Why the Hate for the Non-Alumni Fans?

Here is a topic that I have wanted to address for a while now, and I feel that its time has come.  Particularly during the 2009 football season and Bama’s triumphant win in the BCS game, there have been a FEW Bama alumni who have been quietly grumbling and complaining about non-alumni fans.  According to these upper crust alum (read: snobs), those who attended the University of Alabama are the truest fans, and those who did not attend somehow rank as second-class fans.  I do not understand this point of view, and I (who counts herself among the non-alumni fans) will try to explore it here:

Is it because you’re upset that some fans are not as sophisticated as yourselves?  I understand that you might not necessarily want, say, someone who is registered on the national sex offender registry to show up to court sporting a Crimson Tide shirt (unfortunately, this is a true anecdote).  However, there are some less-than-proud alumni from your school as well (Bernie Madoff, anyone?).  Not everyone can afford/live up to the rigors of a college education; in fact, what makes your degree so special is that not just anyone can obtain one.  And keep in mind that those “less than sophisticated” fans still have money, and they still spend it on t-shirts, tickets, etc. that go to fund the school’s athletic program.  Heck, some of the biggest donors to the athletics department of the school may not be alumni.  You know who else are not alumni?  Nick and Terry Saban.  So there.

Is it because you think that they should root for other teams?  I don’t get this, either.  If you have any familiarity with the state of Alabama (and all good alumni should have a working knowledge of the culture of the South), you are well aware that there are no professional sports in this state.  We have some minor league teams that feed into some pro sports, but nothing even comes close to the priority given to SEC football.  Because we have no pro teams, we focus all of our energies into our two main schools, Bama and that other one.  (And because this is where our focus lies, no pro team will ever establish itself in our state.  And the vicious cycle continues.)   You want the school to have lots and lots of fans, right?  You want the games to be well attended?  You want the stadium filled during spring practice?  You’re going to have to rely on some non-alum-types to do so.  We non-alums have nowhere else to focus our sports energies, and so many of us choose the Tide.

Here’s the other thing you’re forgetting about why there are so many non-alumni fans: the history of college football and the dominance of Bear Bryant and Alabama football in the 60s and 70s.  Back then, there was no ESPN.  Everyone focused on pro sports, and college football received regional coverage, if that.  But there was at least one team that received national attention, and that was the Crimson Tide.  My dad talks about when he would drive to and from Chicago in the mid-70s for a job, and he would listen to Alabama on the radio from Bama to Illinois, and could always find the game on at least one station.  That’s big, folks.  Let’s face it, our state didn’t have a whole lot to be proud of on a national level in the 60s (Bull Conner, anyone?).  But our state did have the Bear and the Tide, and they were pretty good at football.  So naturally, many in the state gravitated toward the team that was receiving such positive national attention.

So to you high brow alumni who look down your noses at us non-alum types, I would say you need to be a little bit more understanding about those who wish to share the Bama bandwagon with you.  We all have the same goal: to support the greatest and most storied program in the history of college football.  We all want the same thing: repeated National Championships.  And we all love Mount Cody.  Isn’t that enough to bring us all together?

Cardinal Sins that Fans Commit #4: The Drunk Fan

I should probably start off this edition of Cardinal Sins that Fans Commit by giving a little background to those of you who don’t know me very well, so here goes:

1) I do not drink alcoholic beverages.  Ever.  “Never ever?” you ask incredulously.   To that I can honestly say, “not intentionally.”  (Here’s the scoop: once I was dragged to a bar with some friends, and while there, I ordered a Coke, and when I sipped on it, it tasted extremely bad to me, so I offered a sip to a friend who said, “Pretty sure that’s rum in there.”  I threw it out.  So technically, I might have taken a sip or two of rum, but that was not my intention.  Full disclosure taken care of.) (I have a much better story about unintentional drinking by my best friend who discovered the in-laws’ egg nog at their first Christmas together.  Hilarious, but I digress. . . .)

