Guest Blogger: J.R. Straus

J.R. Straus was born in Highland Park and raised in Deerfield , which means nothing more than the fact that he was born a Cubs fan. His nerd-like infatuation with baseball cards and their statistics has helped shape him into the fantasy sports guru that he is today. J.R. currently has 2 fantasy baseball teams, 3 fantasy football teams, a football picks league, and is considering a fantasy golf squad for the upcoming season. In the “real” world, J.R. is married, and the proud father of a 2 year old girl. How he put aside all of his fantasy games to get married and procreate is still a mystery. J.R. is currently producing Mike and Mike in the Morning for ESPN 1000.




Reality vs Fantasy

By J.R. Straus

Being a fantasy sports player is all the rage these days. According to ESPN, there are approximately 15 to 20 MILLION people playing fantasy football alone. Most people will tell you that they play fantasy sports to help become familiar with teams outside their geographic area. This, of course, is a lie. People (ok, men) play fantasy sports to:

*“Prove” to each other who “knows” more about said sport.

*Get together at least once a year to hold a draft to pick players for your team, drink, and smoke cigars.

*Give you a reason/excuse to watch other games on/scream at the tv/shirk all domestic responsibility besides your favorite team.

There is a difference between being a football fan, and a fantasy football fan. It seems all very simple, if you like football, you should like fantasy football, right?

REAL SPORTS FANS

When rooting for your real team, your guys are the people who wear your logo. Period. Remember Dennis Rodman? When he was a Piston, you hated him. A few years later, when he came to the Bulls? He was one of the most popular people in town. Same (strange) guy, different jersey. A team jersey or cap is the easiest way to identify yourself as a fan of a team. You know who the guy is cheering for that is wearing the blue cap with the red C on it. (you also know this person is usually out of things to cheer about come fall.) In real sports fandom, you (usually) unite with people of common geography that cheer for one common goal – your team to emerge victorious by scoring more points than your opponent. Everyone knows the score, or at least has access to it by turning on their TV, radio, or computer. Almost everyone knows the scoring system in football. A td is 6 points, a fg is 3 points. An extra point is…. a point. A safety, or a two point conversion are 2 points. That is about is for scoring. You can even look at the scoreboard if you are confused.


FANTASY SPORTS FANS

In fantasy sports, you root for “your guys”, regardless of the team win or loss, you only win if your players compile more statistics than the team of individuals you happen to be matched up with that week. It is hard to determine people’s rooting interest at first glance- you don’t see too many people wearing a hat that says “I got Drew Brees in the 6th round” or “I have the league’s most total points this week!” shirts. There is nothing stranger than some random person standing up and cheering for an 8 yard out in a 4th quarter blowout that put his receiver over 50 yards for the day. While these don’t sound like actual reasons to cheer to you, there are people out there right now ACTUALLY EXCITED ABOUT THINGS LIKE THIS.

The score can only be obtained by a website, through which you have paid for, and created your own user name to “identify you” – you know, like BigStud69 or some crafty team name like Mike’s Marauders. You then of course need a password to said site: after all, why would you want to let anyone else see your precious numbers? Oh, and if you think that scoring is the same here as in real life, think again. A td is 6 points, unless it is over 50+ yards, then it is a point for every yard in ten yard increments. A fg is 3 unless it is from 40+ yards then it is 4. I bet you could guess that a 50+ yard field goal is 5. Oh yea, and you get a point for every ten yards your running back gets, or your wide receiver gets. Your quarterback gets a point for every 25 yards. An extra point is… a point. If your defense makes a sack – that’s a point too. So is an interception. And a forced fumble. If your player throws an interception or fumbles, he loses a point. Your defense is awarded points based on yardage and point totals for the entire game. Did I mention that every league has it’s own scoring system and it’s own rules? Have fun figuring out if you are winning or losing if you are away from your computer. Sometimes, it is not whether or not a team wins, it is HOW they win that is most important. This is a typical, watercooler conversation after a recent Sunday night football game. You may hear this going on at any office in the city on a Monday morning.

Steve: Hey, did you see the Bears win last night?

Bob: Yea, I didn’t think that they were gonna pull it out – they looked awful in the first half, but really turned it around in the 2nd half! That 108 yard return was awesome, I was on my feet cheering the whole time!

Steve: I know, that was a late night – I am glad they won though.

Now let’s look at this same conversation, but this time, let’s change it so it is between two fantasy football players.

Steve: Hey, did you win your game last night?

Bob: You watched the game, right? – Jones and Muhammed didn’t do anything in the first half, but with each of them getting a touchdown and going for over 100 yards, I thought I got the bonus points I needed to win. The problem was that the team I was playing against had the Bears defense, so I was up screaming at the TV during the 108 yard return – I wish he got knocked out at the 1. I can’t believe that I lost my game because I was playing against the stupid Bears defense. I had to stay up and watch the whole thing, and I would have won too, if they didn’t take a knee at the end – I needed Jones to get 8 more yards!

Steve: Hey, at least the Bears won though.

Bob: Yeah, whatever. I lost my game by a point. This sucks. I am never going to hear the end of this from Billy’s Boys. He already posted on the league message board.

You see, in REALITY, the Bears won this game. So, in the real world this person may be happy that the Bears won, but in their FANTASY world, they are unhappy because their friends now can taunt their superiority. Go ahead, look at your co-workers Monday morning. The ones with a little more bounce in their step probably won their matchup this weekend. Either that, or they will tell you how they need a big game out of their wide receiver tonight, at least 80 yards and a touchdown. It makes you wonder why people play fantasy sports. Let’s look at another example:

Steve: Hey, did you watch that Cubs game yesterday??

I just remembered why I love fantasy sports so much.