by Christopher Clair

With every habit, there seems to be some sort of medium that a person can use to try to break away from their patterned behavior.

For those who smoke, the rather popular “patch” is available that curbs a person’s need for nicotine. For those that have a hard time keeping their hands out of the pantry in between meals, there are products like Dexatrim to suppress the hunger from their stomachs.

But what can be done for people that love to gamble? I just might have a possible solution.

I am not a counselor. In fact, people that listen to my words of wisdom might find the sudden need to speak with one. But I think this time, I might actually have something.

There is a fast-growing “sport” that has swept the nation over the past few years: Fantasy football. For those that don’t know, fantasy football is a contest where individuals choose actual football players to play for their team. The players’ actual stats count toward your fantasy team’s points.

More often than not, money is wagered between the contestants, which might make you wonder how this can be healthy for gamblers. But there is reasoning behind my statements, so bear with me.

Usually, there is one small fee to enter one of these leagues. A $25 entry fee gives you the privilege to compete in this game for sixteen weeks.

Even if you didn’t happen to win any of your entry fee back, it would still be a fraction of what most gamblers would lose if they spent sixteen weeks on one of the riverboats.

Over the past five years, I have competed in these leagues. More often than not, the people I have been in these leagues with have been my good friends. And when it comes to fantasy football, there’s nothing better than beating your friends because it’s all in good fun.

You can’t imagine the joy it brings a person to call up an opponent and brag about how your running back just ran for an eighty-yard touchdown. And since the stakes are rather low, it’s not something that will bring about a grudge.

To be successful in fantasy football, you have to do your homework. Endless hours of research are necessary to put together a championship team. This may not be the best persuasive topic for a college-based publication, as people usually don’t need an excuse to blow off their classes. But I’ll run the risk of causing massive dropouts to throw my two cents in.

If you have to risk money, it might as well be based on something that incorporates your knowledge. It seems a little less trivial to wager money on something that requires a little bit of knowledge rather than the random distribution of a deck of cards. Not that counting cards at a blackjack table shouldn’t be considered a talent, but if you are able to do that, you must have a lot of free time on your hands.

Now don’t think that this competition should be limited to frequent callers of 1-800-BETS-OFF. I compete in these leagues, but I don’t have a history of gambling.

Of course, if I had a problem, this wouldn’t be the forum where I would admit to it, but I honestly don’t. I just think that this is a good, healthy way to match wits with your fellow football fans.

True, the entrants are still putting money on this, which still classifies these actions as gambling. And I also understand that this does run the risk of enhancing somebody’s gambling habits.

But on an overall basis, I think it is a much better alternative for people than betting on greyhounds or pitching money into a poker game. This is a good way for people to put their money where there mouths are, and not risk choking on it.

Christopher Clair is a senior in journalism mass communication from Waukon.