I play other fantasy sports, but I don't get too excited about them. Fantasy baseball and basketball are fine diversions, but they just don't satisfy that inner gambler who wants the instant high or low you get from 1:00-4:00 on a Sunday afternoon during fantasy football season, when all your predictions and trash talk from the week before either vindicate you or make you look like a bumbling fool. 

But this past April, I had a reason to be excited about fantasy baseball: I pulled the first pick. There was zero question about who to take; Pujols was baseball's LT. A-Rod was coming off his worst season in years, and after him the only player even in the conversation was Jose Reyes, if you wanted a guy who could guarantee you the runs and stolen bases categories. But there really wasn't any question: Picking someone other than Pujols in April 2007 was the equivalent of picking somone other than LT in August 2007: You just didn't do it.

Fast-forward to last Sunday, when I was eliminated from the fantasy baseball playoffs. According to the Yahoo rankings, Pujols is just the 21st-best player in the league, far from the guy he was in 2005 and 2006, when you could have ranked the top 15 fantasy baseball players like this:

1: A
2: L
3: B
4: E
5: R
6: T
7: SPACE
8: P
9: U
10: J
11: O
12: L
13: S
14: Jose Reyes
15: Alex Rodriquez

Now he's just a "nice guy to have on your squad," as opposed to A-Rod, who is a "guy who singlehandedly makes you a contender."

I guess what I'm trying to say is: Cheer up - it might not get much better! Wait, that didn't come out right. What I mean is: Drink lots and lots of beer until further notice.