2) I am not amused by drunk people–never have been.  Oh, sure, So-and-So is widely known as a “fun” drunk when he’s intoxicated, but all I’ve ever seen is that So-and-So gets more and more obnoxious as he downs drink after drink.  With the obnoxiousness comes Drunk Talking, Drunk Singing, and Drunk Dancing, which usually ends with Drunk Spilling of the Liquor on the One Girl Who Isn’t Drinking.  So for those of you who spend the weekends seeing how much damage you can do to your liver before it completely gives out on you, you probably will not understand this post (even though, most likely, this could very well be about you).  For those of you who only drink in moderation, read on:

If anyone goes to any major sporting event in his lifetime, he will encounter The Drunk Fan.  Inevitably, he’s the guy sitting right beside you (you know, you’re right next to his beer hand), or behind you.  And you might have immediately realized you were going to have a problem when you first arrived at the stadium/ballpark/coliseum, or it might have occurred to you during the first few minutes of the game.  You try to be nice.   You try to be tolerant; after all, liquor is served at the event, and you knew that going in.  But pretty soon, Drunk Fan gets loud.  He gets mad at something going on during the event: either a missed call by the ref, or the QB doesn’t make it to the first down marker, or the outfielder drops a fly ball.  And then Drunk Fan gets angry–not just a little bit upset, mind you, but starts completely overreacting to whatever has just occurred on the field.  Expletives typically come forth, and if you’re unfortunate enough to have brought a little one with you, you quickly drop whatever it is you’re holding to cover little ears that are nearby.  And unfortunately for the little one, he’s probably in the path of the beer that is about to get sloshed all around when Drunk Fan jumps out of his seat and almost falls down the bleachers, taking about 3 people with him in the process. 

The Drunk Fan may or may not be apologetic.  If you dare to take it upon yourself to point out the 6 year old who’s asking his father uncomfortable questions like what certain words and phrases mean, you’ll get an “Aww, man, I’m real sorry about that” and it will sound somewhat sincere, but it will not stop Drunk Fan from engaging in the same behavior a minute later. 

And don’t even get me started on Female Drunk Fan.  Look, we know you didn’t want to be dragged to this sporting event and the only way you can amuse yourself is to get hammered.  But getting hammered and then picking a fight with your boyfriend (who may or may not be drunk) while he’s trying to watch the game–totally not cool.  No,  he’s not paying attention to you; he didn’t pay $20-$80 to sit beside you and talk about your feelings while his favorite team is playing.  So either get over it or don’t go in the first place.  Simple as that.

So to the Drunk Fan, I offer these words: know when to say when.  You are NOT fun when you’re drunk (no matter how many people tell you that you are), and Rows 8, 9 and 10 in Section T are not amused by whatever it is you are doing.  Consider the fact that most people think of sporting events as family outings, and there might be little ones who are not there to learn new vocabulary words.  You just end up ruining the day for those around you, and if they are lucky enough, eventually you are going to be removed forcefully from the vicinity and will miss the rest of the game.  And honestly, even if you don’t get removed, how much of the event will you remember anyway?

As Texas Tech Turns . . .

Just as all this news is coming out about how soap operas are a dying breed, college football finds itself embroiled in an old fashioned scandal.  From various reports, Mike Leach has been fired from Texas Tech for an incident that occurred involving one Adam James, son of ESPN Commentator Craig James. (And I understand that Father James was some kind of stud in college football, but frankly, that was before my time, so I mention what’s important to me.)  With as little commentary as possible from this blogger, the facts appear to be that Adam James was a wide receiver at Tech who had proven to be a thorn in the side of the coaching staff, in part because of Adam’s father who has been called the sports equivalent of a stage mom, and in part because of Adam’s own attitude.  The reports indicate that some time in mid-December, Adam was diagnosed with a concussion by the team doctors.  The next day, the team doctor recommended that Adam not practice.  Adam showed up for practice in street clothes rather than the preferred work-out gear sported by those team members who can’t practice for whatever reason.  Coach Leach decided that Adam should be placed in a dark room near the complex, and that Adam should be monitored by football staff and that Adam either be told that he was locked in the room or that Adam actually be locked in the room.

