8/6/01
Email Steve
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As I compose this and consider its eventual publication here on
the internet, the irony of this all (as well as my angst) is noteworthy…
As a 13-year veteran of fantasy football, who harks back to the
days when "rotisserie" was the prevalent term in the world
of "fantasy" sports and magazines were the pervasive source
of information, I am proud to see how the hobby has grown…
up. Anymore, there appears to be so many participants covering a
wide demographic range, spreading a zeal for the great game of football
to reaches that before fantasy football existed could not have been
fathomed. Sheer increase in numbers aside, fantasy football critics
and naysayers say what you want, but it cannot be denied that fantasy
football has made (for) a more intelligent fan/football enthusiast.
And, now, with
[the (r)evolution of] the internet, the potential for growth and
diversification increases exponentially, and the possible manifestations
of the hobby on-line are intriguing and progressive and provide
a milieu which is 1) conducive to innovation via computer capabilities
such as message boards, which provide forums for the sharing of
ideas, and 2) propitious to the infusion into our game of personality
and creativity from a diversity of individuals approaching football
from various perspectives by way of the creation of fantasy football
information and, even more so, league web sites.
However, I fondly recall a more grassroots era, a time when the
typical league was primarily composed of locals, co-workers, colleagues
and school buddies, who used it as a means to keep in touch as life
takes them in different directions, and guys with names like Mikey,
Steve, Franko, Davie, Rob, Joey, Mark or Danny who, as friends or
friends of friends, tried to get together for the games; snail mail,
the phone and perhaps the fax machine for the more technically adroit
were the modes of correspondence, and the scoring system was standardized
and a mere afterthought. Nowadays, debates about scoring systems
litter on-line message boards, and it is commonplace to play in
"leagues" with people, to whom we cannot put a face, going
by names like:
Barfing dog, King D-i-c-ktka, Oprah's brown eye, fu-q-all, AnotherNondescriptPackerFan,
[arsenal], a$$wipe, ultimateFFwarrior (who, by the way, has never
even strapped on flags, no less a helmet and pads), William51, ®evenge,
Inveterate™, Megalomaniac, Peter North, StegRock (what a mo-mo
that guys is ;o) ), etc.
This internet-induced impersonalization is not only comedic, but
ironically needless as the vast majority of these guys were or would
be fantasy footballers or at least football fans regardless of the
internet. Notwithstanding the FF Geek moniker, it is not that your
average internet nerd browsing for info on alien abduction stumbles
across the ESPN web site and does a 180, realizes his latent pigskin
passion and joins a fantasy football league. In large, the internet
is just a new tool/toy for the fantasy football aficionado. The
guys you are conversing with on FF message boards are the same guys
with whom you talk football at the proverbial water cooler.
The internet indubitably provides greater access to the game. No
argument there! But, to whom? The inherent problem here is that
the number of leagues is increasing at a rate disproportionate to
the relatively slower growth in the number of participants, i.e.,
there are not 12 FF newborns for every new 12-team FF league that
pops up, literally, out of thin air, i.e. cyber space. The high
potential for apathy, which predictably comes about due to this,
is a true dilemma, which gets exacerbated and its solution convoluted
because of a misunderstanding of the aforementioned real source
of the problem. This brings me to an article that exemplifies this
dynamic and is the cause of that angst to which I initially made
reference.
In this article, unorthodox variations on scoring systems, league
structure and administration are proposed. Though some of the proposals
are within the realm of reason, some are absolutely preposterous.
In the article, the following league variations are endorsed: Mandatory
Trading League, Alma Mater League, Poach Draft Leagues, The Alphabet
League, Morality Clause System, Berman Bonus System, Benevolent
Despot Commissioner, Instant Replay, Rules Auctions, etc. Yet, ideas
like the Direct Comparison System, which was the format used by
one of the original old rotisserie sports companies, Armchair Sports
Group, back in the '80's, is lumped into this steaming heap of admittedly
crazy rules… crap. All that said, it is the premise of the
article that is unsettling. The real problem (that I have, I suppose)
is a paradigmatic one. If not explicitly, the theme of the article
is one that inherently makes the type of system or framework used
the focal point, as that which makes the game, moreover, fun or
is at least a vital element contributing thereto to a degree that
merits media-scale elaboration. It also, even more directly, opens
the door for the introduction/establishment of even more leagues
in an, as previously explained, already saturated venue. More types
of leagues potentially mean more leagues, more leagues adding to
the excess of leagues that already exists and giving players even
more leagues to join, thus further thinning out the devotion/allegiance
of a fantasy footballer to a particular league. Though thresholds
may vary, you will generally find that most "seasoned"
fantasy footballers would say that less is better when it comes
to the number of leagues in which to participate. Unfortunately,
the life's blood of this "reasonable, real-world outlook"
seems to get sucked dry in the worldwide web. If you just cannot
help but join a lot of leagues, check out the "Rules & Scoring"
of the CBFL,
which offer a reasonable, low-maintenance alternative to the regular
league set-up, which typically takes significant effort that could
be being devoted to one league.
As in any game or sport, it is not the rules that make the game…
fun. It is the people, and that is where the focus should be. What
does this mean to you, the fantasy footballer, substantively speaking?
Well, if you are a commissioner of a league, run a tight ship, eliminate
deadweight, know candidates well possibly by way of a phone interview
if need be before extending membership, nurture the human element
by getting to know the participants as people, encouraging communication
by phone and leading by example by picking up the phone yourself,
do not just dismiss the creative/artistic side of the hobby like
team names and build your own unique web site for the league if
you have the time, and be democratic and inclusive when making decisions
about the league; whatever the rules may be make sure they are clear
and fair and enforce them strictly and uniformly. As a player, be
supportive of such a commissioner, play in and focus your energies
ideally on just one league and, for goodness sake, participate or
get out. Fantasy footballers, point your energies in this direction
and away from the endless, mundane and sterile contemplation of
the numbers and how they are best processed, rules structures and
administrative techniques. Whatever the system, if the people involved
are not enthusiastic and dedicated, the league will fall short of
your expectations.
:: comments to steve
stegeman
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