TooSerious

Another week has come to a close and there are only 8 teams across all 3 leagues that are still undefeated! In the NBA, most teams have played 8 or 9 games, and Miami & OKC are setting the pace so far; while Washington is the only team still yet to get a W. This reduced season is throwing up some strange scenarios with lots of early blow-outs and players being rested left right and centre. Miami even gave LeBron a game off - and I hope they continue with that tactic as Im up against him this week . While talking of LJames, he is still easily our highest scorer - averaging 68.8 fppg so far - and Love is still a clear second as well - averaging 59.4 fppg. the pack have dropped back a bit too as 3rd spot - Kyle Lowry - is only averaging 51.8 fppg now and the top 3 are the only ones ave over 50; whereas 3rd spot was averaging about 55 a week ago.

We had 2 teams top 1700 this week and one other probably should have, but didnt set up his final day roster before it locked and had 180-odd points sitting on the bench that coulda been used. The two teams that did manage to top 1700 were <a title="Team HEAVER! (Dave Tong)" href="http://games.espn.go.com/fba/clubhouse?leagueId=23530&amp;teamId=13&amp;seasonId=2012" target="_top">Team HEAVER![/url] (coached by HEAVER) in Premier with 1708 and <a title="The Jug-O-Naughts (Kristian Collins)" href="http://games.espn.go.com/fba/clubhouse?leagueId=10094&amp;teamId=2&amp;seasonId=2012" target="_top">The Jug-O-Naughts[/url] (coached by Fez) in Division 1 who romped away with the highest score of the round with a 1755! Well done guys. The highest scoring loser was up against HEAVER and it was <a title="Robert Sarvers Handbag (Chris Riches, Steve Smith)" href="http://games.espn.go.com/fba/clubhouse?leagueId=23530&amp;teamId=7&amp;seasonId=2012" target="_top">Robert Sarvers Handbag[/url] (coached by chris88 &amp; smittys07 ) in Premier, who scored a very good 1512 - which would have beaten 13 of the other 17 winners! There...

So, Im sure a few of you would have caught on that I got an invite to the induction camp on Monday, so let me open this by saying that it was a great opportunity, and a big thanks to Heath Evans, and the other guys at the AFLPA for extending me the opportunity.

It was a fantastic chance to actually peel back the curtain and see what it is like for these young blokes as they start out their journey as AFL footballers.

It also gave me a chance to talk to a couple of the young up and comers that well be putting into our teams, so join me over the break!
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The day started bright and early, with the majority of the day revolving around current and past players talking to the draftees about various aspects of their life as an AFL footballer. There were eight workstations which consisted of:

Career Engagement by Andrew Swallow - Involved Swallow discussing his path so far, from picking up units part time in his uni course, to leveraging connections in order to get work experience in where he wants to go after football finishes.

Control your destiny by Paul Licuria and Daniel Pratt - In short, it was about getting everything in order- about focusing on what is important in life and various ways in which you can achieve a balance.

Your Association by Ian Prendergast - I quite liked this discussion, it was a very frank discussion on what the AFLPA does, what they have achieved in their time and how they are working hard to enrich the working environment for all AFL footballers.

My first year in the AFL by Jamie MacMillian - Again, a frank discussion on what it is like to be a first year player, from the intimidation of starting out in the environment, to the frustrations faced by first year players. It centered around the stories of Nathan Grima and Brady Rawlings. Grima in his first year on the rookie list, did his knee and missed the season, but through his work ethic still managed to secure a spot on the...

This thread is now closed, click here for part two



For a while now (from about half way through last season for me), there has been many thoughts and much talk about creating a fantasy football competition that utilised the SuperCoach scoring system, but was devoid of some of its pitfalls. Near-identical teams by the end of the season and a limited number of players you'd actually consider picking in your team.



And so the idea was born to have a draft of all the AFL players; an 18 team league, each filled with unique players and loads, loads, loads, of 'mid-pricers'.



And then we found out heaps of sites and people were doing similar things.



We decided to do it anyway.