I will stop right there with the details, because from what I’ve told you, it’s game, set, match, Leach loses.  And I can’t believe that he doesn’t see it.  Look, Coach Leach might have a law degree, but I have quickly learned that having a law degree doesn’t automatically make one a good lawyer.  Here’s the problem: it doesn’t matter that the kid was a problem kid or that his dad annoyed you or that the dark room wasn’t a closet or a garage or that the actions didn’t do further harm to the kid.  The points that matter are the following:

1.  The kid is diagnosed by the medical staff with a concussion.

2.  The medical staff recommends that the kid not practice.

3.  You place the kid in a room and either implied or told the kid directly that he was not free to leave.

4.  The medical staff did not recommend #3 as a course of treatment for the kid or his concussion.

Those actions alone just set up the school as a defendant in a false imprisonment case.   This is NOT the proper way to treat anyone, I don’t care how annoying the kid or his father might be.  If you are that unhappy with a kid or his parent, then just kick the kid off the team.  But with these actions, Coach Leach has set up the school for a lawsuit, and even if the Coach was acting against school policy and went rogue, the school still has to go through the motions until it can get out or settle. 

Coach Leach wants to focus on a lot of extraneous material that doesn’t amount to anything in the end.  Sure, he had a very public contract dispute with the school.  And sure, the school probably was looking for a way to get out from under the contract.  But Coach Leach gift-wrapped the reason for his own firing and handed it to the administration on a silver platter.  As much as he wants to fuss about all of these other issues, the bottom line is that he mistreated a player by humiliating him and by putting the school at risk for a lawsuit.  I am sure that many people much lower on the Texas Tech University totem pole have been fired for much less extreme behavior. 

I am very interested in this story to see how it plays out, because I want to see if the school takes a strong stand against Leach or if they try to resolve this matter quickly.  But whatever happens, you can bet that Leach will be back in front of the tv cameras before it’s resolved, further hurting his case with his words and his so-called defenses.

In Defense of Tim Tebow

Alright, Bama Nation, we’re friends, right?  And you know that I love you, because I am one of you, right?  But the hating on Tim Tebow has to stop.  I know, I know; we feel spurned because we got rejected by Tebow right out of the gate when he made his announcement about going to Florida 4 years ago.  But just because we weren’t his top pick doesn’t mean that we can’t still appreciate all that Tebow has done for the sport of college football.

Honestly: can any one of you name a more passionate emissary of the sport? There are tons and tons of college football players, but how many college football players can you look at and honestly say, “I never saw that guy take a play off”?  Love him or hate him, but I’ve never heard anyone  say that about Tebow.  Even with his Gator chomps and his hijinks after a big play, you’ve still got to give it to the guy–he truly loves and enjoys what he’s doing, and he’s giving 110% out there.  That’s what was so interesting to watch during the second half of the SEC game last week–Tebow on the sidelines, chomping on ice, and not getting a chance to get back in the game and pull out another win.

And I know that the media has had a 4-year-gush-fest over Tebow (I’m looking at you, Verne and Gary), but why is that Tebow’s fault?  Yes, no other player in the history of college football has saturated the media as Tebow.  But think about this: in this the Year of our Lord 2009, we have multiple 24 hour channels devoted to sports; heck, we even have some dedicated to nothing but college sports.  If Herschel Walker were playing college football in this decade, you’d see the same hype surrounding him as you do Tebow.  Don’t blame the subject of the media; blame the media itself for its faults on this one.

Some of you think that Tebow is a self-promoter.  To that I say, really?  Whenever I see Tebow, he’s doing what he can to answer questions that the media throws at him, but he’s also doing what he can to promote the Cause of Christ.  I mean, even TMZ is going after him and trying to coax him into some snarky soundbite, and he doesn’t fall for it.  He’s also one of the classiest guys I’ve ever seen; I mean, check out this bit from the Huntsville Times.  Even in defeat, Tebow is still out there, shaking hands and congratulating Alabama, even though it’s killing him inside.  And you know Saban admires the competitive spirit he sees in Tebow; he said so himself during the post-game press conference about how he told the team to emulate some of the same qualities that Tebow possesses.

Which brings me to my final point: this guy has been such an awesome missionary for Christ that it’s inspiring.  His faith amazes me.  I know that so many people have been waiting with baited breath to see if he stumbles, but it hasn’t happened (and God willing, it won’t).  Look, I knew guys like Tebow in college (and for those of you reading this with whom I went to college and you ask, “who?” chances are, I’m talking about you).  Guys whose love for Christ compelled their every move, guys whose sole purpose in life was/is to seek to honor Christ in everything that they do.  I love these guys, and from what I’ve seen, Tebow resembles them so much with his displays of his faith and his authenticity.  Why does anybody want to hate on that?

