kearly":ezp8jwot said:
I used to be a FF basher too. My brother had to drag me into a league a few years ago. It is a game within the game, the real point of it is to pit your "moneyball" skills against others. There is a degree of talent evaluation that goes into it, having knowledge of players going back to their college days really helps, but for the most part it is a contest of who can identify statistical value the best.
Personally, I would strongly disagree with anyone who thinks it's bad for the game. Before FF, I only watched Seahawks games or games that were relevant to the Seahawks. Having a fantasy team with players from around the league has greatly increased the amount of enjoyment from watching other NFL teams, and because I am watching other teams, I learn things about the league and its players I would have never learned from just watching the Seahawks.
Watching Matt Forte produce in Chicago has informed me of what Christine Michael could be capable of in a similar offense, because both are stellar dumpoff receivers. Watching Emmanuel Sanders in Denver has given insight into the kind of player Paul Richardson could become. Watching games around the league has given me a much better grasp of who the good coaches are, too.
It has greatly enriched my football viewing experience. There is more to football than rooting for laundry, and fantasy football helps fans get in touch with the finer side of the game by watching games and learning things they wouldn't have been exposed to otherwise.
It has also been a huge boon to the popularity of the league, and gives fans of super crappy teams an escape from misery. It brings in new fans. Like all fans they need time to mature.
I love the fact that the NFL is so hyper popular right now. It has its downsides, but seeing the NFL's influence in America grow has been a treat, especially since the Seahawks are currently the NFL's best team. Fifteen years ago, the Hawks were the NFL's most 'socially awkward' team. Now they are the belle of the ball during a time when the NFL is reaching new heights of national prominence.
(Dammit, Kip. I don't know what it is about your ability to make me fight my desire to ignore this board and not put in my two cents. But you did it again. Here goes nothing.)
Fantasy football. Great for the NFL. Bad for football. You may disagree. But I'll give you my side of the debate.
Yes it's awesome that fantasy football brings in so many new fans. But the majority are becoming fans of stats and fans of their fantasy teams over an actual NFL team. They are fans of whoever is on their team for that given season. You might scoff at being "fans of laundry". But being fans of laundry lasts. That's one of the best things the NFL has done over the years. Make their audience fans of teams and not players. Teams last, players do not. The NBA has done the exact opposite. They market their star players over their teams. And guess what, the NBA has a much smaller hardcore "will go nowhere no matter what" fan base. Their success is almost entirely dependent on the stars of the time. The NFL created real sporting tribalism. It's been a huge reason for their sustained success. Fantasy football is threatening to turn that on it's head.
I've played fantasy football since around 1998 or so. Back then it was nothing like it is today. You didn't hear about it in the mainstream, and you sure as hell didn't hear about it from your girlfriend or grandma. I actually really miss those old days. Because it wasn't so ubiquitous, you actually had to be knowledgeable to do well in fantasy. You had to do research on your own if you wanted to get the next diamond in the rough player, or know if your players were hurt. Smart players searched out stats like fantasy points allowed by position and there was no spoon fed projected points when setting up your lineup. Basically back then, you had to be smart and know your stuff to do well. If you were in a league with a casual or novice fan, you were guaranteed to beat them. Now that's all changed. Fantasy is so everywhere overwhelming that it's now easy enough a cave man can do it. It's all laid out for the most casual fan. They're told by Yahoo what's the best lineup to put out. There's a million and one websites that will tell them who to pick up. And worst of all, the NFL is catering towards offense to such a slanted degree, that you can find fantasy worthy players everywhere and anywhere. It's stupid. It's a total crap shoot. It used to be that the guys who knew more about football would fare better than those who didn't. Now it's mostly entirely random and just a game of who has more injuries than the other. It's almost to the point of March Madness, where the company secretary wins by picking the teams whose mascots she likes the best.
That's all entirely off point to the debate at hand. I got a bit off track. But those are my thoughts as to why I don't enjoy it as much as I once did. And before I go on my diatribe of all the reasons I hate fantasy football. Let me point out the fact that I'm in a league with a bunch of friends where we have a trophy and loser trophy, and where we have our draft at a bar every year. It's a lot of fun in that respect. I continue to play for these reasons. If I only played in anonymous leagues, I'd have quit years ago. So yes, I enjoy it to a decent extent. But that doesn't mean I can see a lot of the bad that comes from it.
Fantasy football is the best thing that ever happened to the NFL and Roger Goodell. Period, end of story. This is not up for debate. But that is because the best things that can happen to them are directly tied to dollar signs. As I just alluded to, over the years fantasy football has gone from something as nerdy and niche as rotisserie baseball to this mega popular thing that everyone's wives and girlfriends also do, and that there's a sitcom about. And with something that mainstream that appeals to that broad an audience, that is the best thing ever to draw non-football and quite frankly non-sports fans to your product. Which is exactly what has happened for the NFL. Everyone here has at least one co-worker who couldn't tell you a thing about the x's and o's or even rudimentary basics of a football game. But they are fantasy freaks, knowing all about how many rushing yards Jeremy Hill is projected to get, and is asking you if he should play him over Arian Foster.
