FNBA 2007-2008

It’s that time again, and my team L.A. Axe has been created. Time to get my crown back. I wonder if I will be able to get Lebron James for a third year in a row, lol.

Ender Has Angered The FNBA Gods

HAHAHA, for the second year in a row, Ender’s fantasy basketball team has fallen in the playoffs with a 5-5 score. As the number 3 seed, his Prism Rangers were upset by the number 6 seed Panty Dropper Patrol; I suppose PDP must have had a winning record against PR, since PR had the higher seed. That is just craziness, but I am still highly amused. Kung’s The Ren Team did not manage to make the playoffs, finishing in 8th place.

Meanwhile, after a horrid season of crappiness, my Herapetta Overdose team was able to go undefeated over the final 7 weeks and grab the 5 seed. I upset the 4 seed, wessssiiiide!, just as I had all season long. I attribute the late push to some extremely lucky grabs. I was able to snake Tracy McGrady while his back was ailing yet again (replacing ill-fated Jason Richardson). Unlike Richardson, McGrady actually got over his injuries and was stellar and solid for the rest of the season. McGrady basically saved my season. It’s not often you get a top 10 pick off the waiver wire =D. I also managed to pick up Al Jefferson who suddenly became good for 20 points and 10 rebounds every night. The final important waiver wire pickup was Josh Howard (a mainstay on my teams for his excellent all-around game, and surprising rebounding ability at the wing position), who was available early in the season.

Currently my top PF-C, Jermaine O’Neal is injured, but I am hopeful that he will return. Jefferson should be able to hold the fort should O’Neal return soon, but it will be a tough road to a repeat championship.

Fantasy Snack Team

We had our holiday party (catered by Qdoba, lol) and everyone got gift bags full of tons of snacks. Seriously, these bags were full of chips, chocolates, peanuts, popcorn, fruit snacks, gum, etc. Of course not everyone values snacks the same way, and as soon as all the directors left, the party quickly became a bartering bonanza. It was totally like a free-for-all fantasy sports tradeoff, and I think I did quite well. I don’t snack that much, so I was mostly trading for Bunky. I quickly identified my “franchise” snacks that were untradeable (basically anything chocolate) and then laid down the snacks that were on the trading block. Here’s how I did:

• Bag of Nacho Cheese Chips: Bunky likes plain chips, so I made an even exchange for plain baked chips. This was later traded for a large bag of Kellogg’s Fruity Snacks.
• Tiny Bag of Stale-Looking Peanuts: Traded for a medium-sized, fancy chocolate in the shape of a large candy cane. Easily the steal of the day.
• Famous Amos Cookies: I don’t know if Bunky likes these, but bagged cookies often taste like crap. These were traded for yet another large bag of Fruity Snacks. I hope Bunky likes them, because I now have two strawberries and one cherry.
• Nacho Cheese Combos: Untradeable… Felt a little like Isiah Thomas on this one.

All in all, not bad. While the glut of Fruity Snacks may come back to haunt me, I think I got rid of a lot of snacks that wouldn’t have gotten any eating time. I added a lot of size to the team, and a lot of fruit as well.

Knickerbrawlers

This NBA season has not been a good one. My fantasy NBA team has been in shambles so far this season, mostly due to injuries:

• Point Guard: What a disaster this position has been. Stephon Marbury was available for cheap, but he has sucked so badly that he couldn’t even be my second string PG. Leandro Barbosa was OK for a time, but now I’m relying on the unproven Jarett Jack and the resurgent Shaun Livingston.
• Shooting Guard: Another disaster, as Jason Richardson has been terrible since coming back from surgery. I don’t play him, but he’s on the cannot-drop list. I do have some relief in the form of Josh Howard (a favorite of mine) who was picked up for free when he got injured a while back. For a time JR Smith was doing great from behind the 3-point line and as a scorer, but then he went and got himself suspended for 10 games. Thanks, thanks a lot.
• Small Forward: Lebron James has been worthy of a number 1 pick, and Josh Howard also qualifies for SF. My other SF, Richard Jefferson was picked as a low risk scorer-rebounder, but he has been disappointing thus far this season. I desperately need to shed some small forwards and get some bigs.
• Power Forward: Jermaine O’Neil has been pretty good and Zaza Pachulia has been above average so I guess I can’t complain…
• Center: Except that those two PF have to moonlight as my 2 centers as well…

Bad times all around, as injuries and sub-par performances have really rocked my squad. I’ve been losing pretty much every week (and badly), so I need to make some changes to my lineup. I think I will probably try to trade Richard Jefferson if I can find a good power forward, and I am considering dropping JR Smith, in hopes that I can pick him back up later.

As for the Knicks, way to make a bad season that much worse by getting involved in a terrible brawl. I don’t know where Isiah gets off telling George Karl who he can or can’t play, and I was surprised Isiah didn’t get any punishment.