So let’s lay off the Tebow bashing, will ya?  It’s making us look like sore winners, and is an example of why the rest of the college football nation hates on us so much.  Let’s give Tebow the credit he’s due, which is that owed to one of the most dynamic college football players we will see in our lifetimes.

Thank You Notes

Still basking in the glow of Bama’s 32-13 win over Florida in Atlanta on Saturday, I am struck by how many different people contributed to yet another undefeated regular season for my beloved Crimson Tide.  So I felt that it was only appropriate to say Thank You to those who have had a hand in our success, and would like to share those sentiments here:

Dear Coach Shula,

You have been much maligned in Alabama lore following your 4 seasons as the head coach (much of which I feel is undeserved).   But we as the Bama Nation owe you many thanks for recruiting an undersized defensive back and punt returner out of Tampa named Javier Arenas.  He has been such a sparkplug for this team, even in his freshman year, that we would not have had the success we have had if it weren’t for him.  So thank you for seeing such talent and taking the chance.

_____________

Dear Tim Tebow,

You will go down in history as one of the greatest college football players of all time.  And frankly, you broke the collective heart of the Bama Nation when you decided to go to Florida over the Tide.  However, we must now thank you for making that decision.  Had you chosen to come to Bama, we would not have our favorite red headed quarterback who reminds us so much of a cross between Ron Howard and Jay Barker.  While at Alabama we might not have a Heisman winner (yet), we do love our players who do nothing but win, and we are so glad to have Greg McElroy as our QB1.  So thanks for that.

_____________

Dear Mount Cody,

You might have overthrown Jay Barker as my all-time favorite Bama player ever.  Your joie de vivre is infectious, and I love that of all the players on the team, your name is the one that makes Coach Saban smile in spite of himself.  Thank you for coming to Alabama and being our roadblock in the middle of the defensive line.  Here’s to hoping that you still get that chance to carry the football into the endzone in the National Championship game.

____________

Dear Paul Johnson,

Thank you so much for taking the job at Georgia Tech and installing that offense you like so much.  Had you not done so, we wouldn’t have had Colin Peek, who performed fabulously all season. So thanks for that.

____________

Dear Daniel Lincoln,

Thanks for this. 

_____________

And finally, thanks to ‘Roll Bama ‘Roll for this thank you note:

Roll Tide,

Love,
Ellen

Ode to UGA VII

I may be a Bama fan, but I’m also a dog lover.  So I was extremely saddened to hear of the passing of UGA VII so unexpectedly yesterday.  One thing I have always enjoyed about SEC football is checking out the live mascots on the sidelines, and of all of them Uga has always been my favorite.  He’s got that bulldog face that only a mother or a true fan could love, and when he starts slobbering at the camera, or he’s sitting outside his dog house on a bag of ice looking so regal and important,  my heart always melts a little.

I have particularly liked Uga VII.  I was interested to see him at his first few games last season, and he looked (to me, at least) like he had a bit of his own personality.  I remember watching one game where they were trying to lead him out to midfield or somewhere else before the game, and he went a little ways and then just sat down.  He also seemed to like to stay in his little dog house with his bag of ice and just survey his kingdom.  He was great.

I can’t imagine how the Seilers are feeling right now; it’s hard enough to lose a family pet, but to lose one at such a young age and so unexpectedly must be extremely difficult.  My prayers are with them during this time.  (And for those of you non-dog lovers who just rolled your eyes, you must have no idea how much of a family member your beloved dog can become.)

So in memory of Uga VII, I dedicate my newest favorite song to him, courtesy of Norah Jones and her new album, “The Fall,” which I highly recommend (and I really did try to find a link to a Norah Jones website with the lyrics, or any website that had the correct lyrics, but couldn’t find one):

“Man of the Hour” (lyrics presumably by Norah Jones)

“It’s him or me”
That’s what he said
But I can’t choose between a vegan and a pot head
So I chose you
Because you’re sweet
And you give me lots of lovin’
And you eat meat
And that’s how you became
My only man of the hour

You never lie
And you don’t cheat
And you don’t have lots of baggage tied to your forefeet
Do I deserve
To be the one
To feed you breakfast, lunch and dinner
And take you to the park at dawn?
Will you really be
My only man of the hour?

