East Division Preview

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We have arrived. All our bags came in nicely at the baggage claim (except yours... they searched yours, and your undies are hanging out from where they didn't really zip it back up). Rental car checked out nicely; they even upgraded us. And we're all checked in at the hotel. We're here. The time has come. No more waiting.

Let's do this.

After a long, grueling off-season filled with suspensions and reinstatements, retirements and unretirements, trades and free-agent signings, the NFL season is now. Which means Fantasy Football for the League of the Crust has already begun. But, before all the rip-off trades get offered and the league point leaders get screwed out of wins (who's bitter?), I wanted to do a preview of the East division. So here it goes.

Thundermonkeys R Go!
JMB had one of the more solid lineups last year, and this year it shouldn't be much different. Aaron Rodgers is going to be one of the 5 best fantasy QBs this year, and Greg Jennings is only going to get better. The team did take a major blow when Terrel Owens was signed by the Buffalo Bills, relegating Lee Evans to a number 2 WR. Essentially, it's going to be impossible for both of those wide outs to have a huge day on the same week. But, they are both stud receivers, and with some insecurity at the RB position, it looks as though the Bills may turn to the air for offensive production. Everyone knows that both Marion Barber and Brandon Jacobs are going to produce, and Matt Ryan is going to love his new security blanket in Tony Gonzales. And, if for some reason they don't hit it off, Visanthe Shiancoe is going to make a killing off Brett Favre. He's poised for a breakout year. The Thundermokeys biggest challenge is going to come when his backups are forced to play, either via bye week or injury. There's not really anyone worth putting into a starting lineup on the bench, and because of that, this team will lose some games it probably should win.

Djibouti Crust
Jorge's team has a really interesting makeup. There are a lot of guys that are going to be consistent point factories, but not many that are going to wow us with their massive performances. Romo's career is at a crossroads, and he should step up to the plate this year, and having a whole off-season with new number 1 Roy Williams should be a big help (to Romo, Williams, the Cowboys, and The Crust). Dwayne Bowe is hoping that the Chiefs didn't jump the gun on Cassell, a move that will be scrutinized throughout the season, and the Chargers are hoping for another 1,000+ yards out of Vincent Jackson. Djibouti Crust's weakest position group is that of Running Back. While led by the sure-fire Pierre Thomas (although starting the season injured is never a good sign), the other backs are question marks. Ced Benson is gearing up for his last hurrah, hoping to make the splash that some expected at the beginning of his career, and Felix Jones is trying to stay healthy so he does make that impact that he showed he could last year. The sleeper of this team might be TE Dustin Keller. Superstar rookie QBs and solid running games can make tight ends look really good, and Keller is a good enough player to capitalize on an opportunity like this one. Oh, and mark my words: Jorge will get a victory this year solely on the backs of the best defense in the NFL, the Minnesota Vikings. Overall, if a few of Jorge's question marks turn into exclamation points, Djibouti Crust could be tough to beat.

Deion Found Jesus
Robby G is poised to score the most points via the pass than any other team in the League of the Crust this season. Tom Brady is back and his knee looks healthy. He's not going to throw 50 TDs again, but he should be in the 40s. And, while I'm glad that I am not the proud owner of one Brandon Marshall simply because it is hard to replace the arm of his former QB, Jake Cutler, it would be a mistake to deny his immense talent. Marshall isn't the only 1200-yard receiver on DFJ that lost his passer in the off-season either. Antonio Bryant is coming off of a breakout year, and expecting one of the 19 Buccaneer QBs to just get the ball somewhere close to him. Also, there's Reggie Wayne. Enough said. Even Chris Henry should have a solid (if not stellar) year. Carson is back in action, and Henry has looked good in camp and the pre-season. However, Robby is going to struggle mightily to score points on the ground. LT is always good for points, as long as he can stay on the field, which isn't a guarantee. I am, however, concerned that Darren Sproles, the other back on the Bolts, is also going to be starting opening day for DFJ. While he will get a point for every hand-off the Chargers run this year, he has handicapped himself by nearly guaranteeing not having a day when both RBs are stars. And if either goes down, he has no one to pick up the pieces.

Prediction
When the season comes to a close after week 13, the credits will roll in the order they appeared.

Thundermonkeys are going to lead this division with great QB play and two of the best RBs in the league. Greg Jennings is going to show that he, along with Rodgers, are undervalued.

