I apologize for last week’s column. I was trying too hard to be funny. Add that to the fact that I’m not funny, and you can
see why it was a colossal failure. Therefore, you won’t see any lame, stupid, or corny jokes in this column. If you are
not familiar with my humor, here is an example of what I mean by lame, stupid, and corny.

One day, my boss and I were walking into the pantry at the same time to get our lunch. She got to the fridge before
me, so I was standing behind her while she reached into the fridge and grabbed her bagged lunch. For whatever
reason, she put her lunch into one of those little bags you get whenever you buy something from a designer stores
(imagine if you bought something small like cologne). Anyhow, the bag had a leopard print design. So of course, I had
to make the comment, “Nice bag. I have underwear that looks like that.” (I’ll give you a moment to laugh)……That of
course was met with the obligatory “You’re strange” look. Suffice to say, I am currently being investigated for sexual
harassment.

(Ok, so that qualified as one joke. But from here on out, I’ll try my best to spare you this torture.)


Like most of the other league members, I’m a reader of Bill Simmons work. A couple of times I’ve tried to send him an
email in hopes of making his mailbag columns. Here’s basically what I wrote.

- The first one was written after Ben Roethlisberger tackled Nick Harper in the AFC Championship Game and saved
the game. Then Pittsburgh went on to win the Super Bowl.

“Ben Roethlisberger is the NFL equivalent of Derek Jeter. Both are known as winners. Both don’t have the most
glaring stats. Both have dated famous women (Big Ben was rumored to be seeing golfer Natalie Gulbis while we all
Jeter’s exploits with the ladies). Both are well respected by their teammates. Loved by the fans and media. Therefore,
they get passes when they perform poorly (Does anyone realize Big Ben threw 2 INT and 0 TD’s in the Super Bowl
and almost cost Pittsburgh the game. Or that Derek Jeter may have finished 7-14 (.500) in the ALDS vs. Detroit, but
take away his 5-5 game one and he was 2-9 (.220) in the rest of the series. Yet you hear none of this either way). But
above all, both will forever be known for one single play that is so famous you can just say their name with the action
and people know what you’re talking about. Jeter for the “throw” and Ben for the “tackle”.

Of course, I didn’t make it into the mailbag.

-- My second try was after he wrote his piece on the NBA All-Star game.

“One time I had to travel to Indianapolis for work. I was in the “W” hotel near Conseco Fieldhouse. One night after
work, I went to the hotel gym. I walk in and who do I see riding the bike……Charles Oakley. I try and not look directly
at him, in fear that he will break my in half. So I walk past him into the weight room area, and start my workout. Near
the end of my workout, I make my way back towards the treadmill area and the Oak-man is still there. But this time, he’
s standing next to one of the treadmills talking to a white woman, who was in the midst of a brisk walk on the treadmill.
Now, she was pretty hot with a nice rack, so I don’t think they were talking politics. I’m about to make my way to the
treadmill next to them, when he looks over at me and gives me the look. You know that look. The “You better not even
think about coming over and ruining my game that I’m putting on this chick.” look.  So I turn back on my heels and go
back to the weight room. About 15 minutes later, I come back to the treadmill area and Oakley and the white lady are
both gone. Where do you think they went?”

That one didn’t make it either, so I gave up.

WEEK FIVE THOUGHTS:
I could sit here and talk about my victory over Marc last week. I could mock him and trash-talk him. But I’m a bigger
man than that. Besides, Marc apologized in his smack talk, so I forgive him. Just let this be a lesson to the rest of you.
Never talk trash when you’re playing against me. If you don’t believe me, just ask Josh and Marc.

Besides, like I said in my week three column, I’m going on a six game win streak and nobody can stop me. That started
with Jarrett, continued with Marc, and will continue again with this week’s opponent…sorry, I keep forgetting, this week’
s victim - Jay.

As everyone knows, Jay is one of my main rivals in the league. He always has my number. Whether it’s the .03 loss in ’
04 or the crushing defeat in the fantasy basketball league where I had to actually create a certificate for him; he
always seems to beat me. However, for the first time in a long time, I am not the underdog. If you look at the Yahoo!
Projections, I am predicted to win by a large margin. I already have four people picking me to win. Jay’s team is hurt by
the bye week. So easy victory, right? No, this game has the classic “trap game” written all over it. To be honest, I
wouldn’t be surprised to see Bobby Wade going for 3 catches, 109 yards, and 2 TD’s, while Cedric Benson gets his
first 200 yard game, and I am met with another .03 loss. As a matter of fact, I’m looking forward to it. But you know
what. I won’t let that happen this week. In week four, my victory was thanks to karma. Last week’s victory was due to
fate (Thanks again Walt Disney). This week’s victory will be because I’m due. That’s right. I’m due for a victory against
Jay. It’s about time.

