The Weekly Gut Check - Vol. 132
Q&A with the Co-Founder of Women Against Fantasy Sports
8/28/08

The “Gut Feeling” is often synonymous with a sense of desperation resulting from a lack of preparation. The Gut Check is a huge proponent of studying the numbers, but there’s a point where one can place too much emphasis on the wrong information. This can result in the undervaluing or overlooking a player’s potential. Therefore, The Weekly Gut Check is devoted to examining the frame of reference behind certain number-driven guidelines that fantasy football owners use to make decisions.

Although The Weekly Gut Check doesn’t claim to be psychic, he does believe that he can dispel certain numbers biases and help you make the best choices for your team. We’ll keep a running tally of The Weekly Gut Check’s insights. This way you can gauge his views as something to seriously consider, or at least seriously consider running the opposite way as fast as you can!

Last week I came across a press release for a new website. It is the brainchild of Allison Lodish, a 35-year-old mother of two from Kentfield, California. At first, Lodish was all for her husband’s newfound hobby, fantasy football. But as her man joined additional fantasy leagues with each passing season, her support turned into frustration. She decided to turn the tables and according to the news release, “created the site as an outlet for people to ridicule, mourn, and lament the loss of their partners who spend an inordinate amount of time online consuming player data, drafting and managing their teams, scouring stats, scores, and injury reports and trash-talking with friends and players in their leagues.”

The site includes a forum, a page of fantasy sports terms to “Stump The Chump,” and apparel for sale, including t-shirts, hats, and my personal favorite, hip-hugging, spandex shorts with the phrase “Closed – For the Fantasy Season” emblazoned across the crotch.

I decided as a representative of the fantasy sports industry, I needed to track down Allison and find out more about Women Against Fantasy Sports (WAFS) and she graciously agreed to a phone interview with the hopes of setting her straight.

TGC: Why, why, why would you create a site like this? I know you’re frustrated, but isn’t there a better way?
WAFS: Fantasy sports ruins fan loyalty to their team…

TGC: Puh-lease, that is such a tired reason and it’s simply not true. While it enhances one’s appreciation for players on other teams, I don’t know anyone who has abandoned their loyalty to their favorite team.
WAFS: You’ve gotta be kidding. Please tell me you’re joking? Seriously, are you telling me if the game is on the line for your favorite NFL team, but one of your fantasy players has a chance to help you win your fantasy league by beating your favorite team that you are going to cheer against your fantasy player? You’re either delusional or full of sh--. You couch potatoes would back your fantasy team every time.

TGC: Not true.
WAFS: Don’t even go there. I have two words for your bs – “Championship Week” – and you can’t deny it. I’ve seen it with my own eyes. Tell me I’m lying.
TGC: (Laughing) You’re lying.
WAFS: I told you that you were full of sh--.

TGC: I read you’re a football fan…
WAFS: Yes, I watched the 49ers with my brothers, but I’m also and Eagles fan.

TGC: Who are your favorite players?
WAFS: There’s Joe Montana, Jerry Rice, Steve Young…he was cute! Who was that other hot guy who made that famous catch?
TGC: Brent Jones?
WAFS: Yeah him, too, but it was Dwight Clark who made “The Catch.”
TGC: Just testing you.
WAFS: (Laughing) Sure you were.

TGC: What about current Niners?
WAFS: Well…hmmm…there’s (long pause as she struggles to remember a current player’s name)…

TGC: How do you consider yourself a Niners fan, but you don’t even know the names of any current players?
WAFS: Well, now they suck, but you always have faith.
TGC: So you’re telling fantasy sports enthusiasts they have no team loyalty, but you can’t remember the name of any player who has been on your ‘favorite team’ in the past decade? There’s ‘team loyalty’ for you!
WAFS: Touché

