Is Fantasy football ruining the MSM?
by madtown on Sep 29, 2009 9:54 AM MDT
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PrintI apologize if this has been discussed or if this is one too many MSM posts, but something struck me the other day that I wanted to run by you guys. Is fantasy football ruining football journalism? Bear with me here...
According to Colin Cowherd of ESPN, more than 27 million people play fantasy football and spend an average of nine hours a week on it. Think about that for a minute. That is 243,000,000 hours a week!
Who wins seems secondary to who scores or how many yards someone gains. "My team" winning seems more important than the team I root for winning. FF has increased ratings for all games, as more people have a stake in all games now. Networks are devoting more time and energy to realtime stats, I remember when it was enough to show the scores of games on the crawl, not everyones stats too. The NFL network is going so far as to create the Redzone Channel - for those who want to see who scores, but don't want to sit through the rest of the game between the 20's.
As we all know, football is a business. And like any good business, the strive to give the customer what they want. I think the ESPN-types view football teams in terms of star players more than the team as a whole because that is how people judge teams now. Consider the Saints. Are they a surprise 3-0 team this year, even though they finished last year with same 8-8 record the Broncos did? No. They have the leading fantasy QB so that makes sense. Anyone surprised by the Vikings with the old man at the helm? Not with Peterson racking up the fantasy points.
But the thing is, football is the ultimate team sport. How else can you explain Marino, Fouts, and Barry Sanders never winning a ring? Their fantasy value would have been through the roof.
I am not going so far as to say that FF is ruining the game (thank you Jake Plummer), but I think it has changed the focus. So if the Broncos are going to trade their highest rated fantasy player and do things like throw to eight different receivers in a game and run four backs, they are killing any fantasy value they may have and therefore suck. When John Clayton said McD "doesn't have a grasp on how to build a team", did he mean "doesn't have a grasp on how to build a (fantasy) team"?
This is a Fan-Created Comment on MileHighReport.com. The opinion here is not necessarily shared by the editorial staff of MHR
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+1
I agree 100%. A bunch of my friends play fantasy and that is all they discuss during the games. They also ask me why I don’t play and I tell them exactly why. Unless they are playing the Broncos (or it’s close to/during playoff time) every other team in the league is completly irrelevent to me.
I became inasne, with long intervals of horrible sanity- Edgar Allen Poe
by Jack Skellington on Sep 29, 2009 10:09 AM MDT reply actions
Time suck nonsense.
Count me among the fantasy football haters. A time suck that values individual stat accumulation ahead of victories.
I read an article yesterday from a fantasy football analyst (yes – some buffoon gets paid to write about this crap) that spoke at length about how disappointing the Vikings 49ers game was because Peterson and Gore did not have big statistical games. I watched this game and was not disappointed because it was good football with a great ending. But I guess because there were some weird special teams’ TDs and some nobody named Greg Lewis made the gaming winning catch, the game was a dud for fantasy football purposes.
I think the NFL is starting to schedule prime time games around fantasy football heroes.
I saw another game recently where several people in the room were excited about a meaningless 25 yard run to finish out a 1st half instead of a hail-Mary attempt. They were excited because their RB got yards, completely hollow yards. "That play was so awesome". Sure was.
Love the Broncos. Mike Nolan is a genius.
by McGeorge on Sep 29, 2009 11:08 AM MDT up reply actions 2 recs
This is one thing on which McGeorge and I have ALWAYS agreed
Excellent post, madtown.
NFL football shows dedicating time to fantasy football picks. It’s a damn shame.
I said it before: fantasy football and ESPN will be the ruin of the NFL as many of us know it.
Good thoughts. I do like it when announcers and show hosts say they don’t play fantasy football (or don’t know what it is), but there are fewer and fewer of those guys these days. Even Kornheiser is getting in the fantasy game now.
I think the same thing could be said for gambling odds and money lines – it dirties the integrity of fans cheeringnessability, if you will. My last roommate was a Raiders fan (poor, tormented soul), but could always been found happy on Sundays even on JaMarcus’ 56.3 QB rating days if he got the over/under on the Pats-Jets game or won 26 bucks on a bet that Olindo Mare would be the first player to score in his game. It cheapened the experience of being an NFL fan from my perspective. But, given his Oakland loyalties, I was just glad he wasn’t sulking in losses drowned in hard liquor.
I agree and yet....
I think that yes….people have taken Fantasy Football to a much higher level than it belongs, but….
I offer that while many people may not believe there is any value in fantasy football, it may be informative and educational to get into the game. Someone like me….who knew very little about the actual game a number of years ago, has been able to learn about the dynamics of football with FF.
Before I started playing I could tell you who the Broncos were, but not much about anyone or anything else. Playing FF I was forced to look at certain aspects of other games…..I started to learn how to weigh Running game for one team against passing game for another. I would look at a matchup and have to determine, will they be better on the ground against this team?
