Hobby?...Whatever!
Posted: Tue May 17, 2011 12:34 pm
Sometimes, I ask myself what the hell is going on around here?
Why am I in this hobby?
Is this a hobby?
Am I stupid?
Sure, the answer is readily available for the fourth question, but I wonder about the first three.
We play in a game that eats away at our souls.
Travis Snider was picked by players hoping for a breakout year. He hit .184 with little help in any categories. So, what do most do? Hold on to him. We know in our heart of hearts that Snider can be better than that. Already, he has ruined a spot in our lineup for a month, now, he sits on our bench, taking away from faab picks that could provide instant gratification.
Same with Angel Pagan. A ruiner of stats, then he visits the newest planet in the solar system. the planet Oblique.
It's a fashionable planet. Marv. All the best go there.
Not to mention first rounders Carl Crawford and Hanley Ramirez who after being drafted with the elite, have played and hit with all of the skills of Mario Mendoza.
Yet, here we are, with all those players still on our rosters. We are like the jilted lovers, who just know that our love will see the light.
Sunday, Dan Uggla who has slumped all year, scored Atlanta's three runs and hit a game winning home run off Roy Halladay.
Braves announcers exclaimed that this was Uggla's breakout game.
They must not play fantasy baseball.
We know each day, each performance, is just one stitch in time.
Since, Uggla is 0-6.
Hell, we don't even believe in breakout year's. Jose Bautista hit 54 home runs and few experts gave him a shot to do it again. In fact, most debates centered on whether he can hit 35 again.
We owners have thick hides. Player-wise, we've had more wives than Larry King. We have enough confidence in a pitcher like Vin Mazzaro to bemoan the fact that he won't be pitching another day this week, even after giving up 254,684 runs Monday night.
It is just a part of us.
We'll hear that Matt Kemp hit two home runs, and our response will be, "Yeah, but did he steal any bases?"
It's grueling. We'll keep the same face for our family, even if our pitcher has given up seven runs in two and two thirds innings.
While our wives are asking how our day went, the first thing we think of is that pitcher, but we make small talk about the usual goings on at work.
Friends can ask how my team is at six, and I'll say great. At eight, that team is the worst team in the world.
A friend asked me to compare another hobby such as stamp collecting to fantasy baseball. I let it all hang out.
"Are you serious? Those friggin' stamps are the same each day! Nothing changes. Sure, the value will go up and down but if you think that is like fantasy baseball, you're crazy!
Think about a brand new mint set of stamps. They're proudly displayed in your album. Now, think about an auction team headed by Hanley, Crawford, Liriano, and Ubaldo.
You come home just as proud. Afterall, they are mint players. A month later, those players have yellowed and look as good as a Nacho Cheese Dorito in mud. What if you opened your damn stamp album and saw all your mint stamps turned to crap within a month? You'd feel like crap, right?"
To this day, he has never asked me about fantasy baseball again.
Hobbies are lighthearted activities, designed to lighten and engage our inner being.
Fantasy baseball ain't no hobby.
Fantasy baseball is an ongoing mind game.
It is obsession, wrapped around tension and aggravation, with a dash of frustration and helplessness.
It is a sweeet, sweet game.
And outsiders will never understand.
[ May 17, 2011, 07:11 PM: Message edited by: DOUGHBOYS ]
Why am I in this hobby?
Is this a hobby?
Am I stupid?
Sure, the answer is readily available for the fourth question, but I wonder about the first three.
We play in a game that eats away at our souls.
Travis Snider was picked by players hoping for a breakout year. He hit .184 with little help in any categories. So, what do most do? Hold on to him. We know in our heart of hearts that Snider can be better than that. Already, he has ruined a spot in our lineup for a month, now, he sits on our bench, taking away from faab picks that could provide instant gratification.
Same with Angel Pagan. A ruiner of stats, then he visits the newest planet in the solar system. the planet Oblique.
It's a fashionable planet. Marv. All the best go there.
Not to mention first rounders Carl Crawford and Hanley Ramirez who after being drafted with the elite, have played and hit with all of the skills of Mario Mendoza.
Yet, here we are, with all those players still on our rosters. We are like the jilted lovers, who just know that our love will see the light.
Sunday, Dan Uggla who has slumped all year, scored Atlanta's three runs and hit a game winning home run off Roy Halladay.
Braves announcers exclaimed that this was Uggla's breakout game.
They must not play fantasy baseball.
We know each day, each performance, is just one stitch in time.
Since, Uggla is 0-6.
Hell, we don't even believe in breakout year's. Jose Bautista hit 54 home runs and few experts gave him a shot to do it again. In fact, most debates centered on whether he can hit 35 again.
We owners have thick hides. Player-wise, we've had more wives than Larry King. We have enough confidence in a pitcher like Vin Mazzaro to bemoan the fact that he won't be pitching another day this week, even after giving up 254,684 runs Monday night.
It is just a part of us.
We'll hear that Matt Kemp hit two home runs, and our response will be, "Yeah, but did he steal any bases?"
It's grueling. We'll keep the same face for our family, even if our pitcher has given up seven runs in two and two thirds innings.
While our wives are asking how our day went, the first thing we think of is that pitcher, but we make small talk about the usual goings on at work.
Friends can ask how my team is at six, and I'll say great. At eight, that team is the worst team in the world.
A friend asked me to compare another hobby such as stamp collecting to fantasy baseball. I let it all hang out.
"Are you serious? Those friggin' stamps are the same each day! Nothing changes. Sure, the value will go up and down but if you think that is like fantasy baseball, you're crazy!
Think about a brand new mint set of stamps. They're proudly displayed in your album. Now, think about an auction team headed by Hanley, Crawford, Liriano, and Ubaldo.
You come home just as proud. Afterall, they are mint players. A month later, those players have yellowed and look as good as a Nacho Cheese Dorito in mud. What if you opened your damn stamp album and saw all your mint stamps turned to crap within a month? You'd feel like crap, right?"
To this day, he has never asked me about fantasy baseball again.
Hobbies are lighthearted activities, designed to lighten and engage our inner being.
Fantasy baseball ain't no hobby.
Fantasy baseball is an ongoing mind game.
It is obsession, wrapped around tension and aggravation, with a dash of frustration and helplessness.
It is a sweeet, sweet game.
And outsiders will never understand.
[ May 17, 2011, 07:11 PM: Message edited by: DOUGHBOYS ]
