Fantasy Team - Community College

One hobby of mine is fantasy sports. For the unacquainted, fantasy sports involves drafting and attaining athletes for your imaginary team, and playing selected individuals every week to compete against another person's selected individuals for the week. Normally there are about 10-12 teams in a league, and they all take turns playing one another. For a person who enjoys analyzing the strengths and weakness of their team and players, and for those who enjoy seeking talented individuals to balance or strengthen their team, it can be quite addictive. It's like picking your A-Team or Dirty Dozen... except others are also competing for some of the same individuals you are. It that way, it is a lot like building a team at work. You are recruiting, selecting, developing, and sometimes losing (perhaps to injury or to a better offer) your team members.

Over the years, I have learned several things that are relevant to higher education by playing fantasy sports. For example, the most important thing in fantasy sports is being aware of how the league is designed. How many players can you have on your team? How many actually play each week? How is the scoring system designed? In short, you have to learn the rules of the game. Then, and only then, can you play the game most effectively. Without a doubt, this applies to higher education. You must know the rules of higher education (so you can find the loop holes and bend the rules properly) if you hope to win the game.

The second most important thing to winning in fantasy sports, and perhaps in building a team at a college, is drafting the right players. Again... one must be aware of the rules for the draft. Generally, there are two types of drafts in fantasy sports... the snake draft and the auction draft. The snake draft is not very applicable to higher education, so I will discuss the auction draft format only. An auction draft basically involves a bidding war for the players. You have a set budget and a certain number of positions to fill with that budget. What are the general guidelines for an effective auction draft?

Rule # 1: The first player you draft will likely set the tone for the rest of the players you draft for your team. You will likely find that you have to draft individuals to compensate for their weaknesses or build on their strengths. In many ways, it is like picking the first president for a college. Once that selection is made, you have to build around them... and that first pick by the franchise will affect the team for an eternity (even in a keeper leagues, where the team changes every year).

Rule # 2. Never overbid by more than a few dollars... and only overbid if there is a general lack of talent in the position (the field isn't deep or there is a steep drop off in talent). In short, you can't "fall in love" with a player and be willing to overbid. In some drafts, I have seen some people blow nearly half of the allotted budget on one player. This usually happens because they get caught up in a bidding war (too competitive to know when to stop) or because they are making a purely emotional decision. Either way, they are IDIOTS! We all want Lebron James or Adrian Peterson, but one player does not make a team.

Rule # 3: Even if you don't especially like a player, if they are available at a great price, take them. For example, Troy Murphy came up for bid in the draft of one of my leagues this year. He had very good fantasy numbers last year and is a solid player, but he is not very flashy and there is just something about him that is very vanilla (no pun intended). Anyway... when he came up for bid, people's lack of enthusiasm over him was highly apparent. The bidding limped along slowly. The data indicated he was a good player, yet nobody wanted him badly. I did not really start the draft thinking I wanted him, but when I realized I could get him for nearly half price, I gobbled him up. I took him because he complemented the play of my first selection, he was a great bargain, and he is designated as a flexible player in the league (he can actually be started at two different positions - forward or center). In addition, the Troy Murphy analogy reinforces the importance of making data-driven decisions. The data don't lie. Barring injury, he will likely be a solid performer.

After the draft, the real work begins. It involves checking the waiver wire or free agency market for available players. If you want to know who to pick up when one of your players is not performing, gets a season-ending injury, or goes all Ron Artest (mental) on you, you must be aware of who could possibly replace them. Checking the waiver wire or free agency market is also a great way to identify young talent that others are not quite aware of yet. If you see a young person coming on really strong, and you have an aging veteran whose productivity is declining and they are often battling injuries, it is sometimes a good idea to draft the new talent (even before they have fully matured) and release your veteran. In the long run, that may be what is best for your team. The young talent will likely lay a few eggs in the beginning, but if you selected after a proper evaluation, they should pan out for you in the end.

In many ways, I see building a college team and building a fantasy team in the same light. You have to look at your team's needs, the value that individuals bring to the team, and you must make decisions on who to add and who to cut from time to time. The only major difference is that unions and lawyers normally make releasing under-performing individuals (especially veterans) much more difficult. In fantasy sports, all you have to do is click on their name and hit the drop button. I guess that is why they call it fantasy.