Football Season is Upon Us

Well, I guess I may happen to be one of those husbands that will make my wife a football widow for the next 18 or so Sundays and Mondays, as well as four or five Saturdays and maybe even a couple of Thursdays (including Thanksgiving)! And that's leaving out the full weekend in February for Super Bowl!

But for a lot of football-crazed fans it’s just not about the game anymore and rooting for your favorite team. Over the last five years there has been an explosion of fantasy football leagues that have worked their way into our society and captured not only the attention of many dedicated fans but also many others and it is sapping them of their valuable time.

For most, well at least for me, once we get through the NFL draft in May it's time to start thinking (and reading and planning and buying magazines) about our particular fantasy draft(s). This season was a little different than most of the past years because of the NFL strike and the lockout from training camps.

The impacts still have not been fully understood because of potential injuries that could arise from the lack of camp or possibly where free agents landed on new teams late in the pre-season. But there was still much reading, online research and mock drafts taking place over the last weeks of July and early August. 

Depending on the league, and more importantly the prizes, this time can be well worthwhile. Although it can also be very detrimental to your relationships if the additional time is taken away from those all important honey-do lists!

At least once your team is selected you will only need to spend a few hours a week scouring waiver wires, adjusting your lineups and looking at trades. And that’s only in addition to watching every possible game that includes a player from your team or your opponent's team from that week – better get that NFL package!

So all in it shouldn’t be too bad, only about 18-20 hours of football a week to squeeze into your otherwise busy schedule if you want to be competitive in your league. And who knows how many of us are in multiple leagues (and multiple sports).

But thank goodness for online sites like CBSSportsline, Yahoo and a slew of others that accumulate statistics in real time, eliminating the need to maintain the old Excel spreadsheets for each team. On these sites you can not only watch a live game, but can track every player in the league. Just be sure to have an extra battery pack for the laptop so that you can keep up with the Sunday night game.

With the NFL season starting tomorrow, many fantasy leagues have held their drafts in the last few days, but some will still be drafting through the weekend. If you have not participated yet here’s a few personal tips that I’ve picked up over the years (although I don't always follow the first one):

• Pick the best player available at the position you need, regardless of team and where your heart is (i.e., Jets fans should still pick Brady if he’s available in round 3 and Giants fans should still pick an Eagle or Cowboy if they are the best available.)
• Draft players from good teams as they are sure to put up better numbers especially in the scoring category.
• Try to get a stud RB in round 1 and 2 – after the top 15 there is a big dropoff.
• Leave you QB until round 3 or 4 this season, as there is not a big difference from the number 4-10 ranked QBs (that will also help us NY'ers from picking Brady or Vick).
• A kicker should get picked in the last round - look for one that plays in a dome or plays for a high scoring team.
• Unless you want a top 3 Defense or TE, leave them to after Round 10.
• And make sure you know your starters' bye weeks - don't draft four RBs with a week 8 bye, it will make for a very tough week!

That’s it for now since I have to get online for my next football draft and then adjust my baseball lineups for the last weeks of that season! Good luck to all who venture into the world of fantasy sports.