N.B IT'S YOUR PICK IN THE 17TH ROUND DOOBS

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<pre>Outer Regional Fantasy Football League</pre>

Hornsy (Sarah Island Savages)



Bearfly (Coulta Couldabeens)



BlueBeliever (Queenstown Quolls)



port_leschenault (Popanyinning Pyrite)



Gumby (Woy Woy Wizards)



SuperCoachSuperStar (Merton Meerkats)



Fez - (Bonnie Doon Bandits)



Tino (Purnululu Bungle Rangers)



Jason (Poowong Potoroos)



bgt2110 (Jimcumbilly Jackrabbits)



stkildathunda (Torrumbarry Thunda)



Johnson - (Milikapati Snakes)



Doobs - (Glenrowan Gunslingers)



walesy (Mount Buggery Disappointments)



Lucas (Humpty Doo Hammerheads)



EdddieV (Warburton Wanderers)



Thokash (Mallacoota Magicians)



Kel - (Tarwin Lower Pigs)

<pre>DRAFT ORDER</pre>

1. Kel - (Tarwin Lower Pigs)



2. Jason - (Poowong Potoroos)



3. Fez - (Bonnie Doon Bandits)



4. SCSS (Merton Meerkats)



5. EdddieV (Warburton Wanderers)



6. Tino (Purnululu Bungle Rangers)



7. BB (Queenstown Quolls)



8. Johnson - (Milikapati Snakes)



9. Hornsy - (Sarah...

Its been a hectic few weeks in the EPL that has seen Man City register their first and second goal-less games of the season as well as losing to Sunderland. Man United losing two in a row, including that unbelievable 2-3 reverse at Old Trafford against Blackburn. Weve also seen Spurs, Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea drop points. Yep, its all been happening at breakneck speed taking us up to the FA Cup third round this weekend and a juicy Manchester derby.

Weve now just surpassed the half-way mark of the season and with said FA Cup matches on this weekend I thought it would be a good chance to see how the season has gone so far as well as how it might finish.

Way back at GW3 I did an article called "<a href="http://tooserious.net/runcis-top-corner-going-down">going down[/url]" which touched on title contenders but mainly focused on who I thought would get relegated. Ive covered all teams this time and as such theres a fair bit of meat to it, so Ive broken it into two articles - join me over the break for the first installment focusing on the relegation candidates...<!--more-->

<a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/eng_prem/table/default.stm">League Table[/url]

Fulham

I thought Fulham would struggle this year. The main reason being the constant managerial upheaval at the club.

Martin Jol is the main man now, although he doesnt appear to be the most popular with some, if reports are to be believed. Rumours persist, despite denials, that hes fallen out with Bobby Zamora and Andy Johnson.

Theyve been consistent with their inconsistency this season but it looks like theyve less to worry about than some. With Hangelaand, Murphy, Zamora and Dempsey as well as Ruiz, Frei and Sa showing some promise, they should have enough in the tank.

Villa

Villa have disappointed this season. Its true theyve missed the departed Ashley Young and Stewart Downing, but they still have plenty of quality there. They proved that with their win at...

Hi all, there are currently 6 and a half hours to go until lockout in the NBL Dreamteam comp. This week we have 5 NBL games on, starting with the Wildcats against the Tigers tonight - that I will be going to. The Tigers play twice in this gameweek, as they have to fly back over to Melbourne to play the NZ Breakers on Sunday. So after last weeks post being all about the Perma Captain coming back, I will now be cautiously moving the big C over to Trigger for this week.

Last week, in our fantasy league, we saw some really close games, but none moreso than the (almost) giant killer Bearfly up against the high flyer Parasite. The latter is currently ranked 28th overall and sitting in 1st place on our ladder, while Bearfly is ranked outside the top 500 (which is actually a massive improvement from early in the year) and outside of our top 8, but there was almost a big upset with Parasite winning by just 18 points. Parasite still sits atop the ladder but is on equal wins with 2 others, and Bearfly is still just outside the 8, but is in ominous form and his opponents should be on gaurd over the remainder of the season.

Now that was a close shave for our front runner, but there actually was a big upset this week with Hawker knocking off Stowie, who last week had the same amount of wins as Parasite and the others up top. It was a massive win for Hawker who is sitting in 9th spot on our Points For ladder, and the win has moved him up to 6th on our H2H ladder - jumping 2 spots, while Stowie has dropped down to 5th.

