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Posted 07/20/2009 at 06:33 PM
Ya know it's really amazing how Fantasy Football has taken over the way it has. I'm probably one of the few people that don't play it. But it wasn't always that way.
I'd say that I probably started playing FF before most even heard about it. The first time I got involved with FF, I was a freshman in highschool. That was way back in 1982. My goodness, that's 27 years ago. That's before their were any magazine or books about it. Now all of these companies PFW, The Sporting News etc. have Fantasy Magazines out there as well as their football preview magazines.
Then in 1984, while listening to a local sports talk radio show. A guy named Cliff Carpentier had a book out simply titled "Fantasy Football Digest". At the time it was available at the "Gambler's Book Store" and I jumped at the chance to get it. It was a great read and he had a few variations of rules, rated players, schedules for different sized leagues. It was awesome.
Me and my friends were just fanatics as the years gone by. Expanding the league every year. We staged drafts that were just like a real draft. A friend of mine worked for a printer, and they happen to print horse racing forms for various sports books here in Vegas. It was a huge piece of paper posted behind the counters and it was perfect for making a FF grid as we had a girl write in the names of the draftees.
We played the "Basic Scoring Method". Simply put, you recieved 6 points for a TD running/receiving, 3 points for a TD pass/FG. Nowadays the scoring is just so different with all of the yardage crap and so many different variables. I honestly don't see the fun in it. I mean the league I was in actually had final scores that were indicative of real NFL scores. You simply drafted the players you thought would score the most TD's. Sure we did eventually gave some bonus points for 100 yd rushers/recievers, and 300 yd passers, but that's as far as it went.
I quit playing in about 1998 or so. Some guys quit and formed their own, some drastically changed scoring methods which was just a complete turnoff. It's amazing how far it has come. I have fond memories of playing long ago, when you would ask someone if they have heard of FF. They would say what?
I was just asked to attend a friend's draft and help him out. I may just take a walk along memory lane and attend. One thing I know, is that it just isn't the same.
Jamie Tursini
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