It’s not 1977, and I’m not crazy. In the autumn doldrums of the sports schedule fantasy football is the lifeblood of a true sportsman. Sure, baseball’s finale was unfulfilling, but now it’s gone altogether. Basketball’s back (and there’s fantasy for that too), but it is a little early in the season to really warrant much notice. Hockey may or may not be back; my Outdoor Life Network doesn’t always come in.
So, on a daily basis fantasy football is the methadone to my sickness. Everyday there is something that needs doing with the team. It takes on a nice regular schedule. Mondays are off, you know, keeping team morale up. Tuesday are back to some light work. After the week’s games, you need to see where you are in the standings, what holes need filling for the upcoming weekend. This is also a perfect time to rip off someone in a trade. Take the first week when Javon Walker went down. Like a vulture, I swooped in to pick from his carcass of a team, raiding the over-achieving Lamont Jordan in exchange for the beat-up Joe Horn.
By Wednesday, you’re ready to earn your fantasy paycheck. For most leagues, this is the day you’ll put in waiver picks. Thought that Deuce McAllister-Ahman Green combo would tear apart your league? Waiver wire Wednesdays are where you snatch a Mewelde Moore or Marion Barber III to patch you through to the rest of the season. Wednesdays are make-or-break; they separate the casual ‘still-starting-Andre Johnson’ gamer and the aficionado of sports’ Dungeons & Dragons.
Thursdays are the day when you make your first roster. By Friday, you will have changed this at least two or three times. Until Saturday, you will brood over minutiae like whether Reuben Droughns will finally punch it in or do you flex and take a flier with a third wide receiver such as Antonio Chatman. Even Sunday requires that you get up by noon so that you can make any game-time decisions.
I haven’t even mentioned the other myriad of leagues that occupy my time: the knockout pool, weekly spread picks, weekly straight picks and a salary cap team. There’s also a hockey league I’m in, but that doesn’t take up too much time because I have no clue who any of the guys are. Basketball tipped off last night, and if the Webber-Iverson duo has as good a year as an opening night, I don’t care how many wins the Sixers have.
I just got word that Terrell Owens will probably be out this weekend against Washington, which is disappointing. It puts me in a serious bind. With Torry Holt on bye week, I have to start, and watch in person, Santana Moss try and burn my Eagles; a double-whammy that can only be rectified by a 200 yard, two touchdown performance from Moss in a 38-28 loss. Forget who wins. As Al Davis said, “Just win, baby.”