Now over the break will be the usual results and upcoming fixture of our league:::::

<!--more-->Results for round 13:
<table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="100%">
<tbody>

<td align="right"><a href="http://dreamteam.nbl.com.au/?p=other_teams&amp;tid=212&amp;lid=1">Duncans Troops[/url]
213
def by
354
<td align="left"><a href="http://dreamteam.nbl.com.au/?p=other_teams&amp;tid=661&amp;lid=1">King Kong[/url]



<td...

With the teams getting back into training today after the silly season, and said silly season also being the time where the prices were released, I reckon its a good time to knock up a quick fanplanner, just to get a good feel for how difficult the salaries are this year.

I mean, just take a look at the top priced Pendlebury, weighing in at a massive $700,500 after an average of 129.2. I guess we shouldnt be too suprised however, its simply a case of the Magic Number reverting back to its previous 30 man (2010) levels. Guess it makes us appreciate just how big a boon being given an effective $1 mil extra in order to field 3 extra bench spots actually was. (And thats not even counting the benefit of having the extra bench spots to use in cash generation!!)

Anyways, join us over the break as we take a look at the new cap, some of its implications, and the very first cut of my team.
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So, if salaries are just moving back to 2010 levels, why does it feel so damn hard to put together a strong team? Were we simply too spoilt last year? Are the inflated rookie prices pushed us too far? Perhaps the average of guns has gone up, making them more important that ever! Regardless of the reason, my first cut has 13 true guns, 2 mid pricers and a swag of rookies (counting anyone under the 1st pick a rookie - Hello Bower), which has left me with a ridiculous 8 rookies on the field come round one. Can you imagine trying to pull that off back in 2010, 6 was seen to be a huge risk. But hey, information is a beautiful thing, as is the influx of new players due to the GWS hitting the scene.

But I digress, before getting to my squad, I did want to take a look at the inflation of averages, particularly at the top end:



120+110+100+90+80+



DEF0123122



MID38123230



RUC01153



FWD035920






120+110+100+90+80+



DEF004922



MID310212729



RUC134310



FWD019920




So in short, nope, inflated averages...

It feels like a bit of a whirlwind has just stormed through... it was a bit hectic there for a while trying to sort out our fantasy leagues after the good news that the lockout would be ending. And then the season started and the first matchup has already come to a close. Despite being a bit rushed, the leagues have come together quite well I reckon - a few people in Division 2 did have some issues getting into the live draft and one person in Division 1 didnt realise what time their draft was actually on (I think the time diff was the issue) but all in all, its been pretty smooth sailing, and people have hit the ground running, with quite a lot of player movements on and off the waivers, as well as a lot of trade proposals getting thrown around... not many have been accepted though, with only 2 trades (i think) going through thus far.

In this 1st matchup, we had 4 teams that scored more than 1700, and 1 - <a title="Team 726 (Sam Lee)" href="http://games.espn.go.com/fba/clubhouse?leagueId=10201&amp;teamId=6&amp;seasonId=2012" target="_top">Team 726[/url] coached by minis - that scored 1800+ with a whopping score of 1825!! Well done mate, and you had to come up big as the opponent in that match - <a title="Team Ring Ticklers (joel Lamerton)" href="http://games.espn.go.com/fba/clubhouse?leagueId=10201&amp;teamId=10&amp;seasonId=2012" target="_top">Team Ring Ticklers[/url] coached by joellamerton - ended up being the highest scoring loser. I hope people dont mind me pointing this one out, but our lowest scorer this week was <a title="Six Ten Two Forty (Anthony Hack, Martin Bodo)" href="http://games.espn.go.com/fba/clubhouse?leagueId=10201&amp;teamId=1&amp;seasonId=2012" target="_top">Six Ten Two Forty[/url], coached by twoeyec, who only mustered up 1072. All 3 teams outlined here came from division 2, but our closest game of the round was in the Premier League between two of last seasons high flyers with <a title="Kings of Karlos (Sean Minetti, Leigh Walles)"...

Man United v Wigan

With Phil Jones and Smalling both out, SAF decided to drop Valencia back to right back and switch Nani from the left (where hes been so impressive recently) to the right to take up Valencias normal position. Park came in at left-mid and scored one and assisted one as did Valencia. Jonny Evans was subbed off at half time with a slight calf strain which meant Carrick and Evra were the centre-backs for the second half.

