I used to play Fantasy Football regularly, and was usually pretty good at it too. With a bunch of guys that I knew from my former profession in banking, I kept playing into my early years with the police department. But somewhere around the turn of the century, I dropped out. Part of the reasoning was that I just wanted to simplify things a bit, to get rid of some things that were taking up my time and effort. You see, when I get involved in stuff like that, I get involved. It's fun, sure, but it's not all just fun, I have to win too. So that means that I have to know as much information as possible, which involves reading on the web and in magazines, watching TV shows, watching games, etc. For the past 8-10 years without Fantasy Football, I have found that I enjoyed watching Eagles games so much more. Of course this may also have had something to do with the fact that during this period the Eagles got really good thanks to Andy Reid, Donovan McNabb, Brian Westbrook, Brian Dawkins, et al. I found that I didn't at all miss the Sunday ritual of checking the highlight shows to see if any of my guys had big games, scored touchdowns, and so on. I enjoyed football much more without the Fantasy element. So with all that good stuff, why am I back in the game, cramming suddenly for a Draft to be held tomorrow (Friday) night? Good question. A few guys that I work with are involved, and asked, so I am gonna take the plunge again. I looked down the list of NFL kickers as currently ranked by one of the rating services, and I didn't even know 12 of the top 13 names listed. I don't know the vast majority of the RB's and WR's, and even a few of the QB's. Heck, if it wasn't for some stupid ESPN commercials, I would have never heard of Maurice Jones-Drew at all. So here I sit, having to decide which two players from the team that I have inherited in an ongoing league that I might want as 'Keepers' for my team. I am leaning towards keeping a guy named Marshawn Lynch, because the websites and magazines rate him as around the 10th-15th best player overall. But I don't really know who the heck he is, outside of being a RB on the Buffalo Bills. It is so much different than when I left the Fantasy game a decade ago, when I knew all the players and was educated well on the trends. Now I am playing catchup, which probably means that I am donating my $120 entry fee. At least for this year. Unless of course this Marshawn guy is a stud, and maybe I can spackle and duct tape together enough luck to steal something early. Hope springs eternal on Draft night, where the real fun is enjoyed anyway. Am I ready for some football? Here goes nothin'.NOTE: The league that I joined decided on Draft night to "redraft" with no 'Keepers' this year, so Lynch was not mine in the end. My first four picks were: Clinton Portis RB, Ryan Grant RB, Steve Smith WR, Donovan McNabb QB
