Fantasy Sports

With the end of Fantasy basketball now closed it is the end of another disappointing year. This year I had two fantasy football teams and a fantasy basketball team.

The Yahoo team was great. I ended up winning the championship over the league manager. I had a stacked team and made a big move that showed to be very crucial down the line. I pretty much dominating the  league losing in week one and a few other weeks with some bad match-ups for my players (bye weeks). I made good pick ups week to week and with only 10 teams in the league to was crucial  to have all positions solid since the free agency pool was fairly deep.

The big Trade (Before RG3 got hurt): RG3 and Gore for AP and Spiller.

Robert Griffin III (Was - QB) P Player Note Frank Gore (SF - RB) P No new player Notes	Trade
	Adrian Peterson (Min - RB) P Player Note C.J. Spiller (Buf - RB) P No new player Notes

Starting Team:

1.	(2)	Tom Brady(NE - QB)
2.	(19)	Maurice Jones-Drew(Jac - RB)
3.	(22)	Roddy White(Atl - WR)
4.	(39)	Tony Gonzalez(Atl - TE)
5.	(42)	San Francisco(SF - DEF)
6.	(59)	Frank Gore(SF - RB)
7.	(62)	Vincent Jackson(TB - WR)
8.	(79)	Robert Griffin III(Was - QB)
9.	(82)	Darrius Heyward-Bey(Ind - WR)
10.	(99)	Stephen Gostkowski(NE - K)
11.	(102)	Jacquizz Rodgers(Atl - RB)
12.	(119)	Dustin Keller(Mia - TE)
13.	(122)	Santana Moss(Was - WR)
14.	(139)	Toby Gerhart(Min - RB)
15.	(142)	Mario Manningham(SF - WR)

Final Roster:
Davone Bess
Justin Blackmon
Tom Brady
Michael Crabtree
Tony Gonzalez
Vincent Jackson
Brandon Myers
Carson Palmer
Adrian Peterson
C.J. Spiller
Roddy White
David Wilson
Stephen Gostkowski
Indianapolis
San Francisc

In the ESPN league it was messy. We had a lot of teams (12) which made for thin teams, It was hard to get a solid team together. I made it into the payoff but made a quick exit. Half the league ended with the same record of 7-6. Maybe next year when we eliminate the snake draft.

Basketball which just ended was the biggest disappointment of them all. I had the hands down best team but due to paying more attention to fantasy football in the beginning of the season I took a few Ls I shouldn't have. This made me have to make a big push to end the season to make it into the playoff. I ended up with the #1 Seed but all 4 playoff teams had the same record of 13-6. I drew the #4 team and he ended up having his biggest week of the season and was the eventual overall champ. Looking at the stats even though my team had the most points on the year I had more points against then the two in the final. Actually , the two in the finals ranked low overall in PF but had low PA. This just shows how much luck of the draw is in fantasy. Not to take anything away from either GM as they both optimized their schedule and roster.

Well, it was fun. Win or lose it is always fun because the leagues are made of good friends and it makes sure we stay in contact on the regular....... No to start preparations for Fantasy football. Who should be my first pick in this years draft?

Downtown Albany - Loan Central

I have lived here in Albany Ga for a few months now. I think it is time to give my view on it. I don't feel like I have had the full Albany experience but I pretty much go out of town every weekend. I guess that says something about Albany itself.

For now I will concentrate just on "downtown". This last weekend I decided to take some time and do a little self guided walking tour of the portion of downtown I hadn't seen yet.

The downtown area consists of about a 6-10 block area that sits right on Flint river. The area near the river is real nice. It consists of an amphitheater, children's park, a spray park, a walking path & a riverquarium (pretty cool took my niece), the civic center & an area dedicated to Ray Charles. Actually I believe the whole trail is dedicated to him. They have a statue with a piano key style sidewalk. The statue plays his songs on cycle. The Hilton is as also right there across the street.

Right next to the riverquariam they have a few shops & a local BBQ place (River Front BBQ). It is pretty good. The rest of the downtown is fairly typical of a small city. No tall buildings (none more then 5 stories or so). Most of the buildings are government or public facilities like court houses, energy company, police, library school board & like agencies.

