In most sports nowadays ranging from Basketball to Rugby Union anyone can create their own fantasy league team, compete against friends and show their credentials as managers. This brings enjoyment to all those who are successful and despair to those struggling.
The concept is a great own because, unlike manager simulation games which to play against one another is incredibly impractical, it is easy to see who is a better manager (to some extent). Though it can ruin the enjoyment of reality.
I am talking about wanting a player to succeed from a rival team, just so you can earn a few extra fantasy points. For example my fantasy football team I play using the Barclays premier league website has 3 Manchester City players in it. Every time City play I want them to lose but as long as the players I have gain points. This means desiring ridiculous score lines that have no real chance of happening.
This sees me supporting players I do not want to succeed and puts me in a weird position in celebrating goals that I really shouldn't and waiting with anxiety as to whether my defender has claimed a clean sheet for a team one point ahead of the team I support.
The counter argument is that it does provide excitement to games that you would otherwise completely ignore. This also exposes people to different players and to teams that they would otherwise have ignored. It also makes people more knowledgeable of players and thus a better, less biased view on the sport.
This is all well but it does not retract from that awkward moment when as a Fulham fan you celebrate a Eden Hazard goal or as a Pittsburgh Steelers fans you hope that Sebastian Janikowski can make a last minute field goal. Also, no matter how knowledgeable you are about a sport bias will always remain and be a strong part of your opinion.
A friend of mine refuses to do this because he feels that it ruins games. I can see why he believes in this and can definitely see positives behind it. I am tempted not to play fantasy football next year (not just because I am struggling in my leagues) for this reason, yet the games appeal out weighs the negatives.
To get the same enjoyment from non event matches I would need to start gambling and that's something I personally do not want to get into. So I will be cheering on Norwich at home to Aston Villa or hoping that Fulham and Everton can either give me a 0-0 or Steve Sidwell scores more than anyone else this season.
No comments:
Post a Comment