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- Tomm Looney on Fox Sports JT The Brick Show Tuesday 12/22/09

Oh yes, you heard my ego loud and clear. I plan to see my opponents crushed. I love to see the smack talk dwindle to petty excuses of injuries, bye weeks, and Mark Sanchez.

I came up to week 1 with probably the best team in a 10-team league, with the 2nd best name ( 3-4 Stunner ). I am also credited with the best name, for I changed it to “Team Beast” after I traded away Phillip Rivers in exchange for Frank Gore.

My team looked looked like the fantasy team of destiny:

QB – Peyton Manning

WRs – TJ Houz ( can’t spell his goddamn name ), Steve Smith ( NY ), Reggie Wayne

RBs – Adrian Peterson, Frank Gore

TE – Dallas Clark

Week 1, I was sure of sweeping the league. By week 4 with a 2-1 record, I laid back to wait for the playoffs to come to me. But, with week 7 coming to a close, I could have a 3-4 record by the end of tonight’s game, and a whole slew of smack talk to enjoy as the best team in my league falls into the fantasy cellar.

This may be happening to you, right? You have an amazing team, you score 130 points, and you lose because the Jets decides to give up 100 rushing yards and two touchdowns in one quarter to the Dolphins! Maybe the total opposite is happening, and you somehow manage to squeak out multiple victories upon a San Fransisco defense scoring 35 fantasy points, or Tom Brady playing back-to-back college teams.

For you, with the bad luck of having to lose in fantasy because of the illogical & stupendous, I feel you. For the rest of you, who somehow are undefeated and somehow your quarterback is David Garrard, this top five is for you. I need to get my anger out, so here are my top five most annoying things for week 7. Add your own to the comments; let us all tell our stories.

#5: Matt Cassell: Fall From Grace Sad Annoying )

This is just hilarity that Cassell his contract contains more millions of guaranteed money ( $28 million ) than his QB rating on Sunday ( 25.3 ). If you are from Boston, you probably remember those pink hats who would call up WEEI and call for keeping Matt Cassell over Brady. I say we should trade those “Patriot” fans to KC, so they can suck it up with Matt.

He’ll be a better QB someday with a better team, but if you thought he was worth your 4th,5th,6th, or even 7th round, or even your starting job, he might ( or has already ) cost you the playoffs.

10 for 25? If I had him starting and seen this, I would Ryu dragon punch the next stranger on the street. I would be mad enough that I would have fire coming out of my fist!

Tom Brady and Wes Welker. Fantasy domination

#4: The Patriots, Breaking My Fragile Heart ( Annoying Great )

” But the Patriots, Red? I thought you liked the Patriots?”

What is annoying about the team is that they have faced off against two atrocious teams, play near-average, and have their players come off with scores of points.

Yea, if you had Tom Brady on your team, you didn’t even have to prepare the last two weeks. If you lost any of the last two games and you had Tom starting, you deserve to lose every game going forward.

The worst thing about it is if you are facing a fantasy opponent who has Tom Brady and/or Moss and/or Wes Welker, you didn’t stand a chance this week. Tom Brady played a horrible game, and still managed to rack up fantasy points. Wes Welker AND Tom Brady is on the same team somewhere in Fantasy-land, and whoever faced them this weekend is probably finishing up their Zoloft prescription.

#3 Frank Gore comes back, and Alex Smith is the Fantasy Hero. (  Annoying )

WTF?!? Alex Smith comes out of nowhere, and racks up points. But Frank Gore comes back, fresh as a baby’s cheek, and gets only 32 yards against a soft Houston Texan run-D? I didn’t get Frank Gore so Smith can start an aerial assault on the NFL.

For the former number #1 pick, great friggin’ game! Welcome back.

#2 Yahoo FINALLY Gets an Autosuggester for Player List  ( great previously annoying )

Remember those days where it took seven clicks and four pages to find Marion Barber? Well now, Yahoo Fantasy Football ( and probably the other sports too ) have an autosuggestion function that suggests the players for you while you type.

Now its much easier to look at statistics, and make stupid decisions that will destroy your team even faster.

#1 Watching a Kicker ( David Akers ) Make or Break Your Week ( Annoying! )

So, in my fantasy matchup this week, I had Gore tally up five points, and it has left me with only a 5.75 cushion going into Monday Night Football. The only other player between me and my opponent that is playing is David Akers.

I hoped that my Monday night would be filled with the freedom to go food shopping, drink a couple of brews, hone my mediocre writing skills, or walk around in my undies around my house singing Creedence Clearwater Revival ( should mention that this would go hand-in-hand with the beer ).

But now, I am fully clothed, nervous, and checking the weather in Washington D.C. to see if there is precipitation heavy enough to keep the bastard kicker off the field. And with the kicker, THERE IS NO LOGIC.

Akers will need 6 points to win. He can kick two field goals. He can kick a field goal, and three extra points. He could kick 6 field goals, blow my team out of the water, but the Eagles could still lose 27-18 ( funny score, I know, it cracked me up too ). In normal circumstances, with offensive players, you could root for them to screw up or excel.

With the kicker, I have to hope for a complete shutout, or for a ridiculous red zone efficiency that would keep him off the field. These are not the memories I want to accrue in my youth to pass down to my children. I don’t want to meet Akers, who is probably a great guy, in the future and always have in the back of my head,” This guy ruined my team in 2009″.

Most annoying thing about fantasy football this week. Do you have one? I would love to hear it.

” Anything is possible if you don’t know what you’re talking about”

Does he find this shit on the internet? Hilarious.

