The discussion on fantasy football addiction got a fresh set of downs Tuesday morning. Thanks to C.D. Carter.
Carter, fantasy football expert, and writer for XN Sports and The Fake Football went semi-viral today after his piece “When Fantasy Football Becomes an Addiction” was published this morning on the New York Times NFL blog “Fifth Down.”
In the piece, Carter talked about fantasy football growing so large in his life it became impossible to enjoy the game. He’s not alone, evidenced by the Twitterspehre’s saturation with fantasy footballers, and as Carter mentions in his piece, the estimated 32 million owners currently playing.
Carter gets to the point when talking about Twitter:
“Of all the daily constructive exchanges, petty spats and frenetic 140-character volleys among Twitter’s fantasy freaks, the issue of obsession – addiction – is rarely broached. It goes unacknowledged, I think, because in a dank flophouse, junkies don’t ponder the ill effects of their addictions. They just do their drugs. They get high.”
Fantasy sports addiction is a relatively unexplored realm of psychology, one that would undoubtedly bear striking resemblances to other forms of addiction if adequately explored. Carter’s piece in the New York Times is surely a doorway into that discussion.
The New York Times weren’t the only ones interested in hearing what Carter had to say. This afternoon, he was featured on the Buzz Bissinger Radio Program on WPHT 1210AM in Philadelphia. Bissinger and his co-host Steve “Steve Man” Martorano approached Carter from different angles. Martorano played Devil’s advocate, and used the word “degenerate” more than once to describe the behavior of fantasy footballers.
Listen to the entire interview here: Interview with C.D. Carter on the Buzz Bissinger Show
With hope, the attention Carter received today will reinvigorate a discussion on the topic of fantasy sports addiction. If anything, it might cause a few owners to see themselves in the light which Carter so candidly did in his article.
C.D. Carter’s fantasy rankings and advice can be read here at XN Sports, The Fake Football, and you can follow him on twitter at @CDCarter13
