And so, the seventh season of Fantasy Football for Winners begins. 190 columns in 190 days. An intense 6+ months when everything seems so obvious beforehand, and everything seems so obvious in hindsight.
It’s the present tense that gets us: “Who do we drop/add?” “Who do we start/sit?” “Who do we buy low / sell high?” And “Oh my god, I’ve just lost my first and second round picks. My fantasy world’s crumbling.”
So over these next 6+ months, let’s not panic about the present. I lost Jerick McKinnon last preseason. So did millions of other managers. We’re never alone in fantasy football. Savvy managers find ways to overcome diversity. The last time I missed a fantasy playoffs was 2012, about 15 leagues ago. That’s not to say I always or even usually win the title; I don’t. But whatever hits me (and I guarantee it hits me as often as it hits most of you), I take things a day at a time and, like Rocky in Krasnogourbinsk, use whatever tools are available to claw my way back to postseason contention.
If you’re new to this page, welcome. If you’re coming back for more, terrific. The FF4W team is as committed as ever to providing the most useful content around. Predictions are bold and based in logic. Accuracy is critically important. Year after year, the value of FF4W is not with stating the obvious, but rather with stating the seemingly absurd, making it seem obvious, and getting it right.
Of course, we do the best we can with the information available. We’re not psychics or mind readers or shamans. We’re all dads with jobs. Yet every day we carve out time to help you win your league, win DFS money, or win respect from your arrogant co-workers. We answer every question that comes through this page. (Maybe once every 500 times a question falls through the cracks; don’t hesitate to tell us if that happens to you.) There’s arguably no other fantasy football page on the Internet this dedicated to taking the time to dialogue with the thousands of you who engage with us each season. It’s our way of saying we’re invested in you—that you’re more than a question: you’re a name with a personality and a history.
And who are “we”? I’m B.J. Rudell. I started this page to promote a book called “Fantasy Football for Winners.” At some point in Season 2 I realized this blog was far more important than the book, and by Season 3 this expanded into a seven-day-a-week operation from late June thru the end of the regular season. In Season 5 I invited five smart fantasy footballers to be official FF4W commenters: Aaron Weaver, Joel Verzosa, Matt Weavil, Robbie Lange, Tommy Barnett. Fortunately for me, they accepted and haven’t left. They’ve helped this site become what I sought to create years ago: a place focused exclusively on helping you find fantasy football success.
And that’s the last point I want to stress in this opening “welcome back” message: At the risk of being overly blunt, this page is the culmination of everything I wanted in a fantasy site years ago, but which didn’t seem to exist. Don’t tell me the obvious. Don’t ignore my questions. Don’t waste my time with self-aggrandizing stories about driving a hitchhiker through a blizzard so he could make it to his Julliard audition. And for god’s sake, own up when you’re wrong.
I write every column and respond to every private question. If I get something wrong, call me out. Make me work harder. Make me think smarter. The same goes for me and the guys when we respond to all your public questions on the page. There’s no sense of entitlement from us. We’ll give you all we’ve got this season. Our goal is to make you want to keep coming back.
So welcome back, and we look forward to hearing from many of you in what assuredly will be one helluva season.
It’s the present tense that gets us: “Who do we drop/add?” “Who do we start/sit?” “Who do we buy low / sell high?” And “Oh my god, I’ve just lost my first and second round picks. My fantasy world’s crumbling.”
So over these next 6+ months, let’s not panic about the present. I lost Jerick McKinnon last preseason. So did millions of other managers. We’re never alone in fantasy football. Savvy managers find ways to overcome diversity. The last time I missed a fantasy playoffs was 2012, about 15 leagues ago. That’s not to say I always or even usually win the title; I don’t. But whatever hits me (and I guarantee it hits me as often as it hits most of you), I take things a day at a time and, like Rocky in Krasnogourbinsk, use whatever tools are available to claw my way back to postseason contention.
If you’re new to this page, welcome. If you’re coming back for more, terrific. The FF4W team is as committed as ever to providing the most useful content around. Predictions are bold and based in logic. Accuracy is critically important. Year after year, the value of FF4W is not with stating the obvious, but rather with stating the seemingly absurd, making it seem obvious, and getting it right.
Of course, we do the best we can with the information available. We’re not psychics or mind readers or shamans. We’re all dads with jobs. Yet every day we carve out time to help you win your league, win DFS money, or win respect from your arrogant co-workers. We answer every question that comes through this page. (Maybe once every 500 times a question falls through the cracks; don’t hesitate to tell us if that happens to you.) There’s arguably no other fantasy football page on the Internet this dedicated to taking the time to dialogue with the thousands of you who engage with us each season. It’s our way of saying we’re invested in you—that you’re more than a question: you’re a name with a personality and a history.
And who are “we”? I’m B.J. Rudell. I started this page to promote a book called “Fantasy Football for Winners.” At some point in Season 2 I realized this blog was far more important than the book, and by Season 3 this expanded into a seven-day-a-week operation from late June thru the end of the regular season. In Season 5 I invited five smart fantasy footballers to be official FF4W commenters: Aaron Weaver, Joel Verzosa, Matt Weavil, Robbie Lange, Tommy Barnett. Fortunately for me, they accepted and haven’t left. They’ve helped this site become what I sought to create years ago: a place focused exclusively on helping you find fantasy football success.
And that’s the last point I want to stress in this opening “welcome back” message: At the risk of being overly blunt, this page is the culmination of everything I wanted in a fantasy site years ago, but which didn’t seem to exist. Don’t tell me the obvious. Don’t ignore my questions. Don’t waste my time with self-aggrandizing stories about driving a hitchhiker through a blizzard so he could make it to his Julliard audition. And for god’s sake, own up when you’re wrong.
I write every column and respond to every private question. If I get something wrong, call me out. Make me work harder. Make me think smarter. The same goes for me and the guys when we respond to all your public questions on the page. There’s no sense of entitlement from us. We’ll give you all we’ve got this season. Our goal is to make you want to keep coming back.
So welcome back, and we look forward to hearing from many of you in what assuredly will be one helluva season.