Football is for Chimps

Dyv · Post by **Dyv** » Thu Apr 22, 2004 8:20 am

I just wanted to take a minute and get some thoughts on this - but isn't it true that baseball is a thinking man's game and football is for chimps?

I know, I know - we'll have someone in the NFFC take Peyton Manning 5th overall and God Bless them for their charity, but don't most of us know that Football is much more luck and injury dependent than other sports? Not only are there more injuries in football, but you have less key players as well. Nobody is wiped out when their kicker tears a ligament and you have to get another kicker. Team Defenses? Most of the Tight Ends ?

Really, even injuries to QB don't devastate your scoring. That loss of a key RB or a top notch WR... that's basically punching your ticket to the exit.

The bad part of that is blue collar fantasy gamers like myself can't gain an edge by simply working hard. The information on the net and in fantasy magazines is pretty darn good already. So, it boils down to luck. I'm not inherently brilliant like Gekko

Pass me the banana and a magazine and let me start reading. I'll consult the Tarot cards to avoid injuries and give it a go.

Now, if we could just get a big stakes hockey game up and running... now THAT is true skill, fellas.

Dyv

Tom Kessenich · Post by **Tom Kessenich** » Thu Apr 22, 2004 9:20 am

The question about luck vs. skill when it comes to fantasy football always draws some interesting responses. I do think baseball requires more skill than luck because it's a longer season and there are more games and a significantly larger number of variables that owners need to be aware of and stay on top of which can impact a fantasy season.

This will be my 18th season of fantasy football. I've won my share of championships along the way and there's no question in my mind that luck plays a larger role in determining each season's champion in this sport than any other.

Example: Two years ago, I finished with a 15-2 record in the ESPN Experts League. I had a helluva draft getting McNabb in his big season and Holmes in his and then Travis Henry in the 6th round. McNabb and Holmes carried me virtually the entire season, but then suffered injuries late in the year. I still managed to do well and got to the Super Bowl where I had a 15-1 record. Care to guess what happened? I ran into a red-hot Matt Hasselbeck and lost the league title.

So even though I had the best overall record in the league by a healthy margin and led the league in scoring and was clearly the best team the entire season, I didn't win the title because my opponent that week had a QB who went gonzo on me. Good thing I'm not the least bit bitter about that. Seriously, from my vantage point, that's bad luck, just like it was good luck last year that I was a Portis owner and he went off for a 5-TD game. Yes Portis is a great player, but that's still having luck on your side in my opinion.

I think it's a great question: Luck vs. Skill and I don't think the skill aspect of any fantasy sport should be diminished. I just think with football, the luck factor tends to often play a larger role than in other fantasy sports. But the key thing is to put yourself in the best possible position to capitalize on some potential good luck. And that's where soaking up as much of the info as you can be it online, from magazines or both comes into play. Dumb luck is a wonderful thing when it happens, but the smart fantasy player uses his skill to put himself in the best possible position to have some luck come their way.

Dyv · Post by **Dyv** » Thu Apr 22, 2004 11:02 am

Originally posted by Tom Kessenich:
The question about luck vs. skill when it comes to fantasy football always draws some interesting responses. I do think baseball requires more skill than luck because it's a longer season and there are more games and a significantly larger number of variables that owners need to be aware of and stay on top of which can impact a fantasy season.

This will be my 18th season of fantasy football. I've won my share of championships along the way and there's no question in my mind that luck plays a larger role in determining each season's champion in this sport than any other.

Example: Two years ago, I finished with a 15-2 record in the ESPN Experts League. I had a helluva draft getting McNabb in his big season and Holmes in his and then Travis Henry in the 6th round. McNabb and Holmes carried me virtually the entire season, but then suffered injuries late in the year. I still managed to do well and got to the Super Bowl where I had a 15-1 record. Care to guess what happened? I ran into a red-hot Matt Hasselbeck and lost the league title.

So even though I had the best overall record in the league by a healthy margin and led the league in scoring and was clearly the best team the entire season, I didn't win the title because my opponent that week had a QB who went gonzo on me. Good thing I'm not the least bit bitter about that. Seriously, from my vantage point, that's bad luck, just like it was good luck last year that I was a Portis owner and he went off for a 5-TD game. Yes Portis is a great player, but that's still having luck on your side in my opinion.

I think it's a great question: Luck vs. Skill and I don't think the skill aspect of any fantasy sport should be diminished. I just think with football, the luck factor tends to often play a larger role than in other fantasy sports. But the key thing is to put yourself in the best possible position to capitalize on some potential good luck. And that's where soaking up as much of the info as you can be it online, from magazines or both comes into play. Dumb luck is a wonderful thing when it happens, but the smart fantasy player uses his skill to put himself in the best possible position to have some luck come their way. I think that's exactly how I feel, Tom - use your research and skill and draft strategies to put yourself in a position to be lucky. It doesn't take 'luck' to draft Priest Holmes, lol.

Still - everything you can possibly muster, from strength of schedule to who has a good backup to how good the supporting cast will be... even who upgrade their offensive lines this year - all that is important to TRY to get an angle on and then you can still come in last place.

Viva Football

Dyv

Diesel · Post by **Diesel** » Sat May 01, 2004 6:00 am

If Football is for Chimps, then give me a banana. Baseball is definitely more of a skilled draft because your team must prove their worth for a much longer peirod of time. But 26 weeks long? And most Baseball leageus are straight roto. It's like watching paint dry, with a fly occasionally getting stuck in the wet paint to keep you interested for 5 minutes...lol...If there was a draft in the beginning of the season, and then again after the allstar break it would be better. But I'm sticking with the Chimps when I say Football is the best Fantasy Sport. I can honestly say that I can watch every second of every NFL game, and still want more football.

Tom Kessenich · Post by **Tom Kessenich** » Sun May 02, 2004 5:07 am

I think the difference is football is addictive whereas baseball needs passion. You have to really love the sport and have a real passion for it to commit to it for that long of a season in terms of fantasy play. But with football, there's an adrenaline rush every weekend due in large part to the fact there's only one game per week. And week-long build-up to each game is intense. You know it's addictive when you're sitting there on a Sunday and already plotting and planning your moves for the following week.

Not that I've ever done that, of course