I never quite know where I stand on fantasy football. I play it. I like playing it. But part of me thinks it is single-handedly responsible for the gradual decline of all football fans. This comes after my brother said on Thanksgiving, "Larry Johnson isn't having that good a season." My brother is a big-time sports fan. Larry Johnson is not only leading the league in rushing but he carried a below-average Kansas City offense led by Damon Huard on his back. I could make the argument that Larry Johnson has more value to Kansas City than Tomlinson has to San Diego. What he doesn't have? As many fantasy points...
I don't like baseball very much anymore because I don't like baseball fans and all their purity bullshit. But that being said, baseball IS a game of numbers. Only in a game of numbers would A-Rod be considered a decent athlete. Baseball is Maris' 61 (don't argue with me on this), Dimaggio's 56, Teddy's .406 and Aaron's 755. The records - the statistics - matter to the fans and THAT'S why they get all loopy over steroids. Baseball fans believe steroids tarnished their beloved record book. Shawne Merriman is the best young player in all of football. This year he was suspended for steroids and NO ONE CARED. Why?
Because football has never been about numbers. I know Dan Marino has all those passing records but I don't know what a single one of those records is. I know he never won a title and that means more to me. The most cherished record in the league belongs not to a Dolphin but to the Dolphins...the '72 Dolphins...and their perfect season. It's cool that the average football fan now knows who the Cowboys tight end is but sad when they believe he's having an awful season when he's forced to block for Drew Bledsoe. The quantity of knowledge is expanding but the quality of knowledge is not. You want to test a fantasy football player's knowledge of the game? Ask them to name offensive linemen.
What numbers do I know in Bears history? 73-0 in 1940. 14-10 in 1963. 46-10 in January of 1986. This is not a game about numbers other than the pair they put up in bulbs. The ones that decide who wins and who loses. Fantasy football is driving the car down a different road and I just wanna go back home.
#2 jdawg said . . .FF is also responsible for me having to listen to my roommate tell me what "needs to happen in this game" for him to beat some dude he barely knows from work. Is there any worse conversation than hearing about someone else's fantasy team.
Tried it, but it stopped being fun halfway through the draft when the guys hosting ran out of beer. Anyway, I prefer fantasies that include Lacy Underall and about a pound and a half of frozen sausages.
December 15, 2006
#3 Ted said . . .I hate FF.
Now the Sporting News devotes two pages of their NFL section to fucking fantasy football, which I shall now refer to as FFF.
When I turn on sports radio on Sunday morning when I'm driving to the grocery half the sport call-in shows are devoted to FFF.
I only which FFF could have been incarnate at Tank's house yesterday, smoking a spliff the size of my forearm while holding an uzi with a grenade launcher.
December 15, 2006
#4 jonathan said . . .Fantasy Foorball. The name says it all, doesn't it? It 's for people who don't want to take the trouble to understand real live football, but just bet on whatever statistical categories the "fantasy" developers have chosen. Know which position is the most highly rewarded on a football team (besides QB)? It's Left Tackle on offense. Don't expect any fantasy dipshits to know this, or have any idea why it is so. (They don't pick offensive tackles for their "team")
December 15, 2006
#5 Megan said . . .Call me the contrarian here, but fantasy football is fun.
I'm not playing this year for lack of time, but when I did play, it made many games more fun to watch. In fact, it game me a reason for watching some games I'd otherwise not care about -- and in the course of that, I got to know other teams better, other players, etc.
I know more about football, the teams and players, now than I did a few years ago and fantasy football had at least some role in that. For that I can say it was enjoyable and worthwhile.
I think we're all in agreement that fantasy football freaks (and there are many) are truly annoying people, but I'd say no more annoying than the uber-geeks of any other sport.
All things in moderation, especially moderation....
December 16, 2006
#6 Max said . . .I can't get some people to shut up about fantasy football. I haven't tried FF because of that. I don't want to become what is most annoying to me... .
I just enjoy football as it is, high school, college or pro.December 16, 2006
#7 Onside Kicks said . . .I am also a Fantasy Football fan. I was dubious when I first started but it really does make alot of games that i would otherwise be uninterested in.
