Fantasy vs Reality

This year is the first time in a long time that I've taken part in a fantasy baseball league.  I have to say it was pretty intense when I was first asked to join.  The league rules read like a team of lawyers put it together which almost scared me off.  I mean I love baseball and have enjoyed fantasy baseball in the past.  I've just
never been so overwhelmed.  These guys seemed way too serious about this whole process.

Turns out that my fears about the league being super intense weren't really justified.  The guys in the league seem really nice although I only know the person that invited me to join.  This made me unsure of the trash talk etiquette.  Part of the fun of fantasy sports is talking trash on the other teams, but that becomes hard to do when you don't really know who you're trash-talking.  I also don't have the same level of pride since I was taking over for another previous owner, and most of my team was already in place.  I still went through the first auction and draft and like who I have.  I even fulfilled my biggest fantasy rule (you need someone from the actual team you root for) before I even joined up.

My wife asked me a question about fantasy sports this week: what do you do when someone on your fantasy team is playing your actual team?  It's actually a pretty good question.  She seems to think that fantasy sports would make you a less passionate fan of your actual teams because you temper your allegiances.  I don't know how every person handles it, but there are certain things I do.  I never root against my actual team, ever.  But I don't mind if someone has a big game in a loss to the Giants.  You want to hit a couple home runs?  Fine, just make sure it doesn't help your team outscore my team.  I never start a pitcher against my team because that would be like rooting for my team to lose.  I also normally never draft any LA Dodgers because I hate them and want no excuse to root for them.  Unfortunately my team already had a Dodger before I signed up, but I couldn't afford to cut him.  He just doesn't play.

The great thing about a league like this is that you can set lineups at the beginning of the week and let it roll.  You don't have to make moves to keep up with your opponent.  Just let the stats fall where they may.  That way I can check scores at the end of the day and be done with it.  It doesn't have to interupt with me being a dad or a husband at all, but it can still be a good distraction from time to time.

That is officially the last you'll read of my fantasy team.  I know that nobody cares about anyone else's team just like no one cares about anyone else's poker hands