CB Posse Fantasy Football League: 2015

Friday, September 11, 2015

Draft Day: 2015 Edition

I’ve always lamented the fact that we don’t have a live, in person draft anymore. We used to gather in Sahil’s basement for an all-day Fantasy Football nerd out, and it was awesome! It consisted mostly of trash talk and ripping on CB; it was the best day of the season.

My second league does the draft right. We trek down to Auburn on Friday, get a load of chicken wings, play poker until the wee hours, and catch up on all things football and all things not. Saturday, most of the guys head to the golf course while a few of us study up for the draft back at the house. The actual draft is held at a swanky golf resort, and begins with some votes on rule changes and setting of next year’s draft date (yes, they pick a date one YEAR out). 10 of 13 guys were present this year for the festivities: football, fraternity, and four hours of shots, shots, followed by more shots.

This year in Chattanooga, Landon hosted us with a buffet I hope becomes a yearly tradition. We sat outside, watching preseason football, while he served up grilled wings, the best bacon-wrapped, stuffed jalapenos I’ve ever had, and finished the night with some tasty brats and peppers. I was so lost in the cavalcade of tasty foods, that I drafted seven (!) guys dealing with suspension and injury. In fact, last night’s New England-Pittsburgh season opener had three of my players sitting on the sidelines with bongs, rather than helmets and pads.

Well, good luck to everyone this year (except defending champion Jason, screw him); I’ve got a butt-load of jellybeans on football this season; to keep it straight, here’s the list.

CBPFFL $100 buy-in
Murat $5 weekly, $25 season
Landon $5 weekly, $25 season, $10 Landon v. Jason season
Christian $5 weekly, $25 season
Spencer $5 weekly, $50 season, $20 Titans don't make playoffs
Auburn $80 buy-in and $35 (estimated) transaction fees
Ken $20 CJ?K v. Pierre Thomas season
Steve Taco Dinner total and $1 No 49er has 10 TDs
Wade $25 weekly pick ‘em, $50 Washington doesn't get 8 wins, PIT v BAL for AFC North

For those keeping track, and the list grows longer and longer, that’s 18 bets and roughly $1,245 total action I’m spreading. Hmmm…it’s a good thing I gave up sports betting over ten years ago.

Draft Day Awards

Best Food – Landon (obviously)
Best Draft – Jason (he stole at least two guys right before me. He’s gonna be tough to beat)
Best No Show – Tie CB (WTF dude?) and Jack (past his bedtime)
Best Rookie Pick – Christian (with Tebow as Mr. Irrelevant – go VOLS!)

Have fun, and let the deflated balls fly!
The Commish

P.S. Last season I got technologically screwed into taking McCoy #1 overall, instead of Charles, as I wanted. Gene was “generous” enough to offer to swap players, but I refused, resigned to “fate.” Charles finished the season 51 points higher than McCoy, which would’ve AT LEAST won me a $50 side bet with Spencer. Always go with your gut.

P.P.S. Quick brag – Eight of the nine QBs I made public predictions last year were correct, for a +584 shift in points. Ironically, the only one I got wrong, Rapistburger, ended up being a 12th round keeper for my other league. How do I do it? Get your name on the trophy four times and find out.

Monday, June 22, 2015

The Caggiano

Since the inception of the CBPFFL in 1993, the NFL has gone through an incredible amount of transformation. Let's take a quick journey in the way-back machine to the age of Jerry Rice and Thurman Thomas...

1993

There were no NFL teams in Jacksonville or Charlotte named after pussycats.

Baltimore had no Ray Lewis, no Ray Rice, no Ravens, and its only Super Bowl said "Colts."

The Titans actually won their division, but they were called the Oilers and lived in Houston (I said Titans, not Texans dummy).

Kurt Warner was a senior at Northern Iowa, preparing to go undrafted and bag some groceries. The Rams had one more season in Los Angeles.

His brief football career over, Bo Jackson still knew baseball, and the Raiders still knew LA too...neither was true one year later.

Dan Snyder was just some advertising pimp no one had heard of, and Washington basked in the glow of the '91 Super Bowl, the last major championship to call the nation's capital home.

Well, just as NFL television contracts have quadrupled in the last two decades, so has the CBPFFL. The trophy needed commensurate revamping as well.

Our new improved trophy now resides in New York, a testament to Jason’s second championship in three years. Congrats, sir.

I was publically rooting for runner-up Kellie. Now, young Jack wants to co-manage a team next season. Will the Caggiano dynasty put their name on the trophy? Or will it be you?

History of the League

In the fall of 1991, six young boys entered the hallowed halls of the Banfield Academic Center to embark upon a journey that would make them into men. They were lead by the eponymous Carl Brown and his obsession with Dennis Hopper. His group, which gathered each day in their private, brick-walled alcove, consisted of Steven Caggiano, James Pickard, Sahil Tak, Hank Zakroff, and Murat Zincir. Though other people drifted in and out, this was the core of the entity that would come to be known as the CB Posse.

CB Posse FF officially began in 1993. The early years of the league would be dominanted by Murat and Pickard, who took the trophy three time each. It wasn't until the seventh year of CB Posse FF that this dynamic duo of NFL knowledge failed to capture first place. Sadly, in 1999, as the Posse members finished college, only four owners played, and, due to lack of interest, the league would begin a decade long hibernation.

In 2009, Pickard asked Hank whether he would be interested in getting the league back together. After an emphatic "YES!" from his friend, Pickard made some phone calls and the league was reborn like a glorious phoenix from the ashes. The 21st Century has revolutionized FF into a more competitive monster. CB Posse FF went completely digital, and unless you can navigate the nearly endless amounts of NFL information available on the internet, you don't have a chance. Sahil would emerge as the dominant force, and he destroyed the league for back-to-back championships.

21st Century CB Posse FF has seen significant expansion. Murat and Pickard have lured several local friends into the ranks. Murat's New York crew has been dominant, consistently finishing near the top, and even claiming several championships. CB Posse FF has also become multi-generational, as young Jack Caggiano has boldly followed his parents' footsteps. Even the trophy underwent massive expansion, and is renamed The Caggiano.