I got kicked out of my fantasy football league.

LaDainian Tomlinson used to be a SURE THING in fantasy football. There are no more sure things, including me keeping up with my fantasy football team… By Dirk [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Fellow fansmanshipper — Andy Stevens — is our league commissioner. He offered me a trade early in the season that seemed like a good one so that he could get Green Bay’s defense. I widely ignored his request. It wasn’t really purposeful. I just wasn’t in the habit of checking things and never could quite get there. Also, I didn’t change my team’s lineup for at least 3 straight weeks.

So, about two weeks ago, Andy took control of my team. I was notified via email. I no longer had control of “Sneaky Sneaky” in the California Penal League, or whatever it was called. I can’t even see it on my Yahoo! profile anymore. It’s gone. Like it never even existed.

Do I feel guilty? — a little. I’ve fielded an efforted — if mediocre — team for the past 6-8 seasons. There’s an amount of pride in that. Here’s my take on the NFL and especially fantasy football: the players and product on the field are amazing, but for a casual fantasy football player, it’s become harder to compete. There are no more “guarantees” at the running back position and there is so much information out there that someone can spend time researching and have a huge advantage. There are far less “gut feelings” that are right.

Because I generally enjoy gut feelings paying off, and with no time to research (among other reasons I’m sure), fantasy football league had generally out-grown me. I could no longer keep up.

I’ve talked to Andy since then, but my banishment hasn’t come up. It’s probably because I don’t really have the time or energy to care and because he understands. And I think I’ll just stick to baseball from here on out.

Also, to the rest of the guys in that league, sorry. It’s been a busy year — on the road for over 100 days already and trying to build this site in my spare-time. So Sneaky Sneaky turned into a ghost ship.

It’s been a fun 2012 so far. It just hasn’t been one that I’m able to keep up with my fantasy football league. I guess it’s not my league anymore…

And, in case you were wondering whether I’ve been paying attention to the NFL, I’ve been paying enough attention. This is the perfect time for Super Bowl picks. In the NFC, the two options are the Falcons and Giants. I’m going with the Falcons this year. In the AFC, things are a little freakier. I think the Ravens are a dark horse for the AFC championship game, but I’m picking the Texans. You’re welcome. Now back to work.