 |
|
2004 Football
King of the
Jungle |
|
The 2005 Fantasy Jungle fantasy football contest brought
along the crowning of a new champion in the Jungle. First-year champ, John
Piontek and his team Superpions, passed on the title to Team SkipBucci, made up
of Scott Alessi and Thomas Bucci. Scott,
|
known as Skip, and Tom joined forces this year as SkipBucci
dominated the playoffs from start to finish, even picking up the highest single
week score of the season. We recently got a chance to hear from the champs.
 FJ:
Well congratulations first off, you guys had a great season. Where are you both
from?
Thomas: I'm from Dobbs Ferry, NY
Skip : And I'm from Hastings , NY.
FJ: Did
you guys go to college, and how old are you?
Thomas: I graduated from Fairfield
University in 2001, and I am 25 years old.
Skip: I graduated from Villanova in 96, and
I am 30 years old.
FJ: What do you guys do for a living?
Thomas: I'm a Strategic Planning Analyst for
CNN. It basically deals with the pricing and inventory aspect of ad sales.
Skip: I'm a Sales Administrator, Assistant
to the VP of Sales.
FJ: How did you guys meet?
Thomas: We met a couple of years ago when I
was asked to join his fantasy baseball league. I didn't do too well that year. I
think I finished 8th out of 10 people.
FJ: How
did you guys hear about the Fantasy Jungle?
Thomas: From the Fantasy Jungle team, The
Crimson Binney's. I've been friends with Kevin McElroy for a few years and we've
always talked about fantasy contests and both he and Tom Eshoo found the Jungle
last year for baseball and told me they had a football league as well. I wanted
to join and told them if they had anyone else that would like to split it with
me I'd definitely sign up. That's when Skip and I started to talk about joining
the league.
Skip: The Binneys turned us on to the Jungle
and we couldn't be happier.
FJ: How long have you been playing fantasy
football?
Thomas: This is my 3rd year in fantasy
football. I had only been in leagues at work prior to this. I finished in 1st
place the first 2 years but lost in the playoffs both years, and this year
finished 7th but won it all in the playoffs.
Skip: I’ve been playing fantasy football for
about 6 years, local leagues only though until now.
FJ: Who are your favorite teams?
Thomas: The Oakland Raiders, San Antonio
Spurs and THE NEW YORK YANKEES!!!
Skip: The Cowboys, Knicks, Islanders, and
Yanks!!!!
FJ: Are you guys fantasy football
specialists, or do you play other fantasy games?
Thomas: I play baseball, football and
basketball but I'd have to say that football is where I excel. I think I enjoy
the fact that it's a shorter season so the preparation that goes into drafting a
team is all the more important. I like the other sports but with daily lineup
changes, it's almost impossible to have any free time. At least with football
it's only setting your lineup once a week.
Skip: I’ve been playing fantasy baseball for
14 years. I play some basketball as well.
FJ: What was your draft strategy going in to
the Jungle?
Thomas: Basically, we took the stats based
on the league scoring from the previous 2 yrs and averaged them together to get
a starting point on how to rank the players. Then we figured that RBs with our
first 3 picks were the way to go and we could worry about QBs later in the
draft.
FJ: Who were some of your best players?
Thomas: Our best players had to have been
LT, Gates, Westbrook and Reggie Wayne. Considering we got Gates in the 12th
round, I'd have to say that was the steal of the draft.
Skip: We were also able to get the Buffalo
Defense out of the free agent pool and that ended up being one of the top
scoring Defenses all year.
FJ: When did you realize that you had a team
that had a chance to win the title?
Thomas: I think we realized we had a shot
after the draft was over. Not to sound cocky, but when we discussed our team
with the Crimson Binney's, they couldn't believe what a team we had.
Skip: I was feeling good about our team
coming out of the draft but it’s not like we ran away with the league, so I
didn’t really think we had a chance to win it all until after we won the league
championship. After that win, I checked out the playoff rules and realized we
would be only be giving around 25 pts to the top team, that’s when I realized we
could win it all.
FJ: How
much did team management throughout the season contribute to your success, i.e.
the free agent wire?
Thomas: As Skip said, we were able to get
the Buffalo Defense off of waivers which ended up being one of the top scoring
Ds all year. Other than that, we had a few spot start pick ups but nothing that
changed the makeup of our team.
Skip: Greise definitely had some good weeks
for us but it begins and ends with the Buffalo D. We probably wouldn’t be doing
this interview if we didn’t pick them up. We picked them up due to their
match-up with the Dolphins late in the year, then they just started destroying
everyone!
FJ: You guys had an outstanding first 2
weeks in the playoffs, but going into the last wekeend, things tightened up
some. What were the gamut of emotions you experienced for that?
Thomas: During the last week, I was pumped
that we had the lead but once we lost the lead going into Sunday, that's when I
started to panic. That Sunday I was glued to the TV and the live scoring. After
the 1 o'clock games were over, we were tied with Bald Legal. That's when Skip
and I were constantly calling each other for updates. He was watching the games
at a bar and I was on the computer telling him where we stood. For the 4 o'clock
games, The Bald Legal (2nd place finisher) had Jason Witten and we had 2 WR's
going. At that point we knew the title was ours. The entire day I was nervous
but once I realized that we had it locked up, I was relieved.
FJ: What is a usual setup like for you on an
NFL sunday? Do you watch the games together?
Thomas: Usually I go to my girlfriends
house, park myself on the couch and not move until the late game is over. I
think she really hates when its time for football season. During the season I
would occasionally check the live scoring, but during the playoffs I kept
hitting the refresh button.
Skip: Bucci and I drafted our team together
but we didn’t see each other again until we took the picture of us holding the
first place checks. I was superstitious about changing what we had going. Once
our team starting playing well I figured the best thing to do would be to NOT
hang out with Bucci for the Sunday games. I spent most Sunday’s at Demeter’s
Sports Bar in Tarrytown, NY with Tom “Binney” Eshoo. Then head over to Esh’s
house to check the Jungle scoring.
FJ: What aspect of the Fantasy Jungle did
you like the most?
Thomas: I think the league was run
amazingly. The competitive nature of the league was great.
Skip: The prize money.
FJ:
Would you recommend the Fantasy Jungle to anyone, and what are your thoughts on
it?
Thomas: I have already recommended The
Fantasy Jungle to all of my friends. Anyone who wants the best competition and
wants to prove themselves, needs to join this league.
Skip: I would strongly recommend it to
everyone. The cost vs. the potential payoff is unbeatable.
FJ: Lastly, and most importantly, what do
you plan to do with your prize winnings?
Thomas: Fortunately, this money comes at a
great time. It will be used for buying my girlfriend an engagement ring. Now, if
she ever comments on me watching football, I can always tell her that fantasy
football bought her ring!
Skip: Purchasing a co-op so I
can stop dumping rent money down the drain!
|
