Fantasy League Notes-

• Week 4 is a crucial one in most fantasy football leagues, it is around the time that a lot of teams begin to separate themselves a bit and the good teams begin to establish themselves from the pack. If your team sits at 0-3, you desperately need to come a way with a victory this week.
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• Sometimes it can be a mistake to give up on a player too soon into a season, because they have under performed to this point (Players like Chris Chambers and Chad Johnson come to mind). The best advice is to move that player to your bench until they begin to produce, as opposed to simply dropping that player and watching them rediscover their success on another team’s roster, later in the season. A few owners in my league have already made this error, and like a vulture, (or George Steinbrenner) I have pounced at the chance to add another star to my team. If you’re deep at that position, than there is no reason to drop a player that has a history of success, just because they have started slowly. If you can afford that flexibility, why not wait it out, store that player on your bench and see if you can’t still get some return on said player later on, when you are (hopefully) making your playoff push.

• On the other hand, there are also those other kinds of owners in my league—those that sit on their hands and don’t make aggressive moves to better their teams, because they lack instinct or strategy to make bold decisions and experiment with their roster. They are the kind that are afraid to pull the plug on a player, thus they spend half the season carrying dead weight on their rosters instead of going out and making a move to improve. I don’t get it. If you want to win, you have to do more than just set your line-up each week, you also have to keep your roster current and fresh with the ever changing tides.

• To me if an owner has a strong draft, that is only half the battle, and the easier half at that. A good owner is often measured by what he does not when he’s winning, but what he does when he is struggling. In my opinion, its how an owner adjusts to adversity that really shows if they have the ability to strategize and make their roster into a winner. If your team is in the hole early, what moves are you going to make to improve yourself? If you sit there and do nothing that shows me an owner that hasn’t fully grasped what it takes to turn a struggling team around and make it work.

• Half the game is what you do to make your team better, you can’t live or die by your draft alone, you also have to be a good strategist. After all, anyone would know to draft Tomlinson or Alexander in the top three, but should your team start slowly, do you have the know-how to improve your roster? That’s where true strategy comes in, and where the mark of a good owner is measured. Some times owners get lucky when they draw an early selection and draft a top stud, but don’t know how maneuver when their team faces adversity, so they do nothing and their team eventually tanks out. You can recover from a poor draft, but only if you are aggressive and put effort into it. Now is the time of season where the real mark of an owner is tested. The strategist that is smart, but doesn’t over think himself, is the one that will likely prevail down the stretch.



• Week 4 Fantasy Football Dudes & Duds of the week-

Dude: (QB) Drew Bledsoe vs. Titans
Dud: (QB) Kurt Warner vs. Falcons

Dude: (TE) Kellen Winslow vs. Raiders
Dud: (TE) Desmond Clark vs. Seahawks

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Note from the Diamond-

(I will be posting my MLB Playoff Predictions next week once the regular season concludes Sunday afternoon, you’ll want to check back for that.)

Have a good weekend, and root, root for the home team! –JSM.

The Guru suffered a momentary setback last week, finishing a disappointing 7-7 on the week. The “oddity” that is “End zone Adam” continued his odd week success, finishing a strong 10-4. Next comes week 4, and the “even keeled” Guru should/hopes to bounce back with another stellar “even week” performance. On the season, End zone stands at 31-15, while Guru is one back at 30-16. Now for this week’s picks! (Note below this week the Guru has two upset picks.)

Sunday, October 1
Time (ET) Visitor Home
1:00 PM Arizona Cardinals @ Atlanta Falcons
1:00 PM Dallas Cowboys @ Tennessee Titans
1:00 PM Indianapolis Colts @ New York Jets
1:00 PM Miami Dolphins @ Houston Texans
1:00 PM Minnesota Vikings @ Buffalo Bills
1:00 PM New Orleans Saints @ Carolina Panthers
1:00 PM San Diego Chargers @ Baltimore Ravens
1:00 PM San Francisco 49ers @ Kansas City Chiefs
4:05 PM Detroit Lions @ St. Louis Rams
4:15 PM Cleveland Browns @ Oakland Raiders
4:15 PM New England Patriots @ Cincinnati Bengals
4:15 PM Jacksonville Jaguars @ Washington Redskins
8:15 PM Seattle Seahawks @ Chicago Bears
Monday, October 2
Time (ET) Visitor Home
8:30 PM Green Bay Packers @ Philadelphia Eagles

Guru:

Falcons over Cards- Cowboys over Titans- Colts over Jets- Dolphins over Texans

Vikings over Bills Panthers over Saints *Chargers over Ravens Chiefs over 49ers

*Lions over Rams Browns over Raiders Bengals over Patriots Jags over Redskins

Bears over Seahawks MNF: Eagles over Packers


End zone:
Endzone will take the Texans over Dolphins, Rams over Lions and Raiders over Browns in an upset.

Last week The Guru rebounded with an amazing 14-2 record in week 2 games. (Damn those Bills and Jags!) End zone Adam finished a respectable 11-5 and also improved on his week 1 performance. Overall The Guru has taken a 2 game lead with a record of 23-9. End zone sits at 21-11. This week’s games may be the toughest yet, but it’s our duty to make those tough calls, so here goes with the Guru’s picks, followed by End zone Adam’s picks tomorrow.

1:00 PM Chicago Bears @ Minnesota Vikings
1:00 PM Cincinnati Bengals @ Pittsburgh Steelers
1:00 PM Green Bay Packers @ Detroit Lions
1:00 PM Tennessee Titans @ Miami Dolphins
1:00 PM New York Jets @ Buffalo Bills
1:00 PM Washington Redskins@ Houston Texans
1:00 PM Jacksonville Jaguars @ Indianapolis Colts
1:00 PM Carolina Panthers @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers
4:05 PM Baltimore Ravens @ Cleveland Browns
4:15 PM St. Louis Rams @Arizona Cardinals
4:15 PM New York Giants @ Seattle Seahawks
4:15 PM Philadelphia Eagles @ San Francisco 49ers
8:15 PM Denver Broncos @ New England Patriots
Monday, September 25
Time (ET) Visitor Home
8:30 PM Atlanta Falcons @ New Orleans Saints

Guru:
Vikings over Bears *Bengals over Steelers (upset game)

Lions over Packer - Dolphins over Titans - Bills over Jets - Redskins over Texans

Colts over Jaguars - Panthers over Buccaneers - Ravens over Browns

Cardinals over Rams - Giants over Seahawks - Eagles over 49ers

Patriots over Broncos - MNF: Falcons over Saints


Dudes/Duds-
My Fantasy (Football) dude of the week: Dante Culpepper vs. Titans defense.
My Fantasy (Football) dud of the week: Drew Brees vs. Falcons defense.