Athens 2004 has a certain
ring to it. However, for most fantasy
leaguers it will be little more than a way
to bridge the gap between pre-season
football, their annual fantasy draft and the
kickoff of the actual NFL season. Some
however, like me will take their watching of
the 2002 Athens games to the “next level” by
participating in a fantasy Olympics league.
Unfortunately there are
not many major commercial sites offering a
professional product this year, sites like
Cbssportsline and Yahoo deemed that there
simply is not enough interest to operate a
profitable game. So if you want to do
fantasy Olympics then you and your friends
are on your own or you can take part in
ESPN.com’s Athens Challenge.
There are a few
different ways to set up a fantasy Olympics
league. One is to model your league after
the A2K fantasy Olympics game. The rules for
that game include:
1. Every participant will choose
a "team" of 15 national Olympic
teams (divided by gender in the
case of the USA and Russia
teams). The aggregate result of
these national Olympic teams
will determine the winner, on
the basis of 5 points for every
gold medal, 3 points for every
silver medal, and 1 point for
every bronze medal.
|
2. The 15 national Olympic teams
must be chosen from 4 different
pools, in which the nations have
been divided, according to their
performance in Sydney 2000, plus
a host nation factor.
|
3. Each participant must choose
2 Olympic teams from Group A, 3
Olympic teams from Group B, 5
Olympic teams from Group C and 5
Olympic teams from Group D (with
encompasses all nations not in
any of the former groups).
|
4. Since the USA and Russia
Olympic Teams gets the most
medals, they will be divided in
USA Male, USA Female, Russia
Male, and Russia Female. Any
medal won by a mixed duo or team
(equestrian team medals, for
example), will count for both
male and female teams.
|
|
5. The medal count will be based
on the OIC count. That is,
collective medals count as one.
|
Groups:
Group A:
USA Men
USA Women
Russia Men
Russia Women
Germany
China
|
Group B:
Australia*
Cuba
France
Greece*
Italy
Japan
Netherlands
Romania
South Korea
Ukraine
United Kingdom
|
Group C:
Belarus
Brazil
Bulgaria
Canada
Czech Republic
Denmark
Ethiopia
Hungary
Indonesia
Jamaica
Kazakhstan
Kenya
Mexico
Norway
Poland
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
|
Group D:
All other
participating
national Olympic
teams. |
*Australia's
2000 performance would put the team in Group
A, and Greece's 2000 performance would put
the team in Group C, the promotion and
demotion are due to the change of host city.
ESPN uses a
weighted points based system that
incorporates the medal count from the 2000
games. The easiest way to play fantasy
Olympics is to select entire countries.
However, choosing individual teams and
athletes is a more interactive way to play.
If you do opt
for the country-based approach it is
important to note the total medal counts
from 2000 from the chart below. While there
obviously will not be a 100% repeat, it is
safe to assume that the athletic powerhouse
countries of China, Russia, Germany and of
course the good old US of A will continue to
dominate most venues.
2000 SYDNEY
3 points for Gold, 2 points for Silver, 1
point for Bronze
|
Country |
Gold |
Silver |
Bronze |
Total |
Points |
|
1. UNITED
STATES |
39 |
25 |
32 |
96 |
199 |
|
2. RUSSIA
|
32 |
27 |
29 |
88 |
179 |
|
3. CHINA
|
28 |
16 |
15 |
59 |
131 |
|
4. AUSTRALIA
|
16 |
25 |
17 |
58 |
115 |
|
5. GERMANY
|
14 |
17 |
25 |
56 |
101 |
|
6. FRANCE
|
13 |
14 |
11 |
38 |
78 |
|
7. ITALY
|
13 |
8 |
13 |
34 |
68 |
|
8. CUBA
|
11 |
11 |
7 |
29 |
62 |
|
9. UNITED
KINGDOM |
11 |
10 |
7 |
28 |
60 |
|
10. THE
NETHERLANDS
|
12 |
9 |
4 |
25 |
58 |
|
11. ROMANIA
|
11 |
6 |
9 |
26 |
54 |
|
12. SOUTH
KOREA |
8 |
9 |
11 |
28 |
53 |
|
13. UKRAINE
|
3 |
10 |
10 |
23 |
39 |
|
14. HUNGARY
|
7 |
6 |
3 |
16 |
36 |
|
15. JAPAN
|
5 |
8 |
5 |
18 |
36 |
|
16. POLAND
|
6 |
5 |
3 |
14 |
31 |
|
17. BULGARIA
|
5 |
6 |
2 |
13 |
29 |
|
18. GREECE
|
4 |
6 |
3 |
13 |
27 |
|
19. BELARUS
|
3 |
3 |
11 |
17 |
26 |
|
20. SWEDEN
|
4 |
5 |
3 |
12 |
25 |
|
21. CANADA
|
3 |
3 |
8 |
14 |
23 |
|
22. NORWAY
|
4 |
3 |
3 |
10 |
21 |
|
23. SPAIN
|
3 |
3 |
5 |
11 |
20 |
|
24. BRAZIL
|
0 |
6 |
6 |
12 |
18 |
|
25. ETHIOPIA
|
4 |
1 |
3 |
8 |
17 |
|
26.
