Ep 9: Week 9 - Requiem for a Dream & The In-Season Tournament is a HUGE Hit

It's Week 9 in the OBFFL, and this is the point where contenders separate, pretenders panic, and someone inevitably blames "bye weeks" for their collapse. Week 8 brought chaos, heartbreak, and a few miracle wins no one deserved. Standings are tight, the takes are hotter, and the group chat never sleeps. Here to break it down this week is Alec Swiecinski of Andy Reid's Fupa & Dom Schlabach of You Sanu'z You Lose

Welcome back to 5th & Long, the only fantasy podcast where our waiver strategy is just blind hope and a $9 bid. The league's heating up, the group chat's getting toxic, and at least one owner definitely thinks "IR" stands for "I Retired." Let's break down Week 8 — where dreams are made, trades are butchered, and someone's definitely liable to start a guy on bye.

This week I'm joined by two esteemed team owners, Andrew Martin of the Jim Bob Cooters & Morgan McBride of Bishop Backers. We unpack what went down in Week 6 and what's to come in the heated matchups in Week 7 as teams prepare for the in-season tournament. 

The Gargoyles remain the last unbeaten at 5–0, but the Big Train and Micah Hyde Yo Kids are right behind at 4–1. Hoop Dreams drops a second straight, while the middle of the league is gridlocked with 3–2 teams fighting to rise. Down at 1–4, it's desperation mode. The Bishop Backers, Kiss of Deaf, and a few others are running out of time to turn it around. Trades are flying, waiver bids are getting weird, and the Listener Mailbag is heating up with some tough questions.  

Four weeks down and the league is officially a pressure cooker. The Gargoyles are the lone unbeaten at 4–0, Hoop Dreams finally got tripped up, and the middle of the pack is jammed with teams clawing for separation. At the bottom, it's chaos — five different squads are sitting at 1–3, all desperate to avoid sinking into the cellar. And joining me to break it all down are two owners right in the thick of it - Josh Hooper of Hoop Dreams and Greg White of Kiss of Deaf.

Three weeks gone, and the league is already turning into a battlefield. The undefeated squads are strutting, the winless teams are panicking, and the rest are just hanging on for dear life. Hoop Dreams and the Azure Gargoyles have stormed out to perfect 3–0 starts, while Colonel Sanders Was Offsides and the Bishop Backers are stuck in the basement at 0–3, wondering if this season is already slipping away. Micah Hyde Yo Kids pulled off a statement win, Andy Reid's FUPA finally got into the win column, and Los Gallegos look like they're heating up at just the right time. But with injuries stacking up around the league and waiver-wire bidding wars about to break out, Week 4 is shaping up to be the one where contenders and pretenders start to separate for good.

Two weeks in the books, and we're already seeing some serious separation. The undefeated are getting cocky, the winless are getting desperate, and everyone else is just trying to figure out what the hell is going on. Hoop Dreams and YSYL are perfect through 2 weeks while teams like Andy Reid's FUPA and Colonel Sanders Was Offsides are staring down the barrel of an 0-3 start that could derail their entire season.

The honeymoon phase is officially over, folks. Those perfect draft grades from two weeks ago? They're looking a little shakier now. Week 1 winners are trying to prove it wasn't a fluke, while the 0-1 crowd is desperately searching for answers before panic mode sets in full swing.   Meanwhile, the waiver wire vultures are already circling, the trade rumors are heating up, and the trash talk is reaching peak midseason intensity and we're only in Week 2!   Joining me today is the man who keeps this beautiful chaos organized: Commissioner Steve Skarsten of Los Gallegos.  

After a long offseason, the official podcast of the Ohio Beta Fantasy Football League is back! Draft weekend is in the books, the teams are set, and now the real fun begins. Across the league, owners spent the past few weeks jockeying for draft position, pulling off bold picks, and rolling the dice on sleepers that could make—or break—their season. With Week 1 just around the corner, optimism is sky-high, trash talk is already in midseason form, and everyone believes this is their year… at least for now.   On today's episode, we're breaking down all the action from draft weekend, handing out some draft grades, and looking ahead at those critical opening matchups. And joining me is none other than Morgan McBride of the Bishop Backers, ready to weigh in on who nailed their draft, who's already in trouble, and what to watch for as the season kicks off. Let's get into it.