Fantasy Football Week 10

Quick update about each team and then I gotta talk about two things from this week.

Team Ramrod (5-1; 1/7)

Win. First Place. Trophy Leader.

West Chester Disasters (5-5; 6/10)

Loss. Lost by less than 1 point.

Player Slayers Bangup Job (2-8; 10/10)

Win, but see below.

No More Rowdy Friends (7-3; 3/12)

Win. Nothing fancy.

Mr. Rodgers’ Neighborhood (7-3; 2/10)

Loss.  Lost to other top team and dropped out of first. Tied for first in trophies.

Schaden Freuds (8-2; 1/8)

Win. Pulled it out of the fire thanks to the Packers.

Wideout Army (6-4; 5/10)

Lost. It hurt too.

Surly Goblins (4-6; 8/12)

Win. Squeaker. I won by 0.2 points. It was a nail biter the whole way.

Overall (44-32; 58%)

Stayed the same percentage as last week.

Ok here’s the news:

1. Matt Schaub is out for the season. This affected 4 of my teams. This late into the season, the only QBs are wildcards. I was lucky enough to have replacements for 3 of my teams, but I had to start bartering and surfing the waivers for the fourth. I picked up Carson Palmer for the Goblins. He’s been relatively reliable as of late and his schedule for the rest of the season is pretty nice. I have to laugh because the headline on ESPN right now reads: “Are you in need of a top-10 quarterback? Then let Carson Palmer be your late-season fantasy savior.” I couldn’t have said it better myself.

2. What do Peyton Manning (QB), Jon Beason (LB), Eric Berry (S), Thomas Davis (LB), Jamaal Charles (RB), Mike Sims-Walker (WR), Danny Amendola (WR), Earnest Graham (RB), Matt Schaub (QB), Antoine Winfield (CB), and Knowshon Moreno (RB) all have in common? Two things: they are all out for the season on injured reserve (IR), and they all were dropped from the same fantasy team. You might have noticed the change in team names once again. That’s right. The Philadelphia Noobs became Bangup Job and are now Player Slayers. I mean, really, that’s 11 players out for the season from one team (so far). Two QBs, 3 RBs, 2 WRs, and 4 defensive players. Add a TE, K, and DL and I’ll have someone from every roster slot. The only thing keeping my team afloat (and accounting for my 2 wins) are a combination of a strong IDP defensive setup, luck, and poor performances by players on the opposing teams.

Running Back Challenge

Stepping it up. Currently 275/849, for 32% (up from 19% last week). I’m trying to do 30-45 minutes 3-4 times a week. I’ve been somewhat consistent so far, but the weather and exhaustion from work are sapping my motivation. I’m hoping to catch him before playoffs.

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Fantasy Football Weeks 8 & 9

Mixed feelings over these two weeks. I really only paid attention to my Surly Goblin games because of my opponents. My grandmother passed away last week so I didn’t feel very fantasy footbally. Here’s the update.

Team Ramrod (4-1; 1/7)

Week 8: Clean win. My players just played well. Week 9: Bye week. Third in points this week. Also, apparently I’m in first place now AND I am the trophy leader. 🙂

West Chester Disasters (5-4; 6/10)

Week 8: Win. My QB and D/ST did a great job. Week 9: Loss, but not by much. Poor flex choice on my part and poor choice of starters on his. His bench nearly outscored me.

Bangup Job (1-8; 10/10)

Loss both weeks. Week 8 was a clean loss. Week 9 hurt. My opponent started 6 guys on bye and 1 guy on IR and I STILL lost! By a lot! Only 2 of my 19 starters scored double digits. Also, I benched 5 great players 😦 There’s a reason I changed my team name folks. At least all my fail is happening in one place.

No More Rowdy Friends (6-3; 3/12)

Week 8: Loss. Rolled the dice on the waivers and came up short. Week 9: Win. Several great performances. Enough said.

