Again, it was an extraordinary game. But it wasn't more dramatic or memorable than Baltimore blowing its chance to end New England's undefeated season on a Monday night last December, right? The more I thought about it, I decided the fantasy subplots propelled the Philly-Dallas game to its record numbers. That had to be it.
There were a ton of subplots going in that game. The Eagles and Cowboys may be the NFC's two best teams. Both are fierce NFC East rivals. And there is that whole Terrell Owens-Donovan McNabb thing.
Those all contributed to great numbers of viewers. But fantasy football also brought in a ton of others.
The New York Times ran a story this week about Google's efforts to prevent Microsoft from buying Yahoo. Most of the story wouldn't be of interest to sports fans (other than those strange fans who also pay attention to issues beyond the world of sports), but this paragraph is noteworthy:
One person involved in Yahoo's deliberations suggested that "the sum of the parts are worth more than the whole," arguing that its various pieces like Yahoo Finance, for example, could be sold to a company like the News Corporation for a huge premium while Yahoo Sports could be sold to a company like ESPN, a unit of the Walt Disney Company.
(Emphasis mine). As Marc Edelman writes at Above the Law, Yahoo Sports has always been the leader in free fantasy football, and if one of Yahoo's big fantasy competitors -- ESPN or CBS Sports -- were to purchase Yahoo, fantasy football could become a much more expensive hobby:
Yahoo Sports plays a very important role in limiting price increases in the fantasy-sports hosting market. Presumably, if Yahoo were to leave the market, not only might free fantasy hosting disappear, but ESPN and CBS Sports might feel less constrained against increasing their own customer fees.
It seems like someone has to fill the free fantasy void. But if Yahoo gets sold, who will that someone be?
Every football season, my wife hooks me up with some new football gear. She gets me some new Redskins shirts, shorts, drawers, watches and even shoes. That's despite the fact that my football obsession causes her to become a 'football widow' each fall.
Well, her purchases means that we get some kooky catalogues sent to our house. We got one today from Harriet Carter, who specializes in quirky gifts. The quirkiest may be the NFL helmet cap, which is pictured. It comes in Redskins, Steelers, Eagles, Bears, Broncos, Cowboys, Patriots, Packers, Ravens, Giants and Jets.
NFL Helmet Cap keeps you warm and cozy as you root for your favorite team. Sporting official team colors and logos, it's the ultimate fan helmet! You can attach the snap-on neck warmer and chin strap or wear "helmet" alone as a hat. Fleece cotton blend is machine washable.
Um, who in the world would buy this? Well, except your grandmother who thinks you'll love it because it's your favorite team and you need to wear something to protect your cute little face in those cold winters. Maybe your wife will buy it for you ... knowing you'll hate it ... yet demand you wear it or it will hurt her feelings.
To be fair, the site has this item in its "just for fun" section ... so they know it's kind-of weird. Still, someone ... somewhere ... thought up this idea and someone else is getting paid to make them. .
Football season is just around the corner, so it's time for another one of those stupid studies about how all us sports fans are horrible human beings who greedily cash our paychecks despite sometimes taking breaks at work for fantasy football.
Fantasy football is one of many potential online distractions that can reduce workplace productivity. But its rapid rise in popularity, labor experts said, makes it a growing concern. A recent study by Challenger Gray & Christmas Inc., a Chicago-based business consulting firm, reported nearly 37 million people nationwide spend almost one hour a week at work managing their fantasy teams, costing employers as much as $1.1 billion a week in lost productivity. The 17-week NFL regular season stretching from September through December, according to the study, results in a fourth-quarter $18.7 billion productivity loss.
Does Challenger Gray & Christmas ever publish studies about how much free time employers cost their employees? It must be in the billions of hours a year. I consider reading about sports on the internet to be an inalienable right of the workplace, and I resent anyone who suggests otherwise.
It's obvious that most national writers opining about the Texans have never seen much of their play. For example, this SI.com analysis of the AFC South's training camp challenges is garbage not terribly accurate. Hey, readers, here's a minor challenge that you can win zero dollars and up to a million imaginary pride points for. In the comments, mention all the mistakes you can find in the SI.com discussion of the Texans defensive line. Sorta like one of those what's wrong with this picture thingies you are supposed to stare at until you figure out the answer. (Maybe you don't want look at that last link at work.)
It's rare to read spot-on correct information about the team, so since I found some of that, I thought I'd share because I'm friendly that way. Alan Burge aka AJ writes a blog hosted at the HoustonTexans.com website. He's a huge fan of the team, has watched every snap, but doesn't write with kool-aid stained ink. In his most recent blog post, he does a positional analysis of each part of the Texans. He performs a rough accounting of which 53 players will make the team and the strengths and weaknesses at various positions. Read it. Read it now, and report back.
The Debriefing is a column that runs every weekday at 9:00 a.m. here on FanHouse. It goes deep into one issue and then bounces around to a plethora of smaller ones ... and does it all in a way that will make you feel like the prettiest girl at the cotillion. Bookmark this page, and visit daily.
Before we present the list of Top 10 Fantasy Football Studs for 2007, a disclaimer: This is not what the first round of your draft will look like. If your first round lasts 12 picks, at least 10 of them are going to be running backs ... but a list comprised entirely of running backs would be boring. I'm a believer in diversity.
So I've included players of all positions (as long as you count running backs, quarterbacks, and wide receivers as the only positions on the field) ... and just because a running back has a higher point total in your league, it doesn't necessarily make him a more valuable player.
Oh, and one more rule for this list: no childish, malcontent, whiny wide receivers.
Without further adieu ... here are your Top 10 2007 Fantasy Football Studs (for your free AOL league).
