Separating Fantasy Football from Fandumb Football

Every year I go into my California Penal fantasy football league draft saying I will not pick from the heart - and every year I end up with 6 players from the great state of New York and 2 Cleveland Browns.

But this year was different. After years of watching the most clueless football "fans" finish in the top 3 every year with nothing but a magazine or spreadsheet, I too decided to go by the book. And boy did it pay off. I might as well have been on auto-pick but I ended up with a stud team and the second highest projected points for the first week's games.

Now there is no telling how the rest of the season will turn out - with injuries and sleepers inevitable - but I have done my job, and finally, for the first time in 9 years, separated fantasy from fan-dumb.

A Crispy, Cultural Chant for Gridiron Glory

Hey Listers,

It’s that time of the year. The crisp, cold scent of Saturday morning dew. The growing sound of familiar chants from passersby. A fluttering of angst in your gut. It must be college football season. It must be gameday.

For those of you unaware, college football in the United States is quickly becoming the new American pastime. As baseball ratings, ticket sales, and general fandom decline around the nation on the back of steroid allegations and lack of American stars; football is holding strong, despite the turbulent economy. Though baseball throughout history has been a backbone of American culture, in recent decades its fan base has diminished greatly – particularly within the younger demographic. Recently, pre-season NFL football, UFC and even golf (starring Tiger Woods) has topped baseball TV ratings (including Yankee games). And little league baseball coaches around the county continue to struggle to field teams of interested youngsters. Football interest, on the other hand, is growing exponentially.

Football may very well be the new cultural backbone in America – college football in particular (despite anti-BCS rumblings). Hardworking Americans around the country spend 40+ hours a week devoted to a dedicated occupation. In the Fall, many of those blue- and white-collars spend what free time they have on the weekend devoted to football fanaticism. And what used to be a weekend only (Saturday/Sunday) Autumn affair, is taking over weekdays as well (Monday Night Football, Thursday night NCAA games, and this Friday, September 4^th is actually College Colors Day (aka National-Wear-Your-Jersey-to-Work-Day) in support of college football’s opening weekend games).

The first game of intercollegiate football in America was between Tufts University and Harvard on June 4, 1875 at Jarvis Field in Cambridge, Mass. In comparison, the first officially recorded baseball game in U.S. history took place on June 19, 1846, in Hoboken, New Jersey between the NY Nine and the NY Knickerbockers. That 30 year head start held strong for over a century, but football has recently closed the gap and by all accounts surpassed baseball as the #1 sport in America.

This Saturday you can see for yourself. College campuses everywhere will be flooded by people of all ages wearing one of two conflicting colors. For one of the most intense experiences, you can taste the crisp Saturday morning air and hear the growing chants of “O.H. … I.O!” in Columbus, Ohio on September 12^th. But if you can’t venture to central Ohio, you can catch big games and rivalries almost every Saturday for the next 4 months. Participation is highly encouraged – especially for any gameday virgins out there.

Lists Hidden in This Newsletter

ESPN College Football GameDay Segments/Schedule

Only Schools to Host ESPN College GameDay for Both Basketball and Football

Best College Football Teams Ever

ESPN College GameDay Personalities (Past and Present)

Most ESPN College GameDay (Football) Appearances by School

Schools that Hosted Most ESPN College GameDay (Football) TV Shows

NCAA College Football Split Champions

5 Coaches Who Didn't Play College Football

Top 10 Biggest College Football Games in 2009

College Football Jersey Number Codes

College Football Team Nicknames That DON'T End with the Letter "S"

Top 25 Greatest Players In College Football History

ListAfterList Updates and Reminders

Have you tried the new search on LAL powered by Google? It is much more effective. Now you can think of LAL as a place of reference, instead of just a website where you can find randomly cool stuff and interesting trivial lists. Find a bucket list of a die-hard sports fan, or the list of 5 NFL teams that haven’t played in the Super Bowl. Even try using LAL when you are looking for birthday gifts for someone (i.e. Top 10 Gifts for a Star Wars Fan).

If there is anything you would like to see on ListAfterList, let us know. And, if you have any friends who might enjoy ListAfterList, let us know that too.

