Fantasy Football Season Ends: The Champ is here

Fantasy football is a game played by millions upon millions of men (and some women) of all ages every football season. While I’m on record as not being the biggest NFL fan in the world (I prefer college ball-go figure!) I participate every year in a fantasy football league with my friends.

The story behind the league is nothing special I’m sure. Since 2006 my friends and I have gathered to “draft” players for our fantasy football teams. Most of the guys in the league went to high school (and for that matter grade school as well) with me. And even though we’ve all seemed to head our separate ways in college, we all get together at least once or twice a year to play cards, chat and draft.

In 2006—the league’s first year—I won behind a record year from Peyton Manning, my quarterback. In fact, Peyton Manning seems to be attached to me. No one else has ever owned Manning, and he’s always my first pick. While some more “expert” friends of mine have suggested my stupidity for picking a quarterback first (where most owners drafty a running back) it’s worked out pretty well for me.

After winning the title in 2006, in an eight-man league, I went gunning again for the title in 2007. Led again by the older Manning brother, I made it to the league finals of our ten-man league. Although I ultimately lost, I felt a sense of accomplishment for finishing second.

In 2008, a banner year all around for my favorite football teams, I once again made the finals, and once again lost. Hey, three times I had made the playoffs and made the finals, and even though my record in championships was 1-2, I knew I was doing something right.

My theory in fantasy sports—whether it be football or NASCAR (another favorite fantasy sport of mine)—is that luck determines about 85% of who wins. Sure you have to pick the right players to start, and sometimes it’s smarter to play one guy over another, but who knows if that guy won’t get hurt on the first play of the game?

In 2008, one of the guys in our league thought he was set using Tom Brady as his starting quarterback. Brady had been tearing up defenses the past two seasons and putting up huge fantasy numbers. In the first game of the year though, Brady was injured, and taken out for the season with a knee injury. Sometimes you have to be lucky to win it all.

In 2009 my Cincinnati Bearcats had a perfect season on the field, but my fantasy football team finished ninth in the ten-man league. Needless to say my record of making championships had gone out the window. But not for long.

Welcome to 2010, where my first draft pick was, well, Peyton Manning. And my fantasy team was back in 2009 form during the regular season (weeks one through 13 of the NFL season). I squeaked my way into the playoffs with a 5-8 record by virtue of tiebreakers, where I was seeded eighth, and slotted to play the best team in our league, who was 12-1 during the regular season.

I shouldn’t have won that matchup, but my friend Greg started the wrong wide receiver on Monday night, and didn’t score enough points to defeat me. In the second round I thought I had tied my opponent and since I was the last seed in the playoffs, my opponent would move on. However, a late stat change changed the score in our fantasy game, and I moved onto the championship for the fourth time in five years.

So, how about Peyton Manning and my team (aptly named Represent the Sea! this season)? I ended up scoring 30 more points than my opponent in the finals and here I am, the league champ for the second time in our league’s history. I become the first repeat winner in our league’s short history, and raise my championship record to 2-2.

But, don’t come to me for advice. Sure I have a darn good record of reaching final rounds of the fantasy playoffs, but I have no idea how I get it done; Other than Peyton Manning and a whole lot of luck.

Next summer we’ll all gather again to draft our teams, and I know my buddies will have forgotten by then about how dominant I seem to have become in all this. Maybe I will too.