MLS Draft

Fantasy Football 2011

Football: Jets-v-Eagles, Sep 2009 – 46

Note: this photo was published in a Feb 3, 2011 blog titled "Crowdsourcers Trounce ESPN Pundits on Fantasy Football Picks."

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I’m somewhat embarrassed to admit that, until last night, I had never been to a professional football game in my life. Baseball, basketball, and tennis: yes, of course. High-school and college football games: sure, though that was a long time ago. Indeed, the last college football game I watched (in person) was in the mid-60s, when I was invited to the annual Harvard-Yale game by a Radcliffe student I had begun dating — a development to which my MIT college roommate reacted, in shock, by howling, "Radcliffe? You’re dating a Cliffie? She must be a pig!" After which he pulled out his flute, every time he thought she might be present when he returned to our off-campus apartment, and played "Old McDonald Had a Farm" until he collapsed in gales of laughter on the stairwell. Highly inaccurate, I hasten to note, and totally unfair. But I digress…

Anyway, a freelance writer, Mitch Ligon (whose photo you can see here in one of my Flickr sets), invited me to accompany him last night to the New York Jets – Philadelphia Eagles game out in the New Jersey Meadowlands — another first-time experience. I was given a photographer’s press pass, which gave me access to the locker rooms, press box, various other "inner sanctum" locations … and, most important, the football field itself. I was given a red jersey to wear, told to stay outside the yellow dashed lines that ring the field, and turned loose for the evening. I felt somewhat inadequate, because I knew that the "real" professional photographers would be equipped with high-cameras and monstrous telephoto lenses beyond anything I had ever touched, or could possibly afford; and even though my Nikon D300 and 70-300mm zoom lens is fairly respectable in amateur circles, I had no idea if I would be able to take any decent photos at all…

The other problem is that I know little or nothing about the nuances of football, beyond the obvious fact that the quarterback either passes the ball, or hands off to someone who attempts to run the ball downfield. Punts and field-goal kicks are also a familiar concept, but if you don’t have a good anticipatory sense of who is about to do what to whom, it’s easy to miss the "moment" when the perfect shot might be available. Also, I didn’t really know anything about the players, aside from the respective star quarterbacks: Philadelphia’s controversial Michael Vick, and New York’s newly-named starting quarterback, Mark Sanchez. I had looked at the team rosters on the Internet before the game, so at least I knew their jersey numbers (#6 for Sanchez, and #7 for Vick, as you’ll see in the photos) — but the "action" was often so far away (at the other end of the field) that I couldn’t tell whether the starting quarterback, or one of the substitutes, was making the plays.

Nevertheless, by the beginning of the second quarter I was feeling a little more comfortable — if only because I found it easy to follow along behind the other professional photographers as they marched (or ran) from one end of the field to the other, in order to get their equipment set up for what they expected would be the next great shot. By the end of the game, I had taken 1,100+ photos, including several of Michael Vick in a post-game locker-room interview; and from the sound of the clickety-click-clack of my fellow photographers, I could tell that many of them had taken several thousand. I’ll spare you the technical details of my feeble attempts to get some decent shots; I had picked up some good tips from the sports-photography chapter of Scott Kelby’s Digital Photography, and I did my best within the limitations of my equipment and my lack of familiarity with the situation.

What impressed me most about the whole experience was the scale of modern professional football — the scale of everything. It’s one thing to read that there are 80,000 people in a football stadium; it’s another thing to actually be there and hear the simultaneous roar of those 80,000 people as a quarterback is sacked or a long pass is completed. It’s one thing to read that a professional football player is 6 feet, 5 inches tall and weighs 350 pounds; it’s another thing to stand next to several dozen such giants. Heck, I thought there were only 20 or 30 such giants on each team; I had no idea that there were 64 of them (a number which will be pared down as the pre-season comes to an end), or that there might be 20-30 different coaches. And then there are the hundreds of "staff members" scurrying around all over the place, carrying out their various duties and assignments; and there are the security guards and State Police, who spent most of the time scanning the stadium crowd rather than watching the players, presumably watching for scuffles or fights or … well, who knows what. There are cheerleaders too, in this case bearing the official name of New York Jets Flight Crew; I had expected half a dozen, but there were two dozen perky, long-haired beauties, with permanently frozen smiles, who who danced and pranced before the crowd at every conceivable opportunity.

