F1 Fanatasy League

Let me just start by saying I've never participated in any sort of fantasy sport thing.  Ever.   I've never tracked stats or averages or been willing to invest the time needed to even look at players in the NFL or MLB.  I've never even had arguments with my friends over whether Babe Ruth would do as well today as he did back in the "Chalk" period.  Although fossilized remains of Babe Ruths have been found above the K-T event boundry so we know they not only survived but may even have thrived. 

How did it turn out?


A couple of weeks ago I received an email saying there was an opening in an F1 league that Tim was participating in.   Would I like to join?

"Hair lip, hair lip," as they say.

The draft process was interesting.  Most of you will find no novelty here but this was totally surprising.  You pick your order based on a randomly generated order.   My options were 1 through 5 and  I went for #3 because:

1. I didn't know what the hell was going on.
2. Someone had picked 1st and 2nd.

So that meant I was up 3rd.  I figured that much out.  What I hadn't considered was what reverse order frontside rodeo goofy or whatever they called it meant.   First was first then last was first and last always went first after that.

What it meant for me was that I would always pick after 4 other picks were made.  No matter what.  I'll admit that it was rough to watch someone take two picks in a row.  On reflection, I had to admit that waiting for nine options to drop before you could pick two would have driven me crazy.

Sebastian Vettel was picked first.  I can't find any fault with this whatsoever, but what occurred to me was that it would be a miracle if Webber was free nine picks later so I would have picked RedBull if I was first.

I was hoping I'd get some pieces of RedBull, some McLaren, all of Alonso (as he is my primo and my brain somehow changes the colors of his car to a sky-blue and yellow livery), some Lotus as their livery is way nostalgic for me, and then if I was lucky, a little Force India and then some goofballs to round things out.

After the first pick, I realized, I could get some sort of RedBull as there were three options and I was third.  Yeah it's not a complicated strategy but it was all I had.  I figured I'd have to choose between Webber and self-respect.  In that case I'd probably go with Alonso.

It turns out someone loves Alonso more than I do.   He goes second and there I am looking at the Redbull team as an option.  And thus came my first pick, RedBull.

Red-freaking-Bull people.  

Button goes away and I'm giddy from my RedBull pick and start to wonder if I can get McLaren as well.  Four picks can tear through your heart in no time and this is exactly what happened.  Tim takes Webber and I mock him soundly for it but he also takes McLaren.  Although I put on a brave face, a Vulcan would have reported "Pain... great pain...."

Lewis gets picked next and while I am forced to reluctantly admit the man has skills, I couldn't have allowed my point gains to be tainted by the reptilian grins of his girlfriend. So that dilemma was decided for me.

 So now I'm thinking everyone I'm interested in is gone and was about to pick Lotus when it hits me.  Iceman.  It's perfect.   He's unpredictable, and crazy enough to just maybe do something cool.   Double fun for me on the gold and black.   I pick him and I look forward to either Lotus or Force India going away next and dashing my optimism.

Next up were Ferrari then Schumacher. Ferrari?  I can see that and it makes sense in hindsight but my loathing of the team prevented my eyes from even recognizing that they were available. 

Surprisingly Massa goes next and since I don't really know anyone except for Tim, I keep any mocking to myself and find myself not having to pick who's left from my list but actually having three good options. Lotus, Force India, and Kobyashi.   Why Kamui? I like not knowing if he'll pass everyone or burst into flame.

I decide to pick up Lotus but figured out the rules don't allow it, so its Force India, Kobyashi, and Senna for me.  Again, Tim stabs me in the heart by picking Lotus.  He doesn't even like them.  He never played with a model from their 70's era.   He never tied a Barbie to a scale model and tried to re-enact Jim Clark's crash at Hockenheim.   Tacky yes, but I hated that Barbie.

In the end I had:
RedBull
Raikkonen
Force India
Kobyashi
Sergio Perez
Bruno Senna

I figured I'd have a decent shot at some points with RedBull being my only real contributor.

How did it work out?   Check out our race recap to find out.