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Remorse

I have waiver wire remorse.

I've actually been afflicted with this problem for as long as I've been playing fantasy sports, but it seems to get particularly bad in fantasy basketball around this time every year.

You see, when it's early November, and you see that hot young player on the waiver wire - you know, like Damien Wilkins (he had a double-double on Opening Night!) or Ryan Anderson (he scored at least 16 in four of his first five games!) or Martell Webster (this is his year!), and you just have to have him.

So you drop someone who doesn't seem like he'll be worth much.  Like Joakim Noah.  Yep, I dropped him for the aforementioned Webster in one league during the first week of the season. I also dropped Courtney Lee for Jamaal Tinsley in one particularly-deep league.  Thankfully, I was able to pick Lee back up a few days later.

During that brief time that Lee was on the waiver wire in that league, I agonized over my decision.  I thought he'd be good this year, but I gave up on him for no reason other than I thought Tinsley might start.  Lee scored 15 right after I dumped him, and he's been a fairly-reliable scorer ever since.  If someone else had picked him up, I'd probably spend the rest of the year looking at New Jersey boxscores, wondering what might have been.

Yeah, Courtney Lee.

I'm apparently leading that deep league with 16 moves this year, which might explain why I'm in 11th there.  All those moves have given me plenty of guys to feel remorseful about, but it's worse for my brother Jeff.

Jeff has a love-hate relationship with Andre Miller, who has been on-and-off his teams so much that Jeff likens it to a stormy affair.  Always enticed by the possibility of good assists and steals and a decent free throw percentage, Jeff always seems to find space for Miller every year - including one year in which Miller led Jeff's team to a championship - but usually not for long.  Just when you start to rely on Miller, he loses his starting  job or throws up a 2-for-7 game with three assists.  And Jeff dumps him.

"You dump someone who has been underperforming, and then you watch him the rest of the year, wondering if you were right or wrong to let him go.  He either tortures you and you hate him, or he continues to stink and you hate him, but at least you get to feel smart."

And that's really what it comes down to: once a guy fails on your team, you'll always hate him, and it doesn't matter what he does.

But you'll keep coming back for more.  Because those assists and steals are soooo enticing.  And Miller is pretty good.  Maybe this is his year.  And I need a point guard.  I can do worse.  No one else is available.  Yeah, I think I'll pick him up.