Welcome Reception Update

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Wed Feb 18, 2004 5:27 am

I just wanted to let everyone involved with the NFBC know what's planned for our Friday Night Welcome receptions in New York, Chicago and Las Vegas. First of all, you are not required to attend those. If it's more convenient for you, just pick up your registration packet on Saturday morning and you'll be good to go for the draft. However, please do us a favor and be there at least one hour before the draft if you haven't already picked up your packet just to reassure us that you'll be there. EVERY draft will start on time, with no exceptions.

The goal of the Welcome Receptions is simple: We want each person to get acclimated with the draft room, get to know the other owners in their league and provide a little last minute information for those who want it. We will have cocktails starting at 5 p.m. in each city, hope to have special guest speakers in each city starting at 6 p.m., and then have a panel of industry guys who are willing to answer questions for an hour or so after that. The Q&A session will be fun and light-hearted and isn't meant to be anything like "You must draft Rusty Staub if you have one of the top 5 picks." Instead, it will be more injury updated related and factual information.

Each room will also be set up just as it will be on Draft Day, so you'll see exactly where you're going to be sitting on Saturday and meet the guys you'll be sitting next to and in your league. If you spill a drink on Friday night, you'll be reminded of it on Saturday!!

Right now Ron Shandler is scheduled to join Lenny Melnick and Irwin Zwilling on our panel in New York, with Rocky Landsverk of Krause Publications moderating. I will be in Las Vegas and I think we'll have Brandon Funston of ESPN.com, Scott Engel of CBS SportsLine.com and a few other industry guys. Tom Kessenich will be in Chicago with at least one representative from Baseball America and another industry guy. We'll have a similar format for those seminars so that the conversation is similar in each city.

I had planned to also go over the results of an Experts League draft that I had planned to put together the week before the event. One NFBC member told me not to give away the answers, so I'm sensitive to doing that. I'll gladly do what you guys advise and if you don't want to see that, that's fine by me. But it would probably just be a 12-team draft and wouldn't provide any more information than what you can find online or in other fantasy magazines, including my own.

We'll buy the first drink to kick off the night and managers and co-managers are invited. It should be a good way to kick off the inaugural draft and with any luck we'll even have a surprise waiting for you. Hope you can make it as it's important to me that we make this a first-rate event as well as a first-rate contest. Thanks.

Plymouth · Post by **Plymouth** » Wed Feb 18, 2004 5:56 am

Sounds great Greg, I am looking forward to it. Just a little over a month away! You guys are running a top of the line event and I for one thank you!

Dyv · Post by **Dyv** » Wed Feb 18, 2004 8:43 am

I'm not sure what the purpose of the expert's panel would be? I would sure as heck hope that people have their own lists going into the draft and very little would change based on any experts reviewing their own opinions.

Giving everyone a generic blue print of how a 'similar' draft should go seems to be dummying up the research and preparation a bit. If 2 people in each league haven't had the time to put into it, but have the ready cash to burn... um, let's just let 'em burn

Have the experts talk about how they handle free agent budgets and maybe some simple ideas of in-season roster management. Having someone explain to me that Arod is pretty good and Burnitz could hit 40 HR in Coors just seems ridiculous. I know when the WCOFF did a football experts panel there were very few people that cared.

What else could the 'experts' provide besides doing a mock draft? As you note, Greg - I could get my hands on 100 mock drafts with notes the week before the draft.

Dave

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Wed Feb 18, 2004 9:22 am

Dyv, as you probably know I was involved in that first WCOFF Experts Draft and a lot of people did care what happened there. We were crammed in that little room at the ESPN Zone drafting and the overflow was out the door and was actually unsafe inside. It didn't taint the competition and in fact many WCOFF people thought the experts didn't have a clue.

I will listen to all of the complaints, but I think you might be surprised that some people will ask intelligent questions of players other than A-Rod. Again, the goal is to have people talking baseball, nothing more, nothing less. If anyone comes to that Welcome Reception unprepared and suddenly starts making their lists based on what is said in public, well, then you're ready, that would be dead money. But I have a feeling it will still be dead money then.

Again, I'm not forcing this on anyone, but the comparison to the WCOFF's first year isn't accurate because I was involved. And I think we can do this a little better without giving away any secrets. But we'll just eat and drink and talk amongst ourselves if that's what the group wants.

baseballweenie · Post by **baseballweenie** » Wed Feb 18, 2004 9:26 am

Originally posted by Dyv:

Have the experts talk about how they handle free agent budgets and maybe some simple ideas of in-season roster management.I'm not sure if Dyv meant this part in jest or not, but I like the idea of a quick course of "FAAB & Roster Management 101".

