NFBC Champion Profile - Andre Bourcier

[Tom Kessenich]

There are few things more distressing in a fantasy season than watching your No. 1 pick suffer through a disappointing season.



Be it injuries, a lack of production or both, a less-than-stellar season from your top selection can often be the start of a less-than-stellar season.



Andrew Bourcier was determined to buck that trend. Making matters more difficult for him was not only did his team essentially lose its No. 1 pick (Derek Lee) but its No. 5 pick, Rich Harden, also spent much of the year on the DL.



None of that stopped Bourcier’s team, however, as it overcame those obstacles and took home the top spot in New York 6 in 2006.



“Winning our league championship in our first season in the NFBC was a pleasant surprise,” Bourcier said.



Without the services of Lee and Harden, that meant Bourcier and his co-manager, Richie Czuprynski, had to make sure they came away from their draft with some strong value picks and make some shrewd FAAB pickups during the season.



Both came to pass.



“I would say the keys to our season were drafting Justin Morneau in the 10th round, Jonathan Papelbon in the 23rd and Justin Verlander in the 24th,” Bourcier said. “We also picked up Jared Weaver, Adrian Gonzalez and Luke Scott in free agency.



“Unfortunately with picking Derek Lee and Rich Harden in the top five our draft strategy was pretty much wiped out. But thanks to grabbing guys like Morneau, Papelbon and Verlander we were able to attain the production we were projecting for our team.



“We spent nearly half of our FAAB money on Jared Weaver ($45) but he was well worth the price. Picking up Adrian Gonzalez just before he went on an unbelievable tear for $33 and also Luke Scott down the stretch for $16 really helped our team.”



Bourcier’s team took hold of the top spot in June and at that point he and Czuprynski believed a league title was a realistic goal.



“By July, we had built a 20-point lead in our league,” Bourcier said. “During this time we also stayed in the Top 10 overall.



“In August, our team hit a wall and we were eventually caught by the Quahogs. We were able to not slide any further an during September we went back and forth between first and second until the final week of the season.”



When the season ended, it was Bourcier and Czuprynski on top of the league standings with $5,000 to show for their championship season.



Although the two were NFBC rookies in 2006, Bourcier has been playing fantasy baseball since 1990. He is married and lives in East Hampton, CT and works as an inside sales manager for an aluminum investment casting company. Czuprynski is single, lives in New Britain, CT and works as a chef.



“We had a blast participating last year and look forward to being in New York for the 2007 season,” Bourcier said.