Fantasy is LIFE.

I'm in 4 different fantasy basketball leagues this season. The excitement is almost embarrassing.

My second draft was on Friday for my boyfriend's roommate's league, "Fantasy 09'-10'." Unfortunately I had to miss the live draft due to going out to dinner for my brother's birthday so I had to rely solely on my lack of pre-ranking skills. My biggest fear was that I was going to have a plethora of guards and not enough big men to hold down my boards and blocks. Lucky for me, I got first pick. Unlucky for me was that my fear came to life. Below is what happens when you are on auto-draft with the #1 pick:

• Chris Paul
• Jose Calderon
• Devin Harris - like I said...plethora of guards. At least I know I'll win in dimes.
• Josh Smith
• Jason Richardson
• Marcus Camby - never in a million years would I ever draft him. UGH.
• Anthony Randolph
• Eric Gordon
• Zach Randolph
• Wilson Chandler
• Andrei Kirilenko
• Francisco Garcia - WTF.
• Michael Beasley

With a quickness, I dropped Garcia and picked up Greg Oden as he's set to start for the Blazers. Some good in this team but overall, not the happiest for this one.

My third draft was on Sunday for my boyfriend's friend's league "NO BITCH@SSNESS ALLOWED" (boys are so original). This is by far the deepest league I've ever played in with 18 managers and by the second round, I was already having a hard time. My fantasy-addicted cousin Kevin always tells me that the only fun leagues are deep leagues though so I am excited to see how this pans out. I'm definitely on a roll this season because I was graced with the #2 pick.

• Dwayne Wade - Undeniably ecstatic to have him. I have all the faith in the world in him.
• Mehmet Okur
• Kevin Martin - This pick resulted in an argument between me and boyfriend as we were sitting next to each other and he had 7th pick. I glanced at his computer really just to see what people were saying in the chat since my own computer screen is too small to see anything and accidentally saw who he had on his queue which inspired me to pick him up. Needless to say, I was called a cheater all night long.
• Jeff Green
• Lamar Odom - STUPID STUPID STUPID DECISION
• Jermaine O'Neal - I'm actually excited to have him.
• Aaron Brooks
• DJ Augustin - Raja Bell, don't come back!
• Al Thorton
• Danilo Gallinari - Picked him with a heavy heart. I'm hoping that since he's healthy and since D'Antoni loves him so much, he'll actually be useful.
• Nick Collison
• Vladimir Radmanovic
• Michael Finley - At least he starts.

Hate this team the most but the league itself has already proven to be the most interesting. I play my boyfriend (Ron Artesticle) first. All's fair in love and war, right babe?

4th and final draft for me is tonight. The people in this league are the folks I've solely been playing with for the past 2 seasons. They saw me first know nothing, having drafted 3 Warriors and come in super dead last and then saw me the second season as the girl who talked way too much shit, but for good reason. I made it to the playoffs and would have gone further than 5th if it wasn't for my opponent having Jose Calderon go off with 19 assists on the last day. This season is payback time.

Here's to a good season, gentlemen (and ladies). Trades, anyone?

09-10 Fantasy Basketball - HOLLERize 2.0

I think I'm ready to give up Farmville on Facebook.

My first of three drafts was last night. Thanks to the boyfriend for letting me and my roomies play with the boys. It's gonna be a fun season! Already got in a fight with my girl Trina (The Question Marks) though. She was lucky enough to get 1st pick and got Chris Paul after only finding out who he was that same day. And then she picked up Andris Biedrins (my FAVE) as her 2nd pick (retarded). So when she asked me to pick her 4th pick when she was in the bathroom, I drafted Raymond Felton. It's gonna be an interesting one!

Presenting to you Team HOLLERize 2.0 in "serious league":

1. Kevin Durant - From Rotowire: "He's a legitimate threat to lead the NBA in scoring this season." I believe in you!
2. Pau Gasol - I hate the Lakers but all's fair in fantasy basketball.
3. Jason Kidd - Dimes, dimes, dimes. That's all I need you for so please don't disappoint.
4. Mehmet Okur
5. Rajon Rondo - I'm getting trade offers already for him. Need to leverage this well.
   