Houston vs New England. . . like who cares? I am down in Florida right now working and I have to go to a bar to watch the Bears game but I am not off every Sunday so sometimes i get stuck at work watching one of the three Florida teams. Normally Miami and Tampa Bay would be dull and Jacksonville might drive me insane.
Now, I am interested in catching part of the game because I drafted Maurice Jones-Drew in the fantasy draft and i wanna see if he is getting split carries with Fred Taylor. Or Marty Booker getting some TD's (love for the former 100 catch bears receiver) or Cadillac Williams maybe breakin out of his slump (not this week though)
It might be dumb, it might be nerdy, it might be avoiding reality but damn it, I think its pretty fun. Specially if you are doing it with friends and can talk trash.
December 16, 2006
#8 Onside Kicks said . . .Fantasy Football is all we talk about at work...I'm with the majority here. I really think that Fantasy Football has made me more interested in the NFL overall. I found myelf sitting through that horrible Thursday Night game (Seattle/49ers) just to see how Frank Gore was gonna do. Fantasy has made me interested in almost every game in a given week.
The only negative I see is that some people have stopped caring about who wins or loses, and only worry about the points they get for Fantasy. I am guilty of that unless it comes to the Bears or the Titans. A win to me, at least for "my teams" is more important than a win in fantasy..
December 16, 2006
#9 Onside Kicks said . . .Fantasy Football is all we talk about at work...I'm with the majority here. I really think that Fantasy Football has made me more interested in the NFL overall. I found myelf sitting through that horrible Thursday Night game (Seattle/49ers) just to see how Frank Gore was gonna do. Fantasy has made me interested in almost every game in a given week.
The only negative I see is that some people have stopped caring about who wins or loses, and only worry about the points they get for Fantasy. I am guilty of that unless it comes to the Bears or the Titans. A win to me, at least for "my teams" is more important than a win in fantasy..
December 16, 2006
#10 District Selectman said . . .sorry about the double post..
December 16, 2006
#11 Midway Monster said . . .Sometime about three or four years ago, fantasy football went from being something people talked about with other people in their league to something all football fans talked about. And that's when it started annoying the shit out of me. I understand all the benefits, and I have reaped them myself, and mercifully, my good friends who play spare me the details. But the Monday night game against the Cardinals made up my mind for me: I hate it.
I was over at a buddy's house to watch, and about midway through the second quarter, his roommate walks in and asks what the score is. 17-0. "Did Boldin score? I've got him on my fantasy team, and the guy I'm playing has the Bears defense." Whereupon this jackass walked into his room never to witness another play of the game. My payback, of course, was that the Bears D roared back, and that guy got his ass handed to him (as my own roaring surely let him know).
That little vignette perfectly sums up what FF's jump from micro-culture to macro-culture has done to the far more important culture of football fandom. That guy didn't give a shit about the game, yet somehow in his solipsistic little brain he thought that I and the guy sitting next to me in the Ditka Bears sweater cared enough about his fantasy team to explain to us what needed to happen in that game.
The FF conversation starter has gone from, "Bill, you cocksucker, I am going to kick the shit out of you on Sunday because LT is running wild this year, bitch," to, "Hey you, guy I barely know, listen to the permutations of how I can beat a guy you don't know, in a league of other people neither of us knows, because I play in some league I found on Yahoo, and I don't feel comfortable talking shit to them, so I'll send it your way."
Rule of thumb: Spend less time thinking about what needs to happen in order for you to win on Sunday and more time thinking about what needs to happen in order for you to get laid in the days preceding, and don't talk about either to people that aren't involved.
December 16, 2006
#12 Megan said . . .Yeah FF is a wonderland view of the sport. You develop odd ball loyalties and skewed conversations. Ban it from this site Jeff and we'll all live a better life.
In fact, just bringing it up has directly effected this sites main mission which is Bears Blog Only (or was it to create "world peace" and "better sex"...I forget... :)
--Midway--
December 16, 2006
#13 Midway Monster said . . .That's just it... these FFers think you care about what it will take for them to win or score more points or whatever the heck it is. Complete strangers have come up to me in fine beverage establishments, DURING A GAME (just because I am wearing my Bears-fandom on my sleeve) and tell me what needs to happen.
