akaoni

One of my favorites. OZYMANDIAS I met a traveller from an antique land Who said:—Two vast and trunkless legs of stone Stand in the desert. Near them on the sand, Half sunk, a shatter'd visage lies, whose frown And wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command Tell that its sculptor well those passions read Which yet survive, stamp'd on these lifeless things, The hand that mock'd them and the heart that fed. And on the pedestal these words appear: "My name is Ozymandias, king of kings: Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!" Nothing beside remains: round the decay Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare, The lone and level sands stretch far away. -Percy Bysshe Shelley, 1818

Six in 10 people think the U.S. will be the victim of a terrorist attack. An identical percentage thinks it likely that a biological or nuclear weapon will be unleashed somewhere else in the world. Seventy percent of people in the U.S. predict a major natural disaster in the country and an equal percentage expects worsening global warming. Also, 29 percent think it likely that the U.S. will withdraw its troops from Iraq. Among other predictions for the U.S. in 2007: _35 percent predict the military draft will be reinstated. _35 percent predict a cure for cancer will be found. _25 percent anticipate the second coming of Jesus Christ. _19 percent think scientists are likely to find evidence of extraterrestrial life. Maybe I'm a bit out of touch, but a full 25% of the the US population believes that Jesus will return in 2007! I don't think Pat Robertson included it in his predictions for 2007... Link

This is the only reason I come back to this godforsaken den of iniquity. Thank god for the Soilost.

I think Johnson is more explosive, but Slaton is in the better offense and will likely have fewer TDs vultured than Johnson will. I guess I'll go Slaton.

If you expand with the same number of roster spots the pickings will be slimmer, to be sure, but there should still be valuable players out there for people who are willing to take the time and put in the work. Players sometimes come out of nowhere to become very valuable commodities (see Ryan Grant a couple of years back). The most important thing is to have a well thought out waiver/player add system thought up that all players agree to before the draft. How you organize it is up to you and your league's preferences but it is very important. In my league we limit adds to 2 a week. We have one waiver wire option early in the week with preference given to teams with the worst records then have a Free Agent first come first serve system at the end of a week. (Trades are unlimited.) This system works well for our 12 team 18 player roster league, but again individual preferences likely differ amongst your owners.

As a Detroit fan I would take this deal in a heartbeat, and I'm not all that high on Cutler.

I think Mike dropping trow will make or break the deal...

This what I was thinking as well. Greene's stock has dropped a bit. If they can get him in the mid 2nd round he could be a nice compliment to Slaton. He has good power and ran in a pro-style zone blocking offense at Iowa, which could make Houston a good fit. The two main knocks on him are going to be a lack of top-end speed and the fact that he didn't catch the ball out of the backfield much at Iowa, but he has the skill-set to be the thunder to Slaton's lightning...

Great read, I look forward to the 3rd and 4th installments.

Crabtree has some skills, but there's no guarentee he's going to pan out in the NFL. There have been plenty of top-flight WRs who haven't lived up to billing. By giving up Thomas and Cotchery you're giving up two relatively solid bench guys (more so with Thomas) and losing cap space to boot. I'd rather hold on to inexpensive relatively quality performers (especially Thomas who's great value at $1 and gives you good insurance for Bush) than a more expensive guy with no real guarentee that he'll pan out in the NFL...at least that's how I see it.

While I don't think Peyton's ceiling is as high as it once was, I think that his consistency over the years gives him added value. Looking at his stats over the last 5 years makes it pretty clear that you're almost guarenteed 4000 yards and around 30 TDs. While that might not make him the top fantasy QB, you rarely have to worry about Peyton producing. For me, this fact bumps his draft value up to the around the 2nd or 3rd round. Can you match or exceed his production with a later round pick? Sure, but you also take the chance of dealing with QB problems all season. Let's face it, for every Kurt Warner drafted there's going to be a Marc Bulger. If you roll the dice and crap out, you'll likely be playing the frustrating game of musical QBs all year. With Peyton, that concern is greatly decreased...

