Random Thoughts

Football season has been chaotic this year and consuming more of my time even than usual. Basketball is also getting underway, so this is the no-sleep time of year for me.

In fact, I'm covering the Chicago Challenge for CSTV.com. Follow the action on the Posting Up blog at CSTV.com.

Enough of the shameless plugs.

Meanwhile, I'm managing yet another fantasy football team right into the toilet. When it comes to fantasy baseball, I'm undefeated. Seven or eight seasons, seven or eight championships. The number is a little fuzzy because I haven't run a team for several years. It interferes too much with my real job.

But when I did play, I had the Midas touch. In fantasy football though, it's the Minus touch. Everybody I draft underperforms, gets hurt, gets arrested, etc. Drew Brees struggles this year? My fault. Travis Henry's drug problems? My fault. Robbie Gould's comedown year? My fault. For the record though, Rex Grossman's problems are his own. I'm not stupid enough to draft him for a fantasy team.

Is it Kyle Orton's turn yet?

Speaking of toilets, it's about time for the annual Thanksgiving plumbing disaster. Actually, a couple of things are bubbling up in that area, but until they actually blow, I'm not going to jinx things by writing about them.

Cubs President John McDonough resigned to take the same job with the Blackhawks, which is like going from the penthouse to the outhouse. McDonough is credited with marketing the Cubs so well that the stadium is full, win or, way too often, lose. Now, he needs to put lipstick on the pig that is the Blackhawks franchise, but there is hope. Now that Bill Wirtz has passed on and his son Rocky has taken over, changes are being made that indicate that the status quo is no longer acceptable. This is one of them, and a desire to put home games on TV is another. Putting a winning team on the ice is the most important thing, of course, but in the meantime, they need to try to rebuild their once-strong fan base.

That's it for now. Happy Thanksgiving to all! For me, I'll be thankful if I can get through the weekend without needing hip waders.

College fantasy team

As promised, I am posting the list of college players I drafted so you can know who to avoid in the event you are in a college football fantasy league. This was in a 12-team league.

My pro team won't be drafted for another week, but I'll post that one too.

QB: Reggie McNeal, TAMU; Sam Keller, Arizona St
RB: PJ Pope, Bowling Green; Garrett Wolfe, NIU; Jerry Seymour, CMU; Maurice Drew, UCLA
WR: Kyle Ingraham, Purdue; Santonio Holmes, Ohio St; Sean Coffey, Mizzou; Lance Leggett, Miami-FL
TE: Dominique Byrd, USC; Derek Schouman, Boise St
Def: Both Miamis (Florida and Ohio)
K: Brandon Pace, Va Tech

Fantasy Football

Fantasy Football (and other sports) is a pretty geeky thing to do. It's strictly numbers-based, and in most sports, the team with the best numbers doesn't always win. Still, I'm a geek, so I play. I've played fantasy baseball before too, but I find my job gets in the way of that, so I don't anymore.

As good as I am in fantasy baseball (six seasons, six championships), I stink in fantasy football. I'm the man with the Midas touch in baseball, and the man with the minus touch in football. I get good players and they either get hurt or have off years. At least until last year, when I won a regular season title (only to get annihilated in the first round of the playoffs).

So, as a public service, when my team gets drafted, I'll post here who is on my team so you know who to stay away from.

Also this year, I'm going to play in a fantasy college football league. It's an "experts" league, where I will presumably compete with other "experts." I think my inclusion is stretching that definition a bit.