Head To Head Is Only Way To Go

Remember the early days of "roto" baseball?

I'm talking back in the day, before the interweb, Google, on-line fantasy craze. You might've been in a baseball league with co-workers. You probably blew half your work day waiting for your "good-with-numbers" commissioner to run the categories and update last night's stats.

You were dying to see if Ryne Sandberg's big night was gonna vault you ahead a point in home runs. When this geeky commissioner finished, you anxiously looked over the four or five categories to see where you stood. "Boy I need to find some steals." Then you'd start trying to work a trade.

How the hell did I ever get any work done back then?

Anyway, those were the golden days of fantasy baseball. It was better than fantasy football. Then fantasy football got popular and it was so good. So much fun. It made football even that much better.

It brought a smile to your face that summer was coming to an end because you had a draft to prepare. Still, fantasy football is great, even with all the on-line BS to sift through.

Why is fantasy football better than roto baseball? It's the head-to-head scoring concept of football that makes it better.

Now, the trend in the fantasy world is moving baseball toward a head-to-head format. I had given up on fantasy baseball because of the boringness of roto-style. I got back in this year, but only because this league more mirrored a fantasy football league. It was a keeper league and it was head to head scoring.

Now, I'm hooked again. I'm paying attention every day.

I'm checking box scores, I'm scouring injury reports. If I have a bad week, or even a bad month, I can still win my league.

In roto, a bad month could bury you to a level you cannot climb out of. Get out to a hot start in roto or you're REALLY going to have more time to prep for your fantasy football draft because by the All-Star break, you won't care.

But head-to-head, that's where the action is. You'll be chasing your league's title well into the football season. You'll have two sports to monitor in August and September, and that's a good thing.

If you're still playing roto baseball, why? If you haven't given head-to-head a try, you have no idea what you're missing.