Gordon Gekko Wins $100,000 NFFC Prize

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Fri Jan 07, 2005 7:35 am

We know that not all of our fantasy baseball participants play fantasy football, but we thought you might like to know that one of your fellow baseball participants won our $100,000 grand prize in the football competition. You know him as Gordon Gekko on the Message Boards and trust me he was more active on the football boards than he ever was on the baseball boards, but he backed it up by winning over $100,000 while drafting live in Las Vegas.

Here are the details, as written by Tom Kessenich. He will also be profiled on the cover of our Fantasy Sports Magazine issue in August with this story running in that issue as well. Enjoy.

“Greed is good.”

In the film “Wall Street,” that was the mantra Gordon Gekko lived by. In fantasy football circles, the National Fantasy Football Championship has its own “Gordon Gekko” who competed in this year’s debut event.

While we don’t know if the NFFC’s “Gekko” lives his life by his cinematic counterpart’s credo, we do know one thing for certain …

He’s now $100,000 richer.

And that is definitely good. That is very, very good.

“Gekko” a.k.a. Mark Srebro, took home the top prize in the 2004 NFFC after a strong run through the playoffs, capped by a 221.3-point performance in Week 16. That impressive final week catapulted Srebro’s Teenage Wasteland team in Las Vegas League 3 to the first-place finish and the $100,000 grand prize.

“Obviously it feels great to win the NFFC,” said Srebro, who lives in Pennsylvania and co-owned the Teenage Wasteland team with his friend Jason Emma. “Knowing that for one small moment in time we were the best out of 244 fantasy football owners is our single greatest fantasy football accomplishment … until we do it again next year.”

For those who are familiar with Srebro on our NFFC and NFBC message boards, such confidence comes as no surprise. But strong words ring hallow if they aren’t backed by strong production. That was no problem for Teenage Wasteland as it got off to a strong start with a win in Week 1 and kept going from there.

That wasn’t the only strong week the team enjoyed, however.

“In Week 10 we had the highest point total out of 244 teams that week,” Srebro said. “Being the best for one week is a nice feeling. In Week 13 we clinched a playoff berth and Week 16 was the best week of our fantasy lives … to date.”

For the past several years Srebro and Emma’s fantasy lives have been spent in competition with one another.

“We’ve been friends for over eight years now,” Srebro said. “Up until this year we’ve always competed against each other in fantasy football leagues. This year, we decided to join forces in the hopes of conquering the NFFC competition.”

Mission accomplished.

They did not enter the NFFC blind by any means. Srebro, who is married with children and works in commodities, has been playing fantasy sports for six years. Emma, who is single and is a tax collector, has 12 years of fantasy sports experience.

The two worked well together throughout the season and Srebro credited their teamwork with providing a crucial element to their championship season. They also competed in the NFFC Auction and Draft Champions events and those experiences proved pivotal in their NFFC Draft-Day preparation.

“After participating in the Auction and the Draft Champions draft a day earlier, we knew we had to select running backs with our first two picks in the main event,” Srebro said. “We planned on waiting for a QB and fortunately Tom Brady was there in the sixth round. Both moves were the right ones to make and they proved to be successful.

“We wanted to have solid options at running back. Coming out of the draft we had Domanick Davis, Brian Westbrook and Warrick Dunn. During the season we made some key free agency moves (picking up) Reuben Droughns and Derrick Blaylock. Both were valuable contributors.

“We also wanted consistent points every week from our QB and TE, so we chose Tom Brady and Tony Gonzalez. It was nice to know we could count on them every week.”

One thing Srebro admitted he didn’t count on was the emergence of one of his latter-round picks becoming a fantasy superstar this season.

“Obviously one of our biggest strengths was drafting Muhsin Muhammad,” he said. “He ended up being the No. 1-ranked WR in the league.”

For Emma, the NFFC was his first taste of a high-stakes fantasy event. Srebro had played in the World Championship of Fantasy Football last year before switching to the NFFC in 2004.

