Riderville.com
Every time I buy a lottery ticket, I half-convince myself I’m going to win.
My mind races away from me and I imagine a world of options opening up in front of me. I don’t necessarily want every single extravagance that an eight-figure boost to my bank account could bring; I just want some of them. A nice-ish car, homes on each coast, a passport that requires extra pages after it fills up with stamps.
I have a similar feeling when I look at my freshly-completed CFL Fantasy roster for the first time each season.
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It’s a combination of a happiness that football season is back and the completely level playing field that exists in the fantasy world in the days that lead into the Week 1 kickoff that make me feel like anything is possible. That this year can somehow be a departure from all the years before it that have been riddled with hurried decisions, rosters marred by last-minute injury and sadly/unfortunately, my own absent-mindedness that lets a half-filled or fully empty roster slip through, forever putting me out of reach of the top spot in my league and certainly in the overall chase for points.
Every year around this time, I study rosters, matchups, consider the weather, hostile crowds, on and on, building what I slowly convince myself to be the impeccable, fail-proof, destined-for-the-top-spot fantasy roster.
Imagine the kind of world we’d live in if we all rolled with that Week 1 level of roster confidence in every facet of our lives.
Settling in with the Ticats and surrounded by offensive weapons, Bo Levi Mitchell is a worthy captain choice in CFL Fantasy (Ticats.ca)
There have been a few changes to CFL Fantasy this year that I can’t help but think are made with people like me in mind. If you’re full-steam ahead in Week 1, then the busyness of life/your diminishing attention span starts to whittle away at your roster building time, there’s hope for you this year. From Weeks 1-17 this season, the top-30 scorers automatically qualify for the Champions League. That means you can ride one singular good week into a four-week competition, where the winner (aptly named the Champion of Champions) earns $5,000. It’s the kind of thing that’s ideal for the forgetful player, or a late joiner. All you need is one good week.
The other new addition to the game that I really like this year is the captain feature. You can make any player in your roster your team captain. Your captain will automatically have their point total doubled for you. Those double points will no doubt make a difference in your own private leagues and will certainly play into the overall leaderboard throughout the season. If you’ve got a sneaking suspicion that a lesser-known running back is about to blow up, making them your captain can prove to be a shrewd move that separates you from the fantasy pack.
Other than the captain’s spot, the game is still scored the same way. While the 2023 version of CFL Fantasy looks a lot different, at its core it’s still the same offering that you’ve had in years past. I’d argue that it’s been re-tooled a little to let you keep that Week 1 roster confidence all the way through the season, no matter the ups and downs that might be in store for you.
