Are you tired of watching your local professional sports franchise languish in the bottom half of their league? Do you think you could put together a better team than your team’s general manager? Have you won your office pool so often that your co-workers don’t let you play anymore? Well, there is somewhere you can go to see if you have the talent to compete with the “big boys.” The Internet.
In addition to using the Internet to obtain instant information on almost anything, you can also use it to test your own sports knowledge. The fantasy sports industry allows people from across the country, and in many cases across the world, to compete for bragging rights and prize money in the sport of their choosing. There are games for every talent level, too. You can enter free games designed for people to have fun with limited prizes, and you can also enter games in which you pay to play, with a chance at winning some substantial cash prizes, if you do well. And with the immediacy of the Internet, the results of these fantasy games are often posted within 24 hours of the conclusion of the actual professional games (MLB, NFL, NBA, etc.) that are used by the fantasy sports companies.
The two sports that are the biggest draws on the Internet are baseball and football. There are numerous websites such as TQ Stats (www.tqstats.com) that provide stats for local leagues, and websites such as The Roto Times (www.rototimes.com) that provide the latest sports information to help manage your team. The Internet also provides for a variety of different fantasy games from which to choose. There are baseball rotisserie leagues in which teams compete in specific categories (Home Runs, Stolen Bases, Wins, Saves, etc). Point-style leagues in which specific point totals are awarded for each stat (Single=1 pt., Double=2 pts., etc) and all of the points are added up to get a team total. Head-to-head leagues in which two teams face each other each week with one team getting a win and the other a loss based on how their players performed (this is very popular in fantasy football).
On a simpler level, people can play in Home Run Derby (hrderby.primary.net) or Touchdown Challenge (tdchallenge.primary.net) games in which you pick who you think will hit the most home runs or score the most touchdowns each week.
National fantasy games are offered by companies such as ESPN (espn.go.com), CBS SportsLine (cbs.sportsline.com), and CDM Fantasy Sports (www.cdmsports.com). CDM Fantasy Sports, headquartered in St. Louis, Mo, operates games for national sports media entities including USA TODAY (www.usatoday.com), USA TODAY Sports Weekly (formerly USA TODAY Baseball Weekly), The Hockey News (www.thn.com). The Golf Channel (www.thegolfchannel.com) and The Excite Network (www.excite.com). Fantasy games are available for many sports enthusiasts and include baseball, football, college football, basketball, hockey, golf and auto racing. “Fantasy sports enhance the enjoyment of every game, tournament, and race since you have a vested interest in each individual performance, and you feel closer to the game, and part of the action,” said Carol Matthews, President of CDM Fantasy Sports. “Our customers play our games for many reasons, but ultimately it is their love of sports and competition that makes it so rewarding.”
Many websites that provide fantasy sports games also have some sort of bulletin board or chat room for the contestants to communicate with each other. “Fantasy sports promote community and interaction among friends and co-workers, as well as others around the world,” added Brian Matthews, CEO of CDM Fantasy Sports.
If you are looking for a new challenge, new friends, or just something completely different than what you are doing now, the Internet is where you need to be, especially if you are a fantasy sports fanatic.