Scratch that.
At Week 13 I set out to begin both a long, humorous look at how I became a Johnny-Come-Lately, renegade Fantasy Football waiver wire junkie; as well as give a week by week look at my Sunday lineups. You know – the smacks, the spills, the thrill of victory; the agony of…Well, you get the picture.
But a few things happened along the way.
First, I did a stupid thing by setting an almost all-Steelers lineup that week (Big Ben, Santonio Holmes, Mendenhall, and Heath Miller) against the Cleveland Browns. If ever there was a sure thing, I’d rationalized to myself at the time, it was a Steelers victory over the hapless Browns.
Granted, the Steelers had seen a slump of sorts since around Week 11 or 12, when Big Ben Roethlesberger took a hard one to the head during a loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. Still, this was the Browns, I figured. But fate dealt me an ugly hand during Week 13 (we’ll get to the uglier hand dealt to me by Big Ben and the boys during Week 14 in a few) as the Steelers completely and utterly tanked. I barely scored 12 fantasy points by the collective four.
I was so disgusted with the Steelers and myself for having so much faith in them, that during the next week I benched two players; traded Santonio Holmes back to his rightful owner, my friend Karin, and loaned Roethlesberger to her for Week 14.
Needless to say, Ben had one of the biggest games of his season during Week 15 (he single-handedly scored some 30-plus fantasy points) as the Steelers upset the playoff bound Green Bay Packers in a gut-wrenching 37-36 victory. There’s a definite lesson, I’m sure, to be learned here; possibly several..
But I’ve chocked it all up to karma and have moved on; probably none the wiser.
Now, I have a quarterback dilemma for Week 16: Get Ben back from Karin and start him Sunday against the Baltimore Ravens? Play Vince Young, of the Tennessee Titans against the smokin’ hot San Diego Chargers?
Or do I start Alex Smith, of the 49ers against the also hapless Detroit Lions? (See lessons learned during Week 13…The hapless Lions are a lot like the hapless Browns) However, the 49ers are in a lot better shape going into this week’s match-up against the Lions; especially on the defensive end of things.
But I digress.
I still have 24 hours, more or less, until I have to set my Week 16 lineup. That, hopefully, will sort itself out. Or things could start getting ugly.
In a nutshell, the epic story of the Red Zone Red Stripes and my Fantasy Football addiction has been scrapped mainly due to necessity. What will follow in the days and weeks ahead instead, will likelier be shorter missives, scoring updates and, but of course, my lunatic ravings.
The playoffs are upon us. To the victors go the spoils. And the losers, well they can eat shit and die. There will be no rest for the wicked; and no mercy on the weak.
