Across the pond they do things a little differently - 'Lite' beer is standard, no-one has heard of marmite (and if they had they would all hate it) and you can go an entire day without talking about the weather.
Whether you're a KFC quaffing, Chrysler driving Americaphile or have unbridled distain for Michael Bay, Fox News and globalised homogenisation, if you're a sports fan, and in particular a fantasy football fan, you'd be a fool to ignore the sporting Mecca that is the USA - and hey, at least we all hate Piers Morgan.
"I'm Fired" [It's funny because he won The US Apprentice. Alright, it's not that funny]
The Draft
American football, basketball and baseball all lend themselves effortlessly to fantasy because of their stats-based nature but services like +Squawka Football have illustrated a similar demand for insightful stats in our football. In the last few years popularity of fantasy has exploded here but in the US it is becoming as omnipresent as the sports themselves; the NFL's website has 'Fantasy' as the first clickable tab atop the screen, fantasy scores scroll along perennially as you watch Redzone's live multi-game coverage and almost every office in the States now has a fantasy pool.
Google image search 'fantasy pool' if you want to see some really weird stuff...
One of the main reasons for its rising popularity is the draft. It is a night upon which copious amounts of alcohol are imbibed, innumerable laptops are overheated and wives and girlfriends recoil in shock at just how hard their other halves can geek out on sports. It is, essentially, the best night of the year.
But the best thing about the draft is that it is, in essence, the purest form of "I know more about sports than you", which is essentially all fantasy football boils down to. Take a cursory glance at the top teams in the FPL this year - they will all have Suarez, Coleman and Yaya Toure - and up until a month or so ago you can bet your bottom dollar they had Ramsey. Where's the fun in that? Seasons are decided on differentials created by nobodies who were picked up more in hope than expectation, making luck the key element contributing to success.
A draft adds many more layers of tactical involvement. Not only must you assign a value to players but you must meticulously craft and diligently maintain a balanced squad, capable of consistent performance, but flexible enough to withstand injuries and suspensions.
For the last two years I have run a draft system for a group of friends in an attempt to conflate to joys of US Fantasy and English football - and have a wicked good time in the process - but this year we discovered something even better...
The Auction
Run by the good men at fantasyleague.com, the auction provides you the chance to essentially be Abramovic. Each team gets £200m to play with and bids for whichever players take their fancy. Shit gets real Wall Street real fast.
The exhilaration of snapping up your main transfer target for a pittance is phenomenal and the sense of rivalry it breeds gives an edge to fantasy that simply doesn't exist when everyone has Suarez as captain.
In the coming weeks, we'll be updating you on the progress of our auction league and in a few months, we'll have an exclusive interview with Andrew Wainstein, who runs Fantasy League and is credited with inventing Fantasy Football as we know it in this country. Keep your eyes peeled and prepare to forget everything you thought you knew about the beautiful game's beautiful sidekick.
