FURIOUS PLAYS FOR FANTASY FOOTBALL OWNERS

by Mac G, Mac G's World

It has become taboo in the sports blogosphere to discuss fantasy football and I keep encountering self induced moratorium of all fantasy talk. While I agree most people do not care about the week 5 results of my "Raw Dawgin for Life" league nor do they want descriptive details of how the "Canine Commandos" rode the arm of Tom Brady to a triumph over "Friends of Jim Nantz" but there is no reason we can not have some discourse about the weekly results of individual players.

There is no denying that the majority of sports bloggers/readers play fantasy football. I am Commissioner of the aforementioned "Raw Dawgin" league and have 4 additional teams. With so many players to follow, I end up having a fantasy stake and competing interest in a majority of the games.

Aside from the obvious season ending injuries (See Deuce, Cadillac) or crappy player performance (See Brees, LJ, Gore), several individual plays occur in games that make you drop F bombs at your TV and potentially cost your fantasy team points/victories.

I had variety of unique distasteful things happen to my players' last week. This led me to compile a list of individual plays and situations that bring fantasy fury to owners' lives.

I KNOW this world needs more lists!

Game Time Decision- Who does not hate this one? Anyone who has needed to start Joseph Addai or Brian Westbrook the past few weeks feels this pain. The worst is when you knew they were questionable but they are far better than the bums on your bench so you risk the chance they still might play in the later Sunday games.

Then all of sudden, Kenton Keith is in the backfield or Brian Westbrook is in street clothes against the Giants, and the big fat zero potentially costs you a game in the standings. Do I sound bitter? Absolutely. Plus, I have better things to do on a Sunday morning then hit refresh on the injury report page to find out if Santana Moss's groin is OK, like figuring out if Lawrence Maroney is going to suit up!

Player getting hurt in warm ups-This was a first for me until last week as Pitt WR Santonio Holmes pulled his hammy in pre game warm ups and did not play. He was actually left off the active roster for the game anthere was no way of knowing this until after the game had started. To make matters worse, Holmes was a must start after coming off his best day as a pro last week with 150 yards and 2 scores too. Another fat goose egg!

Instant replay over turns a TD- It is like premature ejaculation as you get all pumped for a score by one of your players, only to see that little Fn red flag on the field and you end up yelling at the screen that the TD should count, no matter if it should or not. When the TD is overturned, you end up ranting some more about "how you got screwed" or this "instant replay is BS", even though you approve of using technology to get the call right. BTW, Willie Parker was in last week too!

Running back gets stopped short of the goal line- The most excruciating time in fantasy football is watching your RB tote his goal line carries. So many variables are at play, as the coach can go play action or bring in a short yardage specialist to screw your back out of a score. I hate when your RB is gashing his opponent on a drive then he runs the ball all the way down and is tackled short of the end zone. However, your back comes out because he is gassed and the backup RB comes in and on the next play, scores. Yes, this happened to me twice last week as Najeh "Poop" Davenport heisted 2 TDS from Parker.

QB sneaks for a TD- Once again your back gets hosed and this took place last week when Kurt Warner dove in for 6 against the Rams. Edges owners (ME) are still cursing.

RB going in for a TD but fumbles into end zone- Owners are hurt no matter who wins the scrum for the ball but it is additionally painful when their own team recovers and some fat ogar lineman gets credit for the score. Once again, this happened to Edge owners last week (still cursing!) and they were robbed of points.

QB throws a TD to a lineman- I am sure all owners of Pats TE and WRs would never like to see Mike Vrabel score another TD in their lifetimes. All he does is rob fantasy owners and supplies another reason to hate Bellicheat.

QB gets benched during the game- This happened last weekend in the Falcons game as Leftwich came into replace Harrington. If your QB gets benched, it is pretty much a guaranteed defeat. I guess if you are resting your hopes on the arm of Joseph Harrington, you have much bigger problems in fantasy and probably deserve what came to you last week. A punch in the gut as you watched Leftwich air mail red zone passes into the stands.

Defensive gets a turnover but is tackled before reaching the end zone or special teams' player almost breaks a return TD. Nothing changes the outcome of a fantasy match up like defensive/special team scores. Ask any team that has played the Bears or Steelers D this season or went up against the Bills last week.

This is another one of the most exciting plays for a fantasy owner. My blood pressure immediately rises and 4 letter words start to fly when a player on my D or special teams almost scores. Plus, nothing says disappointment more than watching your team's returner get tackled by a punter of kicker.

Going for 2 points- This fleeces the automatic point(s) from your kicker. If this is done early enough in a game and the team misses it, they keep going for 2 to catch up. This further aggravates the kicker's owner and can determine the outcome of close fantasy games.

I apologize if any of these touched a nerve for fantasy owners and yes, there is always next week to blame one or more of these instances for your team losing again.