Fantasy vs. Reality

All of us who play fantasy football have felt that tug – do I cheer for the outcome for my NFL team or the points for my fantasy team? 

Indisputably, fantasy football has increased overall interest in the NFL – it has brought in casual fans like nothing before. But how does it impact fans' rooting interests in their favorite team? We all say that we’re cheering for our team above all else, but if we really look inside ourselves, we realize we’ve all said something like “well, if Welker scores and not Gronkowski, I have a good shot at winning this week,” or “If the Packers win but Rodgers throws less than 300 yards, everybody wins!”and that’s when we see how much fantasy football has impacted our standing as fans of our favorite team.

If we are absolutely cheering for “real life” ahead of fantasy, then there is no way my husband, a diehard Vikings fan, would have chosen Aaron Rodgers as his quarterback. Yet he did, and each week it literally pains him to “cheer” for Rodgers to have a good game. I told him if I was in the same situation I never would have drafted Rodgers – but am I being honest with myself? Sunday afternoon as I watched my Patriots pummel the Chargers, I was thinking, “please don’t let Gronkowski score again – anyone but Gronkowski!” Luckily, he didn’t hear me, but each time he scored it felt bittersweet – my team was building on their lead, but I saw my chances at a win in my fantasy league slipping away. 

We convince ourselves that there is a way to win both – but the second we cheer for a certain player on our NFL team to have a lousy game, we’ve let fantasy football negatively impact our fandom.   

Those of us lucky enough to have teams with a chance to win the Super Bowl should always cheer for our NFL team over our fantasy team. But if you are a fan of, say, the Kansas City Chiefs or the Seattle Seahawks (or the Manning-less Colts), when does it become acceptable to cheer against a player on your NFL team for the sake of your fantasy team? Some would say never, but many would take any good news during an otherwise dismal NFL season – “Sure, the Vikings stink, but at least I won my fantasy league!” At what point does the outcome of one completely squash the other?

A real fan never, ever roots against their NFL team, or any player on their team, on Sunday (or Monday or Thursday). On the flip side, a good fantasy player will forget their real-life loyalties when doing their line-up. So when the Patriots play the Jets I’ll keep Shonn Greene in my starting lineup, and I wouldn’t mind if he had a 100 yard game with a touchdown if the Pats still win. That being said, if someone asked me whether I’d pick the Patriots to win and Greene has 13 yards on the ground with no touchdowns, or Greene has 125 yards and two touchdowns to give me the fantasy win but the Patriots lose, I’ll take the Pats every day of the week. 

The question we all need to ask ourselves is this: do I feel better when my fantasy team wins, or my favorite NFL team? For me, I feel a lot worse if the Patriots lose… sure, a win in my fantasy league softens the blow but in the end, I’ll swallow the loss in my fantasy league if it means the Patriots earn a “W” and increase their lead over the Jets.

Pick one league

I love to play fantasy football, that’s been well-established, and I’m certainly not the only one. However, I, unlike many other fantasy football junkies, have made the conscious decision to play in only one league.

There are many reasons for this, the last being time commitment. I’ve done the multiple-league thing, and it just got confusing and each week I was having multiple ethical dilemmas (no one needs that). It’s like filling out more than one NCAA bracket – it just isn’t right. You need to pick your one team and cheer for them.

The biggest reason I don’t play on more than one team is because of what my friend Steve was going through on Sunday. He has Adrian Peterson on his team in one league, and was playing against him in another league. So, do you cheer for him to do well, or to tank? In either case, one of your teams suffers. During the game he was torn – when Peterson scored, he jumped up in celebration, then remembered that he was also playing against him, and slumped down in his seat. I couldn’t help laughing at his visible internal struggle. He said he hoped Peterson would get “between 10-12 points, that way it helps me a bit when he’s on my team, and doesn’t hurt me too much in the other league.”

Peterson ended up with 26 points.

Fantasy has done a lot of good things for the NFL and its fans – people who play fantasy are now much more invested in the games they may have previously seen as throw-aways, and they are more likely to watch more games than they would have before fantasy sports hit the mainstream.

On the flip side, fantasy football (or baseball, hockey, etc.) has created a constant internal struggle in fans. Say you’re from Indiana and you’re a Peyton Manning fan – he’s the signal caller for your hometown team, so you always cheer for him to have a big game. But then, what happens when your fantasy team is playing against the team who has Manning as their quarterback? Fans like to say that – no matter what – they cheer for their team to win. But in that particular instance, you start thinking, “Well, if the Colts can win and Manning just plays mediocre, then it’s even better.” No fan should be torn like that.

