SB Nation User Blog: Jesse28

Fantasy Football Leagues Part 2 - So many options, what does it all mean?

Jesse28 — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 19:28:55 -0000

Since it’s never too early to discuss the coming NFL season, I thought it could never be too early to discuss something else involving professional football, that being fantasy football leagues. This will be a two part discussion with the first intended for the uninitiated or new participants to fantasy sports, in general terms, and the second going into further detail with regards to fantasy football specifically.

This post will cover the some basic steps in getting started in the fantasy football realm, as well as help describe many of the options available upon starting. I will try to explain the different styles, scoring formats, and subtleties involved with fantasy football in hopes of helping someone to decide what might provide the most rewarding experience. So, if you’re feeling a little cramped Alice, just drink the Falcohol I’m serving and you’ll be normal in no time, I promise!

So, now that those basics are covered and you have decided to join the millions of people in the wet wild web, what do you do? Most sites will require that you are a registered member so pick one that you feel comfortable with and sign up. My main email provider is Yahoo, and you could easily make your choice based on that alone. Also, because I am most familiar with Yahoo’s service, I will provide information from that experience, but a lot of these details will serve you across most sites.

Once you are registered, find the fantasy sports section and then choose Fantasy Football. There will be plenty of links to take you to all sorts of info about how that site runs its service, from rules concerning different sports or styles of leagues within one sport, to simple FAQ’s that might solve many of your inquiries. Feel free to peruse those as needed.

After that you will probably have two or three options presented to you. You could create your own custom league with your own custom rules and settings and invite friends and family to it, you could join a public league with a bunch of random people using the site’s default rules and settings, and in some cases you will have the choice between pay leagues and free leagues. Choose what suits you and follow the on-screen steps to get set up and you’ll be off in no time!

In fantasy football there are a bevy of options to choose from so I’ll try to cover as much as I can. There are two primary types of leagues, Single Season leagues and Keeper leagues. Single Season leagues are exactly that, you get to manage one team for one season and then next year you start over completely. Keeper leagues allow you to draft your team then hold a certain number of players from season to season, much like a real franchise. Keeper leagues are fun, but manager turnover can sometimes cause problems if it’s not organized. I like both styles equally because they offer completely different experiences. A lot of people like having that chance to start fresh each season. Some people like the franchise feel. I do both so I suggest trying both for a few seasons, especially if you are just getting started.

There are also two other types of leagues that might interest you, Suicide leagues and Salary Cap leagues. In Suicide leagues, you can have as many managers as you want. Each manager picks a team for that week. If your team wins, you move on to the next week. If not, you’re out, done, finished. Simple and crazy. I’ve won a league in Week 1 before.

In Salary Cap leagues, again, you can have as many managers as you want. Each manager gets to pick a certain number of starting players, but each player is assigned a dollar value and you have a limited number of funds available to field a team. If the limit is $1mil, then that is what you have to work with, so you probably aren’t going to field an All-Pro team. Every manager can pick from the same players, so it’s possible that some teams will be the same or close to it. Scoring is then based on stats and their respective multipliers. Highest scoring team at the end of the year wins. One other thing, the player’s values change each week depending on not only their performance, but also on how often they are dropped or added. So, if a RB that no one really had goes off and everyone picks him up in the fantasy world (not just this leagues realm), then his value is going to go up and cost you more, which can make things tricky. Some of these leagues force you to field a full squad or you get zero points for the week as well.

The next level of options is the scoring type. Whether Single Season or Keeper, you can choose from a Head-To-Head format, a pure Points format, or a hybrid H2H/Pts format. In a H2H format, the winner, or the playoff seeding if you choose to have them (see, options galore), is based off the final record of the teams and the teams go against each other every Sunday just like in the NFL. This provides a more realistic feel to your league. The scoring typically is based off who scores the most in each stat category available, with the winner of that match up getting a win. For example, if Team A had more rushing TD’s than Team B, then Team A would “win” that category. Whichever team wins the most categories gets the win for the week. In a pure Points format, each stat is assigned a point value multiplier and points are awarded based on stat accumulation each week. The winner is the highest point scorer. In the hybrid H2H/Pts format, each team faces each other every Sunday like in the H2H format, but it adds the stat multipliers to the mix. Instead of “winning” stat categories, you get points for the stats your team accrues and whichever team has the most points at the end of the week (after MNF, so Tuesday morning) gets the win for that week.

