6/13/01
"Don't tackle him," I screamed. "Don't you dare
tackle him!" The him in question was Rod Smith. The would-be
tacklers were the Seattle defenders. The date was November 26th, 2000.
You can still make out the dimly stained patch on my couch where the
top third of my beer landed when I leapt to my feet screeching, "Go
Rod go!" as I watched Smith carry the ball into the end zone.
Here's the curious part: I hate the Denver Broncos. I'm a lifelong
Raider fan. My blood runs black and silver, just like Fred Belitnikof's
and Art Shell's. So what was there to make me happy about a Rod Smith
touchdown? Was it that I had money on the game? Sure, that's part
of it; I had a kind of micro-wager on Smith. But there's more to it
than that. I had a personal investment in Rod Smith-an emotional tie
to him that was a product of circumstances beyond my control.
Those circumstances had been dictated months before by an almost random
draft order. I had paid a nominal fee of fifty dollars to join a fantasy
football league and had taken Smith in the sixth round of the draft.
A few years earlier, my brother had paid the fee for me. He had to
pay the fee in order to get me to play because there was no way that
I was going to throw fifty of my own hard-earned dollars into anything
as silly as a fantasy football league. "When I want to bet on
football," I had told him, "I'll find someone to take my
bet. And I'll bet on a game, not a whole season."
He told me that I was missing the point and that the only way for
me to understand was to give it a try. His response to my shrug was
to pay my fee and draft my team for me and send me updates, via e-mail,
on how my players were doing. I did not make it to the playoffs that
season, but I was hooked nevertheless. I saw which players flourished
despite my low expectations and which ones failed despite my high
hopes. I saw how devastating injuries really can be to a team and
learned that there are quite a few athletes in the NFL with incredible
talent even though they never seem to make the highlight reels. Most
importantly, although I will always be a Raiders fan, I learned how
much fun it is to come to a true appreciation of other teams and their
talents (instead of dismissing a competing club with some formulation
as idiotic as, "They just don't have what it takes to beat my
crew!").
Although many football fans understand the importance of the distinction
between possession receivers and deep threats, it wasn't until I started
playing fantasy football that I started paying attention to such details.
Moreover, the average fan probably assumed that Rod Smith scored the
touchdown mentioned earlier on a pass from the Denver QB. In fact,
the reason it had me so excited was that it was a run. The fantasy
owner I was playing against that week had taken Frerotte as his QB
in order to neutralize Smith, since QB's and receivers both get credit
for touchdown receptions; but when Smith lined up in the backfield
I knew I had a chance for some points that Frerotte would not share
in. If it weren't for the fact that he was on my fantasy team, I wouldn't
have paid attention to Smith's versatility. Now, however, even if
I never manage to draft him again, I will always have a deeper appreciation
of what Smith is capable of accomplishing. Similarly, while the casual
football fan would have to admit to being surprised by the performance
of the Saints in the 2000 season, most fantasy owners of Joe Horn
or Ricky Williams or the New Orleans Defense could say, in all honesty,
that they saw the pieces falling into place a month into the season.
To put it as simply as I can, fantasy football has made me a better
football fan. Team loyalty is great; I still love watching the Raiders
play. But now I have a better appreciation of what such players are
up against. I wish I hadn't been beaten to Rich Gannon and Tim Brown
in the draft, but at least I was able to snap up Tyrone Wheatley and
Sebastian Janikowski. Besides, it may just be that the very best thing
about a fantasy draft is that it forces owners to expand their horizons-to
think critically about the real chances of success for a semi-rookie
like Daunte Culpepper or a relocated Jeff George. Fantasy owners don't
just learn about the players on their own rosters, however; they can't
help learning a little bit about everyone. Most fantasy match-ups
aren't settled until the Monday night games. Sometimes you watch a
game to see how your players will do; sometimes you watch to keep
tabs on those of your opponent; sometimes both. Games simply become
more exciting when they have a direct impact on the viewer. And the
viewer who engages in fantasy smack talking at the office wants to
see whether the Detroit defense can hold his opponent's receiver to
less than a hundred yards because that may decide which owner will
make it to the playoffs.
Another great upside of fantasy football is how drastically it increases
the pleasure I derive from subscribing to the NFL ticket. Some viewers
switch from one game to another just to avoid commercials; some are
simply compulsive flickers; but I move through the games methodically,
answering such burning questions as whether Baltimore will ever use
Ben Coates the way the leader of my division has been praying for
them to. While it may be true that coaches' challenges slow down the
games for those people restricted to standard network coverage, those
of us with the Ticket know that when the referee is reviewing the
tape in one game, it's simply an opportunity for us to find out about
another. (While the referee is busy persuading himself that Emmitt
Smith really did get the ball past the pylon, I can be checking in
with the phenomenal Ricky Watters, for whom I had no proper appreciation
until I took him as a back up RB in last year's draft.) The exigencies
of most fantasy league drafts force owners to build rosters from players
spread throughout the league, which means that either your team or
your opponent's is likely to have at least one player involved in
each game on Sunday. You might just find yourself invested in the
final minutes of a match-up between Cleveland and Cincinnati. Behold
the power of fantasy football!
So take my advice: Give fantasy football a try. Although I can't volunteer
to pay your fee for you, I will be bold enough to guarantee that there
is a league near you with people who just want to help each other
enjoy the game of football a little bit more. If you're reluctant
to put money on it, there are a number of fee-free leagues online.
Give one of these leagues (such as those available through Yahoo or
CBS.Sportsline) a try. Whether you play in a league based on points
or wins, whether you draft well or poorly, whether you make it to
your league's championship game or not, you'll almost certainly enhance
the pleasure to be derived from those hedonistic Sundays in front
of the television. I've lost more often than I've won at fantasy football;
but I've always had fun. That may not be the kind of sentiment that
would make Vince Lombardi proud-but I'm only a fan, not a player.
Fantasy football isn't, like many people think, for folks who want
to pretend to be owners; it's for fans who want to get serious
about being fans. |
