Things By Mike

If you remember a while back I was soliciting bloggers to join a little NFL fantasy football league. Well that league is now underway since the NFL season has begun. There is however another option for fantasy football fans that doesn’t depend on the NFL for its players and stats. I just recently signed up for Mastermind Football which is entirely fantasy based, meaning the players as well as all the stats they accumulate are fictitious. While I think it may take some time getting used to playing a fantasy league that isn’t based on an actual league (the NFL), I do believe if you’re someone who likes the idea of managing every aspect of a team, you might really enjoy this. I’ll highlight some of the key features of Mastermind first before talking about the differences between this league and the kinds of fantasy leagues that you’re probably more accustomed to if you’ve ever played fantasy football.

• Because teams and players are entirely fictitious, there’s no limit to how many people can sign up and play.
• Teams have a salary cap which means you can’t just go grabbing a superstar player for every position. You need to be more strategic about how you spend your money.
• You can add and remove players and coaches from your team whenever you wish. Both players and coaches are rated according to several different factors which can help you better determine who you really want on your team.
• Players and coaches have contracts worth various amounts of dollars. If you want to pick up a new player you’re going to have to make him an offer. If he likes it, he’ll sign a contract with you.
• Just like other fantasy leagues your goal is to get your team into the playoffs and ultimately win the championship.

While there are certainly some similarities between Mastermind Football and more traditional fantasy football leagues, there are some differences which I think are what makes it very interesting. Unlike the more traditional fantasy leagues your team is stocked with players at every position just like a real football team would be. For example rather than just having a team made up of about 8 skill players, a defense and a kicker, you’ve got a team of 50 players with which to control.

Is your defense not performing well? Perhaps you need to do a little tweaking of the defensive line. Maybe you a have a defensive tackle who just isn’t getting the job done stopping the run. With mastermind you are the coach, the general manager and the owner of your team and are completely in control of all personnel decisions, so you can give that tackle his pink slip and pick up a new player to replace him.

Another unique thing to point out about Mastermind Football is that teams actually play one another, meaning you can log in and watch it all happen via the play-by-play updates. This is a great way to learn which players are performing well and which might need to be dealt with.

If you’re like me and a bit of a stats geek when it comes to sports, Mastermind Football may just be right up your alley.