Has fantasy football surpassed baseball as the great American pastime? Statistics show that millions of Americans play every season, utilizing hundreds of millions of hours in their free time!
In its most sad or pathetic form, fantasy football involves a bunch of adults who spend hours studying statistics to attend a ‘draft’ (in-person or online) and pick players they pretend to own.
Then, the fun part—every week you actually cheer for these players on teams you know nothing about. Even better, you cheer for players who are at odds with your traditional favorite teams i.e.,the Giants, Eagles, etc. because you don’t own that player and your weekly opponent may.
Sunday night comes and you watch hours of Sports Center. And forget Monday as you tally points—it takes up hours.
Of course, the other way to look at it is its not substance abuse or excessive drinking. It’s a mild form of gambling, but still basically harmless. Even more, it creates conversation and friendships where they may not have existed. It is truly a great equalizer.
Sure, there is no true monetary benefit to Fantasy Football, but it is harmless fun and, like the NCAA tournament, it allows us middle-aged, weekend warriors to feel vested in a football season that might otherwise be meaningless.
