Living with a fantasy addiction

Every year for the last 13 years I have been involved with a fantasy football league that my friends and I started. At first, I did it just because all my buddies were doing it too...so it's a good thing it was just fantasy football and not crack. What I didn't know at the time is that fantasy football is crack.

For those not familiar with fantasy football it starts with a group of friends; each person drafts their favorite NFL players and each week receives points depending on how well those players performed. So really it's a numbers game of determining predictable performance based on past performance. I totally dig that kind of stuff.

Every year I pull out my calculator, make a bunch of spreadsheets, analyze player statistics, and prepare myself to draft the best possible team for the upcoming season. Then throughout the season, I continue to crunch numbers and analyze performances to determine what roster changes I need to make on my fantasy team. You always make sure that when a guy has a breakout performance and he's not on anyone's fantasy roster, you'd better snag him quickly for your team or else you'll be sorry when someone else does and he's smacking you in the face every week with his huge games and signing autographs after touchdowns with his sharpie. So I am ALWAYS checking up on games on Sundays and seeing who's doing well, where I need to make a change on my team, who's injured. Maybe other people don't get involved in it as much as I do, but I do. I really enjoy getting into it.

Now for the bad...NFL is a Sunday sport. To keep up on games and get the best shot at grabbing the breakout player, I have to be watching what's happening during the games on Sunday. I LOVE to watch football...seriously LOVE it. And when I'm watching the NFL and I'm watching how my fantasy players are doing, it's fantastic. But I've gotten a little older and I'm wondering if spending my Sundays watching football is the best use of my time every week.

Secondly, Monday morning is completely unproductive. I spend the first four hours of work checking all the web news I can find on what's happened the day before.

So last year I retired from fantasy football. I gave it up. I felt like Barry Sanders retiring before his time. But I needed to. I was addicted to it. I loved the watching, the cheering, the analyzing, the number crunching, and the spreadsheets. But I'm done. I've walked away.

This year I was asked if I would come back to play and it was like asking a guy who quit smoking if he wants to go around back and light up. The worst is when your pals get together and talk about the fantasy league. When that happens it's like taking a deep puff into your lungs of someone else's exhaled nicotine. It feels nice inside as it mixes with your blood stream and makes you want to go back. But I'm determined because I've realized...

My name is Brett, and I'm a fantasy football addict.