(And at the bottom: LeBron gets something he doesn't deserve, Paul Lo Duca didn't get enough of what he deserved, Lou Piniella has an odd definition of "clutch," and a lengthy remembrance of Chris Benoit) Sorry, No Photos
There are some guys who can get their point across without even saying a word. There are even fewer who can put people in their places without one thought of putting them down or trying to show them up. And only a select few emerge from that group with the respect of all who are lucky enough to see them pile up their milestones.
But there are none who have done it faster than Big Game.
What Torry Holt has done in just seven-plus NFL seasons has plain and simple, never been done before - period. In his rookie season in 1999, he racked up 788 receiving yards. He has never had a season under 1,300 since.
In fact he is the only player to have 1,300 or better receiving yards in six straight years. This season he is on pace for another 1,450 yard performance and in the Rams last game against the Seahawks, he surpassed the ten-thousand yard mark faster than any receiver in NFL history.
But you will never hear the man brag up his accomplishments. He is a human-highlight reel every Sunday as soon as he steps on the field. A master at running precise routes, there is no cover player that can effectively shut him down on a consistent basis. His catch in the closing minutes of the Seahawks game was a masterpiece of highlight reel material that will be replayed a hundred times from now till whenever, and typical viewing in his footage of countless mind-boggling catches.
It's good guys like Holt who gives the kids someone to truly look up to, and most defensive backs someone to catch up to. What we're all witnessing is a Hall of Fame Career that is just beginning to peak.
For all of you out there who drafted Steven Jackson with your fingers crossed and one hand on the bible, you have to pleased with your selection. At this point in the mostly defense minded season there are few breakout successes on the offensive side of the ball compared to last year after a couple of games.
Steven Jackson was a one of those so called 'trendy picks' for fantasy drafts this year. He was also a favorite topic by experts, who with a resounding majority picked him to have a breakout season in 2006, with most of the analysts giving him the inside track at this year's rushing title. It was the perfect formula for a jinx, if ever there was one, but at the end of the second week of competition, Jackson sits third in the NFL in yards gained with 224 and averaging 5.1 per carry. Not bad for a runner who is having serious 'O' line problems again this year. The thing that has made the most difference is the level of confidence as well as opportunity instilled by first-year Coach Scott Linehan. You have to hand it to the Coach for standing behind his committment to hand the pig off to Jackson with a reasonable regularity. This is the first real chance Jackson has had to prove himself and he is coming through well. The outlook for the rest of the season, providing he remains healthy is even brighter as Linehan's new system becomes more familiar to the team, and the play-book begins to flow along smoother.
In what is at this point, a pretty confusing system for St. Louis on both sides of the ball, to come out of the gate like Jackson has is impressive. Look for him to really get rolling and become even more of a weapon as this system begins to come into its own.
"Just give me the damn ball," says Jackson. I'd give it to him
Patience is not an easy thing to maintain when you are a talented young running back sitting at number two on the depth chart behind a future Hall of Famer like Marshall Faulk. It can be down right frustrating. But a running back's knees tend to age in dog years, and, in no time at all, Faulk was out of the way.
Next roadblock : Mike Martz (all pass, all the time). Getting carries last year in his first lead role was about as easy as squeezing blood out of a stone. Even when Martz went down with endocartitis, getting interim coach Joe Vitt to change Martz's ways was about as pointless as pants on a tollbooth operator. Jackson became so frustrated that he even went to the local media and had them run a story called 'Just give me the ball,' and taped the headline at the top of his locker -- all to no avail.
But what a difference a year makes. This year has been touted as Jackson's breakout year, and he is the trendy pick in most fantasy drafts as well as a media darling. I'm sure he's glad that the Rams signed a powerful back like Stephen Davis to back him up, but you know deep down he's got to be thinking, "Damn, Stephen Davis! Always gotta be someone sticking their neck in my bowl."
We're sure he meant that in the nicest, most respectful way.
(What goes through my mind, and most NFL fans, on a Sunday. And no, that's not my picture)
It's Sunday. 9:30 AM Pacific Time. The alarm goes off. There's no need to hit the snooze button, it's Sunday!
If I was on the east coast, I would be grilling some burgers and brats. But instead, I slide on my #93 Freeney jersey, put some eggs on the stove and pour a glass of OJ. Welcome to the pacific coast...
I turn on the DirecTV box. It's a lifesaver. What would I do without it? The CBS pre-game show is wrapping up. Dan Marino picks the Colts to win...again. Wait, I need my computer for live fantasy updates. Yes! I have Alexander versus the Texans today! I need this fantasy win to stay in the playoff race.
This is heaven.
Kickoff. The Colts can't return it past the 20. Nothing new. Peyton drops back for play action and completes a 30 yard pass on the first play. 4 plays later, Peyton to Marvin for an early TD. Sweet, that's 12 fantasy points. Commercial break, it's time to flip through every game with my pre-programmed "NFL heaven" channel favorites list. If football isn't on the channel, it's not on the list. Quick check of every fantasy player. No! Plax was stopped at the 1 yard line! That was in! (Throws the remote over a fantasy related call)
While I rarely agree with anything ESPN's Bill Simmons says, he did raise an interesting point about Monday night's Cowboys-Eagles game. After all, it was only the most watched cable event ... ever.
The New York Times ran a story this week about 
Every football season, my wife hooks me up with some new football gear. She gets me some new Redskins shirts, shorts, drawers, watches and even shoes. That's despite the fact that my football obsession causes her to become a 'football widow' each fall.
It's obvious that most national writers opining about the Texans have never seen much of their play. For example, this SI.com analysis of the 
(What goes through my mind, and most NFL fans, on a Sunday. And no, that's not my picture)
