As September rolls in, our summer vacations are reduced to photographs and memories, school buses once again become part of our morning commute and we notice the daylight hours are surely shrinking ever so slowly. This could only mean one thing at Creatacor. It’s time for the Creatacor Fantasy Football League to kick in! That’s right, for the next 4 months the conversations around the coffee pot and vending machines will not only revolve around the most pressing show in the shop but also about whether or not the “Warehouse Warriors” and Vikings running back Adrian Peterson can finally put the “Warrior” name on the CFFL Superbowl trophy… or will the Gansevoort Cornhuskers finally have a winning season… or will the “Albany Amazon Women” be the first team to win a second CFFL Superbowl.
The anticipation builds in early August with the draft order selection. One-by-one the names of the 12 teams are pulled from a fish bowl borrowed from the props department to determine where each team is slotted to pick at the upcoming draft. Soon after the selections are complete the office banter begins….who will the “Warehouse Warriors” pick first? Will Tom Brady of the Patriots bounce back to the scoring machine he was in 2007 after being out for all of 2008? And what rookies are this year’s sleepers? Then it’s time to do it – pick your team – draft night is finally here. For the past 9 years, the night starts off with some pizza or sandwiches and lots of targeted jabs amongst team owners about their previous wins and losses, as well as the unusual picks that become the team’s moniker, like JP and his “Four Quarterback Roster”. There are plenty of laughs as the draft order is introduced with a short video that pays tribute the previous years CFFL Superbowl Champion.
The Creatacor Fantasy Football League is entering its 10th season and for sure, draft night has become an office event, some would even say a distraction – no doubt at times. But one thing is for sure, it’s coworkers and, more importantly, friends talking and laughing in the work place. The trade show business is demanding, stressful at times and certainly requires a team of people who all get along and are willing to do what it takes to get the job done right. If those people are able to do all of that and still find a few minutes each day to laugh and be friends, what a great thing it can be.
The 2009 NFL season will kick into high gear on Thursday, September 10th when the Tennessee Titans visit the Pittsburgh Steelers at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, PA. Surely Titan and Steeler fans will be watching. But also watching will be the thousands, maybe millions of fantasy football team owners with players like Steeler QB, Ben Roethlisberger or Titans RB, Chris Johnson on their roster… how they perform that Thursday night will provide fodder for more jabs and jokes around the coffee pot Friday morning before things really heat up Monday morning after the NFL’s opening weekend.
So will the “Saratoga Sidewinders or “Ballston Bruisers” or “Gansevoort Cornhuskers” finally get their name added to the trophy? Or will the “Red Jacks”, “Albany Hoos” or “Rock City Crushers” be the first CFFL team to win a second Superbowl? We’ll keep you posted… But! It really doesn’t matter. What matters is that it’s fun and it keeps our team, the Creatacor team, working as a team.