2005 NFBC Feedback Thread

Dyv · Post by **Dyv** » Wed Mar 23, 2005 11:05 am

Originally posted by Cellar Dwellers:

Screwed that quote up somehow. My quote was:

For your sake, I hope he comes back... and in his first at-bat AJ Burnett beans him and breaks his wrist, and then he's out for the rest of the season

lol, c'est la vie happens as well. Fortunately with Bonds' situation I was able to prepare for him not being there... I have plenty of bats

Dyv

p.s. Bonds has wrist armor... Burnett doesn't throw THAT hard!

[ March 23, 2005, 05:06 PM: Message edited by: Dyv ]

Bandit · Post by **Bandit** » Wed Mar 23, 2005 11:07 am

You want the truth about Laptops???

You can't handle the truth! Son, we live in a world that has baseballs, and those baseballs have to be guarded by scouts with guns. Who's gonna do it? You? Paul DePodesta? Billy Beane? I have a greater responsibility than you can possibly fathom. You weep for Joe Borowski and Mark Prior and curse the Dusty Baker. You have that luxury. You have the luxury of not knowing what I know: that Barry's knee, while tragic, probably saved lives. And that my existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to stat heads, saves lives. You don't want the truth - because deep down, in places you don't talk about at Roto parties, you want me on that wall. You need me on that wall. We use words like five tools, strength, height, speed. We use these words as the backbone of a life spent defending something. You use them as a punchline. I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very freedom that I provide, and then questions the manner in which I provide it! I'd rather you just said "thank you" and went on your way. Otherwise, I'd suggest you pick up a rawlings ball and stand a post. Either way, I don't give a damn what you think you are entitled to!

Dyv · Post by **Dyv** » Wed Mar 23, 2005 11:10 am

*applause*

*applause*

sportsbettingman · Post by **sportsbettingman** » Wed Mar 23, 2005 11:13 am

As for the topic...

I thought the event went great!

Being a member of two previous $200,000.00 games, I'd say this was as good or better.

Having so many people in a room...I can see no way of eliminating the ability to hear other leagues picks being called out. Even curtains or cubicals would not do the trick, and having separate rooms would be flat out boring...I like the mayhem.

I loved and took advantage of the open bar, when other leagues ban drinking during the draft, so big thumbs up there...we're big boys, and that was a nice option...gave me the "home-league-feel" bonus.

Seemed a more tame and well behaved crowd compared to football.

I like the no-nonsense approach...kind of like Blue Corner (LV league 5)...are you ready?...Red Corner (LV league 9)...are you ready?...Let's get it on!

Greg is just fantastic. Humble, profesional, and dedicated. ...and had a beer...which made me feel better.(Ha!) Busy as hell...but open to everyones questions/pats on back.

No complaint from me. Encouraging folks to mingle after would have been nice...but hey...we were in Vegas!

~Lance

[ March 23, 2005, 05:18 PM: Message edited by: sportsbettingman ]

sportsbettingman · Post by **sportsbettingman** » Wed Mar 23, 2005 11:16 am

Great post Bandit!

Balticsquids · Post by **Balticsquids** » Wed Mar 23, 2005 11:20 am

OPEN BAR,i guess u didnt draft in NYC

Balticsquids · Post by **Balticsquids** » Wed Mar 23, 2005 11:20 am

OPEN BAR,i guess u didnt draft in NYC

Quahogs · Post by **Quahogs** » Wed Mar 23, 2005 2:38 pm

Balticsquids

Member

Member # 146

wow,,,id like to hear about this, if its true?

and as far as the Sanchez **** ,i had 1 guy in my league bring it up the the NET. in the same rd i was going to take him ,,i mean we all new he was going to play some place , but being this clown had a laptop he did beat me to my very next pick in the Draft ........and because he opened his big mouth about alomar retiring, the next guy took cantu .............ALL comm. should be band at the draft ........only used during breaks Hey Baltics sorry but I have to set the story straight. I grabbed Cantu and THEN the laptop dude mentioned that Alomar retired. Team 8-the guy you stole Broussard and Hafner from (bastards)

