Indiana man connects with family, lands $100,000 in Fantasy Fishing
Race for $1 million grand prize heats up as Tulsa, Okla., power plant mechanic grabs lead
MINNEAPOLIS – Growing up in the greater Chicagoland area, fishing was a huge part of the Zedonis household. Fishing trips to northern Minnesota and Wisconsin were times when the family could relax, have fun and show off their competitive side. It wasn’t uncommon for the family of seven to fish from sunup to sundown, battling for bragging rights as to who caught the most fish or who caught the biggest lunker.
Today, David Zedonis, one of the five children in the Zedonis family, can officially claim lifetime bragging rights. He not only topped his brother and mother in FLW Fantasy Fishing’s most recent online fantasy sports tournament, the fourth of six tournaments, he came in first place to win the tournament’s $100,000 first-place prize.
For Zedonis, 49, a resident of Fishers, Ind., a suburb of Indianapolis, the news of his win came as a complete shock. Playing FLW Fantasy Fishing has been a fun way for him, his brother and mother, who live in three states (Indiana, Illinois and California), to stay connected.
“It’s simply mind-boggling,” said Zedonis, a senior forensic engineer who works with Forensic Services Group, Inc., a forensic engineering firm located in Indianapolis. “My brother Paul is the big bass fisherman in the family. He fishes tournaments in California, where he lives. He’s the one who introduced my mom and me to fantasy fishing. I never imagined that I would actually win a prize, much less $100,000!
“My dad and sister were thinking about playing, too,” Zedonis added with a smile. “They’ll be playing for sure when the next FLW Fantasy Fishing tournament comes up.”
Last week, after trading e-mails with his brother, Paul, and mother, Mary, both of whom subscribe to Player’s Advantage – a powerful, online research tool offered by FLW Fantasy Fishing – Zedonis went online to FantasyFishing.com and picked a team of 10 bass pros scheduled to fish the Walmart Open. He earned 12,630 points based on the performance of his 10 bass pros who fished Beaver Lake, near Rogers, Ark., May 14-17. The Walmart Open is one of six regular-season tournaments on the Walmart FLW Tour, the largest and richest professional bass fishing tournament series in the world.
Zedonis scored big when he picked Team BP pro Ray Scheide to finish first, Team Kellogg’s pro Clark Wendlandt to finish third and Team National Guard pro Brent Ehrler to finish in 10th place – three exactas that earned Zedonis huge bonus points. In addition, he also picked Rob Kilby to finish within the top 10 of the Walmart Open presented by Kellogg’s. Kilby came in ninth place. Scheide, a resident of Dover, Ark., won the Walmart Open and its $200,000 first-place prize with a total final-round weight of 21 pounds, 1 ounce.
“Without question, Player’s Advantage is a great tool,” Zedonis added. “Player’s Advantage allows you to strategically pick Walmart FLW Tour bass pros that have the greatest advantage at an upcoming FLW Tour tournament lake.”
Zedonis handily beat the second-place finisher in the fourth FLW Fantasy Fishing tournament of 2009, Harold Herring, a resident of Hackleburg, Ala., by 1,172 points. Herring’s 11,458 points, good for second place, earned him a $5,000 Walmart gift card.
Still in shock about what he’ll do with his prize, Zedonis isn’t sure how he’ll actually spend it. But he is sure that as a Big Brother in local Big Brothers/Big Sisters youth program, he’s going to make more time to get out fishing with his Little Brother.
Tulsa mechanic snatches overall lead for $1 million grand prize
With just two more FLW Fantasy Fishing tournaments to go, the race for FLW Fantasy Fishing’s guaranteed $1 million grand prize is heating up. With players in 123 countries competing to accumulate the most points over six tournaments, it will be a dogfight to the very end.
Chris Chappell knocked Terry Moberly, the $100,000 winner of the first tournament in the 2009 Fantasy Fishing season, out of first place to claim the overall lead for the $1 million grand prize. Chappell, a resident of Broken Arrow, Okla., a suburb of Tulsa, is a power plant maintenance mechanic who started playing FLW Fantasy Fishing after learning about it on eBay earlier this year, where he clicked on a banner ad about the free online fantasy sports game. He’s accumulated 27,523 points over four tournaments so far.
