WTF, Fantasy Football?

 

WTF, Fantasy Football?

When I first heard of Fantasy Football ten years ago that was the question that I asked, but, now, after playing for a decade I can tell you that Fantasy Football is the best Fantasy sport around and it is as close to managing a real team as it comes.

JOINING A LEAGUE

In 1999, a friend of mine asked me if I wanted to join his league. Now, this was a guy who I have known my whole life. When we were kids he was the best athlete around, dominating basketball, baseball, football, and he always got the girl. Being as competitive as I am, I always wanted to beat him at something but had little success doing so. Thus, when the opportunity to face him in a new realm presented itself, I had to take it.

PREDRAFT TIPS

Once you a join a league, make sure you become familiar with the rules and how the scoring system works. If passing touchdowns are worth 6 points, you will know that quarterbacks automatically become more important than they would be in leagues where passing touchdowns are worth just 4 points. Many great leagues will provide you with a rulebook that will list what the rules and scoring system are. If your league doesn’t provide this, don’t worry it can be found rather easily. All you need to do is log onto your league’s site, find the settings and check them out.

Do your homework: After becoming familiar with the scoring, you go on-line and utilize what has become the best tool out there on the web, the Bruno Boys Fantasy Football Pre-Draft Webazine, which will help guide you through your draft. If you are seeking a second opinion, purchase a fantasy magazine, but remember to look online for updated information prior to drafting. Also, watch for training camp injuries. No one wants to draft a guy who is already out for the season with a torn ACL (what a waste).

THE DRAFT

There are many ways to draft - computer draft (where the computer does it for you), live on-line draft (where you join a league and draft at a time when you are available over the Internet) or an in-person draft with the other members of your league. I recommend the latter

If I let the computer draft for me and I win, I feel less satisfied than when I draft for myself. If I draft live on-line it’s convenient, but the experience is lacking. When you draft in person with everyone else in your league, the possibilities are endless, though I guarantee it always ends up being a good time no matter what the situation.

DRAFT ESSENTIALS

Get a Draft Board from Commishkit.com for only $19.99. This board allows you to manage your draft easily. It comes with pre-made stickers color coded by position, which really makes it easy for owners to see who needs what when it comes to constructing their team.

Next, get a bikini girl, model, stripper, someone you wouldn’t mind your friends staring at and teach her how to put those stickers on the board (so easy a blonde can do it).

Make sure you have a timer to keep your draft on schedule. No one wants to take 12 hours to finish a draft. Give everyone two minutes to make a pick and get on with it.

Every good draft has a lot of good food, drinks, alcohol (if your of the legal age) decorations, and rules that force people to pay attention. “Draft a guy that has already been picked and that owner has to take a shot... next guy takes two, etc”.

During my first draft I wasn’t sure what to expect. I drafted a WR first, a QB second, and a RB third only to find out later that RB’s were the key to fantasy. Every position is important, but in my league RB’s are the top dogs. Again, I remind you to know the rules.

SUNDAY/MONDAY RITUALS

To fully maximize the enjoyment of the Fantasy Football season, you should have access to the NFL Ticket offered by Direct TV. Go to a sports bar that has it, go to a friend’s house or order it yourself. In order to be successful you need to see how your players are playing, how the coaches are using them and most importantly, you need to know right away if they get injured. On the flipside of that, you need to know when someone else loses a player, so you can take advantage of their misfortune by picking up the player that took their guy’s spot. You can prevent all this by handcuffing your players (drafting or picking up a player’s backup, also known as FANTASY INSURANCE).

No matter where you are watching make sure you’re with friends, with food and drinks available. If you have ordered the games, make sure the other people watching are providing food and drinks at your house, so you are not the only one coming out of pocket. After watching all the games Sunday, do it all over again Monday as you watch and see if you can pull out a last minute win during Monday Night Football. Nothing beats a game that goes down to the wire on Monday night.

INJURIES AND BYE WEEKS

Injuries and byes are really what make any Fantasy Football league interesting. What moves will you make to fill the holes that you have? Will a guy be out one week or multiple weeks? Do I drop a stud on a bye to find a guy who is playing? There are hundreds of people out there who can tell you what they think you should do, but in the end, that decision is yours, choose wisely.

PLAYOFFS

If you play your cards right you might just end up in the playoffs. In some leagues, only the top four make it. In my league, the top six make the playoffs and the top two teams get a bye in a three-week playoff set up.

Ten years ago, I was lucky enough to make the playoffs. A lateral pass to my RB that he threw to my WR (a 12 point play, how exciting) pushed me over the top and into the Championship game. In that final game, my opponent was none other than my childhood friend, the one who invited me to play, the one I was never able to beat as a youngster. In that game, all my years of frustration came to an end, as I was able to win a run away, making the trophy mine.

Fantasy Football isn’t just a fun thing to play, it is a weekly event, but for some it can also be a very redeeming experience.

Good Luck in 2010.
John Bruno Falabella