InsidEPR

EPR’s Fantasy Football Season: It’s a Wrap

By Molly Reynolds

As we approach Super Bowl weekend, wherein real people play real football, we thought we’d share with you the exciting conclusion of our EPR Fantasy Football playoffs.

When we last left (see Dale’s blog), only four teams remained – #1 Meanie Mathenys were set to play #4 Bitzy’s Bashers II, while #6 A-Bashes were squaring off against #2 Hoya Paranoia. It must be said that while the Meanies and Bitzys were managed by actual football fans, the Bashes and Paranoia teams were selected and coached in the following manner: “I’ve heard of that quarter back (Rodgers and Brees, respectively), so I’ll choose him and see what happens this year.” As evidenced by the final four remaining teams, both strategies have their benefits.

In the semi-finals, Hoya Paranoia eked out an 8-point victory over the A-Bashes, thanks largely to Brees’ 48 points (love you, Drew). The other game saw Bitzy’s Bashers II secure the underdog win to advance to the finals, leading the Meanie Mathenys with a strong San Francisco defense. The A-Bashes went on to crush the Meanies and secure a third place win – if you’re keeping track, that’s the lowest finals seed beating the highest.

Hoya Paranoia beat Bitzy’s Bashers by 47 points in the final game and received the Christmas present of a Fantasy Football league victory (really love you, Drew).

We hope that you enjoy the biggest real-life football game of the year, or at least the commercials and snacks. Happy Super Bowl weekend, everyone!

Friday in the Bay: Warriors is where it’s at!

By Roya Pakfetrat

Basketball fans in the Bay Area are said to be some of the best in the nation. No matter how good or bad our Golden State Warriors are playing, we are always loyal and true to our team. Attending a Warriors game at the local (a 5 minute drive from our office) Oracle Arena, sometimes referred to as the “roaricle,” is always a good time because we (the fans) always show up with an unrelenting desire to cheer our team to victory.

At the arena, there is never a dull moment – from screaming, dancing and singing fans to the Flying W’s and the Warrior Girls – you can’t have a bad time even if you try! Last Friday I went to the Warriors/Pacers game and although a bad call prevented a win for the Warriors, the fans (including myself) stood up and cheered until the very last second of the game. We made sure “our boys” knew we thought they had it in them.

It might not have been the best outcome but like I said, we will always stick by our Golden State Warriors – through good times and bad. Check out some of my pictures from the game and see for yourself why we are proud to spend our Fridays in the Bay! #LetsGoWarriors

Make your own slideshow with music at Animoto.

Fridays in the Bay: How ‘bout them 49ers!

By Mike Tomlinson

What a great time to be a sports fan in the San Francisco Bay. In 2010, the Giants win the World Series. Now one year later, our 49ers—who went 6-10 in the regular season last year under Mike Singletary and looked like a complete mess—are headed (fingers crossed) to the Super Bowl after an amazing turnaround effort by new head coach Jim Harbaugh. Who the heck saw that coming!?

It definitely wasn’t an easy journey. Our QB Alex Smith was doubted by all the big shots throughout most of the season. Not to mention the early season parking lot ruckus between San Francisco 49ers fans and Oakland Raiders fans that had doubters already chalking up the season as a failure, reinforcing the negative image the outside world has of our Bay area fans—but hey, at least we can own up to it.

One must look no further than the infamous Black Hole at the Raiders games to be stricken to the core with pure terror, but its all part of what makes the Bay such a great place to be for sports. We do get passionate about our teams! Just blame it on our high standards. In the land of Al Davis and Joe Montana, we leave our legendary teams little room for failure.

Now, with Jim Harbaugh’s brother John coaching the tough-nosed and playoff game-winning Baltimore Ravens, the only thing that could top this great season would be to see the ‘Niners take down the Ravens in a brother versus brother Super HarBowl! But whether they do or not, for Jim Harbaugh (a Stanford veteran with Bay area blood in his veins) to have turned this team around in only one season isn’t just remarkable, or incredible, or amazing.

It’s purely magical—and that kind of magic is what the Bay is all about.

 

Playoffs?! You Kiddin’ Me?

By Dale Legaspi, Guest Blogger

No…we are not kidding you, and yes, it is that time in the EPR Fantasy Football Season. With week one of the playoffs in the rear-view, let’s take a look at the wild card rounds and see what is upcoming in the semifinals.

In the absentee division, A-Bash, which inexplicably backed into the playoffs as a six-seed despite having the #1 overall player in QB Aaron Rodgers (along with a top-five RB in LeSean McCoy and arguably the top TE in Jimmy Graham), and proceeded to demolish third-seeded Foster’s Hammie, which was victimized by Arian Foster playing like his hamstring was still in week-1 form and Calvin Johnson forgetting how to get open and catch passes.
 
