Sports

Alternative Rock from a decade ago and Fantasy Football Week 14

By December 5, 2013June 18th, 2018No Comments
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fantasy-football-week-14When I had satellite radio for free in my sweet Hyundai Santa Fe I would listen to Lithium- XM34 because they always played the bands I hold nearest and dearest to my heart: Incubus, Foo Fighters, Stone Temple Pilots, Bush, etc. The rock was hard, occasionally depressing, and these bands knew how to write a song without today’s stupid electronic sound. That being said, there is a generation of hard rock/alternative music that tends to be forgotten from the early 2000s. These bands introduced the electronic sound to listeners and was slightly less depressing then the music that preceded it. You could bang your head, sing along, and the songs didn’t suck.

As a football psychopath enthusiast, I always find myself comparing different aspects of my life to the game I love most. When I was rifling through the music on my iPad in my vehicle, I got to thinking about these bands and how they compared to the NFL of today.

Puddle of Mudd

Puddle of Mudd was around for nine years before their album Come Clean came out in 2001 and went Certified Triple Platinum by 2003. They went through the typical changes bands go through, exchanging members trying to find the sound that would make them famous. The only thing that sucked about Puddle of Mudd was that they burst onto the scene thanks to the assistance of Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst, who everyone pretty much seems to hate for reasons I never quite understood.

When Control and Blurry  hit radios across the country, the band found the success they long had craved. My personal favorite song off the album is, and always has been, She Hates Me, a song about the typical fizzling romance. Puddle of Mudd rocked my world as a twenty one year old and is still a band I will turn up the radio for. They most closely represent today’s Denver Broncos. They searched for success for a lot of years before finding Peyton Manning available and have turned into the NFL’s powerhouse franchise and, as Puddle of Mudd did, they will likely come back down to earth when Manning decides to hang em up.

Audiovent

Yeah, you don’t remember Audiovent. They busted onto the scene in 2002 after a few failed albums in the late nineties with their hit single The Energy. You sort of remember this, right? Anyways, Audiovent had a lot of momentum going for them until charges of nepotism plagued them due to the lead singer Jason Boyd and guitarist Ben Einziger being the brothers of Incubus frontmen Brandon Boyd and Mike Einziger, who were wildly popular at the time (and my favorite band ever), and critics proclaimed that their significant nationwide airplay was only because of their ties to Incubus. They broke up by 2004 and no one has heard from them since.

Does anyone remember that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers won Super Bowl XXXVII? That was ten years ago, and yes, they won the biggest football game on the planet. They’ve gone 69-91 since (and currently sit at 3-9). Sound familiar to any bands I just talked about? Tampa’s fall from the top of the football world echos the tumble from grace suffered by Audiovent.

TRUSTcompany

These guys were trying extremely hard to be the early 2000s version of Soundgarden, what with the creepy ethnic guy and lead singer screaming his head off. Their first single Downfall hit radios and MTV2 in 2002 with much success and they followed up with my favorite hit off their debut album The Lonely Position of Neutral, Running From Me. The band was wildly popular for a year or two before their label got involved and really screwed their career up, leading to an eventual hiatus on 2005.

What team comes to mind when you think of immediate success out of nowhere followed by terrible misfortune due to mismanagement? The 1999 St. Louis Rams came off a 4-12 1998 season and won the Super Bowl under the leadership of former grocery store clerk Kurt Warner. The Rams would go on to make the playoffs in four of the next five years after that dramatic Super Bowl victory before releasing Warner and allowing all-time coaching genius Mike Martz run the “Greatest Show on Turf” into the ground. Since 2005, the Rams have won eight games or more once and have not gotten back to the playoffs.

We’ve reached the fantasy football playoffs and hopefully you’re still alive. Rob Cressy decidedly knocked my squad out of the playoffs with a season high scoring performance led by Alshon Jeffery, Le’veon Bell, Reggie Bush, and his quarterback combo of Tom Brady and Cam Newton. Best of luck to Rob in the playoffs. Here are my Week 14 Plays and Stays:

Ray Rice, RB Baltimore Ravens

If you’re still alive and you own Ray Rice, congratulations on being in the playoffs. Rice has been downright terrible this year, dealing with an injured hip, the worst run blocking offensive line in football, and a brutal RB schedule. To his credit, Rice has performed in fantasy friendly matchups this year and it isn’t getting any friendlier than a home matchup with the terrible Minnesota Vikings, who are giving up the third most fantasy points to running backs on the season. Thirteen separate RB’s have scored double digit fantasy points against the Vikings this season. Plug him in. PLAY

Zac Stacy, RB St. Louis Rams

I lauded Stacy two weeks ago as an absolute must start against the terrible Chicago Bears defense and I am taking the exact opposite stance here in Week 14. Stacy has been a true workhorse since becoming the full time starting RB, handling the rock seventeen or more times in six of eight games and amassing double digit fantasy points five times in those starts.

The fun comes to an end against the stingy Arizona Cardinals this week. They allow the fewest fantasy points to RBs on the season, with only three backs reaching double digit fantasy points with only one back to reach 100 yards rushing. Stacy probably led your team to this point, but I strongly urge you to find another back this week. STAY

E.J. Manuel, QB Buffalo Bills

I have recently said that I don’t trust “playing the matchup” when it comes to fringe players, but when the matchup is just right, you sometimes have to pounce. Tampa Bay hosts the Bills this weekend and I’m going to have E.J. Manuel ranked rather highly this week. Tampa has allowed an opposing quarterback to throw for multiple touchdowns in nine of twelve games, including eight straight contests. Darrelle Revis is banged up and the Bucs don’t have much of a secondary behind him. Expect around 250 yards passing and two TDs minimum from Manuel this week. PLAY

Follow Jack on Twitter @BernacK6.

 

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