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Life Lessons to be Learned in Fantasy Football

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Here are some Life Lessons to be Learned in Fantasy Football

Life Lessons to be Learned in Fantasy Football

In 2015, I joined a Fantasy Football league.  For anyone that knows me well, this would have probably been some extremely shocking news.  Most people might have said to me, “Don’t you have enough football in your life already?”  You see, my husband and son are avid football fans…of ALL football.  My son played football at the time.  My husband coached at the time.  They’ve played Fantasy Football for years.  Additionally, my husband used to occasionally play flag football with the church.  They both watch…and watch…and watch…both NFL and college ball.  So basically, football is a 7 day/week phenomenon at our house with all the practicing, playing, and watching.  Thus, why I’ve come to despise it.  I’ve often referred to myself as a football widow.

You might see then why joining a Fantasy Football league seemed counterintuitive.  However, a friend somehow convinced me that it would be good for me (and my family), and for some crazy reason, I agreed with her!  More or less, it’s a “If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em” philosophy.  My choice to join them was based on wanting to be a part of something that they enjoy so much, even if it’s not an interest of mine.  I hoped that I would also learn to love and enjoy it as they do (well, maybe not quite as much!).  My friend promised me I would have fun, so I told her I was going to hold her to it!

Shared experiences

I also looked forward to the benefits that come from sharing experiences.  According to clinical psychologist Dr. Willard Harley, recreational companionship is one of the top five needs for a man in marriage.  In fact, he puts it this way, “The couple that plays together stays together.”[i]

Recreational companionship is one of the top needs for a man in marriage.

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Although I don’t necessarily agree with all of Dr. Harley’s insinuations that unmet needs are the cause of affairs, I do believe in the importance of shared or common interests and recreational companionship.  Eric and I do this in other areas too.  For example, we both love going to auctions and estate sales. We love being outdoors and on the water and enjoying a few other common interests together.

Now, football (or any sport for that matter) might not be my top preference, but it IS my husband’s and also my son’s.  Therefore, because it’s important to them, I chose to make it important to me.  Who was to say that I might not even really enjoy myself?  I wouldn’t know unless I gave it a try.  Don’t get me wrong though, I definitely still think there can be a ditch there.  When our lives revolve around football, I think that’s really sad…and almost idolatry.  For the time, though, I chose to be a part of the madness. And I figured I might as well get some good blog posts out of it as well! 😉

Here are a few life lessons I learned from Fantasy Football…

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Doing a 2020 Recap

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Doing a 2020 Recap title image

Doing a 2020 Recap

This past weekend our church did a service revolving around a 2020 recap. There were a few testimonials of people discussing what they’ve learned from 2020, how the year has been impactful for them, or what God had done for them over the past year. It got me to thinking… “How WOULD I recap this past year?”

One of our yearly Christmas traditions came to mind as I was thinking about this. Each year at Christmas we get each of our kids a Christmas ornament for that year. These ornaments usually reflect an event or milestone or memory from the year. This year as I was shopping for their ornament, I knew I wanted it to be 2020 related but not just referring to all of the COVID-19 stuff as so many of them were. I wanted it to reflect the many, many crazy events that took place during 2020—a kind of a 2020 recap on the ornament.

I ended up settling on a type of word cloud ornament. As I was reading through all of the items listed on the ornament, I found myself saying, “Oh yeah, I forgot about that.” It had things like Kobe Bryant’s death, the Australian fires, travel bans, birthday parades, virtual graduations, virtual meetings, distance learning, of course the whole Coronavirus pandemic themed things (quarantine, panic buying, toilet paper shortage, social distancing, face masks, front line heroes and essential workers, etc.), murder hornets, the Beirut explosion, and BLM protests. (It was missing the whole presidential election fiasco which was odd.) It did seem to sum up events of the year pretty well.

