The Diary of a Fantasy Virgin - Week 2 Sep 16, 2008 | More

What a weird week. If you had any members of the Houston Texans or the Baltimore Ravens on your team, you know exactly what I am saying. Hurricane Ike got in the way of a perfectly good week to score and you are stuck with looking at the other end of free agent acquisitions to fill key roles. As for me, it is all about the difference a week makes.

Hello, Please Forgive My Offense!

Michael Turner forgets how to run. Drew Brees forgets how to throw. Marques Colston comes up injured along with Dallas Clark along with Nate Burleson. So I became indifferent in one week!  In one week I lost the Big O. In one week, I went from a contenda to a pretenda. What can I do? Ahhh, that is the life of fantasy football. Big ups one week and big downs the next. What looks good on paper ends up burning you. Just play the hot players and get through the year week by week.    So I lose the second week to my opponents big three. Those three would be Philip Rivers, Earnest Graham and Darren McFadden. I tip my hat to those fellas. They outscored my equivalent 69 to 33. And I never made it back. Speaking of making it back, I would like to speak about the Patriots.

The Kool-Aid the Patriots Drink

I have got to get me some of that, my friend. Being from New England, all week all I heard was how Mr. Matt Cassel is going to steer the offense. Manage the game.    Keep the Pats in there. Now, I being of sound mind and body, do not adhere to the fact that someone who has never been “in there” can just come in and do it. I don’t believe that being a backup can make it all work out in just a few weeks ... except that Aaron Rodgers is proving this to be a sound fact. But I saw some chinks in the armor. Therefore, all I can say is that after two weeks it appears the Patriots are not going to be as bad as I thought without Brady. But they are not going to be as good as they would be with him. I don’t care what is in the Kool-Aid. I am Mr. Reality and I do not have the recipe. But the alternative is fodder for the opponent. So the fact that every member of the team is on the same page shows you the Kool-Aid is strong. Very strong. Now since this is a diary, I will put in my first Diary entry for 2008.

Dear Diary

It has been a long time since we have gotten together. The 2008 season is upon us and we did not have one day in August with the temperature 90 degrees or above.    That is amazing. If this is Global Warming then I am all for it. Fall weather has arrived a little bit early. Since it is that time, I guess you would like a Red Sox update. Good news! The Red Sox are tied for first place and the first place team is NOT the Yankees. The Yanks have fallen on bad times. But I respect that franchise so much that I will not speak ill of them. They are like a really competitive older brother who is currently injured. They will be back better than ever. For that reason, I respectfully take the high road.    

This may sound counter-intuitive, but I also wish the very best for the first place Tampa Bay Rays. This franchise reminds me of the Hartford Whalers. I was a season ticket holder before they left and like the Rays, they would never finish high enough to make the playoffs while I held those season tickets. That would be from 1994–1997. It took me four years of working to afford season tickets to the Whalers. This shows you the value of a proper education. But I digress. The Tampa Bay Rays are young and enthusiastic. I am interested in their outcome this season and how other small franchises model them.

I guess in an ironic twist, the Rays can thank the Yankees for extra money from the luxury tax. With this extra money, they can sign college and high school blue chip prospects. The result is a talented and young major league squad. I wonder out loud if they will hold it together.

For you, hold your fantasy football team together by always adding to your roster future stars. Scour the roster trends. Sometimes the "collective" is on to something. I try to pick up two per week and drop two per week. Hopefully, one week, I will strike paydirt.

Master D.

Tim can now be reached at tdavoll@fantasysharks.com and welcomes your opinions on the Diary of a Fantasy Virgin Articles.