Fantasy Football Librarian

One of the things I noticed in Tampa was the unbelievable amount of Steelers love. As I flew out yesterday, the plane that deboarded at my gate was full of Steelers fans - at least two gentlemen got a "Here We Go Steelers " cheer going and tiny children to old men were decked out in Steelers gear. I don't even think this plane came from Pennsylvania. The airport attempted to have some Cardinals/ Steelers diversification going on but seriously, anyone with even half a good eye and even the crappiest of hearing aids could tell that Tampa is quickly becoming Pittsburgh's town. John Clayton reports that there are roughly 30 bars in Tampa that will be overrun with Steelers fans this Sunday - how many for the Cardinals? Zero. So part of the fantasy sports conference I attended this week included a dinner cruise (for some it may have been more of a booze cruise...) and while I was waiting for the live band to really kick things off so I could get my dance-loving self ...

Well I'm sitting in the Tampa airport with a fair amount of time to kill (thanks for getting me to the airport super early, super shuttle) and am wrapping up a great couple of days at the Fantasy Sports Trade Association conference. I had a great time and really enjoyed the chance to actually meet so many of the guys whose content I link to on a frequent basis. They're an awesome group of people. I presented my big award to the 2008 FSTA member site with the most accurate preseason rankings to Fantazzle Fantasy Sports Games , a site whose primary focus isn't even about content and advice but more about providing fantasy games. Gotta love the dark horse, eh? Next week I'll have an article up in the NY Times' Fifth Down blog with a list of the top 10 sites at each position and the top 10 sites across all positions - until then I'll slowly dish out the top 5 sites to you guys since that's the info I've already divulged at the FSTA conference. So check ba...

I'm watching the Winter X Games right now and realizing once again how addictive it is to watch the superpipe . And wishing that I was in Aspen to enjoy some of the sweet snow that's coming down there. But then again, I leave tomorrow morning for Tampa and am certainly grateful to be leaving snow and 20 degree temps in my wake for a little sun and sand. Freckles and a possible sunburn (no matter how much sunscreen I apply), here I come! So I thought I'd throw up a few links tonight since I'll be traveling and chatting up fantasy sports folks for most of the day tomorrow. But before I get into the links I want to point out a new search feature that I have over on the right sidebar of my site - it's run by a Boulder-based company called Lijit and when you search you'll have the option of searching just the FFLibrarian blog or searching a pre determined group of sites that I've set up as my network. I trust all of those sites in my network to provide you with...

Today begins a string of conferences for me - well okay, just two back-to-back conferences: a library conference in Denver until Sunday and then a fantasy sports conference in Tampa. Can you imagine two more disparate groups than librarians and fantasy sports lovers? Should be an interesting week for me and it could lead to some limited blogging - but the silver lining is that my report on the most accurate FF sites for the 2008 season will be coming mid-week. Until then, here are a few links to keep you diehard FF fans happy as the weekend arrives... If you're fishing around for keeper information, take a look at ProFantasySports ' Keepers: Time to Dump Tomlinson - there will be keeper rankings coming from these guys over the next several weeks but for now, take a look at the great LT debate. My sister and the rest of you Patriots fans will be psyched to see this - the Patriots are already favored for next year's Super Bowl at 6-1 . The Colts, Steelers and Giants are al...

It is a crime that I am stuck in an office today; it is supposed to be 71 degrees - 71!!! - here today in Boulder and there's such a nice warm air blowing in through my window. Maybe I can take my laptop outside and just call the great outdoors my office for the day. Trust me, I'm pretty grateful for the awesome weather we have plus I leave for Tampa on Monday for the Fantasy Sports Trade Association conference...so in one week I'll be staring at the ocean. Life is so good. So I'm partaking in a mock draft organized by the Bruno Boys, which FFXtreme is chronicling here . Take a look if you're interested. How did I do with my first round pick of DeAngelo Williams? I was 4 th overall and think that might have been maybe ever so slightly early to take DWill , but frankly there wasn't anyone else that I was super confident about either at the 1.04 spot. Now I'm wondering whether I'll take another RB or a WR next...you can join FFXtreme's forum discu...

Like the good native Washingtonian that I am, I will be watching the inauguration on tv tomorrow morning and likely won't get a post up until rather late in the day...so I thought I'd get a few quick links up tonight. I hope you all enjoyed the conference championship games this weekend. I still cannot believe that the Cardinals are going to the Super Bowl, but kudos to Arizona and its fans; and of course to the Steelers as well. By the way this was the first Saturday without some sort of football in months and months and I for one was a bit bummed. The ability to go for a run in a t-shirt made it a bit better (it's supposed to be nearly 70 here tomorrow!) but this is just a reminder of the cold, dark time ahead for us football fans. If you found yourself occupied with other events this weekend (like say, en route to the big inauguration celebration like millions of others) and didn't catch the conference championship games, scope out Dr U Fantasy Football Guru's ...

