Section 10.5. Fantasy Sports

10.5. Fantasy Sports

Die-hard sports fans are renowned for their hunger for statistics about favorite teams and players. Pair that with the Web's ability to deliver this type of information in a flash, and you've got the phenomenal boom in fantasy sports . These games let you create your own dream teams in virtual football, baseball, basketball , and other sports.

Here's how it works: As a team owner in, say, a fantasy baseball league, you "draft" real-life professional players. As the season progresses, each player's actual statistics earn points in the fantasy league. Needless to say, players who have exceptional seasons score a lot of points for their pretend team owners . The team owner with the most points at the end of the season wins the league championship.

Fantasy sports sites have popped up all over the Web in recent decades. If you're a member of AOL, Yahoo, or MSN, you've got them right in your home portal. In your browser's address bar, type http://fantasysports . followed by aol.com, yahoo.com ; for MSN, go to http://msn.foxsports.com/fantasy. Other fantasy sports hangouts include:

• ESPN Fantasy Field . The cable sports network has a huge collection of fantasy sports to choose from (including fantasy bass fishing ). There are also news and message boards for virtual team owners. (http://games.espn.go.com)

• Sandbox . A $5 monthly premium subscription qualifies you for cash prizes, draft guides, news, and injury reports customized for all the players on your team. But Sandbox has a few free games to join as well. (www.sandbox.com)

• CBS SportsLine . Several fantasy sports are here for the playing with free registration. The newsy site also offers columns and commentary throughout the fantasy season. (www.sportsline.com/fantasy)

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Tip: For a roundup of fantasy sports news, try Fantasy Sports Central at www.fantasysportscentral.com. Here, you can also buy tickets to actual, real-life games.

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