The 2017 MTM LIVE Ultimate Event...That's right. Ultimate!

[Doctor Who]

HA! You just opened the door to my Justin Bieber shirt come Friday! Maybe I'll even draft him with one of my picks for the baseball world to hear. Even better, I'll ask him on twitter, Instagram, and facebook to show up and be a co-drafter!

[MadCow Sez]

You left out one of the competitors in your profiles Bud. I'll see what I can do to help out.


Mike Massotto: Better known through the multiple aliases he's more than earned over the years, The Mouth, MtM, Dead Money, Guppy, Donator, Why's He Bother, etc., there's something to be said about the blind determination despite all sane odds Mikey shows year after year just by showing up for his annual beat down. In this photo, Mikey's alibi for his poor NFBC showing last year when he found out moments before the MtM kickoff that his "vitamins" do come with side effects.

Good stuff Mikey and catch you in a few more days my friend.

Glenn got to it before I could

[Red Sox Nation-]

Mike- How long will you wait this year for an ACE? Don't let us down. Stick to your guns.....

[Baseball Furies]

You left out one of the competitors in your profiles Bud. I'll see what I can do to help out.


Mike Massotto: Better known through the multiple aliases he's more than earned over the years, The Mouth, MtM, Dead Money, Guppy, Donator, Why's He Bother, etc., there's something to be said about the blind determination despite all sane odds Mikey shows year after year just by showing up for his annual beat down. In this photo, Mikey's alibi for his poor NFBC showing last year when he found out moments before the MtM kickoff that his "vitamins" do come with side effects.

Good stuff Mikey and catch you in a few more days my friend.

Glenn got to it before I could

Truthfully, this representation of me just too inaccurate. I mean, c'mon, Lowy. I've never worn a blue Speedo in my life.
Black, yes, but not blue. And the bio is a little too unbelievable as well. Refresh my memory again. How many times have you won the MTM Super (now Ultimate) Event as compared to me? Wait, let me go check the plaques on the trophy. Nope, you're not on there anywhere with me.

[Baseball Furies]

Mike- How long will you wait this year for an ACE? Don't let us down. Stick to your guns.....

Ummm, excuse me, Mookie, but perhaps you should go back and look at my draft from last year out of the #1 spot. You will see that I started with Trout, Arrieta, and Syndergaard, so I don't know what you're talking about. Then it was all down hill after that of course. So I think will go about 6-8 rounds at least without "reaching" for an ace this year.

[Glenneration X]

You left out one of the competitors in your profiles Bud. I'll see what I can do to help out.


Mike Massotto: Better known through the multiple aliases he's more than earned over the years, The Mouth, MtM, Dead Money, Guppy, Donator, Why's He Bother, etc., there's something to be said about the blind determination despite all sane odds Mikey shows year after year just by showing up for his annual beat down. In this photo, Mikey's alibi for his poor NFBC showing last year when he found out moments before the MtM kickoff that his "vitamins" do come with side effects.

Good stuff Mikey and catch you in a few more days my friend.

Glenn got to it before I could

Truthfully, this representation of me just too inaccurate. I mean, c'mon, Lowy. I've never worn a blue Speedo in my life.
Black, yes, but not blue. And the bio is a little too unbelievable as well. Refresh my memory again. How many times have you won the MTM Super (now Ultimate) Event as compared to me? Wait, let me go check the plaques on the trophy. Nope, you're not on there anywhere with me.

LOL Mikey, 'tis true. Of course, I've only been in one MTM to date, and I believe I cashed in that one while you finished ummm errrr ummmmm..... 15th (shouldn't have been that hard to figure ). But I digress.


In this photo: Mikey allowing his head to get a little too big over his one NFBC accomplishment in 10 years.
(Umm, oops. I guess his "vitamins" affected both heads. Yikes.)

[MadCow Sez]

Nicely played Lowry!

[Baseball Furies]

It's Christmas Eve, Eve boys! And to celebrate, Tom has made the fatal mistake of having me on his show tonight to talk about the MTM Ultimate on the Stats Fantasy Advantage on Sirius XM at 10:15 p.m. Should be a blast! Listen in if you can. Sure I'll be throwing up another few posts between now and Friday.