That, and perhaps final clarification of what positions some of the "questionable" players (imports and part-timers who may have played an identical max number, but less than 20, of games at more than one position) will be slotted in to start the season.

For instance, what if Joe Schmoe, a known minor league firstbaseman, played 3 positions last year upon callup: 2 games at catcher, 4 games at first, and 6 games in the outfield, he would be qualified as an outfielder only by default since 20 games were not reached at any one spot. But, what if it were 2 games at catcher and 6 games at both first and outfield. Does he qualify at both firstbase and outfield, or will he be assigned his "natural" position?

Again, I know the rule when 20 games reached is in play, but isn't it slightly different when it isn't?

[ March 02, 2004, 01:22 PM: Message edited by: BaseballWeenies ]

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Wed Feb 18, 2004 10:06 am

Karl, you are correct and in that instance I believe he would have to qualify at first base and the outfield. That's a bit bizarre and I'm not aware of any minor-leaguer in that situation, but I'll look now and post position eligibility for those type of players online soon. That's more for clarification before Draft Day rather than for scouting purposes.

By the way, I hope NFBC members don't mind that I capitalize Draft Day in all instances, but I've done that ever since we started Fantasy Sports Magazine in 1989. I consider Draft Day a holiday, like Christmas or New Year's or both rolled into one and thus I will always capitalize Draft Day. Maybe it's just me.

baseballweenie · Post by **baseballweenie** » Wed Feb 18, 2004 10:42 am

For some reason, Greg, I usually come up with the bizarre ones...

Your caps on Draft Day seemed perfectly normal to me, fellow Bizarro Brother!

Dyv · Post by **Dyv** » Wed Feb 18, 2004 11:21 am

Originally posted by Greg Ambrosius:

Dyv, as you probably know I was involved in that first WCOFF Experts Draft and a lot of people did care what happened there. We were crammed in that little room at the ESPN Zone drafting and the overflow was out the door and was actually unsafe inside. It didn't taint the competition and in fact many WCOFF people thought the experts didn't have a clue.

I will listen to all of the complaints, but I think you might be surprised that some people will ask intelligent questions of players other than A-Rod. Again, the goal is to have people talking baseball, nothing more, nothing less. If anyone comes to that Welcome Reception unprepared and suddenly starts making their lists based on what is said in public, well, then you're ready, that would be dead money. But I have a feeling it will still be dead money then.

Again, I'm not forcing this on anyone, but the comparison to the WCOFF's first year isn't accurate because I was involved. And I think we can do this a little better without giving away any secrets. But we'll just eat and drink and talk amongst ourselves if that's what the group wants. Hey Greg, actually I had forgotten you were in that initial WCOFF draft - I knew of you from ESPN articles, but didn't have much understanding of the fantasy sports industry and who the 'names' are at that point, lol.

Still - you and I remember the same event a bit differently... yes, people were crammed in that little room in the ESPN sportszone in Vegas and many were pressed up against the windows to try to observe, but it was more of an amusement for people to 'check out' then it was anything that proved to be valuable. (Also, football requires a HECK of a lot less research than baseball...)

Perhaps the actual breaking down of the draft would be interesting - I'm always open to hearing someone's opinions and thoughts. I guess my only small objection is that there WILL be dead money at the draft who won't have up to date information on who Pittsburgh's closer is... my gut tells me that if that person (and who knows, maybe it'll be me, lol) doesn't read the right things, do the right research, invest the necessary time in being current on news and speculation - well, then giving them an opportunity to gather 3 pieces of key data can actually help them and I get ZERO benefit from them knowing it. Perhaps I'll hear something new at the discussion as well - but I'm the kind of blue collar fantasy gamer that reads a lot and I don't expect to receive any new tidbits. I don't have staff to provide me the research and I don't come by my rankings by sacrificing lambs to Bill James...

I'm all for letting people 'come as they may' - and for any experts who also have teams or reps in the draft for their website you can automatically taint their advice. Additionally, you're going to find that half the questions will be intended as misdirection from the audience. It just doesn't strike me as the time to have a 'forum' on fantasy baseball - the eve of a $100k draft is not the time to make sure all my competitors are totally current.

That's just my .02 - you make whatever decisions you'd like

Dave

p.s. I don't want this to be a 'complaint' as you note in your reply above. I'm just sharing my POV. Perhaps I'm in the minority - and that's fine!

