The Reigning Wane McGarity Bowl Champion
Alex Kronberger (SCLSU MudDogs)
4th Season
Connection to me: Friend from Stripes
Playoff Appearances: 2
Previous Season Finishes: 5th in 2014
9th in 2015
1st in 2016
Last year's surprise champion, won't be any kind of surprise this year as he official becomes "the hunted". Deciding to start from complete scratch last year paid off handsomely for Alex (along with taking a chance and drafting Le'Veon Bell who was suspended). I'd imagine Alex will be defending his championship with Le'Veon Bell in tow this season. Can Alex be the first since 2012 to break the "Championship Curse" streak, where no Champion (or Runner Up for that matter) has made the playoffs the following year since Albert in year 3? We'll find out if Alex can duplicate his excellent drafting from last season and successfully defend his title.
Ryan McKinnis (Hoosier Daddy)
8th Season
Connection to me: College Friend
Playoff Appearances: 3
Previous Season Finishes- 8th in 2010
3rd in 2011
3rd in 2012
11th in 2013
8th in 2014
11th in 2015
2nd in 2016
Ryan's one of the few guys that's played in every season and last season was his best season ever. He finished with one of the best regular season records of all time and came withing mere points of finishing his magical season with a fantasy football championship. Things won't be easy this time around as a threat of a suspension looms over his franchise running back Ezekiel Elliott. Can Ryan survive the potential disaster? Hopefully he drafts a team that can sustain the inevitable blow.
Albert Rodriguez (Channel 4 News Team)
8th Season
Connection to me: Friend from Eckerd (Now CVS..yep..we've known each other THAT LONG)
Connection to me: Friend from Eckerd (Now CVS..yep..we've known each other THAT LONG)
Playoff Appearances: 5
Previous Season Finishes- 1st in 2010
1st in 2011
2nd in 2012
12th in 2013
Eugene Lawrence (Rocket Man)
1st in 2011
2nd in 2012
12th in 2013
4th in 2014
10th in 2015
3rd in 2016
Albert's had a very successful run in the 8 years he's been in our league. The crazy thing? His run could be EVEN BETTER had it not been for some unlucky bounces his way. It's entirely conceivable that Albert could've been in 5 Wane McGarity Bowl Championship Games had it not been for some last minute roster decisions on his end, not that 2 Titles, 3 Finals Appearances and a 3rd place finish last year is anything to sneeze at. It's been a while since Albert's won it all though, and he's always a threat to put a winning, dangerous team out there.
Eugene Lawrence (Rocket Man)
5th Season
Connection to me: Brother to our good ol' "Internet Guy" Leland
Connection to me: Brother to our good ol' "Internet Guy" Leland
Playoff Appearances: 3
Previous Season Finishes- 7th in 2013
Mike Posey (Woe Is You)
3rd in 2014
3rd in 2015
4th in 2016
In his 5th season, Eugene's had a pretty good run so far in our league. 3 straight playoff appearances (all in the final four). It seemed like Eugene had a solid shot to get to his first finals last year, as he spent most of the season neck and neck with Ryan, but he ultimately fell to Alex's super hot team. Still a combination of solid keeper choices yet again (should be interesting to see where he goes there) will definitely keep Eugene in the mix as a title contender.
Mike Posey (Woe Is You)
6th Season
Connection to me: College Friend
Connection to me: College Friend
Playoff Appearances: 3
Previous Finishes: 6th in 2010
8th in 2011
5th in 2012
4th in 2013
Leland Lawrence (No Soup For You)
8th in 2011
5th in 2012
4th in 2013
DNP in 2014
DNP in 2015
6th in 2016
After two years out of the game, Mike made his return to our league and made the playoffs in his first year back. Not a bad reintroduction to the league. He'll look to build on that momentum and do something he hasn't done in the previous 5 years he's been in the league, place in the top 3. He has some solid keeper prospects at his disposal so we'll see what decisions he makes for this upcoming season.
Leland Lawrence (No Soup For You)
7th Season
Connection To Me: Blowout Card Forums Member. Answered an open call I posted on there. The one and only "Internet Guy"
Connection To Me: Blowout Card Forums Member. Answered an open call I posted on there. The one and only "Internet Guy"
Playoff Appearances: 3
Previous Season Finishes- 4th in 2011
1st in 2012
9th in 2013
11th in 2014
1st in 2012
9th in 2013
11th in 2014
1st in 2015
7th in 2016
The bad news? Leland was considered by most of the league to be the Golden State Warriors of fantasy football last year. By those standards, his team was a massive disappointment not even making the playoffs mainly thanks to the underachieving of 6th round keeper Todd Gurley and glut of interchangeable Wide Receivers. The silver lining? Thanks to winning the Michael Wiley Loser Bowl and thus earning the #1 pick of the draft and once again having solid keepers in super low rounds in David Johnson and Michael Thomas, Leland seems to be once again be the front runner for winning it all. He'll be gunning for a third title and if anyone can draft a championship caliber team it's Leland. Will his guys fail him yet again...or redeem themselves from last year's disappointment.
Robert Puente (BigBadBob)
7th Season
Connection to me: Dad
Connection to me: Dad
Playoff Appearances: 4
Previous Finishes- 5th in 2011
6th in 2012
3rd in 2013
Matt Gonzales (Light's Broken Bots)
6th in 2012
3rd in 2013
9th in 2014
5th in 2015
8th in 2016
What a disaster season Dad has last year. He lost 11 straight weeks before beating me and Mike at the end of the season, then went on this underdog run in the Michael Wiley Loser Bowl to the finals where he ultimately got destroyed by Leland. Cam Newton was a disaster, but as the old adage goes "it can't really get worse" can it? Dad will be picking #2 and does have a great keeper thanks to a trade with Ryan last year to acquire Devonta Freeman (who he can keep in the 9th round). Last year was only the 2nd time Dad failed to reach the playoffs, so here's hoping he can right the ship this season.