Rooney and Welbeck were benched, Rooney came on in midfield for Giggs and let Berbatov take a penalty to get his hat-trick.

De Gea was again rested. A 5-0 win that means very little if you had the likes of De Gea, Evans, Jones, Nani and Rooney.<!--more-->

WBA v Man City 0-0

Richards sat out again with his troublesome calf injury while Lescott dropped to the bench for the second time in three games and there must now be a big question mark over his starting place in the short term. Especially since both games resulted in clean sheets. Toure - wholl be going to the African Cup of Nations in January - was his replacement. Barry and Dzeko also started on the bench. It was a game of few clear-cut chances as WBA continued their decent form in recent games while City failed to score for the first time this season.

Liverpool v Blackburn 1-1

Kuyt and Bellamy started on the bench as did captain Gerrard who is returning from injury. Gerrard came on in 68mins to replace Blackburn goalscorer Charlie Adam. Maxi scored for Liverpool with a Skrtel assist. Carrol started and will most likely start against his old club Newcastle on Friday. Suarez is suspended for one game after giving the Fulham supporters the finger. It was a spirited performance from Blackburn especially with their injury nightmare. Liverpool have now drawn six of their nine home games.

Chelsea v Fulham 1-1

Torres made his first league start since October and finished the game with an assist for Mata. The impressive Ruiz assisted Fulhams goal for...

As discussed last week, with all 4 games on last Friday night, Round 12 of the NBL came and went really quickly. Kazzough was back from his stint in the Merica and killed it, rewarding all those coaches who stuck by him with 66 fantasy points (or 132 as cap ). Unfortunately though, our own Parasite was not one who stuck fat while he was with the Warriors, and he has dropped back to 24th overall now - but there is still time to get back up amongst the leaders I reckon, so stick at it mate. On Kazzough, if anyone wants to see some footage of his NBA stint, head over to the excellent site - <a href="http://andthefoul.net/archives/2399" target="_blank">AndTheFoul.net[/url] - and have a look. As it turns out, last week was just an appetiser, as the Kings have a double gameweek this round coming, which surely means another huge weekend from the big fella.

In our DreamTeam league, its still really tight at the top with the top 4 teams all on 8 wins. We have a new leader with Parasite jumping up from 3rd, after UnderAchievers lost to (fellow top 3 on points for ladder) Stowie. Despite our current fantasy NBA champ, DaBombers win on the weekend over maxweas, it looks like only 9 teams are capable of making the top 8 with the bottom 3 a long way back and all 3 of those coaches probably focusing on their NBA teams more now.

Anyway, just a quick one this week... But, you can head over the break for the usual details of our fantasy league:::::

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Round 12 results:
<table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="100%">
<tbody>

<td align="right"><a href="http://dreamteam.nbl.com.au/?p=other_teams&amp;tid=212&amp;lid=1">Duncans Troops[/url]
96
def by
196
<td align="left"><a href="http://dreamteam.nbl.com.au/?p=other_teams&amp;tid=145&amp;lid=1">Bunchalosers[/url]



<td align="right"><a href="http://dreamteam.nbl.com.au/?p=other_teams&amp;tid=661&amp;lid=1">King Kong[/url]
198
def by
239
<td align="left"><a...

And wowsers, thats a lot of server dying messages in my inbox- it must have been awful in these parts the last few days, but rest assured, Ill email the new hosts and get it sorted soon enough.

In the meantime though, it looks like VS have released the official prices, and wow, they were higher than I expected with Pendles coming in at a top price of $705k. Looks like it wont be nearly as easy as we thought it would be. That said, there does look to be a tasty number of DPP Forwards, which should make at least that line easier. Ill be posting my annual 1st team on the year when new years rolls round (see: Jan 1, around abouts the time the fireworks go off), so if you want to get involved, head over to <a href="http://fanfooty.com.au/">fan footy[/url] and do a little planning of your own!

Hobart was nice, weather was delightful, and we missed that massive Christmas storm which was pretty lucky, though it will take me a bit to catch up with what Ive missed! Damn a week is a long time in football, even in the silly season!!

Oh, and can anyone tell me what the deal with JCN is? Surely putting it on *every* sign makes it superfluous?