All of this has resulted in the photos you’ll see in this album. I had to delete roughly a hundred of my original images, because they were out of focus, or because a referee decided to walk in front of my camera at the wrong moment; and another 900 were "okay," but not terribly exciting. I’m sure that none of them are as crisp, sharp, and well-composed as those taken by the Sports Illustrated photographer and the other professionals on the field; but I did end up with 72 "keepers" that I hope you’ll enjoy…

… and, yes, I probably will attend another football game or two in the years ahead. Whether I’m lucky enough to get down on the field again is anyone’s guess….

Drafting In Fantasy Football

As interest in fantasy football is soaring all over the US coast to coast, there is a need among people to get together strategies that can give them an edge. A proper strategy leads to success and it has to be devised with the available tips online. Many sites offer upfront fantasy football advice on drafts to make the game more thrilling with lot more excitement thrown in. There are tips and suggestions to make you take to a league draft or use them in a format online. In fantasy football leagues, you are required to start with one QB.

To look for a good starter you may need to go deep into nearly 20 QB’s , but at the end of it you may realize that a stud QB draft may not eventually make you a winner in the fantasy football league. The ideal owner or manager of a fantasy football league would wait and watch if the top QB’s last till the third or the fourth round.

You can change the figures depending on the number of teams you have as this calculation is basically meant for a 12 team fantasy football league.

As your starter throughout the season, there could be 3-4 stud QB’s and also five to six more that can stand alone. It is only when you get past 10 QB’s, you can plan to use a quarterback to get the most from your position.
If in round five or six, the 10 QB’s or the top among them are not available, you should go for a redraft as soon as the seventh and eighth round is over. You should draft at least two good QB’s. You should follow the fantasy football drafts value sheet to guide you for drafting the quarterbacks.

This is called a platoon system and could be a crucial decision when one QB has a breakout or gets injured during the season. If you wait till the middle rounds to take 2 QB’s, you can lock your RB and WR starters or steal a great TE in either the fourth or the fifth round. But you should remember that when the RB or WR looks good, you shouldn’t wait to get hold of a QB as soon as one fails in either of the third or the fourth rounds.
As both the QB’s and the RB’ get to handle the balls most of the time, they are crucial in the fantasy football drafts. They are the ones that get to score the maximum points in fantasy football leagues.

Starting RB’s compared to other positions are very scarce. As there are 32 teams in nfl fantasy football, you can get 32 RB’s. Many of the teams use a RB committee and work through a scheme. To get the majority of the team’s carries you need about 20-24 RB’s that can be banked on. You can start with one or two and they are very valuable. In the first four rounds of the fantasy football drafts the RB’s can simply fly off. You should take 2-3 in the first 3 rounds and consider a couple of WR’s when the stud RB has gone.

fantasy football 2011

A handy, concise and informative source book. Expertly organized and full of statistics, schedules, rankings and projections. This reference book is a must for anyone involved in fantasy football. Your single source for preparing for the fantasy football season. Includes: * Past draft data * Free agent and coaching changes * Offensive line and strength-of-schedule (SOS) analysis * Team predictions * Team evaluations * Depth charts * 250+ player projections * Cheat Sheets for 5 different league

Fantasy Football Almanac 2011: The Essential Fantasy Football Refererence Guide

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Fantasy Football 2011: How Do You Value Chris Johnson?
fantasy football 2011
Since this whole thing is about value, it's more than fair that we continue considering Johnson's value ahead of our 2011 fantasy football drafts. If you're like me, you've got at least one draft coming up soon, and the question is, how high do you …

fantasy football 2011 question by Matt M: Who should I keep for fantasy football 2011?
I have 2 keeper slots, Drew Brees is already locked into one of them. Honestly it comes down to one of these 3 for 1 slot.
-Andre Johnson
-Peyton Hillis
-Matt Forte
My only logic for not keeping Johnson is that he’ll still be there early if i want him..but in my league its tough to find good RB talent, because most are the good ones are keepers…this is all assuming there even IS a 2011 NFL season

fantasy football 2011 best answer:

Answer by Chizzle
I would keep Johnson. Guys like Hillis and Forte will still be around in the 4th round I imagine.