I almost hate to admit this to those of you still trying to shake the cold that Canada graced us with this week, but it's supposed to be 60+ here in Boulder for basically the foreseeable future. And let me tell you, I am absolutely digging the prospect of a three-day weekend with those temps. But if you need a little fantasy linkage to warm you up, no problem - read on. Fanball's staff does a weekly ranking of players by position so if you're wondering what the excellent Fanball experts are thinking for this weekend's matchups , take a look. The Hazean's Start & Sit advice is up for your review - there is absolutely no fantasy love for Joe Flacco anywhere on the Internet - I get it, I agree but I have this strong desire for him to have an awesome game to show the naysayers he can do it. I think I'm actually pulling for the Ravens to make it to the Super Bowl now that I think about it... Not that I endorse gambling but if you're say, making a friend...

I was back in the bowling alley last night, my friends. It appears as though the time off (about a month now since I last attended bowling league night) was a pretty good thing for me - but what is exceedingly clear now is that my secret to bowling well is a combo of random 80s music and about 1.25 beers. Throw out all that other stuff about form and finding your mark and whatever else all the hardcore bowlers in the league are spouting off...I finally know my secret weapon. I can't wait to get back there next week. Hopefully all of you in the midwest , northeast, mid- atlantic , heck even my family as far south as Knoxville and Atlanta are cozied up with a cup of coffee, blanket, snuggie ( now you want one don't you? do you think snuggies are the only thing turning a profit right now?), pet, loved one, whatever it takes to keep you warm. I think the arctic blast is a great excuse to stay home and work on your fantasy football team for this playoffs weekend, no? Did you hap...

I'm feeling very cultured right now - by a coworker's request I created a Pandora station of classical tunes as background music for a library party in my office suite later today. Knowing an embarrassingly small amount about classical music, I basically just threw on Bach, Beethoven and Mozart and called it a day. Now I'm testing out the station and my sophistication and productivity levels are through the roof;I'm cranking out e-mails and powerpoints like it's my job (oh wait...). So while I'm at such a high level of efficiency, let's get to today's links: If you don't do this already, I implore you to stay hip to NFL news either via KFFL's Hot Off the Wire segment or Rotoworld's NFL Headlines . Knowing about new coaches, GMs and surgeries will make a big difference, I promise. More KFFL link love - check out their QB , RB , WR , TE , and Kicker non-PPR rankings for the Championship Round, or week 20 as they call it. RotoExperts ha...

Greetings football fans. I'm wrapping up my analysis for the Fantasy Sports Trade Association on the expert fantasy football website that was most accurate with their 2008 preseason rankings. I'm looking at positional rankings this year rather than just overall rankings so I think this year's analysis is going to be pretty strong. The award will be presented at the FSTA conference in two weeks and right after that I'll have an article up on the NY Times' Fifth Down describing the process and winners. There will be an overall winner for the site that most accurately captured QB, RB, WR and TE outcomes, but I'll focus on the individual positions, too, and which sites were particularly strong this year at say WR . I should emphasize here (as I'll emphasize a billion more times over the next few weeks) that this is just one year of data - to really know which site is "the best" we need to look at many more years of data. Moving onto today's links...

I think you all can imagine that the first piece of football news I'll link to today is the emergence of Josh McDaniels as the Broncos new head coach - yea for a new head coach! I don't have strong feelings about this - from a fantasy standpoint it puts a smile on my face to think of our already potent Denver offense being led by someone with McDaniels ' offensive success. I've also heard rumors that Mike Nolan or Dom Capers will come in as the defensive coordinator, a position that I'm very interested in hearing about of course. Apparently my teams have a thing for going with extremely young coaches - a few years ago Pat Fitzgerald became the head coach of my alma mater Northwestern at 31, making him the youngest Div 1-A coach; Lane Kiffin is now head coach at the University of Tennessee, which is where my husband grew up; and now a 32-year-old McDaniels takes over my Broncos... But there is other news in the football world, like who made it through the Divisi...

Good afternoon, fantasy football fans. I had a great time watching the BCS game last night and my Florida friends seem to be pretty happy with the outcome. Congrats, Gators. So just a quick thanks to all of you who are part of the FFLibrarian's Challenge - there are now 203 of us participating in this fantasy playoffs run via NFL.com's fantasy game and I really appreciate all of the interest. Remember, a $25 gift card to the store of your choice is yours if you win (courtesy of the Bruno Boys ) , and the top 3 winners will receive some FFLibrarian gear...who wouldn't want an FFLibrarian mug or t-shirt, right? Now moving onto fantasy links for the day: Lester's Legends has some sleeper thoughts of sorts for this weekend in Fantasy Football Out on a Limb - Lester offers up a low-profile player that will outplay a more high-profile in this weekend's matchups. If you're itching for more 2009 thoughts, take a look at Scott Engel's One-Man Mock Draft where he t...

