Live Chat With Greg A. Thursday At 3 pm ET

User avatar
Greg Ambrosius
Posts: 41104
Joined: Thu Jan 22, 2004 6:00 pm
Contact:

Re: Live Chat With Greg A. Thursday At 3 pm ET

Post by Greg Ambrosius » Thu Jan 12, 2012 2:15 pm

bjoak wrote:Somehow I've manged to avoid the Vegas draft two years in a row and therefore have never actually been to the Belaggio draft. What kind of food/drink can I expect to see in the spread? Feel free to use past examples if nothing is finalized. Also, will the food be out before the draft or come out an hour or two after it starts? I want to plan my breakfast! Thanks!
Welcome back to Las Vegas Brian. You'll love the camaraderie and I know you'll love the live competition.

Eat a big breakfast because food isn't coming until the end of the draft. I think we're all big boys and girls and can start our days off with a nutritional breakfast and come to the drafts with full tummies. We'll have the bar open and everyone can bring snacks or anything else they want to nibble on. We'll have the open bar throughout the draft, but the plan is to provide food at the end and have folks stick around to relax, eat and look at all of the draft boards. In Las Vegas, maybe that will also be a good lead in to the Final Four games if we can make that happen in a special room. We'd then have food later that afternoon as well.

I've been criticized for ordering steak & chicken too often at the Bellagio, but it's my favorite (with carrots, red potatoes and lemon pie)!! We had Mexican buffet two years ago, we have beef tips, spaghetti, cold sandwiches on Friday's, lots of options. Oh, and they serve Corona's, too. :lol:
Greg Ambrosius
Founder, National Fantasy Baseball Championship
General Manager, Consumer Fantasy Games at SportsHub Technologies
Twitter - @GregAmbrosius

User avatar
Winston's Empire
Posts: 1068
Joined: Sat Feb 07, 2009 6:00 pm
Location: WISCONSIN

Re: Live Chat With Greg A. Thursday At 3 pm ET

Post by Winston's Empire » Thu Jan 12, 2012 2:18 pm

Greg,
As the slow drafts continue to move along and we head towards the Main Event etc... It seems to me that players are going to look to secure their hitters a little earlier than the past few years, seeming their seems to be a lot more pitching available than in years past.
Thoughts on this or does it seem to be about the same as last year and the year before to you?
Thanks!
My response to people trying to change my baseball loyalties.
“Being a Cubs fan is the same as having a life insurance policy… It makes no sense to cancel it early!”
Cubs Fan Since 1987

User avatar
Greg Ambrosius
Posts: 41104
Joined: Thu Jan 22, 2004 6:00 pm
Contact:

Re: Live Chat With Greg A. Thursday At 3 pm ET

Post by Greg Ambrosius » Thu Jan 12, 2012 2:21 pm

Joe Sambito wrote:Greg,

When do you start the thread, "Only XXX spots left"? I love that thread, we are at 133 based on the signup page now and I am trying to remember when I started seeing that thread. Was it after the magical number of 195 ('04 entrants) or is it with less than 100 left. I can't remember, but I love logging on to see that tick down...
Yeah, I love all of the countdowns on the Message Boards, as you can see this year. And most folks like to jump in and fill a league when it's getting close. It's just human nature.

I usually start those for the Main Event when we get to 100 spots left, but I might start that earlier this year. In fact, I already did today. I've never seen demand for our baseball events this early like we're getting now, so I don't want people to snooze on the Main Event and think they'll just get in later. Our goal is to sell all 390 spots and if that's where we finish that's where we finish. We have the NFBC XII and other events to sell out too, so if you snooze you lose. We have some potential promotional opportunities coming down the road that could blow this event out, so don't delay if you know what you're going to do.

That being said, the biggest enhancement we can make to our web site is creating a Registration page with a countdown of every single event in every location on every date. We need a counter tied into our live signups that counts down the number of spots for the March 27th 7 pm ET Online Championship League. We need that for every league. And once folks get used to going there and seeing how many spots are left for tomorrow's satellite league or online championship league, we'll sell these out faster and better. That's going to happen for 2012 and it's going to happen for 2012 NFFC.

