For the overwhelming majority of fantasy football leagues, seasons are over. Therefore, anyone who isn’t a fan of one of the four remaining teams, the real NFL season is essentially over as well. Looking back, anyone who lost miserably with one of their fantasy teams this season after starting the season with high hopes can offer a variety of excuses. Will it matter? No. But if The Stain can give you one more reason to be aggravated but chose not to, well, we wouldn’t be doing our duty. (That’s duty as in obligation, not doody as in…well, you know… though some would argue that we are full of doody but that’s a whole ‘nother can of worms.)

Thought 1: Tom Brady had to have Rob Gronkowski on his fantasy team, right? No doubt, Gronk is a terrific athlete and good player, but record breaking touchdown good? Let’s say, hypothetically of course, that Tom Terrific has Gronk and… say, Vince Wilfork has Wes Welker or Aaron Hernandez. And of course there may be a “small” wager between the teammates and friends. Both guys are open, who would YOU throw to? Just sayin…

Thought 2: Lots of people say that drafting a kicker with anything other than your final pick is stupid. They may or may not be right, but in a 16 round draft, how many guys taken in round 13 or later offer a measurable contribution. How many teams made fantasy playoffs and/or won their leagues just by having David Akers as their kicker this season? Is it really the worst thing in the world to take a proven, reliable machine of a kicker like Akers a couple rounds before the end, when you could pick up a gem of a receiver like… who, exactly? Exactly.

Thought 3: I believe the Madden Curse now. I do.

Thought 4: Three of the four remaining quarterbacks in the NFL playoffs (Joe Flacco, Alex Smith, and Eli Manning) were effectively fantasy afterthoughts before this season. (Eli likely won’t be in next year’s drafts.) Something should be wrong with this. I don’t know if it is though.

Thought 5: Is anyone else looking at Cam Newton as the first overall pick next season? Good.

Random observations are probably frowned upon in the professional sports media. Well, we ain’t there yet so we still have that freedom.

Rumor has it Texas is talking to Prince Fielder. Shouldn’t they be trying to sign Yu Darvish who they just ponied up a gazillion dollars to talk to? SIDENOTE: Chad Moriyama wrote a terrific article on laziness in analysis by sports media by deferring to race when comparing players. It’s very very good. That little line under the “terrific article” a couple lines above, that’s a link. Click it.

Referees are not held accountable enough in any sport. Now, the Giants won today so nobody is going to talk about the atrocious officiating that led to the Packers’ first two scores… but what if Green Bay had won?

I like rasberry vodka and fruit punch.

Can we plan a celebrity boxing match between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal for ten years from now? They’ve done such an excellent job at pretending to be friendly (until Rafa’s dig at Roger the other day about not being vocal enough about difficult scheduling conditions for players) to this point that the animosity absolutely must be simmering. Dana White, Lorenzo Fertitta, interested in making this an MMA thing?

Speaking of MMA… What do you do if you don’t like what you are getting paid at your job? Find another? Ask for a raise? Yahoo!’s Dave Meltzer wrote that many UFC fighters are unhappy with their pay. The article, once again, is journalistically excellent. It fairly captures input from both sides, does not pass overt judgment, and provokes thought. Here’s one thought it provoked from me. All you fighters who offered your quotes in anonymity, Curt Flood is rolling over in his grave. Personally, if you’re only making 20 grand a year at that job, either ask for more money, perform better so you can get a bonus, or get another job. I love MMA and respect the intensity of the sport and the training fighters must go through to perform, but this rankles me. We all work for a living in a variety of jobs. We all have bosses. If you can man up to an opponent with the professional skills to snap your limbs and concuss your brain, you can schedule an appointment in your boss’ office and discuss your compensation.

Lastly, stay tuned for a podcast soon. It may be Shaun and I putting each other on the spot with random philosophical sports questions, it may even be the long-promised EPL analysis. And with a bit of luck, we may be able to have our friend, George Ogier join us. He contributes to a bunch of sites. Here is a another example of his excellent work.

Stay tuned for more.