Mr. Rodgers’ Neighborhood (7-2; 1/10)

Week 8: Rough loss. Terrible bye week and several injuries. Also, it was Christian Ponder’s Neighborhood that week. I really could have used Rodgers. Week 9: Win. Great performances by several guys. Julio Jones had a great day and Patrick Peterson, one of my IDPs, returned a TD. Currently trophy leader with the “biggest win” trophy this week (316-152)

Schaden Freuds (7-2; 1/8)

Week 8: Clean win. A couple great performances to boot. Week 9: Loss. Benched some guys I should’ve started and gambled on Kevin Faulk and lost. I’m still the trophy leader in this league though.

Wideout Army (6-3; 3/10)

Week 8: Easy win. Dude didn’t update his lineup. Yawn. Week 9: Loss. Started a player who should have performed and didn’t (George Wilson, S) and benched a player who was projected low and performed fantastically (Julio Jones, WR). *sigh* First trophy this week for my win in Week 8.

Surly Goblins (3-6; 9/12)

Week 8: Win! Nice comeback win. I was projected to lose, but 3 players came to play. Sadly, Mike Tolbert (RB) did not and I got a big goose egg from him. Still won though. Week 9: Loss. I’m pretty damn pissed about this one. I played it like the pros would have though. This is where luck comes in. I started Roddy White over Julio Jones, because White’s a top 10 guy and Jones is a (talented) rookie. I started LeGarrette Blount over Mike Tolbert because Tolby’s coming off an injury and Blount was expected to whoop ass against the NO defense. I started Beanie Wells over Mario Manningham for the W/R slot, because, let’s face it, everyone but hardcore Manningham fans would have done that.

Let’s see. Jones outscored White by 20+ points, Tolbert outscored Blount by 14+ points, and Manningham outscored Wells by 6 points. I’m most upset about Tolbert vs. Blount because I changed my mind at the last minute on these guys. Wells vs. Manningham, that’s just a poor performance by Wells. White vs. Jones threw me though. Jones had a hell of a game. No one predicted that. Things just clicked. I’m left wishing I’d have started him.

The most frustrating thing about Week 9 is that I went up against the #1 team in our league and could have easily won. I lost by only 13 points, which is the difference between starting either Jones or Tolbert. I can’t be mad about it forever. It’s just a game, but I find myself frustrated at how little control over this I actually have. Funny that.

Overall (39-29; 58%)

Not bad. Downticked from my last post. Still holding in there. It looks pretty sad as far as playoffs for the one league I want to be in the playoffs in. The rest I’m either almost guaranteed or it’s foolish to hope.

Running Back Challenge

No progress. I did a lot of travelling last week due to the funeral. Running isn’t really on my mind at the moment. Thankfully, AP was on bye this week, so he didn’t rack things up for me. Currently 155/798, for 19%. I plan on running Friday. Maybe I’ll make a point of running tomorrow as well. Low motivation at the moment. Gonna post about my memaw in the next week or so. Gotta give some thought about what I want to say and really get to the place where I can type it all out.

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Fantasy Football Week 7

Lesson for the week: Trust your gut and trust the guys you drafted.

Team Ramrod (3-1; 2/7)

Bye week. Second highest in points though.

West Chester Disasters (4-3; 2/10)

Big win, but it was kind of a gimmie. The other guy’s team is made up of 90% guys from the same team…and that team didn’t do so well this week. Well, their kicker did well…

Bangup Job (1-6; 9/10)

I WON! No longer in last place! I was very surprised by this, especially since Dallas Clark (TE) got shut out, Earnest Graham (RB) hurt his hammy and was taken out in the first half, and Marshawn Lynch (RB) was taken out before the game but after rosters were locked (everyone who started him was stuck with him). On top of that, I had some really great performances from nearly all my defensive guys and had the fortune of having DeMarco Murray (RB) this week who ran for 253 yards!

No More Rowdy Friends (5-2; 3/12)

Win. Couple great performances and my opponent didn’t start his QB. Cake.

