#NerdsUnite: Play on playa! (Breaking down the world of sports so you don't have to!)
<editorsnote> Nerds, meet my buddy Derek - I met him when I was professor for a day at CSUF. Really rad dude, and he wants to come on board to help explain to us nerdy folk the wild world of sports. Smart dude, and knows his shizzy shiznat. I only have one more thing left to say ... HIT IT DEREK!!! </editorsnote>
#TalkNerdyToMeLover's @DerekJ_AllDay
Hello to all the readers out there, and a special shout-out to everyone that is about to start finals week. As you may know I am at Cal State Fullerton, and we are all running into the finals buzz saw starting next week. Honestly, finals seem to get more difficult every semester…and I am not sure if it is because of the school, or if it’s because I care less and less about what I am learning the more semesters I take. Regardless, I feel your pain, and remember that break is only weeks away!
Finals are not the only tests coming up though, after (Monday Night Football) the Fantasy Football Playoffs are going to begin! This gives me a perfect opportunity to dig deep into the world of fantasy games, and share the wonderful world of fantasy with you all!
I have to throw another shout-out, to Lindsay, who left a comment on my very first post. She was talking about how her boyfriend is getting her into sports, and that she is playing fantasy football with all of their friends. It’s funny because my girlfriend and I are doing the exact same thing. She even beat me this last week!
The most popular fantasy game is Fantasy Football, but there is actually a fantasy game for every sport, and I seriously mean every sport. Besides the obvious sports like baseball, basketball, hockey etc…there are also fantasy games for soccer, bowling, fishing, golf, and racing (Nascar and Indy). Crazy right?! I always knew there was soccer and even golf, but I was amazed to find out years ago that there is fantasy fishing! So this means that there is definitely a fantasy game out there for everyone.
I will be speaking in terms of fantasy football, just understand that all fantasy games are different in some way. The entire point of fantasy “anything” is to construct a team of real life players into a sort of a super team. The way you create your team is relatively simple. In most leagues there are the same 10 (sometimes more) people playing all year long. You build your team during a draft that takes place before your sport’s season begins. The draft is the player selection process in fantasy. When you sign up for a league there will be a set draft time. At that given time, all 10 players hop on their computers and participate in the draft. The draft itself is a bit complicated, and how you draft is completely up to you. There are 16 rounds in the typical fantasy football draft, every round each player gets to pick one player in the NFL. It can be anyone in the league, anyone at all. Where you pick (1-10) is rotational. For example, if I get the very first pick in the first round, then I will have the very last pick in the second round, first in the 3rd, last in the 4th and so on. After all 16 rounds you will have your fantasy football team ready to go for the season.
Now that you have your team you might ask, how do I win? Well, scoring formats can differ, but the most popular format is called “Head to Head.” This is where you play against just one person in your league every weekend, and whoever scores the most points wins one game and gets a win or a loss put on their record. For example, if Marcus, Kevin, Charles and Papa Smurf were all playing in a fantasy league…then the schedule for the first game would be something like Marcus vs. Kevin, and Charles vs. Papa Smurf. The games take place weekly so all games Thursday-Monday of a given week count as a part of one fantasy game. The reason this format is so popular is because you play directly against your friends and other opponents, rather than just collecting points all year and indirectly competing against them. So then…how do you score points?
Drafting and beginning a league sounds more complicated than it really is, and the cool part is you can go to ESPN.com and take part in “mock drafts” which don’t actually count towards anything and are solely there for practice. The big questions heading into the draft are who to pick. There are a million strategies out there, and it truly is entirely up to you. The most important part is understanding the scoring system and picking players accordingly. No part of fantasy is complicated, but it does take some getting used to. You will be filling positions on your team such as quarterback, wide receiver, running back, tight end, kicker and finally defense/special teams. All of the points earned are directly related to the players performances in their game that week. How many yards they got, touchdowns, field goals, sacks, etc. For the sake of length I will refer you to this link of how all of the points work.
Trust me, reading about fantasy is not nearly as fun as actually playing fantasy. Fantasy games are constantly evolving, and once you learn the basics which I have explained the best I can; your journey has only just begun. Constant debate rages on about drafting strategies, who to start and who to sit, and of course whose team is better! It gives you an opportunity to gain bragging rights and talk trash against family and/or friends which you WILL do if you play. It’s impossible not to!
Believe it or not you should be even more intrigued if you are not very interested in sports. If you get stuck watching football every Sunday and you just don’t care about the teams playing, then that is fine…but those games instantly become interesting if you have 1 or 2 players playing in that game that are getting you points to beat your best buddy in fantasy!
I am especially talking to girlfriends here…fantasy is the answer to all your problems while watching sports. If you are a girlfriend, or boyfriend for that matter, and you don’t like sports, but you get stuck watching them every week…why not join your significant other in fantasy? You could watch the games and have something at stake yourself! All of the games become so much more fun to watch when you are playing against one of your friends or your gf/bf! The other part is that you are guaranteed to learn about sports along the way!
All in all fantasy is a sports world where team allegiances are put aside, victory is the primary goal and bragging rights are at stake for the YEAR!
Questions about fantasy? Got sports on your mind? Tweet me @DerekJ_AllDay. I’m here to discuss all things sports.