FANTASY FOOTBALL THOUGHTS: (In order of rankings as always)

Chris Brockman –
I owe Chris an apology. I keep knocking his team. But there he sits, the only 4 - 1 team, atop the rankings. Chris just
seems to have a nice string of luck going. Whether it’s Drew Bennett’s garbage TD, to Michael Turner coming through
on a Sunday night with LDT in perfect health, he always ends up on the right side of the close games. Therefore, I
have a new projection for this year’s championship match-up. Marc vs. Chris. An all Syracuse match-up.

I like the Bryant Johnson pick-up, because Drew Bennett has lost all value thanks to Vince Young’s inability to throw
the ball to anyone. I also hope he doesn’t play anybody this week and keeps only Brady and Watson in his lineup. If he
wins, b/c Jarrett’s team miraculously score’s negative points, we should just give Chris the trophy now.

Marc Epstein –
Marc had a tough loss to one of the crappy teams in the league. I had no business winning that game either and like I
said, if we play ten times, Marc would win nine of them. That just happened to be my one. Either way, Marc still has a
great team and is still my pick to win it all.

The injury to Roy Williams could hurt given that his replacement option is Eric Parker. But Lee Evans is coming on
strong lately. I still can’t explain how he goes for 9 receptions, 94 yards, and a TD against the Bears defense.
Pennington had a terrible game last week, but that was just one bad week. It happens to everyone in fantasy sports.
Marc still has the Bears defense and one of the best RB combo’s in the league.

Jarrett Blass –
I find it just as funny as you do that my only two victories have come against two or the top three teams. If I were Chris
Brockman, I’d be worried. Anyway, apparently Jarrett is following in Dave’s footsteps and keeping his smack talk
unchanged. So even though Joe Nedney is no longer on team Nose, Jarrett will continue to root for him wholeheartedly.

Jarrett has arguably three of the top fifteen QB’s in Palmer, Grossman, and Leinart. Leinart looks like the real deal, so
those who mocked the draft selection (myself included) were wrong. Also, has anyone had such an extreme change in
value in a matter of four weeks as Donte Stallworth? I mean, after two weeks, people could have sworn he was this
year’s Steve Smith. Now, he has a hammy injury that may linger for the rest of the year. Good thing Jarrett has a deep
WR core.

Josh Lukin –
The Wes Welker pickup is looking better and better each week. Especially now that Marty Booker is injured. Who
would have thought Welker would have more value than Chambers? That was a big come from behind victory Monday
night. All the more surprising, given that Baltimore Defense wasn’t really dominating and Mason did absolutely nothing.
Here was the perfect example of the new defensive scoring system and how it affects our league.

(Sidenote: Josh is talking some serious trash about Chris Brockman. I enjoy reading it and find it amusing, but Josh, be
careful. You may be walking into a re-enactment of the first ten minutes of “Saving Private Ryan” the next time Chris
sees you.)

Jason Sherman –
Jason was this close to a three game losing streak. Helped only by a decent game by Javon Walker. Now here was the
perfect example of how our receptions scoring can affect a game. Either way it was a big win that Jason needed to
prove those two losses are only due to bye weeks. Drew Bledsoe may end up destroying Jason’s team, but Jason has
really had the Midas touch with receivers this year. In the first two weeks, Williamson and Matt Jones were looking
good. Now Greg Jennings is looking like the 2nd best rookie WR behind Marques Colston. Now if he can only get all
his receivers on the same page on the same week. Let’s see if the luck continues with Hank Baskett.

Jay Cantor –
Did you know that everyone of Jay’s bench players is on the bye this week? That’s impressive.