Mr. Rodgers’ Neighborhood (6-1; 1/10)

Win. I’m in first place! Solid win. I started all the right guys (no one on my bench scored any points…mostly due to byes or injuries). This week is going to be rough since nearly half my players are on bye.

Schaden Freuds (6-1; 1/8)

Win. Closest win of all the games this week, but it wasn’t all that close. The biggest news is that I scored the #2 TE from the waivers. I screwed up the roster when making the league and set the total number of TEs at 3 (which is the same number of starters), so basically, you have no TEs on the bench and have to either trade or start someone on bye. I lucked out and someone dropped Rob Gronkowski, so I snatched him up and started only 2 TEs this week. Score.

Wideout Army (5-2; 3/10)

Win. The other person is neglecting their team. I’ll take the win.

Surly Goblins (2-5; 10/12)

Lost. To John. Dammit. My gut told me to play Antonio Gates (TE) who was coming off a 3 week injury. I read that he would only play a few snaps, so I opted to start someone who would play the whole game. Mistake. Had I played Gates like my gut told me, I’d have won. The game was that close. Sadly, there will be no rematch until playoffs, which means I gotta step it up so I can MAKE playoffs…

Overall (32-21; 60%)

Ok. Running total. Six wins 1 bye and 1 loss this week for 86%.

Running Back Challenge

Well, ahem, things could be better. Peterson made up for last week’s paltry run with 175 yards this week. I made no progress this week. I walked 5 miles, but no running. Current progression is 155/712, for 22%. Gotta step it up!

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Fantasy Football Week 6

Average week. Losses were mostly close ones. Bye weeks are eating me alive and this week is gonna be worse.

Team Ramrod (3-1; 2/7)

Win this week. Nothing big to report. Everyone did their job. Bye this week.

West Chester Disasters (3-3; 5/10)

Loss by 4 points. Didn’t start Schaub and that was a good choice. Didn’t play Mendenhall (RB) and that would have won it for me.

Bangup Job (0-6; 10/10)

Another loss. I had hope at one point, but it was shattered. It’s hard to guess who is going to do well each week when you are only starting IDPs and 3rd/4th string players. That far down the depth chart it’s a pure guessing game outside of the guys stepping up for injured players or bitchin’ teams in general (Green Bay). Or, you know, Mike Shanahan, who I’m convinced plays eenie meenie miney moe with his RBs each week. This week looks bleak. I’m going up against the team with the second worst record (1-5) and he’s already projected to win. And he still has 3 empty slots on his roster. /sigh

No More Rowdy Friends (4-2; 3/12)

Win. I started all the right people. Nothing wrong with that.

Mr. Rodgers’ Neighborhood (5-1; 2/10)

Win. Easy win. The other guy started players on bye and players who were out with injures. He didn’t even start a QB. On the one hand, I’m frustrated that he didn’t bother. On the other, I’ll take my W and move one step closer to the playoffs.

Schaden Freuds (5-1; 1/8)

Loss. I’m kinda angry at myself for this one. I took out Vick and put in Colt McCoy at QB because I’d heard they were going to have bad/good games, respectively. That alone cost me since Vick outscored McCoy by 5+ points and I lost to my opponent by only 2+ points. I am frustrated that the one time Mike Williams plays well I don’t start him. That’s not even the biggest frustration. My players just didn’t play well. And their teams didn’t play well. The league is set up with wildcard scoring so that if a player’s team wins that player gets 5 points and if they lose they get -5 points. Not only did my players stink this week, with notable exceptions (e.g., A. Rodgers, E. Graham, & J. Graham) but their teams did too. Had any single player’s team have won instead of lost, I’d have won my match up. Grr.

Wideout Army (4-2; 3/10)

Win. Another case of the other guy not paying attention and starting guys on bye. Enough said.

