The Kenosha Dons Fantasy Football League (KDFFL) just completed their annual fantasy football draft this past Sunday at Masons Pub and Eatery. This is no average fantasy football league since this group has been participating in this league for 28 years. To give it some perspective, this league is older than the worldwide web. Not fantasy football on-line either, the actual the web itself being publicly debuted as an Internet service. Sinead O’Connor was still two years away from ripping up a picture of the Pope and the Houston Oilers proved to be 20 years ahead of their time by breaking out the famous “Run and Shoot” offense behind Warren Moon.
And a bunch of Dons decided “hey, let’s do a fantasy league”. It should be mentioned that Kenosha, WI has always been on the forefront of Fantasy Sports. Former Kenoshan Jeff Thomas was absolutely a founding father and on the cutting edge of what is known today as fantasy sports so Kenosha was always a place where fantasy sports has flourished. Said league Recording Secretary, owner of The Players Club and creator of The Players Club Magazine, Darren (BDW) McGonegle “we started out with 10 guys and have advanced the league to a 16 team, superflex, keeper league. We’ve been doing this since ladies were wearing Jordache jeans and dudes were wearing Air Jordan VI”.
Managing a league such as the KDFFL is no easy task as confirmed by League Commissioner and owner of The Lynchburg Brownbaggers, Kevin (K) Smith, “The KDFFL started in 1990, the year I got married and if you think keeping a marriage together for 28 years is a challenge, try keeping 16 Dons together in a fantasy league for that same 28 years. That is quite an accomplishment and I’m guessing that would put us in the top 10% in the country for longevity. I’ve never met someone who has been in one longer”.
So the Dons and the rest of the Fantasy Football playing general public brace for the 2018 version of the fantasy season with equal parts optimism and enthusiasm. And as the league trucks towards three decades of existence, there is no sign of slowing down for this group. The KDFFL is everything that is sacred about a fantasy league with friends. It is long-term..it is competitive..it allows for wonderful smack-talking opportunities and maybe most importantly, it keeps a bunch of Dons banded together for life.