After an exciting Day One of The Fantasy Football Expo, Day Two got off to a chaotic start. Come along with me as I’m Unveiling the Magic of The Fantasy Football Expo. If you would like to follow me and some of the other writers over at The League winners, follow us on Twitter.
Unveiling the Magic of The Fantasy Football Expo – Waking Up in Canton
Day two of The Fantasy Football Expo started with The Draft Night Out party. Contrary to its name, it started at 12 in the afternoon. After showering and grabbing a quick breakfast at the hotel, we headed to The Brew Kettle Pub.
Walking up and seeing the NFL Hall of Fame, the giant dome and the beautiful field, I was overwhelmed with gratitude. The sun was shining, people were slowly filing in to discuss last night’s events and I was wearing my Aaron Rodgers‘ Jets jersey. I was ready to see what the day had to bring. I realized at the very last minute that included in the DNO ticket was a spot in a live draft. Now, don’t get me wrong, I love drafting, but a draft in front of 100+ people made my nerves start for sure.
Starting Off with a Live Draft
Lining up to get into The Brew Kettle was much longer than expected. They only had a certain amount of tickets for the draft, but many people showed up to watch all the excitement. At the front of the line, I was given my green bracelet signifying that I was part of the draft. Looking around it didn’t seem like there was any space to sit so I headed upstairs. I got settled at a table and was thrilled to meet my friend Amy and her husband “Rabbit Dad“, both wearing Viking jerseys.
They had huge welcoming smiles on their faces and of course, Benjamin (Rabbit Dad) was wearing his infamous rabbit ears. Amy, being the brilliant woman she is, took over the draft board for us so we could keep up to date with everyone’s picks. I introduced myself to a few of the people at the table and settled in to start the draft.
Draft Preparations
People had their papers, laptops, and different spreadsheets out. As for me, I didn’t know I was drafting until five minutes before we walked up to the bar! I went into the draft like I do every other one, flying by the seat of my pants.
Okay, I’m really not that bad, but I don’t generally do any research beforehand. I have been drafting the same way since I started and it has generally worked so far. While I do want to win (and I really do) it’s also about the experience and soaking in every minute of the weekend.
This draft was a little different than most I have done. We had to draft a Kicker and Team Defense, as well as the regular offensive players. Everything was going well. We were chatting and making our picks. We all chatted back and forth while slowly getting to know the people sitting closest to us. Right away we all hit it off and started in on the banter. It wasn’t until the 8th round that I made sure that I wouldn’t be forgotten – but not particularly on purpose.
Hunting for Stacks
I had my eye set on Kenny Pickett to complete a Pittsburgh stack. A few picks before me and wouldn’t you know it, I was sniped.
I thought it was hilarious. After all, this is supposed to be fun. Yes, there is a prize on the line, but to me, this is all about experience and comradery. Do I want to win, of course, but not because I want the prize. I want the respect of the everyone in the industry.
It’s a bit of a catch-22, really. As much as I want to be treated like one of the guys, I still want to beat them because I’m a woman. That is all the prize I would need.
The Chaotic Kicker
I won’t go over the entire draft, but I will tell you that in the 8th round, I selected a kicker. That was that. My entire table and some of those around me were shocked – and not in a good way.
The rest of the weekend it became a running joke. It was also another one of my favorite memories from that weekend. We flew through the rest of the draft and were one of the first leagues to finish, so we headed back downstairs to see how the drafts were going.
Once the draft was finished, Aaron St. Denis, Tim Riley and I decided that we were going to skip the flag football game. We took the next few hours to relax and grab a bite to eat instead. You don’t realize how fast time goes by throughout the day and how little food you actually consume.
Fully rested and showered, it was time to head out to one of the events I was looking forward to the most, The Saturday Night Party.
The Saturday Night Party
This is the first time that I saw the Hall of Fame Stadium, and it didn’t disappoint. The one thing I wish I was able to do was walk on the field, but getting to actually see it in person and being able to walk around with all of these huge names in the business was just as cool. I must admit that at the time, I didn’t really know who many of those people were.
The thing that was nice about the event was mainly the lack of a schedule. There was no place that you had to be and no agenda. This was a party where you were meant to just enjoy yourself and make connections. I realized quickly how nervous I was.
The second I was by myself for more than a few minutes I would walk to the side and check my phone. It was a little overwhelming being around that many people and not really knowing any of them. I recognized faces, but wasn’t comfortable enough to go up to anyone and start talking to them, at the start of the night anyway.
