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I don't get the whole ask the "homer" thing (1 Viewer)

P

ppierce

Footballguy
All these threads asking the "homer" for advice. What access does the "homer" have that everybody else doesn't have? Its not like they have inside information. The only thing the "homer" may see more of are the local news shows and if you're relying on the 4 minute sports segment on the nightly news for Fantasy advice, I wanna join your league.

I guarantee if you follow a teams beat writter on Twitter and the "homer" doesn't, you'll have more info then them. I'm a Bears fan and don't know anymore then anyone else.

 
I agree to a point, but local print papers and radio sometimes have more detailed info than you can get nationally.

 
More than likely the last place you would want advice from. Asking for homer advie on Tim Tebow will only send you to the bottom of the heap as he says you should trade 5 1st rounders, Drew Brees, Calvin Johnson and LeSean McCoy for Tebow.

 
'ppierce said:
I'm a Bears fan and don't know anymore then anyone else.
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Sure you do. You don't necessarily have access to significantly more information, but you probably the take the time to access the common information. Fans (but no necessarily those who live in that team's area) are more likely to seek info than other people. But, as FavreCo points out, that can be dangerous. Fans tend to either be overly optimistic or overly pessimistic. If you can find a few level-headed "homers", they can provide really good info.
 
I'm a Florida football fan. I post on college football forums and read about it religiously. I'm willing to bet I know more about what is going on at UF than a fan of a different school..

There are insider forums that have guys close to the program or organization posting information that people may be part of.

Obviously you can follow beat writers and be up to date on a certain team and not be a "homer", but I'm sure the people asking for a homer are not those types and just want to get easy info from someone who follow a particular team closely..

 
I agree to a point, but I think it's about what advice/insight from the local sports writers to follow and which to avoid. For example, I am a Patriots homer and would suggest that Mike Reiss info be followed/trusted and Ron Borges' info be avoided/discarded. In that regard, I think homers have insight into WHO to listen to and who not to and in the swirling winds of mountainous info that can be valuable.

 
Less now with the ability to follow all the writers on twitter.

But as mentioned...listening to local radio helps (though, as a Packer fan in TN, I still listen to Wisconsin sports talk radio streamed through my phone).

Homers also visit other message boards and may get some tidbits through other fans.

Yes, you have to take some advice with a grain of salt...but not everyone follows the beat writers of all 32 teams. Saving some time and asking the opinions of people who do pay attention to their team is good from time to time.

 
It depends. Do you watch every game? If not, I think its really hard to find the context behind the stats. Sometimes people try to use other stats (targets, catch %, etc) to give them the context, but I don't think that does it. You really need to understand a team's game plan, how the game is going, and what is happening as a result. I don't think you need to be a homer to know these things, but you wont find it in a box score either.

In other words, I think saying "I need a Bears fan to weigh in" might be silly, but saying "I need someone who has watched every Bears game the last few years" makes sense to me. Of course, most people you will find that meet that requirement are Bears fans.

I watch a few games besides my own team every week, but there is only 1 team I see EVERY week.

 
If you play in a deep / dynasty league where preemptive stashes are imperative, the info acquired from "homers" are IMO invaluable especially for smaller market teams. I personally don't have time to go to game rewind and watch every single play of every game every week, so it's nice to hear a homer say "Watch out for ________, he's and up and comer", and go see for myself what the hype is all about. Sure you can follow the beat writers and get the latest info, but they're usually captain obvious when it comes to talent evaluation.

 
radio talk shows, not all journalist post to twitter right away so they may know of a blog/forum that we don't, insight on past history with a certain player, homers follow the team religiously compared to someone across the coast.

 
I don't agree. Yes you can follow beat writers but are you going to read everything that all 32 write? Even so, I don't think the beat writers put everything into print. There are some things that you can glean only from watching every minute of every game. As a Bengals fan I guarantee that I know more about them than the other teams because I watch every game. Following beat writers of the other 31 teams won't put me on par. The trick is finding an OBJECTIVE fan. So I don't think the question is "Why do people ask questions to homers?". Rather the real question IMO is finding objective homers who can pass on good info not influenced by their fandom (is that a word?).

 
'BroadwayG said:
'steelwind said:
A KC homer was the one who found a link stating that Jackie Battle is the next in line for a featured role.
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Another KC homer said that Battle was a steaming pile not worthy of being on the team.
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That's just speculation and a matter of opinion. Which you will get a ton of. What you should pay attention to, in this case, is the article link the KC homer posted. Then form an opinion of your own. After I read that article, it was a no brainer to me to pickup Battle before week 5. Hence you stay ahead of the curve.Homers will have all sorts of opinion. But you should filter them out and look for information they provide such as local radio news, links and coach's speak.
 
