Commish “Thoughts” Week 1

Well they’re not quite deep thoughts and they’re not quite Commish Notes.  No, these are much more free form.  In thinking back on it I realized one of my big problems with Commish notes is that there seems to be a forced structure to them which makes them feel too much like work.  Each time I sit down to write them I start out strong, but always bog down in the middle and then crawl to some predetermined and set end just to get a “formal” set written.

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Take for example the Draft Review I did but was not meant to be.  The teams nominating on the left side of the big board received more of my attention as I was fresh while I was analyzing the first three or so teams (The Gang, 1.21 Jigiwatts, Los Pescas).  But as I hit the middle of the board, my energy waned and the analysis (and the commentary specifically) suffered.  I didn’t even get to the last 3 teams before the catastrophic loss of information, but trust me I wasn’t exactly excited at the thought of trying to find “insightful” analysis of the 2010 Birdmen, or any of those last three teams on the board for that matter.  It wasn’t that I hated those teams specifically (save the Birdmen), it’s just that I was already spent, and the fact that I FELT like I had to plow through and give each team it’s fair due after doing seven similar analyses just sucked the life out of me.  Fuck those last three teams.  (The only one I was looking forward to talking about was the Rat Pack, because Eryn was so universally trashed at the post-draft weekend festivities for ditching Schaub as a holdover, and instead ending up saving a whole dollar on the Kolb/Cutler combination while losing a roster spot in the process.  Sorry E, but Iwan and Little Buhr were merciless.  Be glad you were on the other side of the pond for that part.)

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It’s the same reason I ditched the whole game recaps last year when I was still trying to do Commish Notes.  By that fourth game, didn’t matter who it was, I really didn’t have the energy or care.  That’s why the GBP got two sentences every week when I did do those recaps.

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So screw it, I’m just going free form from now on.  Maybe I’ll talk about some teams and not others.  Maybe I’ll talk all Crackheeds all the time (by far the team I’m most interested in oddly).   Maybe there’ll be some numbers.  Maybe just some bear talk or transformers clips (by the way I’m sure that in the previous post the 9:40 second length of the cartoon scared everyone away.  Please note, however, that I linked specifically to the part I wanted you to see and it only takes about 20 seconds when you click on it.)  Who knows?  Who cares?  It’s just coming out how it’s coming out.

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For this set I figured I would go over what I remembered from my Draft Review in sort of bullet form.  I don’t remember the specific grades, and I’m not ranking the teams.  Maybe Power Rankings can return again in time but again even those have the “must complete a list and give each team it’s due” type of feel.  (Also I feel like after one week they’re a waste of time.  I mean right now we know Gabe is the number one team on the board but everyone knows that won’t last.)

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And now here they are, The Draft Review Memories:

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-I liked PPR’s new team, definitely thought it was a step up.  I think I gave him a B+ draft, the highest grade I’d given him in a long while.  I said at the draft and also before week one in my analysis that I thought Hakeem Nicks would be huge.  And….so far he’s huge.  (And unlike Welker, I see it continuing.)

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-I also mentioned that The Gang had gone a combined 5-21 in the past two seasons combined.  Ouch.  (Of course now they’re 1-o at the expense of my Heeds.)

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-I thought Gabe’s team was just so so.  Loved the Foster pick.  Didn’t love the Gore price or the Welker price (I know, I know, he went OFF in week one, still, I just don’t see it continuing).  I did like the value on Forsett and I loved the Holmes pick up.  I feel like Gabe’s team has .500 with one and done in the playoffs written all over it.

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-I broke down the entire record of the “Cobra Kai Era” (lasted four years).  Don’t recall it now but it was close to but just south of .500.  There was a trend in there too but I forget what it was.  (So glad that research was erased!).  On draft dray and draft night I thought I liked Fwat’s team a fair bit.  But I soured as time went on leading into Sunday.  Love Rice and Andre Johnson obviously, and also Brady and Witten, but don’t really believe in Moreno, Wells, T.O, or Mike Sims-Walker.  And that Devin Thomas pick (now discarded) really came out of nowhere.  The Redskins have receivers?

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-Here are some the players I thought were great values/steals at the draft:

-Nicks ($13), Collie (1$), Forsett ($7), Holmes (3$), Witten ($9), Bradshaw ($10), Owen Daniels ($1), Maclin ($11), Ronnie Brown ($15), Stafford ($1), Ward ($4)

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-Here are some players I thought went too high:

-Matthews ($57) (Said this before week one), Gore ($48), Welker ($22), Ricky Williams ($10), Desean Jackson ($26), Colston ($31), Benson ($37), NYJ Def ($10), Prater (19$), Steven Jackson ($45), Wayne ($41),

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-The only “F” grade went to Jonny G’s WR corps, which on draft stay consisted of Mike Wallace, Braylon Edwards, Nate Burleson, and Julian Edelman.  That’s not a WR corps, that’s a WR bench.  Jonny G also spent $29 total on Kicker and Defense – not good.  He would have gotten the worst draft grade had I ranked all the teams.

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-Overall I thought the draft went pretty even.  I don’t think any one team is head and shoulders above another.  If I had to sub-divide the teams based on my thoughts going into week one, here’s how I would have done it in tiers:

Top Tier: None

Middle Tier with Upside (Teams I like or think I could like): The Gang, Canucks, Brown Trout, Crackheeds, Birdmen

In the Middle of the Middle Tier: Los Pescaderos

Middle Tier with Downside: 1.21 Jigiwatts, The Rat Pack, Mormon Defenders

Lower Tier:  The GBP

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-After week one I might slide Little Buhr down a hair due to the Ryan Grant injury.  Jury’s out on everyone else.

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Here are some Week One Thoughts I had:

-I’m trying to think of a situation where I wouldn’t root for Megatron.  Maybe if the Heeds were playing Los Pescas in the Title Game.  MAYBE.

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-I’ve always hated the prime time Minnesota vs. New Orleans game.  I feel like it’s schooled me multiple times with huge let downs for my studs.

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-I was worried that no one could pick up the slack for the departed Jamarcus Russel in the bad QB’s I love to watch because they’re so awful department.  Luckily, Derek Anderson won the starting job in Arizona and really shined in week one.  And of course Delhomme is still around launching wounded ducks from his wet noodle which warms my heart.

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-Favorite nicknames emerging from Week 1.  Bob’s coining of “Dexter McClusterfuck” and of course Arian “Foster – Australian for Touchdown.”

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-Found myself in the odd position of rooting fairly hard for McNabb this past week.  He’s still on a division rival, though it’s the one I care about the least, and I love that Dallas lost that game.  I hate that fucking team.

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-One of my favorite parts of the football season is my weekly phone break down of the Giant’s game with Papa STup.  I like all the parts of that call, but my favorite portion is the “Here why Eli sucked and I hate him” portion.  This week he couldn’t believe “how much of  a pass Eli gets from the announcers” and better yet he called him a “freaking pansy” because he’s afraid to run with the ball.  I can’t wait until next week, because Papa Stup loves to talk about how much better Peyton is.  I smell an “It’s not even close” coming after week 2, just saying.

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-Inter-Division War.  Why type when a picture suffices? Iwan takes the Predators to 1-0.  First all out Inter-Division War Week is week 4.  Enjoy.

That's a PWNYO.

Enjoy Week 2.

Commish