Every second weekend in September, fans of professional football welcome the start of the NFL season.
While most eyes are glued to their TVs on Sundays, those aren’t the only games in town. The “Gorilla Mafia” confronts “Rico Suave”. Other teams that play include “FAVREFGNUGEN”, “Sacks and the City”, and “The Big Tebow-ski”. Don’t go scrolling through the guide looking for these games because they can’t be found on TV. The contests in question will be played on a grid in cyberspace.
This is the game within the game: Fantasy Football.
Is Wikipedia Page says that fantasy sports in general emerged around 1960, but the modern game began in 1980 with the creation of Rotisserie League Baseball. The “owners” selected a team of active professional players and tracked their statistics during the current season. The game took its name from The French Steakhouse, a restaurant in New York City where some of the participants used to congregate. In the late 1980s, the idea spread to other sports, creating the hype that exists today.
Men, women and children get involved in the spectator sport that pits friends against friends and brothers against sisters. According to Ask.com, each fall as many as 35 million people participate in some form of fantasy football league. Fantasy sports took off via the internet. Sites like ESPN and Yahoo make a lot of money hosting multiple leagues throughout the year. People can play for free or spend hundreds of dollars on their soccer fix. There is the “Pick ‘Em” style league where players simply guess the winners of that week’s games. The more sophisticated contestants have contestants who also choose the point spreads. Next are the “suicide” leagues in which a player selects a winner from one game per week. The winners continue to play as long as they guess correctly, but the problem is that after the first winner is chosen, the contestants cannot choose that team again for the rest of the season.
Those kinds of leagues are fun, but the big daddy of them all is the “Head-to-Head” style. Player knowledge, statistics, injuries and league trends are put to the test week after week. This type of league is popular because even though the players don’t wear uniforms on Sunday, it becomes very competitive. In addition, it is interactive, so the owners have the opportunity to get to know each other. It all starts in The Draft. One option is a web draft, but it can be difficult to have all the players in front of one computer at the same time. Also, a live draft wins points because it usually involves food, some good conversation about the players, and a fair amount of trash talk. The live draft also presents an opportunity to gauge the competition by seeing what skills (or lack thereof) people have as general managers. Will he take a running back with the first pick? Why did he wait so long to get a QB? Did this guy just draft another tight end? These questions and more come up during a draft.
Despite all the good times, fantasy football can make a person look inside themselves. Long-time loyalties to teams, hometowns, and family trees are all blown away when your fantasy squad is trailing by 5 points and the receiver fumbles at 1. This game calls loyalty and values into question. Those who have played fantasy football have been faced with the decision to start an interception-prone quarterback against the best defense in the league. But in “real life,” this quarterback plays for the team they’ve rooted for since childhood. The heart says, “Go ahead, initiate it. He will show up for me today.” By contrast, the inside GM who paid $100 to get into this league says, “No chance. Go with the backup.”
Regarding values, the idea of winning as a team is a distant memory. The fantasy is for individual players to score as many points as they can. A guy runs across the goal line for a touchdown and several patrons at a sports bar cheer like they’ve won the championship. Glancing at the score, you realize that the scoring team trails the opponent 35-14. At that point you know those fans have that player in their fantasy lineup. The actual score means nothing, but to them that touchdown means a win or loss in that week’s fantasy matchup.
I don’t want to be too heavy, but competitive sports bring out the best and the worst in people. Character is tested when individuals face an opponent. Whether it’s getting your pants dirty while running with a ball, or a mug of beer and a laptop, Sundays are made for gladiators.
Fantasy Football gives everyone a chance to be legendary. Even if it’s only for a season.
