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The Battalion
Page 3 • Monday, August 9, 2004
Fantasy World
}uick tips to making the right moves with a fantasy football team
By John Lowery
THE BATTALION
omingii;
d was*
L i
I
ike those annoying Christmas com
mercials that start during Thanksgiving
weekend, painfully reminding us that
jalita’s arrival is still a long month away, the NFL
ar season kicks off tonight, reminding the pas-
siqnate NFL enthusiast that real football is still
31 days away. Watching a starter break his leg and
wi h it the playoff hopes of his team, and third
strng players who will soon be on a plane back
toblFL Europe is enough to demoralize any good
fooiball fan. Fortunately, however, something
ad stai
nan w:
iligibil
; teantJ
editionil
team,;;
important and beneficial to the National Football
^Laigue and its fans begins around the same time
as the preseason: fantasy football drafts.
* s unquestionably the most impor-
tait day in the life of a fantasy football team.
Al hough owners are not limited to a losing
"L“1 son after a bad draft day, what they do on this
a e J' greatly determine whether someone can
bo; championship to friends, or wet the bed
ev:ry night with guilt for choosing Az-Zahir
I kim as the number one wide-out on a team.
I tonic bcd-wetter or not, no one wants to have
depend solely on the Texas A&M football team
' coonllll l their only shot at a championship.
; quanri
ns Bo»i
work'
| That said, here are common mistakes the aver-
ag^ person makes that inevitably cost him or her a
OHCK illli'J
way to 1
e.!
“ I 1 nning season:
1) Letting Actual Allegiance Determine
ntasy Allegiance
A close friend who is an A&M student, inevitably
_fts Robert Ferguson before the end of the third
jends rolind every draft year simply because Ferguson
) U t 0 w:s a former Aggie standout. Just as inevitably,
lythinJ 1 team, the “Ferocious Fergusons,” tank every
a bar. I
year. A similar scenario would involve
a person picking David Carr, Domanick
Davis and Andre Johnson because
he or she absolutely loves the
Houston Texans. A good fan
tasy owner always separates
collegiate and professional
team allegiance from fan
tasy allegiance; avoid
choosing players
on draft day sim
ply because you
love the team
they play or
played for.
2) Not
Picking the
Best Talent
on the
Board
Don’t be
one of those
people who is hope
lessly caught up in
filling each start
ing position if
better talent
still exists in
a position
already
drafted. If
an owner
drafted
LaDainian
Tomlinson
in the first
round and
Priest Holmes
is still available the second round, that owner
shouldn’t take Todd Heap just because there’s
a blank tight end spot on the roster.
Even if one ends up stockpiling a
position, know that a trade for
a player of equal ability in that
position that is lacking is
always a possibility.
3) Choosing a Kicker
or Defense Before the
Last Two Rounds
I don’t care how
good the Pittsburg
Steelers defense was
last year, or how
many field goals
Mike Vanderjagt
kicked, do not
choose a kicker
or defense early
in the draft. Once
people fill all of
their normal starting
positions, they usually
look to fill the defense and
kicker positions; I can’t over
emphasize the foolishness
of this. How many people
picked Dallas last year
in their drafts to carry
them through the sea
son? Or Atlanta the
year before? Few
did, and both would
Ruben deLuna • the battalion have been ser
viceable enough
throughout the year.
It’s always easy to pick up a decent defense
during the course of the season, and unless the
league’s scoring system heavily favors these
positions, one should let them slide until the
last two picks. Let the opponents waste picks on
these unpredictable positions while you get first
grabs on that sleeper who carries your team to
a championship.
4) Not Knowing the Scoring System
If you’re like me, you’ve never read an instruc
tion manual in your entire life. That’s forgivable,
especially if you’re unmarried and can spend three
days putting together that Ninja Turtle cookie
baking oven your mom got you for Christmas.
Unfortunately, not knowing the details in fantasy
football could paralyze a team before the league
even gets started. If a league rewards rushing
touchdowns more than passing touchdowns or
gives points for receptions and completions, know
how to adjust and who the best players are because
of that scoring system.
5 ) Ignoring the Waiver Wire and Your Team
Again, this one may seem obvious, but count
less losing teams are not vigilant in studying the
waiver wire and subbing for players with bye
weeks. Don’t be the person who drafts a team
and abandons it after three games because you’re
losing. Persistence and getting those players with
high potential off the waiver wire are keys to
succeeding.
