Hi, Reiju here again!
After my last little tour for KRIBZ took me about 800 meters into the sky to visit Dutch's skybox, this time I stayed a little closer to the ground LOL. I recently had the chance to meet up with matthewkg and visit his Aurora Conference Center, which is currently also serving as headquarters for his Fantasy Football league.
From the outside, it actually looks like a conference center. The huge glass front, stone walls and American flag in front make it look more like a real public building than someone's random hangout in There.
Right when you enter, you're greeted by a fountain and a huge open room with a large round conference table in the middle. Behind it is an even bigger Mango Market Fantasy Football logo together with the current league board.
I talked with matthewkg about the league for a while and learned that he has actually been playing Fantasy Football through Yahoo since 2006. For anyone who has never played it before, the basic idea is pretty simple: you build your own fantasy team using real NFL players, and what those players do in the real games determines how your fantasy team performs.
If you're completely new to Fantasy Football, the NFL has a pretty good beginner video explaining how it all works: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhrBapdhLEc
The name Mango Market isn't something matthewkg just came up with for the league either. It comes from an actual neighborhood in There.com called Mango Market, which was created by Flygirl_Dani, cazz_luv, and Flattering. Some players have storefronts and spaces there, including matthewkg's own Words and Lyrics Cafe.
We actually drove over there together after touring the Conference Center, so it was pretty cool seeing the place that gave the league its name and realizing it was nearby too!
The Conference Center itself has actually been in matthewkg's collection for years, but surprisingly, he told me that the recent Fantasy Draft was the first event where he finally really put the building to use. And apparently the big round table was a hit!
Looking at it, I can see why. Everyone sitting around that thing while choosing their players probably makes it feel a little more like an actual NFL war room than people clicking names on Yahoo from their bedrooms LOL.
Something I liked about the building is that not every corner is covered in football stuff. There are paintings, plants, several different seating areas and even a grand piano sitting beside the massive windows.
One of my favorite details was a little football-history corner near the main display. Above an old-school television are three quotes from legendary NFL coaches Chuck Noll, Vince Lombardi and Don Shula.
Even if my own knowledge of NFL history is basically zero and still needs a lot of work, I thought this was a cool detail. It gives the place some actual football history beyond the fantasy side of things. My favorite quote is the third one: Success is not forever, and failure is never final. - Don Shula
Matthewkg also told me about another section of the building that isn't being used much right now. Instead of filling every available room just because he can, he prefers saving some of his drops for things people will actually see and use.
The extra space can still become useful though. He has occasionally turned it into something like a vehicle showroom, displaying buggies, SUVs or other vehicles to help promote friends and dealerships such as GBR.
I actually like that idea. In There, sometimes an empty room isn't an unfinished room. Sometimes you are just saving your drops for something better LOL.
There are more little football and There.com touches around the building too. Above the entrance of the showroom you'll find framed jerseys, including a Dutch #13 jersey as well as a picture of a football, and a picture with an American flag display between them.
These are the kind of smaller things I like finding when exploring builds in There. You can walk through a room in ten seconds, or actually look around and start noticing all the stuff someone put there.
Of course, one of the most important things to see here is the league board itself. It displays all of the teams competing this season, including matthewkg's own Steel Yinzers.
With the NFL season getting underway, I'm guessing that board isn't going to look quite as peaceful for very long. :D
Not every part of the Conference Center is quite as serious though. While walking around with matthewkg, we came across one of my favorite funny details: a doorway on the left side of the Conference Center. Apparently, this is the perfect emergency exit for anyone who has had enough socializing for the day. LOL.
Honestly, every conference center should have one. Feeling social? Stay inside and hang out. Social battery at 1%? Take the Anti Social exit and disappear into Aurora before anyone can start another conversation. :D
Matthewkg was kind enough to demonstrate the concept for the picture. ( I directed the shoot so he had no choice lmao).
Before leaving, however, I had one more job.
Those who read my last KRIBZ visit might remember that Dutch's skybox had a little surprise hidden outside involving a suspiciously Mario-looking block. Apparently I'm slowly becoming the guy who walks around people's buildings looking for things I'm probably not supposed to find.
While walking around the outside of the Conference Center, I noticed one tiny object sticking through the wall. Now, this one might actually be less of an intentional Easter egg and more of a good old There.com glitch. It looks like an item from somewhere inside the building has decided that walls are merely a suggestion. LOL.
What exactly is sticking through there? I'm not telling.
Maybe it's just part of the furniture.
Maybe it's a door handle.
Maybe it's the handle to some secret portal into another dimension of There.com.
You'll have to investigate that one yourself. ;)
After finishing our tour, matthewkg and I left the Aurora Conference Center and headed over to the actual Mango Market neighborhood, where his Words and Lyrics Cafe is located. It was a fitting way to end the visit after spending the evening learning how that little corner of There.com ended up lending its name to the league.
Thanks again to matthewkg for showing me around and telling me some of the history behind the place.
And now I guess we wait and see whose Fantasy team survives the season.
Reiju Over and Out.
The Football Town: a Documentary
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