TAM HIGH AND FANTASY FOOTBALL

By Asa Moore

Onany given school day from Sep tember to December, a short walk across the campus of Tamalpais High School is more than enough to catch snippets of students obsessing over their favorite weekly ritual. I’m re ferring to fantasy football, of course. They are united by a sport that some of them have never even played, and even people who previously never watched football tune in every Sunday to keep track of their team.

For every major sport in the U.S., a fantasy equivalent exists. Every minute detail of a professional sports player’s performance is equated to a certain point value. After a game, each player will be scored based on their overall performance, and this score goes toward the larger fantasy team. While pre-internet fantasy managers had to calculate scores themselves, cutting-edge technology in easily ac cessible apps have helped launch fan tasy sports into the mainstream.

The ease of play and the lack of a need to commit large amounts of time to win in modern apps makes fantasy sports appealing to both hardcore fans and casual viewers alike, but fanta sy football has emerged as the favorite of all sports by a long shot. It is so popular that players just refer to it as “fantasy,” with no need to elaborate on which sport they are referring to.

“I have a pretty big fantasy league … during the football season that’s what most people are talking about. You hang out with someone in your league and talk about fantasy football, it’s fun,” sophomore Cooper Hatch said. In a time when so much socializing happens online, getting together with friends to talk about something simple like fantasy football is fun and refreshing.

In my experience, fantasy football is so engaging because of the camaraderie that comes with it. I have been in a league with the same group of friends antics like this add character to the league. At the end of the day, that is why so many people play fantasy football. Being in a fantasy league is a great excuse to talk trash, reconnect with people, and spend Sundays watching football with friends instead of doing work.

“You decide the competitiveness, you decide how many people you play with, and people can just go into it having fun … some players won’t work out, you’ll lose some games, but at the end of the day it’s just a fun thing that people can bond over and talk about,” Tam junior and first-time player Oliver DeVito said.

Fantasy football can be anything from a competitive outlet to a social activity, and that is partly what makes ing.

Perhaps the best part about fantasy football is that it costs essentially nothing to try. Next year, start a league with your friends. At worst, it costs you very little time at the start of the school year. At best, you might get hooked on the fantasy version of a game you might not even watch. While the game itself may be a fantasy, the excitement that comes with success is real. ♦