Q

hughes · Post by **hughes** » Wed Mar 23, 2005 3:51 pm

Hey Baltics sorry but I have to set the story straight. I grabbed Cantu and THEN the laptop dude mentioned that Alomar retired. Team 8-the guy you stole Broussard and Hafner from (bastards)

Yes Quahogs, you are correct. I had the laptop, and said it after you made the pick. Baltics was either accidently or purposefully mistaken. Based on the other posts I've seen of his on vaious other threads, I think I probably know which. Never let the truth stand in the way of a good story. Good luck. Should be interesting. If Cantu is the make or break player . . . (I had only a single mi at the time, knew of alomar, and still wanted nothing to do with him. Still, any player with 500 at-at potential at that point can't be too bad.) Been fun looking at these threads for an hour or so but think this will be the last time, or at least the last post. Are people really trying to "talk smack" on a fantasy baseball site with strangers. Yikes. Cheers to the guys in our league buying beers for everyone. If my team tanks, hope you guys do well.

Quahogs · Post by **Quahogs** » Wed Mar 23, 2005 4:10 pm

hughes

Junior Member

Member # 411

------

Hey Baltics sorry but I have to set the story straight. I grabbed Cantu and THEN the laptop dude mentioned that Alomar retired. Team 8-the guy you stole Broussard and Hafner from (bastards)

-------------------------------------------

Yes Quahogs, you are correct. I had the laptop, and said it after you made the pick. Baltics was either accidently or purposefully mistaken. Based on the other posts I've seen of his on vaious other threads, I think I probably know which. Never let the truth stand in the way of a good story. Good luck. Should be interesting. If Cantu is the make or break player . . . (I had only a single mi at the time, knew of alomar, and still wanted nothing to do with him. Still, any player with 500 at-at potential at that point can't be too bad.) Been fun looking at these threads for an hour or so but think this will be the last time, or at least the last post. Are people really trying to "talk smack" on a fantasy baseball site with strangers. Yikes. Cheers to the guys in our league buying beers for everyone. If my team tanks, hope you guys do well. Hughes, LOL so true..! Lot of good eggs on the board - makes for a fun read every once in a while. The Boston boys were a blast. Hilton made a mint off those guys. I think they had a cooler too. Dont know what the heck Cantu will bring to the table but I know he smoked the ball in WL. There's still 2 weeks for TB to trade for Spivey anyway. Good luck, catch you on the local boards then.

Q

Balticsquids · Post by **Balticsquids** » Wed Mar 23, 2005 10:43 pm

A simple mistake sorry guys , buy that time in the draft with thise to Facil. i was in a bit of a fog . any way still agree all those laptops should be banned

Balticsquids · Post by **Balticsquids** » Wed Mar 23, 2005 10:47 pm

Hughes, dont tell me you or anybody else takes what i say or anybody else does serious? come on its all in good fun .....u can laugh and have a good time in fantasy sports once in awhile , All u guys with those damm laptops take this **** way to serious

Spyhunter · Post by **Spyhunter** » Thu Mar 24, 2005 12:55 am

Squid, I live on my laptop I hate paper and all the flying notes...

The funny part about this is the guys who made the most mistakes were taking notes on paper!!! We had a guy at the end of Mixed league #2 who completely screwed up tracking his team and positions and we had to spend 10 minutes fixing him.

The only reason I personally had to ask for bids and names to be repeated was because I have a vision deficieny and couldn't read the board. So if that bothered people, I am sorry about that, but I would have done that with paper or laptop

Spy

Tom Kessenich · Post by **Tom Kessenich** » Thu Mar 24, 2005 3:24 am

To address some of the points in this thread:

1. As far as the noise factor goes, I agree that is something we need to keep working on. I tried hard in Chicago to keep folks quiet after their drafts were done, but it's not an easy thing to accomplish. One option would be to close off all of the leagues but is that something we really want to do? Personally I think one of the coolest aspects of this event is walking into that room and seeing so many leagues all drafting at once. Just being in the midst of all that is very cool and I think we'd lose a lot of the atmosphere if we quartered everybody off from one another. That being said, reducing the noise level during the draft and after certain drafts are done is something we will continue to work on.

