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Ernie Quiroz Staff Writer Zealots Screen Name: Flash Zealots Leagues: Z44, Maximus IV, and Maximus VI Zealots Member Since: 2006

The Initiation of a Zealot

"Hey, want to join the Harvard of fantasy football?"

"I don't know, I'm already in a bunch of Yahoo leagues."

"Come on, we need a player. It's better than any other league you've ever been in. It's a dynasty league called Zealots."

That's how I first found out about Zealotsfield.com and Zealots Fantasy Football. A friend of mine, someone that was a part of some of the Yahoo leagues I was in, sent me an application for an opening in Z44. He told me it was a long application and a little tedious to fill, but it was worth it. So I filled out the multitude of questions, embellished the answers a little, and tried to give the reader a sense of how much a fantasy football fanatic I really was. Needless to say, I was successful because I was given a team in Z44 of the Blood Syndicate.

Now I'm sure all of you remember your first experiences as a Zealot. Some of you may have some very interesting stories to tell and I want you to keep them in mind as I relate some of the things that happened to me as a newbie in Z44.

As a Yahoo player, I was used to living for the moment. The season is short and you try and get a team together that is going to be competitive enough to take you to the playoffs. You don't worry about potential, you worry about the here and now. You don't think about what a player might do next year because you only have him for this year.

That is the mentality I had when I entered the Realm of the Zealots. I thought I was pretty hot stuff-after all, I had a boatload of "Yahoo Trophies" to brag about. In fact, I remember writing in my questionnaire that the reader could refer to my Yahoo profile to see what a "successful player" I was. I prided myself in my ability to engineer trades, draft sleepers, and play the hot hand. I had played in leagues with IDPs and felt very "comfortable" taking over my inherited team.

I immediately started sending out trade offers. I wanted to "prove" to the other members of the league that there was a new broker in the league and that I really knew my stuff. I traded for guys who helped me win my Yahoo leagues and I wasn't too worried about giving up the young, unproven players on my roster. Needless to say, the waters were red and the sharks circled pretty fast. I made some trades and even had one of the league members file a formal protest. He spoke to me directly on YIM and asked me what I was doing. I gave him an explanation, and he withdrew his protest, but he quickly figured me out. I was a man without a plan-AND as all of you know, a man without a plan quickly goes BAM.

I didn't really grasp the importance of draft choices right away, but in my dealings, I was able to garner three #1 draft picks. However, just before the start of the season, I made the first of two major blunders that were the direct result of not really having a clear grasp on the concept of playing in a dynasty league.

The season was about to begin and my running backs were Warrick Dunn and Frank Gore. I had traded for Gore and Drew Brees in my barrage of trades, but I really didn't have much after that. My inflated ego clouded my judgment when I convinced myself that Wali Lundy's pre-season success were an indication that he was going to have a good year. The door to success had just been opened for him when Domanick Davis went down with a season-ending injury. I told myself, this was the perfect time to engineer a trade for Lundy-after all, I had three #1 picks and I could afford to give up one.

My mistake came when I had to decide which one to give up. I didn't look at the rosters of the teams to whom the #1 picks belonged to. I convinced myself that I'd give up my own #1 pick because there was no way I was going to be in a position where it was going to be more valuable than the other two. I had some false confidence that I had a team that could win it all-after all, isn't that what I did in my Yahoo leagues? So I pulled the trigger, got a "starting RB" in Wali Lundy and gave up my own #1 pick.

But it didn't stop there. After a few weeks into the season my starting RB was having a bit of trouble. I should have known better when I made the trade, but I didn't think about Gary Kubiak's Denver connection. Just as Mike Shanahan had done with the Broncos, the Texans adopted a running back by committee approach. An approach that was clouded by the acquisition of Samkon Gado.

Another Zealot, posted some hype on the league board about how Samkon Gado was going to the top of Kubiak's RB list. How he was going to be the man in Houston and that's why they traded for him. Again, referring to my Yahoo days, I remembered how Gado had a few good games for me in one of my leagues and I believed the hype. I didn't do much research, I just decided that I wanted Gado. The price: my second, third, and fourth round draft choices. Again, I was the victim of my own stupidity because I didn't really think of the ramifications of trading those picks away. I entered Zealots full of myself and didn't really adjust my thinking. I believed the hype the other owner fed me because I wanted to believe it.

The end result? Have any of you ever seen the emoticon of the icon banging his head on the wall? That was me. I went through a season of many close contests; contests that ended up in losses. Gore and Brees kept me close, but in the end, I came to the sad realization that my inexperience cost me dearly. I traded away the #1 pick in the 2007 rookie draft and with it, the first picks in rounds two, three, and four. I was left with #6 and #9 in the first round, and all of you know this was not the year to give up the #1 pick in the draft.

So what's the message here? Why did I take the time to tell the entire Realm of Zealots what a complete IDIOT I was? I did it to let other newbies know that when you come into Zealots, no matter what league you're in, whether it's a Classic League or a Specialty League, take some time to familiarize yourself with the rules, the settings, the history of the league and don't rush into anything. Don't jump at the first trade offer that comes your way and hold on to some of the players you have unless you REALLY BELIEVE a trade is going to help you.

I've recovered a bit, and I had a decent draft considering all the things I did to shoot myself in the foot. But even today, I still get offers that I might have agreed to when I first came in. I got a first class initiation into the Realm of Zealots and although I could have handled it better, it made me a better fantasy player.

I don't know if any of this means anything to anyone, but I hope it got you to think of some of your first experiences you had coming into Zealots. I run with the guys in Z44 and I'll be the first to tell you that they are all a class act.

But let's just say, sometimes initiation can be a *#%#@.

If you have any comments or questions concerning this article, please feel to contact the writing staff at Zealots Field Press at writingstaff@zealotsfield.com.

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