Fantasy Football Draft Report (2007) (2)

And so the New Jersey Seagulls name migrates to Rob's JackSux league, now in its fourth(?) incarnation. Rob was happy he didn't pick first again. Me, I ended up in the 10/11 slot, which I hate because it's a whole lot of waiting.

I'm also not a fan of what the auto-drafter cooked up for me on Tuesday night, either.

1 (10). RB Rudi Johnson
2 (11). QB Carson Palmer

In a perfect world these picks would be reversed. Palmer is running both of my squads and Rudi's kind of the forgotten man in the Bengals' offense even though he rushed for 1300 yards last season.

3 (30) WR Larry Fitzgerald. I'm a bigger fan of his teammate Anquan Boldin, but this is a Perfectly Acceptable Alternative.

4 (31) WR T.J. Houshmandzadeh. All right, this is getting eerie.

5 (50.) WR Hines Ward. Always reliable and should bounce back now that Ben's got his head back on straight.

6 (51). RB DeAngelo Williams. WTF? Is this the same team? (I know I copied my pre-draft rankings, but still.) I like this pick even less here than I did in the other league. Funny that in both leagues, Williams was sort of the tipping point to kick off the second tier of running backs, you know, the guys who split carries or the ones that nobody's quite sure about.

7 (70). WR Laveranues Coles. He's a Seagulls favorite and has been for years.

8 (71). TE Vernon Davis. Now this I like. Davis has a lot of potential but was hurt most of last year. He's a guy who could really help an improved 49ers offense.

9 (90). K Nate Kaeding
10 (91). Denver DEFENSE

The kicker and defense runs started in the ninth round at about the same time, with Kaeding sparking the kicker run after Vinatieri went earlier in the round.

11 (110). WR Chris Chambers. See what I said about Marty Booker in the aPa draft and add 15 or so.

12 (111). QB Ben Roethlisberger. This was a surprise and a potential steal this late. I think he's gonna bounce back big-time (granted, it'd be hard not to).

13 (130). WR Bernard Berrian. Rex's deep threat - if he can get the ball to him.

14 (131). RB Vernand Morency. And here's where things go south. This guy's hurt, and he's only going to be a backup when he does come back.

15 (150) TE David Martin. Who?

16 (151) San Francisco DEFENSE. Why?

The Ultimate Guest List: Addendum

Guess who else is invited to the party:



But since I'm 99.44% sure the restraining orders against you people cover mysterious, unsolicited packages, you're probably better off getting me something instead.

Return of Fantasy Football Draft Report

So we're doing something a little different in the aPa league this time around. The Criminal Intent division, which I'm in, is naming its teams after various NFL player-related legal infractions. Thus, this year's team? Chris Henry's Stash.

I had some computer problems Sunday night and I ended up getting to the draft late on a day off. Let's see how I did missing the first four rounds:

1 (9). RB Travis Henry. This'll be interesting because it's the first time a 1,000-yard rusher has ever been put into the Broncos' system, which I could probably get 800 yards out of. And with Tatum Bell gone, it's Henry's job.

2 (20). QB Carson Palmer. A top-5 quarterback in a league that leans on QBs and the second one off the board. This pick goes well with...

3 (37). WR T.J. Houshmandzadeh. CHAMPIONSHIP. Thank God this is an online league and I don't look like the guy in that commercial who can't pronounce his name. A No. 2 WR who puts up No. 1 WR numbers, the same as...

4 (48). WR Anquan Boldin. And here's another one of those guys. He's always put up numbers in the desert, but who knows what the Cardinals' new offense is gonna look like.

5 (65). RB DeAngelo Williams. So I was having computer problems getting into the draft and this is when I finally showed up as I was on the clock. I don't know what the Panthers' deal with DeShaun Foster is except that he can't stay healthy. Even so, I'm not a fan of this pick now that I look at it.

6 (76). QB Matt Leinart. I feel like I always take my second quarterback too early. I don't remember what the board looked like at this point, but there wasn't anyone else I saw and thought "I have to have that guy." Except maybe for...

7 (93). TE Dallas Clark. I did consider him for a few seconds at 6. I'm a little surprised he fell this far.

