Jake Stephens, he of “Napoleon Dynamite” fame stars in certainly the best and funniest fantasy basketball ad campaign ever. ESPN’s fantasy basketball ads feature Stephens (who apparently has some serious access to much-wanted mobile phone numbers) exhorting his charges to, you know, win one for the fantasy team.
Oct
Oct
21
BallinEurope fantasy basketball league now open
All right, Euroleague fantasy basketball fans: The BallinEurope Invitational League is now accepting teams. Simply send an email to ballineurope@yahoo.com or reply in the comments section of this post. I’ll send out invites right through to Sunday, with the first deadline for roster changes coming on Monday.
The rules are as follows:
– No multiple teams. Okay, if you must have two teams, i’ll allow it but please do not fill the table with 16 of your own teams.
That’s it. We will be awarding the top finisher with … something. Probably Euroleague Final Four paraphernalia, but BiE’ll let you know when something is officially arranged.
The bad news is that Javier Gancedo’s ever-popular fantasy column will not be running here this season, as his employers at Euroleague.net requested that they publish it instead – what nerve, eh? (Just kidding, league folks; you know BiE loves ya…)
You can follow Javier’s tips ‘n’ tricks at Euroleague.net; here’s a link to his page on the website and you’ll also find a permalink under the “What We’re Reading” column. Javi has promised he’ll be joining the BiE league, so look out, everyone!
Good luck to all contenders and, um, show a little mercy to the worst fantasy sports player ever, namely me, okay? Ah, didn’t think so…
Oct
4
Euroleague fantasy basketball challenge opens
All right, folks, it’s on! Ol’ Javier over at Euroleague must have been cranking out the numbers all weekend and can now announce that the SportingBet Euroleague Fantasy Challenge game is open for business for the 2010-11 season!
BallinEurope will be hosting a couple of leagues again this season; details will be forthcoming as soon as BiE gets a few moments…
Good luck, y’all, and try to have a little sympathy for yours truly’s pathetic squad, okay? (Yeah, surrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrre…)
Mar
2
BallinEurope-related news items (including, yes, prizes for fantasy league winners)
A few in-house items to announce to readers this morning:
• First, the moment you’ve all been waiting for: Yes, there will be prizes for the winners of the BallinEurope Invitational Challenge. An honorary gold medal today – no, that’s *not* the prize; i haven’t decided what the prize is yet – goes to Radallo. Radallo’s BAZ_&_MEZ outdid Meet The Boss’ well-publicized risk-taking lineup in the last week by a score of 173.2-150.8 and thus widened his lead atop the table.
"Basketball" by John Robertson
Mar
4
Fantasy tips from the Euroleague boss: Final week
Langford: He upon whom the Boss' hopes are pinned
Hello everybody, greetings from the Euroleague Basketball headquarters! This is Javier Gancedo of Euroleague.net, in what possibly will be my last SportingBet Fantasy Challenge column this season.
If you want to keep me on the page in the fantasy off-season, make some noise! Start a riot! Go to Budapest and demonstrate in front of Os Davis’ home, wherever it is! Just kidding: It has been a pleasure to give you my impressions on the game. It has been a terrific fantasy season, after all, I just hope you enjoyed reading this column as much as I did writing it.
So the Top 16 comes to an end this week, which means the game will be over on Thursday. On one hand, I can’t complain – no more waiting until 3am to open the game after a long Euroleague/Eurocup week – but on the other hand … of course, I’ll miss it. Still, with one week to go I have a chance to win the BallinEurope Invitational Challenge private league…
Mar
1
Important note for “Euroleague Fantasy Boss” fans
To all enthusiasts of the Euroleague fantasy basketball columns of “The Boss,” Javier Gancedo:
Javier has, in fact, already submitted his column (and thus made changes to his own fantasy team), but has requested that said column not be posted until 6pm, something about “sick of always finishing second” or something, suspects BallinEurope…
In any case, you’re on your own for this week, folks! Check back here at 6 o’clock to see what Meet The Boss looks like for the final week of Euroleague Top 16 fantasy play.
