Not long ago, it used to be that the word “fantasy” brought to mind something along the lines of “Dungeons and Dragons” or “Magic: The Gathering”. Football used to simply be a game played by two eleven-man teams trying to advance an oval-shaped ball across the opposing team’s goal line or kick it between the goal posts for points. However, times have changed. Thanks to the Internet, the line between nerd and jock has been forever blurred, at least during football season. For the beginning of every NFL season marks the beginning of Fantasy Football Season.
Nowadays, when computer science professors teach a class they have to worry about students checking on their Fantasy Football teams, to go along with idle chatter and the occasional cell phone ringing in class.
Fantasy owners will admit that their FFL can sometimes interfere with their school work. “I spend more time playing Fantasy Football than I do studying,” said Scott Salvatore, a third-year accounting major from Boothwyn, PA.
Time “playing” Fantasy Football takes into consideration all time spent reading about players on various websites, time watching NFL games, and time tinkering with lineups and trash-talking your opponents.
Trash talk is one of the fun elements of any Fantasy Football league. A well placed movie quote or insult won’t score any points, but getting one up on an opponent can lift a team to at least a moral victory.
Sometimes a moral victory is the most one can hope for, but once in awhile there will be a diamond in the rough. E.J. Briner was distraught after learning that Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger would not be playing in the season opener. He reluctantly picked up Big Ben’s largely unheralded replacement, Charlie Batch and prepared for a slaughtering. Batch went on to morph into Joe Montana for a night, throwing for 209 yds and three touchdowns resulting in 21 fantasy points for Briner’s team, an extremely good fantasy score.
Another great debate caused by Fantasy Football is whether to place the success of the Fantasy Team over the success of the Home Team.
For instance, an Eagles fan, who also plays Fantasy, has Tiki Barber of the Giants on his team. This week, the Giants play his beloved Eagles. Does he simply sit his team’s far and away best player because he can’t root against his hometown? Or does he play barber? Thus be shunned forever by die-hard Eagles fans. Is there a way that he can play Barber and hope he does well, while still hoping that the Eagles beat the Giants? Is that even possible? It may sound crazy, but these are the types of questions that plague Fantasy owners every week.
TheHuddle.com is a website devoted to helping owners manage their team and answer these tough questions.
TheHuddle said its goal is “to provide fantasy football fanatics everywhere with the best fantasy football resource on the Internet.”
The home page states “The owners and principle contributors to The Huddle, David Dorey and Whitney Walters, have been fantasy football junkies since 1990. Many of the site’s writers not only share David’s and Whitney’s experience, but also their level of commitment and passion for fantasy football.”
The site charges $21.95 for access and $24.95 will also get the user a daily newsletter.