Contest Update

Don't forget to enter a proverb to win a free book...

Free is good. Right now there's only one entry - reply to either this post or the original post to enter.

Mashups: Fantasy Football and Community

Authors note: Mashup is a series here at Thoughts on Life... The point of the series is to take something and view it was an allegory for something else. Mashups are intended to be funny and perhaps thought provoking. Today, we'll talk about Fantasy Football Trades and Community.

I just told you my fantasy football autodraft team. A decent, well rounded team. My largest weakness was my runningback situation, which was shallow to say the least. And then Dave Morgan offered me a trade.

I give up Aaron Rodgers (very great QB) and Beanie Wells (good RB with upside) for Joe Flacco (good-great QB) and Felix Jones (good RB) and Deangelo Williams (good-great RB). Now, normally, I just turn Dave down. Because Dave has so much more knowledge about Fantasy than I do, and I assume he's not dumb. Which means he's getting the better end of the stick. But I accepted this time.

Because I was viewing trades as a zero sum game. Dave gets positives, I get negatives. When in reality, a Fantasy Football Trade can be positive for both sides. Dave and I both met the needs of our teams. We both win, in a sense.

Community can work like this too. Sometimes, we can view community as a zero sum game - I give to you, and I lose. But what if we view it as more? We need to think of creative ways to be in community. Because if we view community as a zero sum (You get at My expense), then everyone loses.

In college, a group of guys (led by Dave Morgan himself) wanted to find a way to help homeless in downtown Grand Rapids. We had no money, so to give money or anything would physically be taking from us (although in that situation it would have meant less video games or something). So we found a creative situation - since none of us used all of our meal credits, we got food to go - and gave it to the homeless people. It was a way for everyone to win (except the university, who hated that we were using the meals that we paid room/board for).

What other ways can you think of to bring community out of the realm of zero sum?

Fantasy Football: Autodraft... for the win?

I was all set to partake in my fantasy football draft last week... until I ran into unbeatable technical difficulties. My wife's laptop wouldn't load the software, so I was left to the randomness of that hated foe... Auto Draft.

Which, surprisingly, didn't screw me over too bad. Let's look at my starting lineup... Backups were mostly no namers.

QB: Aaron Rodgers, from GB. A consensus top five quarterback. Dave Morgan has him listed at number 2.

A great pick, and probably where I would have gone with the 8th pick overall.

RB: Matt Forte, CHI. This could be an amazing pick, if Forte rebounds well off his injury. I have hope.

RB: Beanie Wells, ARI. Dave has him listed at #24, which means (in Dave's opinion) he should be the last starting running back in a twelve team league. Nothing special here, although he has good upside.

A couple of potential flyer picks. They'll be serviceable, assuming that they aren't supplanted by the other RB's on their respective teams.

WR: Randy Moss, NE. Top three WR. Probably top two.

WR: Roddy White, ATL. Top five WR, with an up and coming quarterback.

WR: Hines Ward, PIT. Huge possession WR.

And this is where I feel the strongest. Three tremendously good fantasy wide receivers... I think this is where autodraft was great for me... It picked the best player who may or may not have been passed on (for whatever reason), ignoring runs and reaches.

TE: Kellen Winslow JR, TB. I dropped him immediately; I don't want any Buccaneers on my roster. I picked up Fred Davis, of Washington, instead. Although, I think I made a mistake; I didn't realize Davis was second on the depth chart. Better fix that...

(this is where my lack of fantasy knowledge is more evident than I would like).

Kick: Garrett Hartley, NO. Kicker on a high scoring team, should be okay.

Defense: Philadelphia. Serviceable pick.

So, I don't hate my team. Which is good. My running backs are serviceable with good upside. My QB and WR's are tremendous, and while everything else is just okay, how many points are you really expecting from TE/Kick/Def?

I like the way it's shaping up.

Fantasy question: Would you trade Rodgers for Joe Flacco / Felix Jones? I passed, but was sorely tempted.

Blogging at Taking Jesus out of the Box

Hey everyone,

I'm continuing my series on Taking Jesus out of the Box over at... Taking Jesus out of the Box. Click over and let me know what you think.

Free Giveaway: Amish Proverbs

Hello Blog Readers!

Who likes free stuff? Everyone, of course. Well, today you can win some free stuff right here on Thoughts on Life. What's up for grabs? A unique little gift book called "Amish Proverbs" by Suzanne Woods Fisher. Details on the contest follow this quick review.

