a blog by Rick Lavoie

As someone who has played Fantasy Football for years, I can attest to the thrill of competing against friends, family, and coworkers. However, there’s a new league in town that I believe can offer an even more exciting experience: fantasy wrestling.

Now, I know what you might be thinking: “But wrestling isn’t real!” And while it’s true that the outcomes of matches are predetermined, that doesn’t mean it’s any less entertaining. In fact, the world of professional wrestling is full of over-the-top characters, dramatic storylines, and unexpected twists and turns – all of which make for an incredible fantasy league.

So why should everyone in the MIPPA Fantasy Football league switch to fantasy wrestling? Here are just a few reasons:

1. The 1980s wrestling era was legendary.

There’s no denying that the 1980s was a golden age of professional wrestling. This was the era of Hulk Hogan, Andre the Giant, Macho Man Randy Savage, and countless other iconic wrestlers. By creating a fantasy league that only includes characters from this era, you can tap into the nostalgia of your youth and relive some of the most memorable moments in wrestling history.

2. The characters are larger than life.

One of the things that makes wrestling so captivating is the characters themselves. From the heroic underdogs to the villainous heels, each wrestler has their own unique personality, backstory, and motivations. By drafting these characters onto your fantasy team, you’re not just picking players – you’re building a roster of larger-than-life personalities that are sure to make for some epic matchups.

3. The drama is unbeatable.

Sure, there’s plenty of drama in football – but it pales in comparison to the soap opera-esque storylines of wrestling. From feuds that last for months to sudden betrayals and surprise returns, the world of professional wrestling is always full of unexpected twists and turns. By creating a fantasy league that follows these storylines, you’re not just watching matches – you’re fully immersed in the drama and intrigue of the wrestling world.

4. The possibilities are endless.

Unlike football, where the rules are pretty straightforward, wrestling is a world where anything can happen. You could have a match that involves wrestlers fighting in a steel cage, or one that takes place in a graveyard. You could have a tag team match where the partners are chosen at random, or a match where the loser has to leave the wrestling world forever. By creating a fantasy wrestling league, you have the freedom to come up with your own unique match types and stipulations, which can make for some truly unforgettable moments.

Now, I know that some of you might still be skeptical. After all, wrestling isn’t for everyone, and it’s not exactly a “serious” sport. But that’s precisely why it’s so much fun. By embracing the over-the-top, often ridiculous world of wrestling, you’re giving yourself permission to let loose and enjoy the ride. And isn’t that what fantasy leagues are all about?

So, to everyone in the MIPPA Fantasy Football league – I challenge you to prove me wrong. Try out a fantasy wrestling league using characters from the 1980s, and see if it doesn’t become your new favorite pastime. Who knows? You might just find that you enjoy it even more than football.

Challenge: Create a Fantasy Wrestling Roster and Stage a Mock PPV

To start, each member should create their own fantasy wrestling roster made up of characters from the 1980s wrestling era. They can do this using any method they choose – whether it’s a draft or simply selecting their favorite wrestlers.

Once each member has their roster, they should use it to stage a mock pay-per-view event. This can be done in any way the members see fit – whether it’s through written stories, drawings, or even video reenactments.

During the event, each member should write a storyline that leads up to their main event matchup. The main event should be between two wrestlers from different rosters, and the winner should be determined by a vote from the rest of the league. Each member should present their storyline in a way that’s engaging and exciting, using their own creativity to make their characters come to life.

To make things more interesting, there should be a punishment for the member who receives the least votes for their main event matchup. The punishment? They must film themselves performing a wrestling entrance – complete with music, costume, and over-the-top theatrics. This video should be shared with the rest of the league, and it should be good enough to make even the biggest wrestling fans laugh.

By participating in this challenge, the members of the MIPPA Fantasy Football league can experience the excitement and creativity that comes with fantasy wrestling. Who knows – they may just become lifelong fans of the sport!

A Vent, by Rick Lavoie

I am not going to lie. I’ve been in a funk recently. Not an, “I am cutting myself” kind of funk, but a funk nonetheless. When I am feeling a little depressed, I usually cope with three different mechanisms. First, I eat wildly out of control. Second, I buy tech devices that I don’t need and don’t know how to use. Thirdly, I reminisce. I have been looking back a lot, recently. And I am shocked by what we’ve become!!!

We had a tumultuous close to our season this year. It was rough, especially because my team sucked and I wasn’t on the inside track for winning any cash or a free meal at the draft. I have said, several times recently, that I am not really feeling the Fantasy Football vibe anymore. I think it’s because we’ve become complacent as a league. This retrospective vent will aim at righting part of that sinking ship!