We're also creating a widget for the NFBC Home Page that will allow me and Tom to update the next contest to sell out with "3 SPOTS LEFT FOR THE $150 SLOW DRAFT" or whatever event we want to promote at that time. That's also important because right now there's nothing interactive or new on the home page. We want people who check out our home page -- and even you NFBC veterans -- to quickly find out what league is available and how many spots are left without searching through the site. That's coming soon too.

So we have a lot of things we're working on and hopefully you'll see them soon.
Greg Ambrosius
Founder, National Fantasy Baseball Championship
General Manager, Consumer Fantasy Games at SportsHub Technologies
Twitter - @GregAmbrosius

User avatar
Greg Ambrosius
Posts: 41104
Joined: Thu Jan 22, 2004 6:00 pm
Contact:

Re: Live Chat With Greg A. Thursday At 3 pm ET

Post by Greg Ambrosius » Thu Jan 12, 2012 2:24 pm

whale4evr wrote:Greg, Any word on how the Marlins new park will play--roof open vs. closed, etc.? Seems like they're keeping the dimensions somewhat similar to the old park.
I do not have any information on that. Even the Marlins aren't sure how it will play. This very good analysis by BleacherReport is as good as it gets:

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/9867 ... ith-others
Greg Ambrosius
Founder, National Fantasy Baseball Championship
General Manager, Consumer Fantasy Games at SportsHub Technologies
Twitter - @GregAmbrosius

User avatar
Greg Ambrosius
Posts: 41104
Joined: Thu Jan 22, 2004 6:00 pm
Contact:

Re: Live Chat With Greg A. Thursday At 3 pm ET

Post by Greg Ambrosius » Thu Jan 12, 2012 2:26 pm

Money Men wrote:Greg,

While I completely understand the no trading rule during the season, would you ever consider implementing the ability to trade draft picks?

I am sure with all of the mathematical wizards who participate in the NFBC, there could be some sort of chart constructed (like the NFL uses on draft day) to assign points to draft places. If the points of a draft pick trade fell outside the parameters of the chart, the trade would not be able to take place.

Bob
No, I don't think so. With KDS right now, everyone is able to improve their draft spot location and for the most part it is working this off-season. I'm sure it won't continue to work this well as we get into the live events, but so far so good. No trading means no trading for everything because it would be too easy to suspect collusion.
Greg Ambrosius
Founder, National Fantasy Baseball Championship
General Manager, Consumer Fantasy Games at SportsHub Technologies
Twitter - @GregAmbrosius

User avatar
Greg Ambrosius
Posts: 41104
Joined: Thu Jan 22, 2004 6:00 pm
Contact:

Re: Live Chat With Greg A. Thursday At 3 pm ET

Post by Greg Ambrosius » Thu Jan 12, 2012 2:31 pm

Winston's Empire wrote:Greg,
As the slow drafts continue to move along and we head towards the Main Event etc... It seems to me that players are going to look to secure their hitters a little earlier than the past few years, seeming their seems to be a lot more pitching available than in years past.
Thoughts on this or does it seem to be about the same as last year and the year before to you?
Thanks!
I really think it is the same as past years when it comes to pitching. We all think we've seen the next great arm and target him in Round 10 or 11, only to have him crap the bed. ;) Pitching always looks deeper than it is. Thankfully, there's always coming out of nowhere (thank you Ryan Vogelsong) to fill the void. It just happens and it seems to happen every year.

I suspect this year will be just as tough as past years to find stolen bases, homers, Ks, saves and batting average!! There, did that help any? :lol:
Greg Ambrosius
Founder, National Fantasy Baseball Championship
General Manager, Consumer Fantasy Games at SportsHub Technologies
Twitter - @GregAmbrosius

User avatar
rockitsauce
Posts: 1095
Joined: Wed Mar 21, 2007 6:00 pm

Re: Live Chat With Greg A. Thursday At 3 pm ET

Post by rockitsauce » Thu Jan 12, 2012 2:34 pm

Greg Ambrosius wrote:
Walla Walla wrote:Greg,
Will you keep us updated on the ban states? I was stunned when this came out. I had planned to do a couple of NFBC online drafts at the least. I know I was the one that ask this long ago but was hoping the answer would be yes it's ok.
At the time the answer was it's ok. I'm not sure what changed that? What happened?
Actually, I've done some research recently and will add a little more to this:

** Last year, a Louisiana legislator tried to pass a fantasy sports exemption in the state legislature and a conservative group lobbied hard against it, stating that it was sinful. It was defeated 73-16 and there's no plan to bring this back up for vote. As the legislator noted, when you get a defeat like that you don't try again real soon.
Puritanism. The haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy.
H. L. Mencken
Always be closing.

whipsaw
Posts: 342
Joined: Tue Mar 23, 2010 6:00 pm

Re: Live Chat With Greg A. Thursday At 3 pm ET

Post by whipsaw » Thu Jan 12, 2012 2:37 pm

For those slow drafts that have ended already, when do you expect to have rosters loaded properly so that we can take a look at the finished product of our draft? :)

User avatar
Glenneration X
Posts: 3730
Joined: Sat Mar 21, 2009 6:00 pm
Location: Long Island, NY

Re: Live Chat With Greg A. Thursday At 3 pm ET

Post by Glenneration X » Thu Jan 12, 2012 2:40 pm

Greg, I have a few contest rather than fantasy related questions:

1 - Been awhile since my last non-business related trip to Vegas. Tempted to lock in a flight now, but is it better to wait?

2 - Will there be power outlets and internet access in all draft rooms at the Bellagio the 2nd weekend? Will the outlets only be along the walls or at the tables as well? I'll be in the Main Event, NFBC XII, Diamond, and Ultimate Auction. I'd be curious on availability for each.

3 - What's the start date for the $1000 slow draft?

4 - How many Online Drafts do you anticipate having for the Main Event the first weekend?

5 - What "special plans" were you alluding to for the Diamond? I can't help but be curious. :)

6 - One techie question as well.....what's the status on providing Live Overall Standings this year?

bjoak
Posts: 2564
Joined: Fri Oct 15, 2004 6:00 pm

Re: Live Chat With Greg A. Thursday At 3 pm ET

Post by bjoak » Thu Jan 12, 2012 2:43 pm

Greg Ambrosius wrote:
Walla Walla wrote:Greg,
Will you keep us updated on the ban states? I was stunned when this came out. I had planned to do a couple of NFBC online drafts at the least. I know I was the one that ask this long ago but was hoping the answer would be yes it's ok.
At the time the answer was it's ok. I'm not sure what changed that? What happened?
Actually, I've done some research recently and will add a little more to this:

** Last year, a Louisiana legislator tried to pass a fantasy sports exemption in the state legislature and a conservative group lobbied hard against it, stating that it was sinful. It was defeated 73-16 and there's no plan to bring this back up for vote. As the legislator noted, when you get a defeat like that you don't try again real soon.
This should be in an article entitled, "God Forbids Fun."
Chance favors the prepared mind.

User avatar
Greg Ambrosius
Posts: 41104
Joined: Thu Jan 22, 2004 6:00 pm
Contact:

Re: Live Chat With Greg A. Thursday At 3 pm ET

Post by Greg Ambrosius » Thu Jan 12, 2012 2:44 pm

whipsaw wrote:For those slow drafts that have ended already, when do you expect to have rosters loaded properly so that we can take a look at the finished product of our draft? :)
Well, we know you're all excited to set your starting lineups for April 4th, but to get our enhancements done we just can't turn on all of the game management tools right now. Wow? Because we're improving them!!! ;) Keep drafting and let our guys fine-tune a few things and I'm sure by March you'll have plenty of time to analyze those teams.
Greg Ambrosius
Founder, National Fantasy Baseball Championship
General Manager, Consumer Fantasy Games at SportsHub Technologies
Twitter - @GregAmbrosius

User avatar
Greg Ambrosius
Posts: 41104
Joined: Thu Jan 22, 2004 6:00 pm
Contact:

Re: Live Chat With Greg A. Thursday At 3 pm ET

Post by Greg Ambrosius » Thu Jan 12, 2012 2:51 pm

Glenneration X wrote:Greg, I have a few contest rather than fantasy related questions:

1 - Been awhile since my last non-business related trip to Vegas. Tempted to lock in a flight now, but is it better to wait?

2 - Will there be power outlets and internet access in all draft rooms at the Bellagio the 2nd weekend? Will the outlets only be along the walls or at the tables as well? I'll be in the Main Event, NFBC XII, Diamond, and Ultimate Auction. I'd be curious on availability for each.

