sportsjabber.net

Each month, we recognize a member who we feel has gone above and beyond the call of membership and worked to help make SJ a great sports community. The poll and the nominations are done solely by the staff and staff members are not eligible to be nominated.

The winning members receive a special user bar, graciously created by Jimmie.

Our Member of the Month for June is
flyinfish

So how did you find SJ?

I found SJ through the WalterFootball.com Mock Draft database since I was checking the mock drafts since the SuperBowl trying to see if there were any good linebackers that the Pats might get.

What were your initial thoughts? Have your thoughts changed?

Originally, I thought that your site was seemed like a little fun since you were having the the contest where we got to be the GM for our respective teams and run our own mock drafts. That was a lot of fun and I was hooked from the get-go. From there, you know that I joined the NFL 1972-present Draft Challenge, Adopt-a-rookie challenge, and the SportJabber Fantasy Football conference. Oh and recently, I joined OB’s Fantasy Football Nerd Draft Challenge.

Now, I have to say that I check the site everyday either to check how I am doing in the respective contests. (Please vote for my team over Robert’s) or looking for a PM from Deb, Robert, Serrated, OB, Jimmie, MSRoble, lffy, Reg, or MikeDead as they have all been a lot of fun talk to and compete with in the various games. For that reason, I am very happy to have joined the site and have recommended it to my friends.

How long have you been playing fantasy football? How many teams do you do?

As a Fantasy Football Commissioner of my own league and an addict (football, that is…), I am glad to join Ben and Ryan’s league as a second option for Fantasy this fall.This will be my second team and I am interested in seeing how I stack up to other FF fanatics since I have won my other league’s SuperBowl for three straight years (and counting…).

Any quick novice tips for us?

I don’t usually give advice that could come back to haunt me, but I would say two things: 1) when making the rules for a fantasy league, be creative and get the pulse of your members for scoring. I say this because, in my opinion, my league is more fun as we award 6 points for any TD so that QBs become more valuable and we include them in our FLEX position. This helps keep scoring up as RBs are dropping off due to RBBCs. Also, in real football, the most important offensive position is the QB and we feel the same should be true in FF. 2) don’t get sucked into the RB RB draft strategy because the RBBCs are causing RBs to score less each year. This strategy has been very successful for me in my league and I have drafted two QBs in the first 5 rounds each year (winning the SB each time). This has been backed up by several FF mags especially my personal favorite, Fantasy Football Index.

How long have you been doing mock drafts? What surprised you the most about this past draft?

I look at Mock Drafts every year for the past 4 years and love to compare them to the actual results to see which Mock Drafts have the most reliable writers. My biggest surprise this year was a tie between the Pats and Fins. I was surprised that the Pats didn’t draft more LBs, but I figure the ones that BB liked must have gone early and he looks for bigger LBs than this class had to offer. The Fins surprised me by taking Pat White since they were already successful with the “Wildcat” formation. I didn’t think that they would lean more toward that as it could be dangerous for them if their offense becomes more predictable. There is a reason why the Wildcat / Single Wing / Option has not been very successful in the Pros…. NFL Defenses are much faster than they are in college and once they know its coming, they can be very prepared for it. That is why the Fins didn’t beat the Pats the second time they played last year.

What do you like to do to relax away from SJ? What would the perfect day be like to you?

I like to get outside when possible since most of my favorite hobbies (other than football) are outdoors sports. I like to hike in the White Mountains (NH), play disc golf, scuba dive, and play with my son. My perfect day, which I have yet to complete, would be to play a round of disc golf with my son in the morning, have some BBQ for lunch, dive for lobsters in the afternoon, eat them for dinner, then (after putting my son to bed), sit with my wife and friends on the beach watching the sun go down… having some drinks and listening to good music (Jimmy Buffett, Kenny Chesney, Zac Brown Band, Dave Matthews, James Taylor, and Bob Marley are my favorites).

How confident are you in Brady’s knee this year?

Like most people, I think that we will only know after the first time he gets hit, but I am confident that he will be playing true to form by the end of the season. I will share an interesting story about it, though. A former student told me that he and some friends were talking FF in a store a month ago.. trying to decide whether to keep Brady in his league when Troy Brown (former Pats receiver) walked in and whispered to my friend “I wouldn’t keep him if it was me.” I can only hope that he was messing with their heads, but that did give me some pause.

How many games do you see the Pats winning this year?

I want to start off by saying that not all Pats fans are as obnoxious as most of the ones that people meet on other sports websites and I hate to see the way in which we are viewed outside of our little corner of the sports world. Some of it is deserved but some of it comes with having a team that has had prolonged recent success. I think that most of the Cowboys fans on this site can relate from the 90′s when you were on top. I say that so I don’t get any hate mail when I say the Pats should win at least 11 games this year, which will be enough to win the division since the AFC East has a pretty tough schedule. All of the teams within the division have improved, they play the AFC South, the NFC South, and the Ravens.

Thanks again I really enjoyed doing this.

http://forums.sportsjabber.net/sjforums/showthread.php?p=67061#post67061