Live Chat: Greg A. Today At 3 P.M. EST

Gordon Gekko · Post by **Gordon Gekko** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 7:56 am

Greg - given that schilling is cooked, how much do u bump up clay buchholz?

DOUGHBOYS · Post by **DOUGHBOYS** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 7:57 am

If you were approached by a sponsor that wanted to put $50,000 towards the NFBC, how would you use the money?

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 8:00 am

Originally posted by Edwards Kings:

Does Peter Edward Rose, Sr. belong in the Hall of Fame? Honestly, I always felt that as a player Rose should have been elected to the Hall of Fame. He never bet on games as a player that we know of and he was unquestionably a Hall of Fame player. He got himself in trouble as an MLB manager and thus should never be considered for the HOF as a manager.

That being said, he deserves to be left out of the Hall of Fame. He lied when he should have just told the truth. He's been terrible for the game since his banishment and he's done nothing to change anyone's mind. Since he gambled while wearing an MLB uniform, he deserves what he's getting.

Rose was a spokesman for Krause Publication's memorabilia division for about five years, so Tom and I had our share of Pete Rose speeches that we've heard. Honestly, I'm not sure there's a more egomaniacal person in the U.S. His speeches are so rude to anyone other than a dirty old man and his stories are so crude that you almost feel like you need to wash up after you've heard them. Neither Tom nor I have good things to say about Rose outside of his playing career and I highly doubt that will change.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 8:03 am

Originally posted by Chest Rockwell:

Have you ever been so mad at Tom you have considered giving him the pink slip? Please provide the story. No. Tom and I work as hard as two dedicated employees possibly can and if either of us ever lets up we know the other person has to pick up more of the workload. We're both proud enough to never let that happen and we're both proud of what we've created in baseball and football. So it's a great working relationship and neither of us would be any good without the other.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 8:04 am

Originally posted by King of Queens:

quote:Originally posted by Tom Kessenich:

quote:Originally posted by Greg Ambrosius:

Okay, I finally have an opening in my schedule today and I thought I'd jump on the Message Boards today at 3 p.m. EST for a live chat. Feel free to ask questions about the NFBC, player eligibility, player projections, NFBC Charter Member hats, my working relationship with Tom, the future of this high-stakes market, the Green Bay Packers, etc. I'm game today for anything!!

Can't wait for the answer to this one.

[/QUOTE]Okay, I'll ask the question: Greg, how is your working relationship with Tom? [/QUOTE]Good, except we didn't win a WCOFF title this year so I'm blaming him for that!!

All I'll say is we both need a raise and neither of us will probably get one.

Tom Kessenich · Post by **Tom Kessenich** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 8:07 am

I'll fall on the sword for the WCOFF result. I was big on Javon Walker and I didn't trust my gut enough with Ryan Grant - even after posting on the NFFC boards that I thought he was the darkhorse in the Packers' backfield. I was high on Wes Welker but that wasn't enough to offset those two.

Now that I think about it, I blame Lynn Dickey.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 8:08 am

Originally posted by Sack:

Greg:

Why do you always GET to head to Vegas for the drafts while poor Tom has to play second fiddle and get dumped into the middle of midtown Manhatten? We won't even mention poor Rocky. Well, as Tom knows, from 2000-2007 I ran the Fantasy Sports Trade Conference in Las Vegas and I had to be in Las Vegas. Tom would usually come for that too and then fly to New York to run the NFBC and NFFC. As we built that Trade Conference into a very successful event, the new FSTA regime felt they should own that trade conference and are now running it themselves without KP's involvement. In fact, it's this week in Denver. Wow, a Trade Conference in February in Denver. Wonder why I'm not there?

So I guess this is the first year that I could switch spots with Tom, but IT WILL NEVER HAPPEN!!!

I'm going to Las Vegas for the sun and fun and Tom will join me there for the WCOFF drafts. Tom enjoys Manhattan and does a good job there, so there's little reason to switch. Maybe someday.....NOT!!

King of Queens · Post by **King of Queens** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 8:10 am

Originally posted by Tom Kessenich:

I'll fall on the sword for the WCOFF result. I was big on Javon Walker and I didn't trust my gut enough with Ryan Grant - even after posting on the NFFC boards that I thought he was the darkhorse in the Packers' backfield. I was high on Wes Welker but that wasn't enough to offset those two.

