Billy Lijoi forever set the standard of fantasy football punishments for years to come... he describes his experience walking around the Florida Panthers championship parade rocking an Edmonton Oilers jersey.
00:00Now, you've seen the picture, Crowder, of Billy at the Panthers parade?
00:05Yes, yes.
00:06He looked out of place.
00:08Yeah, there it is.
00:08He's wearing an Edmonton Oilers jersey and holding a sign.
00:14I suck at fantasy football.
00:17Last place, 2024.
00:22There it is.
00:23He has the sign right there.
00:24He has the sign.
00:25Billy.
00:26Oh, there is the sign.
00:27That's great.
00:27So, first of all, tell us, did you know beforehand, like, this would be the punishment if or how did it come about that your punishment was to go to the Florida Panthers parade wearing an Oilers jersey?
00:42I'm guessing you're a Panthers fan, so it would hurt even more.
00:45Yeah.
00:45So, basically, over the years, our league, we've all known each other probably since we were, like, four years old.
00:53But over the last 10 years, we've had the Fantasy League.
00:56It's helped kept our friend group together.
00:59And people don't really do punishments for last place.
01:03And this was my first time coming in last place.
01:06And I was like, I'm going to set a standard because that has to stop.
01:09And so, basically, it was just trying to figure something out.
01:14That's why it took so long.
01:16It wasn't like I saw some things where people were like, oh, yeah, how do you know from the end of football season that that's going to happen?
01:22No, it was just it had to be something that was way high level.
01:28And literally, a few days before the parade, people knew I was going.
01:33And I might have trolled my friends the day of game three by just sending a photo of the jersey just to mess with them.
01:40And that got me kicked out of multiple group chats.
01:43And it didn't look good when they lost that game.
01:46And so, when they found out I was going to go to the parade, they were like, you got to wear the jersey.
01:53That's the perfect punishment.
01:55And so, then, sure enough, I wear the jersey.
01:59And I was really worried about things happening to me.
02:02So, I was like, we need a sign.
02:04There has to be a sign that explains this to people.
02:07Just to kind of let people know why you're in that jersey.
02:10Yeah, that makes sense.
02:11And, Billy, though, but everybody's not going to read the sign.
02:14They're just going to see a troller walking around with an Oilers jersey.
02:18Did anything nasty happen?
02:20Did any Panthers fan get upset by it?
02:22There were a lot of people yelling at me, obscenities, you know, when they couldn't see it.
02:27When I was on the fence and people walking behind couldn't really, like, see the sign.
02:32But, for the most part, there was, once people read the sign, it was, oh, that's funny.
02:39Or, people would laugh at me.
02:40People on the buses were laughing at me.
02:42Like, going by in front of me.
02:44Yeah, did any of the players acknowledge you when they went by and saw you in an Oilers jersey?
02:48I want to say Forslund came up, read the sign.
02:53And, I'm trying to remember who else.
02:55One other person came up.
02:56Kachuk, from the top of the bus, was giving me a thumbs down as it went by.
03:02And, a lot of them were, like, up top.
03:04I saw whoever was standing next to Barkov was explaining him, like, what was going on down there.
03:10And, so, but, yeah.
03:12I got a lot of people pouring things on me, squirting water from the water guns.
03:19It was a lot.
03:21A lot of chants in my direction.
03:23It was a weird question.
03:27Was it rewarding?
03:29Like, did you feel like, hey, I accomplished something here.
03:32If you end up last in the Fantasy Football League, you need to do something worthwhile as a punishment.
03:38And, I did it.
03:39I accomplished it.
03:40And, at what point did you take the jersey off?
03:43So, I didn't take the jersey off until, way after the parade.
03:50Like, walking.
03:51We had gone to a hotel afterwards where one of my friends was staying.
03:55And, that's when I finally got the jersey off.
03:57Because, I was like, I need just AC.
03:59Because, this ain't going well.
04:02But, yeah.
04:03I would say that it was cool to know that I went through with it.
04:09Looking back, obviously, there was a lot of cool things that came with it.
04:13With just how people reacted to it and how it got on the internet and stuff.
04:17But, I also, like, I'm happy because nobody else has really done anything.
04:22And, now, our commissioner, who hasn't done anything for four years.
04:26He lost four years ago.
04:27Still hasn't done anything.
04:28We're, like, on him every five seconds now.
04:31Just, like, you got to do something now.
04:33And, he's kind of avoiding it.
04:34But, I'm hoping it sets that up.
04:37Yeah.
04:38I got to know, who'd you draft in the first round?
04:40Like, what went wrong with your fantasy team?
04:42Why are you so terrible at fantasy football?
04:44So, okay.
04:45Two championships, actually.
04:47Oh.
