Sunday night I walked out of Red Robin in a state of euphoria. My dad and I had dined on burgers and bottomless fries while watching the fourth quarter of the Indianapolis/New England game and I could not have been any happier about the final score: 35-34 Colts.
I am not a Colts fan nor am I a Patriots hater— I am indifferent toward both of those teams. In fact I’ve never been a big football guy. If you asked me to write down the names of all 32 NFL teams I could probably list 16 or 17 off the top of my head (actually a couple friends and I did this exercise a few months back. … I lost).
No a 35-34 Colts win had me giddy because it— wait for it— sealed a comeback victory for my fantasy football team.
I had Peyton Manning and my opponent had the Patriots’ defense. Need I say more? Maybe but then I’d look like a complete doofus saying things like “According to my calculations” while analyzing the trigonometric slope of a curve on my TI-84 Plus. With the win my team finally reached .500 and put itself in good position to make the playoffs despite losing the first three games of the season. Oh boy!
There I said it. For some of you I have tarnished any lingering respect you had for me. My credibility went down the toilet as soon as you saw the words “fantasy football” and “team” next to each other. Here are some of the less cynical thoughts currently traversing your mind: Fantasy football? Is this guy serious? I bet he also enjoys watching S your feelings is both healthy and liberating.
Maurice Jones-Drew upset some fantasy owners Sunday. With the Jaguars trailing the Jets by a point Drew had the opportunity to score a 10-yard touchdown but he stopped just short of the end zone took a knee and allowed kicker Josh Scobee to boot the game-winning field goal.
After the game he said he wanted to run out the clock to prevent the Jets from making a game-winning drive. It was a reasonable explanation but Drew wasn’t finished. He then facetiously apologized to all the fantasy owners he deprived of an extra touchdown— including himself.
“Coach said take a knee so sorry to my fantasy owners Drew said. I had myself today too so it was a tough call but whatever it takes to get the victory.”
Many of you may look at the Drew incident and scratch your heads. It confuses you annoys you and makes you want to disparage fantasy sports and all those who participate in them. That’s perfectly understandable — if I were on the outside looking in I’d feel the same way.
There is something incredibly enjoyable about being part of a fantasy league. Essentially you find a group of friends who share your avid love for sports and each of you builds a team that competes for bragging rights.
At the draft you sit on the edge of your seat praying that the guy slotted before you doesn’t swipe your next pick. Along the way there’s plenty of smack talk to keep things interesting. A strong performance at the draft is critical but mid-season pickups are ultimately what separate the winners from the losers. (Although every league has that guy who doesn’t show up to the draft never updates his team and still manages to post a better record than you at the end of the season.)
This column isn’t meant to be an ode to fantasy buffs or a platform on which sports nerds everywhere can openly celebrate their obsession for player rankings and stat boxes. I just wanted to give you a brief glimpse into the world of fantasy sports demonstrating why this strange subculture has captured the hearts of millions of men and women (mostly men) across America.
As cheesy and pathetic as it sounds there is a sense of community shared between the members of a fantasy sports league. Maybe it’s a guy thing but the spirit of competition has a tendency to strengthen friendships and bring people together. It’s almost like a dysfunctional family consisting of twelve geeky kids who are always trying to one-up each other— but in the end they’re still a family.