Now that I think about it, I blame Lynn Dickey.

Once I saw that picture of you, Greg and Lynn hanging out after the WCOFF event, I knew it was curtains for "Team NFFC"

Chest Rockwell · Post by **Chest Rockwell** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 8:11 am

Originally posted by Greg Ambrosius:

quote:Originally posted by Chest Rockwell:

Have you ever been so mad at Tom you have considered giving him the pink slip? Please provide the story. No. Tom and I work as hard as two dedicated employees possibly can and if either of us ever lets up we know the other person has to pick up more of the workload. We're both proud enough to never let that happen and we're both proud of what we've created in baseball and football. So it's a great working relationship and neither of us would be any good without the other. [/QUOTE]TK is a good man you are lucky to have him.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 8:11 am

Originally posted by Edwards Kings:

Will you win the L.A.B.R. this year and why? Probably not!!!

I mean, sure I'd love to, but I have a pair of second place finishes but no titles to my credit. John Zaleski and I finished second and third in 2006, but last year we were like sixth and seventh. I've already done a couple of online auctions, so I feel like I know the dollar values for this league, but it's a matter of executing with FAAB during the season and getting enough luck to win. LABR has some pretty tough players and you can't miss a beat or you'll lose.

Okay, I'll say we're going to win both titles, right John?? LABR AL and LABR NL for the NFBC team!!

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 8:15 am

Originally posted by sportsbettingman:

Gregorino...

Having never had the privilege to attend a NFFC Main event in person...I can only guess based on my WCOFF experience that there may have been some folks dressed up as Wizards or Snakes or Darth Maul or Pimps, etc.

Football being a bit (LOT) crazier.

During the first year of the NFBC...were there any wild drafters with good luck charms on their table, or dressed up as Tommy Lasorda with the full baseball uni...stirrups and all, or mini-cubicles to hide their cheat sheets...or overly hung over/still drunk folks?

...or is baseball a thinking mans game, and the drafters are all well behaved and under control?

Any standout memories?

~Lance Lance, I was at the first two WCOFF drafts and the Wizard definitely stood out. Unfortunately the HBO cameras fell in love with him that second year and made a mockery of our great hobby in that special they aired. The Wizard took a lot of crap for that, but the guy believed in his persona and his good luck charms (I believe it was a rose in a vase). The WCOFF definitely has more characters on Draft Day than we have.

Honestly, I can't think of a single outfit or crazy good luck charm at any of the NFBC or NFFC drafts we've held. Our folks pretty much just wear their favorite team colors and hats and leave the loved ones at the pool. Tom can't recall anyone doing that in New York either.

Chest Rockwell · Post by **Chest Rockwell** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 8:15 am

Where would you rank the level of competition in a LABR league versus the NFBC?

The Mighty Men · Post by **The Mighty Men** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 8:18 am

Originally posted by Greg Ambrosius:

quote:Originally posted by sportsbettingman:

Gregorino...

Having never had the privilege to attend a NFFC Main event in person...I can only guess based on my WCOFF experience that there may have been some folks dressed up as Wizards or Snakes or Darth Maul or Pimps, etc.

Football being a bit (LOT) crazier.

During the first year of the NFBC...were there any wild drafters with good luck charms on their table, or dressed up as Tommy Lasorda with the full baseball uni...stirrups and all, or mini-cubicles to hide their cheat sheets...or overly hung over/still drunk folks?

...or is baseball a thinking mans game, and the drafters are all well behaved and under control?

Any standout memories?

~Lance Lance, I was at the first two WCOFF drafts and the Wizard definitely stood out. Unfortunately the HBO cameras fell in love with him that second year and made a mockery of our great hobby in that special they aired. The Wizard took a lot of crap for that, but the guy believed in his persona and his good luck charms (I believe it was a rose in a vase). The WCOFF definitely has more characters on Draft Day than we have.

Honestly, I can't think of a single outfit or crazy good luck charm at any of the NFBC or NFFC drafts we've held. Our folks pretty much just wear their favorite team colors and hats and leave the loved ones at the pool. Tom can't recall anyone doing that in New York either. [/QUOTE]Headhunters and I were in the same league as "The Wizard" in the first WCOFF. He got his butt kicked, but then again, I think we did too.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 8:19 am

Originally posted by DOUGHBOYS:

Greg, If another publications company made you an offer that you couldn't turn down, would the NFBC follow you to your next job or stay with Krause? Can I get sued for this response?

As Tom has mentioned before, there is some frustration that the NFBC and NFFC is underappreciated here and nobody really understands how miraculous it is that we built these two events to this level WITHOUT A CONTENT WEB SITE. In today's Internet driven world, we've built this through word-of-mouth and our magazines. To me, that's amazing.

I'm EXTREMELY proud of what the NFBC and NFFC has become and I never want to be part of anything else for the next 12 years before I retire. But never say never.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 8:22 am

Originally posted by sportsbettingman:

Seeing that you play hoops...

Is it simply a "macho" thing that stops every single male from the NBA down to middle school from shooting underhanded free throws...even when they've tried for years the regular way, and can't make over 50%???

Would a high arching banked free throw yield a higher % for accuracy?

(Hey...you said anything goes!)

~Lance There is NO WAY that you can be more accurate with an underhand free throw. I don't care how good Rick Barry was, you can't be more accurate that way.

As Tom can tell you, I can shoot the rock from the outside and I've really studied the proper way to shoot. If you keep your right elbow facing the basket and form that perfect window to see through with your left hand gently on the side of the basketball, repitition will allow you to be extremely accurate. The reason folks aren't accurate from the free throw line has as much to do with making a standstill 15-foot shot -- something you rarely do in an era of jumpshots -- and the nervousness of doing it with everyone looking on.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 8:23 am

Originally posted by sportsbettingman:

quote:Originally posted by DOUGHBOYS:

Greg, If another publications company made you an offer that you couldn't turn down, would the NFBC follow you to your next job or stay with Krause? Don't give folks "The Fear"

You can say what you want...but remove Greg and Tom...and things could get ugly.

~Lance [/QUOTE]REALLY??

Now we have negotiating power Tom!!

Tom Kessenich · Post by **Tom Kessenich** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 8:26 am

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 8:31 am

Originally posted by DOUGHBOYS:

After five years, are we at a best case scenario for what you had planned for the NFBC?

What would be your best case scenarios for 10 years? Yes and no. I can tell you that four years ago when I lived and died with every new signup, I never would have imagined we'd be this big in 2008. I never imagined satellite leagues back then, never thought of Super Draft Leagues, or Ultimate Leagues or even an online championship. I was just living to get main event signups and to try to somehow break even. I rarely slept from December 2003 through March of 2004 and I don't think I ever felt more pressure than that time.

The one thing I remember after Draft Day 2004 was a proud feeling that we put on a good event, assembled good owners and that we could live for another day and maybe even reach 300 owners in 2005 (which we did). But I remember flying back home that day and thinking, "Oh my God, how are we ever going to sell out football against the WCOFF!!" We promoted a $200,000 grand prize and 600 teams that spring and eventually had to scale back to $100,000 and 350 teams, of which we failed again to reach (224 teams). I was stressed out through that whole process again and basically was living in dog years as 2003-2004 cost me seven years of my life!!!

I know what the future looks like. We are close to a major deal that will take the NFBC to new heights. We have one more hurdle to clear. We tried to buy Rototimes.com to give us an online presence and our own company chose not to go down that path. Now we're onto something even better and we'll see if we can close that deal.

Five years from now? Both events will be televised online and football should have a TV presence of some kind. We'll have a major web following and our top players will be online stars. Content will be produced year-round from our players online. There will be national online championships with their own grand prizes. The NFBC main event will be bigger, but not much bigger. I'd rather grow with more events than make one big colossal event, but we'll see.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 8:33 am

Originally posted by Joe Sambito:

Will Upper Deck again be the sponsor for the weekly prizes? Last year's batch of prizes was pretty impressive (except for maybe a Kei Igawa autographed ball). Can we expect similar excellent prizes? I have not reached out to my friends at Upper Deck Authenticated yet because I was hoping to give them more positive news about our upcoming deal first. But I'll probably do that soon and hopefully they will jump on board again. They are always looking for new customers and die-hard sports fans is a great reach for them. I trust some of you guys like their items too and may eventually buy things from their site.

UDA really came through for us last year for baseball and football and they are No. 1 on our list this year. I just haven't done it yet, but I will soon. They're the best and they have the very best authentic autographed sports memorabilia in the industry.

sportsbettingman · Post by **sportsbettingman** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 8:35 am

Greg...

