Beech Tree News Network

Fantasy Frenzy
The NFL season is upon us once again.  The week of September 4 is when the ball is first kicked off in this, the 95th NFL season.  Modern fantasy football can be traced back to the late Wilfred “Bill” Winkenbach, an Oakland area businessman and a limited partner in the Oakland Raiders in a New York hotel room during a 1962 Raider eastern cross-country road trip.  Winkenbach, along with Raiders public relations man Bill Tunnel and Tribune reporter Scotty Starling developed a system of organization and a rulebook, which would eventually be the basis of modern fantasy football.
The inaugural league was called GOPPL (Greater Oakland Professional Pigskin Prognosticators League) and the first draft took place in the rumpus room of Winkenbach’s home in Oakland, California in August 1963. 
There are many different types of leagues: Keeper(the type I’m in)-you can keep two players from one year to the next, Head to head leagues-going one on one with different teams on a weekly basis, Total Points league-a final winner is determined in total points that are gathered on an ongoing basis rather than counting wins and losses, Dynasty Keeper where you can keep all of your team from the previous year, Developmental league where you draft college players to develop as well as fully developed pros, Salary Cap league where you draft on a salary basis, Auction where members bid on players. Two Quarterback leagues, similar to Points-Per-Reception leagues, were created as an effort to make Quarterbacks more relevant to fantasy scoring. In this alternate scoring system, a team has the ability to start two quarterbacks in their weekly lineup. This changes the value of the Quarterback position, as it doubles the number of Quarterbacks able to start in any given week. It also reduces the depth of available players, making the position more important for effective roster building.
Daily Fantasy Sports is like traditional fantasy sports where players draft a team of real world athletes who then score fantasy points according to set scoring rules. However, instead of being stuck with the same team through a whole season, daily fantasy sports contests last just one day (or in the case of NFL, one weekend). Users can play head-to-head or in larger field tournaments. Both cash leagues and free contests are available for play.
Typically, the regular season of fantasy football ends after Week 13 of the regular NFL season. This allows for either 3 or 4 weeks for fantasy playoffs before the NFL's 17-week regular season ends. Most fantasy leagues seed their teams based upon their overall records during the regular season. Some leagues award a bye week to the top teams who then remain idle in Week 14. Teams that do not make the fantasy playoffs compete in a consolation bracket for the duration of the playoff period. With the exception of the championship game, all teams losing in the single elimination format continue to play for the duration of the playoff period to determine who finishes third, fifth, seventh, etc.
Several websites, including NFL.com, offer a fantasy football league during the NFL's playoffs. Participants choose players from several different positions and receive points each week for their performances. The league lasts until the Super Bowl. Players who are on a fantasy roster for consecutive weeks earn double, triple, and finally quadruple points.[9] Scoring is usually the same as in most season-long leagues
Knockout pools, Survivor Fantasy are just a few more league types from which to choose.  I am in a keeper league, meaning I’m able to choose two players from the previous year’s team to keep this year.  Of course, just as in real football, there are no guarantees that one who did well the previous year will serve you well in the upcoming campaign.  That’s kind of like life, isn’t it? In anything you do in life, there’s no guarantee that what you did last year will work this year.   Having a plan is the best way to go about this.  Yet, like life, the unpredictable happens and you must acclimate. 
Oh, I almost forgot the team name. That’s one of the most fun parts.  You can pick anything you want, and a logo to go with it.  Two years ago, my team name was White Sabre.  I scoured the internet and found a picture of Betty White wielding a light sabre.  That’s still one of my favorites.  My team name last year was inspired by the popular Facebook group You’re from Butler County if..  I posted something about Druther’s restaurant, thus the team name If I Had My Druthers.   I liked it so much I brought that name back this year.  I even found an Andy Dandytale logo! I had to obviously explain it to every other team member but one, as they had no clue about Druther’s. 
When the draft arrives, your palms get sweaty and your heart might beat a little faster.  Is that just me? Surely I’m not the only one to get nervous.  I remember wondering the first few years, “what if the player I want gets drafted before my turn”? I was scrambling my first year.  Now, I print out a list and have a fantasy football magazine as a back-up.  I encourage you who are interested to get in on a league.  It’s fun. 

Hello.  My name is Andy Sullivan.  I received my bachelor’s degree in business from Mid-Continent University in June 2009.  I began writing for beechtree in July 2009.  I enjoy writing, photography, watching basketball and football, and playing guitar.  I also write a blog that encompasses sports and entertainment, called Sports and More, at http://andyuk79.tumblr.com If you have any comments, please leave them in the space below.  Thanks for reading!