After those main options, everything else comes down to personal flavor if creating your own league, or going with the defaults when joining a public league. If you are creating you own league, you can control which stats are tracked, how much they are worth, how many starting and bench positions each team gets, and many more things. One of the most rewarding though, is the draft type. One of the biggest draws to fantasy sports is the experience of drafting your own team. And like everything else, there are options. The three to choose from are Offline, Live Online, and Auto.

An Offline draft is really where it’s at though. I’m sure everyone has seen the commercials of the guys all sitting around drafting players and laughed at the guy who can pronounce Chad “Whos-ma-nilla”, Chad “Whos-ya-mam”. Well, trust me, it never fails that at least one person will do that in every draft, especially when there is beer involved. Plus, it’s a great excuse to get everyone together, grill out, drink beer, and talk some pre-season smack.

And while the Live Online draft isn’t as good as the Offline draft, it can more than hold its own because unlike Offline darfts (sometimes, just depends on how hardcore you are I suppose), there is a time limit on picks. That can easily lead to some insane player choices. The Auto draft is simply where the site you have chosen makes all the picks for each manager based on a pre-set Player Ranking list that can be edited beforehand by each manager in the league. Simple and effective, but it doesn’t come close to the experience or the flexibility of making on-the-fly decisions.

After all that, really everything else is gravy on your league Salisbury steak, but some final things to keep in mind. Try everything. What I deem to be a user friendly site may not be for you, so while I find Yahoo to be extremely easy to navigate ad CBSSportsline to be rather tedious and annoying, you mileage will surely vary. Personally I like to use a H2H/Pts hybrid system, but you might like a strictly Points system for your league. I use individual defensive players in my leagues, but I know plenty of people who think that is too much to manage and would rather use a Defensive Team style instead. When it comes to fantasy football, definitely taste the rainbow!

Be prepared. While many sites provide all forms of information regarding individual players as well as teams, it never hurts to do a little of your own research before the draft and during the season. Part of being prepared means knowing your league and how its scoring system is working. I’ve seen a league won by a team using nothing but KR/PR guys for his WR’s because it just happened that the league’s scoring system favored returners heavily in the same year that Dante Hall was ripping off return TD’s in every single game. Some sites will show you what players would score in the current scoring system with the previous year’s stats making it so you can easily project trends.

And the final and most important thing to remember, HAVE FUN! I’ve seen long running leagues blow up over some of the most mundane things because people blew things out of proportion or got bent because something didn’t go their way. There is no need for that. If you aren’t having fun with it, try something different, be it a different site or a different scoring format. There are just too many options out there for you to not have fun.

Hopefully this answers any question people may have about fantasy football. Feel free to reply here with questions, or email me specifically. Peace!

Fantasy Football Leagues Part 1 - Is it for you?

Jesse28 — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 19:10:36 -0000

This post will cover the five W’s of who should play, what type they should play, when they should play, where they should go to get started, why they should spend even more time in front of a computer for a silly game. So jump on in Alice, I’ve got a wonderful fantasy world for you to explore!

Personally, I have been playing fantasy sports since I was in middle school, like early 90's. Back then we did everything with pen and paper and used the Sunday edition of the AJC to keep up with stats from box scores. Thankfully, things have progressed since then and, thankfully, Al Gore invented the interwebs for us so now I don’t have to write nearly as much as I used to. No more calculators to add up cumulative stats and create percentage based stats that the paper didn’t track or provide. But, while the computer age has provided us much, I still break out the pen and paper to create strategies and personalize things my own way. Call it an old habit if you will.

