Got a nice piece here written by one of the regulars, GaryReal- its a cute post that made me smile, but also, a good chance for people to vent! I know until this week, I was going backwards, but a good week or two can do wonders! So, have a read- then let us hear it- your best laid plans, laying in ruin? or just lulling into a false sense of security?

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This article isnt for the people in the top 1000, because most of you are probably a) GNR rollers, b) have 75% of the same team as everyone else in the top 1000, and c) have patted yourself on the back a few weekends running by now...

No, this article is for the people in 2000th place, or 4000th, or maybe 10,000th, even 25,000th, or more sadly, 40,000th...(lets face it, if youre 100,000th you must be playing for the first time or keep forgetting to make trades...and if youre 200,000th you must a) have never heard of TooSerious, and b) think James Hird is still playing off the Half forward Flank).
Thats right folks, this is an article for those stuck in the quagmire of their own football savvy. Im talking about the depressed band of frustrated tragics who have spent a whole lot of time counting numbers and making plans and thinking up clever combos, and lo-and-behold ten weeks in find themselves defeated by the intangible and seemingly surprising wicked turn of events, as decreed by the Footy Gods.

One good week gets our juices up, we make some great looking double trade for someone like Chappy Rash, who proceeds to average 70pts thereafter...and the next week a cataclysmic sequence of patheticness befalls our team structure such that our bench scores 100 and our fieldmen get subbed off after 10mins.

Im talking about those who spend 3 days reading DreamTeam Captains Wordout and Jasmines Captain Callout, think hard about whether Dane Swan is slightly injured, and then slap a big C on the wrong guy all the bloody time!
The same person who saw Petrie score 40pts (on the field) and Chris Knights 120 (as Emergency), and so the next week swap them over cos North are playing a good team and Adelaide play Melbourne, only to see the flabbergastric direct opposite result. This sort of pattern holds on for 4-5 weeks and you see yourself no longer enjoying watching 8 games a week and turning to Monopoly or reading or even talking to your girlfriend...but slowly as the week rolls over you find yourself checking TooSerious again, joining in the chat, thinking about Lucas Best Buys and some sweet upgrades, with renewed passion and excitement come Friday 5pm teams, only to be slapped in the face by Love once again!
Its worse when you have a really good week in between and start crashing in the top 3,000 and think your luck might have changed and your PODs are finally standing up and it doesnt matter if Goddard gets knocked to LaLaLand cos everyones got him anyway...and then the following week God stands there sniggering behind the cupboard door as your really good Friday and Saturday turns into an abysmal Sunday (again!). Late-night Saturday night high-hopes turn to sludge as Chris Yarran gets tagged out of the game and for some reason Broughton has become a hack.
Then theres the old chestnut - when a guy you trade Out has a break-out game, while the guy you trade In scores 50. Worse, though, of course, is when the guy you trade in (lets say Sandilands, finally, after the first 8 rounds), who gets injured and misses the next 6 wks. And Im not talking about panic trades, like the guy who traded out Adcock after Round 1 - Im talking about pretty smart people who know the game, know all the players, know the values, and simply just keep getting it wrong, relentlessly, without fail, despite the cold water showers!

Ok, so really the point of this whole article is to have a big collective winge and cover all the depressing bases, allow you to Comment with your own hard-luck-stories, and get some crap off your chest, knowing full-well if you get close to the top 5000 youll probably keep a mildly addictive eye on the whole thing anyway...knowing that theres not necessarily a clear logic as to why Riewoldt has had such a demoralising season nor why Embley has become a Premium again 5yrs later, nor why Travis Barcode never stepped up into Gazzas spot and averaged 100...

Well its good night from me and its goodnight from him.