Previewing the Fantasy Football Season

Fantasy football enthusiast or not, most people know what the end of August means. Talk of drafts, trades, and players seems to dominate conversation not only in the hallways of Palmetto, but all over the nation. While the beginning of the school year often brings stress and long nights, fantasy football represents a way for players to escape from their school work.

“[My friends and I] watch football with each other every weekend,” sophomore Ethan Josefsberg said. “Every Sunday we’ll go out to like Buffalo Wild Wings or something and all watch football and hang out.”

Depending on how much time a player puts into it, fantasy football can take up a lot of time during the season.

“The season is 17 weeks, and I would say I probably do an hour a day… so probably in total like 200 hours,” Josefsberg said.

For those that play, however, the fun of the game outweighs the disadvantage of the time spent. According to Ranker, football is the most popular sport in America, and a lot of people grow up playing and watching it.

“I love football. I’ve always loved football,”  junior Logan Spiegelman said. “[Fantasy] adds a new level of interaction between a sport that I enjoy.”

The beginning of fantasy season isn’t just celebrated in Miami. According to the Washington Post, there are upwards of 59.3 million people playing fantasy sports in the United States and Canada, and 21 percent of Americans play some sort of fantasy sport.

For those that want to take their dedication to the game further, they can even become commissioner of their league.

“As the commissioner, I organize the league, its members. I aggregate a consensus for all decisions,” Spiegelman said. “I organize [the] collection of money, and I have vetoing power for all trades.”

Fantasy football often offers a way for professional football players to get valuable exposure to earn sponsorships and connect with their fans. How well football players perform in their games corresponds to how many fantasy points they earn.

The game is one of chance and logic. “Team owners” may have to make tough decisions on who to put in their weekly line-up, and while there are predictions on who will compete well and who won’t, games are impossible to predict. For example, a player could easily have the best game of their life while on the bench of someone’s virtual lineup, or they could have their worst while starting. The uncertainty often makes fantasy that much more fun for its participants.

“I’m just really into the whole aspect of it, I’m a really competitive person and I like competing with my friends, so it’s just a way to beat them,” Josefsberg said. “It’s more bragging rights than money.”

At the end of the fantasy season comes playoffs, which happen at around week 13 or 14 during the regular season. During this time, the pressure to win is on.

“For obvious reasons, there is money on it. And in some cases, there is punishments for the last place finisher,” Spiegelman said.

Punishments for the person who comes in last place, or the “sacko” as they are known in some leagues, can include bleaching hair, embarrassing acts in public, and humiliation within the league. Even though punishments may sound extreme, they are all in good fun.

After this season concludes, talk of which players might play a good season next year will start back up again and the entire process will repeat as the seasons continue.