Now is the time to cut your roster down to a manageable number. I'm not talking about players on your fantasy teams, of course. I'm talking about your roster of leagues.
July isn't really the time to obsess over a team's current roster. The NFL sure isn't; they allow clubs to hang on to 90 guys until late in the preseason. That means a lot of future insurance salesmen, attorneys, high school coaches and reporters are donning helmets and jerseys. Some guys might latch on to the Canadian Football League, which is a good place to earn a title: Five different teams (out of nine) have won a Grey Cup over the past five years. Some might play Arena Football, and those guys need to get signed by Arizona (the Rattlers have won the last three ArenaBowls). But most of them will be done with professional football when the Turk comes calling. So why spend time worrying about depth charts before the players have even played in a fake cash grab?
Sorry, I meant played in a preseason game. That's for another column.
The point is, this is a great time to focus on your own fantasy career, and making this season as fun as possible for you. Before you assemble your championship rosters, take a some time to assess how many leagues you'll actually be in this year.
Some owners tend to be packrats when it comes to leagues. They add one or two each year, and only lose one if it breaks up. And if there's a lat-minute opening, they never say no. Fantasy is fun, and you might win some money, so why not play in as many as possible?
Well, because you're barely playing in most of those leagues. Sure, you submit lineups and work the waiver wire. Maybe you even throw out the occasional trade offer. But do you really know these owners? Are you invested in winning the league? When you do research, is it for this particular league in mind? Or is really for your "main leagues" and this one is just a throwaway?
The upside to joining a bunch of leagues is that no matter how badly you do in some, you're bound to be competitive in others. But that's also the downside. Hedging against winning and losing only dampens the highs and lows. You can't mask a 1-5 record in your favorite league with a 6-0 record in an Internet league of strangers. And if you're 1-5 in the unimportant league, you'll be tempted to abandon it. And that's not fair to the other owners.
Plus, if you play in enough leagues you end up rooting for and against just about every player. When Antonio Brown catches a long pass, you're happy in three leagues and sad in five others. Every touchdown is a reason to celebrate or curse the television. And mostly, it's both. Is that really the best way to play?
I encourage you to trim the fat and only play in leagues that really matter to you. Sure, that puts more pressure on each draft or auction, and makes those few games you have left more meaningful. But isn't that what this game is about? Every week will matter that much more, and losing will hurt that much more. But winning a title will be even sweeter, because you put in all your chips at one table.
Or two tables, or three tables. I'm not saying to play in only one league. I like to limit my participation to three leagues. That's enough to give me diversity of play (keepers, PPR, traditional) without overextending myself. If I win, it matters. If I lose, it matters. And I can't massage my ego by bragging about a league I'm dominating where I only know owners by their avatars.
And if you're having an off year? You play it out. You can still try to right the ship, and divert some attention with daily cash leagues and other fantasy games. We have a couple of contests right here at Fantasy Index that you can follow throughout the year, and they're free. But you can't salvage a down year by winning a meaningless league. And if it's meaningless, you shouldn't be playing.
All you have to do is cut out the leagues that don't add much to your season, and spend more time on the ones that matter to you. If you let the commissioner know now, they'll have plenty of time to replace you. I think you'll find that less is more when it comes to fantasy leagues. Play in just a handful of really important ones, and you'll actually enhance your fantasy experience.
Or you could join 15 leagues and brag when you win a couple. It's always 5 o'clock somewhere, right? I guess it's title town for one of those teams, somewhere. But if you cut your leagues down to the very best, the season will mean more. And when you still win that championship, you'll forget you ever bothered with the other ones.
Am I right? Think I'm crazy? Share your thoughts below.
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