Jack Rothenberg
news editor
Toward the end of the summer, students receive that annual text from their friends asking if they want to do their fantasy football league again. Each year everyone replies yes, and that’s when the fun begins.
Most fantasy drafts are held at the end of August and the leagues end at the end of December or beginning of January. These leagues mostly consist of 10 teams with about 15 players on each team. The National Football League (NFL) games are every Thursday nights at 8:20 to 11:30, Sundays from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., 4:05 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., 8:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. and Monday nights from 8:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m.
These Sunday and late night games create conflict with students doing their homework.
The students who procrastinate and leave their homework to do until Sunday run into problems. With the games going potentially from 1 p.m. to 11:30 p.m., students most likely won’t do the homework that is due. In addition to students not doing their homework, those students will stay up late. On Sunday, Monday, and Thursday nights these students won’t get to bed until close to midnight.
Even if students are doing their homework on Sunday they will watch the games and do their homework at the same time. Sophomore Brett Strauss, who does his homework while watching the games, thinks it’s a good alternative. “If I do my homework at the same time, I can do what I love, which is watching the games, while getting my homework out of the way,” Strauss said.
If students do this they won’t receive the benefits of homework.: practicing what the teachers have taught in class. If they are watching the games at the same time they will be distracted.
Students also check and tinker their lineups while in class. This creates a disruption in their learning, and they miss out on important information that they need for that class.
Junior Matthew Kopsidas, who has played fantasy football since fifth grade, has never thought about discontinuing his tradition, despite the distractions that it creates. “If my teacher says to take out my phone to do something and there is a notification on my phone for fantasy I’ll check it,” Kopsidas said.
Kopsidas also doesn’t think that his grades would be better if he didn’t play. “I don’t spend that much time checking my lineup throughout the week anyway so it wouldn’t make that much of a difference,” Kopsidas said.
Junior Andy Ram doesn’t play because he is already busy with school and sports. “It’s not worth it for me to pay $20. I won’t pay attention to it because I’m busy with soccer and schoolwork already. When I put money into something I want to put all of my attention toward it, and I just wouldn’t be able to do that,” Ram said.