Amish Proverbs is a hefty little book full of... amish proverbs! Mostly cute, sometimes funny, and frequently inspirational, it's a neat little coffee table book. As such, a proper review doesn't really befit this book, so I thought I would quote one excerpt I found that I rather liked.

"Some people never learn anything because they understand everything too soon."

I feel like that proverb describes me in many ways. I feel like I'm gifted with understanding, and too frequently I use that as a crutch to prevent myself from having to make any real change.

The book is full of little sayings like that. It's quite cute and quite meaningful at the same time.

So, now that you've read that excerpt, I bet you're thinking "how do I get my hands on a copy? It's only been out a week and a half!"

Well, here's how. Click the little comment button below this post and leave your name, along with a family proverb. The proverb doesn't need to be funny or meaningful or anything, but just something that was true that you heard growing up. Here's my example:

Andy Szymas - "Food is what's for dinner."

See? Simple! So click comment, leave your name and proverb, and I'll automatically enter you to win a free copy.

And as a special bonus to my loyal readers, if you are a follower of my blog, I'll give you an extra entry! That means you would have double the chance to win a free copy (which I will mail out in approximately two weeks time). If you're not a follower, you can just click the "Follow" button at the top of the screen and I'll give you an extra entry as well!

So - what's your proverb?

In Honor of: Halo

Halo: Combat Evolved came out in 2001 and almost single handedly made the X-box a success. Halo 2 came out in 2004 and made online gaming a reality. And Halo 3 came out in 2007 to tremendous success on the Xbox 360.

This trilogy of record breaking games spawned best selling book series, other video games, short films, and was a few months from being a movie directed by Peter Jackson.

Some of my fondest memories from college were playing Halo or Halo 2 with roommates and dorm buddies until way late in the night or until five minutes after class had started...

I don't know how to explain the success of Halo. I think one of the largest factors was the simplicity of the game - you weren't managing 100 hp, but a simple rechargeable shield. You weren't lugging around enough weapons to fight a small army, but two guns. The missions were fun and unique (if not repetitive at times) and the games looked good.

They are tremendously fun games. Tonight, in honor of Halo, I'm going to have a guys night. Some adult beverage, some video games, and just good old plain fun.

Neat Poem by Wendell Berry

Jess and I just started going to a new sabbath group (small group/house church). This week, Ryan shared some poetry, and I rather liked this one.

The Vacation
By Wendell Berry

Once there was a man who filmed his vacation.
He went flying down the river in his boat
with his video camera to his eye, making
a moving picture of the moving river
upon which his sleek boat moved swiftly
toward the end of his vacation. He showed
his vacation to his camera, which pictured it,
preserving it forever: the river, the trees,
the sky, the light, the bow of his rushing boat
behind which he stood with his camera
preserving his vacation even as he was having it
so that after he had had it he would still
have it. It would be there. With a flick
of a switch, there it would be. But he
would not be in it. He would never be in it.

Fantasy Football Preview

Before I get going, just go read Dave's Blog. He's got way better info and is much more of an expert. I'll speak of trends and my thoughts and predictions.

First, my draft order:

1. Chris Johnson, TEN.

2. Adrian Peterson, MIN.

3. Maurice Jones Drew, JAX.

4. Ray Rice, BAL.

5. Philip Rivers, SD.

6. Michael Turner, ATL.

7. Frank Gore, SF.

8. Andre Johnson, HOU.

9. Tom Brady, NE.

10. Aaron Rodgers, GB.

11. Anquan Boldin, BAL.

12. Drew Brees, NO.

That's all subject to change of course. Here are my thoughts:

Elite vs Average: In every position, get an elite player if you can. But if you can't, don't worry - it's the average players who win the day. For example, in my mind, there are 5 elite running backs and 4 or 5 elite quarter backs, and 3 or 4 elite wide receivers. And a couple of elite tight ends. If you want to reach to take one of those players, do it. But otherwise, stock up on the good guys that people are passing with their reaches.

One Quarterback: Take one elite quarterback and then stock up on RB's and WR's. If necessary, I can pick up a free agent quarterback for the bye week and live on.]

Don't be dumb: Take a defense and kicker in the 12th and 13th rounds. Maybe even pass on a kicker if you can get some decent trade bait.

Mark Thursday Night Games: Last year I got messed up by Thursday night games... Because I'm on the West Coast, I needed to have my line up set by wednesday night. I need to remember those or end with a substandard lineup.

And Finally: After that above list, I'll be working on best available and filling my needs. Pretty simple.

Proposition 8: Overturned

Judge strikes down California Proposition 8.

Discuss.