Reminiscing helps me build clarity and thinking about the past makes me hopeful for the future. This coping mechanism helps me avoid pitfalls and making the same mistake twice. My first step towards reminiscing was downloading all of the episodes of the MIPPACast to my favorite podcast app. I am currently working my way through Episode 4 where in the first five minutes, Will used the word “cocksure.”

I chortled at the ease in which the word flowed from his mouth! Ever the wordsmith, Will, Seth, and John made some amazing points regarding the upcoming Patriots/Chargers AFC Championship game in 2019. It is fun listening to the guys chat about games that I know the outcome to! While this walk down memory lane provided moments which excited my mirth, I have also noted a subtle trend in each of the first four episodes. I have been the butt of repeated jokes…mainly by Seth, but Jon has also hopped on the bandwagon too. Most of these are at the expense of myself and my brand new puppy, at the time, Monty. Although, at the end of episode #3, the crew (with Champ Champ Adams) relished the fact that my Christmas spirit had been obliterated by local teens cutting the wires to my Xmas lights.

None of the lighthearted jabs actually hurt my feelings as I listened to these podcasts a second time. In fact, the vent isn’t about being bullied by my supposed friends. The vent is that we did stuff…as a group…from time to time.

The Bourbon Bowl no longer exists. Memorial Day Softball dwindled down to hardly enough guys to play a full game. Poker mucked its hand and folded a long time ago. Sadly, the MIPPAcast hardly makes new content and even the MIPPABlog has less traffic than ever before.

Our memory of the past is highlighted with ups and downs. I think, as Shakespeare once said, “The evil that men do lives after them, while the good is oft interred with their bones.” As I think about those days, I smile. Covid sucked. All of our lives present new complications that stand in the way of “the old days,” but I’d love to try and find a way to rekindle some of the magic that you all have brought to my life.

I suggested earlier in this post that I was hoping to ‘right the ship’ tonight. I should have said, I hope to start the process of righting the ship because boats can’t turn on a dime. I hope that new MIPPACast Episodes start coming out soon. I hope that we can bring back MIPPA Poker Nights in America. I hope that we can begin to find some time to make new memories.

In that vein…

I propose a bi-monthly MIPPA meet and greet. I think I will call it the MIPPA Brew and Review. Every other month, available MIPPA members will meet at a centrally located, but ever rotating local brewery. We will order tasty bevvies, maybe bring the kids/dogs, and cherish the good times. The Review can happen on future episodes of the MIPPAcast so everyone can be part of the fun, even if it is digitally. I just bought a new Go Pro…if I can figure out how to use it, then we can even livestream our thoughts on the best beers!

I also propose trying to kickstart a new tradition for the fall…assuming that we can find a way to make Memorial Day Softball (or a reasonable facsimile) start up again.

My initial thought is MIPPAFrolf. Frolf, by the way, is a vernacular portmanteau of Frisbee and Golf. It should be easy to pick a weekend in the fall in which a good number of us can congregate with some Disc Golf. This “sport” is another family friendly event which all types can enjoy. The ‘clubs’ are cheap enough, the green’s fees are affordable. The commune with nature is totally an Autumn tradition waiting to happen. We can even coincide MIPPAFrolf with a MIPPA Brew and Review. I promise that I will even try to learn how to use my new drone to fly overhead and take some amazing shots of us taking less spectacular shots!

So…here you go Friends! A new MIPPABlog post. One where I reminisce, and vent, and propose new ideas. I hope some of you are on board…if not, no worries. It is all good. Either way, you’ll probably be hearing from me a little more often on this platform!

By Rick Lavoie

A funny thing happened to me today while walking along the Breakheart Reservation. My Podcast, Business Wars, ended. I grabbed my phone and turned on the Podcast Addict app and hit refresh. A little notification appeared above the MIPPAcast logo. I added it to my playlist and continued my walk.

Listening to myself, and others chat about MIPPAchat, made me chuckle…but it also made me think. How lucky are we to live in the age of podcasts? It’s not just because our FF league produces such great content, but it is also because of the options we have for our listening pleasure.

