Column: Fantasy Blues

While I wouldn't say I'm a gambling man who has a bookie in his phone contacts and will bet everything from the World Series to a horseshoe competition at the county fair, I've been known to make a bet or two over the years.

Because I wouldn't mind a nice wager every now and then, I was ecstatic when I first heard about fantasy football. I've always been a huge fan of football and at a time would watch just about as many games a week as possible. I would literally watch awful college games on a Tuesday night just because they were on TV. The introduction of fantasy seemed like a win-win situation. Not only did it involve football, I could join a league and make some money. Making money from football sounded like a grand idea. I was the preverbal kid in a candy store.

I remember making my first bet in around second or third grade on a Super Bowl with a kid named Dan Weber. I found nothing wrong with placing $5 on the Washington Redskins to beat the (Whatever town they were located in at the time and I'm too lazy to look up) Raiders. There was such an anticipation going into the game and I was excited. That went away quickly because the Raiders took the Redskins behind the wood shed and gave them a beating I will never forget. I was hoping Dan would forget, but he ended up calling in the fourth quarter to remind me of the wager. I was scared, what kind of kid in second grade starts calling about a bet. I'm lucky I was able to borrow the money from my dad -- who gave me a stern talking to because I probably would have ended up with broken legs if I didn't.

Despite my setback, I enjoyed the ups and downs of a bet. During this time I also purchased a "rotisserie baseball" book at a card shop and was mesmerized. I never joined a league through the mail, but I set up my own little league and was mesmerized by adding up points with stats I would accumulate from the newspaper. It turns out some of these "rotisserie" leagues played a valuable role in the evolution of what became fantasy football.

I had a huge smile on my face when joined my first fantasy league and did my first draft. I felt important as I drove to work at around 7 p.m. on a Saturday evening to use their Internet to take part in the festivities.

Several days later, the season started and I was as excited as I had been for the NFL in years. I've always been a little bit more of a college fan, but on this weekend I could have cared less about NCAA football. It was all about the NFL and more importantly my team.

I followed the progress of my team online and it was exhilarating. I won my first game and I thought this was the start of something that would accompany every football season.

By about the third or fourth week I realized I was no longer watching a football game to enjoy it. I wasn't rooting for a team that was my favorite or I had a bet on either. I was instead rooting for individual players to shine. I'm a huge Broncos fan and at one point was cheering for a running back to get a touchdown against them so I could advance to finals of my league.

After that season I decided not to play anymore and for a few years once again enjoyed football. When I moved to Montana I was asked to join another league and for some stupid reason I did. It was a money league I would eventually win, but it once again took away the fun.

In 2018 fantasy football is a billion dollar industry, but in my opinion is horrible for a game I love. There are people that could care less about football, they just want to win money with their fantasy team and that is sad. People get up on Sunday mornings to check to see if injured players are going to play and that just takes away the fun. Maybe if it was a 162 game season like baseball it might make it more fun. Probably a lot less injuries too considering baseball players aren't trying to take each others heads off.

While people this season are rooting for players instead of teams, I will be sitting in my recliner doing the opposite.

I'll stick to just betting on a game or two this year (how about them Broncos Coach Lacey), unless it is with Dan Weber. The second grade version of him still frightens me.