The Fans game

Blake Elliott

Dr. Lawrence

Freshman English II

21 April 2011

The Fans Game

Our youth culture is always looking for the next cool and interesting hobby to do with each other. Fantasy Baseball is a way to bring all kinds of different people together and let them show how much they know about the game of baseball. For those of you who do not know what Fantasy Baseball is, fantasy baseball is a game where participants manage a roster of Major League baseball players (Wikipedia 1). The participants compete against one another using those players' statistics to score points (Wikipedia 1). You will never be in a fantasy baseball group that has the same type of people that play fantasy. There will always be different personalities and people that will play. This is a great way for youth to feel like they are actually more apart of the game and it lets them feel like they know more about the game and in return they become more interested in the game of baseball. This is also quite a popular hobby because most groups that take part in a fantasy baseball draft pay a certain amount of money to go towards the winner of the group. Usually whenever money is involved in anything that has to do with sports it becomes much more interesting to the people that are in the group.

Every time you walk into the room that is having the draft you can almost always smell the different types of finger foods that are provided, and feel the excitement that is brought to the room as soon as the draft starts and players start to be picked. This is a way for teens and men of all ages to get away from the stress of their day-to-day lives and enjoy being with their close friends and talk about what they love most. As you play fantasy baseball you will quickly notice that there are many different identities that come with this hobby. A famous personality that seems to be in every group is the “know it all,” this cocky guy will come with a list of players that he thinks will do the best and win him the money. To be honest with you, that guy hardly ever wins because he over thinks everything and it doesn’t go quite his way in the end. Also, you have the guy who doesn’t care about winning but may wind up sneaking a few upsets and being the difference maker in the group. There are so many more identities that go along with fantasy baseball and you will quickly realize some of them as I have with some of my examples with the pictures below.

· This is one of the more intense groups that spend way too much time doing their draft. This group will usually be in the basement away from their wives and any other distractions. This is a

great way for them to seclude themselves from everything except fantasy baseball. They will agonize over who to pick for their team for hours upon hours and probably still not be satisfied with the players that they wound up picking for their fantasy team.

· Everyone knows this guy; this is the guy who will spend hours researching who the best players of the upcoming year are. He will take weeks, maybe even months before the draft to think about different scenarios of how the season will go and whom he should pick for his team. This is definitely the most dedicated and hardcore fantasy player of the group.

· This guy is the one of the group who has no idea what goes on during the season. He just pitches his money in the group and wishes for the best and

is just looking to have a good time with his friends and see what happens among the group. Who knows, this may be the guy who goes on to win the whole thing and take home the cash. Well, this is not very likely but you never know what could happen during the year.

· This is the king of his league, and also the reigning fantasy baseball champion. “The King” always seems to come with the most confidence and heir about winning. He seems to be the one every single year that manages to win or place in a top place. So, he will most likely take home some money. Every league will experience this type of player sometime while they play. He is not necessarily the smartest guy in your group but he is definitely the one with the most luck and has great knowledge for the game.

When I think of something that is a major part of youth culture I automatically think of fantasy sports, especially fantasy baseball. Teens are constantly looking for a way to compete with their peers and this is a great way for them to let their competitive nature come to use in a good, clean way. This topic has been of a great interest to me because I am interested in fantasy sports, and play fantasy sports with my friend’s and family. Playing fantasy baseball is a great way to see the different types of identities that people have and how they act and carry themselves. I have been interested in fantasy baseball for quite sometime because it is a great way for my friends and I to get together and talk about the topic that is all of our favorites. The youth of today love to get together in groups and have a draft party and get involved with fantasy baseball because it is a way to bring them closer to the game of baseball. Fantasy baseball is usually a hobby that is dominated by middle aged men but as of lately more and more youth have picked it up. There is more youth than ever that are playing fantasy baseball and getting more involved with sports period. Fantasy baseball is an interesting topic to go over because there are so many different types of people that play fantasy and different ways they approach playing the game.

Works Cited

Abril, Carmen. "The Burger King Is Dead." Marketing Weblog. 17 Dec. 2010. Web. 29 Apr. 2011. .

Bagels, Johnny. "PTU Fantasy Baseball Draft." PTU (Pardon The Unemployment). 25 Mar. 2011. Web. 29 Apr. 2011. .

Bolohan, Scott. "Fantasy Baseball Draft Day: The Best Day Ever." ChicagoNow. 19 Mar. 2010. Web. 29 Apr. 2011. .

"Fantasy Baseball." Wikipedia. 18 Apr. 2011. Web. 29 Apr. 2011. .