OIL History 2014: Expansion

5/22/2015

This is the ninth installment in our ongoing oral history project. You can read previous chapters here.

2014 was a big year. Alpha and Bravo Battery deployed again, this time to Afghanistan. The OIL joined the Yardbarker Network. Two longtime rivals chronicled their rivalry in an oral history. The league, fresh off losing a SECFOR brother, added 14 new teams as the league moved to a conference model. Cliburn spearheaded an oral history project to document the year in Iraq the men shared, and the men lost another brother-in-arms.

The OIL Heads to Afghanistan

ROGERS: This was my fifth season in the OIL, but it was my first deployment. I was in the 158 before their 2006 deployment and re-joined later. I wasn't sure how well I'd do competing from overseas, but I knew everyone else in the league had done it at some point.

ZERGER: This was my first year in the league and my first and only time in Afghanistan (although I'd been to Iraq twice). It brought back a lot of memories seeing familiar names that I hadn't necessarily forgotten but hadn't talked to in a while. I do believe that systems such as our league keep veterans in touch and might help some of our brothers reach out if they need help or something.

Chronicling a Rivalry

DUFFY: Cliburn and I had joked for a couple years about covering our rivalry like a legitimate newspaper would cover the great rivalries of the NFL, but we didn't know how best to do it.

CLIBURN: That changed when I read a book produced by the oral history organization StoryCorps. The concept they used was so simple that I knew we could replicate it.

DUFFY: It turned out great, even though we were probably the only two people who read it.

CLIBURN: Yeah, but it was fun to put together and set the stage for bigger projects later.

Custom Mini-Helmets

CLIBURN: I was the first to think about ordering a custom helmet. When I found HelmetNation, I knew I'd found the right company. We worked out a deal with their owner and put in a deal for the Arrogant Americans and Hangovers.

DUFFY: The helmets were incredibly well done. I would highly recommend HelmetNation to all the hardcore FFers out there.

CLIBURN: It's hard to tell in the photos, but the quality was superb. I've since created championship mini-helmets for a few teams on my own and the quality level isn't even close.

DUFFY: No. These things use 20mil vinyl decals and everything. Everyone who sees my helmet asks me where I got it.

CLIBURN: Here is the interview we posted on the website with the owner of HelmetNation.com:

Where are you located? I am located in Stansbury Park, Utah. It is just outside of Salt Lake City.

When did you start? HelmetNation was started in 1999. I became the owner in 2007.

How did you get started? I have played and/or coached football almost my entire life. I have been fascinated with football helmets since a young age. I started collecting mini football helmets about 20 years ago and when I had a chance to become the owner of HelmetNation, I jumped at it. It is my passion.

Have you made a helmet for your own fantasy football team? Unfortunately, given that I coach high school football and have my busiest time of the year in the fall for HelmetNation, I have not played fantasy football in some time. The one or two years I did play, I did not create a team helmet or anything.

How many do you typically make in a given year? How long does it typically take? What is the typical pricing? Well, we do thousands of helmets every year for everyone from youth teams to high schools, small colleges, semi-pro, indoor/arena leagues, all types of businesses and, of course, fantasy football enthusiasts. Typical production and delivery time is 3-5 weeks and with a minimum order of 10 the cost is $19.95 for the Schutt XP mini helmet and $24.95 for the Riddell Speed mini helmet.

Do you typically get very detailed instructions or are you sometimes given artistic license when making helmets for fictional teams? For most orders we are trying to replicate helmets that are being worn by a team somewhere. In addition, for the businesses I get orders from, they usually have a specific idea in mind. Typically, the most creative requests come from fantasy football guys. Unfortunately, that can be difficult at times to replicate on a football helmet but we have done pretty well over the years.

Any weird stories? e.g. any odd requests, etc. As I am sure you are aware, there are some unusual names and logos for fantasy teams out there. I have done a few of them.

What was the design parameters for the Hangovers helmet? The Hangovers owner was very detailed in his design request. He had an established logo, and he wanted to simply use that to mimic the Green Bay Packers helmet. A nice touch was the "OIL" over the top of the facemask.

Were the design parameters constraining or allow you to focus on getting it right? It wasn't constraining at all. It let me know exactly what was wanted and allowed me to get it right.

What was the process? We get the design details from the customer, get the order paid for, and get it into production. We send the artwork over to our decal supplier, and if need be order helmet shells/masks for the order. Once the decals arrive from the supplier, we assemble the helmet and ship it to the customer.

How detailed was this helmet compared to other fantasy football helmets? Both of these helmets were fairly typical when compared to other fantasy football helmets I have done.

Joining the Yardbarker Network

CLIBURN: I forget how I stumbled onto Yardbarker, but I remember seeing a link to click for applications. I figured what the hell? and signed up.

DUFFY: Yardbarker is part of Fox Sports' network of sports blogs. That's big time.

CLIBURN: It is. In the offseason, we get 100-200 referrals each month from Yardbarker. It's obviously much higher during the season. It gives us an air of legitimacy.

OIL Teams in Action

Over the summer, the men got over the offseason blues by waiting for the next 'OIL in Action' image to be posted.

CLIBURN: I was browsing Fiverr.com and found someone advertising a gig offering to Photoshop your fantasy football uniform onto an NFL player and thought we had to do this. That's what gave me the idea of developing uniforms for each team. It made the OIL feel more real. Here's a quick Q&A with the designer, Ryan Hannebaum:

CLIBURN: What software do you use to "skin" players?

HANNEBAUM: Most of the work is done in Adobe Photoshop. When I have to recreate a logo (or create one from scratch), I use Adobe Illustrator, because it creates vector graphics--basically, graphics that can be scaled up infinitely without losing quality.

CLIBURN: How long does it typically take to complete a "skin"?

HANNEBAUM: It varies quite a bit based on the uniform's complexity, but I'd say the average is between one and two hours.

CLIBURN: How many players have you "skinned"?

HANNEBAUM: I started doing this for my league in 2007 and have done it every year since. That would be roughly 98 skins, plus bonus ones for the playoffs. On fiverr I did 21, and on reddit I did another 10. So I'd say I've done north of 150 all told.

CLIBURN: How'd you get started "skinning" players on Fiverr?

