Bigger Risk = Bigger Reward?

My personal reflection during the times I played for Yahoo! Fantasy last season.

As the season starts, I start to reflect back on the time I got my first ever virtual gold trophy at Yahoo! Fantasy Basketball last season.

 

Last season, I was assigned to draft 10th among the 18 managers. With the increased positioning compared to the previous seasons I had played in this league, it was my first time to get the best player I could never imagine.

We all know whoever you choose as your first pick for the team would dictate how you would shape your roster. After all, you wouldn't drop your first pick right?

So time is ticking... and it was my turn to choose my first player for team Coffee Gang... and with the 10th pick (1st round on a 18-team league) for the PTR Fantasy League (Fantasy League that I'm playing for), Coffee Gang (my fantasy team name) selects Paul George from the Los Angeles Clippers!

Paul George aka PG13... my first pick. Based on my observation in our league, those who have Paul George on their team has a high chance of winning the championship for that season. So here I am was given a chance to make wonders... however with a risk. Paul George can be the best player he could be if given a chance and if injuries would not get the better of him. I remember when I drafted him, I was actually nervous thinking if I made the right choice because Paul George as much as can explode especially with Kawhi Leonard having random rest nights, brings also a lot of uncertainty. With his history of injury, you never knew which PG will show up for your fantasy team.

During the first 10 weeks of the fantasy season, Paul George was playing exceptionally well for my team. He was either my best performing player on my team or doing well enough it was just that some players explode on that week. Not only that, I consistently get one of the top spots of the league especially when the ones I'm facing was either not that active, didn't choose their players well or I caught them when one of their best players is either injured or have fewer games to play. It was so fun as you are actually breezing through the first few weeks...

Then enter Week 11, Paul George was out indefinitely. Indefinitely! The risk! The risk of having him is now on display. How would a team navigate without their best player? Fret not! Because Paul George may be your team's best player, you should take note who you drafted 2nd onwards...

Enter Christian Wood, Anthony Edwards and Anfernee Simons...

Christian Wood, your 2nd pick for your team, technically got to step up because if your best player is out, he is technically the next in line to make sure he give you the points you needed. He may not be consistently the best player for your team, at least he made sure that he wasn't injured.

Next, Anthony Edwards. A promising rising star player who would one day dominate the league was also doing well as your team's third pick. Then you have...

Anfernee Simons. A guy I picked up from the waivers on Week 2. The guy who I didn't expect to be one of the constants especially with CJ McCollum having a lengthy absence at that time due to injury. Not only that, during that stretch, Portland perhaps realized that they can trade CJ McCollum knowing that they already have cheaper option in Anfernee Simons who can also produce exceptionally well playing alongside Damian Lillard.

Then came the last week of the fantasy season wherein you need to shape your roster in preparation for the playoffs. With Paul George still sidelined and Jerami Grant back playing albeit a diminished performance, then you now have Portland key players suddenly being shut down like Damian Lillard's abdominal injury, Jusuf Nurkic being injured and also Anfernee Simons who you relied on for so long was also sidelined. With these factors at play, you have to go into the battle with the players that would not only give you excellent performances, but also consistent one.

Enter Jordan Poole, the seventh player for my team. The first player that played for my team at the start of the season. The first player that set the tone for the team was the one helping my fantasy to enter the playoffs into a good footing. With Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry both sidelined, he got all the playing time and touches he could handle. And what happens when you have a player who is hot from the three-point line, high fantasy points that helped my team survive the opponents that I would be facing in the fantasy playoffs.

Now into the fantasy playoff-season where key players are starting to rest in preparation for playoffs, tanking teams starting to shut down their best players, you got to play the cards that you were dealt with. My team was able to manage to reach the finals led by Wendell Carter, Jr. and Jordan Poole.

On to the finals where I know I was sure to get silver place, I am going against one of the toughest managers in the league. Both of our best players cannot play at that point in time so it was really a matter of battling of reserves and how well do you draft your players and find gems from the waiver wire. It was a nerve wrecking match as you know you got to use your advantages right which is to add and drop the right players to help your team. This is the time wherein you would rely on bench scrubs that are taking over due to players resting. At the same time hoping that your best players can still play despite the season nearing to its end until...

PAUL GEORGE IS BACK!!! PAUL GEORGE IS BACK!!! PAUL GEORGE IS BACK!!!

PG-13 is back right in time for the playoffs to save my team against a tough opponent that eventually led to my first ever fantasy trophy!!!

So the question now is, is bigger risk tantamount to better reward? I guess it's yes and no.

Yes, because you weight a lot of pros and cons before making a decision, but in a league wherein you only have like a minute to decide on which one to choose among a plethora of choices, you have to make sure you pick the right one and hope for the best.