3 - What's the start date for the $1000 slow draft?

4 - How many Online Drafts do you anticipate having for the Main Event the first weekend?

5 - What "special plans" were you alluding to for the Diamond? I can't help but be curious. :)

6 - One techie question as well.....what's the status on providing Live Overall Standings this year?
1. No. Airlines are cutting down on the number of flights/seats, so I think if you find a good fare take it. I just don't see March seats being plentiful at the last moment like the old days, especially for Las Vegas.

2. We state in all cities that Internet will not be available. Plan accordingly. Power outlets also aren't expected, especially since some owners sit along the dividers, which have no outlets. The private big money leagues sometimes can work out differently, but for now bring strong batteries.

3. Ask Max, he owns that league!! :lol: I heard the Monday after training camps first open.

4. We had 3 last year and I don't see any reason why we'd have less than that. We already have 1 full league and it's Jan. 11th.

5. I think we're going to make those 15 owners "stars" and household names in the industry. This is going to be like poker where it's the premiere single fantasy baseball event in the industry and it's going to be treated that way. Everyone is going to want to follow this draft, before, during and after. I think we're going to be able to do that for baseball and again for football. Let me wrap up some details in Las Vegas next week, but wow do we have some solid plans for 2012.

6. They will be enhanced. I don't have all the details for that now, but we know what is ideal. We know what would grab at everyone in every league. We've already added the toggle that allows you to follow multiple teams much more easily in Live Scoring and now we know what the next addition of crack cocaine is for you addicts: It's Live Scoring overall updates. Again, I'm not on the programming team and I don't have an exact update, but we know what you guys want and it's on the list of 50+ things we are looking at.

Hope this helps.
Greg Ambrosius
Founder, National Fantasy Baseball Championship
General Manager, Consumer Fantasy Games at SportsHub Technologies
Twitter - @GregAmbrosius

User avatar
Greg Ambrosius
Posts: 41104
Joined: Thu Jan 22, 2004 6:00 pm
Contact:

Re: Live Chat With Greg A. Thursday At 3 pm ET

Post by Greg Ambrosius » Thu Jan 12, 2012 2:59 pm

Glenn, one thing I want to add is that I wasn't exaggerating on the 50+ things we have on our list to do. Last September, Tom and I met with the programmers and just blurted out everything that ideally we'd like to see within our back-end software. Some were little items that led to multiple programming jobs. Many of them were even on the administrative tools that Tom needs for credit cards, partial payments, etc., that you'll never see but that we need. But our list is literally 50+ items that can improve the NFBC and NFFC in 2012.

That being said, earlier this week I got a friendly text from someone who wondered why we're not seeing more improvements yet. He felt some people were getting nervous about us. And I'll admit, sometimes you don't always see those improvements immediately. Heck, nobody is more impatient than I am. I want everything yesterday. But I also can't even program my VCR from flashing anything but 12:00, so what do I know about computer programming? ;)

All I can say is that I feel confident that we have some minor improvements that can make your in-season experiences better, I hope. I honestly don't know if everything can get done or changed exactly the way you guys want. Some requests seem simple, but involve a lot of programming time that is being spent somewhere else. It seems like we say that all the time, but we're closer than we've ever been to an ideal setup. Now let's keep improving it, which takes time.

Thanks for your patience all and send a tip to the IT team if you like what they're doing. ;)
Greg Ambrosius
Founder, National Fantasy Baseball Championship
General Manager, Consumer Fantasy Games at SportsHub Technologies
Twitter - @GregAmbrosius

User avatar
Winston's Empire
Posts: 1068
Joined: Sat Feb 07, 2009 6:00 pm
Location: WISCONSIN

Re: Live Chat With Greg A. Thursday At 3 pm ET

Post by Winston's Empire » Thu Jan 12, 2012 3:04 pm

Glenneration X wrote:3 - What's the start date for the $1000 slow draft?
Not sure why you added the :lol: Greg? This is league DEAD SERIOUS :roll: ! :D
I figure we should start the 1000 SLOW DRAFT Monday February 20th since Pitchers and Catchers start reporting on the 18th. This will give us time to finish the league well before the Main Event and since a lot of us are in KJ's NFBC Keeper League, we will be winding down heading into the start of that league too.
Sharpen your elbows GlennX, the 1000 SLOW is a rough league with a MONSTER of a defending champ... MtM!!! :mrgreen:
My response to people trying to change my baseball loyalties.
“Being a Cubs fan is the same as having a life insurance policy… It makes no sense to cancel it early!”
Cubs Fan Since 1987

