Just Another Fantasy?
Once again, it is that time of year where the NFL is just getting underway and with the start of the premiere professional football season, I find myself again having to contend with fantasy football. I have a strained relationship with fantasy football, being that in the many years I’ve played, I’ve had more last-place finishes (3) than championships won (2). Most years, I set the bar especially low, to where all I really ask for is a season where I am competitive and have a record over .500. Suffice it to say that I’ve had many seasons where I’ve finished well below the break-even mark. I’ve had my fair share of rotten luck, with players getting hurt during the season. On other occasions, I’ve had players just under perform. Sometimes in the same season, I’ve had players get hurt, while others who happened to be healthy, just played poorly. I know that’s part of the allure of fantasy football, to deal with the unexpected and overcome it successfully, but more often than not, I have failed miserably and I have the overall record to show it. Amidst all the challenges I’ve had in previous fantasy football seasons, this season feels a little different.
When Christopher died this past summer, this left some uncertainty as to what his fantasy football league was going to look like. Being that he was the commissioner and all, those of us who played in his league, year in and year out, had to wonder what was going to happen to his league. I think that people still wanted the league to continue. The question really was who would be the one to take over and keep things moving. Apparently, it didn’t take much thought or contemplation as to what his brother wanted to see happen. Jon wanted me to find it in my heart to carry on the mantle and keep the league going in Christopher’s honor. It didn’t take much for me to make my decision. I figured I had to, even more so since for a few seasons, Christopher had made me co-commissioner. Christopher was a good friend of mine and I thought that this was just something I had to do, in his honor, anyway. As I think of it right now, this could be something I do for many years to come. Deep down, I think that Christopher would have wanted it this way.
So, in his memory, we got the league up and running this season. This year, we have 14 teams playing, which would be the most that this league has ever fielded. When Christopher was running the league, we never had more than 12 teams. The more, the merrier, I suppose. The league is comprised mostly of people I work with, as well as two of Christopher’s brothers. I don’t know everyone in the league, but I’m hoping that everyone playing manages to stay interested for the duration of the season and fields a competitive team every week. Again, being competitive and just the simple act of trying not to be terrible, makes this whole fantasy football thing work.
Some goofy chick at work was looking to start a fantasy football league in the office and while I applaud her efforts, I couldn’t help but feel that she was doing it the wrong way. I don’t say this because she is a woman, though I will admit that I don’t particularly care for this person. She and I have never clicked and we seldom communicate. I wouldn’t refer to her as an acquaintance. We are co-workers, nothing less and certainly, nothing more. She and I just happen to work in the same office and our cubicles are only a few feet away from each other. So you can imagine how I felt when she randomly approached me and asked me if I wanted to join the league she was starting. My first thought was, “Uh, no”. I didn’t outright say this, but you can believe that I thought it.
Instead, I decided to play along and fake interest by asking her questions that I thought were relevant.
“Who’s playing?”
“How many teams?”
“Is there a buy-in?”
“Do the people you’ve already tabbed for the league actually know the NFL and/or football as a game?”
Rest assured, there was nothing she said that would have drawn me in. Even as I write this, I don’t know how many teams were in her league. The majority, if not all, of the people she had selected to play don’t know a damn thing about the NFL or the game of football in general. I think there was a $10 buy-in, so this was going to be a money league. I remember telling her that I would generally feel bad about joining her league, knowing that most of the other owners don’t know a damn thing about fantasy football, actual football, or the NFL. I would have felt worse knowing that I could potentially win money by taking advantage of those who don’t know the game enough to be competitive, but in the end, I didn’t commit, at least not fully. Rather than giving her an outright “no”, I told her that if she had an odd number of teams and she needed one more to even things out, I would join.
Today is the Saturday before the NFL’s Opening Sunday 2023. I think I’m in the clear, as far as joining that beginner league. I can’t, in good conscience, play in a league where nearly everyone playing doesn’t know what the hell they’re doing, even if there is money involved.
I will be participating in three different leagues in all this season, so I am hoping that I’m successful in at least two of these leagues. One of them is a money league, where the buy-in was $50. I know that in two of these leagues, everyone playing knows what they’re doing. I can’t vouch for the level of experience in the third league and being that I don’t know any of those playing in that league, at the very least, I wanted to see if I could offend at least one person with the team name that I have chosen. For the third league, I manage a team that I have named the “Handicapped Cripples”. With the sensitive nature of the world today, I have to think that I will offend at least one person in that 10-team league. Ideally, I’d like to offend more, but I’ll take at least one.
NFL Football is back. Fantasy football is also back. I want to say that I’m ready for both. I am also looking forward to the Cincinnati Bengals coming out of the gate strong, as they lay the wood to the Cleveland Elfs…err, Browns, tomorrow.