Treasure of the Sierra Madre and the NFBC
Posted: Tue Dec 16, 2014 10:18 am
If you were like me, you were fascinated by the hubbub that happened right after last year's fantasy season. You know, when partners on one team accused other teams of not putting their best lineups or slanting their lineups resulting in a bad outcome for the accusing team.
It made for great reading. Some that were not in the league even took sides. Fascinating in and of itself. None of us on the outside, know the ebb and flow of that league. It's premature to have an opinion, one way or the other.
I think I have played, met, or enjoyed all of the parties concerned. I like them all, as far as short handshakes and e-mails, and posts can allow us to 'like' somebody.
But all, seem like standup guys and fellas that I would not hesitate in playing with in a league.
Some that had opinions defended the personalities and integrity of the accused.
Understandable.
As far as I know, the accused would never tinker with a lineup to help somebody else. It's hard to picture them even taking the time to surmise the wants and needs of other teams when each had several teams, other than this league, that were probably of more import to them.
Some outsiders were offended that the accusations were made on a public forum.
Why?
A 19 year old boy in our town was given a long sentence by a judge for a penalty of a crime.
The mother and father of the boy thought the sentence was too long. So they picketed on that judge's courthouse steps for months that he was unfair. Folks walking by the pickets had no idea whether the judge or parents were 'wrong'. The parents were accusing a judge of being harsh and wanted to take it public.
'Taking something public' when a party has felt slighted, has and will go on forever.
I know of some folks that have told me that the more money that is on the line, the more difficult the league.
My reply to that is, rubbish.
The folks involved may have that thought. There is a lot of money on the line, sure. For the first two or three months, competitors would focus on leagues that was a larger financial consideration. Sure, I get that. But focus does not make some players better. Sometimes, it makes them worse. Part of being human.
Some in that league can drop those dollars and not have a second thought. Others, not so much.
Paraphrasing Lee Trevino, pressure is not playing a round of golf with a bet of $1,000. Pressure is playing a round of golf with a bet of $1,000, knowing you don't have ten cents.
A fantasy baseball league is as difficult and has as much pressure as we allow ourselves.
Have we reached the limit on money for a fantasy league?
Will future big spenders be eyeing competitors every move after this?
I don't know. Nobody does.
What I do think is that this won't be the last time that troubles appear in a league with so much money on the line.
It's the nature of the beast.
I know that I'm an old sombitch and that most of you have never heard of 'Treasure of the Sierra Madre' starring Humphrey Bogart, but it was the first thing I thought about when this was brought up.
Here's a synopsis of the movie-
John Huston's 1948 treasure-hunt classic begins as drifter Fred C. Dobbs (Humphrey Bogart), down and out in Tampico, Mexico, impulsively spends his last bit of dough on a lottery ticket. Later on, Dobbs and fellow indigent Curtin (Tim Holt) seek shelter in a cheap flophouse and meet Howard (Walter Huston), a toothless, garrulous old coot who regales them with stories about prospecting for gold. Forcibly collecting their pay from their shifty boss, Dobbs and Curtin combine this money with Dobbs's unexpected windfall from a lottery ticket and, together with Howard, buy the tools for a prospecting expedition. Dobbs has pledged that anything they dig up will be split three ways, but Howard, who's heard that song before, doesn't quite swallow this. As the gold is mined and measured, Dobbs grows increasingly paranoid and distrustful, and the men gradually turn against each other on the way toward a bitterly ironic conclusion. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre is a superior morality play and one of the best movie treatments of the corrosiveness of greed.
This movie is not an analogy of what happened in that league. It is just a comparative in what a lot of money can do to men.
I know that some will post that the amount of money in a fantasy league does not matter. That honor and integrity wins out over money.
Well, we all know that this is just not always so.
We high stakes players even like to fool ourselves and say 'We play, because it is fun'.
Each of us know deep in our hearts that it is not for fun.
Hell, this isn't even a 'fun' game.
It is a murderous, tedious, maniacal, torturous, hair pulling, dog kicking, ass kicking, arm twisting, testicle tugging, name calling, devil went down to the NFBC damned exercise that goes on daily for six months.
It tears at the root of our frontal lobe as we go to work or attend family functions.
It consumes our thoughts as we shake hands with a possible client. It tears at our nerve right behind our left eye as we hug Aunt Betty in congratulating her for winning a Bridge Tournanment.
'Nice bridge win, Aunt Betty!'....Now excuse me while I mentally douse myself with gasoline and torch myself for benching a SHUT OUT today!
ARRRRRGGGHHH!
All, within the recesses of our own mind, of course.
And the more money on the line, the more the pain multiplies.
We're beyond playing 'for fun'. This isn't fun.
Fun is for office leagues and yahoo kids.
Fun is when we began this journey.
We play to win.
And when playing to win in a big money league, it'll be under a microscope of leaguemates.
Now, it may be under the microscope of interested bystanders.
I wouldn't play.
I know myself.
