For the most part, I do not consider myself a nerd.

First, I do not study.

Second, I have never played Dungeons and Dragons.

Third, I cannot name all the members of the Starship Enterprise.

And fourth, I have never read a Harry Potter book.

However, over the past week and a half, I have had serious doubts about my relative normalcy. For, in very nerd-like fashion, I have been consumed with my fantasy baseball team.

Normally, confession of sports obsession does not seem nerdy, but after holing myself up in my room, scouring the waiver wire and researching stats and trends that go back three or four years, I am beginning to question myself.

Fantasy baseball in and of itself is not nerdy. It began as a way to get more enjoyment out of baseball. Participants in a fantasy league pick players from all over MLB to be on their team, and then points are awarded based on the performances of the players.

This hobby has exploded over the past few years, thanks in large part to media influence. In fact, I walked past a newspaper stand the other day and saw ten magazines for fantasy baseball sitting on the rack. Fortunately, my attention was grabbed by a book about magic.

Did that sound nerdy?

I only had one of these baseball anthologies at my behest going into our league. I had a conviction of not buying any other resources because I felt that owning any more than one was crossing the line into nerddom. And besides, I had to save my money for the New England Patriots Super Bowl XXXIX DVD.

That sounded nerdy, didn't it.

Our teams were drafted for us over spring break, and as soon as I got back to school, I poured over my team. Luck had shined upon me, for I was blessed with a great pitching staff and a solid group of hitters.

My staff included Randy Johnson, John Smoltz, Ben Sheets and Freddy Garcia as my starters, and I had Keith Foulke and Bob Wickman as my closers.

My hitting lineup featured Alfonso Soriano at second, Carlos Delgado at first, Derek Jeter at shortstop and an outfield of Sammy Sosa, Moises Alou and Shawn Green. I felt that I was stacked.

But that wasn't enough for me. I proceeded to look up and down the list of available players for potential steals and great pick-ups. I added Milton Bradley when Dave Roberts was placed on the DL, I missed out on Scott Podsednick due to my limited knowledge of the waiver wire, and I compiled a list of players to watch. I would have spent more time on it, but my girlfriend was watching America's Funniest Home Videos, and I am a big Bob Saget fan.

But not in the nerdy way.

My disease continued throughout my first day of classes. I thought constantly about whether or not I should leave Juan Rincon on the bench and if I should trade Torii Hunter now or wait until some other team was desperate. The only time I thought about class was when the teacher mentioned something about comics, which I love.

Is that nerdy?

After class, I ran back to my room to check the scores from around the league. Randy Johnson got a win; John Smoltz gave up seven runs in an inning and two-thirds; Jason Varitek homered; Aubrey Huff went 0-for-5. For every player who did well, I had a player who did poorly. My team looked destined to hover around mediocrity all season.

And that's when it happened. I suddenly had less of a desire to look at my fantasy team. Not being the best was a harder pill to swallow than I had thought, and it tainted the entire fantasy baseball experience for me. No more waiver wire watching. No more trade talks. No more prideful boasts on the message boards. It all had lost its excitement.

But, as in most things, I chose to look on the bright side. This way, at least I'll have more time to practice my origami.

Aw, shoot. I am a nerd.