8 fantasy resolutions for 2009
Not this year…
Every year I fall into the same traps (how about you?) and I refuse to do it again in 2009. I’m putting myself on record right here. This year I will change in the following ways:
1. Stick with fantasy baseball even in fantasy football season
Despite some relative success at fantasy baseball, I don’t spend a lot of time contemplating pickups, trades, etc. Then, when fantasy football preseason starts kicking up, baseball gets squeezed even more. Not this year baseball, not this year.
2. Make a real trade
Every year I get a couple trade offers and I almost never click accept. I rely too much on my drafting ability, and I’m always afraid to swap my depth when I have it. I’ve had some success, but there could be a lot more, if I made a couple big deals.
3. Be more active on my leagues’ chat boards
I’m always busy. Always. But a lot of the fun that can be derived from fantasy football comes from interaction with fellow owners. Whether it’s complimenting/crucifying a pick or trade, or on either end of trash talk, I need to be more involved with the community.
4. No player blacklist
Ok, this one’s not completely true. Players who are injured, dead, or in jail will definitely be on a blacklist. However, my blacklist this year contained Brandon Marshall. He didn’t finish out spectacularly, but he was a monster early in the season. Every year, certain players elicit a gut feeling and I react by not drafting them. It can work, but if a player becomes a great value he must be picked regardless of what your gut is saying. How many of us skipped DeAngelo Williams because Jonathan Stewart was there?
5. No tunnel vision for certain players
There are players every year that I draft across every league. It’s usually one of my sleeper specials, or somebody that I’ve pegged to become the next whatever. While it’s good to make brave assumptions and to take chances when the moment is right, going overboard is senseless. I thought Darren McFadden would be awesome this year — if Fargas can run like that, a real back can do better, right? — and picked him on four teams. I would have picked him on a fifth, but he went ridiculously high. Glad it didn’t work out… I got the Bengals’ Chris Perry instead. Yeah, he worked out too. In the preseason I was upset I only got him on two rosters.
6. A bad fantasy football weekend will not ruin football weekend
If my team performs poorly, it’s not the end of the world season. Every year I have one week that aggravates the crap out of me. I really let it get me down. It ruins the rest of my football viewing and can creep even further into my life. As fantasy players, we have no control over how athletes perform on the field and we can’t ever project how things are going to pan out.
7. Schedule my league drafts early
I run a couple leagues, baseball and football, and every year is going to be the year that draft dates are picked early. This never happens. In 2009, it will.
8. Post more regularly here at www.chinstrapninjas.com
Yeah, shameless plug for the site. But, I love this stuff. I want to grow our community to the point where we have too many entries (from the original ninjas, and the rest of the Ninja Army) to fit on our front page every day. Here’s the resolution: At least a post a week to start. Once that becomes habit, I’ll increase it. Please, everybody, hold me to it.
This is hardly a complete list. I’m sure there are plenty of other resolutions to be posted. Please contribute yours in the comments section below.
Sweet list that I’m sure resonates with most every person that has played fantasy sports. I know that I’m guilty of most of these, including putting fantasy baseball on the backburner when August arrives, having tunnel vision for certain players, struggling for quite a while after a bad weekend of fantasy football and needing to post more regularly here at the site.
Your post is a great way to kick off the New Year (both in real-life and fantasy).
My additional resolution? To complete full season of fantasy football with at least 50% of the players I’ve drafted. Does this mean I’ll make less trade offers this season? Does anyone actually keep a New Year’s resolution?
2009 Resolution
Don’t out-think yourself.
I gave up on Matt Forte thinking he was out performing himself in the first month, traded him away and the owner who got him won the league.
Shame on me and curse Forte!
2009 Resolution No. 2
Don’t get caught up in the rookie running back hype …
Let’s be honest. This class was special. We can’t expect the same results with the incoming crop of rookies, can we?
2009 Resolution No. 3
Cedric Benson, no you don’t.
I bought into you as my can’t miss pro prospect. A stud high school player. A stud college player. You must be a stud pro player. Two months of solid play isn’t going to make me draft you next year. It won’t, I promise …
JZ, Jay-Mo,
Thanks for the comments.
I agree that this year’s rookie RBs were excellent, at least all the ones that were on opposing rosters. The thing is, I think the incoming rooks will make an impact next year, but i think every team is going to use 3 running backs. It has worked for so many teams. It will make our fantasy football lives more difficult, but more running backs are going to get more opportunities going forward.