Surly Goblins (2-4; 8/12)

Loss. It was a close one for a while. I had to start without an IDP because I had so many offensive guys either out on bye or injured. I had to sacrifice one of my IDP guys to start enough offensive players and therefore started with a short roster of 10 instead of 11 players. It mostly payed off, but things went wrong. Despite kick ass performances from a couple of my guys, two of my starters seriously underperformed. I’m playing against John next week. Currently projected to win, even with the guys I picked up from waivers to fill holes. Two of his strong players are out (one on bye and the other on suspension for assault). I may just have a chance. Number 8 defeats number 3. I like the sound of that!

Overall (26-20; 57%)

Ok. Running total. Four wins and 4 losses this week for 50%.

Running Back Challenge

Peterson had a paltry 39 yards this week (good defense). That let me catch up a bit. Jason = 155 minutes, Peterson 537 yards. 29%!!!

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Fantasy Football Week 5

SCHAUB!!!!!!!!!

What a week. I won all my games save one. Guess which team. It’s Schaub’s fault really. If he’d’ve played as poorly as he has been these past few weeks I wouldn’t feel so bad starting Ryan Fitzpatrick in his place. He had to play well the same week Fitzy plays poorly. Even the fantasy pros didn’t call it.

That’s what I get for listening to them.

Here’s the rundown:

Team Ramrod (2-1; 2/7)

Bye Week. Still, I scored the highest of all 7 teams. Thank you Adrian Peterson for a 3 TD game. It’s nice to see you playing like people expect you to.

West Chester Disasters (3-2; 3/10)

Win. Honestly though, this one was a gimmie. The other guy didn’t set up his team. He started 5 guys on bye and even had Jamaal Charles starting.

Bangup Job (0-5; 10/10)

Loss. Only one this week. Lost by 3 points. THREE POINTS!!! If I’d’ve stuck by Schaub or started Aaron Hernandez in place of Dallas Clark at TE like my gut told me, I’d have won. By the skin of my teeth in the latter case, but it would’ve been a “W.” *sigh*

Hank Jr. Monday Nights No More Rowdy Friends (3-2; 3/12)

Win. The other guy started guys on bye, but I’m not convinced he’s completely ignoring his team. Also, I changed the team name since ESPN dropped Hank from Monday nights for comparing Obama to Hitler.

Marshawn Lynch Mob Mr. Rodgers’ Neighborhood (4-1; 2/10)

Win. This one was relatively close. Three defensive players (Jason Pierre-Paul, DE; George Wilson, S; and Nick Barnett, LB) and Marshawn Lynch carried me through (Aaron Rodgers did his thing of course). I changed the name of this team too because I was apparently oblivious to how offensive it was. I mean, wow. I screwed that one up. I apologized to the league. I still feel bad. I’m supposed to be more aware than that. I’m a sucker for a good pun, but damn. I need to pay attention.

Schaden Freuds (5-0; 1/8)

Win. Still leading the league. I had 2 guys out this week due to byes and couldn’t replace them (well, I didn’t want to drop them to add someone for a week and risk losing them on the waivers). I’m proud of this team. Gotta move some players around, but I’m ready for this week.

Wideout Army (3-2; 3/10)

Win. Several strong players. George Wilson dominated. It’s rare when a safety outscores your QB–especially when that QB is Tom Brady. Eleven tackles, 3 passes defensed, and an interception will do that. My kicker did well too. He even got a tackle assist 🙂

Surly Goblins (2-3; 7/12)

Win. Squeaker! 91.65-90.73. Yup, <1 point. Thank you Matt Stafford for not doing too well. Also, apparently the kickers all ate their Wheaties this week. I have the same kicker for Goblins and Army, but man, I was up against Sebastian Janikowski who nailed 3 50+ yd FGs and one 40+ FG. He was my opponent’s highest scoring player.

Overall (22-16; 58%)

Ok. Running total. 6 wins 1 loss and a bye this week for 86%. Things are all over the place this week.

