NFL Football: Part # 1
By Wesley Kreigsman
Fantasy Football
Journal Posting #1: “What the F is Fantasy Football”
Most everyone knows what football is and hopefully they know the basics about football. Only a handful of crazy football fanatics, like me, take the game a little bit further than just on the field. The game is called fantasy football. Fantasy football is an online league based off of real football teams, college or pro. A group of people join a league, either a random group of people or a group of friends and people that you know. Each private league has a league manager and they take care of sending invites and what not. Leagues typically contain six to sixteen players in it depending on how many are invited by the manager. After joining the league, you come up with your team name and a team motto. I will go into more details about that later on in another post. The league manager has the capability to decide how the football players will be drafted to the individual teams. One way, called the auto-draft, is where the computer automatically assigns the football players to the teams. The players are already ranked based on their performances from previous years and from projections. Team managers can put priorities on certain players to try and get them before they get put on another team. Unfortunately, the auto-draft is completely random so you do not really get a say so in what your team will look like after it is all said and done with. The other option for a draft is called a live draft. A live draft is when everyone in the league gets online and you pick your own players. That way nobody can blame a losing season on their shitty team if they picked it. Teams usually consist of a quarterback, two wide receivers, two running backs, a tight end, another wide receiver or running back, a kicker, and a defense. Teams also have a certain amount of “benched” players for reserve. Each week of regular season, one of the “fantasy teams” goes up against another fantasy team in the league and based on the performance of their starting players, the teams will get points. The team with the most points wins, of course. So the better the players, the more points you will get and the better chance of winning you will have. Some leagues have a form of playoffs where the top eight teams fight for the gold in an elimination style bracket. The winner has the pathetic bragging rights of saying they won fantasy football.
This source has a lot of details on fantasy football and all of its aspects, such as the draft, league types, the history of fantasy football and goes into some detail on some of the finer rules. Of course, every league is different so some of the rules are discretionary. I actually learned something, myself, about fantasy football. It started way back in the 1980s and has since grown becoming very popular much because of the internet. It has helped out sports bars and gives TV networks something else to broadcast. It’s hard to imagine how they played without computers or internet seeing as it is all virtual and on the computer these days, but I guess that’s how a lot of things are.
This website relates to my topic obviously, because it is about football, just a virtual online version of football. Fantasy football is a growing online game and there are millions that play today. It has become a big part of telecasts about football. ESPN even runs fantasy football stats on news line at the bottom of the screen, so you know it is a pretty big part of the game and for the fans. Multiple networks also provide fantasy football like Yahoo!, ESPN, CBS, NFL and some others. Those are some of the biggest networks on TV, especially for football fans.
This link is from NFL.com, how much more legit can it get? They explain it in a completely different way that I have never thought about. They describe it as being in the front office and on the sidelines as the General Manager and Coach of your own football team. It really is like being the coach of your own team because you decide who is going to play that week and who is not going to play that week, just like it is in the real game. This also goes on to talk about how some leagues have money at stake between the league managers betting on a winner and what kinds of drafts to participate in. Unfortunately, most of the information and broad, short and sweet, and to the point. It gives a big overview of what fantasy football is.
This post relates to my overall topic of football because it is from the website of the national football league so of course it relates to NFL football. Since the NFL website offers their version of fantasy football, which ties back to the real game of football. They have all the correct and accurate information so you know they are a legitimate fantasy football provider. The NFL keeps all of the scores and stats up to par as they happen, which then reflects on to the fantasy football scores and results. This is the basic fantasy football information provided by the real guys.
This is very similar to the first website in which it describes the basics of fantasy football and goes into further details about the different types of leagues like public, where you play a bunch of random people you probably don’t know, or a private league where you know who is in the league. It also talks about the different types of drafts available for the beginning of the fantasy football season. There is a live draft where participants choose their players on the spot, and an auto-draft where the computer assigns players to the participants’ teams. This also talks a little bit about scoring but it is different in every league so that information is not exactly accurate.