User avatar
Glenneration X
Posts: 3730
Joined: Sat Mar 21, 2009 6:00 pm
Location: Long Island, NY

Re: Live Chat With Greg A. Thursday At 3 pm ET

Post by Glenneration X » Thu Jan 12, 2012 3:14 pm

Thanks Greg for the quick answers. I'm going to lock in my flight tonight.

As far as the software upgrades, the toggle between teams is a nice one. As for other enhancements, we'll all be looking for them and I'm sure very happy when they come. Still, I'm also sure we all know that the most important IT function is to provide a stable and functional back end. I think we all learned under the last administration what havoc can be created when that most important element is neglected. STATS provides us that and for that we are happy. The top notch FAAB software is also an element more important than the other bells and whistles and for that we're grateful to STATS as well. Give us the other enhancements too because of course we're as insatiable about our upgrades as we are about our fantasy baseball, but we learned two years ago what's most important and you guys do a great job at that.

As far as the Diamond, all those other guys registered for the Event are stars already, so I'm sure they're just looking at it as just more paparazzi type headaches to deal with. However for a wannabe like me...... :)

And as far as the $1000 Slow......thanks Max, but that seems awful late. In other words, I'm getting antsy. ;)

User avatar
rockitsauce
Posts: 1095
Joined: Wed Mar 21, 2007 6:00 pm

Re: Live Chat With Greg A. Thursday At 3 pm ET

Post by rockitsauce » Thu Jan 12, 2012 3:42 pm

This yr's Baseball Forecaster has a section called Xtreme Regression Drafting. I've read some of our veteran players like Todd say its really nothing new. What is your opinion of this "strategy"?

I would think that some guys just were plain unlucky last yr (Uggla - 1st half) or maybe need another yr in a new place (Crawford) seems like you could get some very good bargains if you've got BALLZ :twisted:

What crazy stuff has Shawn got planned for this yr's Tout Wars? :shock:
Always be closing.

User avatar
Rog
Posts: 544
Joined: Sun Mar 01, 2009 6:00 pm

Re: Live Chat With Greg A. Thursday At 3 pm ET

Post by Rog » Thu Jan 12, 2012 5:17 pm

Love all the new enhancements in the draft room ,give everybody involved a pat on the back.I might of missed it but is there any way to add a time stamp to chat also ?when a player says be back in 30 it is nice to know when the 30 started?

User avatar
Greg Ambrosius
Posts: 41104
Joined: Thu Jan 22, 2004 6:00 pm
Contact:

Re: Live Chat With Greg A. Thursday At 3 pm ET

Post by Greg Ambrosius » Thu Jan 12, 2012 5:24 pm

Rog wrote:Love all the new enhancements in the draft room ,give everybody involved a pat on the back.I might of missed it but is there any way to add a time stamp to chat also ?when a player says be back in 30 it is nice to know when the 30 started?
I will certainly check. Glad you like the new enhancements. Second wave is being worked on now.
Greg Ambrosius
Founder, National Fantasy Baseball Championship
General Manager, Consumer Fantasy Games at SportsHub Technologies
Twitter - @GregAmbrosius

mattjb
Posts: 522
Joined: Wed Feb 02, 2011 6:00 pm

Re: Live Chat With Greg A. Thursday At 3 pm ET

Post by mattjb » Thu Jan 12, 2012 6:32 pm

Hey Greg,

Just planning what baseball drafts i am going to play in this year. I am concerned you mentioned Maryland in the banned states conversation. Nothing has changed currently with Maryland's eligibility has it?