HANNEBAUM: I used to check out reddit for fantasy football news for my own team, and someone on there asked if anyone did custom uniforms for fantasy teams. I did a handful of uniforms for users on there, and someone told me about fiverr and suggested I might as well make a little cash for my efforts. That's how I got started on fiverr, but it quickly became apparent to me that the money didn't come close to justifying the time I was spending on the skins, so I had to bow out.

CLIBURN: What'd you think of the OIL's team logos?

HANNEBAUM: I was happy to see that there are other leagues out there as crazy as ours (the JADDL: Jared Allen's DDs League). It makes me happy when people take enough pride in their teams to come up with logos and backstories. After all, fantasy football is just an excuse for us to stay in touch with our friends as life pulls us further apart. (And it's great for talking trash.)

CLIBURN: Do you have a favorite OIL team name or logo?

HANNEBAUM: Nah, I won't go that far. My personal aesthetic--clean and simple--would lend itself to the Reapers' jerseys, even though I'm a Chiefs fan and they resemble the Raiders.

CLIBURN: Which team design did you enjoy creating the most?

HANNEBAUM: The Hippies uniforms were fun to create since they were so different. Getting that tie-dye to morph with the fabric realistically was no easy feat. Coming up with the railroad tracks down the front of the DominationStation unis was interesting as well.

Starting the AFC

CLIBURN: After Killman's funeral on New Year's Eve 2013, I thought we need to expand the league to include more SECFOR guys. And I knew that we couldn't do it half-assed either. We needed it to emulate the original OIL as much as possible. That included team logos and uniforms (click any team logo below to view that franchise's uniforms). I loved helping create the identity of the AFC. Each team had a story.

CLIBURN: Why'd everyone choose their team names?

ADAM SCHUSTER: Because Cliburn didn't like my original name of Delta Drinkers.

CLIBURN: That wasn't bad (Schuster was at Camp Delta in Iraq), but I thought you could do better. And you said you wanted something that was military-related but funny.

SCHUSTER: So Negligent Discharges seemed to fit.

CLIBURN: I love that the logo is a smoking barrel.

LYNN: I started homebrewing beer when I lived in Fort Worth, so I went with Brewmasters. I loved the color scheme and the uniforms our designer came up with.

JAMES PEACOCK: I was going to roll with Gut Twisters, but Cliburn talked me out of it.

CLIBURN: Well, Peacock was in the original OIL in 2006 before getting out of the 158 and losing touch. His name that season was simply the COCKS. I just felt that had to be the team name going forward, but playing up the Peacock element.

NICK GREEN: I'm a history buff and enjoy reading about our military heritage. That's why I chose Doughboys. I just love the old school nostalgic feel the logo gives off.

HILLIER: I guess I'm not that creative because I just went with Thomas's Team until Cliburn suggested I use Hillier FF.

CLIBURN: I felt that was better than Thomas's Team and evoked classic European sport team names. And I liked the idea of a single H with "wings" creating an F on either side.

HILLIER: I liked it too, especially the color.

NEELY: I wanted a logo inspired by Gangs of New York.

CLIBURN: I remember laughing out loud when the designer said he'd need more direction. ". . . because right now all I have is a photo of Daniel Day-Lewis," he said.

WALT MUSSELMAN: My squad was really loud and rowdy while training at Fort Lewis, so I took to calling us the Mutinous Apes.

DON ROE: I chose Rebel Alliance first because I'm a Star Wars fan. Secondly, it's a great story of a fight against tyranny. I love the rebellion logo and colors that make up my team logo.

LANCE ZERGER: I chose Redlegs because of the rich tradition the Redleg heritage and what it means to be Field Artillery. The emblem ties in our battalion with the historic thunderbird.

REED: I own a woodwork shop in Duncan, so Sawtooths fit perfectly since that's my primary tool.

FITZGERALD: Cliburn suggested Steel Reign as a play on the nickname of the MLRS: Steel Rain.

STEPHEN BROSH: I played on the fantasy football term when I named my team the Vultures. Cliburn suggested it and I loved it.

BRYAN NYE: I had no idea what I was going to be after Cliburn shamed me for using Donkey Punch. He recommended Warm Bodies because that's what we were in Iraq. We didn't get to do our Artillery jobs; we were just pawns. So we used the pawn imagery in the logo.

JIMMY VENABLE: And I named my team after the 1966 Mustang I bought after I got back from Iraq in 2007.

CLIBURN: Once we knew we were adding a second conference, we had to add a second trophy. And the name for it seemed obvious: the Killman Memorial Trophy.

REED: I liked the idea. Cliburn went ahead and ordered it and I waited for it to arrive.

CLIBURN: Reed volunteered to be the AFC commissioner (we originally referred to it as the OIL2), so he held onto it during that first season.

Starting the Oral History

CLIBURN: In 2013, StoryCorps published a conversation between my wife and me in a collection of stories in their ongoing oral history project. When I saw the book format, I thought "I can do this." So, I started sending out questions and writing prompts to all our guys so we could chronicle our year in Iraq and beyond.

CLIBURN: I don't know how much the guys liked it, but this project became very important to me. I spent just about all my free time working on it. What did you guys think? Were my emails and questions annoying?

BRUESCH: I didn't think they were annoying. I thought the whole idea was pretty cool.

PYLE: I loved it, although I never have as much time to answer the prompts as I'd like.

JESSEN: Same here. I usually just text answers here and there.

DUFFY: I really enjoy keeping seeing each chapter come together. I wish I had more time to contribute, but I'm glad Cliburn makes the time. I had to do this in bursts, but if I wasn't asked repeatedly I would probably not have completed the mission. I did not expect a volume of work so great. I figured it would be neat website information. Obviously, my expectations have been exceeded.

CLIBURN: I get a lot of guys asking how I find the time. But I don't have children and I usually work on it while watching TV with my wife. I'm the king of multi-tasking.

Rebranding: From Reapers to Roughnecks

CLIBURN: As we moved to more of a franchise feel to each team, I thought Schmidt's Dead Again and Baldwin's Reapers looked too similar. Compare Dead Again . . .

. . . with the Reapers:

CLIBURN: So I asked Baldwin if he'd be willing to rebrand as the Roughnecks.

BALDWIN: It made sense because I was a roughneck.

CLIBURN: And he liked my vision for the team. So we contacted our designer and developed what I think is a great look.

BALDWIN: Not that the old look was bad.

