Thursday, August 26, 2010

On the Topic of Fantasy Ownership

Now, with all that's going around-- I could opine on what the great Greg Wyshynski had to say about blogger credentials, but he discussed that with us and Lyle Richardson at the 2009 Draft already.Plus, I've been credentials for years and I still can explain the process due to my hackiness. I could talk about the Olympics and what it could mean, but the nuances around it are too much for me to debate with myself.

But the topic I'll tackle is the fantasy hockey side of things, that is now in full effect. The FOHSHL has gotten back up with our four divisions getting rolling, I got an email about my CBS "Experts" league getting going, it's finally the time of the year where the ordinary people can become very psychotic about players performances and what not. You can be the guy behind the guy and only have yourself to blame for picking some craptastic guys.....or play the blame game after the season and single out players like some GMs in real life do. I know I put out my confession of the addiction back in '07 and it holds true to the day.

Even so, with one draft 35 days away-- the strategy has been on-going since the whole free agent period when you're thinking how each new signee will fit into the scheme of not only the team, but his value when you could pick him and if they could become a sleeper. I know there has been many times where I assumed one thing about a player and the exact opposite happens; which is what makes it aggravating at times, but that's life. It creates challenges and a sort of an escape for things to make yourself feel bigger than you really are....which is fantastic when you have a sort of Napoleon complex.

The thing with the whole fantasy process is not only battling other owners in terms of drafting and free agent position, it's more of battling yourself and your own decision making process. The fact of the matter is that you are your own worst enemy. The second-guessing issue is mostly the big thing, not only in drafting, but in putting in a claim for waiver processes, quick fixes for late-week points, or even being too late in picking someone up off of free agency when you had been debating in your head on picking them up. Oddly enough, the regret you have for not picking someone very much outweighs the good moves one can actually make. It's the fish that got away scenario.

More over than second-guessing, another thing that irks me is the owners who don't actually pay attention to the entire season. I mean, I know there's people who do have lapses when it comes to the day-to-day games and that's fine. It's the guys who don't check their teams at all that bugs me, especially when you want to make a trade and since they don't check the team-- it never happens and you feel that you lost out because of it. That happened to me a couple times in the past few years and it's bothersome-- especially when the commissioner of the league trusts that owners will keep track regardless of how bad their team is. It's hard to bag on them, though, because in most cases they are your friends or it's a public league where people seem to be more idiotic than not. The point is-- even if you just check your team once a week, make sure you keep tabs on your teams because while you might not care halfway through the season, some other owner may when it comes to your roster.

And speaking of public leagues-- the best part about public leagues and one that has been great fodder for FOHS is the trades that are proposed through the season. The public leagues bring the silliest of trades, mostly because people underestimate the knowledge of their leaguemates and assume most everyone in a public league is a dumbass who is only there just because and to try out hockey for the first time. It never seems to happen in private leagues because people usually know better, but it also is a sign of the times where not many trades (at least in the FOHSHL) have taken place. It's like there's a salary cap in fantasy hockey and no one has the cap space to fit one guy or another into it. It's crazy because, like in real hockey, trades are very interesting and something that could make others make moves here and there.

While there's another peeve some guys have, but I can't complain because I've done it myself-- where an owner drops a ton of guys to pick up others just to get points late in the week. Now, I've only done that with a lot of rank-and-file guys and at the end of the Finals during championship week, which-- in championships-- any means necessary. Even so, it's a little bothersome when it comes to guys doing it frequently; but like I said-- no room to talk since I've been guilty of it from time-to-time.

So, what has this rambling done?? Probably nothing but venting on my trials and tribulations when it comes to fantasy ownership. Also, it breaks up the whole monotony that other people are blogging about, not that it's bad-- but I'm not really known for going with the flow of things. As well, I'm more amped up about another season in the FOHSHL than anything right now. I've been to the finals twice and lost in the past two years....maybe it's the third time is a charm, like so much Marian Hossa. f

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