How can I improve my pro football knowledge?
August 7, 2013 7:40 AM
I've decided that I need to know as much or more than the next guy about current events in the NFL, and so I've gotten myself invited into some long standing fantasy football leagues. However, I don't want to show up and be the odd man out in terms of breadth and depth of NFL knowledge.
I'm a below average pro football fan. This is due to lack of time to watch football all Sunday long, and being bad at remembering names of players. I love college football, and watch it religiously, but for some reason I don't follow pro as much. How can I expand my knowledge, and maintain it going forward?
Snowflake issue: My brain seems just not made to remember names. Financial economic math formulas, yes. Engine sizes for just about every car out there, yes. Who the current running back is for the Bills...no. Not good...
1. How can I inject A LOT of current pro football knowledge into my brain? What do I need to do/read? I'm willing to put in a fair amount of effort to get my knowledge up to par.
2. How can I maintain that knowledge and keep it current throughout the season, given that I spend 40% of my time at work, 40% dealing with my kids, 40% keeping up my house, and 40% managing the other aspects of my life. You get the point. Do I need to keep notes? Do I need to read a specific blog? Do I need to watch a specific show?
3. How do I remember the names of all these guys, and what position they play, and who they play for? You'd think that since I watch college football that the names would stick with me. I do recognize names, but don't remember what position they play, etc.
I'm a below average pro football fan. This is due to lack of time to watch football all Sunday long, and being bad at remembering names of players. I love college football, and watch it religiously, but for some reason I don't follow pro as much. How can I expand my knowledge, and maintain it going forward?
Snowflake issue: My brain seems just not made to remember names. Financial economic math formulas, yes. Engine sizes for just about every car out there, yes. Who the current running back is for the Bills...no. Not good...
1. How can I inject A LOT of current pro football knowledge into my brain? What do I need to do/read? I'm willing to put in a fair amount of effort to get my knowledge up to par.
2. How can I maintain that knowledge and keep it current throughout the season, given that I spend 40% of my time at work, 40% dealing with my kids, 40% keeping up my house, and 40% managing the other aspects of my life. You get the point. Do I need to keep notes? Do I need to read a specific blog? Do I need to watch a specific show?
3. How do I remember the names of all these guys, and what position they play, and who they play for? You'd think that since I watch college football that the names would stick with me. I do recognize names, but don't remember what position they play, etc.
deadweightloss's suggestion is good. But at the end of the day, it seems like this isn't something you want to care about. Hence your brain dumping all of that information and deciding not to retain it. I think you need to find a real reason to care, like how you do about college. If you don't like or have a team you root for, read some of the players stories and find some person to support. It's hard to care if you don't have a reason to actually care.
I also think you should focus on the main teams and up and coming teams. You need to know what's going on with the Giants, Patriots, 49ers, Cowboys, Eagles, Redskins, Packers, Vikings, Panthers, Seahawks, Broncos and Saints. Next the Bears, Falcons, Panthers, Jets, Steelers and Ravens.
Most likely nobody is going to care that you don't know who the wide receivers for the Chiefs are*, or who the running back for the Cardinals is. At those lower tier teams, they typically have one star (Fitzgerald, Megatron, Chris Johnson) that you can read up about every so often, and be informed about because all the storylines follow that person. But I think at some level, curiosity as to what is happening has to be a driver of you caring about what's going on.
*Unless you live around there, or your last name is Reid.
posted by cashman at 8:01 AM on August 7, 2013
I also think you should focus on the main teams and up and coming teams. You need to know what's going on with the Giants, Patriots, 49ers, Cowboys, Eagles, Redskins, Packers, Vikings, Panthers, Seahawks, Broncos and Saints. Next the Bears, Falcons, Panthers, Jets, Steelers and Ravens.
Most likely nobody is going to care that you don't know who the wide receivers for the Chiefs are*, or who the running back for the Cardinals is. At those lower tier teams, they typically have one star (Fitzgerald, Megatron, Chris Johnson) that you can read up about every so often, and be informed about because all the storylines follow that person. But I think at some level, curiosity as to what is happening has to be a driver of you caring about what's going on.
