While I don't miss the old days when you had to manually compile stats, when I first played you had to fix your lineup the day before the first game of the week. No changes. You simply had to account for the risk if one of your players is a little banged up and might not play. Is it worth it to leave him in and risk a zero? It also leveled the playing field for people who do things on Sunday other than sit around and watch (or listen to) football all Sunday.
Although I enjoy sitting around on Sunday and getting up-to-the-second updates on all of my players, I do wish I had played fantasy football back in those days. It just feels like we're spoiled today.