Fantasy Island

As I sat in bed this morning reflecting on life and where I am headed, I realized I needed to come clean about my biggest addiction. This vice has controlled my life for the past six years. I can't quit because all my friends do it too. I waste hours daily engulfed in this world, this fantasy world. My readers, all three of you, need to know I'm addicted to fantasy sports and there is no end in sight.

Today I am going to try and explain to you why I don't need an intervention because that's what addicts do, deny. I love fantasy sports. I cannot get enough. As the years go by, the grip of fantasy sports grows stronger and I'm not resisting. How can I resist something that allows me to add another fun, yet competitive dynamic to great friendships I already have with people close to me? How can I resist the chance to live vicariously through another person's success when all I wanted as a kid was to grow up and play sports for a living? The answer is obvious, I simply cannot.

Before I can sway you towards believing fantasy sports are not a joke and actually takes skill and knowledge; I will first explain what exactly fantasy sports are. It all starts with a group of sports fanatics that want more than the casual fan. These fanatics are usually ex-athletes and by ex-athlete I mean they played sports through high school but quickly realized receiving a college scholarship and then making the pros was not an option. These guys still wanted to compete in sports and beat their friends but didn't have the arena to do so. Of course inter-mural sports is an option but fantasy is the lazier option of the two.

Next, these "players" usually have a love of sports statistics and like to use stats to determine an athlete's worth. So to get more specific here I'm going use fantasy baseball as a reference of how this all works. A fantasy baseball team is formed by collecting a roster of real-life professional baseball players through a fantasy draft before the Major League Baseball season starts. The draft is easily one of the best days of the season because every "team owner/manager" comes brimming with optimism and a strategy that they think will surely win.

Owners can join together in person or via the internet for the draft. Many people pay to play which means you can win money if you make it to the championship. Then a random draft order is determined which works like a serpentine in which, lets say a 12-team league, it starts at number one and when it hits the twelfth owner they get back to back selections. Then the eleventh owner picks as it heads back to that first owner again, and so on. Following that structure allows for an even chance to grab the best talent available.

Once a fantasy roster is filled out it hopefully looks like a group of all-stars in the form of a baseball lineup complete with position players (1st base, 2nd base, etc) and a collection of the best pitchers possible. The idea of fantasy baseball is to put your lineup against another owner's lineup on a weekly basis and when that given week ends you compare statistics in categories like home runs, stolen bases, and strikeouts that your lineup collected. If your team won more categories than your opponent, you win.

In a typical season you will play all eleven opponents twice and when the season ends you either make the playoffs or you don't. If your team continues on and eventually wins the league championship you collect your winnings from your vanquished owner's initial buy-in.

"To me, more than anything else, baseball is history and statistics. Fantasy covers the statistics pretty well." -Matthew Berry, ESPN fantasy sports writer.

I like the above statement because statistics have a strong meaningful bond with sports that the casual fan doesn't understand. Critics of fantasy sports say that rooting for certain players success, in a game that you don't care which team wins is blasphemy.

I have my favorite sports teams that I root for in real life like the Mariners, and of course sometimes a player on the Mariners opponents team is on my fantasy team. That is my only real problem with fantasy sports but in the end, I always want my real life team to win regardless of fantasy implications.

Playing fantasy sports has enhanced my interest in teams and players I would normally never care about. I've come to realize that all these statistics will basically dictate what happens on the court, field or arena. I like knowing what a player's tendency is in a particular game-time situation. That knowledge leads to educated decisions when forming a successful team. Knowledge is the Yin to luck's Yang. A fantasy manager can only control which players will battle the opposing manager's players that day; outside of that, the rest is luck. It's intriguing when you don't know which player will dominate that season or which players be injured or benched.

People and their decision making throughout the season make fantasy sports so unique. Each owner approaches the draft differently and put their own signature on the team by adding their favorite players. Some managers constantly make moves by adding and dropping players while others trust their lineup over the long haul. Some owners tend to win more than others but the losers come back next year for the chance of being the last team standing for an undeniable ego boost amongst your friends.

