And with the first pick in the Sesame Street Fantasy League Football Draft … Big Bird.

What? Heck no! You’ve gotta be kidding me!

Sure, Big Bird is an 8-foot two-way lineman with loads of potential, but he’s Big Bird. Big Bird doesn’t have a bad bone in his body. When I’m looking for a bad dude to line up in the trenches, I’m not looking for Big Bird. Tickle me Elmo has more game than Big Bird.

Who would be my No. 1 draft pick from Sesame Street?

Kermit the Frog has no size or speed. Mr. Snuffleupugas? Come on, Snuffleupagus won’t even wake up on time for kickoff.

Count von Count? Please. Count wouldn’t even last a half. Coach Welch would have him running laps and he’d be spending all day counting the laps he’s running.

Oscar the Grouch? This guy lives in a garbage can. There’s no way Oscar could deal with Coach Rollinson.

Animal? Animal is my boy. That’s my No. 1 Sesame Street Fantasy League Draft Pick. I know Animal can parlay his drumming skills into football ability. I need a a dude that has high energy and is willing to do anything to help the team achieve victory. That’s Animal.

HERE ARE SOME RANDOM THOUGHTS AND FACTORS HEADING INTO WEEK 7:

I’m back, baby

Sure, Johnny Stanton is gone for the season, but my Eagles rallied up and defeated Servite, 21-0, to make sure that I had OCVarsity Pickapalooza Deathmatch glory. Take that Mrs. FryDay Night. I’m sticking with my boys in blue when they take on Mater Dei on Friday at 7:30 p.m. at Saddleback College. This shall be another tough Trinity League battle, but the Eagles shall prevail.

Real deal check

O.C. football coaches and observers continue to challenge the voracity of El Toro QB Conner Manning’s stats and legitimacy. Enough already. Manning is realer than “Real Deal” Holyfield. The kid is too legit to quit. He’s gonna put up Madden stats against anybody. Get used to it. It’s extremely hard to sack him when he does three-step drops. He’s super smart, so it’s hard to hit him with blitz packages. You can’t go touchdown-for-touchdown with El Toro, because the Chargers will keep scoring. The South Coast League has been presented with a dilemma. Tesoro is used to dealing with strange mathmatical problems. The Titans have three fourth-quarter wins against quality opponents this season. We’ll find out a lot about El Toro and Tesoro on Friday at 7 p.m. at Trabuco Hills High.

Time to step up

Los Al has feasted on cupcakes and tomato cans so far this season and Coach John Barnes notched his 300th victory. The Griffins bring a 5-1 record into its Sunset League showdown against Edison. The Griffins have had a fun time so far this season, but now they will have to deal with the grinder that is the Chargers’ defense. Edison doesn’t play around. The Chargers defense comes to games to chew bubblegum and kick butt. Most of the time they don’t bring any bubblegum, which means there are a lot of butts getting kicked. We’ll find out a lot about the Sunset League on Friday at 7 p.m. at Veterans Stadium.

Southern Division Smackdown

Laguna Beach’s Drake Martinez and Estancia’s Robert Murtha are set to go toe-to-toe in an Orange Coast League showdown that has major implications on the Southern Division on Friday at 7 p.m. at Estancia High. I’m promising a shootout of epic proportions.

Dire straits for former Trinity powers

Yikes! Did I just describe Servite and Orange Lutheran as former Trinity League powers in that headline? I guess I did. That might be a little harsh. Servite is young, inexperienced and has played one of the toughest schedules of any team in Southern California. The Friars have losses to Bishop Amat of La Puente, Edison, Bishop Gorman of Las Vegas and Santa Margarita. The troubling part is they have been shut out three times. OLu doesn’t belong in that former Trinity League power category. The Lancers are 5-1 under first-year coach Chuck Petersen and ran into St. John Bosco of Bellflower in last week’s Trinity League opener. Both of these proud teams are in dire straits and need a victory to stay relevant and in the hunt for a playoff berth this season.

The Thursday Night Football Madness game of the week is …

Santa Ana Valley (4-2, 1-0) vs. Katella (4-2, 1-0) on Thursday at 7 p.m. at Western High. The Falcons, who were picked to finish first in the Orange League in the preseason coaches’ poll, have reeled off two consecutive dominant victories, including a 47-14 victory over Magnolia in the Orange League opener last week. Santa Ana Valley’s junior running back Alex Hernandez is among the county leaders with 1,039 yards and nine TDs on 137 carries and he also has two receiving TDs. Katella’s junior running back T.J. Ashmeade is coming off a season-high 216 yards and two TDs on 27 carries in a 30-14 victory over Anaheim in the Orange League opener. The Knights will need a similar effort if they hope to upset the Falcons, ranked No. 9 in the Southern Division.

