This was my primary college application essay. For the record, this helped me get into UMass Amherst, University of Michigan – Ann Arbor, Carnegie Mellon University, University of Pittsburgh, and, finally, University of Maryland – College Park. I hope people who either (1) like fantasy football enjoy this and (2) are stressing out about the college application process read this and realize how fun (gasp) it can be if you decide to make it fun. I enjoyed writing this and hope you enjoy it as well.

It’s Christmas Day in the middle of August and I feel like an energetic seven-year-old. For any fantasy football addict, Draft Day is a day like no other; imagine taking Christmas, New Year’s Eve, and your birthday and blending them together. Fantasy football, in brief, features competing, unique teams composed of football players determined through an auction draft. During the season, teams face each other weekly using a points system based on players’ real-life statistical performance. My mind is racing a million miles an hour going through the infinite number of scenarios that could play out later today in this game that is a haven for sports nerds like me. The whole season creakily hinges on this day; a brilliant draft will lead me to the fantasy football Promised Land, while a horrendous one will sink my season and bring on twelve painful months of waiting for next year.

​ As the draft nears its commencement, the anxiety that hung over my mind like a dark, ominous cloud has disappeared, as a new sense of confidence takes over. My Excel workbooks on fantasy football could easily be mistaken for the workings of a crazed statistician, because they most likely are the work of a crazed statistician trying to predict an unpredictable game, packed with multiple regression analyses and statistical forecasting. The ability of mathematical, statistical, and economic tools to provide insights into a subject that at first glance appears to have nothing to do with mathematics, statistics, or economics is one of my favorite aspects of fantasy football. I study my research similar to how a venture capitalist evaluates start-up companies. I’m convinced I know the next “Google” from the imposters and this year my predicted breakout star is the 22-year old running back Lamar Miller, who has the best mix of athleticism, opportunity, and cheap price available. The draft has naturally settled into a rhythmic flow, which oscillates between moments of intense bidding and relaxed joking between friends. I get snapped out of the comforting cadence of the conversation by a sudden sense of fear, running through my nerves like the chill of an icy wind, caused by the nomination of Miller by my league-mate Sean. After unsuccessfully attempting to feign disinterest, I make my entrance into the bidding war at $13, which holds until Sean responds with an aggressive $15. With difficulty deciphering if he is seriously vested in Miller, or just fishing around, I go to $16, hoping to scare him off. The room becomes quiet enough that I can hear the soft ping of an e-mail arriving on someone’s laptop. As blood rushes to my cheeks and the countdown timer hits zero, a burst of adrenaline permeates me as my trembling hand writes down “Miller, Lamar” on the roster sheet.

​This is the joy and thrill of fantasy football that fascinates me for five-months annually. The creative challenge that is in fluid motion with each bid and nomination makes the draft an extremely stimulating and rewarding task due to its difficulty. While I trust my statistical methods substantially, they are not the only factor when deciding player’s value. The subjective “gut feeling” is impossible to quantify but plays a similar role to statistical thinking on draft day. Perhaps, the sentimental notion that sports are a form of art and should be interpreted, rather than computed, is harmonious with my fandom. After all, fanaticism, by definition, is irrational and crazy. Finding the perfect balance between the objective and subjective is a perpetual challenge that makes the game intellectually invigorating. Yet, no matter how well-drafted my team is, the season ahead is always filled with unforeseeable surprises that require clever maneuvering to stay competitive. As fantasy fanatic Joe Bryant once said, “The game is based on an oblong ball made of leather. Weird stuff is going to happen.” But I can’t help myself from trying to predict it.