Q & A with Juggernauts Team Owner.

 

 

Café: Sports recently sat down for a one-on-one discussion with Fantasy Football analyst & league commissioner of” The Players” Fanball league, Mr. J.S.M himself.  In this comprehensive three-part interview, J.S.M, owner of the Juggernauts, offers his perspective on several topics regarding the upcoming season, including his take on the league’s five-year evolution, the impact of flex-lineups, draft strategy, & some memorable moments from the past four seasons.  Below is part one of this exclusive interview.  

 

 Part 1

 

Q: It’s hard to believe that the start of NFL training camp is just over three weeks a way, seems like it was just yesterday that the Giants were stunning the Patriots in the Super Bowl.  As a league commissioner, what is your mind set heading into your third full season in that role?

 

A: No question it’s excitement.  Every year it builds more & more, and if you don’t feel it or have the passion for it by this point in the year, you shouldn’t be in this position.  Like I always say, to me there are only two days in the year that compare to draft day, and that’s Christmas & Super Bowl Sunday, and not necessarily in that order.   

 

Q: What new league elements coming into this season are you most excited about?

 

A: This season is going to be the best one yet, and I truly believe that.  I think the group of owners we have coming back are an experienced group that should result in a more competitive environment.  Plus the new elements being introduced this year such as FLEX & 4-points per passing touchdowns are going to bring our league into the 21^st century.  The increased strategy that will be involved on a week-to-week basis is what I’m most excited about. 

 

 

Q: Explain how FLEX Line-ups will improve the game?

 

A: Well for one thing, there will be a little more strategy involved every week, in that owners will be able to build teams more to their liking and in their own personal mold.  They will have the flexibility to start the lineups that best suit their talent.  It’s more like the real NFL where each team gives you a unique & different look. 

Some will utilize a tight end, and others will de-emphasize the position in favor of three good receivers, and the truly radical owners might employ both & use a single-back or what I like to call the old “run & shoot” offense (1 RB, 3WR, 1 TE).  But the old days of “cookie cutter” lineups are in the past.  Now every team will have its own look, and owners will have more freedom.  It’s going to be a tremendous addition.      

 

 

Q: As a team owner, how would you assess your 2007 season? Would you consider it a success because you overcame a difficult start, or a failure, because you couldn’t get that elusive playoff win?

 

A: Well, it really depends on ones perspective.  Honestly, I would probably consider last season a step back.  I mean, I think I did some good things by overcoming a terrible start and rallying my team back into the playoffs and building a contender—which I take some pride in.  But really, I was behind the 8-ball for most of the season and it was definitely a struggle compared to the previous seasons, and also a learning experience.  This team always goes into a season with very high standards, and obviously last year I didn’t meet them.   

  

 

Q: What went wrong?

 

A: Well maybe it was the hangover of coming off that 11-3 season from 2006, where everything just seemed to fall into place, maybe I got a head of myself a little bit and expected the same in 2007, which didn’t happen.  I think it boiled down to a lot of early injuries and a failed draft strategy.  Basically I changed the way I evaluated from what had been a successful approach in 2005 & 2006 to a different approach that backfired last year.

 

 

Q: What were the differences?

 

A: Basically, I got a big head and decided that I was going to drop my conservative, but effective draft approach of taking well-established players for a more flashy approach of selecting younger players that I thought were in line for breakout seasons.  In the past I let those players fall to me, but this time I made the mistake of over-pursuing them, you know, locking in on certain guys (Bush, Davis, Reggie Brown, Henderson, etc…) In hindsight, it was a flawed game plan and I take responsibility for that.  This year it’s back to the old plan, because if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

 

 

 

Q: This will be the fifth year anniversary, so to speak of the Players league with this core group of owners, in those five years are there any moments that stand out to you as especially memorable?

 

A: Obviously there remains a void of not having won a championship yet, but in terms of wins, 2006 really stands out as a special team.  Because that team made a heck of run, and it got to the point during that season, where it wasn’t a question of if I would win, but by how much.  That team of Larry Johnson, Willie Parker, Brees, Gates, Housh, and so on was a dominant group.  To me it’s a crime that we didn’t win at least one playoff game that year.  I’d put that team against any other that was ever assembled during the past four years and pick them every time.  They really are like the NFL comparison to the 1998 Vikings or even 2007 Patriots, in that it came so close to being special. 

 

 

Q: How about the most memorable game involving one of your teams?

 

A: I love the ones that come down to the Monday night games; I’ve been in a lot of those.  I’d say my most memorable win would probably be from that 06’season.  It was late in the year and I was in the middle of what would eventually become an 8-game winning streak, but I was trailing by some 30+ points here to a team called Sentinels.  If I recall, he had a pretty average team and I was on a roll, so him beating me was a bit of a surprise.  He just had his kicker left, and I had just (Willie) Parker playing for me against the Saints, I think.

 

 Well it’s late in the second half of that game and Parker breaks a long run for a score that brought me within 15 points of him, then (Parker) breaks another run on their next drive and next thing I know we’re tied, with less than 5 minutes to go in the game.  Parker rushes for over 200 yards and two scores and I end up winning the game with one player.  I think it stands as one of the bigger comebacks.  That’s just the way things went that season.   That was classic.  I’d like to think that Sentinels was watching somewhere and fuming over losing, I didn’t like him very much.        

 

 

Q: What would you say was the most difficult moment or low point for your team?

 

A: I played a team, ironically called “I Don’t Care” in the west semi-finals during the playoffs; he had a pretty good team that was sort of under-the-radar, because he was in second place to me for most of the season.  Needless to say, I saved my worst game for the playoffs and I lost after my 06’ team --that broke all kinds of scoring records—stumbled with a 40 point outing.  It ranks as my toughest loss to date, and who knows, maybe that loss carried over to last season with my slow start in 2007.  

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Next: In part two of this exclusive interview, J. S. M. will discuss the "pros & cons" of being a league commissioner, strategy for the upcoming season, and a look at this year's first round prospects.