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THE DRAFT
SA N L U I S O B I SP O , C A L I F O R N IA
Fuck it. Lets wake him up.
Dude. Its two oclock in the morning. We told him tomorrow.
Hes going to be pissed.
So what! Nine out of ten is a majority. The time is now! Now
isnt a time.
I hear this argument somewhere behind me. My attention is on the
ten-by-six-foot fantasy football draft board hanging on the wall. Its
made of a giant single sheet of white paper, ordered online, professionally
printed. Im squinting at it with a Bud Light in my hand. The sheet of
paper is why were all here the ten of usat a rented house a few
miles from downtown SLO. The sheet of paper is why Brian is about to
be roused from a peaceful sleep. Its mid-August and were on the brink
of our Draft Night, a physical gathering to choose our imaginary teams
for the upcoming NFL season. Ive been in this league for four years now,
around the time I stopped playing the real thing. The first two I missed
the playoffs. The last two I won the title. Thats right, folks! Im the
champion because I have learned to play fantasy football with my heart.
The experts tell me this is a bad idea. The experts also have
hemorrhoids.
My team is called the Sleeve, and I have the last pick in the first
round and the first in the secondthe tenth and eleventh picks. Previous
years champ picks last.
I think we gotta wake him up, says Rocky.
Rocky is ready now. No one is more upset by my back-to- back
victories than Rocky. He is the commissioner of the league. He is also the
most dedicated football fantasizer, a thirty-seven- year-old-man who
considers knowledge of sports different than being a good athlete. Rocky
is both knowledgeable and athletic, but considers me only one of the two,
up like a prowith a few new cuts. You can tell the athletes by the
way they fall. Cheers erupted from deck chairs.
Catch is a spectator sport.
These guys didnt play in the NFL. Didnt play college foot- ball. Half
of them played high school. Football looks different to them.
This is a yearlong fantasy league with thirteen regular season games.
Every week I face a different friend. Then three weeks of playoffs. Top six
teams make the playoffs. Top two have a bye in the first round. The
championship takes place in week 16 of the NFLs regular season. The
buy-in is $100. Winner takes $500, second place takes $200. The high
point total each week pays $25.
But this isnt about money. Its about humiliating my friends.
And it starts now.
02:04
One hundred eighty draft picksone hundred eighty names on colorcoded stickers purchased ahead of time by Rocky, who also b(r)ought the
draft board. Ten teams: eighteen players each. You need quarterbacks,
running backs, wide receivers, tight ends, a kicker, a team defense, and
one individual defensive player. Basically guys who hold the football.
Yahoo, the online platform we use, tracks every intricate statistic
requiring nothing of me but a wi-fi signal.
Each of my players individual performances score points for my
team. Six points for a touchdown, 1 point per 10 yards rushing or
receiving, 1 point per reception, 5 points per passing touchdown, and a
variety of other single-point rewards for long plays and big yardage
totals. The fate of the players actual foot- ball team doesnt matter to
me: only the fate of the individual player. One man holds the ball. Hes
the guy you want on your fantasy football team. He scores you points.
But! One man does not move the ball; one team does.
Really, the only bit of fantasy advice that I have is this: Draft with your
heart! Pick the guys you like on the teams you like. Makes it more fun. I
won the championship the last two years by drafting with my heart. I
pick my friends. Former teammates. Guys I like. I draft wide receiver
Brandon Marshall every year. I draft Jay Cutler. Kicker Matt Prater. We
all played together in Denver. I draft Broncos. I fill my cup with