Published: June 13, 2009 06:06 am      

ADAM VANKIRK: Busting up my fantasy world 6/13/09

Back in its humble beginnings, I never thought fantasy sports would become what it apparently has today.

When I first started playing fantasy baseball — what is creeping up on 15 years ago now — the computers were still slow and clunky and the points systems and payouts didn’t take an algebraic formula to figure out.

We had a very exclusive group, but the fun and excitement of embracing the “computer age” to get closer to the game more than made up for a lack of the interest from the general masses. We knew what we knew; and no one else did — at least we thought.

A box score fanatic as a kid — which, yes, was when you still had to buy a newspaper to read one — the early days of fantasy baseball had me wrapped.

I didn’t own a computer, so what I had to do just to make my weekly lineup changes was drive 20 minutes north of town to my grandparent’s house. A little ironic, I guess, that my grandparents owned a computer before I did, seeing as how I always had to show them how to use it.

Anyway, I was more than glad to make that trek. The anticipation of trumping my competitors by slipping in a two-start pitcher who hadn’t lost a day game after a night game on the road was what it was all about. You actually had to work to figure those things out back then.

But, like I said, this computer was only slightly better than those things you’ve probably seen that took up an entire wall — with all its fancy buttons and gadgets and its tiny green and black screen.

Fifteen minutes to boot up, another 15 or 20 to dial into the Internet (which brings me to ponder why those lines were busy all the time) and another 15 minutes to navigate the World Wide Web to my fantasy baseball destination and I was ready to go.

I would sit there for hours before finally plugging in that last player into my lineup — which would have been a guy like Gregg Jefferies or the next big thing in Alex Rodriguez.

Fantasy baseball eventually evolved into something else all together, though. And after several years trying to keep myself in it, I finally gave it up a couple years ago.

What was so much fun was finally destroyed by every Joe, Jack and Harry out there. It became less about knowledge of baseball and its players and more about finding ways to get an edge by working the loopholes in the system.

Now there’s free agents, waiver wires, trades, pickups, drops, roster expansions ... and maybe the worst of all, the guy who quits after a less than stellar start to the season. Dead-arm pitcher and a backup second baseman for Albert Pujols sound good to you?

Everyone’s doing it now and I just couldn’t keep up. It felt like waiting in line at the grocery store — and I don’t like doing that.

I don’t like people who fill out more than one bracket at NCAA Tournament time. And I don’t like fantasy baseball — or fantasy football, or fantasy golf, or fantasy racing — any more either.

That said, like a brain-dead addict, I have been flirting with the idea of giving it one last go-round.

At least I had been.

The other day I got a hold of a promotion that was hard for me to believe.

Fantasy Fishing!

No joke. There’s now Fantasy Fishing.

More surprisingly than the fact that there actually is Fantasy Fishing, is just how many people are involved. Last year, the grand prize winner took home a million dollars. Amazing!

The premise is pretty much what you would expect. Pick an angler (that’s a fisherman for those of you who don’t know better) and hope for the best.

Now, before I get myself off on the wrong foot with all you fishing fans out there, in fairness, I don’t know anything about it. I’ve fished twice in my lifetime.

And as far as I can tell, fantasyfishing.com (wink) really does have its stuff together. FLW and Walleye tour angler bios, stats, schedules, lake graphics, mobile alerts and fantasy blogs are proof of that.

I just can’t believe fantasy sports has evolved the way it has. And just when I thought I could catch back up and get into it again, I find out how far off base I really am. That lure’s a long way out there now.

ADAM VANKIRK can be reached at avankirk@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2664.