The 2021 Fantasy Football Expo is in the books.
This year’s Expo was unbelievable. Bob Lung’s hard work paid off tremendously with a huge turnout – over six times more people than the first year – which included the Mayor of Canton and an Ohio Senator.
The festivities for us started with Draft Night Out at the Double Tree Hotel. Six divisions simultaneously drafted from noon to 4:00 pm. The divisions were named after some of our favorite sitcoms: Seinfeld, Saved by the Bell, Fresh Prince, The Office, The Simpsons and Friends. The winner of each division will receive a custom ring from Trophy Smack.
Don is in the Friends division, a highly talented group of people, including another member of the Sirius XM Fantasy Sports Radio’s Ring of Honor League (where Don was named The Most Passionate Listener of the Decade). Dennis, who was The Most Knowledgeable Listener, traveled to Canton from Milwaukee for the weekend events. It was fun to meet Dennis in person, and a little ironic that he and Don ended up in the same division.
At halftime during the draft, all of the divisions competed in a gameshow. Friends won the grand prize – a round of ice cold beer. The draft was pure, utter chaos and a super fun time.
After the draft we had a few hours to check-in at our hotel and go to dinner before heading out to Jerzee’s Cafe in Centennial Plaza in downtown Canton. When we arrived a little after 7:00, The Expo Party was already in full swing, complete with leis, free drink tickets, koozies, cigars, cups and The Browns Preseason Game on the big screen at the green! Some of the experts we talked to included Bob Harris, Michael Fabiano, Mike Clay, Fantasy Mojo, and, of course, the Man of the Weekend, Bob Lung.
The Fantasy community is an amazing group of folks and we enjoyed each and every person we visited with. Fellow Fantasy Football Couple, Omar and Jamie were so much fun to talk to – their enthusiasm is contagious and Jamie might have talked me into competing in the Draft Night Out League next year.
One of the highlights of the weekend was meeting Scott Fish, and talking to him at the Expo Party and the Expo. Scott brought charity into Fantasy Football with The Scott Fish Bowl, the largest charity league in the world. Scott has inspired many others to run charity leagues, including Troy Norris who runs the Smack Down Sports Legends League that we are in. Don has attempted to get into The Scott Fish Bowl three times, and we hope he will get into the league next year. Fingers crossed.
The Expo Party rocked on until midnight and we were up bright and early Sunday morning to get ready to head to the Expo. Unbeknownst to us, Bob Harris and Michael Fabiano stayed at the same hotel we did. We ran into Bob at breakfast and, before we knew it, we had the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to drive two Fantasy Football rockstars, not only to the Expo, but also to their hotel in downtown Cleveland!
The Fantasy Football Expo was jam-packed with celebrities. Beginning with a four-man panel consisting of Bob Harris, Michael Fabiano, Andy Behrens and Patrick Daugherty giving advice and answering questions for an hour and a half, the Expo featured over 50 vendors: podcasters, experts, and one of our new favorites, Trophy Smack.
You might have seen Trophy Smack on Shark Tank where they landed a huge deal with Mark Cuban. They were already incredibly successful, but with the help of Cuban, their company has grown like crazy. Check out their website Trophy Smack for the best custom fantasy sports trophies, rings, and belts. Their loser trophies – toilet seats – are almost worth losing for!
The atmosphere was electric; the crowd was energized; the Expo was EPIC. Bob Lung had a dream, he built it, and we all came. Every single detail of the weekend was perfect, even down to the most unpredictable aspect – the weather. If ever there was a person who could create an unparalleled Fantasy Football event, it was Bob Lung. We have already marked next year’s Expo date on our calendar and couldn’t be more excited for Bob’s success.
The day wasn’t over! We had the privilege of driving Bob Harris and Michael Fabiano to Cleveland. As we were eating at The Corner Alley on Euclid Avenue in downtown Cleveland, I said that I couldn’t believe we were eating lunch with the two of them. Bob Harris replied that it seemed normal to him, that he often has lunch with friends. This sums up the nature of Harris and Fabiano. They are down-to-earth and truly the best of the best. We are honored to have spent the afternoon with them, and it is a day we will never forget.
A weekend we will never forget.