This relates to my overall topic of football because it discusses fantasy football. Fantasy football is based off of real football and has some of the same techniques. In fantasy football, you play the players that are going to score the most points for your team. It is exactly the same way in real football because you are not going to play your worst player and try to lose! They will usually always play their best players in order to try and out do their opponent and win the game. That is the point of the game after all, to win.
Journal Posting #2: “Drafting Techniques and Tips”
Anybody who knows anything about sports knows that if you are going to win and have a good season, you have to have the right team; a balanced team of talent. The same goes for fantasy football. You can not have a successful fantasy football season if you do not have a good, solid team. As a four year veteran of fantasy football myself, I have experienced what it is like to not have a good team and what is it like to have a winning team. You can probably guess, it is definitely a lot more fun when your team is winning! If you do not know how to pick the right team, you will definitely not have a good team that is capable of winning and there for you will not have a very good chance of winning it all. Weeks before the draft, take a look at the scoring for the league and see what positions are going to be the highest scoring positions. Typically, the quarterback scores the most points on the team, but again, it all just depends on how the scoring is set up. Next, you want to look at rankings and projections for how players are going to perform in the upcoming season. If they are having neck surgery, like star quarterback Peyton Manning is, then you probably don’t want to put him on your watch list because he will not be playing! If a player led the league in rushing the previous two years and is projected to keep going strong, you might want to put him at the top of your watch list. Also, prioritize your pickings. You don’t want to get a freakin’ kicker in the third or fourth round. Let’s be real, the kicker is probably the least important player on a fantasy team and every kicker can make a field goal or PAT, so you might want to pick them last. Same with a defense. No, you do not want a shit defense but again, you probably want that start running back who will score more points over a defense that will score average. Most people go for quarterbacks in the first round, which isn’t a bad idea, but if you’re risky enough, you could save your second pick for a quarterback and go for a top receiver or running back in the first round. Once people get past the quarterbacks, the running backs and receivers go quick! It works out sometimes and other times it does not. If you are in a league of experienced fantasy football players, it may help to see what positions they are choosing first and follow what they are doing. Use every pick like it is your last and make the most of each pick to try and have the most productive season possible.
1. http://bleacherreport.com/articles/824324-2011-nfl-fantasy-football-cheat-sheets-draft-strategy-tips
This link is about live draft strategies and techniques to make the best of your fantasy football season. It talks about possible first round picks and which players will be the first to go. This is not something you can just pick up, it comes with time and experience like most other things. They also talk about how to watch out for injuries and how long they are going to be out due to the injury. Is it going to be worth spending your second round pick on someone who is not playing the first three weeks? Those are the risks and decisions you have to make when managing a team.
This article is relative to my overall topic of football because it gives techniques that even the professionals use on how to have a successful team and season. They give examples of specific players in the NFL that rack up fantasy football points and ones to watch out for based on injuries and what not. Coaches and managers of teams in the NFL do the same things when they are drafting players. Nobody wants a hurt player on their team. They also have to use their draft picks very wisely because the good guys go first and they go quick!
My eye was caught reading about this link as it says “round by round”. This actually breaks down the draft in a round by round analysis based on your position in the draft. If you are one of the first picks in the first round, go ahead and snag one of the top running backs, but if you are not one of the first picks get one of the top quarterbacks, just to be safe because they the quarterback if the heart of the team in real football and in fantasy football. Round two suggests a running back or receiver; unless you did not get a quarterback the first round. The rest of the rounds are pretty self explanatory.
The article in this link relates to NFL football because they use the same techniques when they are drafting players too and if they do not use their draft picks smart, the power players will be gone! Make the most out of every pick in fantasy football and in real football. If you get a kicker the first round, be prepared to have slim pickings for quarterbacks, running backs and receivers, just like it is in the real world. The same players who score big points for you score big points for their football teams too. Without them, winning is kind of hard.
This article tells some of the do’s and don’ts of a live draft. It also talks a little bit about what is called a mock draft. A mock draft is exactly what it sounds like. It lets participants practice their draft strategy in a practice draft against simulated players to see how their strategy and techniques work. It is a very useful tool if you are not sure about a strategy or trying a new one out. Sometimes you have to do several mock drafts to find the perfect strategy because there are definitely imperfections in each strategy. The article also mentions to choose a variety so you don’t have wholes in your starting line-up.
