I’m the King of the Fantasy Football World

Unfortunately, VOTL went on to lose four of its last five regular season games and barely won the West division title with a record of 9-5. Burke’s Ballers, the team owned by first-year Oswego State Sports Information Director Adele Burk, finished two games behind me and out of the playoffs.

I was not looking forward to the playoffs, as team VOTL was sputtering down the stretch. And in the semifinals, it looked as though the Blumpkins (logo — NSFW) were going to put me out of my misery, taking a 19-point lead into the Monday night game between the New York Giants and Washington.

The Giants’ defense was the last “player” left that could gain points for VOTL, the Blumpkins had exhausted all of their playing time the day before. Thankfully, the Big Blue Wrecking Crew showed up in a big way and dominated the ‘Skins 45-12, recording a defensive TD in the process. VOTL was onto the title game with a 110-106 victory. My opponent would be the dreaded Boltcheats.

The ‘Cheats had a bit of an easier time in their semifinal matchup, as team Joepa managed just 80 points in an 11-point loss. The Boltcheats were now 14-1 and riding sky high. Team VOLT had still lost four of its last six and got into this game by the skin of their pearly whites. It looked to be a battle of two franchises going in opposite directions.

However, team VOTL went back to the videotape (formerly referred to as “movies” in certain SUNY Oswego athletic offices) and saw what worked in week nine. The key to victory was to keep the ball in the hands of Tom Brady.

The New England signal-caller heaved four touchdowns in a 35-7 rout of Jacksonville and racked up 34 fantasy points. That effort coupled with touchdowns from both VOTL running backs (Thomas Jones & Rashard Mendenhall) was more than enough to give me the Caw NFL.com Fantasy Football Championship by a score of 107-87.

Suck it, world.

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Syracuse Basketball Jumps Two Spots In Two Polls

A pair of lopsided victories over Ivy League schools has bumped the Syracuse Orange further up the top 10 in both the AP Top 25 and ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll. 

The media members place Syracuse at No. 8 while the coaches put the Orange at No. 7, both polls were released Monday afternoon.

Colgate is next on the agenda for Jim Boeheim’s bunch.  The Red Raiders are winless in five tries this season and appear to be lambs looking to avoid a slaughter at the Carrier Dome on Monday night. 

Tip-off is scheduled for 7 P.M. on Jim Boeheim Court.  The game is not televised and can only be viewed in the Syracuse area by Verizon FiOS subscribers at ESPN360.com.

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Big Blue Bulldoze Oakland; Best Start Since 1990

Eli Manning played just five offensive series, but by the time his day was done the New York Giants had a 28-0 lead over Oakland. David Carr replaced the game’s highest-payed player in the first half and helped the Giants hold on for a 44-7 victory. New York improved their record to 5-0, the first time they have started a season with at least five straight victories since 1990. The Giants went onto win their first 10 games that year then beat Buffalo in Super Bowl XXV.

Manning caused concern among Giants fans when he left last week’s victory over Kansas City with a right heel injury. He missed multiple practices over the course of the week but ultimately felt well enough to start his 83rd straight game.

Manning not only started, he played “perfectly.”  In the NFL passer rating system, a score of 158.3 is considered perfect.  Manning’s numbers – 8/10 passing, 173 yards, 2 touchdowns, 0 interceptions—were good enough to attain that feat. He is the first quarterback to have a “perfect game” this season and only the fourth New York Giant to do so (Y.A. Tittle, Fran Tarkenton, and Kerry Collins).

Despite the gaudy numbers from Manning, the star of the day was running back Ahmad Bradshaw. Bradshaw, who possesses a build similar to former Giants fan favorite David Meggett, ran for 61 yards in the first quarter and finished the game with 110 yards on the ground and a pair of scores. He came into 2009 with one career 100-yard game but now has two in the past three weeks.

As anticipated by many, the feeble Oakland offense was no match for the mighty New York defense. The Giants forced and recovered three fumbles from quarterback JaMarcus Russell. Oakland gained just 124 yards and seven first downs on the afternoon. The Giants stopped the Raiders on 10-of-11 third-down opportunities.

On tap for next week is a much-anticipated collision between that dominant Giants defense and the high-powered offense of the New Orleans Saints (4-0) at the Superdome. The game will feature two of the highest-rated quarterbacks in the NFL in Manning and Saints signal-caller Drew Brees.

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Eli Manning Likely To Start Against Oakland Raiders, No TV in Syracuse

A central New York television audience will not see Eli Manning take the field today against the Oakland Raiders regardless of whether the Super Bowl XLII MVP plays or not. The New York Giants expect their franchise gunslinger to start, but the game will not be shown to non-Direct TV subscribers in Syracuse. That’s because the most annoying franchise in sports Buffalo Bills are hosting Cleveland at the same time. 

The Giants, who normally play on FOX as a member of the NFC, are playing host to an AFC team. Whenever an interconference game takes place, the road team’s network takes the coverage. That means the Giants and the Bills are both on CBS with 1 p.m. kickoffs.

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Keyshawn Johnson Might be Holding a Grudge

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