The Brink of Fantasy Football History
I’m not sure how it’s happened
but it has. Otis
G-Rob and The Luckbox (that’s me) are all above .500 ten weeks into the fantasy football season and all have a legitimate shot to make the playoffs. Doesn’t sound like a big deal? Well
let’s take a look back at history. In the past 5 seasons
our three teams have a collective 4 playoff appearances and no Super Bowl crowns. We have a collective record of 89-104-3. We have a total of 5 winning seasons among us. Of course
Otis does a lot to bring that total down. All I’ll say about his career fantasy football record is that his only winning season is the year we played XFL Fantasy Football. I’m serious. He won the Super Bowl. But this year
the three of us are bunched at the top of the Carolina Division. I’m at 8-2 and Otis and G-Rob are both at 6-4. If the playoffs started this week
G-Rob and I would both be in the playoffs. Otis trails G-Rob by just two points for the final playoff spot and both of them trail the 3rd place team by a game. Of course
there’s still 4 regular season weeks left for something to go wrong. The only thing guaranteed is that at least one of us will be in the playoffs this year. Which sure beats last year when we were a combined 15-26-1!
One Month Countdown
It’s clear it’s been too long since I’ve attened a “proper” WPBT event. It’s been so long I can’t even remember when it happened. I seem to remember Otis
G-Rob and I each brought along Up For Poker t-shirts as a prize to the players who busted us. That’s all about to change in a month. It’s the 2009 WPBT Winter Classic and I plan to bring all of my luckbox skills to bear on all of you. I’ve been saving it up. It’s been months since I’ve pulled a three-outer on the river and I’m thinking I’m well over-due. As an added bonus
many of you will likely get to meet Lady Luck. As part of my unbelievable string of good fortune
it turns out that Lady Luck thinks Vegas is amazing. This will be my fourth trip to Sin City this year and my third with her along. We’ll be arriving on Wednesday night and I’ll be spending the first two days with her. Starting Friday
it’ll be a whole lot of poker
some championship Pai Gow action and a Sunday morning in the sports book. Will I see you there?
Party Like It’s 1994
When I met the woman who would later become my wife
I was just 19 years old. I had a long
long ponytail. I delivered pizza. In 1994 I was thin
carefree
and spent more time planning my next road trip than with silly “conventional” distractions like rent
gas
and cable TV. I saw the Grateful Dead at Soldier Field that year. I saw Phish in Cincinnati and Louisville. I crashed a Phish show on my 20th birthday way up in Bethlehem
PA. I ended that year with the same wife-to-be and two of my closest friends
by spending New Year’s Eve in Amsterdam. Those were heady days my friends and
now
if it’s possible to have a mid-life crisis at 34
welcome to it’s heart. Maybe it starts with Phish. Could be Bonnaroo. It may be that having my brother living so much closer has a mutual bad influence. We’ve already caught the start of the Dead tour (as posted below) and now here’s a rundown of the summer to be : May 31 Phish@Fenway Boston
MA My friend “Uncle Ted” scored the tickets up in the rightfield grandstand. My brother and I are flying up that morning. We get in at 11:30. We leave Boston at 5:00AM Monday. It’s a whilwind
what Timmy calls a “Rockstar Vacation”. We’re just going to RAWK! Should make for a pretty interesting return flight in any event. June 9 Phish@Asheville Civic Center Asheville
NC Hard tickets to score but I paid the scalpers. This will bring about some scorn in the -Head community. I absolutely do not care. Otis
Pauly
and my wife will be the
re too. Should be silly since it’s the smallest venue on the Phish tour this year. This is an old-school venue. I plan to act in a very stupid manner. As soon as the show ends my wife and I will hop in the fully-loaded car and head to Charlotte for a few hours sleep before hooking up with my brother
his wife
and “Uncle Ted”. We’ll be getting an RV. June 10 Phish@Thompson-Boling Arena Knoxville
TN We’ll take that RV 4 hours down I-40 to Knoxville and hook up with a half-dozen more friends. We’ve got 12 seats for this one. Hopefully the Joker and TD will be there. Some other friends
both new and old will be using some of the 12 tickets my brother and I scored (all at face value) through various means. My seats are fantastic. Lower level
Pageside. After the show we’ll load up the RV and hit a hotel just 6 miles away. This will be the last clean bathroom for days. June 11-14 Bonnaroo Manchester
TN This is my fourth Bonnaroo. B and I went in 2002
2004 and 2007. My brother and his wife will be with us for the third time. Uncle Ted
Matt
and Julie-Steakdoses are back for a second time. It’s awesome for a long list of reasons but my favorite are : Phish is playing both Friday and Sunday nights. Plus
The Beastie Boys. David Byrne Bruce Sprinsteen and the E Street Band Snoopy Dog etc. etc
etc
I can’t wait. August 15 Phish@Merriweather Post Pavillion Columbia
MD I threw this in for good measure. I scored 4 tickets on the Fishman side in the lottery. My wife
my brother
sister-in-accodance-with-law
and I will have fun. You know
because its the Phishes. Now here are my concerns
I’m not 19. I’m older
fatter
and more pampered. I do have actual responsibilities. And kids. I played in a decent frolf tournament Sunday and played well. Today my back and legs have been extremely sore. That makes sense. I competed for a full 11 hours. You know
competed. At standing
walking slowly
and throwning a frisbee. Yikes. If that hurts now
I’m more than a little worried about the stamina required for a summer of ’94. We’ll see how it goes.
