Cool Fantasy Football App on Facebook
Want to let everyone know that our friends (and close neighbors) at Citizen Sports just launched a fantasy football app on Facebook for the 2008 NFL season. Part of the spiel is that you’ll have a shot to get into a custom celebrity league, where you’d rub elbows with some pretty cool folks (see below).
It looks like a good time, so if you’re interested, check out the description and sign up.
The 2008 NFL season marks the unveiling of Citizen Sports and SI’s new Fantasy Football 2008 on Facebook. In celebration of this occasion, Citizen Sports and SI will be hosting a celebrity fantasy league for the upcoming season – and as part of the promotion, one lucky fan will have the opportunity to take part in the league. Anyone who creates or joins a league will get a chance to participate in the celebrity league.
Whoever wins the spot will have their work cut out for them. Celebrity participants include Oakland A’s GM Billy Beane, NFL Hall of Famer Ronnie Lott, NHL star Jeremy Roenick, SI swimsuit model Brooklyn Decker, SI football writer Peter King, professional poker player Phil Gordon, former NFL star Brent Jones, author Michael Lewis, Jeff Ma, the real-life inspiration for the recent movie 21, film critic Ben Lyons, and CBS sportscaster Jim Nantz. All celebrities will be competing for charity, with the winner receiving $5,000 for the cause of their choice.
So who’s the smart money on? Well, Peter King has been covering football for SI for a long time now, but he frequently admits his own fantasy shortcomings in his online column. Brooklyn Decker is the youngest participant, and youth usually equals strong familiarity with Facebook. It would be dangerous to underestimate her chances.
Brent Jones and Ronnie Lott were both really, really good at football, so it’s a good bet that they know how to evaluate talent. But a Super Bowl ring (or several apiece) does not guarantee they’ll be adept at scouring the waiver wire for a mid-season sleeper.
It’s easy to call Billy Beane the favorite, since he does the GM thing for a living – with a real team. And Michael Lewis wrote Moneyball, a big bestseller about how good Billy is at what he does. It’s a different sport, though, and it’s no fun to pick Billy to win at everything, so we’ll peg these two as most likely to engage in a mutually destructive late season trade.
Expect Gordon and Ma to know the numbers back to front. They should both be in the hunt. Jim Nantz knows his football, and it would be foolish to overlook him. Roenick’s chances seem good, but anything can happen. The smart money, though, goes on Lyons. Why? Because when you work as a critic, you better be able to back it up with results when all is said and done.
Think you can do better? Only one way to find out…
Free signup for Fantasy Football 2008 is available anytime on the web at http://apps.facebook.com/fbfantasy/.