The competitive level reaches a fever-pitch as owners trash talk each other on league message boards. Since not all owners see one another daily or even monthly, the message boards serve as an outlet to boast about your team and rip others. Many times it's very amusing, playing out much like conversations overheard in a boys high school locker room.

Maybe it's a guy thing but fantasy sports makes watching sports a lot more fun and allows boys to be boys. Isn't that what all sports fans want as their dreams of being a professional athlete fade? The chance to share success in sports just like our childhood idols do is a dream that will never die.

Please don't call an addiction therapist; I'm going to be alright.

'The King' has spoken

Did anyone happen to catch that robbery of a city's soul last night? Turns out a man that was once so revered and loved had ruthlessly ripped Cleveland, Ohio's heart out on live television Thursday night. LeBron James' decision to leave the Cavaliers for the Miami Heat shifted the landscape of the NBA, rewrote the destiny of the most talented basketball player in the world while simultaneously inspiring and shattering optimism in two major American cities.

LeBron James and Ohio was a romance born straight out of a predictable Hollywood movie script. Stop me if you have heard this one before. A basketball prodigy grows up in a small town in the heart of America and his talent is beyond human status. Next thing you know ESPN is broadcasting his high school games, the local NBA franchise happens to be just bad enough the previous season to "earn" the number one overall pick in the 2003 draft; against all odds he actually lives up to and easily exceeds the insane hype and pressure put upon his 18 year old grown man shoulders. Pretty typical right?

James has been anointed many things in his basketball career; two-time NBA MVP and five-time NBA All-Star as well as prodigious nicknames like 'The Chosen One' and 'King James'. There is one title James has never achieved in his storied professional career: NBA Champion. He carried the Cavs to the NBA Finals two seasons ago only to lose to his greatest rival, Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers. LeBron spent seven great seasons in Cleveland but the man is desperate for a ring or seven (Jordan has six) and he wants them now.

Enter Dwayne Wade. Wade has been Miami's megastar for the same time frame LeBron spent in Cleveland. Wade won a NBA title after only a couple seasons but since then the team around him has played pathetically. In spite of the Heat's other eleven players, Wade has willed that franchise into wins night in and night out just like LeBron up north. It must be terribly exhausting to know you are way better than your teammates every season when all you want is multiple championships.

Enter Chris Bosh. Even further north in Toronto, Canada stands a fantastic big man who's talents go wasted each night just like the others because the team around him just isn't good enough. Bosh has tasted even less success than James or Wade, reaching the playoffs once in seven years.

Notice how seven years is a common theme so far? That is because these three were drafted the same year. The 2003 NBA draft was amazingly talented. Cleveland took James first, Miami selected Wade fourth and Toronto grabbed Bosh fifth overall. This is relevant because they all eventually signed contracts that expired June 31st, 2010. They built tight friendships via the USA Olympic team and enjoyed success playing on the same team which allowed their minds to wander and consider what if they could translate that to the NBA? As of last night, the dream became reality.

James, Wade and Bosh all agreed to sign with the Heat and rule South Beach in hopes of dominating the NBA for years to come. The pressure to win will be very intense but the talent running up and down the court each night will give opposing coaches and defenders waking nightmares. I'm not sure a championship comes to Miami this year but I can't say there will be a more feared team in the Eastern Conference.

As for Cleveland, I can't help but feel empathy for their loss. It must feel similar to how Seattle fans felt about the Sonics being stolen by the mustache-twisting; evil cowboy, Clay Bennett. Even though the Cavalier franchise still technically exists, I don't think it does in the eyes of it's fan base. Barring some unforeseen trade for talented players, the current Cavs roster for this season went from formidable to funny. Not funny "haha" but funny like I wish my favorite NBA team played them every night.