I have been running leagues for over a decade now covering just about every sport you can think of. When I couldn’t find a site to provide what I wanted, I created my own just like I did back when I was a teenager. Instead of pen and paper though, I use spreadsheets and formulas. I have created fantasy college football, college baseball, and college basketball leagues in this manner since they don’t have the same following or support that professional sports do. Since this is a Falcons site, I will stick to fantasy football when covering specifics, and since I am most familiar with Yahoo, I will base the rest of this post on my experiences there, but all of the below information should mold to any sport or site you choose to participate in. So let’s start by answering the five W’s, who, what, when, where, and why.

Who should play depends, but the easiest answer is everyone. Everyone should play at least once, that is. If you like sports, regardless if it’s hardcore or casually, fantasy sports leagues will allow one to get even more involved with that sport and more importantly, their chosen team. Sure, I follow the Falcons, but managing a successful fantasy football team is more about following every player in the league than it is following one team. You know how on that one awesome Falcons site, The Falcoholic, there are always these guys posting a bunch of numbers and stats and sometimes you don’t understand what all those acronyms mean? Well, fantasy sports allows you to dive into the world of statistical analysis without doing all the dirty work and it can even act like a 'NFL Stats For Dummies' book. See, who doesn’t benefit from a little extra knowledge?

What fantasy sport you play and when you play it depends on what you like, but there is just about everything you can think of out there so you probably won’t be left out if you wanted to manage an IRL fantasy racing team. All of the major sports are covered thoroughly as well as most of the minor sports, but some will require you to find a specialty site, especially if you are looking for something in the college variety. Obviously, the sport you choose will dictate when you can find a league since all sports follow some form of season. And as far as styles go, well, those are just as varied as the sports available to choose from, so I will cover the football specific things later in the post.

Where you decide to join a fantasy league also depends on what sport you choose. As I mentioned above, most sports are well covered, but some require finding a specialty site, and in some cases you may have to create your own as I have in the past. I use Yahoo for almost all things fantasy sports related, but I have used many others such as FleaFlicker, ESPN, CBSSportline, and countless others over the years. Yahoo's leagues have gotten so much better over the years that I just stopped using other sites unless I was invited to someone's league on a different site. They have a free league and a pay league. Typically you get many more options when you pay for their Plus leagues, however, I have noticed that each year they implement more and more of the Plus league options to their free leagues, so it's really not necessary to pay unless you want to dish out cash prizes or have something very specific that you want to cover in your league. I think last year they finally let the keeper league option go to the free stuff, but can't remember. ESPN, and I believe NFL.com (though I think NFL.com merged with CBSSportsline so...), let's you do a keeper league for free, but CBSSportsline might make you pay for that option.

Why a person should choose to play fantasy sports really comes down to personal choice more than anything else. Maybe you want to be more knowledgeable about the players and teams in your favorite sport. Maybe you want to get a little office rivalry going so you have something to brag about while hanging around the water cooler. Maybe you just want something fun to do while sitting at work home, haha. Either way, for me, I say why not?

Granted this is very generic, but I’m hoping that it helps some who have never experienced the candy that is fantasy sports to take the plunge. Fantasy sports caters to many different types of people that I feel everyone should try it. From casual sports fans to hardcore staticians, fantasy sports provides something for everyone. Stay tuned for part two where I will delve more deeply into fantasy football and how to get started. Thanks for reading!

Turner/Norwood (cont.)

Jesse28 — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 21:59:42 -0000

I wanted to continue the discussion from Warlock's earlier post regarding the comparison between Turner and Norwood. In Warlock's post, he provided us a look into the numbers for both during the 08 season. I, however, would like to take a look at their numbers while being utilized in a similar role, that of a #2 RB option. So, without further ado...

