By AJ Brown | Staff writer
Down, set, hike! It’s just another fall afternoon in the Baldwin household. Food is being cooked in the kitchen and the women are discussing the latest family situation. Meanwhile, all the guys are huddled around the television as the Chicago Bears play the Washington Redskins. The only odd thing is that every time a big play happens, everybody grabs the nearest electronic device by them and either hollers out for enjoyment or frowns in disappointment.
Why is this? Fantasy football! The game that makes everybody feel like they are running their own football team. Fantasy football is fairly easy to work. There are usually 10 teams, and to begin the league there is a big draft where players draft the players they desire. People win and lose by having their players rack up the most points for their team and whatever team has the most points wins that week versus their matchup.
“I can’t stop playing it. Every week it’s another chance to show up your buddy and prove you’re better than him,” says Tom Baldwin, an avid football fan.
Thirty-two million people in Canada and the United States play fantasy football and 19 percent of all males play it. The game is now even a form of gambling. People put thousands of dollars into these leagues trying to win big money.
The most interesting league I could find is called the tattoo league. It is a 10-person league that a group of guys started in Omaha, Neb. The reason it is called the tattoo league is because who ever gets last place in the league has to get a tattoo on their butt and the tattoo design is decided upon by the members of the league. There have been unicorns kicking a football through a rainbow,
and even Justin Bieber’s face surrounded by the words YOLO (you only live once).
“It’s competitive. Nobody wants to lose,” said 16-year-old Zach Raidart. “We sit around the TV all day just waiting to see the final results.”
That’s the thing about fantasy football – it’s a time taker. People just sit and watch the games, even games they usually wouldn’t watch, just because one of their players play for one of the teams and they need to see how well they do this week.
But fantasy football isn’t always good. Some people take the game a little too far. There are multiple occurrences where fantasy owners try humiliating their players on Twitter and other social media websites and it is disgraceful. It makes the game look bad and sometimes leads to the players firing back comments, making themselves look bad.
Overall, though, it’s a great game that many people are getting into. So grab your remote and your laptop and be ready to rack up the points this week.