Rob Cesternino battles fans and favorites in Rob Has a Fantasy Football League II
The following is a guest post about Big Brother 14 (and Seinfeld) from Rob Has a Website Contributor and Legendary Live Tweeter, @TheeSoopNazee
Follow the League All Season at RobHasAwebsite.com/Fantasy
The League
Beginning with the 2012 NFL Regular Season, the Rob Has A Fantasy Football League (RHAFFL) 20-team league has become an integral part of Rob Has A Podcast Nation. This extremely competitive, deep-roster league kicked off with 17 RHAP fans playing fantasy football with three Reality Stars (Rob Cesternino, Jonny Fairplay, Hayden Moss) last year, and through the competitiveness of all involved, has grown to become what it is today. In the second year of RHAFFL, 10 RHAP fans will compete against 10 “celebrities,” most of them having participated in Reality TV. Divided into two divisions, the fans and the favorites will battle it out every week to see which team will reign supreme. The ten members of RHAP Nation that will be competing for the title are Rob Cesternino, TheeSoopNazee, Lucas Hayes, Frank Clark, Alex Forstenhausler, Brian Richardson, Tim Hiebert, Jordan Kalish, Marty Lubin, and the Bread Alliance consisting of DawnsBread and Alex’s Big Mac. The ten TV stars competing in this year’s league are Jonny Fairplay, Shane Powers, Mike Skupin, Ashley Trainer, David Murphy, Ryno, Prime Time Alex Stein, Hayden Moss, Charlie O’Connell and Scott Porter.
The Fans
Consisting of The Greatest Podcast Host to Never Win A Podcast Award and nine of the podcast’s biggest fans, the Fans division, titled RHAP Nation, breaks down into the following teams;
Rob Cesternino - Rob, the host of Rob Has A Podcast, heads the RHAP Nation division. Rob is one of the returning players in this year’s league having finished third in Year One. He started his draft with Matt Ryan, and took Darren McFadden after the turn. Rob has some promising young talent at Wide Receiver with Demaryius Thomas and Denarius Moore, and a veteran Wide Receiver at the Flex position with Reggie Wayne. He also has a deep bench (for a 20-team league), having promising rookie QB Russell Wilson. In the latest Big Brother eviction podcast with ESPN Fantasy Football Expert AJ Mass, AJ gave Rob a mention as one of the top drafting teams among the RHAP Nation division. In case you didn’t know, Rob also played on Survivor: Amazon, and made a brief semi-cameo appearance on Survivor: All Stars. You can follow Rob all season long on Twitter @RobCesternino">@RobCesternino. (ESPN Projected Points: 1159 [18th Overall])
TheeSoopNazee – Another returning player and the second team mentioned in AJ Mass’s analysis of the Best Fans Drafts, RHAP Live-Tweeter and Blogger TheeSoopNazee will act as the commissioner of the league in its second year. TheeSoopNazee had the last pick in the 20-team draft, taking Eli Manning off of the board and immediately taking Running Back Demarco Murray at the turn. TheeSoopNazee has star power in Manning, Murray, and Bowe, along with upside potential in Eric Decker and Kyle Rudolph. You can follow TheeSoopNazee this season on Twitter @TheeSoopNazee. (ESPN Projected Points: 1146 [19th Overall])
Lucas Hayes - The Creator of RHAFFL and Year One Commissioner, Lucas Hayes is known for his trade efforts. Lucas started his draft with Drew Brees at Quarterback and Steven Jackson in the 2nd, as well as taking Jordy Nelson, Aaron Hernandez, and Justin Blackmon later on in the draft. After the draft ended, Lucas traded the Patriots D/ST to TheeSoopNazee for the Broncos D/ST, with another trade pending. To follow Lucas and the trade talks that he brings to the league, follow him on Twitter @LucasHayes. (ESPN Projected Points: 1237 [14th Overall])
Frank Clark – Infamous RHAP commenter and Tweeter, Frank Clark is yet another returning player from last year’s league. Frank took a risky move in a 20-team league by not taking a Quarterback until he took Andrew Luck with the 73rd pick. Despite the lack of big-name Quarterback, Frank managed to draft a high level of skill at Running Back and Wide Receiver, drafting Chris Johnson, Doug Martin, AJ Green, and Torrey Smith. To follow all of the RHAFFL trash talk throughout the season, be sure to follow Frank on Twitter @BigFranky75. (ESPN Projected Points: 1180 [17th Overall])