If you were in the NFBC main event...and had just found out your draft slot for 2008...what advantage do you think you could derive from "mock drafting" that spot with 14 goldfish or 14 auto picks?

How about 14 ten year olds? 14 local bar league drafters? How about 14 other people from MDC that clicked on the "NFBC rules mock" (even though they may not even know what that is.)

In other words...putting much weight into mock drafting seems like an exercise in futility to me. The best drafters will be prepared for any surprise that comes their way...and just because they mocked 30 times doesn't mean those 14 REAL LIVE High stakes opponents in the main will draft anything like they've seen on a free mock.

I don't have to mock 20 times to imagine how it may go. Not to mention even ONE injury to a bigger player within a week of the draft could shake the crap out of things.

I'm more of a chaos theory type...one altered variable can produce entirely different results. So being prepared via multiple starting routes without mocking (should THIS player fall to me...I'll lean THIS way...but should THAT player fall, I'll lean THAT was...etc.) seems to be of equal value...without ever tipping your hand in a mock.

~Lance

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 8:35 am

Originally posted by King of Queens:

quote:Originally posted by Tom Kessenich:

I'll fall on the sword for the WCOFF result. I was big on Javon Walker and I didn't trust my gut enough with Ryan Grant - even after posting on the NFFC boards that I thought he was the darkhorse in the Packers' backfield. I was high on Wes Welker but that wasn't enough to offset those two.

Now that I think about it, I blame Lynn Dickey.

Once I saw that picture of you, Greg and Lynn hanging out after the WCOFF event, I knew it was curtains for "Team NFFC" [/QUOTE]It was funny. Tom and I were taking the red-eye home after the WCOFF draft and went to the ESPN Zone for a few drinks to help us sleep. Jesse came up to us and asked us if we'd talk to Lynn Dickey since he was hanging out and wasn't getting many folks to talk with. It was great hanging with him, but he stayed with us for like 90 minutes. He wasn't even drinking, but we sure were!!

Lynn was great, but he felt Brett should have retired before the season to let Aaron Rodgers take over and every Packers' game I was at this year I kept thinking back to that and wishing I had his phone number to tell him how wrong he was!!

I hope Brett plays next year and then after that Rodgers can take over.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 8:40 am

Originally posted by Gordon Gekko:

Greg:

Where do u see me 5 years from now. Options are below...

1) Running a fantasy show on tv

2) At least two more nfbc/nffc grandprizes added to my collection

3) The undisputed best fantasy baseball/football player in the world These are my only options? Can I add a few??

1. Yes on YouTube. You seem to have a good following for those videos.

2. If you win one more NFBC or NFFC grand prize you'll be in a class to yourself. The first person to win two NFBC, NFFC or WCOFF titles will be King or Queen of the Hill for sure.

3. Right now someone else has that title. Good luck overtaking him.

I see you as being one of the most aggressive fantasy players during the next five years as you see this area of the market expand to national TV and major web sites. I know that the growth in the next five years will be huge as the bigger web sites will finally figure out how ideal this demographic is and that in turn will lead to more exposure and more air time. And you know how to take advantage of that.

But you only get air time if you're successful and the most successful owners will get their due, not the loudest owners.

Walla Walla · Post by **Walla Walla** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 8:40 am

What are the odds Geeko gets jumped in Chicago?

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 8:43 am

Originally posted by billywaz:

Greg,

What is the earliest YOU would take Johan Santana in an NFBC draft? I talked about this with Jeff Erickson on XM Radio last week. In our 12-team magazine league for Fantasy Sports Magazine, I passed on him at 11 in the first round and then took him at 14. In the NFBC, I think 12 is pretty high for him. I only say that because the offensive power is still there at 13, 14 and 15 and it's so hard to pass on that for Santana. I mean, could you take an offensive stud in the first round instead and take Peavy in the second round and still be ahead? Sure. Could you pass on those two pitchers, take Bedard in the third round and still be ahead? Sure, if you're lucky enough to get him then.

Santana in the NL should be unreal, but you have to be real good to take him early in the first and win a league title. I've taken him early before and you always feel like you're behind in power and speed after that. It's a tough feeling, but some can probably manage that better than me. Good luck to all who grab him early as he should be a stud in the NL this year.

bjoak · Post by **bjoak** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 8:45 am

Are there a lower percentage of people drafting in Vegas than other cities this year, based on current sign-ups?