Looking back at the 2010 fantasy football season, I gotta say that it was a good year at FantasyTrophies.com. It was a season that started with me introducing two new trophies, the Armchair Quarterback Mini trophy and the Throwback Mini trophy, to diehard fantasy football fans everywhere. Guys had been asking me for years when I was going to come out with a smaller version of the two larger trophies and 2010 was finally the year that I was able to come through for them. It was great to hear and see the reaction of both old and new customers when they finally saw both trophies. They’ve been a great success.
It was also a season that saw me at the SiriusXM fantasy football draft at the Hard Rock Cafe in Times Square where the Throwback trophy was front and center while the draft was being broadcast live on SiriusXM. Seeing Maurice Jones-Drew, Gary Del’Abate of the Howard Stern Show, Jeremy Ronick and Steve Phillips, to name a few, with the trophy was pretty damn cool. The photos that followed the next day of the event were just as incredible. Maybe even more so when you think of the reach they had online. It was a good start to the season.
The USA Today also contacted me once again and ran a year long contest with the Armchair Quarterback fantasy football trophy as the grand prize (well, that and cash). They also decided to have the Armchair Quarterback Mini trophies as the runner-up prizes. Very cool.
It was also great to see the photos of leagues come in throughout the year for the Wall of Fame Photo Contest. Staying connected with the leagues that play for one of my trophies is one of the best things I experience while running FantasyTrophies.
So as it’s time to put the 2010 season behind me and focus on baseball, hockey and NASCAR- I just wanted to say thanks for a great fantasy football season and please stay in touch. -DM

Note: The Wall of Fame Photo Contest ends March 31, 2011- get them in to Dave@FantasyTrophies.com

UCONN QB Johnny McEntee puts out his own trick shot video. If you’ve been living under a rock and haven’t seen it….enjoy.

March Madness is right around the corner and soon office brackets will be filled out by everyone from the CEO to the guy who just got hired in the mailroom. Most of the time though the thing is won by the woman who filled it out based on which team color she liked the best. It doesn’t matter- she deserves to be recognized for the champion that she is. It’s time that her name is engraved and forever remembered on the Armchair Big Man. This is THE TROPHY that should be representing your office pool. The one trophy that should greet all the employees in the morning and be that constant reminder of how they got their asses handed to them by Debbie from accounting.
Is your office worthy?

It’s sinking in that football season is 8 months away. Yes, this time of year is the absolute worst for diehard football fans like myself. Basketball season hasn’t even reached the all-star break and the players are pretty much on autopilot until the playoffs hit. The NHL is heating up, but the games are hardly ever televised and baseball and Nascar are idle. I guess March Madness is the one thing that helps to get me through the long boring footballless spring. How many days away is March? Anyway, my point is that football is king in this country and I know that I’m stating the obvious. The fact that so many watch the NFL Draft is proof enough that fans are craving that “football fix” and a quick shot to the arm to get them through this 8 month layoff. Suddenly I have an urge to see who “the experts” think the Browns will draft. Take care.- DM

Congratulations to all the Green Bay Packer fans out there who woke up today knowing that their team can be called world champs. It’s gotta be a great feeling and one that I really hope I get to experience in my lifetime with my Cleveland Browns. I remember when I was 15 years old and thinking that the Browns were going to win it all next year. That they were on the cusp of something big. Of course John Elway had other plans and my Browns ended up on the losing end of three AFC Championship games. Now I’m 40 years old and the Browns are still years away from being a true contender. Yes, if you’re a Packer fan you should savor this moment for as long as possible. Winning the Super Bowl can be a very fleeting moment and something that doesn’t come along all that often. Or in the case of Browns fans everywhere- NEVER AT ALL. I think I need another beer.-DM

Thank you to the guys of the “Twelve & Counting” league in Green Bay for sending me a great photo of them standing with their two fantasy football trophies from us and the Vince Lombardi statue at Lambeau Field. Remember to get your photos in for the Wall of Fame Photo Contest. All entries must be in by March 31, 2011. Just send me a photo of you, your league champ or your league in general with your trophy and you’ll be entered to win a FREE Mini trophy of your choice or an Ultimate Loser large base. Thanks and good luck. – Dave@FantasyTrophies.com

