A year without fantasy football

[albionmoonlight]

My office FF league had several people leave this offseason for independent reasons. Rather than go down to 8 teams and/or try and strongarm unwilling people into it, we decided to put in on a one-year hiatus.

That was by far my most fun and engaging league. I was in a couple of other online leagues, but those were mostly of the "eh, looks like fun, why not" type.

So, for the first time in longer than I can remember, I am going to try and enjoy the NFL season without FF. I am interested to see if my enjoyment goes up or down.

On the one hand, I won't have any personal sort of interest in a late afternoon Lions-Rams game in week 6. On the other hand, I sort of suspect that I wasn't really "enjoying" watching the 4th quarter of a Lions-Rams game with no rooting interest other than Matt Stafford getting at least 6 more fantasy points in the 4th quarter.

I'm already realizing how much more time I will have when I notice podcasts/articles about fantasy that I would have otherwise consumed that I will now ignore.

[Kodos]

I gave up fantasy football years ago. Can't say I miss it. I got tired of people who quit as soon as their team faltered.

[spleen1015]

This was me last year. In a matter of 3 years, I went from 10 down to 6 down to 3 down to 0.

I was asked to join one at work. I don't have any responsibility other than playing so it should be fun. I don't suck so I'll be playing the whole season.

Good luck with out FF!

[Bobble]

Interesting. My 26-year league of 16 teams looks very much like it's not going to happen this year. I'm wondering if I'm going to even join some crappy ESPN league or anything. I keep waiting to get excited about fantasy football this year and it's not happened so far.

[tarcone]

I quit playing years ago. And thus quit watching pro football. I didnt miss it at all.
This year, a guy at work asked me to join his family league. 10 teams. I told him i would do it.

Im kind of regretting saying yes. I really dont want to follow pro football. But I will suck it up.

[JAG]

I stopped playing a few years ago and am happier for it. Still enjoy watching / following football, but I'm more interested in the game for reasons other than how many fantasy points a player will score.

[bryce]

I just retired from FF last month so this will be my first year without it since 1996. I stopped liking it years ago, though. I'm 40 so I had been playing FF for literally half of my life, often multiple leagues each year like many others. Eventually I dropped all but one league the last few years.

I only stayed in the one remaining league because I was a founding member of the dynasty league but secretly I kept hoping the league would fold each year to give me an excuse to quit. But then another founder left, and that was all the push I needed to follow suit. I think the last remaining founder left as well actually, so we were all in the same boat. Looking forward to being without it frankly.

[stevew]

Haven't played in 4 years now i think. It's really good to not have life effected by random Sunday night and monday night tilts.

Also Sunday afternoon is a great time to go do stuff since mostly the stores are pretty slow.

[bob]

Even when I played FF, I didn't watch tons of NFL games each week. But overall I was much more in tune with what was going on with the rest of the NFL outside of the Lions (favorite team) and the Falcons (team where I live).

I have no idea who any of the top 3 running backs are for FF this year.

[corbes]

Count me among those who are happier not scouring the internet for news about injuries and second-string running backs.

[bryce]

Now might as well be as good a time as any to mention that I've run a straight-up NFL pick 'em for a couple years now as an alternative to FF.

Rules are simple and require about 5 minutes per week: pick 3 winners each week (straight up), only caveat is you can only use a team 3 times all year. Weekly prize, but no ties allowed so pots carry over to next week if nobody wins outright (which usually happens, resulting in some decent pots throughout the season). Also season-long prize. We have 6 participants right now (same as last year) but open to adding a handful more.

PM me with any interest and / or questions.

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by Kodos

I gave up fantasy football years ago. Can't say I miss it. I got tired of people who quit as soon as their team faltered.

Plus 1.

I still enjoy watching every Eagles' game and then other games that interest me.

[molson]

I really like drafting, and also find it a fun way to get a sense of what's going on in the upcoming football season. So I'm in a league where you draft a huge roster and then, that's it, no transactions during the season. Best ball weekly format, the computer automatically gives you your best-scoring possible roster each week. It's fun to follow, but not time consuming. (Though I still find myself looking at the prospects of my 4th spring RBs I hope moves up, but, you don't have to actually make decisions at that point). And there's a ton of strategy involved - do you draft ALL of a teams backup WRs in the late rounds, hoping one of them breaks out, or do you try to pick WRs from different teams trying to find a few guys who become starters. If you pick a QB early, how much insurance to give yourself in case he gets injured. Etc.

And I've never been someone who watches games rooting for certain players, even when I am in a fantasy league. I've just never been interested in that, I'll sit down and look at everything on Sunday night, or whenever I finish watching whatever games I'm interested in on DVR.

[Maple Leafs]

I'm still playing, but there's no doubt that it's nowhere near the fun that it once was. There's such a flood of information these days that everyone is basically working off of the same numbers and strategies, so the results (of standard-style leagues) end up essentially being all but random.

There's still some fun in that, but I can't get too worked up over flipping a bunch of coins every weekend.

[Suicane75]

I'm just the opposite. I don't think I could watch much college or pro ball at all if I didn't have money/interest involved.

[bryce]

Originally Posted by Maple Leafs

I'm still playing, but there's no doubt that it's nowhere near the fun that it once was. There's such a flood of information these days that everyone is basically working off of the same numbers and strategies, so the results (of standard-style leagues) end up essentially being all but random.

There's still some fun in that, but I can't get too worked up over flipping a bunch of coins every weekend.

That's been my observation as well. It was more fun when it was more "nerdy" and "underground". But now that every soccer mom, co-worker, and Joe Public is playing, it's a lot less fun.