Some teams have fans who are really intuned to the team. Where they have more access to news & tidbits pertaining to the team.

 
It depends on what homers you're talking about. Some teams simply have more informed followers on this board and guys that know football more.

For instance, I'll brag on Buffalo homers here a bit, especially Rudnicki. If you want to know how a player is being utilized on offense or defense or what formations the Bills have been using and have been successful with, Rude can tell you that because he has watched the games and understands what's going on.

When there were suddenly reports during the preseason that Spiller was going to be the starter, the Bills fans on the board were the only guys saying that this was still Fred Jackson's job and that he was being underrated by fantasy owners. 5 weeks later and he's the #1 or #2 fantasy RB in the league through 5 weeks.

After David Nelson's bust out week in Week 1, everyone was desperate to know more. The consensus was that he was the next #2 WR in the league to put up big numbers in Buffalo's explosive offense. The Bills fans said to slow down; that Nelson has talent and is a big guy, but that he wasn't an elite guy and that the ball was going to get spread around a lot in Buffalo's offense which meant a lot of weeks where he would disappear. He blew up again in Week 2 and everyone was in love. A few weeks later, everyone is wondering what happened to him when "what happened" was not only predictable, but was predicted by Bills fans.

On the other hand, NOBODY could have predicted how well Buffalo's O-line has been.

I also don't think that the average person even has any clue WHO is valuable to follow on Twitter from each team. I certainly don't. For instance, does anyone outside of Bills fans have any clue who to follow for good Bills info? My guess is probably not, but I pretty much have 3 guys I follow that I feel give me tons of great info that I don't typically see anywhere else.

 
I think one of the values of "homer opinion" is that homers ACTUALLY WATCH THE GAMES.

Too often, people watch highlights or simply read statlines and think "wow - this guy was great!" or "meh, he was horrible" - whereas homers can bring insight that only actually watching the game (and watching it in a focussed way) can bring.

All you have to do is look at the D. Moore thread to understand what I mean - many people "thinking that coverage is rolled to him" or that "BB game-planned and had him doubled almost every play" - really? I'd rather have thoughts of people that actually SAW that happening (or not) - not "guessing" or "thinking", but actual observation either by watching the game or actually being AT the game (where sometimes you can actually see action away from the play that isn't caught on TV as well).

When I look for homer comments, I tend to pay attention to phrases that start with "I watched the last 3 games, and here is what I noticed about...".

 
'cheese said:
It depends. Do you watch every game? If not, I think its really hard to find the context behind the stats. Sometimes people try to use other stats (targets, catch %, etc) to give them the context, but I don't think that does it. You really need to understand a team's game plan, how the game is going, and what is happening as a result. I don't think you need to be a homer to know these things, but you wont find it in a box score either.In other words, I think saying "I need a Bears fan to weigh in" might be silly, but saying "I need someone who has watched every Bears game the last few years" makes sense to me. Of course, most people you will find that meet that requirement are Bears fans.I watch a few games besides my own team every week, but there is only 1 team I see EVERY week.
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This.Yes, we all have access to the same info and the Ticket gives us access to all the games. However, I think most of us watch other teams from a fantasy perspective only, meaning I'm really only looking for one or two things in that particular game. My viewing is detached because I have no vested interest in the team as a whole. Therefore, I don't care to delve into the details of team dynamics, coaching patterns, player's tendencies, etc...because it doesn't matter as much and I generally don't have enough interest or time to seriously follow a random team in that stalker kind of way. Sort of the way I can see that Angelina Jolie is hot and other guys can also see that she's pretty hot, but Brad Pitt can tell you what her breath smells like. A 'homer' is emotionally involved and has the experience of watching every snap of every game to back that up. We can all look at stats but its' that kinda insight that people are usually looking for with the 'homer' questions.
 
Paging Mr. So and So...

I take it as maybe the "homer" is hearing stuff on local radio shows or something...not that they have any inside access.

 
I think that asking a homer for advice is great, if you happen to have someone who looks at the team objectively. Personally, I follow the Panthers religiously, I keep up with every beat writer imaginable and I watch every play of every game multiple times. I watch everything from individual players on the offensive line to special teams gunners. I am objective about the team though, and I rarely draft Panthers players. I did make an exception for Greg Olsen this year, and it's been paying off pretty well.

