Hard Winter for Fantasy Managers

The Winter is a challenging time for the Fantasy Football addict. The heady days of March to October have passed and the seven months of the Major League Soccer Fantasy (MLS Fantasy) planning and transfers are over. Almost a year of battling for a mini-league, to grab a high rank or, for the select few, to win a Fantasy Football competition, have turned to dust in a second. The final whistle blew one Sunday afternoon in late-October and, as Major League teams across the country collectively exhaled, so did us Fantasy managers.

The professional footballers will reflect on their seasons, be it Atlanta United reveling in their triumph, or the beaten and bewildered clubs wondering where to go from here. For us Fantasy managers, the frantic fight subsides, and we are given time to ponder our standing. For us, early-March to late October is the longest of seasons as we count down the days to the campaign ahead.

During my long Winter break Fantasy Football is never far from my thoughts. Last season’s top 3,000 MLS Fantasy finish left me with a challenge that I can’t forget about even during these long weeks with no Fantasy football. My mission will be to get back into the top 1,000, as I did in 2013, and even with no Fantasy football it’s a mission that I can not let go.

Already I’m looking ahead, even before the Fantasy games have opened and player prices are known. It may be Fantasy Football limbo but still us addicts are craving our next fix, scrabbling around for transfer rumours, or vague ideas of player pricing to construct a template in our heads.

While most are listening to the waves lap at their feet on the beach, us Fantasy Football managers are keeping a keen ear on whisperings of Sergio Leon or Antoine Greizmann joining New York City FC or pondering whether Orlando City’s new recruits will be under-priced gems or over-priced mistakes.

There are some Fantasy managers who claim to be able to take time off from the game, enjoy their break in the sunshine and pick up again in March. To us hardened addicts, who stay in with curtains drawn awaiting news of Laurent Ciman’s first goal for Toronto FC in a friendly, they are mere casuals.

With February now upon us we have already survived a month and a half with no Major League Soccer games and other sporting events, such as the Premier League, are doing their best to distract us. Just a few weeks to go before the first kick of the season and perhaps just a week or two to go before MLS Fantasy and other games open, player prices are known and planning can begin in earnest. With the Major League Soccer season starting earlier in March this year MLS Fantasy could even open its doors as early as next week.  The MLS Fantasy site is down for maintenance reasons. Oh God, this could be it. Please let this be it.