Picking 12th in your fantasy league? No problemo!

So my second attempt at drafting a winning fantasy football team went a little better (at least I think so) than the first time. It was made more challenging by the fact that I picked No. 12 in a 12-team league. It's a bit of a different beast in a snake draft and I had to draft some guys out of place because I wasn't going to get another shot for another 23 picks.
So, in the first round, I had Andre Johnson fall to me at No. 12 and I followed that up by taking Steven Jackson at No. 13. Yes, I have him in both leagues, but he was too good to pass up.
There is one guy I'm rather unsure about and that is Jamaal Charles of the Chiefs. I don't really know too much about him and I just took the word of Yahoo! today and just went with that one.
Here is the rest of Decatur Staleys II
QB Philip Rivers, SD
WR Andre Johnson, HOU
WR Michael Crabtree, SF
RB Steven Jackson, StL
RB Jamaal Charles, KC
TE Visanthe Schincoe, MIN
K Lawrence Tynes, KC
DEF New Orleans
Bench
Carson Palmer, QB, CIN
Marion Barber, RB, DAL
Devin Hester, WR, CHI
Steve Slaton, RB, HOU
Santonio Holmes, WR, NYJ
Todd Heap, TE, BAL
Sydney Rice, WR, MIN


The biggest key to this team is my quarterback, Phillip Rivers, who I ended up getting with the first pick of the four round. It was a need after I took my first two guys and Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees and Peyton Manning were all taken by the time I took the floor at No. 12 and No. 13. So I let it go to my next picks and it turned out OK. I also think Michael Crabtree is going to have a big year and getting him in the fifth round in a draft where people started taking defenses in the fourth and fifth rounds was a steal for me.
I did make two mistakes, though. I completely spaced on Holmes' suspension and now that I think about it, wasting my last pick on Sydney Rice might not have been one of the smartest things I've done in fantasy football. But it is what it is and I can always hit the waiver wire and make some moves.

Alright, going to be a quick one today, but I would never leave you without taking a look at today's Nussie Hunter pick of the day. Maxim has unveiled its 10 finalists in this year's HomeTown Hotties competition. Here is my early pick to win it. Her name is Monique and she lives in Albuquerque. So, yes there is something worth seeing when you're stranded there. It's not that bad. Here's more of her profile.

With the seventh pick in the XFL Fantasy Draft....

My fantasy football league draft was Thursday and in the league I run and named after Vince McMahon's XFL, we kicked off our fifth season.With the seventh pick in the draft Steven Jackson fell to me and I gobbled him up. I was actually going back and forth on whether or not to take Drew Brees or Andre Johnson, but I never had to. (BTW those two went 9 and 10 of the 12-team league).
So here's how the rest of the Decatur Staleys ( to pay homage to my Bears) fell.

QB Peyton Manning, IND
RB Steven Jackson, STL
RB Pierre Thomas, NO
RB/WR Felix Jones, RB, DAL
WR Chad Ochocinco, CIN
WR Mike Wallace, PIT
TE Tony Gonzalez, ATL
D/ST Steelers
K Rob Bironas, TEN
Bench
Thomas Jones, RB, KC
Matt Ryan, QB, ATL
Devin Aromashodu, WR, CHI
Nate Burleson, WR, DET
John Carlson, TE, SEA
Mewelde Moore, RB, PIT
Chris Chambers, WR, KC


It's a decent team, we'll see how it works out. I'm going to say my second round pick of Peyton Manning will probably pay the biggest dividend and get me the most points. Has anyone been more consistent or the past few year? And on a team that doesn't even try to mess around with a running game? Yeah, he's that good.  I'll keep an eye on the Chiefs and what they do with Thomas Jones. He's been so good the past few years with the Jets, it's going to be hard to see him not start in KC. I'd say he's the starter before long there. If Charlie Weis doesn't find him a role, he's crazy.
I have another draft set for Sunday afternoon. Any tips or guys I should keep an eye on? Any great ideas for a team name revolving around Greg Olsen of the Bears or Jay Cutler? Otherwise I'm going with the Yahoo! brother team to this ESPN franchise.

Alright folks, what does every team need on the sideline? Yep, cheerleaders. Nothing would look better cheering my new team on than some cheerleaders. The Denver Broncos shot their bikini calendar before the start of the season. I'd say things turned out quite well. What do you think?

Steven Jackson and the Rams are next

This Sunday the 1-10 St. Louis Rams come to Soldier Field to take on the Bears and normally I would feel pretty confident that this would be an easy win. Well, given the way the Bears have been playing of late, I'm not exactly sure how this game will shake out.
The Bears defense is dinged up and it appears likely Lance Briggs will not be suiting up for this one with a knee injury. That means the defense is going to be essentially a "B" Team at most positions. Yeah, it's not looking pretty.
The way Steven Jackson runs the ball (brutally) I'm not too confident he won't just go of against this defense and tear the Bears apart on the newly installed Soldier Field turf.
If that happens, I might have to jump on the "Fire Lovie" bandwagon. The defense is his baby and that is something that needs to be worked on over these final five games.
And I know someone is coming up with the idea to lose out and better the draft position of the team. Well, that would be OK, but the team traded away its first round pick in the Jay Cutler deal and its second round pick for Gaines Adams earlier in the season. Yeah, totally not cool.
So, essentially, losing is not beneficial in any light right about now and winning is the only thing that can make this team much of anything.
First, it can save Lovie's job and second, it can get Jay Cutler the confidence he needs to be the quarterback us fans want him to be next year when Jerry Angelo gives him the weapons needed to be the great quarterback they thought he would be.
My prediction for this one: Bears 27, Rams 17. But that won't get done until late in the game.



Allen Iverson rejoined the 76ers yesterday and it was pretty emotional. I don't know about you, but when I see one of the sports stars I look up to or admire, it makes it pretty hard for even me to keep from getting a little misty eyed.
He is going back to the place where it all started and I'm saying the return back to Philly will be good for him as a place to finish his career on a positive note.
He is one of the best guards to play the game and for a guy under 6 feet tall it is just amazing that he is able to do what he can with the ball in his hands. I've always been amazed by him and hope to see him end his career on a positive note.



I'm not normally a shoe freak, but thought these shoes, shown on Maxim.com today were pretty interesting. No, I won't be buying them, but take a look at the others, not just the "Skywalkers." I'm pretty impressed with Adidas and their idea to work with Star Wars here. It's a great idea and I thought they pulled it off quote well. Take a look at the link.

Alright, a bit quick through the blog today, but I will not disappoint with the Nussie Hunter, I promise. Today I'm introducing the world to Gemma Lee Ferrall. She's an Australian model who is now in the US. She was recently in Curves Magazine and I must say the pictorial is amazing. Take a look at this AND her best side...