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MMQ: Some NFL players/coaches lash out at fantasy FB

Discussion in 'Anything goes' started by mpcincal, Aug 30, 2011.

  1. Mizzougrad96

    Mizzougrad96 Active Member

    When I was straight out of school in 1996, my editor found out that I ran a league and he had me write a "Fantasy Football" column that they would run in the NFL preview section that we ran each week. I think more than anything they wanted 20 inches of copy that the NFL writers didn't have to produce.

    The readers seemed to like it, but the other writers mocked me for writing it. When I was given sidebar duty at games I'd get a lot of "He must be doing research for that fantasy column."

    One of the writers (a very well-respected former NFL writer/columnist) who would give me the most shit about it now writes a nationally-syndicated fantasy column.
     
  2. Baron Scicluna

    Baron Scicluna Well-Known Member

    Just imagine how, playing fantasy in the 60s would be like. You'd have debates over Jim Brown vs. Johnny Unitas as the top pick every year (I'd have taken Brown).
     
  3. Dick Whitman

    Dick Whitman Well-Known Member

    I'm actually surprised that fantasy sports took as long as they did to be invented.
     
  4. Mizzougrad96

    Mizzougrad96 Active Member

    The only reason I did fantasy baseball was because I needed a reason to stay interested in the sport.

    I'm with you. My level of interest in the NFL would not change one bit if I wasn't doing fantasy football, pick-em pools and all that fun stuff, but for a lot of people it does...
     
  5. Mizzougrad96

    Mizzougrad96 Active Member

    There are a lot of people who have been doing it for 25+ years. It's probably only become mainstream in the last decade or so...
     
  6. Dick Whitman

    Dick Whitman Well-Known Member

    I remember having a league with some guys in junior high. I think there were only four of us. Two friends, my brother, and I. Probably around '87 or '88. I remember selecting Jerry Rice with the first pick. So that's 24 years. I think I probably read about it in a Beckett sports card magazine. But I'm saying I'm surprised people weren't playing some form of fantasy sports as far back as the '20s, '30s, '40s even.
     
  7. Steak Snabler

    Steak Snabler Well-Known Member

    Yes, fantasy sports has been around longer than you think. But like poker and porn, it needed the Internet to really explode on a mainstream level.
     
  8. LongTimeListener

    LongTimeListener Well-Known Member

    The old NFL guys I used to talk to, the ones who were around long enough to remember covering the AFL, swear they played a form of it (touchdowns only) in the press brigade back then.
     
  9. Mizzougrad96

    Mizzougrad96 Active Member

    I played for the first time in 1986 or so. The first time I didn't play was last year. It felt a little strange being in the local media league when I hadn't been a member of the media in a couple years...

    I still think the money league on Yahoo is the best league I've ever done...
     
  10. DanOregon

    DanOregon Well-Known Member

    Fans getting ripped for only worrying about stats - now that is fresh.
     
  11. Mizzougrad96

    Mizzougrad96 Active Member

    When I was a NFL writer, I lost track at the number of calls and emails I would get weekly that were related to Fantasy Football. I remember one year covering the NFL, probably 2004 or 2005 and a guy got my cell number and called me. He seemed like a nice enough guy and he was asking whether he should start Peyton Manning over whoever his backup was because he'd heard a rumor that Manning would only play a few plays. I told him that my policy was not to give fantasy advice, but I said I'd stick with Manning.

    I want to say they were playing Seattle. Manning played a couple series and was pulled. I don't think he even had a TD. The guy who was his backup threw three touchdowns.

    This guy calls me and leaves a screaming voice mail. The next day he left another. The next day he left another. Finally, I called him back and wasn't sure what I was going to say and I just said, "Hey man, I'm sorry. There's a reason why I don't usually give out fantasy advice, but... Well, I'm sorry..."

    He didn't call again.
     
  12. shockey

    shockey Active Member

    oh, i never said fantasy football types aren't the driving force behind things like the 'red zone's and such. primarily here, i'm arguing against fantasy/gambling being the driving force behind the nfl's success. when polls show that football has kept widening the gap in fan popularity over baseball, the data doesn't ask, 'do you prefer fantasy football or rotisserie baseball?' it just asks, 'rank your favorite sports in order of preference.' and my contention remains that the answer is based upon favorite to watch as a fan, not favorite to wager on. though those auxilliary items certainly ice the cake.

    the way i measure it personally, as do most of my friends, is based upon the answer to this: 'if the team you root for isn't involved, which sport are you most likely to watch.' and football is the overwhelming answer, i've always been a HUGE baseball fan. but i never watch games -- including postseason -- from start to finish if they're not involved. it's become that unwatchable to me. but i'll watch every nfl playoff game and a majority of regular-season sunday night/monday night games. not nearly every one anymore, mind you (those glorious days ended with marriage/kids 21 years ago) but you get my drift.
     
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