I’ve driven to Houlton, Maine on numerous occasions. It is way up County on the Canadian border. It is basically the end of I-95 and in the midst of potato country. Along the lonely highway, there are no cell phone towers and radio reception is bleak. Satellite might work, but who pays for that, right! On my most recent journey up that way, I didn’t worry. I pulled over in Bangor and downloaded a few episodes of my favorite cast…and then I went north again. A similar scenario popped up while White Water Rafting with Eric Cyphers. I was about to go off grid, so I downloaded Serial and continued my trip. Two summers ago, I drove to Key West. Podcasts accompanied my journey.

I love TV. I am a huge fan of blogs. I think that Podcasts are the best form of media today and I believe nothing supports the concept of individual freedom more than a man and his podcast playlist. In the middle of the September, in 2015, I posted an innocent enough query about podcasts:

Of all the suggestions that day, it was Lore that resonated the most. It is a short episode podcast where the host explores the origins of folklore stories. He is from the north shore and there are definitely more New England stories on the show. One of my favorites dealt with HH Holmes.

https://www.lorepodcast.com/episodes/8

Shortly after finding Lore, I discovered the Skeptics Guide to the Universe. I wanted to find a podcast to help me develop my conspiracy class further and this weekly science and critical thinking based podcast struck a chord with me. I ended up kind of binge-listening to the 700+ episodes. It only took me about 3.5 years to catch up. I am actually a Patreon supporter of the SGU.

Lore and the Skeptics Guide are among my favorites, but I’ve tried out many others:

Criminal – Short episodes, these usually focus on obscure crimes scattered across the US. Some are unsolved mysteries, some are amazing stories of redemption, and others are more forensic in nature. https://thisiscriminal.com/episode-15-hes-neutral

Small Town Murder – I just started to listen to two comedians retelling the horrific murders that occur in America’s smallest towns. Every episode begins with a disclaimer…if you’ve got a weak stomach and don’t think humor and murder go together, just skip this one.

https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/crime-in-sports/small-town-murder/e/48976857

Hub History – Another new one for me. It is short episodes that deal with untold stories of Boston’s past. They also have a “this week in Boston” segment.

http://www.hubhistory.com/episodes/episode-5-secret-nazis-boston-harbor/

The Memory Palace – Super short episodes containing little known stories from America’s past told in an artistic kind of way. http://thememorypalace.us/2015/08/notes-on-an-imagined-plaque/

I could go on and on, but its getting late. I have about 5-6 different podcasts queue’d up on my podcast app. They aren’t all the same type of content, but they are all me. It is amazing that I can so easily put together hours of free entertainment and make them available to me 24 hours a day anywhere across the world. I literally have listened to the SGU in four continents and over 20 countries. While the internet is a gateway to these podcasts, the casts themselves have revolutionized the way we tell stories, the way we hear the news, and the way we educate ourselves.

The MIPPAcast hasn’t yet become the powerful multi-national conglomerate that it is destined to become, but it has allowed me to connect with my friends in an exciting new platform. I wish I found podcasts earlier than 2015, but I am glad I eventually made the leap.

What are your favorite podcasts? What do you think of mine? Leave some comments below:

By Rick Lavoie

I believe it was Aesop Rock, on his side project with Tobacco, that first said, “A Rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” This edition of A MIPPA Retrospective dives deep into the hairy subject of the names, scents, and stories associated with our fine divisions. It isn’t for the faint-hearted…so read with caution.

The MIPPA Fantasy Football League is a 14 team keeper league with two divisions; Mints and Sundowner. Most of our readers are probably aware that these divisional names come straight out of Canada.

Many moons ago, a group of friends embarked on a journey to watch the Patriots play the Buffalo Bills. This group stayed in Niagara Falls to save a little money and to gamble a bit too. While driving down Lundy’s Lane, the group came across a fine establishment for Gentlemen. This place was called Mints:

Mints bills itself as Niagara’s Premier Gentlemen’s Club. It is perfect for VIP Parties and provides bottle service. They feature Niagara’s Most Beautiful Women in an upscale and relaxing setting. They currently are offering a $5.00 discount on Friday and Saturday evenings if you bring their web coupon with you to the door.

Mints is a perfect reason to not trust mainstream media. The place is a shit hole. It was the first day we walked in and I am positive it is today. (Bizzy, they have an upstairs called, Peppermints….its all dudes) The women are adequate when they are on stage. It is everything s stereo-typical strip club should be. The lights are low (as to obsure the reality of the “talent”) and the music is loud. The beers come in buckets and the girls let you fuckit…well, some do…and some are enterprising young entrepreneurs. Mints has a large center stage and a VIP Private Dance section.