The NFL relates to this article because coaches and staff on NFL teams have to keep in mind the do’s and don’ts as well. They have to be aware of what they need. If they have five running backs, they probably don’t need to draft another one. Spread the wealth and try to balance things out. A good running back is nothing without a strong offensive line to block for them. Same goes for fantasy football: four good running backs will score you a good amount of points but what good does it do you if you don’t have a productive quarterback or wide recievers?
Journal Posting #3: “Scoring and Rules”
Every league has its own set of rules and, depending on the manager and network, usually a different way of scoring. Rules for virtual fantasy football, one may wonder. Believe it or not, it can play a big role as the season progresses. Your league manager may only allow so many players to be drafted in the initial draft. For the players not drafted, they become free agents but are sometimes not available until certain dates. For instance, they may not become available until a certain day of the week and be available until another day of the week. Some league managers limit the amount of trades you can do throughout the season. Sometimes people can get crazy with the trading and trade players every week but they may also keep their original team until the end. One of the biggest factors that come into play involving this is injuries. If your star quarterback gets hurt in the middle of the season, you are going to want to be able to trade him and get another quarterback, and if you have a limit on the amount of trades you can do, you have to use them cautiously and wisely. If you use all your trades up in the beginning of the season and your guy gets hurt then you’re kind of screwed. League managers can also set the scoring rules and it is different in just about every league. Again, this is important to pay attention to to see who your top scorers are going to be. The way the scoring usually works is based a lot on yardage for the offensive positions. The quarterback may get a point for every twenty five passing yards and a point for every completion. Running backs and receivers may get six points for a touchdown and a point for every ten yards. Something to definitely pay attention to and keep track of. After all, the score ultimately determines the winner and the loser, the “better” team. You may wonder how a kicker or defense can get points? They are typically the lower scoring positions in the fantasy team. A kicker may get three points for making a field goal and one point for making a PAT. A defense on the other hand will usually start out with a certain amount of points. If the opposing team scores on them, points can get deducted. But if the defense gets an interception or fumble recovery, a sack, touchdown, blocked kick, etc., points may be given to the defense. Again, it’s all about the league manager and how they want the scoring system to work.
This article, from ESPN, talks about the basic setup of an average league, like how many players you are allowed to have and how many you will play each week. It also talks about a basis for a scoring system giving suggestions for points for different players as far as yardage, receptions, and touchdowns go. A player can also earn negative points for dropped passes or fumbles, etc. On the other hand, there are “bonus points” available in some leagues. For instance, a catch, run or pass for more than, let’s say forty yards, may get you an extra point. It just depends on how the league manager sets up the scoring.
This article relates to the NFL because there are also rules and regulations in the game. And when you break these rules you get penalized. In football, you are only allowed to have eleven of your guys on the field at one time; any more and you are shooting yourself in the foot and helping the other team. The NFL also has rules on how many trades you can make and how often you can trade players. Rules are mandatory in all athletics because if they are not in place, chaos breaks loose and people get unhappy, hence the reason why we have so many rules in real football and even in fantasy football.
This link has already been used, but there is a section that talks about scoring in it that was relevant for this section. It gives a basic score guide for leagues. There are a lot of small scoring rules that one might not think about that have to be accounted for! For example, a two point conversion, or bonus points for a 300+ yard game for a quarterback. The small, seemingly unimportant scoring rules can sometimes determine the difference between a win and a loss. You might have needed that extra point to win that your defense got by getting a sack. There should be points accounted for on each play, even if it doesn’t seem like anything happened.
This article is relevant to the game itself by the fact that everything has to be accounted for and have an explanation. Whether that be points scored in fantasy football or a penalty for a running into the kicker in the real game, it has to be accounted for and there has to be a reaction. It also relates to the game because even the smallest calls can mean the difference between a win and a loss. A simple offsides or false start could be the difference in a first down and a turnover late the fourth quarter with the game on the line. In the end, the big things all boil down to the little things.
