Fantasy Football = Amateur Hour

An editorial from FantasyRundown.com

Fantasy football is for amateurs.  Yeah, I said it. 

I have taken a lot of heat for making this statement over the years, but it’s true.  Fantasy football is mainly about luck, this is why so many secretaries win fantasy leagues, no offense to football loving secretaries. 

Think about it, in 99 percent of fantasy football leagues, participants need to know the names of six starting players on each NFL team: one quarterback, one running back, two wide receivers, one tight end, and maybe the kicker.  Sure, you can argue some leagues employ IDPs (Individual Defensive Players), but most leagues only require knowledge of each team’s mascot to fulfill defensive requirements.

Argue all you want, but at some point in your fantasy football career, even the most well-prepared, football-knowing, super fan No. 99 has lost a game or championship to a guy who couldn’t tell you the difference between a 4-3 and a 3-4 defense.

This is why I love fantasy baseball…the luck tends to work itself out over a 26-week, 162-game season.  In fantasy baseball you need to know who has the positive side of a LF platoon, the intricacies of a bullpen going closer-by-committee, and who is going to be the first pitching prospect that would be called up should there be a rotation injury. 

Sure, people complain that the season is too long…amateurs.

Too much time is needed to prepare daily or weekly…amateurs.

There are too many games to follow…amateurs.   

This is why the fantasy football market is roughly 10 times the size of the fantasy baseball market; housewives in Iowa are perusing the weekly flex rankings at ESPN.com.  So guy in your Chad Johnson, LT, or Peyton Manning jersey enjoy the last weekend of your league because the real fantasy season starts at about 11:45 Eastern on Monday night when the Packers-Bears game is over. 

Remember, only 57 days until pitchers and catchers report.