I didn’t even know it was possible to be this bad.

But here we are, heading into the summer – and my fantasy teams are awful.

Actually, they’re beyond awful. Awful would be a couple of steps up from where I am right now.

Listen, I realize the last thing you want to read about is my fantasy team and the troubles I’ve had this season. I know first-hand just how painful it is to listen to someone go on and on about how their team has had “more injuries than any team in history.”

But this isn’t about injuries or excuses. And hopefully my tale will accomplish one of two things: either it will help you avoid the mistakes I’ve made…or it will make you feel just a little bit better about your own miserable team.

Okay, this is actually a 1978, so it's probably worth more than Jody's team, but it's the best we could find online.

(Sorry…do I sound bitter? That’s because I am.)

Just a few months ago, I fancied myself something of an expert in the area of rotisserie baseball. I even had the evidence to back me up: a weekly column on the subject…several print magazines with my work featured…and a 2005 Experts League championship to my name.

But now – as I write this column on June 19 – all of those things are worth roughly as much as a 1979 Rob Picciolo baseball card.

Here’s why…

In my local, 12-team AL-only league…I’m in last place. By a wide margin – I’ve got a whopping total of 35.5 points – just 63 points out of first place.

And in my “experts” league – the same league I dominated just two seasons ago – I’m also in last place…with just 35 points…a mere 55 points off the pace.

Somebody shoot me now.

Seriously – how is this possible? I mean after all, I watch a ton of games…I read more than my fair share of online and print content…and I’ve been playing roto-ball since the late 1980s.

So how did I get to be so bad so fast?

I’m still not 100% sure, but I think it’s fair to say that I had a bad draft in both leagues. (OK, OK…I had drafts so bad even Matt Millen would laugh.)

How bad were my drafts? Let’s just say that when Jay Gibbons is featured prominently in both of your starting outfields…well, it’s not exactly an ideal situation.

Here are some of the names you’d see if you lowered yourself to look at my rosters:

Jermaine Dye…Danys Baez…Adam Loewen…Juan Salas (in both leagues)…Mike Piazza…Travis Buck (in both leagues)…Juan Uribe (in both leagues)…Jose Contreras…Rocco Baldelli.

You see – it’s just a great big, heaping bowl of nothing.

And then – what about after the draft? What went wrong then?

Well, that’s when some injuries began to kick in. But as I said, no one wants to hear about those – and besides, it’s not as if I’m talking about having two-thirds of my roster out for the season.

No, what happened to me – aside from having a terrible draft day – is something that is so easily avoidable I’m still kicking myself.

I stopped paying attention.

Listen, when you’re playing in competitive leagues, every single transaction is important. But this season, when things started to go south, instead of circling the wagons and spending MORE time on my teams…I got discouraged and spent even less time.

Not good.

I became one of those owners that I’ve always despised – the kind of owner who forgets about his team after, say, April 15 and then wonders why he never finishes in the money.

Sure, I’ve got excuses – with a new house and twins on the way, I’ve been plenty busy with all kinds of time-consuming work. But I’ve never had any sympathy for people who say they don’t have as little as 15 minutes a day to look over their team…and I’m not going to start now.

It’s too late for me to get it turned around for this year. But the embarrassment of seeing my team at the bottom of the standings every morning has finally sunk in.

It’s time for me to make some moves to get the ship righted for next season in my keeper league. And in my experts’ league, I’m going to play out the rest of the string as though I were fighting for a spot in the money.

I have to say – this entire season has been humbling. I never knew I could be this awful of an owner – in more ways than one. But it’s happened…and now I’ve got to deal with it.

So it’s time to start working those phone lines and e-mail in-boxes. I’ve got some deals to make. By the time I’m through, hopefully I’ve got a keeper list for 2008 that will ensure I can’t screw it up on Draft Day…no matter how much I try.

Have a question or comment for Jody? Email him at jodymadron@sportsgrumblings.com.