Trying out for the basketball team, wearing a maid outfit to school, doing the South Memphis Hypeman routine in the cafeteria and eating the ‘shut the cluck up’ chicken from Hattie B’s are just a few of GG Fantasy’s weekly punishments.
GG Fantasy is a fantasy basketball league with 12 members. Every week, each member is put on a slice of a wheel proportional to their team’s rank for the week, which is based on their fantasy score. The lower scores get larger spaces on the wheel. The wheel is spun, and whoever it lands on has to do a humiliating punishment.
“We just kind of go with the flow based on what’s happening that week,” Junwon Choi (12) said. “ The first week, basketball [tryouts] were coming up, so we just decided to do that.”
Choi’s team has not fared well in the fantasy league, which has led to him having to do two punishments. So far, Choi has performed the South Memphis Hypeman routine —a locally popular dance performed by social media influencer South Memphis Hypeman —during C-Lunch, and he has had to dress up as a maid. However, Choi was positive about the South Memphis Hypeman punishment, claiming that it helped him face his nervousness.
“I guess I was a little nervous, and I did something that I didn’t want to do,” Choi said. “I would never do it again, but … it was a good experience doing something I didn’t want to do.”
Choi hasn’t been the only member who has come away with something positive from a punishment. Daniel Collins (12) lost the inaugural week, resulting in him having to try out for the basketball team. Collins’ performance was poor — he missed both of his shots. However, Collins sees this embarrassment as something that has pushed him to be more outgoing.
“I think I am somewhat of an extrovert, but I’ve become much more of one,” Collins said. “I can go up and talk to someone randomly and just have a conversation with them… Going to open basketball tryouts, when there’s 35 people in the stands cheering for me and I’m out there with 40 other guys, they’re like, ‘You got fans?’[and] ‘Yo, what school are you from?’ Then I go and deliver a jaw-dropping performance.”
GG fantasy has gained notoriety through their social media account, which posts videos of their punishments, including Collins’ basketball tryouts. The social media manager is Sebastian Sayong (12), and he suffered the unfortunate punishment of eating the ‘shut the cluck up’ chicken tenders, which are the hottest item on the menu at Hattie B’s, a local fried chicken restaurant.
“I never thought swallowing a tender would be that difficult,” Sayong said. “Eating that tender had no flavor. It was just pure spice.”
Through their social media post about Sayong’s punishment, GG Fantasy garnered the attention of Hattie B’s. Hattie B’s offered GG Fantasy a partnership for their social media influence.
“We currently have a sponsorship from Hattie B’s,” Collins said. “Because we’re a promoter, we get some discount or maybe even a free meal once a month.”
Achieving influencer partnerships is a testament to GG Fantasy’s growth, and it is a far step from what the project was intended to do. GG Fantasy was created for a group of 12 seniors to be unserious and have some fun in their last year in high school.
“We’re seniors, and we’re bored and kind of needed something to do as a friend group,” Choi said. “Doing this was fun because we all like to play basketball sometimes together.”
Through their ridiculous and laughable punishments, GG Fantasy has captured the hearts of students. The punishments provide a lighthearted and fun touch to the stresses and academic pressure of senior year.
“No matter how academic and stressful senior year can be, there’s always something to look forward to at the end of the week or throughout the week,” Sayong said. “[GG Fantasy is] where even the most try-hardy academic nerdy people can somehow manage to have fun every day.”