Quick Story #1: Billy’s Blow Job – One night at Mints, Billy comes to the crew with a smile from ear to ear. He just was propositioned by a Mints girl. She offered to give him a blow job for like $200.00. I can’t remember if he paid, but I can remember Jon informing Billy the same girl propositioned him for $50.00.

When we first stumbled on to Mints, it was a hopping place. There were tons of girls and the atmosphere was fun. I remember offering to marry one of the waitresses. My pitch was that I had available credit. We also stumbled upon a Miss Nude Canada pageant once. The crowds, the last few times, were gone and so were the girls.

The other division is named, Sundowner. It too is named after a night club:

The Downer, as they seem to be billing themselves these days, is Niagara’s Best Gentleman Club (sic). It is further down Lundy’s Lane and is much larger than Mints. The scale between the two clubs can be seen in the somewhat NSFW video promotion:

The Sundowner has a center stage and a side stage. There is also a downstairs stage for when it is extra busy. They have three different VIP Private Dance sections.

Quick Story #2: I was there one night getting a dance.  The dancer stopped, and chatted with me about how disgusting the girl a few spots down from me was because she was having sex with some guy, and then my dancer continued the lap dance. When she finished, I stood to pay her and looked over towards the fornication chamber…and saw my buddy Patrick, lol.  He denies he had sex.

Throughout the years, many of us have seen great changes in the Niagara nightclub scene. Some of the entertainers have even recognized us on subsequent visits. The Mints/Sundowner debate has never really taken off because of how special both are to many of us (Sundowner was a table name at one MIPPA member’s wedding). We, collectively, have spent thousands of dollars sharing good times with friends at these places.

I have never considered calculating which division has fared better in our league (I assume its the Sundowner), but I have always gotten a little chuckle out of seeing those names in print:

I am not sure if I will ever make it back to my old stomping grounds. I hope too, for nostalgic reasons, and because its fun. I never mentioned to either club that we’ve used their names in our league out of concern for my own safety. The sad truth is that the two clubs are owned by different groups. I think it is the Russian Mafia that owns Mints. They run an illegal taxi service from their curb too. (Don’t ask to go to Sundowner in one of those cabs). The Downer was owned by Zelimir Rudan:

He was Serbian, or Croatian, but not necessarily a mafia guy. Rudan owned a ton of shit around Niagara (including the golf course in that video) and was considered a community leader and respected businessman. I couldn’t find any statement exonerating the Russian mafia from his death.

The times have changed on the MIPPA landscape. Most of the guys have wives and children. Their free time is limited and they don’t want to visit shitty Vegas by the Falls. The extra money they have isn’t going to Texas Hold ’em or girls who let you hold em. For those without kids, most lived too far away or are too cheap to get passports. The classic appeal for the Canadian ballet just isn’t there anymore.

There has even been MIPPAcast talk of disbanding the divisions (It might have been at the owner’s meeting). I hope that doesn’t happen. The argument is that the divisions are stacked, making the league have less parity than it should. If the divisions disappear in function, I hope they survive nominally. I’d hate to forget about all of the good times in Canada. I hope we make it back one day to do the Lundy Lane 500.

A vent, by Rick Lavoie

I listen to a few podcasts now; Skeptics Guide to the Universe, Hub History, Small Town Murder, and the MIPPAcast. It is probably obvious that I didn’t immediately press play for the most recent MIPPAcast as I was on the marathon two hour long show. With that said, I began listening to it this week. A small snippet caught my attention.

Seth was ranting about almost calling a Philadelphia radio station to protest the old trope that the Patriots are cheaters. It resonated even more when I heard a clip from Glen Ordway interviewing some other jamoke from Philadelphia radio.

During the interview, the Philly-fraud joined in the chorus of morons whose only rebuke to Patriot glory is by declaring that the Patriots are cheaters. At DeMolay LTC, there is an advisor from Connecticut that happens to be a Jets fan. On Facebook, or face to face, this guys believes in a massive league-wide conspiracy to help the Patriots win. Every September, at the beginning of the NFL season, this guy has some post about how the Jets might have a chance…and then, when it is finally apparent to him, he starts again on the Cheatriots.

Call me a homer, but don’t call my team cheaters without first doing a deep dive on your own team.

In November of 2007, I went to Indy to watch the Patriots play the Colts. It was a great game and trip. I met a ton of nice people, but I met plenty of Colts fans who accused my beloved team of cheating. This, for those who don’t remember, is the game where Indy was accused of artificially pumping crowd noise into the dome. The accusations never went anywhere, but the Patriots are the cheaters?

