And so it begins...

Those of you who know me may be aware that I dabble in fantasy sports from time to time. And by "time to time", I mean 365 days a year - usually multiple hours per day. Fantasy sports make a person do crazy things, such as check one's team several times during sacrament meeting on one's iPhone, root for certain Yankees' players to do well (Jeter was 3-4 today, thank you very much), and have an unhealthy interest in the goings on of random Bucks vs. Rockets games, etc.

And beginning tonight, I have officially passed down this "hobby" to my sons. Along with my cousin Hank and his boys, we formed the inaugural cousins fantasy football league - called the "Cardinal Crazies" - and we held our first draft tonight. The league is comprised of 8 elementary school age (and younger) cousins and a couple of dads. It's the first step forward in a lifetime of "pretend baseball" (as my wife calls it) and other sports.

There were some fantastic highlights from tonight's draft, as the rookie and youth elements of the drafters made for some "great" picks. (Caution, the rest of this paragraph will likely have no meaning to most of you, seeing as how you most likely think "fantasy football" involves wizards and a 12-sided dice). For example, both the Giants and Chargers Defenses were selected in the 8th round (of a 14 round draft). Uncommon, to say the least. Kurt Warner, an uncertain starter at best, went in the 6th round (ahead of guys like Matt Hasselbeck, Donovan McNabb, Marvin Harrison, Hines Ward, and Rudi Johnson).

Things got even more exciting in the late rounds, where guys like former ASU star Derek Hagan (12th round), Cardinals Defense (12th round), Leonard Pope (13th round), Tim Hightower (14th round), and John Beck (14th round) were selected. I'm sure all of those players' moms are proud that their sons were selected in at least one fantasy draft.

It will be fun teaching the boys the art of the game. The picture above shows Tyson's team - click on it for a full-size view.

And so it begins...