Rookie Report: Facing Off Against My Fiance
Has the student surpassed the teacher?
This is the fifth in a series of columns where I’m documenting my “if you can’t beat ’em, join ‘em” journey from total sports apathy to — maybe — diehard fan, joining my very first fantasy football league. Read the first column here to see how I got into this mess.
Week 6 was the moment I’d been waiting for. Finally, after getting my feet wet in match ups against some friends and strangers, I was paired up against my fiance, the one who had encouraged me to join my first league and see if I could get the hang of things.
It was fun to be sitting in the same room as my opponent for once, and wild to watch both of us struggle with balancing our own excitement with not wanting to hurt our IRL teammate.
Unfortunately for him, I had a banner week, with most of my players outscoring their projections (some by quite a bit) and I delivered his first loss of the season. The final score: 93.4 to 156, giving me the highest score in the league that week, and the second highest score in the league all season.
Not too shabby for a newbie.
My QB, Kirk Cousins delivered 27.8 points, compared to his 15.9 from Trevor Siemian. Mark Ingram kept his momentum going with 30, Mike Evans pulled in 18.5 and Devante Adams locked in a respectable 16.4 as my flex.
I’ve been streaming my D/ST, (look at me, knowing LINGO!) and opted to pick up the Ravens this week. They were projected to do well, but exceeded expectations, bringing in 20 points. My kicker, Graham Gano, exceeded his projections, too, bringing in 12 points. (I wish I appreciated this more in Week 6, because in Week 7 he brought in a measly three…)
The crazy thing is it could have been even better. BeastMode delivered a disappointing 6.3 points; I had picked up Jerrick McKinnon on the waiver wire earlier in the week but ultimately benched him based on projections. Had I put McKinnon in Marshawn’s spot, his 24.9 would have brought me up to 174.6. Also on my bench: Marvin Jones with 21.6.
But let’s be honest, did I really need any MORE points? (HAH.)
In my fiance’s defense, he’s running something like 12 leagues, and ours is one of the few with little on the line. We’re playing for fun, versus for money, and a lot of the folks in this league are first timers, too, so the stakes are low. That said, even the best version of his roster, bench included, wouldn’t have been enough to take the W this week.
When asked for official comment, my fiance offered the following:
“Stop being so nice. You crushed me like a grape. You should unapologetically own it, and even rub it in my face. I’ll still love you, and I’ll return the trash talk when I beat you in the playoffs.”
GAME ON.
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