Jay is my pick for owner of the week, primarily because he is my opponent. Jay has strung together a good record and
a nice looking squad, which is really impressive considering where he started on draft day (I will never get tired of
saying that). Marc Bulger has come on strong lately and has yet to throw an INT this year. McCallister has been better
than advertised and is clearly the “RB” on the N.O. Saints. Reggie Bush is more like a receiver. Benson finally showed
up last week thanks to two garbage TD’s. I can see Benson making his way into Thomas Jones’ carries, especially
around the goal line. At a minimum, Benson will play in the 2nd half if the Bears continue to blow teams out. Although, I’
m a bit disappointed in Jay’s kicker. Wilkins is only the 2nd best kicker in fantasy behind Robbie Gould.

**And no I’m not Hollis. Parker is Hollis. You’re Jay. Dave is Dave. And I’m the girl with the nice salad concoction.

Scott Watson –
A crushing defeat that Scott’s smack talk summarizes perfectly. Scott has had a turbulent season so far, which makes
his record and standing all the more amazing. Culpepper is out now, so Scott may have to ride Jake the Snake to the
playoffs? Mike Bell is basically Wali Lundy in disguise. His teams’ hope rests primarily on the shoulders of Brian
Westbrook. If he’s injured, there goes Scott’s season. If he stays healthy, Scott has a shot. Scott really has shown that
he is one of the better managers in this league.

Dave Allocco –
Dave experienced a tough loss after Monday night’s game. Bad decision to play the Oakland Defense last week. That
could have been the difference between winning and losing last week. Outside of that, Julius Jones has been a nice
play so far, McNabb has been nothing short of brilliant, and Andre Johnson is one of the top WR’s in fantasy. If Moss
can put together some type of consistency, Dave would be sitting with a very solid lineup.

Navid Sadri –
If you don’t pay close attention, you’ll miss Nomad’s slow climb back up the standings. Even though it was not an
impressive victory against Nick last week, he still managed to run his win streak to two and counting. Nomad has had to
deal with a lot of injuries to his stud players (Steve Smith, then T.O., and now LJ). If he can get all his players healthy,
Navid will see that win streak continue to rise as well as his place in the standings. I really like the Jerramy Stevens
pick-up (he beat me to the punch). Navid has a knack for being very active on the waiver wire and picking up quality
players (Jones-Drew, Stevens, Clark). Navid also is showing why he is one of the better managers in this league.

Parker Deay –
A tough loss to Chris last week, Parker has been on the wrong side of these losses too many times this year. At the
same time, Parker has managed to continue his streak of losing when he scores over 100 (as Marc pointed out). It
might be time to purposely attempt to score below 100 just to see what happens. The good news for Parker, we finally
have a Randy McMicheal showing. I think Joey Harrington will be good for McMichael’s production.

Rich Kiss –
Rich’s team is starting to come together thanks to some wise moves via waiver’s and free agency. Of course, you have
to do that when you draft so poorly (sorry Rich, no offense intended, I had a worse draft.). Either way, I like the Denver
defense pickup. Leon Washington could be a nice play as RB. Cotchery and Colston went from unknowns to every
week starters. And yes, every one of them was picked up off waivers.

Gregg Moore –
A tough three game losing streak for The Fighting Crabs and the sad state his team is in has forced me to take him off
my championship prediction. Almost everything he planned for has blown up in his face. DeAngelo has yet to do much
outside of that one productive week. Hines Ward has been hurt by Big Ben’s poor play and that injured hammy. Jamal
Lewis looks a hundred steps slower. Chad Johnson has yet to have a big game. Chris Cooley hasn’t even scored a TD
yet. Basically, when you’re best player is your kicker then you’re in trouble.

Nick Serrano –
Nick is going through some tough times over in London. Having the only winless team in the league doesn’t help
matters. Nice to see Nick hasn’t given up and is active on the waiver wire trying to shake up his roster a bit. I think his
team is playing better than his record shows. San Diego defense is top five. Dunn has been a workhorse and taken full
advantage of the loss of TJ Duckett. Reggie Brown has been surprisingly consistent. However, what hurt his team the
most are the lack of production from Antonio Gates and the inconsistency of Jake Delhomme.


Lastly, I know this isn’t the forum for this, but with the tragic passing of Cory Lidle as well as my girlfriends loss of her
grandmother a couple of weeks ago, I would just like to say that sometimes we forget what is truly important in life (yes,
I am saying fantasy football is not that important in the grand scheme of things). You never know what will happen to
you in the future. So live your life with no regret. Hold and kiss someone you love. And call someone you haven’t
talked to in a long time. I wish you all a heartfelt…

…GOOD LUCK!!!