2. Tracking the drafts onsite. This is definitely something we would like to do. I first brought this up internally after last year's NFBC. The tricky part is there is a cost involved and depending on how we did things the cost would be considerable. Everyone here agrees that if we are able to enter the picks as they are being made that would be a HUGE move forward not only in terms of saving us time on the backend as far as entering the rosters once we return from our cities but also in terms of allowing you guys to see your teams much more quickly. We're looking at the costs involved for football and if it's something we're able to swing we'll definitely implemenet it for both events. We'll see how that works out.

3. The phone auctions. I worked the Chicago/NY auctions and there's no question they lasted far too long. The mixed auction lasted around 7-71/2 hours and the NL-only auction was more than 8. We simply can't have that and once Greg regains his bearings I know he'll address that with a new plan for the future. So stay tuned there.

4. Food. I agree we should have provided something more than we did on Saturday for the folks in the main event. We'll work on that as well going forward.

I think that's pretty much it for now. I haven't had a chance to read every post since the event ended since I've been knee-deep in roster entry but I've skimmed as many as I could and I see a lot of positive comments. That obviously makes us feel good and we thank you for the kind words. But we definitely plan to strengthen things even more going forward. We have plans in place to make the event even better in the future and a lot of the things we want to do are because of comments and suggestions you guys have made. So I wanted to let you know we definitely appreciate your feedback. It's very helpful and it's going to help make the NFBC grow even more.

eddiejag · Post by **eddiejag** » Thu Mar 24, 2005 5:51 am

Speaking of food we had to go down stairs in the hilton hotel. I grabbed 3 turkey clubs to go ,45.00. dollars [ should have gotten the steak] stail chips and the bread was like rock. My wife didnt eat hers. I ate about half from the middle.Hotel cost 819.82 for 2 nights.You would think the parking would be included, no 131.00 dollars.Four mix drinks from the hilton bar 55.00. Thats why nobody was in their.Drafting friday night at the american auction PRICELESS. EDDIEJAG

King of Queens · Post by **King of Queens** » Thu Mar 24, 2005 6:58 am

Originally posted by Tom Kessenich:

1. As far as the noise factor goes, I agree that is something we need to keep working on. I tried hard in Chicago to keep folks quiet after their drafts were done, but it's not an easy thing to accomplish. One option would be to close off all of the leagues but is that something we really want to do? Personally I think one of the coolest aspects of this event is walking into that room and seeing so many leagues all drafting at once. Just being in the midst of all that is very cool and I think we'd lose a lot of the atmosphere if we quartered everybody off from one another. That being said, reducing the noise level during the draft and after certain drafts are done is something we will continue to work on.As I have discussed with Greg, this is one of the best and worst aspects of the draft. A real Catch-22. You want the big open room with all of the drafts visible to give a sense of this being a MAIN EVENT. Simply put, there's nothing else quite like it. If I want a quiet draft, I'll hook up with my buddies on a Friday night. You can only get this experience in one place, and that's why we're all coughing up the big bucks.

On the flip side, something should be done so that picks from other drafts are not heard -- or at the very least are less audible. It sucks to hear a player's name at the next table when you are waiting for the same guy at your own draft. Plus, the noise can be very distracting.

Perhaps the answer to the noise problem is asking people to be a little more courteous. If people are hanging around an in-progress draft, the facilitators should politely ask them to move away. Having the bar right next to a draft table was a problem that can easily be corrected.

I'm not sure I know how to deal with the "hearing your player called out at another table" problem, but perhaps more space between the tables and less shouting by the facilitators would help.

Tom Kessenich · Post by **Tom Kessenich** » Thu Mar 24, 2005 7:05 am

Originally posted by King of Queens:

As I have discussed with Greg, this is one of the best and worst aspects of the draft. A real Catch-22. You want the big open room with all of the drafts visible to give a sense of this being a MAIN EVENT. Simply put, there's nothing else quite like it. If I want a quiet draft, I'll hook up with my buddies on a Friday night. You can only get this experience in one place, and that's why we're all coughing up the big bucks.

I agree. The last thing we want to do is tamper with the atmosphere of this event. It's one of the things that makes it special.

