Well, I finally did it. I joined the decades-old legion of "sports geeks" who play fantasy football. If you are a football fan, you might enjoy the guys who do the NFL Rants & Raves podcast. I joined one of their leagues, and now countless hours are disappearing into the ether of ESPN.com and other fantasy-focused sites. I would have never been able to tell you who the starting tight end for the 'Skins was, but now Chris Cooley is starting for my team, The Mifflinburg Marshals. And he should be pretty damn good.
Draft Day was great. ESPN uses a live draft system, so all 12 owners logged on at 10:15 AM ET (Sorry to our Australian owner.). I had the last pick of the first round; no LT, Adrian Peterson or Tom Brady in my clubhouse. I did grab Ryan Grant RB and Randy Moss WR, though. My strategy left me with Donovan McNabb as QB starter, which is tough for a Steelers fan, but as long he stays healthy, I'll be happy. (A pending trade should land me Brett Favre as a good backup.)
Fantasy Football is interesting because it forces participants to pay attention to teams they wouldn't normally root for, and cheer for guys they'd often never even hear of. I'll actually watch open night, paying attention to the 'Skins passing game because my Tight End is playing. I'll never cheer for the Pats, but I sure hope Brady hooks up for a thousand yards with Randy Moss this season. I'm a company man, though. I did land Willie Parker and Hines Ward. That was best available drafting, though. Hopefully they keep it together in Steeltown. Parker was undervalued, so I nabbed him in the bottom of the third round.
My first matchup is agains the show's host and a long-time FF player, so I'll let you know if I win or fail in epic fashion.
UPDATE: The season opener (Redskins @ Giants) almost scored me some decent points. I have the Giants D, but they let a touchdown slip in and my 11 points dropped to 5. (One sack) Unfortunately, Campbell only attempted one pass to my TE Cooley, and it was only a 7-yard gain: 0 points.
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