Fantasy football 'loser' banished to Fargo, gets the red carpet treatment

North Dakota rebranded itself with a new campaign centered around the phrase, "Be Legendary" a few years ago.

As a North Dakotan who spent almost all of his childhood in Grand Forks, I might suggest this instead:

North Dakota: If the wind chill doesn't kill you, the kindness will.

That leads me to the story of the weekend, at least the biggest one in which a coach didn't hit another coach.

The column from Mike McFeely of the Fargo Forum carried this headline: Sent here as 'punishment,' regular guy from South Carolina becomes the King of Fargo.

It did not disappoint.

The premise was wonderful: A group of friends in a fantasy football league has a tradition. The last place finisher in the league is sent, generally to a cold-weather destination, for a weekend of punishment.

(Brief aside: My North Dakota roots notwithstanding, as a dad with three little kids at home, the thought of somebody paying to send me anywhere, anytime, for a weekend alone is legendary in and of itself).

But of course what started out as a sanction for fantasy football incompetence turned instead into a free-flowing party for Moe.

The 27-year-old made friends on the plane and immediately had a full social calendar. He attended an NDSU men's basketball game and dropped the ceremonial first puck at a Fargo Force junior hockey game.

Now it sounds like all his fantasy football buddies might come to Fargo for a Bison football game in the fall.

"It's been a blast. I can tell you, it's not a punishment. It's been fun," Moe told McFeely. "If I lose again next year, I am going to push for them to make me come out here again. It's been so fun. Everyone is so nice and welcoming. Over the top nice. It's been a great time."

As Prince once famously said of why he lived in Minnesota: "It's so cold, it keeps the bad people out."