Your Fantasy Team vs. Your Favorite Team

What To Do When Your Worlds Collide

The Packers are down by 4, they are on the Bears 1 yard line and there's 30 seconds left. Your mind is racing, I'm only up 3.5 points and Tim's team has Ahman Green! I'm going to lose if Green scores but the Packers will beat the Bears! You're screaming at Mike Sherman to call a pass play. You want the Packers to win anyway you can, but yet you want to win your fantasy game too. "Throw it to Bubba Franks!" You yell, "He always gets those 1 yard touch down catches!" Farve takes the snap and your nightmare comes true as they hand the ball to Green...

Please insert your favorite team and their archrivals in this situation. Oh wait in order to be an archrival they actually have to beat the other team, so the Bears don't really count. Just kidding Bears' fans.

So as you might have guessed I am a die-hard Packer fan. Have been since I was born, but I want to win my fantasy game just as bad as the next guy. The question is: what should you do in this situation? Where should your heart be, with your team or your fantasy team? Where do you draw the line between rooting for your team and your fantasy team? Is it ever ok to want a player you have on your fantasy team to do well against your team? These are the questions that fantasy owners have been asking themselves for years. Well I'm going to give you my take on it.

First and foremost, your real team comes first. In no situation is it ever allowable for you to cheer for your fantasy team before your team. This is a gut check situation here... if your fantasy team comes first you are not a real fan. Pack up all of your memorabilia, T-Shirts, posters, glasses, Zubas pants, jerseys, football cards and any other items that may be related to your former team because you are no longer a true fan. You have just stepped into fair weather fan status, something that I despise. It doesn't matter if you're playing for the fantasy championship, against your worst enemy, or anything else.

The answer is no, you cannot root for you fantasy team before your team. This is the golden rule, and thou shall not break it.

Now for some specific situations:

Example #1: Your team is whooping the opposing team but you have somebody on the opposing team and you really need a score. If there is a big margin, at least 4 td's and you're in the 4th quarter, then you can cheer for that player to get a score. Any less of a lead and all you can hope for is some yards. If you are thinking, "Come on, 28 points in the fourth quarter? No way will they be able to come back," then you have forgotten the Bills and Oilers in the playoffs and the Bears and Browns in 2001. It happens and you don't want to be the cause of your team losing (at least in your friends' eyes).

Example #2: Your team is getting the whooping and you have a guy on the opposing team. This one is tough; I mean what is another score when your team is already down? But that's one more score that your team needs to over come to win! Listen, if your team is down, I don't care if it is even by 100 points, it isn't over until it is over. Never give up on your team. Never, never, NEVER! When fans give up on their team they end up like the Bengals, and well that is worse then death.

Example #3: It's close during any part of the game. Again you need a guy to score. If you need me to answer this one, see the golden rule and then go back to fair weather fan status.

Example #4: Since you are a smart owner and you pick players with your head and not your heart, you ended up with an archrivals' player. When is it ok for you to root for him to have a good day? This one is a little more complicated but the golden rule shows you the way. First analyze your team's record. Here is a list of ways you are allowed to root for him:

1. Your team has locked up the division and/or playoff spot over this team.
2. This team is not a real contender to threaten your team's position and they are playing against a team that is contending for your team's playoff spot.
3. You hate the team they are playing even more than the team he is playing for. For instance my 4 favorite teams are the Packers and whoever is playing the Bears, Vikings, or Cowboys.
4. If the game is of no consequence (see Bengals games), then feel free to root for anybody you want.

So let's change this around, what if the fantasy team you are playing against has somebody from your favorite team? When is it ok to root for him to do badly? Well start by looking at the first few cases. Those can be applied here as well. However you are allowed to silently try and affect the opposing head coach mind using the Jedi mind trick. Get him to believe that this is the one player they need to stop in order to win. Meanwhile the rest of your team runs wild on them. This of course takes many, many years of training and is not suggested for amateurs. It could backfire into decades of suckidity.

These are just a few of the situations that may arise over this coming season and for seasons to come. But if you follow the golden rule, your team should not suffer any severe consequences, (see the Bengals record in the 90's) and you will not be put back to fair weather fan status which is a fate worse then death. Also on an unrelated note, for those of you who are on your team's bandwagon through wins and losses, bad years and good years... God Bless You. But to those of you who just jump on to the wagon when things are going good and are nowhere to be found when the team falters, get the hell off before I and the rest of the faithful kick you off!