The One Before the Draft

La, Jolla, CA (AP) --Here in La Jolla, Autumn is upon us. With air temperatures beginning to dip (as little as they do in this part of Southern California), excitement is in the air. With only three days left until Itstheleauge.com's draft, La Jolla will play host to five, possibly six, team owners over the next few days. Residents are excited that there small town has the opportunity to be in the spotlight, if only for an afternoon. Owners and observers of the event should keep in mind that showers are predicted for Friday night and Saturday.

One student at a local university, who has been asked to remain anonymous (we'll call her Alexa S.) said, "I'm excited for the opportunity and attention this will bring to our neck of the woods." Shortly after making the statement, Miss Stovner…I mean Alexa S. was carried off in handcuffs to be interrogated in regards to the mysterious illness that currently plagues Jeff's Jigolos owner Jeffrey Boyd.

In a statement earlier today Riverside District Attorney Grover Trask announced that charges will be filed against DreamTeamPartDeux's team owner Matthew Scott Reyes. The charges stem from what was supposed to be a fun night out for all. After a fun night in downtown San Diego, the night took a turn for the worst when Matthew Reyes deliberately poisoned Jeffrey Boyd's food. Authorities at the district attorney's office in Riverside tell us that the poison attempt is motivated by an urge to win Itstheleague.com's fantasy basketball league at all costs.

Mr. Reyes's attorney, his father, has yet to make a statement. However he has assured reporters that Matt will be present for the draft on Saturday. Whether or not he will be in a jumpsuit and handcuffs remains to be seen.

Officials at the district attorney's office have also stated that if blood tests confirm that Jeff was also poisoned at in downtown San Diego prior to the trip to Del Taco, Trent Bridges will be charged as an accessory due to his insistence that we take shots. When asked to comment, Mr. Bridges had this to say, "I am Carlos Delgado. Suck my (expletive)."

Enough drama outside the draftroom, it is time for the rankings. Being a rookie myself, these rankings take into account what little knowledge I have of prior Itstheleague.com seasons. I will use past Yahoo! fantasy sports performance, potential, involvement, and not team name but Yahoo! avatar. What this is a completely arbitrary ranking system? I know I know. Ranking teams by names is much MUCH more objective. Alas, here are my rankings, the best team ranked first, second best next, etc.

The Champ is Here

Yes that's right. He possesses absolutely no Yahoo! Avatar. Currently his team logo is a red jersey with a star on it. Fantastic. Nice work there Cody. Quite frankly, if I were the league's champ, I think my Avatar would be bling bling. I picture Cody's avatar out on the golf course (with a cell phone in one hand giving some Poker Pro in Vegas advice on whether to stay or fold)(with his other hand? he's flipping me off).

Golf is the sport Cody most plays in Yahoo! Fantasy leagues. Interesting to note is that while Cody was the champ last here, on Yahoo he has absolutely no trophies. Instead, his yahoo profile gives him this lovely image.



My thoughts? I feared Cody in baseball, and I am sure he will be much more of a threat in basketball.






Bangladesh Thunder

Daniel Thomson one of the NICEST guys I know. Could that be his flaw? We'll see. I doubt Daniel would ever approve a trade just to be nice. But what if he has a mouth that can trash talk so much it'll make his opponents weep leaving them senseless and unable to set their lineup? We'll never know. And it would most definitely improve his teams chances of doing well this season. According to Daniel's Yahoo! profile, his favorite is tournament pick'em. This appears to be his fourth season for basketball. He has netted himself five pieces of hardware, the most recent being 2005 Baseball Championship.




Daniel does have an avatar and five trophies on Yahoo. However, I was a fan of the avatar until it winked at me. I'm definitely not on a fan of metrosexuals.





KevDog's Ballers

Kevin has an avatar (but he chooses to use the stupid jersey on the website. Why? I have no idea). And it's a decent avatar. His guy even has a basketball in his hand. However sadly for Kevin's avatar, he lives on the East Coast where it snows. So that avatar won't be smiling come winter. Whereas, I will still be on the beach here in Malibu, pissed off because it's 68 degrees. Additionally, I think one of the things working against Kevin (as mentioned in the chat room yesterday) is that he does go to Harvard. I think Kevin will have to work harder than people who go to other schools...cough cough...UCSD...cough cough....awww crap. I went there. Kevin has five trophies in his case. I expect him to make the playoffs and nothing more. My only question is, in your avatar, is that white stuff on the tree snow? That sucks. Because come winter the white stuff behind me will be sand on the beach. Also minus two points for wearing Ipod headphones in your picture on the Reyes Review.





Victorious Secret

Sigh...how are we related again? In all seriousness, I am impressed with the creativity placed here. Michael cares alot about fantasy sports. Sometimes he doesn't though. Ask him about how he went undefeated the entire year in baseball only to lose to his older (and wiser?) brother in the second round of the playoffs. Seriously, when my little brother puts his mind to something, I do get worried. So what is my strategy on Michael? Distract him. Easier said then done, but I think it is definitely doable. Hire a few ex-playmates to send over to his apartment and WHAM someone forgot to set their lineup. End result: I'll win again. Michael has two trophies, the last being the 2004 Basketball Championship.