CLIBURN: It wasn't. But I wanted something more personal to you and something that stood out from the rest of the teams.

CLIBURN: Our designer did a fantastic job. His first draft was almost perfect. I just asked that he add the natural gas flare and that was about it.

BALDWIN: By the time I saw it, I loved it. Brick did a great job communicating with the designer.

CLIBURN: And, since Baldwin gave up his entire franchise identity in the process, I made sure to reward him with some Roughnecks swag.

BALDWIN: I take that mug everywhere. It looks amazing.

CLIBURN: It came from our CafePress store. You can find just about anything there.

2014 Draft

The draft is two days away. To refresh, the 2014 OIL draft will be held at 1500 on Sunday at Toby Keith's I Love This Bar & Grill in Bricktown Oklahoma City. Remember to show up early, meet up on the second floor, and bring an internet-connected device to draft with. Guys that can't make it, know that you're okay. You can draft online from wherever you are.

This year is special for two reasons: 1. we are testing a new venue; 2. this is the first year the OIL2 will join us. Toby Keith's in Bricktown is by far the best location we've held a draft party. They'll give us a free burger with military ID, and it's half-price domestic beer starting at 1500.

The AFC was started because so many former SECFOR guys asked Commissioner Cliburn for a spot in the OIL whenever a spot opened up. But, let's face it, there wasn't going to be a spot come open. Why would anyone leave? The league is fantastic. We have our own website, league logo, team logos, oral history and rivalries. It's been the main way we keep in touch with each other. And that's why I wanted to expand. After seeing all the guys at Killman's funeral, I wanted to ensure I kept in touch with more of the guys. I knew how I'd kept in touch with you guys, so my default was to propose the same thing for 14 more.

Nick Reed is the commissioner. Original OklahomIraqi James Peacock makes his return. SECFOR commander Charlie Neely has agreed to play in the dirt with us grunts. Brosh is coming from Marlow to be at the draft. Musselman is drafting from Hawai'i, Nye from Ohio. Schuster has been on deck for the OIL for three years. He's now in the AFC, among others.

The draft is a time to get together, talk trash, reconnect and make new memories. But it's also the most important day of the season. A good draft can't win you the league, but a bad draft can lose you the league. The first season took place in Iraq, and no one was able to draft their own team. In 2007, Morgan's draft was so good he won the league without making any add/drops the entire season. Of course, we know that was dumb luck.

In 2008, Bruesch drafted Tom Brady in the first round. Brady went down in week one and was lost for the season. But Bruesch took a chance on Aaron Rodgers in the 12th round and went on to win the league.

In 2010, Cliburn's draft catapulted him to a 12-1 regular season record and OIL Bowl victory. TheArrogant Americans hit the jackpot on each of their first seven picks, including Darren Sproles in the fifth round and Arian Foster in the sixth. Those first seven picks overshadowed a pedestrian back half of the draft. But that's all he needed.

In 2011, Bruesch once again lost his first round pick to injury when Jamaal Charles tore his ACL. But Bruesch's draft had depth. He snagged an in-his-prime Steven Jackson in the second roung and Drew Brees in the third. Rather than panicking at RB, Bruesch plugged his ninth-round pick (Jonathan Stewart) into the lineup, picked up Laurent Robinson off the waiver wire and got an amazing season from draft picks Jordy Nelson, Julio Jones, Anquan Boldin, Pierre Garcon, and Jason Witten.

The following season, Cliburn took a risk on Peyton Manning in the sixth round after he'd missed the entire previous season to a neck injury. Manning and 2012 draft picks Darren Sproles and Antonio Brown led the Americans to their second OIL championship.

And, last season, Cobb overcame losing his first round pick (Arian Foster) to injury early in the season. He drafted Peyton Manning in the third. His third-leading scorer was his 17th round pick: Julian Edelman. His two starting RBs in the OIL Bowl were selected in the seventh and ninth rounds (Reshard Mendenhall and Bilal Powell). Draft picks Andre Johnson, Michael Floyd, Wes Welker and Steve Smith provided the every week points he needed to overcome a weak RB corps. When Cobb beat Cliburn in the 2013 OIL Bowl, he did it with a deep draft class that didn't look impressive on paper. But it produced, and Cobb won his first championship.

The 2013 draft had the opposite effect for Pyle. Ray Rice, Julio Jones, Maurice Jones-Drew, Mike Wallace, Ahmad Bradshaw, Michael Vick, and Joe Flacco all disappointed either due to injury or general incompetence. Pyle is a former champion and a great in-season manager. But no amount of in-season management could overcome that draft. There are other examples through the years of a draft losing it for its owner, but Pyle's 2013 draft is the most recent and most glaring example. Don't expect Pyle to repeat it.

Duffy, Jessen, and Leal routinely have great drafts, but they haven't broken through to win a title yet. But their drafts always put them in a position to compete while others seem to lose the league on draft day every other year. Maybe this is the year one of them rides a strong draft to an OIL Bowl championship.

The other managers to never win the championship? Baldwin; Finch; Henderson; Schmidt; and Trovillo. Is this their year? They'd like to think so.

Either way, draft day will start the ninth season of the OIL. It will be good to visit with everyone Sunday, but I'm really looking forward to next season. The 2015 draft will be the 10th season of the OIL and the unofficial 10-year reunion for the SECFOR guys. This draft day will be a dress rehearsal for next year's. We have to do it big for the 10th season, so start thinking of ideas now. And clear your calendars, guys. It's going to be amazing.

So the men all met at Toby Keith's I Love This Bar & Grill in Bricktown Oklahoma City for the 2014 draft. Members of both conferences were present, although some had to leave before this photograph. The NFC drafted first with the AFC, due to a scheduling error, starting two hours later.

CLIBURN: With the first pick in the draft, Cobb planned on taking Adrian Peterson, but the pressure got to him and he flubbed the pick.

COBB: I accidentally chose LeSean McCoy. I don't know what happened, but I wasn't happy.

TROVILLO: I wasn't able to make it to the draft, but I at least got to draft my own team online that year. 2013 was horrible after my team was autopicked.

NFC: Team-by-Team Drafts

AFC Draft Fiasco

The AFC draft was scheduled for two hours after the NFC's. Unfortunately, by then, Yahoo! was experiencing technical difficulties that resulted in draft day chaos nationwide.