After the Patriots came back in the 4th and beat Manning’s Colts, we went to the Slippery Noodle. It’s a cool bar, but I was verbally accosted by many blue jersey boys. In this instance, I think I physically threatened a small man. Needless to say, they all maintained that we broke the rules.

It’s here, where this post is taking a drastic turn.

The Patriots are cheaters. There is no doubt about it. Cheating is defined as “a person who acts dishonestly in order to gain an advantage.” The team, its coaches, its players, and even its owners (on occasion) have absolutely acted dishonestly to gain a competitive advantage. The NFL has rules. They broke the rules. They were caught. They were punished. Nothing here is a lie or falsehood. The problem is that the Patriots are not the only team that acts dishonestly to gain an advantage. They are all guilty.

The NFL has a ton of rules. If you break any of them, for a competitive advantage, you are literally a cheater. Normally, during the game, if you “cheat” the officials throw a flag (Sorry Saints fans). The penalty is assessed. If you commit an egregious violation of the rules, you might be fined or suspended. There is no legal difference in McVeigh’s bum-chum than there is with Belichik’s favorite home videos or Tom’s balls. The scale of the cheating might matter to some, but they are never heard saying, “your team cheats more than my team.” Of course, the Patriots are among the least penalized (On-field) cheaters in the league over the past 20 years, so…perhaps not.

The truth is everyone is cheating. Some do it better than others, some suck at it.

• 

By Rick Lavoie

I am sitting in the family waiting room at Lahey Hospital. My Dad is getting another new knee and at the same time driving up healthcare costs for all of us. I was reflecting a little bit on this week’s MIPPAcast and I realized how right I was.

This iteration of the Patriots is the most dominant version of the Patriots ever. Don’t get me wrong, the 2007 Patriots team is probably the best Pats team ever (we discussed this on air) and the teams from 2001-2004 would definitely wreck this year’s squad. All of that, however, is irrelevant to my bold statement on the headline. In 1994, the NFL’s salary cap went into effect. That collective bargaining agreement lasted until 2009. A labor crisis ensued when that cap expired, but by 2011, a new cap was in place.

The first two phases of Patriot dominance came in the first era of cap’d football. The league, at the time of Brady’s signing, was still adjusting to this deal. Scoring Brady late in the draft happens to be the real magic of the Patriot legacy (Thanks, Bill!). Bill, not only hit big with Brady, but he was able to exploit NFL rules by focusing more on his aggressive, hard hitting, defensive squads for those early years. By diverting a higher percentage of cap money to defensive players, he was able to shut down high powered offensives throughout the early years.

Seeing what was happening, in an age where parity was supposed to ever-present, the NFL rules committee took action. They made the type of defense utilized in New England obsolete. Bill, however, saw this coming, and shifted gears to a better offensive line, a stud wide-out, and bunch of guys who were mediocre in other places. The genius, at this time, was less about balancing cap space and more about balancing egos. Welker, Moss, and Brady (among others) bought into the system. Bill’s willingness to take risks on non-clubhouse guys saved money and non-cap binding incentives helped curb some of the pride high paying players demanded. The best offense ever assembled (debatable, yes, but still true) was backed up the remains of those old defensive corps.

Then, the CBA expired.

The lockout of 2011 was a major turning point in the NFL. Players stupidly gave away arbitration rights (Brady and deflategate), but the two sides ultimately agreed. The architect that ended the lock-out was Bob Kraft….off of the heels of Myra’s death. The new cap, aimed at revitalizing “parity” also allowed for a new wave of Patriot dominance. Things are more equal now, than they had been. There are more teams showcasing a competitive edge than ever before. Even the Brown’s are looking to the future. With all of that said, the Patriots have been to three straight SuperBowls (4 out of the last 5). In this new age of the NFL, Bill has worked his magic on and off the field while Tom has done his on gameday. Bob Kraft must have seen it all coming when he gave the keys to the franchise to Bill.

In ancient Rome, you may recall, there were several great triumvirates. A trio of enigmatic Romans who shaped the empire’s future. Tom Brady, Bill Belichik, and Robert Kraft are light-years ahead of their competitors. I loved hearing the audio of Bill telling Tom that he loved him and Tom replying in kind. It is the type of emotion rarely shown in New England, but it was real. I harken back to the stories of those guys hating each other just a few seasons a go. In any family relationship, there may be arguments, but something must be said about all of that being a smokescreen. So many pundits claimed it was over. That Brady was gassed, that he was jealous of a young gun taking the mantle, that Bill wanted to move on, but Robert wouldn’t let him.

