Best And Worst Fantasy Sports

Fantasy Sports

By: Kevin Duffy

Posted: 2/20/08

Fantasy basketball is in full swing, fantasy baseball is just about to start, and some of us are already looking ahead to fantasy football season. With spring time marking the convergence of these three brilliant fantasy sports, the question of "Which one is the best?" often arises. A few UConn fantasy nuts and I took a crack at solving that problem.

Manager: Chris Perez, 2nd-semester pre-journalism major

Favorite sport: "When it comes to fantasy sports, fantasy football stands second to none. From the time subscription magazines hit their doorsteps, fans everywhere hit the ground running with ways to win that cherished trophy at the end of December. The buildup every week in terms of match-ups alone offers more excitement then any other fantasy sport, and with only thirteen regular season games, every week is must win. From drafting that so-called sleeper that could lead to a title to desperate waiver wire pickups on Sunday morning to monitoring your opponents guru rating, fantasy football is the cream of the fantasy sports world crop."

Least favorite sport: "The worst fantasy sport would have to be hockey. After all, how can someone find enjoyment in a sport that is practically invisible in America? The majority of sports fans can't name every team out there, let alone players to start a fantasy team with. With hockey, its irrelevance in American culture hinders any chance of it ever being successful in the fantasy world."

Duffy's take: In fantasy football, players earn numerical values for their performances. People get much more into this because neither fantasy basketball or fantasy baseball award specific point values for players. You can't walk into class on Monday morning and say "Thank god Albert Pujols scored 28 points for me this week."

Manager: Rich Gursky, 6th-semester materials science and engineering major

Favorite sport: "My favorite is fantasy horse racing because I'm a chronic bettor and it helps me get my fix without hurting my loved ones."

Least favorite sport: "That would have to be Fantasy Tennis because it's so difficult to bet on."

Duffy's take: I'd like to note that Gursky's first choice was high-stakes black-jack. Sadly, I had to inform him that it wasn't a fantasy sport.

Manager: Mayur Lalka, 8th-semester physical therapy and exercise science major

Favorite sport: "My favorite is fantasy basketball. This is only my second year doing it, but it's been great because this year they have new stats like free throws made and offensive rebounds. They even take points off for missed free throws, turnovers, technicals, flagrants and ejections, so it's little bit [of a] more realistic [measure] of how efficient a player really is."

Least favorite sport: "I haven't played any other fantasy sport except basketball. And I am only used to the NBA Ultimate Fantasy Commissioner [version of the gamme]."

Duffy's take: Fantasy basketball is fun because of the wealth of categories, but because managers have to edit their line-ups on a daily basis, success often comes down to who monitors their team the most instead of who has the best players.

Manager: Brian Neikirk, 2nd-semester business major

Favorite sport: "Fantasy football is the best because I care more about individual players than I do about any particular team in the NFL. It's easy to pick up your favorite players and put your fantasy championship dreams in their hands. Plus, football has more players and more injuries so there are always guys that step up for their team that you can pick up for your fantasy team. Most importantly though, I just rock at fantasy football."

Least favorite: I don't know what the worst fantasy sport is. Apparently there is fantasy golf? That sounds really boring. Fantasy auto racing also is probably only for people desperate for fantasy glory.

Duffy's take: Like Brian, I used to think fantasy football was the best. But then it just got really boring because I was so good. I have since turned to Fantasy NASCAR to fulfill my fantasy needs.

Kevin Duffy's fantasy sports

column appears every Tuesday. He can be contacted at Kevin.R.Duffy@uconn.edu.