I'm Proud Of Everyone!!

[Greg Ambrosius]

Now that we're finished with NFBC V Draft Day, it's time to reflect back on what we've accomplished over the last four years. It's amazing to think that we've doubled the number of participants in our main event during that time. It's amazing that we've basically quadrupled our revenue during that time. It's amazing that we've added Ultimate Leagues, Super Leagues, satellite leagues, more levels of auction leagues.



On Sunday night after the Ultimate League drafts were completed, I went out to dinner with some of our workers and NFBC members. Rick Thomas said to me, "you must be proud of what you've accomplished with the NFBC." And I said I was, but I'm not just proud of what I've created. So many people have had a helping hand and it's time to acknowledge them:



* I'm proud of our participants. The dedication I saw from all of you in 2004 has been dwarfed big-time in the last four years. Don't you agree that your draft preparation, your draft knowledge, your knowledge of how to win a league, your baseball viewing time on TV, etc., has increased dramatically since you first joined the NFBC. If you win a league now, you've EARNED it. Kudos to all of you.



* I'm proud of our staff. I'll single out Tom, who knows how far he's come since that first event in 2004. I challenged him to grow with us after that first event and to take charge of the NFBC like it was his own and he has done just that. He's as personally attached to the NFBC and NFFC as I am and I'm proud of how he's made such a positive name for himself in this industry. Our other sports writers who run the other cities see the energy we have on this side of the aisle and they now put everything they can into each city they work at.



* I'm proud of our workers. Whether it's Brady or Jan & Claire, or Rex or the guys who work each year for Tom in New York, or Jason Gold the auctioneer in Orlando, or whomever, we now have smart workers who know baseball and help to keep the drafts flowing nicely. I've participated in these kinds of events before and it's not as much fun when your facilitators are a drag on your draft. Sure, it would be good to have eye candy along with this, but I think we had the right workers this year.



* I'm proud of the Draft Day settings. I heard the New York Sheraton was an ideal setup and the Flamingo has worked perfectly for us the last few years in Las Vegas. Those rooms for the private auction leagues work perfectly and the Saturday ballroom has space for us to grow. It's such a cool feeling to sit up front on Saturday during the main event and look over the crowd to see 10+ leagues going at once and knowing this is going on in three other cities at the same time.



* I'm not proud that we didn't have coffee on Saturday in Las Vegas, though. We erred there and we won't err again. We should have had more than just the bar open and we'll have coffee for football and again next baseball season. Sorry about that. As for food in each city, I'll address that on a separate thread as anything is possible. But nothing is free and some folks can't imagine what the costs are in these cities for added benefits. Again, I'll address this tomorrow.



* I'm proud of the promptness. I am so proud of how on time everyone is now compared to 2004. I think everyone knows that we don't wait for anyone and when I looked out into the crowd at 9:50 a.m. on Saturday and saw just about every seat filled it made me feel so good. At 9:55 after the Champ gave his acceptance speach, every person in every league was accounted for. Awesome everyone. I heard the same was true in the other cities, too.



I could say more, but I think you get the point. We've ALL come a long way since 2004 and the best is yet to come. The intenseness of this competition is beyond anything I ever imagined when I first wrote the rules and there's no question that whomever wins the NFBC this year will be the best fantasy baseball player in the country. No question about that. What an honor that is.



I'm a proud papa, yes indeed. But the best is yet to come, yes indeed. So keep making me proud and let's have a season to remember. Thanks all and good luck in 2008.