Drafting Divas

ESPN-sponsored fantasy football league members, “Mav Moms,” compete for a $500 prize at season’s end. Pictured (from left) are Barbie Horowitz, Jan Bres, manager Julie Griffin, Jeannette Baker, Kate Gibson, Kelly Labanowski, Carol Smith, Daphne Bernicker, Maria Ainbinder and Wendy Askew. (Photo: www.scottkohn.com)

Drafting virtual football players can be exhausting.

“The clock is ticking, and you’ve got 30 seconds to decide your pick. And that Monday Night Football theme comes on. A little overwhelming at first,” says Maria Ainbinder, recalling slight jitters at choosing her virtual roster on ESPN’s fantasy football website.

“My sons were actually standing over my shoulder, arguing about who I should pick. Yeah, that adds to the excitement.”

Ainbinder, putting trust in Aaron Rodgers of the Green Bay Packers as quarterback (“Wasn’t my first pick,” she confides), is one of ten Buzz-area women competing for a $500 jackpot at season’s end through the ESPN-sponsored River Oaks-West University fantasy football league, “Mav Moms.”

But winning is beside the point, say these fast friends, who bonded while watching their sons play for the Mavericks at St. John’s School.

“Some of us are empty nesters now. We spent years watching our boys on the field; then all of a sudden you’re not doing that,” says football enthusiast and league manager Julie Griffin, who nabbed quarterbacks Drew Brees of the New Orleans Saints and Russell Wilson of the Seattle Seahawks for her mock team.

“This is just a way to stay in touch when you don’t see each other every Friday night anymore. And it’s fun. Texts will be flying during this fall’s games.”

Griffin’s group is helping to level the playing field. Of 4.5 million fantasy football participants in the United States and Canada, only 20 percent are women, but that number is growing, according to the Fantasy Sports Trade Association.

Participants manage their patchwork teams online and garner points based on the NFL players’ weekly real-life performances. They can call in backups for injured players and make substitutions for those not playing due to a bye week.

“You definitely need to fiddle with your roster for the best outcome,” says Griffin, who set up the league via ESPN’s free website that allows private invitations to be sent to friends. Each invitee must then register and agree on a date for their draft before the season begins. League members become team “owners,” competing against one another throughout the season.

Dozens of Internet sports sites offer signup for free. A maximum eight to 12 players is suggested to prevent the talent pool from becoming diluted, especially at quarterback position.

An agreed-upon entry fee determines the cash prize. The “Mav Moms” happily pooled $50 each. “Hey, with $500 at stake, I’m following the games,” Griffin says.

 “It’s kind of a laid-back way to put my foot in the water,” says Carol Smith, who isn’t intimately familiar with NFL football.

“I did research the night before the draft. But I drafted Johnny Manziel as my backup quarterback because my husband thinks he was a fantastic college player,” Smith says of the first-ever freshman Heisman Trophy winner who impressed at Texas A&M University and now plays for the Cleveland Browns. She chose Jay Cutler of the Chicago Bears as first string.

Self-confessed football fanatic Barbie Horowitz was eager to pick her roster, but inadvertently locked herself out of the draft. In the event a registered league member can’t attend the draft, ESPN chooses for her.

“In the long run, they probably picked a better team for me,” admits Horowitz, a happy camper with Cam Newton of the Carolina Panthers and Baylor University’s Robert Griffin III of the Washington Redskins as quarterback and backup. “I love football. This is gonna be fun.”

Farm and ranch realtor Kate Gibson isn’t a rabid NFL viewer. “More of a selective one,” she says. “But I work with a lot of guys. Doing this, I can talk a little football with them. Hold my own out on the ranch.”

She opted for Golden Tate, wide receiver for the Detroit Lions. “Went to Notre Dame, my husband’s alma mater. A little influence there,” Gibson says. Matt Forte of the Chicago Bears was her son’s suggestion for running back.

Gibson snapped up Andrew Luck of the Indianapolis Colts as quarterback. “He’s from Houston, and my husband knows his dad,” she says. “So I’ll be watching Indianapolis for sure.”

Some league members buy jerseys promoting their picks. Luck jerseys were a bit pricey, says Gibson, who opted to buy a used one for $25. “Not bad.”

She’s torn as to whether or not she’ll actually don it for games though. “Hmm,” she quips. “Depends on how I look in it.”