TGC: Let’s be serious for a moment Allison, what is your hidden agenda here?
WAFS: There’s no hidden agenda. WAFS is an outlet for fantasy widows.
TGC: Come on. What are you after? Improved efficiency in the workplace? More of your husband’s time looking after the kids and doing chores around the house? Fewer mobile breaking news updates at the dinner table? We’ve fought all of these for years and we’re still going strong!
WAFS: You seem a little wound up. Have a draft tonight by chance?
TGC: No…but that’s a good idea. A quickie mock always relaxes me. You know, maybe if you tried fantasy football you’d learn more about your team.
WAFS: You are not going to talk me into playing this stupid hobby.
TGC: Why wouldn’t you at least try it? You claim to be a football fan.
WAFS: I don’t have to know the names of players to be a fan. Being a good teammate means the individual sublimates his or her individuality for the good of the group. It’s one of the things wrong with fantasy football. You guys are way too focused on individual performances.
TGC: You have got it all wrong. I cheer for my whole fantasy team.
WAFS: And you give them half-time speeches in the locker room?
TGC: No, I prefer the pre-game speech. Ever see Tashard Choice give one? He learned it from me.
WAFS: Who?

TGC: Never mind…So in your opinion, what is the stupidest thing about fantasy football?
WAFS: It is the endless hours that guys spend on their computer ‘preparing’ for their games and joining multiple leagues for ‘practice.’
TGC: Your husband told you he joined multiple leagues for ‘practice’?
WAFS: That’s his story…
TGC: And you fell for it?
WAFS: I guess so, but the point is if your woman walks into your living room or home office wearing nothing but lingerie and you tell her ‘five more minutes’ for the third time, you’ve got a problem.
TGC: Agreed, but don’t you think you should be examining your relationship with your husband rather than some game he’s playing to escape whatever is happening – or not happening – between you? What does your ‘husband’ think of the site? Are you two still married at this point?
WAFS: What is that supposed to mean?
TGC: Well, I presumed you and your site’s members killed him and ate his remains by now or left you, fearing you might try to sabotage his football season…
WAFS: Or I left him because like the rest of you, he’d rather watch 300-lb., men in tight pants than a sexy woman without pants at all. But to answer your original question, we’re still together. WAFS gives me and the other wives and girlfriends something to talk about while they allegedly ‘watch’ football. Seriously, how do you even claim that you watch a football game if you play fantasy football? You change the channel so much, that you don’t watch a game at all! You’re just watching highlights or reading about the game every two minutes on your laptop. How geeky is that? If you’re a real football fan, you watch one game.
TGC: I have to admit unless the original game is a complete blowout I can’t stand when people can’t stick with one game. You miss the subtleties of the game when you’re too busy trying to watch the highlights. It’s like substituting Cliff Notes for the actual novel. I don’t mind switching between two games, but the unwritten rule is you have a primary game and a secondary game and you only switch from the primary game when there’s a timeout or commercial break.

TGC: It’s still incredulous to me that you and your husband are still together despite your claims he likes looking at sweaty, 300-lb., men in tight pants more than you, but what seems even more improbable is that your organization claims it has a guy who a) played fantasy football and b) supports your site. He must have quit playing because he wasn’t any good.
WAFS: You mean like you started fantasy football because you weren’t any good at playing fantasy with your significant other?
TGC: Funny, but if you knew her, you know that’s not the case…
WAFS: Oh, but I do…she joined the site!
TGC: No she didn’t…
WAFS: You’re not the fantasy writer who just finally noticed she knocked down the dining room wall in her house three weeks ago?
TGC: Her house?
WAFS: It will be if you keep holing yourself up in that office next to the kitchen and not paying attention to her…

TGC: (Laughing) Changing gears, give us a top-five list of “When to say ‘when’” with fantasy sports?
WAFS: Only five? Good enough….
5. When you play in more leagues than there are weekdays.
4. When family holidays ‘interfere’ with fantasy football.
3. When you can’t remember the names of your in-laws, but know the measurements of every receiver on a team’s depth chart.
2. When you pay to have other non-football players give you advice…
TGC: You know, this is the reason my one and only can afford to tear down a wall…in OUR house!
WAFS: Couldn’t you get a part-time job at Burger King that pays more for your time?
TGC: Yeah that might be a step up at this point, but couldn’t you get more from your husband with honey instead of vinegar?
WAFS: Shall I continue, or do you want me to keep shooting you down?
TGC: Keep going…
WAFS: 1. When fantasy sports is better than sex…
TGC: Why is that an either or proposition? And why are you presuming your husband doesn’t have a reason for enjoying fantasy sports more? Maybe you need to do a bit of self-assessment.
WAFS: Do I need to tell everyone what else your one and only is saying on our forums?