I tend to be a bit contrarian when it comes to assessing players and their value. People are down on Chad, and rightly so. That said, although I'm not the biggest Ocho Cinco fan, I think that he will likely put up better numbers next season. Over the previous 5 seasons he averaged over 1300 yards and 8 TDs. I don't necessarily think he'll return to his previous semi-elite status, but I'd be willing to bet that he comes close to 1000 yards and 6-8 TDs next year barring injury. If you can grab him in the mid rounds as a #2 or #3 WR he may pay dividends.

Better to roll the dice on a young reciever who might be had at a similar price/draft spot.

I watched it and kind of enjoyed it, of course I was also playing poker and surfing the net so it was more like background noise...

I think that Braylon is a good buy low candidate in next year's draft.

Not to mention Marshall's 2cent head. It's not that I'm down on Marshall, I drafted him last year and will again if he falls to me at the correct value. But, I don't think he necessarily rates better than Brown or White. He's an incredible talent, no doubt. But he has too many mental lapses which lead to dropped balls, poorly run routes, and bad off field decisions. Add to that a coaching change and Royal's emergence and I think Marshall's targets will decrease and therefore his value will drop just a bit. Still, a solid WR who should go around the turn of the 2nd/3rd where Fumble's projecting him.

FWIW Mitchell is married to Alan Greenspan and has frequently been criticized by folks on the left as being in the bag for the Bush administration.

But as a Free Trade advocate, I'd assume that you support this move, no?

Last year I got Brees at the end of the 2nd with the 23rd pick. He's the only QB I think I'd reach for in the 2nd, maybe Peyton Manning belongs there as well because of his year in and year out consistency. I think he's worth a 3rd round pick. There are big question marks with the rest of the QBs which makes me think I'll roll the dice and wait next year. A. Rogers - I think he will likely put up good numbers again if he stays healthy, but with his injury questions that's a big if. T. Romo - His inconsistency and tendency to tank late in the season make me hesitant, but he can still put up big numbers as well. J. Cutler - Maybe the closest thing to a sure thing, but with the coaching change we still need to wait and see how he performs in a new system. K. Warner - Great numbers QB, but he's still not the youngest guy around. I don't know if he can match this year's performance. P. Rivers - With LT's decline pretty evident I think he continues to put up pretty good numbers, but he also tends to fly under the radar, so he could slide a bit late. T. Brady - Probably the biggest question mark at this point. If he comes back healthy he could immediately return to MVP form, but if some rumors are believed he might not even play next season... In my league people tend to snag QBs rounds 2-5 so most of these guys will probably be gone by the time I’m picking. Last year was the first year I went for a QB early and it paid off, but next year I'm probably going to go back and look for diamonds in the rough again...I'll likely wait and see if someone like Rivers slips, otherwise it's likely hello Matt Schaub for me…

Let's see, we have two quarterbacks, both with a record of inconsistency. One has a tendency to fold in big games late in the season, the other has a tendency to pull out the win. I know who I'd pick...

JFA likely made it that-a-way from time to time...

This is a pretty standard position in the marijuana legalization/decriminalization discussion. Essentially, the decriminalization position is that penalties for possession and sales of MJ should be minimalized or eliminated as opposed to outright legalization which would allow commercial sales, taxation etc (like tobacco). I think it's summed up well here.

The article's written from an NBC/WSJ poll. Here's the link to the actual poll data if you want to actually challenge the polling methodology.

I picked up Houston's DST for a matchup against Cinci earlier in the year. Last week I rolled the dice and played them over Minnesota. Minny outscored them but Houston did just fine vs. a consevative Tennessee offense, and I won my semi-final match up. Now this week I'm in the finals and thinking about starting the Texans D over Minny again. Our league scores -1 point per point allowed, so holding the opponent to a low score is key. Atlanta can put up some points with Turner, Ryan, and White and with Pat Williams missing this game it looks even more sketchy for the Minny DST. For the time being I have the Texans in my line up, but I'm still vacillating...

Personally, I think he's worth a look on the end of one's bench. I'm looking to grab him as a #4-5 WR heading into the trade deadline. He likely won't start as I have Brandon Marshall and Andre Johnson as my starting WR duo, but with Romo back and more time learning the offense under his belt, he might have a bit of value.