, 4 TD
Best moment of the draft for me was when I drafted Bowe literally 1 pick before Josh (Team Bullies owner) did...and completely shook him. They say that doesn't happen. So even if it was just for one pick, one moment in time on a chilly September afternoon- I was the best drafter in the room. Of course, if Bowe comes out and lays a goose-egg...then I will come back and edit this post.
6- RB Ronnie Brown- 648 yards rushing, 8 TD, 1 passing TD
Possibly a reach...maybe too high to draft a running back that has an injury history (including last year). But he doesn't have to be a starter for me- and I feel like as a back-up RB he has huge upside, because he is a proven commodity with a lot of talent.
7- Ravens Defense- Do they still have Ed Reed? If so, then they'll be awesome in the fantasy format.
8- WR Mohammed Massaquoi- 624 yards receiving, 3 TD
Really this is the first pick of my newly formed drafting philosophy. I could have taken a 3rd guy from the Saints, or the Colts...and had the occasional huge outing sprinkled in a sea of so-so ones. OR...I could take the absolute best from a crappy team. Sort of like with Brown (but minus the proven commodity part), I took a risk here that should be nothing but pay-off. I have my starting WRs, so anything this guy gives me is gravy.
9- QB Chad Henne- 2,878 yards passing, 12 TD passes
I think Henne is going to be an at-worst solid, at-best very good QB. The good news for me is that with Romo, I'm not going to need Henne to be the second coming of Dan Marino...I just need him to not be the second coming of Ryan Leaf.
10-RB Darren McFadden- 357 yards rushing, 1 TD, 245 yards receiving
Seriously, this is going to be an ongoing theme here- I feel very very confident in the ability of my starters, so I felt like I could take some flyers on guys that could potentially have some serious impact...or at the very least, put up acceptable stats for bad teams. McFadden is that guy.
11-TE Dustin Keller- 522 yards receiving, 2 TD
I am pretty sure that this guy had a great playoff run with the Jets...which is why I drafted him. Of course, it's possible that it was a different guy that had a great playoffs with the Jets, and this was just the guy that had his name on the draft list. Whatever- I drafted him.
12-Bears Defense- Hey, 2 games against the Lions should make this defense worth it, right?
13-WR TJ Houshimanzada 911 yards receiving, 3 TD
(I don't think I'm spelling that right. At all.)- I knew he was going to get traded or cut when I drafted him- which he did end up getting cut. I feel like this pick is extremely low-risk/high reward though, which is exactly the same situation as the real life team that picks him up is in. In real life, a team can sign him for about $850,000 (with the Seahawks pitching in the rest of his $5 or $6 million salary)- which is a steal for a guy who has played at a Pro-Bowl level very recently. Meanwhile, a 13th round pick for a back-up WR is not much to spend on a guy that could end up starting and being a #2 receiver (which might be a little hopeful...but even if he doesn't get there, he's still just a 13th round pick!).
14-K Lawrence Tynes- 27/32 FG, 45/45 XP
I just had to make sure that his name wasn't Nick Folk, and that he was in no way, shape, or form associated with or existed in a former life as Nick Folk.
15-WR Donnie Avery- On our list of 80+ WRs, he was the only guy from St. Louis- which to me means that he's going to be the guy for a crappy team. Just perfect for my drafting philosophy.
16-RB Jason Snelling- 613 yards rushing, 4 TD, 259 yards receiving, 1 TD
A bit of a safe pick, Snelling is the back-up to Turner...so I figured I'd protect my investment a little bit.

All in all, I don't think that I have a championship team on paper...but I think that on paper, I have a playoff team. And if my risky picks pay off? Then I could probably be a devastating force. It should be fun- It will be stressful- and perhaps most importantly of all, it is a wonderful time of the year.