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The NFL is a topsy-turfy world. Six of the bottom 15 teams were in the playoffs last season. Four of the top eight were not. But on top are the defending champion New York Giants.
Clinton Portis and Chris Cooley both had big days in Philadelphia in Week 5 and have moved up the board amongst RB's and TE's, but the positional leaders are still Brees, Bush, Jennings, and Witten.
How impressive have the quarterbacks of the Big 12 been this season? Four out of the top-5 QB ratings in college football belong to Colt McCoy, Sam Bradford, Chase Daniel and Zac Robinson.
You didn’t ask for it; you got it. It’s Buster Gunning’s 3rd Annual Guide to Fantasy Football. This year promises to be full of busts, and if you follow this simple guide, you are guaranteed not to pick one*
While everyone focuses on the marquee players that will be drafted on day one this Saturday, the key to building a winning team is by acquiring 5-7 impact makers. It was Marques Colston last year, who will it be this year?
RealGM Search
By Andrew Perna
The sports fanatic has become more accepted in recent years as being an obsessed follower of all that happens in this world is probably more common than being completely uninformed.
These days a man or woman can walk into Home Depot to match their team’s official colors and reenact historical moments while playing Madden or their favorite player’s free throw ritual with 2K Sports’ NBA 2K9.
If you aren’t into video games or interior decorating, you can fill your closet with a seemingly insurmountable array of team-related clothing. I, for one, know a certain someone who was once able to dress from head-to-toe in the same team’s apparel.
Yes. Socks, undergarments, and shoes were included.
And no, I’m not talking about myself. The great thing about being a writer is that you’ll never know whether I’m telling the truth or not.
Youngsters in my generation were limited slightly in our fandom. Sure, there were always trading cards, and even very basic video games, but when playing on my Sega Genesis I could barely differentiate between my players and those of my opponent.
As I grew older and was able to pick and choose not only which players I preferred, but what memorabilia was my favorite as Starting Lineup figures emerged onto the market.
They only featured a few different poses, with guards often hunkered down in the defensive stance or wearing their warm-ups while attempting a layup. If you had any, you know exactly what I’m talking about.
There were also only a handful of skin tones or faces, which made it impossible to identify players from more than a few feet away.
A fanatic himself, Spawn creator Todd McFarlane changed the way sports figures were thought of when he acquired the official licenses to the NBA, MLB, NFL, and NHL in 2002.
Since then hundreds of professional athletes have been immortalized in plastic blister packs with their likenesses getting more life-like by the edition.
McFarlane toys have taken the sports “figure” to the next level, turning them into miniature versions of the real-life thing. Not that I ever would – I had too much respect to “play” with my Starting Lineups as a kid – but McFarlane’s creations are too detailed and well-designed to even take out of the packaging.
McFarlane recently released NFL Wave 1 featuring Brett Favre (Green Bay), Joseph Addai, JaMarcus Russell, Reggie Bush, Randy Moss, Tony Romo, and Willie Parker.
The set is one of their deepest to date – featuring a Hall of Fame quarterback, three dynamic runners, one of the greatest receivers of all time, and a couple of young signal-callers hoping to follow in the legend’s footsteps.
Each figure has its own pose, specific to the player himself.
Favre is scrambling with his left hand extended; Bush looks primed to cut to the outside; Moss looks just like he does when he lines up to the right of Tom Brady, err, Matt Cassel; and Romo appears to be headed for a 75-yard completion to Terrell Owens or a week-long vacation with Jessica Simpson.
McFarlane also recently introduced their fourth NBA Legends Series.
Featured in the series are Patrick Ewing, Julius Erving, Larry Bird, Spud Webb, George Gervin, and Elgin Baylor.
Just like in the NFL series, each player is featured performing a signature move. Ewing is driving to the hoop for a right-handed layup; Dr. J is flying in for a two-handed slam,while Bird is seen receiving a pass in what appears to be yet another mid-1980s fastbreak by the Celtics.
It’s exciting to think of what companies like McFarlane might dream up in the coming years, but for now, I think collectors around the world are content to await the countless sets released my McFarlane each year.
RealGM and McFarlane Toys would like to help a number of sports fans increase their memorabilia collection by giving away figures from the NFL Wave 1 and NBA Legends Series 4 sets this month.
Just e-mail Andrew (Andrew.Perna@RealGM.com) with a short story about the most unique piece of sports memorabilia in your collection and you’ll be entered in the running to win a free figure from one of the two sets.
Do you think you have some great ideas for McFarlane regarding who should be immortalized in plastic next? Well, good luck. Andrew would like to see Danny Granger, Joba Chamberlain, DeSean Jackson, and Scott Hartnell honored, but it doesn’t appear to be in the cards.
Andrew Perna is a Senior Writer for RealGM.com. Please feel free to contact him with comments or questions via e-mail – Andrew.Perna@RealGM.com.