The executive division featured a much more even matchup, as 4-seed Bitzy’s Bashers benefited from huge days from RBs Maurice Jones-Drew and Brandon Jacobs (no…seriously) to outlast the Matt Forte-less Shake’n’Bake, despite a huge day from the Falcons tandem of QB Matt Ryan and WR Roddy White.

With Foster’s Hammie and Shake’n’Bake exiled to the fifth-place game, Bitzy’s Bashers will advance to face the top-seeded Meanie Mathenys, and A-Bash will take on Hoya Paranoia. Winners of those two games will face off in the EPR Fantasy Football Super Bowl, during the NFL’s week 16.

EPR Fantasy Football Update

By Dale Legaspi

We’re now through three weeks in the Engage PR Fantasy Football League, and it seems like the formula for success this year is going to be “get lucky and not have your players get hurt”.

Peyton Manning’s neck surgery and Arian Foster’s MRI Twittergate (clearly, he needs to read our blog) have turned the fantasy world upside down.The Colts’ offense (and usual fantasy stalwarts Reggie Wayne and Dallas Clark) has been rendered useless; and because no one can get them the ball, the Texans’ run game is a giant question mark. 

Fortunately for the Ragging Royas, which drafted Manning, Matthew   Stafford has proven to be starter-caliber and led the team to a solid 2-1 start.Unfortunately for Probation Nation II, Foster has played one series, leading the team’s frustrated owner to (hopefully temporarily) rename the team “Foster’s Hammie”. This is quite apropos for a team that has limped its way to a 1-2 start. 

Heading into week four, everyone’s chasing the two teams sitting at 3-0—the newcomer Mighty Ducks and the Teflon juggernaut Hoya Paranoia, which has shaken off Jamaal Charles’s season-ending ACL injury and survived the lost points from a kicker who has yet to play this season.

Joining the Raggings in the 2-1 group are returners Shake’n’Bake and Bitzy’s Bashers.  Romo’s ribs and Britt’s ACL aside, all three teams have put up solid numbers out of the gate and look poised to challenge all season long.

The frustrated half of the league includes the 1-2 trio of returners in A-Bash, which has (wisely) ditched last season’s World of Warcraft-inspired nickname; the Meanie Mathenys, which has been a puzzlingly feast-or-famine team and PNII/Foster’s, which in addition to its other issues, has also neglected to draft a quarterback.

Down in the cellar, we have Room for Error, which really doesn’t have any at this point, and the Flying Squirrels, which have not only been grounded but look like roadkill thanks to another key injury saga unfolding this season—Michael Vick.

The season takes an interesting turn now, though, as bye weeks start. Numerous questions remain as to whether or not some of the younger teams can bounce back from sluggish starts after a shortened preseason. Hidden gems always unearth themselves over the course of the NFL season, and this savvy group of fantasy superstars will undoubtedly be ready to capitalize. 

Are you ready for some Football? Engage PR is!

By The Commish (aka Neila Matheny)

Luckily, it is that time of the year again. The NFL avoided extending the summertime lockout into the  regular season and all of us fantasy football junkies can get our fix of speculating, drafting and smack talking at the right time of the year. For the third consecutive year, the Engage PR crew is taking part in the fantasy football tradition, holding the annual draft this month.

The Hoya Paranoias are returning as the regular-season champions from 2010, who fell just short in the  playoffs last season. Many of the other regulars are back for 2011, such as Shake N Bake and Bitzy’s Bashers, who are always tough foes and postseason veterans. New this season are three recently formed teams named Room for Error, the Mighty Ducks and the Flying Squirrels. With some of the league’s star players on these teams, including Michael Vick, Tom Brady and Larry Fitzgerald, these newbies are primed to make an impact.

Hopefully, I can avoid the curse of the Commissioner this season and avoid any early injuries to my top few picks. However, after winning the first overall pick, it feels like other shoe will eventually fall.

Will a newcomer emerge as the league leader or will an old favorite rise to the top?

Will Probation Nation II overcome the preseason loss of Ryan Williams?

Will the Ragging Royas and A-Bashes remember to change their lineup during the bye weeks?

Stay tuned to the InsidEPR blog for more updates from the Engage PR 2011 Fantasy Football season and the answers to all of these questions.

Engage PR Catches Spring Fever with March Madness

By Neila Matheny

Whether it’s our yearly fantasy football league, company trips to see the neighboring Oakland Athletics play or support of our very own Coach Legaspi and his baseball-playing Pilots in Alameda, Engage PR has always been a sports-loving group.  And, as has been tradition amongst the group for several years, our sports love is captured each spring for the March Madness office pool. With upsets all over the tournament field and the early losses of the top seeds, it wasn’t Engage PR’s best attempt at picking the winners.  Some highlights of the pool include:

• Only one bracket had the opportunity to score more points once the Final Four was set.
• No bracket picked the eventual winner, the Connecticut Huskies. And, no bracket selected Butler to advance past the Sweet 16.
• Only four different possible tournament winners were selected. (Ohio State, Kansas, Duke and Georgetown)
• The most unique Final Four was comprised of North Carolina, Texas, Georgetown and Wisconsin.