TGC: (Laughing) Mercy. Ok, let’s stop the bickering for a sec. Have you thought about offering couples counseling as an adjunct service?
WAFS: (Laughing) What? Be serious…
TGC: I am serious. Your site could promote ways to help spouses enjoy the game together. You know, get someone like Dr. Drew Pinsky or Sue Johanson give seminars on ‘erotic fantasy football’ – it could be fun.
WAFS: ‘Erotic fantasy football’? That makes even less sense than dumb ass terms like ‘friendly fire.’ No wonder your girlfriend is on our site. Anyways what self-respecting woman who enjoys football even likes fantasy football?
TGC: Plenty.
WAFS: Name one.
TGC: There’s Katie Potts – she’s a regular visitor to FFToday and she plays in multiple leagues…
WAFS: Come on, you’re making this up.
TGC: We have women who visit the site.
WAFS: How many?
TGC: Half a percent…more? Probably more that we don’t know about.
WAFS: Uh-huh. Katie must have found a nice way to get attention – I bet she’s the only woman in those leagues.
TGC: In two of them, but she was in an “all-girl” league that also doubled as a knitting club. She also said it was about the excitement of the game and not apparel like those pink and baby blue jerseys some of you wear. By the way, how is wearing anything but your team’s colors actually showing loyalty to your squad? Doesn’t that inject a level individualism that isn’t about the team concept?
WAFS: It’s about having good taste.
TGC: It’s football, not fashion. Otherwise the Cleveland Browns would have changed their uniforms 60 years ago.
WAFS: True. Orange and brown as that autumn appeal, but all that white and the stripes…yeech!!

TGC: Speaking of apparel, what was the idea behind the WAFS clothing? Are you giving any portion of the proceeds away to charity?
WAFS: We needed something to show our solidarity in the face of fantasy sports. When I told my friends I was starting the site, they said if I sold t-shirts they would buy one.
TGC: Are you giving any portion of the proceeds away to charity?
WAFS: I’m the charity case. I don’t get to use the computer and my man is physically, mentally, and emotionally absent from August through February. I need funds for my therapy sessions…
TGC: At Macy’s?
WAFS: You got it.

TGC: In all seriousness, thank you for joining me today. I heard you got a lot of feedback from fantasy enthusiasts and writers. After reading some of the responses, I have to tell you some of these folks need to get a life. Even someone like me who annually plays in six to seven leagues, writes 52 columns a year, and publishes a 500-page book in between, realizes this is just tongue and cheek fun on your part. If they don’t see the humor, something truly is wrong.
WAFS: Absolutely. It’s all in good fun. Thanks for having me.

My 2008 Drafts

My leagues encompass a wide spectrum of fantasy football. This year I am in seven leagues:

• SOFA Auction League – Another showcase auction league with a flex player that can be a 3rd RB, 4th WR, or 2nd TE. It’s a 12-team league that awards points per reception (PPR). We drafted a week ago, Tuesday. I won this league in 2006, but just missed the playoffs in 2007.
  
  
• Fantasy Auctioneer Experts Invitational League – This is the fifth year for this showcase auction league with 12 teams. I won the league in 2005 and 2006, but bottomed out in 2007.
  
  
• GOIDPANKAL – A 12 team, 26-round, slow draft with a full complement of individual defensive players. The owners include Mike MacGregor, Tony Nowak, and DraftGuys TV personalities Cecil Lammey and Sigmund Bloom.
  
  
• FFToday Staff League – This is a traditional re-draft league in its first year with 12 teams. We’ve talked enough about this one.
  
  
• My Old Standby – I’m drafting this weekend in this 12-team league with team defenses.
  
  
• Ironman 3 – The Ironman leagues are dynasty leagues with 14 teams, 40-man rosters, a four-player taxi squad, and two-player injured reserve. The league awards points per reception and fields a full complement of individual defensive players. Our rookie draft was in May. I lead the regular season in points last year, but lost in the semifinals.
  
  
• HAFAX-II – This is a glorified showcase keeper league with 16 teams, player contracts, a salary cap for two slow auctions with restricted free agents and unrestricted free agents, and the off season ends with a rookie draft, which we’re in the middle of as we speak. Mike MacGregor plays the role of owner/coach and I play the role of GM/coordinator. Basically, I shop for the groceries and he starts the players. We took over a CBS Sportsline team in 2007 that had some Chicago Bears-like luck with it’s draft picks on offense and made the playoffs in year one.