Many barbs will be heaved LeBron's way and none more pointed than Cavs Majority Owner Dan Gilbert releasing a public statement in which he says Cleveland was "betrayed" and he said in all caps, "I PERSONALLY GUARANTEE THAT THE CLEVELAND CAVALIERS WILL WIN AN NBA CHAMPIONSHIP BEFORE THE SELF-TITLED FORMER 'KING' WINS ONE".

Wow. I love the passion in sports. That's the kind of statement Gilbert had to make in order to keep a sliver of hope alive in Ohio. Meanwhile in Miami, hope and optimism has no bounds. With so much loathing emanating from a city LeBron must now visit twice a year as an opponent and joining a city where he is immediately beloved but holds the weight of the world, one thing is for sure:

The Heat is on.

Cliff Lee, Mariners' Futures Collide

Cliff Lee is a literal ace for the Seattle Mariners. Lee takes the mound every five days and opposing hitters take the night off. In 13 starts this season Lee has compiled an 8-3 record with a 2.34 ERA and a ridiculous .95 WHIP. Walking is not an option for hitters facing Lee which is a real problem for them when you consider his .231 batting average against. Makes you wonder why batters even try. He has issued six free passes compared to 89 strikeouts. A pace so torrid that if maintained would crush the all-time record. Ok, ok. You get it, Cliff Lee is a cyborg brought to this earth to obliterate hitter's dreams.

As the July 31st trading deadline approaches, Mariner's GM Jack Zduriencik is holding onto his ace-in-the-hole until the right offer comes calling. Jack Z has the most coveted free agent to be in Lee and must treat incoming trade offers as such. The Mariners must receive at least one MLB ready hitter and a Triple-A star to come away a winner, a foreign feeling to Seattle these days. There are many teams in playoff contention that know if they added a starting pitcher of Lee's caliber it would make their opponents shiver. Potential trading partners with strong farm systems include the Twins, Rangers, Mets, Reds, Rockies and Dodgers who all either lead their division or are in close striking distance of first place as the 2010 season hits the halfway point next week.

Zduriencik has done very well in his first two seasons as Mariners GM. The optimism he built over that time was palpable leading into this season. Success deprived Mariner fans were thirsty for the optimistic Kool-Aid that Zduriencik was serving up after Seattle wallowed through the 2000's with uninspired baseball and badly judged talent during the Bill Bavasi Era. From a talent and payroll perspective I would venture that he single-handedly set back the organization about five years. Anyone replacing that clown would be applauded but thankfully for the Mariners and their fans, Zduriencik is more than a replacement, he's the savior, he's 'Trader Jack'.

The 'Trader Jack' nickname was earned as he essentially swapped inconsistent, flamethrower reliever J.J. Putz for centerfielder Franklin Gutierrez and first baseman Mike Carp. The trade aftermath 18 months later leaves M's pitchers confident and fans smiling. Gutierrez is rated by expert baseball number crunchers as the best defensive centerfielder in baseball which is a pitchers dream when you throw in his partner in crime: the incomparable nine-time Gold Glove winner, Ichiro. Carp is currently developing at Triple-A and is the future at first base while placeholders Russell Branyan and Casey Kotchman fill in nicely till Carp is ready. Putz on the other hand finished 2009 surrendering 17 runs in 29 innings and then the Mets promptly handed him his pink slip. He of course was the mastermind behind acquiring Cliff Lee when he sent the Philadelphia Phillies three prospects: Phillippe Aumont (RHP), Tyson Gillies (OF) and JC Ramirez (RHP). That stab at greatness (Lee) is exactly why the Mariners future is so bright even though the move cleared out some nice talent from their farm system. Plenty of promising talent like Lee's future replacement Luke French, who is dominating Triple-A with 10 wins and a 2.69 ERA, still remains.

In an unexpected lost season, the Mariners need to finish strong, not in the standings but on paper. Whatever Jack Z grabs in the pending blockbuster trade needs to position the team for greatness in 2011. Seattle needs to rebound strong with at least 85 wins next season. Period. The Mariners are sitting at the poker table with an ace in the pocket of a man that knows how to deal.

I call.