I'm going to enter my first Fantasy Football League season in 2009.

Any advice for a first-timer?

The only advice I can really give you, is that you make sure you study up on how the game's played, and know pretty much all you can going into it. I'm a rookie to all this fantasy stuff myself, and I made the huge mistake of going in with very little knowledge of how to play the game. And that hurt me, especially near the end of the season. I did somehow end up in third place in two of my three basketball leagues, but had I really learned how to play before jumping in, I think I would have done better. Next year I'm going to make sure I know the game inside and out, instead of using the learn as I go technique. You also might want to start off in the less advanced leagues, as I started with the toughest leagues with seasoned veterans this season. BIG MISTAKE!!! Atleast a couple of my teams next year will be for relative newbies such as myself. Sorry I can't give you any specific advice, but this is the best I've got from one rookie to another. Goodluck with your team, or teams!! If I think of anymore tips, I'll be sure to pass them along!!

I'm going to enter my first Fantasy Football League season in 2009.

Any advice for a first-timer?

Cool...

Just study up on the players, it's easier to have it where you can get in for free that I do.

If you do have a favorite player, it's not recommended to take him if he is the home team because he might not work in your favor. One year I had LT and he didn't do to well but I don't know if it was because I took him or what.

Check for what the site says about players such as ranking. Make sure you check for the position.

Pick a RB first, that's usually what is done anyway then if you want you can pick a QB or another RB but it's really best to pick a RB, WR then QB since the player you want might be gone. Pick your defense maybe in the 5th or 6 round or something like that cause I bet you the members will pick them early.

I do yahoo.com so you can pre-pick your players before the draft but I don't think you can do that if you want the computer to do that for you.

It is NOT recommended to have it done automatically since it might not pick the player you really want. It will pick by ranking.

I haven't done the ff yet but I think you can check for when the Bye week is for the player you pick, so also keep an eye on that.

If you are able to, you can check the status of the player by checking to see what is suggested as to starting him. For Yahoo, it shows stars then it will explain if you should start or not.

Sometimes I wait till 10 minutes before the start of the game to see who I can or can't start.

Hope this helps and good luck.

Another piece of advice that I'd give you is to make sure you keep your teams updated, and that you check them, and make the proper roster changes EACH DAY games are played. I have made the mistake in my fantasy baseball leagues of going a couple days without putting players in their proper positions, making sure certain pitchers weren't benched, and making sure that I didn't have an injured player on my starting roster, and it has totally messed up my rankings. From missing two days, one of my teams went from 2nd, to fifth place. By keeping up to date on things, which I assume will be easier with football since it's only played twice a week, this'll obviously lead you to do better statistically.

Another piece of advice that I just thought about is since you're new to this whole thing, you might not want to pick too many teams. I don't know what you plan on going through, but I go through yahoo which allows you to have six different teams. I guess this advice is more useful for sports like baseball since many games are played each day, but I made the mistake of taking the maximum of six teams. With baseball it's real time consuming, and as I mentioned above, keeping all your teams updated is so important. If I could do things differently, I would have only picked three teams, as I think that it would have been easier for me to manage that amount. This is just my recommendation, but I wouldn't get the maximum amount of teams if I were you. That's just me though, and like I said, it's probably easier to manage football rosters than it is to manage baseball ones. If you feel like you can handle six teams, hey, go for it. Anyway, that's my advice for now. Hope it helps atleast somewhat. :)

Another piece of advice that I'd give you is to make sure you keep your teams updated, and that you check them, and make the proper roster changes EACH DAY games are played. I have made the mistake in my fantasy baseball leagues of going a couple days without putting players in their proper positions, making sure certain pitchers weren't benched, and making sure that I didn't have an injured player on my starting roster, and it has totally messed up my rankings. From missing two days, one of my teams went from 2nd, to fifth place. By keeping up to date on things, which I assume will be easier with football since it's only played twice a week, this'll obviously lead you to do better statistically.