On a personal level

While this was a great 2020 recap of the year’s events, it still wasn’t a very personal reflection of the year. I thought about how my mom often does this in her Christmas or end-of-year letters where she summarizes the whole family’s yearly goings-on. So, I started to make a list (although not completely comprehensive)… Continue reading →

She forgot her backpack…Allowing natural consequences

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She forgot her backpack...allowing natural consequences

She forgot her backpack…Allowing natural consequences

A couple of weeks ago I experienced a hard day as a momma. In fact my journal entry for that day reads, “Today is a little rough as a mom to see through natural consequences for my child.”

My daughter had been pretty irresponsible lately (not getting chores done, taking much longer than it should to get things done, forgetting things, and so on). On this particular day, she had forgotten her backpack with her homework at home because she wasn’t paying attention and focusing on the right things. She also forgot to drink her milk that morning even after being reminded.

At school, as she was getting out of the car, she noticed that she had forgotten her backpack. She didn’t ask me to go get it and bring it back to her because she knew she’d already used up her one “grace” already this school year. I give each of my kids one “grace” per school year where I’ll retrieve a forgotten item just one time.

Part of me REALLY wanted to go back home and get it for her though. She had such a discouraged look on her face that broke my heart. However, something inside me reminded me that she needs to have her natural consequences as a learning opportunity. I was struggling so much internally though I even called Eric to ask him if I should go back and get it for her. As soon as I heard myself asking him though, “don’t do it!” was running through my head. Eric had the same response, especially considering her recent irresponsible behavior.

It still just made me so sad because I don’t want my kids to have to suffer discouragement, pain or heartache. I think God must feel this way at times too.

God is also a good, but just parent

Thinking about it all reminded me of a previous post I wrote where I talked about being sad when I wanted to do nice or fun things for the kids but their bad behavior prevented me from doing so. At that time I also had the realization that God must experience similar emotions and how he is a good but just parent. He allows us to experience many of our natural consequences. Though as a parent, he probably doesn’t like it, and it makes him really sad to see us experience pain and hardship too.

Consequences teach necessary life skills

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Things I Discovered From Being Annoyed by Cheerleaders

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Things I Discovered From Being Annoyed by Cheerleaders

Things I Discovered From Being Annoyed by Cheerleaders

Okay.  I’m going to open up and be vulnerable and honest with you for a bit.  Cheerleaders get on my nerves.  There I said it.  Let me clarify.  I don’t mean the cheerleaders themselves.  I’m talking about the actual cheerleading during the game.  For some reason, they seem to start cheering right as the next play is starting or right when they are announcing something over the intercom.  Some of the cheers seem never-ending.  A few of the cheers don’t even match what’s happening on the field.  I find it to be annoying and distracting.  I mean, after all, I’m here to watch my son play football not the cheerleaders!  Sometimes I just want to yell, “Shut up!”

Now that you all think I’m a horrible person… 🙂

I think I should give you an explanation and some background information.  In my younger years, I actually used to be a cheerleader.  I cheered for five years, two of those serving as Captain of the cheer squad.  Looking back to when I cheered as a young middle schooler and high schooler, I can now see that I was completely unqualified.  I had no business cheering, let alone acting as Captain!  I didn’t know anything about football.  I think I may have learned maybe a handful of basics.  Offense means our team has the ball.  Defense means their team has the ball.  A touchdown is when we score.  That was about the extent of my knowledge back then.

Currently as a wife of an avid football fan and the mom of a young football player, I’ve learned quite a bit more about the game.  I’ve especially learned more also as a participant of a fantasy football team (more on that story here).  Understanding the game has actually enabled me to enjoy it more.  If I were being honest, I think when I cheered in school it wasn’t so much because I loved the game of football but probably more the idea of it.  I loved the games and the exciting atmosphere.  I loved the comradery.  I loved the competition.  I loved getting up in front of people cheering and the attention I got.

Senior Cheer-Tracy

This is me…the cheerleader that didn’t know football!

I’m a little bit embarrassed now after the fact because I can see areas where I may have been more of a hindrance than a help as a cheerleader.  Continue reading →