Our Addiction

[fantasybballking]

I want to start a solid thread discussing the crazy things we have done to keep updated on fantasy baseball. Checking the Blackberry on a date or faking washroom breaks to catch some of the game in the bar when out with clients and the list goes on.

I bring this thread up out of the tiny guilt I feel a week after my 1st son was born. That magical night was a long one. 14 hours of labor long!!! I took at least 25 bathroom breaks or "walks" during the hours of 7 and 12 - after all I am in a race for my fantasy league championship.

I want to hear some good stuff. Has anyone lost their job because of there addiction?? Let’s share some good stories of spousal neglect and frustration all in favor of the game we love!

[Sultans of Squat]

LOL! Are there really any other "family men" on this site? Most posts read like they're written exclusively by bachelors, if not teenage kids or computer geeks (and yes, some would consider me a computer geek too when they don't see me walking about w/ my DSLR rig).

When my wife was in labor for our first kid (for more hours than yours), the guilty pleasure was the series finale of Seinfeld. I didn't start playing fantasy bb yet back then although I've been a bb fan since I was a kid -- and no, I didn't start until well after our 2nd baby just 15 months after the first, LOL (and we didn't have anymore since then ). But yeah, fantasy bb definitely eats up more of my time than it rightly should I'm afraid to say. As it is, I'm neglecting my other "hobbies"...

[Half Massed]

I often spent a solid hour doing fbb related activities each day during my last job, but I was never caught as far as I know. The job was just for the summer, but what could I do? Smack in the middle of the season... Although switching between spreadsheets and boxscores was somewhat interesting.

[AKhomebrewer]

Good thread.

Mine would probably have been vacation last summer, driving through the Northwest with wife and kids.
I had my laptop along on the trip, but there were few opportunities to hook it up while maintaining the appearance of being the dedicated family guy on vacation.

***Disclosure: the wife is well aware of my 'hobby', indulges my time and even occasionally ask how the franchise is doing. But you dads know there are lines to be drawn.***

So, I'd tried to preset a week's worth of daily lineups in advance, but a few days into the trip, we pulled into Coeuer d'Alene and my wife spotted a used book store she wanted to browse and get stuff for the kids to read on the trip.

I spy a Kinkos across the street!

"Honey, I'm gonna pop over and check our e-mail," and minutes later I'm cursing another Adam Dunn 0-fer and hastily switching around pitchers who had their starts moved up or pushed back.

Then unplug, shut the computer and back across the street, where she greets me with, "So, any messages from so-and-so?"

Busted.

I forgot to actually check the mail. I think that qualifies as addiction.

[JTWood]

I doubt that any of us can beat skipping out on labor to adjust the ol' lineup. That's pretty far up there, my friend.

I guess the worst I've done/heard would include:

• Paying a waitress $10 up front to keep bringing me game scores on a napkin every time she came around to check on us (wife and I).
• Logging on to a pay-by-the-minute internet machine while I was on vacation so I could set my lineup. C'mon... Paying money to set my lineup is pretty bad.
• I have a friend who skipped out on his mortgage closing early so that he could check game scores. He left his wife to sign the paperwork. In return, his wife lied to me and said that she'd told him about my new league but that he wasn't interested. Turns out he would have been in - if he'd ever been told about it.

[Red Stripe]

Well once in high school when I was in my league championship it was like a Thursday and I was checking the day games in the library, and the library was supposed to be used for only educational stuff or some crap like that. Anyway Im checking scores, the librarian(who obviously has never heard of gfantasy sports) thinks Im gambling on the school computers and I have to have a talk with the principal. Luckily he was a pretty cool guy and knew something about fantasy since he had a team of his own.

[Simulacrum]

[*] I have a friend who skipped out on his mortgage closing early so that he could check game scores. He left his wife to sign the paperwork. In return, his wife lied to me and said that she'd told him about my new league but that he wasn't interested. Turns out he would have been in - if he'd ever been told about it.

Yep... the ladies do not like the fantasy baseball. My fiancee is trying to barder and make a deal with me if I promise not to play fbb next season. Apparently I'll be the recipient of extra favors if I skip playing next season- but it's going to take more than just that! Maybe if she agrees to clean all the bathrooms and do all the grocery shopping as well....

In the spirit of the thread, when me and my friends get together to go out for dinner/drinks, I always insist on going to a bar or grill where I can watch a TV and keep my eye on the ESPN bottom line.

[Pedantic]

More frequently than I'd like to admit, I take my lunch at my desk and look up fantasy baseball stuff. That's about as bad as it gets. Pretty tame compared to some of the stories here.

[prhood]

I find this very interesting and amusing. I could wish that it become a "sticky" topic. My addiction is growing. So far it's limited to tracking my player's progress nightly via the CBS scorebord and updating my team Monday mornings (at the moment I can only make weekly changes) - usually absorbs an hour or so of work time. No has noticed so far. I'm sure my wife is patiently waiting for the end of the bb season. Little does she know I plan to take over an existing team in a new dynasty league. Serious winter 3work ahead. Poor woman.

[JTWood]

More frequently than I'd like to admit, I take my lunch at my desk and look up fantasy baseball stuff. That's about as bad as it gets. Pretty tame compared to some of the stories here.

More frequently??? I eat lunch at my desk every day for that very reason.