American sports fan love the game of football. Every Sunday millions of people are glued in front of their televisions rooting for their favorite teams. The hard hitting game entertains audiences just as the great gladiator games entertained through skill, strategy and aggression. The excitement a running back creates as he breaks through a hole using fancy foot work and pure aggression. Quarterbacks who place pin point accurate passes in the arms of a receiver invigorates fans across the country. The game is beloved in America and I'm just starting to understand the feeling.
I've never truly been a football fan, I've watched on occasion and understand the game but never made time to spend an afternoon watching countless games. I'd rather be out playing golf, basketball, tennis, or watch other programs on television. With the introduction of fantasy football, football is not just a voyeuristic activity anymore. Fans have fantasy football to draft and manage a virtual team. Most leagues are organized with an entrance fee and players have the potential to make money by the end of the season. My friends have tried to get me into it but I never gave in. I'm not a gambling man so that incentive never really interested me. I also feel that in order to do well, I would need to research and stay up to date on player statistics and this was not something I was willing to do. A good friend of mine recently tried persuading me again and this time I gave in. He allowed me to manage one of his teams and now I'm an owner of a fantasy football team.
Last week was my first week managing the team and I came out victorious. It's amazing what a win can do to a person perspective. I found the process wasn't as bad as I'd thought it would be. With the creation of the smart phone application, managing my team and researching stats was easily handled everywhere I went. ESPN mobile has been the most influential medium affecting my interest. I feel that if I had to research statistics on a computer, I would bother playing. I'm starting to understand the craze behind fantasy football, although I wouldn't invest in a league myself, managing the team is actually quite fun. I find that the most satisfying aspect is arranging your team to yield the maximum amount of points. I don't mind losing as long as I put the best team I could, this is harder than it sounds because football being football results in “Any Given Sunday.” I now check news updates on player health, injuries, and read professional game analysis. I'm now managing my second week, although the league schedule is on week 4, I'm optimistic in turning the team around...the team's current record is 1-2.
Managing the team for one week started to change my perspective on the game. I now understand why millions of people log onto their team profile and strategically arrange their players each week. I'm also starting to watch entire games at home...baby steps. All kidding aside, fantasy football is a great game to play with friends and you never know by the end of the year you could win some money. I've made fun of my friends for playing years and now they're returning the favor.
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