This allowed other NFL execs to take a breather. They didn’t have to outsmart the Pats anymore. True parity was coming. What they didn’t realize is that the Patriots of today don’t have to be as good as those other Championship teams, they just have to be better than their current competition…teams struggling with a parity that our triumvirate probably drew up one night in 2010. Kraft ends the lock-out…shapes new policy. Brady gets accused of cheating; sanctions come, but he, Bill, and Robert get to fight against the NFL to make other GM’s relax a bit. Patriots keep quietly winning games.

Dominance isn’t only shown on the pitch…Prove me wrong.

A vent, by Rick Lavoie

I spent a good part of this week watching competing documentaries on the same topic. No, I am not talking about watching episodes of Cops and LivePD. I am talking about two films that discussed the failed music festival of the century, Fyre Festival. For you noobs, here is their promo video:

This music festival was pitched as a luxury music festival for only those who could afford it. The douche who advertised it committed real fraud to bilk hundreds of rich millennial kids out of their mommy and daddy’s expense account. The dude worked with Ja Rule, but the whole thing turned belly up and a bunch of MAGA Douches’ were stranded at an airport in the Bahamas after eating cheese sandwiches.

Now, honestly, I laughed at these two documentaries more than I would at your typical Will Ferrill joint. The images of these pretty people struggling really excited my mirth. But after careful thought, I think it is crazy that two competing documentaries about something so insignificant were made. I am tired of this trend.

It is hard to remember the first time this phenomena hit me square in the face, but it might have been Armageddon and Deep Impact (1998). The next worst example that I can think of, at the moment, is Olympus Has Fallen and White House Down (2013). In each of these examples, one more had more popular success. Armageddon is actually fairly re-watchable, while Deep Impact left no lasting impression in my mind. Olympus Has Fallen was so successful, it spawned a shitty sequel set in England (think Hellboy).

I don’t necessarily care that there is more than one documentary about this festival that flopped. I am fairly confident that I watched more than one Woodstock ’99 video, but they didn’t come out days apart from each other. Hulu produced “Fyre Fraud” and released it on January 14th. The Netflix version came on January 18th. They both had different access points and both were interesting, but seriously four days??? WTF.

https://www.cnet.com/news/netflix-or-hulu-which-fyre-festival-documentary-you-should-watch/

Feel free to read the above link for more info, but in the meantime, I am going to continue to vent.

Why can’t we forbid filmmakers from doing this type of thing. It happens a lot, but shouldn’t. I look at the whole thing as a form of copyright infringement. If I opened a chicken wing place called, “Peckers” and forced my male waiters to wear bright shorts with a woodpecker’s face painted on the crotch, I am pretty sure Buffalo Wild Wings would still fucking suck. Hooters, however, would probably sue me. If I invented a pair of sneakers that let me inflate little airsacks in my shoes, I’d probably get a lawsuit filed against me by Dee Brown. If I emulated my entire Presidency after that of Richard Milhouse Nixon, I would probably get sued by some Federal Prosecutor, right?

What if I did any of those things in the same year as the first example? I think I would lose more than those wealthy snobs who flew to the Bahama’s even though the experience was already falling apart in front of them. I don’t know how to become an Instagram Influencer, but I do know how to write a blog that Hollywood producers might pick-up.

What is the worst example of content double-dipping you can think of? I am interested to learn more.

By Rick Lavoie

While catching up on the MIPPACast, I heard someone mention that the blog had been silent. As MIPPA’s most prolific blogger, I took the time to compose another retrospective. I thought that 109 Tweets received such positive feedback, so the column must be popular.

The most significant portion of the 3rd podcast was obviously the talk about draft location. As last year’s reigning champ, I made a solid argument that the draft location should be chosen by the winner of the league. With history on my side, we held at least one more draft at Hooters Saugus. I am not really sure when we moved the draft to Hooters, but I know it didn’t start there. As I pointed out in the chat, the original draft was held in MetroBoston. More specifically, it was at Shawn’s old employer (I believe it was a text messaging app company) located in Watertown at the old Arsenal location.

The complex, for those who weren’t around, was as high tech as you’d find in those days. You needed to be buzzed in…the draft table had plug-in ports…and we projected the MIPPADraft Spreadsheet for all to see. The night always started with rules discussion, 7 layer dip, and BizzBot cookies (She may not be real, but the cookies were). Trades were conducted like middle school kids passing paper notes under the guise of secrecy. We were pioneers. The earliest email I can find regarding those drafts was dated August 24, 2007.

