To Cheer, Or Not To Cheer?

Last Sunday, I found myself in a strange position. With the my beloved Titans down 10 to 19 at home against the Eagles, we were desperate for a spark. Kerry Collins had faced two quarters of relentless pressure as his receivers couldn't find any separation from opposing defensive backs with stud wideout, Kenny Britt, sitting on the bench for off-the-field misconduct. Just before half time, Britt entered the game for his first snaps. With an obvious one on one mismatch against a defense that refused to place less than 8 or 9 men in the box, Collins went to work with Britt, finding the former 1st round pick in the endzone for a touchdown that can only be described as "beast." Rumor has it that Titans radio wiz, Mike Keith, overheard Britt yell, "That's my ball, Mr. Hobbs!" before snatching it from the air, but I have no proof of this allegation, which is coincidentally the same situation Britt is facing in an "alleged" bar fight. I digress.

At this point, Titans fans knew that if we were going to make a comeback, it would either take a few huge Chris Johnson game breakers or Kenny Britt would need a huge day. The only problem? My opponent in fantasy this week started Kenny Britt. Ugh...

Here lies an excruciating fantasy conundrum. What does one do in the situation that you're playing against one of your favorite players, especially when that player could, and probably will, determine the outcome on the field and on the fantasy gridiron. It's fantasy vs. reality. What is a boy to do?

After the first Britt TD, I was hoping that the defense could make a few plays and then perhaps Chris Johnson could make quick work of the Eagles. Not entirely the case. The defense held, but Britt's number would be dialed up again the 4th quarter on a play that resulted in an 80 yard touchdown reception, and again later in the quarter for another touchdown reception. At the end of the day, Britt's 7 receptions for 225 yards and 3 touchdowns were pivotal to the Titans victory over what is possibly the NFC's best team. On the flip side, Kenny's 7 receptions for 225 yards and 3 touchdowns resulted in a 40 point performance, which buried my fantasy team. In the end, I walked away from LP reminding myself, "If Kenny Britt's the one that beats me, then I'm ok with that." In fact, my only two defeats this season have come against outstanding, game changing performances from Titans' stars Chris Johnson and Kenny Britt. I can live with that.

In another story, a Cowboy's fan found himself in the same situation Monday night as Tony Romo went down hard in the first half against the Giants. Quickly after, I received a text from this fan pondering, "Is it bad that I kinda hoped Romo got slightly hurt in this game so I could beat *name disclosed*?" Unfortunately, Romo was more than slightly hurt, and his crushed collar bone opened the door for my 2008 deepest fantasy sleeper, John Kitna, to take the stage en route to a Cowboys to defeat. The bright news here? Cowboys fans have to believe that just over the horizon lies a Wade Phillips' firing, which could be good for both fans and fantasy owners.

In both of these situations, including countless others around the fantasy nation, we find people forced into conflict where they have inclinations to cheer against their favorite teams, which raises the ultimate question: "To cheer, or not to cheer?"

It's your right to form your own opinion, but someday you'll be faced with a very similar situation and you need to be prepared. What's it going to be? Do you cheer for your team? Or your fantasy team?

Or, in the end, do we hold our brothers to a higher standard, expecting that they bench players in matchups that they know will cause this agonizing conundrum?

Nah.