VanLentenMatt_3.1INF+rough+draft

Rough Draft for informative paper:

Matt VanLenten Dr. Archibald English 110.50 10 October 2008 **The Difference Between 6 Points and 6 Points** Drew Brees drops back, looks toward Colston and fires. Colston leaps up and catches the ball in the end zone. Touchdown Saints!!! That isn't an exact quote from any announcer but that play will probably happen a few times throughout the season. From that play, the New Orleans Saints just scored 6 points for their team and are going out for an extra point or two point conversion. Some people may not know but that also may score 6 points for many other teams out there. Welcome to fantasy football which is just one of the many fantasy sports played out in the world or on the computer. On any given Sunday, any point in the game can change how your fantasy season in turmoil. Every Sunday at noon, people listen to the analyst for fantasy news on their players and what roster changes are needed. The thrill of that hail mary pass giving your team the lead and the win on the last game of the week. Players that have either Drew Brees or Marques Colston have just received 6 points. The month is July, websites and magazines begin their preparation for the upcoming football season. Some are for the actually National Football League (NFL) season, telling who is picked to make the playoffs or win the Super Bowl. Others meanwhile are telling statistics, monetary values for each player, where they should be drafting for your league. With that last idea being the draft may be the key to someone winning their league or ending it in the cellar. Drafts can either be done online with a computer or in person with the other people that are in the league. I am personally in two leagues this season and have entered both types of drafts. The face to face draft is more exciting because you may feel pressured by your peers to pick someone or you may pick someone too early and get harassed. Most magazines or online articles about “mock” drafts have different picks and position where a particular player is drafted. A “mock” draft is basically a draft by either experts or ordinary people who participate but the draft is meaningless due to the fact that it is for no league. It is usually done for preparation for the real draft or for fun for some people. There are some terms that are used during the draft like “on the clock”. That means when it is your turn to select a player there is usually a time limit so you can't take forever picking a player. “Mr. Irrelevant” is the last player picked in the draft and doesn't have much affect on a players team. With the draft, comes factors that help a person either pick or not. A very common factor is being biased toward a favorite team or player. If someone's favorite team is the Philadelphia Eagles, they may put players off that team a little bit higher on their own personal rankings. If a player was ranked 8 in the magazine, it may move up or drafted earlier. Another factor that could play an important role is age of the player. A rookie is a good example of this. He has no or little previous experience in the NFL so its hard to say how good/bad they will perform under the big lights. A person's instinct can be another factor that plays a role in it. You may have your eye on a player but is seeing how low he may drop in the draft. By that time, it may be too late and he is snatched up by someone else. Another example would be that you draft a player too early in anticipation of him being taken by someone else. The draft is a big part of the season but its the upcoming games that determine how well you place in the league. You draft your players and they are now official on your roster. Different leagues have different requirements for how many players you may have and how many at each position available. For the league I am in on foxsports.com, the roster must have three quarterbacks, three running backs, three wide receivers, two tight ends, two kickers, and finally two defenses. That may seem like a lot but once you have your starting squad, the bench isn't that big. Throughout the season, you will change it based on player's performances, bye weeks, injuries, or match-ups are more favorable. The first one is common sense. If a particular player is doing terrible or not having expected results, you would most likely replace him with a more fit or better substitute in order to achieve more wins or points. Rosters may also change via trade with a fellow player or drop/add. You can propose a trade to someone by offering player(s) off your own roster in exchange for other player(s). The other person could accept, decline, or decline and counter with their own trade. Same way works when a person offers you a trade, you can do those actions. The add and drop is a little bit different from a trade. After the draft is over, there is a list of players that didn't make it onto a team. There are on what is called the waiver wire. The waiver wire is pretty simple in how it works. In order to pick a player off the waiver wire, you must drop one off your own roster so that you cannot exceed the roster size. This is free game for anyone so if you want to pick up a certain player, its better to do it sooner than later. You could log on thinking that you will be picking up that player only to find out he was picked up by someone else earlier that day. Keeping up with player's statistics, his match-ups, and the news that could affect him somehow. Most web sites that deal with fantasy football keep up with a player's injuries, statistics, trends, and anything else that may affect him or the team itself. For example, say said player gets injured for the next two weeks. You don't keep up with that information and you could lose valuable points a nd that could cost you in the long run. Injuries happen a lot with football and losing a top player can really hurt your team. If someone does happen to get hurt, this is where keeping up with players comes in handy since you may know a good, solid replacement. Statistics is one of the biggest parts since everything about it revolves around it. Better stats for a player, the more points he will earn for your team. Not every stat is good for a player. Interceptions often give negative points for a quarterback so in turn hurting more than helping out. Knowing trends may help you out a lot. If a certain player is doing really well even though he might not have the numbers of a better player, it might be smart to start the hotter player at the time. But the main idea behind all of this is to have to best starting squad out there every week. Trying to have the best lineup usually turns into the optimal score you could achieve. Most leagues are setup with head to head while others are for the highest amount of accumulated points throughout the season. In my foxsports league, it is a head to head setup with 12 weeks and a playoff to determine the winner. Whoever has the highest score between the two competing players wins. After putting together the best lineup, looking to see if there is anyway to improve and defeat your opponent every week. Sounds easy right? Not exactly so simple to do. Doing everything you can sometimes isn't enough because any player can have a career high or a low. You may have a high score but it just happen to fall short of a victory. All you can do is recover your wounds and play the next game according to the schedule. With a head to head league, the schedule is designed before the season begins. You can see who you play every week and see any tough opponents. The first week is usually a tough week since you do not know how anybody will produce or fail to produce. If the league has a playoff, the schedule is not clearly set with particular teams but the seeds at which a team finishes. Usually first seed plays last seed and so on. The seeds come from the standings of the league. What place you end up is the how the seeds are determined. Fantasy football is a fun, free activity that anyone can enjoy. It's easy to find a web site that features this just by going to a search engine and typing fantasy football. You will find plenty of sites that you can choose from. So next football season comes around, will you be one of the many people playing fantasy football next year? Look into it because you could be the one walking away with that first place and knowing your team was the best.

