lifestyle

girls like football too…

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The madness of the NFL season started this past week and concluded with a long night of MNF last night… which also means it’s time for all of the fantasy fun games that come with the season. This year, I’m in 2 fantasy leagues (Mr. M’s work league and an all-girls WeddingBee crew) and 1 pick-em league. The exhaustion I felt making all of my gametime decisions on Thursday morning was enormous, and I really started to doubt that this year would be much fun… but then I realized why I signed up and how much enjoyment I get checking out my scores… and then I figured it was all worth it in the end.

You see, I stopped caring about NFL football around 1998. That was the year I left home for NFL-less Los Angeles, where I couldn’t watch my Niners play a game on Sunday like I could at home. That was also the year that UCLA was #1 in the BCS until the first week of December… so Sunday meant a day of studying after the exhaustion of a 12-hour day driving to & from/working/playing at the Rose Bowl. The NFL just continued to fade away through college, as no one in the city really cared what happened on Sundays, except at certain “fan bars” around town. I’d keep track of ex-Bruins through work, but otherwise Sundays were really a day of rest and relaxation.

All of that changed when I met Mr. M, and he asked me to play fantasy football. I knew what it was all about, but being “out of the loop” I really had no idea who to pick or what to do. So I created my own system of picking “nice guys, ex-Bruins and cuties” for my team and excluding ALL TROJANS (& Edgerrin James) at any cost. Everyone laughed at my roster… but at the end of the year I was the champion. I’ve kept to my system ever since, coming in dead last another year and sweeping the competition last year with yet another championship.

In the first week of competition, I raked in 140 points in one league and only 90 in my other league and only picked 11/16 games correctly. Not too bad for a girl, I think… It’s sad to know that only 14% of the players on Yahoo! are females, as I think it’s such an easy way to get involved in the game. Then again, you’re talking to a lifelong football fan here… someone just had to convert me to a fantasy player.

I know quite a few readers play along with the NFL season as well… and there are probably many fantasy widows out there too…

3 Comments

  • Disgruntled Julie

    I can’t imagine not having football in my life. The day after the Superbowl is one of the most depressing days of the year! Unless the Steelers just one, in which case I’m still celebrating. :)

    I am SO excited that football is back… both for watching and for fantasy!

  • tracey aka pdt

    such a shame that girls don’t play fantasy football .. i’ve played the last 5 years – i even won my yahoo! league super bowl one year. it’s a great way to learn SO MUCH about football. i was lucky to break through the glass ceiling into the big boys league and their $1500 payout for the SB winner.

    fwiw, i steer clear of the niners and raiders for my fantasy teams.. i just get too emotional ….