Each fall, football fans across the nation form self-organized Fantasy Football leagues in an attempt to win various prizes.
These leagues are formed by groups of family and friends waging their picks and collecting each other’s money to create a “pot” made up of everyone’s bids.
Each participant selects individual players throughout the NFL in order to make their own “fantasy team.” At the end of the season, money is awarded to the team made up of the most successful players.
“Every year I look forward to crushing all my friends in our league. This year the loser has to borrow a Loyola uniform from one of our friends and wear it to school for a week,” freshman Aaron Schatz said.
While the winner takes home the pot, the loser has to face a punishment that his or her friends come up with. It could be as painful as taking all of the participants out for a fancy meal and covering the bill, or as embarrassing as shaving one’s head. “Whoever loses has to get a spray tan,” junior Max Bryla said.
Lots of groups participating have yet to adopt the trend of giving a penalty to the person who was last place it. In response to the idea of a consequence for the loser, sophomore Kevin Hurley said, “There’s going to be one, we’re just not sure what it is yet.”
Although they are referred to as “consequences”, the tasks given to losers tend to be light hearted and in good fun. “Even though I personally want it to be humiliating and traumatizing, it will most likely just be an annoying responsibility. They’ll probably just have to drive us around for a while,” Hurley said.
This concept is not new and students have been following Fantasy Football for years. “I’ve been playing for three years,” Hurley said. “But each year the stakes have gotten higher. We’re all a lot more into it now.”
Even those who aren’t diehard NFL fans find excitement in the game. “I normally don’t really like the NFL and I prefer to watch college football. But I have money on the games, and it makes watching the games more exciting,” said Bryla.
Students aren’t the only ones participating in Fantasy Football Leagues. “I am in a league, where bid in is at $100 and there are fourteen people playing,” a teacher said.
Fantasy Football leagues are also prevalent in major companies. “With over 300 Potbelly shops, I bet three fourths of them have miniature leagues going on,” Bryant Keil, Founding Chairman of Potbelly Sandwich Works said in support of Fantasy. “Of course I would prefer if they were played outside of work, but to tell that to the employees would be hypocritical.”
Due to the debate over Fantasy Football being a form of gambling, there’s also a debate over whether adolescents should be playing Fantasy Football.
“My son Dylan has already asked if he could be a ‘professional gambler’ when he grows up,” said parent Stephany Lee. “I said no, but he didn’t listen and the next day I received a phone call from his teacher telling me how he was arguing that he shouldn’t have to go to school because he wasn’t going to need an education to watch sports games when he grows up.”
Fantasy Football is a tradition greatly anticipated by over 30 million people every fall. Along with many other fans across the nation, students at New Trier continue to contribute to participate in Fantasy Football leagues for better or worse.