*Unless you live around there, or your last name is Reid.
posted by cashman at 8:01 AM on August 7, 2013
I could have written this question a few years back: big into college ball, not so much into the No Fun League.
Reading any of the big sports sites (ESPN, SI, etc.) will help greatly, and they're all big into fantasy football these days, so it's not just "Who's going to win on Sunday" but "What second-string running back is about to break out" (which is all, of course, horseshit, but the analysis behind it is useful).
Don't be afraid to take a cheat sheet to the draft. There are hundreds of players to pick from, and not even the most hardcore fan is going to remember them all.
Just being in a league will be your best learning experience. Check in on your team every day, read the news on your players and your upcoming opponents' players and check the waiver wire (depending on the size of your league, trades may be more useful than the waiver wire, but always be looking for people to trade out for underperformers).
You already know the game, so you're not a total noob. As cashman says, you need a reason to care about the NFL -- having a fantasy team does that. I know way more about Deion Branch than anyone who isn't Deion Branch needs to know, just because he's won me a few games over the years.
Remember, above all else: You're doing this to have fun. Even if it's a money league, there are far easier ways to make a couple hundred bucks. Have fun with it, and you'll get more out of it than the guys who take it too seriously.
posted by Etrigan at 8:13 AM on August 7, 2013
Reading any of the big sports sites (ESPN, SI, etc.) will help greatly, and they're all big into fantasy football these days, so it's not just "Who's going to win on Sunday" but "What second-string running back is about to break out" (which is all, of course, horseshit, but the analysis behind it is useful).
Don't be afraid to take a cheat sheet to the draft. There are hundreds of players to pick from, and not even the most hardcore fan is going to remember them all.
Just being in a league will be your best learning experience. Check in on your team every day, read the news on your players and your upcoming opponents' players and check the waiver wire (depending on the size of your league, trades may be more useful than the waiver wire, but always be looking for people to trade out for underperformers).
You already know the game, so you're not a total noob. As cashman says, you need a reason to care about the NFL -- having a fantasy team does that. I know way more about Deion Branch than anyone who isn't Deion Branch needs to know, just because he's won me a few games over the years.
Remember, above all else: You're doing this to have fun. Even if it's a money league, there are far easier ways to make a couple hundred bucks. Have fun with it, and you'll get more out of it than the guys who take it too seriously.
posted by Etrigan at 8:13 AM on August 7, 2013
I've found that as a big fan of the NFL, this doesn't actually translate into being good at fantasy football. If your goal is to be able to have decent BSing conversations about football, go ahead and read about the league, but if you want to be good at fantasy football, read about fantasy football. The metrics to what constitutes good is completely different.
So my plan is to check on how fantasy sites rate players from week to week and make my decisions based on that rather than actually watching more games. It helped me place better in my league while reading a whole lot less.
posted by advicepig at 8:41 AM on August 7, 2013
So my plan is to check on how fantasy sites rate players from week to week and make my decisions based on that rather than actually watching more games. It helped me place better in my league while reading a whole lot less.
posted by advicepig at 8:41 AM on August 7, 2013
I'd say watch SportsCenter and Pardon the Interruption, you'll see bits and bobs about the various players, and you will absorb the information by osmosis.
Also, be on the look out for the annual Sports Illustrated NFL issue. Or just go on the SI site. Easily consumable.
You only need to be conversant.
Everything else is researchable. Besides, no one expects you to be a font of knowledge, in fact, they'd rather you weren't.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 8:50 AM on August 7, 2013
Also, be on the look out for the annual Sports Illustrated NFL issue. Or just go on the SI site. Easily consumable.
You only need to be conversant.
Everything else is researchable. Besides, no one expects you to be a font of knowledge, in fact, they'd rather you weren't.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 8:50 AM on August 7, 2013
I recommend ESPN's fantasy football podcasts, particularly the daily Fantasy Focus. They also have had an introduction-to-fantasy pod that they've done in the past.
By all means, go to your favorite sports website and use their prep kit. Bring a list of players. Make sure it's long enough. Everyone needs one to keep track.
During the season it's mostly just keeping track of health and bye weeks. Your league site (if you play online) should provide that info to you.
posted by Huffy Puffy at 9:33 AM on August 7, 2013
By all means, go to your favorite sports website and use their prep kit. Bring a list of players. Make sure it's long enough. Everyone needs one to keep track.
