The biggest day of the year for the sports world, Super Bowl Sunday, is right around the corner. Sports folk all around the country are planning out their game day festivities, and in the midst of the countdown to the game I was reminded of the fantasy football team I had created last September.
I never really understood the fantasy sports realm, nor was I ever attracted to learning more about it. I barely have enough time for all my other commitments; where am I supposed to find time to manage a sports franchise too?
But this year I decided to try it out. A few days before the 2007 season began, my brothers still needed another team in order to have enough to form a league, so I joined.
Unfortunately, my team soon suffered as a result of my neglect. We let the league do a random pick for players, so of course my team was not stacked by any means, and I failed to capitalize on any potential my players might have had. Rather, I logged in the first week to check out my players and then promptly forgot to check in again until just recently—a whole month after the final results were posted.
The results lived up to my low expectations: I placed 10th out of 10 teams with a mere 753 points and a 3-11 record. Denver Broncos’ quarterback Jay Cutler accumulated the most points for my team (216). Considering that the Broncos didn’t even make it to post-season play gives you an idea of the state of the rest of my team.
I have to admit, I was shocked that I had any wins at all. Keep in mind, though, that some of the teams in our league were being managed by my five, seven and twelve year old nephews. Yet overall they still did better than me.
I’ll be the first to admit that my team looked pretty sad, but I didn’t expect anything better from a team that didn’t receive any attention from its manager. In this respect, the fantasy world is similar to the real one: a million dollar franchise that is neglected won’t go far in the real world either.
I suppose I can’t really make a fair decision about fantasy sports since I haven’t truly participated in them, but, based on this season’s fantasy football outing, I have to say, just give me the real thing.