SOFA Auction League – The prices aren’t listed on this roster link, but here they are for my squad. This link may work for the rest of the squads. If not, don’t write me, or Krueger.

My approach for this auction was to initially spread the wealth with my $200 salary early in the draft to grab two strong backs and then wait until I had more funds than most everyone else in the auction. I normally take the approach of landing as many studs as I can and then fill out my roster with bargain plays. With the flex player, I felt I needed to be more judicious.

Portis and Lynch were 41% of my cap, but they are two players that I believe are “what you see is what you get,” at the running back position. Add Ricky and DeAngelo Williams as late picks, where I had a bidding advantage with funds and my RB corps looks good because three of the four backs are every down runners with goal line duties. I’m an Ahmad Bradshaw fan, but Derrick Ward was excellent last year prior to injury and he can catch the football.

In hindsight, I may have waited a bit too long to get receivers giving up on bids for younger, big-play guys. Still, Jerricho Cotchery has T.J. Houshmadnzadeh-like potential with Brett Favre in the fold and Isaac Bruce is excellent value in Martz’s offense. I’m not happy with Galloway or Jennings although one of them should work out for the price. Throw in Jerry Porter and sleepers like Antonio Bryant and Derek Hagan, and I may be shuffling my receivers in the first third of my season to find the right combination.

Drew Brees was a mid-round bid that didn’t turn out to be the deal I hoped, but I’ll pay the price for his skills – especially when I can land Eli Manning as a second QB for just three dollars. Vernon Davis is my breakout gamble. The Chargers was admittedly a lucky bid, because there was an issue with the bidding process that league voted not to roll back. In my opinion this is a solid team and playoff contender if Galloway and/or Bruce can maintain their history of strong play.

Fantasy Auctioneer Experts Invitational League – This league may also be difficult to access, but here’s my roster below.

This is more like the strategy I like to employ in auctions – go bold or go home. I expected Peterson to go higher because in auctions from previous seasons the top two or three backs went into the $70-$80 range. Getting Larry Johnson for $35 was an unexpected surprise. I wouldn’t have paid more than $40, so I was shocked his value has declined so much among fantasy writers. I’ll gladly take LJ as my #2 RB at a #2 RB price! Chris Perry was a pick I made prior to Marvin Lewis making his “if the season started now…” statement so I feel optimistic that I have at least some modicum of RB depth in case of injury, although he shares Peterson’s bye week. Brandon Jacobs to me is an injury waiting to happen. I’m probably prejudiced, but a back this big seems like more of a liability than an asset because as quick as he is, he’s still not as agile as a back 30 pounds lighter. He will get beat up, because there is more of him to get hit in a pile. Homespun logic? Sure, but talk to me when Jacobs carries the ball more than 250 times and misses fewer than three games in a season.

Landing Owens and Fitzgerald has me feeling like one of my readers that e-mail me asking for advice for teams so stacked with talent that I wonder whether they are bragging more than seeking advice (you know who you are). I actually think Jackson has the opportunity to out-play Chris Chambers who seems to have more issues with holding onto the football. Although I ranking Chambers higher than Jackson, I wouldn’t be surprised if the primary receiving role flip-flops from one week to the next. Since this is a high risk-high reward lineup, the odds of one of my depth chart receivers busting out are slim. I’ll hope I find a quality receiver through free agency.

Vernon Davis again graces my roster and if you’ve read my stuff for any length of time, you know why. Favre at $10 was just too good to pass up. As you know I’m a believer that he’s going to reverse the Madden Curse (sorry Green Bay fans, but I think the Madden Typhoon his headed to Wisconsin). This team should contend as long as they stay healthy and will be capable of gargantuan weeks.

GOIDPANKAL – This will be one of the most competitive leagues I am in this year. I had the first pick and knew this heading into the summer. So I weighed my options between Adrian Peterson and Ladainian Tomlinson for quite a while.