During the season it's mostly just keeping track of health and bye weeks. Your league site (if you play online) should provide that info to you.
posted by Huffy Puffy at 9:33 AM on August 7, 2013
I'm in the same boat as you, except I'm not really into college football either. However, I am the commissioner of a father-son fantasy league in my town. So if I can do it, you can.
First, use the resources of your league platform. We use Yahoo, and there's a ton of information there, both narrative and stats, that can help you get conversant about the top-tier guys. (I say guys, because you don't really need to be that conversant about teams per se).
For draft day, my son and I put together a cheat sheet that ranks our top 10-15 picks at each position. It's important to put this together; don't clip it out of some website. That's easier, but you won't retain it. Sometimes we'll even get fancy and have a pre-draft meeting where we bring our own draft rankings, and then argue for our picks until we have a consensus for draft night. This meeting gives me a reason to study up (in the absence of really caring that much).
Once the season starts, I make heavy use of the stat tables in Yahoo. There's great filtering and ranking functionality there that helps surface the few guys you need to know about for further research. Which you do by clicking their names ;)
Finally, there's a column in my local paper's sports page every Wednesday that gives you tips on getting your lineup squared away for the upcoming weekend. I read it, I cut it out, and I use to to argue with my son.
tl;dr - use your league platform, if you use one. Make a cheat sheet for draft. Find somebody to bounce ideas off of. Engage with the material at least once a week.
Good luck!
posted by stupidsexyFlanders at 9:38 AM on August 7, 2013
First, use the resources of your league platform. We use Yahoo, and there's a ton of information there, both narrative and stats, that can help you get conversant about the top-tier guys. (I say guys, because you don't really need to be that conversant about teams per se).
For draft day, my son and I put together a cheat sheet that ranks our top 10-15 picks at each position. It's important to put this together; don't clip it out of some website. That's easier, but you won't retain it. Sometimes we'll even get fancy and have a pre-draft meeting where we bring our own draft rankings, and then argue for our picks until we have a consensus for draft night. This meeting gives me a reason to study up (in the absence of really caring that much).
Once the season starts, I make heavy use of the stat tables in Yahoo. There's great filtering and ranking functionality there that helps surface the few guys you need to know about for further research. Which you do by clicking their names ;)
Finally, there's a column in my local paper's sports page every Wednesday that gives you tips on getting your lineup squared away for the upcoming weekend. I read it, I cut it out, and I use to to argue with my son.
tl;dr - use your league platform, if you use one. Make a cheat sheet for draft. Find somebody to bounce ideas off of. Engage with the material at least once a week.
Good luck!
posted by stupidsexyFlanders at 9:38 AM on August 7, 2013
Watch ESPN SportsCenter on Sundays and Mondays. Pick a sports news site's NFL page to follow (CBS, ESPN are good ones). Read a few articles every day.
Watch the Monday night game if you find the time. Usually a good matchup and popular water cooler conversation topic.
I'm also a much bigger college fan than NFL and doing fantasy football for the first time in almost ten years this year, so it's a learning experience for me as well. Luckily, many of today's players I followed/saw in college, so it's not as bad as it could be, I guess!
posted by Precision at 4:01 PM on August 7, 2013
Watch the Monday night game if you find the time. Usually a good matchup and popular water cooler conversation topic.
I'm also a much bigger college fan than NFL and doing fantasy football for the first time in almost ten years this year, so it's a learning experience for me as well. Luckily, many of today's players I followed/saw in college, so it's not as bad as it could be, I guess!
posted by Precision at 4:01 PM on August 7, 2013
If you're into this kinda thing, I learned a lot of players playing the Madden video games. Each player has RPG-like stats that help shed light on their special skill set. ("Desean Jackson? That's the guy with 95 speed, he must be fast!" Etc...) You can also learn plays and formations this way. In fact some high school coaches load their playbook into the game to help students learn.
posted by Blandanomics at 6:11 PM on August 11, 2013
posted by Blandanomics at 6:11 PM on August 11, 2013
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posted by deadweightloss at 7:46 AM on August 7, 2013