Week 7 - CAN I JUST TALK ABOUT THE COLTS??!?!?!

Okay, seriously.

Week 7 oh my precious baby.

I thought about many titles for this week. Such a "Zen in the Art of Fantasy Football", or "Week 7, eh." or "The week I lost to the bottom ranking team in the league" however none of these things turned out to be true.

Because THE COLTS ARE AMAZING.

So, I started the week off in a pretty "eh, football" kind of mood. I didn't have anyone playing Thursday night. I worked in the colt outside Friday and in the rain on Saturday and so when Sunday came around I was just not into anything. Because the weather sucked all weekend until Sunday I spent all day catching up on the work I couldn't do in the rain. 

Now the big news a work is that B-Rad, my bro and FF coach broke his foot this week. So he worked inside at the desk (watching and updating me about the games).

My defense was freaking heartbreaking. Cincinatti, who has been awesome for me, typically scores between 7-16 points for me, scored 2. 2 points and they still won against Detroit (sorry friends!)

My wide receivers under preformed and running back under preformed and I was worried. I had 3 players playing Sunday night while Mr. Anderson had 2 playing Monday night.

Then it was like the heavens opened up, and the Colts played an amazing game!  If you haven't heard (and if you haven't heard you are not a football fan, and that's okay!) but they beat The Broncos.

You might be thinking okay, one team about horses beat another team about horse and historically I would have agreed with you. However the Broncos Quarterback is Peyton Manning, who used to be the Colts quarterback.

I made a post earlier this year about Peyton Manning being the Harry Potter of the football world. He is a pretty big deal and the Colts let him go a few years ago. The Colts letting Manning go is this big deal in Indiana. He had neck surgery and had to sit out all of the 2011 season. In reality the Colts were gonna have to pay something close to 90 Million dollars to keep Manning on the team for the next 5 years. Yeah that's a lot of money and at the time he was still recovering. So the logical decision was to let Peyton Manning go. So Indiana loses there shit, might I add.

So this game on Sunday was a pretty big deal because the Colts took it as a moment to welcome him back and thank him for all the years he was the QB.

Also EVERYONE thought the Colts were going to lose. B-Rad asked if I wanted to make a bet on the game (being poor I don't play for money). I told him I thought that the colts would lose but it would be less then a 10 point difference. 

Big freaking surprise, they WON! and Andrew Luck got me a WHOOPING 34 points! 

However, Reggie Wayne tore his ACL reaching for a wonky throw by Luck and now he is out the rest of the season. I feel for Wayne because I tore my PCL playing Roller Derby and that shit sucks!

So I had like a 7 point lead going into Monday night's game, Mr. Anderson had 2 players left, I had resigned myself to losing. HOWEVER, his two players only made like 5 points and I won! (Sorry Mr. Anderson!)

(for those of you who don't know, the angry looking guy is Wes Welker, the other guy is Andrew Luck, forgive the horrible facial hair)

Now I am even more excited for December 15th, when the Boyfriend and I are going to see the Colts.

And we are ready! (god damn, why does he look adorable in all the pictures and I look...well, ridiculous.) 

Week 6 - no I didn't beat Peyton Manning

DISAPPOINTING!

During week six, I thought for about 2 quarters of a game (for those of you who don't know a game has 4 quarters, ya know, 4 quarters make a dollar) that I (my fantasy team) was going to be Peyton Manning.

However such a situation did not occur. Instead, a situation involving rage and disappointment occurred.

Thursday night I actually got to watch football with the Boyfriend. As you most likely don't know, I am job hunting. I have a Master's degree and I work at a golf course. Times have not been easy on me this year. However, the greatest thing that has happened to me this year (OTHER THEN BECOMING AN AUNT- because that shit is amazing) was finding the most amazing boyfriend. We were coworkers while I was in Indiana, and then when I moved back to Michigan we started talking on the reg. Then after like 4 months of being really close and intimate friends we decided to date. However now he lives in North Chicagoland and I live in the D (that mean Detroit, not dicks). I got a call for a job interview in his area and got to make an impromptu trip to see him. Watching football with him is just fun and ridiculous, he like to hug and shake and be loud.