KAZAKHZTAN
|
3 |
4 |
0 |
7 |
17 |
|
27.
SWITZELAND
|
1 |
6 |
2 |
9 |
17 |
|
28. CZECH
REPUBLIC
|
2 |
3 |
3 |
8 |
15 |
|
29. KENYA
|
2 |
3 |
2 |
7 |
14 |
|
30. DENMARK
|
2 |
3 |
1 |
6 |
13 |
|
31. INDONESIA
|
1 |
3 |
2 |
6 |
11 |
|
32. JAMAICA
|
0 |
4 |
3 |
7 |
11 |
|
33. TURKEY
|
3 |
0 |
1 |
4 |
10 |
|
33. IRAN
|
3 |
0 |
1 |
4 |
10 |
|
35. SLOVAKIA
|
1 |
3 |
1 |
5 |
10 |
|
36. MEXICO
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
6 |
10 |
|
37. FINLAND
|
2 |
1 |
1 |
4 |
9 |
|
38. LITHUANIA
|
2 |
0 |
3 |
5 |
9 |
|
39. AUSTRIA
|
2 |
1 |
0 |
3 |
8 |
|
40. ALGERIA
|
1 |
1 |
3 |
5 |
8 |
|
41.
AZERBADJAN
|
2 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
7 |
|
42.
UZBEKISTAN
|
1 |
1 |
2 |
4 |
7 |
|
43. BELGIUM
|
0 |
2 |
3 |
5 |
7 |
|
43. SOUTH
AFRICA |
0 |
2 |
3 |
5 |
7 |
|
45. SLOVENIA
|
2 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
6 |
|
46.
SERBIA-MONTENEGRO
|
1 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
6 |
|
46. LATVIA
|
1 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
6 |
|
48. NEW
ZEALAND |
1 |
0 |
3 |
4 |
6 |
|
49. NIGERIA
|
0 |
3 |
0 |
3 |
6 |
|
50. ARGENTINA
|
0 |
2 |
2 |
4 |
6 |
|
51. TAIWAN
|
0 |
1 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
|
51. MOROCCO
|
0 |
1 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
|
53. GEORGIA
|
0 |
0 |
6 |
6 |
6 |
|
54. BAHAMAS
|
1 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
5 |
|
55. THAILAND
|
1 |
0 |
2 |
3 |
5 |
|
55. ESTONIA
|
1 |
0 |
2 |
3 |
5 |
|
57. NORTH
KOREA |
0 |
1 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
|
58. CROATIA
|
1 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
4 |
|
59. MOZAMBIC
|
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
|
59. COLOMBIA
|
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
|
59. CAMEROON
|
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
|
62. SAUDI
ARABIA |
0 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
|
62. MOLDAVIA
|
0 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
|
62. TRINITAD
& TOBAGO
|
0 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
|
65. VIETNAM
|
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
|
65. URUGUAY
|
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
|
65. IRELAND
|
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
|
68. PORTUGAL
|
0 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
|
68.
COSTA-RICA
|
0 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
|
70. BARBADOS
|
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
|
70.
KIRGHIZTAN
|
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
|
70. ARMENIA
|
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
|
70. QATAR
|
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
|
70. SRI LANKA
|
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
|
70. KUWAIT
|
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
|
70. ISRAEL
|
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
|
70. ICELAND
|
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
|
70. INDIA
|
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
|
70. CHILE
|
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
|
Total |
300 |
298 |
326 |
924 |
1822 |
|
**
Table
provided courtesy of darmoni.net
The
number of countries with medals is: 79; the
average of medals per country is: 11.7
The percentage of medals for the best
country is: 10.4
If you
want to play fantasy Olympics by drafting
individual athletes and teams I suggest
establishing exactly what sports should
represent the available player pool. Of
course you can make it a free for all, but
it is far more enjoyable to limit it to
televised events.
Below
is a listing:
Olympic
broadcast schedule
Courtesy The
Associated Press
View 2004 Olympic Schedule
Drafting
Participants for Fantasy Leagues
View 2004
Olympic Predicted Outcomes
If
you are interested in additional predictions
or need help setting up your league just
e-mail me at natenoy@hotmail.com.
