Football Games

For the most part there are two kinds of Fantasy Football books out there. The first is the basic, introductory “draft RBs before kickers” kind of book. The second is the goofball theory book — books that, while far from comprensive overall, describe in great detail the brilliant, wonderful theory that made the author the best fantasy football player in his league two years out of the last ten. The optimist in me thinks the authors of the latter group are people who got lucky, and haven’t really subjected their theories to much scrutiny, whether by peer review, computer simulations, or just looking at data. The cynic in me thinks these authors are deliberately peddling crappy ideas, using their (cough) name to cash in without revealing any “real” secrets of the trade. The realist in me suspects that probably there’s a some of both going on in most of those books.

In my view Sam Hendricks is the only author out there who is both writing at a high level, and writing honestly about his approach to winning at fantasy football. This book is a gold mine of information, containing valuable tips that you aren’t going to see anywhere else. In addition, he isn’t shy about calling out some of the nonsense that passes for accepted wisdom in fantasy football canon, and when he does, he backs it up with a solid logical argument. Tip #64, for example, blows away one of the central theses of Randy Giminez’s “Dominate Fantasy Football” in less than 400 words, and after reading both, I’m basically ready to use Giminez for kindling. He’s wrong, Hendricks is right, it’s that simple.

I think a handful of his tips are questionable, but so many of them are so on the money that it makes this book worth far, far more than what he’s charging for it. Sure, he could use some help in the editing department — I grate my teeth every time I read “Jay Cutler or P. Manning”, or “ARZ WR Larry Fitzgerald” in a paragraph of prose. Spell ‘em out, bro, it doesn’t cost you anything and, as you say often enough, consistency is a good thing.

Why this guy doesn’t get more credit is beyond me, but a BIG part of me is glad that nobody’s reading his stuff. The last thing I need is for my opponents to get better.

Now if he could just clean up his yearly Almanac….
Rating: 5 / 5

Several months ago I wrote a review for Fantasy Football Guidebook, by Sam Hendricks, and I began it with this statement: “Here’s a staggering number: 30,000,000 – that’s how many users worldwide are estimated to have played fantasy football this year. So you can be forgiven if you didn’t win your league, unless, of course, you were an owner in half a dozen leagues or more, in which case you have no excuse for not winning at least one.”

I was lucky last year – in the fantasy league I cared about the most (the one both of my brothers and a couple of good buddies were also competing in) I drafted Brandon Jacobs and worked a trade for DeAngelo Williams. In week 16, the Giants and Panthers faced off and Jacobs and Williams combined to score seven touchdowns – which essentially sealed the league championship for me.

So what did I do to celebrate winning my fantasy football league?

I bought two copies of Sam’s Fantasy Football Guidebook (which I used last year in preparation for the season), sent them to Sam with a letter asking him to sign them for my brothers, and then I gave those books to my brothers with this advice: “Read this over the summer. Better luck next year.”

Well, what I didn’t tell my brothers at the time is I already knew Sam had a new book coming out: Fantasy Football Tips: 201 Ways to Win Through Player Rankings, Cheat Sheets and Better Drafting.

Sam has written several successful books on fantasy football, but as Sam says himself, the difference here is that for the first time he reveals battle-tested strategies that he personally uses to win high stakes fantasy football. And trust me when I say the man knows what he is talking about – there isn’t another book on the market that offers proven strategies from anyone as successful at fantasy football as Sam Hendricks.

The point of the book is simple – if you want to win, here’s how to do it.

There are numerous topics I could point to as being a valid reason for purchasing the book – but a couple that stood out to me were tips on choosing the right league and tips on reducing luck in your league, which obviously allows you, as the superior strategist, to rise to the top as the season progresses.

Sam also writes a section on understanding the difference between “uncertainty” and “risk” that I found to be an extremely useful tip. He also issues the standard warnings about relying on “familiar names” and getting caught up in the excitement of “one-hit wonders.” All of which is good advice.

And my advice to you, my fellow fantasy football player: buy this book. It is well-written, an easy read, and most important of all, it will help you win. Oh, I’m also sending both of my brothers a copy of Sam’s new book, but not until week 8 or 9.

Rating: 5 / 5

Compact and easy to read, this is a great book for anyone interested in fantasy football.

NOTE: This book does not tell you how to play fantasy football. If you need that his first book, Fantasy Football Guidebook would be a better choice.

Instead, this book gives over 200 important tips on how to play BETTER fantasy football. From picking the right league (I never really thought about how the league type could affect my winning percentage) to important draft day tips (avoid QB/WR combos and RBs with over 375 carries) to miscellaneous tips (weather conditions); I cannot wait to play this year and see how the tips improve my play.

There is also a very interesting foreword from Dave Gerczak, co-founder of the Fantasy Football Players Championship (FFPC) and winner of $100,000 last year and some special discount codes for various fantasy football games and websites.

Worth the $9.95 easily.

Rating: 5 / 5