HILLIER: That's how I drafted a kicker in the first round. I sure didn't do that on purpose.

CLIBURN: I couldn't believe the league didn't vote for a redraft after that.

NEELY: Me either. But we had to soldier on.

AFC: Team-by-Team Drafts

Trade Controversy . . . Again

CLIBURN: Of course, it didn't take long for the league to veto another Cliburn trade. This one involved Cliburn and Leal and centered around Marshawn Lynch.

August 27, 2014

FINCH: Every year you rip someone off on a trade and every year I call you out on it. But somehow people still keep trading with you.

CLIBURN: I do it just to see gems like these from you on the message board.

CLIBURN: But Finch's bullying worked and Leal revoked his consent for the trade . . . so it was vetoed like so many other Arrogant Americans trades in the past.

'Mericans Take a Risk . . . and Lose

CLIBURN: Before the 2014 season, Ray Rice was suspended for two games due to a domestic violence incident. He was dropping like crazy in the draft, so I took a chance and drafted him in the sixth round. Yes, there were concerns about rooting for a guy who had punched his wife, but we'd won an OIL Bowl in 2010 with Michael Vick at QB. Plus, it was only two games . . . then the surveillance video of Rice knocking out his then-fiancée. So I quickly traded him to Schmidt until the NFL announced Rice would be suspended indefinitely.

OKLAHOMA CITY — The OIL's Arrogant Americans released RB Ray Rice today after gossip site TMZ released footage of the player punching his then-fiancée in a casino hotel elevator. Rice was suspended in February for two games for the altercation, and Arrogant Americans manager Justin C. Cliburn took a chance by drafting Rice in the sixth round of the 2014 OIL draft.

"At the time of the draft, all I knew was Rice was missing two games," Cliburn said. "At a sixth-round price tag, our organization felt he was worth the risk. Today, it blew up in our faces. We regret the pick."

But before cutting Rice, Cliburn attempted to trade the embattled RB to OIL manager Mike Schmidt. The Arrogant Americans and Schmidt's Dead Again franchise agreed to trade Rice and Roy Helu for Bishop Sankey and Kenny Stills.

"I saw the video of Rice punching his fiancée," Cliburn said. "And I knew two things: 1. Rice would be suspended for longer than his original two-game sentence; and 2. I no longer wanted him on my roster."

But shortly after the trade sending Rice to Dead Again, the NFL's Baltimore Ravens terminated his contract and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell suspended the Super Bowl-winning RB indefinitely. League reaction to the trade, coupled with the indefinite suspension, was swift and fierce.

DominationStation manager Zachary Jessen said, if the trade was not vetoed, the league's recent move to third-party trade review would have been a mistake. Hard Targets manager Justin Finch was even more outspoken:

"Typical [C]lyburn [sic] bullshit. I've come to expect some trade-raping on a weekly basis [from him]. I don't know why anyone ever thinks they are getting a good deal from him," Finch said. "[Yo]u should be ashamed," he added.

Cliburn was undeterred by the criticism. "As soon as we realized Rice would be cut, we contacted Schmidt and let him know we'd be ensuring the league commissioners vetoed the trade," Cliburn said. "I would lose all credibility in the OIL if I went through with this trade."

The Arrogant Americans and Dead Again trade was vetoed by the league office at 2:34 p.m. CST. It is unclear if another NFL or OIL team will take a chance on Rice at some point in the 2014 season, but Rice would have to apply for reinstatement to the NFL in order to play again in the NFL or the OIL. In Rice's place, the Americans will start the recently-acquired Zac Stacy at RB2. Andrew Hawkins will assume the W/R flex position as the Americans move to a five-WR offense.

NFC Weeks 1-2

DUFFY: After Leal dropped Josh Gordon, I swooped in for him and hoped he'd be my late-season savior.

DUFFY: Sigh. I just had to have Megatron and ended up giving too much for him.

CLIBURN: Which is funny because the attitude around the league was that you'd ripped off Trovillo.

TROVILLO: There were definitely guys who felt I'd been duped, but I knew what I was doing.

CLIBURN: After Finch led the charge to veto my trade, I loved stomping the shit out of him in week one. So I commemorated the occasion by hiring a Reddit user to Photoshop an Arrogant Americans uniform onto Antonio Brown kicking the Browns punter (with FINCH on the nameplate) in the face.

FINCH: Only clyburn would spend money to talk trash about a fake football matchup.

AFC Weeks 1-2

Heath Miller and the Warm Bodies started the season with a loss to Hillier, but they followed it up with a victory over their archrival: the Mutinous Apes (Credit: /u/spuddy0108).

REED: I started out the season with a win against fellow Comanche guy Peacock.

PEACOCK: It wasn't a good start for my return to the OIL, but at least I beat fellow First Platooner Schuster the next week.

Dejá Vú All Over Again

In the first week of the season, Bruesch once again dealt with the loss of his first round pick. In 2008, he lost Tom Brady to a torn ACL. In 2011, he lost Jamaal Charles to a torn ACL. But, in 2014, he lost his first round pick to the legal system.

BRUESCH: I couldn't believe Peterson fell to me in the draft. Then I was in even greater disbelief when he was arrested. At first I thought he'd be back soon though.

COBB: Man, I really dodged a bullet there, didn't I?

Trade Review

CLIBURN: After a couple seasons of acrimonious trade vetoes, I decided to poll the league on switching to third-party review of trades.

CLIBURN: The poll went about as I'd imagined and we hired MyFantasyCommish.com to review our trades.

FINCH: We wouldn't even need trade review if no one ever traded with clyburn.

Kettle, this is Pot. Come in, Kettle. You are black, over.

CLIBURN: If you didn't get the joke, 2006 was the year we were in Iraq. Any time Finch (or any of us) would leave "home" (the base), he had to wear full body armor, a helmet, protective lenses, and gloves.

From Teams to Franchises

Shortly after the season began, the OIL hired Andrew Krause to design uniforms for all 28 teams.

CLIBURN: We were incredibly satisfied with the work Andrew did with our uniforms. We posted an interview with him on the website shortly after:

How long have you done graphic design?

KRAUSE: I’ve been a graphic artist full-time coming up on two years, previously I was an educator in the Boston Public Schools system. While I’ve only been full-time for a short period, I was always drawing logos and the like in notebooks at school or at home with those weirdly scented markers in the early 90’s.