Forgive me for not posting a nice pretty graph for you guys, but since I was compiling pure stats over the course of a few seasons worth of data, I felt like a simple side-by-side comparison table would suit us just fine. I went back and pulled basic stats for Turner while he played the role of a #2 RB, spanning the 05-07 seasons. I originally started off excluding his 04 rookie season because he was used so little, but as you will see in the table below, I ended up adding them in parentheses. I then compiled Norwood's numbers spanning the 06-08 seasons and basically just slapped them in side by side.

In this first table I have the numbers listed as totals across seasons. I also went back through Warlock's original post and tried to add in the same stats he listed.

Turner 05-07 (04-07)	Stat	Norwood 06-08
45 (59)	G	45
208 (228)	ATT	297
4.62 (3.86)	ATT/G	6.6
1153 (1257)	YDS	1735
5.54 (5.51)	YDS/ATT	5.8
25.62 (21.31)	YDS/G	38.6
6 (6)	TD	7
45 (49)	1st	74
21.6% (21.5%)	1st %	24.90%
1 (1)	FUM	1
12.32% (9.35%)	GAIN%	13%
192.17 (209.5)	YDS/TD	247.86
2.88% (2.63%)	TD/ATT %	2.36%

7 (11)	REC	76
63 (71)	YDS	717
9 (6.45)	AVG	9.4
1.4 (1.2)	YDS/G	15.9
0 (0)	TD	2
3 (3)	1st	28
0 (1)	FUM	0

In this next table, I've simply listed the numbers for each split by season.

Turner
Year	G	Att	Att/G	Yds	Avg	Yds/G	TD	1st	1st%	FUM	GAIN%	YDS/TD	TD/ATT %
2007	16	71	4.4	316	4.5	19.8	1	10	14.1	1	27.89%	316	1.41%
2006	13	80	6.2	502	6.3	38.6	2	24	30	0	48.25%	251	2.50%
2005	16	57	3.6	335	5.9	20.9	3	11	19.3	0	36.67%	111.67	5.26%
2004	14	20	1.4	104	5.2	7.4	0	4	20	0	37%	N/A	0%

Norwood
Year	G	Att	Att/G	Yds	Avg	Yds/G	TD	1st	1st%	FUM	GAIN%	YDS/TD	TD/ATT %
2008	16	95	5.9	489	5.1	30.6	4	22	23.2	1	32.21%	122.25	4.21%
2007	15	103	6.9	613	6	40.9	1	25	24.3	0	39.71%	613	0.97%
2006	14	99	7.1	633	6.4	45.2	2	27	27.3	0	45.66%	316.5	2.02%

Now, when comparing between the two across a similar time-span and in a similar role, these are the pure numbers that you get. Obviously it would be very difficult to equalize them to account for differing offensive schemes and the play of the OL for both, but knowing those things does allow one to look at these numbers and be able to derive a better opinion of them. If you just want side-by-side number, well, there ya have em.

Conclusion? They are both very good backs and we are lucky that we have them both on our team while they are both entering their prime. If this is a problem, then it's most definitely a good one to have. They both put up good averages in limited roles for their teams. Neither have had any significant injury that has limited or hindered their level of play. And, looking back on it now, it would be my assumption that both can handle the feature back role if given the opportunity. I think Turner's numbers (less carries, less overall use) have proven that they do not clearly indicate if a back can move up to the feature role, but that his 08 performance has proven that he can. Maybe the same is for Norwood, but I don't want to be on the receiving end of it if he can. Lock him up please!

Your complaints, comments, and thoughts?

Stories behind the Falcons draftees

Jesse28 — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 18:27:31 -0000

Stories behind the Falcons draftees

I'm actually surprised this hasn't been linked already, but here it is. This most interesting information concerns Sidbury and Middleton, and how TD envisions them helping our defense. It actually changed my opinion on Middleton, not that it was bad to begin with mind you, so let's just say it improved. Enjoy!

