A husband and wife team from the University of Wisconsin-Madison has decided to study organization, rules, strategies, competitiveness and what fantasy owners take from the competitive experience. They plan to examine three fantasy baseball leagues in an attempt to develop a clear picture of the learning experience the participants are having. PhD’s Erica and Richard Halverson are part of the education department at UofW-M as well as fantasy baseball fans. Their fantasy experience inspired them to undertake this journey is an attempt to expand the world of learning theory.

They presented their initial findings at the annual meeting of The Games, Learning & Society Research group during the weekend of July 13th in Madison. With regard to fantasy sports Erica Halverson commented, “You’ve hooked people in a way that maybe they’re not hooked before.”

This statement is an example of understatement. Although the couple may be exploring the learning aspects of fantasy sports, they appear to be clueless of the societal impact fantasy sports has had on the real games, sports broadcasting and the publishing business. The “hooking” of participants is what drives the “free” leagues web sites from Yahoo to CNN/SI. It is one of the reasons Viacom/CBS pushes fantasy sports down the throats of millions of viewers on their Sportsline web site. Having the world hooked on fantasy sports is what has led to millions of informational and competitive web sites on the net. It is a primary reason the industry is still growing. It is also why, according to the Fantasy Sports Industry Trade Association, over 16 million people played fantasy sports in the year 2006. All of these “addicted” fantasy owners is what brought Fantasy Football Today, as well as other sites, into existence. (It should be noted that FFToday, along with 145 other organizations, is a member of the FSTA) The FSTA promote competitive non-gambling aspects of fantasy sports. This year they will hold their annual meeting in Las Vegas where finance, not learning theory, will be discussed.

Despite their professional credentials, the Halversons don’t really seem to have a grasp on the true fantasy experience. “If you’re thinking about this as a game structure that gives people the opportunity to become more invested in a given set of content, it’s kind of a nice insight,” stated Erica.

In the competitive world of fantasy sports giving people the opportunity to become more invested in a set of content is another way of saying having a boat sink underneath you may cause you to explore the inner workings of fear and floatation. The team obviously lacks the crucial insight only experience will instill. Thankfully there are many of us who are all too familiar with what is being learned in fantasy leagues across the country. This is a sampling of what I have learned from almost two decades in the caldron of fantasy football.

Never Trust the Experts; Especially The Experts On TV
You have to ask yourself, who made them fantasy experts? It was either a boss of some sort or the masses of fans flocking to web sites in search of advice. It still begs the question, are they really experts?

Last season the Talented Mr. Roto, aka Matthew Berry, selected Chris Chambers as one of the top receivers in the NFL in ESPN the Magazine. He sighted the addition of a healthy Daunte Culpepper as part of the reason Chambers would explode in 2006. His web site states, “50 million people can’t be wrong,” but he was. Chambers had the most frustrating season he has ever experienced. It is not so much Berry was wrong, it is the fact no one has a crystal ball to read the future.

My recollections say no expert projected a successful season for Marques Colston from the football powerhouse Hofstra. Not one single expert said, “This kid is going to make Donte’ Stallworth expendable then push Joe Horn to the receiver’s wasteland of the Atlanta Falcons.” That is of course unless they are experts like Rush Limbaugh who has predicted everything except his own dismissal from the world of football pundits.

Do Your Own Homework; Trust Yourself
I get asked online, and in real life, to give opinions regarding fantasy players from week to week. What I have discovered is many of these people are not really looking for advice, they are looking for someone to agree with decisions they have already made. When I agree with them they say to themselves, “Damn, that Tierney character is a real expert.” If I disagree with them they begin an argument with, “But don’t you think…?” It is a crap shoot week to week as to who is going to do what. Of course there are players who are more talented or in a position to do well. There are also teams who are up against non-existent competition for the week. If you are an avid football fan or serious fantasy owner, then you follow the game well enough to have a clue as to what is happening. In the education business we call this acquisition of knowledge establishing a cognitive base. It is the knowledge we use to solve problems and make informed decisions; it also goes by the name homework. Doing the homework is what has made Fantasy Football Today, as well as other sites not mentioned, successful. They do a lot of work so fans can actually formulate their own opinions then put them into action. There are few things more fun than taking responsibility for your success and failures.