Djibouti Crust will finish second through surprise efforts on the parts of Romo, R. Williams, and Benson. All three are going to out-perform their expectations, and the rest of his lineup is going to keep him consistently competitive.

That relegates Deion Found Jesus to last in the division, but only by a nose. The lack of any real running backs on any team not playing in SoCal is going to be his demise. Don't get me wrong, he's gonna light a few people up, and may even finish this season with the highest single week score, but any week where the Chargers play a team with good run defense, it's going to be tough to win.


So, there you have it. The East division in (really long) nutshell. Now please stow all tray tables and place seat backs in the upright and locked position, because we're taking off. And it might be a bumpy ride.

North Division Preview

With the new NFL season just starting, let's take a look at the League of the Crust divisions.

North Division

Members - Tenacious D, Beatubad, Wrong Answer.

2008 Summary: Each of these three teams made the playoffs last year. This is the only division that can claim that. Wrong Answer is the defending champion, and had the best W-L record last year. Tenacious D finished only 1 game above .500 last season, but was #1 in points. Beatubad snuck into the playoffs in 6th place, but then made a run to the finals and finished 2nd to Wrong Answer. Needless to say, the North Division's teams had strong seasons last year.

2009 Preview: First place, Tenacious D. Cutler should have another strong year in Chicago, Moss has Brady throwing to him, Roddy White poised to have another very strong year, and Steven Jackson is still a hoss. Also, Thomas Jones should benefit from a NY Jets offense that will run the ball a lot since rookie Mark Sanchez is the starting QB. The points will still be there this year for Tenacious D, but this year they will have a little more luck with the wins. Second place, Beatubad. This team is a mix of sure things and question marks. Peyton Manning will put up good numbers. Steve Smith, as long as he is healthy, will put up good numbers. Beatubad should have solid contributors in Eddie Royal and red-zone threat TE John Carlson. However, there are big question marks at the rest of the offensive positions. A rookie RB, a RB on a committee, and two mediocre at best WRs. Since this team has the elder Manning, and some strong WRs, I have giving them the slight edge to take 2nd place in the division. Third place, Wrong Answer. I am sure I will be wrong about this, as Wrong Answer managed to have the 2nd fewest points scored of the playoff teams last year, but had the most wins, and won the title. But, there are just too many questions for me to go on record predicting a great season for this team. The younger Manning, Eli, is just not a strong fantasy QB, and he is still without Plaxico Burress. Boldin and Jackson should put up good numbers at the WR position for Wrong Answer. Dallas Clark will remain a favored target for Peyton Manning and will contribute at the TE position. Similar to Beatubad, there are uncertainties at the RB position and flex position. I think the 2nd and 3rd place team in this division are facing similar issues, but I give the advantage to the team with the better Manning at QB.

Playoff Outlook: Only the division winner will make the playoffs this year.

Update: Rivalry Week

Working the schedule wouldn't allow me to set up the rivalry week and yet keep the formula as it should be (play everyone in the league once and twice against division foes), so I just set up the schedule properly and set 'rivalry week' for week 13. Hopefully, it will give some kind of value to the end of the regular season.

Commissioner's Note - Rivalry Week and Division Changes

Ok, so I basically decided to go ahead and assign the rivalry week match-ups myself. For one thing, I didn't get everyone's preferences and for another, it's easier this way. I made the decisions by finding a way to make everyone's match-up be against someone with whom their all-time record was either tied or just one game apart. The one exception is JMB vs Tim, where Tim holds the all-time record, 6-3-0. But it works out that way anyway, because a) they're in-laws and b) their nine games against each other is tied for the most head-to-head meetings of anyone else in the league.

Most of you don't quite have a 'rivalry' with your match-up, but it'll develop over time.

First or Last vs Deion Found Jesus
1-1-0 Regular Season

1-1-0 All-time

I Have a Bush vs Beatubad
2-2-0 Regular Season
3-2-0 All-time [I Have a Bush]

Vince Young vs Djibouti Crust
2-1-0 Regular Season [Djibouti Crust]
2-2-0 All-time

The Undisputed vs Tenacious D
4-3-0 Regular Season [Tenacious D]
4-4-0 All-time

I'm a Texan vs Wrong Answer
2-2-0 Regular Season
3-2-0 All-time [I'm a Texan]

Texas Thundermonkeys vs Hybrids
4-2-0 Regular Season [Hybrids]
6-3-0 All-time [Hybrids]

Lastly, I decided to go ahead and split the league into four divisions of three teams. One, I like the format better. Two, it makes it much easier to set the 13-game schedule (one game against every team in the league and two against your division foes). So here's how the division make-up now.