Thursday night I didn't have anyone playing but I did make a big decision after the game, I dropped Montee Ball, the disapointting rookie I played in the first week and never again, and picked up Brandon Jacobs, a running back for the New York Giants. He scored over 25 points but since I picked him up after the game I couldn't play him (and as I write this blog post he is currently questionable with a pulled Hamstring and might not play in week 8 - so sucks to be me)

So Sunday rolls around and I am feeling happy with my line up and I start to second guess myself. I take Giovanni Bernard off my starting line up (MISTAKE) start T.Y. Hilton in my flex spot (because he seems to do well every other week, so I was hoping for good things this week). B-Rad recommends playing Steve Smith, but I don't.

Everyone under preforms, EXCEPT Josh Gordon.
But Luck - 7 points
Ray Rice - 6.4 points
Jason Witten - 4 points

Just bad news all around.

But Monday night the colts were playing and I needed 3 players to score a combined 25 points and I would have won.

BUT THE COLTS LOST to the Chargers. Have you seen their logo, its dumber then the Colts logo!

Most embarrassing thing might be, I went and bought a colts shirt to wear. (The Boyfriend wanted me to borrow his Jersey and I forgot) I bought a shit to wear to the bar, I put blue eye shadow on, and they lose. LUCK HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME.

THREE PEOPLE, 25 POINTS!!!! THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN EASY! Andrew Luck normally puts up close to 20! Wayne got 10 points up, but freaking T.Y. Hilton. You let me down again!!!

WHY CAN'T I QUIT YOU!?!?!?!

This is the face of an Angry lady in the bathroom of a bar taking a selfie in ANGER.

Personal fouls - but actually personal ones

Okay, a few weeks ago at the bar Bitter Amanda and I were talking about how fouls should relate in real life. Thus came the birth of Fouls of Dating.

(note, unlike football fouls there are no difference between offensive and defensive fouls)

(also I made these up, IN NO WAY ARE THESE ACTUALLY FOOTBALL FOULS AND THEY DON'T ALL MAKE SENSE IN RELATION TO THE GAME- there I said it)

Now these fouls would be called the same way.

"Flag on the play, (insert foul) on the Offensive (you) or Defensive (other person) side,"

For example:
Person 1: How did the date go?
Person 2: There was a flag on the play. Holding on the Defensive side.
Person 1: That's why you shouldn't give out your cell phone number


LIST OF FOULS

Encroachment - hitting on someone who is already taken.

Pass Interference - when the person you are hitting on prefers your wing-person

Holding - Clingy/overly attached/calls a lot

Face Mask - Someone who goes in for the kiss too soon!

False Start - Thinking the relationship has started before it actually has.

Horse Collar - When someone touches a lot. Arm over the shoulder, arm around the waist
-this is different from holding because a Horse Collar foul has to be physical

Delay of Game - Where a person is seemingly stalling or dragging their feet on a relationship

Offsides - hitting on a neutral or disinterested party

Roughing the passer - Hitting on someone just for the attention or a free drink

Roughing the Kicker - Drunk Dialing an ex.

Unsportsmanlike Conduct - Hitting on someone who is already taken and the offending party KNOWS it

Also here are more hand signals

Week 5: So I bought some colts tickets.

I think it is safe to say that I have learned a lot about football in the past few weeks.
While I haven't learned a lot content wise, I like to be a part of cheering! I also like to study how people interact and talk to each other (hence the Masters degree in Interpersonal communication) Football just provides so much interesting information about people. Why they like who they like, why they dislike who they dislike. Tom Brady? Good or bad?

It's also SUPER interesting listening to people get upset when I tell them I am a Colts fan and not a Lions fan. (However, I AM a Lions Fan, I mean, hometown pride and all.)

I also like to spoil my boyfriend. So December 15th (his birthday and 5 days after mine) we are going to see the Colts. I don't know if I can express how strange it is to say that I bought Colts tickets. I remember in the past I would want to shoot myself in the face if anyone made me watch the Colts (or football in general.) I think I used to be too worried about my reputation as a woman and an academic. I grew up with the idea that football was for people who couldn't read, and weren't educated. Where that idea came from, I have no idea. But now things are very different. I really have Fantasy to thank for that.

also, something that was very different about this week, I WON BY A LANDSLIDE! BY 53 POINTS!!!!

