Tich’s Take

Everybody daydreams. It takes us away from our normal lives into a pseudo-reality where we make up the rules. This comes from the human condition of loving to have power, even if it is inside our own heads.

So, it is only natural that fantasy football has taken over America.

As much as sports fans may want to, we cannot take over our real favorite teams. We will never be owners, general managers or coaches barring oil being miraculously discovered beneath our feet. Sad, but true.

But luckily we can pretend to own, manage and coach our own teams, hence the term “fantasy” football. In 2012, approximately 33.5 million Americans played the game, according to the Fantasy Sports Trade Association. That is a lot of Americans — more than 10 percent of the country’s population, in fact.

And those Americans take their responsibilities very seriously. Gone are the days when a football fan flicks on the TV and watches whatever game is on — after all, there are teams to be owned/managed/coached. Any fantasy owner worth his salt, pepper or paprika has a multi-screen set up with even the most desolate of games playing if points could be scored. The NFL has even made a “RedZone” channel, which shows every touchdown and red zone possession at a given time. Talk about a godsend.

Remember when fans rooted for specific teams? There is no need when we possess our own. At least Clevelanders do not have to root for the Browns anymore (sorry, Cleveland). Jamaal Charles helped me win two fantasy leagues last year while my home-state Carolina Panthers have never won a Super Bowl. Tell me whom I should hold in higher regard.

The league itself aggressively pushes fantasy football, as well. Commercials promoting it litter TV broadcasts and new rules protecting quarterbacks and receivers from injury have inflated passing statistics. Commissioner Roger Goodell needs to make sure his top fantasy star stays upright for the whole year.

Ah, injuries — every fantasy owner cringes at the thought. In 2008, star quarterback Tom Brady was coming off perhaps the greatest passing season of all-time, setting the NFL record for touchdown passes in a season. Many fantasy owners used a first round pick on Brady, banking on a similar follow-up performance.

Less than a half into the first game of the season, Kansas City Chiefs safety Bernard Pollard hit Brady around the knee area, tearing his anterior cruciate ligament. Just like that, Brady was done for the year and millions of fantasy owners sat on their couches in shock or in tears.

Injuries are part of sports though, and a good fantasy owner can recover from even the most key player going down. There are always two or three guys who go from completely off the radar to fantasy superstardom throughout the season and a veteran scouting eye to snatch up one of those guys can be the difference between a good fantasy season and a championship season.

For anyone who picked up Josh Gordon late in their draft last year, they know that successfully picking one of those out-of-nowhere stars is truly one of the best feelings ever. Seriously, after Gordon’s back-to-back 200-yard games last year, I may have shed a tear or two (or three).

From September to January, the guys on our fantasy teams are our family. Some fantasy owners probably actually spend more time tinkering with lineups that at the dinner table with their actual families.

Sure, it is called “fantasy” football, but to those who play, it is as real as it gets.

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