Alex Forstenhausler – Alex is the brains behind the infamous Vinny Pastore interview during one of Rob’s Friggin’ 5 podcasts and a long time RHAP fan and contributor. Alex started his draft off with a bit of risk in Maurice Jones-Drew, the disgruntled Jaguars Running Back who at the time was in a month-long holdout with the Jags. Having just recently reported to camp, MJD leads a team that includes other starting Running Backs in Darren Sproles and Kevin Smith, along with Hakeem Nicks and Steve Johnson at Wide Receiver. Like Frank, Alex waited on taking a Quarterback having not drafted one until Ryan Fitzpatrick came off of the board with the 155th overall pick following Alex’s selection of the Texans D/ST. Follow the action with ForsCam all season long on Twitter @aforstenhausler. (ESPN Projected Points: 1395 [4th Overall])
Brian Richardson – Brian, aka The Principal, is the final returning player among the fans and is the Commissioner of the Rob Has A Fantasy Football Qualifying League. Brian has a co-owner on his team in the form of another Reality Star, Kristen Bredehoeft from Flipped Off. He received the 2nd overall pick where he took Arian Foster off the board. Brian later selected the handcuff to Foster, Ben Tate, and took a risk at Running Back with Ryan Mathews in the second round. Brian also has Ben Roesthlisberger, Jason Witten, and Brandon Weeden on his team. Follow Brian’s team on Twitter @brian28449. (ESPN Projected Points: 1457 [2nd Overall])
Tim Hiebert – Tim, a newcomer to RHAFFL, is a big RHAP Fan who also has an interesting career Statistical Analysis for the Winnipeg Jets (aka, The Jets That Don’t Suck). Despite being a rookie, Tim had a strong draft with Matt Forte, Michael Vick, and Victor Cruz coming off the board to him in the first three rounds. He also took New York Jets Running Back Shonn Greene and young rookie Running Back David Wilson of the New York Giants. Young talent was a theme of Tim’s draft as he also took Randall Cobb and Christian Ponder in the later rounds. You can follow Tim’s sports Tweets throughout the year @Tim_Hiebert. (ESPN Projected Points: 1311 [8th Overall])
Jordan Kalish- Jordan is another RHAFFL newbie, but has been with the podcast for quite some time. Throughout his years as a fan of the show, Jordan has blogged about the Celebrity Apprentice and appeared on a number of Webcasts, including the live coverage of the RHAFFL draft. After The Summer Of Gronk, Jordan was convinced that Tight End Rob Gronkowski was the man to take at the 15th position, and later took a chance on Future Hall-of-Fame Quarterback Peyton Manning. Assisting Jordan’s squad are Marques Colston, The Lawfirm Benjarvus Green-Ellis, and Saints Running Back Pierre Thomas. Jordan also took an interesting strategy and drafted two NFL Free Agents in Jabar Gaffney and Ryan Grant. You can follow Jordan on KalishCam to read his thoughts on RHAFFL and the Celebrity Apprentice throughout the year on Twitter @JordanKalish. (ESPN Projected Points: 1347 [5th Overall])
Marty Lublin – Marty, the final returnee among the Fans Division, was the runner-up in Year One of RHAFFL and had the Best Draft in the inaugural year. Things didn’t go Marty’s way in this year’s draft as he had the worst Draft based on ESPN projections. Despite having the worst projected season, Marty has a strong arsenal lead by Cam Newton and supported by Julio Jones, Antonio Gates, and Cedric Benson, giving him depth across the board. Marty set up an entire account for the purposes of RHAFFL, so be sure to follow him @KillReality2 on Twitter. (ESPN Projected Points: 1051 [20th Overall])
DawnsBread / Alex’s Big Mac – The final team of the Fan’s Division features two well-known Live-Tweeters in RHAP Nation; @DawnsBread and @AlexsBigMac. The Bread Alliance, as they are known in the league, took Detroit Lions Wide Receiver Calvin Johnson in the first, followed by Jamaal Charles and Ahmad Bradshaw to secure their Running Back position. Also off the board to the Bread Alliance were Jay Cutler, Brent Celek, and Nicole’s favorite NFLer, Jets QB Mark Sanchez. For Reality Show, RHAP, and RHAFFL live-tweets, check out the two “Dough Heads” on Twitter. (ESPN Projected Points: 1229 [16th Overall])
The Favorites
Consisting of ten of your favorite Reality TV and TV stars, the Favorites division, titled the Celebs That Suck, breaks down into the following teams;