NORTH

• Wrong Answer
• Tenacious D
• I Have a Bush

SOUTH

• Beatubad
• Vince Young
• The Undisputed

EAST

• Texas Thundermonkeys
• Deion Found Jesus
• Djibouti Crust

WEST

• Hybrids
• I'm a Texan
• First or Last

The other two teams in your divisions will be the team you play twice every season. Get to know them.

Here Comes 2009 - Starting a 7th Season

As every new NFL season comes around and I get the opportunity to add a year to the existence of the league, I become more and more proud. I can certainly say that when I went around asking some friends if they wanted to join my fantasy league in 2003, I had no idea that I would be welcoming many of the same people back for a seventh go-round in 2009. But I am, and it's the best league around and I'm glad to have you all back.

That's right. Twelve out of twelve managers are coming back for this season. A first for the LOTC. And best of all, it looks like it's a permanent league make-up. Twelve competitors, committed to winning the league.

I'd like to take a few minutes now to go over all of the changes that you will be seeing this year, both in our league constitution and on the yahoo fantasy football experience.

INJURED RESERVE

As voted on by our league members, we have instituted an Injured Reserve option for the 2009 season. This change became necessary after we agreed to convert the league to a dynasty format last season. I do need to address a possible issue here. This year, when I was going over the league settings, I noticed that yahoo had added an IR slot option to rosters. I went ahead and included it in the settings, but I don't know if yahoo has the same standard requirements for using the slot. I have looked all over their info pages, checked the message boards and even sent an email to them to try to get some information on the position, but I've heard nothing back yet. I'm assuming that the IR slot remains empty until a player goes on IR in real life, which would be ideal. However, I am wary of the possibility that you might be able to place any injured player in that spot on any given week to add an open slot to pick up a FA. If this is the case, I trust all of my managers will not use the slot for that purpose, right?

FLEX POSITION

2009 marks the return of the flex position to our rosters. This year, yahoo expanded the flex position designation, allowing commissioners to include TEs in the mix. So our flex position can be a RB, WR or a TE if you so choose (instead of the traditional RB/WR limitation).

DIVISIONS

This is a bit of a downer for me. As some of you might recall, I mentioned last season that my first experience playing fantasy football involved playing in divisions, which I had loved. I added that my experience had been four divisions of three teams and yahoo only allowed two divisions. Well, lo and behold, I was updating the settings for this season and yahoo had expanded the options to allow up to four divisions. If I had known this was going to happen, I would have insisted we break up the league into four divisions, but I didn't. So instead, we're broken into two divisions, which is still an improvement in my opinion. For a reminder of the layout of the new divisions, refer to the league constitution.

WAIVERS

In what turned out to be the closest vote amongst the proposed changes, bringing back a 24-hour waiver barely managed to force it's way back into our league settings. Yahoo has incorporated an additional option in waivers that I will cover later on, called budgeting. Since it was not discussed last season, I could not incorporate it this year anyway, but I think it is something we should seriously consider adding to the settings next season. For now, waiver position will be based on a permanently rolling list. Waiver priority is randomly assigned at first and then, as you pick up a player on waivers, you move to the back of the line.

THE YAHOO EXPERIENCE

I'm only going to cover the changes that yahoo made that will affect/be-of-use to us this season. Other changes in settings options that we could possibly incorporate in 2010 will be discussed later.

• Improved StatTracker - Reportedly, the stat tracker will be even more accurate in real-time this season and will also include a chat feauture so that if you and your opponent are following at the same time, you can actually chat/trash-talk about the games through the application.
• Custom Schedules - Im going to love this because it actually allows the commissioner to set a 'rivalry week' into the schedule to intensify the competition. So I would appreciate you guys telling me who you would prefer to play during the rivalry week so that I can customize the schedule as soon as possible. Not everyone will have a 'rivalry' but one can develop by playing the same person in the same week every year. I know Dinger probably wants to play me, but we'll have to see.....
• Mock Drafts - You can now do as many mock drafts as you would like before your actual draft to plan out your draft strategy ahead of time.

More to come as the draft gets closer. Thank you all for joining. And please do start to adjust to checking this blog once a week (at least when you sign on to set your starting lineups). As time passes and I get used to managing this blog, more and more useful information will be posted on this page on a regular basis.

Go Cowboys!