Written by Nick T.
April 13, 2010
Ladies and Gentleman,
As a native New Yorker (and former Knicks loyalist), I still stay current with the New York local media and often come across the pathetic Knicks performance and scores in the news. This week, it was the game against the Pacers that caught my eye. Seriously, the last full Knicks game I watched was in 2001 when they played the Raptors in the playoffs and lost in 5. Its still always a fun memory to remember the classic Pacer/Knick playoff games...can we say RRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!
Later in the week, I caught "Winning Time: Reggie Miller vs. the New York Knicks" on ESPN; I thought that it was pretty well done. It really reminded me of all the small things I forgot about the rivalry and everything inbetween...Spike Lee moments, Larry Brown, Donnie Walsh, etc. I definitely recommend it to anyone who followed the Knicks or Pacers in the 90s or watched the NBA when it was watchable.
Speaking of watchable, I have not watched the Rangers in a LONG TIME! However, with a shootout to decide playoff implications, I was on board! Needless to say....1994 was not the case.
Best hockey memory besides NHLPA93!
OK thats the last 'good old days' moment I'll mention in this issue...onto Mets #5 start 1, John Maine...5IP 8H 4ER 1BB 3K. Mediocre at best...if that wasnt enough to upset me, the Mets took the liberty of messing up Nolasco's win. Granted I am always in favor of a Mets win over fantasy points; they spoiled the fun both ways in last minute Mets typical fashion. Thank you Metropolitans. Losing the first two series in a doubtful year just confirms what we all believe. Ohhh botherrrr...
Now, my fantasy team which is just in line with the Mets (and NY hockey and basketball) week 1. The following news is never good when it's about your first round pick...
Washington 3B Ryan Zimmerman left Saturday's game against the Mets late with a tight left hamstring and was replaced by Willie Harris at third. Zimmerman, who went 0 for 3 in the game, is expected to miss a couple games due to the injury, reports MLB.com. "It tightened up a little bit today," Zimmerman said.
The news was just the final straw to an awful fantasy week for me. Benching Rauch with more points than any other player in my lineup (not that it would affect the outcome of the match) and injuries to Niemann and Ethier already knocked me to my knees earlier...starting the year 0-1 with injuries to your first round pick and a keeper is never a good beginning. As we look to improve and get to .500 I have 5 out of my starting 7 pitchers who are double duty (Maine, Nolasco, Wainwright, Peavy and Ervin Santana); barring any rainouts or natural disasters, the 10 starts should be in my favor. The tough decision is who to plug the other two spots with. De La Rosa and Rauch were both beasts in week 1 and Fuentes got the job done in week 1...while its a tough decision, you have to give Rauch the respect and Fuentes his due. Sorry Jorge.
As for the batters on my team, it was more or less process of elimination. With Ethier and Zimmerman as injury risks, my starting lineup looks like this:
Rodriguez, Ivan C WAS
Morneau, Justin 1B MIN
Prado, Martin 2B ATL
Lopez, Jose 2B SEA
Bartlett, Jason SS TB
Coghlan, Chris LF FLA
Sizemore, Grady CF CLE
Span, Denard CF MIN
Swisher, Nick RF NYY
My Opponents lineup looks like this:
R. Martin C
M. Teixeira 1B
R. Cano 2B
J. Cantu 3B
D. Jeter SS
C. Headley OF
T. Hunter OF
R. Ibanez OF
C. Pena U
J. Beckett P
M. Cain P
K. Correia P
R. Dempster P
J. Frasor P
U. Jimenez P
J. Vazquez P
Some housekeeping notes: I tried to make things easier for you readers (if any) by creating an easy to remember URL that links directly to the latest issue of Below The Fold. The URL is BTFFS.com (Below The Fold Fantasy Sports). While the FS at the end of the domain is unnecessary, we live in an age where people are domain registration happy. Therefore, unless we want to pay a premium (broke), we must deal. In addition to the URL, I updated my e-mail address to NT@BTFFS.com to keep things consistent. Finally, I set up a Twitter account at twitter.com/btffs. I have no idea what I will use this for yet but feel free to follow me or suggest ideas.
Hope your week looks a little more convincing than mine so far - see you next week!
Chuck and pray!
NT NT@BTFFS.com
You can visit the latest column directly by visiting BTFFS.com
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