I’m very pleased with this team. Peterson and Turner are a powerful, 1-2 punch and my 3-4-5 of Ricky Williams, DeAngelo Williams, and Chris Perry make my RB depth chart an asset I might be able to use for trade bait in case my quarterbacks or receivers need help. I was disappointed I couldn’t take DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart back to back, which was my plan, but I waited a round too late. I can envision growing frustrated that I leave points on the bench if the Williams’ duo or Perry start and perform as they have in the preseason.

I’m happy with Marques Colston and I believe Hines Ward and Isaac Bruce will show they have enough left to make fantasy owners happy as #3 WRs. Bruce will be open because Martz’s offense spreads out the defense and Ward is now healthy. I’m not sure Bernard Berrian will produce consistently as a fantasy #2 WR, but with my RB corps, I’ll take the trade off. I should be adequate at this position considering we start three receivers.

Vernon Davis and Brett Favre were mid-to-late round targets in this draft also. Vince Young is a gamble I can afford to make with Favre as my starter.

Defensively speaking, I have a good linebacker corps headlined by Urlacher, London Baker-Fletcher, and Julian Peterson. Urlacher and Baker-Fletcher are tackling machines and Peterson has 10-sack potential. Crowell and Hayes provide decent bye week depth.

My defensive ends are below the radar, but Andre Carter was productive before Jason Taylor arrived to D.C. and Jevon Kearse gets to work with the strongest front four he’s seen since leaving Tennessee. If they don’t work out, I should find at least one quality starter on the waiver wire. I felt I could gamble more on DL and DB and much less on LBs.

The secondary should be decent. Cortland Finnegan will get targeted a lot, but is good enough to get his share of positive results each week. Jermaine Phillips finally played within the realm of his potential and the front seven is going to show some age this year. If Troy Polamalu stays healthy, I got nice value.

Ironman 3 – This one was strictly a rookie draft. Here are my picks. As you see, I didn’t have a first or third round pick.

Dustin Keller fills a need for my squad. I also picked up TE Kellen Davis last week to stash him away. Xavier Omon has potential, but he may bounce to another team and need a year or two to make a case as a contributor. Hubbard will be a name to remember for in a year or two. O’Connell has outplayed Matt Cassell in camp. Cliff Avril has drawn comparisons to Dwight Freeney although he has a long way to go in order to get there. Parmele could surprise if given an opportunity. Boyd and Urrutia are no longer on my roster. As you can see this was a purely a draft for the future. Players I hoped to get included Keenan Burton, Josh Johnson, and Xavier Adibi.

The tier color codes are my way of grouping the players by specific ranges in Crank Score. Once can see the codes have some mathematical logic, but it is still a subjective delineation on my part. One could argue that there are only two elite backs or there is seven to twelve elite receivers depending on how one looks at the impact of the Crank Score attributed to the positions. Again, this is a limited list of players. There are far more flier/waiver wire picks for my personal draft list. The players in bold reflect changes from last week and there are significant changes – some bigger than others.

Ranking Changes

Brett Favre continues to rise and Manning’s iffy week one status drops him a few notches. McNabb’s receiving corps woes drop him a bit, but he’s used to working with a rotating, makeshift cast, so he didn’t plummet. DeSean Jackson does find a spot on the list because I like what I’ve seen from him as a receiver – he catches contested balls, takes the hit, and should be able to get deep on some opposing corners early in the year. Kitna, Cutler, and Hasselbeck leapfrog Vince Young because I haven’t seen a receiver step up for the Titans. I still like Young as an upside pick, but his draft value is such that you can get him well into the second half of a draft. Kurt Warner makes an appearance because I don’t see how Ken Whisenhunt – denials from him included – can’t bench Matt Leinart. Rodgers and O’Sullivan get slight bumps because they will get enough opportunities to get points, even in garbage time.

While tempted to move Jonathan Stewart and DeAngelo Williams up my rankings I think the Carolina passing game will offer more balance than what we’ve seen from Jacksonville with their 1-2 punch of Taylor and Jones Drew.

Chris Chambers drops, because I’m wary of his consistency and believe Vincent Jackson and Chambers will be more interchangeable from a fantasy perspective than it appears on paper. Jackson is clearly coming into his own as a receiver and I think he’s in store for some big games. Kevin Curtis drops off the deep end due to his hernia.

That’s the final installment of my Crank Score projections. Good luck this year!