I struggled with starting Ray Rice because he was coming off an injury - BAM 23 points

My kicker Justin Tucker - 18 points! I didn't know kickers could do that!

Jason Witten - 23 points also.

Also my Defense is STELLAR!!! 15 points this week and I didn't lose any of them like in week 3.

I think that down side was I didn't play T.Y. Hilton and he scored 30 points.

Now T.Y. Hilton has been a puzzle to me all season. The weeks I start him, he does nothing. The weeks I don't start him, he is a freaking rock star. He is all kinds of inconsistent in my books (or maybe I am just bitter)

Once again the other teams QB played below their predicted points, Kaepernick score 12 of his 19 predicted points. (I am hoping this doesn't happen to Andrew Luck soon).

Week Four: I've got the eye of the tiger!!!!!

Damn that Katy Perry song. It's been in my head for ages and it also allowing my to gloat unnecessarily. Because week 4 was a win, but just barely.

Week three I complained about losing by under a point, oh how the tides had turned!

Week 4 I won by .22 of a point.

Really there are two men I can dedicate this win too, the first is Sproles, or as I call him, Darren. He rocked and scored almost 30 points in my league!!
One thing I enjoy about working at a golf course is that the TV is always on sports. So I get to watch football and work. I started out in the lead, then lost it Sunday night. I was okay with losing. I went out and I really accepted that I lost. I accepted that loss with grace too! I thought, hey something amazing needs to happen, since I only had one person playing Monday night. It was Darren, and Darren, you delivered.

The second man I have to thank for this victory is Eli Manning. Bro, what's wrong. You only put up 9 points, they predicted 17! You lost 31 to 7! I am worried about Eli. I mean, don't get me wrong, thanks for not doing better but seriously, you need to do better.

I then sang this song for like 3 days in a row.

How to talk football - Part 1

Last Monday as I my heart broke from Fantasy Football, I sat in the bar with my friends and boyfriend watching the game.

Monday nights are a special night for my social group because traditionally its has been dollar beer night. Since our regular bar became condemned, we have become Monday Night Nomadic Travelers, seeking out dive bars, looking for cheap beer and of course, football.

well about half of us are looking for football. My friend Bitter Amanda (and fellow blogger) isn't really a football fan. However I want her to join the women's league I am planning on forming next season. So any pointless football knowledge I find online (football fashion) I send to her. She adds her own things too

However last Monday. We came up with the very very best question for someone who isn't into football to ask during a game, and that question is "Is there a flag on the play?"

It works in almost all situations.

Situation one:
Everyone watching football around you cheers! Something good happens! You respond with a tentative "is there a flag on the play?" If there isn't - that's good news! How smart of you to check! If there is - hope its for the other team, but if not, at least you were smart enough to check before getting too excited.

Situation two:
Everyone watching football gets upset. Something bad has happened! You respond with an upset "is there a flag on the play?" If there isn't - that's upsetting, you were just being hopeful. If there is - good for you for being so perceptive, that other team must have done something wrong while upsetting your friends/family.

Situation three:
The people you are around just happen to have the game on TV. But no one is really giving it 100% attention. You offhandedly ask "Was there a flag on the play?" If there is - it doesn't really matter. If there isn't - Once again it doesn't really matter.

After awhile, you can up the details to your question.

For example "Was there a flag on the play? I bet it was a personal foul" Don't know what a personal foul is? That's okay. Neither do I, but I still ask.

Was there a flag on the play?
Yes
Is that a personal foul?
Yes, yes it is Tom Brady

Week Three: Just a bit too busy for football..

This week for Fantasy Football was a bit hectic.
Thursday night was my friend's bachlorette party. We got crazy in Detroit and got to watch very little of the game as we were bar hopping.
Friday was the rehearsal and dinner.
Saturday was the Wedding. It was beautiful. My handsome boyfriend was in town to enjoy it with me. We danced, the wedding was lovely and my friend Tricia was stunningly beautiful.
Sunday my boyfriend and I got to snuggle and watch football together. Something we never get to do since we rarely get to spend weekends together.

Then MONDAY I GOT ROBBED!!

I actually feel like Tyra Banks right now.

