It’s that time of year again where fantasy football has taken over different groups all over LOHS and other high schools alike, meaning feeds on social media are soon to be flooded with public humiliations and punishments for the losers. The punishments range from a variety of severities and have escalated to be more intense, increasing the stakes and creating powerful incentives for each member of a fantasy league.
Some of the most popular punishments include wearing costumes or embarrassing outfits in public, participating in stand-up comedy or karaoke, posting degrading dance videos, spending 24 hours in a restaurant or store, going on a date with a mascot or mannequin, embarrassing calendar photoshoots, food challenges, or a milk mile. Most of the time, leagues start out with less difficult tasks, but as years progress, the consequences also progress in terms of becoming more extreme and some even being permanent. This is due to groups wanting to keep the competitive spirit alive and ensure commitment of its members.
Students at LOHS participate in these challenges in their collective leagues throughout the school, and the punishments vary among the different groups. Sophomore Lucas Manning is in a group of seven. They voted on the punishment of the loser doing embarrassing dances consecutively on a TikTok account. In the past, Manning stated that he lost and had to do a milk mile as his punishment. Although the milk mile was difficult, he claimed that he would prefer to do that over an embarrassing TikTok dance account because “it remains online for all to see” while the torture of the milk mile ends.
Senior Rohan Gore participates in a group with 13 other members. Their group is still deciding on a punishment, but an idea they have is for the bottom two of their league to go out on a public date. Unlike considering the milk mile like Manning’s group, Gore revealed that they banned the milk mile and “deemed it too evil” of a punishment. Instead, as last year’s punishment, they voted on the loser having to wear an uncomfortable piece of clothing for an entire school day.
The world of fantasy football has endless possibilities for punishments, and students at LOHS are testing their creativity and commitment within their respective leagues to perform unique challenges. Every participant is hoping their fantasy team has what it takes to keep them away from the bottom spot so they don’t have to endure the loser’s punishment.