THE SPECTACLE! THE POMP! THE CELEBRATION!
WELCOME TO THE FANTASYMANIA IX INAUGURAL POST!
The 2017 FantasyMania League Banner is bigger than ever! I hope you all (or at least most of you) are enjoying this year's league theme. It's broad enough that there should be something for everyone! It's getting harder and harder to come up with fun themes that everyone can celebrate - though I've already got a few in mind for next year! As is tradition, all the teams are represented here in the banner and I've put it together with the hope that it captures the spirit of our league! Find your team! I always try to outdo myself and once you see all the Photoshop work I've put in this year and all the updates I've made to the league, I think you'll agree that 2017 promises to be the BEST year of FantasyMania yet! Gone are the days of the Google Docs Compendium. This website is finally looking rad.
🏈 NEW Website Banner! Great Teams Honored! 🏈
In celebration of the new season, I've given our website a little face lift. The old banner now rests at the bottom of the site as a footer. The new banner, complete with a fancy new FantasyMania logo, looks to honor some of the best teams in FantasyMania history. Of course, not all of the great teams win titles (in fact, it's more often the case that the best regular season team doesn't win the League Championship), so some of the teams you'll see honored here don't have a championship to their name. Still, much like the 1998 Vikings, a dominant run deserves to be remembered.
2011 & 2012 Macho Madness 17-9 | The Macho Madness put together a star-studded 2-year run. The 2011 team finished the season 10-3, won the Great Golden Ball Scoring Title, and rolled through the playoffs to become League Champions. The 2012 Madness finished the regular season 7-6 and had a playoff run for the ages, scoring a record 217.5 points in the Wildcat Round and then upsetting the 11-2 Mordor Mongrels in the Final Four. In the first ever Chandler Bowl, they edged out the Ladydestroyers 165-161.
The back-to-back champions Macho Madness are represented by Macho Man holding the Chandler Harnish Championship Belt.
2012 Mordor Mongrels 11-2 | Corey's Mordor Mongrels were a force to be reckoned with and remain one of the all-time great teams in FantasyMania history, on par with the 2005 Colts, who went 14-2 only to lose in the playoffs. The Mongrels won the Great Golden Ball, averaging 144.9 ppg, and breezed through the regular season. They defeated Wes's Marion Federation in the Wildcat round of the playoffs, but were upset in the Final Four by the Macho Madness, 159-140.5.
The Mordor Mongrels are represented by a grasping Sauron, still searching for his lost championship!
2012 Ladydestoyers 10-3 | This regular season juggernaut started the season 8-1, but lost to the Macho Madness in the Chandler Bowl by 4 points. In week 8 of the regular season, the Ladydestroyers and the Mordor Mongrels clashed in an enormous match-up: 6-1 vs. 7-0. The Ladydestroyers would emerge victorious, handing the Mongrels their first loss of the season.
Dave's Ladydestroyers are represented by Cookie Monster.
2012 RG III 'Skins 9-4 | Cary's 2012 team started 5-0 but were defeated in sloppy, low-scoring 101-95.5 upset in the Wildcat Round of the playoffs by Jeff's Occupied Singapore. With 7 of 10 starters top-7 or better, this truly was an disappointing playoff exit.
Cary's teams have always had some connection to his beloved Washington Redskins, and his 2012 squad are represented by RG III ripping open his shirt to reveal the Rebel flag.
2013 Dathomiri Harem Boys 10-3 | In a year where only 3 teams finished the regular season above .500, the 10-3 Dathomiri Harem Boys were heavy favorites to win the League Championship. They rolled through the Wildcat Round and the Final Four, but were defeated by the 8-5 Spain Montoyas in a Chandler Bowl showdown which featured the league's two highest scoring teams.
The Dathomiri Harem Boys are represented by a Nightsister of Dathomir.
2013 Spain Montoyas 8-5 | The Spain Montoyas finished the 2013 regular season as the 2nd highest scoring team and boasted the 2nd best record. They'd square off in the Chandler Bowl against the Dathomiri Harem Boys, who ranked 1st overall in both categories. The Spain Montoyas prevailed, 144.5-123.5.
They are represented by a sword-wielding Inigo Montoya.
2014 Great Satan's Kasbah 10-3 | Krull's first year in the league was one for the ages. A 10-3 record, the #2 seed, and a Division Championship. In 2014, the top 4 seeds all advanced to the Final Four (the only year for this), and the 9-4 Storm's End Stags posed a formidable challenge to Krull's rookie team. The Stags were the 2nd highest scoring team in the league, but Krull pulled out a close victory in a low-scoring playoff battle, 109-95.
Great Satan's Kasbah are represented by a red South Park Satan.
