A little about me…..My Name is Chris Cliver. I live in Atlanta. Transalation—I live within 50 miles of Atlanta in the band of sprawl. No one actually lives “in” Atlanta. Well maybe, I have heard rumors.
No, this is not and will not be a Falcons site. What does the Michael Vick situation mean to me and how does it make me feel….Get real. All it means to me is there may be a lot of Joey Harrington passing yards as he battles from behind and lots of Joey Harrington interceptions because well… he is not that good.
I grew up in Bucaneers country just East of Tampa and was nursed on the teet of the NFL. Actually it was Dolphins country until the Bucs came onlong. Thats right, I have been to the Big Sombrero and worn a paper bag on my head like the unknown fan, as the sissy swashbuckler got his jack-o-lantern butt kicked all over the field.
I have dated myself here as well as I have referenced:
- A pre Buccaneer era,
- A time when fans of bad teams could
- Find paper grocery bags and
- wear them on their heads
- The Big Sombrero (aka Tampa Stadium RIP)
- A sissy swashbuckler in Orange??? Thats right the Bucs got their start in the very confused decade of the 70’s
Don’t break you pencil connecting the dots I’m 39. I have been an avid fan of the NFL as long as I could remember. Don Shula was like a TV godfather to me. As I got older, I dreamed of being LT and knocking the snot out of someone. My father of course harkened back to the days of Butkus then as I speak reverently of the time when Lawrence Taylor was smoking blockers rather than crack pipes. I love the NFL and have for a long time. Hell, I even loved the USFL (google it). Go Bandits!
I participated in a few old school fantasy leagues in the 90’s and discovered online FF in 1998 and have never looked back. I have proudly managed my teams under the name Eviscerators since that time. I would love to tell you I have been league champ in every league I have played in. I cannot. I have won it on a several occasions but not even most.
So why do I think you should read my Blog????
I quickly learned through the years that I did not like the manual draft as I seldom had that much time to commit at the beginning of the season. I also discovered that I had horrible luck in the automated drafts. Even when I would get a big name player that seemed to end up being the year they had a year ending injury.
I also learned that I was good at orchestrating trades but that it has become impossible over the years to put together a decent one and have the whole league approve as there are always spoilers out there.
I found that I had a talent for spotting the opportunities and jumping on them before others spotted them. Think Maurice Jones-Drew like players that were just sitting there for the taking. My teams, when assessed from a talent potential at the beginning of the season, have ALWAYS greatly outperformed their potential. If I could transform this talent to stocks I would be rich.
I will give you the scoop on what guy to pick up on Tuesday that may not help you win on Sunday but will help you win 2 and 3 Sundays from now. I see too many guys get fixated on winning the regular season only to have a 4th ranked team come in and spank them in the playoffs because the top ranked team’s players are all riding the pine for their respective teams.
Come on and enjoy the season with me and if you listen, if you have some faith, you will find that guy on the waiver wire who will end up winning the game for you when it really counts.
-Chris
