Invincibility is an endangered idea. Think about Manny Pacquiao's loss last night despite of having the invisible and invincible man in the sky on his side. He also had karma on his side; I have heard he's a pretty good guy. You can also give some thought to the Knicks's 18-5 start to the season despite their aged knees. Two of those wins came against the defending champions. In the case of the Knicks one can argue that the invincibility of logic is at risk. Logic is also a target of the only existing hegemonic order that is Chaos in the case of fantasy sports. After this season of fantasy football, basketball, and Premier League soccer I cannot figure out what the successes/failures of fantasy teams say about the real people managing them. Neither can you.
Matthew Berry makes a living by providing information to fantasy owners that should help them obtain some victories in the imaginary realm that fantasy sports exist in. If you look up the word "information" in your favorite dictionary/search engine you come across the words "fact" and "factual" in the definition. Peddling facts is not what Matthew Berry does. In my opinion, it is quite obvious that Berry provides his followers with somewhat educated guesses at best. This is not to say that the man is not talented, or as good at what he does as witches, priests, astrologists and psychics are at what they do.
Yet the fact of the matter is that there is a good possibility you could do better than Berry in a fantasy league if he were to accept your challenge. It is also a fact that you could not make a better omelet than a chef who has been making omelets their whole lives (unless you are an omelet making chef yourself), or that you could outperform a neurosurgeon in neurosurgery (unless you are a neurosurgeon yourself). Fantasy sports are one of the few things you as a non-expert can defeat an "expert" in. That is partially where the beauty of the beast resides.
Here is something for you to ponder: I drafted an all non-black (yes, race is a social construct but let me slide this one time) fantasy basketball team. The majority of NBA players are black and the majority of the top players in the NBA are black as well. Therefore, I was told I did not draft seriously or well by believers in the invincibility of logic. Unfortunately, for those advocates of the laws and structures of fantasy sports, Chaos once again proves itself to be the supreme dictator of this human pastime and I am 5-0 throughout 5 weeks. Being that you cannot tame or bend Chaos to your will I dare ask what exactly we fantasy owners think we are doing. Our efforts seem futile and the reasoning behind playing fantasy sports should be rethought. There is, as with all things, a lot to gain in the journey, so you may as well make it an enjoyable one.
I encourage you to perform experiments like the one I am currently heading in my fantasy basketball league as an exercise in taming the ego.
- Alex Moran
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