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AP: 086d86e7-8d74-45e5-b6f2-538d0f006398
Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice looks up at the scoreboard during the first half of an NFL football game against the Denver Broncos in Baltimore, Sunday, Dec. 16, 2012. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)
I needed Bilal Powell of the New York Jets to amass 74 fantasy points Monday night against the Tennessee Titans to win my Fantasy Football league semifinal. That would roughly be 380 yards rushing/receiving and six touchdowns. He fell 352 yards and six touchdowns short.

I knew that wasn't going to happen, and my season has come to an end. Merril Hoge's Tie Knot (my team) will fail to win a championship and I will retire from Fantasy Football without winning that "elusive" league title.

That's right, I'm announcing my Fantasy career is over. Please refrain from sadness. It's time.

But it wasn't my lack of championships over the course of a decade-plus that brought me to this decision. It wasn't the hundreds of dollars invested in league registration costs that went unrecovered or the fact that Adrian Peterson's Monday Night Football fumble in overtime of a Week 16 loss to Chicago in 2009 cost me that elusive title by a fraction of a point that pushed me into this decision.

Want to know what did? I realized Fantasy Football is dumb.

"But Vince, why did you do something you thought was dumb for ten years," you may ask.

Well, I didn't fully realize it was dumb until this season. Sometimes you learn as you go. Hell, I was married for seven years, too.

I played Fantasy Football for the camaraderie, the fun of getting together and drafting a team while tipping back a few and playfully trash-talking others in the league. Competition was very low on the list of reasons I played. For the most part it was fun; a little frustrating at times (especially when one guy in your league dedicated his entire existence to roster moves -- every league has that guy), but fun.

So maybe calling it dumb isn't entirely accurate. The way most people react Fantasy Football shoots right past dumb and lands somewhere in the ridiculously stupid category.

Something I read Monday really pushed me over the edge though.

Ray Rice of the Baltimore Ravens struggled Sunday in a loss to the Denver Broncos, carrying 12 times for 38 yards and catching three passes for three yards. For owners with Rice on their rosters, that wasn't good enough and many let the running back know it.

After the loss, Rice tweeted the following, which is a sentiment that I'm sure other NFL players and countless other Americans felt Sunday:

What followed was appalling. One twitter user suggested that Rice used the Newtown massacre as an excuse for his poor fantasy performance. To which Rice replied:

Another user replied to Rice, "irrelevant, do your job." Rice blocked that follower and responded one more time.

This isn't an isolated example, it's just one that is more visible because Rice mentioned the unspeakable horror that unfolded last Friday in Connecticut and expressed genuine human emotion about it. Every week, morons with Twitter muscles feel like they have the right to admonish athletes who "failed them" on Sunday.

It makes me wonder why any athlete is on Twitter. And it's the final factor in me giving up Fantasy Football forever.

I won't miss it.

14 Comments   |   Join the conversation »
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  • Abuse
    sundevil7901 wrote...
    Hate the (fantasy) players, not the game
    December 17, 2012 11:59 pm
    These comments towards Rice are sad and ridiculous, but dropping Fantasy Football because of them is like saying I won't go to football games because fights break out in the stands. Fantasy football isn't dumb, but there are many people who play that are.Regardless, it's unfortunate that those kind of people have taken the fun and innocence out of it for you.
  • Abuse
    mesa mad man wrote...
    Twitter
    December 18, 2012 9:16 am
    Thats the good and the bad of twitter. It gives us access to the players that we never had before. Im sure he got hundreds of tweets agreeing with him. Obviously the idiots will rise to the top and stick out. There is a reason not everyone deserves to be broadcast out to the population
  • Abuse
    AZCrazy wrote...
    it's all foolish
    December 18, 2012 10:04 am
    Twitter is stupid. Fantasy football is stupid. People spend more time fondling their phones than they do caring about and connecting with real people. Lack of decency and compassion is easy when you don't even interact with real people any more.
  • Abuse
    SpaceRig wrote...
    This article is dumb
    December 18, 2012 10:36 am
    Idiots are going to post crap on the internet regardless of the situation. Obama's interuption of SNF resulted in dozens of racist tweets about him; does that mean we stop watching football?
  • Abuse
    poopbird78 wrote...
    Clearly quitting because you lost
    December 18, 2012 12:55 pm
    Cmon, just admit it. 10 years without a win would suck the life out of any FFer. It sucks what that fan said to Ray. Ray is an awesome guy and awesome player. However, I think you just used him as an excuse to quit because you are a sore loser.
  • Abuse
    AJ1 wrote...
    Bad logic
    December 19, 2012 9:43 am
    By your logic, you should have come to the epiphany that NFL football is stupid when Kyle Williams received death threats for fumbling two punts in the playoffs last year. I think your position is a little ironic. Your job is predicated on wide-spread interest in sports. A decent amount of that is generated by fantasy sports. If everyone came to the same conclusion you did, there wouldn't be as many jobs in your field.
  • Abuse
    Vince Marotta wrote...
    This article
    December 19, 2012 12:47 pm
    I realize that me ceasing to play Fantasy Football isn't going to make one bit of difference how people address athletes on Twitter. It's simply my choice not to be lumped in with the people who choose to attack pro athletes on social media because they feel like they were "wronged" in a silly game. Ray Rice doesn't care one bit if his 38 yards cost anyone a "playoff game" -- nor should he.
  • Abuse
    Vince Marotta wrote...
    ...more
    December 19, 2012 12:47 pm
    And for the people who just take the easy way out and say that I'm quitting fantasy football because I suck at it -- that's only partly true. I was in my league's final four this season, but yeah, over a decade without a championship win...that ain't good.
  • Abuse
    Jarrod P. wrote...
    Hey Vince
    December 22, 2012 8:24 am
    I agree- I am in many football leagues, hockey leagues, and many baseball leagues. I win some, lose some--ok lose many. What I have found is a few things- FF ruins my Sunday's. I spend all day reading the ticker, rooting for teams I hate, and rooting for players against my own team, the gulp..... JETS. I have found that the stress it causes actually makes me angry and Sundays suck.
  • Abuse
    Jarrod P. wrote...
    Hey Vince- continued
    December 22, 2012 8:26 am
    I have found that fantasy baseball has stripped me of all joy I used to have. I am a lifelong Mets fan, transplant die hard D Backs fan. Instead of cheering Putz as he goes for the third out I found myself cheering Beltran cause i needed a homer. I finally sat down when I realized I was rooting against my Mets for a Yankee to get a hit. I no longer enjoy baseball for baseball but instead look at every player for stats and sabremetrics and crap like that. This summer, I reclaim my love for baseball. Next fall I reclaim my Sunday's. Thanks Vince- you have pushed me over to make the choice!
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