Fantasy owners: 'Win at all costs'

MAYBE FANTASY owners aren't that different from real general managers after all. We have a lot in common - except the paycheck, pressure and prestige.

Former Mets GM Steve Phillips was in a meeting with his 29 baseball colleagues several years back when a speaker came in and asked the guys to perform an exercise. Each of the men would arm-wrestle one of their peers and whoever won would get $100.

Phillips was paired with Jim Beattie, then the Expos GM. The two made a pact to throw the competition and split the $100.

"But on the other side of the room, we look over and the table was flipped over, pitchers of water and hard candy were flying and John Hart [Cleveland] and Jim Bowden [Cincinnati] were rolling on the ground with their veins popping out," Phillips said, laughing. "That was Jim Bowden. Win at all costs."

Sounds like 90 percent of fantasy football owners.

Phillips brings an interesting perspective to fantasy sports.

He played Double AA baseball in the Mets system alongside guys like Gregg Jefferies and David West. He was the GM when the Mets went to the 2000 World Series. He was a baseball analyst at ESPN before being fired for his involvement in an infidelity scandal in 2009. Phillips has worked in satellite radio for the last 4 years, among other gigs.

"Things are going great right now," said Phillips, who also dabbles in play-by-play for the Mets. "It's a challenge, but I really enjoy doing that."

Phillips, 51, hosts SiriusXM's Fantasy Sports and Mad Dog Sports Radio channels. He's off to a 3-0 start in two fantasy football leagues, sharing first place in a celebrity league with Vikings Hall of Famer Chris Doleman. (Visit SiriusXM.com/FantasySportsRadio to follow along.)

"Being a former GM and executive, it maybe gives me an ability to lay out all the rules of the league in front of me and find the best way to gain that one extra point or 10 extra yards," said Phillips, before imparting a bit of advice.

"There's some advantage to working in the industry that translates to fantasy sports," he said. "There is no such thing as overtinkering with your team . . . On the [message board] right now. I have like seven trade offers."

Frank Gore was miffed last week and didn't want to talk about the loss to the Cardinals when he gained 10 yards on six carries.

Gore undoubtedly was more concerned with being the subject matter of this week's fantasy football contest. How many rushing yards will he gain against the Eagles?

The Birds allow an average of 105.8 yards per game and have given up 70-plus each to Indianapolis' Trent Richardson and Ahmad Bradshaw and Washington's Alfred Morris. Gore had run for 66 and 63 yards in the Niners' first two games before last week's disaster.

The reader who is closest to Gore's rushing yards will win a Daily News t-shirt. Email guesses to FantasyFootball@phillynews.com or send a fax to 215-854-5524 by 3 p.m. on Sunday. Gore must be in for at least one play. In case of tie, one winner will be selected randomly.

Anybody seen Keenan Allen?

Ed Barkowitz, who never overextends himself in practice, has been writing about fantasy football in the Daily News since 2001.