6. Rashard Lewis - I completely forgot that he's suspended for 10 games. DAMMIT.
   
7. Nate Robinson
8. Luis Scola - NBA TV Fantasy Preview labeled him a "sleeper" and is expected to go off this season with Yao out and everyone double-teaming against Ariza. Let's hope so.
   
9. Zach Randolph - I called my boyfriend asking him what I needed. His answer was boards and blocks and I picked him. I was replied with a "SMH." I had him last year. I have a very love/hate relationship with him.
   
10. Chris Anderson - Simply for the blocks alone.
    
11. Eric Gordon - My saving grace last season and the best pick up ever. Let's hope you keep up the momentum playing alongside a healthy Baron Davis.
    
12. Chris Duhon - Why did I just pick up both of the Knicks point guards? Dammit.
    
13. Ronnie Brewer

Two more drafts coming up this week. I need Dwayne Wade and my boo Andris Biedrins in at least one of my teams!

"@NBA" on Twitter

I love summer and all that it promises but the fact that the NBA season ends and the NFL season doesn’t start until September is enough to make me yearn for Fall to come sooner. Thankfully, my addiction to Twitter has been able to feed my NBA hunger, even if it’s not always basketball-related.

As a “soon-to-be Marketing Professional,” (LOL) social media in and of itself has become a serious interest of mine. I’ve become a Twitter-freak, following all sorts of random people from Around the Horn’s Tony Reali to big-named Marketing execs to Martha Stewart to, of course, NBA players.

Honestly, I only got into Twitter initially because my brother couldn’t stop talking about how funny Shaq was. Following Shaq led me to follow Steve Nash who led me to follow Baron Davis…and now, almost half of the people I follow are in the NBA.

I haven’t seen much updates from Shaq recently but I’m assuming it has to do with his transition to Cleveland. Dwight Howard always brightens up my day with absolute randomness, like the time he broke his bed due to imitating a Keri Hilsen video. I first heard about Michael Jackson’s death from Shawn Marion. Charlie Villanueva, while not the most popular NBA player, has become of my favorite people to follow, especially since he personally replied to a comment I said about how I didn’t want a Lakers-Cavs Finals.

I can go longer about my NBA experiences via Twitter but I’ll stop there for now.

Twitter and other social media channels have the power to make people and things that used to seem so above us now be almost at our own level. I see the NBA players that I follow as actual people, who go through BS, who like to laugh about silly things, who don’t always have the best days. They are offering to share themselves with the rest of the world and I love it.

On another note, the NBA just reached 1 million followers, being the only other brand besides Whole Foods to reach that monumental number. The people who do social media for the NBA are pretty savvy; while the GS Warriors simply tweet up links of articles published about them, the NBA shares a number of videos, random stats, different featured profiles, and other things that makes me continue to be a follower. And they kept their word when they said they’d do a special shoutout to whoever ended up being their 1 millionth follower, no matter who it was.

I would do anything to be on the NBA’s social media team.

March Madness: "Bracketology"

For some reason, my newbie-ness thought that the term "bracketology" was universal so when I used it with my boyfriend with the utmost of confidence, he embarressed the hell out of me by busting out in laughter. What a jerk.

Playing NCAA Brackets was more along the lines of playing Roulette for me. I didn't have a damn clue about college basketball, and I barely even noticed the little numbers next to the school names until halfway through the bracket. Which probably explains why I'm last with only 35 out of 48 correct picks. I'm embarressed to admit that I didn't think Pittsburg would actually take it all the way. Maybe because the Sooners were in my head due to football, I don't know. Or maybe I got Oklahoma State confused with Oklahoma? I probably should have done a littttle bit of research before I went click-happy.

Oh well. I still believe in Memphis all the way!

My Addiction: Fantasy Basketball

It’s official: I’m not a blogger, I just like to talk when I feel like it.

With that being said, I would like to get back into the habit of writing in this again. In my defense, I’m graduating this year so ever since the fall semester started, school has been kicking my ass. But I won’t get into that boring stuff.

A lot has happened since my last post: the 49ers got a new head coach in Mike Singletary, the Arizona Cardinals actually almost beat the Steelers in the Super Bowl, A-Rod admitted to being on steroids, Tiger Woods finally came back, Don Nelson went crazy by sitting his starters…the list goes on. But let me talk about one thing that has taken over my life aside from school, work, sorority, and my boyfriend: Fantasy Basketball.