BE QUIET, FANTASY FOOTBALL! BE QUIET! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU? STOP IT. I HAVE NEVER IN MY LIFE YELLED AT A FANTASY FOOTBALL TEAM LIKE THIS!!! WHEN MY MOTHER YELLS LIKE THIS IT'S BECAUSE SHE LOVES ME! I WAS ROOTING FOR YOU! WE WERE ALL ROOTING FOR YOUR! HOW DARE YOU? LEARN SOMETHING FROM THIS!

I lost. AGAIN but this time by .04 of a point. .04!!!!!

Final scores were 98.26 to 98.30. Yahoo later adjusted my score down (for some reason I haven't figured out yet) to 97.58

I lost by 4 yards. FOUR FREAKING YARDS.

Then my Defense had some CRAZY SHIT happen to it.

So my defense is Cincinnati. They scored 18 points, then I looked back and they had 12 points. Mr. Anderson explained to me that the Cincinnati defense intercepted the ball. Then fumbled, recovered and then scored a touch down. The NFL and Yahoo were determining how those points would be rewarded. I guess after Cincinnati fumbled and then recovered it was no longer considered the defense playing but the offense?

I also made the mistake of not playing Josh Gordon. I picked him up early but he was still suspended for the first two games of the season. (he had codine in his system after a drug test). Instead I played Steve Smith and Reggie Wayne (who collectively scored just under 14 points). T.Y. Hilton scored a whopping 2.3 points.

I guess the colts are changing their offensive strategy from a passing to a running game. I don't actually know what that means but its messing with my points and I want it to stop!!!!

Week two: This week is so much like my first boyfriend

Ouch. Ouch. Ouch.

This was a disappointing week for the Night Terrors. We lost. Big time. By almost 50 points.

Jason Witten who was amazing last week only delivered 2.7 points. Reggie Wayne? 7.5 points.

Ray Rice has a hip injury and he is my top running back. He only scored 4 points!

Martellus Bennet was the only saving grace of this week with 23 points.

The very worst was that the QB I played this week was Michael Vick. Shit head, dog fighting Michael Vick. He scored 37.22 points against Andrew Luck who only scored 20.64 points. I got knocked into the 11th position on my league because of that.

I really felt that this week was like my first boyfriend.

You have a small crush on a guy with some nice hair, and low and behold he asks you out (drafting). It's all exciting! It's fresh and new. YOU HAVE A BOYFRIEND (Fantasy Football team)! You flaunt it to your friends (winning team). You tell everyone about them (players and your win). Then suddenly, you realize you don't really like that guy (football), you just the idea of having a boyfriend (or team). You don't really see eye-to-eye on some things (who starts and who doesn't) and some of their behavior is embarrassing (how they play).

When you are young and you fall out of like with a guy you break up with them.
When you are playing fantasy football and you fall out of like with your team, that is what they call fantasy football.

Mr. Anderson told me, if I was getting pissed off I was doing fantasy football right.

I guess I am doing it right this week.

RECAP
NIGHT TERRORS ARE NOW 1-1
lost 86.44 to 136.42

First weekend "I have created a monster!"

OH MY GOODNESS!! FANTASY FOOTBALL!! WHY ARE YOU SO AMAZING!?!?!

Andrew Luck? AMAZING

Jason Witten? AMAZING!

Montee Ball? Not so much...but IT'S OKAY because this is so much fun!

As B-Rad said to me today "I have created a monster" and it might be true.

Thursday was just a rough day for me and real life bullshit is getting in the way of my football enjoyment. We were so busy at work that night that even though the TV was on in the club house I didn't really get to watch anything that was happening with the Broncos and the Ravens. So I only caught the last quarter of the game while laying on the couch being depressed about the state of things. n

I was upset because I took a risk in my line up that didn't pay off.

I spent about 30 minutes debating who my flex should be. I decided on T.Y. Hilton. Then when I talked to scuba Steve he said it was smarter to play a running back. So I switched Hilton for Montee Ball, and that was the wrong decision.

Montee Ball got the ball a fair bit in the 4th but he couldn't get through the defense at all! He earned me 2.40 points and damn it sucked.

I was feeling really discouraged. Yet as B-Rad and the Boyfriend kept saying, there is still a lot of football to be played. B-Rad also reminded me that it's better to trust my gut then take advice from someone else.

