Revenge of the Sports Widow

Tallahassee mom Kim Cramer launches an Internet game for women to play.
Revenge of the Sports WidowsKim Cramer’s Twist on Fantasy Sports 

By Terri-Ann Morrison

It’s Sunday and you’ve labored over your favorite chicken casserole. The table is set, the meal is hot . . . and then your husband announces, “Honey, I can’t eat right now because the game is on.”

Self-proclaimed “sports widow” Kim Cramer knows the feeling. But instead of quietly seething, she decided to beat the guys at their own game.

The 40-year-old mother of two launched fantasyhusband.com, an Internet game for women to play as a counterpart to the fantasy sports played by their husbands or boyfriends. It’s all in fun, with players choosing a team of “fantasy” husbands who “score” by relating well to their “wives.”

Here’s how it works:

Players review the biographical profiles of 20 different men. The men are real – although the photos shown on the site aren’t. The game introduces a different relationship scenario every week for a seven-week season. (For example, “Your wife spent too much money again, buying things she doesn’t need even though you know she looks great in them. What is your response to her shopping spree?”)

Based on the profiles and the scenarios, each week players choose the three husbands to be on their team that they think will make the best responses. Professional marriage counselors score each husband’s response, rank them and post an explanation on why a response was good or bad. Each husband’s response is scored on a scale of 0 to 100. On game day, the husbands who best answer the scenario are revealed and players will see her husband’s response and their score – and how they did against other players.

At the end of the season, the player with the highest number of points wins prizes such as diamond jewelry. Players pay $9.95 per season, and future seasons are planned year-round in football, basketball and baseball.

When first launched, the site caused a brouhaha in the local paper because of fears the site may have been pornographic. Cramer finds such concerns laughable.

“The idea of ‘fantasy’ came from the fantasy sports men played,” she said. “People who are being controversial have not taken the time to look at the Web site.”

Cramer added that the Web site isn’t about fomenting dissatisfaction with a mate or finding the “perfect” man, but about helping women achieve the best out of the relationships they have.

“Women should have the strength to look at their relationship and get out of it what they bargain for,” she said. “There is no such thing as a perfect husband. Work with what you have.”

The Minnesota native moved to Tallahassee seven years ago because of her now ex-husband’s job and has made Tallahassee home. She keeps busy with her day job as an accountant and her two “wonderful” children, Alec, 12, and Lauren, 9, who are well aware of their mom’s business adventure.

“I volunteer for Habitat for Humanity, I play tennis and I work full time,” she added. “I am kind of a high-energy person. I don’t watch television – this is my hobby.”

Cramer said she has been ecstatic with the media coverage she has being receiving, including an interview on the Fox News program “Geraldo At Large.”
“I would like for the world to know that my Web site is good, wholesome fun,” Cramer said. “And I hope it helps encourage women.”