majorsports

The current era of sports, namely the advancement of free agency, has led us to a point where rooting for specific players is no longer a reliable way to root on your team.  Three years ago Terrell Owens was easily my least favorite athlete (with all his posing on the Cowboys’ midfield star) and today I couldn’t be a bigger fan (with all his posing on the Cowboys’ end zone star). We live in a time where the separation of players and teams is not only convenient, but necessary.  I have my favorite team, the Cowboys, and I have my favorite players.  Most of them are Cowboys, but many of them are not.  This separation is the driving force behind the popularity of fantasy sports.  To be able to put aside one’s allegiance in order to field a successful fantasy team would have been an impossible task as recently as the 1980’s, but today it is commonplace.  To root for a game to go one direction, while specific players within the game go another direction is the way of the fantasy world.  I need a Colts loss, but I need Joseph Addai to run for 150 yards and a couple touchdowns.  It’s a familiar mantra among all fantasy owners.

There are two ways to get on my bad side as far as football players are concerned.  You can play for the Redskins, Giants, or Eagles (some cuts are deeper than even fantasy football can reach) or you can underperform on my fantasy team.  That’s about it.  But which is worse?  On the one hand there are players trying to beat my beloved Cowboys at least six times a season.  Players that are trying to keep the Cowboys out of the playoffs and away from the Super Bowl.  I hate these players… this season.  Next season they might be on the Cowboys, trying to beat the Redskins, Giants and Eagles.  Then I love those players.  If I draft Stephen Jackson 3rd or 4th in my fantasy draft and he plays poorly, costing me a chance to win my fantasy league I will never take him again.  There are no second chances in my fantasy world.  In my reality there are second, third, - and in Mr. Adam Jones’ case - seventh chances.  

So which is more important?  I would argue that, within a certain age range, fantasy sports has become more important.  I would estimate the low end of that age range to be around 11 years old - the age at which a person now has the ability to handle a computer on their own and the age at which many develop their sports allegiance’s.  Will these 11-year-olds continue to support their fantasy teams more strongly than any pro team?  I think so.  After all, it’s as close to participating in professional sports as most people will ever come.  Everyone will still have their favorite teams, but those teams will be full of players that are handpicked by each fantasy owner as opposed to a GM or owner that isn’t likely to take your ideas and wants into consideration.  So is this a bad thing or just another advancement in a game that has become more about marketing and money than loyalty to anyone or anything, especially the fans?

As with many things only time will tell what becomes of the new NFL, but for now I will continue to root on my beloved Cowboys in every way possible, after all, I have six of them on my fantasy team.

Josh Rounsville

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