Let me start by saying I’m not trying to be sexist or stereotype women. But, I happen to live with four of them (a wife and 3 teenage daughters) so I have more insight than most men have the right (or desire) to know. You won’t hear me arguing when they talk about being the superior sex and I’m always amazed at their thoughtfulness, sensitivity and ability to translate my simple statements into overly complex feelings I never knew I had.
That said, I still feel that men remain the dominate species when it comes to all things relating to NFL football. I’ve spent countless hours talking with moms during our kid’s day-long sporting events and not once have they shown any interest in discussing the pros and cons of a 3-5 defense. It’s not that they don’t care about football, but I found that most would rather talk about Antonio Cromartie’s 9 kids with 8 women than his 9 missed tackles and 8 blown coverage assignments…
So, when I started our 1st Gap Intelligence Fantasy Football league this year, I was delighted to hear that three of my female coworkers wanted to participate. The fact that none had ever played fantasy football only added to my joy. I needed all the “easy money” I could get since the rest of our league was composed of hardcore male football fans who also happen to be full time data analysts! Most of them looked at this as the ideal opportunity to utilize their advanced degrees in math and statistics to help pay off their student loans.
On our draft day, the room was filled with computers and reams of analysis compiled by my male counterparts. The girls said they couldn’t make it to the draft, but it was obvious that they were intimdated by all our football intelligence and testosterone. They ended up asking us to just draft for them. It would have been quicker if they just gave us their money but, being the gentlemen we are, we were happy to give them all the players we didn’t want.
Week 1 of the NFL season has just concluded and, as you might have guessed, I scored the fewest points and got thumped by one of the Gap Girls (and I wasn’t the only one). Fortunately, I’m playing one of our analysts next week who has undoubtably spent the past few days pouring over last week’s results, analyzing the opponent’s weaknesses, etc. I’m just going to pick the cutest quarterback, so I like my chances!
