The final games of the NFL regular season are just ahead, and if your fantasy leagues are done with, it's a damn shame. Fantasy leagues should never be idle in weeks when there are regular-season games going on.

Never.

Yes, I understand the reason why most fantasy leagues hold championship games in Week 16 and then pack up the tents. They do it so that sissy NFL teams like the Colts who cheat fans by benching starters once their playoff position has been assured won't threaten the integrity of competition between fantasy owners. Well, guess what? The Colts didn't wait a week - they just affected the integrity of competition between fantasy owners in Week 16 by pulling starters early.

If you've read more than a couple of these rants, you know that I often write about various types of misfortune in fantasy football. There are about 14 million different ways for fantasy owners to be hosed, and the nearly annual white-flag act performed at the end of the regular season by the Colts and other playoff-bound teams is but one. Why should fantasy owners let themselves be held hostage by the possibility that Week 17 tanking will affect results?

And remember, it's just that: a possibility. I've been commissioner of one league for 19 years, and we play to the bell. Our championship game is always in Week 17. You'd be amazed at how rarely Week 17 tanking has had any effect on results of our championship and third-place games. I can't say it's never had an effect, but it's been very, very minimal.

There was one year in which one of our owners believed he would have won the title if not for a couple of his players being pulled early from their Week 17 games, although not all owners in our league agreed. In the following years, our league members had some discussion about when we should hold our championship game. Ultimately, we decided that an extra week of fantasy football for all league members outweighed the possibility that a shorter schedule might produce a "truer" championship-game result.

And that's my argument in a nutshell: The best part of fantasy football is actually playing fantasy football, and why let the weenie Colts and a handful of other teams rob you of a full week of games? Play to the bell and let the chips fall where they may.

Happy New Year to all!

(Except for the Colts.)

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