Hey Ladies: Fantasy Football is Good for You

I did it! I did it! I got the number one pick in my Fantasy Football draft. Big thanks to my personal Holy Ghost of the gridiron…Vince Lombardi, who I know is watching over me. This is going to be my year.

Clearly this is a sign the tide is turning in my favor, as I haven’t finished in the top three in the past three years. You’d think I might be dejected after three years without winning, right? Or perhaps, when I tell you I’m a Vikings fan, you think, “Ahhhhh, she’s used to losing.” But no, I am not dejected.

Even if I haven’t had a winning season in 5 years, I’ve been eagerly awaiting the 2016 Fantasy Football draft night since the final seconds ticked off the clock in the fourth quarter of the Super Bowl last February.

I am an unabashed Fantasy Football diehard. According to Forbes magazine, I’m one of 6.4 million American women who are glued to screens, — television, mobile or otherwise, each game day, monitoring scores from around the NFL. That’s right. One third of Fantasy Football managers are women. It’s not a man’s game anymore, baby.

And no, we’re not letting our husbands and boyfriends manage our teams. I put someone in a headlock for insinuating that once. Kidding. Sort of. And we’re not choosing players by cutest mascot or tight end.

We do the homework. We “break down tapes,” as they say. I’ll admit, before I started playing Fantasy, I was a hometown team fan, and that’s about as far as my love for the game went. I knew the basics of football, but I had no idea what a tight-end was, where the redzone was, or which running back had the most yards-per-carry.

But with Fantasy Football you not only gain knowledge of the game you never in a million years imagined you’d care about, but you can name every Quarterback in the league, the best defense, the Wide Receiver with the most receptions, and the number of yards the leading Running Back ran for.

If you love analytics, there is no better hobby for you. You’ll suddenly find yourself listening to SportsCenter on Sunday Morning, watching NFL GameDay, or tuning in 15 minutes before game time to find out who is active or on the injured reserve.

There is the maddening, nail-biting anticipation of a Monday night game, when winning or losing comes down to the 4^th quarter, and three extra points by your kicker stand between you and first place in your league. The only time I stay up past my bedtime on a weeknight? Guaranteed, it’s for Monday Night Football.

So why are more women drawn to the allure of Fantasy Football each year? Well, assuming they don’t have a huge passion for the game to begin with, women love it for a lot of the same reasons men do, including:

Connecting with friends, family, coworkers, neighbors – My dad and I talk now more than ever. He plays in 3 leagues. I like to go to him to discuss strategy, proposed player trades, line-up and bye week options.  However, I learned early on: don’t ever take anyone else’s advice. You’ll have no excuses and resentment if the advice doesn’t pan out, and you’ll get all the glory for yourself if you make the decision on your own.

I play in several leagues. One is a “girls-only” league with my friends from Facebook, who live all over the country. It’s a great way for us to keep in touch on a regular basis throughout the season, and we share a lot of laughs…from team names to the most ridiculously frilly, frou-frou traveling trophy in the history of football (if Martha Stewart designed trophies, this would be it).

Social Ritual and Tradition – Every year a group of my coworkers, from all departments, IT, Finance, Customer Service and Marketing, get together after work for some appetizers, adult beverages and our Fantasy draft. People who never meet during the course of business hours have become friends over  the years. There’s more cooperation, camaraderie, and morale boost through the friendly competition. We also have a jersey day and chili cook-off during the season, and, of course, we give each other a little good-spirited ribbing during the offseason.

It’s Good for You – Everybody knows about the psychology of winning right? There’s the adrenaline rush. The self-confidence boost. Fantasy Football is good for your health. It’s science. Don’t believe me? Read for yourself, from the author of Sports Fans: The Psychology and Social Impact of Spectators.

Bragging Rights, Trophies, Cold, Hard Cash  –  Or, humiliation of opponents in extreme cases, like the guy in the news a few years back who was the big loser in his league and had to get a tattoo of his most hated team’s logo. Talk about a diehard.

So ladies, this is your year. Beginners luck is REAL. Trust me. I’ve seen it with my own two eyes on more than one occasion. Give it a go. It’s good for you!

To form a league of your own, check out Yahoo Fantasy Football…it’s my favorite.

Smart Perks Blogger, Melanie Bisson, doesn’t feel it’s appropriate to reveal her team’s name in this forum.