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Shannon McNulty
Mrs. Thomas

Draft #1 - Discourse Community

UWRT 1100 - 041

18 November 2014
Observing this particular fantasy football league gave me insight into the process and
really understand it. I am not apart of it and I never have been. Its really interesting to
me because football fanatics really get into it and you hear how fantasy football can get
really crazy but in this community, fantasy football is their time to relax, hang out and
have something to bond over. Im not sure if I made the process of fantasy football clear
enough for people who dont know what it is to understand it and Im counting on my
peer group will let me know if they understand. I feel like I might be being repetitive with
some words. In my final I am going to clean it up with the help of my peer group and
someone self editing. Also include more in my conclusion but Im not sure what else to
write in it
Family Feud
Its the time of the year where men of all ages gather into mini groups to play
their imaginary football teams against each other. Yes, fantasy football, also the time
where wives lose their husbands for a temporary season, or so people think. As
summer comes to a close, football fanatics engage in fantasy football leagues of their
own for the new upcoming season in the NFL. Family and friends willing to be a part of
the league gather at the drafting time (all members of the particular league join
together in a little party to pick their players for the season) and throw in a few bucks for
the winning prize at the end of the season. Once the draft is over and everyone has
their fantasy team, the games begin. Every week during the NFL season each
participant picks their players from their teams to either play or bench and those who
they play will gain the points for their fantasy team with every catch, pass, run, or
interception that is made according to the game. The misconception of fantasy football
is one I used to go by before I witnessed this fantasy football group, crazy football men

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getting drunk and watching football. They arent just a group, they are a specific
discourse community that I will validate by using the discourse community
characteristics defined by Swales such as the groups common goals, communication
and lexis (Swales) even though they only meet up as an entire group once a year.
I began my observation with a personal interview from Tyler Pumneo, youngest
member (19 years old) in this fantasy football league known as Family Feud. I
discovered that inside the family and friend league there is always a little bit of healthy
competition among members. For Tyler it happens to be the man with the authority in
the group, Roger Preble. He started the league and brought them all together. Ever
since Tyler joined Family Feud two years ago Roger has always come out with the win
at the end of the season. This year that might not be the case. Tyler is currently at the
top of the leader board in wins with a 7-2 win vs. loss and Roger quickly tailing him with
a 6-3 ranking status.
Out of the entire group, Tyler and Roger get together for the games the most
accompanied by Tylers father, Dennis. Participatory mechanism are mainly the
gathering of the draft before the season starts. They meet at Rogers house with
everyone in the league and have steaks, chips and dip, mini sliders those typical
game day snacks. But nearly every week (usually on Sunday nights) Roger meets Tyler
and Dennis at their house and sit outside by the warm fire gathered around the outside
TV and cheer on their players they have in the game while munching on bags of
popcorn and sipping on drinks.
Since the other seven members of the league cannot meet up on game days due
to inconvenience of work or school, texting is the main form of communication. We like

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to smack talk the person we play against in that week to get some momentum going
and get excited for the game Tyler informed me. Usually conversation only happens
during members playing each other that week. But their are times that someone will
contact another member when they arent doing so well on their own fantasy team.
During these correspondence, lexis gets thrown around such as: trade, add and
drop. These words are words we have heard before but this is the main vocabulary in
fantasy football. If one member sees that another member has a player they wish to
have, they might offer a trade of players. Maybe if that wanted player is very valuable
and good, the person may off the member two players to trade for that valuable player.
Alongside trading, there is dropping and adding players. Dropping or adding players
doesnt involve other participants of the league. Simply dropping a player just takes that
player off the members team and is available for pick up by anyone else that would be
considered adding.
Helping other members with players also helps your own team at the same time.
The goal for every person in every fantasy football league is to win the leagues prize,
typically money. Family Feud only throws in about $5 per person during the draft party
at the beginning of the season. But others take this very seriously, a time to win a load
of money; other leagues are known to throw in around $30-$50 a person. Crazy right?
But lucky to be that winner!
The price agreement stays the same every year because of all the old-timers.
Nobody wants change. In a discourse community like this I find it more convenient that
there arent new-timers every year. This is just a fun way to relax and bond with close
friends and family. Accepting new-timers can throw off the relationship of the league

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and cause complications. When talking to Tyler, he explained that newcomers would be
downers on the competition side, We wouldnt be willing to be so competitive with
people we didnt know. With friends and family its just what we do and we dont care
about getting a little feisty at each other every once in awhile. Tyler was the last newcomer into the league because he never had time to participate but his father and Roger
insisted he start fantasy football and invited him into the league. With that said, Tyler will
most likely be the last newbie inducted into Family Feud.
Not all people would consider fantasy football as a discourse community. Not
only is it a discourse community, it works well as one. Every year they meet but still
keep in great contact and relationship even though they dont meet so often. The
presents of Swales characteristic in Family Feud aids my theory to be proven as a
discourse community.

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Works Cited

Pumneo, Tyler. Personal Interview. 10 Nov. 2014

Swales, John. The Concept of a Discourse Community. Genre Analysis: English in

Academic and Workplace Settings. Boston: Cambridge UP, 1990. 21-32. Print.