LOL

So I know this is over, but in case anyone still watches it, I thought this pic was hilarious. I'm a pretty nerdy person, and definitely have tons of friends that play Dungeons and Dragons (to this day) so I laughed pretty hard.

S

Top Fantasy Football Apps

Fantasy Football mobile apps are a big portion of how people stay connected with their teams, use cheat sheets and just plain enjoy the game. So what are the best apps and why are they the best. To figure out the best mobile applications for Fantasy Football I looked at blogs, news articles, and even downloaded a few myself to try out. Here are the best 4 apps for Fantasy Football:

1.) Yahoo! Fantasy Football '11

What makes the Yahoo! app at the top for myself is the user interface. It seems a lot easier to navigate than some of the other applications. This app like many of the other popular Fantasy Football mobile apps is FREE. So as in earlier posts, Free comes at a price, but in this app advertisements don't seem to be too much of a bother. I think the best parts about this application are the Live Scoring function and Roster Management. From reading past reviews online many people complained about the application having difficulty with glitches but I found that it works pretty well in the current version.

2.) ESPN Fantasy Football '11

This application is really similar to Yahoo! but does offer some different features such as of course it has links and provides much of the content you would see on ESPN both televised and online. ESPN is another FREE application, but it's advertisements mainly focus around ESPN so it is less noticeable that they are there. One of the biggest differences I see is the app allows for is in the FantasyCast Live Scoring, which allows for real-time detailed information and specifics about match-ups. This app also allows for a lot more news and tweets directly from ESPN's analysts. Now it is important to note that you can purchase an app for $2.99 that is a manager and a mix of both ESPN and Yahoo!, but if you like the free app and you have a preference you can have that option as well.

3.) NFL Fantasy Cheat Sheet '11

I found this app to be good for beginner to Fantasy Football leagues, which includes me. Especially if it's your first time, you probably feel the need to do a ton of research, this app takes a lot of the work out of it. My favorite part of this app is that it feature

s a pick recommendation search that helps you pick players, search rankings, and see who is making it week by week. This app is $2.99 but it comes with really great information and the NFL name behind it. So if you're starting out or even if you have been playing Fantasy Football for awhile this app is well worth the cost.

4.) Fantasy Football Insider '11

Last, but certainly not least, is the Fantasy Football Insider. This pick happened because it is both Free and if you want you get the premium version for a price. This is one of the first apps I got to look at Fantasy Football and it is still one of my favorites. My other favorite part of this app is the integrated Twitter feed, where you can look at all of your favorites players, analysts, and friends. The other best part of this app is that it offers video content. Wouldn't it be great if they integrated somehow with oovoo.com?

What's your favorite application or what apps get you through Fantasy Football season?

Sources

http://www.gottabemobile.com/2011/08/24/5-best-fantasy-football-apps-for-iphone/

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/27/best-fantasy-football-apps-for-owners_n_911075.html#s316772&title=Fantasy_Football_Monster

Picture

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app

Workplace Fantasy Football

The mobile device has changed the way humans interact, access information, and at incredibly fast speeds. Though, in many ways this access has changed what used to be a boring lunch hour, train commute, etc. into times where we can be entertained and gain information. For Fantasy Football fans, the game now goes with you wherever you are and you can watch draft picks and gain cheat sheets from home, work, coffee shop, train commute, and airplanes. The question then arises that if the game goes with you wherever you are what happens to the other parts of life you used to focus on? Mainly more than anything there is a growing concern that Fantasy Football may be taking over what used to be a productive workplace.

Has Fantasy Football changed your productivity levels in the workplace?

The answer is a difficult one and really depends on who you ask, there are two sides to every coin but let's start with the negative first. PR Newswire reports that conflicting evidence shows that Fantasy Football "costs the economy $10.5 billion annually by being a distraction" and also helps to "boon the economy by $4 billion dollars." So yes Fantasy Football is helping to fuel the economy quite a bit, but in comparison to what it's costing us as a workplace distraction it makes it very easy to see why it's hurting productivity in the workplace. With $6.5 billion dollars hanging in the balance, it makes a good argument for some employers to say it's not worth the effect on their companies bottom line. After all, you got hired at your workplace to do a job for set hours during the day and for many Fantasy Football is not on the on that growing list of tasks that even before the mobile age we still could not complete in that 8+ hour work day.

So that was the negative side, that yes Fantasy Football is a distraction to our workplace and it is costing us billions. Brad Reed challenges this view slightly in his article in "Network World." Reed shows that in a survey conducted by Challenger, Gray, and Christmas that 54 percent of human resources departments aren't bothered by employees playing Fantasy Football in the workplace. The study also found that 8 percent of workplaces actually encouraged participation in Fantasy Football as part of team and morale building efforts. How does your workplace handle it? Does your office encourage it? It's easy to see how this would really depend on what type of career you have and what kind of workplace environment you have. For myself, working in the art industry allows for a more relaxed work environment with some of the things you can do like listen to music at your desk, but at this point it's such a pressured environment as well that Fantasy Football would never be allowed. I'm sure it's different everywhere you go but it's not encouraged where I work right now. This may also be because workplaces in general are still in a very transitional period of time where bosses and employees alike are still adapting to having a workplace that for many businesses can go with you now through the use of mobile devices.

So while more and more employers a getting use to these new technologies that allow more work to be done anywhere anytime, they will also be more challenged in the future to consider things like Fantasy Football, games, drawing, and listening to music while at work. In Reed's article he quotes the CEO of Challenger, John Challenger as saying, "It's difficult for companies to take a hard-line stance against Fantasy Football...the Internet technology that helped fuel the rapid growth of fantasy football participation and makes it possible to manage teams from one's own desk also makes it possible for employees to attend to work duties during their personal time." So in essence you as the employee have made a choice, be allowed to manage your Fantasy Football team from your desk at work, but as a trade off being willing to take that work you don't get done with you to complete on your personal time. But we all need short breaks sometimes, even more so to refocus and recharge about the task we have at hand. For instance in a report produced by Fantazzle.com seeking to dispel the belief that Fantasy Football is bad for office productivity, research found that taking a short break is actually more helpful to your brain to come back and concur a task. “once the forty-five minute threshold has passed and the worker and the pre-frontal cortex are both drained, a break is vital to maintaining productivity and vital to learning.” So yes Fantasy Football can function successfully as the break needed to regain your thoughts and strengthen your ability to learn. So what would you prefer the ability to do Fantasy Football in your workplace or leave it for your personal time and do your work at work? The mobile device is challenging yet again separations, many times between the real and virtual worlds, and now it is challenging and blurring the lines between work time and personal time.

And just for fun some workplace Fantasy Football comics:

Sources

PR Newswire (2010, December 15). "Are fantasy football games a workplace distraction?" Retrieved from EBSCOhost November 1, 2011, http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/are-fantasy-football-games-a-workplace-distraction-111970829.html

Reed, B. (2010, September 30). "Fantasy football killing productivity? Pure fantasy." Retrieved from EBSCOhost November 1, 2011, http://www.networkworld.com/news/2010/093010-fantasy-football.html

Fantazzle.com (2010, December 14). "Fantasy football is not a workplace distraction." Retrieved from Google.co, November 1, 2011, http://www.fantazzle.com/fantasy-site/fantasy-thought-leadership.php

Graphics

http://ericspitznagel.com/content/published-stories/fantasy-football-leagues/

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Mobile-and-Wireless/Mr-Cs-Seven-Signs-Youre-Obsessed-with-Fantasy-Football/1/