Where do you live?

KRAUSE: I’m originally from Plymouth, Massachusetts but moved to Boston about 8 years ago when I turned 20. I’ve bounced around from neighborhood to neighborhood but have settled in the Allston section of the city, sandwiched between Boston College and Boston University. Neither of which I attended, but I hold BU hockey close to my heart.

What type of clients do you typically serve?

KRAUSE: Hard question to answer, I serve a wide variety of clients. Anywhere from you guys to the NYC Food Bank. My expertise is in sports branding but I have no trouble straying from the course if the job is interesting.

How many designs do you typically do in a month?

KRAUSE: It can vary, summer months are usually the quiet ones – mostly by choice. The work really kicks up between October-May.

What are you favorite types of projects?

KRAUSE: I don’t necessarily have a favorite type of project per se, just ones where the client allows the designer to trust in their vision.

What are your favorite logo/uniform designs?

KRAUSE: My favorite design as of late has to be Joe Boscak’s work with the Hershey Bears. They did a great job capturing the feel of Hershey while also maintaining a classic brand for the Bears. Stunning work. The Dallas Stars come in a close second. They weren’t in need of a brand overhaul, but they sure knocked it out of the park.

Do you play fantasy football?

KRAUSE: Who doesn’t? I’m in a rather hotly contested league and another with a ragtag group of hometown friends. I’m not the best fantasy player out there, but I did win a championship with Tebow at the helm three years ago – I’m oddly proud of that.

As you should be. Does your team have a logo/uniforms?

KRAUSE: They do, but I won’t share. It’s essentially Tim Tebow and Mr. Hankey combined. I’ll let your imagination take over from here.

Which OIL franchise did you enjoy designing the most? Why?

KRAUSE: I’m keen on the look of the DARC NARCS. The basis of the design was an 8-bit video game with the not-so-blended gradients. That red uniform is probably my favorite in the OIL. TheRoughnecks, of course, get an honorable mention as that being the sole franchise I designed from the ground up.

How can fantasy football owners contact you about designing their franchise?

KRAUSE: A simple e-mail to [email protected] will suffice. We can continue the discussion there.

What would you recommend owners provide when they request franchise design or re-brand?

KRAUSE: I usually like to have them fill out a four or five question card which includes mostly their thought process on how their name came about. Fantasy football names are pretty egregious and/or have an inside joke connection. It helps to get the owner's viewpoint on the name before beginning work. Colors are pretty helpful, as well.

What work are you most proud of?

KRAUSE: My work with The Basketball Tournament (TBT) is easily the staple of my portfolio. We started from the ground up with them. When I signed on all that was certain was Frasier Davidson was going to make some killer team logos, which he did. Outside of that work, they left it up to me to design each of the 32 entrant’s uniforms, signage, gear, programs. A lot of work, but it was satisfying to see such a big project come to fruition.

NFC Weeks 3-4

DUFFY: Neither of us were very happy with our RB1s. So it made sense to trade them and see if something changed. That's the story behind this one.

In week three, one OIL manager had the presence of mind to add a rookie WR coming back from injury:

TROVILLO: Beckham was out to start the year and there was word he was coming back soon.

CLIBURN: Then Victor Cruz got injured for the season, too.

TROVILLO: Exactly. It was a perfect storm for Beckham and I was lucky enough to snag him off the waiver wire.

Roughnecks QB Eli Manning

Keeping with tradition, Cobb had a game decided by less than a point. He beat Jessen in week three 127.70-126.75.

BALDWIN: My QB (Eli Manning) scored almost 40 points that game . . . and I still lost by 20+ points. That was pretty frustrating.

AFC Weeks 3-4

Going into week three, no one team had really stood out from the rest. And, this being the first season of the AFC, there was no history to refer to in order to predict how the season would unfold.

Sawtooths QB Drew Brees in their all-black alternates (Credit: /u/kuilin).

2014 Negligent Discharges RB Matt Forte (Credit: /u/spuddy0108).

Steel Reign QB Tony Romo (Credit: /u/spuddy0108).

Three teams broke 190 points in week four: Fitzgerald; Green; and Venable.

NEELY: I couldn't believe I scored 166 points and still lost by 30.

CLIBURN: The custom jersey for the conference champion tradition wasn't started until 2014. That's when I asked the league about it, and they overwhelmingly approved the measure.

Permanent Prizes

NFC Weeks 5-6

CLIBURN: I lost to Morgan in week five, but Trovillo avenged my loss for me the following week.

MORGAN: I got screwed in week six.

TROVILLO: It's hard to argue with you there. It's not very often you score 168 points and lose.

MORGAN: . . . and lose by .15 points, too.

AFC Weeks 5-6

QB Andrew Luck helped the Cocks beat Hillier and the Mutinous Apes in weeks five and six (Credit: /u/spuddy0108).

Meanwhile, Neely was losing both big and small in the AFC.

NEELY: I lost by a mere 2.6 points to Brosh and thought my team was about it hit its stride . . . but then I got trounced by Reed the next week.

NEELY: I waited until week six to pull the plug on Adrian Peterson. But getting rid of AP provided the roster space for the free agent pick-up of the year in Odell Beckham, Jr.

NEELY: I ended week six at 2-4. It was time to let go of the dream of a Peterson return and pick up someone who could help now.

CLIBURN: It was a fortuitous time to pull the plug on AP since Beckham was coming back from injury.

NEELY: Beckham was awesome. He fueled a second-half surge for the Hooligans.

CLIBURN: ODB was the catalyst for a lot of fantasy teams that year.

During the 2006 mission, the men of the 158 dealt with the combat death of California Army National Guard SFC Isaac Lawson. Lawson was killed while traveling with a 158 squad north of Baghdad. Then, in 2013, they lost SECFOR member SPC Joseph "Jody" Killman, as well as former 158 member 1LT Brandon J. Landrum, who served with the 158 in Ramadi and was killed while on active duty in Afghanistan. But the bad news kept on coming.

Losing Another SECFOR Brother

CLIBURN: Ten Man was a great guy. I have good memories of him on the SECFOR mission.

PYLE: We all liked Ten Man. That was a shock when I heard he was gone.

Tenequer Memorial Trophy

LEAL: It was very unexpected for me. I just saw him a few weeks earlier at Wal Mart stocking shelves. We talked about him moving back to Norman and how good it was seeing each other. Very unexpected.