Again, ESPN being one of the reliable sources, this one about rules to think about in fantasy football. Rules that not everybody would even think of existing but things that need an explanation for the one in a thousand times they arise. It answers all kinds of questions ranging from roster settings and score settings to the prize for the winner and the power and capabilities of the league manager, also called the commissioner. Questions arise in fantasy football, especially when on is unhappy with their season. They are going to be wondering as to why things are happening the way they are and as long as there are a set of rules, they cannot argue or blame anyone but themselves.
This article relates to the NFL by the fact that the NFL has also created the rules so that everyone has equal opportunity and in the end, the only one held responsible is yourself. You can’t argue the rules and as long as they are in place beforehand, there shouldn’t be any controversy. Some rules may never come up but you never know. They have to be prepared for the one situation that it arises, like a trade deadline towards the end of the season. One can only blame their ignorance when the issue of it arises. That is what rules are in place for anyways, in fantasy football, in the NFL, and in the real world.
Journal Posting #4: “Redflags in Fantasy Football”
You can’t just start playing fantasy football and just watch the game day score as your team wins or loses. It goes a little further than that. There are certain key things to watch for to make sure you are prepared and get the most out of every week. Certain things like injuries. I check my fantasy football at least once a day. That’s how fast something can change. One of your starters may get a hamstring injury at practice and you need to be prepared to act based on that. Always have something to fall back on. Let’s say one of your starters get an injury midweek and is unable to play. You need to either pick up another player or pick one off your bench to replace them until they are healthy. Who is going to get the most points for you? That’s what it all comes down to. Look at the team they are going against that week. Is it a strong defense or are they going to rack up because the opponent is a crappy defense? What has the rest of their season looked like until now? If they haven’t done jack all year, chances are they probably won’t this week either. Injuries aren’t the only red flags to watch for during the season. Check the weeks in advanced and see when your players’ bye weeks are. Every team is going to have a bye week but if your starting quarterback and your backup quarterback have the same bye weeks the next week, you’re kind of screwed. Don’t put yourself in that position. It is so avoidable and easy. Being aware and smart is a huge part. Imagine a bye week as if that player was injured and is unable to play. You have to take the same steps and get them a replacement. The sooner the better. If there is another player in the boat as you with the bye week issue, they will be looking for replacements as well. The top free agents will go quick. Everything just mentioned also plays a key role when you are trading a player, whether it be picking up a free agent or trading with another team, make sure the player you are picking up as a replacement doesn’t have a bye week the same week. Make sure they are not injured. That’s one of the stupidest careless mistakes you could make and you will look like a fool.
This article talks about some of the red flags to watch for when picking players and throughout the season. It is a lot of common sense, but there are still idiots who just don’t pick up on it. It talks about a player that may not be consistent every week, or have trouble against certain teams or at a given time during the season. If you know that in the past five games against a team, that your starting quarterback has thrown at least five interceptions in each game, you might not want to start him… unless you are trying to rack up on interceptions and lose. It also talks about how to watch to see if a player is even starting for those teams that don’t necessarily have a first string running back.
This article relates to the NFL such that they too have very similar red flags they watch for. If they have struggled passing against a team in the past, they might try to pay closer attention to the run game instead. Or avoid a particular person on the defense that has created problems. They come in to each game differently, different attitude, different strategy but the same will to win. Coaches are always looking for the red flags to help their team win, just like most fantasy football owners are looking for red flags so that they can also win.
This article takes a different approach to the red flag. The red flag it is referring to is narrowed down to a single player. For instance, if your defense is going against the league’s leading rusher, he is a red flag! From a fantasy perspective, you may want to play another defense if possible because chances are, he is going to literally run all over your team and probably score a lot. If you know something is coming, take precautionary actions to help prevent something bad. I quote the article, “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.”
The article is relative to the NFL because it is not only talking about red flags in the fantasy league, but in the real league as well. Some of the techniques used to identify these red flags are very similar in both leagues. Looking at stats is a key way to determine possible red flags. The NFL does it, fantasy football owners do it too. When you are trying to win, you do everything you can to get prepared for it and perform at your best. Just like the NFL does. At first glance, there may not be that many similarities but when you actually sit down and think about it, it’s all the same process.
