The Diary of a Fantasy Virgin - Week 6 Oct 14, 2008 | More

The key to getting through the bye weeks is looking ahead. You look ahead too far, your neck sticks out and it gets chopped right off. But if you look ahead just two weeks, everything will work out. So begin in the beginning and look ahead two weeks and fill those spots now.

The Bye Week

During the bye weeks (which seem to run from week 4 to week 9 for my team), all is strange. For example, you may luck out and have picked up two decent QB’s in the draft. So for me, when Drew Brees is out Week 9, I hope that Brett Favre is playing and playing well. Another example is that you do not have a RB covered in Week 9.    Well go out and get one right now and put that guy on the injured reserve list. As I have said before, most leagues allow two injured players. Put any two on and that allows for you to keep 10 players instead of the usual eight. So how did my bye week go? I will take that foot of Jason Elam and double down on winner monsieur.

The Golden Foot

I have won two in a row and this last win was due to the foot of Elam. Elam was not even drafted on draft night in my league. Yet I have found a way to get him on to my team and six out of my previous seven teams. Why? I don’t know. I think in fantasy football, you tend to go with your gut. I drafted just like my usual fantasy style and in the first week I picked up Elam. It was having a friend over for dinner without any pretense whatsoever. The result is just good times with great food and even better company. The golden foot of Elam went for 23 fantasy points with five FG and an extra point. That brings me to two wins in a row. But next week I lose three starters to the bye week. I have a backup for each but it is scary to figure out what will happen next ... just like my diary entry.

Dear Diary

Football teams are now shedding their veneers and revealing the true mettle of their character. For example, I mentioned in this very article the Kool Aid that all the Patriots were drinking in support of their new QB Matt Cassel. Cassel may be an NFL QB, but that is not enough.

The key is to be a winning NFL QB, and the league now knows the secret to the Patriots. The secret is that they do not score enough and they can be passed upon.    And they can be run upon. Hmmm, come to think of it, it did not matter when Tom Brady was putting up 35 points a game did it? This past week may have been a watershed moment for the Patriots.

The eyes of New Englanders are currently focusing on the Boston Red Sox who are losing to the Tampa Bay Rays. If that ever ended early, the misery may come home early to rest in Foxboro. But still, it is known that it will end in a few weeks so the Patriots have that long to pull it together. I sincerely wish them luck.

Master D.

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