CLIBURN: We were already thinking of a name for the week 17 trophy, so we decided to name it in Ten Man's honor.

DUFFY: I remember telling Cliburn I thought it was a great idea, but I wish we'd run out of dead friends to name things after.

CLIBURN: It was a great point. I liked using our little fake football league to honor these men we respected and lost. But I hated that we'd lost them.

PYLE: We all did. It was too early.

LEAL: Way too early. It really hit home that we needed to keep in touch with everyone because we didn't know when someone could be lost.

CLIBURN: Exactly. And the thinking was that naming these trophies after these guys would remind us all to keep in touch, to check on each other.

NFC Weeks 7-8

CLIBURN: This was the first time our third-party trade review almost vetoed a trade. But he spoke to Baldwin about it and was convinced it was what Baldwin wanted to do. Baldwin himself reached out to the league to assure them he wanted this trade to happen and to tell them to quit taking things so seriously:

TROVILLO: Then, as it turned out, Hilton outperformed Bernard the rest of the season.

DUFFY: By week seven, I knew I needed a jolt in order to make the playoffs. So I got tired of waiting on Josh Gordon to come back from suspension and traded him to Finch for a WR that was actually playing: Brian Quick.

FINCH: Quick wasn't starting for me, so I could afford to wait on Gordon to come back.

CLIBURN: And then, the following week, Quick was injured and put on IR.

FINCH: I really dodged a bullet there.

DUFFY: That's when I knew the fantasy gods hated me. The Hangovers weren't going to catch a break, so I got aggressive and put all my eggs in the top-QB basket.

BRUESCH: I had Romo, who was having a fantastic year. So I traded Aaron Rodgers to Duffy to upgrade my WR corps.

DUFFY: Both our teams were at a crossroads. We each needed to practically win out if we wanted a chance at the playoffs. So the trade made sense. It also freed up Matthew Stafford as trade bait. I sent him to Trovillo's Dirty Hippies for Devin Hester, who was actually doing really well at WR for the Falcons.

TROVILLO: And I turned around and swapped Stafford for Doug Baldwin, the WR1 in Seattle at the time.

BALDWIN: I had Eli Manning at QB. His total points were good, but he was so damn inconsistent that I felt Stafford was an upgrade.

While the AFC's Hooligans gave up the ghost in week six, it was week seven before Bruesch finally gave up on Adrian Peterson:

BRUESCH: I held on as long as I could, but I needed help elsewhere. And all the media reports said it was unlikely he'd be reinstated.

CLIBURN: Unfortunately for Bruesch, Odell Beckham was long gone at that point.

Week seven was the most tightly-contested week in OIL history: Morgan beat Baldwin by .4; Rogers beat leal by .25; Henderson beat Jessen by .7; and Pyle beat Finch by .85.

T.Y. Hilton and the Roughnecks lost to the Dirty Hippies a week after Hilton was traded from the Hippies to Baldwin's squad (Credit: /u/spuddy0108).

AFC Weeks 7-8

REED: Halfway through the season in the AFC, it was really anybody's league.

CLIBURN: The only surety was that Briscoe wasn't making the playoffs, since he quit managing the roster before week one.

REED: That's why he's [Team Redacted].

CLIBURN: Yeah. I asked if he was interested in it, and he really wasn't. So we just changed his team name so his team wouldn't show up in the league archives. It wasn't mean-spirited. It was just so it'd be clear in the archives that this team didn't really exist.

REED: After starting 6-1, Schuster finally got beat again.

SCHUSTER: Of course it had to be against Sergeant Major, too.

Vultures TE Jason Witten (Credit: /u/spuddy0108)

NFC Weeks 9-10

TROVILLO: I go into every matchup with Cliburn treating it like Rivalry Week, but especially in 2014. My team was looking great, and I wanted to beat the two-time champions for some real validation.

CLIBURN: I'd told my wife, outside of me, I was rooting for Trovillo the most to win the OIL Bowl that year. The Hippies had never gotten close to a championship, and I knew how much a title would mean to Trovillo. Well, that ended after the 'Mericans got beat down by the Hippies in week nine. After that, all bets were off.

PYLE: Of course, my bad luck continued when I lost by less than a point to Yancy's Roughnecks in week 10.

TROVILLO: And I lost by only 2.65 points to Bruesch.

CLIBURN: By week 10, there were rumors Peterson would be reinstated . . . and the number one team in the league just happened to have the number one waiver priority.

FINCH: I loved adding Adrian Peterson to my team. We were already the best team in the league.

AFC Weeks 9-10

The close games continued when Musselman's Mutinous Apes started week nine by clipping Reed's Sawtooths 150.30-150.10.

REED: I couldn't believe I lost to Musselman in week nine. He was 0-8 going into that game!

MUSSELMAN: I know that had to sting. I was 0-8 and then I beat Reed by .20. Then I turned around and beat Schuster. It was too late for a winning season, but I was feeling a lot better after such a horrible start.

NFC Weeks 11-12

Duffy's Hangovers kicked off week 11 by beating Morgan's Whackers by almost triple-digits.

CLIBURN: After Finch traded for Josh Gordon, I posted the Josh Gordon prayer I saw at reddit.com/r/fantasyfootball:

FINCH: That was pretty accurate. With the number one seeds looking more and more likely, getting Gordon back seemed like the clincher for me to get my first title.

AFC Weeks 11-12

As the season wound down in the AFC, Schuster just needed to win two more games to ensure a playoff berth. After losing to Nye's Warm Bodies, his playoff hopes hinged on his week 12 matchup with Lynn's Brewmasters.

SCHUSTER: Meanwhile, my slide continued as I lost to Nye and then Lynn. It wasn't a good way to go into week 13 and the playoffs.

NFC Week 13: Rivalry Week

One more year after establishing Rivalry Week, the energy during week 13 was intense. Everyone was amped to end their season by beating their rival, but not everyone could win.

Arrogant Americans: 157.10

Hangovers: 173.15

CLIBURN: After losing the 2013 Rivalry Week matchup to Duffy, I hated losing again in 2014.

DUFFY: I was just glad to get revenge for my 2013 playoff loss to Cliburn. I'd traded him LeSean McCoy for Eddie Lacy, and it looked like I won that exchange.

