Case Study for the Ages

In my introductory piece for the Buzzer I stated the following; "I have a wealth of knowledge for all sports, but particularly for basketball and baseball, as well as fantasy sports, so more than likely that's what my columns will focus on." If you read between the lines, I was saying that I am absolutely obsessed with basketball and baseball, and LOVE fantasy sports. What it also says, is that football is something that I watch, and enjoy, but have nowhere near the passion for as the others. My love of fantasy sports has always been baseball, and basketball. I've never felt a void because when one ends, the other starts. For anyone who doesn't get the long drawn out point I'm trying to make, it's that I've never played fantasy football before.
As of Tuesday that changed. I've entered a twelve team fantasy football league, that includes our own Pappy Chalmers (if you still count him), Client 9, Benny J, and Dannymac as our commissioner. I am proud that I was counted worthy to join their league, and I can already tell that the league should have everything you want in a fantasy, i.e smacktalk, insults, fights ect. As Dan stated in my profile, I do truly hate to lose, and hate looking stupid even more. This presents an interesting challenge to me.
In the two other fantasy sports that I play, I'm not ashamed to admit that I finish near the top of my league 99.999% of the time (my final roster in fantasy basketball where everyone is competitive and plays the whole year-Chris Paul, Deron Williams, Rondo, Al Jefferson, Manu, Noah, Billups, KG, Dorell Wright, Frye, Gortat, Camby, Bargnani-or in other words all top 50 players). I breath those sports, and at least feel like I can project who's going to be a steal, and who I should stay away from. It's always helped me in fantasy league's, and I'm able to buy and sell my players like stocks because of that.
Football is a whole different beast to me. I'm ashamed to admit that I don't even have a favorite NFL team. I watch games every week, but they are at random. I root for a good game when I watch, but I don't study the statistical habits of players. That made Dan's text to me when asking to join his league a challenge that I needed for myself. If I consider myself a great fantasy player, then I should be able to take a basic formula for fantasy sports and apply it to football's guidelines. On the Monday before the draft I spent midnight until 2am pouring over espn.com's fantasy football sections. Keep in mind that I didn't (and still don't to an extent) even know the most basic thing like that RB's may be the most valuable commodity in fantasy football. My time on the web was well spent, and I walked away at least somewhat informed on the process.
The one tip that I feel applies across the board in fantasy sports is to take advantage of position scarcity. According to the experts at least, those two positions this year were QB and TE (as far as elite), so I wanted to get a leg up on the field in those two spots. That was what made me perhaps slightly over pay for Brady and Gates. As far as I saw it, every year you can pick up a great RB after week 1 who comes out of nowhere, and there are a ton of useful WR. It doesn't seem quite as easy to get a great QB or TE. I'm banking that having a leg up in those two positions (I feel that Brady will be the best real life and fantasy QB this year) give me an advantage.
Now according to yahoo, my team blows, and I'm listed as a 25 point underdog to my opponent this week, so perhaps I am a rookie who knows nothing. I'm sure the fact that my number one pick is playing the Steelers isn't helping much in my projections. I do think that my team will be respectable and make a little noise. Once I see a couple weeks of how scoring works, I will give 110% effort to get this team into top shape for the stretch run and hopefully the playoffs, and we'll see from there.
If by some miracle I happen to win this league, it would really be an interesting turn of events. It would show us that despite how much we experience matters, it comes down to following a formula, and praying for health/luck. Of course, the odds are that my team will blow, but that would almost make me just as happy, since it would prove that you really do need some knowledge and expertise to win these leagues.
Whatever happens, I know that it's going to be a blast, and I'm sure there will be a handful of hilarious moments from this year. I'm going to give it all I've got, and pray I don't come in last. At the very least, next year I will be a beast.