MLB v. NBA

Well, the Fantasy Baseball pool wrapped up this week and the JBL excitement is starting to build as well so I thought I would comment on both leagues quickly.

My MLB team (Kirby's Puckett) finished 3rd in the pool...my first year back in the Baseball pool after a few years away. The baseball pool is run on the same platform as the JBL - using CBS Sportsline as a host. The big difference for me between the 2 sports/leagues is the passion surrounding the sport and league. For example, I didn't watch one single baseball game from start to finish this year. I could go further and say the amount of baseball games I turned on and then turned away from - if you added up all those innings I still don't think I'd get to 9 innings. In a way, it's weird because I played baseball for 15+ years growing up and back then followed it quite closely. Now, I don't even watch it. I find it waaay too boring for my taste. Sure, I would try to follow the baseball pool as closely as possible but it certainly wasn't by reviewing box scores (which is a nightly routine in the JBL). Thank god CBS offers a stats section that you can sort easily to find out who's hot or whatever. A lot of the guys on my baseball team I had no idea who they were - which says something considering how much I follow sports.

The other thing I noted about the baseball pool is the lack of participation from the owners. I was as guilty as the rest of them but there just doesn't seem to be a lot of passion for interaction. I know lots of guys sign FA's every day (Paul) but you don't see guys writing articles or posting polls or even making trades. There just isn't the involvement from the owners as there is in the JBL.

The JBL is just so different. I have spent more time looking at NBA pre-season box scores than I did all year looking at MLB box scores. I constantly read various websites for updates on players, training camp notes, etc in regards to a league that doesn't even start for another 3+ weeks. My passion certainly follows the NBA all year round now.

The JBL is amazing simply because I see/hear the guys getting ready for the draft...Tuna is wasting hours of his evening education on the pool. Timbo is constantly emailing me about players and projections. Marko is very anxious to get things going. It will be 2am his time when the draft starts and he couldn't be more excited. The JBL is great....end of story. No other Fantasy pool can compete in my eyes....