We're Redefining Fantasy Competition at the Office

As if Fantasy Football wasn’t already insanely popular, the newest trend in the biz is daily draft competitions on websites like FanDuel and DraftKings. Anyone who has watched football this season has seen an endless stream of ads for these services – one estimate in Forbes says the two sites could spend up to $175 million in advertising in the third quarter of 2015 alone. The premise of these newer Fantasy Draft options is simple: why waste a whole season in competition when you can get a payoff in one day?

This got us thinking about fantasy football drafts in general. They sound like so much fun, but there are SO MANY RULES, like how they have to be about “sports” and such. True competition in fantasy football games requires a competitor to pay attention to multiple actual football games, cheering for individual players to perform as opposed to caring about if their teams win. It’s tiring!

In the spirit of FanDuel and DraftKings redefining the timespan aspect of Fantasy Football, at Covalent we held our own draft, but, well, we removed “football” as a requirement. Below are the teams five of our Covalenteers came up with when they were simply asked to draft a “fantasy” team.

(No, we have no idea how to judge who wins …)

Deborah Boyd, Account Specialist:

1. Bill Gates - Innovative thinking
2. Bethany Frankel - Product creation
3. Chris Jenner - Management of People
4. Misty May-Treanor - Discipline
5. Jimmy Kimmel - Humor
6. Bill Rancic
7. Olivia Pope
8. Adam Levine
9. Blake Shelton
10. Apolo Anton Ohno
11. Todd Graves

Mollie Williams, Web Developer:

1. Jane Austen’s dry wit
   A classic master of tongue-in-cheek remarks, Austen never shied away from pointing out the ridiculousness of her peers by turning them into literature.
2. The Elder Wand
   I know what you’re thinking: “The bloody trail of the Elder Wand is splattered across the pages of Wizarding history.” How could I choose such a villainous tool to be part of my team? Well, the fact remains that it’s the most powerful wand in history
3. Jean Grey
   The powers of Telepathy, Telekinesis and being the physical manifestation of the cosmic Phoenix Force makes her one of the most powerful mutants in the world.
4. Galadriel
   The reason I chose this Lady of Lothlórien for my team is because of her wisdom and intelligence. Plus she’s really tall, we have that in common.
5. Arya Dröttningu
   This magical elf is as beautiful as she is strong. Having super speed, super strength and superior fighting and magical skills, Arya is very much a force to be reckoned with.
6. Leslie Knope - she takes down any challenge in her path, and we’ll need to scrapbook this.
7. Moses
8. Winston Churchill
9. Napoleon Bonaparte
10. The Invisibility Cloak
11. Blake Lively’s hair… well Blake Lively’s everything… and actually  Serena van der Woodsen’s style

Claire Langlois, Account Coordinator :

1.  Jean Gray – telekinesis to move the football anywhere she wants
2. O'dell Beckham Jr – He might as well be a superhero
3. Rob Gronkowski – who doesn’t love Gronk?
4. Quicksilver – for his super-sonic speed
5. Invisible Girl – set up force fields
6. Iron Man
7. Hawkgirl
8. Juggernaut
9. Shadowcat
10. Lionel Messi
11. Storm

Emily Mistrzak, Content Manager: (Coach – Herb Brooks; Mascot- Aslan (Narnia)

1. Whitney Houston – She’ll always love us, great fashion sense for team uniforms
2. Legolas (LOTR) Stealth: excellent eye sight and hearing
3. Luis Mandoza (D2 Mighty Ducks) No one wants to get in his way; unstoppable speed
4. Gerry Bertier (Remember the Titans) Left side; strong side. He is the heart and soul of the team
5. Katniss Everdeen – Official team hair braider, endless determination and motivation
6. Hercules (Disney)
7. Coach Krzyzewski
8. Sanka Coffie (Cool Runnings)
9. Craig Biggio
10. Thor – entire d-line, strength; magical powers
11. Mulan