I probably rank in most people’s top three to five as far as biggest sports fans they know. And a lot of them end up surprised when they find out that I don’t play fantasy sports, especially baseball where I was always obsessed with stats as a kid and follow the closest of any of the sports, but I just have a lot of issues with fantasy sports.

1. Conflict of interest

Probably my biggest hang up is the the fact that when you play fantasy sports you may find yourself rooting for players (or even teams) that you despise. There are times where I might root for my team to lose. Mostly the Bears (and to the lesser extent, the Bulls) so that they can improve their draft position. But at no point to I want to be in a position where I am rooting for the Packers to beat the Bears so that my fantasy QB Aaron Rodgers has a good game. I think that’s a major violation of the sports fan code.

2. When you are out, there is nothing to play for

Anyone can have bad luck, but if you get hit by the injury bug, your season can be over fast, particularly in football. But in the baseball season, which runs for 6 months, if you are eliminated in July what is there to play for? In real baseball, you develop players or make trades to make your team better in the future, but there is really nothing like this in fantasy. I know there are keeper leagues out there and things are evolving but I don’t know a lot of people who play keeper leagues.

I was reading about one type of keeper league that is exactly what I would want to play. Basically, it’s an auction-style draft but then you sign the players to contracts (I assume you set some max contract length) and then keep your team year to year. To me, this really would test your skill. You would have to think ahead and make careful decisions. So maybe this exists, but I don’t know anyone hardcore enough to play this way. Plus it requires a big commitment.

3. The amount of strategy involved is minimal

I don’t buy that there is a lot of strategy involved fantasy sports. Teams aren’t so large that making a decision on who plays week to week is that big of a deal. There are some good pickups that get made during the year, but few of these are proactive. Most of them are after a player has broken out. Trades are made, and they require some craftiness, but I feel like it could be more entertaining.

Every year around this time, I hear people talking about fantasy and it piques my interest. But midway through the season I am glad that I don’t have to think about it. I am sure there are going to be some fantasy nuts who disagree, but I hope there are. I would love to be talked into player.