History of the LOD
2021: New League HQ; Alex Departs; Ant Championship; Hurtado’s Retirement
The League had overcome a difficult 2020 with the season intact and a Champion crowned. After recovering the trophy from Erik, Wings would hand the trophy off to Gio in his driveway to complete the previous season’s duties and move into what would be another eventful offseason with relocations and membership changes.
Wings Moves to Oakland, Ryan Joins the League
With the worst of the pandemic over with, Wings was intent on relocating to Oakland, California after spending the last three seasons in San Bernardino. The move was completed in June 2021 and with it, the LOD would branch further out from its Southern California base. Wings, along with moving the League HQ to Oakland, would rebrand his team to the Oakland Alitas to mark the occasion.
Shortly before this move, an unrelated matter between Wings and his cousin Alex would result in him not returning to the LOD for the 2021 season, again leaving a sudden vacancy for what was previously Weege’s team. While Alex’s tenure was unremarkable from a fantasy perspective (two four-win seasons), a poor keeper and draft situation would further complicate the search as the new recruit would need to be willing to take on a rebuild.
Ant, having established himself in Colorado the year before, would bring the next recruit into the LOD: his housemate Ryan Batista. Ryan was already well-acquainted with other members of the League such as Chuck and Gio and perfectly fine with taking on the team as-is, seeing. He would be announced shortly after agreeing to join.
Wings’ move and Ryan’s addition to the League marked a huge for the LOD, with 5 teams now outside of the Inland Empire hub.
2021 Rule Changes
With the Official Rules put into effect the previous season, there was now a proper system in place to address rule changes annually. 2021’s Rule Changes extended the COVID regulations another year, along with raising League Dues from $35 to $50, establishing payouts to first and second, banning doubtful players from IR, and reducing scoring bonuses. Most importantly, in an attempt to address tanking issues and to provide insurance for teams if an owner leaves, draft pick trading was limited to picks from the following season only.
2021 Season Results
The 2021 draft was held on August 15 via Zoom, which was now a necessity given the branching out of the League. After the NFL’s move to an 18-week regular season, the League subsequently moved to a 14-week regular season for the first time since the 8-team 2017 season.
Ant’s strategy of tanking paid off. He would finish the season 6-1 to reach a 10-4 record, securing his first playoff appearance since 2019 and his first ever bye. Gio, who kept his Championship-winning core from the season before, would be neck-and-neck with Ant and get the second bye at a 9-win finish. With both teams having split their regular season matchups 1-1, they were seen as near-equal favorites to win the title.
Wings, Erik, and Hurtado would all extend their playoff streaks another season. Hurtado, after enduring a crushing 1-5 start, announced that 2021 would be his final season in the LOD, citing mental health concerns, but agreeing to see the season out. Shortly after this, Hurtado’s team would mount a furious comeback to finish 7-7 and get the 5th seed atop a 3 way tie.
Chuck, after missing the postseason for the first time in 2020, would make his return as the 6th seed with a week 13 win. Nauch, who lost his week 13 matchup, was the first one out and missed the playoffs entirely after making the Final the year before.
Ryan, having inherited a poor roster situation in his Rookie year, planned to rebuild via trading for 2022 picks and obtaining quality keepers for next year. While managing to start 5-5, Ryan would miss the playoffs after losing 3 of his last 4.
Joining the consolation bracket was Rob, who was now in a 2-season playoff drought, as well as Joe, who after a 1-5 start decided to tank for the following year.
Round 1 of the 2021 Postseason had Hurtado vs. Erik and Wings vs. Chuck. Hurtado’s matchup was a resounding victory versus Erik, his first playoff win since 2017 and setting up a semifinal versus first seed Ant. Chuck would also blow out Wings by a very similar scoring margin to advance and face his rival Gio once again– this time as the defending Champion.
Ant’s semifinal debut was a statement victory against Hurtado, leading the rest of the field by nearly 40 points. Ant’s first ever playoff win would also be the one to advance him to his first ever Championship game. After the matchup concluded, Hurtado would formally announce his retirement from the LOD after 6 seasons, leaving another vacancy to be addressed in the offseason. While never winning a title, Hurtado was a founding member and almost consistently was able to field a competitive team, ending his tenure on a bittersweet note.
On the other side of the bracket, Gio would beat Chuck in their playoff rematch, extending his undefeated streak in their rivalry and resulting in his third consecutive Final appearance. Chuck, while winning his first playoff game since 2018, would again see his Championship ambitions dashed.
The final matchup being between the top two seeds was more or less expected by the League, and it was also anticipated to be a shootout between the two best teams all season. Despite this, Ant held a controlling lead for a majority of the weekend, with Gio never having the opportunity to close the gap. While it wouldn’t be certified until Monday, Ant clinched his first-ever LOD title after successfully executing on his 2-year tank plan, setting the model for many other imitators to try and replicate it. Ant’s victory would also make him the League’s 5th new champion in 5 years.
LOD Content for 2021
While Wings intended to continue TCR, producing and releasing one episode, he was unable to get a consistent recording schedule after his move to Oakland that resulted in the Podcast’s cancellation for the remainder of the year. While the Blogger Boys would continue to release weekly blog content, the posts themselves for this season have been lost to the sands of time.