FINALLY it was Sunday. B-Rad and I both roll into work both of us hung over. Both of us a bit down trodden. Until I reminded B-Rad that its sunday! I swear he actually inflated!

I absolutely hate that yahoo predicts and give percentages of who is going to win because all day I was predicited to lose. At one point I had a 15% chance to win, then i have a 50% chance to win, then I had a 20% chance to win! It was an emotional roller coaster!

Believe it or not, my saving grace was David Wilson. He sucked so badly (-2.4 points) and was on my opposing team. He made Ball seem a winner with his two points.

Also Jason Witten is a beast.

So I won my first game of fantasy football and I am addicted.

I meant to post this before Thursday but things have been so busy. Between my friend getting married next weekend and the Museum I volunteer at having a party the following week I just haven't had the time.

However this upcoming week I am once again the underdog. I rotated my roster, pulled Ball, put my back up tight end in as my flex and we'll see how things pan out.

A break from fantasy football - to talk about Peyton Manning.

I think that my boyfriend (and almost all men in/from/around/ever associated with Indiana) love Peyton Manning.

I understand I didn't grow up watching the Colts or Football. I understand he has had some excellent commercials. I understand that he helped to made the Colts a great team and helped to earn them a lot of money. That money they used to build Lucas Oil Stadium (worst Stadium name ever?) and all this other stuff for the Colts.

However I think I finally understand this whole Peyton Manning mythic.

Traditionally I have struggled with people who partake in celebrity hero-worship. It bothers me how often people take the time and brain space to think about people who they will never meet or who will never think of them in return. Wasting time reading about who is wearing what and who is banging/cheating on who is like brain rot. It provides nothing to actually promote an intelligent conversation with another person. If all you ever do is read/listen/pay attention to meaningless things, doesn't that make you meaningless?

However, I think people don't think of Manning as a celebrity, I think people see him more as a wizard.

I spent a lot of time reading Harry Potter. Not just as a child either. So when I say wizard, I really mean amazing fictional character.

Harry Potter gives you a young boy who has a interesting set of difficulties, a background that he as to live up too, a few fantastic friends and 4,100 pages (American Hardcover editions excluding Tales of Beedle the Bard and HP texts) of action, adventure and drama.

Manning has football background that he has to live up too (football DNA really) and an interesting set of difficulties (parts of his spine are fused together!), a few fantastic friends (once the Colts, now the Broncos?) and the most important element a bunch of games fulls of action. Hours of distraction for people who are forced to deal with everyday life.

I use Harry Potter as an escape when life is just too freaking hard to deal with. When I have had a shitty week, work has been rough or someone is being a diva I typically find myself in some layer of the HP universe (book, movie, fan fiction, or movie sound track). Peyton Manning is the every day person's Harry Potter!

So, I guess I have to be patient when my boyfriend rambles on about how AMAZING Peyton Manning is. How he is a true athlete and a champion and all that jazz because Manning is almost fictional!

I will just have to start talking more about Harry Potter.

Introducing the Night Terrors

Ray Rice                  RB
Darren Sproles        RB
Jason Witten            TE
Andrew Luck          QB
Reggie Wayne         WR
Steve Smith             WR
Giovani Bernard       RB
T.Y. Hilton              WB
Montee Ball             RB
Cincinnati                DEF
Martellus Bennett    TE
Michael Floyd         WB
Philip Rivers            QB
Justin Tucker           K
Ryan Tannehill         QB
 

Wavier
Dropped Philip Rivers 
Added Josh Gordon    -WB

Yahoo.com Fantasy Grade - B 

Draft day (two of two)

So since our first draft was all kinds of silly. We needed to reschedule.

So I get a text from Mr. Anderson the following day (Saturday) saying "Monday, 5pm" and I respond with "okay, hopefully I will be out of work"
He shoots back. "Nope, just taking a poll to see if it will work"

A few hours later "Tonight, 10:15pm. BDubs"
I respond with "Cool. do we need to be there are 10:15 or before"
He shoots back "just taking a poll about tonight"

I am at work and chatting with B-Rad during all of this. B-Rad says that BDubs is a great place to have a draft. So I am excited, plus I am also excited to hang out with everyone again for a second night in a row. more beer, more fun.

about 8 I get a text that says "10:15 draft tonight, remote draft. doing it from home"

To put it lightly I was bummed out.

