In 2010, after winning the Idle Time baseball league, I bought myself a trophy.
Yeah. I know how that sounds.
But winning these leagues is hard. It’s a freaking achievement. And the season prior was the last time that Yahoo offered the optional League Champion Bobblehead as a premium add-on to its fantasy baseball service. Nothing in 2010. I had to fend for myself. And for twenty bucks (less than what Yahoo used to charge) I ordered a sweet little pewter-headed slugger. And it’s personalized, no less.
Many of you long-time Idle Timers might remember, but for the newbies: all the snazzy content that Yahoo provides for fantasy sports enjoyment wasn’t always free. In 2006, they debuted their Fantasy PLUS service for football and, later that year, for baseball (but never basketball — always the neglected stepchild, the Godfather III of fantasy sports). For $130 per league, every manager enjoyed such features as scouting reports, a record book for virtual in-season achievements, a StatTracker for “watching” games, and… a league trophy, mailed to the winner’s door several months after sealing the deal.
So I collected eight bucks per team, and the Idle Time league went pro.
Matt DG was the first to be bestowed with a Yahoo bobblehead after winning the football league in ’06. I took the baseball version home later that year. No bobbleheads in 2007: Joey opted for the championship t-shirt in football, and J, after winning baseball, was told that he had to be eighteen years old to receive an award. (I say Yahoo still owes you a trophy, J.)
Isey won football in 2008 and he, too, went for the t-shirt. At the time I thought it a ridiculous choice. Have you seen these majestic bobbleheads? But that garment has had an impressive run, and it hasn’t shown any signs of slowing down. As of this week, still part of Isey’s t-shirt rotation.
Four more official Yahoo bobbleheads were issued to Idle Time champs: one baseball to me for ’08; one baseball to Sherice for ’09; one football to Charles for ’09; and one football to me in ’10. And then… that was the 
end. No more PLUS league; all that digital tracking was standard. And no more trophies. Unless, of course, you bought yourself one.
When Josh saw the ’06 football trophy on Matt’s mantel he asked: “Where’s mine?” After a brief recap of Yahoo bobblehead history… he bought himself one as well.
But to take a step even further back in time, when our burgeoning fantasy football obssesions were criticized by our high school dean as “frivolous idle pursuits,” we didn’t know of bobbleheads. We didn’t know of custom t-shirts. We knew sports memorabilia, though, and for Paul and myself, two baseball card nerds who spent too many weekends at local convention halls looking for RC’s, autographed footballs seemed like the ultimate prize.
So we made them a prize. Two signed balls, one to the champion and one to the runner-up, as league prizes. We collected dues, bought footballs, and lined up in those selfsame convention halls with our little autograph tickets for a chance to meet some sports idols, and create unique annual trophies.
That was before eBay, of course, and the half-dozen authentication agencies that verify, issue certificates, and stick little holograms on everything. Ironically, despite all the recent action and attention in the memorabilia market, autographed balls seem to be more affordable than they were in the early 90’s. And they’re certainly more readily available.
Let’s get the traditions back on track. Both of them. Ten bucks per team, and we’ll get a personalized bobblehead for the champ along with a signed ball. We’ll scan eBay listings come playoffs, and the six postseason teams can vote on who they’d like to see as the trophy ball. If there’s enough money collected (and signed baseballs, of course, are cheaper than either footballs or basketballs), we can get a different ball for the second-place team. I’ll let Matt and Will decide if they want to do something similar for football and basketball, respectively.
Idle Time Fantasy Sports 