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What Is Fantasy Football And How Do You Play?
By Kevin Marshall, Thu Dec 8th
Fantasy football is growing more and more popular by the second.It seems like everywhere you look you see another ad for afantasy football related product or service and everyone istalking about this great game. But what is fantasy football, andmore importantly, how do you play? At the most basic level, is a statistic-basedgame. You select real-world NFL players that will make up yourfantasy team roster and score points based on how they performin real-world NFL games. If your fantasy team scores more pointsthan other fantasy teams in your league, you win. With just this basic idea, there's an unlimited amount ofvariations on how to play fantasy football, and many fanaticshave spent countless hours creating their own specific anddetailed rules.
Sound interesting? Then here are some general steps and adviceto starting your own league. Pick a commissioner The first and most important step in starting your own fantasyfootball league is to pick a league commissioner. Thecommissioner will be the leader of your league. They'll beresponsible for defining and enforcing your league rules. Thecommissioner is also in charge of organizing league events,calculating team scores, and keeping all teams informed andinvolved throughout the season. As you can see, this is a very important decision. A goodcommissioner can make for a great experiencebut a weak commissioner will quickly sap all the fun out of yourleague. Make sure to select someone who is willing to put in therequired work, who is diplomatic and fair with others, and whois detailed oriented. Note: For more information about selecting a commissioner andwhat's involved in the job I recommend you read the article TheArmy had Patton ... You Have a Fantasy League Commissioner byJoseph Legler at http://www.draftwizard.com . Get a group of people to play Once you've got a quality commissioner in place, your next stepis to get a group of people together who want to play. Mostleagues are made up of 12 teams, but with a little creativity inyour scheduling, you can play with just about any number ofpeople. Fantasy football may be a statistic-based game, but the realaddiction behind the game is the community that it's playedaround so try to find other players that enjoy football at oraround the same level that you do. Statistic lovers will enjoyfantasy football more if they are playing against otherstatistic lovers, casual NFL fans will enjoy playing with othercasual NFL fans more than any other level of player. If you're ahardcore NFL fan that knows everything there is to know aboutfootball, you can easily crush the casual NFL fan in a fantasyfootball league, but chances are you won't have much fun doingit. Set up your rules So you've got a commissioner and a group of players, now it'stime to set up your rules. It's important to set up strict
andwell-defined rules for your league, but try not to sap all thefun out of the game with restricting rules. Your rules should beused more as guidelines than as laws. Be flexible enough toallow for change when a rule is shown to be inaccurate or themajority of your league demands such. Your rules are there toadd structure to the game play. Remember that in the end, thegame is supposed to be about fun. Some general rules that you'll want to cover include what yourroster limitations are, how trades will work, how free agencyworks, what your scoring rules are, and how team disputes willbe handled. Set up your league schedule Next up, you'll need to put together a schedule for your league.Because your fantasy teams are made up of real-world NFL playersand your points are based on their performance in real-worldgames, your schedule should be set within the course of the NFLregular season. It's recommended that the final game of yourfantasy season be no later than the second to last game of theNFL regular season. This is because many real-world NFL teamsrest their stars once they have qualified for the playoffs.These stars are almost certainly the same players that some ofthe teams in your league rely on. Additionally if your schedulegoes into the playoffs, there is a strong chance that many ofthe real-world NFL players on various fantasy teams won't haveany active games left. Whenever possible, you should try to create a schedule whichallows each team to play every other team in the league at leastonce. Note: Draftwizard.com has a great tool to help you Create yourfantasy league schedule. Draft your teams Now that you've got your commissioner, set up your rules, andput together your fantasy schedule you're ready to have yourfantasy draft. The point of your draft is to let all the teamsin your league fill out their rosters in as fair and simple away as possible. Try to schedule the draft for a time when everyone can attendand participate. In general live drafts make for a morecommunity filled and fun league, but, especially at first, alive draft can be a slow and drawn out process. The moreorganized and structured you can make your draft, the more funeach team should have and the quicker the whole process shouldgo. Note: Draftwizard.com has a great tool to set up and run yourdraft. Play your games Finally, you're ready to play your games! Submit your startinglineup, keep an eye out for possible trades or free agentpickups, gloat about your success, and trash talk to your leaguemates when they fail. Most important of all, remember that is a gameand the basic idea, whether you're winning or losing, should beto have fun. So enjoy! About the author:Kevin Marshall is the founder of various fantasy sports sitesincluding www.draftwizard.com and www.supermug.com. When he'snot deep into coding new and improved features for one of thesesites, he's generally doing research which has helped him to winhis league championship two years in a row!
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