Week 12
12/5/09
Every industry has experts; those sages that dispense wisdom
and truth from atop the mountain. In philosophy these learned men
wear long, flowing robes and an equally lengthy beard is required.
In fantasy football, a backwards ball cap, clipboard of notes, and
half empty bottle of Coors Light is more likely. But are these guys
truly experts? Do they know any better than the rest of us schmucks?
Each week Analyzing the Experts will take aim at one or more of
these so-called oracles and find out…
I feel almost bad for the Experts this week. Our selected team was
completely vicious and ravaged our competitors mercilessly. At quarterback,
Tom Brady tossed out a complete stinker in what was expected to
be a primetime shootout. The running back position featured such
luminaries as Justin Forsett and Fred Jackson, previously thought
of as mediocre back-up type guys. This week they decided to be the
#1 and #3 fantasy running backs. How about receiver? Yeah, our competitors
got screwed there too. Some of the big names turned in very average
stats while Pierre Garcon took the top spot. Not a pretty week all
around for our Fantasy Experts. Of course, that’s why we consult
these gurus. They are supposed to see all this happening beforehand
and warn us. Obviously they didn’t get that memo. No one who
reads Analyzing the Experts was shocked by this revelation as we
have all come to expect incompetence, albeit not this brilliantly
displayed.
I got a chance to pull all the data this week since my beautiful
wife decided to abandon me to go visit her family for Thanksgiving.
She got to deal with my in-laws and the rest of her family (including
whiny kids) while I gave thanks all week to the peace and quiet
of temporary bachelorhood. Not only that, but while I lounged
around in sunny Florida my wife was getting snowed on in the Texas
Panhandle. That made missing her mom’s Thanksgiving dinner
almost worthwhile.
Of course, I was the one left to slave over spreadsheets while
pulling all the Expert rankings Thursday before the games started.
I’m glad I got the opportunity because it highlighted many
of the similarities and differences between our competitors. In
many rankings, Steve Breaston and Pierre Garcon were not only
ranked about the same, but were right next to each other on the
list. Same thing happened regularly with Dustin Keller and Jermichael
Finley. Is someone lifting another Experts’ rankings and
swapping around some of the big names to hide that fact? Or are
all these guys working off the same cheat sheet? Either way, the
similarities were startling. I will come to their defense with
a single point; the owner of this week’s team had the exact
same rankings for his team as NFL Fantasy. Considering the lack
of success the NFL has had in our contest, I am sure this was
completely unintentional. So even the non-experts among us are
occasionally copycats.
Wal-Mart Greeters is owned by Kevin up in the frozen tundra of
Alaska. I have this image stuck in my mind of the guys at KFFL
standing in the entryway of Wal-Mart handing out shopping carts.
They have to better at customer service than football analysis,
right? And it’s not like the bar is set all that high at
Wal-Mart. Something Kevin pointed out that I never thought of:
Monday Night Football is over by 8pm in Alaska and the Sunday
games begin at 8:30am. Having lived on the East Coast my entire
life, the idea of rolling out of bed early on a Sunday and plopping
back down on the couch to watch football while the sun is still
struggling to rise never even crossed my mind. I guess it takes
a pretty hardcore drinker to start the beer flowing with Sunday’s
first kickoff.
- QB: Brady, Sanchez, A. Smith
- RB: Barber, Forsett, F. Jackson, McCoy, P. Thomas
- WR: Breaston, Garcon, V. Jackson, Jennings, Sims-Walker
- TE: Clark, Finley, Keller
- K: Bironas, Carpenter
- Def: Chargers, Falcons
This is a pretty realistic line up. The only player not ranked
by some of our Experts was Mark Sanchez and who can blame them?
When I selected this team I had no idea how backwards it would
end up this week. Along those lines, get
your team in to me if you want it used during the playoffs.
I’d rather have fresh rosters than dust off some from a
couple months ago. The playoffs are only three weeks, but that
means I still need three more line ups.
Week Twelve’s Games
| Pick Color Codes |
|
| Correct |
|
| Missed by: 1 |
|
| Missed by: 2 |
|
| Missed by: 3 |
|
|
| |
B
r
a
d
y |
S
a
n
c
h
e
z |
A.