So it’s Week 19 and I’m currently getting my ass handed to me on a silver platter, 3-6. Don’t let that fool you though; I’m pretty proud of my team (even though I’ve made some horrific management decisions in the past couple of weeks) and I’m sitting comfortably at 4th place with less than three weeks until the playoffs. It’s not my fault that I’ve got 5 players not playing and my opponent’s ugly team decided to all of a sudden get better in a month’s time.

I started this season with a pretty random bunch, with everyone talking shit about all the guys I picked up. Mind you, I got the 12th spot in the draft.

• Deron Williams (injured or not, I know I wanted him)
• Dwight Howard
• Andris Biedrins (an accident, I didn’t mean to pick him as my third round)
• Devin Harris
• Andrei Kirilenko
• Rip Hamilton
• Zach Randolph
• Rajon Rando
• Travis Outlaw
• Drew Gooden
• Earl Watson
• Jason Kapono
• Marc Gasol

Looking at that list, I realize I only have half of the same people I started with. Here’s who I have going into the Playoffs (for now):

• Deron Williams
• Dwight Howard
• Aaron Brooks (a pick-up after dropping T-Mac, a guy I got in trade for Devin Harris and Biedrins—THE BIGGEST MISTAKE OF THE SEASON)
• Monta Ellis (part of the Harris-Biedrins deal)
• Rip Hamilton (thank God for coming back into the starting lineup)
• Rashard Lewis (the only good thing that came from theHarris-Biedrins deal even if it still doesn’t fully make up for it)
• AK (after dropping him when he got injured and picking him back up a week later)
• Drew Gooden (because I have a gut feeling that he’s going to be amazing as a Spur)
• Marc Gasol (my SAVING GRACE this week)
• Eric Gordon (my favorite pickup, even if he’s injured his week)
• Larry Hughes (a pick-and-drop guy who I’ve finally decided to keep since being dealt to the Knicks)
• Zach Randolph (I need him back ASAP)
• Peja Stojakovic (got in a trade early in the season with DJ Augustin for Rondo—second biggest mistake of the season)

You don’t have to tell me twice that my team would be AMAZING if I had just kept Rondo, Devin Harris, and Biedrins but I couldn’t beat the excitement of trading. Monta being on my fantasy team definitely makes me dislike him more and more every game that he doesn’t play (as well as other reasons that I hope I can get into in time). Rashard’s numbers in the beginning of the season made him look so valuable but ever since I got him (when Jameer Nelson got injured), he’s only had one statistically beautiful game. And I won’t even get into my horrific decision to get T-Mac.

Inner struggles I’m going through right now:

1. To keep Monta or no? There’s talk that he’s unhappy at Golden State and that it’s actually some of the reason why he didn’t go with them to their recent road trip. His arrival keeps getting pushed back and with the playoffs in two weeks, I’m getting impatient. And who’s to say he’ll even put up numbers when he does come back? I’m so close to dropping him and picking up someone to help me get my blocks back up.
2. Drew Gooden—ugh. Sometimes, I have no idea why I’ve held on to him for so long. I’m counting on this gut feeling about the Spurs, but who knows? When healthy, his numbers are impressive though, but by next week, if he’s not playing, I’m going to have to take some action.
3. The trade deadline was yesterday therefore all I’ve got to choose from is whoever is on the waiver wire. Good enough pickups include Rashad McCants, Nenad Krstic, Thabo Sefolosha…and any of the Warriors bench considering Don Nelson’s going to be playing them more often.
   

Sigh. I hope this weekend fairs better than the rest of this week. $20 and my pride is on the line. I spent the majority of the season having my smack talk say “My new name should be ‘I can beat the boys’!” Figures it would come back to bite me in the ass!

Thanks Niners for making my dad and brother have a good rest of the week.

