FFN Experts League Championship

This is the 2nd year in which FantasyFootballNerd.com has hosted the FFN Experts League. 12 industry experts (including yours truly) compete each year for a chosen charity. FFN makes a financial donation to the winner's charity in the winner's name. While I won't be in the finals this year, I couldn't be more excited for the two experts who will compete this week. Their charities are as unique, wonderful, and inspiring as they are.



Congratulations to Sara Holladay on winning the 2012 FFN Experts League Championship!



Sara Holladay is a well known blogger who for many is better known as the Fantasy Football Librarian. That's not just a clever name however. Sara is an actual librarian who just so happens to have a brilliant fantasy football mind. She continues to run an accuracy contest each year in conjunction with the Fantasy Sports Trade Association to put folks like me through the ringer.



The thousands of people who tune into Sara every week shared in her pain this year when she announced sadly that her daughter Caroline was delivered stillborn. For those of us who are parents, this is the type of announcement that becomes one of our worst nightmares. Sara persevered through the grief. She not only recognized the blessings in her life, but she gave each of us pause to consider our own.



This week Sara will be playing for Healing Hearts, a program designed to provide support for all those who are impacted by the death of a baby by assisting with coping skills, offering spiritual and emotional support, and providing education and learning opportunities. It is led by childbirth nurses and is open to parents, families, and friends. This fund provides programs, materials, and continuing education for Healing Hearts nurses.



Facing Sara for the FFN Experts League championship will be Jordan Zucker. Jordan is the ringleader for the modern female sports fan movement. Her "Girls Guide" sports empire started in 2008 when she created Girls Guide to Fantasy Football. You may also recognize her as "Lisa the intern" from the hit TV show Scrubs. Equally talented in the kitchen as in her fantasy leagues, Jordan hosts her blog Oxtails, Cocktails, and Rock Tales sharing her adventures in food, drink, and music.



Jordan will be playing for the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence in honor of the victims from Newtown, Connecticut. The events over the past week have touched a nation and our collective hearts were broken. Slowing emerging from this devastation is a renewed discussion on gun control. This debate is not relegated to only Newtown and Washington DC - it is playing out all across the country. While both sides of this debate differ on how to prevent a tragedy like the one we saw, they both readily agree that what happened in Newtown shouldn't happen again.



Like I said, these charities are as unique, wonderful, and inspiring as the people who are playing for them.



The format for the FFN Experts League is unique in that a QB can be played in the Flex spot. It is PPR with 5 bonus points awarded to any player who runs for 100 yards, catches more than 100 yards, or throws for more than 300 yards in a game. Their teams are below:

FFLibrarian	Girls Guide
QB Matthew Stafford QB Colin Kaepernick RB Jamaal Charles RB Doug Martin RB C.J. Spiller WR Julio Jones WR Vincent Jackson WR Sidney Rice WR Jeremy Maclin WR Torrey Smith TE Aaron Hernandez TE Owen Daniels TE Jermichael Finley K Shayne Graham DST Chicago Bears	QB Tom Brady QB Andrew Luck RB Marshawn Lynch RB Adrian Peterson RB Knowshon Moreno RB Mark Ingram WR Mike Wallace WR Brian Hartline WR Percy Harvin WR Kendall Wright TE Dennis Pitta K Blair Walsh K Phil Dawson DST Seattle Seahawks DST Houston Texans

Good luck to both Sara and Jordan this week!



The competition was exceptional this year. Joining Sara, Jordan, and me were:



Seth Walder - New York Daily News

Gene Wang - Washington Post

Ryan Fowler - FOX Sports

Hal Spivack - Fleaflicker

Melissa Jacobs - TheFootballGirl.com

Greg Kellogg - Fantasy Sharks, Kellogg's Komments

Marc Caviglia - Bruno Boys

Steve Schwarz - The Sports Network

Kyle Kraska - CBS 8 San Diego



The league is being hosted by my friends at Fleaflicker.com, an excellent choice for fantasy football, baseball, basketball, and hockey!

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