Retirement ..... A Great Place to Reinvent Yourself! By Ron Salandro

Fantasy Football and Retirees! By Ron Salandro

     So listen .... now that we don't work, there is still this tremendously overwhelming urge to control something.  Here's an idea ..... FANTASY FOOTBALL!  Yep, it's the solution to one of our retirement delimas, something to do that makes us feel useful and in charge.   For those of you who are not totally familiar with this multi billion dollar enterprise, that's right I said billion .... I'll try to summarize so you get the idea of the origin and beginnings of .... ' FANTASY FOOTBALL'.   As far back as 1984 .... hey wasn't that the same year George Orwell wrote about? ..... Kind of funny when you think about it, 'Big Brother' .... watching and all, but I stray from my story.  It seems that one day these absolutely fanatical fans came to a conclusion, that because their teams were so bad, they weren't going to be able to maintain their intrest for an entire season, especially if the team they cheered for was eliminated from Super Bowl contention in the first month.  Hence, they came up with this solution.  What if they could use the best players in the league from all the team's, and compete against each other .... 'for fun and bragging right's' .... This would keep them interested in every NFL game's outcome.  They would track the statistics and see how the weekly games affected their newly formed Fantasy Team's.  Now mind you ....  only Quartebacks, Running Backs, Wide Recievers, Kickers, and Team Defenses would make up these Fantasy Teams.  Each teams owner would choose their starting roster, to include .... a Quarterback, Running back, Two Wide Receivers, a Kicker, and a Team Defense.  Then they assigned point values using statistics from weekend games, and hence create a competition.  There it was, the perfect armchair FOOTBALL league, a league where fanatically frustrated fans could manage a team the way they thought it should be.  It was brilliant .... a way to stay relevant in a world of irrealencecy. The next step was really the genius of the new plan.  They would get together just like the real NFL and draft players from all the team's.  They would determine a draft order by a blind draw, and then proceeded to draft two quarterbacks, two running backs, four wide receivers, two kickers, and a team defense.  Oh, and one more thing, names, yeah they needed team names .... that's when the fun really started.  They chose team names that identified with what was going on in the world at the time.  Some of these names were out there, and the further out,  the better.  A couple early examples .... "Imelda Shoes" .... "The California Rasins" .... and how about this one .... "The Wee Wee Rubber Sheets"!  Yep, they were having fun, probably never thinking thirty three years later that this crazy idea would be played around the world for fun .... and BIG MONEY.  That's right .... kick off weekend this year, one company .... 'Draft Kings' .... is offering a billion dollars if you can draft the perfect team through the first weekends games. Crazy! .... but true.
   
     Okay, now maybe you can see where I'm going with this idea.  Let's say you're feeling a little out of the loop, not having a purpose, needing to get that control element back in your life that you enjoyed when you were working.  This is it!  Your the boss again .... in control .... making decisions .... heck maybe you could even make a few bucks, if you end up playing in a MONEY league.  But think of it, something to look forward to every weekend .... and during the week determine how you can improve your team, by trading players or picking someone off the waiver wire.  You have so many option available, and you can choose what leagues to join.  There are local leagues or leagues from many locations from any where in the world.  Heck you could join multiple leagues, surely that will fill some of those retirement hours, and you won't even have to get off the couch.  One thing though, you are going to need to know a little about computers and programs that these leagues now use to keep track of statistics instantly.  That is one area that has changed since the creation of 'Fantasy Football' thirty some years ago. Back then points were compiled manually using the Monday morning sports pages.  Today, using a phone, tablet, or computer, you are kept up to date as the action takes place during any game.  You know .... I'm guessing that the popularity of the NFL can be attributed to many things, but probably none more so than  FANTASY FOOTBALL.

    I leave you with this final thought .... if you are feeling left out, bored, displaced, or just wanting something to do, check this out.  It maybe the answer you've been looking for .... That chance to take control of something again and be the .... BIG BOSS!

What If You Could Unretire From Rertirement? by Ron Salandro

      Oh my,  It's been a while since I posted, but.....I'M BACK!  The fall, what an interesting time of year.  When I was teaching, it was a time for great anticipation, a sense of anxiety and a brief twinge of panic about the coming year.  Well, it has been eight years since I have experienced those feelings.  That's right .... eight tears since I retired from teaching.  So it makes perfect sense that this time of year stirs up those old juices .... you know, the ones that sometimes makes us wish that we were still doing things we loved the most.  Now wait, before you start thinking that I'm off the rails here, I'm just saying,  I miss a part of that dynamic.  Listen, I realize that I probably would find everything about the job of teaching now, to be tremendously different and challenging  from the day I hung up my dry board erasers.  Still, there's a part of me that longs for that challenge of the classroom environment, and all that it offers.
   
     Okay, now that I have stated my feelings, I was just wondering what if  there were some magic beans available that would allow me to, just temporarily .... unretire, and explore the days of old once again.  Now mind you, I would still want the option of cancelling this whole deal, without any consequences to me or my current situation.  Right about now, if you're still with me on this, you have to be thinking, 'Yeah, he's crazy!  Nope, I don't think so .... we have "do overs" all the time.  Instant replays in sports, second chances with relationships, grace periods for mortgages, just to mention a few.  So to me it makes perfect sense to have a retirement "do over"! Right?  Look, I'm not saying this is what all retirees feel or want, but for the ones, like myself, this would be an awesome experiment.

    So, summing up this fantasy experiment, let's review.  First, we work hard all our life at a job, and as we grow older, our energizes dissipate.  Therefore, we began to plan, anticipate, and look forward to the day we can retire.  And for the most  part, it's one of the very special times in our lifetime.  There are so many things to look forward to when the time comes for the responsibility of having to be somewhere everyday has now been removed.  Don't get me wrong, 'Retirement' is necessary, rewarding, and for the most part, is a  welcomed financially and emotionally.  But what if, at least for some of us the chance to 'Unretire', and once again stir those juices?