With a large amount of activities that I do, I plan and think about them meticulously in advance. I'm not the best on the fly, hence why I blog rather than stand on the street or in front of a crowd with a microfone spouting my thoughts or bad jokes. I make some decisions impulsively, but they are usually the ones that don't require much thinking.
Betting on sports, writing on sports, working on sporting events are all areas I have done or do, and all require significant thinking, planning and research. I do the same in my spare time when it comes to hobbies and fantasies in particular. The extent of my fantasies are in Fantasy Football, specifically NFL.
Fantasy sports require thinking if you want to earn bragging rights. The research required for selecting your team is essential. I want to avoid those players with injury problems, I want to avoid those inconsistent guys, I want to avoid those guys who shoot themselves in their thigh in nightclubs. I am looking for a solid group of guys who will consistently produce the goods for me, and one or two gems that I think will provide me with some value at some point through the season.
I play two main fantasy NFL league...I won one of them last season, and lost in the playoffs in the other. This season has not been a success. I tried a different strategy, and it just didn't work too well. There was one main reason for my failure however and I put it all down to one guy - DeSean Jackson. DeSean's contract with the Philadelphia Eagles finishes this year and he should be busting his cojones to get a nice new big contract. Instead, DeSean is sulking. DeSean is not showing up to practise and getting dropped for games. DeSean is getting injured (allegedly) early in games and not doing much. DeSean is fumbling balls. DeSean is dropping easy catches in the end zone when my two year old nephew could make the play. DeSean is not even looking like he is trying.
Me and DeSean are going our separate ways at the end of this season. I have had enough of him. I actually had a dream that DeSean died in a plane crash one week. Thankfully that was not the case, but it is over between him and I. If he had woken up and done what he should have been doing, this season would have been another success. Instead, it is now over and my team, just like DeSean, has nothing left to play for.
All I can assume is that DeSean did not pick himself in his own Fantasy team and he decided to sabotage his opponents by not playing well in the real game. That can be the only logical explanation. Folks in many sports and the likes of FIFA and UEFA worry about match fixing and illegal gambling on matches, but I think the real risk is Fantasy Football. Players are sabotaging other teams and under performing throughout and thus influencing the results of matches. I shall be forwarding this blog post to various authorities and suggesting they investigate.
Saturday, December 17, 2011
Friday, December 2, 2011
Rest in Peace Gary Speed
When you’re a kid, there is inevitably a role model or hero that you look up to. They may sing, act, play sport, they may be your parents. Like so many young boys, mine were largely footballers, and being an Evertonian, I desperately tried to find a Toffeeman that I could imitate. Sadly, as the mid-eighties came to a close, I was left with the likes of Preki, Robert Warszycha and John Ebbrell to try and imitate and that just didn’t cut it for me.
My first real memories were largely based around the 1986 World Cup in Mexico. I was mesmerised by Diego Maradona and he stole the show for me even though I was hardly skilful….a boy can dream. There were some iconic figures for my beloved Everton as the nineties kicked in however. Duncan Ferguson was right up there for me and so many Everton fans. Aside from the big names players or the top goalscorers, fans often develop soft spots for home grown talent or players that are fans of the team themselves. Ultimately, you know that they will give their absolute all for the team and fight until the last whistle.
As I grew up and developed as a player, I still hadn’t honed those Maradona skills, but I was as committed as anybody. Along with Laurence Budd’s left-wing magic, I often scored a fair number of headed goals – not because I was particularly tall, but I was willing to put my head in places where others were not, and I worked on timing my jump. Duncan Ferguson was an Everton legend as he was 6 foot 4 and scored a number of headed goals for them. However, there was another player, another Evertonian, who I tried to imitate when playing myself, as I was short of 6 foot, like him, but he was a master at timing his leap to perfection.
When I was Junior Bobby, the only football I could watch live was Leeds United. My Uncle Ken would take me to games and I was just happy to be watching live football. I was mesmerised. I was around 11-12 years old when I watched my first game at Elland Road and I would wear my Everton shirt deep under 17 layers of clothes so none of the scary Leeds fans would spot it, but I knew deep down that I was not betraying my team. I was fortunate however to witness one of the best Leeds teams in history, and the Leeds midfield at that time was as good as any around at that period. There is just one other conventional four-man midfield that I have viewed that was as balanced as that Leeds quartet of Strachan, Batty, McAllister and Speed and that was the Valencia midfield of Mendieta, Gerard, Farinos, and Kily Gonzalez.
And it was the latter of the quartet that caught my eye as a player to try to imitate. Gary Speed was the player who was not quite 6 foot, but was superb in the air. He was the Evertonian. He was the guy who was perhaps not the most pleasing on the eye like Maradona, but clearly worked incredibly hard to master the skills that he did have. He was the left-footer with a decent right, which encouraged me to use my weak foot as much as possible and become more comfortable with it. He was the player who clearly looked after himself extremely well on and off the pitch that enabled him to have such a long playing career. He was the guy who was so well respected in the game, that transitioning to become a coach proved successful in such a short space of time.