So 9:45 rolls around and I hop on yahoo and B-Rad gets on Facebook to talk me through my first draft.

Suddenly its 10:15 and my heart is beating. We enter the draft and it is the coolest thing ever.

I feel that I did pretty well. I started out picking up the strongest running back available to me as the 8th slot in a snake draft (a snake draft is 1,2,3....12, Then 12, 11,10...1, Then 1,2,3... you get the picture). I got Ray Rice and Darren Sproles. My next step was to get a tight end (as B-Rad recommended) and I picked up Jason Witten.

Some strange things were happening in my draft. I read the research and listened to my coach and everyone was saying don't get a QB in the first round. However Mr. Anderson got Tom Brady and RG3 in his first and second round. Then there was a rush on quarter backs. I wanted Andrew Luck, so I took him in the 4th round. I think if he would have been ranked higher i would have been shit out of luck because the top 8 QBs were gone by then. Then I went with wide receivers (Reggie Wayne and Steve Smith).

Then another strange thing happened. B-Rad said defenses don't really start to go until after the 10th round. However round 6 the first Defense is picked. I try to follow the advice given to me I pick up another RB, WR and RB but defense are going by round 10 I get the best I can which is Cincinnati.

In round 13 I learned an important lesson from the Draft. Pay attention to the bye weeks. I wanted to pick up a backup QB and I go for Philip Rivers. B-Rad (via facebook) tells me I just wasted a pick

I HAD NO IDEA WHAT BYE WEEKS WERE!!!! For those of you who don't know - bye weeks are the week that team isn't playing. I picked a back up QB who has the same bye week as my first pick QB which means, week 8 I won't have an player in that position who can pick up points. I am flipping out!!!!

I recover as best as I can, I get my kicker and Then get a 3rd QB - Ryan Tannehill.

The lesson for this day was that it might be a good idea to know about the structure of the football season BEFORE the draft.

Draft day (one of two)

I just want to say that I LOVE LOVE LOVE DRAFT DAY!!!

Our draft actually happened twice and I loved every minute of both.

Originally I was really nervous about the draft. I was afraid everyone was going to see right through me and my lack of football knowledge. Nothing says fake like showing up to a football draft and not knowing a single player other then Andrew Luck. So B-Rad and I prepared.

The whole week of work before the draft we watched the cheat sheets and compared PPR and Standard league players. Scuba Steve gave me his pointers on which Running Backs to pick up and when.

We discussed practically knowledge like: resist taking a QB in the first round because running backs are more important. Try to take a top Tight end in the third or forth round. Don't reach for a good defense they don't typically go until the 12th round. Don't even worry about Kickers, they are all almost the same.

So finally draft day has arrived. My friend Mr. Anderson picks me up after work and we ride out to a bar in Warren called Ashley's. We are told the had wireless and ample amounts of amazing beer. Both of these claims were incorrect.

So when Mr. Anderson and I get there we set up our computers and try to get on the internet. No luck. More people show up with their laptops. Still No wireless. We bring the manager over, he restarts the router. Still no wireless. The draft clock is ticking down. They won't give us access to the employee wireless. There are like 8 to 10 people frantically trying to get online.

Then we go into auto-draft. The commissioner is pissed since when he booked our reservations they promised the internet would work and that they would be happy to have our draft party.

Not only was the draft a bust, but so was our server. We spent the next few hours drinking, talking and making fun of our server who we actually wanted to file a missing persons report for. She also called me and my friend BabyCakes.

The best part of this whole experience is what I felt a whole lot more comfortable with the people on my league. They didn't seem to care how much experience I had or that I wasn't a football fan. Or that I prefer the Colts over the Lions (I kid, they actually did care about that one).

Preseason jitters - Standard leagues compared to PPR leagues

I don't know about other people who play FF, but I have dealt with more nerves then I care to admit.

When I made the decisions to play this year, my friend Mr. Anderson (Yes, people really call him that) offered me a spot in the league he plays in. His good friend is the commissioner and there were a few opens slots. Over Monday night dollar beers I was told that it was 20 dollars to play but it was "a-maz-ing".  Might I add this was over three months ago.

