Technical Difficulties Plague Woodmania Draft Again

(Hebron, KY) - For the second year in a row, claims of computer problems are coming from Woodmania following draft day. "We had established my work place as this year's war room," said team president Woody Myers. "We figured I would have to go to work at some point during the proceedings, so the plan was I would just come here before the draft and not have to leave. That's where we did all our scouting. It should have been ideal."

Instead, the location made it impossible for Woodmania to take part in the live draft. While the Yahoo draft screen came up, it never changed and wouldn't accept any input. Other than his pre-rankings, Myers had no say on his first five picks. "I kept getting updates by phone from (fellow owners) Nagel and Maderer. As they told me who the computer was taking, I swore and cussed quite a bit." In desperation, Myers made the half-hour trip back to his home in time to make his sixth selection.

It was around the same point in last year's lottery that a virus warning caused a serious distraction that led to some questionable draft picks.

Some insiders feel that this year's problem could have been prevented by a simple connection check that Yahoo offers all it's team owners. Myers, however, has a more insidious theory: "Sabotage. He's out to get me." Surprisingly, Myers's top suspect is not of his fellow NFFL owners, but a six inch-high action figure. "Recondo was my top drafting advisor last year. I fired him after his dumbass ideas led to this franchise's worst season ever. This year, our scouting was much more in-depth and we had a sound drafting strategy in place. Unfortunately, thanks to Recondo's treachery, we weren't able to impliment it fully."

Myers stopped blaming his failures on G.I. Joe toys long enough to give a brief rundown of this year's picks. The first selection was runningback Deuce McCalister, a selection Myers was comfortable with. But he was not pleased with the second pick, McCalister's teamate Joe Horn. " If I was able to choose, I would have gone for a different player. That's not a reflection on the type of player Joe is, but I don't feel comfortable with my top two picks being from the same team. Talk about all your eggs in one basket! And it's a pretty crappy basket! If the Saints offense doesn't click, that could sink my whole year."

The auto-draft then picked two straight receivers, giving him three in the first four rounds. "Our strategy was to go heavy on wide-outs anyway." But the auto-draft's next choice, a quarterback, really went against the plan. "Last year, we spent a second round pick on a guy who lost me points more often than not. I wanted to wait until the sixth round before taking a QB. If I had my say, I probably would have gotten a runningback there." Jerome Bettis, Mike Anderson, and Thomas Jones were still available at that point.

Finally, Myers made it home where he could finally dictate his picks. "I got back just in time for the sixth pick. It was close, I had to make it from my laptop while I was still in my car in the driveway." It was kicker Mike Vanderjagt, a choice that was part of the original strategy. But now he was on his seventh pick and only had one runningback on his squad. "Success in this league depends on your receivers and your backs. I was desperate for backs and reached for some questionable picks." He took Marcel Shipp, who will back-up JJ Arrington in Arizona, in the 7th round and the oft-injured Lee Suggs in the 9th round.

Woodmania's defense, Washington, was chosen between those two picks. "We went defense in the fourth round last year and discovered that we probably could hold off a couple rounds and still get a good one. In my opinion, defense is underrated in fantasy football. But defense does win championships." In the 13th round, Dallas was chosen to back-up the Redskins D.

Once the draft reached the double digits, Myers feels all the extra scouting time paid off. "The later rounds is where your draft really can work for ya. You can stockpile talent and then either play them or trade them." Reggie Brown is one of those players who could break out. "Sure, rookie receivers rarely take off. But if T.O. gets hurt or walks off again, Donovan needs to throw it to somebody." Woodmania then took the final starting quarterback off the board in the 11th round. "A lot of people have already written off Tim Rattay. But people forget he had some decent numbers last year. He has the potential to be this year's Drew Brees."

Myers went to a former player who burned him the last time he chose him. "I had picked Jeremy Stevens very high before, and he didn't even end up getting the starting job. This year, I took him in the 12th round so the risk is not as bad. Our other tight end, Alex Smith, has been making some noise in Tampa Bay's training camp. I expect him to be a nice surprise."

Myers took three more wide receivers, Corey Bradford, Kevin Johnson, and Brian Finneran. "I'm hoping one of these guys breaks out for us, or I can trade him." Myers broke one of his traditions and selected a Cincinnati Bengal. "I don't like to mix business and pleasure. It makes it extra rough when my player has a bad day and my favorite team does poorly. But I didn't see anyone else available in the 17th round who has shown playmaking ability like his."

Overall, Woodmania's draft is a mixed bag for it's owner. But Myers does feel that there might be some players he can tantalize other owners into taking off his hands for a decent deal. He feels this was a valuable learning experience. "We developed a sound strategy, our board was good, but weren't able to put it into action. In the future, we'll make sure that all of our ducks are in a row. And we'll be sure to finish off Recondo."

Yahoo News contributed to this report.