Conquer, Oppress, and Raze - Week Three Preview

As predicted, The Teeth do Conquer, Oppress, and Raze . . . Sometimes.  Week One saw them lose a heartbreaker to The G'lers, 129-128.  Down 29 going into Monday night, The Teeth got 20 points from Rob Gronkowski, only to have Willis McGahee fall agonizingly short.  Honestly, as the Broncos short yardage back, all he had to do was score one measly touchdown for the victory.  But, it was not to be.

For his abject failure to perform, McGahee was cut by The Teeth, who then picked up Washington QB Rex Grossman to fill the roster spot.

In Week Two, The Teeth started Grossman against Arizona, because the team's other QBs had unfavorable matchup . . . Matt Ryan against Philadelphia and Kevin Kolb on the road against Washington.  As it turned out, Ryan had the best game with 4 TDs and 27 points against a good Philly Defense.  But Grossman was perfectly adequate, with 2 TD's and 19 points, as The Teeth cruised to a 139-110 victory over da effbombs.

After two weeks of play, The Teeth are tied for second with nine other teams, but hold the tiebreaker advantage with the most total points of those tied.

Standings

Team	W	L	T	PCT	GB	Strk	Wks	PF	Back	PA
1MOR4ME	2	0	0	1.000	0	W2	1	283.0	0.0	190.0
Don Meinel's Teeth	1	1	0	0.500	1	W1	0	267.0	16.0	239.0
SpankYouVeryMuch	1	1	0	0.500	1	L1	1	255.0	28.0	228.0
Mr. Cheerful	1	1	0	0.500	1	W1	0	230.0	53.0	239.0
Be A Man(ning)	1	1	0	0.500	1	L1	0	229.0	54.0	195.0
G' lers	1	1	0	0.500	1	L1	0	220.0	63.0	227.0
da effbombs	1	1	0	0.500	1	L1	0	216.0	67.0	227.0
The Only Dawn/Don That Matters	1	1	0	0.500	1	L1	0	208.0	75.0	267.0
Terrible Teabaggers	1	1	0	0.500	1	W1	0	208.0	75.0	239.0
Miller Lite	1	1	0	0.500	1	W1	0	205.0	78.0	213.0
(Don's Favorite) Big Island Sausage	1	1	0	0.500	1	W1	0	187.0	96.0	197.0
Knuckle Dragging Troglodytes	0	2	0	0.000	2	L2	0	195.0	88.0	242.0
Standings Updated as of: 9/24/11 2:41 AM EST

Looking to shore up the WR spot, The Teeth then dropped Miami WR Davone Bess in order to pick up Cincinnati WR A.J. Green, on the theory that, all other things being equal, Green was more likely to have a big game then Bess.  Indeed, it's not clear why Big Island Sausage dropped Green in the first place.

So perhaps it shouldn't come as a surprise that Big Island Sausage wants Green back and have offered Detroit QB Matthew Stafford in exchange for Grossman and Green.  Umami accepted because, assuming Stafford can stay healthy, he appears poised to become one of the elite fantasy FB QBs this year and The Teeth could also use the open roster spot (created because they're trading two players to get one).  Heck, they could even pick up Bess again . . . meaning they essentially added Stafford and dropped McGahee.  Not bad.

Week Three's Opponent is, ironically, Big Island Sausage. 

Steak Plate Special at Aloha Island Grill

Umami's friends over at Aloha Island Grill are celebrating the one-year anniversary of their steak plate!  Which in itself was a special they did for the one year anniversary of the restaurant, which makes this the a Second Anniversary for the restaurant!  Or something like that . . . Umami is easily confused.

From September 27-29, buy any size drink, get a regular steak plate for $3.95.  Nice.  Here's the flyer:

Quick Pic: Canton Seafood Restaurant

Long Beans with Chicken

Small little Chinese place on Keeaumoku, just makai of King Street, that has a number of lunch specials from $6.50 up.  Umami had the long beans with chicken and thought it very nicely done.  The beans were cooked just enough, keeping their crunch, in a light chicken stock sauce that was a welcome change from the thicker, gravy style.  Umami's not hatin' on the cake noodle world, he's just sayin' sometimes lighter's good too.

Canton Seafood Restaurant
923 Keeaumoku St
Honolulu, HI 96814
(808) 955-3388

Quick Pics: Camille Meets Umami; Chicken Pot Pie

Camille Coaches Umami on Proper Dessert Consumption Technique

Camille had said that she was going to be making some savory pot pies, chicken pot pie in particular.

Umami et Pot Pie

It's an individual sized pie, but nonetheless plenty to eat, with a side of greens.  The filling is very hearty, and rich, so that you want to push the crust in and let it soak up the gravy.  It's a neat little lunch . . . something different from the usual plate lunch/sandwich scene.

Quick Pic: Taiyo Ramen - Chicken Curry and Kim Chee Fried Rice

Oh, Baby!

Very thick, spicy, Japanese-style curry over Taiyo Ramen's Kim Chee Fried Rice.  There's serious heat and spice to the kim chee, and a good thing, too, because it helps the fried rice assert itself against the curry.  You have other options for the fried rice (chicken, etc.), but if you're going to do that, you might as well just have white rice.  Seriously.


Taiyo Ramen
451 Piikoi St. 
Honolulu, HI 96813 
(808) 589-2123

DM's Teeth will Conquer, Oppress & Raze (Sometimes)

Here is how the draft went for Umami.  Picking twelfth in a snake draft means he has consecutive picks (at the end of odd numbered and beginning of even numbered rounds) with long (22 pick) stretches where he can go to the bathroom, get a beer, or even decide on upcoming picks.  Anyway, here's what happened:

Rd   Pick
1     Andre Johnson, WR
2     Calvin Johnson, WR
3     Matt Ryan, QB
4     Jahvid Best, RB
5     Reggie Bush, RB
6     Ryan Mathews, RB
7     Rob Gronkowski, TE
8     Percy Harvin, WR
9     Davone Bess, WR
10   Kevin Kolb, QB
11   Willis McGahee, RB
12   Josh Brown, K
13   Darren Sproles, RB
14   HOU Texans, DST

Picking at the Round 1, Umami opted for the two of three best receivers on the board.  The league counts points per reception so that was a viable strategy, particularly since the WR pool was arguably shallower than than the RB pool.  But this does leave The Teeth vulnerable at RB, with Best and Mathews as the starters and three similar pass-catching backs as backups.  The rest of the team is not that exciting one way or the other.  Umami thinks the team will be too inconsistent to seriously contend, but will be huge pain to play because of the possibility of monster receiving games from Johnson and Johnson.

First week's matchup:  The G'lers:

QB (Start 1):   Sam Bradford, Alex Smith
RB (Start 2):  Tim Hightower, Ray Rice, DeMarco Murray
WR (2):  Danny Amendola, Mike Wallace, Kevin Walter, Hines Ward
TE (1):  Antonio Gates, Jeremy Shockey
K (1):  David Akers, Ryan Succop
DST (1):  PHI Eagles

Umami likes his chances, but, then, Umami likes his chances!

(Don't Just Win) Conquer, Oppress and Raze

After several years outside the fray, Umami returns to the fantasy football league world today in the (Don't Just Win) Conquer, Oppress and Raze League or, COR, for short.  His team, "DM's Teeth" picks twelfth in a twelve team league that promises to have a lot of high quality trash talk and a wildly erratic draft.

Umami knows that success in a draft comes from the calmness of mind and spirit that comes from sound logistics to ensure that he has the supplies to go the distance . . .

Now we're ready for some football!

Check back later to see the results!