What's your fantasy?

I bet it doesn't involve agonizing over professional football players' weekly capabilities. I bet it doesn't involve scrutinizing the waiver wire to find the best hidden gem to replace your injured wide receiver. I bet it doesn't involve hours in front of "StatTracker" on Sunday afternoons, evenings and Monday nights to keep updated on your players' progress minute by minute. I bet it doesn't involve wishing a concussion or broken limbs on your enemies...

unless you're a boy. Or me.

I have become OBSESSED with fantasy football. I can't help that I am a competitive girl by nature, but there is something about playing a "boy's game" that somehow makes it more intense. My current league is comprised of 14 teams, 11 of which belong to boys. I'm proud to say that my hours of dedication have landed me in the top 3 of my league consistently, and even allowed me a one-week debut at first place.

I think it stems back to 7th grade gym class... I was playing co-ed floor hockey and managed to score THREE times on a boy-goalie. It was perhaps the best day of my physically semi-active life. It lit some sort of crazy competitive spark inside my brain. Watching that boy cry, yes, cry, felt really REALLY good. Playing fantasy football is kind of like that. Beating boys feels really REALLY good. When your quiet, it feels good to trash talk sometimes AND to have the skills to back it up. We don't get those chances very often, do we?

And thus, weekly, you will find me hunched over my Mac, making line-up changes, picking up new players, scrutinizing stats, and analyzing performances. And please don't be surprised or offended if you stop by my house on a Sunday afternoon and hear phrases like, "I hope that jackass gets knocked unconscious." Because my 13-year-old self still relishes the day that I made a boy cry.