Back to the Grind

Here it is. The start of the 2012 NFL regular season.  Doesn't it feel like it's been a million years since the last season?  Maybe it's just me.

Anyway, with the new season comes roster changes, coaching and staff changes, hypothesizing about team performance, and, most importantly, fantasy football!

This is my third year playing fantasy football and the first two did not go so well.  That means that I'm out for blood this time around.  I'd like to blame specific players for my inadequacies, but it's all my fault.  The first year, I drafted a team completely based on good looking players.  As you would imagine, that strategy was not my idea.  And last year, I took players that I knew and picked a lot from the Titans and the Jets 'cause I like them the most.

This year was different.  I decided to follow my head, not my heart.  I vowed to make shrewd choices, despite how I internally felt about the players.  And where did that lead me?  It lead me to choosing Tom Brady as my 1st overall pick.

Tom effing Brady.

I hate that dude.  And I still feel gross inside that I made him my first choice.  But I'm here to win games, friends, and TB is going to do it for me. Barf.

Here's the rest of my roster, as it sits right now.

QB- Tom Brady (Pats)
RB- Shonne Green (Jets)
RB- Trent Richardson (Browns)
WR- Andre Johnson (Texans)
WR- Marques Colston (Saints)
TE- Vernon Davis (49ers)
Flex- Beanie Wells (Cards)
Kicker- Stephen Gostkowski (Pats)
Defense- Jets
Bench- Mark Sanchez (Jets)
Bench- James Stark (Packers)
Bench- Pierre Thomas (Saints)
Bench- Austin Collie (Colts)
Bench- Rob Bironas (Titans)

As you can see, my heart still had a say once it got to my bench.  There will never be a time I don't choose Mark Sanchez to be on my roster because I still believe he's going to be a great quarterback.  Also, Austin Collie's pretty face generally makes my roster, despite him being a magnet for concussions.

I feel pretty great about my team and I think that I'm gonna dominate my league.  Watch out, bitches. Blanche Sanche is all over your asses.

xoxo,
Blanche Sanche

Fantasy football Week 4

Seriously, last week was too embarrassing to even talk about and I think you know why.  Mark Sanchez had the world's most terrible game and, of course, I started him instead of Josh Freeman.  What was I thinking?!?!  Pretty much everything about last week sucked, so I'm not even going to justify it with a usual post.  Just know that it was messy, ugly and awful.

On to next week.

xoxo,
Blanche Sanche

Random thoughts

It's been one of those weeks.  The kind where I wrote half-assed posts about my weekend then let the blog fall by the wayside.  I've had several different thoughts creeping into my head, but none of them garnered an entire post, so I'm going to put them all here.

First, and why I didn't address this earlier is beyond me, the Raiders broke Mark Sanchez' nose!  I definitely saw the trainers all up in his face while I was at the game, but I had no idea what was happening.  I actually didn't find out about it until I was driving back to Reno later that night (that's what happens when you are at Oakland Coliseum and have no service).  He's a tough one.  Lesser quarterbacks *cough* Jay Cutler *cough* probably would have benched themselves, but Sanche kept going until the end.  Good job, bro!

Next: Does anyone else think it's great that Michael Vick is having a crappy season thus far?  I mean, after last season, he was a god, he got that GIANT contract, people had seemingly forgotten about his dog killing.  Now, he's playing like the Michael Vick of old and I couldn't be happier.  He's even trailing Jason Campbell....

After my loss last week, I'm trying to bring my A game to my fantasy football league.  I hit the jackpot with my running backs, MJD and LeSean McCoy, this season.  I never thought I would be so happy to not have Chris Johnson on my roster!  But the loss of Kenny Britt has thrown me for a loop.  I picked up Torrey Smith and Percy Harvin, but since Smith could be a one-time fluke, I'm left deciding between Harvin and Robert Meachem for my third wide receiver slot.  I'm leaning toward Harvin, in case Coleston comes back for New Orleans, but I'm not familiar with either player, so we'll see how this plays out.  Also, I have Jason Witten and Dustin Keller fighting it out for my tight end spot.  I think Witten wins this week.  And for QBs, I've got Sanche (who I've got starting, even though they are playing the Ravens), but it's hard not to put Josh Freeman against the shaken Colts.  Ugh.  This is when I start to become a stressball about fantasy football!

Finally, and this is just a personal note, it's my first full weekend in my new place!  I'm completely moved, I'm not traveling, and, though I have to unpack everything, I get to fully enjoy all my football channels!  Looks like I won't be leaving my house.  Well, that's a lie.  In addition to being a football addict, I'm also training for my second half marathon and by "training", I really mean I should be training.  I have the Nike Women's half marathon in 3 weeks, but I haven't run since my Disneyland half marathon at the beginning of September.  Let's hope I can tear myself away from football for long enough to go on a big run this weekend.  I sure need it!  Wish me luck!

xoxo,
Blanche Sanche

Fantasy football Week 3

This week should be entitled, "Oh how the mighty have fallen."

Welp, there goes my winning streak.  I knew it was too good to be true.  While I was trying not to get killed in Oakland, my fantasy football team was getting their asses handed to them.  Most notably, Kenny Britt tore his ACL in the game against Denver, leaving me with a -.20 in that WR position.  And Nate Burleson's 1.2 points didn't help me much either, nor did my Jets defense and their inability to stop the Raiders running game.

