iPhone fantasy football draft tools

About a decade and at least one employer ago, I had a boss who decided to give us, his underlings, some unsolicited career advice during a staff meeting. "If some of you were to devote the same energy to your jobs as you do to fantasy sports," he said, "who knows how far you could go?" He wasn't looking specifically at me when he said this, but that was all right, since everyone else in the room was.

Well, in the ensuing decade, I've managed to rise through the employment ranks to become a high-ranking editor for a major technology publication. And I've continued to play fantasy sports all that time. So who's the winner in that scenario? (At this point, gentle reader, the author is pointing quite emphatically at himself.)

But my old boss had a point there about time-management. Spending too much in the way of time and resources on your fantasy sports teams can defeat the purpose of what's supposed to be a fun diversion and not a life's mission. Indeed, I've always tried to strike that proper balance between heading into a fantasy sports draft well-prepared to build a team and over-burdened with depth charts, spreadsheets, and briefing materials.

It seems like the iPhone could play a pivotal role in managing fantasy draft preparations. And indeed, with the pro football season and its attendant fantasy leagues kicking off next week, two programs available on the App Store offer to do just that. To some extent, they deliver, though you probably won't want to abandon pen and paper for this year's draft.

Scouting Report: Fantasy Football Draft Central '08 lists lasts year's stats for each player. And after an update, the program now shows bye weeks for the coming season.

Fantasy Football Draft Central '08 from UltimateFFB offers a mixed bag of draft management tools. On the plus side, the $1 app's player listings are extensive, drilling down all the way to second-stringers and reserves--that kind of depth is invaluable if you find yourself in a large league where the difference between victory and defeat could come down to drafting the right short-yardage specialist running back. Tapping on a player's name reveals his stats for the 2007 season--a helpful way to research would-be picks.

Players are listed by position--you can view sorted by a ranking system devised by UltimateFFB or alphabetically by first name. A third viewing option lets you look at players who are still on the draft board--a sign that Draft Central is not just intended to help you prepare for your draft, but manage the draft itself. Indeed, if you tap on a player's name, and then tap the Draft button, you have the option of assigning a player to your team or to one of your opponents'. Either way, it's a good way of keeping track, mid-draft, of who's still available.

Sadly, not all the information contained in Draft Central is that intuitive or useful. Some players have a plus symbol or an asterisk next to their name (or, in some cases, both). There's no indication in the application itself or at the minimalistic UltimateFFB Web site. An e-mail to the company revealed that the plus sign means the player was on the All-Pro team in 2007 and the asterisk means the player made the Pro Bowl.

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