Dale Yu:  Fantasy Football and Gaming

So, it’s the best time of year again (for me).  First, the annual anticipation of Essen starts around now.  In the past, the anticipation would be over learning about the new games.  In the past few years, as I’ve been able to go to Essen myself, the anticipation has been over the overseas travel and figuring out how to afford the dang trip!  I haven’t even really started my gaming research in earnest, though the BGN Eseen Preview is starting to really fill up with entries that I’ll need to review shortly.  But, to be honest, Essen is still awhile in the future – I don’t have to leave for another 23 days!  The other main focus of this season is the return of football season!  In all honesty, the main focus of the fall for me is football – and I’m talking about American Football here not soccer!

I pretty much love all things football, and I can easily admit that I’ve been interested in football for much longer than I’ve been interested in gaming.  The beautiful thing about football is that it’s something that can be all-encompassing (very similar to gaming in my life).  During this time of year, I can indulge myself in football for at least 5 days each week as I’m interested in all levels of the sport (highschool, college, and professional). 

For me, the football week starts on Thursdays.  Generally, on Thursday nights, I can catch at least one college football game on TV.  Friday nights are traditionally the nights for high school football.  I am a season ticket holder to my high school’s football games, and my family often enjoys going to the games together.  Saturdays are the big college football day – from noon to midnight – you will generally find me on the couch watching a college football game, though a few times a year I’ll go see a game in person.  My wife went to Notre Dame, so needless to say, she’s a big football and Fighting Irish fan.  I went to the traditional football powerhouse also known as Vanderbilt… who I’m proud to say are finally ranked again (first time since 1984).  This week also probably represents the only week in my life that I’ll ever be able to laugh at my wife and tell her that my team is ranked and hers isn’t.  (For the record, I just hope that Vanderbilt doesn’t lose to Auburn by more than 21 points).

Sundays are the focus of the weekend though as it is the main day for the professionals of the National Football League to play.  While there is some debate whether my local team (the Cincinnati Bengals) should be referred to as professional – but it does appear that they are being paid, so “professional” they must be.  Monday night completes the NFL week with Monday Night Football.

Thus, there are only two short days – Tuesday and Wednesday – that I have to live through to get to the start of the next football week, right?  WRONG!  As some of you know, my other main passion in the fall is Fantasy Football.  It helps me make it through those two long long days without any football to watch!

So why do I like Fantasy Football?  It’s the perfect meshing of my favorite two hobbies – football and gaming.  For those of you not familiar with Fantasy Football, let me explain it briefly.  Fantasy Football is a game where each player constructs a team which is comprised of real-life NFL football players.  Then, each week, the real-life statistics of those football players are converted into points.  There are a number of different scoring systems and ways to match up you fantasy football teams, but in the end, you generally need to score more points than your opponents to win. The success or failure of your fantasy football team is thus directly dependent on the on-the-field success of the players you have chosen to be on your team.  So… each weekend while I’m watching the NFL games on TV, I’m not only concerned about the fate of my hapless Bengals, but I’m also watching the games to see if my Fantasy Football players are performing well (or if my Fantasy Football opponents are doing poorly).

So, what’s the attraction?  First, and foremost, it’s a game based on one of my favorite things!  Second, it helps make all the games much more interesting.  Normally, I might not really care about say… a Seattle Seahawks/Kansas City Chiefs game – but if some of the players in that game are featured in my Fantasy game, the game suddenly becomes interesting to me.  Additionally, games with lopsided results (whose outcomes are no longer in question) which would normally be dull suddenly become exciting again as I can still be interested in seeing which players score touchdowns or make interceptions. 

Finally, it’s a game!  Like most of you (and I’m making an assumption that many of you are like me), I love playing games – no matter what the theme.  Heck, I’ve enjoyed games about the Cold War, farming in the 1700s, the German postal system, railroads, Rome, pirates, Roman Pirates, and a thousand other things.  For me, the theme isn’t the important thing – it’s whether the system of the game interests me or not.

