| <-- BACK |
|
Yung-Ruey Yen Hall of Fame Induction Speech:
Hello. [Pausing to wait for the echoes in the empty room] It is a great honor for me to be the first inductee into the NBA.com Fantasy Basketball Hall of Fame. I am thrilled to be honored as a top fantasy basketball player and be recognized for being the best (and luckiest) among a group of great fantasy players from around the world. This achievement would not mean as much without the great competitions and organizers of the Premier Fantasy Championship, “The World’s Most Exclusive Fantasy Competition”. One of the reasons I'm in the Hall of Fame right now is not because of my writing; so everybody please be patient here. I know it is room temperature (and perhaps a bit on the cold side in the air conditioning) and comfy where you are right now but I will try to get through with what I have to say real fast here so you don’t get busted by your boss for surfing the web during work. Although now I am a Hall of Famer, I don’t plan on quitting my day job. Nevertheless, if there are some progressive, bold NBA front office people who believe that my success in fantasy basketball can translate to real basketball...I am all ears. As the inaugural inductee to this hallowed Hall of Fame (in virtual Springfield?), I am sure I will look back on this date (April 18th, 2007) with fond memories. However, I don’t believe I can truly appreciate my place in history until after some time has passed. To all the future historians that will write about this when fantasy basketball warrants many books and documentaries after becoming a great sensation on ESPN8 (“The Ocho”), along with fine programmings such as Madden Nation, Dance Dance Revolution Nation, the World Series of Duplicate Bridge, the Stanley Cup of Competitive Drinking, and WNBA DD-League (who knew that the Dutch Developmental League would be so huge?): just remember that I am the first in here and get the spelling of my name correct (the “U” is before the “E”). Upon realizing that I had won the PFC, I immediately shared my joy with my mom, who was excited for me despite not fully understanding the concept of fantasy basketball. I told my dad, who was excited until realizing that I’m not getting any money out of this…at least this won’t complicate my taxes next year. I told my sister, who was excited until realizing that I don’t get to meet any famous (or any) NBA players due to this. I told my girlfriend…wait, I don’t have one because I have spent the bulk of my spare time on my fake basketball team. Now being in the Hall of Fame, I’m sure the ladies will flock to me. I cannot get through this without thanking some people. The obvious ones are my family and friends, you know who you are (and if you have doubts that I may not be thinking about you here…yes, I am). I would also like to thank James Naismith for inventing the game of basketball, Daniel Okrent for inventing roto fantasy baseball that probably sparked the beginning of the fantasy sports industry, and Al Gore, of course, for inventing the Internet. Finally, my acknowledgement wouldn’t be complete without thanking the big guy upstairs…I mean my actual upstairs neighbor who never complained about my late night celebrations after checking the box scores. One last thing (Don't worry, I saw Lord of the Rings. I'm not going to end this 17 times….had to make an obligatory LotR reference, for anyone who followed the PFC message board over the season, but this also served as a reference to something else a bit more obscure), I would like to use this platform, as the winner of the PFC and the inaugural inductee into the NBA.com Fantasy Basketball Hall of Fame, to discuss a serious issue in the world. There are plenty of poor, starving children in Africa right now who do not have the luxury of having constant access to the Internet. Without such access, they are at such disadvantage when competing in fantasy basketball against players from the rest of the world. Think of all the great fantasy basketball minds that never get cultivated. For the PFC to be a true global competition, we need to make sure these kids get to experience wasting time on the Internet on a daily basis. To end this, I would just like to remind all the fans (real, imaginary, and even complex) of the PFC Atlanta Hawks (or of me as a great fantasy basketball G.M.) to celebrate peacefully and to refrain from any kind of rioting and/or looting (or the internet equivalent of hacking). We all deserve to have a crazy celebration of this victory but please remember to remain civil. Thank you for your time. Cut to a music montage of the greatest moments from this season to the tune of One Shining Moment that quickly turned into Queen’s We Are the Champions. I am on my laptop anxiously waiting for the icon of a basketball to light up that signifies that it is my turn to make a pick in the draft. Scene of me in my pajamas checking the box score on Sunday night and doing a small fist pump upon seeing the scores for the week. Another shot of me in my pajamas wanting to high five someone next to me but soon realizing that I am all alone in the room. Yet another scene of me in my pajamas on my laptop (the main difference between this and the earlier shot being the date on the day calendar on the desk, next to the laptop), doing a double fist pump upon learning about making the playoffs. Finally, a shot of me putting on my 1996 Chicago Bulls “Greatest Team Ever” T-Shirt to celebrate clinching a win in the PFC Finals. This is why fantasy basketball will make great, compelling TV. |
|
NBA Access with Ahmad Rashad
RSS Feeds
