I told Jonathan that I wanted to sponsor the prizes for the week because I think it is awesome that he has been giving so much to this league and I wanted to help him out. Hopefully this continues to grow and each GM takes a turn at the prize pool and leaves their personal mark. Everyone but myself is eligible for the below prizes.
Prize #1
I found an armchair quarterback trophy for the person who has the highest scoring starting QB and WR1 combo. This is specifically the WR in the 1st slot on your roster.
Prize #2 4
Is a best buy gift card for $10, but with an additional $1 for every full 10 points that you beat your opponent. Fractions of 10 will not count ie Team A scores 100.1 and Team B scores 110 does not entitle team B to an additional dollar.
Please excuse this week's perceived laziness on my part as I had a three-part story written for the sole purpose of this week's prize. However, my Mac computer died this week. I had written the story on Lecrae, the 116 clique movement, Reach Records, Christian rap, and the overall influence it has had in my life, my experiences in music production and journalism, and how it has overall brought me closer to Christ. There were other loose ends to the story that tie up in the concluding trilogy, involving the national movement of kneeling during the anthem and the fact that I am no longer SDA. Once I have the story transferred from my dead Mac's hard drive, I will have the story posted. My prediction is that Lecrae earns his third Grammy award with this album. And even if you don't like the genre and don't win it this weekend, I encourage you to give this album a listen on Spotify, Apple music, Google Play, etc.
IF you win your week four matchup AND have the highest scoring kicker, you receive:
One 'All Things Work Together' Album & Autographed Poster
IF you win the 'creative alternative team name' poll, you receive:
Water trickled three-fold; down the throat, off the
lifejackets, and through beaded sweat;
Screams of joy echoed around the sphere of camp life at
Sunset Lake Camp in the pacific northwestern state of Washington.
This is where I met, “Dan the Mexican,” among many other
future friends.
Owl City’s “All Things Bright & Beautiful” played in my
ear buds as I responded to various emails in the staff lounge.
Kitty-cornered, to my left, sat Dan Martinez running another
mock draft. Trust me when I say, Dan would spend almost all of his 90 minute
daily breaks on mock drafts for weeks at a time during summer camp. I always
thought, “Jeez, this guy loves fantasy football”.
He would later explain to me the competitiveness of The
Elite League. I still didn’t comprehend. I always answered, “Big deal! I could
easily clean up your league”. Dan scoffed and disagreed. I proceeded to ask if
the guys in this league bet money on weekly games. Dan, of course, said that
they did not. I, again answered, “Big deal! I could easily clean up your
league”.
#FASTFORWARD
#3YEARS
Northern California dry air crusted my nostril inners;
The sun was bright;
Dirt covered three-fold; foot to toe, treetop to rootbottom,
moss-covered to bare bark;
Back flips, bright shades, and flip-flopped kicks rocked the
bodies of every kid that stepped out of their parentally advised vehicles to
register at Leoni Meadows Camp in the vast state of northern California.
KB’s “Weight & Glory” became a nightly ritual to fall
asleep to, amid-track six. It was a nice getaway from the every day teachings
of life survival as the wilderness counselor of boys aged eight to eighteen
each week that blistering, red-clay covered summer.
Via the high-tech version of the tin-canned string phone,
“Dan the Mexican” was now an “Educator” and invited me to fill an open position
of The Elite League. Without hesitation, I accepted. I was bound to prove
myself as a “broom” in this league and sweep the competition away like a camp
cabin floor.
I was to be attending Union College in the fall, which would
be the perfect fitted environment for this fantasy football platform. Now, what
would my team name be?
“DA BRASS” was imprinted on the back of my intramural
football team’s cotton homemade jersey. Ah, the spray-painted gold & black
colors. The toxic smell when first donning the jersey, those were good
memories.
“DA BRASS” was all that was seen as I intercepted league
quarterbacks left and right, up and down the half grass-half muddied fields of
Andrews University.
Prophets & Kings caught fire in those two first years as
we won back-to-back championships. Then came 2012; the year that many players
from the team parted ways. I was one of them as I traveled to Union College to
throw together a version of the team in co-captain Mitchell Seltman. With a
stacked team but, due to many absences from various players during various
games of the season, hope was shot and lost to Drew, “DA BERG” & Chris, “DA
FAIRCHILD” & their team.
The name carried over to my first season as GM in the Elite
League. Dan, “The Educated Mexican,” was to have a wedding in August of 2012
and I was a last minute addition. This was to be the dates that I met the
squad.
AND THEN, the draft; I had to make an impression. So, what
did I do? Well, I’ll let you see for yourself as I picked the two below players
back-to-back in rounds one and two. A first impression statement that many GMs
still remember today:
