Lou Pickney's Online Commentary
Hustled
Wednesday
July 21, 2004
I'm used to receiving my share of hate mail, since I work for
Bubba The Love Sponge. But the e-mail I'm going to list below is interesting because it's nothing related to that, but instead it's an angry e-mail sent regarding my Brett Favre trades in fantasy football. Brook traded
me Favre for the #15 pick in the draft, and I then traded Favre to
Josh two days later for the #9 pick. Advantage: me. But apparently, in Brook's mind, this qualifies as a bitch move. Normally I keep these sorts of things private, but Brook sent this out to the entire league, and it's not the first time he's taken this insane hostile type of approach with me when it comes to trades.
Lou,
Congratulations on your trade, it will likely be the last one you ever make. I don't know how you can hold your head up in this league after that bush-league maneuver you and your "hustlers" pulled. I hope you don't expect to have any type of negotiations or relations with my franchise any time soon. Even though Josh has the responsibility to take care of himself, but that move was still complete horse-sh*t in my personal opinion. I hope you're proud of yourself and can pat yourself on the back for being such a "smart" owner. You outright lied to me in negotiations and then you clearly did not engage in full disclosure with Josh. I cannot respect that. Your b*tch move was a classless insult to league owners, and a blow to the integrity of the league. This is beyond starting "rivalries" or "competition" or anything like that. Put simply, no other owner in the league would have done what you just did. It was a completely ridiculous act of utter desperation that was well beneath you and your abilities as a GM. I thought you had more character than that. Again, congratulations.
Brook
Now what Brook fails to mention is the following:
-He shopped Favre around for a high second round pick, and when that didn't pan out he ultimately agreed to trade Favre to me for the #15 selection. So it's not as if Favre for the #9 was some sort of colossal ripoff.
-I didn't "outright lie" to him in negotiations. I did consider keeping Favre, but ultimately decided that having Manning at QB made Favre expendable.
-Brook himself outright lied to everyone before the 1999 Draft, saying that he was going to take Terrell Davis at #1 before instead taking Randy Moss at that spot. No one called that a bitch move or said that he violated the integrity of the league then (the only reaction was an irate Bob cursing loudly over the speaker phone at my parents' house, as he was set to take Moss at #2 -- he instead ended up taking, ironically enough, Brett Favre at that spot).
-Josh knew that Brook had traded Favre to me for the #15 pick -- he had read about it online. Josh is a college graduate entering his 13th year in the league. He's an adult capable of making his own informed choices. With Tim Couch on his roster (the backup in Green Bay), Josh was able to secure his team at the QB position through the deal.
-Any owner who would pass up an opportunity to move up six spots in the draft for free is an idiot. Utter desperation? No. Calculated execution. Yes.
Anyway, finger-pointing and name-calling aside, the draft tomorrow should be fun. You never know quite what to expect, and in our keeper-style league where players can't be picked up midway through the season, it's pivotal to make smart choices now so that your team is prepared to last through the season (and have depth to be strong in seasons yet to come...)
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