I think that I can offer some insight into the Panthers that most people who don't see. I look for that same kind of insight when it comes to other teams, and I've found that it pays off quite often. You just have to look at the comments and make sure it's coming from someone who isn't one of those fans who over evaluates their team's players.

 
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Lots of good replies. I agree that just plain hearing more info about the team is one aspect.

But there's a lot to be gained from homers intimate knowledge of the team. I often will go to a team's thread to get their fan's input on a question they would be more aware of than I.

As a Texans fan I probably know 10x more about them than I do any other team, and imagine that other team's fans are the same about their team. I know coaching tendencies, how players have been used. A homer can tell you a fair amount about what players impressed in camp and which didn't, and some of us even attend training camps when we can.

There's times it really pays off. The situation with Foster and Tate is a great example for the Texans. When you watch every play those players have been in on, you learn their strengths and weaknesses and you can make better predictions about what value they'll hold.

I agree on the importance of finding objective homers. Though that's the case homer or not. :)

 
'solorca said:
I think that asking a homer for advice is great, if you happen to have someone who looks at the team objectively. Personally, I follow the Panthers religiously, I keep up with every beat writer imaginable and I watch every play of every game multiple times. I watch everything from individual players on the offensive line to special teams gunners. I am objective about the team though, and I rarely draft Panthers players. I did make an exception for Greg Olsen this year, and it's been paying off pretty well.I think that I can offer some insight into the Panthers that most people who don't see. I look for that same kind of insight when it comes to other teams, and I've found that it pays off quite often. You just have to look at the comments and make sure it's coming from someone who isn't one of those fans who over evaluates their team's players.
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How many guys on the team, including all offensive and defensive players, can Steve Smith beat up pretty handily?
 
'footballnerd said:
radio talk shows, not all journalist post to twitter right away so they may know of a blog/forum that we don't, insight on past history with a certain player, homers follow the team religiously compared to someone across the coast.
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:goodposting: Access to local radio is the big one for me.

 
We used to have a list of the most respected homers by team.

I think its valuable and I like to suppliment my own opinions with observations from homers.

 
I agree.

Footballguys.com and rotoworld.com are your friend for finding info. The link from the KC "homer" about Battle prior to week 5? It was up on rotoworld.com, as well. Footballguys also pointed out that Battle's role was set to increase.

I don't necessarily follow the advice of rotoworld, but they do an excellent job of getting all the information out there.

 
It has been said, but is worth repeating: It all depends on the homer.

Yes, the average fan is not going to give you any information you can get from the local news twitter feed. But there are people that post here that give much more in depth, accurate and fantasy centered information of specific teams.

 
It also depends on the question you are trying to get the homer to answer. Don't ask me if I have any inside info on Saints injuries as Sean Payton keeps those things under the vest. I can tell you my informed opinion on players like Mark Ingram or Jimmy Graham,etc. but thats it for the most part unless I post a link to a news story or forum thread on Saints Report. Homers are not experts however.

 
'Bad_Mo said:
'solorca said:
I think that asking a homer for advice is great, if you happen to have someone who looks at the team objectively. Personally, I follow the Panthers religiously, I keep up with every beat writer imaginable and I watch every play of every game multiple times. I watch everything from individual players on the offensive line to special teams gunners. I am objective about the team though, and I rarely draft Panthers players. I did make an exception for Greg Olsen this year, and it's been paying off pretty well.I think that I can offer some insight into the Panthers that most people who don't see. I look for that same kind of insight when it comes to other teams, and I've found that it pays off quite often. You just have to look at the comments and make sure it's coming from someone who isn't one of those fans who over evaluates their team's players.
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How many guys on the team, including all offensive and defensive players, can Steve Smith beat up pretty handily?
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Hahah, it depends on the day. Normal, everyday Steve Smith? Probably 15%. Angry Steve Smith? 100%.
 
I'm a 49er fan, and I only post on one old message board with few members when it comes to the team. Most of them are flat out bad. I'd avoid all of them if you were looking for info about that team.

CSN Bay Area, and SFGate are good sources. Matt Barrows is pretty solid. Go there first, and avoid the message boards.

 
'Shane Falco said:
and while we are at, please tell me why people list their rosters in their sig? :rolleyes:
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And while we're at it, can someone tell me why anyone wouldn't have sigs disabled in their profile? ;)Regarding the OP:The homer's do know more than you do. Or I do. We have access to the information that they do, but do we process all the data? I have an RSS reader that puts most of the decent beat writers stuff in one place. Do I go through it every day? No. But there is a Bears fan that does read everything about the Bears, and a Seahawks fan that reads everything about the Hawks. They've also seen every moment of every game. As casual fans we THINK we know every thing about every team, but we don't.
 