2014 Independent Browncoats 10-3 | Jordan's 2014 Independent Browncoats, together with his 2015 Intergalactic Psychlos, lost back-to-back Chandler Bowls. They are the 90s Buffalo Bills of FantasyMania. The Psychlos were #8 seeded Cinderella long-shots who lost in the championship to the Castleton Time Chasers, 147.5-92.5. The Browncoats, however, finished 10-3, secured the #1 seed, earned a Final Four victory over the Great Golden Ball-winning Ventura Brees, and had sky-high hopes going into the Chandler Bowl. The Great Satan's Kasbah dashed those hopes in a close 137.5-131 Chandler Bowl loss. The Independent Browncoats are represented by Captain Reynolds.
2015 Birdemic Orangutans 10-3 | Jeff's 2015 Birdemic Orangutans began the season 7-1, finished 10-3, won a Division Championship, and secured the #1 seed. A successful all-around season, to be sure. But it's hard to get rid of the taste of a devastating Wildcat Round playoff upset to an #8 seed. The Orangutans were defeated by the Binkerd's Intergalactic Psychlos, 122-95.5. A Cinderella sports-story means someone's getting upset. The Birdemic Orangutans are represented by a flock of birds, a screenshot taken from the movie.
2016 Ultimate Wario 11-2 | The 2016 Ultimate Wario entered the season with dynastic aspirations. Titles in 2011, 2012, and 2015 put Harnish in position to make it 4 League Championships in 6 years, including a 2nd back-to-back. The 3x champion Wario squad opened the season a league-record 11-1, and won a second straight Madden Division Title and the Great Golden Ball. They defeated the Rebel Skins in the Wildcat Round, but were upset in the Final Four by Krull's Laughing Dogs, who would go on to defeat Boo's Out for Harambe in the Chandler Bowl. 11-win teams are rare in this league. There have been only 2, and both were eliminated in the Final Four. Ultimate Wario is represented by a grinning Wario, who's showing off his 3 championship rings.
🏈 NEW Championship Banners! 🏈
The Championship Banners have undergone an intensely detailed redesign! League themes, where applicable, are now represented. Each Championship Banner contains unique logos, fonts, colors, pictures, and graphics. The Chandler Bowl winner will receive a custom banner and have it displayed on the front page of the website and on the ESPN league page. You can get physical banners printed through Vistaprint, if that's something that interests you.
🏈 The History of FantasyMania I-IX 🏈
As you are aware, Photobucket has decided to extort users who host images on its site to the tune of $400 per year. What this means is that our colorful history of photos and graphics and other images have all been removed from the ESPN page, and because ESPN prohibits the editing of old seasons, I can't replace the now broken images with new links. Our old league pages have been reduced to archives of schedules, records, and statistics. It'll remain this way unless something changes with Photobucket.
However, I've taken steps to rectify this situation. I've recreated the essentials of each FantasyMania page, season by season. Each page remembers and celebrates past champions and other award-winners. All of our old banners, pictures, and graphics have been replicated. I've added some stories, thrown in some history, and generally tried to capture the spirit of each of our past 8 seasons together. This is a project I planned to unveil next year for FantasyMania X, but Photobucket forced my hand. I intend to add to the League History for as long as FantasyMania lives. It is my hope that this will help to mend your broken hearts.
Here are the links to all the different histories, which are also available on the right side-bar of the webpage. If you'd like to add anything to one of these pages, just let me know!
🏈 Your NEW 2017 Chandler Bowl Logo! 🏈
Nothing brings glory and prestige to a championship game quite like a beautiful logo! The winner of the 2017 Chandler Bowl gets all this! Check it out:
- FantasyMania Championship Trophy
- Chandler Harnish Championship Belt
- A totally custom Championship Shirt (designed on Vistaprint)
- A digital Championship Banner.
We have a number of physical trophies in our league that make the rounds (as best we can). The Championship Shirt is mailed directly to you. This means that the winner of the most important game always gets something awesome to show for it, no matter how far away they live.
🏈 Your 2016 FantasyMania VIII Champion - Jonathan Krull! 🏈
Krull's Custom Championship Shirt! The 2016 Chandler Bowl logo features prominently on the front. A list of achievements and awards from the past 3 years covers the back.
Krull's 2016 Championship Banner! The FantasyMania VIII logo and the Duck Hunt dog stand out. A pair of dead ducks represent Krull's 2014 and 2016 championships. I confirmed that the Patriot's 2nd Super Bowl ring from 2002 says "2 out of 3" on the side and chose to add this to Krull's banner. This is the single, full size version. Copy & paste your banner with pride, Jonathan!
🏈 Exciting Division Updates! The NEW Ditka Division! 🏈
This year the Lombardi Division is undergoing a name-change. It shall henceforth and indefinitely be called the Ditka Division. This is, in part, to honor Dave Boyer's historic team, the "Mike Ditka's Superfans." It's also to bring a little jolt of fun and personality to the league (let's face it, "Da Coach" is more fun than old man Lombardi and I think fits our league a little better). For record-keeping purposes, this change is retroactive. The division alignments remain the same. Both Ditka and Madden are represented in the new website banner. Here are the new graphics for the Ditka Division and the Madden Division, with the team colors of the Bears and Raiders. They're clean and simple. Who will earn the right to sign their name?!