[MadCow Sez]

It's Christmas Eve, Eve boys! And to celebrate, Tom has made the fatal mistake of having me on his show tonight to talk about the MTM Ultimate on the Stats Fantasy Advantage on Sirius XM at 10:15 p.m. Should be a blast! Listen in if you can. Sure I'll be throwing up another few posts between now and Friday.

This oughtta be good! Winder how much trash is gonna have to be walked back after the MTM

[Baseball Furies]

The day we have all been waiting for is finally here! For most of us, it's better than Christmas morning (or whatever PC equivalent that makes the rest of you really excited, like when you were a kid and your life wasn't as miserable and pathetic as it is now, so the only way you can enjoy some modicum of happiness is by throwing down five grand on a fantasy draft ), but whatever. You know what I mean. Anyway, I will see everyone in NYC tonight! Pre-draft festivities and coverage on Sirius XM begin at 7:00 p.m. So be down early to mix and mingle, and jump on the air to do a spot if you're so inclined and I let you. We will be having the coronation of the 2016 league champ, Mike Mage,r and awarding of the trophy for what most certainly will be the last time ever for him, so hopefully he enjoys it. Followed by the now world famous "Iron Balls" KDS live draft position draw before we get down to business. And to cap it all off, we will end the night with our customary post-draft celebration of steaks and beverages at Rosie O'Grady's. Good times as always will be had by all!

Finally, if anyone is interested, I will be on the air for a morning segment with Adam Ronis, our celebrity draft facilitator, at 8:30 a.m. today, Friday, to discuss the draft. See everyone soon!

[Baseball Furies]

There aren't enough superlatives to describe the particularly awesome way that the 2017 MTM Ultimate went down this year in NYC. A first-class draft with top-notch competition (except for a few out-of-town soft spots who popped in to donate this year ). It was just an all around great atmosphere of excitement and camaraderie before, during, and after the competition made all the more fun by the presence of Sirius XM Fantasy Sports and the trio of Liss, Mish, and DVR who all did a fantastic job with the live coverage. If you haven't had a chance to listen to it yet, I highly recommend that you do (it's on the air right now as a matter of fact, but you can always listen to the entire draft from the archive of shows I believe). Can't believe another year is already in the books. Wish I could be doing it again next week, but now it's on to Vegas for me. Thanks to all the participants this year. It was pleasure in advance taking all of your money.

[Bronx Yankees]

There aren't enough superlatives to describe the particularly awesome way that the 2017 MTM Ultimate went down this year in NYC. A first-class draft with top-notch competition (except for a few out-of-town soft spots who popped in to donate this year ). It was just an all around great atmosphere of excitement and camaraderie before, during, and after the competition made all the more fun by the presence of Sirius XM Fantasy Sports and the trio of Liss, Mish, and DVR who all did a fantastic job with the live coverage. If you haven't had a chance to listen to it yet, I highly recommend that you do (it's on the air right now as a matter of fact, but you can always listen to the entire draft from the archive of shows I believe). Can't believe another year is already in the books. Wish I could be doing it again next week, but now it's on to Vegas for me. Thanks to all the participants this year. It was pleasure in advance taking all of your money.

Not sure about the whole "you taking our money" part, my friend, but I agree with everything else in your post. I had an absolutely awesome time in NYC this weekend and while I truly loved every draft in which I participated, the inaugural MTM Ultimate had to be my very favorite. Great group of competitors who are stellar at this game and even nicer people. This was as challenging a draft as I've ever done and, because it is a standalone league that is not part of an overall competition, owners could - and several did - attempt some pretty aggressive/interesting approaches. When the goal is to beat 14 skilled competitors, you have to take some chances and we all did so in our own way. Also, there is nothing like testing your skill, and mettle, by going head-to-head with many of the best in our game with a lot of money (and bragging rights) on the line (especially when every time you line up your mental queue, the guys picking before you steal "your" guy, forcing you to change plans on the run and under the gun).

Three more quick comments:

First, if anyone reading this post is contemplating making the jump to the live events, all I can say is that there is nothing like it. Sure, I love doing online drafts, but if given the choice, nothing beats the live events. This past weekend was like a multi-day Christmas for me and many of the guys I spent time with felt the same way. If you can afford to put in the cash - and, importantly, the preparation - you need to experience NFBC live events. As Mike notes, the camaraderie is fantastic and, for me, gets better and better every year as I get to know other owners better and meet many for the first time. If you go to live events in NYC, I encourage folks to take the time to get to know the other owners. Andy Saxton practically owns The Irish Pub and had reserved tables every night (a quick shout out to Andy for setting that up and getting me hooked on auctions) and Mike opens up the post-draft dinner at Rosie O'Grady's to all who want to attend and it is a great time (I started doing the dinner the year before doing the MTM drafts and was welcomed by a lot of great guys).

Second, big time kudos to the NFBC - and our host, Tom - for running fantastic drafts and going above and beyond to make things run as smoothly as possible. The folks helping run the drafts and, in particular, our auctioneer, all did a great job. It also was pretty cool that NFBC was able to get Sirius to cover the draft, and I hope we gave them a good broadcast and positive exposure.

Third (last but not least), a big and sincere thank you to Mike (MTM) for all of his efforts and personal touches to help make this event special. It is no small feat to give a high-stakes (and high-pressure) draft the feel of a "hometown" league draft, but he pulls it off every year. From arranging for a special draft facilitator (an excellent and nice guy, Adam Ronis), buying custom-made league baseball caps, preparing gift baskets for each owner, using customized baseballs for the "Iron Balls" KDS drawing, arranging the post-draft steak dinner, and purchasing and then personalizing the league trophy, Mike goes to great effort, and no small expense, to make these drafts special, and in this he succeeds completely. Thank you!

Mike

[Baseball Furies]

This post is long overdue as I am just coming out of my season long hibernation. Truthfully, I expend so much energy during the pre-season writing all these brilliantly entertaining and insightful posts, by the time the season starts I'm more spent than Tom after his annual trip to the Bunny Ranch in Las Vegas Anyway, it was another amazing and hard fought season by some of the best of the best that the NFBC has to offer in terms of the competition, and this year, history was made! For the first time ever, a repeat champion will be crowned prior to the 2018 Draft in NYC at the luxurious Motel 6 or whatever the hell this place is. Side note: It's never a good sign when you can't find something on Google these days, especially a hotel that is supposedly in Manhattan or when Google asks, "Did you mean Bates Motel?" Only reference I could find for The Sherman Hotel mentioned a murder there about 20 years ago, so this should be fun. I can have my microwave frozen pizza during the draft with some fava beans and a fine Chianti. So where was I? Oh yes, the big winner again this year for the second time was none other than Joe Thelen! A man so old and seemingly decrepit and senile that rather than the usual goody bags I give out for the other competitors, I just provide him an adult diaper and some spare batteries for his hearing aid. But once again, the joke was on us as we were all lulled into a false sense of security by his feign amnesia and bouts of narcolepsy during the draft. It went down to the last week or so, but Joe was not to be denied. He will be hoisting the prestigious MTM Ultimate Championship Trophy this coming March...actually he won't be hoisting anything with his back, so we'll just wheel it in for him to admire.

As far as the 2018 MTM Ultimate goes, this event is an "INVITATION ONLY" affair. Returning owners all have the right of first refusal, so we're only taking sign-ups for returning owners until and if an opening becomes available. You can message me directly if you would like to be placed on the list of alternates which I will post to this thread as we get into the new year. In the meantime, I will be plotting and planning to make the 2018 Ultimate better than ever! Shit, I may even push Greg to scrounge us up some of that Chef Boyardee spaghetti and meatballs we get sometimes as an appetizer to our post draft festivities now at a restaurant TBD with the move of the NFBC NY venue to The Sherman Super 8. Stay tuned!