Sitting in Libe Café pretty much every day of the week has given me some insight into the most efficient ways to forget about a paper, prelim or quiz. All you have to do is look around, notice the mass of people jamming away on their laptops, appearing to do serious work. Most are probably on Facebook, gossiping about those Victoria’s Secret angels at a Halloween bash this past weekend. Some will be trying to appear intellectual by reading The New York Times. A noble few might even be doing actual schoolwork, while also chatting with 10 other people on Gchat.

But, there is one nefarious activity that few will admit to among the residents of Libe Café. Everyone has done it; it’s just human nature. If you stare hard enough at one of the countless Cornellians huddled behind a laptop, you might just notice a tear roll down their cheek. If you’re a Libe connoisseur, you’ll know exactly what you just witnessed. But for those less inclined on being in libraries, or those studious enough to never have entered the valley of sin that is Libe Café, you have witnessed one of your fellow Café revelers get decimated in their Fantasy Sports league. Every so often you might even see me, staring at Friday’s Daily Sun, seeing how I did this week in our own league (which I am winning, by the way).

Depending on who you are, the word fantasy might send your mind straight to sex (males not thinking about sports), ComiCon (geeks), or dating Brad Pitt (females not thinking about sports). But for 22 percent of males over 18, fantasy is always about sports. Over 30 million people over the age of 12 play fantasy sports every year. The phenomenon has become great enough that FX has even decided to create an entire show about it. (Indication enough that TV writers have lost their minds? I think so.)

So what makes people think that they have better skills at managing a roster than Jerry Jones or Theo Epstein? Well, because people are idiots. But you had to know that already.

Sports junkies seem to think that being a champ in your fantasy league is directly proportional to your superiority in the world of sport. So, thinking that maybe it was time I show my superiority to all those posers out there, I set up a Fantasy Baseball team on Yahoo. It was that moment, late into second semester when I was barely paying attention in class anyway, that the fun ended.

The harsh truth about fantasy sports is the same that is true in the real world. The guy who wins the league is not the one with the best strategy, the best picks, or some sort of clairvoyance. He’s probably better than you because he simply knows what works and what doesn’t. You don’t need to be a sports whiz to be good at fantasy; all you have to do is be dedicated. The word “dedication” doesn’t seem to jibe with fantasy sports for me, which explains what happened next.

So there I was, drafting my team, feeling absolutely invincible with my elite drafting knowledge. I did what I figured no other person was smart enough to do: pick my team based upon what the geniuses at Yahoo thought were the best players. Little did I know that most of those geniuses, fantasy sports fanatics themselves, were probably trying to sabotage me.

I picked what I thought would be a pretty solid team. A few stars, a few solid pitchers, and a lot of filler. But before I knew it the cold harsh reality of fantasy sports started to set in on me –– that there are people out there, sitting in their PJs, who haven’t taken a shower in five days, who read every article, who analyze every game, whose life is fantasy sports; and they will eat you. In week one, a team of average players with consistent records trashed me. Lesson No. 1, the Yankees model of picking up the best players in the league and hoping they carry the team to victory does not work.

Lesson No. 2, never trust a guy named CC. CC Sabathia, you cost me my first week’s matchup by having the stellar ERA of 12.46. Consequently, having buyer’s remorse I dropped CC. Yes, you can tell I have a lot of baseball smarts. He was consequently snapped up by one of my opponents only 12 minutes later. Yes, my competitor, from Little Rock, Ark., picked up CC, and consequently rode the wave of solid starts, wins and eventually the league title.

Here’s what I can conclude from my brief foray into the world of fantasy sports. Being good in a simulated draft, managing a virtual team, and completing your fantasy of being the best manager on the Internet is an accomplishment to some, and dorky to others. Typically the ones who think the latter are the ones who aren’t good at it.

Though your parents, your teachers and your friends are probably going to tell you there is not a thing you can do being good at fantasy sports, I beg to differ. Being good at fantasy sports can land you a job in an industry that will stand the test of time, which will send you on a path full of money, success and accolades. You can become Fantasy Sports Editor for USA Today. Wait, scratch that.