Whackers: 163.15

Norman Nobodies: 137.10

LEAL: I hate losing to Morgan.

CLIBURN: What was great about the AMMODOGS/DominationStation matchup was that, not only was it for Rivalry Week bragging rights, the winner would make the playoffs while the loser went home.

AMMODOGS: 177.75

DominationStation: 75.15

ROGERS: I was still in Afghanistan when my AMMODOGS stomped Jessen to clinch a playoff berth. This was maybe my most satisfying victory in the OIL.

Dead Again: 126.05

Lucky Enuf: 142.50

PYLE: We busted out the alternate neon green jerseys for this one and beat Schmidt easily. That made it two in a row for Lucky Enuf.

Hard Targets: 184.95

Roughnecks: 171.10

FINCH: I finally got revenge on Baldwin, who'd won the last two or three against me. Plus my victory ensured a number one seed in the playoffs. It was a great way to go into the first-round bye.

SoonerJack: 129.85

Dogs of War: 114.85

BRUESCH: My season probably wasn't going to end in the playoffs, but at least I beat 2013 champion Cobb in week 13.

Dirty Hippies: 201.20

DARC NARCS: 155.50

TROVILLO: We closed out a fantastic regular season with a big win during Rivalry Week and a first-round bye in the playoffs.

AFC Week 13

CLIBURN: 2014 was the first year of the AFC, so Rivalry Week wasn't established yet. Still, there were some interesting matchups. The Vultures/Cocks game featured former First Platooners Brosh and Peacock. Second Platoon-mates Hillier and Musselman matched up. Camp Delta buddies Fitzgerald and Schuster faced off. And Bravo Battery veterans Neely and Lynn finished the regular season against one another.

REED: I finished the season with a victory, which ensured a winning season. But it wasn't enough to make the playoffs. Still, it was a successful season overall.

Epic Collapses

2014 was marked by epic collapses in each conference.

NFC: Jessen's 2014 collapse

JESSEN: I had a lot of bad luck that season. I had seven losses but one was by .95 points. Another was by .70 points. A third was by less than six. And I scored 182 points one week and still lost by 40.

AFC: Schuster's 2014 collapse

SCHUSTER: I got complacent. I thought my team was so good I didn't need to stay on top of the waiver wire. In the end, it cost me.

Making a Comeback

In contrast, Musselman stuck with it . . . even after a 0-8 start to his first season of fantasy football.

CLIBURN: Musselman had told me he'd never played fantasy football before, and he made some rookie mistakes. But, even after losing eight straight games to start the season, he kept trying. I liked that. I respected that. That's how his Mutinous Apes won four of their last five.

MUSSELMAN: It was my first season and I really didn't know what I was doing at first. Once I figured it out, it was too late to make the playoffs. But it was fun playing spoiler. Le'Veon Bell carried my team all season.

NFC Playoffs

Only one previous champion made the NFC's playoffs: Cliburn's Arrogant Americans. So, going into week 14, it seemed likely a new champion would be crowned.

Quarterfinals

#5 Hangovers vs. #4 AMMODOGS

#5 Hangovers: 148.35

#4 AMMODOGS: 105.90

DUFFY: I barely made the playoffs after trading for Aaron Rodgers late in the season. At 7-6, my record didn't look good but my team was a lot better in week 14 than it was during the regular season. That showed when we knocked off the four seed in round one.

ROGERS: That stung, but at least I'd kept Jessen out of the playoffs.

#6 DARC NARCS vs. #3 Arrogant Americans

#6 DARC NARCS: 186.40

#3 Arrogant Americans: 132.90

HENDERSON: I was ecstatic when my team blew up against Cliburn. It was our first playoff season in the OIL and he was a two-time champion.

CLIBURN: This was so damn frustrating. Cam Newton had a monster game and Henderson scored more points than he had any other week that season. I'd overlooked his squad and, just like that, my dream of a third title was over.

QB Cam Newton led the DARC NARCS to an upset of the Arrogant Americans (Credit: Hunter Quinn).

Semifinals

#6 DARC NARCS vs. #1 Hard Targets

#6 DARC NARCS: 80.20

#1 Hard Targets: 149.95

FINCH: With Cam Newton being injured in his car wreck, Henderson didn't pose much of a challenge. The Hard Targets were on their way to the OIL Bowl for the first time.

#5 Hangovers vs. #2 Dirty Hippies

#5 Hangovers: 147.85

#2 Dirty Hippies: 183.95

DUFFY: My comeback of a season ended in the semifinals . . . again. It was the third time I'd made it to the semifinals and lost.

TROVILLO: It was my first time in the semifinals and I was nervous. But my guys all hit their projections and I was going to the championship.

OIL Bowl:
#2 Dirty Hippies vs. #1 Hard Targets

The top two teams all season faced each other in the OIL Bowl. Each would be a first-time champion. The stage was set.

2014 Dirty Hippies Team MVP Odell Beckham, Jr.

#2 Dirty Hippies: 163.60

#1 Hard Targets: 144.30

Hard Targets RB Jamaal Charles

CLIBURN: I watched most of the week 16 games at Wes Welker's Sports Bar with Finch. When we left, it looked for certain like Finch was going to win it all. But then Trovillo pulled away thanks to strong showings on Sunday Night Football and Monday Night Football.

TROVILLO: Beckham and Le'Veon Bell were the heroes of my team that year. I couldn't believe I was going to get my name engraved on the Harrington Trophy.

FINCH: Beckham blew up, scoring 34.80 points. Philip Rivers did his best for my Targets, but the lead was too much to overcome. Congrats to the Hippies.

2014 NFC Champion
Dirty Hippies (12-4)

CLIBURN: There was concern Trovillo's tie-dyed jersey design would be hard to replicate, but it turned out great.

TROVILLO: Hell yeah, it did. It looked better than I ever imagined it would. Thanks go to HopcoSports.com.

AFC Playoffs

But who would Trovillo face in the Liberty Bowl in week 17? It'd be one of the six AFC playoff teams.

Quarterfinals

#5 Brewmasters vs. #4 Redlegs

Brewmasters QB Ben Roethlisberger (Credit: Hunter Quinn).

#5 Brewmasters: 146.75

#4 Redlegs: 130.80

RB DeMarco Murray's breakout season wasn't enough for the Redlegs (Credit: Hunter Quinn).