Update: I checked the internet. It is an old quote. What a ditz I am:(

JT The Brick is even surprised at the aftermath of Michael Vick reportedly drinking an alcoholic drink at the airport. At the same time, Brick also stated on his show today ( Aug. 25th ) that Vick shouldn’t be consuming alchohol in public and agrees that Dungy was in the right for getting mad at Vick for this situation.

My view is two-tiered.

1. Who Gives A F&^K!

Michael Vick is a man that was sent to prison for gross abuse of animals. He wasn’t harming any animals at the airport, he didn’t have a Leonard Little/Stallworth binge and put anyone’s life in danger, and he was drinking a cocktail with an umbrella in it!

An umbrella? A husky male who plays football as a profession and did hard time for some bad things, he is getting attention because he had a cocktail? If one thinks about this clearly, in most other cases Vick would be getting scolded by the media for being a pansy for drinking a chick drink. How many men you know in your life drink cocktails with an umbrella in it?  

I know, masculinity is compromised in this situation because men aren’t suppose to be drinking these types of drinks. But that is another argument based on the perception of the hyper-male in American society, which I won’t go into right now.

But he was drinking, and he was at the airport. Who gives a sh*t? I understand that he must keep up an amazing image, and I understand that Tony Dungy doesn’t want him to compromise his image by doing these things. At the same time, one has to wonder at what degree can is Vick able to live his life? Will he be banned ( through public opinion ) to not be able to be somewhat informal in public places? Will he always have to wear a suit and cry and hug cute restless pugs to show that he is sorry?

This story is majorly overblown, and it also shows the apathy we place on real issues at the expense of sensationalism of a non-issue. We should be focusing more on the drudgery of dog-fighting practices, and not on what Michael Vick is drinking. The reason we put him in prison was not so we can microscope every controversial aspect of his life, but to send a message that we must aware and adamant against the abuse of animals. Period.

2. He Represents the NFL brand, and the decision to allow him to manipulate the brand.

I will say that Dungy has a point: The media can get negative at these situations he could put himself in. Even though this drink may be meaningless, the reaction can teach him to regress away from the spotlight for the sake of showcasing his dedication to football, and Roger Goodell’s decision to bring him back. If anything, this event will keep both Michael Vick and the NFL on its toes, and hopefully Vick will understand the enormous public relations tasks to position himself toward something positive in the eyes of those that will keep a close watch.

Verdict

Sorry Vick, you gotta drink at home. Or conceal your booze in yellow-colored screwdrivers until people believe you are a born-again Christian that can do no wrong.

This team is so much better than they are playing. So much better. But you have to question their ability to mold dominant pitchers for this frail staff.

Think about it: Under John Hart or Mark Shapiro, when have major league baseball teams ever been scared of this team’s rotation?

Although very dominant in the late 90’s, could you really feel overwhelmed against a pitching staff with Charles Nagy and Jared Wright? Is there a future core of your rotation when you rotate mid-30’s post-nasty pitchers through the revolving doors of Jacobs Field.

Chuck Finley? Dwight Gooden? Orel Hershisher?

The point I want to make is that the evolution of Mark Shapiro’s Indians replicate the same team setup as with the dominant Indians’ teams of the last decade of the 20th century. A lot of hitting, a solid defensive infield, 3-4-5 power, and the 5-tool face of the franchise ( currently injured ).

Something is Missing!

Two key things are missing from this Indians team from the one ten years back. One thing is two bullpen automatics. When Manny was at the plate in Cleveland, any lead the lineup around him produced was mightily protected by Jose Mesa and Mike Jackson. Even other notable relievers like Eric Plunk and Paul Assenmacher had good stuff to shut teams down after the 6th inning.

Although the Indians have added Kerry Wood to supplement Betancourt and the rest of the bullpen, the history of the post-Hart Indians could be summed up in 5 words:

Joe Borowski & Bob Wickman

This team never really tried to get just one good reliever to glue this bullpen together, and the truly talented pieces ( Like Rafael Betancourt and Rafael Perez) have been pitched so many innings that one has to wonder if their struggles the last 365 days could be due to fatigue.

The 2nd thing that Shapiro is doing differently is that he has not brought in the right veteran role players around their young players.

Veterans

Julio Franco, Dennis Martinez, Orel Hershiser, Tony Pena Sr., Alvaro Espinosa. From 1996-2000, these guys played a great role for helping the Indians win, and bringing a veteran influence into the clubhouse. These guys have won, and these guys were very professional.

Matt Lawton, Lou Merloni ( sorry to pick on you buddy ), Paul Byrd, Jose Hernandez, Kenny Lofton. Other than Quickie Kenny, their role players didn’t have the same grit, the same history, the Hall of Fame sweat that some of the other veterans on the Hart teams.

When their young talent gets injured, have development issues, or get overwhelmed, you need those solid veterans to pick up the slack ( and be somewhat still productive ). You can’t just add veterans because they have major league service. Getting Trot Nixon and Aaron Boone at the midnight of their careers doesn’t help, especially considering they didn’t produce over 20 homeruns and 90 RBI’s COMBINED during their tenure ( and that was over 200 games played ).

The current team is talented. But like the sheltered intellectual kid who goes off to college, gets too wild, and ends up in their own puke, the Cleveland Indians find themselves in a putrid mess.

The End of the Beginning of the End

In the end, they can save themselves for next year. Hell, they probably can make a mini-run this year. They have the talent. But they need management to hold on to this core, and add some arm depth and gritty vets to bring this team back to dominance.

Here is the post

“I don’t know why, but I love seeing BANGBROS.COM on legal letterhead.”

- Arkansas Fred, responding to the Deadspin commentary of theDirty.com’s posting of Terrell Owens in a hard-core pornography websie in April, 2008.