The Heath Mullikin Project

Figuring it all out one day at a time

Fantasy Football

3 Things That Will Ruin Your Fantasy Football Season

The Flair for the Gold Championship Trophy
Not Everyone Achieves Fantasy Football Immortality

I’ve been playing fantasy football since 1998. In 1999, we held our draft as part of my bachelor party.  Needless to say, I’m a big fan especially since I don’t have to buy a USA Today every Monday to type all the stats into an Excel spreadsheet to figure out the points anymore.  I’ve had some great years and some terrible years.  I’ve been in good leagues where everyone was committed and terrible leagues where the rules were changed weekly.  Over the years, I’ve accumulated a lot of trial and error knowledge about how to build a winning team.  There are certain things that will spell defeat for you no matter who you are.  Here are the 3 things that will ruin your fantasy football season.

  1. Stupidity

There’s no need to buy 3 Fantasy Football Preview magazines every year, but you need to do some sort of research.  Drafting Peyton Manning in the first round last year because you didn’t know he had 4(!) neck surgeries is inexcusable.  There is no bigger fan of Warrick Dunn than me having in on my teams for 7 straight years, but even I knew not to take him 4th overall his rookie season.  (Sidenote:  never pick a rookie in the first round.  Peyton Manning went UNDRAFTED his rookie season in our league before being picked up as a Free Agent and leading Yo Mama to the title.) You know what kind of teams draft 3 Defenses/Special teams?  The kind that finish 4-10.  You want to draft a kicker in the 6th round?  Be prepared to get laughed at via live draft chat and ridiculed when you cut him in week 2.  Smarter men than men write great draft strategies.  Go read one of them….no really.

2.  Injury

The year after I picked up rookie Peyton Manning I decided to keep Super Bowl MVP Kurt Warner as my QB(we kept 2 players every year.)  Kurt was oft-injured in season 2 while Peyton Manning became…Peyton Manning.  One year I followed the popular “draft Running Backs with your first 2 picks strategy.”  I got Larry Johnson and Duece McCalister in Rounds 1 and 2.  Yeah, that was the year Duece tore up his knee early in the season and Johnson soon followed.  Last year, Jamaal Charles and Kenny Britt were 2 of my top 5 picks.  I was undefeated while they were healthy, but neither of them lasted 3 weeks.  The Stud Stable never recovered from those injuries.  Some injuries you can’t explain, but you should never say,”I thought Darren McFadden was much more durable than this.”

3.  Apathy

This is my biggest pet peeve in fantasy sports.  I think people should be arrested for not filling out their lineups weekly. People are all hyped up in August and September, but by week 6(and bye weeks have started) people stop caring and watching.  Maybe their team is lousy.  Maybe they’ve been bitten by the injury bug.  Maybe they don’t even watch football.  I’m not saying you need to be checking the waiver wire at midnight on Sunday and Monday, but at least sit your guys on their bye weeks.  Fill out a lineup weekly.  Cut Kevin Kolb.  DO SOMETHING!

What do you think?  Do you play Fantasy Football?  What am I missing?  Does your league make videos like this? 

Fantasy Football and Church Leadership

My First Fantasy Football draft I had a specific strategy.  I would draft players to fill all my starting positions(Quarterback, 2 Running Backs, 2 Wide Receivers/TightEnds, Defense/Special Teams, and Kicker) before drafting bench players.  I would also have a sub for each position.   This strategy worked as I won the championship that year.  I used the same strategy the next year and made it to the finals.  I didn’t tweak the strategy much for several years.  My thinking was:  it’s more important to draft someone who will actually be scoring points than someone who will be on the bench.

A few years ago, I read a Fantasy Football article that blew this strategy out of the water.  The thinking was that it’s better to draft RB’s and WR’s for your bench because, for the most part,(after the top 3 or 4) TE’s, K’s, and Def’s are a dime a dozen.  I started drafting these 3 positions in the last 3 rounds and not having a sub for any of them.  RB’s and WR’s are liable to score more points or have a breakout season.  You can always drop an unproductive RB or WR and pick up a TE, K, or DEF when a bye week hits.  I crack up when I see guys draft multiple TE’s, K, and DEF early in drafts while I’m getting productive RB’s and WR’s.  Now, what does this have to do with church leadership?

First, there should be no bench players in the church.  How are we choosing our leaders and are we putting them in the right place where there strengths will shine through?  Or, are we selecting niche leaders instead of strong leaders?  Are we putting the person who can weave baskets in leadership simply because we want to find a place for them?  Is our church even strategic enough to know what kind of leaders we need and what we’re looking for them to do?  Sometimes, we pick leaders because of their last name or who invited them.  Are we picking people to fill a spot or we actually looking for those who will contribute to the mission and vision of our church/ministry?  Sometimes, I think we are totally unprepared when a new leader emerges.  We are not ready to cultivate and empower them for ministry so that initial burst of enthusiasm goes away.  We have got be more prepared to harness that enthusiasm and have the strategies in place so leaders/volunteers can find that place where they can serve with passion and purpose.  Many people spend their lives going through the motions.  The last thing they want to do is volunteer, lead, or serve in a capacity that doesn’t challenge, stretch, and empower them in their faith.  So, who are you going to draft and who needs to be removed from your team?

If you liked this post post check out:

1.  Your Whole Life is a Fantasy Camp.