2010 Fantasy Football Do's and Don'ts

Last Updated on Thursday, 29 July 2010 19:49 Written by Erik M. Dell Tuesday, 06 July 2010 16:43

The months have melted into weeks and soon the weeks will give way to days. These days will be painful as we countdown to Thursday September 9^th when the Minnesota Vikings take on the defending NFL champs, the New Orleans Saints. That’s right, the 2010 fantasy football season is right around the corner! By now you should have your cheat sheets in order and your sleepers well thought out. Some of you have started drafting while others will be waiting till the end of August or later. To help you in your quest to win your office pool league, your big money league, or even a just for fun league I’ve created an essential Do’s and Don’ts list for you.

DON’T

1. Manage your teams from work – This is very important. Companies are realizing many hours lost during the work week due to people managing their teams from work. Don’t do it, you’re being watched. Trust me I’m an IT guy and you can get away with it for a little bit but eventually someone is going to figure out why everyone at work is pinging www.babybluemonkey.com and then the site will be blocked or you will be reprimanded. It’s not worth it.
2. Bite off more than you can chew – Some crazy people run 10, 20, or even 50 leagues in a season. That’s fine but make sure you can handle the load because each team will require a little quality time to make them competitive.
3. Miss the games – You don’t have to watch every game but if you even the least bit serious about winning then you need to watch a few games. This will not only allow you to spot sleepers and keepers but you will also be able to find the underperforming players (like Matt Forte last year) and yank them.
4. Draft a kicker or Defense till round 14 and 15 – Please, for the love of Jim Brown, don’t draft these inconsequential positions till the very end of the draft. Selection of these positions is pretty much a crap shoot and the point spread is almost nil for the top five of each position. You best bet is to draft a kicker on a high scoring team during round 15 and draft the best available defense in round 14.
5. Quit your league – Seriously when you join a league you are making a commitment. Don’t be a poor loser and drop players or just stop playing all together. If your season is lost then attempt to take the reins and pull off a late season upset. No one wants a Detroit Lions type player in their league who’ll go 0-16 because they are a poor sport.

DO

1. Your research – It is imperative that you understand what your draft selection will produce. Buy a few fantasy football magazines or check out a few credible sites such as http://games.espn.go.com/frontpage/football or http://www.babybluemonkey.com. The more you research now the less likely you will be kicking yourself in the behind for not ranking Ryan Mathews higher than you did.
2. Mock draft – One of the most underutilized tools in your inventory. You need to know how your draft will progress ahead of time. In most formats you have around two minutes to make your selection. This may seem like a long time but taking too long to decide what to do after the three tier 1 quarterbacks were taken right before your pick could land you with an awful second round selection… like Clinton Portis.
3. Cheat – Um create cheat sheets that is. You’ll need these in the form of a paper or a doc file that you can easily access while the draft is going on. There is no harm in creating an early cheat sheet and updating it on a weekly basis.
4. Try a money league – To most people fantasy football is nothing more than legalized gambling. Well, they’re right, it is. But according to the Wikipedia site for fantasy football more than 27 million people played last year, so go ahead and spend a little cash. Here’s why I’m advocating spending your hard earned dough: Pure and simple, the leagues that are paid into yield the best experience because the players are more likely to play till the end of the season.
5. Have fun – Now that I’ve thoroughly convinced you to spend money on this hobby you need to remember to enjoy yourself. Take the time to chat during the drafts and get to know your fellow fantasy footballers. Have a good time and enjoy the season