S
m
i
t
h |
B
a
r
b
e
r |
F
o
r
s
e
t
t |
F.
J
a
c
k
s
o
n |
M
c
C
o
y |
P.
T
h
o
m
a
s |
B
r
e
a
s
t
o
n |
G
a
r
c
o
n |
V.
J
a
c
k
s
o
n |
J
e
n
n
i
n
g
s |
S
i
m
s
-
W
a
l
k
e
r |
C
l
a
r
k
I
N
D
|
F
i
n
l
e
y |
K
e
l
l
e
r |
B
i
r
o
n
a
s |
C
a
r
p
e
n
t
e
r |
C
h
a
r
g
e
r
s |
F
a
l
c
o
n
s |
TPts |
| Correct |
3 |
2 |
1 |
5 |
1 |
2 |
4 |
3 |
5 |
1 |
4 |
2 |
3 |
1 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
|
| FF
Sharks |
1 |
3 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
1 |
2 |
5 |
4 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
74 |
| NFL |
1 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
4 |
5 |
2 |
3 |
5 |
4 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
76 |
|
As much as it pains me to say this, a score in the mid-70’s
isn’t all that bad this week. The team owner ranked his guys
the same as NFL, so that will be our benchmark as we move through
the scores. It’s nice to see NFL Fantasy win some games, even
if it’s a bit late to help them salvage the season.
| |
B
r
a
d
y |
S
a
n
c
h
e
z |
A.
S
m
i
t
h |
B
a
r
b
e
r |
F
o
r
s
e
t
t |
F.
J
a
c
k
s
o
n |
M
c
C
o
y |
P.
T
h
o
m
a
s |
B
r
e
a
s
t
o
n |
G
a
r
c
o
n |
V.
J
a
c
k
s
o
n |
J
e
n
n
i
n
g
s |
S
i
m
s
-
W
a
l
k
e
r |
C
l
a
r
k
I
N
D
|
F
i
n
l
e
y |
K
e
l
l
e
r |
B
i
r
o
n
a
s |
C
a
r
p
e
n
t
e
r |
C
h
a
r
g
e
r
s |
F
a
l
c
o
n
s |
TPts |
| Correct |
3 |
2 |
1 |
5 |
1 |
2 |
4 |
3 |
5 |
1 |
4 |
2 |
3 |
1 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
|
| FF
Toolbox |
1 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
4 |
5 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
1 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
72 |
| FB
Guys |
1 |
3 |
2 |
3 |
1 |
5 |
2 |
4 |
4 |
5 |
1 |
3 |
2 |
2 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
76 |
|
I have to give huge props to Football Guys for their gutsy call
on Forsett this week. It certainly took some nuts to rank him above
some of the other bigger names and it paid off. Barber killed FF
Toolbox, costing them four points. Of course, they certainly weren’t
alone in misranking him or many of the other players.
| |
B
r
a
d
y |
S
a
n
c
h
e
z |
A.
S
m
i
t
h |
B
a
r
b
e
r |
F
o
r
s
e
t
t |
F.
J
a
c
k
s
o
n |
M
c
C
o
y |
P.
T
h
o
m
a
s |
B
r
e
a
s
t
o
n |
G
a
r
c
o
n |
V.
J
a
c
k
s
o
n |
J
e
n
n
i
n
g
s |
S
i
m
s
-
W
a
l
k
e
r |
C
l
a
r
k
I
N
D
|
F
i
n
l
e
y |
K
e
l
l
e
r |
B
i
r
o
n
a
s |
C
a
r
p
e
n
t
e
r |
C
h
a
r
g
e
r
s |
F
a
l
c
o
n
s |
TPts |
| Correct |
3 |
2 |
1 |
5 |
1 |
2 |
4 |
3 |
5 |
1 |
4 |
2 |
3 |
1 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
|
| FF
Today |
1 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
5 |
3 |
2 |
4 |
4 |
5 |
1 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
|
|
69 |
| CBS |
1 |
NR |
2 |
1 |
4 |
5 |
2 |
3 |
5 |
4 |
1 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
74 |
|
This was an ugly week for FF Today. Not only did they completely
reverse the rankings on Barber, Forsett, and Garcon; they managed
only one correct pick across the board. Thank God for Dallas Clark!
