This is My Christmas

At age 25, there are very few things in life that make me as excited as Christmas morning used to make me between the ages of 4 - 14.

Of those very few things, most happen sporadically... you know, something like a long-awaited vacation. But there is one specific event that occurs every year around this time that brings me the anticipation that Christmas morning once did...

The Fantasy Football Draft

Now before some of you stop reading this blog, rest assured, this isn't really a post about sports. I blogged about fantasy football last year. But there's a huge difference between typical Sundays in the Fall and the biggest day of the year.

So what's so great about a two-hour event that has to do with our make-believe teams? Well...

This is my team logo:
Rainbow Warriors

1) It's arguably the most important part of a four-month period where WE get to manage a football franchise. About 150 players will be chosen on draft night. No championships will be won in August, but we'll look back in December and realize whose season was made or broken on draft day. It's intense. It's exciting. And there's nothing else like it (unless of course you're a member of an actual football organization.)

2) But what makes this draft so special is the other nine guys who will be participating in it with me. I know seven of them from college, and many of them are like brothers to me. But unfortunately, we live in four different time zones now and rarely see each other. So having an event that brings us all together (via Skype) is the closest thing we have to grilling at someone's house on a Friday night.

After the draft, I will admire my roster for about 15 minutes and think it's the greatest assembly of talent in the history of fantasy football. But then my admiration will transform into sadness, knowing that all the anticipation and excitement is over. I will not have another day like it for one whole year. That is sooooooo long from now.

Yep... It really is just like Christmas.