I've come to the conclusion that the only thing that gets us sports fans from Thanksgiving to Christmas is fantasy football.
Most people use the term Holiday Season"" to bridge the gap between the two holidays. I'll translate for the sports world: The ""Dead Season"" gets us from college football's Championship Weekend to the start of the bowl season.
There's college basketball, which is the sport I cover for this fine newspaper, but how many good games are there in the month of December? Once the pre-season tournaments are over, each team has only one or two non-conference matchups that are worth craving the Big Ten Network for. I'm speaking for the general population because I assume most people aren't total nut jobs like myself who would be completely content being strapped into a straight-jacket and forced to watch 20 college basketball games per week.
The NFL's regular season is winding down, which means playoff races. But an NFC playoff race is about as exciting as watching a Milwaukee Bucks game. The cities of Boston, Green Bay, Dallas, Seattle and Pittsburgh all know they are in the playoffs, while the fans in Chicago, Phoenix, Philadelphia and Charlotte are all happy to see the Kyle Ortons play so they can get a higher draft pick. Exciting, right?
So that brings me back to fantasy football, which at this point in my life is starting to be the only competitive sport I still play. Bored with the lack of real sports on TV and the abundance of poker and bowling on the Eastern Seaboard Party Network, fantasy football is getting me through the month of December. I think that makes me a nerd, but at least I'm a nerd among millions. But how long will it be until fantasy football starts to get coverage in newspapers? I can just see a recap like this being written in a few years:
Saints wide receiver Marques Colston will never know it, but his performance Monday night saved Chicago Chilltown's season and sent the proud fantasy football franchise to the playoffs for the second straight year after a 122-98 win over Cleveland Clevage.
""All we needed was seven points out of Colston, and we got 30. We're excited about the opportunity to return to the playoffs. Last year we grabbed a solid third place finish, but this year we hope to sneak up on some teams and go all the way,"" Chilltown Commissioner Adam Hoge said Tuesday in a teleconference.
It's been an up-and-down season for Chilltown after a huge draft-day trade backfired on Hoge and the franchise. After drafting Tom Brady in the second round, Hoge sent the Patriots quarterback and Marvin Harrison to Brown Magic for the second overall pick, Stephen Jackson and Matt Hasselbeck. At the time, it looked like a good trade, but Jackson missed four weeks to injury while Brady was putting up MVP numbers in New England.
Still, Chilltown got off to a 7-2 start and led the Downstairs division of the Bowen Madness League after Week 9. That's when the trouble started. Chilltown lost four straight games including two ties that were mysteriously turned into losses days after the score was final.
""I still don't know how that happens,"" Hoge said. ""I really think Fantasy Football needs a challenge system. I definitely would have thrown my red flag on that one. First off, who ties in fantasy football? And who ties twice? And who gets both of those ties turned into losses?""
The losing streak sent Chilltown into a huge Week 14 matchup with Clevage that decided the final playoff team. Colston showed up Monday night with a huge game, which was enough to send Hoge back to the promised land. It will be tough though, as Chilltown has suffered some key injuries.
""We are hurting right now. It was sad to hear that Reggie Bush, our No. 1 pick, is out for the year. But hopefully Joe Thomas can keep giving Derek Anderson that protection. We need a big game out of Anderson and Jackson this weekend,"" Hoge said.
Chilltown opens the playoffs this weekend against the Prison City Punishers.
So maybe I went a little overboard with the newspaper coverage, but with some of the sports ESPN covers, it really wouldn't surprise me.
For now, I'll keep counting down the days to Bowl Season and pray Stephen Jackson shows up in these final weeks to make my preseason trade look better. Otherwise, Chicago Chilltown might be looking for a new GM.
E-mail Adam at hoge@wisc.edu.
