I think I’ve been in at least 1 big money Fantasy Football League for the last 6 years (meaning I’ve been on my own & not splitting a team with a fat friend from high school named Tank) I think the highest I’ve ever selected was 6th. I can also count one one finger the number of times I’ve won money

I got a call yesterday from the guy running one of the 2 money leagues that I’m in. He tells me that they’re setting up the selections & I have 1st pick. I’m get really excited by this & instantly say that I’ll have #1. He cuts me off & says that I’m not picking the rounds, I’m picking a number from 1-12 that contains where I’ll draft in rounds 1 thru 4. You know how it goes:
1-12-7-6
2-11-6-7
3-10-5-8
etc.

So I say “WHOOP-DEE-DOO” & sarcastically say “I’ll take number 3, as if it matters.”

Well, it did matter, as the #3 card has 1-12-7-6.

Of course, it might as well have just said: LT

3 leagues for me this year - 2 that I care about because there’s money involved & one thru NFL.com that I’m gonna do just for shits & giggles.

Now here’s my problem: how much prep work can you do ahead of time? Meaning that my 1st big draft is Aug 25th I’ve got a couple of places that I go & look up rankings & whatnot, but those change from week to week - especially now that the pre-season games are starting up.

Once guy might be ranked really high at RB now, he might not be that high in 2 weeks when I go to draft.

So I guess I’m looking for some tips as to what kind of prep work other people do when their draft is weeks away.

Hockey is my true love & Fantasy Hockey almost goes hand-in-hand with it. This will sound really dumb, but when I was a kid, my buddy Keith & I each had one of those table-top hockey games (and a couple years ago I fulfilled one of my life long dreams & got my own Bubble Hockey game) and we’d have little fake drafts, where we picked players from the NHL & they were on our team. We’d play table top hockey & keep track of who had goals & assists & write up stats & have tournaments. I know, silly.

In the early 90’s my friend Jeff & I got into a Fantasy Hockey league that was done thru the mail. We’d rank the players & send them in for the draft. Each week, we’d have to mail in our lineups & we’d be mailed the results from the previous week. Thinking back on it now and based on the internet & technology, it was a really horrible way of doing it. I think we realized it was horrible at the time as well, as the next season we started up our own league. It was (and still is) a very unique league, where you started 3 lines each week (C, RW, LW, 2 D) and you’re 1st line went against their 1st line with 8 points per line up for grabs (goals, assists, P/M and PIM) You also started 2 goalies and your #1 goalie went head- to-head with the other team’s #1 goalie. We did this for 2 or 3 years, compiling stats by hand from the newspaper as well as typing up the results & rosters each week. We tried to get a league together based on this format last October, but we can not find a stats service that will accommodate us.

In the late 90’s I got into an established perennial league where you get $200 fantasy dollars to use to bid on players at the draft as well as sign players to long term contracts. There’s also a supplemental draft where you can pick up players for free after all the rosters are filled. I did finish in the money in this league a couple of times (it might only be one time) but I don’t think I ever really grasped the concept until this year. So now I’m trying to get prospects for cheap so I can sign them to long term contracts. This year I picked up Jason Pominville & Jordan Staal in the supplemental draft & with the way they’re playing now, they’ll be on my team for the next 7 or 8 years.

You won’t see me talking about this too much until next season, as I am in last place with 3 weeks to go.

In 2006 I was in 3 Fantasy Football Leagues. I am in a big league that’s based out of my home town, one that’s based ion Florida run by a guy I grew up with as well as a small one that I run. In the 2 big leagues, we draft both offensive & defensive players. From what I’ve seen looking at other leagues, drafting individual defensive players is not the norm in the fantasy Football world. Defensive players points are: 2 for a tackle, 1 for an assist, 6 for a sack, 8 for a pick, 3 for a fumble, 6 for a TD, etc. I like it a lot - adds a lot of thought & prep-work to the league.

Draft Day is, of course, a big deal. I’ve been hosting the draft here for a couple of years & I’ll be flying back down to Florida again this August for that draft.

I also suck at fantasy Football. I don’t think I’ve won more than a total of $200 in the 5 or 6 years I’ve been doing it.

I am one of those geeks that into Fantasy Sports. It all started back in the early 90’s when I co-ran a Fantasy Hockey League for a couple of years as well as a few failed attempts at Fantasy Baseball & Fantasy Basketball. This was all before the internet, so we had to compile stats by hand, type up the rosters, results & standings & then deliver them to everyone in the league.

I’m currently in a perennial Fantasy Hockey League as well as a couple of Fantasy Football Leagues (one of which I manage) These are all run by friends thru stats services (meaning you won’t catch me in any ESPN Fantasy Leagues)