I couldn't put up with what others perceived to be a false move.
In this way, I guess I have answered my own question.
For now, in my opinion, we have reached the limit in how much money should be put into a fantasy league.
It made for great reading. Some that were not in the league even took sides. Fascinating in and of itself. None of us on the outside, know the ebb and flow of that league. It's premature to have an opinion, one way or the other.
I think I have played, met, or enjoyed all of the parties concerned. I like them all, as far as short handshakes and e-mails, and posts can allow us to 'like' somebody.
But all, seem like standup guys and fellas that I would not hesitate in playing with in a league.
Some that had opinions defended the personalities and integrity of the accused.
Understandable.
As far as I know, the accused would never tinker with a lineup to help somebody else. It's hard to picture them even taking the time to surmise the wants and needs of other teams when each had several teams, other than this league, that were probably of more import to them.
Some outsiders were offended that the accusations were made on a public forum.
Why?
A 19 year old boy in our town was given a long sentence by a judge for a penalty of a crime.
The mother and father of the boy thought the sentence was too long. So they picketed on that judge's courthouse steps for months that he was unfair. Folks walking by the pickets had no idea whether the judge or parents were 'wrong'. The parents were accusing a judge of being harsh and wanted to take it public.
'Taking something public' when a party has felt slighted, has and will go on forever.
I know of some folks that have told me that the more money that is on the line, the more difficult the league.
My reply to that is, rubbish.
The folks involved may have that thought. There is a lot of money on the line, sure. For the first two or three months, competitors would focus on leagues that was a larger financial consideration. Sure, I get that. But focus does not make some players better. Sometimes, it makes them worse. Part of being human.
Some in that league can drop those dollars and not have a second thought. Others, not so much.
Paraphrasing Lee Trevino, pressure is not playing a round of golf with a bet of $1,000. Pressure is playing a round of golf with a bet of $1,000, knowing you don't have ten cents.
A fantasy baseball league is as difficult and has as much pressure as we allow ourselves.
Have we reached the limit on money for a fantasy league?
Will future big spenders be eyeing competitors every move after this?
I don't know. Nobody does.
What I do think is that this won't be the last time that troubles appear in a league with so much money on the line.
It's the nature of the beast.
I know that I'm an old sombitch and that most of you have never heard of 'Treasure of the Sierra Madre' starring Humphrey Bogart, but it was the first thing I thought about when this was brought up.
Here's a synopsis of the movie-
John Huston's 1948 treasure-hunt classic begins as drifter Fred C. Dobbs (Humphrey Bogart), down and out in Tampico, Mexico, impulsively spends his last bit of dough on a lottery ticket. Later on, Dobbs and fellow indigent Curtin (Tim Holt) seek shelter in a cheap flophouse and meet Howard (Walter Huston), a toothless, garrulous old coot who regales them with stories about prospecting for gold. Forcibly collecting their pay from their shifty boss, Dobbs and Curtin combine this money with Dobbs's unexpected windfall from a lottery ticket and, together with Howard, buy the tools for a prospecting expedition. Dobbs has pledged that anything they dig up will be split three ways, but Howard, who's heard that song before, doesn't quite swallow this. As the gold is mined and measured, Dobbs grows increasingly paranoid and distrustful, and the men gradually turn against each other on the way toward a bitterly ironic conclusion. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre is a superior morality play and one of the best movie treatments of the corrosiveness of greed.
This movie is not an analogy of what happened in that league. It is just a comparative in what a lot of money can do to men.
I know that some will post that the amount of money in a fantasy league does not matter. That honor and integrity wins out over money.
Well, we all know that this is just not always so.
We high stakes players even like to fool ourselves and say 'We play, because it is fun'.
Each of us know deep in our hearts that it is not for fun.
Hell, this isn't even a 'fun' game.
It is a murderous, tedious, maniacal, torturous, hair pulling, dog kicking, ass kicking, arm twisting, testicle tugging, name calling, devil went down to the NFBC damned exercise that goes on daily for six months.
It tears at the root of our frontal lobe as we go to work or attend family functions.
It consumes our thoughts as we shake hands with a possible client. It tears at our nerve right behind our left eye as we hug Aunt Betty in congratulating her for winning a Bridge Tournanment.
'Nice bridge win, Aunt Betty!'....Now excuse me while I mentally douse myself with gasoline and torch myself for benching a SHUT OUT today!
ARRRRRGGGHHH!
All, within the recesses of our own mind, of course.
And the more money on the line, the more the pain multiplies.
We're beyond playing 'for fun'. This isn't fun.
Fun is for office leagues and yahoo kids.
Fun is when we began this journey.
We play to win.
And when playing to win in a big money league, it'll be under a microscope of leaguemates.
Now, it may be under the microscope of interested bystanders.
I wouldn't play.
I know myself.
I couldn't put up with what others perceived to be a false move.
In this way, I guess I have answered my own question.
For now, in my opinion, we have reached the limit in how much money should be put into a fantasy league.