It would have been worse if they hadn’t gone out on a limb
with Fred Jackson. Although 69 is a terrible score, it wasn’t
the worst of the week.
| |
B
r
a
d
y |
S
a
n
c
h
e
z |
A.
S
m
i
t
h |
B
a
r
b
e
r |
F
o
r
s
e
t
t |
F.
J
a
c
k
s
o
n |
M
c
C
o
y |
P.
T
h
o
m
a
s |
B
r
e
a
s
t
o
n |
G
a
r
c
o
n |
V.
J
a
c
k
s
o
n |
J
e
n
n
i
n
g
s |
S
i
m
s
-
W
a
l
k
e
r |
C
l
a
r
k
I
N
D
|
F
i
n
l
e
y |
K
e
l
l
e
r |
B
i
r
o
n
a
s |
C
a
r
p
e
n
t
e
r |
C
h
a
r
g
e
r
s |
F
a
l
c
o
n
s |
TPts |
| Correct |
3 |
2 |
1 |
5 |
1 |
2 |
4 |
3 |
5 |
1 |
4 |
2 |
3 |
1 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
|
| Rotoworld |
1 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
5 |
4 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
78 |
| AOL |
1 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
3 |
4 |
2 |
5 |
4 |
5 |
2 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
68 |
|
AOL Fanhouse managed the lowest score in Week Twelve. They weren’t
even close on a single running back. Add in the terrible advice
they published for the receiver position and we have reached a new
low. Rotoworld on the other hand, while not immune to the insanity
of the week, managed a fairly decent score all things considered.
| |
B
r
a
d
y |
S
a
n
c
h
e
z |
A.
S
m
i
t
h |
B
a
r
b
e
r |
F
o
r
s
e
t
t |
F.
J
a
c
k
s
o
n |
M
c
C
o
y |
P.
T
h
o
m
a
s |
B
r
e
a
s
t
o
n |
G
a
r
c
o
n |
V.
J
a
c
k
s
o
n |
J
e
n
n
i
n
g
s |
S
i
m
s
-
W
a
l
k
e
r |
C
l
a
r
k
I
N
D
|
F
i
n
l
e
y |
K
e
l
l
e
r |
B
i
r
o
n
a
s |
C
a
r
p
e
n
t
e
r |
C
h
a
r
g
e
r
s |
F
a
l
c
o
n
s |
TPts |
| Correct |
3 |
2 |
1 |
5 |
1 |
2 |
4 |
3 |
5 |
1 |
4 |
2 |
3 |
1 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
|
| FF
Cafe |
1 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
2 |
4 |
5 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
1 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
78 |
| Fox |
1 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
4 |
5 |
3 |
5 |
4 |
2 |
1 |
3 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
80 |
|
Fox Sports won the week with a high score of 80. A solid call on
Forsett and simply not being as wrong as everyone else cinched it
for them. FF Cafe had a bit of bad luck playing the one team that
scored enough to beat them. So goes the life of a fantasy football
team owner…
| |
B
r
a
d
y |
S
a
n
c
h
e
z |
A.
S
m
i
t
h |
B
a
r
b
e
r |
F
o
r
s
e
t
t |
F.
J
a
c
k
s
o
n |
M
c
C
o
y |
P.
T
h
o
m
a
s |
B
r
e
a
s
t
o
n |
G
a
r
c
o
n |
V.
