Ten Questions with Paul Charchian

To say that I play Fantasy Football would be an understatement, I think it's become a part time job. For my money Paul is by far the best fantasy expert around(as much as any one can be) Paul and I talked via email on a variety of subjects, including a fantasy movie league, politics, video games and of course Fantasy Football. Enjoy.

1. Besides being a Fantasy Football Guru, you're are also an avid gamer, and unless you've been living under a rock, then you know that Call of Duty Black OPS just came out. What did you think?

The only people who are hating on Black Ops are those that are drinking Infinity Ward’s Kool-Aid. It’s a great game. The multiplayer is great, and the settings are new and fresh. I’m really enjoying it, along with several million other people.

2. Living in Minnesota, what's your take on the Drama that has been the Vikings this year. What's the feeling locally?

We’re ready for the drama to be over. Minnesota isn’t often the center of the NFL, but since Brett got here, ESPN has been camped out at Winter Park. No more.

3. If the GOP presidential field were a Fantasy Draft who would be your number one pick for 2012?

Tough call. Sarah Palin has been villanized to the point that I don’t think she can win. She’s not the airhead that the left thinks she is, but Americans rightly have gauged that she doesn’t have the chops for the job. The fact that she quit as governor is reprehensible.

Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty is out. Nice guys finish last, and I don’t see him as compelling enough to engender widespread support.

There's a lot of buyer's remorse from conservatives over Mitt Romney, who they failed to back in 2008. He was eminently more electable than McCain.  

Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal is a possibility. Conservatives are fed up with being viewed as racists, his ethnicity would be a draw early in the campaign. Marco Rubio will be a 2016 candidate.

I’m not ruling out Ron Paul. His economic policies hold a lot of power with the Tea Party types. But, I don't think a pro-choice Republican can ever make it through the primaries.

If I had to pick one guy, it would be New Jersey’s outspoken governor Chris Christie—a guy who has all of the GOP talking points down cold. He's funny and inflammatory. It just might work.

4. We are now more than halfway through the season, looking back who were the biggest steals on draft day?(by avg draft position)

The ADP buster lineup looks like this:

QB - Kyle Orton, a top-five fantasy QB, ADP 156.
RB - Peyton Hillis is tied for first among RBs in touchdowns, 9th in rushing yards, and 4th in receiving yards. ADP 234 (just after Fred Davis, and just before Jake Delhomme).

RB - Arian Foster leads most leagues in scoring. ADP 58

WR - Brandon Lloyd is in the top five among WRs, and leads the NFL in receiving yards. ADP not available because he wasn't drafted by enough people to factor into ADP results.

WR – Steve Johnson is in the top 10 among fantasy WRs, and is also outside of ADP’s rankings.

TE – Marcedes Lewis. He’s a top-five fantasy TE, with an ADP 289.

K – Dan Carpenter – Even with Miami’s shutout a couple Thursday’s ago, He’s a top three kicker, whose ADP is 238.

5. It's the time of year where trade deadlines are looming, What's your overall philosophy when it comes to trades.

If you're not trading, you're not trying. If you’re not trying, you’re going to lose. Nobody is so good that they can draft a perfect team, and then sit back and never make a move. Plus, trades are just plain fun. Who doesn’t enjoy getting a trade offer. If the offer stinks, it’s fun to ridicule the sender. If it can help you, even better. I leave leagues that don’t have owners with a trading mentality.

6. Obviously Arian Foster has had a break out year and seems to be a force in the future. What other players made their mark and will be fantasy studs for the next few years?

Shonn Greene should get full time use next year. Mike Wallace has taken the torch from Hines Ward. Cassel-to-Bowe is just getting started. Peyton Hillis isn’t a fluke. Hakeem Nicks is fantastic as long as he can stay healthy. Jamaal Charles is a tremendous player, and will thrive when Thomas Jones gets out the way. Tampa’s Josh Freeman and Mike Williams will have a strong career together. The Eagles receivers, Jeremy Maclin and DeSean Jackson will remain great in Andy Reid’s offense, no matter who quarterbacks. Sam Bradford is absolutely legit.

7. One of the hardest things in fantasy it's setting you lineups. What's your strategy for lineups? Do you go by the player, the match ups, recent trends?

If you’ve ever heard Fantasy Football Weekly on KFAN, you know I’m a matchup guy. Look at Andre Johnson, arguably the best receiver in the league. He did zero against Darrelle Revis. Even the best fantasy producers have trap games.

8. What's the biggest mistake that the average person makes with their fantasy team?

Drafting running backs early. Every year, the first three rounds of drafts are littered with running back busts. I’ve been preaching a draft strategy called “Do The Opposite” for years, which encourages owners to avoid the temptation to get runners early, and take the safer positions, namely quarterback and wide receiver.

9. Have you seen The Walking Dead? what did you think?(it's ok if your haven't) What other shows do you enjoy?

In season, my ability to sit and watch TV is pretty limited. I’m really impressed with AMC’s shows though. I find time to watch Mad Men. Walking Dead looks promising because I really like the creator, Frank Darabont, who helmed The Shawshank Redemption—one of my all-time favorite movies.

10. You’re in a fantasy movie league. How does it work, and which movies do you have right now?

It’s played in four-month trimesters. We held our most recent draft on late October for the trimester starting in November. It’s pretty simple. We play with four teams in each division. Each division drafts separately from the other divisions (so the same movies are drafted in each division). Each team drafts 10 movies that will open in the next four months. At the end of the trimester, we simply add up the gross domestic receipts from each team’s top-eight highest-earning movies. Whoever has the most dollars earned is the winner.

