LIS, WHIT & THE NFL ⟩ Viies nädal. The connection to something bigger than you

American football is amazing. Seriously the only thing wrong with it is that it's called "football" since, yes, 95% of the game involves hands, not feet. To outsiders who glance, 5 seconds of play appears to be a chaotic, violent brawl, but once you understand the rules - and there are MANY - you soon find out it more resembles a game of chess. Just ask Lisette - it took her about a year to fully understand the game, and she's now DIEHARD.

Kõik bet’id kaotasid, mina kaotasin, Carolina kaotas, Whitney ja Tom Brady ei kaotanud. Kukkusin liigas seitsmendaks, Whitney tõusis 5. kohale ja teisel katsel läks läbi meie trade, andsin TE Greg Kittle (San Francisco 49ers) vastu ära RB Josh Jacobs’i (Las Vegas Raiders).

Nagu plaanitud, jätsin pingile WR Juju Smith-Schuster’i (Pittsburgh Steelers), kellele hoolimata teiste Steelers’i wide receiver’ite vigastustest väga palju mänguvõimalusi ei jagunud, nii et see otsus oli õige. Samuti pingile jäänud TE Kyle Pitts (Atlanta Falcons) tegi aga Washington Football Team’i vastu korraliku mängu ja teenis 9 fantasy punkti. Minu meestest tema asemel platsile saadetud TE Austin Hooper (Cleveland Browns) tõi näkased 2,10 punni. Ja sinna see võit läks, minu kogupunktid 102,36, vastasel 111,20. Cool.

Cherry on top of this turd cake, oponent oli algrivistusse unustanud mehe, kes ei mänginudki ehk kindel nulli-ring. Mõistagi olin end juba varakult võidu eest õnnitlenud. “Hea loll,” ütlesin Whitneyle vastase lineup’i kirjeldades. “Kuidas ta ei märganud, et tal linebacker inactive? Huvitav, äkki juhtus midagi, no et jäi auto alla näiteks, ja enam ei mängigi fantasy’t, ah?” Whitney vaatas mulle otsa ja palus meenutada, kuidas lõppes tema mäng kui arvas, et asi võidukursil ning jäänud vaid üks running back.

Rinse and repeat, pühapäeva õhtul magama minnes olin 22 punktiga ees, vastasel järel 60 minutit (ehk üks mängija). See mängija oli running back Austin Ekeler (Los Angeles Chargers). Ja kuidas läks Chargers’i mäng Las Vegas Raiders vastu? Tänan küsimast, väga hästi. Ekeler’il 117 rushing yards (ehk kogu distants, mis ta mängu jooksul pall süles lidus), touchdown ja 30,50 fantasy punkti. Fuuuck. Kuradi loll mäng ja see fantasy pistke kah, kuhu tahate.

.@AustinEkeler providing a spark. #BoltUp

📺: #LVvsLAC on ESPN
📱: https://t.co/8FTJfKj4Ze pic.twitter.com/KrYf47vac4

— NFL (@NFL) October 5, 2021

American football is amazing. Seriously the only thing wrong with it is that it's called "football" since, yes, 95% of the game involves hands, not feet. To outsiders who glance, 5 seconds of play appears to be a chaotic, violent brawl, but once you understand the rules - and there are MANY - you soon find out it more resembles a game of chess. Just ask Lisette - it took her about a year to fully understand the game, and she's now DIEHARD.

I have loved everything about football since being a kid, only then I had the pleasure of not only watching but playing the game as well with boys from the neighborhood. I grew up in Charlotte, North Carolina and we didn't get the Carolina Panthers until 1995, so before that I pulled for different teams for different reasons. For instance, I liked the Miami Dolphins because my mom is a native Floridian and that's who she pulled for. But once we secured our very own NFL team, I was all in on the Carolina Panthers. Loving a team, pulling for that team, screaming at televisions, jumping up and down like a maniac, pacing and cursing, not speaking to anyone for hours after a shit loss, feeling on top of the sports world after a killer win... all of these aspects combine to create this inexplicable feeling that only a real fan of any sports team knows: the connection to something bigger than you.

