All across the nation, men of all ages are participating in the modern sporting sensation of fantasy leagues. In these mock leagues, participants create dream sports teams consisting of their favorite players from across the respective league of whatever sport they are playing. For the majority of the year, a large chuck of MHS’s male population eagerly awaits the start of September, looking forward to startthe fantasy football league of their choice. Although football seems to soak up most of the fantasy sports limelight, a small group of students in MHS have gone against the grain and established a new fantasy league to set themselves apart from the rest.
August of 2013 saw the creation of the Liga Fantasia de Madison, MHS’s first legitimate fantasy soccer league. Currently consisting of 22 of MHS’s own soccer obsessed students, the Liga Fantasia de Madison is quickly gaining a foothold in the fantasy sports scene amongst the student body. The rules of the game are similar to most other fantasy sports leagues; at the start of the leagues season, each contestant is awarded 100 million virtual Euros to begin shaping their own teams using players from the English Premier League. From here, participants are able to trade and sign new players as time goes on and win games depending on how well their players do in real life.
As we enter the heart of January, the current leader of the league is MHS senior Aaron French. French, often stated as being quiet and modest by many of his peers, is feared by the majority of the league’s teams due to his tenacious and ferocious attitude towards winning. When asked to elaborate on his strategies used to get to the pole position French commented, “I prefer not to comment on my competition, because I like to let my team do the talking. But in reality, everyone else sucks.”
The league’s third place manager, Pat Hanley, shares Aaron’s competitive nature when it comes to scoring the most points at the end of the week. “Aaron is only winning because he is copying my team player- for- player”, commented Hanley, “That’s the only real reason he has been able to break away.” Hanley later described French’s tactics as “cheap” and feels as though his shady practices are leaving an embarrassing stain on the league’s integrity.
Other members of the Liga de Fantasia de Madison such as second place “AVBEAUTIFUL’s” manager Thomas Hendrickson, feel that the league, while fun, is leaving a negative impression on his life. “I don’t speak to or even look a Aaron in school anymore” stated Hendrickson, “I’m afraid he’s just going to steal the players off of my team like he does to everybody else.” And then there is the league’s 21st place manager Adin Makowsky whose team “Jabilio69” has only managed to scrounge together a measly 745 points to compete against French’s whopping total of 1,311. Makowsky recently stated that, “This league is the biggest waste of my time. Soccer is for Communists.”
The drama and scandals surrounding the Liga De Fantasia de Madison will continue for the next few months until a final champion is crowned.