I never claimed to be a NASCAR enthusiast, but because of my job, I guess I'm supposed to know a lot about it. I don't.

I was pressured into joining some friends in a fun league, no entry fee, no payouts, just something to do.

I try to stay away from fantasy baseball and football leagues now. They're fun for awhile, but if I'm in them, I want to win and will research and read over anything I can get my hands on to gain that upper hand.

Two years ago, my wife was involved in the auto racing league and pulled out an impressive fourth-place finish out of 17 teams.

Last season, our friend Doug was looking for more teams and my wife asked me to join.

I didn't want to spend a lot of time on this and told myself I wasn't going to become too involved.

I followed NASCAR no more than reading the paper or seeing the highlights and knowing the top echelon of drivers. That's it.

Back in April of 1996, I attended a NASCARrace in Martinsville, Va. My friend John's brother lived in Virginia and usually attended about 10 races a year. He secured us a couple of tickets and we went.

I was told I had to pick a driver, one I would remain fiercely loyal to since that's the NASCAR way.

As it turned out, I picked Mark Martin. First, because I believed he had a string of runner-up finishes the previous year and thought that would be a good person to root for. Second, because the store I went to had just five or six shirts of drivers and I liked his the best.

Anyway, it was an enjoyable experience, so I kept my eye on NASCAR from time to time.

Now, I had some success in fantasy baseball and football teams, but had grown weary of it. Still, I had my hand in things because my brother would ask for help with all of his teams.

As it turned out, I didn't invest a lot of time in last year's NASCARseason and wound up third out of 21 teams. I was pleased to sit back and rest on my laurels.

At our Super Bowl party this year, I was talked into having another team.

I didn't want to press my luck. Last season, I made several great choices and shrewd picks and, for the most part, it worked in my favor. My wife also did great and finished in sixth place.

This year, I should have left well enough alone. Two weeks ago, I had dropped to 11th place (out of 19), although I have climbed back to ninth.

My wife, however, is always quick to point out she's beating me. Badly.

I also rejoined a past baseball league, filling in for someone who couldn't finish the season. That's going all right, but it's a long season. They all are. And, I'm still checking in on my brother's teams as well.

Next year, I promise, I'm not going to allow myself to get pulled into these leagues. I'm going to stand up for myself and say, 'No more.'

Really.

No kidding.

Stop laughing.