■ Farmer brings home the bacon
The fantasy sports industry has long coveted its version of Chris Moneymaker or other big winners in the competitive poker world, a superstar who can elevate the mainstream profile of the industry. The answer to those wishes may have
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Pig farmer Lindy Hinkelman may have a dirty occupation, but he cleans up when playing fantasy baseball..
Photo by: AP Images |
arrived from tiny Greencreek, Idaho, in the form of Lindy Hinkelman.
A pig farmer by trade, Hinkelman has won more than $300,000 over the past three years playing in the National Fantasy Baseball Championships.
The subject of several mainstream media profiles, Hinkelman has no deep secrets on his fantasy baseball success and does not spend much time online. He watches a large amount of baseball, typically more than four hours per day during the summer, and makes a specific point of not drafting players who have just signed large contracts.
“I’ll let other guys take care of guys like” Prince Fielder and Albert Pujols, each of whom signed deals this winter worth in excess of $200 million, said Hinkelman, who typically plays five or six different high-stakes teams each year. “I spend a lot of the winter researching guys, looking for the breakout and bounceback candidates. But this is something I really enjoy.”
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Name’s sake
In many leagues, a fantasy team is only as good as its team name. Fantasy league team names are often inspired by pop culture, innuendo or a player’s name. Below is a list of popular team names from various fantasy sports, as compiled and
voted on by users of the site TeamNames.net. TeamNames.net offers a random team name generator to assist fantasy league players with creative suggestions.
Hoops! I did it again!
The Sons of Pitches
Victorious Secret
Plaxidental Shootings
Wii Not Fit
The Beer View Mirrors
Somewhere over Dwayne Bowe
Rubber Puckies
See the full list at: TeamNames.net/fantasy/top-101-fantasy-team-names
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Do the math
There is the tried-and-true image of fantasy sports players poring endlessly through magazines and websites, searching for kernels of useful data to win their leagues.
Ziguana.com, a Los Angeles-based startup, seeks to break through the clutter by offering customized fantasy analytics tailored specifically to players’ individual league settings.
The company recently won the Rookie of the Year award for 2011 at the Fantasy Sports Trade Association’s winter conference, and is a charter participant in CBSSports.com’s new open-source fantasy sports developer platform.
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Judgment day
Experiencing conflict within your fantasy sports league? The Supreme Court of Fantasy Judgment will provide
arbitration and guarantee a ruling within 24 hours, for $15 per dispute.
According to their website, Fantasy Judgment is a “veritable pantheon of fantasy sports experts dedicated to impartially resolving all issues, disputes and conflicts within the confines of fantasy sports leagues.” Belong to a particularly contentious league? Unlimited dispute resolutions packages are offered for $100 per season (FantasyJudgment.com).
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Celebrity sightings
As fantasy sports have become increasingly popular, more celebrities have begun playing and making their obsession known via Twitter.
Model and actress Brooklyn Decker showed her competitive spirit in tweets about the fantasy team she co-owned with Kelly Erickson, a production assistant with Happy Madison Productions.
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Brooklyn Decker
Photo by: Getty Images |
Decker tweeted to Happy Madison actor and producer Allen Covert: “@KellyEE and I are taking you down in fantasy this week … should we put a wager on it?”
Decker and Erickson later lost to actor David Spade in their fantasy league playoffs. Erickson posted: “Romo getting injured guaranteed @DavidSpade victory … Congratulations, you win.” Spade retweeted Erickson’s comment and added: “Don’t get cranky Cam delivered. Sry Brooklyn.”
Other famous fantasy sports players include actor Paul Rudd, actress Demi Moore, actor Jerry Ferrara, actress Elizabeth Banks and comedian Seth Meyers.
— Compiled by Cailyn Bankosky, SportsBusiness Daily; Eric Fisher, SportsBusiness Journal
