Fantasy Sports I: the Addiction
Okay, so maybe this isn’t exactly entirely NASCAR related, but nonetheless, this is a topic I’ve been wanting to discuss for quite sometime now. Why? Because at the beginning of every single sports season, I get more questions about what fantasy (insert sport name here) league(s) I’m in. Yeah, see, I still remember 10 years ago when I had to try explaining to people what fantasy baseball or football was and how it worked – and, that was when it was still in its simplest of forms – no live drafts, just simply pick the players you want at each position, stay under your salary cap, and whichever of the ten teams in the league scores the most points that week gets the win. Now, it’s not quite that simple … now, at the beginning of February, I get asked about which fantasy NASCAR leagues I’ve joined, and what format they’re using. At the end of March, I’m locked up in heated arguments about whether ESPN’s fantasy baseball is a better format than Yahoo!. And, the middle of August is absolutely absurd because I’m trying to juggle about six live NFL drafts into my schedule and trying to make sure that I’ve got the cash to put into the pool for each of them. Yes, fantasy sports have come a mighty long way since the pre-internet days in the mid-90’s, haven’t they? But, my question is why?
1. Competition – Every single sports fanatic out there doesn’t think of themselves as a fanatic, they think of themselves as a guru. They may have spent every Sunday for the past sixteen years watching every football game available to them, and yet, they somehow think that makes them an expert on baseball as well. Fantasy gaming gives these people to compete against people similar to their line of thinking, and come playoff time, whoever prevails suddenly seems to know the most about their sport.
2. Gambling – Sure, many of the fantasy leagues that we all join each year are at no cost, but seriously, how many of those leagues are still competitive even at mid-season? I’m sure there’s studies that have been done, though I’m oblivious to them, but I’d be willing to bet that the majority of people that spend so much of their time playing fantasy sports also have a thrill for gambling. In essence, that’s all fantasy sports usually is is just another means for us all to throw some money in the air and try and leave the casino with more than we walked in with.
3. Keeping the Season Alive – What I mean by this is that sometimes during a boring sports season, many of us will often turn to fantasy sports as the reason for us to keep watching our favorite sports throughout their most terrible of times. Case in point would be the 2007 NASCAR Nextel Cup Season.
I’ll be honest, I know that fantasy sports has some sort of black magic to it beyond the three key components I just mentioned. For years I played a fantasy wrestling game that would cost a few bucks each month, which in the beginning was okay because there were cash prizes that could also be won each month. But, eventually those cash prizes were taken away, and yet, I continued to play that game. Why? There was nothing to be won … I had no personal relationships with those I was playing against … sadly enough, in conclusion, I think the real addiction to fantasy sports is that it’s just an outlet for us all to pass the time.
Related Stories
POSTED IN: NASCAR
1 opinion for Fantasy Sports I: the Addiction
ygh
Apr 9, 2008 at 5:36 pm
shit man, thats bonkers like Raja Bell, dogZ
Have an opinion? Leave a comment: