Few Thoughts on Monday

1) So far, so good with Jason Bay right? With three in KC next on the schedule, we could be looking at a six-for-six start. Then, if they can manage at least a split in Chicago, where they always seem to struggle we could be headed for an 8-2 or maybe 7-3 first ten days of the Jason Bay Era. I'll take that.

2) Now that Jed Lowrie has proven a capable and decent major league player, might it be time to bump him up to the two-hole? He seems a better fit there than the bottom of the lineup and with that they can move Youkilis into the cleanup spot after Papi and put Lowell seventh. No knock on Mike Lowell with that demotion, it just makes the lineup a whole lot deeper. What do you think about going Pedroia, Lowrie, Papi, Youk, Bay, Drew, Lowell, Varitek, Ellsbury?

3) I'm not a big Team USA hoops guy but I saw on espn.com this morning that Jason Kidd got benched in the second half of their game against Russia in favor of Chris Paul. At this moment, I see absolutely no reason why Jason Kidd should be receiving playing time over Chris Paul under any circumstances except in the cases of blowouts. Isn't the big thing with this team that we are going to take back the Gold for America? And if that is the case, shouldn't the team be relying on I don't know, the best point guard in the NBA instead of an aging superstar? I'd understand it if Chris Paul was a shoot-first point guard but he is not. He lead the NBA in assists last year. So why then would you play Kidd over Paul for any other reason than Kidd is the longtime, superstar veteran who has "earned it". Kidd very much has "earned" a spot on the team thanks to all he has achieved in a Hall of Fame career, but if the goal of the team is to actually win the Gold Medal as opposed to playing with the biggest and most famous names of the past ten to fifteen years then Kidd should only be seeing the court during mopup duty while most of the point gaurding should be done by Paul and also Deron Williams.

4) I always thought it did not get any worse than the man-child, loser Red Sox fan as portrayed by Jimmy Fallon in the insufferable Fever Pitch. But now I am seeing these Brett Favre lunatics in Green Bay and all of a sudden I feel like patheticness is getting redefined. Fallon's character was a Hollywood created caricature. He was a tool and he was annoying but you could see some semblances of some actual Sox fans in there, just in an over-exaggerated and obnoxious portrayal. But these Packers fans...I mean these people are real. They stage rallies to let Favre come back, and cheer his arrival back to Green Bay on a private jet, and wave signs in homage of him. Can they get a life please? I mean seriously. This is a guy that has the exact record in Super Bowls as Kurt Warner and who last got there over 10 years ago. What am I missing? I know he is BRETT FAVRE and all that, but seriously. Get a life. The guy is not THAT good. What do I think of when I think of Brett Favre? I think of the guy with a penchant for throwing awful interceptions at the worst possible time and I think of a guy who is a royal pain in the ass and now I think of a guy who has inspired a legion of wingnut fans who are embarassments to themselves and who if they don't watch may one day find themselves looking on screen at a Jimmy Fallon type portraying them in a wretched movie.

5) And if you care, here are my top 21 guys for Fantasy Football. I'd go deeper than this with sleepers and such but I have not given enough thought to them yet. I have the first pick in the big league that I am doing this year so I've really been studying how I think the top 20 will play out and who I will take with my 2nd and 3rd round picks (picks 20 & 21). Keep in mind these rankings are for the league that I am doing where all touchdowns are created equal AKA 6 points for a TD regardless of who amasses it. Therefore, a QB is of the utmost importance.

Without further ado....

1) Ladanian Tomlinson
2) Adrian Peterson
3) Brian Westbrook
4) Joseph Addai
5) Steven Jackson
6) Tom Brady
7) Clinton Portis
8) Larry Johnson
9) Marion Barber
10) Peyton Manning
11) Frank Gore
12) Ryan Grant
13) Randy Moss
14) Marshawn Lynch
15) Braylon Edwards
16) Drew Brees
17) Willis McGahee
18) Maurice Jones Drew
19) Tony Romo
20) T.O.
21) Reggie Wayne

So what do I want to do?

Despite hating the guy, I am 100% taking Tomlinson with my first pick, assuming health of course. After that it is kind of crap-shoot. If Drew Brees is on the board when I pick, I'd probably grab him but I doubt he will be. I am still not sold on Tony Romo either. With that being said, if Brees and Edwards are still around, I'd probably take both of them at 20 and 21 and then take the best remaining WR and RB at 40 and 41 with my next picks. Figuring that a Reggie Bush could still potentially be around later. However if Brees is off the board then I'm taking the best remaining WR and the best RB and then holding out for a QB until the slightly later rounds. Depending on how things go, I may grab one at 40, 41 or if not there then 60, 61. I'm not really sure why you would care about this, but it at least helped me get my strategy on paper.