At Riordan, students are getting involved in fantasy sports leagues. In an effort to create friendly rivalry, friend groups are matching up against each other in virtual competitions, while adding their own unique twists to make playing more exciting. 

Fantasy football is a competitive mock football league, where participants “draft” football players online at the beginning of a season and score points based on how their drafted players perform in real life; meanwhile someone’s “team” is competing against other participants who drafted their own team; whoever has the highest tallied score at the end of the week wins. Often participants will join leagues and go head-to-head with their friends throughout the whole NFL season. 

Students at Riordan are actively taking advantage of this fun way to compete against friends, but adding their own twists. 

Gio Mercurio ’24 is in a league with four other Riordan students. Whoever scores the least amount of points in the league is subject to a chocolate milk mile as punishment. 

“It’s when you have to run four laps around the track drinking a glass of chocolate milk after each lap,” explained Mercurio. 

The Cross Country team’s fantasy league has a more fitting punishment where the “loser has to run 52 laps around the track in formal wear” according to Luke Grogan ’23, a member of the men’s varsity team. “It would be very hot but more boring than anything else,” added Grogan. 

Fantasy leagues also are a great way for students to stay connected with friends who they would normally not interact with regularly. EJ Odocayen Cruz ’20 and Aidan Murtagh ’20, who are both in college, would typically not talk very much with their old track teammates, but fantasy football has brought them together as friendly trash talk becomes routine in an effort to playfully get under each other’s skin.