Their are several small businesses & restaurants that close in the 5p time frame when all the government buildings close. They also have limited hours on the weekend. The downtown area also has a bunch of closed up shops & empty store fronts. A run down sign of a revitalization sits on one of the buildings. This area is also home to a local favorite Jimmie's Hot Dogs. Which you go for more for the name then anything. They only sell hot dogs. I'll do a review of them in another post.

The one thing that struck me as odd was the number of loan business located in a small area. I counted six in a 2 block area. They out numbered Salons (5), restaurants (3), banks (2), retail stores (3) in that same two block area. These are like pay day, title loan places.

After thinking about it I noticed Albany seemed to have a high concentration of these types of businesses for its size city. They have them all over the Albany area like Starbucks in NYC yet the city doesn't even have a Dunkin Donuts & only one Starbucks. Just seems odd.

Anyway, that is pretty much the Downtown area of Albany. Nothing special and besides the riverfront part pretty dull. To end the day I visited the Museum across the street from my house. Not bad at all for its size. No big time names but still had some good piece. Surprising enough it was free.

Stay tuned for my take on the greater Albany area. As of right now it doesn't look like it will be a shinning review but you never know the place could change my mind between now & that post.

Reply all? Sure why not.

A friend sent out an email to a group of her closes friends about her 2013 dreams and aspirations. She asked us to share back with her or even reply all to all of the people she emailed. So I did here was my response:

Reply all? Sure why not.

• Career - My career has been moving along fine here in the boring corporate world. I recently was promoted to a bigger store (not a big pay bump though). Really it is more of the same stuff with more stress and less hands on. In 2013 for my job I want to make sure I turn the store I am at around, reduce loss by half  and improve campus outreach (FYI if you didn't know I am bookstore manager.. yeah yeah I know overpriced books). I also want to concentrate more on revenue flow from outside of my 9-5. Hopefully you all will here of some of the things I have planned in 2013. None of those pyramid style schemes or multi-level marketing things (stay away people stay far away).
• Financial - In 2012 I didn't accomplish all my financial goals. I wasn't able to pay off my car but will in the next 2-3 months (now a 2013 goal). I didn't invest as much into stocks as I planned (did some just not enough). In 2012 I cut my expenses down to the bare minimum and after moving went the opposite way. In 2013 I hope to go back to reducing unnecessary spending and use those funds to help with my career projects. 
• Education -  I am good on pursuing education for a while. Well at least formal education. I would like to still teach. Maybe I'll make that one of my 2013 goals, to become an educator.
• Family - 2012 I made a bitter sweet move. I moved back to GA closer to my mother, nieces, and one of my best friends (my sister to I guess) but left being close to my other family members- including Natasja (I don't think I will ever be able to get rid of you). In 2013 I want to take full advantage of  of being closer to my nieces. Spend more time with them both and be a positive male role model for them.
• Artistic - Lets face it I am not an artistic person but I can support my friends artistic desires (I am working on that project btw Natasja). I am more of a problem solver.  
• Attitude -  I need to get my positive attitude back in 2013. I need to re-motivate myself. I have lacked a desire to push toward my goals maybe this email will spark it. 
• Physical - Continue to workout on a regular basis and continue to do 5ks and participate in sports in 2013. Most importantly finally get through the whole series of Insanity without taking a break. I have been able to do P90X. For some reason I always get interrupted with life when I start Insanity.
• Community Service (I Added this one)- Giving back is an important part of being a good person. It helps keep me grounded and reminds me to be thankful for what I have. In 2012 I didn't do much to give back to society. I donated some clothes and some money to not for profits. That isn't the same as  working with a child, volunteering at a community center, or handing out food at a soup kitchen. In 2013 I want to make sure I do some of those things.
• Additionally! -  I would like to continue to travel in 2013 and beyond. I have had to cancel several trips in 2012 (including my Miami NYE trip) due to work or family conflicts. I want to make sure I don't use those as excuses this year and use some of my 110 vacation hours I currently have.  

I am not sure why I hit the reply all but thank you all for allowing me to share. Best of wishes in 2013.