J
a
c
k
s
o
n |
J
e
n
n
i
n
g
s |
S
i
m
s
-
W
a
l
k
e
r |
C
l
a
r
k
I
N
D
|
F
i
n
l
e
y |
K
e
l
l
e
r |
B
i
r
o
n
a
s |
C
a
r
p
e
n
t
e
r |
C
h
a
r
g
e
r
s |
F
a
l
c
o
n
s |
TPts |
| Correct |
3 |
2 |
1 |
5 |
1 |
2 |
4 |
3 |
5 |
1 |
4 |
2 |
3 |
1 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
|
| Yahoo! |
1 |
NR |
2 |
1 |
4 |
5 |
3 |
2 |
5 |
4 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
76 |
| ESPN |
1 |
NR |
2 |
1 |
3 |
5 |
2 |
4 |
5 |
4 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
74 |
|
To finish out the week, Yahoo! slid by ESPN. This game had nothing
much different from what we saw above. Yahoo! is another team that
is light on wins this season, but this loss hurts ESPN’s chances
of making the postseason. At least Yahoo! can relish its role as
spoiler.
| ATE Week 12
Standings - East |
| EAST |
Record |
Pts |
| * Fox |
7-3-2 |
988 |
| * Rotoworld |
7-5 |
986 |
| ESPN |
5-4-3 |
979 |
| e FF Cafe |
4-5-3 |
978 |
| e AOL |
3-6-3 |
968 |
| e KFFL |
2-9-1 |
948 |
|
|
| ATE Week 12
Standings - West |
| WEST |
Record |
Pts |
| * Football Guys |
8-3-1 |
988 |
| * CBS |
8-2-2 |
984 |
| * FF Toolbox |
7-3-2 |
996 |
| FF Sharks |
6-4-2 |
970 |
| FF Today |
5-5-2 |
968 |
| e NFL |
4-6-2 |
971 |
| e Yahoo! |
3-8-1 |
975 |
|
|
* – Clinched a playoff spot
e - Eliminated from playoff contention.
Editor's Note: The
Huddle has been removed from D.J's contest at the request of FF
Today. Their removal is not based on performance thusfar and will
have no impact on the outcome of the contest as they have been eliminated
from playoff contention. KFFL has been given credit for their victory
over The Huddle during Week 12.
Some of our leaders changed around a bit this week, but those are
the guys playing for a bye in Round One of the playoffs, not fighting
for their season. FF Cafe joined the ranks of the eliminated as
well. As we finish up, the middle-of-the-pack competitors are getting
squeezed out of contention. On the bright side, we know who five
of the six playoffs teams will be. Meanwhile, there are three teams
fighting for that last spot. FF Sharks just needs to win to get
in while ESPN and FF Today need help. It would have been nice if
some of these bubble teams were playing each other in the final
week of our regular season, but no such luck.
Kevin, our team owner this week, asked an interesting question:
“I read your CBS interview and noticed how
they got information from the former players that work for CBS.
I also noticed that CBS and NBC are 2 of the top 3 in the contest.
Is this random, or a sign on quality?”
For those not familiar with the fact, Rotoworld is owned by NBC
and qualifies for our evil corporate grouping, although they are
exceptionally friendly and helpful. Kevin certainly poses an interesting
question. Of the five teams who have qualified for the playoffs,
Fox, Rotoworld, and CBS meet the criteria he posed of having the
ability to get information from NFL insiders. Football Guys and
FF Toolbox must have a different strategy unless they are hiding
Warren Sapp in a closet somewhere. On the flip side, the only
Expert eliminated from the playoffs that could also access the
insights of former players would be NFL Fantasy. Yahoo! and AOL
are both corporate, but in a very different (and less helpful)
way.
Since the primary purpose of this series is to determine if one
or more fantasy Experts have an advantage over the rest of us,
this theme could pan out to be something worthwhile. For anyone
who might be confused, the goal of these articles is not to just
ridicule The Huddle and KFFL – that’s just what I
enjoy doing the most. As the season winds down, I’ll start
analyzing the data to see how close the relationship is between
potential inside information and fantasy success. Just to be perfectly
clear, my lovely bride will bust out some Excel spreadsheets and
tell me if some sort of a statistical relationship exists.
As a final note and disclaimer, I need to point out that I didn’t
start the season loathing Huddle and KFFL. As a matter of fact,
KFFL was very highly requested by readers from Season One. KFFL’s
performance has been worthy of scorn though, and I am perfectly
willing to pour it on as necessary. I can’t claim to be
a fan of The Huddle as I really didn’t know anything about
them before the season began but whether you spend your hard-earned
money on fantasy services or strippers and beer is up to you.
|
