Letter From The Commish

In light of last week's paperwork snafu by the King of Dogs' front office, the Commish would like to remind each and every one of you to consult the website for answers to any questions you may have. Of course, you're also welcome to contact the Commish directly. With the demise of the papertrail left by mailed copies of the newsletter in years past and, in fact, the transition out of the weekly e-mailed version of the past several years, you may want to print the rosters and other necessary league paperwork every couple of weeks to stay current. Don't let what happened to our very own Junior happen to you. Give a hoot, watch who you boot!

Lately, the Commish has heard from several of you regarding trade talks that you're involved in and it got him to thinking. It doesn't seem as though the sport matters; whether it's fantasy football or fantasy baseball, owners tend to put an inordinate amount of stock into what a player has "done for me lately." By that, I mean it seems as though a player can rush for 150 yards one week and be considered the next best thing since sliced bread (a.k.a. LaShon Johnson for example--PMS '96) while two bad weeks consitutes a falloff in talent (a.k.a. Marcus Allen--LA Riots '96). As a result, trade talks, whether just initiated or on-going, suddenly take a different path. The Commish finds this to be particularly so in football although those of us who play baseball can vouch for it as well. I guess what it all leads to in the Commish's mind is that if an owner has a true and realistic take on a player, one game or one week (or even two or three) shouldn't make much difference in the overall scheme of things. One either knows a player's talent or not. Those owners who oscillate like some electric fan from one extreme back to the other are demonstrating a lack of knowledge--or, at the very least, a lack of conviction regarding a player. And where does this show up the most? Rookies. In football in recent years, Lawrence Phillips, Randy Moss, Curtis Enis, Peyton Manning, Ryan Leaf, etc., have all come and gone down the rookie walkway, modeling like Tyra Banks for 12 drooling owners. Actually, regarding rookies, baseball is even worse than football. I'm sure that Coach Gill can speak to this subject. It's difficult enough to consumate a trade in fantasy football. Consider this the next time you find yourself in discussions with another owner. What do you REALLY think about the player? Not, what do you think about that player's performance last Sunday?

A few facts to chew on after the 3rd week:

• The Iguanas lost Jamal Anderson for the season. After scoring 55 the week Jamal went down, they managed but 11 points in Week 3. Starting wideouts Terry Glenn and Keenan McCardell have combined for 4 points after three games.

• The Palace of Swords, in two games since the injury to starting QB Vinny Testaverde, have thrown exactly 1 TD pass. On Wednesday, they resorted to picking up QB Jeff Garcia knowing that he'd only be starting for one week for sure. But what's worse is that the Swords are still waiting for their 1st TD reception of the season after Week 3.

• Montezuma's Revenge is still awaiting RB Robert Smith's 1st TD while Keyshawn Johnson's only TD was in Week 1. The other starting WR Rod Smith is battling leg injuries-not a good sign this early in the year. They're also attempting to overcome the injury to Steve McNair with Neil O'Donnell.
• For the Bearded Clams, Steve Young has only scored 12 points thus far after coming off an MVP season in '98. Furthermore, target J.J. Stokes is scoreless to date.
• The NFC Norris have scored no running back points after 3 weeks.
• The King of Dogs have scored the fewest points (51) while allowing the most (168).
• PMS finally got its 1st TD from Randy Moss in Week 3. Mix in only 10 QB points and 15 K points through 3 weeks and it's easy to see why PMS in 0-3 on the year.
• Grande To The Party is 2nd in scoring, averaging 46.3 points a game. The Party's only loss was to the high scoring team in Wee 2. In Week 3, they played the 4th highest scoring team.
• The Strange Highways have 16 QB points (10 in Week 1), and 20 RB and WR points (3 TDs total from each position to date).
• The Stanley Steamers have but 6 RB points and 8 WR points on the year. Terrell Davis has scored just 1 TD and has not yet passed the 100 yard mark in a game.
• The Natural Mystics have gotten balanced scoring, with production from no less than 6 positions every week so far.
• The Retreads have gotten 16 points from their RBs, a far cry from '98. Fred Taylor, the #2 pick in the 1999 draft, has not scored after 3 weeks and is still battling early season injuries.

Perhaps it's just the Commish, but has anyone else noticed that fewer teams than ever before are holding onto more than one kicker or defense? It used to be that most teams kept two of each on the roster until at least Week 10 or 11. Now they've become like pennies. A person only needs to look down to find one laying around. What this means, of course, is that more running backs and wide receivers are being gobbled up than ever. Good luck finding much help on the waiver wire.

The snoring coming from Coach Will's bedroom tells me that it's time to close for this week. So, I'll lay me down to sleep and dream dreams of dropping back into the pocket while you....

-Go deep, I'll throw it!

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