prediction

Jon_Ashton · Post by **Jon_Ashton** » Fri Apr 09, 2004 10:33 am

As experienced Commissioners know, anticipating problems in advance is a key. Greg totally failed in that regard last Sunday (not the only time so far), and that should serve as a serious wakeup call to him. I hope he might make an adjustment from his apparent "I'll just wait for the issue to arise and deal with whatever may come up" attitude to a more appropriate and well-spelled-out stance.

Something that clearly is looming is an owner dropping a valuable player. Greg are you considering using an "undroppable" list like ESPN? That would take care of things in advance, as it would leave no room for argument or interpretation. Someone said the WCOFB made a rule that a player drafted in the first 5 rounds is undroppable. I'm not so sure that's a good rule because injuries and other factors could be very significant. However, I feel even that flawed rule would be preferable to leaving it totally up to Greg's influenceable (by the loudest message board complainers or participants quickest to phone him and get in his ear?) judgment.

Greg, are we going to have to wait for this situation to arise, or will you be proactive on this issue? It'd be nice to know in advance (quite helpful in determining how much FAAB money to save) how valuable a player would have to be before you'd rule him "undroppable."

nnoy · Post by **nnoy** » Fri Apr 09, 2004 11:10 am

John, I sense a lot of bitterness in your voice. Does it have anything to do with your current 14th place in our league (166th overall) standing? It’s not anyone’s fault but your own that you drafted 0 SP’s and chose to donate $1250.

Greg has done what he has seen to be in the best interest of this entire event. He has no incentive to create rules that benefit one team over another. I think his decisions have been fair and impartial to date, and to accuse him to acting on the whim of the loudest message board poster is ludicrous. Although I guess anyone that has a team full of suck MR’s may have a different perception of reality than the rest of us.

[ April 09, 2004, 05:11 PM: Message edited by: nnoy ]

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Fri Apr 09, 2004 11:27 am

Jon, it states right in the rules that I will monitor all transactions in the NFBC and I have the right to disallow any move that I deem is not in the best interest of the overall contest. I also posted on the Message Boards earlier this year that I would not make a rule like the WCOFB did and state that only the Top 100 players or only players in the first 5 rounds would qualify under this rule. It's very possible that someone could drop a middle round pick who leads the majors in steals during the last month of the season just to throw a monkey wrench in the stretch drive and if I limited my ruling like the WCOFB did I would have no right to rescind that move. So I will definitely watch this on a case-by-case basis and if a move is made that would jeopardize the integrity of the NFBC, I would not allow it and ask that owner to put that player on his reserve list rather than in the free agent pool.

I have no problem with your criticism of me personally as there are situations I'm sure will occur that I did not anticipate or have seen in over 20 years of playing this game. But when situations occur I'll make a fair judgement and we'll note that situation for the future. Good luck the rest of the way and keep those heart-felt posts coming.

Hoosier Hick · Post by **Hoosier Hick** » Fri Apr 09, 2004 12:37 pm

Jon, nice prediction. Just wondering if you predicted your team to finish in last? If so, at least you would be hitting .500 on your predictions.

Jon_Ashton · Post by **Jon_Ashton** » Sat Apr 10, 2004 8:27 am

Originally posted by nnoy:

John, I sense a lot of bitterness in your voice. Does it have anything to do with your current 14th place in our league (166th overall) standing? I haven't even looked at the standings yet. It's way to early to care! I know I'll get close to 60% of the pitching points, and I should get at least 90% of the hitting points. If later in the season, I'm not dominating the hitting categories (after having used my top 11 picks on offense), feel free to come back and point that out to me loud and clear at that time! In the meantime, the current standings mean nothing.

Jon_Ashton · Post by **Jon_Ashton** » Sat Apr 10, 2004 8:31 am

Originally posted by Hoosier Hick:

Jon, nice prediction. Just wondering if you predicted your team to finish in last? If so, at least you would be hitting .500 on your predictions.

No, I'm predicting my team to easily finish in the top half at the end of the season. My hope is to get 75%+ of the points possible. Not terribly likely, but we'll see. I couldn't care less what place my team is in during April.

