Self

Fantasy Football May Save Your Marriage

couple into football

There's a very good chance if you're in a relationship with an American dude between the ages of 15 and 80 that he's going to spend some portion of his Sundays watching some big guys in tight pants run around and kick a pigskin through a giant, metal "Y." Exhilarating, yes. And, per anecdotal evidence*, gals aren't as interested.

And that lack of interest on one side—and all-encompassing interest on the other—can oftentimes lead to annoyance and feelings of alienation. But there are a few tricks you can try for making Sundays more tolerable. How To Trick Yourself Into Liking Football

The real super-duper way to trick yourself into liking the NFL is fantasy football. Adding a layer of ownership makes checking in on the game a little more relevant to someone who hasn't been painting her face blue and screaming at the aforementioned big guys in tight pants since she was 12.

In order to be competitive in fantasy football (and women are as competitive as men in these largely trivial games), you have to know who's playing who, who's hurt, and generally what's going on in the old NFL. Most of the time, things become more enjoyable when you learn about the nuance. Knowing that you have Tom Brady, and that your opponent that week has Pittsburgh's defense, makes tuning into the 1 p.m. Patriots – Steelers game far more tolerable. 

And after the draft, fantasy football really doesn't take much time. You can pretty easily "manage" your team in 20 minutes or less per week. Most fantasy football services provide injury information and an estimate of how many points each player ought to score in any given week. Easy-peasy-fresh-n-breezy. Tales Of A Football Fan—And His Wife

And finally, if you enjoy the smack talk, fantasy football is a great place to call into question someone's ability to guess what people you'll never meet may do or not do in a sporting contest. Relationship experts always say that couples who fight periodically are the healthiest; maybe you could take out some relational aggression on the fantasy football message boards. And as for you single lades, you could bond with coworkers, friends and potential lovers via a little online commentary.

Isn't it too late to get into fantasy football? Nope. You can crank up a league anytime football is being played. And Canadian fantasy football runs from June to November. Also, try watching FX's The League. It shows how much fun fantasy football can be for couples even when they're in an eight-team league.

Finally, please take our fantasy football survey. Take The YourTango Football Survey!

*Note: According to a 2009 survey, about 42 percent of NFL fans are of the XY persuasion, compared to 51 percent of the regular population.

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