Running Back Challenge

Adrian Peterson kicked butt this week adding 122 yards to his total, which is now 498. Including today’s run, I have run for 95 minutes, so I’m 19% of the way there. I plan to run again this week–twice more if I can manage. I’ve cut my recovery time by a day. I’ll catch him! Thanks to this challenge, I’m currently beating Maggie in points on Fitocracy. I gained level 4 today!

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Fantasy Football Week 4

It was quite a week. More wins than losses. Aaron Rodgers did a fantastic job this week and 2 of my teams reaped the benefits. Sadly, Andre Johnson (WR) has a busted hammy and is going to be out for ~ 3 weeks, which will affect several of my teams and give me even more reason not to start Matt Schaub.

Week 5 starts the bye weeks and affords me a new challenge of managing injury reserve players and having fewer benched players to replace them. I’m up for the challenge.

Team Ramrod (2-1; 2/7)

Win. It came down to the Jets D/ST. They were all I had left to beat the other guy, and they came through for me. That is, of course, after I started Mark Ingram over Darren Sproles at RB (guess who did better) and Roddy White over Julio Jones at WR (guess who did better, though this one I played right since White is the usual starter). Flop either of those guys and I wouldn’t have needed the Jets. As a side note, I’m leading the league in trophies after 2 weeks of squeaking by on wins (i.e., winning by the smallest margin in a given week).

West Chester Disasters (2-2; 5/10)

Loss. This game came down to LeGarrett Blount (RB) getting a touchdown. Sadly, Blount was on the other team. Still, I prefer the close games over the blow outs (though the latter are awfully rewarding when I’m the one winning). This team is three-way-tied for first for most trophies (same as Ramrod).

Bangup Job (formerly Philadelphia Noobs) (0-4; 10/10)

Loss. No surprise here. I looked things over a bit and realized something: 2/5 of my top 5 draft picks (Jamaal Charles and Peyton Manning) are out for the season, while the next two in line (Matt Schaub and Mike Williams (Tampa Bay)) are under performing, and my fifth pick (Dallas Clark, TE) is crippled by the fact that my second pic is out for the season. I also realized that my 10th (Jon Beason, LB) and 11th (Eric Berry, S) picks (which were my top individual defensive player, IDP, picks) are also both out for the season. In addition, 3 other players I drafted have been out 2-3 weeks each for injuries or suspension. I came within 30ish points of winning this week, mostly due to the efforts of my IDP. As the story goes, I’m still very hit or miss in starting the guys who do well and benching the guys who do poorly. But really, that is what the game is about and I am a noob at this… Dead last in every way.

Hank Jr. Monday Nights (2-2; 9/12)

Win. Another close one. This is another of my Jamaal Charles teams. Honestly, his players just did better this week. He even started a player who was on injured reserve (getting no points). Oh well.

Marshawn Lynch Mob (3-1; 2/10)

Win. Aaron Rodgers!!! 400+ yards, threw 4 touchdowns, and rushed 2 touchdowns. Big win, though my opponent was not that difficult (0-3 record). I would have won by 75+ points even without Rodgers on my roster. Currently the trophy leader in this league after earning the Biggest Win and Season High Score trophies this week.

Schaden Freuds (4-0; 1/8)

Monster Win!!! (see Aaron Rodgers above). I benched Sidney Rice (WR) and Matt Bryant (K) due to weak previous performances and low projected scores for week 4, respectively. Rice had his best fantasy game of the season and Bryant (projected at 6 points) racked up 31 points against Seattle thanks to 2 41+ yd and 1 50+ yd FGs (and 3 xp). That being said, only 4 of my starters (out of 24) scored in the single digits and 10/24 scored over 20 points. All but 3 of my 12 starters scored touchdowns. And the Ravens D/ST racked up 3 TDs, 1 interception, 3 fumble recoveries, and 2 sacks for a score of 58 points. Aaron Rodgers, you know, the guy I mentioned earlier? 94.9 points!

New Paragraph. I am currently first in my league in trophies, points, and tied for first in wins. I earned the Biggest Win and Season High Score trophies this week, beating out the last high score of 539.5 points, with a game high score of 603.8!!! I’m feeling really good about this team.