Matt Gonzales (Light's Broken Bots)
8th Season
Connection To Me: Cousin
Connection To Me: Cousin
Playoff Appearances: 3
Previous Season Finishes- 4th in 2010
9th in 2011
4th in 2012
8th in 2013
Marc Freeman (Shock The Monkey)
9th in 2011
4th in 2012
8th in 2013
1st in 2014
7th in 2015
9th in 2016
Sigh..what could've been. Matt was in prime position to build a Dream Team of sorts with his potential keepers and #1 pick of last year's draft. Unfortunately his draft was plagued with injuries to his top picks and Matt never recovered. The good news though, just like Leland, Matt's got another chance to right the ship as he still has excellent keeper prospects and the #3 pick of the draft. It hasn't been great for Matt since that's glorious championship in 2014, but all it takes is a little luck to bounce his way and he'll back in the thick of things in no time.
Marc Freeman (Shock The Monkey)
5th Season
Connection To Me: Friend From Stripes
Connection To Me: Friend From Stripes
Playoff Appearances: 2
Previous Season Finshes- 6th in 2013
10th in 2014
10th in 2014
2nd in 2015
10th in 2016
From the get go Marc has the most volatile team in the league. Immensely talented but just so injury prone and unreliable and that's exactly what attributed to his 10th finish after making the finals the year before. The good news though? There was a bright spot in DeMarco Murray and proved he was still an elite fantasy back and his price is low for Marc to build around and make a solid run at a championship. We'll see if Marc can get some "Pro Bowlers" on his squad this season.
Chris Puente (Catch My Javelin!)
8th Season
ME!!
ME!!
Playoff Appearances: 4
Previous Finishes-3rd in 2010
2nd in 2011
9th in 2012
1st in 2013
12th in 2014
Andrew Mata (BABY CARROTS)
7th Season
Connection To Me: Cousin
Playoff Appearances: 3
Previous Finishes: 2nd in 2010
DNP in 2011
8th in 2012
10th in 2013
6th in 2014
6th in 2015
12th in 2016
Ya know, it's actually kind of crazy how poorly Drew's team have performed, considering he's one of the most knowledgeable players in the league. I hadn't realized that the highest he's finished is 6th after making the finals in the first ever season of the league. This past year Drew's team hit absolute rock bottom with a 12th place finish. His team was ravaged by injuries and Allen Robinson being a bust even as a 6th round keeper. Drew's definitely got his work cut out for him, but if there's someone who can dig himself out of a hole into contention, it's him.
Well, that's 11 players accounted for which means yes..we've lost someone. Mayra has decided to leave the league and her replacement should be to the surprise of no one. Introducing team #12..
Kenny Bybee (Easy Beasley)
7th Season
Connection To Me: Best Friend Since Middle School
Playoff Appearances: 2
Previous Finishes- 5th in 2010
6th in 2011
7th in 2012
2nd in 2013
7th in 2014
8th in 2015
DNP in 2016
Did ya really think he'd stay away?? Kenny just needed to recharge his batteries after back to back disappointing frustrating seasons. His reward? A team that includes keeper prospects Antonio Brown and Jay Ajayi (in the 12th round). After only 1 top 3 finish in his first 6 seasons in the league, let's see if Kenny can make a triumphant return to the league and become a title contender.
And those are our 12 teams! It's the beginning of what's no doubt going to be a very interesting season!
2nd in 2011
9th in 2012
1st in 2013
12th in 2014
4th in 2015
11th in 2016
So yes...last year was just a combination of off the field factors and league factors to caused my nearly every week meltdown and destruction in what was for me, the most unfun, frustrating season I've ever experienced. That's all behind me and now, and I look forward to hopefully rebounding from such a bad year and be competitive and make the playoffs. I can't promise I won't overreact to losing (that's just me and you should know this by now, lol) but I can promise it won't be nearly as bad as it was last year. I'm ready to go and hopefully this season can erase the bad taste last season left in my mouth.
Andrew Mata (BABY CARROTS)
7th Season
Connection To Me: Cousin
Playoff Appearances: 3
Previous Finishes: 2nd in 2010
DNP in 2011
8th in 2012
10th in 2013
6th in 2014
6th in 2015
12th in 2016
Ya know, it's actually kind of crazy how poorly Drew's team have performed, considering he's one of the most knowledgeable players in the league. I hadn't realized that the highest he's finished is 6th after making the finals in the first ever season of the league. This past year Drew's team hit absolute rock bottom with a 12th place finish. His team was ravaged by injuries and Allen Robinson being a bust even as a 6th round keeper. Drew's definitely got his work cut out for him, but if there's someone who can dig himself out of a hole into contention, it's him.
Well, that's 11 players accounted for which means yes..we've lost someone. Mayra has decided to leave the league and her replacement should be to the surprise of no one. Introducing team #12..
Kenny Bybee (Easy Beasley)
7th Season
Connection To Me: Best Friend Since Middle School
Playoff Appearances: 2
Previous Finishes- 5th in 2010
6th in 2011
7th in 2012
2nd in 2013
7th in 2014
8th in 2015
DNP in 2016
Did ya really think he'd stay away?? Kenny just needed to recharge his batteries after back to back disappointing frustrating seasons. His reward? A team that includes keeper prospects Antonio Brown and Jay Ajayi (in the 12th round). After only 1 top 3 finish in his first 6 seasons in the league, let's see if Kenny can make a triumphant return to the league and become a title contender.
And those are our 12 teams! It's the beginning of what's no doubt going to be a very interesting season!
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