Sam I am: My obession with fantasy football

Each year, athletes of the National Football League endure another grueling season.

Meanwhile, a fair amount of fans, myself included, will count the yards a certain quarterback accrues, the number of catches a particular receiver makes, and how few points a defense allows. I’ll be playing fantasy football.

Since this trend has captured sports fanatics all across the country. Seemingly trivial to some, fantasy football gives fans the coveted opportunity to run a team composed of players of their choice.

Each week, the athletes on my team accumulate a certain number of points for performance in their respective positions. At the end of the week, the points are totaled and the winner is named.

The nationwide revolution has a unique way of bringing people together through one common goal: winning. What can make a guy wake up early on a Monday morning? Checking my fantasy football scores to see how I fared against my competition. Major fantasy football networks offer live update scoring so I can see how many points I gained from Peyton Manning throwing a 28-yard scoring pass. Kudos to myself for having also drafted the receiver, Demaryius Thomas.

Despite the entertainment and competition, fantasy football also provides an additional distraction to people everywhere.

Even with my immense amount of homework and college applications, I find myself on the computer going through my weekly lineups for at least an hour daily. After finishing my draining physics homework, I reward myself with even more research on upcoming games, comparisons of different defenses and the difficult decision of drafting the most skilled tight end available.

At school, I’ll hear talk about which athletes performed the best over the weekend. Around campus, students will still be talking about players such as Tim Tebow, Arian Foster and Philip Rivers. Sitting in class, I’m not focused on derivatives or “The Scarlet Letter”; rather I worry about running back Trent Richardson’s hip injury. The rest of the day, I’m constantly thinking about who to start: Peyton or Sanchez? Which defense will lock down this week: the Jets or Pats?

Fantasy football’s popularity has still continues to rise. Fantasy football looks to be here to stay. While procrastinating on my essay, as I count down the three days, seven hours, and 45 minutes until my wide receiver Calvin Johnson takes on the weakened Bears defense, I hope it is.