8 (104). WR D.J. Hackett. Has the inside track on the Seahawks' No. 2 WR spot and I'm counting on him as my main flex guy. This pick pissed somebody off, I think, possibly Jet. So that's always a good thing.

9 (121). RB LaMont Jordan. Bob said afterwards, "Well, it was bound to happen." But there's no quarterback in Oakland, Dominic Rhodes is suspended for the first four games, terrible O-line or not. And he's only a third guy here.

10 (132). Miami DEFENSE. Because you have to have one.

11 (149). K Robbie Gould. Same deal here.

12 (166). WR Marty Booker. His numbers might jump up if Trent Green has anything left.

13 (177). TE Marcus Pollard. He's a backup.

14 (188). WR Nate Burleson. If anything happens to Hackett, Burleson moves up a spot. He'll also provide return yards.

15 (205). WR Antwaan Randle El. The Redskins paid way too much for this guy last year and didn't get a whole lot back. It occurs to me that I have a lot of semi-interchangeable guys at the bottom of my roster, so there might be a move that comes out of this.

I Have GOT To Get Out Of This Business, Part VII

Undercover NBC Dateline reporter bolts from DEFCON 2007 by ZDNet's George Ou -- Undercover reporter Michelle Madigan (Associate Producer of NBC Dateline) got a little more than she bargained for when she tried to sneak in to DEFCON 2007 with hidden cameras to get someone to confess to a felony. When DEFCON staff announced the “spot the undercover reporter” game and told the audience that an undercover reporter [...]

We can also file this under "Things People Do To Make Their Jobs Much, Much Harder Than They Need To Be."

Sheesh.

If nothing else, the video's hilarious.

Out and Back: Transformers

Understand this before anything else, friends: There's a decent chance that I'm the biggest Transformers nit you know. The original cartoon was appointment television for me as a kid. (4 o'clock, Channel 29.) I've got over 100 Generation 1 figures in a box somewhere. I saw the 1986 animated movie in the theater when I was 11. I had a subscription to the comic book, for crying out loud. So when word got out that a live-action Transformers movie was actually being made, it got my attention. Then when the news came that Michael Bay was directing it ... well, I was expecting the worst.

Well, what a nice surprise this turned out to be.

The story is typical of a summer blockbuster, which means you can call it "uncomplicated" and "utterly preposterous" at best. It's less important in these comic book/video game/toy line adaptations, where the main sticking point is getting the origin and the characters right. We'll get to the characters later, but there are enough nods to the original canon back story (and an obvious but appropriately-timed callback to the animated film) that old-schooler me found Perfectly Acceptable.

I don't claim to be any kind of judge of acting talent, but Shia LeBouf's Sam stood out among some mostly unremarkable performances otherwise. (Nit Alert: It's Spike. WTF with this 'Sam' business.) Getting Peter Cullen on board to do Optimus Prime's voice was vital. (Apparently he got a standing ovation when he did his character intro at an advance screening.) That voice is so tied to that character that having someone else do it would have been tough to get past. It's not unlike a security blanket. I'm dead serious. Also, you've seen bits and pieces of them in the trailers, but the full transformations and effects are awesome.

However, it takes too long to get to the meat of the story. In fact, this movie manages to simultaneously be about 15 minutes too long and have a scene or two missing, which is no mean feat. Pacing's never been one of Bay's strong suits.

My biggest worry was that the movie would focus too much on the humans and not enough on the robots, since it's the robots' story that's being told. And sure enough, that's what we got. We really didn't get enough time to get to know the other Autobots. It was probably done that way because most of this movie's target audience is Transformers fans, and the assumption is that they already know the robots' characters and already have their own emotional investments in them as a result. But they still aren't developed enough, which leads to something that happens near the end of the film having a much, much smaller impact than it should. Also, I called the ending about 20 minutes before it happened.

It's not quite as good as the gushing reviews it's gotten, but it certainly isn't as bad as a lot of people like me feared it would be when the details started coming out. It's an enjoyable time-waste if nothing else.

Well, It Finally Happened

Yeah, so I haven't been around. What of it?

You can look back all throughout this blog and you'll find next to nothing about my romantic life.

Mostly because I'd be making it all up.

