Looking outside at the 1st accumulation of snow we have had all season it is a little hard to imagine that we are a little over 10 weeks away from opening day. The "Boys of Summer" are still in full hibernation mode. No need for gloves or bats, cleats or uniforms. The time for slumber sits heavily upon us.
Unless of course you are still plugging away in your fantasy football league. My season ended abruptly at the end of regular play. My big accomplishment this season was to insure myself 1st pick in next years draft... lol. GAWD FANTASY FOOTBALL IS SO FICKLE!!!!
Seriously, no amount of preseason study or planning is going to help you one iota in football. Think you made a big grab on draft day? Just wait till the 1st snap of the season and your so-called stud winds up with a hammy, or groin .... or TURF TOE for crying out loud! As much as I like football as a spectator I must admit that I get more and more disillusioned with the fantasy aspect of it each and every year. Maybe some of you did better or have a magical winning formula, but me, I have conceded that I am a fantasy football ignoramus.
And have the results to prove it!
Some of you I know do fantasy basketball as well. I gave that up about 3 years ago to provide a little respite before embarking on the grueling baseball season. Funny, my 1st league championship was in a basketball league so maybe I should be doing that instead of football. Not really though as I am also beginning to lose interest in the NBA even as a spectator. NCAA..... now that's a different story! GO BIG BLUE and every other team with a ".Ky" at the end of it.
I really feel a little lost this time of year. Baseball podcasts haven't started yet except for the occasional update about this or that trade. Baseball blogs are spending most of their time talking about prospects that probably won't even see the bigs this season or spend time rehashing this or that off season trade. No real projections yet. Mock drafts, what there are of them, are useless. In short, these are not the days for the avid baseball fan.
And then of course.... there is the snow.
This is not to say that I am not getting emotionally charged with sports. Far from it. As previously mentioned, NCAA basketball is alive and well and exhilarating! As of today Kentucky is home to 3 top 15 teams! Gotta love it! All the diehard Big Blue fans are convinced this is the year they reclaim the national championship. Not sure I see that happening yet but if Callipari can continue to get them to buy into his program and improve their skills, then by March Madness time... who knows..... just could happen.SEC play has started and the real tests begin for the 'Cats. L'ville always has its hands full in the Big East, especially with Syracuse ranked #1. (Kerm, you gotta be lovin that!) Murray State??? Bet ya never heard of them have ya? Watch em. They are gonna rain on somebody's parade before it is over.
With the NFL playoffs in full swing there is plenty to get pumped up about there. I guess in the NFL today there are basically 2 camps. Those that like Tebow and those that don't. For the record, I am in the "like" camp. Actually I am a "johnny-come-lately" as I didn't like him at all in college. Course I really didn't know much about him then. All I knew was that he played for Florida and that was all I needed to know about him to not particularly like him. When he went to the NFL I was surprised a little when they started telling about his morals and ethics and strong Christian principles. Maybe he wasn't such a bad guy after all. And now as "Tebowing" has become a national phenomenon all I can do is stand in awe of an individual that is that strong and well founded in their faith. Say what you want, the press has made this a big deal, not Tebow. He is just doing what he has always done and now he is getting "praised" or "persecuted" based on where people stand. As a quarterback he pretty much sucks but somehow the Broncos keep winning. Divine intervention? You be the judge. All I can say is I would rather be playing with him than against him and I believe he has inspired his whole team.
So I sit here and look out the window again, inch of snow on the ground, not much but definitely far from baseball weather. Raissa is back in college from the Christmas break and starts softball practice next week. Their first game is scheduled for February 24th. Shit it is gonna be dead of winter then! She is pretty excited about her teams chances this season. They picked up some good freshmen and have lost a couple of attitudes from last year's team. I am looking forward to seeing her play a little more this season.
I hope everyone is planning on returning to the league this year. Would be nice to get a little confirmation from as many of you as possible. I hope to fill a little of my boredom with a podcast soon. I need to familiarize myself again with all the ins and outs of podcasting. I interviewed Juan last year and it was a wonderful session of about 30 mins and then after it was all done I realized that for some reason it didn't record. I ain't going through that again. I am gonna study a little harder on how to make better podcasts and then hope to feature each manager in the league at some point.
Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season. Hope everyone is looking forward to a great year this year. Congrats to Juan on the new additions! See everyone on the field soon.
Till the call is sounded.....
Randy
