Nov 11, 2018 5 min read

Every Labor Day Sunday for the past four decades, they descend on the Canonsburg Sons of Italy’s meeting room with the force of a Steelers pass rush.

The food flies as fast as the one-liners as this important event, the annual meeting of the WAACFFL, or the “Win At Any Cost Fantasy Football League,” unfolds with all the grace and charm of mud wrestling. The nearly two dozen men have participated in most of the 40 drafts and the league is as old as it is unique.

So this season, the 40th, is being feted as one of its finest by the group.

For years, the commissioner, Dave Nackoul, kept track of the scoring by hand and mailed out weekly standings. It’s not much different today. Many of the players have email addresses so the cost of postage is saved.

“Most of our league believes computers are a passing fad,” Nackoul said with a chuckle. “They don’t have them. Fortunately, their wives do.”

Before each draft, Nackoul would go out and purchase the edition of “The Sporting News,” magazine that had the previous year’s NFL statistics for each team. The drafters used this information to make their selections. Nackoul mailed weekly reports.

“I would make copies for everyone,” he said. “Our draft lasted forever. The first couple rounds are easy. But in the later rounds, it was like, ‘Give me a name. Just give me a name.'”

The league might not have much sophistication, but what they do have is an appetite to not only win the league and claim the championship trophy, but to do so while feasting on wings and chasing them down with their favorite refreshment.

Nothing comes easy here. Even something as routine as taking a league picture turns into a chore that is tantamount to rounding up kittens. While the majority was smiling for the camera, others could not be lured away from their brews in the adjoining room.

The WAAC Fantasy Football League began in 1979 with a much smaller lineup and grew into what it is today. Most of the members graduated from Canon-McMillan High School in 1972, ’73 or ’74. The league has outlasted three members – P.J. O’Hare, Ernie “Mike” Bernard and John “Hambone” Eastman. Before each draft, the current members hold a moment of remembrance for their dearly departed friends.

“Hambone was the one who always fell asleep,” said Nackoul. “There were side bets on what round Hambone would fall asleep in. One time, he fell asleep and his face landed in a bowl of potato salad. There were little bubbles coming out on the side.”

At one particular draft, P.J. O’Hare was unable to attend the draft because he was hospitalized with an illness.

“My wife went over and we hooked up a phone and he was drafting from the hospital bed,” Nackoul said. “When visiting hours were over, they told my wife she had to go. P.J. said, ‘I’m doing my football (fantasy) draft. And they said, ‘Football pool? OK, you can stay.’ He drafted from the hospital bed and, to be blunt, he was faster than a lot of other guys.”

It’s a points league, meaning teams accumulate points when their players score a touchdown, field goal, extra point or safety.

The draft normally is set for 7 p.m. each Labor Day Sunday and can stretch into the wee hours of the morning. An owner or two has been known to, ahem, lose focus during the draft, a precarious situation considering the prankster nature of the other owners and their easy accessibility to hot wings.

“One year, somebody drafted a dead guy,” said Nackoul. “And no one said anything until the next pick was made because then you had to keep him. Everyone was stone-faced till the next pick was made.”

The cost to field a team is $40 and a small charge is assessed for weekly roster moves. One unique aspect is the redraft held before the playoffs begin. Two chances to win a pot is better than one, right? The champion of the league receives, besides the spiffy looking trophy, around $200.

“It’s not about the money,” Nackoul said. “The most you could lose is $100-$150. This is more about bragging rights.”

The names of the team are simply the names of the owners.

“We never got creative enough to make up names,” Nackoul said.

The one team that made the attempt failed miserably as the latest newsletter from Nackoul pointed out with an asterisk next to team Lylee-Pylee, which used to be known as Steve Inc., which was formerly known as Dem Guys Inc., which was formerly known as Super Steve LLC, which was formerly known as Steve and the Cult.

Whatever you call them, they sit in second place in their division with a 5-3 record this season.

“The most important thing is that twice a year, we get together and do something silly,” Nackoul said. “It’s a lot of fun. And that’s why we do it.”