I know you’ll never bring me flowers
Flowers, they will only die
And though we’ll never take shower together
I know you’ll never make me cry

You never argue
You don’t even talk
And I like the way you let me lead you
When we go out and walk
Will you really be
My only man of the hour?
My only man of the hour.
My only man of the hour.

Mid-Season Report (Okay, so it’s a little past mid-season)

It has been entirely too long since I’ve posted anything here on my blog, so I thought I’d shoot a few quick thoughts to get things going:

1)  Was I right or was I right about Ole Miss?  Sorry, Col. Reb, but you’ve got a long and storied reputation of choking under pressure.  Keep working on it, though, and maybe you’ll be able to shake that reputation in a year or two.

2)  Speaking of Ole Miss, I am thoroughly looking forward to “The Blind Side” coming to a theater near me, if for no other reason than to see Coach Saban’s acting debut, and to hear Sandra Bullock say that she finds him attractive.  Not my personal taste, Sandra, but I can see where one would think that. . . .

3)  So maybe the Heisman isn’t Colt McCoy’s to lose after all.  At this point, I figure it goes to either Tebow or to Mark Ingram, and the winner depends on which team prevails in the SEC Championship game.  I still hate that the Heisman voters seem to make their choice based on who is the best player on the team expected to win the national championship, but far be it from me to complain about the possibility of seeing it cloaked in Crimson this year.

4) SEC officials–man, I’m beginning to feel really bad for them.  For those of you who think a conspiracy theory is afoot, how does that explain all the questionable calls that have taken place before this season?  Look, blown calls are nothing new, and they certainly aren’t new in the SEC.  It’s just that Slive took a little too long to crack down on the coaches who are complaining, and he’s had to come down quite harshly, and there has been a spotlight placed on the situation.  It comes with the billion dollar contract that the SEC negotiated with ESPN.  Spotlights tend to show both the good and bad that the conference has to offer, including but not limited to blown calls.

5) Injuries seem to be extremely serious this year, or at least more of a highlight is being placed on those as well (see Javid Best, Tim Tebow, Sam Bradford).  This is what I’ve got to say to college football players, though, in light of the Javid Best injury: when you try to make SportsCenter with your dazzling play, you might end up making SportsCenter being carried out on a stretcher.  What’s the deal with these guys trying to hurdle other players to get in the endzone?  While I appreciate the fearlessness, at some point your fearlessness looks foolish.  Don’t try to hurdle a player who is standing up straight, even if you’ve got the vertical leap to do so.  If you do, you might end up with an oxygen mask attached to your face as you’re carted off the field.  Harsh?  Maybe so, but it needs to be said.

6) Twitter has changed the way I watch football games.  I really like scrolling down throughout the game and reading snarky comments from various sportswriters about what’s going on.  And it proves immensely helpful when you end up at a concert during the Bama-South Carolina game and you want to know what’s happening while Mat Kearney is setting up on stage (despite how much fun the concert–and the company–might be).  So thanks, sportswriters, your tweets are not going unheeded.

7) Charlie Weis–out.

8) Terrence Cody for Heisman–or President–or Nobel Peace Prize.

Mistakes CFB Coaches Make

Granted, I’m a girl.  And I will more than likely never be a college football coach.  Heck, I went to a school that didn’t even have a college football team.  But there are a couple of things that I think that even I, a lowly girl who didn’t even go to a college with a football team, can say “Hey, that’s a mistake.”  Here are a few of them:

1) When you get named as a college head coach for the first time in the premier league, don’t trash talk the National Champions in your initial press conference.  It’s a few hours before the UT-UF kickoff, and poor ole Lane Kiffin has looked like a deer in headlights all week.  This is a stark contract to the cocky attitude he took in his first month as a first-time head coach at UT, where he called out Urban Meyer, Nick Saban, and whoever else he could think of as a coach who had superior skills to his.  I watched an interview with him on GameDay a few minutes ago, and Kiffin looked positively terrified.  Note to new head coaches: you run your mouth early, and you end up on the bottom of the cleats of the best team in the East.  Is it bad that I am relishing this game?