So that crazy wind I wrote about here yesterday? Right, well the wind knocked down some power lines which turned into a couple of wildfires which came incredibly close to our home last night. I left work early after hearing reports of where the fire was located and around 5 PM or so our neighborhood, which is on the edge of town, got those good ol ' reverse 911 calls telling us to evacuate. Needless to say, I didn't make it to bowling. Instead we forced two unhappy cats into the car and I found myself staring at all of our possessions, wondering what to take with me to a friend's house. Turns out not much. I have surprisingly little need for about 98% of our material possessions; kind of a nice feeling to be honest. So we basically just grabbed our laptops (gotta have my husband's dissertation and my analysis of the fantasy football expert sites for 2008, which is in progress), a few photo albums (though really most of our images are digital now) and a bunch of importa...

So last night the weather forecast alerted me to possible hurricane-force winds here in Boulder - that the wind would be somewhat constant all day with these crazy gusts that will come along. And I kid you not when I say that I think I might have gotten some lift-off this morning as I was walking to the bus stop (not to mention the Cousin It look I was rocking since I didn't clamp down my hair before meeting the wind - poor choice). No joke, I honestly think both of my feet left the ground for a second. Not sure that's really possible but trust me, as I look out my window at this massive construction crane that seems to be swaying in the wind, I am not very excited about exiting the building at any time today. But tonight I will bowl again. You regulars out there know about my bowling exploits and somewhat default participation in a bowling league - due to the holidays, I haven't bowled in several weeks (except on a Wii - does that count?) so I'm thinking there's a...

Drum roll please...here are the top 10 contenders in the FFLibrarian's Challenge thus far: Ryan's Falcons Dux milehighbronc Rogues FFGeekBlog .com Amish Rake Fight Monster Blitz Topeka Librarians chapelgators Renegades Congrats, job well done and keep up the good work! I am hoping to sneak my way in there but I have a long way to go... My husband has returned from his interview-fest and I've been entertaining ideas of moving to some of my favorites from his list of interviews. The list is long and widespread - California, Oregon, Ohio, Wisconsin, Utah, New York, DC and Colorado are all options at this point - and if I'm moving to a city near you this summer, you can sure bet that I'll be looking for tips on good sports bars and such. So stay tuned on that front since I might need you to be my new best friend in six months. Now let's get to the links: Gregg Rosenthal is putting together his annual Top 50 Keepers list and before we get a taste of his top choic...

For those of you who are in the playoffs FFLibrarian's Challenge (and wow, the group keeps growing!) it looks like the weekly standings for my FFLibrarian's group aren't available quite yet - however the top 20 overall for the NFL. com's fantasy playoffs challenge are up and all of those top scorers were around the 144+ mark and basically all had Sproles and Peterson at RB. Interesting stuff. There will be plenty of links with advice for the Divisional Round this coming weekend, so if you're like me and you have say 5 of your 8 man roster to replace, no problemo . Take a look at what the experts have to say throughout the week. As for today, welcome back to work for the first time in 2009 to many of you - not so fun to have to come back to work after a holiday break, eh? Well here are some links to try and make the return a little easier: First, if you missed any of the games and are wondering whose star shone most brightly, check out Lester's Legends Fanta...

For so many reasons I'm bummed that the Colts lost last night - not only are they one of my favorite teams (and my husband would like to name our firstborn child Peyton Manning Holladay ) but they are a major component in my fantasy playoffs lineup. This is an unfortunate turn of events. Today I will be eschewing my fantasy needs and will pull for Miami - love the feel-good story there - despite the fact that I have absolutely zero Dolphins on either of my fantasy playoffs lineups. Speaking of which, thanks to all of you who are in my FFLibrarian's Challenge - there are 161 of us and I'm floored by how many of you have shown interest. You guys are awesome and I'm excited to see who will come out on top! Onto the links for today: Bruno Boys' Wild Card Weekend Updated Rankings - Risers & Fallers - sure, half the games are over but the Bruno Boys nailed Sproles here so you might want to scope their thoughts on today's games before finalizing the remainder o...

Right now my husband is at a conference in San Francisco, gearing up to spend the next four days going to nearly 20 different interviews - can you imagine many things more painful than being "on" for that long and being able to talk about 20 different schools/companies? I'm sending all sorts of good thoughts his way and think it's appropriate that his interviews coincide with the first weekend of the NFL playoffs. See, I kind of envision this first round of interviews as his first weekend of job playoffs if you will. There are second round interviews, fly-outs and job offers to be had down the line much like there are late round playoffs and the Super Bowl for NFL teams. But as always, it doesn't take much for me to relate my personal life to football in some way... Now to today's links: The Hazean has kept the Start & Sit suggestions rolling through the New Year. Check our Start & Sit: Fantasy playoffs - I'm strongly considering using LeRon McCla...