I responded in due time with keepers of Joseph Addai and Laurence Maroney. All of this reminiscing, led me down a rabbit hole filled with memories of poker, myspace, and days of yore.

Most of you newbies have been taught that our humble fantasy league started as a bunch of guys playing poker. The MIPPA wasn’t just a couple of guys with a weekly hold ’em game. It honestly was much, much more. As we embark on new media (podcasts, blogs, etc) we must look to our beginning as to not make the mistakes of the past. That brought me to my old friend Tom.

Long before messenger, long before Twitter, and long before Seth or Rooney, the MIPPA was on the world’s largest social media site – MySpace.

MIPPA’s MySpace was an amazing resource for our little poker league. We posted statistics for wins and losses, we organized Memorial Day events, and we shared photos, favorite songs, and everything in between. The MIPPA MySpace was groundbreaking.

Unfortunately, Zuckerberg stole the idea from a few twins, and Tom started selling out. MySpace began to liquidate (kind of). But the Retrospective team was able to access the archives and pull out some doozies.

The Top 8. The was one thing that caused much consternation with an emerging society based on ratings. Who were the MySpace Top 8 for the MIPPA?

1. The Praying StormTrooper: Mister Tewstep hailing from Quincy, Massachusetts. Otherwise known as Mike Long. Mike boasts 164 followers.
2. The Young Abercrombie Model: Matthew Gerrish from Lowell, Massachusetts. This PSMC0304 can brag about his 169 followers.
3. Incognito #1: The Franchise. His 994 followers know that he was from North Weymouth, Massachusetts
4. The Cup of Noodles Fan: Also from Lowell, Massachusetts William Northrup is proud to have 84 friends and he self identifies as a writer and a teacher.
5. The Out of Place Red Sox Fan: Me. With 124 followers and still living in Saugus, lol.
6. Incognito #2: Justin Adams. Living in Wollaston, Massachusetts, (Is that even a real city?) Justin had 108 followers.
7. A Family of Three: 204076485 is also known as Chris Sylvia. Chris has 150 followers, but never saw the need to update his profile picture after the birth of his daughter.
8. No One. Even though someone created this page, and it is followed by a Theresa, a Liz Caliri, and a Jamian Whiting, we don’t have any idea who might be the genius behind this page.

The one thing that is certain is that the folks in this group are more than just some friends. We are a collection of memories and laughter. The Rabbit Hole tonight took me down made me pause and reflect a few times. I smiled and chuckled at old pictures and profiles. I accessed the MIPPA Poker Rules:

The hope that one day we will play poker again still resides deep within my soul. Perhaps it will be a 14 player game after Conclave with Tom Shnorrenburger or maybe a few cocksuckers will get together when Deadwood’s movie shows up On Demand. Regardless, the memories were good. The times were some of the best times I’ve had. The trip down memory lane brought forward one other image, emblazoned in my mind.

The Rabbit Hole of memories is supposed to be pleasant. The image above shows a shirtless carpenter aboard an Alaska Air flight out of St. Louis. He was angry. He stormed the cockpit (pre-9/11) and attacked the pilots with his shoes. Ultimately subdued by a passenger with an axe, this man will never know how much pleasure he brought a few MIPPA members and their friends. No one knows why he was so angry, but his anger should make us pause anew.

The whole scope of MIPPA Retrospectives is to bring the history of this league alive. I hope this second installment has accomplished that feat. I will entertain suggestions about future topics of this column, of my Prove Me Wrong column, or of course more of “A Rant by Rick Lavoie”

By Rick Lavoie

Forgive me in advance, but I am fairly confident that I am about to go off in several tangents. The title says it all, Gronk is overrated. Sure, he is one of the better tight ends in the history of the NFL, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t overrated. The online dictionary used by Google defines Overrated as “having a higher opinion of (someone or something) than is deserved.” Using that vague definition to guide us, as we travel through space and time to explore the truth that is Gronk’s overratedness.

