After ten years of never coming closer than third place, I can finally call myself a Fantasy Football Champion! This year I fielded teams in two separate leagues. Finishing in fifth place in one, I sit atop the throne as league champion of the other.
Finally! The Sweet Taste Of A Fantasy Championship
Doing my best Aaron Rodgers impersonation, (i.e. “running the table”), I didn’t lose a game after Week 4, finishing with a record of 14 wins against 2 defeats. The satisfaction I am experiencing is indescribable. While we don’t play for money, the bragging rights are equally as gratifying. For the next 365 days, I’ll be able to boast about the success I was able to achieve.
During my time playing fantasy football, I have experienced both highs and lows. As the fantasy playoffs began last week, I was forced to watch helplessly as three of my players were injured, in the first quarter no less, leaving my fifth-place finisher at less than full strength.
In years past when losing, even while upset, I accepted defeat knowing the guys representing me didn’t do enough to earn the win. Sometimes, the owner of the team to whom I lost would gloat and rub it in. The opponent my team defeated for the championship won’t hear a peep out of me. You might say this article is a bit much. I rebut that by pointing out no names are being used, nor have I indicated what league I was a part of. As such, no ridicule on my part has been dished out.
Playing fantasy football has given me a greater respect for what scouts, coaches, and general managers do on a daily basis – that being judging talent. Last year, when one of my receivers got hurt, I scoured the waiver wire looking for someone to pick up. I looked at their targets, receptions, yards after the catch, yada, yada, yada. Unfortunately for me, the options were few and far between as my need for a receiver came about in Week 6. Ultimately, I decided to add a rookie return man/receiver who plays for the Kansas City Chiefs. Maybe you’ve heard of him, as I’m speaking of Tyreek Hill. Not only did he reward me by posting big numbers, mostly via the return game, I was so pleased with his production that I chose him as my “keeper” selection. In case you don’t know, a keeper is a player you get to hold on to from the previous year. The choice is yours.
As the fantasy season concludes, the NFL regular season approaches an end, with the playoffs just around the corner. Watching the playoffs this year will probably be a little different for me. This year, I can look at them with a small sense of knowing what it is they are playing for. Yes, the players did all of the hard work, this I know.
Nevertheless, the previous nine years of futility have been washed into oblivion with this years’ triumph. Receiving my “virtual” Lombardi Trophy is a feeling that I will never forget, and hope to experience again.
If you are a fantasy player, regardless of the sport, and haven’t enjoyed the thrill of victory as champion, I hope you are able to do so in the very near future. Just as long as it’s not at my expense! 😊