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Twitter has long been an excellent source of instantaneous news and wide-ranging opinions. We ran a series of interviews two years ago to help users new and old get to know some of our favorite tweeters.
Our series is back for 2014. Today we interview Sports Illustrated's Peter Bukowski, our final Twitter series interview of 2014. Get to know him below.
NSFW RT @WesHod Hold on Rams on return but Dennard unsportsmanlike whips it out
— Peter Bukowski (@BukoTime) August 16, 2014
Who Am I?
Name: Peter Bukowski
Twitter handle: @BukoTime
Tweeting since: 2009
Number of tweets: 22.9K
Follower count: 1,187
Hometown: Milwaukee, WI
Day job: Sports Illustrated Producer
Family life: Live with my girlfriend in New York City
Quick bio (who you are, site(s) you represent, etc.): I've written all over the internet about football from Yahoo! to Fox Sports, USA Today and Bleacher Report. Now I make my home at SI.com where I've been since early 2013.
What is something unique about you that few would know about? I started my journalism career in TV news and was a newspaper beat reporter for two years before making sports my full-time job.
What you do for fun during the football offseason: I love to play basketball and golf, the latter of which I don't get to play nearly enough.
Favorite NFL team(s): Green Bay Packers
Favorite NFL player(s): Aaron Rodgers, LeSean McCoy, J.J. Watt, Jadeveon Clowney (trust me), Earl Thomas III
Give us your “must follows” on Twitter: For straight football it's guys like @SI_PeterKing, @SI_DougFarrar, @MikeTanier, and @BillBarnwell. For fantasy, @EvanSilva, @MikeClayNFL, and @MatthewBerryTMR (He's the OG)
What do you like most about Twitter? Learning. You have access to so many smart people on Twitter and you get to engage with them, learn from them. I can't tell you how much I've learned from people I've met/interacted with on Twitter.
Years playing fantasy football: 15 (I used to help my grandpa with his league before I started playing on my own)
How many leagues, typically? Three or more. I usually play for myself in two leagues, and then have joint teams in one or two others.
And Twitter implodes RT @nfldraftscout Michael Sam sacks Johnny Manziel.
— Peter Bukowski (@BukoTime) August 24, 2014
Inside the Guru’s Studio
What is your favorite fantasy word? Sleeper -- because there's no such thing. Brandin Cooks isn't a sleeper anymore because he's on everyone's sleeper list. You're no longer taking advantage of market deficiencies. It's like the stock market, you have to find value in the market. For example, I got rewarded for sticking with Keenan Allen last year when I had a hunch about him on draft day.
What is your least favorite fantasy word? Streaming. That's what you do on Netflix, not quarterbacks. Also, if you do that, you're annoying.
DC Comics or Marvel? Comics/characters? DC. Movies? Marvel and it's not close.
What is your favorite film? C'mon, you can't expect me to pick ONE. The Departed if I had to pick one.
What is your favorite book? The Giver -- no I'm not hyping the movie. Read it when I was in 5th grade and it has stuck with me my entire life.
Cake or ice cream? Ice cream all the way. Cake is WAY overrated unless it's cheesecake or carrot cake.
Star Wars or Star Trek? Wars, but the new Star Trek movies have been awesome.
What sound do you hate? Ok James Lipton... ummmm, Whining.
What sound do you love? The sound of a crowd rising in anticipation of a big play at a sporting event.
Film or Stats? Stats should be used to help inform what you see on film, so film.
I don’t think advanced analytics in football will ever have the mainstream use like in other sports. Too many variables.
— Peter Bukowski (@BukoTime) August 16, 2014
Predictions and Advice
Favorite fantasy style or combination of styles of play (Dynasty, Redraft, Auction, Best Ball, Daily, Survivor, etc.): Survivor is really fun, but if you have a good group of people together, it's hard to beat dynasty.
Studs ‘n Duds or Value Based Drafting? Studs. Have to ride your horses man.
What's the biggest mistake you see fantasy players make? Drafting mediocre players just to have depth. You can always find a backup if/when you need one on the waiver wire. I would rather take a guy with young player with high upside than a replacement level player. You likely won't find this year's Cordarrelle Patterson or Keenan Allen on the waiver wire once he breaks out.
How much of fantasy football is skill? How much is luck? It's like real football: If you have a well stocked roster, you can weather some injuries, but some you can't recover from. You lose Aaron Rodgers like last year, and you're just screwed. Most of it is just paying attention. Grabbing Julius Thomas after his breakout game against the Ravens last year was a no-brainer. I had a tight end, and still did it. Paid huge dividends.
Go out on a limb—give a wild prediction about the 2014 season that would shock the world if it happened:
Super Bowl XLVI Teams and Score: This is hardly shocking: Broncos 31- 49ers 28
2014 Fantasy MVP: LeSean McCoy. The defenses in the NFC East are an abomination and Sproles isn't going to be as big a vulture and some may think.
2014 Fantasy Most Improved: Robert Griffin III. Being healthy will make all the difference for RG3. Add in DeSean Jackson and the aforementioned NFC East defenses and he's going to bounce back in a big way this year. (Honorable mention: Zach Ertz. He's going to break out this year and be a top-5 TE)
2014 Fantasy Bust of the Year: Marshawn Lynch. Seattle wants to rely more heavily on Russell Wilson and the Seahawks have a stable of backs to run the ball if Lynch pouts or shows lingering effects from his contract dispute.