About

Nicholas on Twitter:

http://twitter.com/nicholasminnix

Fantasy awards:

Coolest Alyssa Milano Stalker Ever

Current location:

Carlsbad, Calif.

Hometown:

Newark, Del.

Favorite sport:

For intellect and intricacy, baseball. For creativity, beauty and passion, soccer.

Favorite team:

Philadelphia Phillies

Favorite athlete of all time:

John Elway

Favorite current athlete:

Jimmy Rollins

Fantasy sports you participate in:

baseball, football

When did you start playing fantasy sports?

In 1997 I partnered with a pal to form a team in the Newark Roto League - a 14-team dynasty football league with an offseason amateur draft, a preseason auction and rotisserie scoring - not the ideal place for total beginners to cut their teeth. We learned a lot.

How did you get your start in the industry?

I used KFFL's NFL Hot off the Wire news feed religiously based on a recommendation from my dynasty football league's commish at the time. After a few years, I finally took notice of the embedded ads and answered one in which the site was looking for writers.

I submitted my first report - an assessment of the emerging Javon Walker's fantasy value - in late December 2003. The editor told me that he hadn't seen a better first report in his time there. KFFL published it in early January 2004, and the rest is history.

Best fantasy sports memory?

My first was the best. Title, that is. I won the Newark Roto League (under the pen name Finger Nickin' Good) in 2000. The moment I will never forget - the move that made that dream possible - was my waiver claim of free-agent-to-be James Stewart in Week 17 of the previous season.

I owned Fred Taylor in 1999 and had picked up Stewart to fill in - because Fred was, as we all know, fragile. I waived Stewart in Week 16. As the waiving team, I had last dibs, but I figured no one cared about Stewart, especially in the season's final week. I was right.

I'd read that Stewart wanted to play in a city where he had a chance to start. He signed with Detroit, became their featured back and turned in his signature campaign. Taylor remained healthy, Ricky Williams was adequate, and I was a champeen.

What is the one thing you would tell a rookie fantasy sports player?

Don't base your valuation of a player on the most recent season or two alone. This is easily one of the toughest lessons to learn.

Players don't duplicate performances; rather, their performances are parts of a body of work supported by trends and affected by environment. The sooner you understand that concept, the sooner you'll understand how to project performance and predict outcomes. Then you'll know where to find value, particularly the unseen kind.

What would people be surprised to know about you?

I won a casting call for the role of Willie Mays Hayes in "Major League" before the studio discovered an up-and-coming Wesley Snipes, who "was born to play this role!" per director Daniel S. Ward. And I wasn't? Passenger 57 ruined my acting career. The first sequel's dull plot notwithstanding, I still dug the "Blade" trilogy.