On The Heath

I always have at least one of these weeks every year; a week where it seems like a foregone conclusion that I will lose. I'm not talking about those times when the opposition is so much better that it will take a miracle to pull off a win. I'm talking about those times when I am evenly matched or almost always in possession of the superior team on that given week and yet I still have the dark feeling that no choice I make will be the right one.

The reason I call it being on the Heath is that I am usually so unsure of my choices that I pay special attention to the "experts" I refer to. They all seem to support my choices, yet there's still something in their tones that tell me that they aren't giving me the full picture. They become the "Weird Sisters" seeming to promise me victory but always with a shrug in their voice and a "should" rather than a "will" in their promises. "LenDale White should get 25 carries". "Maurice Jones-Drew should get stopped by the Tennessee defense like he was stopped in week 1." "Jason Witten should continue his dominance over the same Giants team he has dominated for the last two years"...

Almost every player I started or benched on every one of my teams was mentioned with a "should"--either positive or negative--in something I read or listened to being put forth by a paid fantasy football expert. Every one I started had an average of four out of five stars beside their names on the two sites that use that rating system. Every one of the players I left on the bench had at least three and usually two stars beside their names. Almost all of them were more productive.

That inferred shrug I mentioned is both as chilling and as ridiculous as the idea of a forest walking up to my front door. How can all of these productive players have bad games?

The truth is most of them didn't have bad games. They performed at or just below their average. The problem was that the matchup should have given them much higher numbers but mostly due to nagging injuries or defensive adjustments they didn't.

Then there are those one or two players in the lineup that completely fall off the table. My old pal LenDale on one team, Jason Witten on another, Kevin Jones and Braylon Edwards who both had touchdowns but sub-subpar yardage and reception totals. (Jones actually ended up with two-digit negative yardage! He set a record in futility.) I think of these players as the tragic flaw in my team that week. All indications prior to kick-off were that they would be at least fine. No consideration was given to the fact that they had been doing so well previously that it became the opposing team's full mission would be to take them out of the game.

And then when I hoped for a miracle to occur for me as has happened in the past during Sunday and Monday Night games, I saw only rain fall on and impair the efforts of Joseph Addai, Antonio Gates, and Matt Hasselbeck. While my opponents' champion, Reggie Wayne (He actually did me in on two separate teams.) rose above the elements and double and triple coverage to bury all my hopes for the week. Shockingly, I have been referring to him for over a year as "The Touchdown Thane". This can not be coincidence.

On top of all of this was the fact that I was suffering from the worst flu I have had in seven years. And the first one I've ever had while playing fantasy football. Such illnesses usually hit me in the dead of winter. Don't get me wrong, I've had plenty of colds but those are enjoyable to deal with while convalescing with blankets and notebooks around me. When a bad flu hits, all I want to do is drop my head back and dream of a time when I might feel good again.

It was due to this that I trusted the numbers even more than I usually do when I arrive at The Heath. But even so, the choices I make when confronted with these omens always add up to ultimate destruction.

These are the weeks that are always on my mind while I do all the preparation and post-game evaluation during the other weeks.

For a fantasy football player I compare this week to "Upset Saturday" in college football. You know it's coming you just hope you survive it. Luckily all my teams are still in playoff contention so the possibility of ultimate triumph is still mine.

The Non-Participant

"...there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so"--(Hamlet II,ii)

I had an interesting experience this week with my two IDP teams. My Flagship team, the Longfaced Jackals, is pretty lousy this year. It’s a dynasty/keeper team that has gone through several years of picking last or late in every round and its premier player, Shaun Alexander, has finally hit the wall. The team I manage in honor of my son, the NattyWeldos, is a redraft team that is very good—second in the league.

Both teams played against the most indifferent members of their leagues. The Jackals opponent didn’t field a QB and had either three or four players on bye-weeks in his lineup. But this guy had Viking, Adrian Peterson, who broke the single game rushing record. The Jackals had their single worst day in Fantasy Football and only managed to score fifteen points more combined than the rookie from OU did on his own. Needless to say I had my butt handed to me. The NattyWeldos scored slightly below their low average but still scored enough to trounce their nonplussed opponent.

Probably the most important lesson I’ve learned in my years as an actor is that when someone else in a cast is getting to me due to their lack of interest or ability in the work, the first place I need to look is at myself. I have been in truly awful productions and had a pretty good time. The reason being was that I was focused in on my job. Even if I didn’t feel that I had a grasp on my character yet, I knew I had the tools, passion and ability to continue to pursue that objective. It was in those moments when I felt like I didn’t know what I was doing that I began to look around and gripe about slackers. The main thing I learned is that such issues aren’t even remotely my responsibility. They are the responsibility of the director. If I truly feel that the below par actor’s work is a detriment to my work then the only person I should tell is the director.

That being said I can only think of a couple of occasions out of the 100+ productions in which I’ve been where anyone else’s work was a detriment to mine. Every other time I was able to or could have gotten out of my snit if I had just focused in on my job.

Even so, like an addict in a weak moment, I find myself wanting to blame when things aren’t going well. The sin isn’t the urge. The sin is recognizing the urge and giving into it when the solution is already obvious.

The same could be said for fantasy football except that instead of the director it is the commissioner of your league who holds the responsibility.

While it would be my preference to kick both these guys out of the league and replace them with more active members, it’s not my call. My personal philosophy is that you get out of something what you put into it. My other personal philosophy is that even if I don’t have a burning passion for something I’m involved in, I recognize that somebody else might.

During the years I was an actor in New York, I was a mild-mannered temp at a major magazine publisher by day. I often found myself working jobs I didn’t particularly care about but I recognized that the people I was working for or with had chosen their jobs as a career. I took satisfaction when my boss and co-worker in one particular department got promoted to very illustrious positions at other magazines within the company. I wasn’t satisfied because I ever believed my work helped them to get the promotion. I was a temp. I was just happy that I was a drag on their ambitions.

The fantasy counterpart to this for me would be fantasy baseball. I don’t even come close to having the same passion for it but I still draft a team and check in to quickly adjust lineups almost every day. The reason being that I know someone in the league loves it as much as I love football. So even though my moves may not be as well researched I’m still keeping things competitive.

Even so, like an addict, I find myself on the league message boards in fantasy football griping about opponents such as the ones I played this week. In fact I commented about my Jackals opponent. I thought I was being matter of fact. If the guy isn’t participating, get rid of him. He was clearly bothering other members of the league judging from other comments. But the truth was I didn’t care that much because I couldn’t control it. The Commish seemed to have made up his mind on the matter. And I’m sure my comments probably only came across as yet another gripe. It’s a tough job being a commissioner of a fantasy league. I’m sure if you polled them they would mostly feel like their members are a bunch of malcontents.

Sorry guys. I mean well.

As for the non-participants, I would prefer that you at least made an effort. But if you don’t, it’s not my problem.