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I was 17, brash, and on top of my game. I had just eased a Toyota Cressida into a spot in section 7G and was loping back to the valet stand. The day was sunny, the golf course sparkling under the morning dew. It was a good day – but it was about to become a day that would forever define who I am.

There he was, climbing out of his Porsche 911. There was no shimmering red and black, no throbbing Chicago Stadium crowd, no air time. But there he was nevertheless, a 6’5” Adonis ready to hit the links. He gave me the keys, said “don’t go too fast now,” and grinned that world famous grin. I was off.

Your eyes are not deceiving you. I have parked Michael Jordan’s car.

There are many fantasy writers out there. Some are stat whizzes. Some can turn a witty phrase. But have any of them revved Michael’s engine? Pocketed Michael’s $5? Checked out Michael’s public appearance schedule, and his Whitney Houston cassette case?

Read other writers if you must, but you have to ask yourself – can I really trust my stat sheet to someone who hasn’t nearly put themselves into traction trying to sink Michael’s racing clutch pedal with a 5’5” frame and without moving the seat forward?

Hi, I’m Eric, the new guy on the NBA fantasy blog team. I’m also a writer for the New York Times’ Freakonomics blog. We at Freakonomics cover a lot of topics, from crime to baby names to horse manure. But there is one thing all we do has in common: we use numbers to understand the hidden patterns behind human behavior. This is what I’m going to bring to this blog.

I’m also a grizzled fantasy vet, going back to the old school days of graph paper and calculators. Those were good times. Sure, fantasy tool some legwork with no online pundits, no searchable stats tables, and no up-to-the-minute access to newspapers from across the nation. But if you were willing to buy the most preview mags and put in the time to hand-crunch a few numbers you could outhustle the competition.

Today, fantasy sites make it so easy – but making it easier has made it harder than ever. Slugs like my current opponent, team Triple Threat, can pop in every couple of weeks, get handed some numbers and injury reports on a silver platter, make a few clicks, and field a competitive team. Ever more smarts is needed to cope in this world of information symmetry.

I plan to help give you the edge on such pikers, wherever that edge can be gleaned.

For example, I’m a huge fan of the ESPN/NBA game. As far as I’m concerned, ESPN/NBA was snubbed by the Nobel committee when they failed to get the peace prize for providing the auctions and the mock drafts. But there is a small quirk in ESPN/NBA’s stats reporting system which can be exploited. They only give you player ranks based on total stats, not per-game averages. This means misleading reports when 1) A player has missed a few games but is back at full strength, or 2) A player has had a couple of light (3 game) or heavy (4 game) weeks. This is particularly an issue for the PR7 or PR15 rankings. It is not a major problem, but once in a while a valuable dude will slip through the cracks. I’ll use averages to let you know who they are.

Here’s one anomaly: Paul Millsap. In the PR15 he’s currently rated as 75^th, in large part because he’s only played 7 games during that period. But by averages, over the last 10 games Millsap ranks 35^th.  He’s owned in 80 percent of the leagues, but if you’re in one of the 20  percent grab him.

(PS – I calculate scores using standard deviations above or below the mean in each category, the same system that ESPN/NBA correctly uses).

And with Boozer out at the moment, Millsap is even more of a no-brainer (ditto Kirilenko, also hot lately and only owned in 80 percent of the leagues).

Here’s an available guy that ESPN/NBA overrates: Brandon Rush. He’s been playing very well, but because he’s had a whopping 9 games in the last 15 days, ESPN/NBA has him at 15th when the 10 game average says he’s more like 48th. By all means that’s still a solid ranking, and given that Rush is almost certainly available in your league (only 2.5 percent owned), he’s worth a hard look. But he’s no top 20 player -- duh.

Before I leave you, here’s one that it doesn’t take a statistical genius to see, but that most of the fantasy world seems to be missing. Carlos Delfino is currently rocking the stat sheet. Take a look at the previous 6 games before the last one – he averaged 19.3 points, 2.67 threes, 7.2 boards, 3.67 assists, and 1.67 steals while shooting .515 from the field. Amazingly, he’s owned in only 23.3 percent of ESPN/NBA leagues. With Redd gone for the season, owners who don’t have Delfino are blue.

(And the only reason Delfino’s last game was poor (6 points) was that I finally watched him on NBA League Pass. I promise you, it is etched on stone tablets that my guys will not produce when I invest 2 ½ hours of my precious time to watch them play. I will inform you when I plan to see a game and hex a guy, giving you plenty of time to dump or bench him. This alone is worth the price of admission).

Cistulli is amusing, and Stotts is full of essential information, but if you are powerless over your fantasy addiction and have absolutely no intention of turning it over to your higher power, consider reading this blog too. More to come.