Back from the Dead > Celebrating the Dead

I think I went one-on-one with The Swine Flu. I was down with a temperature for 6 days and then moved into a nice session of bronchitis. Never, never in my life have I been sick like that. I didn't leave the house for 7 days although I was going to head for emergency if I hit 105F, but I maxed out at 104F. A lot of the advice I received was that the hospital couldn't do much more for me than I was doing for myself so no reason to risk infecting others. My girlfriend nursed me back to health and two weeks later I'm pretty much fully recovered though I am down about 10 lbs.

A lot has happened since I went down. I guess the biggest in my little world is the Detroit Lions won a game after dropping 19 in a row. I have no illusions about where they're heading this year but I am excited about the future. I know it's only been 3 games but I think they may finally have a guy at QB that can develop into something substantial. There will be ups and downs along the way, but as a sports fan I have always thought that part of the fun. Every team can't be the Yankees and just buy their way to success.

Fall has always been my favorite season for a number of reasons. There's a certain smell in the air, the leaves are changing and everyone is trying to take advantage of as many backyard/patio days as possible albeit with a few extra layers on. It also bring football, both college and pro, NHL hockey and the MLB playoffs. If you're into sports betting and fantasy sports, these are heady times.

I operate the franchise 'Deadhead Express' in three different fantasy leagues. Baseball, hockey and football. I limit it to this because of time but this rotation allows me to have at least one fantasy team going at all times of the year. After a summer in which I ranked #1 in baseball, drafting well and pulling off a couple of nice trades I entered the 4 team playoffs as the #1 seed only to promptly lose 2 weeks in a row to finish 4th. I got my money back but Fuck! That was a worst case scenario. Ah well. It's always fun.

My baseball league is run by a buddy of mine I met in California when I was working for Hyatt in Palm Springs. He runs it on ESPN. The other two leagues for hockey and football are played on Yahoo and I am the commissioner of both leagues. My leagues are made up of a core group of guys that I met working summers on the east coast of Canada, my dad and a few others. It's a great way to keep in touch, talk shit, etc. Hockey just kicked off yesterday so there's not much to say right now but football has been a bit of a mystery although I really like my team. It's only a matter of time before they start to dominate weekly. Here's my draft:

Maurice Jones-Drew RB
Calvin Johnson WR
Roddy White WR
Ryan Grant RB
Braylon Edwards WR
Darren McFadden RB
Matt Schaub QB
Joseph Addai RB
David Garrard QB
Fred Taylor RB
Derrick Mason WR
Dallas DEF
Cincinatti DEF
Percy Harvin WR
Nick Folk K
Jason Campbell QB
Vernon Davis TE
Todd Heap TE

I think I have some good depth all around and it allows me to mix and match for different match-ups. Edwards has been the only real disappointment so far, but hopefully Anderson can do a better job than Quinn. I really like McFadden's potential, but the Raiders passing is just so pathetic that their opponents can really stack the box. I will eventually drop/trade one of Campbell/Gerrard once I see where they are at this year. 3 QBs is too many. Percy Harvin was a late round steal for me. I pick up the Cincy D just for this week vs CLE and Vernon Davis was added this week. I think between him and Heap I should be able to match-up nicely at TE every week and I didn't waste a high pick on that position.

I have also been playing a lot over at Fantasy Sports Live. It's a daily fantasy game site where you can pick a team just for that day and you're matched up against one or more opponents. It's pretty cool.

I'm heading out tonight with the boys to Grossman's Tavern here in Toronto. Caution Jam is playing their annual Jerry Garcia Tribute show. They do this every October to commemorate the 2 Grateful Dead shows that would have occurred at the Skydome in 1995 have it not been for Jerry's death. Should be fun.

mrjackstraw