When I woke up to my mum’s text last Saturday to hear that he had died, I had a lump in my throat. I had absolutely no idea of the reason – I just assumed it must have been some illness that had been hidden, an accident, or a sudden heart attack which has seemingly become more common among active players in recent years. I was pretty shocked when I learned that it was suicide, as it seems so many others have been, as there were clearly no indicators to those in football, and certainly not to the regular fan like myself.
I have not had the opportunity to read much in the last day or so about it, but I can only assume that there was some form of depression involved. The PFA statement saying that players would receive information on suffering from depression and their acknowledgment that it was an issue, suggested as much, and in truth it is surprising that it has taken this news for them to realise that. The numbers on divorces, alcohol and drug addictions among recently retired players is scary, and the void left by retirement for so many is something that requires attention from football authorities.
The news reminded me of an article I read a few weeks back from a television personality in Canada – Michael Landsberg. He is the presenter of a sports TV show called Off The Record – one of my favourites. It came following the death of a former Hockey player called Wade Belak. You can read it here - http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=375694. It is as thought-provoking a read as you will find, and I suspect the case of Gary Speed is probably something similar. Sad times. I can only hope that the likes of the PFA further acknowledge depression as a major issue and work hard to build awareness and provide the tools and support for the guys like Belak and Speed, who have been role models to so many.
My first real memories were largely based around the 1986 World Cup in Mexico. I was mesmerised by Diego Maradona and he stole the show for me even though I was hardly skilful….a boy can dream. There were some iconic figures for my beloved Everton as the nineties kicked in however. Duncan Ferguson was right up there for me and so many Everton fans. Aside from the big names players or the top goalscorers, fans often develop soft spots for home grown talent or players that are fans of the team themselves. Ultimately, you know that they will give their absolute all for the team and fight until the last whistle.
As I grew up and developed as a player, I still hadn’t honed those Maradona skills, but I was as committed as anybody. Along with Laurence Budd’s left-wing magic, I often scored a fair number of headed goals – not because I was particularly tall, but I was willing to put my head in places where others were not, and I worked on timing my jump. Duncan Ferguson was an Everton legend as he was 6 foot 4 and scored a number of headed goals for them. However, there was another player, another Evertonian, who I tried to imitate when playing myself, as I was short of 6 foot, like him, but he was a master at timing his leap to perfection.
When I was Junior Bobby, the only football I could watch live was Leeds United. My Uncle Ken would take me to games and I was just happy to be watching live football. I was mesmerised. I was around 11-12 years old when I watched my first game at Elland Road and I would wear my Everton shirt deep under 17 layers of clothes so none of the scary Leeds fans would spot it, but I knew deep down that I was not betraying my team. I was fortunate however to witness one of the best Leeds teams in history, and the Leeds midfield at that time was as good as any around at that period. There is just one other conventional four-man midfield that I have viewed that was as balanced as that Leeds quartet of Strachan, Batty, McAllister and Speed and that was the Valencia midfield of Mendieta, Gerard, Farinos, and Kily Gonzalez.
And it was the latter of the quartet that caught my eye as a player to try to imitate. Gary Speed was the player who was not quite 6 foot, but was superb in the air. He was the Evertonian. He was the guy who was perhaps not the most pleasing on the eye like Maradona, but clearly worked incredibly hard to master the skills that he did have. He was the left-footer with a decent right, which encouraged me to use my weak foot as much as possible and become more comfortable with it. He was the player who clearly looked after himself extremely well on and off the pitch that enabled him to have such a long playing career. He was the guy who was so well respected in the game, that transitioning to become a coach proved successful in such a short space of time.
When I woke up to my mum’s text last Saturday to hear that he had died, I had a lump in my throat. I had absolutely no idea of the reason – I just assumed it must have been some illness that had been hidden, an accident, or a sudden heart attack which has seemingly become more common among active players in recent years. I was pretty shocked when I learned that it was suicide, as it seems so many others have been, as there were clearly no indicators to those in football, and certainly not to the regular fan like myself.
I have not had the opportunity to read much in the last day or so about it, but I can only assume that there was some form of depression involved. The PFA statement saying that players would receive information on suffering from depression and their acknowledgment that it was an issue, suggested as much, and in truth it is surprising that it has taken this news for them to realise that. The numbers on divorces, alcohol and drug addictions among recently retired players is scary, and the void left by retirement for so many is something that requires attention from football authorities.
The news reminded me of an article I read a few weeks back from a television personality in Canada – Michael Landsberg. He is the presenter of a sports TV show called Off The Record – one of my favourites. It came following the death of a former Hockey player called Wade Belak. You can read it here - http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=375694. It is as thought-provoking a read as you will find, and I suspect the case of Gary Speed is probably something similar. Sad times. I can only hope that the likes of the PFA further acknowledge depression as a major issue and work hard to build awareness and provide the tools and support for the guys like Belak and Speed, who have been role models to so many.
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