Cute Pick...

This week, I have not one, but two fantasy football drafts (not pictured).

It's an annual rite of passage for any football fan.

For me, the draft is the best part of the fantasy season, it's all downhill after that.
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In terms of male bonding (or for really cool females who play fantasy sports--- such a pig I am!), there's nothing quite like a fantasy draft.

During the draft, everyone thinks they're an expert.

We've all read the same fantasy magazines, all watched the same games, and yet, we think this will help us differentiate the people who know what they're talking about, from the idiots.

It's a forum for trash talking, condescension, and overall strange grunting sounds.

Although, there's no greater insult than when one of your friends utters "cute pick," meaning you're an idiot, why on God's green earth would you draft that guy?

It is scorn masked as a backhanded compliment.
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I don't think fantasy football is dorky as some have stereotyped.

Rather, I think of it as democratic.

It gives everyone a chance to enjoy football on their own terms.

If your team sucks, no worries, perhaps your fantasy team can help you salvage Sunday.

It's not selling out your team because in the free agency era, these guys are playing musical teams anyway.
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But I do have one beef with fantasy I want to address.

It's a very simple concept.

In my mind, it's 95 percent luck.

Pure luck.

Yes, there's a tiny percentage of drafting where, if you're a total idiot, you can screw up your team.

But assuming a baseline of competency, fantasy football isn't really a skilled past-time.

You are pretending to pick real people for your fake team.

If my first-round pick blows out his knee, does that mean I know less about football?

Of course not.

Pure luck.

That one week Miles Austin went ABSOLUTELY nuts last year, and turned into an elite receiver, does it make me a genius for having selected him?

No.

I just happen to have picked him up.
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So grab a beer, grab a fantasy mag, and insult your closest friends.

Football season is drawing nigh, and don't forget to set your lineups!