Fantasy Football, Meet Fantasy Congress

Four Southern California college students have created an online game dedicated to trafficking in the legislative agendas of members of Congress.

N.Y. Times:

When Ellen Montgomery’s co-workers relive the latest Chicago Bears victory or commiserate over the hometown team’s defeat, she has nothing to add to the conversation.

Ms. Montgomery, 27, a grass-roots organizer, says she has “zero” interest in sports and is even less equipped to engage in the statistics-laden talk of fantasy sports leagues that dominates at many water coolers in sports-crazy cities like Chicago. The hours sports fans spend tracking their favorite players are for Ms. Montgomery devoted to scouring the legislative agendas of members of Congress.

Now, she and fellow policy buffs have an outlet for their competitive urges. Fantasy Congress, a Web site created by four students at Claremont McKenna College in Southern California, made its debut three weeks ago. Through word of mouth and blog entries, it has attracted nearly 600 participants from states including Texas and Florida, from as far away as Denmark and, of course, from the Beltway.

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Andrew Lee, left, came up with the idea for the Fantasy Congress game and runs it online with the help of, from left, Ethan Andyshak, Arjun Lall and Ian Hafkenschiel.