What could go wrong?
I chose Michael Vick, the quarterback, and super rich leader of the of the self-named “Dream Team” a.k.a. the Philadelphia Eagles over Chris Johnson, the also newly, super rich all-everything, speedy running back for the Tennessee Titans?
Starting with a cannot miss picks (or so I thought) like Vick or Johnson, the rest of my team would have fallen into place. I planned a flawless draft where I’d get all the sleepers I wanted.
You can almost hear NFL Commissioner, Roger Goodell, stepping to the microphone and announcing, “With the first pick in the Carlmont Fantasy Draft, Graham Godwin selects Michael Vick.”
Let the train wreck begin.
Americans are obsessed with Fantasy Football for the 17 straight Sundays that take up the NFL season.
This year, an expected 27 million Americans are taking part in this booming industry that racks in profits of four billion dollars annually.
Fantasy Football is a game based on what real NFL players do during the regular season. The participants act as the owner and build a team that competes against other Fantasy owners based on statistics that are earned by those players in real life.
The idea of Fantasy Football started in 1962 in Oakland, Calif. With no Internet to draft and keep track of statistics, the original leagues would keep track of points by pen and paper while drafts were done in person.
Over the years, Fantasy evolved and changed to what it is today, a mega billion enterprise that infatuates participants all over the world.
Americans are so interested in their Fantasy Football that it has steadily gained more Google searches than Obama during the last couple of months and the lead up of the season.
The major television broadcasters, major sport Internet sites and social network sites have all come together to build on the Fantasy Football hype.
ESPN has a television show devoted to just Fantasy advice and a platform online with countless articles in order to help out its Fantasy users.
Fantasy has even changed the ways fans experience the game through their televisions.
People do not want scores. What the fans really want is the rushing, passing and receiving leaders, and the NFL and the networks gladly give them this data.
The screen is nearly full of information and data points that have nothing to do with the game fans are watching, instead they show Fantasy Football information.
The Fantasy phenomenon has also changed the way fans choose games to watch. No longer are fans’ interest restricted to the regional game to which they are seemingly assigned.
A fan in San Diego could be sweating out a game in Buffalo because he is down by a couple points and he started the Bills tight end.
Fans are now attached to the players on their Fantasy team and will follow and root for them even if it means watching games that would usually bear no interest in.
In fact, Fantasy players will often find themselves rooting for players playing against their favorite team.
Fantasy Football is not going away. It is only going to become increasingly popular as more and more people try it each and every year.
The average participant can usually access their team from multiple different technological devices and the number of options is growing.
Unfortunately, obsession can take hold through the constant checking and re-checking on their phones and tablets.
The disadvantage for some people is having to watch their plans of Fantasy domination unravel.
Here I am, sitting on my couch, on the receiving end of another fantasy beat down. I am helplessly watching my #1 pick, Michael Vick, of that so called “Dream Team,” throw interception after interception, wondering where it all went wrong.
Well one thing is for sure, I will be back next year with a whole new Fantasy strategy that is destined not to fail.
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