With the autumn season rolling in and the football season kicking off, fantasy football, a game viewed as a tradition for many Hinsdale Central students, is also starting.
On Thursday Sept. 5, the first NFL game between the Baltimore Ravens and the Kansas City Chiefs will kick off at 7:20 p.m. and will mark the start of the fantasy football season as well.
Fantasy football is a game where you act as the manager of your own personal American football team. You join a league with friends, and a league is typically around 10-12 people. You assemble your team through a draft, which is where the members of the fantasy league pick players from all different teams to go onto their own personal team.
You manage the team and you draft throughout the whole fantasy football season; the players you draft get you points through their performances. They can get points from scoring a touchdown, catching passes and through other skills. Fantasy football is an added experience to watching football because people get to root for players, not just one team.
For many students, it has become an annual tradition.
“I’ve been in the same league with my friends for the past four years,” said Owen Stamer, senior. “It’s become something I look forward to every year.”
Students that play also make it something they add stakes to. For many leagues, first place gets a sum of money that the other players have put in, and the last place gets a punishment. Some leagues take punishments to the extreme, while some keep it more casual.
“I finished ninth in my league, and I had to do the Blazin’ challenge at Buffalo Wild Wings,” said Silas Hirschmann, senior.
Some leagues play for big money, with buy-ins valued at as little as $10 and as big as $50. A buy-in is when every member of their league puts in a specific amount of money to form a pot, and the pot is then divided up to the winners at the end of the season.
“Right now I’m in a league that has a $50 buy-in: the winner gets $450, second place gets $100, third place gets their money back and last also has to do a punishment,” said Mason Baskel, senior.
Students are excited to see how their teams shape up this season. Later in the year, you may even see some students doing their punishments.
If you’re looking for a league to join you can look at websites like Sleeper and ESPN Fantasy.