Last year, around this time, I activated my “MoviePass” account. The premise was cool. I pay about $100.00 for a year-long subscription and in return I get to see one movie a day (no blackouts). I was very excited. I thought it was the greatest subscription service ever and I eagerly began seeing movies that I would never had gone to see if paying individually. I found myself getting drinks and popcorn more than I had originally planned and realized that the theaters were probably cool with the arrangement. In February, during Black History Month, I went to see Black Panther. It was on fleek and I decided to see it a second time. A few days later, I rolled up to the Showcase – Revere and opened up my MoviePass App. I scrolled to find the show and time, but they were not accessible. Perplexed, I chose another, albeit less on fleek, film. The greatest subscription service ever had let me down. I invested my money and heart into it’s success, but due to a lack of capital investments (and not enough subscriptions) MoviePass was on a downward spiral. I canceled my account before the year was up because the number of available theaters in the area became less than one. Anytime something is highly rated, the expectation must be met…otherwise it was over rated.

This yarn reminds me of another example of something in my life that was overrated. The year was 1995. I had just graduated from high school and I was serving Massachusetts DeMolay as a state officer. As a self-diagnosed insomniac, I routinely found myself up late on most nights (It’s 12:31am as I write this). In September, I think it was, I found myself turning to an old standby…Saturday Night Live. It was the first year without Sandler, Myers, and Nealon. I was nervous that the onslaught of new cast members would not serve the show well, but watched with baited breath. Dave Spade was still there, but anyone who’s seen Joe Dirt knows that no big thing. Anyways, there was an old dude on the show, kind of reminded me of Phil Hartman. He had been a member of the Groundlings and was brought onboard with Cheri Oteri and Chris Kattan. Admittedly, I found some of Will Ferrell’s skits humorous. I chortle at his role in Jeopardy even today. I, however, found his humor to be quite bland. I remember, as time went on, becoming less and less attached to the show that I had watched since elementary school and it was mostly Ferrell’s fault.

Fast forward a few years, and I am at Revere’s Showcase Cinema. I am there, with friends, to watch a movie called, “Old School (which I paid for because MoviePAss hadn’t been invented yet).” It sucked…in my opinion. So many other people were calling Ferrell a genius. As I went to more and more of his movies, I saw him do the same old shtick. The sheeple all doubled over with laughs, but I cringed everytime he appeared in his underwear screaming nonsensical nonsense at the camera. [I remember loving Wedding Crashers until his character showed up] I made a similar claim about Will that I have about Rob. If one is the greatest and is unstoppable, then their shit should smell of roses at all times. You can imagine the shock over the past few days as my longevity paid off even if Holmes and Watson hasn’t.

To prove me wrong, one would have to change my perception. I listen to what folks say about Will Ferrell, what they said about MoviePass, and what is said about Mr. Gronkowski. I am riddled with confirmation bias on this matter. Every injury, every dropped pass, and every non-football related event that he participates in reminds me of how overrated he is. Every playoff game, when he didn’t play, adds credibility to my argument. Any post-season touchdown is expected, it’s the lack of production when it counts that counts. Gronk is overrated until he isn’t, but he probably always will be.

Thanks for reading!

By Rick Lavoie

As a Patriots fan (maybe even as a Bostonian), we are used to the world revolving around us. While we’ve suffered through the agonizing times, we have been blessed with a great coach, an amazing quarterback, and a top-notch General Manager. They’ve supported Mr. Kraft (arguably the best owner in the game) with key personnel matters and player acquisitions…let alone play execution. They have made us expect to win…and when they lose it can be quite confusing. That is why this season seems like such a bust for the boys in red, white, and blue.

We aren’t the NFL though. We are just a small segment of the football universe. Little object, in nature, do not revolve around large objects. The Patriots may seem like they’ve lost a few steps (They have) and that they are just another team (Not sold on that one yet), but the NFL redesigned its league structure during the 2002 season to bring parity to the league and it has worked…for the most part.

Admittedly, I haven’t watched as many games this season as I would have liked, but I have been trying to keep up. Imagine my shock this morning when I awoke to see that the Seahawks beat the Chiefs. We are going into the final week of the season and the Number 1 seed in the AFC is still available. The Saints finally clinched their Number 1 seed this past weekend by beating the Steelers (who are unlikely to make the playoffs). We will have a prime time play-in game between the Titans/Colts…the winner makes it (A tie puts Big Ben back in the mix).

There have been so many seasons where the playoff picture is set by Week 12-14, but this year, there are still so many questions to be answered. If we take away our own hubris and contemplate the season, then it is clear, that this is greatest season of NFL football in recent memory….prove me wrong.

Rick Lavoie is founding member of the MIPPA and a contributing editor to the MIPPA Blog.  A graduate of Salem State College, Lavoie has made his mark  on the sports world time and time again.  When he types, God listens.