That’s right, the impending return of the NFL season means it’s time to get the gang together for the annual fantasy draft. We had ours Sunday night, and here’s the lineup I’m sporting this season in our 14-team league…
Starters
QB – Matt Schaub, HOU
RB – Jonathan Stewart, CAR
RB – Brandon Jacobs, NYG
WR – Andre Johnson, HOU
WR – Percy Harvin, MIN
RB/WR – Mike Wallace, PIT
TE – Greg Olsen, CHI
K – Garrett Hartley, NO
D – Carolina
Bench
WR – Mohamed Massaquoi, CLE
WR – Roy Williams, DAL
RB – Kevin Smith, DET
QB – Jason Campbell, OAK
RB – Correll Buckhalter, DEN
TE – Jeff King, CAR
WR – Brandon LaFell, CAR
Early analysis – I’m thin at running back but really like my crop of receivers. A preseason trade for another back isn’t out of the question, but as it is I like my chances as long as Houston’s passing game keeps up the #1 form it had last year. What about you? Who are you looking at as a fantasy stud this year? Who’s going to be a bust? Let me know in the comments about your outlook for this year.
On Monday, my Charlotte Bobcats made a surprising move by signing free agent big man Kwame Brown. Why is it surprising? In 2001, Bobcats owner Michael Jordan, then the manager of basketball operations for the Washington Wizards, made Brown the first ever high-schooler drafted #1 overall. Brown never lived up to that billing, and while he’s put together a decent journeyman’s career coming off the bench, he’s gone down as one of the greatest draft busts of all time and his name is frequently used to mock Jordan’s reputation as an executive. Now, nine years later, Jordan has brought Brown to Charlotte.
As I was doing some reading on the signing, I came across this article by The Washington Post‘s Sally Jenkins that was written at the close of Brown’s tumultuous rookie year. It’s a truly eye-opening piece. As fans, we see an underperforming young player simply as a disappointing athlete. Jenkins takes a look at the 19-year old young man who went from troubled kid to millionaire superstar overnight. It opens a door to a world that we as sports fans rarely give much thought to – namely, who our favorite team’s players are as people. The article’s long, but it’s very well-written, and if you’re a sports fan at all, I can’t recommend it highly enough. After reading it, I’ll be pulling for Kwame a little bit more this year.
Last week, San Fransisco 49ers running back Glen Coffee announced his retirement from the NFL. A football player retiring is usually unremarkable, unless the player is a superstar or Brett Favre takes his retirement total into double digits. What makes Coffee remarkable is that he’s only 23 years old and was expected to be a key contributor to the 49ers backfield this season. Why would a perfectly healthy second-year running back hang up the cleats during camp? For Coffee, it was the realization that God didn’t want him on the football field, but rather had other plans for his life. Recently, a radio station interviewed him about his decision, and it’s clear to see the great passion this man has for Christ, willing to give up a career people all across America dream of because his conscience wouldn’t allow him to continue. An excerpt…
“When I was in the league, my heart was always in turmoil. And when my heart is in turmoil, I can’t account for anyone else. I can’t do what I want to do as far as spreading the gospel and ministry if my heart is not in peace. I really felt like for me to do what I need to do and for me to answer my calling, I needed to be outside of football. If you’re not at peace yourself, it’s hard to minister to others.”
Head on over and read the rest. May God bless this guy in his faith and give him guidance for his future.
I’m heading to a baseball game this evening, watching the Cincinnati Reds take on the St. Louis Cardinals. My wife won’t be going with me, but if she were I’d like to think I wouldn’t be like this guy. Congratulations, my friend, for looking like the world’s biggest doofus on national TV.
Basketball fans, check out this article from Sports Illustrated’s website about Harvard grad Jeremy Lin, who just signed a contract with the NBA’s Golden State Warriors. After going undrafted, Lin impressed scouts with his play in the NBA’s summer league, including a strong performance while going toe-to-toe with #1 draft pick John Wall of the Washington Wizards. The article paints a portrait of a humble guy…
“How interesting, then, that his choice of where to play in the league came down to those two teams [Dallas and Golden State], and the Warriors won out again.
“Well, we’ll see,” Lin said. “I have not done anything in the NBA yet. Who knows? If my career is terrible, maybe it will be the Dallas Mavericks who won.”
