Well, it's that time of year again. Of course there's March Madness, but it is also time for our fantasy baseball juices to start flowing again. The feeling of being underprepared despite doing endless mock drafts and reading countless sleepers/busts articles is back.

And yet, it's not only me. According to the Fantasy Sports Trade Association, around 26 million Americans play in a fantasy sports league. That's a larger number of people than any U.S. state's population besides California. It's even a billion dollar industry now! So why are so many people playing and eventually becoming addicted to fantasy sports?

When the first fantasy baseball league was started in 1980, it was called a Rotisserie league after the name of a restaurant where the managers used to meet regarding the league. These people spent long arduous hours poring over all the baseball statistics in the newspaper the following day. Since they didn't have computers, they had to add all of the stats up manually. However, it made these baseball junkies much closer to the game since they were following the statistics of players they normally wouldn't.

Then, with the Internet boom in the 1990s, fantasy sports exploded as well. People couldn't get enough of the concept of running their own team and their obsession with player's statistics. Then, major companies such as Yahoo! and ESPN began fantasy sports on their websites for free. Now, there are so many fantasy sports available, I'm surprised they don't have fantasy curling (or maybe they do).

But what makes fantasy sports so addicting? For starters, joining a fantasy league with several friends is a very enjoyable social sports experience. It's a great way to discuss with friends amazing things that happened the previous night or gives you an excuse to text them in the middle of the day if they are interested in trading players. And, if your league with friends has an entrance fee and a winner's pot, the incentive to win becomes a lot greater.

Who wouldn't want to win money for having the best sports knowledge out of your group of friends?

Or what if the real team you root for in a particular year has a couple of bad luck injuries or is just a perennial loser? The season can be incredibly boring as a fan, and many people get over that by playing fantasy sports. By having players on multiple teams, it allows fans to engage in other players besides the players on their hometown teams. Just think of it as not having put all your eggs in one basket. Just make sure you don't pick too many players on your favorite team, or else you probably won't win your league (as a Yankees fan, I don't think I have that problem though).

The fact is, fantasy sports are a great way to join in on the fun of professional sports, even if you're not an athlete. Every year, more people try fantasy sports and more people learn how fun they can be. And every year, more leagues and more fantasy addicts are being created.

The craziest thing is that fantasy sports are arguably not even at its peak yet. "Expect fantasy to evolve," says Yahoo fantasy expert Brandon Funston, "The cell phone started out one thing and now it's becoming everything. Fantasy sports are so good because the games are more exciting to watch. More exciting is big business for everyone."

Unfortunately, fantasy sports is not beloved by everyone. According to USA Today, fantasy football owners are costing their employers around $1.1 billion a week due to lost productivity. USA Today also mentioned that nearly 37 million people waste an average of 50 minutes at work per week checking their fantasy teams.

There's also a group called the WAFS or the Women Against Fantasy Sports. This group was started by Allison Lodish, a 35-year-old self-proclaimed fantasy widow, whose husband recently joined his 10th fantasy football league. The WAFS website features a message board for members to post horror stories and they sell anti-fantasy women's clothing apparel.

Even in college classes, you now can't help but overlook kids checking their fantasy basketball rosters on their laptops (the reason why I didn't partake in fantasy basketball this year) rather than paying attention to their professors. Are fantasy sports players taking fantasy too seriously, and is it actually affecting their lives because of it?

I've been in the same league now with a bunch of my closest friends now for five years. I'm also the commissioner, so it is very time-consuming. That is why I usually limit myself to one league per fantasy season, because I don't want fantasy sports to be the top priority in my life, just a hobby.

However, with the tidal wave of fantasy sports growing each year, there will be more people stuck to their computers daily watching their virtual teams perform. For me, fantasy sports are a great way to accumulate knowledge about a plethora of players in sports, and of course, the bragging rights (and cash prize) are sensational if I happen to win the league. And there's no way you can doubt fantasy's impact today on society -- we even have a popular TV show about fantasy sports now, The League on FX.

The best part is, the teams change from year to year so there are no constant favorites every single year (like my Yankees). Win or lose though, I know the experience will be enjoyable and it will be a great way to have that sports connection with my friends who are away at different colleges. And I know that my fantasy baseball draft will provide me with another day of madness in March. 

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