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy the people who ask for advice. I always provide an honest answer based on my homework and my instincts. I don’t try to disagree, but I will ask questions. Research is all about resolving conflicting views to create a single reality. There are few things more fun than finding the answers to your own queries, then putting them into action.

Nothing in Life Is Free
My dad used to tell me this whiskered adage; like most things he was right. There are hundreds of “free” fantasy football sites out there, but it means you will pay a price. At times, you will have to tolerate either total silence in your league throughout the season. Worse yet, you may have to tolerate one or more of the many horses posteriors which reside at these sites. After experiencing both, silence is preferred to the obnoxious big mouth on the message board. When the rudeness of one or more league members permeates the message board I have a tendency to root for anyone playing against them. If there is more than one of these beasts in the league, and they are playing each other, I look forward to a contest of monosyllabic words to determine the stupidest owner. I am rarely disappointed.

Information Overload is Real
Between all of the television, web sites, newspapers and magazines there is way too much stuff out there. KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) is not a bad philosophy to maintain through a season. How many times have owners considered every angle, looked at every weather report, checked every stat page, then made the wrong call. If there is a wrong call to make, fantasy owners will out wit themselves in an effort to make it. Last year I made a career out of selecting the wrong back, receiver and even defense throughout the season. For the last few seasons I have lived at this residence, this year we KISS and make-up for lost ground.

I am allowing myself two thoughts per week to research, then make a call and stick to my story. I have found through the years I can talk myself into or out of any player choice. This year uncomplicated thought will put over fed reason on a diet. We take the information, relax to set a clear frame, then take the picture for posterity. 2007 is the season of Zen in my house. There will be no second guessing, no self punishment, only the calm of knowing I made the best choice I could at the time.

Camaraderie is Everything
Despite the competitive struggles to finish on top the last few seasons, there has been one thing which has kept me in the game, camaraderie. Knowing the people in your league well enough to provide them with an ample amount of garbage during the season is one of the aspects which keep the experience fun. As a result of fantasy football I am closer with people I have known for years. The league provides us with a leveler for a variety of backgrounds and status as we are all equals in competition. The communication may center on fantasy sports, but it permeates other levels of existence making for meaningful relationships.

In my main league I play with people who were originally my younger brother’s friends. I have known many of them since 1970 when they were kids. Now we are all seasoned veterans of life loving the arena of fantasy ownership. Without the league they would only be names I remember from the past. In the confines of fantasy competition we are kindred spirits and rivals. Of course there is nothing like knowing who you are beating on any given weekend. It is an especially good feeling to know how much pain they are experiencing in their house while my house is filled with glee.

I have no idea what the Halverson’s are going to learn from their academic investigation of a world they have merely tested the waters in; I will be looking forward to the results. For years I have encouraged math teachers to set up fantasy leagues in their rooms to help students work improving their basic math skills. For years they have looked at me like I was some kind of alien. (The looks can get especially intense when I suggest they use a game of darts to practice multiplication skills) Life is a game. It is more fun to win than it is to lose, but there is a lot of fun, along with learning, in the playing. I use games in my classroom constantly to cover historic events in depth so students can experience the historic implications; they love it. When someone with a PhD in front of their name thinks they have an original thought when they look at fantasy sports and conclude, “Hey! There is learning going on there,” I have to laugh. Of course there is learning going on, there is always learning going on in life.

When the University of Wisconsin-Madison education department begins to conclude learning might be going in fantasy sports, they only confirm what we know. Duh! It is nice to know we in the sport may be on the cutting edge of making this country’s education system the best in the world. When the programs for learning have been identified, ingested, digested, tested, then implemented, we will be light years ahead of those in their ivory towers. As always, we in the realm of fantasy sports are on the ground floor.