[Bobble]

Originally Posted by Maple Leafs

I'm still playing, but there's no doubt that it's nowhere near the fun that it once was. There's such a flood of information these days that everyone is basically working off of the same numbers and strategies, so the results (of standard-style leagues) end up essentially being all but random.

There's still some fun in that, but I can't get too worked up over flipping a bunch of coins every weekend.

One of the things I liked about my 16-team league was that it was non-standard and it brought back some value to deeper knowledge. It was great seeing guys who were all cocky fantasy veterans lose their shit when everyone on their list is gone by round 9.

[stevew]

If someone were to put together some sort if weekly league using draft kings type settings where we could just pick week to week rosters I'd prob have interest in that. But to go seasonal is just too much unneeded stress.

Maybe it's just me, but the Thursday games just added too much extra stuff to worry about.

[bryce]

Originally Posted by stevew

Maybe it's just me, but the Thursday games just added too much extra stuff to worry about.

The Thursday game needs to go for a variety of reasons (health and quality of play, for example). But money trumps.

[GoldenCrest Games]

Originally Posted by stevew

It's really good to not have life effected by random Sunday night and monday night tilts.

For me, this is the best thing about quitting FF. (I've been out for 3 years) I never was the best at it, so there were a lot of frustrating Sundays/Mondays. I even blew a lot of Thursday games, so my whole weekend would be shot.

That being said, I've always missed the juice of draft day.

[albionmoonlight]

mid season update:

I don't miss it at all.

[molson]

I'm still enjoying my league. And I haven't watched one minute of a non-Patriots football game this year, pro or college. So for me, fantasy football isn't some big time commitment, it's really the only way I know about what's generally going on in the league.

[Logan]

I used to be very much into fantasy until maybe 3 or 4 years ago. I was never really the type that went crazy if my guy got hurt, or my bench guy blew up, or I lost a nailbiter on some BS. But I was in probably 4 or 5 leagues with different groups of friends/co-workers, and spent a lot of time researching/strategizing.

After a while I just kind of lost interest. I think part is what people said above...it was more fun for me when the information wasn't so readily available and I got a kick out of trying to ID talents early on. I remember drafting Adrian Foster in something like the 10th round of a work league that drafted fairly early in the preseason, based on some camp buzz I read and clips I saw. Believe people at the time were still in on Steve Slaton and maybe someone else. But by the time most drafts completed, he was going in the top 5 rounds or something. Then he exploded.

I'm sure some of those details are off 7 years later, and of course the same kind of stuff can still be spotted now but it's definitely a different game now. Too much of it is in the media and also just hearing people talk about their teams in normal conversation is probably another thing that put me over the edge. I remember being in a bar and seeing a guy going way more crazy over watching his players than the team of the jersey he was wearing.

I still play in one league, but I'm sort of mentally checked out. If I win, cool. If I lose, I don't give it a second thought.

[PilotMan]

I was what you might call a Fantasy Football pioneer. I started my own league back in the late 80's, way before it blew up. I played here and there, and gradually it took up more and more time. With my personality it gradually took up a disturbing amount of time and I became so involved in it that I could almost do nothing else. I quit cold turkey, probably 15 years ago, found FOF and don't regret it one bit.

[cuervo72]

I never played a ton of FF, but I gave it up following the year where my QB were Kurt Warner and Michael Vick and they both got injured (so, 2003?). I think I had Clinton Portis and TO and still couldn't win any games. Just figured it wasn't my thing.

Gave up Sunday Ticket too, was hopping between so many games that I felt like I hadn't watched any at the end of the day. Not missing it - I think I've seen all but one or two Eagles games this year as it is.

[stevew]

Gun to my head, I couldn't tell you who the Packers backup running back is. So yay, 4 years without fantasy and I'm loving every minute of it.

[Suicane75]

What insane situation could you have gotten yourself into where someone would be holding a gun to your head and asking you who the Packers backup running back is.

[stevew]

Originally Posted by Suicane75

What insane situation could you have gotten yourself into where someone would be holding a gun to your head and asking you who the Packers backup running back is.

It's the plot to Taken 6

[Suicane75]

I'd watch!

[molson]

Originally Posted by Suicane75

What insane situation could you have gotten yourself into where someone would be holding a gun to your head and asking you who the Packers backup running back is.

There's a real divey bar down the street from me where I could maybe see this happening somehow.

[Bobble]

Originally Posted by molson

There's a real divey bar down the street from me where I could maybe see this happening somehow.

Gimme 5 minutes to print out the Packers roster and LET'S GO!

[CrescentMoonie]

I like the new Draft app where you draft a new team each week. I've enjoyed floating a dollar or two in the low stakes FanDuel/DraftKings contests. I can't imagine doing anything more than that.

[Maple Leafs]

Originally Posted by Maple Leafs

There's still some fun in that, but I can't get too worked up over flipping a bunch of coins every weekend.

I've got a combined 30+ years sunk into my two leagues, and I honestly think I had my best draft ever this year in the main one. Just hit on almost every pick, and built a team that was just ridiculously dominant.

Cool right? Here are some of the guys I built around: Ezekiel Elliott, Dalvin Cook, Allen Robinson, DeShaun Watson with late-round flyer, and DeAndre Hopkins just in case Watson turned out to be good. Oh, and my keeper was Beckham Jr.

Yeah.

Ten or even five years ago, that would have ruined my whole fall. Seriously, I would have been furious and probably punching holes in walls. This year... eh. Like I said up above, we're flipping coins. Sometimes they come up tails. Nothing you can do.

The downside is that if I ever win a league again it won't be as fun, but I think that's a tradeoff worth making.

[PackerFanatic]

This was my first year without FF since I was a teenager and I can't say I am missing it either.