Becoming that fantasy football playoff jugger
naut is precisely what you’re on your way to doing
if you take heed to these five fantasy football rules
to success. Good luck with your teams; you'll
especially need it if you already drafted and used
your first pick on Ricky Williams.
tow i
and li
nor of
a prop
rds to
SPORTS IN BRIEF
Wape
g
ibly.
Aggie swimmer
earns gold medal
o happr.
Asquad of 15 men and women
Texas A&M swimmers competed
situate n ConocoPhillips Summer
0( jy K 'lational Championships last
1 veekend, with one Aggie taking
tome a gold medal.
Junior All-American Danielle
Townsend won the gold in the
200-meter individual medley
with a time of 2:15:75 to claim
ter first national title. Townsend
ericansflalso won a bronze medal in the
50-meter freestyle event.
Junior All-American Alfredo
Jacobo missed winning a
oronze medal by less than a
second, with a time of 1:03:46
n the 100-meter breaststroke,
putting him in fourth place,
in AtMJunior David Friggel finished in
sps fifth place behind Jacobo in
jwisCiElthe same event with a time of
1:04:99.
Both of the A&M men's and
niord#vomen’s 400-meter medley
relay teams finished in fifth
ralauisiplace in the championship of
the event.
As a combined team, the
Aggies finished second in the
overall standings of the 150-
^ team competition, right behind
the Texas Longhorn Aquatics
team.
scipline
Cent*
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Building
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.(iierican
Orioles pummel Rogers, Rangers for 11 runs
By David Ginsburg
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
The same fans that jeered Sidney Ponson during the
first half of the season gave the right-hander a standing
ovation as he walked off the mound.
If he and the Orioles keep performing as they did
Sunday, then Baltimore fans will have plenty more to
cheer about the rest of the season.
Melvin Mora went 3-for-5 with a homer and four
RBIs to back a strong pitching performance by a reju
venated Ponson, and the Orioles beat Kenny Rogers
and the Texas Rangers 11-5 for their season-high sixth
straight victory.
Turning back the clock to a happier era, the Orioles
donned the uniforms they wore in 1983, the last time
they won the World Series. The Orioles (52-57) haven’t
had a winning season since 1997 and are still five games
under .500, but their recent run has them thinking they
can’t be beat.
“Right now, every time somebody takes the mound,
we believe we can win,” shortstop Miguel Tejada said.
“We believe we can beat anybody.”
Ponson allowed three runs and five hits in 7 2/3
innings, striking out four and walking four, to improve
to 7-1 lifetime against Texas. He’s 4-0 in his last five
starts after losing nine straight.
Asked how he felt to receive a prolonged ovation
from the crowd of 32,842, Ponson replied, “I have a bad
game next time, they’ll boo me again.”
“We haven’t been hitting that well lately, but today
wasn’t about our hitting, it was more about my pitching
and their hitting,” Rogers said. “No matter what I was
throwing they knew where it was going and went after
it accordingly.”
Finally playing the way they envisioned coming out of
spring training, the Orioles moved within eight games of
AL wild-card leaders Texas and Boston.
“Getting to .500 is our immediate goal,” manager Lee
Mazzilli said. “We want to get there quick, then move
from there.”
Texas came to town in first place in the AL West, but
has fallen behind Oakland after being outscored 23-7 in
the first three games of the four-game series.
“We don’t dwell on things like that. We’ll see what
tomorrow brings,” Rangers manager Buck Showalter said.
Brian Jordan homered and drove in three runs for the
Rangers, who made three errors for the second time in
three games.
Up 4-1, Baltimore chased Rogers during a five-run
fifth. Jerry Hairston singled in a run, and B.J. Surhoff hit
a two-run double before Larry Bigbie greeted Rosman
Garcia with an RBI double. Mora capped the big inning
by singling in a run.
Rogers (13-5) gave up eight runs and eight hits in
four-plus innings, dropping a second straight decision
for the first time this season. The eight runs he allowed
tied a season high, and his five walks were as many as
he yielded in July.
Rogers described his perfonnance by using an expletive.
“Use your own words if you want but that’s a pretty
good one,” he said. “I don’t think anybody could assess
it any differently.”
Brian Roberts hit a sacrifice fly to make it 10-1 in the
sixth, and a two-run double by Jordan capped a four-run
eighth for Texas.
Mora put the Orioles up 2-0 in the first, hitting a
two-run drive into the left-field seats on a 1-2 pitch.
It was his 18th homer, one short of his career high,
set in 2002.
Chris Gardner • THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Orioles shortstop Miguel Tejada completes a double play in
the fifth inning against the Texas Rangers on Sunday.
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