ProfessorBainbridge.com

Fantasy Football Draft # 3 Results

Eight team rotisserie league. 3 @ WRs. 3 @ RBs. 1 @ QB, TE, DST, K. Bench = 6. No PPR.

QB: Matthew Stafford, Joe Flacco
RB: LeSean McCoy, Doug Martin, Darren Sproles, Donald Brown, Rashad Jennings
WR: Roddy White, Brandon Lloyd, Reggie Wayne, Randall Cobb, Danny Amendola
TE: Vernon Davis, Jermaine Gresham
PK: Jason Hanson
TD: Houston Texans

From footballguys.com rate my team site:

Overview: Let's start by remarking that we appreciate your old-school leanings: you have a team marked by strength at the running back position. Because the position is so sought after, a team constructed like this usually has a chance to make the playoffs. But with the quarterback and wide receiver both being less strong, you may need to do something to change the outlook of this team. Your deficiencies are likely to show themselves through the bye weeks, so try to manuever early in improving the quarterback and/or receiver positions before week four.

Keep an eye out for quarterbacks like Cam Newton last year, Michael Vick and Josh Freeman in 2010, Brett Favre in 2009, Matt Cassel and Kurt Warner in 2008, and Derek Anderson in 2007. All were available cheap in August, and all contributed to fantasy championship teams. Similarly, wide receivers like Victor Cruz and Laurent Robinson were available after a lot of the drafts. Landing some of this year's top waiver players would be a huge help, so pay close attention to increased workloads, targets, injuries, etc.

Players we particularly like on this team include Rashad Jennings and Donald Brown. We have both these guys ranked ahead of where they are typically being drafted.

Was this a bad year to quit rooting for the Redskins?

Regular readers will recall my annual suffering at the hands of my once-beloved Washington Redskins. I go back a long way with the 'Skins. When I first started rooting for them, Sonny Jurgensen was still their starting QB (and how I loved him). The first Joe Gibbs tenure, of course, was like heaven. And, better still, I was living in Virginia and DC for most of that time.

Then came the evil one-- little Daniel Snyder and his parade of bad coaches and worse decisions. And the suffering began.

Last year, I finally through in the towel. I bought stock in the Green Bay Packers (how appropriate for a corporate law professor) and decided to root for them until hell freezes over and the NFL finally decides to let us have a team in Los Angeles (USC is already semi-pro, why not just give them a franchise?).

So, naturally, this year things are finally looking up:

• RGIII may not be the second coming of Cam Newton, but he's likely the best QB Washington has had since Doug Williams
• Mike Vick is getting his ribs x-rayed and over on Twitter we learn that "If it's ribs again for Vick, note that he broke ribs 11.13.11 and didn't play again for 28 days. Eagles' opener is in 20 days." 
• Even setting aside his looming criminal problems, Dez Bryant has patellar tendinitis (and with respect to Vick and Bryant, may I just say karma's a bitch?).
• Miles Austin has a hamstring injury.

So Dallas and Philidelphia are both starting the season with nicked up stars.

Naturally.

Fortunately, I think I can count on little Danny to frak things up.

Tweeting second fantasy football draft of the year--Updated w/ results

12 team. PPR. I'm picking 12th in first round (but also 13th in second). I hate the wheelhouse.

https://twitter.com/ProfBainbridge

Here's my team and evaluation by Footballguys.com:

QB: Matthew Stafford, Andrew Luck
RB: Matt Forte, Steven Jackson, Kendall Hunter, Isaiah Pead
WR: Hakeem Nicks, Eric Decker, Brandon Lloyd, Greg Little, Jonathan Baldwin
TE: Jermaine Gresham, Kyle Rudolph
PK: Dan Carpenter
TD: Houston Texans

Overview: We'll start by complimenting you on your strength at quarterback and receiver. As you know, it's very difficult in a competitive league to assemble a team that is strong at QB, RB, and WR, so just about every team will have a weakness. As you probably suspect, we perceive yours to be at running back.

In 2012, that's not an instant fantasy team killer like it might have been five years ago. And in this particular case, we absolutely think you're strong enough elsewhere to overcome it. You've definitely got a good team here, but we'd feel better if we knew you were committed to keeping an eye out for the 2012 version of 2010's Peyton Hillis or LeGarrette Blount or 2009's Ricky Williams, Jamaal Charles, or Fred Jackson.

Players we particularly like on this team include Eric Decker, Brandon Lloyd, Andrew Luck, Greg Little, Kyle Rudolph, and Steven Jackson. We have all these guys ranked ahead of where they are typically being drafted.