Mar
7
Fantasy tips from the Euroleague Boss: Top 16, week five
Teletovic rocked for the Boss last week
Hello everybody, this is once again Javier Gancedo of Euroleague.net, ready for yet another SportingBet Euroleague Fantasy Challenge week. There are two more weeks in the Top 16. The good news is that it is being extraordinary. Nobody would have predicted that no teams would be 100% qualified after four weeks and that the only one eliminated from the playoff race would be defending champion Panathinaikos.
More good news … of course, the Quarterfinal Playoff will be fantastic and we are heading to a great, great Final Four. Once again, the perfect combination exists: a great, universally loved city, a first-class basketball event and four very good teams fighting for the ultimate title. The bad news, however, is that we only have two more weeks in the Fantasy Challenge. What will we fantasy players all do in the meantime? It’s a long wait until next October, after all…
Anyway, as for my team, Meet the Boss, I had a so-so week with 144.8 points. Just when I could have reached first place in the BallinEurope Invitational Challenge, I ranked 21st in the private league this week. The private league leader is samwong, who has 53.1 points more than me … but I rank 4th, so it’s going to be tough. Still, of course, I will do my best.
Feb
12
Fantasy tips from the Euroleague boss: Final 16, week four
Does The Boss go with Pekovic...
Hello again and welcome back! This is Javier Gancedo of Euroleague.net ready to discuss week four of the Top 16 in the SportingBet Euroleague Fantasy Challenge. The game is coming to an end: Just three weeks remain to find out who will be our special guest at the 2010 Final Four in Paris. There is quite a race atop the overall standings, with no fewer than 10 teams with good chances to win it all. As for the BallinEurope Invitational Challenge, it has been a pivotal week because our previous leader eurofootball left his team open and did not get any points in Top 16 Week 3. If you don’t win the private league, Rafi, you will be the winner in my eyes at least. That left me second in the private league standings against all odds. Anything can happen from now on.
Unless something really strange happens, this week will be the last one in which all 16 teams still have a chance to make it to the next round. From now on, different rotations may take place and little-used players could step on court. Not this week, however, so let’s see how my team looks…
Feb
6
Fantasy tips from the Euroleague Boss: Final 16, week three
Archibald: The Boss pins hopes on mate
Hello, everybody, and greetings from Euroleague headquarters! This is Javier Gancedo of Euroleague.net, ready to give you all some thoughts about our very own Sporting Bet Euroleague Fantasy Challenge – with just four rounds to go in the competition.
First and foremost, what an exciting Top 16 this is! If anyone had thought that CSKA Moscow, Olympiacos, Partizan and Asseco Prokom would be the four undefeated teams after two rounds, nobody would have believed him. The Top 16 has provided surprises, excitement, incredible action and outstanding drama. The NBA would *kill* to have all this in mid-February: that which makes us strong. Euroleague – and also Eurocup – competitions are as exciting as they can be, and everything will get better from now on. Every single game counts. From now on, every single basket will be decisive in most games…
As for fantasy basketball … well, I had an OK week, I guess. My team Meet the Boss ranks 508th overall, is in fourth place in the BallinEurope Invitational Challenge, but I can only finish second overall because our good man Eurofootball is unstoppable. I have been second in the previous two editions of this Ball in Europe private league.
Feb
7
Fantasy tips from the Euroleague boss: Final 16, week two
Pekovic: The Boss' buddy
Hello everybody, this is once again Javier Gancedo, as always from Euroleague Basketball. Well, it was not a bad fantasy week for my team, Meet The Boss. I scored 166.2 points, moved up into the Top 600 overall, was the best team this week in the BallinEurope Invitational Challenge private league and now rank fifth in the global standings. Things could be worse, after all.
This will be an outstanding Top 16 week. First of all, we have Maccabi hosting Madrid, which is a hell of a game by all means; this marks the 40th showdown between both teams in European club competitions (all in the Euroleague, unless I’m mistaken). Then we have Zalgiris-CSKA and Partizan-Regal FCB with strong basketball atmospheres: Big games all over the continent! In other words, if you are a Euroleague fan, it’s time to sit back and enjoy an outstanding basketball week. Of course, if you are a diehard fan of any of the 16 teams alive in the competition, you won’t sit back and relax. It’s all part of what’s known around here as DEVOTION.