49ers 1 - 1

OK, so it's not exactly brag-worthy but I for one am ecstatic to see the San Francisco 49ers beat the Seattle Seahawks. One, because my dad and brother feel for the Niners the way I feel for the Warriors therefore were jumping up and down with pure euphoria at the end of overtime, and two, because it was a division win. The likelihood of the 49ers making it to the playoffs are slim (from the limited knowledge that I have) but hell...it's not looking too shabby for SF. Next week they're playing the Detroit Lions who got murdered by Green Bay and there's a huge chance that the Niners can actually be 2 - 1. I've seen my brother's head almost explode one too many times in the past couple of years to know that this is significant. My dad actually bought tickets to next week's game (because he had to go to a game that we had a chance at winning) so I shall be there in my 49ers attire, drinking beer and screaming my happy ass off with my dad and my brother...while my mother sits and claps politely, simply happy to see her family together and enjoying each other's company.

Today's game was fun to watch though. Alex Smith, good riddance. JT O'Sulivan...you are what this franchise needs. Just quit getting sacked! 8 times ain't cool. But once the ball got rolling, it was our defense that saved the day. Two freakin' useful interceptions in a row?! Loved it.

Two more random, note-worthy tidbits of two games that I caught (and one that is pretty much on repeat on SportsCenter right now):

• Caught a good minute of the Raiders - Chiefs game. Don't know anything about the Chiefs but the Raiders played sick. I caught Darren McFadden's catch and touchdown and it had me on my feet.
• The San Diego Chargers and Denver Broncos game gave me a flashback of the last Lakers-Warriors game where Monta Ellis and Derek Fisher fell and that bullshit call happened against the Warriors. However, I will admit that this bullshit whistle is a thousand times worse. Any loss is bad but to know that it could have been avoided by something that was beyond their control...le sigh.

My football posts are so lame. It's quite obvious that I don't know about football. But I sure as hell love to watch it.

Gotdammit Monta.

Monta Ellis Out 3 Months

I'm the biggest slacker that ever tried to be a blogger so sue me for being a couple of weeks late with this issue.

My devastation was indescribable after hearing about Monta Ellis' left ankle injury that will result to him being out of the game for 3-4 months. Three weeks after the news came out and it still knocks the wind out of me just a little bit. With Baron Davis leaving, Monta was the face of our franchise, the last hope the Warriors had to make it to the playoffs. While it sounds morbid and faithless, I can't help but believe it to be true. He's going to miss at least a third of the entire season and for someone who was appointed starting PG, training camp alone was going to be crucial to his success in that spot.

That's not even the worst of it though. On September 6, the Contra Costa Times was the first to announce that Monta Ellis actually lied about the reason behind his injury. Instead of hurting himself by working out or even playing a pick-up game of basketball, he finally admitted after weeks of rumors that it was definitely not a basketball-related injury. Exactly what it was is still unknown and being kept secret for as long as the Warriors front office and his agent can allow it. People at GSOM have their own opinions though, from a motorcycle accident to something ridiculous like chasing after a girl (whaaatevs, Monta would never have to try hard to get a girl, even if he can be goofy-looking at times).

Now the question is...what to do about it? Tim Kawakami, columist and blogger for the San Jose Mercury Times, has a couple of educated guesses and has enlightened me with a number of possibilities. Considering the fact that he just recieved an extension and one of the biggest pay raises in NBA history, the front office has to discipline him in some way to let him know that this is not okay. When Vladimir Radmanovic had a snowboarding injury last year, the Lakers fined him $500,000, which is chump change to Monta's $66million. Granted, I have no expertise in giving fining suggestions so I'll end it with the fact that I definitely support any disciplinary actions taken towards teaching Monta Ellis a lesson (except voiding his contract altogether). Just like there are rules and guidelines to follow in any profession, he needs to understand that there are just certain things he's restricted from since he's a multi-million dollar professional NBA player. If he wants to go risking his body then he needs to do that with someone else's money on the line. Think about it: he's making $11mil just this season, which is about $1.83mil each month of the regular season. If it takes him the full 4 months to recover, that's a little over two months of being out, while still getting paid $3.66mil. That's a lot of money to sit and watch your teammates get owned by the Hornets, Pistons, Blazers, Celtics, Cavs, Rockets, Spurs, Magic, and Lakers.

(Not that I don't have faith in the rest of the Warriors. For all I know, there might actually be the best case of chemistry with all the new people coming in and they can DOMINATE as the Underdogs. I still have faith. But this is me being realistic.)

Le sigh. I'm still excited about the season though and I've got tickets lined up to 3 games, and working on getting tickets for Opening Night against New Orleans. WARRIOR FAN TIL THE DEATH, BABY.