Fantasy Football:Oxygenic Or Oxymoron?

Most football fans (or any sport for that matter) have fantasized about being General Manager of their favorite team. With Fantasy Football, we get that chance and may choose our team name as well. Millions of young men dream of being a "football hero", but most don't have the ability, size, or toughness, but anyone who loves the game, including many women, can draft a team of NFL players, join a private or public league, and "get it on".

Whether you draft according to the Jimmy Johnson method, which is to simply take who you think are the best players without regard to personality, team, looks, etc. (my preferred method, after all, you're borrowing their name and statistics, nothing more) or you draft players from your favorite NFL teams, the "cutest" players, whatever, if you draft players who score Touchdowns and make lots of yards and watch the Bye weeks and injury reports, you can compete for your league championship.

There is just something about watching your chosen ones beat your opponents' players that can be quite exhilarating. It's almost like scoring the winning Touchdown yourself, only without the 7 figure salary, millions of adoring fans, and media adulation. Who will have the better statistics this week, Joe Horn vs. Baltimore, or Joey Galloway vs. the N.Y. Giants is an example of the kind of decisions that are required. I personally don't pay much attention to the opponents, since I can't control who they start. I merely try to maximize my teams points by starting the players I think will perform the best that week.

This is my 7th season and it's all this and more that keep me coming back every season. A 2004 Harris poll suggests the number of participants was 29.6 million, which was expected to grow by 5 million in both 2005 and 2006. A 2003 Ipsos poll estimated the number at a more conservative 15 million with the annual growth rate bringing the number to 17 million this year with a cost to employers of $500 million per week, but John A. Challenger, CEO of Challenger, Gray & Christmas says "the potential damage to morale resulting from a fantasy football ban could be far worse than lost productivity caused by 10 minutes of online management."