FANTASY vs. REALITY
by Marc Brown of Madwinners.com - 10/10/2006

For the first year ever, I'm involved in a fantasy football league. In the past I avoided it the way some people are now avoiding spinach. I thought it was geeky. I thought it was a bunch of idiots deluding themselves into believing they owned an actual football team. Like Tony Gonzalez gives a crap that you took him for your Yahoo Duluth Smashers squad. I thought it was demeaning to those of us who have chosen to make sports analysis our livelihoods. I was also concerned that my abilities as a handicapper would suffer. As I've discussed in another article (click here to read Subconscious Biases...The Gambler's Bane) biases can greatly deter our objectivity and, obviously, my first job is to make sure I find pointspread winners and not allow the fact that I have Anquan Boldin as my #1 receiver playing against the Jaguars in Jacksonville delude me into saying "let's give out the Cardinals today plus the points. I think Boldin's gonna have a monster game." But this year, I figured what the hell. I'm in a free online league where there's no money at stake and I wanted to discover for myself why so many people live and die this freakin' fantasy thing... I'll tell ya something, I'm hooked! I dream about whether to start Joseph Addai or Thomas Jones as my second running back. I pray every day for Tom Brady to find a receiver he trusts and throws to A LOT! I want him to become best friends with the guy. Marry the guy. And then I want touchdowns- lots of touchdowns. I don't know any of the guys in my league and I'm sure at least half of them are eleven years old but, in my mind, they're all bullies and idiots who must be crushed by the juggernaut that is Marc Brown's BMORE MADWINNERS (the name of my team of course).

Okay, so I get it now. I understand the addiction. I mean I'm going through the worst breakup of my life with a woman I thought I was gonna marry and the only respite I get from the painful feelings is when I'm working on my handicapping or checking out my fantasy team. I like trash talking. I like when my field goal kicker gives me a bunch of field goals. And now that I'm a junkie I have a better understanding of why it's so important for those of us who are professional handicappers or those of you who want to make some money betting on football to NOT let your fantasy team affect your betting. I see why it's easy to do. Truly. I understand your pain. And I'm not saying don't play. I'm just saying make sure you keep it in perspective. Don't let your competitiveness get in the way of the serious business of betting. There is money to be made. There are bookies and casinos to take down. Make that your satisfaction. Allow yourself to revel in the fact that you went 6-1 ATS last weekend and not the fact that Travis Henry gave you more rushing yards than you ever expected. I believe you CAN use some of the knowledge gained from fantasy sports to help you profit at wagering. But knowing that Rex Grossman has found a guy named Berrian and turned him into a wide receiver stud and a fantasy "must start" doesn't scratch the surface of handicapping. I have friends who win their fantasy league championship every year but couldn't pick the right side of a football game if you gave them a crystal ball, a crooked ref and tomorrow's newspaper. Keep your priorities straight, separate handicapping from fantasy and may your team score 100+ points this week...

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