Bottom line:

• With great inseason management, we think you have about a 80 percent chance of making the playoffs.
• With good inseason management, we think you have about a 70 percent chance of making the playoffs.
• With average inseason management, we think you have a 58 percent chance of making the playoffs.

I think I'm okay at RB, actually. But I concede that this is a team on which I need the sleepers to pan out. If guys like Decker, Hunter, and Rudolph end up having good to breakout seasons, I could be in good shape.

Update: Our friend Tung Yin is playing in this league and evaluates his team here. I'm not sure "Drizzles" is the scariest team moniker, however.

Tweeting first fantasy football draft of year--updated with results

https://twitter.com/ProfBainbridge

Here's what Footballguys.com's rate my team application thinks about my results:

QB: Drew Brees, Andy Dalton
RB: Marshawn Lynch, Shonn Greene, Peyton Hillis, Cedric Benson, Ben Tate
WR: Andre Johnson, Demaryius Thomas, Darrius Heyward-Bey, Pierre Garcon
TE: Rob Gronkowski, Jermaine Gresham
PK: Dan Bailey
TD: Detroit Lions

Overview:

We'll start by complimenting you on your strength at quarterback, receiver, and tight end. As you know, it's very difficult in a competitive league to assemble a team that is strong at QB, RB, and WR, so just about every team will have a weakness. As you probably suspect, we perceive yours to be at running back.

In 2012, that's not an instant fantasy team killer like it might have been five years ago. And in this particular case, we absolutely think you're strong enough elsewhere to overcome it. You've definitely got a good team here, but we'd feel better if we knew you were committed to keeping an eye out for the 2012 version of 2010's Peyton Hillis or LeGarrette Blount or 2009's Ricky Williams, Jamaal Charles, or Fred Jackson.

Players we particularly like on this team include Drew Brees, Demaryius Thomas, and the Lions defense. We have all these guys ranked ahead of where they are typically being drafted.

Gosh, it's sucked to be a Redskins fan the last 20 years

Robert Griffin III and the Washington Redskins ended their contract impasse Wednesday when the rookie quarterback signed a four-year, fully guaranteed deal worth $21.1 million. It also includes a club option for a fifth year. ...

Washington made the big move after finishing last in the NFC East for a fourth straight year with a 5-11 record in 2011. That was the 16th season in the past 19 in which the Redskins didn't make the playoffs. During that span, they have started 21 quarterbacks. The most recent, Rex Grossman, committed 25 turnovers in 13 starts last season.

via sportsillustrated.cnn.com

Is it any wonder I bought stock in the Green Bay Packers last year (and what better office wall art for a corporate law professor than framed stock certificates)? But in my heart of hearts I can't help hoping RGIII is finally the answer in DC. Unfortunately, my head tells me the real answer is getting a new owner.

Dez Bryant and fantasy football ethics

The story about Dez Bryant's arrest for allegedly committing domestic violence on his mother is just awful. I hope the young man can get some help to straighten his life out.

But it got me to thinking about ethics and fantasy football. When it comes to fantasy football, I'm afraid I am of the school that believes that "Winning isn't everything; it's the only thing." And "Nobody remembers who came in second." Not to mention "when you win that silver it's like, Congratulations, you *almost* won. Of all the losers *you* came in first of that group. You're the number one *loser*. No one lost ahead of you!'"

It's sad but there it is. At least I'm self aware.

Anyway, this annually presents a dilemma. Do I draft Mike Vick, even though I abhor what he did to his dogs (and, if so, how do I tell Bella and Toby?)? Should I skip Bryant this year? Should I use the Saints as my DST even though I think there's something rotten at the heart of that franchise?

You may laugh, but I think these are deep philosophical issues. After all, aren't the central problems of philosophy questions like What should I believe? Or how should I live? Even in the trivialities?

Albert Breer on Football in Los Angeles

NFL.com's Albert Breer gives us what purports to be a rundown on the prospects of moving a NFL team to Los Angeles:

The league actually has found L.A. to be a profitable market from a TV standpoint if it's simply fed the best games week to week, which happens because there isn't a local club to stop that from happening.

That means the NFL can pick its spot. And with the league hell-bent on getting it right the next time in L.A., the ability to be patient is considered key. As one NFC executive said, "The league will wait until they get L.A. perfect -- perfect team, perfect owner, perfect location, perfect situation."