Jonny Fairplay – The man you love to hate, Jonny Fairplay is best known for his appearance on Survivor: Pearl Islands, where he infamously told the other castaways that his grandmother had died to win the loved-ones challenge and use in future strategic decisions. There’s no lie this time (that we know of…) but there was plenty of trash talk coming from Team Fairplay during the live draft. In that draft, Fairplay pulled double duties by chatting in the ESPN Draftroom and taking Marshawn Lynch off the board at 14. Later in the draft Fairplay took Jimmy Graham, Steve Smith, Vincent Jackson, and Donald Brown to round out a strong roster. ESPN Fantasy Expert AJ Mass had this to say about Fairplay’s team in his Draft Recap, “I thought Fairplay did a good job with his team, he ended up with a pretty solid, even at each position kind of thing, and if everyone performs up to their standards Fairplay can compete in this league.” If you’re not following him already, check him out on Twitter @JonnyFairplay. (ESPN Projected Points: 1313 [7th Overall])
Shane Powers – Our next Reality Star in Year Two of RHAFFL is none other than Shane Powers himself. Shane was on “That Island Show” and gave a long-awaited interview regarding his time on that show to Rob on a famous edition of RHAP. According to ESPN, Shane had the best draft, and AJ Mass kept Shane’s momentum going by saying, ““I thought Kneel Before Zod, Shane Powers’ team, I like the look of that team. He’s got two really good RBs in Ray Rice and Frank Gore; Josh Freeman is a guy who was borderline top 10 for what we thought he was going to do last year and he kind of underwhelmed but he’s got a decent running game this season, and he’s got Vincent Jackson. He’s got Jeremy Maclin, Jermichael Finley, I think, again, the bench is not necessarily there for him, but his starting lineup is going to compete more weeks than not.” As AJ said, Shane was able to take Ray Rice with the 3rd Overall Pick in the Draft and came back to take Frank Gore and establish his RB position. Shane was also able to find depth at the other skill positions when he took New England Patriots Wide Receiver Brandon Lloyd and Eagles Receiver Jeremy Maclin in the following two rounds, before taking Jermichael Finley and Josh Freeman to solidify his offence. Shane also got a top D/ST with the Ravens. You can follow the League’s Top Drafter on Twitter @Theshanepowers. (ESPN Projected Points: 1416 [1st Overall])
Mike Skupin – The third Favorite to receive rave reviews from our resident Fantasy Football Expert AJ Mass is Mike Skupin, who famously appeared on Survivor: Australia, where he was MediVaced after inhaling smoke and falling into the tribe’s fire and will now be appearing on Survivor: Philippines this Fall. AJ Mass said that “I liked Skupin’s team. Aaron Rodgers, can’t go wrong with that. Brandon Marshall and Wes Welker, two solid WRs. Jacob Tamme has Peyton Manning throwing to him, so I think he’s got a really solid starting lineup. He’s a little light at RB, but everyone’s going to be light at RB in a 20-team league so I think he’ll be okay.” You can follow Skupin’s Fire, It’s Hot In Here! all season long on Twitter as he tweets about the league and the upcoming season @MikeSkupin. (ESPN Projected Points: 1294 [11th Overall])
Ashley Trainer – Our resident “Survivor Hottie,” Ashley competed on Survivor: Samoa, where she was one of the original members of Russell Hantz’s infamous “Dumbass Girl Alliance.” Ashley is back to disprove that label, and even appeared on the Live Broadcast of the Draft. Ashley started out by taking Minnesota Vikings star Running Back Adrian Peterson in the first, with Philip Rivers going to her in the second. Ashley took a huge leap of faith in the fourth round where she drafted the 49ers D/ST. Follow Ashley on Twitter @Ashley_Trainer to read about her thoughts on the league and the upcoming Survivor season. (ESPN Projected Points: 1234 [15th Overall])
David Murphy – Another Survivor from a Russell Hantz season, David was the lawyer who almost made his way into the “Steal R Us” alliance on Survivor: Redemption Island before being the first person voted out after the merge. David went back-to-back Wide Receivers with Greg Jennings and Roddy White in the first two rounds, followed by a Running Back and Quarterback in McGahee and Schaub. David also took a chance with injured Running Back Rashard Mendenhall and Dolphins Rookie Quarterback Ryan Tannehill. (ESPN Projected Points: 1277 [13th Overall])
Ryan Opray – Ryno who famously became known as Ryno during his time on Survivor: Pearl Islands, is probably best known for his attempted domestication of a pelican. Ryno took the David Murphy strategy of going with a Wide Receiver in the first, getting Andre Johnson at 19th Overall. He followed this up by taking rookies Trent Richardson and Robert Griffin III and also managed to get the Packers D/ST. For live updates from RynoCam follow him on Twitter @SpearmintRyno7. (ESPN Projected Points: 1295 [10th Overall])
