2019 Off-Season: Introducing the Joe Mac Invitational

## Introduction

Good afternoon, minions. Commish here. Long time no writeup. After less than half the league voted in the poll from the last writeup I decided that I was going to take a break from off-season posts. It was obvious to me that the crew needed a break from the LOC, and I decided to honor that in lieu of wasting my time and writing things that no one was reading. I get it. Hours of counseling later and I still haven't come to terms with how the best team ever assembled in the history of fantasy sports came in 3rd. But I digress.

Circumstances arose that were impossible to ignore and I needed to make a statement as commander in chief. First some league stuff:

## Off-Season Competition

The standings haven't changed because the NHL competition is still going on but needless to say no one did well except Zach and kind of me. I had the Bruins winning it all but they were the only team of mine to make it out of the first round so NOT GREAT JOHN. Will update with my next post.

## LOC

The draft is in less than three months, so I will soon be releasing the 2019 schedule (which I completed in April like a crazy person) and we will do a Naming Tournament in July.

* **The draft for LOC is Sunday, 8/25, at 8pm.** It's two weeks before the NFL season starts.
* Keepers will be due the weekend before that **(8/18)**. That's three weeks before the season.

* The LOC Draft order will be finalized at the beginning of August and Shotti will select the order of the first four picks out of himself, RIP, Bell, and Momma.

* Dues are due. Just fucking pay them. Every year it's like pulling teeth. Just do it. You pay through Yahoo, same as always.

## LXC

Like I said, only half the league read the last writeup I posted, which was discouraging but also signified that an early LXC draft was not in the interests of a majority of the people playing. I'm fine with that. I think in general drafting right after the NFL draft is a good idea for dynasty leagues. But maybe an end of June/early July draft will be just the same.

With a vote of 4-0, with 6 abstaining, we are going to be making the move over to Sleeper. It is a far superior app/website for fantasy and I think LXC will mightily benefit from the transition. LOC will remain on Yahoo.

The part I am figuring out is how to transfer over our rosters. In the next week or so I will get down the technical stuff and then we can move forward with selecting a date to draft for LXC. For those who have not played dynasty, it is not a typical draft. There will be 4-7 rounds and you will be selecting from the batch of rookies and FA's, while keeping your 2018 teams virtually intact. I will work with our LXC President Butt Buttington on all this.

But that is not the reason I am writing to you guys today.

## Introducing the Joe Mac Invitational

As you all know by now, a member of our league experienced an incredible tragedy last Monday. Paddock 9 lost his father in a sudden and unexpected fashion. As I write this at my desk, it still does not feel real. Joe Mac wasn't only a good dad, he was also a good friend, husband, grandfather, Coors drinker, war hero, napper, pug kicker, Redskin fanatic and Red Sox watcher. Joe Mac was hilarious. He was kind. He was welcoming to all. I could go on and on.He will be missed by all who knew him.

In trying to reconcile with this terrible event, I was reminded of the tragedy that once befell my own father. He was Patrick's age, 27, when he lost his dad. My grandfather was a WWII veteran, sort of like how Joe Mac was a veteran of the Vietnam War. My dad always tells me he's "going to visit the REAL man" when he goes to see my grandfather's grave at the Veteran's Cemetery. Patrick has expressed a similar sentiment about Joe Mac, remarking that he hoped to be half the man he was. With all this swirling around in my head, it became obvious to me that Patrick and the McAteer clan will not only make it through this, but be stronger as a result. I mean look at my dad, he not only made it through but went on to be a Glory Bowl Champion.

In any case, I felt like the LOC needed to do a little something in honor of Joe Mac and those like him.

Introducing the Joe Mac Invitational: an annual game between two select teams taking place on week five of the LOC season. Why week five? Because as I said earlier, Joe Mac was a big time Redskins fan. In week five of this season the Redskins will be playing the Patriots. Fittingly enough, Paddock 9 and Papa's Posse are scheduled to face each other for the first and only time in 2019 on week five. It only seems right that the inaugural Joe Mac Invitational will be played by Paddock 9 and Papa's Posse.

What makes the Joe Mac Invitation special? 10% of the final combined score of the game will be donated to the Wounded Warriors Project in Joe Mac's name. I know it won't amount to much, but hopefully it encourages everyone to remember those who we have lost, and to actively love the ones we have yet to lose.

## Conclusion

That's all I have for now. Obviously we have a lot of league business to attend to over the next couple of months. The consolation tournament isn't going to name itself. So keep tuning in and let me know if you have any suggestions for the upcoming year. Now is the time to speak up!

See everyone soon. Commish out!