Fantasy football!

So, the rule goes, nobody except you (meaning me) really cares about your (meaning my) fantasy football team. But this is my blog and I'll do what I want. You don't like it, you can start your own blog and criticize me mercilessly (which is how I gather much of the "blogosphere" works). And even though you don't really care, I'll be posting news on both my fantasy football teams on a weekly basis. Happily, in Great Pigskin Experiment action, Monkey Knife Fight (who can guess the reference first? And be specific...) starts at 1-0, getting balanced scoring across the line-up: Matt Hasselbeck, Travis Henry, Joseph Addai, and Antonio Gates doing the heavy lifting in a 132 - 105 win over the Lazerphiles.

I'm told today by Dan Shanoff that there's no shame in winning your fantasy football game while being the lowest-scoring team in your league to do so. So I can proudly say Rodent Passion completely destroyed the under-manned Popeye's Nephews by a score of 73 - 51. They, too, are 1-0 in the Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy Football League to start the year. (Note: due to different roster sizes and scoring systems, the scores in the Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy Football League will be consistently lower than those for the Great Pigskin Experiment).

Now the name Rodent Passion stems from a Dave Barry article of many years ago, the gist of which I can't recall. There was something about squirrels making sweet, sweet, squirrel love, which he referred to as "rodent passion", which he then remarked would make a great name for a rock band. I don't know about that, but it's been a great name for a modestly successful (1-time Super Bowl runner-up, 2-time play-off participant, in its 3-year existence) fantasy football team.

In contemporary times, we have a rather limited view of "passion", typically confined in our thoughts to purely sexual matters. Classically, however, "the passions" suggest something akin to our emotions, that part of our soul that is moved by events outside of us, "passively" as it were. They are neither good nor evil in themselves, but can lead to either good or evil. The aim of the good man is to train, or tame, the animal within, so that one's passions can aid in the performance of good and noble deeds.

In the past week, the Rodents have been moved to anger and sorrow in various parts because of Chris Brown of the Tennessee Titans. For nearly 3 years, he's been a waste of space on our roster, and one week after we finally wash our hands of him, he produces his best game as a pro. Were I compelled to act purely from my passions, untempered by reason, I might act in a malicious way (either by thought or deed) toward Mr. Brown or the good owner of Popeye's Nephews (shrewd enough to select Mr. Brown in our recent rookie/free agent draft). The inner man, the Dennis who longs to be good, however, takes this opportunity to forgive Mr. Brown, delighting in his resurgence, and congratulate the Nephews for their astute acquisition (even as I totally destroyed them on the field). A good man would never gloat over a fallen opponent. I'm still working on this, people.