As a fantasy football player turned programmer.. it's great to see posts like this and I completely agree with the OP. It's fun, surprisingly logical (thus easier when playing against emotional people), and great conversation starter (co-workers, family, fathers-in-law).

My friends and I actually created what has effectively become "fantasy football for sales organizations" where managers can choose/weight metrics for employee-formed teams to compete over across seasons. It's early but so far the results have been impressive. The demo is here if anybody wants to check it out: http://tryambition.com