I was also introduced to players I had never payed attention to. I had to look at all the aspects that make a football game happen.
While I never knew as much about football as I’ve learned here, I was started on the right path of learning, analyzing, and weighing oposition because of FF.
I just think the MSM needs to be banned from it, and that people need to not put it on a pedastal. It does not, nor will it ever deserve to be as cherished as it is, and I agree that it does affect how teams are viewed. but well written, and I liked this post.
"I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work."
- Thomas Alva Edison
"Success is not a place at which one arrives, but rather... the spirit with which one undertakes and continues the journey."
- Alex Noble
I agree
I’m not trying to say anything about fantasy football itself. I do think that it can be an entertaining way of following a sport and a way to learn about players and teams you don’t follow every week. I was just trying to comment on the national obsession with stats and individuals over value of a team. And how this is, IMO, changing the media’s “objective” look at the game.
Its all good
I think thats an astute observation, and Rec’d
"I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work."
- Thomas Alva Edison
"Success is not a place at which one arrives, but rather... the spirit with which one undertakes and continues the journey."
- Alex Noble
It's a hobby and diversion
from the insanity of the world. That’s all. It’s fun. I know more players in the league and do watch more than I would otherwise. Call me what you will, but I also play Fantasy Baseball. I do have 2 Football teams, but know guys with 8 or 9, now THAT’s crazy!
Go Broncos!
Not all change is good, just as not all movement is forward.
Hey, building a real time like a fantasy team is great
Ask Washington how it’s worked out for them so far this year.
"FLAG! Fail on the field. Re-do." -Disco_Stu
The thrust of your
point seems to be that the focus has changed (for the worse), not that fantasy football is a waste of human energy best spent elsewhere. I would agree with either point, but then immediately I would have to admit that I have chosen other activities, just as time-wasteful and non-productive in the “real” world. I do this for my sanity. My wife would include MHR as one of those activities, actually… but she loves me and lets me do it anyway, cluck-clucking now and then.
Rec’ed because I don’t think I have heard anyone else say it so directly, but many have implied it.
Pretty brutal...
I can’t imagine that you have played fantasy football before, because I sense a certain lack of understanding about it.
I am a fantasy football player because it has many payoffs:
- It is very social. We have a group at my work, here, and it brings us together, from “the knowing nod” while passing by in the warehouse to the sitdowns at lunch, discussing the great weekend. Maybe I would do better just sitting in a virtual community, creating my own little world and not having to look at a fantasy footbal players face as I trash his love. It sure is much easier that way.
- It has VASTLY enhanced my knowledge of each team’s players. They are meaningful, and not just the stars (that’s why I do quite well at this because not everyone does this). I check out offensive lines, injuries and pay attention to momentum gains and losses. I choose to offer trades from this knowledge. You say that it is a TEAM sport. I just may know a lot more about other teams than the MSM, even. Perhaps a Madden football player will have more knowledge, though…
- While not as strong as fantasy baseball, the statistical analysis that can be done while evaluating your options is pure bliss. If you love stats, you have a huge reason to play fantasy sports (though baseball, hockey and basketball have more games, and therefore, are more stat-based).
- A personal connection. Perhaps you don’t understand this, and it is easy to judge something that you don’t understand (I don’t understand people who don’t use their blinker while driving…), but yes, you want “your team” to win, and as each game progresses, you watch for “your guy.” It is fun. Sorry if you don’t understand that aspect of it.
- It is inexpensive! I can spend time doing something I enjoy without breaking the bank.
Furthermore, to assume that FF players do not have the capacity to root for their own favorite team is rather insulting. I will take a Bronco win over a fantasy team win any day. Maybe not everyone can, but some are quite capable.
Even if it wasn’t for fantasy football, what, exactly, is the problem with running stats of each game instead of only scores. I am a bit confused by this, because the only assumption I can make is that you bring this up as “bad” because it supports your predisposed position about fantasy football, or is just your personal opinion.
I do have news for you…when is the last time the MSM has focused on more than star players, and moreso, big-market teams? I almost vomitted at all the Michael Vick coverage this last weekend. He’s fantasy-useless, let me tell you. As for Brees, I guarantee you that is Orton opened the season with 6TD passes, then 3TD passes, he would be covered too, and not just because he is a fantasy star. So your connection therre doesn’t make sense to me either. Have you watched baseball recently? I love the Rays. I only get to watch the Rays on ESPN if they play the Yankees, Red Sox or sometimes the Mets or Phillies. That media bias was around long, long before fantasy sports.
I am not sure how your John Clayton comment fits in, except that it will bring you instant support for a factless and baseless position? A crowd-call?
And finally, the RedZone channel, which I seem to get in standard definition for free through Dish Network, is the greatest invention I have ever, ever had the pleasure to watch. You see, I live in St. Louis. Do you know what we get here? Rams games.
