Fun to Wear a Black Hat
September 13th, 2002
Remember the old Sergio Leone westerns? The ones with the theme music for each character, and the bad guys in the black hats? Those old films are a lot of fun, because they have a character that you just love to hate.
In the same way, your fantasy football league can be a lot more fun for everybody if somebody takes on the roll of the bad guy. Someone that the other owners just love to hate - but not really hate; there's a fine line between being provocative (good!) and being a jerk (bad!). Below are some ideas about how you can juice up the competition in your league by tweaking the opposition's noses.
First of all, in a lot of leagues people email out their line-ups to the rest of the league in a laundry list form - like this: qb p. manning, rb's w. dunn, m. bennett� Boring! Why not take five minutes and create a "press release" to lead off your lineup? For example:
(AP) - Today at the Perry, GA, headquarters of the GPFFL Dragons, team owner, general manager and head coach Tim Thompson shocked the nation with his bold prediction, saying, "This team has the best array of talent ever assembled in the history of this league. I'd be disappointed if we didn't win all 14 games in 2002."
After humiliating the Mech Warriors last week 56-32, the Dragons set their sights on the Lion Kings week two,...
Another element out of the real world that you could imitate to raise the hackles of your opponent is the "Vegas Line". Lead off the line-up email with a single item: Dragons (-28) at Lion Kings (+28). The steam should start leaking out of the other owner's ears.
If your league is hosted online, and has a community message board (for example, CBS Sportsline) - use that resource to crank up the smack talk during Sunday's games! There's nothing like letting the other team hear about it when you head into the Sunday night game up by 30 or 40 points. Try a limerick: "There once was a team named Hog Wild, they thought they could win, but then along came Edgerrin, and now their Sunday is spoiled!"
One very fine way to make sure the other teams circle their match-ups against your club on the calendar is to send "Get Well" e-cards to them when a key player gets injured. For example: "So sorry to hear that your team will be without E. James for the rest of the season. Too bad about your playoff run!".
Remember, fantasy football is about more than just winning and losing each week - its about having fun playing the game! If you decide to put on the black hat, more power to you! Just remember, the point is to have fun, not hurt feelings. Be clever, funny, even pointed - but know when enough is enough too.
Enjoy every Sunday and Monday this season!
Mark Wimer
Exclusive to Footballguys.com