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Blogs:
First Bell - On Education:
No City of Akron basketball tonight
Pets:
Pet telethon re-airs
The Heldenfiles:
Chipmunks "Squeakquel" on DVD/BD March 30
Akron Zips:
Zips favored on road against MAC West leader
Tribe Matters:
Blogmail response on Hafner
Cleveland Browns:
Stallworth's contract terminated
Balanced Ledger:
QB in Browns future: another mock draft
Kent State Sports:
KSU Notes – February 9
Cleveland Cavaliers:
NBA Power Rankings from Around the Internet
Buckeye Blogging:
Buckeyes grab 18 players on signing day
Varsity Letters:
Five local gridders to play in Big33
All Da King's Men:
Palin At The Tea Party Convention
Blog of Mass Destruction:
Republican Pre-Conditions
Akron Law Café:
Law, Love and Chocolate
Car Chase:
Collector Car Hobby Loses One of the Best—Jim Roll
Let's Talk Real Estate:
Decisions Decisions: Credit Cards or Your Mortgage?
Ohio Travels with Betty:
Loucile is looking for a Lake Erie getaway in June for three kids, ages 1, 3, and 5.
Sound Check:
Talk of the Town – Top entertainment picks for the weekend
HRLite House:
OFCCP Report
Akron Gamer:
Makers of 'Castle Crashers' unveil 'BattleBlock Theater'
See Jane Style:
Do IT this week: Layering
By George M. Thomas
Beacon Journal sports writer
Published on Friday, Aug 29, 2008
Hell hath no fury like the wrath of a woman scorned — for fantasy sports.
A guy I know risked bodily harm recently by scheduling three fantasy football drafts on a Sunday, beginning at 8:30 a.m. and not ending until early evening.
For most guys, playing fantasy sports — usually football — is an excuse to hang with their buddies twice a year, once for the draft and again at the midseason status party. They swill some beer, eat chicken wings and pretend they're NFL general managers. They draft their dream teams in the hopes of winning a pot of cash.
Some other guys — well, they get a bit too serious about it, participating in multiple leagues, obsessing over starting lineups and checking out of a social life other than communication with fantasy buddies — often clandestine because of significant others.
Enter the still-evolving Web site Women Against Fantasy Sports (http://womenagainstfantasysports.com), which offers refuge to ladies who feel abandoned or neglected while their men try to put together the consummate starting lineup and live vicariously through athletes they don't know. (At peak hours, the Web site may be overwhelmed because of heavy traffic.)
Founded by Allison Lodish of Kentfield, Calif., WAFS, as it's called, is a social site as much as anything — it also has a Facebook group — for women who must find something to entertain themselves with during sports seasons.
''I am simply a woman who has had it with the countless hours my husband spends glued to the computer checking his fantasy football crap,'' Lodish said in a blog entry. ''If he spent that much energy on anything else, we wouldn't be here now.''
The group helps women who suffer this cruel fate, especially at this time of year, giving them an outlet to commiserate with others in the same fix. In the process, they can always pick up some valuable information from a fellow user about how to spoil her husband's fantasy draft.
Heck, I could have given them that information: Have him take San Francisco running back Frank Gore as his first draft pick, then scream when he has an injury-dominated, subpar season. Like I did last year.
Here's a favorite line one woman used on her fantasy-happy mate: ''While you're drafting, I'm going to have dinner/lunch with my ex-boyfriend. You don't mind, do you, honey?''
Speaking of fantasy
How popular has fantasy football become? Networks and channels devote significant chunks of airtime and their Web sites to it.
Sensing a captive audience and Web hits, they've adopted an if-you-can't-beat-'em-join-'em attitude. Network-specific sports sites often run their own fantasy leagues. Fox, ESPN and CBS all have them. After all, 18 million people are playing, according to one estimate.
ESPN takes the craze to a different level with its Emmy-winning Fantasy Football Now, which will return Sept. 7 to ESPN.com and ESPN Mobile TV. How many actually watch, I don't know, but obviously there's a market for it.
Mark your calendar
Some publicity stunts make you squirm, but others give you the warm and fuzzies.
Take this one from Sportstime Ohio. It's taking Tribe fans back to the days of ''ducks on the pond'' and ''the bags are juiced.''
The regional sports channel will have Joe Tait and Bruce Drennan call the second game of a doubleheader Sept. 13. Drennan laments that the Indians are out of contention, but at least he has a sense of humor about it. ''Tait and I will be used to that,'' he said. ''When we did the games, the Indians stunk.''
Short takes
Akron's own Chris Wells, running back for Ohio State, and Tyrell Sutton, running back for Northwestern, appear in separate public service announcements promoting the Big Ten Conference. . . . DirecTV is bringing maximum overload to tennis fans in coming days with its coverage of the U.S. Open with 160 additional matches and five extra channels. . . . The University of Akron soccer team will appear on the Big Ten Network at 2 p.m. Sunday in a game against Indiana. . . . The Akron/ISP Sports Network has added WRQK (106.9-FM) to its lineup, joining flagship WARF (1350-AM) in broadcasting UA football games. . . . Mount Union College senior quarterback Greg Micheli will write a blog throughout the 2008 football season on NCAA.com.
George M. Thomas can be reached at sportswriterabj@sbcglobal.net. Read his blog at http://www.ohiomm.com/blogs/sportsblitz/
Hell hath no fury like the wrath of a woman scorned — for fantasy sports.
Get the full article here.
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