I just finished up my fantasy baseball draft. I am fairly happy because I got Hanley Ramirez, Ryan Howard, and Tim Lincecum.
Don't know what I'm talking about? It's ok, I will briefly explain. Fantasy sports are similar to real sports where normal Joes like my friends and I act like general managers. Professional atheletes are aquired by fantasy owners and they are placed onto rosters that covet them only for their statistical abilities. Fantasy owners are responsible for drafting players, negotiating trades, and picking up free agents. The goal is to acquire better overall statistics than your opponent. The team with the best statistics (usually) wins the fantasy league.
For a better description please consult the all knowing wikipedia : Fantasy Sports
More important than grasping the concept of fantasy sports is grasping the explosive popularity of fantasy sports. According to the Fantasy Sports Trade Association, nearly 30 million people in the United States and Canada played fantasy sports. 30 million. In addition, 22 percent of males age 18 to 49 currently partake in fantasy sports.
What began as nerds trading professional athelets in their basements in the 80s has morphed into a worldwide phenomenon. Owners no longer have to check the newspaper to see what their fantasy shortstop did the night before. They can just have the stats texted to their iPhone instantly, or they can just watch his at bat live.
In addition to the sites that offer fantasy management (ESPN, sportsline.com, yahoo.com), fantasy advice sites are also multi-billion dollar markets. For just 19.95 a month, you can pay rotowire.com to tell you which of your fantasy players to play the next week. Doesn't that take the thinking (and the fun) out of it?
B.K.
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