But they are NFC, right? So I can MAYBE get the Bronco game for some of the AFC, games, right? Wrong. I get KC games anytime a Bronco game is on (nationally), unless I am lucky enough that the Chefs play in the morning, enevning or Monday. Oh…and Indy games, lots of Indy games, plus the usual always-on big market teams.
So do you know what I get out of RedZone? Here’s a hint. it isn’t stats or fantasy player updates.
It is a chance to see the team I love, live, even if for a breif moment because otherwise I would have to pay money for something that I can’t afford, or go to a bar to watch it, spending money on beer while watching the Bronco game on a small TV with no sound, listening to the Rams or KC game blaring.
Booooooy, I bet THAT felt good to get off your chest!
well spoken defense for a past-time I haven’t indulged in.
Whoever instilled your love of Broncos did a good job, I think.
Ah. The "I'm one of the good ones / you don't know what you're talking about" defense/rebuttal
Not sold.
For one thing, if fantasy football is teaching you how to interact socially, this particular comment of yours suggests you aren’t learning the right lessons.
That is an extremely rude response to an extremely fair response.
Fantasy Football is just like anything else. If they spend time talking about it on ESPN, whatever, less time spent on Favre, Sanchez, or Vick.
I opt to turn off ESPN when those topics come up. Why can’t you when Fantasy Football does? I’m typically pretty tolerant and nice on MHR but I’m somewhat ticked with the way everyone is painting fantasy football players as the reason sports media is terrible.
Its terrible because they try to appeal to large audiences and that means perpetuating common speculations. It has nothing to do with objective journalism. It has to do with grabbing a large audiences attention and exploiting its extremely short attention span. If you want excellent sports journalism, well, that is why you’re here.
I’ve been a huge sports media critic for quite some time, but now you’re pointing the finger at just about anyone you can. But please, when being critical of something for not being objective, don’t lose your own objectivity.
Why does Madden suck at ranking the Broncos so much?
Right you are ChristianL
I have been in the same Fantasy Football league for neigh on 20 years! We used to have to look up the stats in the newspaper, talk about brutal!
But if we didn’t stick together through FFL, then the 6 or 7 common players from 20 years ago would never get together. And it’s good for networking, we stay in touch through FFL. So if that’s wrong, then wrong is good. And giving each other crap about a bad pick is about as much fun as a Football Fan can have.
It is amazing how many people mistake a certain hip snideness for sophistication. -- Thomas Sowell
I don't actually like fantasy football, and I NEVER write about it
All the time, though, my co-workers who know I write about football ask me about it. I think it is killing the MSM’s coverage, and that’s partly because it fits neatly into the “be vacuous and cost little” approach they are all taking. Who gives a crap what dorks like Eric Karaball or Matthew Berry think?
"I am not one of those who think that coming in second or third is winning." -- Robert F. Kennedy
Former NFL quarterback Jake “The Snake” Plummer was asked by ESPN’s Greg Garberwhat he thought about the rise of fantasy football. “I think it has ruined the game,” he replied. “There are no true fans anymore. . . . If I lost a game . . . no Denver [Broncos] fan was mad because I lost, but happy because I threw three TDs.”
one more
Fantasy football worships at the altar of individual achievement, an unholy distortion of what football is all about. The true majesty of football, the reason I become one with my television set every Sunday, is that it is the ultimate team sport. There is a reason quarterbacks Dan Marino, Dan Fouts and Fran Tarkenton, wide receivers Cris Carter and Steve Largent and running backs Earl Campbell and Barry Sanders never won Super Bowl rings.
Still think
a fan can view the game rationally even if he plays FF. I think Plummer’s statement is an over-generalization, and that a person can do both. I don’t do FF, never tried it. Doesn’t mean I might not find something to like if I did.
BUT, lets return to the thrust of this initial post…. is it adversely affecting MSM? To that, I have to say yes.
agree
I really don’t give a hoot if my FFL team goes 0-12, as long as the Broncos are decent. And yeah, I’m a homer, I have Buckhalter, Moreno, Hillis, Royal, Prater (both teams) and Orton amongst my 2 teams.
It is amazing how many people mistake a certain hip snideness for sophistication. -- Thomas Sowell
Is fantasy football ruining the MSM?
Yes, because they talk up players I’d like to pick up for my fantasy team and then someone else snatches them up. :)
I play it (fantasy baseball too) because my son sends me an e-mail asking me to join his league. It’s something I can do with my sons.
Is fantasy football ruining the MSM?
Yes, because certain analysts think they know everything, and they sometimes give bad advice. If I follow that advice, it totally ruins my whole weekend, if not my whole life…./sarc
It is amazing how many people mistake a certain hip snideness for sophistication. -- Thomas Sowell
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