A fair warning to my colleagues at The Citizen:
There may be times during the football season where I’ll be very cranky heading into the office Monday morning ? and it will have nothing to do with Sunday’s Lions game.
In the coming weeks, many Americans, myself included, will take part in that time-honored tradition known as the fantasy football draft. This event ? and make no mistake, it is an event ? sets the stage for a spirited four months of competition, where your self-esteem for an entire week depends on how well the players on your team perform the previous Sunday.
Those of you who play fantasy football know what I’m talking about. For those of you who aren’t familiar with fantasy football, a brief primer: Before the National Football League season, a group of people gather and draft NFL players to comprise a fantasy team. These fantasy teams will compete against one another each week during the season, with teams scoring points based on how well their players did that week.
Your fearless reporter will take part in two live drafts this year: one on Wednesday, July 14, on the Internet through CBS SportsLine.com, and the other live and in person (date TBA) with a group of friends that I was in a league with last year.
In the latter league last season, my team started out very slowly, winning only two of its first eight games. There were many times I wondered if my team would ever get out of the doldrums.
However, the C-Town Lions (not the most original team name, but work with me here) made a second-half comeback. Led by Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck, former Broncos running back Clinton Portis (since traded to the Redskins), Saints wide receiver Joe Horn, and the eventual Super Bowl champion Patriots? defense, the C-Town Lions made a comeback to finish a respectable fifth out of 10 teams in the league.
This year promises to be even more competitive, with 12 teams now in our league. Each team starts fresh with a new set of players for the 2004 season. Hopefully, my team will improve on last year’s finish and contend for a league championship.
Nonetheless, one thing is guaranteed: there will be plenty of fun and male bonding (insert Tim Allen grunt here) in the process.