2) You might want to get your back up QBs some experience in case you lose your Heisman winner in the first half of the first game.  I feel soooooo bad for Sam Bradford.  I think he’s a kid with high character and amazing talent who did what many consider to be unthinkable by turning down a truckload of money to return to college for one more year.  (And kudos to the football players who do this, and decide to spend one more year just being a kid and enjoying the college experience before coming into all that money and pressure.)  And he goes down in the first game.  But you know who I felt worse for?  The kid on the sidelines who gets tapped to come in for Bradford.  Poor kid!  He’s probably back there on the bench getting  a head start on his weekend homework when he hears the unthinkable: “Bradford is down and is coming out of the game.”  I’m willing to bet that he threw up at some point during that game.  From what I can tell in my (extremely limited) research, he had not one bit of college playing experience before he went into the game–you know, the one where OK got beat by BYU.  Poor kid.  Granted, he had a great week last week, but he had a chance to get prepared.  So here’s the lesson: I know it’s great that your QB puts up 700 yards passing/game, but is it worth the team loss to get your QB1 those amazing stats?  Something to think about.

3) Don’t play to not lose the game.  Granted, I didn’t watch the OSU-USC game last week, but I did watch some highlights.  And when you put in a really conservative offense to attempt to protect the ball and run out the clock, you run the risk of having your opponent score lights out wiht a passing game and putting you in a bad spot.  So now people are calling for Coach Tressel’s firing/resignation because once again OSU played a high profile game and they just couldn’t keep up.  Should he go?  That’s not my call (besides, I’m not a fan of the Big 10.)  But as a fan, if my coach kept installing schemes to keep my team from losing rather than taking a chance from time to time to actually win the game, I’d be peeved, too.  There were several Bama games wherein the coach decided to go for 2 at the end of the game to go for the win rather than for the tie, and even when it didn’t work, I still admired the gutsy call of the coach for doing so.  Sometimes, even if you risk losing, your fans want to see you go for the win rather than trying to avoid the loss.  Just something to think about.

Ellen’s CFB Predictions

On this College Football Eve, I present my predictions for the upcoming season (you know you wanna read them!):

1)  Colt McCoy will win the Heisman.  Barring significant drop off or injury, I think this is a sure bet.  Last year’s race was way too close between Bradford, Tebow and McCoy.  Since McCoy is the only one of the three missing the hardware, I think he’s a shoo in.

2)  Rich Rodriguez will get fired from Michigan for breach of contract, barring immediate and overwhelming success early this season.  I mean, have you ever heard of your own players reporting you to the NCAA for possible violations?  People in Ann Arbor aren’t too thrilled with him after last season.  And rumor has it his contract has a little clause allowing the school to dismiss him for cause if he gets the school in trouble with the NCAA.  If anyone’s on a hot seat this season, I’m thinking it’s him.  (Oh, and Charlie Weiss, but that’s another story.)

3) The 2009 SEC Championship game will be a rematch of 2008.  Sorry, Ole Miss, but you’ve got too long of a storied history of choking when the pressure is on.  LSU gives Bama the best run for its money, but I think that Bama tops LSU and wins the West.  (And I think there’s no question that Florida will top the East.)

4) Lane Kiffin will do better than we want him to do.  He’s been shooting off his mouth nonstop since he arrived in the SEC, and fans of every other school are salivating at the thought of him bombing his first year.  But he will have some success, thanks to the talented assistant coaches he has stolen hired and thanks to Eric Berry.

5) All other conferences will continue to hate on the SEC and its dominance.  When the #1 team in the WAC beats the 8^th best team in the SEC and wants to brag that our conference is falling off, those of us in the SEC can just chuckle, because . . . .

6) The SEC will win the national championship again this season.  It will probably be another SEC-Big 12 matchup, and it will be well worth the price of admission.  And while many will think that the Big 12 offense will run away with the score, I point out the old adage that while offense may win games, defense wins championships.  But . . .

