It is that time of the year again. The temperature is slowly dropping, the leaves are slowly changing colors, everything from coffee to muffins is becoming pumpkin flavored so that must mean it is time for football! For some, football is more than just a game; football is life. It’s what makes the week go by faster, it’s an excuse to be doing something on Sundays, and it’s a designated time to watch your favorite team with loved ones. With football, fantasy football comes hand in hand. Anyone who has ever had interested in the NFL has at some point pictured what a team with all of their favorite players would look like and fantasy football gives them the opportunity to make it happen. Friends, family members, co-workers, and basically anyone you want can get together and join a league to compete. While fantasy football might seem like nothing more than a fun time here are five struggles to expect when joining fantasy football.
1. Trying to get a league together.
Creating accounts, remembering passwords, and the hassle of deciding who is worthy of being part of your league is always a challenge. The best thing you can do is find someone who is nonbias, is friendly with everyone in the league, and is well respected to be your commissioner. The commissioner can make your fantasy league experience either hell or heaven. The people in your league over time will slowly become your allies or your enemies. Fantasy football is not for the faint-hearted.
2. The draft.
Drafts are a lot like school. Some people are naturally good at them and do fantastic, others study and do OK, some even study, prepare, but ultimately end up with the sorriest excuse for a fantasy that you have ever laid eyes on. Make sure you have a general knowledge of football teams besides your favorite team in order to draft successfully. Drafting every player from your single team will ultimately destroy you. Treat the draft like the stock market, diversify your portfolio in order to have a better chance of surviving if something goes wrong.
3. Injuries from players and relationships.
Seeing a player injured is always a terrible thing. No one enjoys watching a player being carted off the field, especially when he was the last remaining player on your team and you are only down two fantasy points. Injuries are just part of the game, try not to hold onto a player that isn’t likely to return and use that extra bench spot for someone who has a better chance of helping your team now. Injuries during fantasy football can occur off the field as well. Relationships, feelings, and in extreme cases even technology such as smartphones and laptops can be destroyed in fits of rage. If you are in a hyper-competitive league be prepared for friendships to be tested. Backroom deals, pickups from the wire, and alliances can all test friendships that have been around longer than most players in the NFL.
4. Having mixed feeling about every game.
It’s an odd feeling if you are someone like me who before fantasy football, only would watch my favorite team consistently. Sundays will be filled with endless amounts of football, as well as Monday and Thursday nights. Occasionally you might be put into the position where your favorite team is playing, but you have someone on your fantasy team playing against them. In that case, you have to take a stand either root for your team or root for your team, but secretly want that one player on the opposite team to have the game of his life. That decision will most likely be made based on the cushion you have against your fantasy opposite that week.
5) The joys of winning and the pain of defeat.
At the end of the day fantasy football is nothing more than a game. Some people are really good and win the league every year and some people are garbage and should have never signed up to play at all. Winning matches can result in you winning the league and depending on the league might result in either a cash prize or just bragging rights. Losing in a league can be humiliating for some. Admitting defeat is never easy, but knowing that at the end of the day every player, no matter how consistent, is a gamble makes it more and more interesting.
