Stupid Public

[DOUGHBOYS]

We don't get laughed at.
It's worse.
Our love for fantasy baseball brings sneers, snickers, and the worst, eye rolls.
Nobody really takes us serious.
We rank right up there with guys with metal detectors on a beach. With a Wal-Mart greeter. With mime's.
When somebody asks about our hobbies, we're more inclined to say a more general "Sports", rather than "fantasy sports".
We don't do that because we're ashamed of our fantasy geekdom. We respond that way to avoid the probable eyerollish reaction.

Math folks don't like us because we have brought sports into their realm. Baseball fans don't like us because baseball had enough numbers before us.
We are putt-putt golf to a club professional.
We are a jeopardy winner to a College Professor.
We are Soduko to a crossword puzzler.
We haven't found our niche. Politicians and the Government have no idea whether fantasy equals gambling.
Truth is, they don't want to know.
What they do know is that millions of voters play fantasy sports. That's a lot of votes.
Rocking the fantasy boat is not good for re-election.
Hell, some politicians play fantasy sports to show 'they're like everybody else'. Of course, they do it with a wink and a smile.
This way, they don't get the eye rolls. After all, they're only lowering themselves to our level to show that they can be an everyday person.

We don't know our local teams starting rotation like most fan's.
We know EVERY teams rotation.
We're the geek that can recite line's from every movie. We like baseball, and this is our way of liking baseball....more.
For some reason, the more we know about the game and players, the less we are respected.
What other hobby can say that?
At the same time, an experienced fantasy player is mostly viewed by the public the same as a casual fantasy player.
A geek is a geek is still, a geek..

Last night, a lady approached me. She knew of my love for baseball, but more importantly, my love of fantasy.
She spoke about how she had 'lost' her husband to fantasy football over the past two weeks. He had entered many drafts online. When he woke up in the morning, at work, at night, even late at night.
I assured her that most of this was study or mock drafting. That most sites do not hold drafts early in the morning or very late at night.
It didn't matter to her.
I asked her age. She responded 21.
I told her how lucky she was that it was fantasy sports that is the mistress.
He could be in a bar, drinking.
A street corner, using.
A hotel room, carousing.
I suggested making it a 'threesome' with the mistress. To get involved. I explained that it wouldn't take much.
All she had to do was ask him who his favorite fantasy player was on his team(s).
And start rooting like crazy for that guy. As if he were your own son.
Andrew Luck? Instantly, you're a big fan.

But, her eyes showed defeat. As if she could not compete. I could see that she wanted a twosome, not a threesome.
And I could see that she felt like a victim of fantasy.
I tried to explain about Man and bones.
How their bodies were held together by many bones, but that their interests were of individual bones.
The sex bone.
Making bones.
And above all, the competitive bone.
At 21, before family, most men are driven by sex, money, and competition.
She would have to pick her battles.
In the battle for fantasy, she has the choice of making it a threesome or ignoring the fantasy girl altogether and letting her man have his way with her.
I suggested that ultimatums, threats, and arguments would only lead to larger problems.
She left, deciding that she was going to root like all get out for Andrew Luck this year. Keeping her husband close, keeping her enemies closer.

I'm hoping she comes back in a few weeks, telling me how much she's enjoyed fantasy. I've seen it happen with my daughter. I've seen it happen with others.
As a society, it is easy to ridicule something we do not fully understand.
We'll see wives wondering about their husband and how much he plays.
And worse, the general public will ask WHY we play at all.
They don't understand.
And until they do....
We will continue to see much more admonition before admiration.
Stupid Public.

[EA Sports]

On the money here Dan. Sometimes I feel like we are grouped in with the Dungeons and Dragons crowd.