I don't care, I want to watch real points happen, you know, watch the game! We had to buy a 52 inch HDTV DLP/1080 p with surround-sound just so we could enjoy the game for ourselves! I know.. life is tough *sigh*December 16, 2006
#14 James Joyce III said . . .Side note: went shopping for the wife and ended up buying myself all sorts of cool Bears stuff. Guess I need to go back out and this time stay on mission huh?
--Midway--
December 16, 2006
#15 paytonrules said . . .This is fantastic. I hope this blog helps.
Chicago Bears hire Jeff Fisher
Saturday, December 16, 2006
Chicago Bears and Jeff FisherI got this faxed to me from a friend who is in Atlanta for the game against the Atlanta Falcons. I am going to post it.
National Whistle Blower Hotline News Release
Last night in Atlanta Georgia
the National Football League,
Chicago Bears found a very
interesting player who they are
considering for their practice
squad. His moves are very good
and he has a great kicking leg.For a man of the age of 45 it's
amazing to find such a person.
He just happened to be at the
Marriot at the same time as
were many of their players
complaining about the city being
closed up.Mr. Fisher said it’s a shame
that they have so much
unneeded security measures
in a city that represents the
beauty of a peach.He handed them, including
some of the players personal
managers, several printouts
that were eye awakening
regarding our elections, the
media, 9-11 and even the death
of JFK, MLK and RFK.Jeff was so excited that he was able
to have given information to be
forwarded to Eric Titwell.Mr. Titwell is the Director of The Martin Luther Kink Jr.
Center for nonviolence Inc.The address is:
Freedom Hall 449 Auburn Avenue, NE Atlanta, GA 30312
Phone - 404-331-5198 ext. 3017National Park Service Visitors Center
450 Auburn Avenue, NE Atlanta, GA 30312Mr. Fisher tried to go to the Ebenezer Church
but the African American Parks Service officer
said he couldn't.Open All YearOpen From 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. - Sunday 1:00 to 5:00 p.m.
Location - 407 Auburn Avenue, NEIt was just after 5 p.m. when he had finished giving
them his last copy of the court case which was intended
for Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney.Jeff told many of our players she will be his Vice President
after Al Gore becomes President again in 2009. He said it
is not going to cost anything for these future elections. He
said that is due special thanks to the Internet and that the
media from now on must print the truth.Well since they were closed Jeff still wanted to come back
the next day and was informed that would not be possible.
What would be the cause of barring American citizen form
a U.S. National Historic Park that is free to all who want
to partake in Democracy and peace for all of mankind?Maybe it was because Mr. Fisher had told some family in a
car outside of the center all about the evidence he presented
inside the center. Is the evidence supposed to be a secret?
Mr. Fisher said "The Truth must always prevail"The park officer then calmly tried to intimidate Jeff Fisher
by telling him she might have him escorted to Grady Hospital
for psychiatric evaluation. Mr. Fisher told her to get Christ
and to stop taking orders from AIPAC.He then said "My God MLK blessed him and four other children,
including Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney, even though she
doesn't remember it. The five children were told they would all
do great things for America. They all have. It is unknown how the
first two children died. The third one died in 2003 in Iraq.The other special blessing was that one of them would take the
nation out of a great darkness that God never intended."Jeff said it is about him and Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney
being a future ticket for the Whitehouse. It takes teamwork to
run a nation. Something the Bears are famous for. Mr. Fisher
stated that our nation is about We the People always. He said
the White House will always be open to the public as well as our
Courts and both Houses of Congress. The taxpayers pay for these
people and they will not ever be told they can't walk into any of
their offices again. He said they represent everyone in America,
not just their Congressional District. Good common sense point.He has so much to offer our nation and the planet. We are hoping
that the NFL can have him as one of their spokesman along with
every other sporting group that ever existed. He is the ultimate
fan and athlete in the fact that he understands the fun, teamwork
and friendship sports builds into one's character as long as they
have belief in God. Mr. Fisher is very Christian but he said there
are great Hebrews, Muslims and a few other religions that have
