It’s that time of the year when I set aside most of my Sunday to simply watch football. After an agonizing wait, we finally get to see our favorite players and teams play football. While football itself is fun to watch, there’s something that kicks this to another level; fantasy football. I get together with many friends to form a league, and there begins the competition.
The first step is gathering people to form a league or leagues. This takes place very much like recruiting, picking the people who enjoy football and plan to compete with maximum effort. The rules are then discussed and the league is finalized. As soon as the league is formed, the draft date is set. The draft date is voted on based on the members’ availability, and the date with the most availability is then selected. If anyone were to miss that date, it would lead to an auto draft (which most likely ends up being a disadvantage to them).
Then the games begin…
The fantasy week goes along with the regular football schedule; the week starts on Thursday. I usually finish most of the work I need to do before the start of the game, so my full attention is usually on the game. I pull out the fantasy app and begin the rollercoaster of emotions. Touchdown…for the player against me. Interception…for the team playing against me! This is just a preview of a typical Sunday.
On Sundays, the games begin at 8:30 a.m. and last up until 10 p.m. This means that if there is any work I need to finish, I should finish it on Saturday if I need my complete attention. If I were working on an assignment on Sunday during the games, I never find myself as focused on my work as I should be. I constantly pull out my phone to check the scores of my several teams. Since I am a part of 3 different leagues; it takes a lot of effort and time to keep up with each of them (constantly trying to trade players and switching players back and forth from the bench to start).
On one Sunday, around 10 p.m., I was working on an assignment that was due later that night. I pulled out my phone to check the sore in one of the leagues where the score was neck and neck. I needed the Quarterback to score less than 5 more points than he currently had. I stopped working and turned on the game. Huge throw from the QB, and CAUGHT by the receiver. That gives the QB enough points for my opponent to defeat me. But there was a flag on the play, canceling the catch, and the points given with it. In the following play, the QB had a clear path to run it straight into the endzone, also giving him enough points for my opponent to defeat me. However, he stops 1 yard away from the endzone in order to run the clock down and finalize the win. I rejoiced, winning against all odds. After the moment of happiness, I realized I still had the assignment to complete and wasted 15 minutes of time that I could’ve used on the assignment and 15 minutes of sleep that I could’ve gotten (which I very much needed).
This has seemingly become a bad habit for me. While I have a great time with my friends in a fun yet competitive environment, I tend to waste time that I wish I hadn’t wasted. My brain trying to plan moves with my teams rather than thinking about the test that is coming up. Also considering that we are all as busy and stressed as we could possibly be because of our college applications. The deadlines of the applications combined with my poor time management led to stress. Stress that could’ve been alleviated if I didn’t waste my Sundays.
I then considered the possibility of simply deleting the apps. I thought it would eliminate my problems with time management altogether. It did in fact do just that. However, I failed to consider the mental health portion of the solution. With my already restricted social interaction outside of school (due to college application), football fantasy is something where I can make time for the interaction, freeing my mind of any thought of the dreadful applications.
With every problem comes a sensible solution. I have started placing time limits on the football fantasy apps in order to increase productivity. I increase the time limit by an hour of the apps on Sundays and then set it back to the usual limit. Giving me a better handle on a balance between maintaining competitiveness with my friends while also finding time to focus on my schoolwork and applications.
Those fantasy football leagues are definitely another level of enjoyment (or frustration) to the Sunday viewing of football. I use to be in leagues years ago, but found I was in too many and not really enjoying the games because I was worried more about the scores. I am glad you are problem solving towards your participation. This was a good read.
I loved how you chose football as your topic. I too am in a fantasy football league, although I do not have too much time to keep up with it. I completely relate to the fact that football is fun with friends, but is also an evil thing – it takes up precious time that truthfully should be allocated elsewhere. I often have to mute out fantasy group chats because starting Thursday, spanning to Monday, it will be in constant discussion. 3 different leagues is crazy. You must have to maintain so many teams and I would lose track to be honest. What is your record in each of them? Similar to your stance, the most fun about fantasy football is truly the competitions amongst friends. There is an element of research, but ultimately it is out of your control. Great Blog!
This is a really interesting topic, Adi. I especially think that it is fitting for this time of the year, and, based on personal experiences, is a topic of great relevance. I have many friends who love to talk football of all sorts, especially when it comes to fantasy football. I am not in these leagues with my friends, but the topic always comes up when around them. Whether it be talking about unfair trades, proposing trade deals, or screaming about an unexpected win or loss, I can’t help but feel a little isolated during these conversations. I tried to get into a fantasy league with some different friends some years ago, but I was always too lazy to keep up. When it comes to real football, though, I have slowly begun to become more interested in the subject (even if the Bears are terrible). Just yesterday, I was watching the Saints vs. Jaguars game, and it was a great one!
Adi I really liked your blog, and could not relate more. I absolutely love fantasy football, and similar to you, it really gets in the way of things. I spend my lunch periods and freetime between classes thinking about potential trades or talking with other people about recent games and players. But, it is incredibly unhealthy and I will spend hours riding the emotional roller coaster that is my fantasy team. I am also in three leagues, but I definitely have been spending more time in one than the other two. This is also only my second year doing fantasy football, but it has easily become one of the best parts of the year. It gives me a great excuse to watch the games every week, and I absolutely love winning. But, as you so clearly posted in the sole picture on your blog, sometimes I don’t win and actually receive crushing 5 point losses.