Day: September 17, 2015

2052. Waiver Thursday

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After a decent start to the regular and fantasy seasons, it is time to move on to week two. The Giants have moved on from a terrible loss and are ready to show that the outstanding defensive play was no fluke. The Cowboys are trying to prove that it was, but without Dez it will take some doing. This isn’t to say both teams can’t notch wins this week. In fact, here is what I think might happen:

DEN over KC
This will wind up being a defensive struggle. Manning will push himself and in so will expose a weak secondary on the KC side. This ought to be enough to help them squeak out the win.

BUF over NE
Like my least favorite wrestler intones, ‘Do you Bo-Lieve?!’ I Bu-Lieve in what Rex is doing with that team down there and Taylor has shown that he was learning a lot on the bench all that time in Baltimore. He isn’t a newb, and has the legs to cause the NE defense to creep up just enough to let that crew of talented wideouts go to work.

CAR over HOU
I’m looking for the HOU D to take control and help them win some games, but I am quickly coming to understand that this is still a QB league. That is made more clear when you look at the Texans who are also without their starting RB. No matter how well the D plays, Carolina has too much going for them for it to make much of a difference.

ARI over CHI
Cutler starts for me in fantasy and he really shouldn’t this week. The Cards will give up points to the Cutler-Bennett connect, but overall that defense should hold the Bears in check.

SD over CIN
This game is really a push for me. I’m going for SD purely because the the QB work here. I think Dalton has more holes in his game and his confidence than Rivers. That will lead to some unfortunate check downs, which will cost them a close but high scoring game.

TEN over CLE
Note: Mariota will have his official welcome to the NFL this week. That being said, the Browns D isn’t quite the scoring type. Unfortunately, neither is the Browns O. Count this one as a loss by the Browns.

MIN over DET
Bruiser ball is BACK. While MIN looks like a team that is reeling, in fact the Vikings are just trying to pull things together and get back in the rhythm they were looking to create when Peterson was suspended. I think that starts to happen this week and he has a 100+ yard effort which triggers some big plays for Bridgewater this week and in the weeks ahead.

NO over Tamp Bay
TB sucks. Nuff said.

NYG over Atlanta
Here is what I saw last week: Dez Bryant contained. The Giants secondary played an outstanding game that was schemed perfectly. This is what Spags brings to the table. Now he doesn’t have the D-line to pressure the QB, so that does give ATL time to create plays, but they don’t have the O-Line to create a dominant run effort, allowing the safeties to creep out of the box and cause trouble out there. I think the G-Men get in the W column this week.

PIT over SF
Not a lot to say here. I think Pit is more game ready this week than SF. They had more time to rest and prepare.

STL over WAS
Another one that comes down to D. STL is weak against the TE this season, which means some points for Jordan Reed in fantasy, but that isn’t enough to win.

MIA over Jax
layup.

BAL over OAK
see above.

PHI over DAL
This is a tough call, but the losses on Offense are too much to overcome in this short of a time. Look for more reliance on the run game from both teams this week.

GB over SEA
No Bam, no win. This will become a theme.

NYJ over IND
Luck done runout for Andrew. He faces two of the best Defenses in the league two weeks in a row? Thankfully it is a long season.

2051. On Teaching and Writing

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I’ve been thinking about my novel writing class and the way I give students little character assignments to do every day without clearly defining why I give them those specific assignments. In reality the idea is to engender thinking about the characters every day and to do so in a way that causes the characters to evolve in their minds to the point where they become a part of the writer’s daily thoughts and activities. There is nothing so compelling as a character demanding their story be told. Characters are like ghosts in that fashion. There is something they want—something that needs to get accomplished, but your pen is the only thing capable of making it come to pass.

I think that when I teach I do so in a fashion reflective of how I would love to write and think and be. It is, in that sense, a bit like parenting. “Do as I say, not as I do.” Meanwhile I rail against that notion in conversation more than action. In fact I would very much like to be the ‘do as I do’ guy both in writing and as a parent, but I am indeed human and often make poor choices. I can Monday morning quarterback the heck out of that situation as a teacher and a dad.

Hindsight is 20/20 (cliché but legit), so it does benefit my students to realize that it is often best to be haunted by your characters. In truth, my best fiction is the result of haunting. As the ghosts grow stronger, their history deepening in my veins, the story becomes a part of me and must be released unto the page. I say this as I am harboring yet another ghost and soon expect to birth his story.

 

Some Thoughts:

  1. No Waiver Wednesday today. I don’t have the internet connection right now and cannot get a sense of who is playing. I’ll put it together in the morning when I post this bad boy.
  2. Tackle begins this weekend and I heard tell that there is a bounty of sorts on my kids’ team. They blazed through the GYFL last year, only being slowed by the top two teams. Well, we kick off the season against one of them and they are looking to lay some big hits on our kids. They apparently are interested in intimidating them to the point where they don’t want to play anymore. I don’t see that happening, but I’m interested to see that these kids are looking for a fight. This is my first experience going to a small town where the entire town is behind the football program and it starts at age 6. I feel like I’m in Texas, but I’m not. Culturally, this is going to be a fun one.