LYNN: My rags-to-riches story continued with an upset in the playoffs. At this point, it seemed like the Brewmasters were a team of destiny.

ZERGER: I thought I was going to beat Lynn pretty easily. However some of my players didn't play so well and we got beat. I was getting tips from Rogers on who to play at running back and it ended up being a bust. Such is life.

CLIBURN: Well, that's your problem. Don't get fantasy advice from the AMMODOGS (winners of zero OIL Bowls).

#6 Hooligans vs. #3 Doughboys

QB Russell Wilson guided the Hooligans to the playoffs, but they were no match for the Doughboys (Credit: /u/spuddy0108).

#6 Hooligans: 159.10

#3 Doughboys: 201.50

NEELY: I had a pretty good year overall, but I still hated losing.

GREEN: Meanwhile, it looked like my team was just hitting its stride at the most important time of the year.

TE Rob Gronkowski powered the Doughboys past the Hooligans (Credit: /u/spuddy0108).

Semifinals

#5 Brewmasters vs. #1 War Pony

#5 Brewmasters: 113.40

#1 War Pony: 137.70

LYNN: This is where my Cinderella season came to an end. It hurt, but at least I knew the Brewmasters belonged.

VENABLE: And I was on to the Thunder Bowl.

#3 Doughboys vs. #2 Hillier FF

#3 Doughboys: 125.50

#2 Hillier: 131.80

GREEN: This one stung. Hillier and I worked together at Goodyear, so we both looked forward to this all week. But he narrowly won and got a chance at the championship.

HILLIER: I couldn't believe it. The Yahoo! draft glitch screwed me to start the season. My first-round pick was a damn kicker. But here I was, going to the Thunder Bowl.

Thunder Bowl:
#2 Hillier FF vs. #1 War Pony

The inaugural Thunder Bowl featured the top two seeds.

Hillier FF WR Mike Evans

#2 Hillier: 121.10

#1 War Pony: 156.85

2014 War Pony Team MVP Peyton Manning

HILLIER: But only two of my players hit their projected points in week 16. That doomed me.

VENABLE: Peyton Manning was outscored by Matt Ryan, but I had big games from Matt Asiata (who'd stepped in for a suspended Adrian Peterson), Antonio Gates, and Antonio Brown.

2014 AFC Champion: Venable's War Pony (11-4)

War Pony manager Jimmy Venable with championship jersey and Killman Memorial Trophy

**NFC Champion Dirty Hippies vs.**
AFC Champion War Pony

In the inaugural Liberty Bowl (named after the base where our company was headquartered in 2006), the champions of the two teams faced off for the right to the Tenequer Memorial Trophy. It pitted two differently-built teams against each other. War Pony was powered by strong QB play and a veteran WR. Its RB1 was its eighth-highest scorer. Meanwhile, the Dirty Hippies used a QB-by-committee approach. It's team was fueled by the top RB in the game in LeVeon Bell, fantastic rookie WRs in Odell Beckham and Jarvis Landy, and gamechanger Rob Gronkowski at TE.

The Dirty Hippies were the home team, as they had the better regular season record. War Pony started Philip Rivers at QB, as there were concerns Denver Broncos coach John Fox would sit Peyton Manning early in their week 17 matchup. The Dirty Hippies sat Rob Gronkowski for the same reason.

CLIBURN: Because of the Hippies' tie-dyed helmet, we couldn't go to HelmetNation.net for Trovillo's championship helmet. Instead, I ordered a helmet shell and had it delivered to an airbrush artist I found online. He painted it a tie-dyed pattern and painted the facemask brown. Then I had him ship it to Trovillo. Meanwhile, I ordered vinyl stickers from our CafePress store and had them mailed to Trovillo to apply to the helmet.

TROVILLO: They were perfect. They whole thing was.

CLIBURN: I hated that the decal wrinkled though. I told Trovillo he could use an X-Acto knife to trim it . . .

TROVILLO: . . . but the airbrushed paint job is too delicate, so I chose to leave it be. It looks great either way.

Continue reading with 2015: A Decade of Competition and Camaraderie

The Rest of the Story: NFC Rosters

The following are the rosters of the teams that did not win the OIL Bowl, in order of finish:

FINCH: Josh Gordon didn't provide the spark I thought he would. If only Peterson would have been reinstated . . .

DUFFY: By the end of the season, I had as good of a team as anyone. It's too bad we only finished third.

HENDERSON: This was my best finish in my OIL career. I can't be too upset about that.

CLIBURN: Sigh . . . if only we hadn't been upset by the NARCS.

ROGERS: 8-5 wasn't too bad for competing from Afghanistan.

JESSEN: If I'd beaten Rogers in Rivalry Week, I could have made some noise in the playoffs, but it wasn't meant to be.

MORGAN: On paper, this team looks great. I guess I had bad luck.

COBB: Without Bilal Powell, what chance did we really have to begin with?

BALDWIN: Between Matt Stafford, T.Y. Hilton, and C.J. Anderson, I made some late-season moves that jump-started my season. But it wasn't enough.

BRUESCH: I was thisclose to sneaking into the playoffs and making some noise. If only I'd won one more game . . .

PYLE: Once again, we fell short. This was the fourth season in a row we'd missed the playoffs.

SCHMIDT: 3-10 with Peyton Manning says a lot about the rest of my team.

LEAL: I had Russell Wilson and Marshawn Lynch and . . . well, that's about it.

The Rest of the Story: AFC Rosters

The following are the rosters of the 13 teams that did not win the Thunder Bowl, in order of finish.

HILLIER: We were so close, but the Flyers will fly again!

GREEN: We'll be back, too.

LYNN: Now that I've got the hang of it, I expect to win it next year.

ZERGER: This was a very good team to get knocked out of the playoffs in the first round.

NEELY: If my draft wasn't screwed up by Yahoo!, I may have made it further than I did.

SCHUSTER: I still can't believe we started out 6-1 and didn't make the playoffs.

REED: On the bright side, it was a winning season.

MUSSELMAN: We won four of our last five, and I'll hang my hat on that until the next season.

NYE: No comment.

PEACOCK: At least we had the best name in the OIL.

BROSH: I had a good, balanced team. But I didn't have any game changers.

FITZGERALD: I needed a better WR corps if I was going to compete in a PPR league.