The Fantasy World

I heard some harsh criticism on sports talk radio today about fantasy football. The NFL has instructed all home teams to display live game stats from out of town games. This is seen as a concession to the fantasy football fans who are more concerned about TD's and yards gained.

I played fantasy football only once about 10 years ago. I never got into it. On the other hand, I always thought it was a good way to become more familiar with the players around the league.

Following the Pats is hard enough, but there are so many players in the league. I never felt comfortable about picking a team of players I didn't know.

The hosts of the show were dumping on fantasy football. One comment made a lot of sense. It gets a lot more of the marginal fans into the game. That is good for the growth of the game and exposure to the advertisers, but do they care about their team?

The league is trying to sell the live game day experience. Ticket prices exclude many fans. It's often better to watch the game from the comfort of your home.

I understand their point about marginal fans. Sometimes, I hear strange comments who are more concerned about a player's stats than whether their team lost.

I remember Coach Belichick talking about fantasy football. He has never been into stats. He said: "Sometimes the only yard a back gets can be on a third and one. That can change the outcome of the game".

I thought of putting a team together, but have not done it.