New addition to the Falcoholic Nation

Jesse28 — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 16:18:55 -0000

Some of you may remember my mentioning of expecting my third son and you ay have also noticed my lack of posting over the last week. That's because on Thursday, April 16th @ 5:04pm, my wife did in fact deliver our third son. He weighed 8lbs 13.5oz and was 20.75 inches long. Falcoholic Nation, I present to you Xavier Alexander Gregg...

via img25.imageshack.us

Here's one of all three boys together. Jackson, Baby Alex, & Carter.

via img386.imageshack.us

I'm slowly building my own franchise here. Carter is very tall for his just turned 5 years of age and he doesn't really like getting dirty. He's somewhat of a pretty boy so he's my QB of the future. Jackson on the other hand loves the dirt. He loves playing in it, he loves throwing it, he loves dumping it on Carter's head. The boy has one hell of a mean streak also and slings his older brother around like a ragdoll. He once checked Carter all the way across the kitchen once, completely blindsiding him in the back. He's my middle linebacker. He dares you to cross that line.

As for Alex, his destiny is yet to be determined. He's a haus no doubt, but he has long arms, legs, fingers and toes, so I'm wondering if he is going to be that top flight WR or DB type. I suppose only time will tell. The wife still wants two girls, but as one can see, that luck ain't on my side, haha! In the least I have a decent 3v3 teams on the playground. I'm one of four boys, and all dad can ask for is that they grow up tight and turn out like the Hanson brothers from Slapshot. That would be awesome.

Unfortunately, the hospital people didn't think my wife wearing a Falcons T-shirt was appropriate, so instead I wore it while we were there. Being in Jacksonville though, I don't think anyone really cared one way or the other. Now if Dave or Warlock would just make us a Falcoholic Onesie, Alex would be set!

Holy Mock Drafts Batman!

Jesse28 — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 15:47:29 -0000

Holy Mock Drafts Batman!

If you love spending countless hours obsessing over the NFL draft, then what you'll find here will surely make your midnight oil burn brighter! Almost 180 mock draft sites!

ENJOY!

DE Michael Johnson thoughts

Jesse28 — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 16:52:26 -0000

There as been much talk about our defensive needs. Compiling most thoughts on the subject, one would assume we almost need an entirely new defense with "needs" at the DE, DT, LB, & SS positions. Some of it is simply just a need for depth moreso than outright positions to be filled. So, after looking through most of the comments and posts I thought I might throw out an idea that as far as I can see, has yet to be mentioned for the DE position.

DE Michael Johnson is an option to look at for either the DE or the OLB position. I think we would be much better suited at DE, but he has worked out at the OLB position and openly commented that he would not be opposed to moving to that position.

Of course, the problem is that we already have Anderson at the DE spot opposite Abraham and I'm sure that management are not ready to close the book on Anderson. If anything, Johnson could be picked up for more depth now and possibly become the permanent solution in the next year or two.

If looking at moving him to OLB, then it wouldn't be a difficult transition for him as he performed many OLB duties while playing under Gailey at Ga Tech, such as zone coverage against TE's and RB's.

Either way, here's a few non-subjective numbers from '08 to chew on(per cfbstats):

Tackles

G	Solo	Assisted	Total	Total/G
13	28	18	46	3.54

Tackles For Loss

G	TFL	TFL Yards	TFL/G
13	17.5	99	1.35

Sacks

G	Sacks	Sack Yards	Sacks/G
13	9.0	85	0.69

Per the AJC:

Johnson dazzled the crowd of more than 40 NFL executives and personnel men Monday, including Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff, head coach Mike Smith,...

"There is no surprise that Michael Johnson is a heck of an athlete, a heck of a physical specimen," Dimitroff said. "Things will work out very well for him well in the National Football League,..."

Now for my personal opinions. As a fan of both the Falcons and GT, would I like for him to be a member of the Falcons come next fall? Absolutely. Unfortunately I just don't see this happening. He's being pegged as a late first round to high second round pick, so I don't see how he would fit into what I perceive to be the plan of attack come draft time*. We would have to take him with our first rounder, if he's even there. Basically, I don't think he is going to be there for us in the first, but if we passed on him then, I still don't think he would be there by the time we got to our second round pick.

