FAQ

1. Fantasy Football - The first half of the sport's name sounds quite enticing. Do we get weekly DVDs of women wearing skin-tight, wet outfits playing Football at the Beach ?
We are sorry we got your hopes high. We do have people who are wearing skin-tight and occasionally wet outfits. However they are all men who weigh 250 pounds and upwards. Fantasy Football is a game played at the comfort of your home while enjoying a regular season of American Football. Check out Michael Fabiano's article written for newcomers and Wikipedia's entry on Fantasy Football. Fanball.com has another interesting document on Fantasy Football that can be downloaded.



2. But the only Football I know is played with a spherical ball. This one looks clearly out of shape and people don't seem to be using their foot much often. Is this an elaborate scheme ?
American Football is significantly different from European Football in that the feet are used only during kickoffs, field goals, point-afters and occasionally to step on the faces of prostrate members from the opposing team. Trust wikipedia to explain the basics of the game. If all that sounds too much work, just watch a game with a friend who knows it.

3. Hmm, you have my curiosity piqued. I am game for a season of Fantasy Football. What do I do next ? Do I need to do weights ? Do I need to run a few miles every day ? Do I have to pin someone into submission ? Let me know and I will get started.
Thanks for offering to perform all the above. We shall let you know when it is required. As of now, you need to join a Fantasy Football League in one of the zillion sites that offer this feature. We have a league you can join if you are interested. Just post a comment to this message with your email-id and we shall send out an invitation to you if there are any openings in our league. We currently use Yahoo! as our host server.

4. Now that I have joined your league, what do I do next ? Can I pin someone to submission now ? Maybe a Pile Drive ? Or at least a Clothes Line ?
Until we say otherwise, you cannot pin anyone to submission or pile drive or clothes line. The next important stage of the League is Drafting, very similar to the NFL Draft. The draft offers all the managers in the team to fill up their Rosters with players of their choice. In the NFL, the draft order is fixed for every round with the lowest ranked team from the previous season picking first and the highest ranked team picking last. In Fantasy Football, the draft is usually serpentine where the draft order reverses every round. The team that picks first in the first round picks last in the second round, first in the third round, last in the fourth round and so on.

5. The Draft sounds cool. Are we all going to the Radio City Music Hall to do it ? I have never been to New York you know.
Keep asking such thoughtful questions and you just might. An ideal Fantasy Football draft happens at a central place - a friend's house - where all the managers meet on a given day and draft their teams. Considering the geographical diversity of our league (Karnatka and Kah-lee-fornia), the draft has to be done off-line. There are three ways to do this draft.
a) live draft on the yahoo server - all the managers login to the yahoo server and draft players online. This would be quickest and most interesting way to do the draft.
b) off-line draft by email - all managers start picking their drafts by email. This would be a time consuming process since each round could easily take up to a day, but would be interesting.
c) auto draft - all managers need to rate their players and allow the yahoo drafting system to draft depending on the best player who is available at that time. A quick way to finish the draft, but quite possibly, the dullest.

6. Can't you just set up that gizmo-wizmo which would automatically draft my players ? I need to catch up on a few episodes of "Kolangal".
That would be very similar to having someone else do Gym sessions for you. The selling point of the draft is split-second decisions one makes looking at the draft board, the rosters of competing managers and his immediate requirements. The pressure, the smack talk and the strategy are quite unrivalled.

7. All right, I will draft my players alongside the rest of you. But you don't know my secret trick. I will draft all the top performing players from the last year and voila, I am the winner even before the season starts.
As someone said, you cannot win a Fantasy Football season on Draft Day, but you can surely lose it. A fruitful year that is over is only that and nothing more. Take for example, Shaun Alexander who was a statistical monster in 2005, but got sidelined in 2006. Or Steve Smith. Or Edgerrin James. Do your homework before you draft and the season is yours. Most of the sports sites like ESPN, NFL, CBS, Yahoo and Fox run their own reviews of the upcoming season. You can also count on other low-profile (but twice as engaging and useful) sites like Fantasy Sharks and Fantasy Football Xtreme.
Do not forget to check out Fantasy Football Xtreme's Draft Simulator.

8. Wait a second, whatever you are saying sounds quite familiar to Super Selector run by ESPN - Star Sports. How is this any different ?
In Super Selector, two people from the same league can have the same 11 players in their team thereby killing any chance of meaningful competition. In Fantasy Football, we ensure that a player plays for only one team thereby making it all the more interesting and fun.

9. Sounds interesting and I am in. Do you have a copy of the Rules ?
Yep.

10. What are the various scoring formats available ?
Currently, there are two scoring formats available.
a. Points format - where the team with the maximum number of points at the end of the season wins
b. Head-to-Head format - where the the team that wins the Super Bowl at the end of the regular season and playoff wins the league.
In points format, everyone picks a starting line up and accrues points depending on their line up every week. The points are added and the team with maximum points wins.
In H-to-H format, each player plays against another player/team each week. The player with the maximum points between the two, wins that week. The points accrued that week are not considered unless and until there is a tie while identifying the playoff teams. At the end of the regular season of the league, the top four players with the best winning record qualify for the playoffs in the Super League. After one conference championship round, the two winners play in the Super Bowl with the winner of the Super Bowl winning the league.

The league currently hosts a Points format. However, if all the members agree, a parallel Head-to-Head league can be run alongside. This league would utilize the same roster, but a different starting line up every week.

11. I like the sound of the word "Trade". Can I do it ?
A trade is an act by which a team exchanges one or more players with another team. A trade is usually done when a player has abundant resources in one starting position while a dearth in the other. The player could identify a team which has a need for a certain position and trade some players from his/her team for players in the other team.

12. Wait a second. 'Waiver' sounds cool too. Can I try this ?
A waiver is an act by which a team which owns a player releases him to the Free Agent pool thereby waiving their rights on him. This player would then move to the Waiver Wire where he would remain for a fixed set of days. After the expiry of the time, he becomes a Free Agent allowing any other team in the league to draft him into theirs. A player is usually waived when he is injured or to free up a roster spot in case he is performing poorly.

13. I have a question that is not answered in this FAQ. Just because my question isn't frequently asked, you can't do this to me.
Just add a comment to this post with your question and it would get added to the FAQ. Also, don't take things so seriously.

14. So what else is required out of me ?
Nothing else but your sincere participation in the league. All the players in this league are amateurs who enjoy Fantasy Football as an interesting pass-time that goes well with their love of the game. But we also look forward to play in a competitive league where people take their game serious enough to draft wisely and start players on a timely basis. Enjoy the game, enjoy the season and have fun.