Surly Goblins (1-3; 8/12)

Loss. Frustrating. I was projected to win this by a decent amount. Instead, Michael Vick happened. Also, Andre Johnson hurt his hammy and Atlanta D/ST just plain sucked. *sigh*

Wideout Army (2-2; 4/10)

Win. Strong win, even with Johnson’s hammy injury. I opted to bench 2 rookies and start a couple stronger, consistent players, and that was a mistake. It didn’t cost me, but I was sad to see so many points earned by my bench this week.

Overall (11-12; 48%)

Ok. Running total. 5 wins 3 losses this week for 63%. 16 wins 15 losses for 52% overall.

Next week I have a bye for Team Ramrod, so I’ll only be playing 7 teams. Next week also begins the NFL bye weeks, so I have to scramble to fill starters with fewer options. My benches just got a whole lot smaller…

Running Back Challenge

Adrian Peterson continues to under perform with only 80 yards this week, bringing his total to 376. I’ve run 55 minutes so far, so I’m ~ 15% of the way to catching up. I’ve got some running planned for this week now that my legs don’t feel like painful jelly anymore. I can do this!

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Progress

Quick update. I made the first major progress toward my Running Back challenge today. I ran 35 minutes on the treadmill and 5 minutes on the elliptical to bring my total to 55/296, or ~19% of the way toward catching up with Adrian Peterson. Also, considering how much I’ll be posting about it, I’ve added “running” as a category and tag to the right. The chains will be moved again on Sunday, but I’ll keep on running.

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Fantasy Football Week 3

Oh Matt Schaub…

As I’ve said before: Injuries everywhere! That being said, I still did pretty well this week. Here’s the breakdown.

Team Ramrod (1-1; 4/7)

Win. Squeaker too. Drew Brees (QB) and Ryan Mathews (RB) tied for points with the Jets D/ST costing me points. I’m projected to win next week, but stranger things have happened.

West Chester Disasters (2-1; 4/10)

Loss. I benched two strong players on a week they did well (as opposed to playing them the last few weeks when they did poorly). I opted to start Matt Stafford at QB, you know, because he’s had 2 great weeks. I benched Matt Schaub, you know, because he’s had 2 crap weeks. That cost me. Felix Jones (RB) also had a big game, whereas Rashard Mendenhall (RB) did not. *sigh*

Bangup Job (formerly Philadelphia Noobs) (0-3; 9/10)

Loss. Sucked so bad I changed the name of the team. Sucked so bad I got a trophy for worst loss. I stand by Schaub here, he was my shining star. But when two of your defensive players out score all but one of your offensive players (RBs, WRs, & TEs), you’re bound to lose. Really, Schaub, Steve Johnson (WR), and my defensive players are all I have going for me. I just need to make sure to start the defensive guys that are going to do well.

Hank Jr. Monday Nights (1-2; 9/12)

Loss. Thank you Schaub and Jimmy Graham (TE) for a great game. Oh, and Tyvon Branch (S) too. The rest of you have to run laps. Two of my benched guys had a great game too. My problem here is that I have a lot of great defensive guys and nowhere to put them. This team is only slightly better than Bangup Job, though I am not complaining about the offense here. I have a lot more options with this team for sure.

Marshawn Lynch Mob (2-1; 4/10)

Win. Aaron Rodgers (QB) of course dominated. Tyvon Branch helped out too. George Wilson (S) had a hell of a game as well. Really, it was as strong showing by my defensive guys. As the old story goes, I benched guys I shouldn’t have and played guys that were duds. Live and learn.

Schaden Freuds (3-0; 2/8)

Win. Big win. Trophy win. Too many stars to name on this one. Ben Tate (RB) was a flop after he was talked up to replace Arian Foster (RB). I chose wisely with this bunch. The downer was Michael Vick (QB) going down and hurting his hand (broken? fractured? bruised? bionic? who knows!). I’m the underdog this week, but I’m hoping I can kick butt anyway.

