This is The World According to Buchs - Keepin’ it moving since 2003!

For the first time in a long time, I took part in two Fantasy Football leagues this year. In the Chuckfest league, which is commonly referred to as “The Masters League” because of the quality of competition, I finished out of the playoffs for the second straight year. (Which makes me 2-for-5 with a 2nd place in the last 5 years).

Back in August, I received a frantic phone call from Chris Ahrens asking if I wanted to join his work league - they were 1 guy short. I hemmed and hawwed for a moment, but then he told me that I’d be getting the 2nd pick in the draft, so I agreed. The format was more or less the same as my other league, with 2 exceptions: 6 points for a touchdown pass - most leagues give 3 points - and your starting lineup consisted of 1QB / 2RB / 2WR / 1TE / 1K / 1DT / 1 “Flex” (RB/WR/TE)

After walking out of the draft, Chuck (who had drafted for Chris) turned to me and said something to the effect of “Congratulations, you just won that league”. I felt the same.

Now, if I were to just point out now what players I entered the season with, you would look it over and say “tough breaks”. That is what makes me the genius of Fantasy Football. So here’s the core of that team:

1. Peyton Manning, QB
2. Ahman Green, RB
3. Brian Westbrook, RB
4. Hines Ward, WR
5. Larry Fitzgerald, WR
6. Jeremy Shockey, TE
7. Thomas Jones, RB

Sometime during the draft, another owner offered me a trade of Manning and Fitzgerald for Daunte Culpepper and Terrell Owens. I tried not to seem to anxious, but made the trade quickly. This was more of a coup than the time I picked up Jamal Lewis (just before he was sent off to the pokey). So, for the first 3rd of the season, I looked like this:

1. Daunte Culpepper, QB
2. Ahman Green, RB
3. Brian Westbrook, RB
4. Hines Ward, WR
5. Terrell Owens, WR
6. Jeremy Shockey, TE
7. Thomas Jones, RB

Unfortunately, I got the raw end of the deal. Culpepper stunk it up for 6 weeks, then was lost for the season with an injury. Once Daunte was gone, I had to make a deal for a new QB. So, I gave up my 3rd WR, Donald Driver, and an under-performing RB in Green in exchange for QB Drew Brees and RB Kevin Jones:

1. Drew Brees, QB
2. Thomas Jones, RB
3. Brian Westbrook, RB
4. Hines Ward, WR
5. Terrell Owens, WR
6. Jeremy Shockey, TE
7. Willie Parker, RB

The first day after that trade, Ahman Green was lost for the season with a torn ACL.

I had drafted exceptionally well, picking up Parker late in the draft. A few weeks later, I was able to give up some depth at the RB position in exchange for quality. I offered up some deals, and was able to pull off Parker and Jones for Tiki Barber. That should have been the move to win me the league. Unfortunately, this was right after Terrell Ownes was suspended for the season by the Eagles.

1. Drew Brees, QB
2. Thomas Jones, RB
3. Brian Westbrook, RB
4. Hines Ward, WR
5. Antonio Bryant, WR
6. Jeremy Shockey, TE
7. Tiki Barber, RB

My string of bad luck wasn’t over yet. Going into the final week of our regular season, Westbrook went on the injured reserve. I moved quickly to pick up his backup, Ryan Moats, leaving my playoff roster like so:

1. Drew Brees, QB
2. Thomas Jones, RB
3. Tiki Barber, RB
4. Hines Ward, WR
5. Antonio Bryant, WR
6. Jeremy Shockey, TE
7. Ryan Moats, RB

That’s exactly 3 players remaining from the starting lineup I drafted.

I’ll admit I caught some breaks during the playoffs - Tiki had a monster game the 2nd week, and Ward had some good games - and my opponents did not.

But that’s what makes me a Fantasy Football Genius.