AAFL: ESPN Draft Results

I ranked my players in an ESPN fantasy league using the same rankings I've been working on for the AAFL draft. My first 4 draft picks were wide receivers. Someone please stop me if I do this on Saturday.

Quote of the Day: Mike Ditka

The Raiders signed Jeff George today. When asked if George was ready to play after being out of football, Mike Ditka replied, "Jeff George wasn't ready to play when he was in football."

NFL: Roster Trends

Thought I would point out some trends I've noticed while compiling my cheat sheet for the draft.

1. Four different web sites list four different place kickers for the Atlanta Falcons. It seems like less than two weeks before the first game would be a good time to at least have narrowed down the kicker job to one or two people.

2. Although most of the common names (Smith, Brown, Jones) have players at various positions, if your last name is Clark in the NFL you are a Tight End. No exceptions.

3. The better teams (Colts, Patriots, Seahawks, Panthers) seem to have little roster controversy. No matter what web sites or magazines I check, the depth chart is usually the same. Teams like Oakland, Arizona, NY Jets, and others seem to have a different lineup depending on what day someone posted their depth chart.

4. The Patriots have gone from Adam Vinatieri to someone named Stephen Gostkowski as their place kicker. Ouch!

5. Quick question: which of these is not an actual player on an NFL roster:
Hank Baskett
Davis Rashied
Visanthe Shiancoe
Illi Amman
Craphonso Thorpe

AAFL: Introducting, Men of Troy

The West Nile Scarabs owner/ president /coach Troy Stiffler announced today that the team will undergo a name change for the 2006 season. They will now be known as the Men of Troy. This name better serves to stroke the ego of the coach as well as cash in on the success that the USC Trojans have had. The team is currently preparing for the draft. Stay tuned for updates.

ACL Rehab Update

Well, it's been about a month since my ACL reconstruction. I started physical therapy last Friday because apparently my doctor didn't think I was in enough pain already. One of my first tasks was to lift my injured leg off the exam table while sitting. My knee twitched, but you couldn't have slipped a piece of paper between it and the table. The physical therapist asked me to start trying and which point I explained that I was. Finally, after almost a week, I can now get the leg off the table. A new rehab this week was riding an exercise bike for seven minutes. Now this would seem to be pretty easy since, pre-surgery anyway, it was common for me to bike for much longer than that. There is just one problem now: I can't bend my knee! So, the therapist suggested I just go halfway around on the pedals, then back pedal and start again. So there I am basically making the pedals make half a rotation and then starting over. Meanwhile a little old lady is on the bike next to me going about 3 miles per hour, but is clearly showing me up. Also, once on the backpedal I brought my leg too high and it DID complete a revolution. This brought on a "new definition of pain and suffering." The good news: my leg is now fully straight (it was bent at a 7 degree angle when I started rehab, now it's at zero) and can bend up to 110 degrees (not without pain, unfortunately). For the immediate future, I'm still on cruthes and using a brace (except around the house), but hopefully I'll be up and about soon.

Return of the Blog

In a desparate attempt to relieve my boredom at work, I'm reviving my blog. Look for updates on my injured knee and tons of fantasy football news in the next couple of weeks. Enjoy!

NFL Draft: Colts (predraft)

How about this:

Polian: We'll give you our 1st round draft pick, 3rd round draft pick, and Reggie Wayne.

Saints GM: Sounds great. We'll give you Reggie Bush and call the NFL to start inscribing COLTS on the Lombardi trophy.

NFL Draft: Reggie Bush

It's a colossal mistake to pick Mario Williams instead of Reggie Bush. Williams may be a decent player, but Bush is a star in the making: a great football player with charisma and the IT factor that you need on a team. This will go down as one of the biggest blunders ever.

Just to show I'm right, here's Chuck Klostrman explain it: The wrong guy. Here's an except (done in all caps to show how emphatic he is):

"REGGIE BUSH IS IMPOSSIBLE TO TACKLE. HE IS WAY, WAY BETTER THAN ALL OF THE OTHER DUDES WHO ARE ELIGIBLE TO BE DRAFTED. WHEN REGGIE BUSH IS RUNNING WITH THE FOOTBALL, THOSE ATTEMPTING TO KNOCK HIM TO THE GROUND CANNOT SEEM TO DO SO. THIS QUALITY IS ADVANTAGEOUS WITHIN THE GAME OF FOOTBALL, AS THAT IS PRETTY MUCH THE TOTALITY OF THE SPORT. "

Quick NFL Note

I don't really care what happens in the draft as long as a USC running back ends up with the Colts.

Mowing and mowing and mowing and...

I made my first attempt at mowing my yard on Saturday. Boy, did that wear me out! Maybe it was because my knee is sore and swollen from a previous incident or maybe it's because my workout routine consists of lifting the remote. The front yard went fine. The grass isn't growing was fast so I was basically just mulching some dead dandelions. The back was a different story. The grass is growing quite well, not to mention there's a nice incline coming up from a ditch. I have to admit, though, that it was nice exercise and it was a beautiful day to be outside. I just need to get used to manual labor!