TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 17, 2013
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
PAGE 9
QUOTE OF THE DAY
FACT OF THE DAY
Ray Rice ranked sixth for fantasy running backs in 2012.
FFToday.com
TRIVIA OF THE DAY
Q. Where did Ray Rice go to college?
em
832. 8228
A: Rutgers University.
SAN
THE MORNING BREW When fantasy football goes too far
With the second week of the NFL season now finished, "owners" of fantasy football teams are
starting to get a glimpse of what they can expect from their squad the rest of the season. For those owners that had the displeasure of starting 0-2, tougher fantasy Sundays will likely be ahead of you.
However, while some fantasy teams sitting at 0-2 make the current Jaguars look like the 2007 Patriots, others have had the unfortunate luck of being hit with the injury bug. Where there's an injury there's an owner praying the player will "come right back," or "only miss two weeks," when many of these injuries are possibly career or even life-threatening.
During the Chargers at Eagles game this past Sunday, receiver Malcom Floyd of the Chargers was sandwiched between Eagles defenders Nate Allen and DeMeco Ryans, causing Floyd to be carted off the field with a serious neck injury. As players gathered
in a large circle praying on the field for Floyd, it occurred to me that many fantasy owners were doing the exact opposite by cursing under their breath, questioning why they started him over another player. If you were one of these people, fantasy football may not be for you. Everyone gets competitive sometimes, and fantasy football may be the one thing that some fans can still compete in. But there's a line crossed when an owner's point total matters more than a player's well-being.
Some owners will cross that line but go no further, while others embarrass themselves in a completely different manner.
With many NFL players now being vocal members of Twitter, fantasy owners sometimes feel they have the right to question a player's injury or even bully them by sending malicious tweets.
Unucky for Ray Rice, he was the player this week that had to endure the pointless onslaught of tweets directed at his @ RayRice27 account from owners asking why he didn't return from his injury, and others swearing at him for not scoring a touchdown.
It's hard to stoop lower than berating a player through a social media website, and it only damages the relationship players have with their fans, not to mention how they feel about fantasy football. This was evident when Rice responded through a tweet after his game, in which he stated, "I was a fan of fantasy football until today so
many spiteful and hateful words I
will love you all God Bless great win today
Ravens"
it's clear that Rice was hurt by the words spoken against him. However, thanks to his tweet, hopefully fantasy owners who feel the need to harass players via Twitter will realize that the health and feelings of players matter more than the points their team scored.
team secured For those who have fantasy football teams, good luck the rest of the season. And remember: it's only a game.
—Edited by Duncan McHenry
This week in athletics
Tuesday
Men's Golf Ram Masters Invitational All day Fort Collins, Colo.
Women's Golf Louisville Cardinal Cup All day Simpsonville, Ky.
Wednesday
NO SCHEDULED
EVENTS
Thursday
NO SCHEDULED EVENTS
Friday
Volleyball
North Dakota State
Noon
Lawrence, Kan.
Soccer
South Dakota State.
6 p.m.
Brookings, S.D.
Volleyball Georgia 7 p.m. Lawrence, Kan.
Saturday
Football Louisiana Tech 11 a.m. Lawrence, Kan.
Sunday
Soccer Illinois State 1 p.m.
Lawrence, Kan.
Volleyball
Notre Dame
1 p.m.
Lawrence, Kan.
FOOTBALL
Monday
Woman's Golf
2013 Marilynn Smith
Sunflower Invitational
All Day
Manhattan, Kan.
Many uncertainties exist in Big 12
ASSOCIATED PRESS
It's probably a good thing that nearly half the league has the weekend off.
DES MOINES, Iowa — The season is three weeks old, and yet there seems to be as many questions marks in the Big 12 now as there were in August.
The 14th-ranked Sooners (3-0) will use it to re-evaluate their quarterback situation.
Oklahoma, Oklahoma State,
TCU and Iowa State started by
weeks on Monday—and each is
doing its best to take advantage of
its early-season break.
Oklahoma went with Blake Bell at quarterback last week after Trevor Knight was sidelined with a bruised knee. All Bell did was earn Big 12 offensive player of the week honors in a 51-20 rout of Tulsa.
Bell, who was surprisingly beaten out by Knight in fall camp, was 27 of 37 passing for 413 yards and four touchdowns in his first career start.
The competition was very close. He did keep a positive attitude and
kept working weekly. He was set to play, kept working hard and he knew if he had his opportunity he was going to be prepared for it," Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops said.
The Sooners now have an extra week to allow Knight to get healthy. Stoops said Monday that Knight's status for the game at Notre Dame on Sept. 28 won't be clarified until later this week.
But it also appears that Bell will be given every opportunity to wrestle the job away from Knight regardless of health.
"Blake's the guy right now, but we'll see how things go," Stoops said. "That's just something that we'll see as time goes. But right now, there isn't an issue." Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy would rather have one bye week in the middle of the season rather than one this week and another in October.
Still, the Cowboys (3-0) head into their first break on a roll after pounding Lamar 59-3. Gundy noted improvements in tackling.
special teams coverage and overall fundamentals against the FCS Cardinals.
Oklahoma State, ranked No. 11 in the nation, has two weeks to prepare for their Big 12 opener at West Virginia (2-1) on Sept. 28.
The Mountaineers don't have it nearly so easy. They face regional rival Maryland in Baltimore on Saturday.
"I think we're about where we would expect to be. We obviously have a plan for our football team." Gundy said. "It's obviously a long-term plan. It's to try to make us the best team we can in the end of November and December, and I feel like were close to being on track."
For TCU, the bye will give it additional time to bounce back from a 1-2 start.
The Horned Frogs were 4 of 16 on third-down conversions and picked up 13 penalties for 115 yards in a 20-10 loss to Texas Tech
yards in a 20-10 loss — which helped the Red Raiders snag the final spot in this week's Top 25.
TCU is allowing nearly 25 points a game, is ninth in the Big 12 with 190.7 yards passing per game and has just two TD passes this season. The Horned Frogs host SMU on Sept. 28.
"I think it's a combination of a lot of things. Obviously the coaches always get blamed. But we've had 2-3 days of talking about things we need to do. We need to tweak some things, change some things around.
But we got to get some guys in position where we have people open that will catch the ball. The other night we could have run the ball a little bit more effectively," TCU coach Gary Patterson said.
Iowa State bizarre early season schedule includes a pair of byes following by back-to-back Thursday night games.
The Cyclones can only hope their second bye in September will help them turn things around.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Oklahoma State running back Jeremy Smith, top center, jumps for a touchdown over the back of lineman Calvin Barnett, bottom, while Lamar defensive back Courtlin Thompson, right, watches during the first half of an NCAA college football game in Stillwater, Okla., Sept. 14, 2012
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