Fantasy Football presents the gamer with a number of different aspects to enjoy.  First, there is a long-term aspect that we don’t normally experience in our Eurogames.  Let’s face it, in the current gaming world, 2 hours is a long game!  A typical Fantasy Football season lasts over 16 or 17 weeks.  And, if you’re in a dynasty league (where you keep some or all of your players from year to year), the “game” can continue on over multiple years!  While I have issues with longer games (think a long Descent scenario or a game of 7 Ages) as I often lose concentration midway through the game, I find that I stay interested in Fantasy Football throughout an entire season.  I think the main reason for this is that you don’t need to be constantly thinking about Fantasy Football – as little as 20 minutes a week can keep you in the game – though it’s just as easy to spend 4 or 5 hours a week working on your team.  Also similar to Descent, you can get a different feel for the game whether you play over a single season (as in a scenario) versus a dynasty (as in a campaign).

Second, there is an element of reseach to the game which I enjoy.  Starting with the draft (the initial selection of players for your team), you can spend a bit of time learning about the players and the NFL teams that they play on.  Then, in the course of the season, you need to keep an eye on the players (to know who is injured or to know who is doing well or poorly over the past few weeks).  The good thing for Fantasy Football players is that it’s easy now to do the research.  There are hundreds of websites that are out there which package up the information so that even a complete football novice can get started quickly.  It reminds me of the time that I used to spend looking thru my Magic: The Gathering cards trying to figure out which cards would work best in my new deck.  Similarly, when choosing players for your team, you have to constantly evaluate which players will fill in holes in your team.

Third, like many of the board games that I enjoy, there is a fair element of luck or uncertainty in the game.  While it is possible for one player to have superior players “on paper”, each Fantasy Football game is decided with the actual statistics.  An ill-timed injury, an unexpected change in weather, or simply a surprising result can greatly affect the outcome of a Fantasy game.  As with many games that I love, good planning is rewarded with a better chance of winning, but it is not the only thing that determines the outcome.  Furthermore, the Fantasy players generally can “generate their own luck” as well.  On most Fantasy Football teams, you have more players on your team that you can play each week.  Therefore, one of the things you need to do each week is to decide which of your players you’ll use each week.  In gaming terms, it like choosing which cards to keep and which cards to discard from a starting hand in Agricola.  Oftentimes you end up going on a hunch and playing a player who hasn’t done well just because you think that this week is going to be their week.

Fourth, the game is a fluid game.  You have enough time over the course of a Fantasy Football season to change your strategy.  You can try to get new players to change to focus of your team.  Sometimes you can trade players with other teams.  Here, you’ll be able to put all of your negotiating skills into play.  Trying to convince another player why a particular trade will benefit both teams is often a hard thing to do.  Luckily, multiple Avalon Hill games in my past have set me up to be an adequate negotiator when I need to be!

Fifth, there are so many different variants of Fantasy Football that it’s hard to get tired of it!  I’m a big fan of boardgames with variants or alternate setups (see Age of Steam, Ticket to Ride, or Agricola) as the different forms keep me interested in the game system.  I like seeing how my experience with other forms of the game will help or hinder me in different variants.  Fantasy Football is no different as there are many different ways to play.  As I mentioned before, there are many different ways to score the game, and each different scoring system changes the ways that you approach the players.  Also, there are different methods of drafting players onto your team, and again, each system requires a totally new skill set to do well.

Finally, Fantasy Football is fun.  You don’t even have to be a football fanatic to play.  In some sense, it takes the sport of Football and breaks it down into statistics.  With the Internet based systems, you don’t even have to watch the games or even care about the football games.  You can simply watch the player statistics rack up on your computer screen and see how they turn into points.  For a non-football fan, the players are merely gaming objects with differing expected values of point scoring.  For example, this year I’m in a Fantasy Football league where over two-thirds of the players are boardgamers in Germany.  I know that some of them are interested in the NFL, but it clearly isn’t as easy to follow the sport over there.  Nevertheless, they’re excited about our Fantasy league because it’s a fun game (and they’re all kicking my butt right now).

Well, it’s Wednesday morning now, and I’ve got to get back to my fantasy football research as I have to make decisions on my players by noon!  Oh, yeah, that other thing I mentioned that I love in the Fall?  I’ll try to talk about that in the next week or two…

Until your next appointment,
The Gaming Doctor

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