WEEK 17 FANTASY THOUGHTS

December 31st, 2005 5:00 AM ET

As everyone knows, this upcoming Sunday is January 1, 2006 – a traditional time for nursing hangovers, sitting on the couch all day, reflecting on the year that was, and making plans for the year ahead.

In addition to the usual vows of spending more time with the kids, trying to get a promotion at work, cleaning the garage, and vainly attempting to look like John Basedow, we have one major resolution for fantasy owners to consider on Sunday. If your football league uses week 17 for their championship match, promise to have that schedule changed in 2006. Why? By our count, there's one good reason and dozens of bad arguments for using the final set of games, and we present both sides below.

Good: Football is being played, stats are being accumulated, and fantasy owners don't want to waste a week of action. A fine argument, I concede, but the flip side is much stronger.

Bad: Colts, Seahawks, Broncos, Bears, Jaguars, Texans, 49ers, Jets, Saints, Packers, Rams, Raiders, Titans, Browns, Bills, Cardinals, Lions, Ravens, Eagles, Vikings, Dolphins.

By our count, those 21 teams have relatively little to play for this weekend, and some of the other 11 clubs might lose motivation based on the results of Saturday's games or Sunday's early set.

For the few quality squads listed, their playoff positioning is secure, and there's no need to risk their starters for much of the contest. We've already seen this scenario play out with the Colts last Saturday, and fantasy owners didn't like the taste. The other teams are out of the postseason picture and are fighting some combination of pride, experience, and a positive end to the season. In general, though, the upcoming weekend will not be a typical outing for many players that fantasy teams count on.

The mixture of the known (i.e. Thomas Jones' goal) and the unknown (i.e. how long will Matt Hasselbeck play?) make for a crazy fantasy football picture that doesn't do justice to the previous 16 weeks. The two squads that have reached the championship undoubtedly include a combination of talents from the teams named above, but those fantasy owners will be forced to bench some of their studs in favor of backups.

How is is a true test of your league's best two teams if they are forced to employ guys like David Garrard and Frank Gore over Tom Brady and Edgerrin James?

That's like eagerly tuning into the "Nip/Tuck" finale and finding out that the Carver was someone obvious like Quentin. Wait…that's an untimely simile. How about this: That would be like turning on "The Sopranos" next halfway into season six and finding out that Kevin James has replaced James Gandolfini. It would be disappointing and wrong, and fans would be calling for a replacement or the cancellation of the show.

 

Which brings us back to our topic: the cancellation of fantasy football in week 17. If you really, really need the fantasy football season to go on as long as possible (and who doesn't?), we suggest you start up a playoff league. While not as enjoyable and intense as the regular season action, it's still fun and provides one with that fantasy football fix.

Meanwhile, you can use week 17 as a gathering to watch games, celebrate the well-fought regular season, air grievances, hand the champion his or her trophy, and hold the draft or auction for your fantasy playoff league. Wouldn't that be more enjoyable and sensible than trying to paste together a useful fantasy roster this week with money on the line?

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