As a kid and for most of my adult
life, I rooted for the sometimes Los Angeles but mostly Oakland Raiders. In 1977, the 11 year old version of me had
grown tired of my fellow fifth graders who paraded around school in their
Dolphins or Cowboys gear (we didn’t call it gear then, nor was NFL
merchandising the juggernaut it is today).
So, I made a calculated decision to root for Kenny Stabler and the
Oakland Raiders in the Super Bowl against the Minnesota Vikings. None of my peers liked the Raiders, with
their silver and black uniforms and the infamous eye patched raider on the side
of the helmet, so I was clearly positioned in opposition to almost anyone who
cared about football at age 11. I took great pride in gloating for about a week
after the Raiders decimated the Vikings 32-14, and I can still recite the
entire starting lineup for that team on both offense and defense. (I’ll spare you).
But following the loss to the
Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the 2002, the Raiders have failed to have a winning
season and are routinely ranked as, if not the worst, one of the worst
franchises in all of professional sports.
So, it was easy enough to become just a “football” fan, rooting for the
Saints post-Katrina, but not really getting that worked up one way or the other. Moving to Seattle changed that and I really
do enjoy actually caring about the little stories like a Pete Carroll contract
extension or what Richard Sherman has to say or who “we” are targeting in the
draft.
But, most importantly, it gave me
the opportunity to target some of “our” players in our Fantasy Football draft. I proudly took Marshawn Lynch in the first
round last year, was genuinely upset when Russell Wilson came off the board in
the sixth round, two picks before me, as a backup, and snickered to myself as I
picked up Stephen Hauschka off the waiver wire.
It’s fun to have a rooting interest in the often perverse world of
fantasy football, where you throw out the window all rational sense of play
calling. “Don’t run for a TD with THAT
running back. Throw it to MY receiver.” (who also happens to be on the team you
don’t want to win – it’s sick).
With baseball, I’ve been a
lifelong Yankees fan. I tell the story
often and to whomever will listen, much to my wife’s chagrin, that my father,
who worked at the airport in Memphis when I was a kid, brought me Mickey Mantle’s
autograph one night after the Mick had a layover on his way to a golf
tournament or an autograph show somewhere.
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I think, in retrospect, that my dad probably just wanted to talk to his
childhood idol and that it seemed easier to couch that brief conversation in
the context of getting an autograph for a nine year old. Either way, for the love of Mickey or to
inspire his son, my dad getting me that autograph started me off in pinstripes,
figuratively if not literally (again, there was that much “gear” back then).
Fast forward to 1999 and my first
Fantasy Baseball auction (drafts are for sissies). In the middle of the Yankee mini-dynasty, and
I was determined to roster me some Yankees.
I remember beaming that I outbid two other guys for Mariano Rivera. I think I paid $28 or something like that,
only to realize at the end of the auction that no other closer had gone for
anywhere near that price. I’d been “punked”
and bid up because it was I was a dumb rookie and it obvious I wanted Yankees
on my team. Over the years, I’ve learned
to temper the impulse to fixate on any player, Yankee or otherwise and just
look for value.
With the move to Seattle, I vowed
to remain a Yankee fan, but root for the Mariners whenever they were playing
anyone else. I’ve started writing a
weekly column for The Oregon Sports News, so I’m starting to get familiar with
the team. But, for fantasy purposes,
there are still very few viable options on the Mariners, other than Felix
Hernandez and Robinson Cano, a former Yankee.
I have two Mariners’ players on my team and only one Yankee, so the
season should be free of too much angst.
