Baseball season is around the corner and that means it’s time to start thinking about fantasy baseball. Most people find fantasy baseball to be too long and too hard to keep up with for a whole season. The 162 games and daily lineup changes are frowned upon. People think it’s just too hard and lose interest by the allstar break. I have a completely different attitude about it, however. I think fantasy baseball is the purest form of fantasy sports competition. There is very little luck involved. If you win in baseball it is earned. The same reasons why people don’t like fantasy baseball are the same reasons why the game is the best. You can’t cry luck if you lose.
Fantasy football is like playing blackjack at the casinos. You know how to play the game. You play the odds and you still have over 50% chance of losing. In Football, you know how to play the game. You play the matchups. You have superior players than your opponent and yet you lose 111-55 that week. It’ll drive you to pull your hair out. And yet most people enjoy that game the most. Charge a league fee of $50 for football and you’ll have 14 people wanting to get into a 12 team league. Ask for $50 for a 10 team league in baseball and you may get 2 people if you’re lucky.
I can understand why people watch football over baseball. The pace of the game is much faster in football. Personally, I enjoy football more and would watch it with or w/o a fantasy league. I’m not sure I could say the same for baseball unless it’s the final month of the season. But when you’re asking me to play something for money I want to play something where I know luck is not a big deciding factor. You control your own success in baseball. You control nothing in football. I’ve never been bitter in any fantasy baseball season because I didn’t win. I just learn from my mistakes and try to do better the next season. In football, every year I’m bitter and miserable it seems. Even in the successful years I almost hate the game. I play it because I love competition. Given the choice between a $50 football league and a $50 baseball league I chose baseball every time. I feel I have equal knowledge of all 3 major sports (football, baseball, and basketball). My knowledge of the game is no factor of which fantasy sport I enjoy the most. It has to do with control. In baseball I have complete control and that’s why I choose baseball.
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3 comments:
Fantasy baseball is where it's at. Oh sure, there is SOME luck involved (drafing Ryan Howard in the 6th round a few years ago and getting 60 HR's would be defined as being somewhat lucky, but also shrewd scouting), and of course having a full compliment of healthy players requires lady luck smiling on your roster. But fantasy football? Blech.
Fantasy football is a joke really. I have just as much fun watching football without a fantasy team to consider as I do with one. But baseball...you are so right about baseball. You have to do your homework. You have to pay attention to averages, trends, hot streaks, off days,etc. The beauty of baseball is found in the roto league format where you play against all of the teams in your league for a whole season. In football you only have to score more than ONE team each week and anyone can pull that off.
When a guy (Jason Smith) finishes ahead of you in the standings and almost makes the playoffs w/o having one single bit of data during the draft, it should tell you everything. He had no list, and he didn't even know the draft was that day. Then with his first 2 picks he takes Drew Brees and Reggie Wayne. That's right. THAT guy finished ahead of us in the standings this year.
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