Interview With Michael Romanowski

Great Job in week 6, Mike! You put up a great score of 311.1 to win the week 6 Championship and Five Thousand Dollars! Not to mention the fact you also took down 4th place as well!

Thank you! It certainly was a very positive experience and I'm obviously happy with the outcome, as well as, the substantial prize money awarded.



Did you have a philosophy when you chose your team? Did you emphasize any positions?

Well basically, I like to locate and evaluate the best overall value and build a team from there. You obviously have to have a handful of stars, as they are what they are for a reason. But, I'm assuming that most of the other participants in this weekly contest are fairly "seasoned" at this and will likely have the same top talent on their roster...so the key is to find the best value available at a discount, which will in turn, literally "afford" you the ability to buy several more star quality players.



What were some of the key players you picked at higher salaries that you felt confident would be worth their price tag?

Hasselbeck, LT, Portis and the Bears' D. I had no question that each was worth their assigned value, respectively.



What sleepers did you throw in and why? Were you happy with their performance?

Philip Rivers, Reggie Brown and LJ Smith. Obviously I was extremely happy with the way things turned out! Overly impressive was Reggie Brown's 34.6 points.



How many times did you change your lineup over the weekend before you decided on the winning lineup?

Not once. That said, I did have five (5) entries.



You do some work for Rotowire, do you take their advice or use your own?

Yes, I work for RotoWire.com. Nice plug, thanks guys. Believe it or not, I'm highly competitive in every league I'm involved in with my editors. Occasionally I'll bounce a lineup question off of one of them but the RW site just provides so many tools that have proven useful for me in winning numerous leagues over the last 5/6 years. For example, there is a weekly rankings tool that is customizable to the BDFS contest's scoring specifications. So, once I have an initial rankings list, I can then apply my own strategy and/or skill set based on the best information available. Obviously RotoWire is a brand name in the industry and with 50+ beat writers, I'd say the #1 asset that they provide is timely information. I get updates 24/7. Fantasy sports isn't just who gets lucky or who drafts well - yes, those things do matter - but you really need a quality skill set and timely information to be remotely competitive. RotoWire provides me with both of those things. The luck part is all on me.



When did you feel confident that you had the Championship wrapped up?

LOL - not until the last 1:30 on the MNF game. I was extremely lucky to finish with the victory. Unlike what was mentioned in the weekly email recap/notification, I did have Thomas Jones in addition to the Chicago D - not that he helped (8.3 pts.)



What do you think of the "weekly contest" concept?

I'm very impressed with the BDFS concept. It has a certain flair to it.



Did you enjoy the live scoring and the live leader board and did you monitor it throughout the day?

I definitely enjoyed the live scoring. As far as monitoring it...not so much during the early Sunday games. Obviously with being in the business, I don't go anywhere on Sundays. I try to watch as much football as I can possibly absorb....and Monday night is foregone. So, I'd say about a quarter into the late games is when I had the leaderboard up continuously....and MNF was literally a three hour pacing session back and forth between the TV and the refresh button on my cpu. I mean let's face it, $5K is $5K.



What other fantasy contests do you play in and how are you doing in those?

I play in about six season-long NFL leagues. I'm at or near the top in every single one. I'm in 1st place in my Fantasy Jungle league...although we'll see after this week with my QB (Hasselbeck) going down, and also in the NCAAF....where I'm in 1st place in both of my leagues (7-1, both).



5 grand is a nice chunk of money for a couple of days work....do you have any plans for it?

Well, half of the money will take care of the upcoming holiday season...my friends and relatives will be getting some really nice gifts. As for the other $2,500...well, anyone that knows me would tell you that Vegas is my second home. $2500 should cover me for three days - maybe. I've always made it a point to really enjoy my fantasy winnings. I save the money that I earn from making a living...this is money to enjoy and spend freely.



The most important question.....will you be signing up for Big Daddy's Weekly contests in the future?

What do you think?! I'm watching the Dallas/NY Giants MNF game and as I'm typing this I'm in 5th and 11th place (out of 5 entries) and need just one more pt. from Shockey in the last 12 minutes to get B2B (consecutive weeks) double top-10 entries. So, that money will be going to Vegas as well...helps on the plane ticket.



Thanks, Mike! Great job and we wish you the best of luck in future weeks!