On the flip side, something should be done so that picks from other drafts are not heard -- or at the very least are less audible. It sucks to hear a player's name at the next table when you are waiting for the same guy at your own draft. Plus, the noise can be very distracting.

Agreed. It's an ongoing issue and one we clearly are trying to solve or at least manage more efficiently.

Perhaps the answer to the noise problem is asking people to be a little more courteous. If people are hanging around an in-progress draft, the facilitators should politely ask them to move away. Having the bar right next to a draft table was a problem that can easily be corrected.

Yup. A lot of that comes down to the space we're provide in each hotel/convention center. A larger area will allow for the bar to be more removed from the actual draft tables. Of course, there is a price involved with all of that and that will be part of our negotiation process.

I'm not sure I know how to deal with the "hearing your player called out at another table" problem, but perhaps more space between the tables and less shouting by the facilitators would help. There is a finite amount of space we can obtain at each hotel. That's just the way it is and will always be. We do try to provide as much space as possible between each league within the confines of each room but we'll keep working on that. And maybe we can just address things before the start of the draft as far as shouting out picks and the post-draft revelry.

King of Queens · Post by **King of Queens** » Thu Mar 24, 2005 7:06 am

Originally posted by Tom Kessenich:

3. The phone auctions. I worked the Chicago/NY auctions and there's no question they lasted far too long. The mixed auction lasted around 7-71/2 hours and the NL-only auction was more than 8. We simply can't have that and once Greg regains his bearings I know he'll address that with a new plan for the future. So stay tuned there. I'm not so sure that the phone issues were the root of the problem here. The AL-only auction in New York lasted about 7 1/2 hours -- WITH ALL PARTICIPANTS PRESENT. Yes, there were some phone problems that were quickly worked out with the NY/Chi and NY/Vegas auctions, but you guys really need to think about what made these auctions take so long. Some possibilities: ill-prepared owners, sticker malfunctions, people bidding $1, $2, $3 on Alex Rodriguez, etc. The fact is that these issues would have happened -- and in the case of the AL-only auction in New York, DID happen -- regardless of whether a telephone was involved or not.

[ March 24, 2005, 01:12 PM: Message edited by: King of Queens ]

King of Queens · Post by **King of Queens** » Thu Mar 24, 2005 7:12 am

Originally posted by Tom Kessenich:

2. Tracking the drafts onsite. This is definitely something we would like to do. I first brought this up internally after last year's NFBC. The tricky part is there is a cost involved and depending on how we did things the cost would be considerable. Everyone here agrees that if we are able to enter the picks as they are being made that would be a HUGE move forward not only in terms of saving us time on the backend as far as entering the rosters once we return from our cities but also in terms of allowing you guys to see your teams much more quickly. We're looking at the costs involved for football and if it's something we're able to swing we'll definitely implemenet it for both events. We'll see how that works out.Laptops and projectors would be huge. If not this year for football, then next year for baseball. It would makes things so much easier on everyone.

Tom Kessenich · Post by **Tom Kessenich** » Thu Mar 24, 2005 7:17 am

Originally posted by King of Queens:

quote:Originally posted by Tom Kessenich:

2. Tracking the drafts onsite. This is definitely something we would like to do. I first brought this up internally after last year's NFBC. The tricky part is there is a cost involved and depending on how we did things the cost would be considerable. Everyone here agrees that if we are able to enter the picks as they are being made that would be a HUGE move forward not only in terms of saving us time on the backend as far as entering the rosters once we return from our cities but also in terms of allowing you guys to see your teams much more quickly. We're looking at the costs involved for football and if it's something we're able to swing we'll definitely implemenet it for both events. We'll see how that works out.Laptops and projectors would be huge. If not this year for football, then next year for baseball. It would makes things so much easier on everyone. [/QUOTE]I agree. The downside here is there very well could be a considerable cost involved due to the size of our event (both for baseball and football). We're pricing everything out so we'll know for sure whether we can do it for the NFFC. If we can, we'll definitely implement it for the NFBC.

As far as the 71/2-hour NY auction, I wasn't there so I can't comment on it other than to agree that yes that is too long a time as well. One thing we can definitely do is instruct everyone to make sensible opening bids (no "Alex Rodriguez for $1" for example). We definitely want to fine tune the auction process because it's a growing aspect of both events and we know much people enjoy doing that. But we don't want to force them to bring sleeping bags with them just to do it.