a belief in a higher power but mainly a belief in only one creator.What we know right now is that he is still in Atlanta and that he
did hand over to CNN security early this morning some paperwork
of which the Chicago Bears already have copies of.He gave the Chicago Bears several sheets of printed materials
that he pulled up in Google. The search term was
" Signed, an American Patriot Jeff Fisher "The National WhistleBlower Hotline along with Al Gore wants
to see this man on television by Sunday or they just might have
the entire NFL pull all contracts with them. The NFL is about
family and they will not let this man who protected all the families,
including the families of NFL players and those who work in some
capacity or are associated in any fashion with the Chicago Bears,
Cook County or the state of Illinois.Jeff said he loved the Blues Brother movie and wished he had met
John Belushi before his death. We have no idea what he meant
when he said that Lydia will love posting more on DU…Mr. Fisher has told some of our players and several people about
this including Bruce Gordon and Julian Bond of the NAACP prior
to the July 20th President George W. Bush presentation at the 97th
annual NACP convention. The week before he had handed over to
Reverend Jesse Jackson on the Steps of the Longworth Building
further evidence of Clint Curtis and his involvement in the 2000
election from evidence of an email in 1999 regarding the mailing
of further instructions for the Choicepoint Program which
Jack Abramoff was working on.Mr. Fisher told us he would love to play for all the teams in the
NFL. He would donate all the monies to several causes, including
the Whistleblower Legal Fund for those that have witnessed horrific
crimes against humanity. He also has to thank Interpol for helping him.
Therefore this will lead to helping whistleblowers all around the planet.The address to send that to is godismyguideforever@gmail.com
To send Check or Money order on behalf of Legal battles
and living costs:Jeff FisherP.O. Box 57 Sarasota, FL 34230This address is for more than three thousand whistleblowers
already thanks to Mr. Fisher moving about our great nation and in
a few other nations over the past 31 months. This was done because
he hid information right after he got real hard evidence on July 27, 2004.
The threats came later that night via a man from the Mossad who paid
Jeff Fisher a visit outside of the home of Ben Roth. Ben lives in Boynton Beach
Florida. All because Jeff Fisher believes in honesty, integrity, the United
States Constitution and life.My god he gave up his family to save all of America. Why is his family
and his now ex-wife so angry and hateful toward such actions.Oh he even told us that FBI Agent Tom Heneghan had reached
the Gore people to have Mr. Gore come to Atlanta and tour the
area with Jeff Fisher. He said that he would have the Secret Service
find him in one of the hotels near the airport. He can be recognized
because he is wearing a black cowboy hat saying "Perfect" on it.Roger Rancourt
We hope someone posts this on the Internet. Mr. Fisher is a very
busy man and he still takes out time to pray and wish everyone
Merry Christmas.Posted by Chicago Bears win Super Bowl at 7:30 AM 0 comments
December 16, 2006
#16 noell aka 100% bear fan said . . .Nice article, and I really like fantasy football.
I think the argument that quantity of information is improving while quality goes down could apply to a lot of things.
December 16, 2006
#17 noell aka 100% bear fan said . . .bear down chicgo bears,make every play clear the way to victory,bear down chicgo bears put up a fight with all ur might so fearlessly, bear down chicgo bers ,and let them know y ur wearing the crown, will never forget the way u showed the nation with ur t-fomation
CHICGO BEARS BEAR DOWN
February 4, 2007
#18 noell aka 100% bear fan said . . .bear down chicgo bears,make every play clear the way to victory,bear down chicgo bears put up a fight with all ur might so fearlessly, bear down chicgo bers ,and let them know y ur wearing the crown, will never forget the way u showed the nation with ur t-fomation
CHICGO BEARS BEAR DOWN
February 4, 2007
bear down chicgo bears,make every play clear the way to victory,bear down chicgo bears put up a fight with all ur might so fearlessly, bear down chicgo bers ,and let them know y ur wearing the crown, will never forget the way u showed the nation with ur t-fomation
CHICGO BEARS BEAR DOWN
February 4, 2007
Here at DaBearsBlog, you are free to kill us or the Bears as you so wish. You are not free, however, to be an asshole. So if you spew racism or ill-meaning foul language (cursing about football is just fine) or anything of that ilk, your comments ain't gonna last long, jerk.