I don't expect objectivity from the NFL's in-house shills, of course, but Breer should have acknowledged that the perfect will always be the enemy of the good in this context.

You see, I simply don't believe the NFL wants to put a team in LA. As long as the nation's second-largest market has no team, NFL clubs can use LA as a threat to extort better deals from their current home cities. "Give us a taxpayer-funded stadium or we're off to LA." See, e.g., the Viking's new deal.

Put a team here and clubs lose a huge amount of leverage. And so we'll never get one.

Football Thoughts

Let's take a break from corporate law et al., to focus on the hot stove league news. It's been a pretty amazing week for football fans.

1. Peyton Manning as a Bronco. Curious that he opted against the 49ers. With Manning, the Broncos are a lock to win 10-12 games and make the playoffs. With the 49ers, however, I'd have pegged Manning to win his second Super Bowl. The 49ers have a better defense and running game.
2. Tom Tebow traded to the NY Jets. WTF? How on earth are Tim Tebow and Coach Rex "Potty Mouth/Foot Licker" Ryan going to co-exist? And why? To be a Wildcat freak or to really compete for the starting job?
3. Can you imagine Tebowmania in New York? The first time Mark Sanchez makes a bad play (which will be sometime in the first drive of the first preseason game), the crowd will be howling for Tebow.
4. How long will it take the NY Post to start Timsanity headlines?
5. Stunned that Roger Goodell suspended Sean Payton for the entire 2012 season. I guess Roger decided that a fish rots from the head and that he had to send a message that the head coach is ultimately responsible for maintaining institutional control.
6. Reports say Payton will lose $8 million in pay. Hope he had a big rainy day fund put aside.
7. Surprised that Saints GM Mickey Loomis was not suspended immediately. GM does most of his work now, with draft and free agency. Suspending him for games during the season will have much less impact. Given that Loomis reportedly disobeyed a direct order to end the program, he has always appeared more culpable than Payton.
8. If New England had to lose a first round pick for Spygate, shouldn't the Saints have lost their 2013 first round pick?
9. I'd really hate to be a Saints fan right now.
10. After years of being a disgruntled Redskins fan, I publicly switched allegiances to the Packers last year. As usual, my timing sucked. It looks like the Redskins are finally getting their act together. RGIII is going to be a star. They've given him some great new weapons. The defense was already solid. Now if they can strengthen the O-line and running game, they'll be a solid playoff contender. 

My grumpy football tweets

 

How many Super Bowl wins = Eli's Ticket to Canton?

NFL Network reports that former Giants QB Phil "Simms told NFL Network on Wednesday the legacies of Giants coach Tom Coughlin and QB Eli Manning will land them in the Pro Football Hall of Fame — if they win Super Bowl XLVI on Sunday."

But why? Jim Plunkett won two SBs and he didn't make the Hall. Tom Flores won two Super Bowls as a head coach and he didn't make the Hall. (Of course, my friends who are Raiders fans will claim that there's an anti-Oakland bias.) Joe Theisman and Craig Morton each made it to two SBs (albeit with only one win between them) and neither of them made it to the Hall.

Until this season, Eli's stats were pretty average for a starting QB. Damingly, he's thrown the most INTs of any QB in the years since he entered the league. He's got no MVP trophies and only 2 Pro Bowls. 

Assuming they all stay healthy, Eli will be coming up for Hall consideraton in a period in which a lot of amazing QBs will be eligible. From Peyton and Brady at the older end of the spectrum to Rodgers and Roethlisberger at the younger, with guys like Drew Brees in the middle, there will be a lot of QBs with much gaudier stats (not to mention more charisma and zing) competing for Hall slots.

The only strong argument I see for Eli is that, assuming he gets his second win this weekend, he will be the only QB to have twice beaten Brady and Belichick--the greatest coach/QB combination of my time watching pro football--in the Super Bowl. (Yes, I'd put Brady/Belichick ahead of Montana/Walsh, but I can see why you might disagree.)

But I still think Eli will need to flesh out his resume with a third SB win or a few 5000 yards/MVP seasons to make it to the Hall.

Are the Green Bay Packers Really the Worst Stock in America?

The WSJ's Laura Saunders ponders the titular question in a most amusing way. 

The stock offering also has corporate governance experts at odds. “What’s the point of being a shareholder if you can’t act like one? If the directors took the money and went to Aruba, shareholders couldn’t sue,” says Joshua Fershee, a Detroit Lions fan and a professor at the University of North Dakota’s law school.