Your Fellow Lister,

Ryan Pratt

Editor

www.ListAfterList.com

List of Ten Best QBs in Madden 2010

Top 10 Quarterbacks in Madden NFL 10 Think Tom Brady is number 1? Think again. Did your quarterback make the top ten? You might be surprised who did. Find out everything about the Madden 10 player rankings here: Lister: Ryan Pratt Category: Sports Tags: Madden

Twitter, Twitter Little Star…

Hey Listers,

Twitter me this, Twitter me that. Doesn’t it seem like Twitter is everywhere now? It’s no illusion, it really is. Over the past year Twitter.com’s traffic has grown 1,043% to nearly 20 million visitors last month. That’s a two followed by 7 zeros. 20 million! That’s the distance between your back door and Venus (the 2nd-closest planet to the sun). That’s 200 times as many people than fit in The Shoe every Autumn Saturday afternoon. So the question is, are you one of those 20,000,000? Have you jumped on the bandwagon yet?

ListAfterList has – you can follow us at http://twitter.com/listafterlist and get updates every time a new wiki list is created. And so have many other famous people and cool companies – as well as some losers:

The Orlando Magic: Just got trounced by the Lakers in the NBA Finals.

50 Cent: Lost to Kanye in the rap album sales battle.

Paula Abdul: Being replaced by the new, hotter, younger female judge.

MLB: Ratings continue to plummet as steroid allegations continue to emerge.

Bushnell Boys: My three high school friends that are the epitome of losers.

Dwight Howard: Despite dominating the feeble Cavs in the Eastern Conference finals, Howard and his Magic are truly the first and biggest losers of the 2008-09 NBA season (I may be a biased analyst).

Denise Richards: Anyone who had Charlie Sheen and now doesn’t is a considerable loser.

Dane Cook: Likely the most hated comedian amongst his peers.

Jessica Simpson: Have you seen how much weight she lost? She was huge!

Mandy Moore: Broke up with Vincent Chase in last season’s Entourage… so sad, poor Vinny.

Heidi Montag: Lost any respect she may have had after going on the “I’m a Celebrity: Get Me Out of Here” reality TV show.

Ryan Pratt: And you can always follow me if you’re as big of loser as I am.

Lists Hidden in This Newsletter

Top 50 Celebrities on Twitter

Top 25 Famous Athletes on Twitter

Top 50 Must-Have iPhone Apps

NFL QBs with a Zero Passer Rating

Fastest Women's Tennis Serves

Twinkling Stargazing Tips

Top 10 Shoe-Ins For The Pro Football Hall of Fame

Falling Away - Best Places for Fall Foliage

Stupid Things Famous People Said

The Meanings Behind Company Names

PGA Championship: Playoff Losers

ListAfterList Updates and Reminders

Have you tried the new search on LAL powered by Google? It is much more effective. Now you can think of LAL as a place of reference, instead of just a website where you can find randomly cool stuff and interesting trivial lists. Or try using LAL when you are looking for holiday gifts for someone (i.e. Top 10 Gifts for a Star Wars Fan).

Your Fellow Lister,

Ryan Pratt

www.ListAfterList.com

Bucket List for the Ultimate Sports Fan

Ultimate Sports Fan's Bucket List Barack Obama is now the President of the United States of America. Here are some of the other major events in African-American history: Lister:Ryan Pratt Category:Sports

List of Athletes Who Played Two Sports (or more)

Top 25 Multi-Sport Athletes Bo, Deion, Jordan, Thorpe... These are some of the greatest multi-sport athletes in the history of sports. Lister:prattedit Category:Sports

List of Things You'd Like to See Wonder Woman Do

Top 10 Things You'd Like to See Wonder Woman Do (From the Monday Night Football commercial) What are the top ten things you would like to see Wonder Woman do? Careful, don't let this get stuck in a Monday printer paper jam! Lister:Ryan Pratt Category:Fun

List of Smartest Positions in Football (NFL)

Smartest Players by Position in Football The Wonderlic Personnel Test is an intelligence test primarily known for being administered to college football players prior to the NFL draft. These are the averages scores on the test by position: Lister:Pratt Category:Sports

List of NFL Teams to Finish the Season with 1 Win

Worst NFL Team Records Ever: One-Win Seasons All eight of these football teams finished the regular season with only 1-win: Lister:Pratt Category:Sports

List of Largest Stadiums in the World

Biggest Stadiums on Earth College football is back and many people think they play on the world’s biggest stages. But the top 10 aren’t even in the United States! Check out the list. Lister:Pratt Category:Travel

2008 NFL Contract Year Players

It is well known that athletes in a contract year, tend to pick up their game, often times, having the best season of their career. Here are some NFL players that you might expect that from this season:

	Steven Jackson - RB - STL
	Marques Colston - WR - NO
	T.J. Houshmandzadeh - WR - CIN

for a full list see click here: http://www.listafterlist.com/tabid/57/listid/13905/Sports++Recreation/2008+NFL+Contract+Year+Players.aspx