Fantasy cliche

J's World, by Jeremiah Bartz

At the top of a long list of sports clich/s may be the statement, "it is a long season," with "take one game at a time" right underneath.

As a player listening to a coach, or a fan reading the quote in a newspaper, you might just roll your eyes. But, as clich/ as it is, the statement is very true.

And I am finding that out with my fantasy football team.

Yes fantasy football, a game for people like Frank Ameduri, Casey Ressler and myself, whose athletic conquests are now done on paper or Play Station. Our days of competing on the football field or baseball diamond may be deep in the past, but the Frontiersman's trio of armchair quarterbacks are still duking it out for fantasy glory.

Thus far this season, Ameduri, Ressler and I have been on three different islands in the fantasy football world.

Ameduri has been on an island somewhere off the coast of North Carolina. The weather has not been too rough, but his fantasy is far from tropical. With a few wins, there may be smoothe sailing in the future, but frigid conditions could come with a loss or two.

Ressler has been enjoying far more success than he deserves. With a 7-1 record, he is sitting somewhere like Tahiti-- sipping blue drinks with little umbrellas as the fantasy points pour in.

And for most of the season, I have been in Greenland. Early in the season, my roster was much like Greenland--nothing like it sounds. Greenland sounds like a plush, tropical land, filled with rolling greenery, but it is actually just a big hunk of ice.

My roster with players such as Donovan McNabb, Eddie George and Rod Smith should have been plush and full of potential.

My plentiful roster earned me four losses in the first four weeks and a spot in fantasy hell-- which could be likened to a vacation home in Greenland.

Since then I have been a bit like a used car salesman, trying to ship off my excess garbage and for a little production. And that has worked.

In the last five weeks, I am 4-1.

Early in the season I thought I was destined to stay in the cellar of our league, which would be like living in Greenland.

But now with new hope, I am taking the season one game at a time. It is a long season, and by the time things are said and done, I could be cruising past Ameduri's spot on the island off North Carolina, on my way to the umbrella drinks in Tahiti.

Jeremiah Bartz is the sports editor for the Frontiersman.