No, because if I laid all of my eggs in one basket, I wouldn't even won the finals. However, it should be noted that fantasy basketball consist of drafting and adding/dropping the right players. So even if your best player was sidelined, if you drafted the right players who outperformed based on their draft round, they can cover up the huge void your best player left.

So here is hoping that I would defend my title to the upcoming season!

There is Only One Spotlight

Years ago, my dad told me a story about Maggie Wilson and her husband Victor Consunji's seemingly 'competitive' approach when it comes to posting their pictures on social media. He deemed their approach unconventional in the sense that they seemed to be competing on who is the more attractive one whenever they post their pictures. I think if I'm not mistaken he may have commented that the marriage might be unsustainable if they keep on going at that pace.

First of all, I will be honest when I tell you I do not know both of them. Maybe I heard or I did, but not enough to care about what was going on in their life. Next, for some reason I really do not know why my dad would say that especially he does not have any social media account for him to observe such things - while me on the other hand have social media accounts yet I did not care about it. So I just put it on one ear and store it in some part of my brain that I don't know if it was useful, "did you know", or just whatever. Lastly, aren't all celebrities like that? Post here, and there and everywhere so that they would garner a lot of viewers, followers etc. Perhaps it was like me thinking it seems to be normal for them anyway.

Then come around September 2021, the news broke that they were already separated. I was like "Whoa!" The first thing that came to my mind was my dad's comment regarding the (ex)-couple. I don't know if my dad was like a fortune teller, merely coincident or I don't know. I was just amazed how did the heck he figured out. I am not saying that that was the actual reason why they broke up but as we have known by now there might have been cheating allegations on both sides anyway.

So when I saw the news, the very next time we sat on the table together for a meal, I brought up the topic that they broke up and I told him I remember that he mentioned to me about them. He then expounded on his thought regarding it and said the relationship could have been saved if one of them decided to tone down their post about themselves and perhaps more about the other or perhaps their child. He mentioned Marian Rivera as an example who should be emulated on social media postings.

When we finished our meal and my dad have to go back to work, I immediately searched the Instagram profiles of Maggie Wilson, Victor Consunji and Marian Rivera. Boy my dad was onto something when he commented on the social media posts of these celebrities (I still believe he does not have an Instagram or any social media account for him to say that. Lol!). When I checked their profiles, my dad was making sense. All the posts of Maggie Wilson and her ex-husband are mostly full of themselves and rarely the other. Heck there was even one post by Maggie Wilson that struck me where she posted a picture of her then husband and I felt force in the sense because it's her husband's day, he has to be the "bida" or the star for the moment. Then I searched Marian Rivera's Instagram profile, there were solo posts of herself, but that was in relation to her work since she mentioned it was an "ad". I'm sure there's no problem with that since she was getting paid to post that. Also in her Instagram profile, she also made sure to post some pictures of her children and also her husband.

This made me realize something celebrity or not. There is only one spotlight. Whatever was in the spotlight was the only thing people could see in the public eye or in social media per se. There's only an ample space on that spotlight where couples could stand under it.

Now the question is how do they share the spotlight in the people's eyes? Equally, unequally etc. There are many ways on how to utilize (or not to utilize) the said spotlight - and also whatever the decision to make or break a certain relationship. If both couples are private persons, then great there's no need for anyone to be in the spotlight. It could also be one is taking a huge chunk of the spotlight while the private one would stand behind the shadows - which is fine since the goal was to ensure that the relationship is still going strong despite the unequal distribution of the attention that the people give to them.

But both initially desired an equal distribution of spotlight with even the more desire of getting their share? That would be a huge problem - eventually. While audiences would be amazed at both couples being glamorous in front of them, we already know that deep down the couple are fighting for the dominance in the said spotlight which would indeed put a strain on their marriage - perhaps this is why there are also a lot of high-profile break-ups. Which is why some celebrities would rather date or get married into someone outside of the industry, who is more reserved since their jobs would not entail them to be always in the people's spotlight.

We know that there are high profile celebrities locally or internationally that were still together, but we also know that there wasn't much tension for them to hold a grudge against the other if one of them was becoming popular while the other was in the shadow of the other.

To conclude, in the age of social media we might get affected with the number of likes, followers or friends that we had online and whenever we unintentionally compare ourselves with our significant other. I think before entering in such relationship, one must know the amount of spotlight/attention the other person needs then compare it with ourselves if we are okay with the setup or gauge if our love for them is greater than the amount of social-media attention we might receive. Then once we have those basis, we should know if we are willing to accept whatever role that was given to us in the spotlight of relationship.