Jeff's Jigolos

Okay. Clearly people haven't heard of alliteration (Bronx Bombers, Seattle Supersonics, etc.) I know it's spelled Gigolos but it sounds the same phonetically with a J. Also, my avatar is tight. Note the cash and bling bling. That's a little something leftover from my 2nd place prize money in Baseball. Also note the Vegas sign in the background. I will be going there several times during our trip. I just wish I could put money only on my fantasy players. That would be tight.



Clearly had a breakout year as a rookie owner in baseball. I learned quite a bit and fared pretty well with an injured number one draft pick for most of the season. People keep telling me basketball is more fun than baseball and I had a blast with baseball. I think my biggest problem is this year is that I am coming in with a big head. It will take a few losses to knock my head out of the clouds. Let's hope it happens early in the season. I've got one trophy in my case and want to put up another.







DreamTeamPartDeux

Matt's team's logo is this jersey. Wow, a red jersey with the number '23' on it. I'm shocked. For those of you who don't know Matt, MJ is his favorite player. However a problem I think Matt suffers from that affects most old timers (I include myself in that as well) is that we remember the good old days and think wow that player is tight. How does this manifest itself? What are the symptoms? Well for starters, taking Barry Bonds in the third round. If MJ were still in the NBA, he would be one of Matt's top picks. And I'm not going to say that I don't suffer from the same problem. Frank Thomas was on my roster at the end of the year (albeit he did have a hot streak). However, basketball is Matt's passion, much moreso than baseball. Expect Matt to be a threat to place in the top three this year--that is, if he's learned a few lessons from his rookie year. Matt has no trophies on his Yahoo! profile so he gets a skunk. Why has Matt been ranked so high? He has no past success. Matt, you have so much basketball knowledge. Please! prove me wrong.

Shoot da J Bitch

First off, Trent has an avatar. That is tight. Second, Trent is a relative noob to fantasy sports, but definitely not to sports in general. Short of Kevin, Matt, and Michael, Trent is the kid I've known in this league the longest (as evidenced by who we toasted on our last outing). That said, Trent has a true passion and feel for sports that many team owners lack. Trent has an intuition about trades, pickups, etc. I think his first season with baseball helped alot. We all respect his draft of Ryan Howard, the question is, can he draft a decent rest of the team? I think Trent will and do a decent job this time around. Trent would you like to add anything to this: "I am Carlos Delgado. Such my" yeah yeah Trent. We know.

The Big Knasty

Nice avatar. What do I know about Trent. Let's see. First, he's the only person to recognize that my quote on myspace ("Earn this") is from Saving Private Ryan. Aside from having wonderful taste in movies, I also hate playing poker against this guy. Trent is truly a competitor and has two pieces of hardware in his Yahoo! trophy case. Trent is quite enthusiastic about basketball, and I cannot wait for the season to begin to see him in action.

Mom...the Meatloaf!

While a cool catchline that would be awesome for the 'talk smack' feature of our Yahoo! Fantasy Basketball league, a team name it is certainly not. Aside from that, I don't know much about Alfredo. He's a nice, quiet kid. He has two pieces of hardware (one being for second in an Itstheleague.com basketball league). However, he, like Matt, has the same red jersey with 23 on it. Please! If the point of these icons next to our name is to differentiate us, why do people pick the same ones? If there's a tie, the person higher in the standings should get it. What to expect from Alfredo? I don't expect much. Come on Alfredo. Prove me wrong. Show me your hungry for money this season.

CBUburns

Cute pun with your college and last name. Brandon does have an avatar which is good. And his avatar doesn't wink at me, there's another plus. My last memory of Burns is of him winning the Itstheleague.com's baseball championship. That brought his trophy total to four. I'm not that scared of Burns. Why? Because his baseball team sucked and happened to have dynamite weeks at the end.

V2theNAIdoubleLA ICE

Wow. What a team name from the past. Remember the Ninja Turtles? Good stuff. I should have been Leonardo for way more than one Halloween. Okay. Back to here. Let's hope this team name isn't indicative of how Matt will perform (ie. score big with two singles and then split). I don't know Matt that well at all. In fact, I doubt I've ever said two words to him. However, boy am I a fan of his avatar. Blue hair. Nice work Matt. No trophies in the Yahoo! case, but rumor has it you made a trade that hurt others along with your team. Don't have much else to say. Although, with the red glasses in the pic that Kevin found of you. Should I be worried about another metrosexual on our hands? Best of luck to you Matt.

The Loadmasters

When I think of Rojas, I don't think fantasy. I think pool baseball. I think that's how I remember Steven most. Let's hope this year is different. Nice work on the avatar. The fact that he is angry and not smiling or winking is a definite plus. But you're going to have to do something if you want to be ranked higher. With no trophies in the case, you're going to have to have something more to show for it. Best of luck on having this be your breakout year.