Taking your fantasy football draft out of the basement in Cleveland

The clock is ticking away. The smell of turpentine and motor oil brings a crinkle to your nose. Fresh air is at a premium. A bead of sweat runs down your forehead. Your mind is blank.

“I’ll take Randy Moss,” is the sentence that forms in your brain. Somehow under these difficult conditions it actually makes it to your lips and out of your mouth. It hovers in the air like a cloud of mustard gas.

Cue the laughter.

“All right, he’s all yours,” says your buddy wryly. “You do know he retired, right?”

In the next few weekends all over Northeast Ohio, league commissioners will be hosting their fantasy football drafts. Depending on the economic standing of your league’s commish, some of these drafts will be held under less-than-ideal circumstances.

So, if you’re tired of being slammed in the leg by the commissioner’s kid on his Big Wheel or listening to that leaky pipe drip water into a bucket while you wait to make your pick, it might be time for a new location.

Fox and Hound in Parma has you covered. The sizable bar and restaurant is making it easy to host your fantasy draft in a more upscale destination.

“We have plenty of spots available,” said Missy Toler, event coordinator at Fox and Hound. “Our open floor plan makes it a really great place to host a draft. It’s a fun atmosphere and everyone has a good time with it.”

They offer free draft kits, a $50 food credit for your league that can be used on all the potato skins you can eat, and you’ll even have access to the venue’s projector if you need it. Plus the league commissioner receives a re-loadable food card with $25 already loaded.

“All they need to do is give us a call to book,” Toler told me. “We can accommodate just about any size group; we already have one scheduled for 35 people.”

And if your league members don’t live anywhere near Parma, no need to worry. Places like The Hairy Buffalo, BW3 and The Winking Lizard have multiple locations on the east and west side of town. These sports bars/restaurants are perfect for a fantasy football draft.

Sure, maybe it has been fun scrambling for seats in your commissioner’s crowded living room these last few seasons, but can you really have the best draft under such cramped conditions? Probably not.

It’s time to spread out, grab a cold one and get yourself a nice view of a flat-screen while you wait for “Slow-Motion” Mike to make his third-round pick. After so many years in the basement, you deserve a fantasy draft with a little style.

Photo courtesy of Missy Toler.


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