Jumping on the bandwagon

Well, I did it. I jumped in feet first and joined a fantasy football league. Some friends of mine were doing it, they had some open spots so I joined as did Bailey and his best friend, Noah. Duane declared he did not have the time to mess with it but somehow he always has his opinion to offer, if you’re willing to listen.

I did my research on the sly, nerding out on football knowledge when no one was looking. I knew I would not be able to get all of my first picks so I planned for two or three players for each position.

This league includes defensive players, so that added another challenge. I have helped Bailey with another fantasy team for several years so I’ve picked up some tidbits from that, or so I thought.

Prior to the draft I did not even share my picks with the two football gurus at my house, Duane and Bailey. First and foremost; not with Bailey because I didn’t want him stealing my guys and not with Duane because I didn’t want him making fun of me.

Overall, I was happy with my picks. Standout picks would include quarterbacks Kirk Cousins and Matt Ryan, Julio Jones (who I have since traded due to injury), Zach Ertz and George Kittle, tight ends.

Julio came out like a mad man in his first outing in a Thursday night game, giving me 20 plus points. I felt good about my team but then the bottom dropped out when the person I was playing that week had a quarterback that generated about 50 points and a wide receiver and running back that combined for another 50.

There was no way I could compete against that so I chalked it up to experience and moved on into week 2. I lost again this week but only by .2 points. I decided I liked being whooped over squeaking by. This was a heartbreaker and to my friend, Kristen, nonetheless.

Week 3 saw me facing Bailey. Now take note that the only two people I really wanted to beat were Bailey and Noah, so here was chance number one. This is where I learned that it’s good to have a great backup (in my case, the quarterback position) but you have to know when to play them. Matt Ryan chalked up 48 points but he was on my bench.

If I had played him, I would have won. So there it is was, loss number 3.

At this point, I could have thrown in the towel but I trudged along. I put a little more thought into my lineup (Duane says too much) and I pulled off a victory. I have to admit it felt good.

So here we go into week 5 and I’m a little more confident but I don’t think I’ll be trash talking my opponents anytime soon. I’m predicted to get beat but the margin is small so I will be watching Fantasy Football Sunday morning on ESPN to tweak my lineup. And as I have learned already, anything can happen.

Overall, I’m enjoying the Fantasy Football experience and will play again next season, if asked (and why wouldn’t they ask, apparently I’m an easy win). I’m going to put this season under ‘year in training’ status and continue to fight through to the end.