Loving football and loving the Panthers has never been just about a game either. When my dad and I had nothing much to say to each other, which was most of the time, we could have impassioned conversations about the Panthers. When I have had some of the lowest lows of my life and didn't care about anything (except for my dogs, of course), the Carolina Panthers acted as a friend who gave me something to look forward to every weekend from August to January, even when they played like ass, which has more often than not been the case with my Panthers. And now look: here I am 7500 kilometers away from Charlotte, North Carolina, getting to talk about American football in an Estonian Ypsilon. And since we are 7 hours ahead and most Panthers games are 1:00 Sundays, the games come on here at 8 pm Sunday nights. Prime time baby! Elu on ilus!

The best plays from an exciting Week 4! pic.twitter.com/7yb5mGIdDi

— NFL (@NFL) October 7, 2021

I have no clue how in god's name I pulled this off, but somehow I WON my fantasy matchup and am now sittin pretty at 2-2 and 5th place. Remember, I was 11th before this game, so that's a 6 spot jump for those slow with math. Ask Lisette what place she's in… Suffice it to say, she's not a happy camper. I added Panthers QB Sam Darnold, Las Vegas Raiders WR Hunter Renfrow, and Buffalo Bills TE Dawson Knox to my lineup, all yielding good numbers: 31.54, 17.50, and 20.70 respectively. I also unexpectedly got 16.90 from Washington RB J.D. McKissic, who got a late 4th quarter touchdown to help his team beat the Atlanta Falcons. I went in to the game with zero running back hope and minimal wide receiver possibility, but my rag-tag team turned it up a notch and got me a big win. That's why fantasy is so fun... any given Sunday (great film, BTW), any player can have an out of the blue, monster game.

Thanks to Lisette trading me Las Vegas Raiders RB Josh Jacobs in exchange for San Francisco 49ers TE George Kittle, I'm slowly building up my running back supply. I've won 2 in a row, so here's to keeping this party going! I currently have all 3 of the top 3 added QBs this week - Darnold, Daniel Jones from NY Giants, and Trey Lance from San Francisco - so my QB arsenal is good for now with a rather surprising cast of characters, I must say.

Peale TE George Kittle lisasin oma tiimi veel WR Jamison Crowder’i (New York Jets) ja lasin lahti WR Juju Smith-Schuster’i (Pittsburgh Steelers). Jets (1-3) mängib pühapäeval Atlanta Falcons’i (1-3) vastu, mistap usun, loodan, palvetan, Crowder teeb tugeva tulemuse. Too matš mängitakse muide Londonis! QB positsioonil ma muudatust ei tee, jääb Brady. Marquise Brown (Baltimore Ravens) on ka oma mängu käima saanud, nii et platsile tema, pingile Ja’Marr Chase (Cincinnati Bengals). Cinci mängib Green Bay Packers’i vastu ja ilmselt pargitakse Chase nende kaitse poolt kenasti kinni. Raske on valida TE positsiooni. Nüüd on mul küll George Kittle (San Francisco 49ers), kuid nende vastaseks on undefeated Arizona Cardinals, kes Kittle’ga oskavad hästi ringi käia. Äkki siis Kyle Pitts (Atlanta Falcons)… pange tähele, stardin selle venna ja ta saab 2 punkti ning Kittle 22.

Kuna eelmise kuu stupid bets kümps (mille olime kasvatanud kolmekümneks) eelmise nädalaga otsa sai, läheb täna uus 10€ kontole ja Falcons-Jets mängule. Ilmselt 1€ panustega sellistele lollustele nagu 1st quarter/full time võitja Falcons/Jets, võimalik võit 11€. Ja üleüldse, ma ei tea, kes olybetis neid asju korraldab, aga paluks tagasi panna võitja punktisumma panustamine ja first/last touchdown scorer samuti, please and thank you.

Lis, Whit & The NFL on iganädalane artiklisari Ameerika jalgpallist, muuhulgas tuleb juttu fantasy football liigast, tutvustame NFLi meeskondi ja mängijaid ning teeme panuseid tulemustele - often stupid, sometimes lucky.