Fantasy football just a game

By Kurt Wagner

I don't have a fantasy football team this year, the first time I haven't laced up my virtual cleats since I was 15 years old. It's not because I no longer care about football; I still dedicated a large portion of last Sunday glued to my chair watching NFL RedZone, blinds closed and lights dimmed.

But what surprised me most about my typical NFL Sunday was that I didn't miss my fantasy team, the East High Wildcats, even for a minute. As my housemates split their time between live game footage on TV and checking their players' stats online, I just stretched out and enjoyed the action.

My happiness on Sunday afternoon was not determined by stat lines or injury updates.The kind of impact that fantasy football has on people's lives is hard for non-players to understand, and rightfully so. Fantasy Football is, for lack of a batter word, a fantasy. But regardless of whether or not people understand its influence, no one can deny that since Fantasy Football became a fad, Sundays have never been the same.

In a U.S. News and World Report article last fall, it was announced that roughly 23 million adults play fantasy football every year, with the average player spending over $150 annually on league dues and buy-ins, as well as magazine and website subscriptions, in order to better manage their team. Networks like ESPN and NBC host weekly shows centered around analyzing fantasy stats and players. Fox has a fantasy football parody, "The League."

But the biggest way that fantasy football impacts lives is through the amount of time players spend managing their teams and checking stats. I know from experience that fantasy sports can easily suck hours of your time each week, and many players spend hours daily updating their rosters and checking scores.

For some people, the time commitment is too much. "Women Against Fantasy Sports" is an organization with both a Facebook group and website formed in 2008 by wives who have been "widowed" by fantasy-playing husbands. On one blog, WAFS is described as "an online venue for the bereaved, annoyed and just plain perplexed who have lost a loved one to the vice grip of online fantasy sports."

Regardless of whether or not you participate, it is clear that Fantasy sports, football in particular, have engulfed our culture and often times our lifestyle.

Whether fantasy football for you is a hobby or a lifestyle, just remember that ultimately it's just a game. After this season, I may bring the East High Wildcats out of retirement. But for now, I'm beginning to enjoy football the old fashioned way, one game at a time.