Fantasy Football

So apparently when I use the word “later” to describe the length of time before a new post, we actually mean “tomorrow”. I just wanted to clarify.

Anyhow, we don’t know how big the crossover audience is for a post like this, but since both Mad Men and fantasy football are immensely popular, we figured it might draw at least a modest amount of hits — as opposed to not hits at all — to compare the characters from the 1960’s Madison Avenue drama with like-minded fantasy football performers. This comparison is subjective, tenuous and completely pointless, but it gives me something to write about. This morning we’ll start with the women of Mad Men, then tomorrow find appropriate likenesses for the male characters.

Joan Holloway - Terrell Owens
Flamboyant, unpredictable and caustic when needed to be. To much the same degree Miss Holloway is wanted by all men with fixations on red heads for sexual gratification, Owens is wanted by all fantasy owners for his proclivity for the end zone. They are both over thirty and amazingly still considered to be very much in their prime.

Peggy Olson - Drew Brees
The underdog. In every sense of the term, both have defied expectations via mitigating circumstances. Drew Brees, drafted with the first pick in the second round, was initially expected to play backup for at least awhile if not his entire career before Phillip Rivers decided to hold out during his rookie season, enabling the starting position for Brees to demonstrate his hidden talents. Peggy, after being used in a test study for Bel-Jolie lipstick, managed to stand out amongst her peers as a potentially great copywriter without fully realizing it.

Betty Draper- Donovan McNabb
Overly loyal and increasingly agitated perfectly describes these two peas in a pod. While McNabb struggles to stay healthy and is constantly questioned when he is, Betty is growing resentful of her place in her life and marriage, but stands by her man all the same (It just dawned on me that some of these players and the actresses might not appreciate these comparisons).

Rachel Menken - Peyton Manning
Talented and principled, both have followed in their family’s footsteps into retail and quarterbacking respectively, and seemingly carry a sense of entitlement as a result. There flaws are minimal: While Rachel sleeps with married men before marrying someone her father would approve of, Manning pisses off his offensive line with numerous and endless audibles, inducing suicide attempts and probably rampant spousal abuse on a weekly basis. And they are both second options in their own way.

Midge Daniels - Chad Johnson
Both potentially out for the season, eccentric, and neither couldn’t be anymore unintentionally conformist while striving desperately to be non-conformist. If either exceeds expectations this year we would be surprised.

Bobbie Barrett - Brett Favre
Self-starting, over-achievers that no one other than business associates seems to like for varying reasons, but mantains the loyalty of a close few. Brett Favre, after spending a career in Green Bay, Wisconsin; is adapting to a new environment in New York, while Bobbie adjusts to and excels in television production coming from talent management.

Hildy (no last name on IMDB) - Jabbar Gaffney
Under-appreciated yet justifiably overshadowed, but talented enough to come through when is necessary. Hildy, to give Harry a much needed storyline and when Pete Campbell needs an earful. And Gaffney, for picking up the slack when Randy Moss is struggling/being triple-teamed.

Back with NFL equivalents for Don, Roger, Bert, Duck, Pete, Harry, Paul & Ken tomorrow, which means I might not post it until next week.