We all remember our first dynasty league experience. Legends of Dynasty was mine back in 2005. At a $200 entry fee, this league was the highest stakes dynasty at the time (as far as I know).

This league was comprised of mostly seasoned redraft players (including several prominent high stakes players) and a mix of experienced and newbie dynasty players like myself. Having no clue as to how to form a good dynasty team, I was lost from the beginning.

I started off in the 12 spot and took Clinton Portis and Deuce McAllister at the turn for the foundation of my team. Unfortunately, Deuce tore his ACL that year and was never the same again. In the third round, I made what in hindsight was my best pick - a young Andre Johnson. In the fourth, I made what was my worst in an aging Curtis Martin. If I knew then what I know now, I could have killed that draft! Instead, although I managed to squeak into the playoffs in that inaugural year, I dug a hole for myself of which I would not crawl out for many years.

Following the inaugural year I decided to clean house and shipped out Clinton Portis and any other player of value not named Johnson for the 1.1 rookie (Reggie Bush) and a few later 1st rounders, the beginning of a long rebuild process. At some point, even Andre Johnson had to go in the interest of getting younger and stronger.

My team wallowed in the mud for four years before it again made a playoff appearance in 2010. The team didn’t make it far, but it was clearly on the rise. All the years of trial and error and rebuilding for the future would make winning a title all the more rewarding.

I had built over the years a strong core of Tom Brady at QB (in a QB-heavy scoring league), Lesean McCoy, Jamaal Charles and CJ Spiller at RB, Larry Fitzgerald and Brandon Marshall at WR and Jimmy Graham and Rob Gronkowski at TE.

With that core and a few other nice supporting pieces, my team finally took home a title in 2011 with the highest scoring team that year. In 2012, my team repeated as high scoring team and league champion. In 2013, the team barely lost out on the high scoring team award (and a few hundred extra dollars), but won the title for a third time!

Alas, the last two years defending my title has taken its toll on the team. Rather than continuing to build and grow the team as I had been previously doing, I kept the core intact to maximize its chances to repeat and threepeat. All good things must come to an end, and this year could be it for this team. Tom Brady and Larry Fitzgerald have gotten old and Jamaal Charles and Brandon Marshall will soon follow. This year may be the team’s last chance, but a four-peat would be glorious!

Win or lose in 2014, this team reminds me that as strong as a dynasty team may be at any point in time, playing for the now will eventually bring that team back down to Earth. Playing to win has its cost. It just so happens that three titles in a row, maybe four, is worth that cost, but lesson learned nonetheless.