As I was reading one of Bill Simmons’ recent columns, I was struck by something he said about last Monday’s Cowboys/Eagles game:
Only later did I realize I had spent infinite more time biting my nails, e-mailing friends, throwing my remote, refreshing my league’s “Live Scoring” browser, piecing together different miracle comeback scenarios and basically fretting about the Eagles-Cowboys game than I had enjoying the game itself.
I remember those days. I used to be in two or three fantasy football leagues and I always found myself obsessing over my players, refreshing the live scoring box score repeatedly, and panicking when one of my guys was underperforming or – gasp! – if he went down with an injury. Since one or two of my games would inevitably depend on the Sunday and/or Monday night games, they turned into a gut-wrenching roller coaster of emotions.
Those days are over.
You might be thinking that I reduced my number of teams to one or zero, but I went the other direction. I joined 10 leagues last season and 11 this year. And I haven’t enjoyed watching the games this much since my first few years of playing fantasy football.
When I tell people how many leagues I’m in, I usually get one of three reactions: (1) their eyes get big and they start to stare off in the middle distance, pondering about how much time it would take to manage that many teams, (2) they cackle, thinking that I’m joking but when I fail to join them in laughter they ratchet it down to a chuckle and probably start thinking that I’m a total sports nerd, or (3) they gaze in wonder, jealous that I have so many fantasy football teams and wishing they did too.
When you have multiple teams, there’s a point when it becomes basically useless to root against anyone. You have so many players in your starting lineup and are going against so many other players that you’d probably be rooting for and against the same guys. Those situations cancel each other out and you’re left with a surprisingly serene Sunday. It’s sort of like watching the games in the eye of the hurricane. Things are rather pleasant where you are, but a few miles away, all hell is breaking loose.
Sure there are a few guys that I have on several teams: Roddy White (5), Jason Witten (4), Ben Roethlisberger (4), Jerricho Cotchery (4), Reggie Bush (3), Marion Barber (3), Larry Fitzgerald (3) and Jamal Lewis (3). But for the most part, my fantasy risk is spread around, and no single injury or bad season can ruin my year. My draft positions were all over the place (and I even got into an auction league), so when it was my time to pick, I just grabbed the guy I thought was the best fit for my team at that particular time.
It also allowed me to pretty much draft every guy I liked heading into the season. You know how you go into a draft with a few players that you’d like to draft late but inevitably miss out on most of them? For me, that list included surprises like DeSean Jackson and Eddie Royal (as well as disappointments like Ronald Curry and Ted Ginn). Save for a couple of exceptions – Steve Slaton, I’m looking at you – I managed to get every player I liked on at least one team.
When it comes to the Sunday or Monday night games, I’m pretty relaxed. Sure, I often find myself with four or five games tipping in the balance, but if I lose one, all is not lost. I basically just sit back and watch the week’s action and then pick up the pieces on Tuesday. The first week of waivers is kind of a bitch, but after that it’s not too much work to manage my teams.
So if you find yourself stressing out about your fantasy team, consider joining a few more leagues. You might find that’s just what the doctor ordered.
Week 4 is upon is…