Having a reputation to maintain is a heady task, especially when one's reputation strives to fail, like my football teams did last year.

And, though I bill myself as a terrible player, the truth is I am more of a lazy player. I do very little research prior to my drafts, other than trying to figure out who is injured so I don't draft the wrong guys, subjecting myself to needless public humiliation.

Then, during the season, I watch every Sunday, for sure, but, I pay very little attention to weekly club news 'til the very very last minute, and as a result, well, my teams over the past few years have faltered.

For the most part, I am ok with this. I work a good ten months every year scrutinizing baseball stats, manipulating numbers, trying to tweak my teams, scrap for column fodder that will be of interest, and unlock keys to player success.

My late partner Cathy Hedgecock always maintained that my success at fantasy baseball was a pure right brain/left brain thing. Cathy suggested that after pouring over those stats, and largely retaining them, that I had a huge stored database of numbers, but, that my ability to trust my intuitive side coupled with all that crunching was the key to my success.

Cathy also thought that process, dubbed "zen drafting" years ago, was probably difficult to duplicate because, well, it came from a synthesis in my head, something  difficult to duplicate in an objective world.

I think she might well have been on to something, especially for baseball, which has such a broad pastiche of statistics, but, for football, with time limits, goal line substitutions, and games once a week, that baseball equation does not work so well.

Then there's my my own habit of shooting myself in the foot. I will never forget my #1 pick in 1996 was Jerry Rice, a player who was good, but ostensibly beyond his peak years. But, I liked Jerry, and I picked him only to be horrified as I listened to him destroy his ACL the first day of that season (the same day that Princess Di, died, if memory serves).

Or, I have really enjoyed watching the Ravens and their killer defense for a number of years (Ed Reed is among my favorite players) so, last year, instead of taking LaDainan Tomlinson, I took Jamal Lewis and watched my season pretty much tank.

In other words, as much as I can rely on my cold-hearted objectivity in baseball, it goes out the window like an errant pass when it comes to football.

But, I also understand that even when I put all the energy and information at my disposal in creating a good team, I always seem to be a Zack Crockett four-yard carry, naturally for a TD, away from winning. So, my teams look competitive with respect to points scored, and points allowed, but, coming up four points shy every week simply makes that look like the rationalization of sour grapes.

Well, this year, I hope to devote more time and energy. I do have the first pick in the Kathy League Gifford League, and it will be L.T., no questions asked (Larry Johnson was frozen as a fourth-round pick by last year's winner, Pete Khazen).

In our magazine mock draft, I participated only after ensuring my picks would be made by the computer, and I would simply manage the squad, but that alone promises to give better results than in the past. And, well, after viewing Baseball Tonight each night, I stay tuned and try to absorb as much of the NFL Live as I can, although I am tired of reports on T.O. and am much more interested in whether Tony Romo is worth a 20th pick if Drew Bledsoe is my #1 guy.

Still, few things warm the soul like sitting in front of the big screen on a wet winter Sunday, with a fire blazing, the Sunday paper spread all across the living room carpet, lazing around all day watching and snoozing as the gladiators of Sunday do their thing.

It is a tough life, but someone has to do it.