User avatar
Greg Ambrosius
Posts: 41104
Joined: Thu Jan 22, 2004 6:00 pm
Contact:

Re: Live Chat With Greg A. Thursday At 3 pm ET

Post by Greg Ambrosius » Thu Jan 12, 2012 6:34 pm

mattjb wrote:Hey Greg,

Just planning what baseball drafts i am going to play in this year. I am concerned you mentioned Maryland in the banned states conversation. Nothing has changed currently with Maryland's eligibility has it?
Maryland will not be among our exempt states. The legislator in Maryland is just trying to define his state's gambling laws and have fantasy sports specifically defined. It's something that 6-9 states should do because of the vague wording of their state laws. This guy is spot on and doing the right thing.
Greg Ambrosius
Founder, National Fantasy Baseball Championship
General Manager, Consumer Fantasy Games at SportsHub Technologies
Twitter - @GregAmbrosius

mattjb
Posts: 522
Joined: Wed Feb 02, 2011 6:00 pm

Re: Live Chat With Greg A. Thursday At 3 pm ET

Post by mattjb » Thu Jan 12, 2012 6:40 pm

Greg Ambrosius wrote:
mattjb wrote:Hey Greg,

Just planning what baseball drafts i am going to play in this year. I am concerned you mentioned Maryland in the banned states conversation. Nothing has changed currently with Maryland's eligibility has it?
Maryland will not be among our exempt states. The legislator in Maryland is just trying to define his state's gambling laws and have fantasy sports specifically defined. It's something that 6-9 states should do because of the vague wording of their state laws. This guy is spot on and doing the right thing.
Good. i am aware of what he was doing - just making sure you weren't stopping us Marylanders playing while it played out.

I'd like to play my first main event with you guys just trying to figure out if that is possible and if so which venue.

Rainiers
Posts: 443
Joined: Tue Mar 09, 2010 6:00 pm

Re: Live Chat With Greg A. Thursday At 3 pm ET

Post by Rainiers » Fri Jan 13, 2012 10:16 am

Greg Ambrosius wrote:
We'll have the open bar throughout the draft, but the plan is to provide food at the end and have folks stick around to relax, eat and look at all of the draft boards. In Las Vegas, maybe that will also be a good lead in to the Final Four games if we can make that happen in a special room. We'd then have food later that afternoon as well.
Greg,

This is a great idea. You did this in St. Louis before and it worked out great. My wife would like to attend the after-draft event as well. I would be willing to pay extra to make it happen for her in Vegas the second weekend..

Robert
- Robert

User avatar
Rog
Posts: 544
Joined: Sun Mar 01, 2009 6:00 pm

Re: Live Chat With Greg A. Thursday At 3 pm ET

Post by Rog » Fri Jan 13, 2012 10:42 am

With the popularity of the slow draft growing is there any possibility of a 250 or 500 pay top 3?

User avatar
Greg Ambrosius
Posts: 41104
Joined: Thu Jan 22, 2004 6:00 pm
Contact:

Re: Live Chat With Greg A. Thursday At 3 pm ET

Post by Greg Ambrosius » Fri Jan 13, 2012 10:57 am

Rog wrote:With the popularity of the slow draft growing is there any possibility of a 250 or 500 pay top 3?
I'm very, very pleased with the interest in the Slow Draft Leagues and I know that for football the interest will be even greater. We definitely won't be changing the price structure for this baseball season, but we can look at it for next year. The problem we always have is that you don't want to confuse consumers too much with so many different options. Some people still don't understand that $25 is taken from each price level now ($150, $375, $1,000) for the overall prize pool, so everyone is on equal ground. If we add more layers to this mix, it might get even more confusing.

But we'll see. Thanks for the suggestion and enjoy the Slow Drafts as they are now.
Greg Ambrosius
Founder, National Fantasy Baseball Championship
General Manager, Consumer Fantasy Games at SportsHub Technologies
Twitter - @GregAmbrosius

User avatar
Greg Ambrosius
Posts: 41104
Joined: Thu Jan 22, 2004 6:00 pm
Contact:

Re: Live Chat With Greg A. Thursday At 3 pm ET

Post by Greg Ambrosius » Fri Jan 13, 2012 8:21 pm

I'll be on the SiriusXM Fantasy Channel tonight at 11:05 pm ET talking NFBC, ADPs, and next Monday's Industry League draft tonight with Ray, Kyle and Kay. Tune in and help me spread the word about the NFBC and fantasy baseball in general.
Greg Ambrosius
Founder, National Fantasy Baseball Championship
General Manager, Consumer Fantasy Games at SportsHub Technologies
Twitter - @GregAmbrosius

Post Reply