I've never been what you'd call "successful" with women. I think the root of it is an unusual apathy toward the whole thing during high school, where I was never really concerned with the fact that I didn't have a girlfriend at any point. To this day, I don't know why, and I feel like I never really caught up.

And the older you get, the harder it is just to meet single people. Couple that with my screwy work schedule and I just don't get the opportunities I'd like.

So naturally my mom's been getting concerned, because biologically, they've failed unless and until I reproduce. (I actually read this somewhere once that that's why parents make a big deal out of having grandchildren. Their job isn't done until you do.) She actually hadn't mentioned anything about it the last few times we'd talked, though.

I think deep in my heart, I knew this day would come, but I never really expected it.

I got an email from her on Sunday. One of the doctors she works with has an assistant who he thinks I might want to meet. This is all on my mom, though, because she's told everyone she works with that her 32-year-old son is single.

Yep... the other shoe just dropped. I now officially have one of 'those' mothers.

I Have GOT To Get Out Of This Business, Part VI

Courier-Journal blogger ejected from NCAA baseball super-regional

A Courier-Journal sports reporter had his media credential revoked and was ordered to leave the press box during the NCAA baseball super-regional yesterday because of what the NCAA alleged was a violation of its policies prohibiting live Internet updates from its championship events. Gene McArtor, a representative of the NCAA baseball committee, approached C-J staffer Brian Bennett at the University of Louisville's Jim Patterson Stadium in the bottom of the fifth inning in the U of L-Oklahoma State game. McArtor told him that blogging from an NCAA championship event "is against NCAA policies. We're revoking the credential and need to ask you to leave the stadium."

Courier-Journal executive editor Bennie L. Ivory challenged the NCAA's action last night and said the newspaper would consider an official response.

"It's clearly a First Amendment issue," Ivory said. "This is part of the evolution of how we present the news to our readers. It's what we did during the Orange Bowl. It's what we did during the NCAA basketball tournament. It's what we do."

U of L circulated a memo on the issue from Jeramy Michiaels, the NCAA's manager of broadcasting, before Friday's first super-regional game. It said blogs are considered a "live representation of the game" and that any blog containing action photos or game reports would be prohibited.

"In essence, no blog entries are permitted between the first pitch and the final out of each game," the memo said.

Bennett had filed Internet reports from U of L's NCAA Tournament games at the Columbia (Mo.) Regional and did so from the first two games of the super-regional.

He was told before yesterday's game by U of L assistant sports information director Sean Moth that he was violating NCAA policy by filing periodic reports for The Courier-Journal's Web site, courier-journal.com.

After consulting with his editors, Bennett filed a report at 4:12 p.m. after the top of the first inning and added 15 more reports before he was asked to leave. U of L won 20-2 to advance to the College World Series in Omaha, Neb.

"It's a real question that we're being deprived of our right to report within the First Amendment from a public facility," said Jon L. Fleischaker, the newspaper's attorney.

"Once a player hits a home run, that's a fact. It's on TV. Everybody sees it. (The NCAA) can't copyright that fact. The blog wasn't a simulcast or a recreation of the game. It was an analysis."

During the middle of yesterday's game, Courier-Journal representatives were told by two members of the U of L athletic staff that if the school did not revoke Bennett's credential it would jeopardize the school's chances of hosting another NCAA baseball event.

"If that's true, that's nothing short of extortion and thuggery," Ivory said. "We will be talking to our attorneys (today) to see where we go from here."

Said U of L athletic director Tom Jurich: "As an NCAA institution, we must abide by all NCAA rules, including those in hosting NCAA events. Our staff sought an amicable solution to this situation from many angles.

"It's unfortunate that it led to the actions that were taken. This is not an issue that should mar the most fantastic day for college baseball in this state."

McArtor said he did not "think it serves any purpose" to answer questions and declined further comment.

U of L's associate athletic director for media relations, Kenny Klein, referred questions to Michiaels, who did not return a telephone call yesterday.

-----------

Yeah, it's high time the NCAA moved into the 21st century. Or at the very least, the 20th.

Best line so far comes from Deadspin poo-bah Will Leitch: "The First Amendment vs. the NCAA. The battle we've all been waiting for."

Here's more.