Journal Posting #5: “Team Names”
Although it may not seem like it is very important, choosing the right team name is a very significant part to your fantasy football season. It is time to make up a creative team name of your own. Think about it, you’ve never been able to add a real sports team so take of advantage of it. It’s yours! Here are a few tips on how to come up with a name for your team. Nobody wants to get embarrassed, its human nature. This is football we’re talking about too, which gives you even more reason to not want to get embarrassed. For goodness sake, do not come up with a little too-too half ass name for your team like, “The Fairys,” or “Snow White’s Army.” If you were going up against a team with some kind of name like that, what is your initial reaction? You are probably not too worried about them, right? Well I know I sure would not be worried about a team with that name. Your team name represents more than just the name. You want to be known with that name, known for being a badass or a difficult team to play. Try to initimmidate your opponents, strike fear into them so that when they are playing you, they are worried about losing. You want to be “the team to beat.” Your team name definitely needs to be something catchy but decently cool. Come off as intimidating as you can and make your team sound like the biggest baddest one out there, even if it’s not. Some people take the funny route to a team name and will have teams named “Show me you TD’s”, “Multiple Scoregasms,” “Victorious Secret”, yes I’ve seen most all of them. Take pride in your team though, it’s yours… no one else’s. Almost like having a kid, just come up with an original idea for a name. Funny or serious. I saw one team called “With another man’s nuts”, so his opponents would then have to say that today/this week, they were playing “With another man’s nuts. It’s one of those things it’s just funny and people pick up on it and enjoy it. Just remember, your team name needs to be strong, unique and have some kind of sting or humor in it. Don’t have a weak name and be the one getting made fun of, and torn up during days of football. All associations turn musculin at this point.
This link describes some of the strengths and weaknesses to fantasy football team name. If it sounds bad ass and hard core, that probly means it is. If you start thinking of ponies when you hear the name, well that team is probly not going to be that good of competition. The sight also brings up to have intended irony in the team name such like “with another man’s nuts” It’s ironic when you say it in context. This tells you the basic do’s and don’ts of naming your team and how to name your team effectively. No one wants to be the team with the little girl name that doesn’t ever win.
This link is related to the NFL because at some point, their team name was chosen. They usually try not to choose soft cuddly mascots like a dog or a cat. The Miami Dolphins are boarder line. But you just don’t see any teams out there like the Charlotte squirrels. And if you really think about it… which team sounds more intimidating, one called the sharks or one called to sqirrels. Most everybody is going to pick the sharks because it’s so much more masculine seems more likely to win. That is why it is important to carefully pick a team name.
This article goes into detail about the pride of owning a winning team and how to make sure your team in worthy enough based on the team name. Take pride in a winning team. Don’t just throw a stupid, common name on it because that is not going to give you the same kind of thrill or pleasure as compared to a unique name that you came up with yourself. Everyone else in the league is going to be thinking it is a cool team name, cause I mean, you just won the fantasy football season, make it last and make it be remembered. Use an online name generator if need be.
This article relates to the NFL because each team name is different is several different ways. In the past, some names have been changed due to switching of cities, owners and what not. But not, they are all unique. They all want their team name to be the talk of the country about how they won the Super Bowl and then the team name gets popular and popularity for the other teams decreases. Of course, the NFL will also showcase your mascot more when you’re winning and when your mascot is complete opposite of another, yours will stand out over theirs. Team names are important professionally and in fantasy football.
This sight is more or less just examples of team names but it lets you decide what names are “good” and what names are “bad”. Based off of your judgement of these names, you can further determine what makes them a good or bad team name. Was it funny? Is it too corny? Did it have something to do with your favorite animal? If the team name caught you eye, it will probably catch the eyes of other people in your league. Your team name will then be well known in the league and hopefully the team to “watch out for.”
This article ties in with the NFL because some of the mascots for the NFL will stand out more than the others. One of my personal favorites is the Raiders. That mascot is so well decorated and it stands out. Commentators for the NFL always comment on the Raiders and kind of go along with the theme talking about them. It looks cool too just because the fans have a lot of options to get geared up to resemble it. Compared to a team like the Cleveland Browns, well that seems pretty boring. Your mascot has got to stand out, fantasy football or pro football.
