What This Crazy Life is Doing to Me

I realize that posting something about one's fantasy baseball team might not be the best way to go most days. It could be boring, if not outright repugnant to some readers. But it's Sunday morning, and I'm drinking coffee strong enough to give me a permanent natural eyebrow lift. So I feel like writing.

Last year, I played fantasy baseball for the first time and the everyday aspect of it hooked me big-time. And when I get into something, I tend to dive in head-first. So this year, I tossed aside the syringe and opted for the IV drip, signing up for more teams that available leisure time will likely allow. (The first couple of teams, of course, are meant to be "practice" for the league[s] I really want to win.)

Since no one in my regular everyday life plays fantasy baseball, thus giving me no one to talk with about it, I figured I'd post my first draft results here and see if anyone has a thought or two to share. It's a Yahoo! 12-team rotisserie league, and I began with the fifth pick. In order of draft selection, here is Delaware Mud:

1. Jose Reyes
2. Travis Hafner
3. Justin Morneau
4. Victor Martinez
5. Chone Figgins
6. Ryan Zimmerman
7. Adam Dunn
8. Nick Swisher
9. Brad Lidge
10. Francisco Cordero
11. Bob Wickman
12. Jeff Francoeur
13. Brad Hawpe
14. Josh Barfield
15. Derek Lowe
16. Curtis Granderson
17. Freddy Garcia
18. Scott Olsen
19. Kevin Millwood
20. Scot Shields
21. Dan Wheeler

I'd be curious to see what others think, but I'm pretty damn happy with this stash. With the fifth pick, I snagged who many "experts" consider the second best player in fantasy baseball, Jose Reyes. And I was still able to pick up a big power hitter by the time my turn came up in the second round.

I didn't want to take a catcher so early, but the top-shelf outfielders and third basemen were gone, so I just went with who looked like the best hitter on the board. Also, the run on closers started much sooner than I thought it would.

To me, the biggest mistake was waiting too long to draft starting pitching. Ideally, Derek Lowe wouldn't have been my first guy. I'd prefer to have at least one "ace." But a decent starting pitcher can be found on waivers most days, and maybe I can deal stolen bases or saves for some help down the line.

Actually, I really screwed up in the 14th round and missed Dave Bush. Had I been able to find him, he would've been my pick, but that was the one round where I was frantically shuffing through my lists, looking over names that hadn't been crossed off, and didn't get a pick in on time. So Josh Barfield was automatically selected for me. Not a bad pick, really. But Chone Figgins is eligible at 2B in Yahoo! leagues, so I had that position covered. It could've been worse.

Against my better judgment?

After playing fantasy football for the first time last season, I knew I'd only want more this year. I thought I'd cut myself off at two teams, but once Pradamaster invited me to join The Ultimate Bloggers Fantasy Football League, I remembered that good things come in threes.

I just posted my draft post-mortem on the league's blog, but in a nutshell, I'm pretty happy with my team (except for the QBs). I don't think any of us were pleased with NFL.com's draft and roster restrictions (can only start two receivers, can't load up on reserves until all the starting positions are filled), but we all had to deal with them, so it's not like anyone gained an advantage. If you weren't able to attend the draft, however, NFL.com's player rankings really screwed you. Don't believe me? Ask twins15, who had the Steelers defense auto-picked for him in the 2nd round.

But the league should be a lot of fun, and I'm looking forward to playing with those guys. (Don't worry - I'll save my fantasy football angst for the league's blog.) Man, I'm not getting anything done this fall...

How much is that fantasy team worth to you?

Just read an interesting article, courtesy of my friend Mis Hooz of the FRT New York bureau. (Mike at The Daily Fungo posted on this earlier this morning.) I continue to be astounded by the greedy short-sightedness of professional sports leagues. According to this New York Times article by Alan Schwarz, Major League Baseball is contending that anyone who operates a fantasy baseball league for commercial purposes should pay a license for use of player names and performance statistics.

(Sites like ESPN, CBS Sportsline, and Yahoo! each paid MLB $2 million for the rights to use player names, roster photos, team logos, etc.)

