YEC Has Left the Building

The year was 2007.  I had never played fantasy football before, and in fact, hadn't paid attention to the NFL for more than a decade.  But apparently TTFFL needed a couple of suckers to fill spots because (among other things), the previous years' commissioner had disappeared with all of the money.

Kubicek invited me to join this league, and I believe my response was something along the lines of "Sure, I'll make a contribution to your fantasy league", reasonably assuming that I would get my ass handed to me.

And I did, kind of.  That was back in the day when we only had 4 playoff teams and thus played a 14-game regular season.  Through a lot of wheeling and dealing, and lots and LOTS of luck, I actually made the playoffs as the 4 seed (with a 7-6-1 record), and then defeated Pete and his River Horses (the other new team that year) for my first TTFFL title.  It turns out the part about me having my ass handed to me wouldn't happen until, well, now.

Anyway, I LOVED playing fantasy, and I couldn't wait 8 months for the next NFL season to start.  So I joined a sort of fantasy NBA league on ESPN that year, and I learned a valuable lesson: playing fantasy is no fun if you're not interested in the sport behind it.

Anyway, the 2008 season eventually arrived, and with it, Taylor's strong desire to stop being commissioner.  So I took over the job for the next 13 years.  In that time, I've probably played a total of 40 fantasy NFL seasons or more.

But it's not fun any more, and it hasn't been for some time.  For at least the past 4 years, I've been pondering whether I should continue playing, and this year convinced me that I should be done.  I've barely paid attention to the NFL this year --- I've probably watched a total of fewer than 4 games.  And as I learned in 2007, playing fantasy is no fun if you're not interested in the sport behind it (Did you know that the Patriots are 7-9 and missed the playoffs this year?  And that Stephon Diggs plays for the Bills now?  And also, that he spells his name 'Stefon'?  Crazy stuff).

So --- y'all need to find yourselves a new owner and a new commissioner.  In contrast to years past, I plan to pay off everyone in full, so the new commissioner can start with a clean slate.  Once you've chosen someone, I have some info which might be useful to that person in creating a schedule.  I can also remain active on the league site with commissioner privileges, to serve as a backup for technical stuff if the new commish would like me to do so (as long as you continue playing on ESPN.  If you move to a new site, you're on your own).

I can also put up a poll on the current site if you want to hold an election for your new commissioner.

(Speaking of creating a schedule, raise your hand if you noticed that you played the EXACT SAME schedule this year as you did in 2019.  I know, right?  The evidence of me phoning it in was obvious, if you knew where to look).

Anyway, all of you have been very kind in expressing your appreciation for the work I've done, which makes this decision a bit harder.  But my heart really hasn't been in it for some time, and I'm guessing it probably shows.  Nevertheless, I thank you for you support.

And now --- to the bookkeeping.  Here is how the end-of-year accounting comes out for 2021.

• Levi: $300 for the championship, plus winning weeks 10 and 16 comes to $330 --- Check mailed, 1/10/2021
• Jason: $120 for runner-up, plus $0 for no weekly wins comes to $120 --- Check mailed, 1/6/2021
• Adam: $60 for third-place, plus winning weeks 6 and 14 comes to $90 --- Check mailed, 1/6/2021
• Matt: $60 for winning weeks 3, 5, 8 and 12 --- PAID via PayPal, 1/4/2021
• Taylor: $45 for winning weeks 2, 7 and 13
• Pete: $30 for winning weeks 9 and 15 --- Check mailed, 1/15/2021
• Kubicek, Kevin and Merrill: $15 apiece for winning weeks 1 (Kubicek), 4 (Kevin) and 11 (Merrill) --- Check mailed to Kubicek, 1/6/2021, Kevin PAID via PayPal, 1/15/21, Check mailed to Merrill, 1/15/2021
• Myself, Jody and Aaron: Not a damn thing.

The sooner you let me know how you would like to receive payment (check or PayPal), and the address to use, the sooner you'll get paid!

And finally --- here is the draft order for next season --- provided y'all choose to continue playing using the current rules:

1. Orion River Horses
2. Air Apparent
3. Strike Team
4. Golden Graham's
5. The Team Formerly Known As The Psychotic Ninjas
6. Merrill's Marauders
7. Los Diablos
8. Fire Harbaugh
9. ~ AirMex ~
10. Suspended Atomnation
11. The Team Formerly(?) Known As The Craptastics
12. The Leviathans

Thanks for everything, folks; it's been quite a ride.  Who knows --- maybe in another 6 or 7 years, I'll be looking to join a league again.

Happy New Year!