Dyv · Post by **Dyv** » Wed Feb 18, 2004 11:22 am

Originally posted by BaseballWeenies:

quote:Originally posted by Dyv:

Have the experts talk about how they handle free agent budgets and maybe some simple ideas of in-season roster management.I'm not sure if Dyv meant this part in jest or not, but I like the idea of a quick course of "FAAB & Roster Management 101".

That, and perhaps final clarification of what positions some of the "questionable" players (imports and part-timers who may have played an identical max number, but less than 20, of games at more than one position) will be slotted in to start the season.

For instance, what if Joe Schmoe, a known minor league firstbaseman, played 3 positions last year upon callup: 2 games at catcher, 4 games at first, and 6 games in the outfield, he would be qualified as an outfielder only by default since 20 games were not reached at any one spot. But, what if it were 2 games at catcher and 6 games at both first and outfield. Does he qualify at both firstbase and outfield, or will he be assigned his "natural" position?

Again, I know the rule when 20 games reached is in play, but isn't it slightly different when it isn't?

Karl. [/QUOTE]Karl - I was seriously trying to think of something would like to hear about... although I am usually sarcastic

M Co · Post by **M Co** » Wed Feb 18, 2004 11:29 am

My two yen is that I'd be happy to see any other drafts, but it's not going to make or break anyone. Everyone is going to have some degree of preparation, and the "dead money" who is going to rely on a draft they receive the night before the real thing isn't going to be much of a threat anyway. So I don't really see any need to hide anything.

a · Post by a » Wed Feb 18, 2004 3:02 pm

I was at the expert draft the first year, actually, the wife and I were facilitating with that draft (I don;t know how it happened, all of a sudden, we were doing the stickers). That draft did affect many draft picks.

chi town here we come · Post by **chi town here we come** » Wed Feb 18, 2004 3:12 pm

go back to japan

Fantasy Jungle · Post by **Fantasy Jungle** » Wed Feb 18, 2004 5:52 pm

Originally posted by Dyv:

I guess my only small objection is that there WILL be dead money at the draft who won't have up to date information on who Pittsburgh's closer is...This is true. In fact, we should get a pool going on who can guess the closest to which round somebody takes someone who is no longer in baseball, or out for the season.

Youd like to think that if people are paying over a dime to play, that it wont happen, but Im almost positive that Aaron Boone and Kaz Sasaki get drafted. We might even catch some action on Tony Gwynn and Cal Ripken, by people who get caught up in the web of 3 year stat charts.

[ February 18, 2004, 11:55 PM: Message edited by: Fantasy Jungle ]

M Co · Post by **M Co** » Thu Feb 19, 2004 6:18 am

Originally posted by chi town here we come:

go back to japan Good luck to you too.

)

KJ Duke · Post by **KJ Duke** » Thu Feb 19, 2004 9:48 am

go back to Japan? ... is this guy a racist, or was that just a friendly warning that there is nothing worthwhile to see or do in Indiana?

[ February 19, 2004, 03:49 PM: Message edited by: KJ Duke ]

Hoosier Hick · Post by **Hoosier Hick** » Thu Feb 19, 2004 10:41 am

Originally posted by KJ Duke

Go back to Japan? ... is this guy a racist, or was that just a friendly warning that there is nothing worthwhile to see or do in Indiana?

Damn, Kaz Sasaki listened to him.

[ February 19, 2004, 04:51 PM: Message edited by: Hoosier Hick ]

Hoosier Hick · Post by **Hoosier Hick** » Thu Feb 19, 2004 10:43 am

Hey wait, I'm from Indiana. And I've been to Japan. Your right there are not near the Pachinko Halls in Indiana like there are on every corner in Japan.

Hoosier Hick · Post by **Hoosier Hick** » Thu Feb 19, 2004 10:45 am

Japanese Nationals must not like the New York Yankees because they kept protesting at my Base chanting "Yankee go home"

[ February 19, 2004, 04:46 PM: Message edited by: Hoosier Hick ]

chi town here we come · Post by **chi town here we come** » Thu Feb 19, 2004 10:56 am

not a racist,just having fun i thought he was an american

chi town here we come · Post by **chi town here we come** » Thu Feb 19, 2004 10:59 am

hey hoosier hick how is it in the big city of kokomo????

Hoosier Hick · Post by **Hoosier Hick** » Thu Feb 19, 2004 11:04 am

Where is Frankton IN? Are you in the big NFBC draft or an auction draft?

chi town here we come · Post by **chi town here we come** » Thu Feb 19, 2004 4:14 pm

going to chicago ..i go right thru kokomo on my way i am about 20 miles west of ball state university..////////////////////////////////