Last Wednesday I experienced my first Fantasy Draft. While RH researched players and made his own list ranking his favorites, I made my decisions based on whether they had a funny, interesting, or cool name. A very scientific algorithm, right?
So the experience went a little something like this…RH and I
headed to a local community college where he had taken a few classes this
summer. My home internet is basically dial-up speed, and he was (rightfully) worried
about the draft working correctly. So we settled into a fairly empty lounge and
made ourselves at home.
I prepared to for the worst. The draft began at 7:00 and RH
warned me that it could last until 9:00 or 9:30. However, these guys apparently
had some lives to get back to and we were done in a little over an hour and
were able to head to Sheetz for some post-draft slushies. Score. (Except that
they didn’t have cherry and I had to get a Pepsi one. Boo. There must ALWAYS be
a cherry option when it comes to slushies!)
The actual draft wasn’t too labor intensive. You are able to
select the players you want to draft and add them to a list, so that way you
can quickly draft them during your turn, or it will auto-select that player
when the time runs out. The most difficult thing is when you have your next
player picked out and some jerk right before you drafts them and you have to
scramble to choose another player. I didn’t think I would be too upset about
this (as I’m not super into any particular players) but I was. Some curse words
were said. I really wanted Reggie Bush. I don’t care how he plays, but he is
adorable and I wanted him on my team. There was also some ginger I wanted. [As
I am what RH (lovingly) calls a “half-ginger” or “day-walker” I have a soft
spot for all gingers. My lady crushes have included Lindsay Lohan (circa Mean
Girls) and Emma Stone. I heart anyone who can make freckles sexy!]
While my main strategy was to choose players based solely on
their names, I did pester RH with his thoughts on my choices. I didn’t want to
pick someone totally awful. And he was also up on the knowledge of who was
recently injured, thanks to his NFL texts and constant reading of football
blogs. So he helped to steer me in the right direction if I made an obvious mistake.
You also have to choose players to fill out different positions on your team,
such as Running Backs, Wide Receivers…that’s all I really remember right now…other
than a quarterback, of course. And this thing called a Flex player that really
confused me (still not sure what that is). Had I been on my own, I probably
would have selected the least important players first given my limited football
knowledge, so he was able to tell me what positions I should choose first and
last. So ladies, unless you actually understand football, have a dude with you
that doesn’t mind answering questions, or all the good players are going to be
gone while you’re busy picking out positions that don’t matter as much.
Turns only came along every couple of minutes, so there was
a lot of downtime (at least for me, as I wasn’t frantically researching or consulting
premade lists). So in between rounds (there were over 20) I amused myself on
Pinterest and BuzzFeed. So RH got a little glimpse into what I like to do with
my downtime…which is look at pretty clothes, recipes, and funny lists. I had an
extensive giggle fit over a particularly hilarious BuzzFeed list that used
quotes from New Girl’s Schmidt to describe life situations. Pretty sure RH
thought I had lost my mind. So ladies, if this is the first time you’re
experiencing a draft, do a little multitasking and find some new pins for your
boards in between. Helps move things along!
So I’m excited to see what happens with football season
starting as I want to win the cash prize! I do need to start getting more
comfortable using the online program, it’s very easy, but I’m a little intimidated
(I’m convinced I’ll mess something up) and usually wait for RH to help me. Apparently
one of my players is already injured and not playing, so I’ll need to pick
someone else. Thank god I have someone in the know who can tell me these
things!
I did attempt to watch a preseason Eagles game on Saturday
night. I chose their new Coach for my fantasy team (trying to have a little
faith in RH’s favorite team) and I wanted to see how the game went that night.
Unfortunately, I slept through most of the game as I got little sleep the night
before and had spent the day in the sun. But they did end up winning in the
end, so hopefully that is a good omen! My new goal will be to stay awake during
the next game we watch. Sunday afternoons are usually our “football time,”
which as everyone knows, is also prime napping time. Tricky, tricky.