I don't get a post asking for homer info about someone like Andre Johnson's injury. "any homers know anything"? when AJ farts ESPN has a breaking news alert. everyone know everything.

however, if you're asking about a 3rd string WR that you're interested in, a diehard fan that spent his summer at training camp could be your best source

 
'Wadsworth said:
It has been said, but is worth repeating: It all depends on the homer.

Yes, the average fan is not going to give you any information you can get from the local news twitter feed. But there are people that post here that give much more in depth, accurate and fantasy centered information of specific teams.
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Without question you have to know where your information is coming from. Some people just love football and follow all the details. The NFL is such a team sport that it's hard to gain an accurate picture of what exactly is happening. For instance people are pimping Powell because Greene isn't showing up in the stat column, but if you ask Jets homers they'll let you know how terrible the line is run blocking right now.
 
Sometimes people get so wrapped up in statistics, they miss out on the intangibles. That is the value of the homer insight. Those are the ones attending all of the home games and bale to tell you all the vitals on every player down to the last player on the bench. It is that knowledge that transcends simple statistical analysis. Stop being a homer-phobe.

 
Simply put, homers know more about their team or teams than you and me. They know their teams strengths and weaknesses way more than the people at Rotowire or whatnot. So why not ask a homer?

 
I was listening to Sirius NFL Radio today and all of the Tebow "homers" calling in were obviously Gator fans going by how he played in college. The host proceeded to read the list of college Heisman winners that were busts in the NFL.

 
'ppierce said:
All these threads asking the "homer" for advice. What access does the "homer" have that everybody else doesn't have? Its not like they have inside information. The only thing the "homer" may see more of are the local news shows and if you're relying on the 4 minute sports segment on the nightly news for Fantasy advice, I wanna join your league.I guarantee if you follow a teams beat writter on Twitter and the "homer" doesn't, you'll have more info then them. I'm a Bears fan and don't know anymore then anyone else.
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whats not to get?If the RIGHT homer chimes in, they have much knoweledge to give.Someone who watched every snap of their favorite team, knows their teams's strategy, and little nuances.........thats a different kinda thing then the latest update from twitter. I dont know about you, but I dont have time to keep up with all NFL teams.You dont want the homers that wear rose colored glasses. you want the homer who is honest about the team, obviously.
 
Homers naturally pay more attention to their team than anyone else does. Sure, you could find all the information yourself but nobody has the time to do that for every player.

There are caveats since they're biased toward the team (which means they could be overly optimistic OR pessimistic, really) but you'll get information you probably wouldn't take the time to get yourself.

Also, consider the "cost" of this information: All you do is start a thread here. That's a small time investment for whatever reward you get. For that reason alone I like those threads.

 
'Neil Beaufort Zod said:
Homers naturally pay more attention to their team than anyone else does. Sure, you could find all the information yourself but nobody has the time to do that for every player.There are caveats since they're biased toward the team (which means they could be overly optimistic OR pessimistic, really) but you'll get information you probably wouldn't take the time to get yourself.Also, consider the "cost" of this information: All you do is start a thread here. That's a small time investment for whatever reward you get. For that reason alone I like those threads.
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When I started doing the Texans whatever the season thread, it was with the idea that I could give people information about the team w/o having to start the "homer" thread. Hopefully one of us has either posted the info or can get to the answer fairly quickly. we are be no means perfect nor have all the answers nor even agree, but it is there as an attempt to help everyone in the SP.
 
'coolnerd said:
'Neil Beaufort Zod said:
Homers naturally pay more attention to their team than anyone else does. Sure, you could find all the information yourself but nobody has the time to do that for every player.There are caveats since they're biased toward the team (which means they could be overly optimistic OR pessimistic, really) but you'll get information you probably wouldn't take the time to get yourself.Also, consider the "cost" of this information: All you do is start a thread here. That's a small time investment for whatever reward you get. For that reason alone I like those threads.
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When I started doing the Texans whatever the season thread, it was with the idea that I could give people information about the team w/o having to start the "homer" thread. Hopefully one of us has either posted the info or can get to the answer fairly quickly. we are be no means perfect nor have all the answers nor even agree, but it is there as an attempt to help everyone in the SP.
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Those are great, but going through several pages that span months can be daunting. Sometimes it's easier just to start a thread asking homers about Dressen specifically, for example.
 
I'll trust a football fan who understands the game to tell me what he sees from a team he watches every week.

 
Because people on here like to act like they are getting some kind of "inside info" to get an advantage over the others in their league since they are "sharks"

 
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