My Fantasy Basketball Experience

Posted by Phil Partington Apr 19, 2007

My friends sometimes say I put the fan in fantasy basketball. I say I'm just a huge basketball geek and darn-tootin' proud of it. This is my tenth season partaking in the addictive activity of Fantasy Basketball, and though it wasn't the most illustrious season for me, it was still quite enjoyable and included its successes.

I participated in six fantasy leagues this year, cutting down from roughly 712,938 a year ago. The idea was that by cutting down the number of leagues I was involved in, I would have more free time for myself and my girlfriend and wouldn't be so worn out by my addictive nature.

I was so wrong. Here's a run-down of my typical evenings.

My patient girlfriend in the other room: "Are you done checking the scores YET???"

Me: "In just a minute!"

My patient and loving girlfriend in the other room: "You said a minute over an hour ago!"

Me: "I'm almost done!"

My patient and loving and beautiful girlfriend in the other room: "I thought we were going to go out tonight!"

Me: "Um...well...maybe we should go out another night."

Me: aet4ih;awe4ourao;rueawju

That last part was my face crashing against the keyboard as my patient girlfriend slammed a book into the back of my head.

So, I'll get to the point quickly in case she's somewhere nearby.

For those who care, here's a brief synopsis of the six leagues I partook in. I like Yahoo! Fantasy Basketball the best. There are a whole lot of free fantasy basketball leagues, but I think they beat all the rest.

I played in four rotisserie style leagues using 9 statistical categories or "STAT CAT's" (FG%, FT%, 3ptm, pts, rb, ast, stls, blcks and to). I finished first in three of these leagues and third in the other. I've run a league of ten managers for the past eight years, and I was the first manager this season to get back-to-back titles, which is always good for bragging rights. I expect some severe soreness over the next few months as my opponents in that league practice their surgical techniques with a voodoo doll that looks eerily like me.

I played in two head-to-head leagues, which I'm not as fond of as rotisserie, and finished second in one and third in the other. I'm actually more proud of the latter one, as I completely missed the draft and ended up with a team so full of injuries I was considering donating some limbs if it would help their healing processes. In the other league, I lost the title in the final day, as Rajon Rondo had six steals which allowed my opponent to pass me in that critical STAT CAT.

All in all, it was a fun season, as usual. Can't wait for next year. I'd love to hear about how you did in your leagues, so let's start a discussion.