04:48All we know is you're wearing an Oilers jersey.
04:50So, that's all hearsay.
04:52So, the first round went good.
04:54I had the turn.
04:55I got Gibbs at 12.
04:57Where it messed up was ETN at 13 right after that.
05:02That'll do it.
05:02That'll do it.
05:03That'll do it.
05:04The Kyle Pitts saga continues.
05:07And, my receivers just weren't there at all.
05:11It was just, yeah, it was brutal.
05:13You play fantasy football, Crowder?
05:16Yeah.
05:17I play with, no, Solana hasn't been in our league.
05:19I played on the WQAM league every now and again.
05:21You put, like, time into it, though?
05:25No, not really.
05:26I just draft my guys and let them ride.
05:29Billy, you put time into it every week?
05:30Like, are you an active fantasy footballer?
05:33Oh, yeah.
05:33The thing is, everybody else in that league does, too.
05:36Like, one of my, actually, my friend who won the league,
05:39he starts mock drafting right now.
05:43Oh, the worst kind of guy.
05:44The worst kind of guy.
05:45He's already mock drafting.
05:47He's got the magazines.
05:48Like, oh, I had friends like that, too.
05:50Hey, Billy, what is your, what is, what is that guy you're speaking of
05:52do for a living?
05:53Because I got three kids.
05:54I have to, you know, I have different things to concentrate on.
05:58Actually, he just, he got a really good job.
06:01He sells, he, like, I think sells food, like, to the people who sell food
06:08to, like, the restaurants and stuff like that.
06:11But that actually started, it's a really good job.
06:15That started the year he won the championship.
06:17Before that, he couldn't win anything.
06:21And so, maybe, maybe, I don't know, the pressure of the job
06:26locked him in a little bit more.
06:28So, did you get, did you get any love from, like,
06:33undercover Oilers fans at the parade?
06:36Was there anyone who came up to you and they were like,
06:37yeah, we love Connor McDavid or, you know, treat me like an oiler?
06:41Yeah, sorry to cut you off.
06:42There was a lot of people who were like, oh, man, McDavid's sick.
06:46He was still the best player on the ice and stuff like that.
06:49Not really, you know, Edmonton love.
06:52There was a guy in an Avalanche jersey, for whatever reason,
06:56who came up to me and took a photo with me.
06:57Another fantasy football loser.
07:00I don't even know what we're doing there.
07:03But, yeah, there was a lot of McDavid love.
07:07And besides that, it was surprising how many people were like,
07:12oh, let's get a photo.
07:13And then you're hearing people like, this is the guy we're hearing about.
07:16Let's get a photo.
07:17And stuff like that was crazy.
07:19It's kind of like a testament to South Florida sports fans.
07:23We're a pretty classy group of sports fans.
07:25Did you come away with that takeaway?
07:28Yeah.
07:28Yeah.
07:28I think, too, like after it was all said and done, I was like, you know,
07:32Panthers fans, there's nothing wrong.
07:35I know South Florida fans in general have a reputation, especially Heat fans,
07:41with just everybody else hating us, which is great.
07:45I love that.
07:46But you didn't really get that with the Cats fans.
07:49I don't know if it's just hockey has a different vibe in general.
07:53But, no, everybody was pretty nice to me.
07:56So that was great.
07:57That's cool.
07:57Billy LaJoy, dude, wore an Oilers jersey to the Panthers parade
08:02and lived to tell about it.
08:04And it's all because he's terrible at fantasy football.
08:09Better luck next year.
08:10What's your team name in fantasy football?
08:12Oh, it's the Hollywood Good Hot Sauce,
08:15because it's based off a restaurant that's in the area.
08:18So they have good hot sauce, and that kind of just stuck.
08:22We got that.
08:23Better luck next season.
08:25Hopefully you don't have to.
08:26No, my name, Hawk.
08:29What's your name?
08:31That Najee's crazy.
08:34Like Najee Harris.
08:39Henny Given Sunday over here, gentlemen.
08:42Henny Given Sunday.
08:43Shadow band, if I play.
08:47Long story.
08:48Billy, thank you for making time for us.
08:50It's a cool story.
08:51You definitely stood out like a sore thumb at the parade,
08:55but glad that you were able to pay off your fantasy football debt.
08:59We appreciate you making time for us, Billy.
09:01Thanks for having me.
09:02There you go.
09:02Billy LaJoy.
09:03Such a great story.
09:04I would never do that.
09:05I don't go to away games just because I don't want to get beat up.
09:08I'm certainly not going to someone's celebratory parade wearing these opposing team's jerseys.
09:13Solana let his dad get thrown down the stairs.
09:15Come on, man.
09:19This guy's coming to the parade in an Oilers jersey.
