The International Fantasy League: Meet Team Poland

Forget being in last place at 2-8 and riding a seven-game losing streak. Team Poland, managed by Daniel Krysiak, has a lot of brains. At age 26, Krysiak runs a family insurance business and is pursuing a master's degree in history with an emphasis on Eastern Europe and World War II. Krysiak sees the parallels between his two passions: Team Poland has had an unfortunate start. In 1939, Poland, the first country invaded by Germany, had a rocky introduction to the second World War.

"Watching American Football in Poland isn't the easiest," Krysiak says. Obviously in this day and age, with everything well connected to the web and various satellite TV systems, etc., one can just about get a feed from anywhere." But, since Poland is six hours ahead of the U.S. East coast, "the main problem is the time difference." Sunday and Monday night games are largely out of the question. But it's easy to supplement a lack of American football with Polish football—Not soccer, but actual American football, played by Polish teams.

Krysiak, a Polish citizen, spends about a third of the year in Toronto and the rest in Krakow, Poland, which he calls "the best city ever." He grew up there, discovering the NFL and the Green Bay Packers as a kid.

"As a person obsessed with history, when it came to choosing an NFL team, the Pack was a logical choice. The team's history and fans represent all that is beautiful about the NFL," he says. He speaks of a young Brett Favre and Green Bay's Frozen Tundra with the familiarity of a fan from Wisconsin.

Krysiak's fandom, however, extends beyond the Packers. He's actually attending the Vikings-Bucs game in Tampa Bay this weekend and is going to send us dispatches and photos. He also recommends Polish wodka (the native spelling) to all interested parties: "I recommend a freezing cold plum/cherry wodka, especially if it's a homemade variety. Nothing like good old moonshine."

We imagine it goes wonderful with wings.

LEAGUE UPDATE

Two of the heaviest hitters in the International League faced off last weekend, and Jonathon Aledda's Team Chile came out the victor over Alberto Levet's Team Mexico. The final was 118-106; both teams outscored all others.

Impossibly, Team USA racked up the third-highest point total during Week 10. Powered by 50 points between Jay Cutler and Kellen Winslow on Thursday night, Team USA's lead proved insurmountable by Kiran Paima's Team New Zealand.

Prince Abdullah stumbled during Week 10 against Team Lebanon, losing 77-79. Maurice Jones-Drew tore it up, but Kevin Faulk didn't even notch a point for the Patriots, which made Team Saudi Arabia come up short and fall to 6-4 on the season. He still leads Division 2, however, and looks solid as fantasy playoffs approach. Team Chile continues to dominate Division 1 at 8-2, a two-game lead over Team India. Team Chile's string of impressive wins has Jonathon Aledda positioned to visit the Prince in Saudi Arabia, the prize of winning the International League.

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