The Difference Between Fantasy Football and Fantasy Basketball

I use fantasy football as a placeholder before fantasy hoops starts. It's a good way to pass the time, in spite of the fact that it depends entirely too much on luck (one day determines your entire "week.")

One area where fantasy football dominates fantasy basketball though is in timely injury-related news about your players. Football players can't so much as scratch their nuts without someone reporting it; you usually know by Thursday or Friday where you stand. And if not by then, you can wake up Sunday morning and find injury information from about 30 different sources.

Not so in the NBA. I can't tell if it's because there's really not much national media attention paid to the NBA (relative to the NFL). It probably also has to do with the fact that the beat reporters (the people who would most likely report on this information) will file a story for the morning print edition and then not write anything else until after the next game. Some beat reporters have decent blogs (this one comes to mind), which helps, but in general getting injury information about the NBA typically happens when you flip on the TV and see Luther Head starting and T-Mac in street clothes.

What's my point? Well, for an active fantasy basketball player like Never Won, it's frustrating as hell.

One day you're looking at your team and thinking "this is it, this is my season." The next day you're looking at Sebastian Telfair's stats and thinking, "he can't be that bad can he?"*:

The Minnesota Timberwolves have lost starting guard Randy Foye for several weeks due to a lingering left knee injury.

An MRI test and CT scan performed on Foye's knee revealed a stress reaction in his kneecap, and the team announced that he will be out indefinitely. Sebastian Telfair and Marko Jaric will handle the point guard duties for the next month or so, making Telfair worth a serious look on the waiver wire in your fantasy league.

*Mighty Mullets used for demonstration purposes only. Kind of.