…and a Christian believer…
“But he will also have to reconcile his beliefs with the NBA lifestyle. A non-denominational Christian, he speaks openly of playing for the glory of God, of one day becoming a pastor who can head up non-profit organizations, either here or abroad.
“I know there is a lot of temptation out there and I have heard about the NBA lifestyle,” Lin said. “I am not saying I am better than anybody else, but I am going to try to live the way I have always lived and try not to change just because I am in the NBA.”
Seems to be a guy to keep an eye on this coming season, and one to root for in the current landscape of diva sports stars. Godspeed, Jeremy – except when you’re playing Charlotte, of course.
In case you live on Saturn and haven’t heard, LeBron James will be announcing to the world tonight on a one-hour ESPN special where he’ll be playing next year. I thought about writing a bit tonight about the special. Although I’ve followed LeBronapalooza with great interest as an NBA fan, I must say that the endless hype and now this self-suggested TV special are starting to seem a bit much. I don’t know LeBron, so I can’t say if this is all a massive ego trip, but it certainly does look that way. I’ll wait and see the show and the decision tonight to see how it all comes off.
What I do want to go ahead and highlight is a budding NBA superstar who is decidedly not on an ego trip right now, though he honestly has as much right to be as anyone. That would be Kevin Durant, the 21-year old star who lit up the league this year (outscoring even the mighty King James) and surprisingly propelled a young Oklahoma City Thunder team into the playoffs. He signed quite the big contract this past week to stay in OKC for an additional five years, but there was no TV show, no round-the-clock media promotion. The announcement came from Durant via a simple tweet…
“Extension for 5 more years wit the Thunder….God Is Great, me and my family came a long way…I love yall man for real, this a blessing!”
I don’t know whether or not Durant is a Christian, but the humility and class with which he’s conducted himself on and off the court is definitely worthy of our emulation. While LeBron and others are basking in the media frenzy, KD is at the NBA’s summer league cheering on his teammates (pictured). For those who don’t know, summer league is about a notch below training camp. Teams send their raw rookies or guys who they’re deciding on possibly inviting to camp. In other words, you almost never see even your average NBA players at summer league, let alone the league’s leading scorer. But there he is, a breath of fresh air in a summer of insanity.
Look, I’m as curious as anybody to see where LeBron lands. He’s a phenomenal basketball player and seems like a decent guy. However, when it comes to players I’d like to see kids today emulate in attitude, KD trumps the King in my book.
Back in October, I was pumped to see what kind of progress the Charlotte Bobcats would make in their second year under coach Larry Brown. While the start was a little rough, they pulled off some nice trades, came together as a team, and put together a season that finally put Charlotte back on the NBA map. That season came to an abrupt end last night when the Orlando Magic beat them 99-90, completing a disappointing four-game sweep of their first-round playoff series.
Though there’s no shame in losing to the Magic, who are clearly the better team, I was at least hoping that Charlotte would make a tough series out of it. Even with the disappointing ending, though, this season was the best time I’ve had watching basketball since the Hornets departed for New Orleans eight years ago. The ‘Cats were tough-as-nails defensively (#1 in the NBA, in fact) and when they were clicking as a team they were a lot of fun to watch. I made three trips down to the Cable Box (as Time Warner Cable Arena is affectionately known) this year, and saw three wins over the NBA’s elite – the Cavs, Suns, and Lakers. Watching their games online made for some fun evenings at home. Perhaps the best thing about the season, though, was seeing the city of Charlotte get energized about pro basketball again. Michael Jordan’s first few months as owner have been great for the club, and Jordan’s presence on the bench, chatting with players and barking at officials, is exciting for fans to see. My brother attended the sold-out Game 3 of the series and said that the arena was as loud as any he’s been in. This team will face some questions in the offseason (the future of the perpetually-nomadic Coach Brown being the biggest), but the future is definitely looking up for the Bobcats. Rough series, guys – but great season.
So, how did everybody’s NCAA Tournament brackets hold up? If you’re like me and most everyone I’ve talked to, not so good. I nailed Duke and West Virginia’s trips to the Final Four, but blew it in the other half of the bracket when Pittsburgh and Kansas (who I had winning it all) were bounced before the Sweet 16. However, due to the fact that everybody else screwed up just as bad, I’m actually in first place over at Darius’ Book Bracketology contest, and all I need is one more WVU win to take home a nice haul in books and Amazon gift cards. Like they say – in the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king. Let’s goooooooo Mountaineers!
