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First of all, I figured out how to delete that last Fantasy Bust thread that was taken over by arch-enemies that I will leave nameless ...But I thought I would start a thread on the history of fantasy football...My friends and I started in 1991. First, We all agreed on a newspaper we would all use for stats. It had to be the same paper because back then, a lot of times there would be a difference in a yard or 2 in different newspapers. We used The Daily News. We would all buy the paper on Monday and Tuesday, and manually add up our scoring system, and then call your opponent to match scores, and then the commissioner to give the results...What a change in technology since then...

Not to mention that the players who did their "homework" were rewarded, and EVERYTHING wasn't available via the internet.

I'm pretty sure that there was no Sportcenter back then either....George Michael's Sports Machine was the closest thing to it.

Sportscenter has been on ESPN since its inception in 79. ESPN News is the way to go, wait...NFL Network is the way! As well as Fantasy Sports Mag

I've been playing since 1986. My first league was some contest based in Washington. You had to submit lists of player rankings, then they would slot you 1 to 10 and give you a team based on your rankings. If you had the top overall score, you won a trip to the Pro Bowl in Hawaii. During the strike year of 1987, you had to select scab players for the 3 replacement player games. If any of your real players crossed the picket lines (like Steve Largent, who had a MONSTER game in the one replacement game he played in), you got to use those players. Pretty hardcore for such a simple little contest. Hopefully we never have to go that route again...

Here's an intersting tidbit on the birth of fantasy if anyone is interested. http://www.fantasyindex.com/Birth.html

Originally posted by BillyWaz:
Not to mention that the players who did their "homework" were rewarded, and EVERYTHING wasn't available via the internet. In 1995, I played in my first local league with some friends. 14-team league, 30 rounds. With the final pick of the draft (#420), I selected a rookie running back named Terrell Davis.

Yeah, I'd say doing homework paid off BIG TIME back then.

Originally posted by GOD Loves You:
Sportscenter has been on ESPN since its inception in 79. ESPN News is the way to go, wait...NFL Network is the way! As well as Fantasy Sports Mag I guess it has been around for a LONG time...I just don't remember it being what it is today...Tickers going on all the time with every tidbit of info...

We upgraded to "phone service" Fantasy Football in about 1993...A service did all of the work for you...You just had to call Kentucky, and pay the $1.50 for the call, and put your lineup in using 4 digit player codes...Once your lineup was in, it would read it back to you to make sure it was correct. AFter the week was played, they would send you the results of your game that week...From KENTUCKY...lol It would get to you by Thursday....You wouldn't even know if you won or lost until nearly the start of the next week.

Originally posted by King of Queens:
quote:Originally posted by BillyWaz:
Not to mention that the players who did their "homework" were rewarded, and EVERYTHING wasn't available via the internet. In 1995, I played in my first local league with some friends. 14-team league, 30 rounds. With the final pick of the draft (#420), I selected a rookie running back named Terrell Davis.

Yeah, I'd say doing homework paid off BIG TIME back then. [/QUOTE]TD..One minute he was on top of the world....The next, he was fighting for a roster spot....The quickness of life of an NFL player.