Pump the brakes on fantasy football

Fantasy football is a problem.

One of my friends from high school often checked fantasy football while the teacher was lecturing. The teacher took him outside the class to tell him to stop playing fantasy football and to pay attention.

He didn’t stop checking his roster, and by the end of the year my friend had his computer privileges revoked.

Sadly, this is the case for a lot of fantasy football players. It’s an addiction. They take it too seriously.

Nationally, many people spend too much time gazing at a computer screen, updating their roster.

For some it’s more than just a hobby. It’s a job.

A lot of fantasy football players need to pump the brakes and step back from the game.

There are other things out there, such as a real life — not just a fantasy life — that these people are missing.

Fantasy football is a top priority for many people. These people might even be at their real jobs but are checking the latest headlines, interested in finding out the latest on their players and the news they are making. It could be about a fine, suspension or even an injury.

There are diehard football fans and fantasy football players who flip between the channels interested in knowing if the players on their team will play in the game.

They don’t rememeber that they’re not the ones playing in the game.
Sometimes a person might be in a league with his or her friends or co-workers and live in the same area. One of the people in the fantasy football league might throw a fantasy football draft party.

The preparation for a good fantasy football draft party takes a while.

There are many other important things that a fantasy football player could be doing.

A fantasy football player could go on a hike, meet the neighbors or, in the case of my friend, do his homework instead of wasting his life away in front of a computer.

You might even play in a league full of strangers. And people wonder how Catfish got started.

There are leagues that cost money to get into, with a prize going to the winner at the end.

Instead of putting your money into a league, one could use the money to take a significant other on a dinner date or buy Grand Theft Auto V.

Often fantasy football players think they are running heir own business, but actually they aren’t. They get to pick their own slogan, mascot/logo, and team, leaving many people with a misplaced feeling of power.

What a joke.

Some people think they have business skills when they really don’t.

Fantasy football can dominate your life and leave you with tough decisions to make.
Stop taking this little game so seriously and do something positive with your life.

­— jayljohn@indiana.edu

Follow columnist Jaylen Johnson on Twitter @nelyaJohnsonIDS.