This is part of a series highlighting Latin people in the fantasy football industry. 30 of 30

This is it, the final Latin Heritage Month highlight. It just so happens it falls on a true, total solar eclipse, and it is going through all of Latin America, including the Southwest of the USA. It is a once in a lifetime experience for some, and can be seen in the elliptical, which as it happens it is taking place where today”s Latin Heritage Month featured fantasy football content creator lives. Today’s featured guest is Ignacio Verde Gilbert, and that is me.

I have played fantasy football for 14 years and like several people, I felt I could run a better league and wanted IDP players after my first year. I have been playing IDP since 2011 and every league I am the commissioner of will always be a league with IDPs in it. I have participated in several leagues including the King’s Classic: Dick Butkus division, FFCC, Warrior Bowl, SFB, Freak Bowl, but I am most happy to participate in the charity league I created FF7s. It is in it’s fourth year and something I am very proud of. The tournament is to promote Kawasaki Disease awareness and prevention. It is a 16 team format, spans five continents, and gives out some of the best gifts of any tournament. It is several people’s first IDP league and has everything from FSWA Hall of Fame members to first time fantasy players. FF7s is a continuation of my league of record which began in 2011.

My favorite fantasy football experience is seeing all my friends at the Fantasy Football Expo in Canton, Ohio. I will forever be thankful for Bob Lung putting the magnificent event on, and hope to make it every year. Being at the Hall of Fame and going to the Expo changed my life forever, and I am not exaggerating.

A distant second is winning the first year of the IDP league (2011) and winning the first year of FF7s (my first 16 team championship). Those were wonderful moments and I also have three fantasy basketball championships in eight years, something else I am deeply proud of. The truth is I love the grind of the season, the drafting, the dropping and adding, the trading, the charting of wins and losses across 56 match ups every week so I can see how this beautiful 17 week journey unfolds, and not a one of them are ever the same. To paraphrase the Emperor, Chuck Noll, winning the championship or the season coming to an end is a bit of a sad time, a time of depression because the joy is being in the moment of the season.

Thank you for reading today. That is it, today is the last day of Latin Heritage Month, but you do not have to look far to find your closest Latin friend/neighbor. Tell them hello, you love them, or you are thankful for your interaction. Just because Latin Heritage Month is coming to an end, does not mean the content will end, we have a long fantasy football season ahead… yet it will go to quickly. If you need help, ask one of these thirty-two wonderful analyst discussed in this series.

I hope you have enjoyed reading it.

Bet Smart, Be Lucky – Ignacio Verde Gilbert