FANTASY: It’s so hard to say goodbye

Published 11:32 pm Wednesday, December 11, 2013

It’s time to reach into the middle console of my GMC Jimmy and peel out the mixed tape from the summer of 1991, find a tape deck and fast forward to track 6.

Cue Boyz II Men’s “It’s So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday.”

Yes, the song is the perfect accompaniment to the demise of my fantasy football season. The Last Action Heroes started with such prominence, but went down in a “Blaze of Glory” (sorry, it’s 90’s song trivia week) and crashed out of the playoffs in the first round.

I haven’t failed to reach at least the semifinals of our 14-team league since 2009. I have finished runner-up twice and am still in search of that elusive Dereliction League title. I’ve been champion in many other fantasy football, baseball and basketball leagues, but not this one and we’re going on year No. 10.

But as Bill Parcells once famously said: You are what you’re record is. My record was 6-7 and I snuck into the playoffs with a subpar team full of “names” that never produced.

When you field a starting lineup that features receivers Andre Johnson and Victor Cruz, running back Marshawn Lynch and quarterback Eli Manning, you don’t expect to struggle to score points. That is why I traded at one point during the season for every name I just called out.

But this illustrious group, along with underachieving Ben Tate, Tony Gonzalez, kicker Steven Hauschka and the New England Patriots defense combined to give this owner a whopping 81 points.

It gets worse.

Last week the NFL provided more touchdowns than in any other regular season week in history.

My team combined for 3!

My opponent, Orchard Park, almost beat me solely with the Kansas City Chiefs defense, which went off, scoring a defensive touchdown and special teams touchdown for 32 points in our league’s scoring. Throw in a 32-point effort by Matt Forte against the Dallas Cowboys on Monday Night Football and you get the idea.

My team and my season were toast.

On a side note, in my only other league, also a 14-teamer but with standard scoring, I benched the Chiefs defense because I was hoping the Oakland Raiders would follow up where others had left off benefitting from New York Jets quarterback Geno Smith’s turnover-itus.

Nope.

The Jets went off and I ended up losing that league’s playoff game by two points. Would’ve been in the semifinals in at least one league if I played the Chiefs.

It’s so hard to say goodbye to my fantasy season.

But enough about my fantasy failures, here are some tidbits that will help those of you still playing make the final push for home and the league title.

1. Be wary of players on playoff clinching teams. Owners enjoying big numbers from Peyton Manning or Drew Brees need to pay attention. No one is going for an undefeated season this year, so once teams clinch all they can in the postseason (home field, etc.) they are going to limit their starters in those final games.

2. Weather leads to points. Last week showed that snow and frigid temperatures do the opposite of what you think. Philadelphia Eagles running back Lesean McCoy broke his franchise’s rushing record on one of the snowiest fields I’ve seen on high definition television.

3. Don’t chase points that have already been scored. Take a look at players emerging now — not ones that were delivering big numbers last month. The NFL season is a marathon, not a sprint, and many times it takes a while for a player to find his footing while others use it all up in the first two months.

An example of both are receivers Larry Fitzgerald and T.Y. Hilton. Now, a month ago, you would place Hilton in your lineup despite Fitzgerald’s name. But in the past month, Fitzgerald is averaging double-digit point totals (in a point-per-reception league) while Hilton has failed to go for more than 50 yards receiving in his last four games. The two games prior to that Hilton combined for 251 yards and three touchdowns.

Here are a couple players who could lead you to a fantasy title:

At running back, I would look strongly at Jacksonville Jaguars’ Maurice Jones-Drew. His next two opponents are Buffalo and Tennessee and MJD falls into the category discussed in the point above. He struggled early, but is finishing strong. At receiver, try and target Marques Colston, who finally woke up last week with 125 yards and two touchdowns. Teams are going to continue to focus on Jimmy Graham and hopefully this is a sign that Colston will be strong going forward.

Well, my season is over, but I hope yours continues for a few more weeks. Good luck!