Thursday, August 12, 1999
Rookie's guide to fantasy football basics
BY SAM MELLINGER
The Cincinnati Enquirer
NFL training camps are under way so fantasy football leagues are getting ready. If you're a rookie, there are basically three ways to play fantasy football:
• Join a league on the Internet.
• Join a league that is being formed. Check with co-workers.
• Grab some friends and start a league of your own.
Internet and local leagues work basically the same way.
Each member of the league becomes a team owner and selects NFL players in a draft and sets rules and scoring systems. Players are drafted according to the scoring system used. If, for instance, there's not much difference between points awarded for passing or rushing touchdowns, team owners may try to grab as many quarterbacks as possible.
Fantasy football gives meaning to every play in every NFL game. No matter what the score, no matter what the team.
Outsiders won't understand, but there's nothing like watching game after game on Sundays, rooting for Al Del Greco to hit that otherwise meaningless 38-yard field goal. The kick may do no more than bring the Tennessee Titans within 13 points with 1:58 to go, but it could be the three points you need to beat that guy at work who was talking trash all week.
Often, team owners pay participation fees, which may be awarded as prizes to winners. On the Internet, some sites are free and post the names of winners as a reward. Other sites have a subscription fee and some offer as much as $25,000 for first-place finishers.
To find out more about how to play: Read fantasy football magazines or conduct research on the Internet.
Most of the specialty magazines provide suggestions and guidelines for starting a new league or joining an existing one.
For example, Fantasy Football Pro Forecast has extensive forecasts about players, a report on the college draft, free software to make your own cheat sheet, a poll of 13 experts and a guide to Internet sites.
Cliff Charpentier's 1999 Fantasy Football Draft Guide lists the status of players recovering from injuries and notes miscellaneous events that affected 1998 performances of NFL players. The magazine has a foldout guide for draft day listing the top players by position.
Fantasy Football Draft Book has issued its final report for this season. It includes statistics for players over the past three seasons.
On the Internet, use a search engine to find “fantasy football.” You will get a list of thousands of home pages.
Here's a short list of sites to get you started:
• The Huddle: Predictions and analysis to help players win. Go to www.thehuddle.com
• Mr. Football: News, features, links, analysis and player forecasts. Go to mrfootball.com
• MSNBC Fantasy Football: Rules for play, stats, standings. Go to http://fantasyfootball.msnbc.com
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