The company that's being sued by MLB says that names and statistics are freely available from sources such as newspapers, and are therefore in the public domain. MLB counters that such information isn't being used by fantasy leagues for journalistic purposes, and if they're capitalizing on names like Derek Jeter, Albert Pujols, and Alex Rodriguez for profit, they should pay for it.

I can't imagine that MLB would win such a case, but I'm obviously no lawyer. What's unbelievable to me is that baseball is willing to take on something that fuels such a passionate following of its sport. If MLB wants to spite fan interest - which fantasy sports unquestionably inspires - in the name of money, then they deserve the backlash and resentment that could result from such a cash grab.

Can you live this fantasy life?

Well, I got to live out one fantasy before the end of 2005. This past weekend, I ended my first fantasy football season with a beginner's luck run to a league championship.

(I'll get to work on a more ambitious fantasy some time after the new year. Ms. Johansson, have you found my blog yet? It's okay, I'm a lonely man with hobbies. I'm patient, with plenty of time on my hands. Wait, was that a poor choice of words?)

Thanks to the Chicago Bears' defense (and Brett Favre's newfound love of throwing interceptions), I managed to overcome my boneheaded decisions to start Ryan Moats at running back and Joe Jurevicius at receiver, and my Swift Sweaty Men scored a victory over Jim's Wabi-Sabi Warthogs. (Other bloggers in our league included Donutbuzz and Spinster Girl.)

My father and I tried fantasy football some 15 years ago, and after that, I told myself I'd never play again. I hated how it affected the way I watched a football game; for example, rooting for Anthony Carter to score touchdowns against the Lions. Never mind that we had no idea how to put a good team together. We just picked the players we knew and liked.

But after the Lions' putrid preseason debacle against the Rams in August, and my threat to take up knitting as a result, John felt my pain and suggested fantasy football as a way to get through the NFL season without forking out my eyeballs and stuffing them in my ears. And with Jim wanting to put together a league of bloggers (doesn't that sound superheroic?), the timing was perfect. I was back in.

And I was totally hooked. I loved it. I spent much more time than I'd like to admit looking at statistics, reading advice from fantasy football "experts," scouring the waiver wires for players, and bugging the other owners in my league about trades. I sought a shoulder to cry on when Donovan McNabb's injury laid him up for the rest of the season. I likely tested the limits of my heterosexuality while devoting my thoughts to players such as Andre Johnson, LaMont Jordan, Ernest Wilford, and Kurt Warner. (I know what you're saying: C'mon, Ian - if you're going to go there, at least think about someone like Tom Brady. I hear you, dude. My sister said the same thing.)

But now, the season's over and I have to find something else to fill that time. (Again, Ms. Johansson, this is where you can help me.) I'm already thinking about what I want to do next season. I want to join more leagues. Hell, I might start my own. This blog could become a support group for fantasy football addicts. What I'm saying is that I'm a voracious, greedy man who just wants more.

Thanks for inviting me to play, Jim.

I have some other thoughts on fantasy football, mostly for beginners like me or those who haven't played. I'll save them for after the jump, in case you've played for years and already know this stuff or have already had your fill. But I'd love to swap notes with the rest of you.

Still fantasizing?

♦ This I learned: Be a hell of a lot more patient. I was using the waiver wire like a madman each week. Of the original 15 players I drafted, I only had three of them by the end of my season. Of course, some of those cuts (McNabb) were due to injury.

Be especially patient with your wide receivers. I let players like Reggie Wayne and Plaxico Burress go after one or two bad weeks, and was scrambling for warm bodies (Koren Robinson?) at the end of the season. I totally underestimated how important that position can be for a fantasy team.

♦ Worst move? I kicked myself for weeks over cutting LaMont Jordan.

♦ Best move? Getting the Bears defense off waivers in Week 4. Picking up Kurt Warner after McNabb got hurt was a distant second. I'd love to say drafting Shaun Alexander, but I was lucky enough to score the second pick in our draft. It was either him or LaDainian Tomlinson. Why did I go with Alexander? Intuition, I guess. And he was playing for a contract.

♦ Biggest bust? I picked Kevin Jones in the second round. And eventually cut him for Samkon Gado. What a nightmarish season this guy had, in fantasy and reality. Of course, whenever he scored a touchdown, I had him on the bench. Dallas Clark and Michael Clayton also crapped out big-time.

Care to add anything, fellas?