Thankfully, most of the night Aaron wasn’t too far away; and being the oh-so-popular guy that he is, everyone either stopped to talk to him or he would make it a point to stop to introduce me. As the night went on I was able to feel more comfortable, and quickly enough, I found a group of people that I just knew I would be friends with for life.
Some of those people I watch on TV, read on blog posts or emails every day and are on some of my favorite podcasts.
Social Butterfly
I usually find it easy to tell how genuine people are; how to read people and their facial expressions. Sometimes it’s great, other times it’s awful. Either way, it works.
There are two people in particular that I struck up a conversation with. As we kept talking I felt as if we had done this before. Do you ever get that feeling that in a previous life, you were best friends with someone or they were part of your family?
The amazing thing is as the night went on, more people were standing out. I make connections quite quickly; I wear my heart on my sleeve and don’t apologize for it. I have mentioned it to people prior, but ever since my father passed away I try to tell people how much they are appreciated. Once my mindset changed to reflect that, I have been able to make close and more meaningful friendships. The wonderful thing about the fantasy football community is that “almost” everyone seems to feel the same.
I found myself looking at my phone not because I wanted it to be over, but because I didn’t. Now that we were halfway through the night and I had met a few people, I started to put myself out there a bit more. I talked to more people, started taking pictures and made more connections. Since social media is the best way to make and keep those connections I made sure to follow my new buddies on Twitter. Before I left at the end of the night I already had a few people approach me to be on their podcast. It all just took off from there.
Cramming Into George’s
As the party started to wind down, we didn’t want it to end. We followed the group to the smallest bar known to man, George’s.
What you need to know about Canton is that there is NO nightlife. There are no other people on the street. Everything other than a few bars are closed. A lot of those places you don’t want to go into anyway. On top of that, they don’t stay open past 1AM, at the latest.
We all packed into this little bar in the middle of town, and before you knew it, there was no room to walk or move. As great as that was it made it almost impossible to have any sort of conversation other than with the people that you were sitting or standing next to. The crazy part of the entire thing was looking around this bar and basically every big name in the business was there. It’s kind of a wild sight to see people you have admired or watched just socializing with whoever is standing next to them.
The Fantasy Football Expo brings everyone together, and status goes out the window. We are all the same, no one is better than the next and approaching anyone is welcome. The only problem with George’s was that not only was it impossible to move, but you couldn’t talk. So we decided to head out and over to the Doubletree Hotel where most people were spending the weekend. That is the entire weekend summed up. Normal people talking about their equal love of football.
Doubletree Nightcap
Walking into the Doubletree Hotel I was happy to see that quite a few people were there. I look to the other end of the bar and who is standing there like he is one of us? Former Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Dez Bryant. He is a huge fantasy football fan and was there to promote his new venture High Point Tracker.
Dez played in the flag football game. He also was going to be a speaker at the actual expo the next day. I went outside to speak with a few people and out walked Dez. I’m not afraid to ask anyone anything, so I politely asked if he would mind taking a picture. Of course, he was so welcoming and said yes. I think it was definitely one of my top 5 moments of the Fantasy Football Expo.
I spent the next few hours going from conversation to conversation, getting to know people on a more personal level. It’s amazing how one weekend in close proximity to like-minded people means you just click.
I can only explain it as a “Survivor” type of experience. You spend endless hours with people talking and sharing your love of football. It’s as if you are saying goodbye to your best friends. As the night wound down and the exhaustion started to set in, I couldn’t help but smile from ear to ear. I fit in, I found my people.
Our group had something to offer and a voice that they wanted to listen to. I put my head on the pillow at the end of the night and almost didn’t want to go to sleep.
Sweet Dreams
From there, I was afraid that when I woke up in the morning it would all have been a dream. That’s exactly what happened. I woke up and I was still living the dream. I still had an entire day to spend with all of these new wonderful people and to explore and learn about all of the amazing new apps and products that were out there for us to use. For now, I was going to get a few hours of sleep and dream about football.
If you’re looking to fill that Post-Fantasy Football Expo void, come check out our 2023 Rankings at theleaguewinner.com.
Tracy Gilroy-Norton
When I'm not walking dogs/pet sitting for my own company I am thinking about football. I have been a Jets fan since living in Northern Ireland, where I was born, but my die-hard team is the Chiefs. I was lucky enough to join The League Winners this year which lets me showcase two of my favorite things, writing and football. One of my newest passions is IDP leagues with a goal of making it into the King's Classic! I believe in always following your gut and am never afraid to reach in a draft! I welcome any questions or advice so always feel free to reach out! "Football is life" --> Danny Rojas