In this week's P.O. Box:
A coffee sponsor
On tap
Content roundup
A new book selection
I launched the Best Ball Breakfast live streams on Mondays a little over five years ago.
Along the way—I’m not sure when exactly—I started doing a coffee pour on stream. It wasn’t an intentional bit. I just needed more caffeine at that hour.
Somehow, however, it did end up becoming a recurring bit. In fact, it is now so ingrained into the fabric of the show that the chat will get on my case if I delay “the pour” for too long (or even worse, drink a cold brew without a pour).
So I was incredibly delighted when a viewer—bstockel—reached out to me and asked if he could send me some samples of a coffee company he used to own. I snap accepted and later made a joke on stream about turning the free samples into a more official sponsorship.
Bob said hold my beer beans:
And that’s the quick and silly story behind how I landed my first non-fantasy related sponsorship.
We now start every day with Vassilaros Coffee and you guys can get 25% off your first order (and free shipping) with promo code Pete.
I’ve been mainlining the classic blend, but they have a bunch of signature roasts to try out:
On Tap:
Tonight at 8pm ET: After Dark with Deposit Kingdom Discord legend EZ. We’ll discuss his 10 Commandments for drafts.
Ship Chasing draft szn is officially underway. Full schedule for the next month below:
I’ll be in Vegas next weekend (8/20-22) for the Draft Nation event. Get 25% off w/ code FANTASYLIFE:
Content Roundup:
An accidental auto-pick on Monday’s Best Ball Breakfast put me in a tricky spot and I later analyzed what Luther Burden’s smile means for his injury with Kerrane.
On the Wednesday edition of Best Ball Breakfast, we drafted with Alex Cupps, Chad Candles, Madison Parkhill, and Liam Murphy. Can you guess which one made me draft a Bills stack?
We drafted a high stakes team on Ship Chasing with Ron Stewart on Wednesday. Debates (and technical glitches) ensued.
We tackled The Big Eliminator contest on Off & On The Clock and discussed the strategic shifts to make in the $100 contest.
I wrapped up my Eliminator drafts on The Bash with Rambus and Marilyn and then we welcomed Ian Hartitz for his record-setting 7th appearance on The Randomizer.
In the Fantasy Life Newsletter this week, we checked in on the main QB battles that are still undecided, four buzzy rookie WRs, three guys coming off injuries I’m not scared of, and how to attack the QB position in 2026.
On The Fantasy Life Show this week:
The best and worst picks on ESPN for redraft leagues (drops this afternoon).
We gave each other draft challenges again on The Swolecast this week and mine was legitimately painful to execute.
The ADP Chasing crew covered the big ADP shifts from injury fallers and rookie risers.
The winner’s edit from So You Think You Can Tout. Congrats, Cupps.
Shout/out Nick for our next book selection idea:
Everyone in the Discord was on board, so we’ll be rolling with Stoner by John Williams for the next month:
William Stoner is born at the end of the nineteenth century into a dirt-poor Missouri farming family. Sent to the state university to study agronomy, he instead falls in love with English literature and embraces a scholar’s life, so different from the hardscrabble existence he has known. And yet as the years pass, Stoner encounters a succession of disappointments: marriage into a “proper” family estranges him from his parents; his career is stymied; his wife and daughter turn coldly away from him; a transforming experience of new love ends under threat of scandal. Driven ever deeper within himself, Stoner rediscovers the stoic silence of his forebears and confronts an essential solitude.
👮 Book #5 for July (COMPLETED): The Man Who Died Seven Times by Yasuhiko Nishizama
👮 Book #4 for June (COMPLETED): London Falling by Patrick Radden Keefe
🕷 Book #3 for April (COMPLETED): Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky
💀 Book #2 for February (COMPLETED): Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders
🧱 Book #1 for January (COMPLETED): The City and Its Uncertain Walls by Haruki Murakami.
Got a question for me? Reply to this e-mail and I’ll get back to you…