20 bucks is a lot when you have a master's degree and no one wants to give you a job. So you work part time at a golf course to pay off your student loans and you live with your parents when you are 26. (sorry that was really just venting). However I decided back in June that I was going to do this. Putting up the money has just made me more serious about the whole thing.

So now that I had a league, I had to actually learn about fantasy football.

Thankfully working at a golf course has provided me with many football loving coworkers. So I started asking around. I heard my boss Scuba Steve (yes, we actually call him that) is really in to FF. So I ask him for advice. All he says to me is "Just watch the cheat sheets."

Then I found a hidden gem, my co-worker B-Rad (yes, I actually call him that too). When B-Rad heard that I was getting into fantasy football, we suddenly became bros. Then he became my coach. That's right. I have a FF coach. B-Rad, the best coach this side of...well Lake Michigan I think.

Suddenly I found myself in conversations I wasn't prepared for. For Example "Is your league a standard league or a PPR league?" 

For those of you who don't know (like I didn't know) the difference between the leagues is how they are scored. ( WARNING: if you aren't interesting in learning about FF skip to below the red section)

Standard leagues are scored - six points for touchdowns (quarterbacks often only receive for points for passing scores), one point for every 10 rushing or receiving yards, one point for every 25 passing yards, mine 2 for interceptions or fumbles 
 (linked to my source)


PPR leagues are scored by passing, rushing and receiving points. Here is a points breakdown I got from Footballguys.com
Passing -

• yards passing - One point per 20 yards (e.g., 240 passing yards = 12 fantasy points)
• 4 points for every passing TD
• Minus one point (-1) for ever interception thrown
• 2 points for every 2-point conversion.

Rushing -

• Yards rushing - one point per 10 rushing yards. (e.g., 100 rushing yards = 10 fantasy points).
• 6 points for ever rushing TD
• 2 points for every 2-point conversion

Receiving

• Yards receiving - one point per 10 receiving yards (e.g., 73 receiving yards = 7.3 fantasy points)
• 6 points for every receiving TD
• 1 point for ever catch
• 2 points for every 2 point conversion

I learned that depending on how your league is set up to score will change the value of specific players. Thankfully I found this out before the draft. B-Rad and I had been preparing for a standard league draft, not a PPR. I am still not 100% sure how this is going to effect everything but once our first game happen I am sure it will make more sense.
Finally when my boss Scuba Steve realized I was serious about FF he gave me some advice too! Which really surprised me since I figured he didn't like me. Too bad his advice was WAY above my level of understanding.

Look, Fantasy Football is already bringing me closer to people. Now I have an awesome bro/coach in B-Rad and Scuba Steve and I have a topic we can actually talk about together. 

Well, it's almost football season.

When I told my friends I wanted to play fantasy football this year, I was met with confusion.

There was some laughter, some jokes but even more people asked me why.

Why would a 26 year old woman with no previous interest in football want to play a game that involves stats, time and most importantly football?

Some of my friends mistook my interest in fantasy football as a way to get closer too/impress my football loving boyfriend. This is incorrect. I love my boyfriend, but this season isn't for him. It's for me.

I want to play fantasy football for me.

I want to gain a greater appreciation for one of America's past times. I want to be involved in conversations about football. Most importantly I want to try something new.

Now my football backgrounds is limited. I was in color guard in High school and for one year in college. Which meant I not only watched but I attended several seasons of football games. I have dated football fans and one of my exes was an assistant high school football coach. I have sat through Super Bowl Parties. I taught football players at a teaching assistant during my master's program.

But frankly I am from a hockey family. We never watched Football growing up.

I am not disinterested in sports. I played golf in High school. I swam as a child. I even played roller derby for almost two years before a knee injury took me off skates for good.

While football never seemed interesting to me, there is something about football that millions of other people love. Frankly I want to know what that love feels like. I want to cheer for people I don't know. I want to go to a game and drink beer and trash talk like the best of them! I want to talk to people about how so-and-so played. I want to feel the excitement of victory and the sadness at the end of the season.

I think the best way to become a part of the football culture is to fully immerse myself and that is with fantasy football.

So here goes a grand personal adventure.