My team for Nov-Feb:

Round 1: Megamind

Round 2: The Tourist

Round 3: Gulliver’s Travels

Round 4: The Dilemma

Round 5: Love and Other Drugs

Round 6: The Next Three Days <--tanking as we speak

Round 7: Tyler Perry’s Colored Girls

Round 8: 127 Hours

Round 9: Black Swan

Round 10: Roommate

Check out Paul's Websites
fantasyvictory.com
LeagueSafe.com



LeagueSafe® 's majority owner is Paul Charchian, a 15-year industry veteran. He co-founded Fanball in 1993. In time, Fanball grew into the biggest pure-play fantasy web site in the world.

10 Questions with the Football Girl Melissa Jacobs

1. What inspired your website? Give people an idea of what they will find there.

I launched TheFootballGirl.com in 2009 because I wanted to provide an NFL female-run site that went deeper than Football 101 and Gameday recipes. I also had a rich sports background,being a producer for NFL Live, Sportscenter and other ESPN shows so banked on my contacts giving the site an advantage. We pretty much have anything a football fan could want from news to fantasy tips to player interviews to unique features, a Media Guy, a Fashionista Girl, and a player on the Redskin, Clint Oldenburg, who contributes.

2. What in the world is going on in Washington?What's your take on the situation?And Why do you think Donovan finds at the center of controversy so often?

Washington is a mess as always. You have a coach and a quarterback past their prime, each with enough cache to do it "their way." McNabb's laid-back style can tend to rub teammates the wrong way, particularly when he's considered the team's savior. And Shanahan's authoritative style isn't motivating anyone in Washington. I think he lost a lot of the players with the way he handled the Haynesworth situation - and lost the rest with the Donovan benching last game. Never thought I'd say this but perhaps Danial Snyder needs to intervene a bit.

3. The other Big news, maybe the biggest news was Randy Moss being cut by the Vikings. What was your initial reaction when you heard the news? How do you think will perform in Tennessee and do you think Childress will be back next year?

I was absolutely shocked like everyone. We, as fans, may be appalled by Moss' press conference lauding Bill Belichick, or by his comments about the Minneapolis caterers. He may be a head case, but he's not the only NFL multi-millionaire who doesn't always act like an altar boy. I think it's the Belichick comments that did Moss in. You don't give up on a talent like that, especially when you have a gunslinger like Favre leading the huddle. You go to the depths of your coaching playbook and figure something out.

4. Who's the best team in the NFC?

I'd have to say the Packers. Their offense is explosive and they have very few holes defensively. Did you see Clay Matthews last week? I'm surprised more opponents don't forfeit.

5. You say that you are a Alex Smith apologist. Why? And have you joined a support group or a 12 step program yet?

Ha. Well, looks like I'll be changing that to Troy Smith supporter. I just have much sympathy for Alex Smith. The guy has the mechanics and the smarts, but when you have a cavalcade of offensive coordinators and quarterbacks coaches, each with different styles, it's going to mess with your head. I wish one of them had come in and said 'Alex is a spread guy and that's what we're going to run'. Cater the schemes to your quarterback's strengths, not to system that may have worked with different personnel. You could see the lack of baggage with Troy Smith in London. He just played.

6. The NFL cracked down on big hits a few weeks ago, what's your position on this issue?

I think it's obviously one of the most important issues out there but I'm not sure the NFL's going about it the right way. The fines seem excessive for a sport that is marketed on being violent and involves many helmet to helmet hits that are unavoidable. As the-players I talked to said, if you don't use your helmet sometimes you will be susceptible to injury. I wish the NFL would focus a bit more on better helmet technology.

7. Now that Jerry has finally fired Wade, Do you think he'll ever hire a strong football guy again?

I certainly don't think he has one in Jason Garrett. Garrett has been groomed for years and will probably preface every sentence with 'Jerry thinks' just like Phillips did. I think Jones's ego is some humongous now that he'd rather lose with a puppet than win with a Parcells or a Jimmy Johnson type.

8. Who are the biggest Fantasy surprises and busts this year?

Bust-wise let's stay in Dallas and throw Miles Austin under the bus. Also, Matt Schaub, last year's leading passer has had an off year. Shonn Green also has to be considered a disappointment,but that's due more to the re-emergence of LT, a definite fantasy surprise. How about Steve Johnson in Buffalo, Arian Foster, and even a guy like Davone Bess in Miami. Who knew?

9. Despite the fact that football is perceived as a male sport, it's actually very popular among women. Why do you think women are drawn to football?

The explosion of fantasy football alone has made the game more attractive to women (who I think are more competitive than men). The NFL has made a huge effort to market to women with Alyssa Milano's Touch clothing (not your boyfriend's over sized jersey anymore), family friendly sections, and a plethora of Football 101 events. I also think tools like Twiiter help bring in women as players are allowed to express individualism which gets so lost on game days.

10. I'm going to give you a team and you tell me if they are a contender or pretender.

• Redskins - Pretender
  
• Texans - Pretender
  
• Cheifs - Pretender
  
• Bucs - Contender
  
• Bears - Pretender
  
• Dolphins - Contender
  
• Raiders - Contender
  
• Seahawks - Pretender
  
• Cards - Pretender
  
• Jaguars - Pretender

Follow Melissa on Twitter:@thefootballgirl