I’ve never been one to say that I have a second favorite team. The Cleveland Browns are it for me and always will be. However, I have a certain admiration for the Green Bay Packers and truly hope they beat the living crap out of the Steelers today. (What can I say? I’m a bitter Browns fan) Packer fans are much like Browns fans. Hard working people from a blue collar town that follow their football team like it’s a religion. Unlike the Browns though, and the rest of the NFL, the Packers are owned by the fans and not by some billionaire asshole that can hold the city hostage until he gets what he wants. Ask Minnesota fans if they’d like to be shareholders in the Vikings right about now. Or think back to when that scum of the earth, Art Modell, ripped the Browns away from Cleveland and took them to Baltimore- only to eventually sell them years later.
The Packers will always remain in Green Bay and for that reason alone I find myself rooting for them more than any other team besides the Browns. It’s the one franchise that you feel the team’s sense of loyalty to the city is equal to the fans commitment to the team. I only wish all teams were run this way.
So when the Packers hit the field against the Steelers today I’ll no doubt be cheering for the guys in yellow and green and thinking of the Packer fans back in frigid Green Bay.
I guess for one day only I can have a second favorite team. Today ONLY though. Go Pack!

The first fantasy football trophy I ever sold was to a guy I knew and who lived one town over from mine outside of Cleveland, Ohio. So the idea of selling a fantasy football trophy to a complete stranger who lives in Adak, Alaska (population 316) is pretty damn cool. Vincent Tutiakoff Jr. received his trophy after waiting for the weather to finally break so that a plane could land on the small Alaskan island. His league, “Long Cold Winters”, will now hold the title as our northern most U.S. order. Thanks for the photo Vincent and good luck winning that bad ass!-DM

The Super Bowl is only a day away and once again, my beloved Cleveland Browns are not in it. To make matters worse however is that their #1 rival Pittsburgh Steelers are–for their record setting 8th time.
I was born in 1970 and grew up watching Terry Bradshaw, Lynn Swann, Joe Greene and Jack Lambert absolutely terrorize the Browns. It helped in shaping me into the Steeler hating fan that I am today. When you grow up in Cleveland you’re born into loving the Browns and hating the Steelers. Of course some have strayed from this over time, but the true Clevelanders remain diehard to these two fundamental truths. I’m no different. However, I hate to admit that I can’t help but look at the Steelers and hope that the Browns can emulate what they’ve managed to do over the last 40 years. The Browns have NEVER been in the Super Bowl and are still years away from being a true threat to make it there. Unlike the Steeelers, they’ve gone through coach after coach trying to find “the right guy.” They’ve blown drafts, wasted free agent signings and pissed away what little talent they’ve managed to develop. The Steelers have been the complete opposite and deserve some credit. (Damn that was hard to write) They’ve had 3 coaches over the last 40 odd years and keep bringing in players that make a difference. Their owner is loyal to the city and is worshiped by the community. They don’t blow drafts and continually plug new guys in where old ones have left. It’s undoubtably the most well run franchise in the last 40 years in the NFL, where the Browns could be the worst. (Ok, maybe Detroit has us beat) My point is that while I hate the Steelers with every once of my being, it will be hard to watch them tomorrow without some level of respect and yes, jealousy.
The only thing I can say after admitting that in print is this—GO PACKERS!!

Don’t forget that our 2nd annual Wall of Fame Photo Contest is still going on and will end on March 31, 2011. Get your photos into me (Dave@FantasyTrophies.com) so that you can be included. All you need to do is take a photo of you, your league champ or your league in general with the trophy and you’ll be entered. The photo that is deemed the best (mainly by me) will be awarded their choice of a Mini trophy or an Ultimate Loser large base. So make them memorable and creative– whatever the hell that means. Just get them in. Hey, take advantage of the Super Bowl and being with your buddies and snap a few shots. After all, it’s a FREE fantasy football trophy from FantasyTrophies.com we’re talking about here. -DM