Meet our fantasy football experts

Fantasy football fans in the suburbs will have an opportunity Wednesday to meet the experts behind the Daily Herald's new online service, which is designed to help participants enjoy the sport and climb up the standings in their leagues.

The new Web site - fantasyfootball.dailyherald.com - is built around the expertise of columnist John Dietz and a team of veteran players he has assembled. Dietz, a champion fantasy footballer, has been the Daily Herald's columnist on the topic for 10 years and has appeared regularly on Chicago sports talk radio to offer advice.

A kickoff party is being hosted 6-9:30 p.m. Wednesday at John Barleycorn, 1100 American Lane, Schaumburg, and the cover charge of $9.95 includes a free subscription to fantasyfootball.dailyherald.com, plus two drinks and appetizers. Joining Dietz that evening will be several Daily Herald sports personalities.

The Web site wll provide timely updates, blogs, forums, rankings of all positions, advice on sleepers, and Dietz's weekly list of good bets and bad bets.

Cost to subscribe is $9.95 for the season. Credit card payments are accepted through PayPal. The site is intended to help both seasoned participants and newcomers.

"It's a slam-dunk, no-brainer if you are even a little serious about fantasy football," Dietz said. "I said it last year on the radio, and I'll say it again: Before joining an advice Web site, I failed to make the playoffs in one league for six straight seasons.

"Since then? I haven't finished under .500 in that league and am 4-1 in title games since 2000."