7) There will not be an undefeated national champion again this season.  I know, poor ole Utah, beating up on Bama in the Sugar Bowl (which I still refuse to acknowledge as reality and like to think of more as a nightmare), going undefeated, and not even being considered as a possible national champion.  Times are tough, Utes.  (And did we ever decide what a Ute is, anyway?)  Tough schedules = tough wins = sometimes tough losses = rewards when you survive mostly unscathed.  So even if Utah does happen to make it through yet another season undefeated, it still won’t seriously be considered for a national championship.  I realize that this is not news that Florida fans want to hear, either, but nobody would have predicted that UF would have fallen to Ole Miss last year, either.  They’re called Trap Games for a reason.

So let’s suit up and go play!!

Future Inductee to the Fantasy Football Hall of Fame

It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything, but that doesn’t mean I’ve been out of the loop in the sports world!  (Did you see the girl who knocked in the go-ahead run for Canada in the Little League World Series the other day?  Little Wendie all over again!)  At any rate, I’ve been busy trying to make room for my trophy for winning the Fantasy Football league that our church’s youth group has just set up.

Now, I know that last sentence has raised several questions for you, so I’ll try to answer them in order.

1.  Your church’s youth group has a fantasy football league?  Answer: Yes.  Thanks to our fabulous new youth minister (and one of my favorite college buddies), Patrick, we have our first annual fantasy football league on ESPN.  We ARE the Rockin’ Rhinos. (It’s a private league, though, so sorry you can’t look it up and see how it’s going.)

1.a. How much money is going into that league? Answer: none.  C’mon, people, it’s a CHURCH league.  And it’s made up mostly of minors.  I can just imagine how interesting that church business meeting would have been had we decided to buy into the league.

2.  There’s a trophy?  Answer: Not so much a “trophy” as a “coveted cookie sheet.”  And I mean, really, does it matter what the prize is?  Because it’s totally mine.  This leads to . . .

3.  So you entered the draft?  Answer: Absolutely!  Because that’s the kind of youth Sunday School teacher I am: supportive . . . nurturing . . . oh, who am I kidding, I totally did it to see if I could win!

So we had our draft this past Tuesday, and my team rocks, thankyouverymuch!  This isn’t just my opinion; I compared my team to a co-worker’s team from his own draft (a co-worker who’s done this before and faired pretty well), and we had several of the same players.  But in talking to him, and after participating in Tuesday’s draft, I have discovered that there are 3 types of FFB players:

The first one is the guy who seriously wants to win.  He’s been scouring the boards for months and creating mock draft boards, complete with back-up selections (and back-up selections for his back-up selections).  I call him the Frank Wren of the FFB.  He’s ruthless.  He’s on the hunt for the best mercenary his money (or draft pick selection slot) can get.  And he’s usually pretty good at it.  This is where my co-worker falls.

The second type of FFB player is the nostalgic player.  He’s got his favorite college team(s), and his picks mostly revolve around selecting players from his team/conference.  He’s not going to deliberately tank his team, or pick up a player from his favorite team who would legitimately hurt his chances, but you will find that many of his players played together or against each other in college.  We had two of these people at our draft (and yes, I was one of them). (And no, I didn’t pick Brodie Croyle as one of my QBs, because I am predicting that he will get broken again before the season’s mid-point.)

The third player is the one who is playing totally for fun.  He might not know anything about the sport.  He might only know what he hears on the highlights from ESPN.  So he has either an unusual strategy or no strategy at all for picking his players.  We had some of these at our draft (i.e., the only other female at our draft, who decided at the end to select the players left who had the best names, like Tuiasusopo.  But she also got Tom Brady AND Phillip Rivers, so don’t feel too sorry for her.)

So at this point, you’re probably asking Question #4, which is, Who did you pick?  I can’t remember everyone off the top of my head, but I can tell you that I picked Ben Roethlisberger in the 1st round, and the Ravens defense/special teams in the 2nd.  My 4 RBs all hailed from Bama or Arkansas, being Le’Ron McClain, Darren McFadden, Felix Jones, and Glen Coffee (don’t give me grief about Coffee; I’ve got high hopes for him!).  I also have Hines Ward and Ryan Succop to round out the SEC love.

So we’ll see how it goes.  And I’ll keep working on the perfect place for that coveted championship cookie sheet. . . . .