Surly Goblins (1-2; 7/12)

Win! Matt Schaub and all of my WRs did great. Jared Allen (DE) didn’t disappoint either. It’s my first win among people I know. It feels good. I’m the favorite next week, so I hope to repeat.

Wideout Army (1-2; 5/10)

Loss. Tom Brady (QB) and Wes Welker (WR) are my heroes, but even their performance, epic as it was, didn’t produce the big W. If I’d played 2 of my benched players in lieu of the 2 WRs who did poorly, I’d have won.

Overall (11-12; 48%)

Ok. Running total. 4 wins 4 losses this week for 50%. 11 wins 12 losses for 48% overall. I’m the favorite in half the games next week.

XX cross fingers XX

Final Note

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I have joined Fitocracy. I am issuing a challenge to myself.

Adrian Peterson was the #1 draft pick in nearly every league. He is a Running Back (in case you didn’t already know). He’s expected to gain a lot of yards over the year (1,000+ projected). He has currently run for 296 yards over 3 games (5 other RBs have run more so far, but they weren’t the #1 draft pick).

I am challenging myself to run 1 minute for every yard Peterson racks up this year.

There. I said it.

This is going to be rough, but I’m going to do it. I’m counting the 15 minutes I ran yesterday on the elliptical, so I’m 15/296. That’s 278 minutes (~4.8hrs) of debt to catch up and then whatever he runs this week. I’m not sure when I’ll catch up, but I will match him minute for yard.

Running, treadmill, and elliptical are all fair game for this challenge. I’ll post here each week as I progress. Wish me luck.

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All Kinds of Things

I need to write more frequent blog posts so that I can cover these things individually. That being said, here we go.

Internship

Things are going smoothly at the VA. I’m getting into a bit of a rhythm and I’ve almost completed my first assessment. Just today I updated Time2Track with my hours. It looks like I’m going to get my first individual inpatient PTSD client, which simultaneously excites and terrifies me. I really want to work with people who have experienced trauma, but I’ve never really done it for real. I have a decent level of anxiety surrounding me about future sessions. Will I do or say something that makes things worse? What do I do once my client has opened up? How do I avert a crisis? These are some of the thoughts I have about working with trauma. They don’t deter me. In fact, I’ve taken a more assertive approach to the whole thing. I’m a student. A professional, yes, but a student. I am expected to make mistakes. Everyone makes mistakes. Now is the time to do so while I’m under supervision (and while it’s not my license on the line). I can do it. I will do it. But I’d be a liar if I said it was easy or it came naturally. Maybe after I’ve done it for a few years it’ll be more natural. For now, it is most definitely work. And don’t get me started on how to document it. I did mention I work for the VA, right?

Rain

It just keeps on raining here in PA. The locals swear it’s an anomaly. I’m not sure I believe them. I feel like I’m in that scene from Forrest Gump where the rain is coming from every direction. Hmm. Given my previous paragraph, perhaps that’s not such an appropriate metaphor. Still, Maggie and I were out on Friday and it rained pretty steady. And then it rained a lot. So heavy so quickly that visibility was horrible. So heavy you’re soaked before you can close your car door. So heavy we took shelter in a store and got shakes and malts to wait it out a bit. So heavy our apartment flooded. Yup. It finally happened. A big damn hurricane came blasting through last month and we got puddles. One heavy heavy downpour was apparently enough to turn our sidewalk and porch into a pond. There was no drainage. There was 2 inches of standing water at our door. The cats were riding in a sailboat. Ok, I made that last part up, but sailing cats? Cute, right? Anyway, two moldy smelling days later the landlords have replaced the padding and shampooed the carpet. Now we’re waiting for that process to dry.