Tillers lose Roberson for rest of regular season

Tustin’s double-wing offense is one of the most effective rushing attacks in the county, but what will happen to the Tillers’ high-powered offense now that they’ve lost QB Quinnton Roberson for possibly the remainder of the regular season because of a sprained knee? The two-way standout has helped Tustin to a 7-0 mark overall and a 3-0 start in the Empire League. Fortunately for the Tillers, they have three of the top running backs in the county with Terence Martinez (1,047 yards, 15 TDs), DaVonte Young (702 yards, 8 TDs) and Edward Tandy (374 yards, 4 TDs). Tustin should be able to get past Cypress, Western and Kennedy in the regular season, but they will need Roberson to make a deep run in the Southwest Division playoffs.

Grizzly … I mean, Jaguars situation for Golden West League

Reports of Grizzly sightings – I mean Jaguars sightings –  and Grizzly attacks — of course, I mean Jaguar attacks — are on the rise throughout the county. The epicenter for these Grizzlies — uhm, Jaguars — appears to be at W. MacArthur Blvd. and Raitt St., aka Segerstrom High, the home of the top-ranked team in the Southern Division. Can anybody in the Golden West League stop the Jaguars? The answer is no, but Ocean View (3-3, 1-0) will give its best try when it plays host to the Jaguars (6-0, 1-0) on Friday at 7 p.m. David Perkins (885 yards, 73 car., 14 TDs) and Sonny Roa (641 yards, 51 car., 10 TDs) lead Segerstrom’s high-powered offense that is averaging 352.3 rushing yards and 46.0 points per game. The Jaguars have topped 50 points in a game three times this season. It’s Grizzly time — I mean, it’s Jaguars time.

Will the real Dana Hills please stand up?

Is Dana Hills the team that stumbled through an 0-5 start or is the real Dana Hills the team that knocked off Irvine, 22-7, and then rallied from a 12-point deficit to upset Aliso Niguel, 20-18, in last week’s Sea View League opener. The Dolphins got an unlikely assist from sophomore halfback Brian Scott, who had four carries for 9 yards through six games before replacing featured back Marcus Hughes and exploding for 216 yards and two TDs on 22 carries in Dana Hills’ triumph over the Wolverines. Dana Hills (2-5, 1-0) had to deal with Aliso Niguel QB Nathan Cole last week and they will have to try to slow down Capistrano Valley QB Mason Dossey this week when it plays host to the Cougars (5-1, 0-0) on Friday at 7 p.m. Dana Hills, which moved from the South Coast League to the Sea View League this season, and Capo Valley were picked to finish first and second, respectively, in the Sea View League in the coaches’ preseason poll.

Operation Avenge Me

Laguna Hills (4-2, 1-0) owns a 10-4 edge over Aliso Niguel (5-2, 0-1) in the all-time series and has won the past three meetings against the Wolverines. Aliso Niguel hasn’t beaten the Hawks since a 38-0 shutout in 2004. I witnessed Aliso Niguel QB Nathan Cole pass for a school-record 491 yards and seven TDs in the Wolverines’ 50-41 triumph over Woodbridge on Sept. 27. Cole is putting up Conner Manning-like numbers this season. I don’t believe Laguna Hills can go touchdown-for-touchdown with Aliso Niguel on Friday at 7 p.m. at Aliso Niguel. I believe the WOLVERINES will exact some Red Dawn like vengeance, plus this is a must-win situation for the WOLVERINES after last week’s loss to Dana Hills. Get ready for the WOLVERINES to deploy Operation Avenge Me.

Lobos on the loose

Los Amigos (4-2, 1-0) avenged last year’s 29-14 loss to defending league champion Rancho Alamitos with a 38-0 victory last week to put themselves in the mix for the Garden Grove League championship. Next up for Los Amigos is Garden Grove (4-2, 1-0), which was ranked No. 7 in last week’s Southern Division poll, on Thursday at 7 p.m. at Garden Grove High. Senior running back Jerry Saldivar has been getting the job done for the Lobos this season. he has rushed for 1,078 yards and 12 TDs and is averaging 7.1 yards per carry.

Here is how I voted in this week’s OC top 10 poll

1. Santa Margarita; 2. Mission Viejo; 3. Tesoro; 4. Mater Dei; 5. El Toro; 6. Edison; 7. Orange Lutheran; 8. Tustin; 9. Villa Park; and 10. Servite.

See this week’s O.C. top 10 poll and Fryer’s teams 11-25.

Follow me on Twitter @LosOCVarsity.

Here is Animal in action:

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