One of the few things capable of eating away hours at Bostock or preventing a night out at Shooters-besides Facebook stalking-is managing a fantasy sports team.
An electronic version of sports trading cards, fantasy sports allow the average fan to get closer to the game and to bond with fellow fanatics. Living in a fantasy world, however, has its risks and rewards.
Senior Charles Iannuzzi said he has entered many leagues ranging from hockey to golf. During the season, he spends three to four hours a day on fantasy sports, while logging around two hours a day in search in the off-season.
"I play because I want to be the general manager of a sports team someday," Iannuzzi said. "However, it kills my work and it's not productive at all."
Fantasy sports are prevalent on Duke's campus and will continue to be because they offer the opportunity for students to do something they enjoy together, said sophomore Brett Aresco.
"It's another dimension in the sport," said Aresco, who primarily plays in fantasy football and baseball leagues. "When your team isn't playing, you can cheer on your players. In fact, when it comes down to it, it takes a fair amount of skill."
According to the Fantasy Sports Trade Association, the number of fantasy sports participants has grown from 1 million in 1989 to more than 15 million today-a byproduct of the exponential growth of the Internet.
Fantasy owners vary from those who devote anywhere from 10 to 15 hours a week drafting players and changing their rosters to those who spend only a couple of hours per week managing teams.
Most people fall into the latter category, said Kim Beason, associate professor of parks and recreation management at the University of Mississippi.
"There are absolutely folks out there that are obsessed," Beason said. "While there are people that live and breathe it, it is not a greater percentage rate that you would find for any group of hardcore runners."
Reid Fontaine, a research scientist at Duke, said he believes the origins of fantasy sports lie in trading cards.
As a child, instead of using an electronic database of players, Fontaine had binders full of cards. He traded them back and forth with friends just as players are dealt from one fantasy owner to the next.
Fontaine said he has fond childhood memories of saving up his allowance to buy a Luis Aparicio card, which his mother frowned upon.
His father, however, responded, "My gosh that's a great card!"
"This was serious business," Fontaine said. "I think a lot of this objectifying of players led to treating them as material goods that can be traded back and forth. That started long before fantasy sports."
Fantasy sports accelerated the movement away from the team aspect of the sport, making the individual more important than the team, Fontaine said. The era of free agency in the 1970s, when players moved regularly from team to team, made it impossible for fans to form long term relationships.
Beason said 86 percent of people have rooted against their favorite team if there is someone on the opposite side of the diamond on their fantasy team.
"Twenty-five years ago, teams had the same players as the year before," Beason said. "However, fans have become disenfranchised with their favorite sports team."
If Ted Williams had been traded from his father's Red Sox, his father might have followed Williams' statistics, but never would have rooted against his team, Fontaine said.
In addition, Fontaine noted that a gambling habit could be a risk of fantasy sports.
"The very name of it is fantasy. Anything that is related to a gambling context, there is the potential for it to get to the point where it is a problem," Fontaine said.
Senior John Galanek said he plays fantasy baseball, football and basketball-not to gamble-but instead to stay updated about the sports and the league's players who are not on his favorite team.
"Money is the main reason some people would start rooting against their teams," Galanek said. "I understand there is a whole lot less loyalty to teams today, but fantasy sports give you the opportunity to follow players that have left your team."
While there are risks, Fontaine said fantasy leagues provide an opportunity for networking and embracing a part of the national pastime. He likened owning a fantasy team to purchasing a player's used bat or uniform.
"Having ownership or possession over it makes you feel closer to the game," Fontaine said. "So many of us grew up fantasizing, wishing, dreaming and sleeping with our mitts in bed, wishing we could be these pro ballplayers."
"I'm still waiting for my call from the Phillies," he said. "Clearly it's not going to happen. But I truly believe fantasy sports are one more means by which someone can feel closeness to the game."
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