I started playing fantasy sports about ten years ago.
Football was per usual the first fantasy sport I played. I
immediately loved it because it was a way to interest me in every game played
on any given Sunday. I enjoyed playing with my friends, talking ‘smack’ and
coming up with witty team names and slogans. However, I quickly realized that there is a
point where fantasy meets reality and conflict is created. For example, there are certain teams that I
stay far away from on draft day because of long time hatred. I have never had a single Redskin on a fantasy
team because I just cannot cheer for them.
In addition, I quickly realized that my fall Sundays of pure enjoyment
could easily be ruined if one of my fantasy stars is playing against the
Eagles. Suddenly with all these
realizations, I started to think a lot about the differences between fantasy
and reality when it came to my love of sports.
And from that moment on, I decided that in my world, reality will always
trump fantasy!! The outcome of the
Eagles game will always matter more to me on Sunday, then the passing yards of
Aaron Rodgers, and the Phillies score will always matter more to me than Miguel
Cabrera’s batting average.
Now, don’t jump the gun and think that my motto of putting
reality ahead of fantasy changes my competitive nature when it comes to fantasy
sports, because it sure does not. I have
only won one football championship, but I have been dominant in my fantasy
baseball play. In my first four full
seasons, I have racked up one gold trophy, two silvers and one bronze. I have always felt that there is so much more
strategy involved in fantasy baseball which is why I like it much more than
fantasy football. And a baseball player
that isn’t necessarily the most popular player on the diamond, could be a fantasy
stud and vice versa. One of my favorite
fantasy players has been Juan Pierre who gets on base and steals bases more
than any casual baseball fan realizes.
He is one of the hardest players to strike out in baseball, yet he was
claimed by the Phillies off waivers this year and was not a roster player going
into Spring Training. On the other hand,
some well-known and loved players on the field can be fantasy team
killers. At the beginning of this season,
Albert Pujols owners were probably all conflicted, wanting to take him out of
their line-up while he worked through his slump, but hesitant to do so knowing
that a three homerun night was a possibility every night.
At the end of the day, I love fantasy sports even through
the ups and downs. This year, I happen
to be having a rough year in both fantasy and reality. My fantasy squad, now well known as “Kung Foo
Panda” named after one of my favorite fantasy surprise studs, closely resembles
the Phillies. Both are full of injury
and just can’t get it right on a daily basis.
As the manager of Kung Foo Panda, it feels like every night I have more
production on my bench than in my line-up and every morning I wake up to
another ailment. Regardless, I will not
give up because as the 2008 Phillies showed us, as long as you can hang on and
keep yourself in the running, you have a chance to win. And if winning isn’t the outcome, every team
deserves a rebuilding year in the meantime.
-CL
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