Another piece of advice that I just thought about is since you're new to this whole thing, you might not want to pick too many teams. I don't know what you plan on going through, but I go through yahoo which allows you to have six different teams. I guess this advice is more useful for sports like baseball since many games are played each day, but I made the mistake of taking the maximum of six teams. With baseball it's real time consuming, and as I mentioned above, keeping all your teams updated is so important. If I could do things differently, I would have only picked three teams, as I think that it would have been easier for me to manage that amount. This is just my recommendation, but I wouldn't get the maximum amount of teams if I were you. That's just me though, and like I said, it's probably easier to manage football rosters than it is to manage baseball ones. If you feel like you can handle six teams, hey, go for it. Anyway, that's my advice for now. Hope it helps atleast somewhat. :)

I totally agree with that.

Do stay away from baseball though unless you can change pitchers and stuff when you know who is playing.

It was too hard for me because I could have this player in the lineup but then you find out too late that he is benched.

That's why I like football better. :)

Waterston, how many Chargers should I go after?

Waterston, how many Chargers should I go after?

However many you want but do check the rankings too. Cause I think that Moss guy in NE will have a good year depending on how Brady does.

When I do mine, I will take the Charger defense, they have got to be bad ass this year. I might take Philip as my back up as well. Take Philip but maybe take another QB as a back up... maybe Ben or McNabb or even Brady.

You can take LT or Gates as your back up...

It's okay to take a RB from a team your team plays against.. I've taken Larry Johnson of the Chiefs in the past.

But do look at the rankings cause that sometimes will tell you if which players to take from what position. Have the rankings in numerical order and check the position so you don't get too many RB's in the first three rounds.

Cool...

Just study up on the players, it's easier to have it where you can get in for free that I do.

If you do have a favorite player, it's not recommended to take him if he is the home team because he might not work in your favor. One year I had LT and he didn't do to well but I don't know if it was because I took him or what.

Check for what the site says about players such as ranking. Make sure you check for the position.

Pick a RB first, that's usually what is done anyway then if you want you can pick a QB or another RB but it's really best to pick a RB, WR then QB since the player you want might be gone. Pick your defense maybe in the 5th or 6 round or something like that cause I bet you the members will pick them early.

I do yahoo.com so you can pre-pick your players before the draft but I don't think you can do that if you want the computer to do that for you.

It is NOT recommended to have it done automatically since it might not pick the player you really want. It will pick by ranking.

I haven't done the ff yet but I think you can check for when the Bye week is for the player you pick, so also keep an eye on that.

If you are able to, you can check the status of the player by checking to see what is suggested as to starting him. For Yahoo, it shows stars then it will explain if you should start or not.

Sometimes I wait till 10 minutes before the start of the game to see who I can or can't start.

Hope this helps and good luck.

Wow, you obviously have great knowledge in the fantasy sports game. How long have you been doing it?? I know this thread is for Big C, but I've copied and pasted your tips down, and saved it as a document for future referrance. I think your tips will definitely help me out in the whole fantasy game.

I'm actually opposite of you in that football is probably my least favorite of the three big American sports. My first love is basketball, and another love of mine is baseball. Wish we'd get a damn team here in Oregon!!! I probably won't even join the pro football league, as my knowledge in the game is probably just slightly above average. Sure, I watch football every week, but I don't keep track of stats, and ratings, and all that stuff like I do with basketball and baseball.

Anyway, even though your post was meant for Big C, I thank you for posting it, and will try using some of the tips you suggested that can also be used for other sports besides football. Thanks again!! :)

Wow, you obviously have great knowledge in the fantasy sports game. How long have you been doing it?? I know this thread is for Big C, but I've copied and pasted your tips down, and saved it as a document for future referrance. I think your tips will definitely help me out in the whole fantasy game.

I'm actually opposite of you in that football is probably my least favorite of the three big American sports. My first love is basketball, and another love of mine is baseball. Wish we'd get a damn team here in Oregon!!! I probably won't even join the pro football league, as my knowledge in the game is probably just slightly above average. Sure, I watch football every week, but I don't keep track of stats, and ratings, and all that stuff like I do with basketball and baseball.

Anyway, even though your post was meant for Big C, I thank you for posting it, and will try using some of the tips you suggested that can also be used for other sports besides football. Thanks again!! :)

I've been doing this for about 4 years now. One year I did one team to see how I like it then the next year I got two...

I hope my tips do help with your basketball fantasy.

Good luck. :)