I love football… especially fantasy football.  I love everything about it.  The off-season and the NFL draft.  The fantasy draft preparation.  Kickoff weekend.  Watching games for 11 hours or more on Sunday.  Two Monday night games in week one.  Everything.

Now that another season has begun, the air smells better.  Food tastes better.  Life, in general, is better.  That is, of course, unless your team(s) disappoint you.  Fortunately for me, that isn't the case (yet).

As promised last week, I will provide weekly updates on my efforts in two of my fantasy leagues, as well as my wagers in one unusual pick pool.  This is not meant to brag (if I do well), or to make excuses (if I do poorly), but rather, to share with you the highs and lows of fantasy football, the thought process used to manage a team, and to show that no matter how good or bad you think your team is on paper, anything can happen.

The first fantasy league, the Point Football League, is in its twenty-eighth year, and my team, The Milwaukee Beernuts, have four championships to their name.  The second league, the 32-Team All-Pro Expert League, is new to me and, in conjunction with fellow RotoWire.com contributor Kenn Ruby, we look to represent this site against the likes of some of the best in the business.  Lastly, the pick pool, which I won last season, works off a plus/minus system based on your selections (from none to all games in a particular week).

With that in mind, let's take a look at my week one results and week two selections…

The Point Football League
It's never good to start the season with your best player a "game time decision" but that is exactly what I faced with Arian Foster.  Fortunately, the decision to make him inactive was announced early enough for me to swap him out for Ben Tate (all the more reason to try and grab the handcuff to your studs on draft day).  Also subbed Santana Moss in as my WR3 in place of Mike Thomas once Jacksonville released David Garrard.

Week One Match-up -- The two-time defending Las Vegas Blackjacks:

Last minute substitution of Tate started off rocky when Derrick Ward scored on a one yard run, but an ankle injury opened the door for Tate, who out-rushed Peterson and Blount combined.  Two touchdowns by McCoy provided some breathing room, and allowed my team to absorb an awful outing by Roethlisberger.  Went in to Monday night games having already secured a victory, and Gostkowski closed out the scoring to give me a 76-42 win.

Thru week one: 1-0; 1st place tie in division; 4th place in overall scoring

Next Up:  Divisional game v. Mid-Island Maulers (1-0; 1st place tie in division; 6th place in overall scoring)

Loss of OT Willie Colon is a concern, but not enough to bench Roethlisberger for Joe Flacco.  Have to play the "wait-and-see" game again on Foster.  Otherwise, no anticipated changes to my lineup or roster, although I may try to find an upgrade at RE3.  Mid-Island will be led by Larry Fitzgerald and Maurice Jones-Drew.

The 32-Team All-Pro Expert League
Debated whether to stick with Forsett or go with Legedu Naanee as a fourth receiver.  In the end, it didn't matter.

Week One Match-up – BFDFantasyFootball.com:

Fell behind quickly when Meachem, who our opponent started in a one back / four receiver set, gave them an early 27-0 lead Thursday night.  Closed the gap slightly with a nice effort from Moss, but still found ourselves trailing by 26.20 points heading in to Monday night.  Our opponent still had their TQB, while we had our TQB and TPK.  With all three going head-to-head in the Oakland v. Denver game, I knew I would not be getting much sleep.  It was worth it.  Despite a less than stellar performance from our TQB, we scored an incredible 28 points from our TPK (thanks to an NFL record tying 63 yard FG) to give us a narrow 145.50-142.65 win.

Thru week one: 1-0; 1st place tie in division; 8th place in overall scoring

Next Up:  Divisional game v. FantasyFootballCafe.com (1-0; 1st place tie in division; 19th place in overall scoring)

Naanee probably gets the nod over Forsett, but we need to find a better option for RB2 / WR4 to compete.  Otherwise, no anticipated changes to our lineup or roster.  FantasyFootballCafe.com will be led by Ray Rice.

The Pick Pool
You know that joke about how when you and a friend are attacked by a bear in the wilderness, you don't have to be able to outrun the bear, you just have to outrun your friend?  Well, the same is true in fantasy sports and pick pools.

Week One:

Lost one of my selections (New York Giants -3) while the other (Arizona Cardinals -7) was a push, yet but find myself only in 11th place at -1.  First place is only +1.  This is why I prefer this pool over a traditional pick pool or survivor pool.

Week Two:  Hard to make picks on a Tuesday, especially with no line available for five games, but my early thoughts are to try and get on track with the following two picks…

Baltimore Ravens -6 at Tennessee Titans
After watching Baltimore against the Steelers I can only imagine what they will do to the Titans.  Ray Rice could put up Arian Foster-like numbers this season with Vonta Leach opening up holes .  Chris Johnson looks rusty after his holdout and Javon Ringer is still hurting.  The Ravens are 14-5 ATS against teams with a losing record, while the Titans are 4-12 ATS against a team with a winning record.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers +3 at Minnesota Vikings
Donovan McNabb's passing line in week one: 7 of 15 for 39 yards with one TD and one INT.  Tampa bay has won the last four meetings between these teams by a combined score of 126-64.  The Buccaneers are 13-3-1 ATS in their last 17 road games, while the Vikings are 2-7 ATS in their last 9 against NFC teams.