“I felt that event was lacking in a number of areas so when I saw what was going on with the NFFC, I knew I had to switch events,” he said. “I’m pleased I did.”

Now $100,000 richer, Srebro and Emma have already begun making plans for the financial windfall coming their way. Emma is investing his share for retirement. And Srebro?

“Unfortunately, my wife thinks she deserves some of the money – and she does since she had to put up with me all football season – along with my little one. A trip to Chuck-E-Cheese should do the trick,” he said. “The things my wife has planned: A trip to Disneyworld and invest the rest. The things I have planned: A trip to Disneyworld, enter the World Series of Poker – hopefully the wife doesn’t notice – and invest the rest.”

A return date for the 2005 NFFC to defend their title is also on the agenda.

“We are honored to be a part of the NFFC, the premier high-stakes fantasy football event in the industry,” Srebro said. “It was a fantastic and exciting opportunity that we could not pass up.

“Furthermore, we consider the customer service provided by the event organizers as a major plus for the NFFC. To be blunt, the customer service we received was simply unprecedented and unmatched in the high-stakes fantasy arena.

“If there are fantasy gamers out there looking for a high-stakes fantasy football league to join, we’d highly recommend checking out the NFFC. Heck, if two ‘country boys’ can win it, anyone can. If you have questions or would like a player’s perspective, please contact us at [email protected]. We might even be able to offer you a discount if you decide to join the NFFC.”

Gordon Gekko · Post by **Gordon Gekko** » Fri Jan 07, 2005 8:35 am

Thanks Greg.

Baaaa! Hello to all the fantasy baseball sheep. I am here to take your money. Baaaa! Baaaa!

Plymouth · Post by **Plymouth** » Fri Jan 07, 2005 1:40 pm

Congratulations Gordon at winning the NFFC, I suppose you will really be unbearable in the NFBC now! Oh well, thats life. If you can walk the talk........ go to it. Nice job!

Gordon Gekko · Post by **Gordon Gekko** » Fri Jan 07, 2005 2:20 pm

Originally posted by Plymouth:

Congratulations Gordon at winning the NFFC, I suppose you will really be unbearable in the NFBC now! Oh well, thats life. If you can walk the talk........ go to it. Nice job! thanks Plymouth. i knew it was only a matter of time. i figured it would take 2-3 years though!

now to get the NFBC under my belt.

Cellar Dwellers · Post by **Cellar Dwellers** » Fri Jan 07, 2005 7:56 pm

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Greg Ambrosius:

[QB] we thought you might like to know that one of your fellow baseball participants won our $100,000 grand prize in the football competition. You know him as Gordon Gekko

NOOOOO, what would make you think we'd like to know that?

Now Gekko will be positively insufferable all baseball season long. But seriously Gekko, that's a great accomplishment, congratulations, though word has it, it was all your partners doing

Gordon Gekko · Post by **Gordon Gekko** » Sat Jan 08, 2005 1:53 am

Originally posted by Cellar Dwellers:

NOOOOO, what would make you think we'd like to know that?

Now Gekko will be positively insufferable all baseball season long. But seriously Gekko, that's a great accomplishment, congratulations, though word has it, it was all your partners doing

Thanks. Team Gekko will be making a full-scale assualt on all fantasy football and baseball events this year. Our goal ----> win at least one high stakes event every two years. (i think we could do it once a year, but my "people" told me to tone it down to once every two years)

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Sat Jan 08, 2005 4:11 am

Cellar Dwellers hit it right on the head, Gordon is the mouthpiece of this team and his partner, Jason Emma, is the brains behind it!

Both will be featured prominently going forward (like it or not) in our upcoming fantasy football issues, which is what happens when you win $100 G. Now, let's see if they can do it in baseball. By my calculations they finished in the top half in 2004, but not in the Top 10. Jason, start studying up on hitters and pitchers because Gordon will need all the help he can get.

And no, they haven't signed up yet. They're too busy counting the $100 G as we paid him in $1 bills.