the team: nolan ryan headlock

my 12 team, head-to-head fantasy baseball draft was last night. i had 4th pick. heres the roster:

C – Oakland – Kurt Suzuki
1B – SanFran – Pablo Sandoval
2B – Florida – Dan Uggla
3B - New York – Alex Rodriguez
SS – Cleveland – Asdrubal Cabrera
IF – Minnesota – Michael Cuddyer
OF – Atlanta – Nate McLouth
OF – Boston – Mike Cameron
OF – Detroit – Magglio Ordonez
OF – Detroit – Johnny Damon
UTIL – Colorado – Todd Helton
BENCH – Atlanta – Melky Cabrera
BENCH – Philadelphia – Placido Polanco
SP – Seattle – Felix Hernandez
SP – Arizona – Dan Haren
RP – New York – Mariano Rivera
RP – Detroit – Jose Valverde
P – Oakland – Ben Sheets
P – Los Angeles – Fernando Rodney
P – Philadelphia – J.A. Happ

my strategy going into the draft this season was get a real slugger in the 1st round that would crank out home runs and massive RBI's all season (A-Rod) then immediately spend my next two picks on pitchers (Hernandez and Haren) then draft a decent 2nd basemen (Uggla) since that position is quite shallow then fall back on pitching. what happened was that I ended up with the strongest overall pitching in the entire league. Loyal readers will remember Rivera was on my wishlist (as with Suzuki). Ben Sheets is a boom or bust.

I did however suffer in the outfield drafting low picks to fill in those positions (Damon was a pick that made me cringe). Luck would have it that I picked many former Detroit Tigers (my favourite team). I have 4 players affiliated with the team! I am banking on McLouth and Uggla to have career stolen bases this season but I am thrilled with my roster.

souper bowl

Since I have a sports blog, I owe it to my loyal readers to make a post about THE BIG GAME. After all, the best sports writing comes out during this time of year. Every columnist has something to write about. To me, reading these articles adds to the tension in the air right before kickoff. I decided to geek out a bit and run through some stats and articles about the soon-to-be epic matchup on Sunday.

First, let me reference sports analyst Woody Paige’s great article in the Denver Post. He writes about Archie Manning (Peyton’s father) and how he moved his family to New Orleans to play football. Archie is on both sides of the fence. He would love to see the Saints win their first Super Bowl and bring ‘dancing’ back to Bourbon street as well as his son win another championship. This is an intriguing back story.

Now for the fun.

(I could not find indoor stats for both teams’ offense.)

Stat 1: The Saints have only had 7 playoff appearances, this run is the only conference championship won in franchise history.

Stat 2: The Indianapolis Colts have the 5^th ranked defense this playoffs.

Stat 3: The Saints had the #1 offense in the regular season and now sit at 7^th in the postseason.

Stat 4: The Saint have 132 penalties yards this playoffs.

Stat 5: The Colts have allowed the fewest sacks this season.

Stat 6: The Colts have scored three touchdowns this season on turnovers and kick returns; the Saints have scored 10.

Ill stop there.

I understand stats do not necessarily say anything. Anything could happen this Sunday. Injuries, illnesses and other unforeseen circumstances can alter the outcome. We have all seen the ProLine commercials that prove this but I still would bet on the Colts to win, simply based on their approach. To quote ESPN Page 2’s Gregg Easterbrook (to whom I borrowed a couple stats) “The Colts approach football like a machine. The Saints approach it like a party.” It is a true clash of styles. Read his article at: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=easterbrook/100202&sportCat=nfl. But I advise. Only read what he has to say about sports nothing else. I have no idea why Miss America is in this week’s edition of Tuesday Morning Quarterback. Anyway, this Sunday will be a big offensive shootout with highlight reel poised to be a youtube classic.

So with further adieu start placing your bets for Sunday now.