On a very positive, and surprising, note, Mark Sanchez had a helluva game in Oakland.  I've had Sanche on my roster for 2 years and I can't remember him having a better game.  Say what you want about Mark Sanchez, but I really think he is on his way to becoming an amazing quarterback.  I put all my faith in him, even though my co-worker suggested I start Josh Freeman last week.

Let's talk about this shit show and how many injuries I have on this damn team.  Mario Manningham, out.  Aaron Hernandez, out.  Kenny Britt, out.  Braylon Edwards, out.  I honestly don't think there is a thing I can do to salvage this team at this point.

I can only hope that I can pick up some wide receivers and tight ends on waivers, otherwise it looks like my amazing season could be going nowhere fast.

xoxo,

Blanche Sanche

NFL, Oakland style

Jealous?

And there it is, folks.  My view of Sunday's Jets v. Raiders game in Oakland.

I knew Oakland was going to be a scary place for a Jets fan to be, so I opted for a gray Jets t-shirt with a black Under Armour zip-up to blend in with the Raider Nation.  Even on the BART to the game, I cautiously kept my UA zipped, only revealing the gray of the shirt underneath.  I would shed the outer layer once I was safely in my seat.

Due to leaving SF late and BART schedules, we missed kick off and the first touchdowns of each team.  I was bummed.  It took forever just to get into the stadium and find our seats once we did finally arrive.  The people around us were very nice.  They heckled me a bit for being a Jets fan, but it was mostly friendly.  My favorite was the drunk guy with half his face painted black and silver that kept putting his hand in my face and saying, "Psssssssshh!" like a 14 year old girl every time I cheered.

Perhaps it's the negativity of the stadium, but it felt like the Jets were having the worst game of their careers.  It seemed the defense couldn't stop the run game and Mark Sanchez couldn't complete passes.  Then there was the Cromartie fumble on the return kick and I wanted to cry.  It was horrible to watch.

Such a pretty man

The upside was that the visitor's bench was directly in front of me, as was the exercise bike, so Sanche was maybe 10 yards away from me the entire game.  I even saw the trainers fixing his nose, though I had no idea it had been broken in the first place.

Burnell is standing up; Sanche is behind the second helmet

I wish I had more to say about the game, but I left feeling very unsatisfied.  Not just because of the loss, but because I wasn't able to let loose and enjoy the game.  I was so worried about getting the crap beat out of me by Raider fans, that I didn't cheer much and I didn't even like being there.  As evidenced by the video below, I'm really glad I kept to myself.

I kinda wish I had just stayed home.

xoxo,

Blanche Sanche

Dude

Of course, the weekend before I am to see him in Oakland, Nick Mangold gets a "high ankle sprain". If I didn't know better, I'd say he did it on purpose to avoid being face to face with me. Okay, okay. So we won't be face to face and that hit did look pretty gnar on Sunday, but I'm so disappointed. Nick is a big part of why I love the Jets so much and watching this game from my epic seats just won't be the same without him.

However, I just found out that Scotty McKnight was just re-signed with the Jets, so maybe all hope is not lost. I mean, even if Nicky doesn't make the trip to Cali, at least we will have 4 of 5 members of our hypothetical NSYNC karaoke troop.

Nick, I wish you a super speedy recovery! Those boys aren't as safe out on offense without you!

xoxo,
Blanche Sanche

Friday Night Lights

There's nothing more beautiful than the sun setting over a high school football game.  Okay, that's a lie, but it's gotta be somewhere in the top 20!

My best friend's husband is a high school football coach and this year, he was hired on at Reed High, the high school I went to.  Going back so many years later (I won't tell you exactly how many because it's depressing) feels almost like I never left.  The cool kids still hang out by the refreshment stand and don't really watch the games, while the parents and alums crowd the stands, cheering like maniacs for the home team.

Friday nights are my favorite part of the fall.  Watching kids play football is adorable.  Even at their best, they are still pretty terrible, but you can tell that they love it.  They love being out on the field and playing football.  For many, it's their last opportunity to play the game they love so much and for a select few, it's the beginning of careers, but they are all a team and they all play for the love of the game.

And we get to sit back and enjoy it!  Happy Friday, friends!

xoxo,
Blanche Sanche

Fingers crossed!

It's something I've always wanted to do, but never had the balls.  I search all the time, find one that seems perfect for me, then dismiss it because I think to myself, "I'd never get it anyway."  But today, I changed my attitude and submitted my resume.

I applied for a job with the NFL.


Though I'm at the age where I should know what I'm doing with my life and what I want to be when I grow up, I am clueless.  I love the job I have right now, but it's not something I want to do forever.  I want to be around something that I'm passionate about, something that I really want to learn more about.  So, when my friend sent me a link to this job, I decided to throw myself into the mix.  Even if I don't get hired, it doesn't hurt to try, right? What's that old saying, "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take"?  I think Wayne Gretsky was on to something.

I think this gave me just the motivation I need to apply for other jobs I've seen for ESPN and different individual ball clubs.  I think I'm destined to be a football girl for the rest of my life.

xoxo,
Blanche Sanche