It always starts the same way. Someone will send me an e-mail about two or three weeks before the start of the PGA Tour season or the NFL season or college basketball season that reads:
Hey, I’m starting a fantasy sports league. Do you want to join?
I read it. And it sounds like such a great idea. That’s what happened last December when Mo Golf contacted me about the 2011 PGA Tour season. I couldn’t help but say yes.
Me, own a fantasy golf team? Sure. Who knows more about players’ sand save percentages and tendencies? Nobody will be able to pick eight golfers each week with the skill and precision that I can.
And so I respond, SIGN ME UP.
And they reply, It’s going to cost $10.
And, without any hesitation, I end the conversation by e-mailing back…I SAID, SIGN ME UP.
It’s one of the easiest ways for me to lose $10 a year, because I never see my fantasy team through.
Here’s the thing, I always have good intentions. I sign up with the intention of taking part every week. I usually dedicate somewhere between 90 and 120 minutes trying to craft a clever team name. I mark big games or tournaments on my calendar. I do research.
It showed for the first quarter of the PGA Tour season. I was in the top 10 in the league. I had the leader in striking distance at the end of the winter season. As we headed through the Masters and into the Spring, you might have called me a dark horse to win my $10 and more.
Then, for whatever reason, a week comes and I forget to update my guys. I start four guys who aren’t event signed up for the week’s event. I card zero points. And, for whatever reason, I let it happen again the following week. And then again the following week…
That’s how this season went. I’ve racked up zero points in what is considered the Summer portion of our fantasy league. I’ve posted so many zeroes that I’ve fallen out of the top 10 and into second to last. I’ve been about as productive as Tiger Woods on the golf course the past month or so.
So here I am, stuck in another fantasy season with no happy ending. Maybe I’ll get my game together and try to finish strong. Maybe I’ll keep starting Sergio Garcia in events he’s not signed up to play in. Either way – apologies to those who are in the league with me. I’d say I won’t do it again next year….but if you ask me next December, I’ll have but one response.
I SAID, SIGN ME UP.
