Weekend Reading

The polls on the right side of this page will close Sunday morning. While you consider what to do with our lineup and the question about your own fantasy football team, here are some links to visit  in between your college games.

Not exactly a fan favorite, is he? The Kansas City Chiefs were having a rough season even before Larry Johnson decided to make a fool of himself. Now some fans have had enough of LJ. They've started a petition asking the Chiefs not to let him get the 75 rushing yards he needs to supplant Priest Holmes as Kansas City's all-time leader. How awkward would it be to have him on your fantasy team and learn that his own team's fans don't want him to put up 75 yards. Of course, with the way he's been producing lately, that could be a moot point.

What do you think you are, a quarterback? There were questions for the Jacksonville Jaguars after Maurice Jones-Drew got only 8 carries (and 177 yards) last week against the Tennessee Titans. Now the Jaguars are saying the fault lies not with the coaches, but with David Garrard, who had been audibling out of run plays and into passing plays. Jack Del Rio says he told his quarterback "Look, just hand it to him and let him run the ball."

If you have Jones-Drew on your fantasy team, I suppose this is good news. Of course, if you have Garrard, being told he can't call a pass play if he's sees an opportunity for one at the line is not very good news. Whether this is good news for the few remaining Jaguars fans remains to be seen.

Need a trophy for your league? You could go to your local trophy shop or to eBay, but now there's another alternative: the Arena Football League, which is selling pretty much everything it has left. Maybe you and your buddies can compete for the right to keep the Arena Bowl trophy in your living room for the next 12 months.

Down with the Drew Brees-loving capitalist horde! In the never-ending quest to provide you with alternative opinions on the game we love, I present a thought from a fellow Wordpress blogger, the Langston Escape Plan. The post's title: "Why the Third World Hates Us: Fantasy Football." The premise: People who spend their day scrounging up enough food to survive and protecting themselves from rampaging thugs don't have the time or resources to worry about whether the Steelers defense can stop the Denver Broncos.

"Imagine, if you will, that you are a fantasy football fan trying to explain to someone from the slums of India, the streets of oppressed Pyongyang or just about anywhere in Somalia why you spend any amount of time on it. What would you say? Because your bros do it? Because you can win even more disposable income? Because it’s fun?"

I imagine the same thing could be said about people who worry about things like Jennifer Aniston's love life, but the point is an interesting one, nonetheless.

Anyway, we'll be back tomorrow with poll results. Until then, enjoy the games.