🏈 Potential Changes to the ESPN Rivalry Trophy System 🏈
Awarding rivalry trophies on the ESPN page has proven more tedious than I originally expected. As the number of rivalries in our league promises to increase, new complications threaten to arise, particularly as it relates to scheduling and teams with multiple rivalries (such as Tim's and my own). Given that we only award online trophies during Rivalry Week, this inevitably means that some trophies will never be awarded, since, for example, there is no Midland Border Brawl scheduled during either of our Rivalry Weeks, as both rivals (Tim and myself) also are part of the Unholy Rivalry (Tim) Swamp Water Shootout (me). Because of these complexities, I intend to scrap the awarding of online rivalry trophies.
The rivalries themselves, born of fire and bloodshed and hate, will, of course, live on - as well as the rivalry names, the spirit of each rivalry trophy, our annual Rivalry Week, and the rivalry record book here on the website. What I prefer is that all ESPN online trophies be awarded exclusively for regular season and post-season achievements. I'm not fully settled on this, but I don't see a sensible workaround for this problem. Feedback is appreciated.
🏈 NEW Playoff Graphics! 🏈
🏈 Miscellaneous Updates Around the League 🏈
- Ownership profiles, records, rivalry records, and histories have all been updated. Stories and lore have been moved to the FantasyMania History pages, organized by year, and expanded.
- ESPN.com league trophy pictures have all been given a fresh new look.
🏈 Scoring Changes for 2017 🏈
Here's what you need to know:
- TD values have been raised to 6pts per rushing/receiving TD and 4pts per passing TD.
- There are no point bonuses for 100+ or 200+ yard games.
- D/ST boosted scoring and half-ppr rules remain in place.
- Points awarded for passing, rushing, and receiving yards are all standard.
🏈 2017: The Year of the Edge Rusher 🏈
The Edge Rusher is an experimental addition for the new season. He accumulates points only for play-making (sacks, forced fumbles, fumble recoveries, INTs, swatted passes, safeties, blocks, stuffs, and TDs). Note: a "stuff" is when your Edge Rusher stops a play at or before the line of scrimmage. Points are
not awarded for solo tackles or assisted tackles. The Edge Rusher is a not a high scoring position. I recommend treating this player as standard leagues treat kickers: there's plenty to go around, they're hard to predict, and they don't score much. You can expect an average weekly total of about 4-7 points with the rare potential for a double-digit outing.
Here's the scoring breakdown (note: TDs are worth 6pts).
🏈 Roster Changes for 2017 🏈
Here is the full roster arrangement for the new season. You'll notice that we've moved back to 1 starting QB, maintained the 2 starting Flex positions, and added an Edge Rusher, which you've already read about. Please disregard the DE and LB positions. NOTE: as it regards in-season acquisitions, we've reverted back to the old waiver wire system, with players awarded based on the league standings. We will revisit this question in the pre-season next year.
| Quarterback (QB) | 1 | 2 |
| Running Back (RB) | 2 | 8 |
| Wide Receiver (WR) | 3 | 8 |
| Tight End (TE) | 1 | 3 |
| Flex (RB/WR/TE) | 2 | N/A |
| Defensive End (DE) | 0 | No Limit |
| Linebacker (LB) | 0 | No Limit |
| Edge Rusher (EDR) | 1 | N/A |
| Team Defense/Special Teams (D/ST) | 1 | 2 |
| Bench (BE) | 8 | N/A |
| Injured Reserve (IR) | 2 | N/A |
🏈 Draft Day 2017 - DON'T MISS IT - Saturday, Sept. 2nd @ 8pm 🏈
Saturday, Sept. 2nd @ 8pm. If memory serves, the draft client will become available 1 hour before the draft begins. We will more than likely get on Google Hangouts, as is tradition. There are 19 rounds of this year's draft.
WHO WILL BE THE 2017 DRAFT KING?!
The Official 2017 FantasyMania Draft Order
This order reflects last year's final standings, including playoffs. As this is a keeper league, it is appropriate that the results of the previous season be taken into account.
🏈 League Fees - $3 🏈
Your $3 league fees goes entirely towards buying the League Champion a Custom Championship Shirt.
Click here to pay using PayPal
🏈 Christmas Awards Party 🏈
Provided that I don't take any impromptu trips, I'll be at this year's Christmas Awards Party! My place is available, but if we'd prefer to find a midpoint for meeting, that's cool with me, too. We'll begin scheduling talks in September or October.
Just remember when you're making your holiday plans to keep this in mind! Historically, the dates between Christmas and New Years have worked well.
