Stay in Touch with Fantasy Sports

My son and I always watched University of Arizona basketball together. Our house was the definition of March Madness when he was in grade school, and for an hour or two every several days in the early spring we were best friends--Wildcat fans, red and blue throughout--regardless of happenstance or family tension.

After basketball season, of course, came baseball, although most of the time we wouldn't schedule our day around the games until the playoffs rolled around. Football's abbreviated season was different. Games were only once a week, so on most Sunday's we made a point of sharing our frustration with the Arizona Cardinals.

It was an unusual, simple bond that came to a screeching halt five years ago when I took a job in Northern Virginia and he decided to finish high school in Arizona and pursue his bachelor's degree there. That simple bond was paralyzed for three years, until he nagged me long enough to enroll in his Fantasy Baseball league.

I'm not fond of gambling, and I certainly don't want to condone the practice to my son. So I was relieved to learn a variety of websites, including Yahoo.com and ESPN.com, offer free fantasy leagues with no cash awards or enrollment fees required.

So two seasons ago I began my first Fantasy Baseball league. The other managers enrolled were like a "Who's Who" in my life. My son, of course, had one team. I had another.

Then there was my brother who has barely spoken to me in the last ten years. Things have warmed up since the first season, although his proposed trades still make about as much sense as his rhetoric.

A disabled friend, who played catcher on our softball team, is also in the league. I'd seen him two, perhaps three times in the last decade, but now he regularly sends what ESPN calls "Smack Cards," which typically initiate a lengthy e-mail conversation between us.

And, of course, there's our California manager, whom I hadn't seen or spoken to for nearly 20 years. He's the league "commissioner." His son is also playing from Arizona.

It all sounds like a lot of fun until you tackle baseball's lengthy season, relentless pitching rotations and daily injury reports. I survived the first season, but were I to do it again I'd start with football. There are fewer games and injury reports or substitutions need only be reviewed the day before, or morning of the games. For a working adult, especially someone like me with a long commute in Northern Virginia, the less time I invest in a "game," the happier I am.

I held my own the first baseball season, and am content with my non-cellar finish. In football I was leading the league last fall until my quarterback, Donavan McNabb, went out for the season. I could have taken the title, but it's funny how you get a glimpse into your family when a little adversity sets in.

When McNabb's injury report broke, within minutes my son was e-mailing advice on trades or pickups. We may be thousands of miles apart, but by forcing myself to understand the Fantasy League systems we're a whole lot closer than we were five years ago. Our phone calls don't always center on grades or loans anymore either.