Fantasy Football Manners

It is that time of year again for all those who are fans of American Football. No it’s not time for  Tailgating, house parties, excessive beer drinking and painting yourself in the colors of your favorite team. It’s actually time for Fantasy Football!

For those of you who have no idea, Fantasy Football is where you can create your  own football team using the stats from actual football players either in the NCAA (College Football) or NFL (Professional Football). Your number one goal, is to have the highest stats and therefore beat all the other teams in your league. Usually the winner gets money or some cool prize. But the real prize is that you get to spend the rest of the year until next season bragging to everyone about how awesome you are.

So as the insanity that is Fantasy Football begins, I as a FF League Commissioner, have some important tips for you to make the most of your Fantasy Football experience:

1) If your league does a buy-in, please remember to pay before you start building your team and your draft. Commissioners do not like to have to hunt people down. Please also keep in mind, that you can be banned or not allowed to do waivers or trades if you do not pay your fair share. I do something where my friends can either play in the FREE league I have set up, or the Pay League. Although most play in the cash league, it has been nice for a few of my friends who have financial issues are able to play and have some fun.

2) If you are new to Fantasy Football, it is highly recommended that you do NOT play in a money league until you know all the rules and how things are calculated. If you do an online league, be sure to read everything needed to be ahead of the game. Although there are many friendly people in leagues, they want to win, so you can’t always rely on other’s advice.

3) BE PREPARED FOR THE DRAFT. However your league decides to draft your players, be sure that you have your tops in every position written down, and have at least 5 per position. just in case your person gets drafted by another person. If you are not too sure about who to pick, there are tons of websites that have analysis on players and they can help. But also remember, that some players may not be available due to injury, suspensions or other reasons. So be sure to try to keep your picks diverse and always have a back up player.

4) Pay attention to those who aren’t picked either. If something should happen to your current team members on your roster, you can acquire the extra peeps through waivers. What waivers are is that if you drop a member on your team for whatever reason, you can add another player to keep the game still going. You have a limited time however to pick up players, so make sure that you are watching your games regularly and keeping up on your football news to make sure that if you need to change your lineup, you can do so and not have to worry about it.

5) Do not leave your league mid-season unless you have a really good reason as to leaving. Life does happen, but the NFL doesn’t stop playing cause life happens. Also, if you leave at anytime, you may lose your money. So even if your team comes limping in last, keep playing till the end. It’s the right thing to do, and some leagues have a consolation prize for the last place team as well.

6) Don’t bitch or moan to the commissioner about the rules or how things are done. You may suggest a new idea, or you can leave, or you can start your own league and do it the way you want to. But be nice to the commissioner, because they have to hear everyone’s issues and moments as well. As I have been a commissioner and co-commissioner for my old Fantasy Football league, I know first hand, that it’s not easy to have to hear everyone’s bitching.

7) Unless you are a pro at managing multiple teams, don’t join too many leagues.  Especially if you are a newbie to Fantasy Football and you quite don’t know how all of it works. Usually my rule of thumb is no more than three at one time. If possible to keep the same roster for all three, then do so. But keep yourself organized as well if you have multiple leagues.

8 ) Going off of that, you actually need to WATCH some of the football games. Now ESPN is really good for those who are working on game day, but make sure that if you can watch the game, be sure to do so. It also will give you a heads up when it comes time for waivers because you watched one of your team members get injured and you were able to research who you can pick up off on a waiver.

9) A little respect goes a long way. If you are bad at trash talking, I suggest that you don’t do it. Especially in a competitive league where feelings can get hurt or people can get mad. It’s also not recommended if you are in a work league as well. If you lose a game, give congrats to the winner, and if you don’t win any money, be sure to not feel bad about it.Play with honor, and win or lose with it as well.

10) Remember above all other things, that just like the NFL, it is just a game. Many things will happen that are not within your control, and there is always another game. Keep things in perspective and just have fun. Because that’s the reason we started doing Fantasy Football, to play the games our way and have fun while doing it.