But let’s add more to the situation. You’re that Indy native. Manning is your hometown team’s quarterback, and he’s also your starter in Fantasy League A. Oh, but in Fantasy League B, your quarterback is Matt Shaub and you’re playing against Peyton Manning. Now what? You need Manning to get points in the real game, and in Fantasy League A because your top running back and wide receiver are on by. But, if he gets too many points, then Fantasy League B will suffer, since there is now way that Shaub is going to match Manning in points this season.

Don’t you want to avoid that? Pick one fantasy league to throw yourself into. Sure, your chances of winning the league diminish when you only play in one league, but the thrill of victory will also be that much sweeter.

As for filling out multiple NCAA brackets – don’t be that guy. When you fill out more than one, not only do you forget who you picked in what pool, but it makes you the lame guy who doesn’t think he can accurately pick games, and has to rely on luck and odds. Yeah, you might win one of the seven pools you’re in, but considering how much money you had to front (assuming you were betting, which of course you aren’t since it’s not legal outside of Vegas), you really didn’t win much at all. And all you really did was lose your sport-fan cred.

Pick one team, pick one bracket, and stick with it. Stand behind your picks and lower the chance you have to cheer against your home team players. And when it comes down to it – always pick your real-life team over fantasy.

Fantasy Football tips

As somewhat of a fantasy football guru, I am used to being asked by friends for help with their draft.

Mind you, as a female myself, most of my friends are females, and most do not know much about sports, let alone how fantasy sports work. So it has fallen upon me, as, in most cases, their only female friend who knows much about football or fantasy sports, to help guide them through their first fantasy football draft.

On Monday, my dear friend Sara, who is an attorney in New Orleans, sought my advice. She is playing in a league with co-workers, and wants to at least appear to know what she is doing.

So, I will share my advice with you all as I did with her.

First, find out what kind of league you are in – most are a "standard scoring league," but occasionally a commissioner will want to mix it up and make theirs a "points-per-reception league." A PPR league raises the values of wide receivers (and running backs who catch the ball out of the backfield, a la Reggie Bush) because each reception they get results in a point for your team. Running backs are still the most point-friendly, but the gap in value between RBs and WRs is narrowed. For example, receivers who catch 10 balls a game become highly valued. It is worth noting that quarterbacks do not get a similar bump for throwing the pass, only the person that catches the pass gets the point.

Second, do your research – read fantasy guides, make sure you are up on depth charts and injury reports, and, of course, look at draft kits. These kits, made by ESPN, Yahoo!, etc., are made up of "cheat sheets" that give their top-300 overall rankings, rankings by position, and depth charts. All are necessary for your fantasy draft. Make sure you bring all of these to your draft with a pencil to cross out players as they are chosen. If you are doing an in-person draft, you don’t want to be "that guy" who drafts someone who’s already been taken; if you are doing an online draft that won’t be a problem, as players are taken off as they are drafted and you can’t choose them, but it will also help you to keep track of the best available players by position.

Third - your first pick has to be the best available player. Most likely that will be a RB, but if you get a late first-round pick (7 or later), you may want to take the #1 QB or WR. Especially if you are in a PPR league, taking Andre Johnson (Houston), Randy Moss (New England) or Larry Fitzgerald (Arizona) in the late first round would be a good choice. I would not take any QB besides Drew Brees (New Orleans) in the first round.

Once you have made your first pick, things start to get tricky. Your draft is dependent on who other people pick, and how you are able to keep track – this is where the cheat sheets and pencil come in handy. Personally, I like to choose one RB, WR and QB before I double up on any other position. If your first three rounds get you one of each of those positions, you will likely have a stud in each position, instead of having, say, three good RB and a garbage QB.

Don't take a tight end until the 4th round at the earliest, and then only if one of the top-3 guys is available. The only TE that I would take before round 6 is Dallas Clark (Ind.), Vernon Davis (San Fran) or Antonio Gates (San Diego). When you are thinking about taking a TE, try to get one who doesn’t have a bye until week 9 or 10 (Davis and Gates), then you only need to draft one TE. You can grab someone off the waivers later in the season to take their place in the bye week.

Now, the cheat sheets also come in very handy with bye weeks. Each NFL team has a bye week during the season – the week when they don't have a game. Make sure that your top two at any position do not have the same bye week, because then that week you will have a very hard time making up those points.

