September 23, 2003
Meat Loaf, Maloof's, The Bachelor, Jennie Finch, Playing Fantasy Football
Mike Golic, Merrill Hoge and Sean Salisbury Also Have Teams
It turns out that fantasy football's booming popularity has registered with celebrities, sportscasters and former athletes as well. ESPN.com, the leading sports site, is hosting two Fantasy Football League Manager leagues that have a crowd of well-known names competing for bragging rights. One league - run by ESPN's Linda Cohn - consists of familiar faces such as rock and roll legend Meat Loaf; the star of ABC's latest installment of The Bachelor - Bob Guiney; Jay Harrington of NBC's new fall sitcom Coupling; Sacramento Kings owners Joe and Gavin Maloof; and USA Softball star and reigning ESPN.com "hottest female athlete" Jennie Finch.
"Fantasy football has added an extra dimension to a sport that everyone already loves watching," said Finch. "It gives you a reason to root for players other than those on your favorite team. And the availability of information online has demystified the drafting process and opened the doors to a wider audience. Hey, who wouldn't want to own their own sports franchise and make the tough decisions that could be the difference between winning and losing?"
After three weeks of competition, both Finch and the Maloof brothers are undefeated. Finch's "Fourth and Finch's" team is riding the success of San Francisco quarterback Jeff Garcia, Miami's Ricky Williams and Buffalo's star wide receiver Eric Moulds, while the "Maloof's Maulers" were buoyed by a trio of talented running backs - Jamal Lewis, Ladanian Tomlinson and Tiki Barber.
A second league consists of the on-screen analysts and anchors from ESPN's NFL Live program, including Mike Golic, Sean Salisbury, Merrill Hoge and Ron Jaworski. All are former professional football players and find Fantasy football an extension of the excitement they have for the game. After three weeks, Hoge leads the league with a perfect 3-0 record.
Fans are able to follow both leagues, see the team rosters and follow results, read comments and more throughout the season by logging onto ESPN.com's Fantasy Football homepage at http://games.espn.go.com/cgi/ffl/frontpage or by visiting the individual leagues at:
Stars League of Fantasy Football
http://games.espn.go.com/content/ffllm/2003/story?page=celebrity
ESPN NFL Live League
http://games.espn.go.com/ffllm/leagueoffice?leagueId=1164
ESPN.com Fantasy Football Participants:
| Stars League of Fantasy Football |
| Meat Loaf |
Rock and roll legend - new album Couldn't Have Said It Better on sale Sept 23. |
| Jennie Finch |
USA Softball Star, broadcaster, ESPN.com Page 2 favorite |
| Dan Cortese |
Star of Rock Me Baby - Tuesday's on UPN (formerly of MTV Sports) |
| Jay Harrington |
Star of Coupling - premiering on NBC Thursday |
| Joe and Gavin Maloof |
Owners of Sacramento Kings |
| Bel Biv Devo |
Multi-platinum selling R&B trio |
| Bob Guiney |
Fall's newest Bachelor - premiering Wednesday on ABC |
| Linda Cohn |
ESPN SportsCenter Anchor |
| |
| ESPN NFL Live League |
| Mike Golic |
ESPN Football Analyst, ESPN radio host, former NFL player |
| Trey Wingo |
NFL Live & SportsCenter anchor |
| Mark Schlereth |
ESPN Football analyst, former NFL player |
| Ron Jaworski |
ESPN Football analyst, former NFL player |
| Tom Jackson |
ESPN Football analyst, former NFL player |
| Sean Salisbury |
ESPN Football Analyst, former NFL player |
| Brandon Funston |
ESPN.com Fantasy Football Expert |
| Merrill Hoge |
ESPN Football Analyst, former NFL player |
| Eric Karabell |
ESPN.com Fantasy Football Expert |
| Darrell Trimble |
ESPN.com Insider football reporter |
| Roger Rotter |
ESPN.com Fantasy Football Expert |
| Bryan Cox |
ESPN Football analyst, former NFL player |