*Of course, I should note here that almost none of us had the same plan as TD & Co. this time last year, so I could be wrong again. I'm sure Matty Ice forgives us all.

Also, as I mentioned above, I don't think the book as been closed on Anderson yet. Drafting Johnson would essentially put the writing on the wall for Anderson. Moving Johnson to OLB could work, but it's also a major risk and I'm not one to favor drafting a guy just to move him to a different position that what he is currently comfortable at. I could buy into the 'for the future' reasoning behind taking him, or trading away Anderson to make room for Johnson, but I'm also sure some would argue that Johnson fits the same mold that Anderson did coming out of college.

While TD's plans are never clear, one thing is and that is TD & Co are obviously weighing all of their options. At least that's what I draw from the above quotes. I think we can all agree that that is never a bad thing. Either way, I just thought I would throw it out there for discussion.

Fire Woodson

Jesse28 — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 19:30:56 -0000

This is a comment to Bret's post on Hoopinion in regards to Acie's first start of the season. I didn't feel like creating a Blogger account and I couldn't post using the Anonymous tag, so I figured this was the best place to rant, er ... I mean post my comment. Whatever, it probably doesn't flow nor do I care at this point.

Short story: I hate Woodson and think he's holding back talent and this team's potential and should be released immediately.

Long story:

I agree with Drew and CoCo, and have been pretty much preaching it since before last season. Woodson has no business coaching a team. It does not and will never matter what players are provided to him, he will not change and they will never develop or get better by his cause. Woodson never reacts to anything in-game, he never reacts to things game-to-game, and it's been obvious to me that he isn't reacting to things from season to season. The fact that ownership signed him up for another three years is NOT indicative of him doing a good job, but more so an indictment of the ownership itself and their cheap ways. At least BK tried firing Woody. At this point, he's the only one that saw what was happening.

Until Woodson is gone, nothing will change. The players will continue to not develop their game, the stale offensive play calling will remain, and this team will languish in relative mediocrity and unfulfilled potential. I place all blame on him at this point. And as a lifelong fan, this is seriously getting maddening to watch and be a part of.

Acie should be splitting minutes with Bibby on the first team and leading all minutes with the second team at the point. That's why you draft first round players, so that they actually PLAY, not sit and expect to be ready to play. Nothing simulates game-time experience except playing in real games.

Also, Woodson completely fails at adjusting to the players on the team and taking advantage of each of their strong points. He simply expects each player to adjust to his philosophy, which isn't much of one to begin with, and like Drew said, he has already made his mind up on Acie.

Fire Woodson. That's the only solution.

-Jesse

B.K. or Woody?

Jesse28 — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 19:27:02 -0000

I'm sure we have all had this discussion before, but recently it crossed my mind again and I thought it might be something to look at again now that we have had time to look at the results.

Billy Knight resigned last year and many, if not all, fans were ready for him to go. I was one of those fans. I recognize and fully agree that the guy made some major mistakes when it came to drafting players (skipping on Paul and Harris might be everyone's pick for the worst decision by Knight).

Lately, however, I am wondering if maybe it was a little soon. The team we watched take Boston to seven in the first round last year and the team that's winning this season, was put together by Billy Knight. To me, what's even more important is how the current team came together. Trading away those same bad picks to get Bibby last year showed that he recognized his mistakes and acted to correct them in the best way he could. He also drafted Horford and Acie Law, which I think most would agree were solid picks.

If I had to chose Knight's biggest mistake of all, it would have to be the hiring of Woodson to begin with. And even then, there were rumors that he was trying to correct that mistake, attempting to fire Woodson three separate times during last season, only to be snubbed by a greedy ownership group that didn't want to spend money on a better coach. So instead, Knight resigned fully aware that if the ownership wasn't going to get rid of Woody, then it was probably he who would be the one getting fired at the end of the season.

