“Who knew fantasy football could change my life?”

That was the rhetorical question asked by Shane Schroeder, a 31-year-old youth corrections officer from Fort Collins, Colo., after he won the first-ever Fantasy Football Open Championship, according to the press release.

Schroeder received his championship jacket and check from FFOC honorary commissioner Jerry Rice on Tuesday after topping the other 14 finalists in Las Vegas.

Behind four-touchdown performances by Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers and Panthers running back DeAngelo Williams, Schroeder’s team — XFACTOR — finished 14 points ahead of its closest competitor in the Vegas bracket. Scores for that championship round combined the team’s average from weeks 1 through 9, average from weeks 10 through 15 and total for Week 16. The next three finishers were separated by fewer than three points total.

“With my winnings, I plan to pay some bills, start a new business and give some to my folks, who have always been so supportive of me,” Schroeder said via the press release.

Check back with FSB.com for more on the FFOC money winners and other prominent fantasy football champions for 2008.

XFACTOR Roster
QB — Philip Rivers, Aaron Rodgers
RB — Michael Turner, DeAngelo Williams, Joseph Addai, Larry Johnson, Jerious Norwood, Sammy Morris
WR — Andre Johnson, Laveranues Coles, Ted Ginn, Anquan Boldin, Ike Hilliard, Kevin Curtis
TE — Tony Gonzalez, Vernon Davis
K – Kris Brown, Mason Crosby
DEF — Tennessee Titans, Green Bay Packers

A roundup of recent posts on the FSB News page.

– MonsterDraft.com, which launched in April 2006 and is part of the Fantasy Players Network, is up for sale.

– The Fantasy Sports Trade Association has posted the agenda for its upcoming winter business conference online, including the roster of panel participants.

– The Game On! guys at USAToday.com report that Nielsen says the 11.6 million unique visitors that sought fantasy content over the past year could double over the next five years.

– Soccer Lens ranks its top five fantasy “football” (European division) providers for 2008. ESPN makes the cut, while the rest reside across the pond.