The Diary of a Fantasy Virgin - Week 4 Oct 2, 2012 | More
More articles from Tim Davoll

The football season roared into Week 4, and by all historic accounts, so did my fantasy football team. The new referees were in action and Green Bay almost did not notice one iota. Only two teams (Pittsburgh and Indianapolis) were on bye weeks. So everyone else got to be involved, and the results were some larger than life scores.

The Big “O”

That of course stands for offense. The New England Patriots dropped a 52 spot on Buffalo. That came in bunches with 45 points in the second half and 31 in the fourth quarter alone. San Francisco confused the New York Jets at home in a 34-0 thrashing. Heck, 11 teams went for 27 or more points, not including the teams playing Monday night. So, naturally, if you were with the right player mix, you could go large. The largest one week score in our league happened in 2004 and 2010 with a couple of teams in my league going for 185 points. I sheepishly admit that I was the team in 2004. But this weekend was a whole new level.

What Do You Do When Your Opponent Goes For 156 Points?

With the likes of Cam Newton, Victor Cruz and A.J. Green, my opponent throws down the second-largest score this week in my league. But why second? Because I had Drew Brees, Alfred Morris, Roddy White and Owen Daniels, which contributed to 188 points for me this week. That is the new record in our league, and we have been keeping these statistics since 2004. You can blame it on the new referees or something in the water for all I know, but I will take it. The catch that Roddy White made at the end of the Atlanta game punctuated an eight-catch, 169-yard, two-touchdown performance. So I am 3-1 and worried. Why? Because when your team goes this hot, defenses take that away the following week and the results are usually sobering. Speaking of sobriety, I think my diary piece will have to address the Ryder Cup.

Dear Diary

I am a big golf fan and enjoy playing the sport myself. So when the Ryder Cup is on I am all in. My wife gets cozy with a book and I get cozy with the human drama that appears when you try to hit a golf ball in pressure situations.

The Ryder Cup has been going on for a long time. It was established in 1926 as a friendly exhibition competition between the PGA and the British PGA. It became official in 1927, and after a string of American dominating victories it was opened up to Continental European PGA professionals in 1979. The change worked, and Continental Europe has turned the tables on the Americans by winning seven of the last nine matches.

Well now make it eight of the last 10.

When the United States lost 14½ to 13½ over the weekend, it would seem like a typically close match but it was nothing like that the first two days. The U.S. had a 10-2 lead at one point and Europe squeaked out two wins late Saturday to make it 10-4, needing only 4½ points on Sunday to secure the Cup for the first time since 2008. Not only did it go wrong, but the very best and talented veteran golfers continually failed to win holes 17 and 18. On many occasions, 1-up leads went to 1-down defeats.

At least like everything else in America, we can say we not only win but also lose in spectacular fashion. You have to write about it when years from now they will be mentioning the Chicago Sunday loss at the 39th Ryder Cup.

Where were you?

 Master D.

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