This is the time of year that many of us take a trip down memory lane. I don't mean fun times with friends and family. Oh, no. I mean the players we didn't pick up on the waiver wire, the guys we didn't start, the gems we didn't draft. A point here or there, an extra loss or two, and what could have been a title contender is just another team. Make the wrong call between two starters? Make a bad bye-week decision? Drop a player right before he became a season-saving star? As you look at a losing record, you remember all the decisions you made, and how they turned out.
Well, not all of them. Probably just half. The bad half. And that's a quick way to ruin the fun you're supposed to be having.
Each week, we have decisions to make: Who gets the flex spot, who to pick up on the waiver wire, and who should be dropped in order to pick up new talent. And if you're interested in torturing yourself, it can be interesting to go back on Monday and look at what decisions cost you a win. Not to brag, but I'm pretty good at it. But it's not uncommon to spend all week deliberating over a decision, only to make the wrong call and watch it cost you.
Some fantasy managers consider themselves destined to always make the wrong call. If the decision is between two players, they'll always pick the one that underperforms, and watch the other guy score points that don't help them one bit. They're unlucky, cursed, snakebit, whatever. Just ask them.
In reality, we have a tendency to remember the bad decisions more than the good ones. It tends to even out in the long run, but the memory of a bad decision lingers while the good decision fades quickly. Bill Parcells was once asked how long he savored a Super Bowl win before thinking about the following season, and he said he was still on the field while his team celebrated a championship when his mind wandered to what came next for the team. He also said the losses hurt more than the wins feel great. Sometimes we don't let ourselves be as happy as we could be.
Personally, there are title wins I don't really remember, but I can give you plenty of unwanted details of bad beats and tough losses in fantasy football. Derrick Mason once caught a long touchdown pass in the fourth quarter of the last game of the fantasy championship week, and it cost me. It was his biggest fantasy output in more than a year, and it caused me to lose a title by around 2.8 points. I can still see it. I don't remember what year it was, but his last season with the Ravens was in 2010, so this incident is officially part of my long-term memory. The weird part is I won the league three of the next four years and can't tell you much about those games. I couldn't name one player on any of those winning teams, or even the team Mason beat. But I remember him catching that long pass. We remember the bad, and that includes fantasy decisions that don't work out.
And sometimes we don't even give ourselves credit for the ones that do work out. This past weekend, I was deciding between Courtland Sutton or Garrett Wilson. I'm sure many people consider that to be an easy call, but touchdowns are streaky and Wilson usually has a high floor in a PPR league. I thought about it all week. And guess what: I made the right call!
Oh, and I lost the game by 30 points. To my brother. Who started Deebo and Kamara. I made the right decision, and it didn't matter. Will I even remember it after I finish this column? But a few weeks ago, I started Rashee Rice over Wilson, and I lost by .04. That's the smallest possible margin in my league, the equivalent of one passing yard. Find me in 15 years, and I'm sure I'll be able to tell you all about it.
But that's the thing. I didn't have to stop typing to write about those losses. I know the details. But now I want to mention when things went my way, like when Dallas Goedert registered zero catches for my opponent in week 1, or David Montgomery got hurt in week 6, letting me sneak away with a couple of victories. I just spent a few minutes looking that up. I wouldn't have remembered it otherwise. Even when it evens out, our brains focus on what didn't work, and downplay what did.
So now that we know that, I just want to remind you that you're not cursed, or unlucky, or doomed to always make the wrong decision or have things go against you. It tends to even out, eventually. We just don't focus on the good things as much as the bad ones. Maybe it cost you a playoff spot this year, or helped you get one last year. My point is, don't dwell on the negatives. You don't dwell on the positives, so give the bad outcomes the same treatment. You’re in this game to have fun, so don’t let your faulty memory ruin it. You made good decisions, and you might make a few more before the season is over. Good luck this week.
Do you remember bad decisions more than good ones? Which side of the ledger have your judgments fallen this season? Share your thoughts below.