I am of the opinion that Knight deserves the blame for his mistakes, but should also get the credit for attempting, and in some cases succeeding, to correct those same mistakes. I also believe that Woodson shoulder most of the blame in regards to the Hawks lack of success over the years and that the recent success is not a by-product of anything Woodson related, but instead a direct reflection of the talent and drive of the players drafted and assembled by Knight.

So, if given the option toward the end of the last year to decide between Billy Knight and Mike Woodson, who ya got?

What makes (or doesn't make) it a rivalry to you?

Jesse28 — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 19:16:39 -0000

Recently there has been a lot of talk about the Hawks and Celtics and whether they are rivals. You can find this topic of conversation at just about every level ranging from mainstream media such as ESPN all the way to the common fan. Even the NBA ran one of their 'NBA Happens' promos before the first meeting earlier in the season between Boston and Atlanta. In my opinion, this topic has become a great debate though its importance varies depending on which side you belong to.

So, are the Boston Celtics and the Atlanta Hawks a rivalry? In my opinion they are and I'll provide some examples and data as to why I believe such, and I readily admit that I am coming from the Atlanta side of the matchup. From most of what I have read, those that think this isn't a rivalry are prominantly Boston fans, although recently some Atlanta fans are buying into the Boston reasons for why this isn't a rivalry.

The biggest reason provided as to why this isn't a rivalry is because "Atlanta doesn't win, so how could it be a rivalry?" Doesn't win what, ever? If recently, is it the last two years? Five? Ten? Are we talking about regular season or just playoffs? Or both? Well, in almost every single case, the blanket statement that Atlanta doesn't win is completely false. Sure, anyone can selectively pick certains stretches where it's one-sided for either the Hawks or the Celtics, but at no point could you simply state that over the 50+ years of both franchises that it has never been a rivalry. That statement alone represents ignorance and arrogance, in my opinion.

The all time record between the two is 126-212 (regular season) in favor of the Celtics. I think we can all agree that with 17 championships, the Celtics have had better teams more often than the Hawks. I think we can aso agree that the Hawks do indeed 'win'. So how about more recently. Yes, the Hawks are 0-2 this year against Boston and went 0-3 in the regular season last year as well. But we also won three very important games last year that, no matter how much people want to discount them, counted. So even within the last year the Hawk 'win'.

Let's look at the ten years before the KG deal, 96-97 to 06-07, to get a larger sample size of the series. Head-to-head, the series went 21-19 in favor of the Hawks. I'm starting to wonder what people consider to be a 'win'.

Another reason that people have used as for why this isn't a rivalry is that the Hawks haven't been good for the last decade. Well, that's interesting because looking at the numbers, neither has Boston. Over that same ten year period from above, the Hawks have a combined record of 355-515 (40.8%) and Boston is 372-498 (42.7%). Wow, a whopping two whole points better.

Knowing the numbers behind the history of these two teams, when those points are used it comes across to me as being condescending, as if just because Boston had a miracle season and won the championship last year, that nothing that ever took place before even matters. Mainstream media types, local media, and fans of Boston are all of a sudden too good to remember where they came from. They get a couple of all-stars, win the big one, and now they are living in the Hamptons not wanting to even acknowledge pretending that's where they came from, like they have been there the whole time.

So, what makes this a rivalry then? I clearly am not one who believes that a rivalry requires the two teams to spit wins. To me, it's more about the intensity of the games played, of both the players and the fans. It's about how those games are played from beginning to end, and how close those games are each and every time they are played. It's about the history between the two participants and it's about the future games yet to be played. Sure, if you didn't really follow the NBA and your local team won the championship and you then decided you would start following the local team, then yeah, I suppose you wouldn't see the rivalry that may have existed ten years ago, or twenty, or thirty. Maybe you didn't even see last years games. But to anyone who watched those epic 'Nique-Byrd matches, watched how many times those two teams went up against each other in the playoffs, or saw those seven games last year in the playoffs, then I would think you know it's a rivalry.

Or, maybe it's just me. Either way, we get another shot at Boston later in the year. GO HAWKS!