Why do we enjoy fantasy sports?

I can't say why this activity has taken off so much in the U.S., but I can tell you why I enjoy it so much.  This is something that I have had to explain a few times to my wife.  She is always giving me grief about how much time I spend paying attention to my "little baseball guys", "fantasy world", or "stupid game".  I want to be a good husband and father, so I feel it is important to come up with a good explanation for why I enjoy this hobby so much.

The key to my argument has to be the link that fantasy sports gives me to the thrill of competition that I enjoyed for so long playing sports.  The process of planning, preparation, execution and game days remains thrilling to me, but now I am left to do it vicariously through the playes on my fantasy squad.  When I study the statistics for baseball, find some quality information on a player that may be under the radar, add that player to my team either through the draft, free agency or trade, then put him in my lineup and he comes through with a big home run while I happen to be watching, it definitely adds the thrill that I am looking for in this sport. (What a run on sentence...)  Football is the best sport for this aspect of fantasy enjoyment.  All the games happen pretty much on the same day, it is easy to see all the action with the Sunday Ticket and just about every touchdown my guys score leads to much celebration.  I also appreciate the valleys of emotion this game offers.  I definitely feel grouchy at the end of a Sunday when my team has laid an egg. 

One good example of this happened last year during baseball season.  I was having a good week in my fantasy baseball league and I happened to be at a Mariner game with my opponent.  During the game, the out of town scoreboard was updating the scores of the Oakland/Cleveland game.  I had started Dan Haren, starting pitcher for Oakland and I also had their closer that week, Alan Embree (fill in for Huston Street).  At the end of the 8th inning, the A's were winning 5-2, which meant that Haren had pitched well and Embree had the perfect set up for a save.  As the Mariner game continued, the A's/Indians score stayed stuck on the 9th inning for quite a while.  I was dying for it to flip to Final so that I could enjoy my victory, my save and rub it in on my opponent who was with me.  After a good 15 or 20 minutes, the score updated....and the score was changed to Cleveland 6, Oakland 5.  Alan Embree had loaded the bases and given up a grand slam!  He followed that up with another run and in the end he had given up 6 base runners (3 walks, I hate walks), 5 runs, a blown save and cost me the great Haren victory.  On top of all that, my opponent had Rafael Betancourt, a relief pitcher for Cleveland who happened to get the last out of the 8th inning so he ended up with the victory.  In one third of an inning, my entire week of pitching stats was ruined by Alan Embree.  Needless to say, I was furious.  I could not enjoy the Mariner game, was in a very foul mood for the next day or so, and openly questioned whether it was legal to send feces in the mail to Alan Embree. 

This story highlights the negative emotions related to fantasy sports, but I appreciate the intensity this adds to the games for me.  Without these kinds of negatives, the times that I have won leagues and playoff games wouldn't feel so sweet. 

The second aspect of fantasy sports that makes it so enjoyable is the value it puts on every game going on.  Before fantasy, would I have cared one iota about that Cleveland/Oakland game?  NO.  I would follow my favorite team, catch some action with my friends when we happen to see a game at our local sports bar, and enjoy the playoffs as we find out who the real champions would be that year.  With fantasy, every game and every player can matter.  Just this past week, how many people do you think cared about the Seattle/Carolina football game?  Carolina was playing a rookie free agent quarterback, Seattle had already locked up their division championship, didn't have much to play for and it wasn't on tv anywhere but Seattle and Charlotte.  At the end of the first half the game was still scoreless, how many people would find this to be an enjoyable game?  Not many unless you like windblown passes and multiple penalties for both teams.  The crowd in Carolina mimicked how most everyone probably felt about the game as the staduim was practically empty by the time the Seahawks took control of the ball with a minute remaining down 13-3 and the outcome basically decided already.  But for fantasy purposes, the game was far from over.  Matt Hasselbeck, who had a terrible game for the first 59 minutes moved the Seahawks down the field quickly and with 1 second left, threw a pass to Deion Branch that first bounced off a defender and fell into Branch's arms for a TD.  In the realm of NFL football, this touchdown was 100% meaningless, but for fantasy purposes, this TD made the difference for countless Hasselbeck/Branch owners.  In my main football league I played an opponent in our semifinals and he had Deion Branch.  That touchdown was the difference in our matchup in which I lost by 6.  So without fantasy football, this game and this play on the very last second would not have mattered at all.

The third aspect of fantasy that is enjoyable is the statistical analysis that goes with it.  I know, this is a "nerdy" thing to enjoy, but pouring over numbers and finding patterns and trends that others may miss which could give me an advantage is half the fun.  I don't want to go into this too much, but this activity led to the most successful trade I have ever made in fantasy baseball.  After our draft in 2007, I had Albert Pujols as my 1B (first round pick).  In our keeper league, you can keep up to 5 guys and the cost is a draft pick equal to where they were acquired, so Pujols would cost me a 1st round pick in 2008 to keep.  As I was analyzing other 1B players, I came across some intresting information on Prince Fielder.  He had just come off a very solid rookie year in 2006, 28 homers etc.  2006 was also the year Ryan Howard came out of nowhere to hit 56 homers.  In looking at Prince Fielder, I saw quite a few of the same indicators that Howard had exhibited leading up to his breakout season.  I don't want to give away the secrets of exactly what I saw, but I offered Albert Pujols for Prince Fielder.  On the surface of this trade, I was crazy.  Pujols was the unanimous first or second pick in every draft and Fielder was a young unproven player.  In the end though, Fielder did blow up with 50 homers this year (to 32 for Pujols) and looks to have a great future ahead of him.  Fielder also has a keeper cost of a 16th round pick instead of a 1st, so I have improved quite a bit in value there as well. 

The avenue fantasy sports gives me to connect more with my friends is also very important.  Using our fantasy leagues we can stay in constant contact all year and we have built in excuses to get together more often to watch the games, which can't be a bad thing.  Add in the trash talk and constant banter only increases the enjoyment among friends.  One owner in my fantasy baseball league drafted Troy Tulowitski as his starting shortstop last year and was really pumped up about his prospects.  All of us in the league was giving him crap that he was counting on a rookie as his starter and was going to regret it.  We rode him for weeks and when the season started and Tulowitski got off to a very slow start the berating intensified.  After 3 or 4 weeks, he dropped Tulowitski and went another direction at shortstop.  Not long after, Tulowitski took off and ended up being the runner up for rookie of the year.  Now we will always have this story to rub in his face and how much more fun can be had between friends? 

The last aspect of fantasy sports that make it a great past time is how many more people can get interested in sports because of it.  Fantasy football has completely taken off and is now pulling in sports fans, non sports fans, men, women, young and old.  I am in the championship of one fantasy football league against a woman who couldn't tell you the difference between the St. Louis Rams and a Dodge Ram before this season.  I guarantee you that she knows the difference tonight, as she is glued to the Steelers and Rams game on NFL network right now.  If the game keeps going like I think it is, she is going to ride the Steelers passing game right to the championship, now who is the expert???

My wife may be right, this may be a completely mindless, stupid, boring pursuit that doesn't have any intrinsic value, but that doesn't mean I will stop any time soon.  For all the reasons I have shared with you, I am just having too much fun.

Enjoy the games, i will.

Justin