Week 20 of 21

Well, my basketball team has really soared onwards and upwards with the return of Yao Ming. And with Yao back, I am certain that I will never, ever win TOs or PFs, but I'll certainly embrace my newfound competitiveness in steals and 3s. We have one week to go in the regular season, and I have moved into sole possession of second place (!), after being percentage points behind for several weeks. I also clinched a playoff berth this week, which is awesome. Remember the jerk-off in first place? He and I were both in the lottery this year, and we have a chance to finish 1-2 – if I can hold on to my 4-game lead. Proof that the system works.

Since the second matchup of the new year, I have gone 10-1, which goes to show that crunching numbers midway through the season can really create positive results, providing you have a true understanding of your team's strengths and weaknesses. Of course, the one loss way back to the guy in first, as stated previously is troubling. Barring serious injury to his team, or an abundance of players on the low side of games played, I don't see how he can lose.

My dilemma today, the trading deadline, is what to do with AK47. All I really need him to do is put up .500% shooting, 4 boards, 2 steals, and 2 blocks, and he's really disappointing me with his lack of consistency. I'm not sure I can trade him, and I really want to outright drop him when he lays an egg every other game, but that in-between game keeps his averages at an acceptable level. I never want to root against any player, especially when he used to be such a fantasy beast, but AK, maybe the best thing for both of us would be for that ankle injury last night to knock you out for a while, so I could justify picking up Mikki Moore or Big Z, who just hit the waiver wire. Well, according to Rotoworld, he's the dreaded Game Time Decision for Friday. Sigh.

Here's the current roster, which hasn't changed much except for a swap of Andrew Bynum for Brian Cook. Kwame Brown's return seems to have made both centers irrelevant, so with Odom out, Cook seemed like a decent replacement. I guess I could drop Cook for Moore and AK for Big Z, but I kind of like getting the added 3 per-game with Cook. I'm feeling fluid with this setup. And I have plenty of moves under the cap of 40 to rotate scrubs in should I make the championship.

Looks like the keeper situation has changed with the emergence of Al Jefferson, however. I think I can let McGrady go and keep Yao and Al and have two of the premier big men in the NBA for several years.

Thankfully, the onset of March means that it's almost baseball season. Like my atrocious basketball team of 2006, my baseball team was nearly as putrid. Some of the same problems applied. Tons of injuries. I mean like 6 guys at once, and It all went downhill with my $20 Gagne. Thankfully, I wound up with Ryan Howard and Travis Hafner as my two solid keepers. My pitching was so bad, that I decided to go with upside and keep Rich Hill over Javy Vasquez or Tim Hudson. Add in Jeremy Hermida as my second-year rookie at 1/2-price, and I've got a very mediocre start. I already tried to move Hafner for Santana (Johan, not Ervin) and was denied, so my big money will probably go towards one big-time starter and another big-time home run hitter of the Andruw Jones type. With the auction coming up in a week, our next post will be of the America's Pasttime variety, with a note on how my playoff run is going. And it'll be funnier, er, funny.

As for now, adios, Cap.