Fantasy football realities

Fantasy football has become one of the biggest developing trends in America, so much so that it's no longer just a trend at all. According to the Fantasy Sports Trade Association's 2005 figures, an estimated 14 million people partake in the 17-week battle, and the participation rate is growing at a rate of seven percent each year.

The National Football League has become a stunning success and there is much that attributes to this fact. Parity, a bevy of recognizable stars and a successful marketing campaign that includes a television network devoted entirely to its gridiron greats have helped to create the juggernaut that is the NFL.

However, even for big fans, it was hard to get excited for a match-up like Tennessee vs. Miami. That is unless you've pinned your fantasy football hopes to the inconsistent Daunte Culpepper.

"With fantasy football, you pay much more attention to some of the teams you don't like, because some of the players are on your team," said senior business major Aaron Sarkodie-Mensah. "You're much more in tune with the sport you love so much."

Web sites such as Yahoo.com allows players to partake in either a private or a public league. In the private league, the participants can play against friends and family. When in a public league, a person may test their might against an unsuspecting group of strangers.

"It's all my close friends from home so it's a good way to keep in touch," said junior civil engineering major Eric Reis, who plays in a private league.

Once a player decides on the league type they wish to play in, the individuals must choose their teams' players. The two most common ways are serpentine drafts and auction drafts. In a serpentine draft, the manager with the first pick in the first round has the last pick in the second round, and so on and so forth. In an auction draft, all teams have a specific amount of money to spend and players take turns nominating players to be bid upon. Everyone in the league bids against each other with the highest bidder getting the player. The roster has to be filled, and people are not allowed to spend more than the predetermined amount.

The number and type of players varies from league to league, but the basic skeleton roster includes a quarterback, two wide receivers, two running backs, a tight end, a kicker, and a team defense. Other leagues can include a utility spot at which managers can implement any position they choose on a weekly basis. Individual defensive players, or extra players from a skeleton roster may also be added.

Throughout the season, players are able to edit their original roster. They can make trades with other players, or drop their current players onto waivers and pick up a free agent not currently on another team.

"I think the draft is more important because that's the core of your team," Sarkodie-Mensah said. "That's the team that gets you through the season, but it's important to pay attention to free agency because you can find the one guy who has a breakout season that helps you win it all."

There are several different ways to keep score, and depending on the league this will decide how a manager may draft their team. Some leagues pay more attention to touchdowns, while others focus on completions and receptions. The universally accepted categories are passing yards, receiving yards, rushing yards, kicking yards, yards allowed and touchdowns.

With fantasy football becoming as popular as it is, many leagues become pay leagues with a set buy-in dollar amount. The winner may take all or there could be a certain amount for finishing in second place or winning the regular season title.

However, many leagues play for more than money.

"We call it a banner," Sarkodie-Mensah said. "Whoever wins has the right to say they won that year and some people actually go as far as to make a physical banner that they hang with their team name and some of their players on it."

Fantasy football has become much more than a casual game, played with local guys within an office. It has become a global phenomenon and is showing no sign of slowing down.