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.

Last year's loser was sent to Duluth. And this year, Collins Moe finished last and was banished to Fargo.

(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."

And that is North Dakota. If we have an opportunity to impress you, which we don't always get, we will go over the top. If the weather is your first impression — and it was a shocking one for Moe, who experienced an 80-degree drop — it won't be your last.

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

North Dakota has even more cold to overcome and relishes the opportunity to do so.