Five years ago, during the dawn of the fantasy-sports era in mainstream popular culture, I had a difficult time explaining the concept to a friend of mine.
"It's a fantasy team? So is it like a video game or something?" my bewildered buddy would ask.
I tried my best to get the point across that the players and statistics were real. What a fantasy owner, like myself, would do is try to decide which players would do the best and select them to my team accordingly. I would then compete against others trying to do the same thing and whichever owner's players did the best would be the winner.
He still had trouble grasping the concept.
"But if they all play on different teams in reality," he would say, "how can they all play on your team at the same time?"
At this point, I just let it go and dismissed my friend as a bumbling idiot. As stupid as he may seem, however, the fact that the concept of fantasy sports was so foreign to him, a casual sports fan, is very telling.
After all, in today's world where fantasy is king, more and more fans are shying away from picking a team to follow and are instead rooting for individual players. Fans care less about whether or not the Giants beat the Phillies and more about how many bombs Bonds hit.
The big problem is that fans are forgetting why players are out there to begin with. While racking up a bunch of receiving yards probably makes Todd Heap a happy guy, his job is to make sure his Ravens win the game, even if that means blocking for Jamal Lewis for most of the game.
Winning is the ultimate goal, at least theoretically, for every professional player out there. A good deal of the time, this means making contributions that don't translate into fantasy points. In sports like basketball, hockey and football, some of the most pivotal functions will not receive fantasy recognition.
Consider Virginia's win over Wake Forest last weekend. Possibly the biggest play of the game was the defense stopping the Deacons on a fourth and two in the red zone late in the fourth quarter. Such an accomplishment cannot be described with fantasy points.
It wasn't about one player looking to get another tackle for his fantasy owner. It was a group effort looking to come through together and help the team. The players at the bottom of that pile will never be truly recognized for their accomplishments. But their work does result in something -- the victory of their team. In the realm of fantasy sports, these players become completely worthless.
Even in a sport like baseball, which on the surface translates well into fantasy with its one-on-one showdowns between pitcher and hitter, big accomplishments tend to go unrecognized, considered from a strictly fantasy-sports prospective.
Yesterday, for example, Shannon Stewart made a tremendous leaping catch at the wall to rob Hideki Matsui of a ninth-inning lead-off double to stop a potential Yankee rally. This huge play, which likely saved the game for the Twins, is worth nothing in the fantasy market.
Understand that I am not calling for some grassroots campaign to boycott all fantasy sports. I myself participate in a few leagues. It's a great way to compete with friends and show who has the best sports expertise. But my fantasy team will always be secondary to my beloved Yankees and Jets.
The important thing is keeping it all in perspective, and too many of today's fans are looking at sports only through the tainted lens of fantasy and missing the entire point of the game.
So, as the television blares "The Fantasy Football Show" and the ESPN Bottom Line flashes the latest statistics, I encourage you to study the results and do the best to win your fantasy league. But at the end of the day, remember what really matters. Remember why these athletes play the game to begin with: Earning the victory for the team.
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