Jon_Ashton · Post by **Jon_Ashton** » Sat Apr 10, 2004 8:56 am

Originally posted by Greg Ambrosius:

So I will definitely watch this on a case-by-case basis Greg, this is the heart of the broader issue. There are reasons why watching things on a case-by-case basis may not be the best policy. In most scenarios, that's just asking for trouble, but since you're insistent on doing it that way in this case (as opposed to how I'd assume most other commissioners would decide to do it), it's good that you do clearly state that in the rules. I wasn't asking you to change the rules, if you're really commited to your case-by-case way in this situation, as opposed to a more straightforward "undroppable list" which a commissioner could update constantly to include middle-round draft picks leading the league in steals, etc. I was asking you how valuable you'd have to deem a player before you'd nix him being dropped? Ok, you answered that someone leading the league in steals would be undroppable. That's obvious, but I guess we'll just have to wait and see what else you'll deem undroppable, as you've given no real indication. Are we going to have message board debate on all questionable drops in each league?

Walla Walla · Post by **Walla Walla** » Sat Apr 10, 2004 11:06 am

Jon, Your not the commissioner and you don't make the rules. Just drop it.

M Co · Post by **M Co** » Sat Apr 10, 2004 12:13 pm

I think Greg has done a great job being responsible to our concerns, answering every question, and really caring about customer service and the league. Nobody anticipates everything, especially in the first year. But I'm very happy with what he's done, and have no problems letting him decide drop issues on a case by case basis. He's bent over backwards to be objective and fair.

King of Queens · Post by **King of Queens** » Sat Apr 10, 2004 5:34 pm

Greg has been very fair about everything thus far. You may not agree with all of his decisions (and Lord knows I haven't!), but I am quite certain that he cares a lot about this entire event. If you're reading this Greg, just wanted to give you a public shot of confidence. Without your hard work and continued effort, the NFBC is doomed to fail.

Oh, and to those who think running a league with 195 enthusiasts/addicts/participants is easy, think again. Quite frankly, I don't know how he does it!

Cellar Dwellers · Post by **Cellar Dwellers** » Sat Apr 10, 2004 9:48 pm

King of Queens-I think those last two lines really sum it up. Many of us are used to dealing with just the 12 lunatics in our own individual local leagues. Times that by 16 or so and it really becomes a headache with all the different personalities. For the most part it seems that any of the problems that have arisen are mainly from the STAT company and let's hope those are all in the past. By the way, K of Q, how the hell are you in first place overall, yet last in our auction league? What's that all about? I left that draft thinking the Glimmer Twins had the best team and that you had the second best. I know it's early yet, just joshing with ya.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Sun Apr 11, 2004 4:52 am

Take my word for it guys, I'm having as much fun with the NFBC as you are. Yes, there are 195 different personalities and 195 different opinions on everything I do, but frankly that's what makes this so great. I have three kids and I know that I can't please all three of them all the time either, so you guys aren't much different (in the way you act sometimes, too). The key is to make fair decisions that keep the integrity of the league intact all year long.

Yes, Jon, it would have to be a very serious drop into the free agent pool for me to overrule that. Last year in the WCOFB, Roy Halladay was like 0-4 and the guy dropped him not so much because Halladay was struggling but he thought it would take FAAB out of his league. Well, that not only was a stupid strategy (only one team would have lost FAAB, leaving 13 other teams with the same amount of FAAB as him), but it wasn't fair to the other leagues that didn't have a chance to pick up a Cy Young award candidate in the open market. I won't allow a drop like that to occur when it could greatly affect the overall competition.

I hope I won't have to intercede at all as I think this group is smarter than that. But if I have to, it states clearly in the rules that I have the power to do so on a case-by-case basis.

Dyv · Post by **Dyv** » Sun Apr 11, 2004 7:49 pm

Originally posted by Greg Ambrosius:

Take my word for it guys, I'm having as much fun with the NFBC as you are. Yes, there are 195 different personalities and 195 different opinions on everything I do, but frankly that's what makes this so great. I have three kids and I know that I can't please all three of them all the time either, so you guys aren't much different (in the way you act sometimes, too). The key is to make fair decisions that keep the integrity of the league intact all year long.

Yes, Jon, it would have to be a very serious drop into the free agent pool for me to overrule that. Last year in the WCOFB, Roy Halladay was like 0-4 and the guy dropped him not so much because Halladay was struggling but he thought it would take FAAB out of his league. Well, that not only was a stupid strategy (only one team would have lost FAAB, leaving 13 other teams with the same amount of FAAB as him), but it wasn't fair to the other leagues that didn't have a chance to pick up a Cy Young award candidate in the open market. I won't allow a drop like that to occur when it could greatly affect the overall competition.

I hope I won't have to intercede at all as I think this group is smarter than that. But if I have to, it states clearly in the rules that I have the power to do so on a case-by-case basis. Dad, are we almost there yet?