F I R S TP R E V812NEXTLAST

Fantasy Football's Bay Area Roots
I play fantasy football - there, I said it. I'm not proud of it, but there it is. I know who the Miami Dolphins backup tight end is and I have a strong opinion about Chief's playing Brodie Croyle versus Damond Huard. I'm not alone either, tens of millions of Americans share my affliction. The phenomenon of fantasy sports started in 1962 when Bill Winkenbach, a partner in the Oakland Raiders, invented the game along with a Raider's assistant coach and a couple of reporters from the Oakland Tribune.

That first league, the Greater Oakland Pigskin Prognosticators League (GOPPL) used pen, paper and the sports page to tally the league scores each week. Today fantasy or roto sports range from football to cricket to professional wrestling and scores are tallied in real-time on the Internet. Fantasy football mania even extends overseas where it includes Saudi Royal Prince (and big 49ers fan) Abdullah bin Mossad bin Abdulaziz Al Saud who manages at least twelve teams at a time.

TRIVIA QUESTION: What other sports fan creation was started in Oakland? HINT: it was developed on October 15, 1981 by professional cheerleader Krazy George Henderson, during a game between the Oakland A's and New York Yankees.

TRIVIA ANSWER

[ MAP E-14 ]