by Jim Coventry

For many years, owners have been able to strike oil with fantasy players from Texas. The Cowboys usually gave us a star (or two or three) every year and the Oilers, when they were in Houston, gave us the run and shoot offense with all of the fantasy points we could have wanted. Since Houston brought football back, that part of the state has been a little hit-or-miss for keeper leagues. The sharp owners grabbed Domanick Davis (Williams- thanks for changing your name, Dom, we won’t be seeing you anymore, so it won’t matter) off the waiver wire and got a couple of good years out of him. Andre Johnson has been decent the last couple of years, but that has been about it. It looks like a new day may be dawning in Houston.  Gary Kubiak has brought in the Denver Broncos offensive system and as last year came to a close, the Texans looked like they were turning the corner and becoming a very nice running team. In the offseason, they brought in Ahman Green (RB, Hou) and Matt Schaub (QB, Hou) to improve the talent level at two key positions. [...]

This year has been interesting in dealing with customers, and even talking to random fantasy players. For some reason, there seems to be a higher level of sophistication with fantasy players these days. What I mean by that is I think people really get it now. It’s football. The ball is shaped oddly. Stuff happens. The unpredictable happens. Believe it or not, there are 11 guys on the other side getting paid millions to stop your guys.

People seem to understand this now. So unless we really screw something up this year, I’m really going to have to laugh when I see the after-the-fact complainers this year because these type of people are seriously in the minority these days. And they can go away forever as far as I’m concerned because my target audience is officially the rational people who have a grip on reality, and the good news is they appear to be in the majority in 2007.

I want to win as much as the next guy, and I hate to lose more than most. But it’s football. Just as my taste in music and movies is getting more sophisticated lately, I’m feeling a little bit more in control with fantasy this year. I’m [...]