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Being a fan of a player or a team can be a good thing and a bad thing when playing fantasy sports. I am a major
fan of the Seattle Seahawks, so in 2005 when they made their one and only trip to the Super Bowl that was the best year of
my football life. But what made the season truly memorable for me was that I also had Shaun Alexander on my fantasy
team that year. Alexander scored 28 total touchdowns to break Priest Holmes' record (since broken again by LT) and
rushed for 1880 yards. I rode the wave of Alexander touchdowns and Seahawk victories to the fantasy football championship,
what a year! I was even sitting in a Quest Field end zone seat during week 16 when number 37 scored three times
against the Indianapolis Colts to help me clinch the deciding game. That was the best of times when it comes to my ownership
of hometown guys. Almost every other time I have relied on players from my favorite teams it has not turned out as
well. Typically when I have been the owner of a Seahawk, Mariner or Sonic, I spend more time cursing them and less time
celebrating.
So I ask myself every season, should I draft one of my favorite players or a hometown guy? There are many sides to the argument I have with myself. When I think about the Mariners for example, I have partial season tickets in great seats 9 rows up from third base, so it would be fun to draft a few Seattle players so that whenever I go to a game, it has additional meaning as I follow thier play. But on the flip side, the Mariners haven't been very good, and offensively they are really bad at home where Safeco Field is so hard on hitters. So do I draft a player who may not be quite as good as some others who are available just so I can watch them play and enjoy the games I attend a bit more?
Tough call. In the end, this is part of a bigger issue facing most fantasy players, should the emotions of this type of decision enter into the discussion at all? The answer is simple, if you are in it just for fun, then taking a hometown guy or two probably will make games more interesting. But if you are in it to win, then it is probably best to set all emotional ties aside and make the most deliberate, analytical decisions every time.
Executing on this plan is not always so simple. How many people have sat down to prepare for a fantasy football or baseball draft and started out by looking at all of the statistics, searching for hidden trends and guys who may be "underrated"? Then you happen to read an article on Vernon Wells and his great offseason workout regimen and in this article he tells you how great he feels and how he is going to have his best season ever. You think to yourself, wow, he sounds motivated, maybe last year was an anomaly. On top of that, Wells wears #10, your favorite number, that is a good sign! How many people would take this type of information and move Vernon Wells up thier rankings rather than passing on him entirely due to the statistics that show his performance going the other direction? This is a great example of emotional responses clouding someone's judgement and should be eliminated from the mindset if you want to win.
You could make the point that this sounds like the Moneyball vs Old School Scouting argument, and you would be right. I am a moneyball guy and Billy Beane, general manager of the Oakland A's, has made it a habit to not get emotionally involved in decision making when running his franchise. Just look at the trades he has made with key players in the last 5 years. He has sent Tim Hudson, Mark Mulder, Dan Haren, Nick Swisher and Mark Kotsay away in deals. For Hudson and Mulder, this ended up alright as the return has proven, but the jury is still out on Haren and Swisher. The interesting thing about these deals is that while Bean inherited Hudson and Mulder, he found Haren and Swisher himself. There is quite a bit of content on the Swisher draft choice in Moneyball and Beane sure seemed to be emotional in his desire to land the Ohio State product at that point. Swisher went on to become a fan favorite in Oakland as well, but when it came time to make a deal for his rebuilding plan, Beane sent Swisher to the White Sox. It is this kind of detachment that is required to compete at the highest level of fantasy sports.
Now I may have gotten lucky with Shaun Alexander in 2005, and enjoyed my favorite team and my fantasy team at the same time, but I had the first pick that year and Alexander was the best choice I could make analytically as well. I try to keep emotions out of my team managment, but it is not always easy. Good luck.
So I ask myself every season, should I draft one of my favorite players or a hometown guy? There are many sides to the argument I have with myself. When I think about the Mariners for example, I have partial season tickets in great seats 9 rows up from third base, so it would be fun to draft a few Seattle players so that whenever I go to a game, it has additional meaning as I follow thier play. But on the flip side, the Mariners haven't been very good, and offensively they are really bad at home where Safeco Field is so hard on hitters. So do I draft a player who may not be quite as good as some others who are available just so I can watch them play and enjoy the games I attend a bit more?
Tough call. In the end, this is part of a bigger issue facing most fantasy players, should the emotions of this type of decision enter into the discussion at all? The answer is simple, if you are in it just for fun, then taking a hometown guy or two probably will make games more interesting. But if you are in it to win, then it is probably best to set all emotional ties aside and make the most deliberate, analytical decisions every time.
Executing on this plan is not always so simple. How many people have sat down to prepare for a fantasy football or baseball draft and started out by looking at all of the statistics, searching for hidden trends and guys who may be "underrated"? Then you happen to read an article on Vernon Wells and his great offseason workout regimen and in this article he tells you how great he feels and how he is going to have his best season ever. You think to yourself, wow, he sounds motivated, maybe last year was an anomaly. On top of that, Wells wears #10, your favorite number, that is a good sign! How many people would take this type of information and move Vernon Wells up thier rankings rather than passing on him entirely due to the statistics that show his performance going the other direction? This is a great example of emotional responses clouding someone's judgement and should be eliminated from the mindset if you want to win.
You could make the point that this sounds like the Moneyball vs Old School Scouting argument, and you would be right. I am a moneyball guy and Billy Beane, general manager of the Oakland A's, has made it a habit to not get emotionally involved in decision making when running his franchise. Just look at the trades he has made with key players in the last 5 years. He has sent Tim Hudson, Mark Mulder, Dan Haren, Nick Swisher and Mark Kotsay away in deals. For Hudson and Mulder, this ended up alright as the return has proven, but the jury is still out on Haren and Swisher. The interesting thing about these deals is that while Bean inherited Hudson and Mulder, he found Haren and Swisher himself. There is quite a bit of content on the Swisher draft choice in Moneyball and Beane sure seemed to be emotional in his desire to land the Ohio State product at that point. Swisher went on to become a fan favorite in Oakland as well, but when it came time to make a deal for his rebuilding plan, Beane sent Swisher to the White Sox. It is this kind of detachment that is required to compete at the highest level of fantasy sports.
Now I may have gotten lucky with Shaun Alexander in 2005, and enjoyed my favorite team and my fantasy team at the same time, but I had the first pick that year and Alexander was the best choice I could make analytically as well. I try to keep emotions out of my team managment, but it is not always easy. Good luck.
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