2010 fantasy recap, week 11

** The players' union hasn't gone on strike yet, so there's still football on Thursday.
** The Eagles beat both Peyton and Eli Manning in consecutive weeks.
** QB Brett Favre came back for another season ... and is playing terrible.
** No matter what else changes, the Lions still stink.
** Nine safeties recorded so far this year.
** QB Donovan McNabb has made Washington a better team, but they're still not very good.
** The Cowboys are on their longest winning streak of the year ... and they're 3-7.

QB: Ben Roethlisberger, 40.50 pts -- sitting on Joel's bench
RB: Arian Foster, 28.33 pts -- started by Joel
WR: Greg Jennings, 35.13 pts -- started by Dad
TE: Joel Dreessen, 17.07 pts -- sitting on the wire
K: Graham Gano, 16.00 pts -- sitting on the wire
DEF: Baltimore, 25.00 pts -- started by Joel
D: Abram Elam, 16.00 pts -- sitting on the wire

Honestly, if your name isn't Joel, you didn't need to read that section.

"Totally defensive" edition
2nd Place: St. Louis, -1.00 pts -- sitting on the wire
2nd Place: Arizona, -1.00 pts -- sitting on Dad's bench
1st Place: Oakland, -2.00 pts -- started by Paul

Paul started the worst player in the league for the third time this year. Two times is bad coaching. Three? That's just rotten luck. FYI, four is destiny.

Random sports facts from the week presented to you for discussion:

** In the last month, Tennessee beat Philadelphia by 18, Philadelphia beat Washington 31, and Washington beat Tennessee by 3.

** Panthers' cornerback Captain Munnerlyn is not one of Carolina's defensive captains.

** Last Thursday, the Bears/Dolphins game featured 16 points (Bears won 16-0). The same night, the Flyers/Lightning game featured 15 points (Lightning won 8-7).

** Eagles CB Asante Samuel not only made a tackle in Monday night's game, he got a 15-yard penalty for making too violent of a tackle. I know, it's hard to believe.

** Bodog.com is already accepting bets for whether the Super Bowl coin toss is heads or tails. A $1 bet on either wins you $1.05 if you're correct.

During the college football scoreboard update on Saturday, talking head Rece Davis dropped this gem:

"The LSU Tigers, playing for their lives and to keep their slim championship hopes alive, trail in this game to Ole Miss."

I'm all for hyperbole, but I need you to study that line again. He's not just saying that they need to win to keep pace in the BCS standings -- that's the second thing they're playing for. They're playing for that AND their lives. If he had said "playing for their BCS lives" or "playing for their football lives" or even "playing for their lives" without the second phrase, it's just an exaggeration. But, the way he said it, the only way to read it is that the LSU team would have been executed if they lost on Saturday.

Unfortunately, we'll never know the truth, since the Tigers won on Saturday. To celebrate, they executed Rece Davis.
Indisputable, empirical evidence that Eli Manning is a terrible QB.

** In each of his seven years in the league, Eli has had more interceptions and fumbles than TDs ... except in 2009, when he had 27 TDs against 27 fumbles and INTs.

** He's without question only the third best quarterback in his family, and might be the fourth best -- His brother Cooper was an all-state football player in high school, but a spinal condition forced him out of the game.

** Sunday's three INT game was the 30th time (out of 98 games) he has thrown two or more picks in a contest.

** Since he took over as starting QB of the Giants, the team has never won a single playoff game (except for the four they won in 2007).

** He just looks so dopey all the time.

This Thursday marks Thanksgiving (or, as most people know it, November Draftsgiving) which means lots of food and football for most Americans. And, just like the dining room table, there's always one dish on the NFL schedule that leave you feeling a little sick in the stomach. But, don't take my word for it -- just take a look at what the letters in the TV Guide really spell out:

Annual Thanksgiving Dinner with the Dallas Cowboys
** Buns thaw, snot-nosed villains wreck holiday night again

On the bright side, if you have a toaster oven you can do something about those soggy dinner rolls. Not much you can do about those soggy Dallas linemen, though.

Click on the image below to make it bigger.

A huge week by reigning champ NewMike (191 pts) vaults him into the top four, but an even bigger week by ChampMike (193 pts) puts him just a dozen points behind Bobert, who hasn't seen a serious threat in over a month. It's still anybody's game, so don't forget to set your rosters by Thursday morning.

** A special thanks to Jaguars RB Maurice Jones Drew this week. His last-minute 75-yard reception and 1-yard TD run in Jacksonville's win not only handed me an extra 13.70 pts in my other fantasy league, it also gave me another game up on Dad in our weekly picks. He's two back now.

** Text exchange between myself and G on Sunday night:
-- G, you at the game?
## No, I'm at home watching it on my new 50-inch plasma.
-- Nice. Sorry you have to see Eli that big.
## That's OK. The newer sets let you turn down the dopey.

** In case you missed it, yes, Philly fans did boo when the wrecking ball leveling the beloved Spectrum didn't work fast enough. Here's the link.