Taking the sting out of losing

There's something kind of nice about being surrounded by my family during the last week of fantasy football. Sure, I probably didn't pay very good attention to the MNF game last night thanks to the fact that my family would rather talk about such varied topics as tax returns, musicals and running - but being with the fam takes the sting away from losing in the semifinals this week.

This has not been my finest fantasy season.

I take pleasure in being the top scorer in multiple leagues but having a championship under my belt this year certainly would have been nice. I think this is a sign that I need to drop a league or two next year - 7 was just too many. I admit that there were times I forgot to make a lineup change or two because I just blanked on the existence of a team. No more of that next year. But what I will continue to do next year is confer with my favorite fantasy expert sites. Thank you, experts, for a great season of advice. Sometime in January I think I'll throw up a poll to see which of the expert sites you guys like the best - I'd love to know your favorites so stay tuned for that.

In the meantime, I know some of you are still alive and kicking for a Week 17 Championship, like my buddy Chris who has played this whole season as my FFLibrarian representative in a league led by Latin Fantasy Football. Chris, best of luck for a big win! Here are some links to help you out:

• Week 17 is a whole different fantasy monster - take a look at some of these waiver wire links to figure out who exactly you might need to grab as a plug-in for a regular starter: FFToolbox's Week 17: Pickups of the Week, NFL.com's Waiver wire video and KFFL's Waiver Wire.
• One of the many reasons I love KFFL's content is because they churn it out with such regularity. Despite being a holiday and only semi-fantasy football kind of week these guys have their Week 17 Sleepers and Busts up right on time.
• Gregg Rosenthal also has some Week 17 wisdom in his Pancake Blocks post To play or not to play.
• If you're done with fantasy football, scope out some thoughts on playoffs bubble teams in Fantasy Sharks' On the Rise, On the Fall.
• Hatty Waiver Wire Guru's new waiver video has a little something for both Week 17 FFers and those with dynasty leagues.
• And more for those who are no longer playing FF this season - see The Hazean's By the numbers: Nine sleepers for dynasty league consideration. Everyone loves a sleeper so take a peek why don't you? That first QB name on his list might just surprise you...
• CBS Sportsline did a review of some of the best waiver wire grabs this season in Waiver Wire: The best pickups of '08.
• Finally, a few of you have asked about 2009 mock drafts - seriously, you guys are way ahead of the curve. And I love it. Take a look at The Huddle's John Tuvey's blog that discusses an industry experts 2009 mock that took place last week.

Back tomorrow with more!