Facing Backwards on 2016 is a short series by the media team in which we reflect on the season and what it meant to us.  We hope you enjoy.  Here’s Part 2.  (Part 1 can be found here.)

Dear Diary
by Sam

Wednesday, August 12th, 2015
Dear Diana Diary,
It’s 11:00 pm on Wednesday right now, my day job was hectic today, and I am stuck in my bedroom writing previews… for the 4th straight week.  Last week, I can’t believe I only got 7 likes for that 3 hours of work, and 4 of those likes were from former media writers and John Walker.  That’s incrementally only 1 like per hour.  I hope this week’s games don’t get rained out because the joke about Rich actually being well-endowed would please an audience.

Thursday, September 17th, 2015
Dear Diary,
Last year, I would have been out drinking or at a Mets game right now, but this year, I’m home scraping BTSHers’ Facebook pages at 11:35 pm on a prime drinking night, so that this league can have a few laughs with this week’s previews.  I have ran out of all material.  All I can come up with are Rich Glanzer jokes, and everyone knows that’s complete fodder.  I wonder what Diana Marko is up to right now; I am going to try and get her in the media next year so I can hit on her.  Yes, that is a good plan.  But, Rich will also hit on her.  Is he better looking than me?  I know Derek is the best looking Norris, so I am glad he left the media, but this Rich fellow can’t be trusted, and she might be a fan of man arms, which I clearly don’t have…

My Lovely Fuzz
by Richiehero

In 2004 I was playing poker and my friend Farrell had on a 2003 Yankees American League Championship hat. It struck me as odd because they lost the World Series, so why would he celebrate that season?

There was a time last season, when I thought it was over for me. I knew I didn’t want to bring back the Elves, and I knew my (lack of) talent wouldn’t make many teams pick me up. But then a funny thing happened. Hicks messaged me saying he wanted to join us, despite the fact that we only had two wins. Jeff messaged me and said he was interested. Coach texted me and wanted to join. A tall girl from Buffalo named Alyssa saw Caroline walking with her stick and inquired about the league. Alexa convinced Jeff that he would love playing with me and Fuzz was born. At this time last year, I couldn’t wait for 2016 to start.

And I was not disappointed. Yeah, Fuzz won a ton of games. But I swear to you that isn’t why I loved this season. Unlike the previous 4-5 years with the Elves, we actually went to the bar. A lot. We went to Ocean City and were one of the most social team there, as we didn’t play with ourselves (dammit!), we all joined different teams. We had a team laser tag event, and not surprisingly, Sean DuhLasie won.

On a personal note, nothing makes me happier than Alexa being very jealous at Jeff and my friendship. I taught Hicks how to backcheck, and his mom friended and defriended me on Facebook all on the same night. (Her reasoning was something like, “F*cking Jew”)  I’m Alyssa’s legal guardian, and yeah, Steve is literally the ugliest Ice Girl in NHL history. And if you want to talk about improvements…we used to get long winded filibusters from Chadwick that none of us understood. But now Coach sends us a 14-word email that none of us understand. Way better. (No offense Ben, I still love you)

So what does this season mean to me? That I was fucking wrong about Farrell and his 2003 Yankees hat. Yeah, this season didn’t end the way I wanted it to. And to be honest, with so many great teams, a lot of very good teams, some pretty good teams and Instant Karma, I’m not sure it will ever end the way I want it to. But I can’t wait to look forward to see if it will. Because looking back, 2016 wasn’t my favorite ending, but it was my favorite beginning, middle and fuck you Rehabs. Congrats, you totally deserve it. Drink it in man…because Fuzz is a comin’…even if we didn’t get there.

Journey > Destination…but Destination matters.