UCLA law professor Stephen Bainbridge, who switched allegiance to the Packers from the Washington Redskins and now owns a share of stock, disagrees. “These shareholders don’t have any rights,”  he says, and “this is a great example of letting management do its thing without investors kibitzing from the sidelines.”

Indeed, one could argue that the Packers exemplify director primacy.

 

Fantasy Football Roundup

So I finished in second place in the PB.com rotisserie league. I was well rewarded for taking MJD high. Drafting Rob Gronkowski in the late rounds turned out to be a strike of genius (okay, mostly luck). A mid-season trade for Matthew Stafford helped too. Just not quite enough firepower to make up the gap with the league leader.

I finished third in the PB.com H2H league. I got hammered by QB injuries towards the end of the season and wound up starting (Gawd help me) Matt Sanchez. Ray Rice deserved his first round selection. Drafting Jimmy Graham late was another stoke of genius (okay, mainly luck). If Miles Austin and Matt Schaub had been healthy all season and I had had a better RBs than DeAngelo Williams, I think I could have won this thing. Oh well.

Kudos, BTW, to Drew C who won both the OB.com leagues this year -- a first.

As for my teams in Charles' leagues, I don't want to talk about it.

Thoughts:

1. In 2012, we end the H2H fantasy season in Week 16. These week 17 games are just too unpredictable. Drew's 7-7 team beat Charles' 10-4 team mainly because Matthew Stafford and Calvin Johnson went nuts against a Packers defense missing Charles Woodson and Clay Matthews.
2. Aaron Rodgers is fantasy fold in roto leagues. I won the PB.com rotisserie league last year behind him (of course, having drafted Arian Foster in the 6th round helped). Drew C won the league this year behind Rodgers. 
3. Drafting an injury-prone Javid Best as my RB2 in two leagues was a very bad idea.
4. Cam Newton is going to be what we thought Mike Vick was going to be. Only better and for much longer. He's a fantasy superstar in the making.
5. Desean Jackson was my biggest bust of the year. Considering how high I drafted him, I got woeful production.
6. Ditto Mike Vick. Having both of them on the same team was a very bad idea.
7. Cam Newton and Tim Tebow were great waiver wire pickups, even if they were picked up on my Charles' league teams that otherwise sucked. Newton will be on my radar for QB1 next year. Not convinced Tebow will be starting in 2012.
8. I loved it when David Akers tossed for a TD in week 17. It didn't change any of my results, but I love it when you get that little "extra points" asterisk on your Yahoo score sheet.
9. Having Vernon Davis as my TE on the same team that had Vick and Jasckson was one more reason that team sucked.
10. It's going to be a long, dull 8 months before the next season starts.

I'm now an official Green Bay Packers stockholder

My share of stock in the Green Bay Packers has arrived. I now "own" (if you can call it that) a small slice of NFL history. So goodbye Washington Redskins, the team of my youth and middle age, and good luck to you. God knows you're going to need it as long as Dan Snyder owns you.

And hello Packers, the team of my old age.

Tebow Time

As a NFL fan for over 40 years, I can't remember a story that's been as much fun as Tim Tebow's winning streak. His play is so ugly so much of the time ... until it's Tebow Time. Check out how Steve Mariucci breaks it down.

Owning the Green Bay Packers

My first weekend as a newly minted Green Bay Packers stockholder and fan went well. A 46-16 victory over the Oakland Raiders, a team I've never liked, was a great way to start this new era in sports fandom. Meanwhile, my former favorite team -- the Washington Redskins -- continued their Dan Snyder/Mike Shanahan slide into futility, despite putting up a spirited battle with the New England Patriots. And, the Dallas Cowboys lost. Since my second favorite team is still whoever's playing the Cowboys, my top two teams won this weekend.

Turning to a more serious matter of law, what exactly is it that I own as a Packers' shareholder. Specifically, do I own a "security" as defined in the federal securities laws?

Self-described "business law and NFL" geek Joshua Fershee reviews the issues, but doesn't reach a firm conclusion. Instead, the post reminds me of the sort of advice that made Harry Truman famously wish for a one handed economist. Unfortunately, clients want yes or no answers. As a parter for whom I worked when I was in practice once told me, as he tossed a draft letter back at me for more work, "a legal opinion should at least seem to opine something." (Tip for young lawyers: A wonderful skill to develop is the ability to write an opinion letter that seems to opine something, but really doesn't. It will make you indispensable.)

So I'm sending this memo back to young Fershee with a request; namely, "if you had to write a cold comfort letter, which side of the issue would you come down on?"