JohnZ · Post by **JohnZ** » Thu Mar 24, 2005 8:01 am

Tom/Greg...

Get rid of the huge, and I guess the small label boards. Who really follows those anyways?

I don't. I fill out the draft by position so I can see what teams need. The labels are in draft order so you can't quickly see what's needed late using the board.

This gets rid of one facilitator. $$$

Get a laptop, and some projection device if possible.

Use the laptop to enter the picks. Get an industry program already out these that Stats can also use. Let the program owner pimp his software to all so you can use it free.

If no projection device, I will be happy to create one-sheet draft forms by position that you can make copies of for all.

JohnZ · Post by **JohnZ** » Thu Mar 24, 2005 8:05 am

One thing we can definitely do is instruct everyone to make sensible opening bids (no "Alex Rodriguez for $1" for example). [/QB]Send all to the Nate Ravitz school of bidding. He brought up 3 players at around $15 initially and they all sold for a buck more. Never seen someone get it that close, so many times in one draft. I usually start around 80-85%

Tom Kessenich · Post by **Tom Kessenich** » Thu Mar 24, 2005 8:06 am

Originally posted by UFS:

Tom/Greg...

Get rid of the huge, and I guess the small label boards. Who really follows those anyways?

We use the smaller boards to manually enter the leagues. So unless we come up with another system those boards are essential.

I don't. I fill out the draft by position so I can see what teams need. The labels are in draft order so you can't quickly see what's needed late using the board.

This gets rid of one facilitator. $$$

Get a laptop, and some projection device if possible.

Use the laptop to enter the picks. Get an industry program already out these that Stats can also use. Let the program owner pimp his software to all so you can use it free.

If no projection device, I will be happy to create one-sheet draft forms by position that you can make copies of for all. That's appreciated. Some of the costs involved just so you guys know would come down to having a laptop at every league. Putting a projection screen at every league would also be an expense and apparently a considerable one.

That's why we're pricing these things out. There are things we definitely want to do and this is one of them (I've been a strong proponent of this method since our first event as I said), but it's always going to come down to money. If we can determine a way to do that without having an excessive cost we'll do it. I'm hoping we can, but we'll see how it plays out.

Tom Kessenich · Post by **Tom Kessenich** » Thu Mar 24, 2005 8:09 am

Originally posted by UFS:

quote: One thing we can definitely do is instruct everyone to make sensible opening bids (no "Alex Rodriguez for $1" for example). Send all to the Nate Ravitz school of bidding. He brought up 3 players at around $15 initially and they all sold for a buck more. Never seen someone get it that close, so many times in one draft. I usually start around 80-85% [/QB][/QUOTE]Nate's a sharp guy, no doubt about it. And RotoTimes is a very good partner of ours as well.

Diesel · Post by **Diesel** » Thu Mar 24, 2005 9:18 am

Originally posted by eddiejag:

Speaking of food we had to go down stairs in the hilton hotel. I grabbed 3 turkey clubs to go ,45.00. dollars [ should have gotten the steak] stail chips and the bread was like rock. My wife didnt eat hers. I ate about half from the middle.Hotel cost 819.82 for 2 nights.You would think the parking would be included, no 131.00 dollars.Four mix drinks from the hilton bar 55.00. Thats why nobody was in their.Drafting friday night at the american auction PRICELESS. EDDIEJAG Eddie, I will be there for, most probably, 3 seperate drafts when Football comes...If you, or anyone else wants some info on where to get food, drink, or anything else in NY, just get in touch with me. I work in Manhattan for 14 years now and can help anyone find whatever they are looking for...For instance, Carnegie Deli on 57th and 7th sells the best Pastrami sandwiches in the world...They are HUGE....They cost about $13 dollars, but if you buy a loaf of bread in the market a few doors down, 1 Carnegie Deli sandwich can turn into about 5...No joke...Anyone coming to NY that has any questions, just let me know...

Marc Q.

[ March 24, 2005, 03:18 PM: Message edited by: Diesel ]