Are You Ready for Some (Fantasy) Football?
I admit it....I'm into fantasy football. I'm involved in two Leagues - one very competitive, the other not so much...and like millions of other football fans, I'm hooked.
The competitive (think larger $$$) league held its draft last weekend and the way I crammed all my prep into a pretty intense two nights of research brought back memories of college when I used to pull a similar routine every time exams rolled around.
I'm not going to bore you with who's been signed for the 2010 Chuck 'N Duck roster (loved Buddy Ryan, hate Rex) but what struck me on draft day was a realization of how big his whole Fantasy thing has become.
Fantasy now gets talked about regularly on NFL broadcasts and everyone it seems from announcers to celebs to even current NFL players is into this thing. The days of middle aged sports writers and commentators making fun of fantasy football are long gone. In fact, if you dump on the fantasy thing now as a media figure, you're just perceived as out of touch with your audience - not the place to be in this age of media downsizing.
From a personal standpoint, what really has me hooked is the way it forces you to think like a general manager - i.e. you're always looking to improve your squad, it's vital to know what real NFL teams are doing - for example which players are in favor (and getting carries or 'targets' by their QB's) as well as who's out of favor, hurt, or on a steep slide on their way out of professional football.
As a fan, it forces you to really sit down and study how the NFL works, and the end result is you not only get smarter about the league as a whole, you start to realize which media figures are totally clueless - for example anyone saying LT is a major signing by the Jets.
Continued on the next page
Follow Technorati