Chappell, 27, said he was attracted to FLW Fantasy Fishing because of the huge prizes offered by the online game and because it’s free to play. Using an online research tool called Player’s Advantage, which is offered for $10 by FLW Fantasy Fishing, Chappell scored his first win, a $100 BP gas card in the first FLW Fantasy Fishing tournament.
“At first, my wife was very skeptical about it, and my brother and Dad shrugged it off,” said Chappell. “But when I won that $100 BP gas card for coming in 52nd place for the first tournament, followed by a $50 Walmart gift card that I won in the third tournament, they became believers.”
Chappell, who has never played any other fantasy sports game before, says he’s hooked on FLW Fantasy Fishing.
“I used to laugh at my friends who played fantasy football; now I’m the one who’s hooked,” said Chappell. “If FLW Outdoors offered a fantasy noodling game that was as fun and as easy to play as FLW Fantasy Fishing and offered the same great prizes, I’d even play that.”
With a baby on the way, Chappell said if he is lucky enough to win the $1 million grand prize, he just might have to buy a fishing boat and a new truck – probably after he and his wife get a few things for the home they recently purchased.
“With triple points being offered in the last tournament, it’s still anyone’s game,” Chappell added. “I’m going to just keep using Player’s Advantage to give me the edge and stay on top.”
$1 million grand prize to be awarded Aug. 1 in Pittsburgh
FLW Fantasy Fishing, conducted by FLW Outdoors, brings the world’s richest bass fishing tournament, the Forrest Wood Cup, to Pittsburgh this summer from July 30-Aug. 2. The Forrest Wood Cup is the final event in the Walmart FLW Tour season. Just like fantasy football and baseball, you can follow the leading money winners on the FLW Tour all season long at FLWOutdoors.com as well as on the “FLW Outdoors” television program, which is broadcast in high definition (HD) on VERSUS, the network that brings anglers the best fishing programming on television featuring the most trusted authorities on the water. The Emmy-nominated “FLW Outdoors” airs each Sunday from 12:30 to 1:30 Eastern time.
In addition to the $1 million grand prize and six $100,000 cash tournament prizes, FLW Fantasy Fishing players are eligible to win more than 1,800 additional prizes including a Ranger boat valued at $54,000, a brand new Chevy vehicle valued at $27,000, and personal watercrafts and ATVs valued at $8,000 each, and much more. Fantasy Fishing also offers $3 million exact bonus game for the player who correctly ranks the top five finishers in the Forrest Wood Cup, and a $5 million exacta bonus game for the player who correctly ranks the top seven finishers in any of the six regular season tournaments.
FLW Fantasy Fishing players can increase their chances of winning the $1 million grand prize by entering all FLW Fantasy Fishing tournaments throughout the season and accumulating a greater amount of points leading up to the Forrest Wood Cup. The next tournaments in the FLW Tour professional bass circuit include:
• Tournament 5: Kentucky-Barkley lakes, Benton, Ky., June 11-14, 2009
• Tournament 6: Lake Champlain, Plattsburgh, N.Y., July 9-12, 2009
• $1 million grand prize announcement: Forrest Wood Cup, Pittsburgh, Pa., Aug. 1, 2009
The richest fantasy sports game
In its first season, FLW Fantasy Fishing took the fantasy sports world by surprise by offering the first $1 million guaranteed grand prize for a fantasy sports game. And with that announcement, FLW Fantasy Fishing soared to the top of the fantasy sports world, gaining fans from 123 countries attracted to the game’s $7.3 million in overall cash and prizes, the highest payout of any fantasy sports game in the world.
In 2009, FLW Fantasy Fishing once again set a new standard, offering a $1 million grand prize again along with 1,800 other prizes for a total of $10 million in overall cash and prizes.
About FLW Outdoors
FLW Outdoors, named after Forrest L. Wood, the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, is the largest fishing tournament organization in the world and is offering anglers the chance to win more than $33 million through 231 tournaments in 2009. FLW Outdoors also is taking fishing mainstream with FLW Fantasy Fishing offering the largest awards possible in the history of fantasy sports, $10 million in cash and prizes. Sign up for Player’s Advantage for only $10 to get your edge and win. For more information about FLW Outdoors and its tournaments, visit FLWOutdoors.com or call (270) 252-1000. For more information about FLW Fantasy Fishing and Player’s Advantage, visit FantasyFishing.com.