Prime Time Alex Stein – The most memorable person from the “hit” TV Show The Glass House, and the person with the most podcast appearances in that past two months, Prime Time Alex Stein #99 is on the Grind and in RHAFFL. He took a risk with the 1st Overall Selection in the Draft by taking his former high school Quarterback, and creator of the name “Prime Time,” Matthew Stafford. AJ Mass did not like this move, and noted that Prime Time could be in trouble, but Alex was also able to get Dallas Wide Receivers Dez Bryant and Miles Austin at the Round 2 and 3 turn. Later on in the Draft, Alex took another Lions player in Brandon Pettigrew, and took a chance with former All Star Receivers Terrell Owens and Randy Moss. If you haven’t followed him on Twitter, get the latest on the Grind @alexstein. (ESPN Projected Points: 1336 [6th Overall])
Hayden Moss- Hayden, the winner of Big Brother 12 and member of one of the most dominating Big Brother Alliances ever, is the final returning favorite from last year’s league. Hayden put on a strong showing as he grabbed Cam Newton in the middle of last year’s draft, but with his boy off the board this year, Hayden went with Tony Romo in the first round, followed by Running Backs Michael Turner and Reggie Bush. Going down the Roster, he drafted DeSean Jackson and Anquan Boldin for his Wide Receivers. Hayden also took a chance on some young talent deeper in the draft as he took Blaine Gabbert, Mikel Leshoure, and Greg Little after rounding out his roster. Follow Hayden on Twitter for his thoughts on RHAFFL and the current season of Big Brother as it draws to a close @HaydenMoss. (ESPN Projected Points: 1279 [12th Overall])
Charlie O’Connell- Charlie was the star of the seventh season of The Bachelor who later starred in the TV series The Sliders. While ESPN projected Charlie’s starting lineup to gain the third most amount of points, his was among the two worst drafts as chosen by AJ Mass after having looked over the rosters. In his draft, Charlie waited on Quarterback until the 124th Overall Pick where he took Alex Smith, but led his draft class with LeSean McCoy, Larry Fitzgerald, and Mike Wallace in his first three selections. He also has Matt Cassel in his QB Committee, and Jonathan Stewart as his backup Running Back. (ESPN Projected Points: 1415 [3rd Overall])
Scott Porter- Scott is the only celebrity to not appear on Reality TV, having starred as Jason Street on the hit TV series Friday Night Lights. Scott is a huge Survivor fan who has also appeared on Bandslam, Caprica, and The Good Wife. Scott’s team autpicked Tom Brady in the first round before Scott himself drafted Fred Jackson, Percy Harvin, and Antonio Brown while still getting value after four rounds in Peyton Hillis and Rashad Jennings. You can also check Scott out on the Live Draft Broadcast as he gave his thoughts and analyzed the selections as they came. Follow Scott on Twitter @ScottPorter to hear about the league and his upcoming projects. (ESPN Projected Points: 1302 [9th Overall])
The Big Games
Week One: Soop vs. Hayes- The Past and Present Commissioners (and the only people to trade so far) go head-to-head Week One after a very competitive game was decided by Matt Cassel getting negative points in last year’s league.
Week Four: Fairplay vs. Ryno – The former Survivor: Pearl Islands contestants go head-to-head after trash-talking in the Draft Chatroom weeks earlier.
Week Nine: Fairplay vs. Powers – The two best drafts as awarded by AJ Mass and ESPN Projections respectively go head-to-head for what could be the deciding game in the Favorites’ division.
Week Ten: Porter vs. Powers – During the Live Draft Broadcast, Shane Powers roasted Scott’s team, which lit a fire under Scott in the chatroom. This rivalry in the making could be another deciding game close to the end of the season for the Favorites.
Further Links
To follow along with all of the football action happening at RHAP this year, be sure to follow the league and participate in other Fantasy Games hosted by RHAP for ultimate bragging rights!
www.robhasawebsite.com/fantasy – The RHAFFL League Homepage
www.robhasawebsite.com/PickEm – The Official RHAP Pick ‘Em League (Open to public)
http://games.espn.go.com/ffl/leagueoffice?leagueId=161542&seasonId=2012 – The RHAFFL Qualifier
www.robhasawebsite.com/Eliminator - The RHAP Eliminator Challenge
