Fantasy Football gives weekend fans chance to get in the game
With the 2006 NFL season now officially underway, the weekend warriors are rejoicing at the return of the glory that it is football. With the rise in popularity of both the game of football, as well as the internet, fans are given the chance to get close to the game in the forming of the growing trend that is fantasy football.
Fantasy football allows anyone to control their own football team in every aspect, from drafting, to trading, and choosing who on your team to play or sit.
The way it works is pretty simple. A fan can sign up for a fantasy league on the internet or start one with a group of friends or coworkers. During a draft, members of the league select players to their team based on stats, projections, scouting reports, as well other factors. You then choose which players you play against opponent in the upcoming weekend match-ups.
The players you play get points according to the stats they put up in their games. Points are given to NFL players for things such as yards and touchdowns, and they can lose points for turnovers. Points vary depending on the site a fan plays on. Each week members of the fantasy league go head to head, and the member whose team puts up the most points gets the victory. Just as in real football there are playoffs in fantasy football in which match-ups are based on regular records, and of course the member who wins all their playoff games is their fantasy league champion.
Many college students love playing fantasy football or other fantasy sports as it keeps them close to the sports they played in high school. Says Aaron Dunton, a 20 year old secondary education major at MCC, “Playing fantasy sports is all about the competition. It is about putting together the best team you can and putting them against someone else’s team.” Dunton, who is signed up in four separate fantasy leagues for the upcoming season, has been playing fantasy sports for four years and says that every draft is more exciting than the last one. “Researching players, their stats, tendencies, and schedules makes you really feel involved in the game.”
ESPN.com and yahoo.com offer some of the more popular fantasy leagues.