Joe Schmoe Sportswriters

We’ve all fallen victim to this mistake in the past, and no matter how much we tell ourselves it won’t happen again, we continue to do it. I’m talking about paying too much attention to the news. One thing I can tell you for certain is that Joe Schmoe news writers, and especially sports writers or fantasy sports writers, don’t get paid to produce dull stories. We’re talking about a group of guys and girls that went to journalism school to learn the art of making even the dullest of events interesting. It is without doubt that after every single big game a player has, there will be some writer out there making it seem like this is the big breakout or he’s the next dominant player. Likewise, after every single disappointing night for a superstar player, there’s at least one person telling you he’s injured or he’s not happy or he just doesn’t have it anymore. It’s all a load of bull.

If there’s anything you should take away from this site, it’s that numbers don’t lie.

Particularly when you’ve got a bunch of them put together. In fact, the more numbers you got, the closer you get to the truth. Alternatively, a good writer can make you completely ignore the numbers and go straight to the emotions of the day.

Early in the 09 baseball season, I was sitting there going over my team and realizing that with both Jacoby Ellsbury and Chone Figgins on my squad, I was too heavy in the stolen bases category and in need of a pitcher. I approached an opponent of mine with a sweetheart deal, Chone Figgins for Rich Harden. He replied to my trade request with a rejection, and almost exactly quoted the latest news story of the day. ‘Hey man, while this deal looks real good on paper, I fear that Figgins just isn’t the same player he used to be, and his batting average is too low’. This after a game where Figgins went 0-5 and the little note next to his name in fantasy said exactly ‘Figgins doesn’t appear to be the same player he used to be’. Way to be original buddy. Figgins went on to have an outstanding year and in fact ended up being my keeper. Hooray for me, boo for the other manager.

During the 2009 football season, in his first game of the year, Matt Schaub threw up a real stinker versus the NY Jets. I had scouted Schaub pretty heavily during the off-season (he went to my wife’s alma mater, so she played a part as well) and had high expectations for him. Immediately after the game reports came poring out that Schaub looked shaky, he looked like he must be hurt, and that the Texans might want to think about benching him. Taking this foolish advice to heart, I benched Mr. Schaub in week two of the season, a move that cost me the win that week as Schaub bounced back with a stellar performance…….and it cost me the division title in my league, which I missed by one win. Shame on me.

Two other players that have had much of the same types of stories written about them early this NBA season were Kevin Garnett and Gilbert Arenas. For both it was after disappointing games, and while both are coming off of injury plagued seasons, the stories were equally glorified to the point of ridiculousness. Many ballas out there dealt Garnett and Arenas on this advice, and aren’t too happy about doing so today.

Don’t get me wrong, injury news matters. It makes sense to track your players and see if they are injured, and if they are, to see what that injury is. But you have to do your best to parse out the opinion from stories and get right to the heart of the matter, what happened. Then all it takes is a quick google search to discover relevant information and expectations on the injury. If it’s a jammed finger, or a cut on the face, or something insignificant, have no fear that the player will be fine and not suffer performance wise. This, despite those incessant notes next to the players name that will tell you ‘OH GOD IT WAS HORRIBLE!’.

And aside from that, there really isn’t anything else to pay attention to. If a player has a bad night, and some Joe Schmoe tells you his career is over or he’s fighting with his wife or he’s about to have a child or whatever, just ignore it. These are professionals and talent trumps all. Everyone has a bad game, or even a bad streak of games, don’t make a stupid mistake because some writer made you believe it was going to last forever. And just incase you forget what to expect from a guy, have no fear; a quick glance at his past performances should remind you that this is indeed a slump. Look over any player last year, even Kobe Bryant (who in April 09 had back to back 16 point games) and you’ll see that off-nights just happen (more so for some than others). Always trust your gut, and the work you put into scouting players, over the latest news story from some guy trying to earn a living.

Thanks for being patient while I update and make changes to the blog. If nothing else, it should load a lot faster for everyone now!