The later rounds are when it gets fun for me – I like to take risks after I’ve already chosen 2 WR, 2 RB 1 QB and 1 TE. Take a rookie who could have a break out year. Maybe they won’t pan out, but they were late-round picks so they are worth the risk. I took CJ Spiller, the first-year RB in Buffalo from Clemson, in the eighth round, and Golden Tate (WR, Seattle) in the twelfth round.

Another late round tip: take a risk on a second-stringer, especially if he’s backing up someone who tends to get hurt.

As for defense and kickers, do not, under any circumstance, draft one before round 9 – and even then, only take a defense that is top – two in the league. For example, taking the Jets or Vikings defense in the ninth or tenth round will pay off. All kickers are pretty close, so don’t really need to pick one up until the last 2-3 rounds – just grab a kicker in an offense that might have trouble finishing drives - which means a lot of points for you. Again, a kicker with a late-week bye is a bonus.

Make sure you are aware of players who are not active, who have been placed on the Physically Unable to Perform list (which means they are out at least the first six weeks of the season), or who have been suspended or released by their team. In other words, don’t be that guy who drafts Ben Roethlisberger (QB, Pittsburgh, suspended first six games of the season) in the fourth round, or Sidney Rice (WR, Minnesota, placed on the PUP list Wednesday) at all.

Finally, a few of my personal tips:
• Don’t take Steven Jackson (RB, St. Louis) in the first round – I’ve been fooled by him twice before. In fact, I didn’t even take him in the second round out of spite.
• Don’t be fooled by Clinton Portis’ (RB, Washington) rank – he will undoubtedly get hurt. Speaking of, Larry Johnson (RB, Washington) is now the #2 RB on the Redskins – I got him in the 15th round, which I think was a great pickup because Portis is bound to get hurt and LJ will get a lot more carries when he does. If he’s available in your draft in one of the last two rounds, he could be worth a gamble.
• Avoid a Houston RB before round 7 – Steve Slaton is nursing a neck injury, and even though Adrien Foster looks to have a breakout year, the Texans have three very good backs on the team, so they will all split carries and none with have huge numbers.

Good luck to all!

For the Love of Fantasy

(Ran 11/12 - Don't let the title excite you, it's nothing raunchy)

I am one of roughly 22 million Americans who take part in fantasy sports each season. I'll shout it from the rooftop - I love fantasy football!

Being in a fantasy football league has made me love, hate and respect my friends at a new level. I have learned that trash talking is an art form much like writing Haiku. It is as addictive as coffee and perfect for A.D.D. adults like myself. Now I can be in three leagues and burn some of that bottled energy.

I anticipate draft day, sifting through fantasy-specific magazines, reading every article by the Talented Mr. Roto, and getting everyone else’s expert opinion before preparing my own draft order.

I’m not alone. Last year, roughly $800 million worth of products and services were generated by the fantasy industry in 2008. And I’m also not alone in saying it’s worth every minute and every penny.

The great thing about fantasy football is that even if you are a fan of the Detroit Lions, Sundays can be fun if you’re in a fantasy league. Even if you have nothing to cheer for with your own team, you have individual players (and a defense) to cheer for in most games. It’s got to be the most genius aspect the NFL ever came up with – and they didn’t even think of it.

It cannot be overstated – it is necessary for professional football to be involved with the fantasy industry. In the NFL, unlike college, there are no real rivalries older than a few decades. But any person can draft a team and have a reason to watch every single game on TV. With rapid fantasy football leagues, the NFL will never - I repeat never - have a viewership problem.

Ten years ago you never saw all players who were "probable," "questionable" and "out" scrolling across the screen all Sunday morning on ESPN. That isn’t for the everyday fan to know who on their hometown team is out – it’s so fantasy owners know who to play in their weekly lineup.

What began in 1962 between a group of five men in Oakland has turned into a money-making machine beyond anyone’s wildest dreams.

Thanks in large part to fantasy, the NFL had overtaken MLB as the most popular sport in the U.S. Sure, people play fantasy baseball, but it’s so much more time-consuming, having to change your lineup every single day, and with less strategy than a 16-game football season.

Many people don’t understand the draw… I think the best way to describe it is that it allows me to have a real, tangible reason for checking scores and stats each week, aside from pure entertainment.

Maybe it can turn into an obsession, and can make us all a lot less productive at work… but it sure is fun.