Only one bracket picked Morehead State to defeat Louisville, which was the same one that also selected Virginia Commonwealth to upset Georgetown.

Congrats this year to Suzanne Panoplos for being the only team member to correctly pick two out of the Final Four teams, with her selections of Kentucky and Connecticut and for being the winner of the 2011 Engage PR March Madness Tournament Pool. 

Engage PR Fantasy Football Season Wrap-Up

By The Commish (aka Neila Matheny)

With the NFL season heading into the second week of the playoffs, the Engage PR fantasy football season has come to a close.

Congratulations to CotonHeadedNinyMugin (10-3) with a 129.57 – 72.95 victory over Bitzy’s Bashers II (7-6), led by midseason pick-ups Michael Vick, Ryan Torain and LeGarrette Blount. 

Bitzy’s Bashers II came on strong with a playoff charge to finish second, despite having the sixth highest point total in the league and losing three starting quarterbacks with Tony Romo and Matt Cassel suffering in-season injuries and Jon Kitna going down in the championship game.

A few interesting observations from the Engage PR season…

• Hoya Paranoia defeated Probation Nation in the Third-Place Game, while Shake’n’Bake beat Meanie Mathenys in the Fifth-Place Game.
• It was a crazy Week 8 that saw the highest one-week point total in 148.60, as well as the two lowest 52.50 and 44.80.
• Two of the top 15 point scorers were without a team at the end of the season, as Carson Palmer and Josh Freeman were free agents.
• Bitzy’s Bashers posted the highest point total in the playoffs with a 139.48 showing in the quarterfinals
• No team had more than one of the top point scorers at their position. The top scorers at each position were spread across six different teams, but none were part of the league champion team.  Those players are listed in the All-Star Team below.


Engage PR All-Star Team
QB – Peyton Manning, Indianapolis
RB – Arian Foster, Houston
WR – Dwayne Bowe, Kansas City
TE – Jason Witten, Dallas
K – Sebastian Janikowski, Oakland
DEF – Pittsburgh

Midseason Engage PR Fantasy Football Report

By The Commish (aka Neila Matheny)

At the halfway mark of the 2010 Engage PR Fantasy Football season, the field has started to shake out.  Despite the team owners’ overwhelming disappointment in the showing of our hometown 49ers, many of the fantasy football owners still have hope of making it to the playoffs.  Here are some observations from the first half of the season:

• A rookie is leading the charge with a deadly point-scoring combination of Drew Brees and Arian Foster.  Despite only making one roster move in the first eight weeks, Hoya Paranoia is on a five-game winning streak and boasts the only one-loss record in the bunch.
• On the opposite end of the wheeling and dealing spectrum, our second-place squad has made 24 moves over the course of the season and compiled 50 more points than the first-place team.
• Byes and injuries to fantasy stalwarts like Tony Romo, Dallas Clark and Jermichael Finley have caused many teams to leave roster spots empty in given weeks, as two teams enter Week 9 with one win each.
• One team has arisen from a winless first two weeks and a “Dead Last” team name to rack up a 4-4 record. Led by the Denver Broncos tandem of Kyle Orton and Brandon Lloyd, the Ashuala Night Elves have moved back into the playoff picture.

After a busy eight weeks with many player and team moves, there are only five weeks left in the regular season. The playoffs are inching closer, as only six of the 10 teams in the league will make it in.  Check back in with the Engage PR blog in early December for a look into the playoffs.

Engage PR Fantasy Football Report - Week 4

By The Commish (aka Neila Matheny)

As the newly crowned commissioner of Engage PR’s fantasy football league, I will be reporting     
periodically about the happenings of the league. Even with only a few weeks under our belt, there is still much to comment on. Highlights have included:

• The team names have really been elevated this year.  Favorites include Ragging Royas, Atiyeh Attackers and Winning SPARK to go along with our USC alum’s aptly-named Probation Nation.
• One team was drafted based on who either is dating or has dated Kim Kardashian.  Despite a strong showing in the first two weeks, the team has fallen to last place at 1-3 with the injury of Reggie Bush.
• The early season always has some nail-biters as the Ragging Royas edged out Winning SPARK by only .62 points in Week 2 due to the Monday Night Football showing of the San Francisco 49er defense.
• The first week of byes caught some by surprise as a few teams had holes in their lineups as their players had the weekend off.
• Much like the inaugural 2008 season of EPR fantasy football, the first-round draft pick of the commissioner suffered a season-ending injury in the first game of the season.
• And lastly, it is so fitting that the three newest member of the EPR crew have the top three spots in the standings, while there are six teams tied at 2-2. 

So, season three of Engage PR’s fantasy football league is well underway with new faces, pleasant surprises, injury- and suspension-based disappointments and much talk around the water cooler every Monday.  Come back for a mid-season report and see how the early favorites and bottom-dwellers have fared.