Hello my friends. I think I've written this intro paragraph about 5 times now, trying to figure out what to say after my hiatus and the loss of our daughter, Caroline. But I have no idea what to tell you other than I am here, I am surviving, and I am attempting to channel my sorrow into something productive by getting back to blogging. I will be forever grateful for the support you all have shown me. If anyone is ever in a similar situation and wants someone to talk to, send them my way. I don't have the right words for this (who does?) but I have all the time in the world to listen and do what I can to help.
Do me a favor and when you get a chance, please hug your kiddos, spouse, parents, siblings (special thanks to my extraordinary sister for her love this week and always; she's a FF newbie this year, too, by the way), your best friend, your cat, your coworker, your bus driver, your favorite bartender, your UPS guy (we see him a LOT at our house), heck even your cup of coffee. Embrace it all. In the meantime, I will be saying Caroline's name over and over and over with abiding gratitude for the chance to meet her and love her.
Now, it's time for football:
Do me a favor and when you get a chance, please hug your kiddos, spouse, parents, siblings (special thanks to my extraordinary sister for her love this week and always; she's a FF newbie this year, too, by the way), your best friend, your cat, your coworker, your bus driver, your favorite bartender, your UPS guy (we see him a LOT at our house), heck even your cup of coffee. Embrace it all. In the meantime, I will be saying Caroline's name over and over and over with abiding gratitude for the chance to meet her and love her.
Now, it's time for football:
- Let's start things off with a few waiver wire articles, particularly after the Ogletree explosion last night. Keep in mind that some of these articles were written before the first game of the season:
- Rotoworld's Waiver Wired: Head Games
- The Hazean's Kevin Ogletree, Waiver Wire Wonder
- More thoughts on what to do with Ogletree from one of my favorite experts, Andy Behrens, in Kevin Ogletree can't be covered on opening night.
- Bleacher Report's Week 1: Top 25 Players Available on Waiver Wire
- And now on to the early start/sit lists for the week:
- FFManiax's Start/Sit - Week 1
- Roto Arcade's Lames: Mile High disappointment expected for Peyton and Flames: RG3 is about to drop bombs on the Bayou
- NFL.com's Start 'Em, Sit 'Em: Philip Rivers opens with favorable matchup
- The Fake Football's Week 1 Start/Sit
- CBSSports.com's Week 1 Start 'em and Sit 'em
- There's already a world of weekly rankings being compiled by Fantasy Rundown, so if you're in the mood for comparing Dude A to Dude B, do yourself a favor and head on over there for a serious explosion of ranking links. In the meantime, a few rankings to focus on:
- Athlon Sports' positional rankings for Week 1
- Rotoworld's Week 1 Rankings
- Fake Teams' Week 1 Rankings - both standard and PPR as well as IDP rankings
- WalterFootball.com's positional rankings for Week 1
- Few things in the FF world are as intriguing as Week 1 if you ask me as questions start to be answered about players with either big question marks or big expectations. I always enjoy Pat Fitzmaurice's Ten Most Intriguing Players article - scope out his thoughts on Week One.
Comments
Welcome back to the blogosphere, you were missed and definitely in my thoughts and prayers. Best of luck this season and always :-).
Welcome back.
I will be making a charitable contribution to my local childen's hospital in Caroline's name. It's all about I can do. She will never be forgotten.
(PS I even thought of your father last Saturday watching our helpless Wolverines and wishing he could do something from above to help the Maize and Blue!!)
You and Your Family and Your Dearest Caroline have our most deepest Love and Prayers . . .
There are no words of comfort to offer . . . I wish I was able to hug you and rock you in my arms.
Thank you for sharing your immense football wisdom with us once again.
Please try to Take Care of Yourself and Your Family . . . allow Yourself to be taken care of by those who Love and Cherish You.
Mike and MaryAnn
It is hard to imagine what you are going through and am really sorry for your loss. But please know that you have helped me (and probably a lot of other people) realize that maybe we should hug and kiss our kids a little more. Because you never know what will happen.
So thank you very much.
I am humbled by the immense losses that you have felt willing to share with me/us via comments and e-mail. Know that each and every one of you who has written to me about a loss in your own life has my thoughts and prayers, too.
@David: words cannot express my gratitude for your charity in Caroline's name. I promptly burst into tears upon reading your comment. Well upon reading a lot of these comments, let's be honest. I feel compelled to note that it's my grandfather not father who passed away and was such a Michigan fan (dad, if you're reading this, wanted to clarify you're most definitely just fine). Go Blue!
Thank you all.
Smitty
DraftCalc
Hey your a beautiful person, Hang in there. My bro went through a similar situation,its tough but always keep her in your heart. I Enjoy this site, glad to see you back on here, and I hope you enjoy the season and I will be looking forward to your links.
Sincerely, DC.
you are in mu prayers