Dear Blog

Monday July 21, 2008


Dear Blog

Well, this past Wednesday, I noticed that I had inherited the annual ‘itch’, once again. No, I’m not talking about a contagious disease nor am I referring to a wool article of clothing that has been laid aside since last Winter. No, neither of these two triflings are, now, on my mind.
What is tickling my fancy is something known as a Fantasy .. and I must stop you, immediately, in your perverted thought process.
My mind is, now, entertaining the popular American ‘pastime’.
Yes, it’s Fantasy Football !
This will be my 20th year playing (and gambling on) NFL Football weekly results. It is the most fun and entertaining game that I have ever played.
The main League that I am a member of, currently, is known as the F U Fantasy Football League. The F U is but a mere play on words .. or letters, as it were. It actually stands for Fantasy Ultimate.

Let me give you a thumbnail of our League: We have 10 franchises which my FishHead II team is one. We will have a card draw before the Season starts to determine the order of our Players’ Draft. We will, each, select 18 Players by a serpentine order. Each week, we select 10 of these to be our ‘starting LineUp’. They will consist of 1 Quarterback, 2 Running Backs, 3 Wide Receivers, 1 Tight End, 1 Kicker, 1 Defense/Special Team .. and 1 Wild Card which can be a RB, a WR or a TE.
These players stats for that week will translate into points for our team.
Our 10 teams will be divided into 2 Divisions called the Pros and Cons. We will play Head to Head games; 2 each verses the other 4 teams in our Division .. and 1 each against the 5 teams in the other Division. That equates to 13 Regular Season games. The winner of each Division receives a Bye during the following week’s Playoffs .. while the 2nd & 3rd place teams in each Division play each other. Then, those 4 will play the following week to get 2 teams for a Championship game that plays during the NFL 16th week.
Points for each position are predetermined. A QB will receive 4 points for each TD Pass he throws .. 6 points if he Rushes for a TD. He will, also, receive 1 point for each 20 yards of passing that he throws for. He will be deducted 1 point for any Fumble he makes and 1 point for any Interception he throws.
A RB receives 6 points for any TD he Rushes for .. and 5 for any TD pass he receives. He will gain 1 point for every 10 yards of Offense he accures. A Fumble will deduct 1 point.
A WR will receive 5 points for any TD pass he receives and the other RB points will be the same for the WR.
A kicker will receive 1 point for every Point After TD he kicks. He will receive 3 points for a Field Goal of up to 39 yards, 4 points for a FG of up to 49 yards, 5 points for a FG of up to 59 yards .. and 6 points of any FG of 60 yards or longer. A missed FG of 39 yards or less deducts 2 points and a missed FG of 49 and under is minus 1 point.
The D/ST get 6 points for any TD scored and 1 for each Int., Sack or Fumble Recovery. A Safety is 3 points. Points are deducted for total yards and points given up, as well.

Last year I missed winning the League Championship (and a thousand bucks) when Tampa Bay scored their first ever ST TD in their history .. by a guy named Michael Spurlock ! Go figure. L L
Still, I pocketed $ 600. J


The Washington Redskins opened Training Camp in Ashburn, Virginia on Sunday July 20, 2008.
During the morning practice, DE Philip Daniels tore his ACL and will be lost for the entire Season. ESPN is reporting that the Redskins have contacted the Miami Dolphins about a Trade for their disgruntled DE, Jason Taylor. Let’s hope that materializes.
* Note: The Trade is done. The Redskins will give Miami a 2009 2nd round Draft pick and a 2010 6th rounder for the 11 year veteran. That’s a bit steep .. but I’m down with it. Done deal.
The Redskins will open the Pre-Season schedule for all NFL teams in the Hall Of Fame game verses the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday August 3, 2008 in Canton, Ohio. That day, Darrell Green and Art Monk will be inducted in the NFL Hall Of Fame. Congratulations to those Redskins GREATS.


Now, Baseball: The Nats only played 3 games this week due to Tuesday’s boring All-Star game. In Atlanta verses the Braves where they won 2 of 3 games, they won Sunday, 15-6 after winning on Saturday, 8-2.
Third Baseman and star player, Ryan Zimmerman will return from injury this Tuesday in San Francisco where the Nats open a series with the Giants. They will travel to Los Angeles for a series with the Dodgers after that.


NASCAR did not present a Sprint Cup race, this week-end. Although, on Saturday night in St. Louis, they did schedule a Nationwide Series race.
Many of the industry’s most prolific Drivers did not perform in this event. One who did, though, was Roush Fenway’s Carl Edwards. Carl maneuvered his Ford into the Winner’s Circle by passing several cars during a wreck near the conclusion of the race and, then, held off several cars to win the 300 lap race.
Joe Gibbs Racing’s Tony Stewart and Denny Hamlin did not participate .. but the team’s new 18 year old protégé, Joey ‘sliced bread’ Logano finished 2nd .. and Jason Keller (who has signed with JGR for 2009) finished 3rd.

The next NASCAR Race will be the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday, July 27.


And as reported in this Blog, last week – I did not travel to Key West to live full-time .. but I will fly there, soon .. to chill out while waiting on my future living abode decisions. I will not report that trip, here, as it may cause further delay in my change of address.
Enough said !


Today in Key West, the high air temperature is predicted to be 90 degrees with a Relative Humidity of only 75 %.
Today’s LoCo weather forecast calls for air temperatures of 96 degrees but with a Relative Humidity of 94 %.



Okay, thanks for dropping by this Blog, today.
I hope to see you, tomorrow, for amateur Lyricist day at this URL.


My time is, now, up .. I thank you for yours.

LARRY CURTIS SPURLOCK