day one

at first it was addiction. but affliction sounds better. check the definition in case you don't know the difference. backtracking for a moment though, the most recent name was procrapstination. it had a nice ring to it, especially for t's and bumper stickers in a couple years. but it might not get noticed as much. so it's still there for those interested parties. one post to date. not sure if you can delete these things or not.

but now we're moving forward with this one. and before you say it, i know fantasy sports have been around--and thus ruining--real sports since well before 2001. but for me, it's been since then.

a longtime childhood friend (let's call him dp) roped me in to a fantasy football league. i was curious. actually naive would be the word. a modest entry fee and a internet connection, and i can join up with his college buddies and various riff-raff. why not.

(and before we go much further or farther, please note i am not claiming (nor will i ever claim) to be an "expert" in the field of fantasy sports. but i have won a few).

back to 2001. my team's name was Nate Newton's Posse. check out Nate's bio for more info around that time. anyway, here's what my roster ended like:

QB: Tom Brady, Drew Bledsoe, Doug Flutie, Mike McMahon
WR: Marvin Harrison, Troy Brown, Qadry Ismail, Trevor Gaylor
RB: Shaun Alexander, Fred Taylor, Stacey Mack
TE: Wesley Walls
K: Shayne Graham

my drafted kicker was Steve Christie (he of Buffalo Bills fame and on my hometown San Diego Chargers at the time).

i finished 9th out of 14 participants. and i'm pretty sure managers 13 & 14 were drunk and illiterate, respectively. not a great showing by any stretch of the imagination. but it lit a spark inside me. not the type of spark that raises someone to new heights of delight and wonder. no. a spark which would become a flame which would start a blaze and eventually spawn an all-encompassing brush fire, the type that takes down anything in its path, occasionally skipping a Rancho Penasquitos house or two, but still pretty much destroying a whole lot of property.

here that property is many things:
my relationships, my job(s), my dog. and of course, my love for sports (the reality kind).

destroying is a tough word. let's say altering. modifying? affecting.

i play in yearly baseball, football, and basketball leagues. each with a dollar figure attached to it. each, aside from basketball, is a keeper league. with the same goofy core of guys playing. and whining.

i can no longer watch any game (exhibition or regular season) in the three leagues without thinking of fantasy sports ramifications. even after my fantasy season has abruptly ended. even on the championship-winning occasions, i'm still seeing rushing stats as accumulated points. watching clips of college basketball the other night i was thinking how great it would be to have Kevin Love on my pro fantasy basketball team right now.

it's bad. my wife stopped watching football with me two seasons ago. she just came back around. i guess it was me watching the tv and refreshing the computer screen simultaneously.

bad, bad.

and now i have to take the dog for a walk. not have to, want to.
so that's it for today.
more to come.

i hope.