You might think it's good that this thing is drawing in fans. But to me it comes down to a question of, "What kind of fan do you really want?" The NFL is all about money. So it's not a question anyone beyond dorks like us care about at all. But to me it's worthwhile. Kip, you thumb your nose at "fans of laundry". But here's the thing. Fantasy football isn't creating these nuanced fans of the sport as you perceive it to. Just because someone as advanced and elevated as yourself is able to use fantasy football to help you ascend to a higher plane of football fan, that doesn't mean that's the effect it has on the masses. Not at all. You want to know what the effect it has? It's taking people from getting into the sport and having a team, and making them fans of fantasy more than the league itself. They don't care if team x wins. They care that there stupid fantasy team wins. The annoying guy in my office with Jeremy Hill on his team watches a Seahawks game with me and my friends and gets mad if a Seahawk player that is playing against his team scores points.
I have had Hawks season tickets since 1997. One of the most obnoxious things to happen over that time is having to hear people around me talk about how they want the Hawks to win, but hope Vernon Davis scores a TD. They want the Hawks to win. But because they have Marshawn Lynch on their team, they get mad when Russell runs it in or throws for a td from the 5. "Just give it to the Beast, dammit!" This after the Seattle Seahawks just scored a TD. I remember being at a game where Marshawn Lynch went absolutely off, and this dude right next to me decked out in Hawks gear, as everyone in the stands is high-fiving each other, is steaming mad. I say to him, "What's wrong, man? We just scored!" His reply, "I'm playing vs Lynch in fantasy." I wanted to punch the guy right then and there. No, check that. I wanted to slap him in the face. Because punching him would be too manly of a thing to do for such a bitch.
Seriously, this is what I hate the most about fantasy football. I myself have a steadfast "Hawks before fantasy" rule. For myself, and most real fans (yes, there is such a thing as real fans when fantasy fans are in the conversation), this isn't a question. I hate my fantasy team creeping into my mind when watching the Hawks so much, that I generally avoid getting Hawks on my team. And if a player on my team is playing us, he's benched. End of story. I don't care that I might lose points. My Seahawks gameday experience will not be affected. I am going to root for Eddie Lacy to get stuffed on every single play. There is no, "I want the Hawks to win, but hope my guy gets his." I remember back in the day benching Daunte Culpepper and Randy Moss for that very reason. Only to have the two of them combine for 6 tds and 500 yards. And I'd do it all over again if given the choice.
I actually took a couple years off from fantasy, back 7 or so years ago. I can't tell you how freeing it was as a football fan. I could watch games and root 100% against the teams I hated, without the caveat of "But I hope my rb scores a couple td's." It was pure football. It was really nice. But I eventually got sucked back in. There's more than a few times a year where I miss it.
When I invite casual friends to Hawks games who haven't been with me before, I always tell them before the game starts. I don't care about your fantasy team. The Seahawks come first. These are the terms of agreement of sitting in my seats. I have this one guy, friend of a friend, who sits me me. Never shuts up about his stupid fantasy team. "Oh I benched so and so, when I could've played this other guy." "If whats his name gets me 1 more score, I'll be up." This guy drives mad.
You've all been there before. You start talking fantasy with someone, and they begin to go off about all of the running backs they have. About how they picked up so and so last week. They tell you about how they lost last week because the guy they played forgot to set his lineup and blah, blah, blah, blah. It's white noise. They might as well be telling you about the dream they had last night. If you are not playing in the same league as them, they exist in an alternate universe that you don't give a crap about.
FANTASY FOOTBALL IS LIKE PEOPLE'S KIDS. NOBODY CARES ABOUT ANYONE ELSE'S BUT THEIR OWN!
And that gets me to my main point. Fantasy football is conditioning fans to value and root for stats as much, if not more so than points. And a crap lot more than wins. It's not good enough if a qb has a solid game, doesn't throw any picks and wins. No, he's got to put up giant numbers so Joe Lunchbox gets all them fantasy points. Sportscenter while showing game highlights, flashes how many fantasy points a guy got. Andrew Luck is great because he throws for 400 yards and 3 tds. Forget that he threw 3 picks. Average under 300 yards, and you go in the "Sit" column. You do not get points if your qb wins. Fantasy football teaches novice fans to be more excited about a mediocre qb on a team that is always losing and forced to throw the ball more than they are a superior qb on a team that is allowed to play within the game.
Fantasy football teaches dumb fans to be dumb and think little. I don't care if you have found a superior way to apply the altered viewpoint. But for the most part, fantasy football is much more The Big Bang Theory than it is The Wire. How does anything in today's culture gain mass audience? By appealing to the lowest common denominator. And the lowest common denominator of football fans are fantasy football fans. They are the same people who rather watch Duck Dynasty than a World War II documentary. I'm not saying that there isn't a place for those people. But when those people become the majority, and us actual fans of the sport become the minority, that is when you start to worry about the future.
I won't go crazy in depth about how I feel that the NFL is altering the game so as to appeal more to these fantasy players (More points, more stats = more exciting for the person with TY Hilton on their team). Richard Sherman did a good job at that a few months ago. Yes, the rule changes benefiting offense started with the league looking to make the sport less physical, so they can avoid concussion lawsuits. But the residual benefit has been a proliferation of offense, stats, and more excitement for Jenny Fantasy who doesn't care what teams win, just that she wins her game. And the NFL knows this. They see the dollar signs coming from it. And they're not going to stop catering towards this audience.
Congrats Kip. You have a great way of looking at fantasy football. It's cool that you can use it to become a more enlightened NFL and Seahawks fan. That's awesome. But the majority are not doing this. Not even in the slightest.
That said, I'll be drafting with my friends at a bar next fall.
Go Hawks.