Fitocracy

I’m a gaming dork. But you knew that. This website was created by gaming dorks in an effort to make exercise fun. It plays on the addiction and competitive nature of games and gaming to get you to exercise. You gain experience based on the exercises you do and you gain levels. You can join groups and enter weight loss challenges. There are even quests and achievements, though I haven’t experienced any of them yet. I’m enjoying it so far, though I’m reverting back to my rules-lawyering nature and documenting all of the walking I do at work. Granted, I do a lot of walking at work, but I’m only documenting the walking I do from building to building, which is enough that I think it counts. I’m so far away from the other interns that it’s a 5 minute brisk walk through the tunnels to get to their building. That’s 10 minutes round trip. It adds up. Anyway, I just gained a level after hitting the elliptical machine at our complex, so I’m now level 3.

Football

Maggie brought an article to my attention that I have to share since it eloquently describes how one of my fantasy teams is doing right now: God: Human Body Not Designed to Play Football. I have changed the name of my Philadelphia Noobs team to “Bangup Job” because so many of my players are out due to injury. It’s not enough that 3 of my players are out for the season, but everyone else seems to be injured as well. I even had a player I drafted as a backup for one of my injured players become injured himself. You can’t throw a dart at the injured players list without hitting someone on one of my teams.

Sleep

Who has two thumbs and needs to sleep? This guy. I’m tired when I don’t need to be and I can’t fall asleep when it’s time. I wake up tired and I’m drowsy all day long. I nod off when I shouldn’t and it’s becoming more and more of a problem. I got a nice, new, comfy pillow, which is nice, comfy, and new, but isn’t doing anything to help (other than being comfy). It is time to schedule an appointment for a sleep study. I’m 99% certain I have apnea, since everyone and my brother has it, and now that I have government employee health benefits (read: plain ol’ health insurance) I can afford to take the time to go do something about it. The time is *yawn* nigh!

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Fantasy Football Week 2

Well, this week sucked.

Team Ramrod

Lost. Adrian Peterson was my high scorer (surprise, surprise). It was a pretty straightforward loss. I’m not ashamed.

West Chester Disasters

Win. Thank you Matt Staffard! Standup performances by Vincent Jackson, Andre Johnson, and Matt Forte. I have a trade working to get a decent WR and decent RB for Vincent Jackson. Coming off a week like this, I’m hoping this turns out to be a good trade.

Philadelphia Noobs

Lost. Wow. Lots of problems with the Noobs. My #1 draft pick, Jamaal Charles is out for the season with a torn ACL. Lots of other injured players. No real replacement for Charles. I’m hoping a trade goes through for an RB. Also, I’m picking up scraps from the waivers. Next week doesn’t look good.

Hank Jr. Monday Nights

Lost. I’m out Charles for this team too 😦 My offense was so-so. My defense did well though: Roman Harper (S), James Laurinaitis (LB), and Antoine Winfield (CB) had great games. I don’t have a suitable replacement for Charles, but I’m hoping a trade goes through for an RB.

Marshawn Lynch Mob

Lost. Aaron Rodgers (QB), Michael Turner (RB), Peyton Hillis (RB), Roman Harper did great jobs. I was simply out played on this one. Also, I got beat by a girl 🙂

Schaden Freuds

Win. I had the high score for the week too! I am beginning to hate one of the scoring features for this league (my own fault). If a player’s team wins, add 5 pts to their score. If their team loses, subtract 5 points. This hurt a bit this week. Still, lots of high scorers. QBs did well, a high scoring RB in Peyton Hillis, crap for my WRs, great head coach scores (all won) and decent scoring on my team defenses.

Surly Goblins

Lost. Close. If the damn Pats hadn’t shut down Antonio Gates (TE) I’d have won. He didn’t catch a single pass. Double coverage all night long. Also, I don’t know how to pick the guys that are going to do well each week. If any of the 3 people on my bench had replaced any of the others I started (at their respective positions), I would have won. We’re talking a loss by less than 5 points.

Two wins. Five losses. 28% win rate this week. 6 wins 7 losses total; that’s a 46% win rate so far. Meh, I’ll take it for now.

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