Every year I play fantasy football and every year the following things happen:

1. I take wrong guys early on and regret it all season long.
2. I hem and haw about whether to pick up a player, and then somebody else grabs him.
3. I have an awful injury that kills my team
4. I scream at the TV and/or computer every week.
5. I lose near the end.

In 2001, I made it to the final game. I had Kurt Warner and he had 41 TDs passes to go with solid WRs and RBs. I had the most points over the course of the season coming into the game and had the best win-loss record. My opponent had Travis Henry go down with an injury, so I was feeling confident. Unfortunately he picked up a guy named Shawn Bryson (who I didn't know much about), and Bryson had the big game of his career with multiple TDs for 46 points. He had Kordell Stewart and Plaxico Burress, and they both decided to have extraordinary games that week. I had a really good week that would have beaten anybody else in the league, but..... I lost, he talked so much smack.

This year 12 folks from SCN completed in a total points league. I'm accustomed to playing the more traditional head to head format, but this was surprisingly fun.

I watched the ESPN expert draft and read Bill Simmons draft preview column, so I thought I was ready to go. I had my strategy to go running back the first two rounds, and then QB.

I had the #3 pick overall and took Joseph Addai (after LT and Steven Jackson were gone) and Marshawn Lynch int he 2nd. In the third round I made the move I'd regret, taking Drew Brees with Tom Brady out there... I took Andre Johnson who was awesome when healthy - those 9 games. I reached and took Calvin Johnson in the 5th or 6th round as there was a run on WRs. Then I took the wrong Patriot receiver - Donte Stallworth ahead of Wes Welker.

This was a pretty crazy and inconsistent season with lots of surprises and injuries. For instance, I snagged Atlanta WR Roddy White as a free agent after week 4 and he was really productive. I also picked up tackling machine (and Rookie of the Year Pro Bowler) Patrick Willis - as we could play 1 defensive individual player.

I was in 2nd place going into last week, but I had a monster 172 point week to get me back into first with a nice lead. The last week of the NFL is a total crap shoot with so many teams sitting their stars, so I was unsure if my 30 point lead would hold up.

I wasn't feeling too confident coming into Sunday. As the day progressed, I was feeling completely uncertain about my chances.

I picked up Pierre Thomas and thought I had him all set to replace the injured Aaron Stecker, but the move didn't get saved. Unfortunately for me, Thomas had 100+ yards rushing and receiving with a TD for 38 points and I got nada from Stecker. Andre Davis had 3 TDs and Maurice Morris had a TD, and of course I had them both sitting on my bench - what a waste.

Meanwhile I saw CobbyCobb's team putting up strong numbers and wasn't sure if my 60 point lead over him going in to the day could hold up. He got some huge games, including the 2 TDs from the amazing Devin Hester (who I drafted and dropped) and Marques Colston in the CBS game I was watching. I was so bitter, I was convinced I had lost and couldn't even watch the late games.

So here's how we stood at the end of the season:

When i checked these results, I was more shocked than when my Red Sox signed JD Drew for 5 years and $90M...

I finally won a league after playing for more than 15 years. And the interesting part was my team really wasn't that good and didn't have so many stars. But I am not complaining, I'll take it. Normally I would taunt all my competitors and talk smack, but it's the New Year and I figure I should try to be a better winner - a potential resolution. Seeing the standings is satisfaction enough for me.

Even though I enjoyed this format, next year I think we'll go back to head to head format. I like that way better because you only need to pay attention to your team's players and your weekly opponent's players - instead of everyone's players that I found myself trying to follow this year.

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