It’s Sunday at 1 pm. I have a paper for Cold War due on Thursday and a midterm in Human Brain on Tuesday. Thus, I have settled into a corner of the Timothy Dwight library, alternating between studying brain anatomy and researching the effect of nuclear weapons on Cold War relations. My computer screen is a jumble of the rough draft of my essay and Human Brain lecture slides, but there’s also a Google Chrome tab that is demanding my attention. ESPN’s FantasyCast app is up and I can’t look away. Blame it on the Timothy Dwight Fantasy Football league.
In case you’re unfamiliar with it, fantasy football is a game in which players draft current NFL players to a fantasy team with a quarterback, several running backs and wide receivers, a team’s defense and a kicker. Each week, players earn points for performing well at their position, such as gaining yards or scoring touchdowns. Each week, you compete against a rival team and whoever scores the most points wins.
It’s become a fun diversion for myself and seven of my closest friends. Our league is full of constant trash-talk and humorous names, with some of my favorites being “ABC easy as RG3,” (named after Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III) or “This isn’t really my Forte” (after Bears Running Back Matt Forte). We’re all competitive people, and no one misses a chance to rib another over a bad decision or a dumb move.
Lest you think that fantasy football is a male-dominated activity, our league also has two female members. They’ve drafted the best teams and are currently crushing the men’s egos and football knowledge. It’s a cruel world.
Many a lunch and dinner conversation is now devoted to what matchups are the most advantageous for the week to maximize points. Fantasy gives you a stake in almost every game, so you end up following obscure teams just to see how the individual players on your team are doing. This is the inaugural year of our league and we’re all having a blast with it. Here’s hoping that I’m still loving it as much when I get my paper and midterm back.