-- Peer Review by Liz Simon

__What is the Thesis__? Fantasy Football is a fun activity for millions of people during football season.

__How is the Essay Organized__? First you give some explanation of the different types of leagues, and then go into detail about how players are chosen. Trades as well as drop/adds are explained, as well as statistical research on the players and how these decisions are made. Opening paragraph - reasons to choosing players - requirements for your own team - making changes to your roster - waiver wire - how statistical info for players is compiled - earning points/losing points based on performance or plays - head to head vs. playoff - close.

__Was the Organization Logical__? The way the information was presented seemed logical, but I will say that if you do not understand fantasy football leagues, the terminology is hard to follow. I may not have given the "waiver wire" it's own paragraph, it does not look terrible, but it may not need it's own paragraph. I also did not understand the second to last paragraph about "seeds". I did understand the difference between head-to-head and playoffs though.

__Were any Parts not Relevant to the Thesis?__ No I thought the explanation of fantasy football was thorough and accomplished what the author intended it to. The only thing I would work on is writing as if you are explaining this to someone who knows //nothing// about football.

__What Examples and Types of Evidence were Most Convincing?__ I think the explanation of how a participant would research the players and their statistics did a good job of drawing in the reader. It sounds sort of exciting or competitive to go in there and track how your team is doing and make changes...sort of trying to stay "on top" of the situation while everyone in your league is doing the same thing. I also think explaining how people go about choosing their roster is important, and how you can be peer pressured into choosing certain players.

__What Two Places Could Use More Development?__ I would just work on making each sentence understandable to a reader who otherwise would have no idea what you are talking about. Explain some of the terminology (which you did to a degree anyway). And then just fine tune your paragraphs and sentences to smooth everything out.

__Did the Introduction Catch Your Attention?__ I liked the title, but I had trouble understanding the 6 points thing until I read it a few times. The paragraph did not excite me at first*** but I also do not know much about football. I would not change too much, maybe take that thesis sentence "Welcome to fantasy footbal...." and bring it out. It is kind of buried in the paragraph, if that makes sense. (I was looking at that as your thesis, hopefully I am not barking up the wrong tree). I am not good at writing a strong thesis myself, so I am having trouble explaining I guess. Overall just take some time to refine, when you look at it with a fresh set of eyes it will be easier for you to pick out the stuff you want to change.

Melissa Worthington's feedback for Matt VanLenten's 3.1INF:

What is the thesis? Type out the thesis you find in the paper in your own words; it will help you see whether the writer's main insight is made sufficiently clear. The thesis of this paper is Fantasy Football is a fun activity that anyone can enjoy on the internet. How is the essay organized? Describe in three or four sentences how the essay is organized. This will help you determine if the structure was clear. The essay begins with an introduction, then describes in depth fantasy football, then concludes. It was organized because it went step by step of the process of fantasy football but the description was a little hard to follow coming from a person who has never played and doesn't quite follow football. Was the organization logical? Was this the best way the writer could present their information? The organization was logical and it flowed from point to point. Maybe try to make things a little easier to understand for an audience that isn't too familiar with fantasy football. Were any parts not relevant to the thesis? As a reader did you pause to wonder how a statement or paragraph was related to the thesis? No, I think that all the parts were relevant to the thesis. What examples and types of evidence were most convincing? Did the essay engage your emotions and appeal to your experiences in appropriate ways? I really liked how the author explained how people can become biased because of their favorite teams. Good explanation there. I was engaged in this essay because I was learning something new and wanted to find out more about it. What two places could use more development? Which places in the text need more evidence, examples, explanation. I think the conclusion could use more detail. Also, I still don't understand your title. Maybe try to make your point a different way? Did the introduction catch your attention? The writer was probably writing about a topic that already interests them, so did they communicate that interest to you? The writer did an excellent job with the introduction. I definitely saw the interest through the paper and it even sparked an interest in me.