Nilbog Lore Ledger

A lot has happened in Nilbog through the years. The lore ledger is your key to understanding Nilbog specific in-jokes, references, and grudges.

DReid vs. RAllen

The most serious rivalry in Nilbog history was DReid vs. RAllen. DReid won all 11 of their matchups. RAllen is no longer in the league.

The Goblin Bowl

The Nilbog championship is called the Goblin Bowl. Why? Because Goblin is Nilbog spelled backward!

Inaugural Draft

The inaugural draft was held in person at the apartment shared by TheCarlos and TigersMom. It was a paddle style auction draft in which each GM started with $1000. Leftover money was converted to starting FAAB. Players were auctioned one-by-one in order of their dynasty rank on Fantasy Pros.

You can find the results of the inaugural draft at this Google Sheets link.

“Lions Guy”

During the inaugural draft, GM plumbobsquarepants only drafted Lions players, leading him to be nicknamed “Lions Guy.” In fact, plumbob only drafted 6 players total, falling short of a full starting lineup. He would go on to win the Nilbog Championship two years later.

Nilbog

Why is the league called Nilbog? Because Nilbog is Goblin spelled backwards!

Power Rankings

TheCarlos prepares league Power Rankings each week based on a secret formula. These rankings are subjective and are part of a tradition that predates Nilbog. TheCarlos began ranking teams in Nilbog’s affiliated re-draft league in 2017 and carried the tradition over to our dynasty website.

“QB League”

Nilbog quickly ran into a problem in its first year – there’s 16 Nilbog teams and only 32 starting NFL quarterbacks. This leaves exactly one primary and one backup QB for each Nilbog team. But if any team rosters more than two QBs, another team will be without a backup.

To remedy this issue, a variety of solutions was proposed – all of which would limit teams to 2 QBs. Although most GMs supported some measure to prevent QB hoarding, the GMs in the Lisa unilaterally opposed any rule to prevent QB over-rostering. The Lisa had an average of 3 QBs per team at the time.

GMs from the Denny stated they wouldn’t feel a QB Reid Rule was necessary if it wasn’t for the GMs from the Lisa demanding what was seen as massive over-pays to trade away their extra quarterbacks. The Lisa stated that the Denny’s proposed trades had been insufficient because the rest of the league was undervaluing QBs given their scarcity.

When TigersMom and Rallen agreed on a trade to move Daniel Jones during the midst of the debate, DReid coined the now iconic phrase as a derisive paraphrase of the Lisa’s argument.

Reid Rule

The first two seasons of the league included a DST spot in lineups. In response to DReid rostering four defenses, Nilbog’s first ad-hoc rule prohibited teams from rostering more than two defenses. This is referred to as the “Reid Rule.”

Theoretical rules that would implement a maximum on other positions are often still referred to as “Reid Rules.” Ex: A QB Reid Rule would prevent rostering more than two quarterbacks.

“Rule 1”

Coined by DReid in 2021, Rule 1 is: “Never trade with TarmoTim.”

After Tim had negotiated several trades that other GMs saw as tilted severely in his favor, many members of the league chose to boycott TarmoTim to prevent a potential multi-season dynasty. Completing a trade with TarmoTim will still garner many GMs bemoaning “Rule 1” in the Sleeper chat.

This is not an actual Nilbog rule.

“Soccer Guy”

PlayboyHeff was one of only two GMs to miss the inaugural draft due to a conflict with a previously scheduled recreational soccer game, leading many GMs who attended the draft but never met him to refer to him as “Soccer Guy.” In his stead, Commissioner TheCarlos drafted on his behalf.

Theme

The league is generally bad movie themed. “Nilbog” is a reference to Troll 2. The division and conference names are a reference to The Room. Before the inaugural draft there was a screening of Miami Connection.

“Two Teams”

DReid’s wife is RKMay, who also manages a team based in The Denny. This has lead to a conspiracy that DReid is secretly the manager of RKMay’s team, and that he therefore has two teams. The fact that RKMay is very much a real person who shows up to the draft each year does not seem to assuage conspiracy theorists.