Drafting in the Dark: A Sudden Death Fantasy Sports Story

Written By – Chris Kerr (@bustermartin)

It’s Wednesday night and my wife and daughter have been asleep for about an hour. With their doors open turning on the TV means reading closed captions. Not tonight—I want to draft.

I lay on my couch and hope that the Sleeper Face ID will work in the dark. I’m in! Sleeper FF League Hub here I come!

Scrolling through the may lay, wading through the river looking for the perfect floaty, I find miss after miss…

Paid Redraft?… not in March…
Free Redraft?… Hahaha Never…
Paid Keeper, Free Keeper?… Nahh…

And then there it was! A Best Ball thread with leagues galore.

I click “Join League” over and over again like a wildebeest, only to be smacked back with “Sorry, the league is full.” Disappointed, I continued scrolling looking for a draft with a cheap buy-in.

Just when I thought this search was dying a slow death all of the sudden there it was—a $5 Best Ball league with a twist.

It’s a contest league with a tournament playoff bracket, and if I pay immediately, I will be the 12th and final gamer ready to get started. Hmm sounds interesting, let’s do it!

Just like that, with a quick 3x randomization on the order, we’re drafting. At this rate we might even complete the first round tonight!

This was my introduction to Sudden Death Fantasy Sports and since that night, I have completed nine drafts in the same format, watched all the shows, and gotten involved in the community in many ways.

All because of that fateful Wednesday night on my couch, with nothing but a phone and a desire to draft.